The Power of God: Δύναμις in Gregory of Nyssa's Trinitarian Theology

352 Pages·2011·1.623 MB·English

by  Michel René Barnes

The Power of God

 ´ 
The Power of God
Du´nami" in Gregory of Nyssa’s Trinitarian Theology
TheCatholicUniversityofAmericaPress
Washington,D.C.
Copyright(cid:1)
TheCatholicUniversityofAmericaPress
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ThepaperusedinthispublicationmeetstheminimumrequirementsofAmeri-
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LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationData
Barnes,MichelR.
ThepowerofGod:Du´nami"inGregoryofNyssa’sTrinitariantheology/
MichelRene´Barnes.
p.cm.
Arevisionoftheauthor’sthesis(Ph.D.)—UniversityofSt.Michael’s
College.
Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex.
.Trinity—Historyofdoctrines—Earlychurch,ca.–. .Power
(Christiantheology)—Historyofdoctrines—Earlychurch,ca.–.
.Dynamis(TheGreekword) .Gregory,ofNyssa,Saint,ca.–ca.—
ContributionsindoctrineoftheTrinity.
.Title.
.B 
(cid:1).(cid:1)—dc
-
---(alk.paper)
ForCCCandDeeDee
sanzadeliocchiaverpiu` conoscenza,
peroccultavirtu` chedaleimosse,
d’anticoamorsent`ılagranpotenza.
Dante,Purgatorio

Contents
PrefaceandAcknowledgments ix
ListofAbbreviations xii
Chronologies xiii
Introduction 
. TheOriginsandSignificanceofDu´nami"
inPreplatonicPhilosophy 
. TheRoleofDu´nami"inPlato’sPhilosophy 
. Du´nami"asaTheologicalTermamongPagans
andChristiansintheEarlyCommonEra 
. DoctrinesofPowerintheNiceneand
Pro-NiceneControversies 
. Eunomius’TheologyoftheTrinity 
. ThePro-NiceneDoctrineofDivineProductivity 
. GregoryofNyssaontheUnityofNatureandPower 
Bibliography 
Indices 

Preface and Acknowledgments
    yet fragile about having
one’sfirstbook published.Aworkof intenseintimacyisturned outonto
the public world where strangers pass judgment. Happily, the passage of
thewritingfromprivatetopublicisalsoanopportunityfordebtstobeac-
knowledged, which begins the act of repayment, an act that can never be
completed. The book before you is a revised version of the doctoral dis-
sertation I wrote at the University of St. Michael’s College, Toronto, co-
directedby(alphabetically)JoanneMcWilliamandJohnRist.Thedisserta-
tioncontainedmaterialfrommyTh.M.thesis,directedbyJohnEgan,S.J.
My debt to these generous scholars and teachers has to be acknowledged
immediately,sincetheireffortsmadethismomentpossible.Forthesecond
phaseofthiswriting,namelythebookform,IamgratefultoTheCatholic
University of America Press, David McGonagle, Susan Needham, and my
anonymousreviewers.
Ihavehadthebenefitofagoodeducation.Probablythemostdecisive
eventinmyadultlifewasmyfouryearsatSt.John’sCollege,SantaFe,New
Mexico (sister to the older campus in Annapolis, Maryland). Fr. Michael
Ossorgin, now passed on, introduced me to “the Greeks”—from Homer
toAristotle.Itwasagentlebutdeeplyenthusiasticintroduction.Thesame
gentlenesswas therewhenFr. Michaelintroducedsome ofusto thetrea-
sures of the Orthodox tradition (a completely different set of “Greeks”)
and brought our souls back home (even if, as in my case, home was the
Catholic Church). But some vision is not gentle: Dennis Higgins taught