Divine Causality and the Monarchy of God the Father in Gregory of Nazianzus PDF

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Divine Causality and the Monarchy of God the Father in Gregory of Nazianzus* Christopher A. Beeley Yale University Divinity School Gregory Nazianzen’s doctrine of the Trinity has had a most unusual reception in modern times. Since the Council of Chalcedon in 451 Gregory has been honored ZLWK WKH W...

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Divine Causality and the Monarchy of God the Father in Gregory of Nazianzus Christopher Beeley Harvard Theological Review 100.2 (2007): 199-214

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Divine Causality and the Monarchy of God the Father in Gregory of Nazianzus* Christopher A. Beeley Yale University Divinity School

Gregory Nazianzen’s doctrine of the Trinity has had a most unusual reception in modern times. Since the Council of Chalcedon in 451 Gregory has been honored ZLWK WKH WLWOH ´WKH7KHRORJLDQµ IRU KLV GHÀQLWLYH WHDFKLQJ RQ WKH7ULQLW\ LQ WKH ODWHIRXUWK FHQWXU\ +LV LQÁXHQFH ZDV WKHQ VWURQJO\ IHOW LQ WKH FKULVWRORJLFDO developments that continued through the eighth century, and his stature in Greek Christian tradition is comparable only to that of Augustine in the West, although KLV LQÁXHQFH LV IHOW WKHUH DV ZHOO DQRWKHU@ source (Y.TS ENVGLZR  OHVW ZH SRVLW D ´ÀUVW RI WKH )LUVWµ DQG WKXV RYHUWXUQ WKH>GLYLQH@([LVWHQFH40 Nor should we say that the Son or the Holy Spirit is without source (E?REVGSb), lest we take away the Father’s special characteristic (XS M?HMSR). For they are not without source—and yet in a sense they DUH ZLWKRXW VRXUFH ZKLFK LV D SDUDGR[ 7KH\ DUH QRW ZLWKRXW VRXUFH ZLWK chronological, not numerical, order, according to the revised dating of McGuckin (St. Gregory, YLL²[LDQGSDVVLP   This gesture would turn out to be the single biggest mistake of Gregory’s career. Soon DIWHUZDUG0D[LPXVSRUWUD\HG*UHJRU\·VFRPPLVVLRQDVDQHQGRUVHPHQWRIKLVVXFFHVVLRQWRWKH VHHRI&RQVWDQWLQRSOH+HTXLFNO\UHWXUQHGWRWKHFDSLWDOZLWKDQXPEHURI(J\SWLDQELVKRSVDQG the blessing of Bishop Peter, after which the bishops attempted to consecrate him under the cover of night in Gregory’s own church. The service was broken up by a group of parishioners who discovered what was happening, but the damage was already done to Gregory’s reputation among the other major sees.  I have formatted these opening lines to indicate its creedal structure.  Here Gregory refers to his efforts to defend the divinity of the Holy Spirit, and to the three groups he has recently addressed: the more radical opponents of the Spirit’s divinity, whom he calls “Spirit-fighters” (TRIYQEXSQEZGSM); those who believe the Spirit is divine but do not confess it publicly (including the late Basil); and those who, like himself, confess the faith openly with the public proclamation of the Trinity. See Or. 40 M_ R E QL  XSYD  TVS[Z X SY XM TV[D X SR IMN W EKEZ K [QIR IN \  SY`  OEM  XS  IM@ R EM TV[Z X [ TIVMXVETLZWIXEM.

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respect to their cause (X[D EMNXMZ[), for they are from God (INO UISYD) even if WKH\DUHQRWVXEVHTXHQWWRKLPLQWLPHQIX©EYNXSZR), just as light comes from the sun.41 But they are without source with respect to time, since they are not subject to time.42

In this opening section Gregory conspicuously anchors his confession in the special role of God the Father as source and cause of the Trinity. For the past year in the capital, he has labored arduously for the full divinity of the Son and the 6SLULWDQGWKHLUFRHTXDOLW\ZLWKWKH)DWKHUDJDLQVWDEURDGDUUD\RIRSSRQHQWV$QG \HWSHUKDSVVXUSULVLQJWRWKHPRGHUQLQWHUSUHWHU*UHJRU\GHÀQHVWKHIDLWKLQWKH biblical and traditional pattern of referring to the Father as “God” in the primary sense, just as the creed of Nicea had done. Following the New Testament witness, *RGLVÀUVWDQGIRUHPRVWWKH)DWKHURI-HVXV&KULVWWKH6RQRI*RG\HWE\YLUWXH of their timeless generation from the Father, the Son and the Spirit fully share the Father’s divine nature and are therefore also God. Accordingly, Gregory initially FKDUDFWHUL]HVWKHWKUHHSHUVRQVFKLHÁ\E\WKHLUSRLQWRIRULJLQDQGWKHLUUHVXOWLQJ relationships to one another: the one God is the unbegotten Father of Jesus Christ; the Lord Jesus Christ is the Son of God, who is begotten from the Father; and the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father.44...