ST Gregory The Theologian's Existential Metanarrative of History

CAPPADOCIAN LEGACY
A Critical Appraisal
Edited by
Doru Costache and Philip Kariatlis
St Andrew’s Orthodox Press

Sydney, 2013
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Text copyright © 2013 remains with the authors
All rights reserved. Except for any fair dealing permitted under the Copyright Act,
no part of this book may be reproduced by any means without prior permission.
Inquiries should be made to the publisher.
National Library of Australia Cataloguing-‐in-‐Publication entry
Title: Cappadocian legacy / Doru Costache and Philip Kariatlis (eds).
ISBN: 978-‐0-‐9775974-‐9-‐9 (paperback)
Notes: Includes bibliographical references and index.
Subjects: Gregory, of Nazianzus, Saint.

Basil, Saint, Bishop of Caesarea,
approximately 329-‐379.
Gregory, of Nyssa, Saint,
approximately 335-‐approximately 394
Theology-‐-‐Early works to 1800
Christian saints-‐-‐Biography-‐-‐Early works to 1800.
Other Authors/Contributors:
Costache, Doru, editor.
Kariatlis, Philip, editor.
Dewey Number: 230
St Andrew’s Orthodox Press

242 Cleveland Street, Redfern, NSW, 2016
www.standrewsorthodoxpress.com.au

Contents
PREFACE ..................................................................................................................................................5
1. THE CAPPADOCIANS WITHIN TRADITION

The Cappadocian Fathers as Founders of Byzantine Thought
David Bradshaw .....................................................................................................................................11
Were the Fathers Proponents of a Familial Imago Trinitatis?
Adam G. Cooper ..................................................................................................................................23
2. THE LEGACY OF ST BASIL THE GREAT

St Basil the Great’s Exposition of Nicene Orthodoxy
John Anthony McGuckin ......................................................................................................................47
Why Didn’t St Basil Write in New Testament Greek?
John A. L. Lee ............................................................................................................................................61
Light (ɔᛟɑ/ɔȽᛒɐɇɑ) and its Liturgical Foundation in the Teaching
of St Basil the Great
Adrian Marinescu ..................................................................................................................................77
Christian Worldview: Understandings from St Basil the Great
Doru Costache .........................................................................................................................................97
St Basil’s Trinitarian Doctrine: A Harmonious Synthesis of
Greek Paideia and the Scriptural Worldview
Philip Kariatlis .....................................................................................................................................127
The Recapitulation of History and the “Eighth Day”:
Aspects of St Basil the Great’s Eschatological Vision
Mario Baghos........................................................................................................................................151
St Basil the Great as Educator: Implications from the Address to Youth
Dimitri Kepreotes ................................................................................................................................169
3. THE LEGACY OF ST GREGORY THE THEOLOGIAN
The Teachings of Gregory of Nazianzus on the Trinity

Archbishop Stylianos of Australia ................................................................................................187
Self-‐Knowledge and Knowledge of God
according to St Gregory the Theologian
Georgios Mantzarides .......................................................................................................................203

Gregory the Theologian – A Spiritual Portrait
Archbishop Stylianos of Australia ................................................................................................215
Seeking Out the Antecedents of the Maximian
Theory of Everything: St Gregory the Theologian’s Oration 28.
Doru Costache ......................................................................................................................................225
“What then? Is the Spirit God? Certainly!” St Gregory’s Teaching
on the Holy Spirit as the Basis of the World’s Salvation
Scripture in the Works of St Gregory the Theologian
Margaret Beirne ..................................................................................................................................261
St Gregory the Theologian’s Existential Metanarrative of History
Mario Baghos........................................................................................................................................275
Features of the Theandric Mystery of Christ in
the Christology of St Gregory the Theologian
Anthony Papantoniou .......................................................................................................................299
4. THE LEGACY OF ST GREGORY OF NYSSA
Divine Providence and Free Will in Gregory of Nyssa

and his Theological Milieu
Bronwen Neil ........................................................................................................................................315
“Dazzling Darkness” The Mystical or Theophanic
Theology of St Gregory of Nyssa
Approaching An Apology for the Hexaemeron:
Its Aims, Method and Discourse
Doru Costache ......................................................................................................................................349
Spiritual Enrichment through Exegesis: St Gregory of Nyssa
and the Scriptures
Margaret Beirne ..................................................................................................................................373
Reconsidering Apokatastasis in St Gregory of Nyssa’s
On The Soul and Resurrection and the Catechetical Oration
Mario Baghos........................................................................................................................................387
INFORMATION ABOUT THE CONTRIBUTORS .................................................................. 417

St Gregory the Theologian’s Existential Metanarrative
of History
Mario Baghos
Abstract: Faith in God as Trinity undoubtedly conditioned St Greg-‐
ory the Theologian’s view of the historical continuum. In fact, the
saint interpreted history through the lens of what we can call a met-‐
anarrative, a totalising or all-‐encompassing interpretive framework,
which has existential import. Addressing the critical challenge of the
dissolution of metanarratives and the analogous rise of scepticism/
nihilism in contemporary historiography, by exploring some of St
Gregory’s orations this article elicits and constructs his existential
metanarrative of history. The article demonstrates that the Theolo-‐
gian has contributed a view of history that is not only holistic, but by
focusing on the gradual disclosure of the trinitarian God and having
ϐǡ
what in some historical trends has been viewed as meaningless or
ϐǤ
This article will address what has often been viewed as the meaningless
ϐǡǡ
appropriating the concept of the metanarrative and giving it an existential
nuance, before reinterpreting it from within the domain of patristic studies;
ϐ
Ǥ
approach is useful in order to demonstrate that an existential metanarra-‐
tive of history can be found in the Theologian’s orations. Although neither
method can claim exclusivity, my goal is to demonstrate that the theological
interpretation of history1 elicited from the works of St Gregory is just as
This version combines and elaborates upon two of my previous articles on the topic, namely,
‘The Meaning of History: Insights from St Gregory the Theologian’s Existential Metanarrative’
Colloquium 43:1 (2011): 17-‐38, and ‘St Gregory the Theologian’s Metanarrative of History’
Phronema 26:2 (2011): 63-‐79. I am grateful to Fr Dr Doru Costache for inspiring me to under-‐
take an interdisciplinary approach in this article, and for all of his pertinent comments. I would
also like to express my appreciation for the insightful suggestions made by Professor Adrian
Marinescu and Dr Bronwen Neil, relating to both its content and style.
275

valid as any secular approach, revealing aspects that have been obscured
by the sceptic and even nihilistic outcomes of some trends in contemporary
ǡǮǯ-‐
Ǥϐ
void left in contemporary historiography by its widespread neglect, this
ǦϐǦ
of St Gregory’s Fifth Theological Oration (Oration 31) in order to elicit the
characteristics of the theological metanarrative which unfolds within the
Ǯǡǯ
ǯǦ-‐
closure as three persons; Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. It will then interpret
these features within the framework of chapters 10-‐13 of his Oration 38,
where the historical metanarrative in Oration 31 can be framed within the
cosmic work of God the Son, who both initiates the age with his creation of
the world(s) and will return to consummate it as promised (that is, at the
second coming). It will conclude by asserting that, for St Gregory, the grad-‐
ual disclosure of God’s trinitarian life, framed by and localised in the person
and work of Jesus Christ, constitutes the cornerstone of his existential met-‐
anarrative of history. To this end, the conclusion will attempt to reiterate
ϐǯ
to contemporary historiography.
Setting the Parameters for the Metanarrative and the Problem of Mod-‐
ern Historiography
According to narratologists John Stephens and Robyn McCallum, a meta-‐

