Table Of ContentGregory of Nyssa and
the Concept of Divine
Persons
LUCIAN TURCESCU
OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS
Gregory of Nyssa and the
Concept of Divine Persons
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2005
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Turcescu, Lucian.
Gregory of Nyssa and the concept of divine persons / Lucian Turcescu.
p. cm.—(American Academy of Religion academy series)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN-13 978-0-19-517425-0
ISBN 0-19-517425-9
1. Trinity—History of doctrines—Early church, ca. 30–600. 2. Gregory, of Nyssa, Saint,
ca. 335–ca. 394. I. Title. II. Series.
BT109.T87 2004
231'.044'092—dc22 2004005194
9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Printed in the United States of America
on acid-free paper
To Luc and Lavinia
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Acknowledgments
This book owes a great deal to Paul Fedwick and John Rist of the
University of Toronto, who codirected the doctoral dissertation that
was the basis of this book. After my memorable, almost weekly,
meetings with Paul over coffee and donuts at the Tim Hortons cof-
fee shop at Bay and Bloor in Toronto, I always left with new ideas
for the book. The numerous and very detailed letters John sent me
from Cambridge or Tuscany have been a major help, especially with
the philosophical sections of this book. I wish to thank both of them
for their support and friendship.
Many scholars who heard various parts of this book at confer-
ences of the Canadian Society of Patristic Studies and the North
American Patristic Society provided helpful input. There are too
many names to mention, but in particular I would like to thank Pe-
ter Widdicombe (McMaster University) and my colleague Margaret
MacDonald (St. Francis Xavier University). Sarah Coakley (Harvard
University) has taken a keen interest in my work on Gregory of
Nyssa and has encouraged me to pursue it in every possible way.
The encouragement I received from the American Academy of
Religion series editor Kimberley Rae Connor (University of San
Francisco) and Oxford University Press editor Cynthia Read has
been very important to me, as were the comments I received from
two anonymous reviewers. I would also like to thank my good
friends Vivian Olender, Naomi Gold, and Daniel Rakus, who all
proofread various drafts of chapters, as well as the editors from
viii acknowledgments
Oxford University Press who helped me to improve the quality of my writing.
I also want to thank my research assistant, Sarah Gallant, for her help with the
index.
This book would not have been possible without the constant support,
kindness, and love offered by my wife, Lavinia Stan (St. Francis Xavier Uni-
versity), who not only read the many drafts of each chapter and provided valu-
able input, but also listened patiently to my incessant perorations on the subject
and put up with my procrastination. Her mother, Sabina, was also instrumental
in inspiring and supporting me during my doctoral years.
The completion of this book in a timely fashion was possible through the
financial support of my university through a University Council of Research
grant in 2001–2002 for which I wish to express my gratitude here.
Foreword
Basil of Caesarea (ca. 330–379) was never kind to his younger
brother Gregory of Nyssa (ca. 335–395). During Basil’s negotiations
with Western churches in the 370s, Gregory’s name was suggested
to head the mission, and Basil strongly opposed it on the grounds
that his younger brother lacked diplomatic skills. All the conflict
seems to have started or at least got aggravated beyond repair when,
in order to reconcile Basil to their feuding uncle, Gregory forged a
letter from the latter extending an olive branch to Basil. When Basil
excitedly accepted the gesture from his uncle he was more than dis-
pleased when the uncle denied having taken any steps toward recon-
ciliation. During Basil’s heavy involvement with the reform of the
Eustathian type of asceticism, Gregory, who was married, was some-
what paradoxically engaged in writing a book in praise of virginity.
Despite Gregory’s polite and very highly encomiastic references to
Basil, there was one incident for which Gregory, along with Gregory
of Nazianzus, had reasons to resent Basil’s overbearing character:
the forced ordination of both Gregorys as bishops to two non-
existing sees (Nyssa and Sasima), in order to secure for Basil more
influence after the province of Cappadocia was divided into two
provinces.
Soon after Basil’s death on 1 January 379, however, Gregory of
Nyssa burst onto the scene, both as an active champion of orthodoxy
and as an original thinker and very gifted writer. Without admitting
it, he rewrote Basil’s work Against Eunomius of Cyzicus and the
