Embodiment and Virtue in Gregory of Nyssa: An Anagogical Approach

303 Pages·2013·1.54 MB·English

by  Hans Boersma

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BasilofCaesarea,GregoryofNyssa,andthe
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Embodiment and
Virtue in Gregory
of Nyssa
An Anagogical Approach
HANS BOERSMA
1
3
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ToGerald,John,Corine,Pete,andMeghan
—gratefulfortheirloveandfortheirupwardlook—
(cid:2)PŒ(cid:3)(cid:4)(cid:5)Ø(cid:6)¼ººø(cid:7)(cid:8)æe(cid:7)(cid:5)e(cid:6)Ł(cid:9)e(cid:6)(cid:10)łøŁB(cid:6)ÆØ(cid:11)cI(cid:9)d
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X(cid:15)ÅŒÆ(cid:5)(cid:2)æŁøŁ(cid:13)(cid:6)(cid:5)ø(cid:6)(cid:11)(cid:13)(cid:6)(cid:9)Ø(cid:6)IººaÇÅ(cid:11)(cid:14)Æ(cid:6)(cid:8)(cid:2)Ø(cid:9)E(cid:4)ŁÆØ(cid:9)N
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[T]hereisnootherwaytogouptoGodbutby
constantlylookingupwardsandhavingan
unceasingdesireforsublimethings,soasnottobe
contenttostaywithwhathasalreadybeen
achieved,buttoregarditaslossifonefailsto
attainwhatliesabove.
St.GregoryofNyssa,Debeatitudinibus
Preface
In recent years, I have become increasingly enamored with premodern
attempts to express the Christian faith with the use of Platonic categories.
Throughmyworkontwentieth-centuryCatholictheology(NouvelleThéologie
and Sacramental Ontology: A Return to Mystery; Oxford University Press,
2009), I became intrigued by the role that “participation” plays within this
Catholic ressourcement of the church fathers. My reading brought me to the
conclusion that regardless of the differences in outlook between theologians
such as Henri de Lubac, Hans Urs von Balthasar, Jean Daniélou, Marie-
DominiqueChenu,andYvesCongar,aparticipatoryorsacramentalontology
is fundamental to the approach of each of these theologians. And although
none of them affirms (neo-) Platonism in an unqualified way, their shared
sacramentalsensibilityisunthinkablewithouttheimpactofPlatoniccategor-
ies on their theology. Their retrieval of the church fathers—particularly
Eastern theologians—is no coincidence. Rather, this ressourcement fits with
theirattemptatreintegratingnatureandthesupernatural,anditdemonstrates
abasickinshipwithpremodernPlatonicimpulsesthatinfluencedmuchofthe
Christiantradition.Inafollow-upbook(HeavenlyParticipation:TheWeaving
of a Sacramental Tapestry; Eerdmans, 2011), I have articulated some of the
theologicalimplicationsthatIthinkfollow(oroughttofollow)whenwetake
seriouslythetraditionalPlatonist–Christiansynthesis.
InthecurrentprojectIdeliberatelyfollowinthefootstepsofHansUrsvon
Balthasar and Jean Daniélou, both of whom have written extensively on St.
GregoryofNyssa—thoughDaniélouofcoursemuchmoresothanBalthasar.
Althoughthisbookisafairlystraightforwardlyhistoricaltheologicalanalysis
ofGregory’sviewsofembodiment,thereisapersonalquestthatunderliesthis
study. By the time I embarked on a more or less rigorous study of Nyssen,
Ihadalreadyreadseveralofhisworks.Foranumberofyears,Ihadassigned
Gregory’s On the Soul and the Resurrection in my eschatology class, and
I enjoyed startling students of my history of doctrine class with Herbert
Musurillo’s wonderful anthology, From Glory to Glory: Texts from Gregory
of Nyssa (St Vladimir’s Seminary Press, 1979)—which, incidentally, carries a
mosthelpfulintroductionwrittenbyDaniélou.Ihadalso,onoccasion,dipped
into Gregory’s The Life of Moses. I decided to do a morein-depth reading of
Gregory—and in particular study his approach to embodiment—because
I wanted to test my hunch that the premodern Platonist–Christian synthesis
doesnotrequireustoabandonthegoodnessofmatterandofhistory,butthat
instead such an affirmation of this-worldly realities is dependent on the
Preface vii
participatoryorsacramentalontologyofpremodernity.(Forthoseinterested,
ImakemytheologicalargumentforthispositioninHeavenlyParticipation.)