ϐǲ
which orders and explains knowledge and experience.”2 In other words, a
metanarrative is a universal (or, all-‐encompassing) interpretive framework
that seeks to give meaning to what we know and what we experience, that
is, to our own personal and collective sub-‐narratives. It is therefore existen-‐
tial, as it informs who we are as human persons, and can be used across a
1
It must be stated from the outset that St Gregory the Theologian never attempted his-‐
toriography per se. What I have done in this article is elicit the theological or patristic
approach towards the historical continuum from some of his works, which, it will be
seen, is in the form of a metanarrative.
2
John Stephens and Robyn McCallum, Retelling Stories, Framing Culture: Traditional Story

and Metanarratives in Children’s Literature (New York: Routledge, 1998), 6. I would like
to thank Fr Dr Doru Costache for suggesting the concept of the metanarrative as an ele-‐
gant means of expressing this totalising/universal approach to history.
276

range of disciplines, including literature, history, philosophy, and theology.
Although contributed only recently by post-‐modernism, the metanarrative
Ǥϐ
of the Greco-‐Roman historian Polybius. Inspired by the expansion of the
Roman state in the second century before Christ, which he believed was
effectuated by Fate or Tyche, he stated:
… nobody else among our contemporaries has set out to write a gen-‐
eral history; certainly if they had done so I should have far less incen-‐
tive to make the attempt myself. But as it is I notice that while various
historians deal with isolated wars and certain of the subjects con-‐
nected with them, nobody, so far as I am aware, has made any effort
to examine the general and comprehensive scheme of events, when
ǡǡϐ
[ɒ᚝ɋɁᚓɈȽɅɟɉɍɓɈȽᚷɐɓɉɉɛȾɁɄɋɍᚫɈɍɋɍɊɜȽɋɒᛟɋɀɂɀɍɋɟɒɘɋɎɟɒɂɈȽᚷ
ɎɟɅɂɋᛙɏɊɛɅɄɈȽᚷɎᛟɑᚍɐɖɂɒ᚝ɋɐɓɋɒɚɉɂɇȽɋ].3
Polybius’ interpretive method seems to be one of the earliest examples of a
conscious or deliberate attempt at a metanarrative in historiography. Inter-‐
ested in how “the general and comprehensive scheme of events” begins and
ends, he avoided what he called an episodical or particularist approach to
history; instead offering his metanarrative for the pedagogical formation of
his readers4Ȃǲϐ
of history affords.”5ǡǯǮǯ-‐
plications for both himself and the reader; a concept that we must now also
explore. Not to be confused with the philosophical movement of the same
name, the term existential relates to questions arising from humankind’s
multifaceted experience and purpose. Our application of this concept to
the historical metanarrative is in fact legitimated by the nineteenth century
Danish philosopher Søren Kierkegaard’s assertion that it is the task of the
historian to stand “at the past, moved by the passion, which is the passion-‐
ate sense for becoming – i.e. wonder.”6ǡϐ
3
Polybius, The Rise and Fall of the Roman Empire [i.e. the Histories], trans. Ian Scott-‐Kilvert

(London: Penguin Group, 1979), 44. I have chosen to reference the most recent English
translation, but have included the Greek text from an outdated bi-‐lingual (Greek-‐English)
edition that, although often reprinted, has not been revised since 1922. Cf. Polybius, The
Histories: Book I.4 in The Histories: Books I-‐2, trans. W. R. Paton, revised by F. W. Walbank
and Christian Habicht, in Loeb Classical Library (Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard
University Press, 2010), 10.
4
Cf. Polybius, The Rise of the Roman Empire, 41.
5
Ibid, 45.
6
Søren Kierkegaard, Philosophical Crumbs, trans. M. G. Piety, in Repetition and Philosoph-‐

ical Crumbs (New York: Oxford University Press, 2009), 147.
277

the writing of the general scheme of history is both formative and pleasur-‐
able, Kierkegaard observed that history is the realm of becoming, within
which the historian, in his approach to what comes to be, is himself moved
by a sense of passionate wonder. Moreover, we saw that Polybius was not
ǡǲϐ-‐
nal result” or ɐɓɋɒɚɉɂɇȽɋ, a compound that literally means “consummation”7
and contains within itself the word ɒɚɉɍɑ – which here denotes the goal or
end towards which all of history is oriented. Kierkegaard also spoke of a
telos to history, which lies both beyond and behind its progress.8 In other
words, the driving force or impetus of the historical process of becoming,
that which makes things move, is also the goal towards which history is di-‐
rected. Interpreted from a Christian perspective, the telos of history simul-‐
taneously constitutes its underlying reason or its logos, and this logos is to
ϐǡ
Ǧ Ǥ
These concepts – movement, becoming, logos and telos – will be em-‐
ployed consistently throughout this article in order to adequately convey
St Gregory’s nuanced historical vision, which I will address in the second
part. For now we must turn to the main challenge, namely, that contem-‐
porary historiography has been for the most part deprived of existential
meaning via the death of the metanarrative – especially as interpreted from
the vantage point of theology. There is, of course, irony in the fact that the
same philosophical movement that contributed the terminus technicus of
the metanarrative is also in some ways responsible for depriving it of exis-‐
ϐǤǦǡ-‐
ϐǦȂ
theological or otherwise – that shaped Western modes of thinking up until
Ǥ ϐ
and therefore stimulating framework, post-‐modernism has been principal-‐
ϐ Ǧ ǡǯ-‐
nents, as “incredulity towards meta-‐narratives.”9 Keith Jenkins, an advocate
of applying post-‐modernist thought to the interpretation of the historical
7
ǮɐɓɋɒɚɉɂɇȽǯ
ǡA Greek-‐English Lexicon (Oxford:

Clarendon Press, 1996), 1725-‐726.

8
Concerning the notion of history as a process of movement and becoming, Kierkegaard

wrote that “in all such progress there is in every moment a pause (here, wonder stands
in pausa and waits for becoming), which is the pause of becoming and possibility, pre-‐
ɒɚɉɍɑǤǡɒɚɉɍɑ
not outside, but in the progress itself, indeed behind it, as in the case of the progress of
immanence.” Philosophical Crumbs, 147.
9
Ǧ ǡThe Post-‐Modern Condition: A Report on Knowledge, trans. Geoff

Bennington and Brian Massumi, in Theory and History of Literature, vol. 10 (Minneapo-‐
lis: University of Minnesota Press, 1984), xxiv.
278

past and the writing of history (or historiography, which he distinguish-‐
es),10 gave an adequate exposition of Lyotard’s rather absolutist assertion
in his famous work Rethinking HistoryǤϐǣ
ǥǮǯ-‐
turing (metaphysical) stories which have given meaning(s) to western
developments have been drained of vitality. After the nineteenth-‐cen-‐
tury announcements of the death of God [i.e. the theological metanar-‐
rative], the death of secular surrogates has occurred.11
It is clear that Jenkins referred not only to the death of theological metanar-‐
ratives (and, in this case, it is more accurate to use the plural) in a post-‐mod-‐
ern framework, but also to the death of secular interpretive frameworks
that claimed to be all encompassing or universal in scope; secular interpre-‐
ϐȋǡ
Liberalist, etc.).12 As a result, the metanarrative has been tragically very of-‐
ten ignored across the plethora of investigative disciplines, post-‐modern-‐
ism being one of the very few philosophical trends which has actively en-‐
gaged with the concept in both positive and negative ways.
Jenkins went on to make a rather general claim that “scepticism or,

more strongly, nihilism, just do now provide the dominant, underlying in-‐
ǮǤǯǳ13 The extent of the dissolution of
the metanarrative interpreted theologically and the resulting nihilism can
be traced throughout some of the major historiographical works of the
twentieth century. Writing in 1960, a period conditioned by “the picture
of impending doom”14 following the Second World War, E. H. Carr’s What is
History? – which constitutes one of the classic primers for historical theory
– still (though, very infrequently) engaged with theology. Quick to espouse
his personal belief in the complete separation of what he called divine and
secular history,15ϐǡǡ
standard outside of history which contradicts the latter’s very essence as a
process of movement,16 and, on the other, that if the world [i.e. this process
ȐǮǯǮǯȂ
10
Cf. Keith Jenkins, Re-‐thinking History (New York: Routledge, 2007), 7.
11
Ibid, 71-‐72.
12
Cf. Ibid, 72.
13
Ibid, 76.
14
E. H. Carr, What is History? ed. R. W. Davies (Victoria, Australia: Penguin Group, 2008), 4.

15
Cf. Ibid, 74-‐75.
16
Cf. Ibid, 83.
279

history would relapse into theology, “that is to say, a study not of human
achievement but of the divine purpose.”17
Ǯǯ
ϐȋ-‐
Ȍϐ-‐
riographical works, such as Jenkins’ aforementioned monograph which
summarises the Christian approach to history in an ironic manner,18 and
ȋȌϐ
positivist or empiricist approach to history and the revisionist approaches
put forward by some post-‐modern thinkers. In the mid-‐1990’s, the late his-‐
torical theorist Arthur Marwick (who represented, however unconsciously,
the positivist or empiricist tradition) lashed out against post-‐modernists,
Ǯǯ -‐
proach to history that likened it more to literature than the hard sciences19
ȋǡǡǮǯ
derives from the Greek word for narration,ᚯɐɒɍɏɇɍɀɏȽɔɜȽ). Much of Mar-‐
wick’s ire was directed against Hayden White, perhaps one of the most er-‐
ǡϐ
history as a series of events that are then organised and explained, which
ǮǯǮǡǯ20 conveniently lends
itself to a metanarrational interpretation.21 In both Marwick’s critique of
17
Ibid, 124-‐25.
18
Discussing the pursuit for truth in historical study, a truth which he believes is ultimate-‐

ly unattainable, Jenkins summarised the Christian position, amongst others, as follows:
“Also crucial are Christian arguments that the word of God was the word of Truth, and
that knowing him was knowing Truth; that Christianity provides criteria for judging ev-‐
erything and everyone on the scales of right and wrong.” Re-‐thinking History, 35.
19
ϐ Ǥ Ǥ ǡ Ǯ -‐

ǣ ȋ ǮǯȌ
Historical’ Journal of Contemporary History 30:1 (1995), 19, 24.
20
Ibid, 19.
21
In his seminal work, Metahistory: The Historical Imagination in Nineteenth Century

Europe (Baltimore, Maryland: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1973), ix, Hayden
White put forward the following interpretive method in his preface: “[histories] contain
ǡϐǡ
Ǯǯ
ǤǮǯ-‐
torical works that are more comprehensive in scope than the monograph or archival re-‐
port.” Here, White was actually delineating the concept of the metanarrative interpreted
from the perspective of the linguistic constructions inhering within any given historical
work.
280

the post-‐modernists and White’s response,22 the two thinkers enunciated
the various disciplines with which history can positively engage. These in-‐
clude, sociology, economics, anthropology, ethnography, etc. with the latter
obviously mentioning philosophy, but there is no mention of theology.23 The
lack of interest in theology is reiterated in Beverly Southgate’s summary of
Ǯ ǯ
ǮǯȋȌ-‐
dations of the discipline, which can be conceptual, philosophical, political
or linguistic.24 Once again there is no mention of theology, and even today
ϐ ǡ ǡ
mere superstition in many of the specialist histories addressing theological
issues.25
This overwhelming neglect of theology or the theological metanarra-‐

tive has been analogous with another closely related phenomenon, which is
ϐper se. Carr, for example,
Ǯǡǯ
erroneous approaches of some of his contemporaries before hypothetically
responding: “I shall look out on a world in tumult and a world in travail,
ǦǣǮȂ
moves.’”26 This means that, presumably, Carr acknowledged the inexorable
chaos that is history and acceded that this chaos would continue in much
the same way. Even Southgate in her brief summary referred to above, stat-‐
ed that the historian “has to make sense of the past, imposing order on the
chaos by deliberate exclusion.”27 ϐ
forward from Carr, still for Southgate order needs to be imposed ad extra,
meaning that for both authors history was essentially chaotic. More recent-‐
ly still, the critical historical theorist Sande Cohen published his aptly ti-‐
tled Passive Nihilism which undertook a broad sceptical approach not just
to various historiographical models, but also to the disciplines of “cultural
and science studies, neopsychoanalysis, curatorial and art discourse,” all of
22
ǤǡǮǯJournal of Contemporary History 30:2
(1995): 233-‐46.
23
ʹ͵͵ǡǡǮ-‐

torical Study,’ 22.

24
ǤǡǮǣǯJournal of Con-‐

temporary History 31:1 (1996), 209.

25
ϐ ǯ The Early Byzantine Historians

(Great Britain: Palgrave Macmillan, 2010), xiii, which exhibits a general scepticism to-‐
ϐǤ
26
Carr, What is History?, 156.
27
ǡǮǣǡǯʹͳʹǤ
281

which were chosen precisely because “they textually show how scholarly
writing reinvents cultural historiography” – a construct denoting the “uses
and abuses of history,” with the author emphasising the latter.28 In light of
all this, whilst it is true for authors such as White and Jenkins that history
as a construct can in fact be meaningful for particular peoples/cultures/
ethnic groups depending on their respective interpretations, much modern
historiography29 – represented here by Carr, Southgate and Cohen – never-‐
theless remains deprived of any sense of movement or becoming, and their
corollaries, the logos that facilitates movement and the telos that functions
as both the logos and the end goal of the process of becoming, have be-‐
come reproachable chimeras. As a result, nihilism, cynicism, and atheism
Ǥϐ
the theological metanarrative or a patristic approach to history. Indeed, the
theological metanarrative, interpreted existentially, can offer a solution to
this experiential dilemma in the writing of history insofar as it puts forward
a comprehensive account that reaches to the core of the human experience
throughout the age or ȽᚫᛟɋǤ ϐǡ -‐
ing the historical continuum to our immediate episodical experiences (or
ǦȌϐǡ
St Gregory expounded a vision where the entire age is inaugurated by and
directed towards God the Logos on a cosmic level, becoming the domain
within which God discloses himself as three persons. But before moving
to the former aspect, we must observe those features of his totalising ap-‐
proach in the Fifth Theological Oration (that is, Oration 31) wherein the
saint highlighted the gradual revelation of the trinitarian God throughout
the historical continuum, thereby laying the groundwork for his existential
metanarrative.
28
Sande Cohen, Passive Nihilism: Cultural Historiography and the Rhetoric of Scholarship
(New York: St Martin’s Press, 1999), 2-‐3.
29
ǮǣǡǯIdeology In Social Science: Reading in Critical
Social Theory, ed. R. Blackburn (Glasgow: Fontana, 1977), 104, Gareth Stedman Jones
demonstrated the nihilism inherent in English historiography post World War One: “In
England, however, historians were unprepared for the shock of the First World War, and
when the illusions of liberal England were suddenly shattered they were left in an intel-‐
ǤϐǤ
ǤǤǡǡͳͻͲ͵Ǯ-‐
ǡǯǡͳͻͳ͸ϐ
ǡǮǯǯȂǮǯǤǤǤǤ -‐
er, an arch-‐liberal ideologue, concluded that history had no meaning after all.” In light
ǡǯǯϐȋȌǡ
which was exacerbated by World War Two.
282

Some Characteristics of St Gregory’s Metanarrative in the Fifth Theo-‐
logical Oration
ǡǦϐ
his Fifth Theological Orationǡ
ϐ ǲ
two transformations of life manifested out of the entire age [ɒɍᛒ ɎȽɋɒᛂɑ
Ƚᚫᛟɋɍɑ].”30 In his Hexaemeron, St Basil the Great, a contemporary and friend

