Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 09.djvu/301

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GREGORY OF ARMENIA. 265 GREGORY OF NYSSA. cave, and to liave died there ill 'S:il. The memory of Gregory is heki in great reverence in the Greek, Coptic, Abyssinian, and Armenian eliureh- cs, and he is one of the saints of the Konian Catholic calendar. The discourses attril)nted to him are pi'obably spurious. There are two lives in Armenian accessible, one in a French transla- tion by Langlois in vol. i. of his Uistoriiiis de VArmcnie (Paris, 1807) ; and the other in the English translation by JIalan, Life and Times of tiaint (Ircgonj the Illuminator (London, 1808) : other lives and his works are in lligne, PatnAogiii <!nicn, cxvii. GREGORY OF NA'ZIAN'ZUS, Saint, called 'the theologian' (c.o-.^'J-yU) . Bishop of Constanti- nople, and one of the 'three Cappadocians,' fa- mous leaders of orthodo.xy in the latter half of the fourth century, the other two being Basil the Great (of (i'lesarea) and Gregory of Nyssa (q.v. ). He was born probably in 3'29. His father, who bore the same name, was for many years Bishop of Nazianzus, a town in southwest Cappadoeia, identified by Eamsay with the mod- ern Nenizi. Gregory was born in the village of Arianzus, He enjoyed the best educational ad- vantages, studying at Ca>sarea of Capjiadocia, at Cfesarea of Palestine, and at Athens, where Basil and Julian (afterwards Emjieror) were among his fellow students. Some of the most celebrated rhetors of the fourth century were his teachers. Study and travel occupied all his time up to about his twenty-eighth year, when he returned home, and was baptized. He more than once visited his friend Basil, at his hermitage in Pontus, seeming inclined to remain there. But his unexpected ordination to the presbyterate, at the hands of his father, made it necessary for him to settle at Nazianzus, where he preached, and eventually exercised episcopal functions also, although never made bishop of that see. After Basil had been persuaded to abandon his solitary life and assume the duties of Bishop of Caesarea (370), he consecrated Gregory Bishop of Sasinia, an obscure village, where he never actually served. This appointment temporarily threatened a rupture of the friendship between Basil and Gregorj', as their letters show. Much more agreeable to Gregory- was the invitation to come to Constantinople, as leader of the ortho- dox Christians of that frankly Arian city. At the head of the only Catholic parish in the capi- tal, and in the face of public opinion overwhelm- ingly hostile to his views, Gregfiry's power as a preacher steadily gained for him inllucnce and enlarged his following. He called his church Anastasia ('resurrection'), to symbolize the re- vival of the true faith, in opposition to Arian- ism. When the religious policy of Theodosius had turned the State Church back to orthodoxy, and the Second Ecumenical Coimeil (Constanti- nople, 381; see Con.st. tixople, Council.? of) had registered its verdict correspondingly, Greg- ory w.is made Bishop of the patriarchal city, and Primate of the East. But opposition, arising in part from the defeated Arians, in part from criticism of his translation from Sasima. and in part from the disappointment of rival candidates, led Gregory speedily to resign his position. Weary of controversy, he withdrew from Con- stantinople, and passed the remaining eight or nine years of his life in quiet near his old home. He died in 380 or 390. Gregory is famous chiefly as a theologian and defender of the orthodoxy of his time. To the three Cappadocians together is due the final tri- umph of tile Xiccnc theology over .rianism, so far as that was independent of politics. And to Gregory belongs the credit of leading the way to this end, by formulating the orthodox doctrine in such a way as to command sujiport. The result was the definition of the Trinity as consisting of one substiinee or essence and three hypostases or persons. (See Homoousion ; Hy- postasis.) If Athanasius emphasized the one- ness of God, Gregory emphasized His tlirrrfold- ncss. And so far did he push this conception that he was charged with teaching tritheism. His theological system is best studied in tlia famous Theological Orations, five in nund)cr, originally delivered in Constantinople. We have from him forty other addresses and sermons, among them two demmciatious of Julian the Apostate; man}' letters; and a considerable num- ber of poems, partly autobiographical. Together with Basil, he prepared the Philocalia, a collec- tion of excerpts from Origen of great value. The best edition of Gregory's complete works is still the Benedictine (2 vols., Paris, i. edited by Clemencet. 1778 ; ii. edited by Caillau, 1840, re- printed by Jligne, Patrologia Qrwca, vols, xxxiv.- xxxviii., Paris, 18.37-02) ; a good modern edition of the Five Theological Orations is by Mason (Cambridge, 1899). The Kicene and Post-yiccno Fathers, 2d ser., vol. vii. (New York, 1894), contains an unsatisfactory translation of selected orations and letters. In general, consult Smith and Wace, Dietionarij of Christian Biography (London, 1877-87), article "Gregorius Nazian- zenius." For literary criticism, consult Kruro- bacher, Gcschichte dcr hi/~antinischcn Litteratur (2d ed.. iliuiich. 1897). GREGORY OF NYSSA, nis'sa. Saint. A Greek Church father, who flourished during the latter part of the fourth century. He is one of the famous 'three Cappadocians' (Basil of CiBsarea, Gregory of Nazianzus, and Gregory of Nyssa), and a younger brother of Basil. The dates of his birth and death are uncertain, but he died after 394. (Tregorv's early education was of the best, and we sec evidences of his rhetorical training in his fine literary style. There is no good reason to doubt that he was married. About the year 371 Basil forced Gregory to accept the bishopric of Nyssa. a village of Cappadoeia, ■whose chief claim to distinction is that he pre- sided over its church. From the outset Gregory encountered opposi- tion on the part of the .rians. who were numer- ous and powerful throughout the East, and who enjoyed Court favor under the Emperor Valens. A local synod deposed Gregory in 370. and he vas banished by the Emperor's command. The death of Valens and the accession of Theodosius mark a turning-point in the history of .rianism, and usher in the triumph of the Nieeue ortho- doxy. Gregory was restored to his see (378), and from this time onward his sphere of in- fluence widens. We find him journeying to Antioch, Palestine, Constanliiinple, and .rabia, eyerywhere aiding in establishing the Catholic faith. He was an influential member of the Second Ecumenical Council, held at Constanti- nople in 3S1. (See Con.stantinopi.e, CofNriLS OF.) There is no reason to believe that he wrote, the clauses said to have been added to the Nicene symbol at that time. (See Nicene