02 — The Cappadocian Settlement
How Gregory of Nyssa, after the death of his brother Basil, became the surviving theological guarantor of the Nicene settlement: taking up the anti-Eunomian battle, undertaking imperial missions, and standing at the Second Ecumenical Council of 381 as a named standard of orthodox communion. These files carry the story from 379 to the conciliar triumph and its aftermath.
Tradition: Pan-Orthodox (Church Father)
With Basil’s death on 1 January 379, the leadership of the pro-Nicene cause in Cappadocia passed in large part to Gregory. The year 379 also took his sister Macrina; out of that double grief came the soul-and-resurrection writings (section 05). But the public work was the defense of the faith: the completion of the case against Eunomius (section 03), the missions of the early 380s, and above all the Council of Constantinople in 381, where Gregory helped secure the full confession of the Holy Spirit’s divinity and was named in the edict of Theodosius as a bishop communion with whom defined orthodoxy.
Files in this Section
| File | Description |
|---|---|
| After Basil | Stepping into Basil’s role on his death (379); taking up the anti-Eunomian work; the missions to Arabia and Jerusalem and the letter on pilgrimage; the grief over Basil and Macrina as the backdrop to the soul writings. |
| Constantinople 381 and After | Gregory’s role at the Second Ecumenical Council; the defense of the Spirit’s divinity; the edict of 30 July 381 naming him a standard of communion; the imperial commissions and the great Constantinopolitan orations; the forward look to the “Father of the Fathers” title. |
See Also
- Foundations — the episcopate that preceded the settlement
- Trinitarian Theology — the doctrinal content of the settlement
- St. Gregory the Theologian — Gregory’s co-laborer at Constantinople 381
- The Ecumenical Councils — Constantinople 381 in its conciliar setting
References
- Gregory of Nyssa. Letters (Epistulae) [GNO VIII/2]. Translated by Anna Silvas, Gregory of Nyssa: The Letters. Leiden: Brill, 2007.
- Codex Theodosianus 16.1.3 (edict of 30 July 381).
- Tanner, Norman P., ed. Decrees of the Ecumenical Councils, vol. 1. Washington, DC: Georgetown University Press, 1990.