ǡϐthe one day of creation (ᚘɊɚɏȽɊɜȽ) mentioned in
the Septuagint translation of Genesis with the recapitulation of all histo-‐
ry from the beginning of creation to that which paradoxically lies beyond
it – i.e. the eschatological “eighth day” – a summary that he analogously
referred to as the Ƚᚫᛟɋ or age.31 It is clear that St Gregory was here attempt-‐
ing a similar all-‐encompassing approach to history with his statement ɒɍᛒ
ɎȽɋɒᛂɑȽᚫᛟɋɍɑ, which literally refers to “the entire age” but can be under-‐
Ǯǡǯ
the cosmos as mentioned above. We have seen that this macro or univer-‐
sal approach is a characteristic of the metanarrative insofar as it attempts
to give a comprehensive account of the historical drama and the persons,
events or sub-‐narratives that it includes. St Gregory then went on to clarify
that the two life-‐changing transformationsǲǮǡǯǡ
ǡǮǯȏɐɓɐɊɍᚷ ɀ᚞ɑ]”32 be-‐
ϐǣ
ϐȏȐ
Law; the second, from Law to the Gospel. The Gospel also tells of the
third “earthquake,” the change from this present state of things to
what lies unmoved, unshaken, beyond.33
30
Fifth Theological Oration (Oration 31): On the Holy Spirit 25, trans. Frederick Williams,

in St Gregory of Nazianzus: On God and Christ: The Five Theological Orations and the Two
Letters to Cledonius, Popular Patristics Series 23 (Crestwood, NY: St Vladimir’s Seminary
Press, 2002), at 136 (PG 36, 160D). Unless otherwise stated, all quotations from the
Fifth Theological Oration, referenced throughout as Oration 31, will be taken from this
translation and will include the chapter and page numbers. The Patrologia Graeca will
be referenced only when I have included the Greek text, or have translated it myself.
31
Cf. Hexaemeron 2.8 in Exegetical Homilies, trans. Agnes Clare Way, The Fathers of the
Church Series, vol. 46 (Washington D.C: The Catholic University of America Press, 2003),
͵͵Ǧ͵͸ȋ
ʹͻǡͶͺǦͷʹȌǤ ǡᚘɊɚɏȽɊɜȽ
climax of creation, thereby recapitulating within itself all of history from beginning to
end as metaphorically illustrated by the creation narrative of Genesis, as well as para-‐
doxically including the transcendent “eighth day” symbolising the eschaton. For a de-‐
ǡᚘɊɚɏȽ
ɊɜȽǡthe ȽᚫᛟɋǲǳǲǡǳǤ
32
Oration 31.25, at 136 (PG 36, 160D).
33
Oration 31.25, at 136.
283

ϐ
ǯ
Law to the prophet Moses, and the second by the revelation of God in the
person of Jesus Christ.34 ϐ ǡ
Ǥϐ-‐
formations – which are not without experiential relevance insofar as they
impact upon the worship and belief of the people of God, however interpret-‐
ed – St Gregory was not interested in episodical events; just those events/
experiences that have resulted in a transformation of life. Transformation,
ǡǤǡǮǯ-‐
terpreted as an existential movement away from idols – which is paganism
ȂȂ Ȃϐ
Gospel. But our present state is also conditioned by movement and becom-‐
ϐ -‐
en and unmoved – i.e. the eschatological state.35 The historical process of
becoming, therefore, contains logos within its telos, manifesting a rational
ϐ Ǥ
Ǥϐ
the moment that the eschaton, according to St Gregory, will be inaugurated
ϐǡǡǡ
seem to lend itself to an apocalyptic interpretation – a sudden and chaotic
disruption of the historical continuum. St Gregory avoided this with refer-‐
Ǯǯǣ
An identical feature occurs in both covenants. The feature? They were
ǡϐ
in hand. We need to know why. It was so that we should be persuaded,
not forced [ᚰɋȽɊ᚝ȾɇȽɐɅᛟɊɂɋǡᙳɉɉᙼɎɂɇɐɅᛟɊɂɋ].36
Far from resulting in chaos or confusion, for the Theologian the earthquakes

ǯϐ
of the historical process for our sakes through the covenants. The earth-‐
quakes signify both a rupture with an existing state and a tangible change
34
Although earthquakes feature often in the Scriptures, in his exposition of the gradual
stages of revelation Fr Georges Florovsky included a translation of the above text (see
footnote 5) within which he bracketed a possible antecedent for St Gregory’s use of this
ǡʹǣ͹ǣǲȋɐɓɐɐɂɜɐɘ – LXX) heaven and earth, sea
and land, and all nations, and the treasure of all nations will come hither.” Georges Flor-‐
ovsky, The Collected Works, vol. 7: The Eastern Fathers of the Fourth Century, trans. C.
Edmunds, ed. R. S. Haugh (Vaduz: Büchervertriebsanstalt, 1987), 127.
35
ǡϐ
St Basil in this volume.
36
Oration 31.25, at 136 (PG 36, 161A).
284

in composition that is precisely analogous to ɊɂɒəɋɍɇȽ, an “earth-‐shatter-‐
ing” change of mind.37 This nuance is emphatically expressed by humanity’s
transition from idols to the Law, and from the Law to the Gospel. St Gregory
then gave the reasons why the transition from one covenant to another oc-‐
ǡϐ
outcome of God’s pedagogical concern. If God applied force then our inter-‐
nal resolve would be unspontaneous and thus impermanent. Instead, God
preferred that “the issue should be ours”38 – that we respond to his call
freely and without coercion.39 Moreover, God acts like a doctor or school-‐
master in removing from us certain unnecessary burdens. The Theologian
declared:
ϐϐǢ
ϐǤǡ
when people had been reconciled to the withdrawal, they agreed to
Ǥϐ-‐
ϐǡ
Gentiles; under the second, circumcision – and they became Chris-‐
tians instead of Jews, brought round gradually, bit by bit, to the Gos-‐
pel [ɒȽᚸɑɈȽɒᙼɊɚɏɍɑɊɂɒȽɅɚɐɂɐɇɈɉȽɎɚɋɒɂɑᚌɎᚷɒᛂɂᛅȽɀɀɚɉɇɍɋȐ. Paul
shall convince you here. He progressed from circumcising and keep-‐
ing ceremonial cleansings to the point of declaring, “But if I, breth-‐
ren, preach circumcision, why am I still being persecuted? [Gal 5:11]”
His earlier conduct was an accommodation to circumstance; his later
conduct belonged to the full truth.40
The gradual changing of the mind of God’s people represented by the cov-‐
enantal earthquakes was thus concretely manifested in the successive con-‐
cessions made by God; concessions which were necessary in order to wean
humanity from idolatry and the Law and for their change in disposition
to be sincere and willing. And these concessions can be viewed as some-‐
ϐǯ
towards circumcision, a ritual that, if undertaken, necessitates the obser-‐
vance of the entire Law. The verse from Galatians 5:11 above is preceded
by a brief argument against the need for circumcision, a practice that the
37
ǤǮɊɂɒəɋɍɇȽǯG. W. H. Lampe, ed., A Patristic Greek Lexicon (Oxford: Clarendon Press,
1961), 855. I would like to thank Fr Dr Doru Costache for suggesting this nuance.
38
39
In other words, the worries expressed by contemporary scholars such as Carr that a

theological metanarrative would entail an effacement of humanity’s role in the historical
ϐǢ
ǯǦ
human history, but a truly synergetic one.
40
Oration 31.25, at 136-‐37 (PG 36, 161B).
285

Apostle would have in fact advocated before his conversion to the Gospel,
but certainly not thereafter.41 His remarks are thus to be interpreted as a
rhetorical response to false allegations of adherence to circumcision and
hence the Law; a response cleverly quoted by St Gregory in his attempt to
demonstrate the dramatic change in attitude by the Apostle to the Gentiles.
Ǯǯ
with the second covenantal earthquake from the Law to the Gospel, illus-‐
ϐ-‐
enant to the next, a movement summed up in St Paul’s personal experience
of becoming.
So far, we have seen that St Gregory described these covenantal

earthquakes as having marked two important existential changes through
omissions or negations relating to ritualistic practices. In the beginning of
chapter twenty-‐six, however, he went on to illustrate their most positive
ǡϐǲǳ42 facilitated by
them occurred through additions – additions which the saint believed took
place with reference to the doctrine or revelation of God as it unfolded in
the historical interim between the Old and New covenants. Here, God’s rev-‐
elation is associated with existential growth culminating in perfection:
In this way, the old covenant made clear proclamation of the Father,
ϐǤ-‐
ifest and gave us a glimpse of the Spirit’s Godhead. At the present
time, the Spirit resides amongst us, giving us a clearer manifestation
of himself than before. It was dangerous for the Son to be preached
openly when the Godhead of the Father was still unacknowledged. It
was dangerous, too, for the Holy Spirit to be made (and here I use a
rather rash expression) an extra burden, when the Son had not yet
been received.43
41
Cf. F. F. Bruce, The Epistle of Paul to the Galatians: A Commentary on the Greek Text (Ex-‐

eter: Paternoster Press, 1982), 236-‐37.

