§ 147. Св. Григорий Богослов в словах о богословии. Содержание 1-го и 2-го слова.

If St. Gregory, as he says, wanted to be a servant of the Word of Christ: then, of course, he was also a Dogmamist of the Word. Words of St. Gregory on Theology, can best show us what kind of theologian Gregory was 613. The first word constitutes an introduction to the doctrine of God and the Holy Trinity. Here St. Gregory, in denouncing the daring dialecticians - the Eunomians, depicts with his animated pen who, when, with whom and how should reason about God. “Only those who are experienced, advanced in contemplation, and above all those who are pure in soul and body, or at least those who have purified themselves,” can reason about it.” When is it necessary to talk about God? “Then we are free from external impressions of matter and from indignation, when our leader, the mind, is not associated with unclean, transitory images.” With whom to reason? “With those who take up this matter with zeal and reverence.” What and how much to talk about? “About what can be understood and as much as the listeners can accept according to their abilities.” “However,” the theologian adds, I am not saying that God should not always be remembered. No! We need to remember God more often than we breathe.” Then he shows to what danger those who argue about its secrets before the pagans expose the faith. And in denunciation of the Eunomians, who recklessly turned everyone into dialecticians, he reveals the consequences of that strong and true thought that the paths to the kingdom of God are different, and points to the words of the Apostle: food in the Apostles? In the second word, after truly pathetically depicting the theologian in the person of Moses standing on Sinai, he argues that although the being of God cannot be known, however, that God exists, and that He is the Creator and Ruler of everything, both our eyes and the “natural law” teach us. This shows that a sound mind cannot recognize God as either bodily or limited in any place. And having shown the probable reasons “for which God hid Himself from us,” he argues that “those clothed with flesh cannot see mental objects without an admixture of corporeal things.” Briefly pointing out that “We know God when the godlike and divine is ours, i.e. the mind (νοῦς) will unite with a being akin to itself,” in denunciation of the Eunomians, who proudly dreamed of embracing the entire being of God with logical reason, 614 shows in the examples of the patriarchs, prophets, and apostles the truth that man does not know the being of God here on earth. The same truth convinces us that for us there is extremely much that is incomprehensible in the created nature of both man and the visible world, and even more in the world of angels, about which “we can only say that some of them are angels, other archangels, thrones, dominions, principles, powers, radiances, ascensions, intelligent powers, or minds; we can say that they are pure beings, not vicious, not inclined to evil, that they constantly surround the first principle, eternally rejoice.... If, however, concludes St. Gregory, and secondary beings are higher than the concept of the human: even more so is the being the first and one.” Ar. Bibl. Orat. 33–37. It is not superfluous to note that in Chr. Reading back in 1828, an article was published: The dogmatic teaching of St. Gregory the Theologian. This is nothing more than a literal translation of one part of Ullman's work: Gregorius von Nazianz der Theolog. Darmstad, 1825, made without correcting the rather obvious mistakes of Ullmann (besides an intelligent and kind German), and even, it was noted, without any reference to the Theologian’s original. Socrates N. E. 2. 35. 4. 7. Philostorgius N. E. 9. 3. 10. 4. You might be interested in: