03 — Trinitarian Theology
Gregory of Nyssa’s Trinitarian theology — the heart of his doctrinal achievement and of the mature Cappadocian settlement. Against the neo-Arian Eunomius he grounded the unknowability of God in divine infinity; in Ad Ablabium he answered why the one undivided divine power, originating in the Father and perfected in the Spirit, is not three gods. These files present the speculative depth the youngest Cappadocian brought to the common cause.
Tradition: Pan-Orthodox (Church Father)
Gregory inherited from Basil and from Gregory the Theologian the terminological settlement of one ousia in three hypostases, and he gave it its most philosophically developed defense. Two convictions run through his Trinitarian writing: that the divine essence is infinite and therefore incomprehensible and unnameable (the root of Cappadocian apophaticism and of his mystical theology), and that the unity of the three persons is shown in the unity of their single operation (energeia). The first is worked out against Eunomius; the second in the short treatise to Ablabius.
Files in this Section
| File | Description |
|---|---|
| Against Eunomius | The great anti-Eunomian work; the unknowability and incomprehensibility of the divine essence; the doctrine of divine infinity and its consequences (apophaticism and epektasis); knowing God from his operations, not his essence. |
| On ‘Not Three Gods’ | Ad Ablabium; one power, one nature, three hypostases; the unity of the divine operation as proof of the unity of nature; the “three men” analogy and its limits; the contested modern “social Trinity” reading. |
See Also
- The Cappadocian Settlement — the historical context of these dogmatic battles
- Mystical Ascent — divine infinity and apophaticism carried into the spiritual life
- St. Basil the Great — the brother whose anti-Eunomian work Gregory completed
- Pneumatology — the theology of the Holy Spirit Gregory defended
- The Church Fathers — the Cappadocian Trinitarian synthesis
References
- Gregory of Nyssa. Against Eunomius (Contra Eunomium) [GNO I–II; PG 45]. Translated in NPNF II/5.
- Gregory of Nyssa. On “Not Three Gods,” to Ablabius (Ad Ablabium, quod non sint tres dii) [GNO III/1]. Translated in NPNF II/5.
- Ayres, Lewis. Nicaea and Its Legacy: An Approach to Fourth-Century Trinitarian Theology. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004.