42
Oration 31.26, at 137. This “growth towards perfection” can be understood as tanta-‐

ϐtheosis. According to Norman Russell, the saint placed a great

emphasis on an imitation of Christ to be understood not as adherence to an external
model, but as an internal reshaping through the sacraments and the philosophical life
that allows human beings “to transcend their earthly limitations, with the result that
they are transformed […].” Amongst St Gregory’s favourite expressions to describe this
transformation is the word theosis, the frequency of which is recorded by Russell as part
ǡǡϐ
incarnation, and all that remained was “the believer’s appropriation of this by accepting
baptism and struggling to live the moral life.” Normal Russell, ϔ
in the Greek Patristic Tradition (New York: Oxford University Press, 2004), 214-‐15, 225.
43
286

It is thus made clear that, for the saint, the two covenants had a dual ef-‐
fect – to gradually strip away false beliefs and practices and to manifest the

Ǥϐǡ
Mosaic Law, discredited idolatry and “made clear proclamation of God as
Father,” and the new or second covenant “made the Son manifest and gave
us a glimpse of the Spirit’s Godhead.” St Gregory stated that, in revealing
himself as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, God pedagogically considered hu-‐
manity’s ability to cope with this self-‐disclosure. Indeed, God’s self-‐disclo-‐
sure can result in another type of ɊɂɒəɋɍɇȽǮǯ
of the people to whom he discloses himself; for it is only when the Father
was acknowledged by those to whom he chose to reveal himself that the
Son was subsequently revealed, and likewise with the Spirit, who was only
acknowledged once the Son had been fully received. As with the gradual
concessions that he permitted regarding ritualistic practices, God reveals
himself in stages, lest humans endanger themselves (presumably through
incredulity or misinterpretation), jeopardising what is within their powers
to grasp, as happens, according to St Gregory, “to those encumbered with a
diet too strong for them or who gaze at sunlight with eyes too feeble for it.”44

ϐǡ
was not only received on a conceptual basis but lived experientially was
attested to by the saint:45
No, God meant it to be by piecemeal additions [ɈȽɒᙼ Ɋɚɏɍɑ

ɎɏɍɐɅɛɈȽɇɑ], “ascents” [ᙳɋȽȾəɐɂɐɇȐ as David called them, by prog-‐
ress and advance from glory to glory [ᚌɈɁɟɌɄɑɂᚫɑɁɟɌȽɋɎɏɍɟɁɍɇɑɈȽᚷ
ɎɏɍɈɍɎȽᚸɑȐ, that the light of the Trinity should shine upon more illus-‐
trious souls. This was, I believe, the motive for the Spirit’s making his
home in the disciples in gradual stages [ɈȽᚷɒɍᚸɑɊȽɅɄɒȽᚸɑɈȽɒᙼɊɚɏɍɑ
44
Ibid.
45
Kilian MacDonnell designated God’s gradual self-‐disclosure as a progressive revelation.

He based this assertion on an ostensible remark by St Gregory in chapter twenty-‐six of

his Fifth Theological Oration that there occurred a “progress of the doctrine of God.” Kil-‐
ian MacDonnell, The Other Hand of God: The Holy Spirit as the Universal Touch and Goal
(Collegeville, Minnesotta: Liturgical Press, 2003), 143. However, any word resembling
the notion of dogma or doctrine is missing from the original text (see PG 36, 161C). Behr
ǲǮ
of doctrine.’ There are no new doctrinal facts to be introduced in addition to the gospel,
at some subsequent historical stage. Rather, there is an increasing comprehension of
the truths that it contains, as the contemplative theologian advances in maturity of un-‐
derstanding.” John Behr, Formation of Christian Theology, vol. 2: The Nicene Faith, part 2
(Crestwood, NY: St Vladimir’s Seminary Press, 2004), 368. In other words, the “faith that
was once and for all entrusted to the saints” (Jude 1:3) undergoes no inherent change;
what changes is our understanding in accordance with the “growth towards perfection,”
which I mentioned above.
287

ᚌɎɇɁɄɊɂᚸ]46 proportionate to their capacity to receive him – at the out-‐
set of the gospel when he performs miracles, after the Passion when
he is breathed into the disciples, after the Ascension when he appears
ϐǤ ǡ
can substantiate by a more careful reading. “I will ask the Father,” he
says, “and he will send you another Comforter, the Spirit of Truth” [Jn
14:16-‐17] – intending that the Spirit should not appear to be a rival
God and spokesman of another power. Later he says: “He will send
him in my name” [Jn 14:26] – leaving out “I will ask” but retaining
“He will send.” Later on he says: “I shall send” [15:26] – indicating
the Son’s own rank; and later: “He will come” [16:7] – indicating the
Spirit’s power.47
Thus, for St Gregory, the entire historical process – the metanarrational

“entire age”48 – advanced on a conceptually distinguishable macro and mi-‐
cro level. On a macro level, it moved from one covenantal earthquake to
another – from the revelation of the Father with a glimpse of the Son, to the
revelation of the Son with a glimpse of the Spirit. This movement is associ-‐
ated with a dual process of becoming insofar as God pedagogically weans
humanity from false practices and beliefs to a gradual acquiescence of his
true existence as three persons – as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Indeed,
Jesus unveils the Spirit’s Godhead in stages proportionate to his disciples’
acceptance of him as the Son of God; moving from a request to the Father
ǡǮǯϐ
the Son’s name, culminating in a dual promise that he himself will send
the Spirit and that the Spirit will in fact come. It is therefore clear that this
Ǯǯ
Ǯǯǡ-‐
ing occurs in a much more profound manner was articulated by St Grego-‐
ϐǡǡ

ϐǡ
dwelt permanently “in gradual stages proportionate to their capacity to re-‐
ceive him.” These gradual stages were analogous to the Son’s earthly minis-‐
try and unfolded through the Apostolic witness of Christ’s earliest miracles
ǡ ϐǡ
ǯϐǤ -‐
logian, this Apostolic experience of the Spirit radiantly manifests “growth
46
Oration 31.26, at 137 (PG 36, 164A).
47
Oration 31.26, at 137-‐38 (PG 36, 162C-‐164B).
48
Oration 31.25, at 136 (PG 36, 160D).
288

towards perfection” or theosis.49 That this growth is not yet complete but
Ȃϐ
process – was illustrated by St Gregory in his Oration 38, a text which not
only provides a glimpse into the saint’s eschatology, but also contributes
the proper framework for interpreting the characteristics of his metanarra-‐
tive, insofar as it is framed by and anchored in Jesus Christ.
Framing the Fifth Theological Oration within Oration 38
Putting forward a two-‐stage theory of the creation of the spiritual and ma-‐
terial realms inspired by Platonic cosmology in his Oration 38.10, the saint
expounded upon the creation of the human being as a sort of recapitula-‐
tion of this process, a blending or mixing of the intelligible and material
realms in a single “second world” (Ɂɂɠɒɂɏɍɋ ɈɟɐɊɍɋ),50 what we can call a
microcosm (ɊɇɈɏɟɑ ɈɟɐɊɍɑ).51 Both the creation of the spiritual and mate-‐
rial realms (with the former preceding the latter) and their mystical syn-‐
ǡϐ

eleven, by the Demiurge Logos (ɁɄɊɇɍɓɏɀɍᛒ Ȧɟɀɍɓ),52 who is the Son of

Ǥϐ
something of the divine in its spiritual-‐earthly constitution and, whilst ed-‐
ucated in the here and now, “is transferred elsewhere, and to complete the
ǡϐ
Ǥǳ53 Relating this process
to himself, St Gregory implied that the light and truth he experienced in the
ϐ
end or telos, which he went on to explicate as an experience of “the radiance

ǡȋϐȌ
49
For more on St Gregory’s perception of theosisǡǡǮ-‐
sis according to Gregory,’ in
ǣϔ, eds. Jostein
Bortnes and Tomas Hägg (Copenhagen: Museum Tusculanum Press, 2006), 257-‐70.
50
Cf. Oration 38: On the Nativity 10, trans. Nonna Verna Harrison, in Festal Orations: Saint
Gregory of Nazianzus, Popular Patristics Series 36 (Crestwood, NY: St Vladimir’s Semi-‐
nary Press, 2008), at 67 (PG 36, 321B). Unless otherwise stated, all references to Oration
38 will be from this translation and will include the chapter and page numbers. The
Patrologia Graeca will be referenced only when I have included the Greek text, or have
translated it myself.
51
Tracing the antecedents of the microcosm as it appears in the thought of St Maximus the
ǡϐ
ǯOration 28.22 (PG
36, 57A). See Lars Thunberg, Microcosm and Mediator: The Theological Anthropology of
Maximus the Confessor, 2nd edition (Chicago & La Salle: Open Court, 1995), 135.
52
Cf. Oration 38.11, at 68 (PG 36, 321C).

