Christ’s Creed

This chapter examines four works in which Gregory defends himself against charges of heterodoxy in his Trinitarian teaching: the confessions of faith known as Epistles 5 and 24, as well as the treatises To Eustathius—On the Holy Trinity and Against the Macedonians—On the Holy Spirit. The chapter first sets the works into the context of Gregory’s activities as an ambassador for the Council of Antioch in 379. Concerned Nicene allies prompted Gregory to write Epistles 5 and 24, and questions about those documents in turn prompted the two treatises examined in this chapter, as well as To Ablabius. Gregory’s reasoning in these works is centered on the interpretation of Matthew 28:19, which Gregory reads as Christ’s creed. In particular, Gregory grounds the unity of the Trinity on the activity of life-giving that comes in baptism from the Father, through the Son, and is perfected in the Holy Spirit.