# Gregory of Nyssa Greek bishop and theologian (c. AD 335-394), one of the three Cappadocian Fathers (alongside his brother Basil the Great and friend [Gregory of Nazianzus](/codex/gregory-of-nazianzus/)). Bishop of Nyssa (in Cappadocia, modern central Turkey) from c. 372. Played a decisive role at the Council of Constantinople (381) in finalizing Nicene Trinitarian doctrine. Author of *On the Making of Man*, *On the Soul and Resurrection*, *Catechetical Oration*, *Life of Moses*, *Homilies on the Song of Songs*, and *Homilies on Ecclesiastes*. ## Theological contributions ### 1. Trinitarian theology Gregory developed the Cappadocian distinction between *ousia* (essence, what God is) and *hypostasis* (person, who God is) that became the standard grammar for Eastern Trinitarian doctrine. With Basil and [Gregory of Nazianzus](/codex/gregory-of-nazianzus/), he secured Nicene orthodoxy against the various Arian and semi-Arian positions at Constantinople (381). ### 2. Mystical theology Gregory's *Life of Moses* and *Homilies on the Song of Songs* developed the patristic theology of *epektasis*, the soul's endless progress into God's infinite goodness. His mystical theology emphasizes that God's incomprehensibility is not a deficit but a positive feature of the divine life: the more we know God, the more we recognize how much remains to know. ### 3. Anti-slavery preaching Gregory's *Fourth Homily on Ecclesiastes* (commenting on [Eccl 2:7](/codex/ecclesiastes-2-7/), "I got me servants and maidens") contains one of the strongest anti-slavery statements from any pre-modern Christian author. He asks rhetorically: "What price did you put on rationality? How many obols did you reckon the equivalent of the likeness of God?" The argument is straightforward: a being made in God's image cannot be priced. The homily directly challenges the legitimacy of slaveholding as such, not merely its abuses, a remarkable position in the fourth-century context. ### 4. The image of God Gregory's *On the Making of Man* develops a sophisticated account of the imago Dei, humanity made for divine participation and called to grow eternally into the divine likeness. His anti-slavery argument rests directly on this anthropology. ## Mentions in [Defining Chattel Slavery and Biblical Servitude](/codex/defining-chattel-slavery-and-biblical-servitude/) - Cited (§8.C) for the *Fourth Homily on Ecclesiastes* and his pointed question: "What price did you put on rationality?", adduced as a patristic witness that the imago Dei renders human commodification incoherent. - Listed (§13, implicitly) as part of the patristic ethical trajectory by which the early Christian tradition read the gospel in tension with the Roman slave system. ## Mentions in [A Quick-Glance Guide to Aquinas Five Ways](/codex/a-quick-glance-guide-to-aquinas-five-ways/) - Cited under the First Way (motion): "All motion has its beginning from another", adduced as a patristic precursor of the *quidquid movetur, ab alio movetur* principle. ## See also - [Augustine](/codex/augustine/), Latin contemporary; *City of God* on slavery as result of sin - [John Chrysostom](/codex/john-chrysostom/), Greek contemporary; *Homilies on Philemon* - [Athanasius](/codex/athanasius/), earlier Alexandrian contemporary - [Imago Dei](/codex/genesis-1-27/) - [Chattel Slavery vs Biblical Servitude](/codex/chattel-slavery-vs-biblical-servitude/) - [Trinity](/codex/trinity/) - [First Way - Motion](/codex/first-way-motion/)