53
Oration 38.11, at 68-‐69.

289

release me and hereafter will bind me in a higher manner.”54 This is an allu-‐
ϐ
by “the one who has bound” human nature together – i.e. the Demiurge
ǡ Ȃ
ǯϐ
that the eschaton will be precipitated by a third earthquake that has yet to
take place but which will mark “the change from this present state of things
to what lies unmoved, unshaken, beyond.”55 In other words, the universal
telosϐ
realisation in the human persons who are resurrected on the last day – a
ϐǤ
St Gregory seems to perceive the “entire age” as having been inau-‐

gurated with the creation of the worlds by God the Logos before moving
ϐ
Ȃ ϐ-‐
nal earthquake that will translate the cosmos into an unshaken, unmoved
mode of being.56 Indeed, the saint stipulated that the Demiurge Logos both
initiates the historical process with the creation of the cosmos (i.e. the spir-‐
itual and material realms) and implied that – in a manner consistent with
the eschatological teaching of the early Church – the same Demiurge Logos,
the God-‐man Jesus Christ, will return to “bind him in a higher manner,” that
ǡϐǡǡ
ǡϐǤϐ-‐
tion that the telos of history – the end to which it is geared – is also its logos,
and that from a Christian perspective this logosϐ
with none other than the Word of God incarnate, Jesus Christ. This we have
ϐ
ǯǤǡǡ

ϐǡ ǲ ǳ
both creator and consummator, then he indeed simultaneously constitutes
the logos and the telos of the historical process insofar as it begins and ends
with him.57ϐ
this Oration, where, after extolling the birth of Christ, he asked rhetorical-‐
ǣǲǮǯȏͳ ͳǤͳȐǫ
ǮǯȏͳǤͳ͹ǡʹǤͺȐǫȏȮɜɑɍᛅɎɏɍɐɈɓɋɂᚸɒᛂɋᙳɎǯᙳɏɖ᚞ɑǢ
ɒɜɑɍᛅɁɍɌəɃɂɇɒᛂɋɒɂɉɂɓɒȽᚸɍɋǢȐ.”58
54
55
56
A mode of being that transcends history as we have come to know and experience it.
57
ʹʹǣͳ͵ǡǣǲǡϐ

the last, the beginning and the end.”

58
Oration 38.1, at 61 (PG 36, 313A).
290

Contrary, therefore, to the reductionist presentation of the early Church
as establishing, and henceforth being solely preoccupied with, a linear con-‐
ception of history tracing its origins to the creation of the world based on
a literal interpretation of the Old Testament book of Genesis (Anno Mundi)
or, alternately, to the birth of Jesus (Anno Domini), here we see a cycle that
begins and ends with Christ. However, even this cyclical projection might be
ϐǡϐ-‐
erence, it does not account for his presence in the interim, let alone for the
gradual disclosure of the Father, Son (or, the incarnate Logos), and the Holy
Spirit in the historical continuum, a disclosure which initiated that process
of movement and becoming illustrated above. Oration 38 seems to allude to
some of the above-‐mentioned characteristics of the Fifth Theological Ora-‐
tion, whilst bringing out varying nuances and giving a more comprehensive
depiction of St Gregory’s theological metanarrative. Acting as an interpre-‐
tive framework for the above-‐mentioned chapters of the Fifth Theological
Oration, Oration 38 reinforces the fact that, for the Theologian, the disclo-‐
sure of God as Trinity is analogously framed and marked by the person of
God the Son, who, in both his pre-‐incarnate and incarnate modes of being,
permeates the entire historical continuum from alpha to omega.
After situating the Son – the Demiurge Logos – on either end of the
historical spectrum in chapter eleven, St Gregory moved to an allegorical
ϐ
the fall in chapter twelve. Describing the paradisal vegetation as “divine
thoughts,”59 ϐ ȋȌ
cultivate these through contemplation, with the ordinance – delineated in
pedagogical terms – to abstain from contemplating the tree of knowledge.
The tree could only be possessed at the right time in Adam’s spiritual de-‐
velopment or maturation, “just as adult food is not useful for those who are
still tender and in need of milk.”60 Indeed, there is a parallel here with the
self-‐disclosure of God’s existence as Father, Son and Holy Spirit, mediated
to post-‐lapsarian humans in gradual stages (corresponding to the transi-‐
tion from the idols to the Law, and the Law to the Gospel mentioned above)
out of a pedagogical concern for their welfare.
As the exposition unfolds, it mentions the roles of the devil and Eve
who, in their persuasion of Adam, made him forget the commandment giv-‐
en so that he “yielded to the bitter taste”61 of the fruit. The saint then made
59
60
61
291

ǡǮǡǯ
from paradise had a positive dimension,62ϐǣ
And at once he came to be banished from the tree of life and from par-‐
adise and from God because of the evil … He gained a certain advan-‐
tage from this; death is also the cutting off of sin, that evil might not
be immortal, so the punishment becomes love for humankind [ᚰɋȽɊ᚝
ᙳɅəɋȽɒɍɋᚣɒᛂɈȽɈɟɋȉɈȽᚷɀɜɋɂɒȽɇɔɇɉȽɋɅɏɘɎɜȽᚘɒɇɊɘɏɜȽȐ. For thus,
I am persuaded, God punishes.63
Here, the punishment for the transgression or sin (where sin is commen-‐
Ȍ ϐ Ǥ ǡ
advantageous to humans insofar as it curtails the perpetuation of evil. For

ǡϐǡ
ϐǲ
from Creator to creatures”64Ȃǡǡǲϐ
all evils” (ɒᛂɎəɋɒɘɋᚍɐɖȽɒɍɋɒᛟɋɈȽɈᛟɋɈȽᚷɎɏᛟɒɍɋǡɂᚫɁɘɉɍɉȽɒɏɂɜȽɇɑȌ.65
Concluding his discussion on the fall and the problem of evil men-‐
tioned above, St Gregory continued with a two-‐stage divine pedagogy of
ϐ
length in the second section of this paper. Chapter thirteen of his Oration 38
begins with the following exposition:
ϐ ȏɎɍɉɉɍᚸɑ Ɂᚓ
ɎȽɇɁɂɓɅɂᚷɑɎɏɟɒɂɏɍɋ] corresponding to the many sins that sprouted
from the root of evil for different reasons and at different times; by
ǡ ǡ ǡ ϐǡ ǡ ǡ ϐǡ ϐǡ
wars, victories, defeats; signs from heaven, signs from the air, from
earth, from sea; unexpected changes in men, cities, nations; by all this
God sought zealously to wipe out evil. At the end a stronger reme-‐
dy was necessary for more dreadful diseases: murders of each other,
ǡǡǡϐǡ
idolatry and the transfer of worship from Creator to creatures. Since
these things required a greater help, they also obtained something
greater. It was the Word of God himself, the one who is before the
ages, the invisible, the ungraspable, the incorporeal, the Principle
62
This is symbolised by the transition from the contemplation of divine thoughts to
thoughtlessness through hasty consumption (and thence from life to death).
63
Oration 38.12, at 70 (PG 36, 324CD).
64
65
Oration 38.13, at 70 (PG 36, 325A).
292

from the Principle, the light from the light, the source of life and im-‐
mortality, the imprint of the archetypal beauty, the undistorted im-‐
ǡϐ Ǥ66
This exposition puts forward a scheme that was common amongst the saint’s
peers, most notably St Basil.67 In this scheme, sufferings or punishments,
Ǯǯ
creatures, resulted in the sprouting of many sins that were addressed by
God in different historical epochs according to the various circumstances
and manifested especially in the Old Testament. The list of remedies for
this evil – alternating between positive and negative (i.e. word, law, proph-‐
ǡϐvis-‐à-‐visǡǡϐǡϐǡǤȌȂ