My hunch has been only partially validated. This book makes clear that
Gregory,asatheologianofascent(oran“anagogical”theologian,asIwillcall
him)isn’tnearlyasaffirmativeoftheworldoftimeandspaceasmostofusin
modern and late modern society tend to be. In fact, when it comes to issues
such as gender, marriage, sexuality, and virginity I expressly distance myself
fromscholarswhohighlightGregory’saffirmationofmaterialityandsexuality
(Chapters 3 and 4). It has become clear to me that Gregory is really quite
reticentinaffirmingthattheentirecreatedorder—includingembodiedexist-
ence—participates sacramentally in eternal realities. This is not to say he
denies it; occasionally he explicitly affirms it. Mostly, however, Nyssen is
looking for an anagogical or upward transposition that leaves behind the
objects of earthly, embodied existence. This implies that his ontology is less
robustlysacramentalthanperhapsIwouldlikeittobe.
At the same time, there are at least two positive comments that I want to
make in connection with my basic hunch or hypothesis. First, regardless of
Gregory’s own particular take on participation, I remain convinced that a
participatoryorsacramentalontologyisessentialtoagenuineappreciationof
thegoodnessofthecreatedorder,includingtheembodied,measurableworld
oftimeandspace.Withoutparticipationineternalrealities,thecreatedorder
lapses into a void. Unhinged from the life of God, created realities no longer
havetheirmeaningdivinely“stamped”uponthem,asitwere,andasaresult
(late) modernity forces us to assign this meaning ourselves, a process that
inevitably takes on the arbitrary whim of the will to power. Without a
participatory or sacramental framework, we assign rather than recognize
created goodness. Thus, I think that Gregory is quite correct in his basic
theological assumption that participation in the life of God grants being
(and goodness) to created realities. We need St. Gregory’s basic theological
framework to do justice to the goodness of created existence. Second, this
study has made me appreciate anew that our affirmation of the goodness of
creation ought to recognize the penultimate character of the realities of time
and space, and I see more clearly than before that Gregory’s emphasis on
anagogy(aswellasbodilyrenunciation)upholdssomebasicChristiantruths,
namely,thatthis-worldlyembodiedrealitiesareonlypenultimateincharacter
andthattheyrequireareadjustmentofeschatologicalproportioninorderto
participateforeverinthelifeofGod.
Someofthechaptersofthisbookwerefirstpresentedaspapersinvarious
academic settings. I presented parts of Chapters 3, 4, and 6 (dealing with
Gregory’s homilies on the Song of Songs) in a paper for the North Park
TheologicalSeminarySymposiumontheTheologicalInterpretationofScrip-
ture in September 2010. Some of the material on slavery in Chapter5 I first
presented at an ecumenical conference (“Heaven on Earth? The Future of
viii Preface
SpiritualInterpretation”)heldatRegentCollegeinSeptember2011.Gregory’s
approach to bereavement (discussed in Chapter4) was the topic of a paper
thatIpresentedattheNorthAmericanPatristicsSocietyinMay2012.These
papers, as well as Chapter1, were initially published in a variety of journals:
Crux,ExAuditu,FirstThings,JournalofEarlyChristianStudies,andModern
Theology. I have given the details of each of these publications in the
bibliography.
