02 — Bishop of Neocaesarea
The episcopate of Gregory the Wonderworker: how, by tradition, the convert was sent home to Pontus and ordained bishop of Neocaesarea, finding only seventeen Christians in the city and leaving only seventeen pagans at his death — the “wholesale conversion of Pontus” — and how he led his flock through the empire-wide Decian persecution of 250–251 and the plague that followed. The chief source for the episcopal years is Gregory of Nyssa’s Life, written about a century later; the genuine Canonical Epistle and the secure history of the Decian persecution provide the firmer ground against which Nyssa’s encomium is read.
Tradition: Pan-Orthodox (Ante-Nicene Father; Wonderworker)
The two files in this section follow Gregory from his consecration as bishop into the two great trials of his episcopate. The first treats the missionary tradition — the famous seventeen-to-seventeen reversal, its source in Gregory of Nyssa’s Life of Gregory the Wonderworker (c. 380), and the real, generation-long conversion of Pontus that the encomium dramatizes, as reconstructed by Raymond Van Dam. The second follows his pastoral leadership through the Decian persecution and a subsequent plague — the persecution itself securely historical, the anecdotes of Gregory’s conduct within it drawn, again, from Nyssa and pinned to that source per the repository methodology. Throughout, the discipline of this section is to hold the securely historical frame (the Canonical Epistle, Eusebius, the documented Decian edict) apart from the century-later wonder-tale, honoring both without confusing them.
Files in This Section
| File | Description |
|---|---|
| The Apostolic Missionary | How Gregory became bishop of Neocaesarea (by Phaedimus of Amasea, per tradition); the seventeen-to-seventeen conversion tradition, its source in Gregory of Nyssa’s Life, and the real conversion of Pontus over a generation (Van Dam); his missionary methods as Nyssa describes them, including the institution of festivals in honor of the martyrs to wean the people from pagan feasts. |
| The Pastor in Persecution | Gregory’s leadership through the Decian persecution (250–251) and the plague that followed; Nyssa’s tradition that he counseled flight rather than reckless martyrdom and withdrew with his people; the contrast with the question of volunteer martyrdom; and the careful distinction of the securely historical persecution from the pinned Nyssa anecdotes. |
See Also
- The Student of Origen — the convert and theologian who is sent home to become the apostle of Pontus
- Pontus in the Third Century — the pagan Pontic world Gregory was sent to convert
- The Canonical Epistle — the genuine pastoral document of the crisis years, the firm ground beside the Life
- The Witness of Gregory of Nyssa — the century-later Life that is the chief source for the episcopate
- The Life and the Legend — the source-critical weighing of Nyssa’s Life against the genuine record
- Legacy and Assessment — the sober assessment of the missionary bishop, genuine record and legend held together
References
- Gregory of Nyssa. De vita Gregorii Thaumaturgi (On the Life of Gregory the Wonderworker). PG 46:893–958. Trans. in Michael Slusser, St. Gregory Thaumaturgus: Life and Works. Fathers of the Church 98. Washington, DC: Catholic University of America Press, 1998.
- Gregory Thaumaturgus. Canonical Epistle. Trans. S. D. F. Salmond, in The Ante-Nicene Fathers, Vol. 6. Buffalo: Christian Literature Company, 1886.
- Eusebius of Caesarea. Ecclesiastical History VI–VII. Trans. Arthur C. McGiffert, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series II, Vol. 1. 1890.
- Van Dam, Raymond. Becoming Christian: The Conversion of Roman Cappadocia. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2003.