Ǥ ǡ ϐ
an attempt to convey that they constituted the means by which God sought
Ǥǡ
ϐ
ϐ
pedagogical; a process which, on account of our vehement obstinacy, “re-‐
quired a greater help” – i.e. the Word or Logos of God himself, who, by way
ǡϐ
truth directly and without hindrance.
Applying in a very basic way the principal of intertextuality with ref-‐
erence to these Gregorian texts, we observe an explicit thematic correla-‐
tion between chapters eleven, twelve, and especially chapter thirteen of
Oration ͵ͺǡ
ǯǦϐFifth
Theological Oration of history as an existential movement from one cov-‐
enantal earthquake to another: from the idols to the Law punctuated by
the revelation of the Father, and from the Law to the Gospel marked by the
incarnation of the Son. Although in that oration the saint expounded upon
the characteristics of what we have called his metanarrative – his view of
ϐǲǳ
– we were not given an insight into their precipitating factors, or, more spe-‐
ϐǡ

(something which both orations maintain). In Oration 38.12-‐13 we observe
that for St Gregory, humanity was punished after the fall with a love of crea-‐
tures and idolatry. Therefore, there is an implicit connection between the
ϐǦϐ
66
Oration 38.13, at 70-‐71 (PG 36, 325AB).
67
Homily Explaining that God is Not the Cause of Evil 5, trans. Nonna Verna Harrison, in On

the Human Condition, Popular Patristics Series 30 (Crestwood, NY: St Vladimir’s Semi-‐
nary Press, 2005), at 71.
293

of the Fifth Theological Oration – the transition from the idols to the Law
– and idolatry as the summit of all post-‐lapsarian evils mentioned in Ora-‐
tion 38.13. In this chapter of the Oration the Law numbers amongst many
inter-‐related responses by God, including his prophets, his word, etc., all of
which were implemented in order to curtail the evils that have their root
in idolatry. And the parallels do not end there. We saw with reference to
the Fifth Theological Oration 25-‐6 that the transition from the idols to the
Law had a dual effect: God was gradually disclosing his trinitarian existence
and leading his people away from idolatry. When interpreted via the lens
of Oration 38.13, we observe that this process was part of a more complex
endeavour to wipe out the evil that sprouted from idolatry. The same can be
said about the transition from the Law to the Gospel mentioned in the Fifth
Theological Oration. Interpreting this transition through the prism of Ora-‐
tion 38.13, we see that as these evils – “murders of each other, adulteries,
false oaths [etc.]” – continued to persist under the Law, a greater remedy
was needed; the incarnation of the Son and Word of God, the fountainhead
of the Gospel, who points towards the Holy Spirit before the latter’s full
disclosure within the holy Apostles at Pentecost. Indeed, next to Christ, it
is precisely these Spirit-‐bearing Apostles that can be described, in this con-‐
ǡϐǦ68 of our “growth towards perfection.”
The cornerstone of St Gregory’s existential metanarrative is, therefore,

God’s trinitarian disclosure localised, if you will, in the person of the Son.
According to both his Fifth Theological Oration and Oration 38, history can
be viewed as the domain within which God attempts to curtail evil in vari-‐
ϐ

– the “imprint,” “undistorted image,” and “explanation” of God the Father
Ȃ Ǥϐ
articulated the relationship of the Son and Logos to the Father in chapter
thirteen of Oration 38 – what we can call a pre-‐incarnational christology
ȋǮǯȌȂ

mystery of the incarnation69ȋǮǯȌǣ70
68
ͳͳͷǣʹͲǲϐǦ

have fallen asleep.”

69
Indeed, this seems to constitute a more robust exposition of the paradoxical nature of

the incarnation that the saint already outlined in chapter two. Cf. Oration 38.2, at 62 (PG
36, 313AC).
70
There is a conceptual distinction in the Cappadocians, employed consistently by St Greg-‐

ǡɅɂɍɉɍɀɜȽɍᚫɈɍɋɍɊɜȽǤ-‐

ǡǡϐǡ
concerns God’s relationship with the created order. For more information, see Christo-‐
pher A. Beeley, Gregory of Nazianzus on the Trinity and Knowledge of God (Oxford: Oxford
University Press, 2008), 194-‐95. Hence, insofar as it relates to the Logos’ assumption
294

ȏȐϐ
ϐǡ
purifying like by like. And in all things he becomes a human, except
Ǥǡϐ
ϐǡ
be honored and that virginity be honored more. He comes forth, God
ǡǡϐǡ
ϐǤ Ǩ -‐
doxical blending! He who is comes into being, and the uncreated is
created, and the uncontained is contained, through the intervention
of the rational soul, which mediates between the divinity and the
ϐǤ Ǣ
ϐǡǤ
The full one empties himself; for he empties himself of his own glory
for a short time, that I may participate in his fullness [ȥȽᚷᚾɎɉɛɏɄɑǡ
ɈɂɋɍᛒɒȽɇȉ ɈɂɋɍᛒɒȽɇ ɀᙼɏ ɒ᚞ɑ ᚏȽɓɒɍᛒ ɁɟɌɄɑ ᚌɎᚷ ɊɇɈɏᛂɋǡ ᚰɋǯ ᚌɀᛞ ɒ᚞ɑ
ᚌɈɂɜɋɍɓɊɂɒȽɉəȾɘɎɉɄɏɣɐɂɘɑȐ. What is the wealth of his goodness?
What is the mystery concerning me? I participated in the [divine] im-‐
Ǣϐ
ϐ Ǥ
ǡϐǢ
share in what is superior, now he shares in what is inferior.71
ϐ
humanity in Christ’s person, St Gregory declared that, in his assumption of
a body and a rational soul, the pre-‐existent Logos became in all things his
ǡǤǤǡǤϐ
virgin birth, he expressed wonder at the creation of the uncreated and the
circumscription of the uncircumscribable – at the ineffable reality of the

ǦϐϐǤ
this was done, the Theologian continued, for the sake of humanity that had
gone astray through evil, and so the greatest expression of God’s pedagogi-‐
cal concern for his creation is manifested in the Word’s incarnation as Christ
Jesus, which St Gregory related to himself. By emptying “himself of his own
glory” the incarnation of the Word of God has existential implications for
both the saint and for humanity in its entirety; a humanity which is recapit-‐
ulated into the God-‐man.72 The intimate reciprocity between Christ and St

ϐ
of humanity as Jesus Christ, incarnational christology represents the summit of God’s
ǮǯǤ
71
Oration 38.13, at 71 (PG 36, 325BD).
72
It seems as though St Gregory was depicting himself as representative of the entire hu-‐

man race that is recapitulated into Christ in the incarnation. For more information on
the deifying effects of the incarnation for humanity in the thought of the Theologian,
295

with his incarnation Jesus has shared with us – that is, humanity in gener-‐
Ȃǡϐ
creation of the worlds;73 “then he gave us a share in what is superior, now
he shares in what is inferior.”
The kenotic outpouring of the Word represents both the nadir of God’s
ϐǢ
a process which in section one of this article we saw was expressed by the
characteristics of St Gregory’s metanarrative, from idolatry to the Law with
its full disclosure of the Father, and from the Law to the Gospel in the reve-‐
lation of the Son.74 At the end of that section, we hinted that the process of
theosis – discussed with reference to the manifestation of the Holy Spirit,
and the Apostles’ experience of him, at Pentecost – begins in the here and
ǡ ϐ
ǮǤǯ-‐
tion three, we noticed that in Oration 38.11, St Gregory states that the same
ϐ
them permanently and “bind him in a higher manner” – a reference to the
general resurrection. From this we deduced St Gregory’s belief that Jesus,
the Word of God incarnate, frames either end of the historical continuum
ǲǡϐǡ
end” (Rev 22:13). However, in light of his discussion on the incarnation in
chapter thirteen above, it is clear that for the Theologian history both orbits
Ǯ-‐
tre.’ Christ is therefore not only the logos and telos of the historical process
ǡǮ

