Priesthood and Flight
The section gathers St. Gregory the Theologian’s lifelong wrestling with the pastoral office: the great Oration 2 (the Apologia for his flight to Pontus in 362), the first systematic theology of the priesthood in Christian literature, and the recurring pattern of withdrawal that shaped his whole career — from the flight of 362 through the Sasima refusal to the final Arianzus retirement.
Tradition: Pan-Orthodox (Church Father)
Gregory was ordained priest by his own father, the elder Gregory bishop of Nazianzus, on Christmas Day 361, against his will. He fled to Basil in Pontus around Epiphany 362, returned before Easter, and composed the long defense of his conduct we know as Oration 2 (NPNF II/7; McGuckin, St. Gregory of Nazianzus, ch. 2) — a personal apologia that became the founding text of Christian pastoral theology, behind Chrysostom’s On the Priesthood and Gregory the Great’s Pastoral Rule.
That flight was the first instance of a pattern. Across nearly three decades Gregory repeatedly accepted office “as a temporary measure” and repeatedly withdrew from it — the Sasima refusal of 372, the silence at Seleucia (c. 375–379), the resignation from Constantinople in 381, and the final retirement to Arianzus (c. 383–390). Orthodox tradition reads this oscillation not as cowardice but as the hesychast instinct — the pull of theoria against praxis in a man who believed the soul must be purified before it can purify others (Beeley, Gregory of Nazianzus; Daley, Gregory of Nazianzus).
Contents
| File | Subject |
|---|---|
| Oration 2: The Pastoral Theology | The Apologia of 362 as the first systematic pastoral theology and its enduring lineage |
| The Pattern of Withdrawal | The lifelong oscillation between contemplation and office, and how Orthodox tradition reads it |
See Also
- Friendship with Basil — the Pontus refuge of 362 and the Sasima rupture of 372
- On the Priesthood (De Sacerdotio) — the work that descends directly from Oration 2
- Holy Orders (The Mystery of Ordination) — the dogmatic framework of the priesthood
References
- Gregory of Nazianzus. Oration 2: In Defence of His Flight to Pontus. Trans. C. G. Browne and J. E. Swallow, NPNF II/7.
- McGuckin, John Anthony. St. Gregory of Nazianzus: An Intellectual Biography. Crestwood, NY: St. Vladimir’s Seminary Press, 2001.
- Beeley, Christopher A. Gregory of Nazianzus on the Trinity and the Knowledge of God: In Your Light We Shall See Light. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2008.
- Daley, Brian E. Gregory of Nazianzus. The Early Church Fathers. London: Routledge, 2006.