All Gregory wanted was a quiet place where he could relax with his books and a few close friends. From young adulthood he believed God was calling him to the contemplative life, and to old age he never lost that sense. But history kept dragging him into its current. First, his father (a bishop) coerced him into ordination to the priesthood. Then his closest friend, Basil the Great, pressured him to be ordained a bishop. Both times he put up little resistance, but later resented the actions as violence. Both times he eventually fled the demands of his office. Later he was persuaded to lead the Nicene faction in the capital city of the empire. Eventually he became bishop there and led the second ecumenical council in 380. Before the council was over he resigned and resumed his monastic retreat back home. Along the way he wrote the most compelling and complete Trinitarian theology of his time—and reams of great poetry.
Links
Gregory Nazianzen, Epistle 150 (on dogmatic questions) https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/fathers/view.cfm?recnum=2459
Gregory Nazianzen, Oration 2 (on his flight from priesthood) https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/fathers/view.cfm?recnum=2433
Gregory Nazianzen, Oration 27: The First Theological Oration (on the duties of the theologian) https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/fathers/view.cfm?recnum=2440
John Henry Newman, “Basil and Gregory” https://www.newmanreader.org/works/historical/volume2/fathers/chapter3.html
More works by the Fathers https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/fathers/
Mike Aquilina’s website https://fathersofthechurch.com
Mike Aquilina's books https://catholicbooksdirect.com/writer/mike-aquilina/
Theme music: Gaudeamus (Introit for the Feast of All Saints), sung by Jeff Ostrowski. Courtesy of Corpus Christi Watershed http://www.ccwatershed.org
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4.14 The Heresies—Apollinarius and Monothelitism: The Word in a Human Suit
4.13 The Heresies—Pelagianism and the Seeds of Calvinism
4.12 The Heresies — The “Spirit-fighters” and the Aftermath of Nicaea
4.11 The Heresies — Arianism: A Man Who Became a God
4.10 The Heresies — Rebaptism and the Donatists
4.9 Novatian: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly, Part 2 (The Bad and the Ugly)
4.8 Novatian: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly, Part 1 (The Good)
4.7 The Heresies – Modalism: God as a Monad with Three Names
4.6 The Heresies – The Enigma of Origen and Origenism
4.5 The Heresies – Gnosticism: Christ as Cosmic Mind
4.4 The Heresies – Adoptionism: Christ as Anointed Prophet
4.3 The Heresies – Docetics & Marcionites: Denying Christ's Humanity
4.2 The Heresies – Judaizers and Ebionites: Denying Christ’s Divinity
4.1 The Heresies - Introduction to the Series
The future of Way of the Fathers: Mike Aquilina and Jim Papandrea in conversation
3.13 Cities of God: Last and Lasting Lessons
3.12 Cities of God: Carthage, African Christian Genesis
3.11 Cities of God: Ravenna, Capital on the Swamp
3.10 Cities of God: Constantinople (Not Istanbul)
3.9 Cities of God: Ejmiatsin and Christian Armenia
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