Gregory of Nazianzus’ St Vladimir’s Theological Quarterly 28:2 (1984): 83-‐98.
73

ϐ
spiritual and material realms and of the human being as their microcosm. Oration 38.10-‐
11, at 67-‐68.
74
MacDonnell attempted to emphasise the Spirit’s role in St Gregory’s exposition of God’s

gradual self-‐disclosure through the covenants. However, on more than one occasion he
ǯǮǡǯ
the Spirit is received in a manner proportionate to the believer’s capacity (illustrated
in section 2 of this paper). His language is misleading, especially in light of our lengthy
ϐǡlogos and telos of the historical continuum (or,
ȌǡǮǯȂǡ
Ǯǯǡ-‐
ertheless remains mystically present in all things. Cf. Macdonnell, The Other Hand of God,
143-‐44.
296

of movement and becoming, he is also its axis, around which history in its
entirety is ordered and made whole.75
Conclusion
It is my conviction that this existential metanarrative of history, comprising
themes elicited from St Gregory’s orations – some of which are paradig-‐
matic across the plethora of patristic literature – can be of service to con-‐
temporary historiography by offering alternative, theological insights into
ϐǤϐǡǡ
indecipherable and even chaotic outside of some positive interpretive tool,
abandoning us to the sceptic and nihilistic view that conditions so much
of today’s historical writing. Assessing the “entire age” or history in its en-‐
Ǧϐ Fifth Theological Oration through the
lens of Oration 38, it is clear that St Gregory articulated a view of history
ϐǤ
-‐
ory’s conviction that the trinitarian God has deigned to reveal himself, a
revelation which he described symbolically as taking the form of two great
Ǣ ǡ ϐǡ
transition or movement of God’s people from the worship of pagan idols to
adherence to the Mosaic Law, and secondly, the transition from the Law to
the Christian Gospel. This weaning process was accompanied by a positive
revelation of God’s true existence as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, a reve-‐
ϐ Ǥ
Gregory, Jesus Christ frames either end of the historical spectrum as the De-‐
miurge Logos who has fashioned the cosmos and, subsequently, the human
being as a microcosm. It is this same Demiurge Logos who will return to
permanently refashion all things at the eschaton. As such, Jesus represents
both the logos and telos of the historical process. But far from depicting a
linear view of history with Christ at either end, the saint deliberately pin-‐
pointed the convergence of divinity and humanity in Christ’s person at the
ǡϐȋ-‐
ϐȌ-‐
tre of the historical process. As the axis around which all of history turns,
ϐϐǡ-‐
ǡ ϐǡ ǡ ϐ
75
ǡǡϐǮǯ-‐
uum, Jesus represents what in traditional societies is known as the axis mundiǮ
of the world.’ For more on this concept, see Mircea Eliade, The Sacred and the Profane:
The Nature of Religion, trans. W. R. Trask (New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1959),
35-‐37.
297

(with reference to the Apostles) is worked out concretely in the Holy Spirit.
Infusing the historical continuum with a sense of existential – and in fact
a deifying – meaning and purpose, it is clear that for St Gregory the key to
experiencing, understanding, and writing history can be found in the man-‐
ifestation of God as Trinity, and, especially, in the encounter with him who
holds “the keys of Death and Hades” (Rev 1:18), the life-‐giving Demiurge
Logos of God, Jesus Christ.
298

ST Gregory The Theologian's Existential Metanarrative of History

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CAPPADOCIAN LEGACY

Doru Costache and Philip Kariatlis

St Andrew’s Orthodox Press

StAndrewsBook2013_R.indd 1 5/09/13 12:10 AM

National Library of Australia Cataloguing-­‐in-­‐Publication entry

Title: Cappadocian legacy / Doru Costache and Philip Kariatlis (eds).

ISBN: 978-­‐0-­‐9775974-­‐9-­‐9 (paperback)

Notes: Includes bibliographical references and index.

Subjects: Gregory, of Nazianzus, Saint.

Dewey Number: 230

St Andrew’s Orthodox Press

StAndrewsBook2013_R.indd 2 5/09/13 12:10 AM

1. THE CAPPADOCIANS WITHIN TRADITION

2. THE LEGACY OF ST BASIL THE GREAT

3. THE LEGACY OF ST GREGORY THE THEOLOGIAN

The Teachings of Gregory of Nazianzus on the Trinity

StAndrewsBook2013_R.indd 3 5/09/13 12:10 AM

4. THE LEGACY OF ST GREGORY OF NYSSA

Divine Providence and Free Will in Gregory of Nyssa

INFORMATION ABOUT THE CONTRIBUTORS .................................................................. 417

StAndrewsBook2013_R.indd 4 5/09/13 12:10 AM

StAndrewsBook2013_R.indd 275 5/09/13 12:11 AM

According to narratologists John Stephens and Robyn McCallum, a meta-­‐

StAndrewsBook2013_R.indd 276 5/09/13 12:11 AM

ical Crumbs (New York: Oxford University Press, 2009), 147.

StAndrewsBook2013_R.indd 277 5/09/13 12:11 AM

Clarendon Press, 1996), 1725-­‐726.

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Jenkins went on to make a rather general claim that “scepticism or,

StAndrewsBook2013_R.indd 279 5/09/13 12:11 AM

StAndrewsBook2013_R.indd 280 5/09/13 12:11 AM

This overwhelming neglect of theology or the theological metanarra-­‐

torical Study,’ 22.

temporary History 31:1 (1996), 209.

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StAndrewsBook2013_R.indd 282 5/09/13 12:11 AM

StAndrewsBook2013_R.indd 283 5/09/13 12:11 AM

StAndrewsBook2013_R.indd 284 5/09/13 12:11 AM

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So far, we have seen that St Gregory described these covenantal

eter: Paternoster Press, 1982), 236-­‐37.

ϐ theosis. According to Norman Russell, the saint placed a great

StAndrewsBook2013_R.indd 286 5/09/13 12:11 AM

No, God meant it to be by piecemeal additions [ɈȽɒᙼ Ɋɚɏɍɑ

He based this assertion on an ostensible remark by St Gregory in chapter twenty-­‐six of

StAndrewsBook2013_R.indd 287 5/09/13 12:11 AM

Thus, for St Gregory, the entire historical process – the metanarrational

StAndrewsBook2013_R.indd 288 5/09/13 12:11 AM

Framing the Fifth Theological Oration within Oration 38

StAndrewsBook2013_R.indd 289 5/09/13 12:11 AM

St Gregory seems to perceive the “entire age” as having been inau-­‐

the last, the beginning and the end.”

StAndrewsBook2013_R.indd 290 5/09/13 12:11 AM

StAndrewsBook2013_R.indd 291 5/09/13 12:11 AM

StAndrewsBook2013_R.indd 292 5/09/13 12:11 AM

StAndrewsBook2013_R.indd 293 5/09/13 12:11 AM

The cornerstone of St Gregory’s existential metanarrative is, therefore,

have fallen asleep.”

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StAndrewsBook2013_R.indd 296 5/09/13 12:11 AM

StAndrewsBook2013_R.indd 297 5/09/13 12:11 AM

StAndrewsBook2013_R.indd 298 5/09/13 12:11 AM

National Library of Australia Cataloguing-‐in-‐Publication entry

ISBN: 978-‐0-‐9775974-‐9-‐9 (paperback)

According to narratologists John Stephens and Robyn McCallum, a meta-‐

Clarendon Press, 1996), 1725-‐726.

This overwhelming neglect of theology or the theological metanarra-‐

eter: Paternoster Press, 1982), 236-‐37.

ϐtheosis. According to Norman Russell, the saint placed a great

He based this assertion on an ostensible remark by St Gregory in chapter twenty-‐six of

St Gregory seems to perceive the “entire age” as having been inau-‐