Afewcommentswithregardtotranslationsandfootnotereferencesarein
order. For Gregory’s In Canticum canticorum, I am following Richard
A. Norris’s (as yet unpublished) translation. For the Septuagint, I mostly use
AlbertPietersmaandBenjaminG.Wright(eds.),ANewEnglishTranslationof
theSeptuagintandtheOtherGreekTranslationsTraditionallyIncludedunder
That Title (New York: and Oxford, 2007), though on occasion, when I am
quotingthe SeptuagintviaSt. Gregory’sownwriting,Ifollowthe translation
given in the relevant edition of Gregory’s work. In quoting other biblical
passages, I follow the Revised Standard Version. In quoting St. Gregory’s
writings,Iusethetranslationsinthestandardcriticaleditionswhereavailable
(which are listed in the List of Abbreviations). In connection with works for
which only French or German translations (or non-critical editions) are
available, I use my own translations. When in footnotes I refer to the GNO,
Imentionboththepagenumberandthelinenumberofthereference.Insome
cases (Beat, Cant, Eccl, Or dom, Virg), these page and line numbers are
preceded by the number of the homily or chapter. The GNO references are
followedbyabracketedreferencetothepagenumberinthetranslation(where
publishedtranslationsareavailable).ForEunIII,Ifirstmentionchapterand
paragraph number, followed in brackets by the GNO volume, page, and line
number.
I am deeply grateful to Regent College in Vancouver for granting me a
sabbaticalduringthewintersemesterof2011,whichwasmoreproductivethan
Ihaddaredtohope.IalsoappreciatetheJohnRichardAllisonLibrary’sinvest-
mentinGregory’sworks,includingtheLexiconGregorianum.Iamgratefulto
DavidKonstanforplacingatmydisposalthesoon-to-be-publishedtranslationof
Gregory’s sermons on the Song of Songs. Stuart G. Hall and Carla Nicolaye
kindlyprovidedmewiththemostup-to-datetranslationofContraEunomium
III,anearlierversionofwhichiscurrentlyonline(http://theo.kuleuven.be/page/
translations).RichardMcCambley,too,hasbeenmosthelpfulinrespondingto
myrequestsforassistanceinacquiringthenecessaryresources.
Iwanttoexpressmythankfulnesstothosewhohavereadvariouschapters
ofthemanuscript.CommentsandsuggestionsfromJohnBehr,PaulBlowers,
Markus Bockmuehl, David Brakke, Ron Dart, Fritz Dewit, Jim Fodor, Bruce
Hindmarsh, Susan Holman, Mark Husbands, Mariam Kamell, Matthew
Levering, Brian Matz, and Jens Zimmermann have immeasurably improved
the end result. In particular, the detailed comments on the entire book
Preface ix
provided by Gerald Boersma, Jim Houston, Peter Martens, Dick Moes,
Andrew Radde-Gallwitz, Ilaria Ramelli, and Warren Smith place me deeply
intheirdebt.Myresearchassistants,JonathanReimerandMatthewThomas,
are among the best, and I owe them a warm thank-you for their meticulous
workandkindhelp.
Interaction with my students has forced me to think through various
aspects of St. Gregory’s theology more carefully and to articulate my often
inchoate thoughts more coherently. I hope that my students enjoyed the
researchseminarsonNyssenasmuchasIdid.NickPapasgraciouslygranted
mepermissiontodonthecoverofthisbookwiththeiconofSt.Gregorythat
hewrote;Ican’tthinkofamorefittingandbeautifulcover.Imuchappreciate
thewonderfulworkingrelationshipwithTomPerridgeandElizabethRobot-
tom from Oxford University Press, and it is an honor to have my work
accepted by Gillian Clark and Andrew Louth in the Oxford Early Christian
Studies series. I have put the concluding touches on this book during the
Christmasseason,asallfiveofourchildren,aswellastheirsignificantothers,
havereturnedhomefromtheirvariousplacesofstudytocelebrateChristmas
with our family. Along with my wife, Linda—whose loving support sustains
me in much more than just my writing—I am grateful for our children’s
presence,asImoreandmorerecognizethetremendousgracethattheyhave
added to our lives. I dedicate this book to them in thankfulness for their
unconditionallove.
HansBoersma
Epiphany,2012