Обзор исследований Бесконечность Бога и «эпектасис» человека

Not only Gregory’s ideas about God’s infinity, but also the motive of man’s fundamentally incomplete ascent to Him constantly arouse the interest of researchers. Jean Daniélou, based on a passage from Gregory, gave this ascent the name epectasis 39, and in his doctoral dissertation Platonism and mystical theology (Platonisme et théologie mystique, 1944) he based this concept on the theory of spirituality as the love of God, which only increases with each new step forward, and therefore can never reach the end 40. In his later collection Being and Time by Gregory of Nysse (L’être et le temps chez Grégoire de Nysse, Leiden 1970), in addition to epectasis, Danielou also analyzes some concepts associated with it, revealing their connection precisely in a philosophical context (for example, ἀκολουθία = following 41, τροπή = turn, reversal 42, μεθόριος = mediastinum 43, ἀκρότατον = the most extreme border [of evil] 44). Hans Urs von Balthasar, in one of his first works (Présence et pensée, 1942), expressed bewilderment that the movement of man towards God in Gregory can never, even in an eschatological perspective, achieve its goal 45, and tried to balance this motive with others (the image of God, which is man 46; love that mutually unites God with man and man with God 47). In his German edition of Gregory's selected sermons on the Song of Songs (Der versiegelte Quell, Einsiedeln 1954), Balthasar even compares the idea of ​​endless motion with the key idea of ​​Goethe's Faust 48 . Walther Völker in his work Gregory of Nyssa as a mystic (Gregor von Nyssa als Mystiker, Wiesbaden 1955) devotes a special section to the consideration of the idea of ​​infinite spiritual ascent in Gregory 49, but at the same time doubts its originality, since the Alexandrian school in general was characterized by the theme, beloved by theologians, of the constant continuation of the human path to perfection, which could, in turn, influence Gregory 50. Völker also draws attention to the connection of this thought with Gregory's emphasis on God's infinity - the theological justification for the never-ending human spiritual path 51 . One of his most famous publishers, Hermann Langerbeck, responded to this work with an interesting review, summing up his understanding of Gregory’s works. This classic philologist of the Lutheran confession quite unexpectedly sees in Gregory’s idea of ​​​​an endless path - forgetting the past and striving forward - a theologum, “strikingly reminiscent, like perhaps little else in the history of Christian piety and Christian thought, one of the cornerstone formulas of the Reformation simul Justus et peccator [the righteous and the sinner at the same time]” 53 . At the same time, Langerbeck in his review draws attention to a motive that is also important for our consideration of the topic, namely the combination of the idea of ​​​​the constant growth of man with the thought of God's infinity, which Gregory clearly emphasizes in his polemic with Origen. After all, Origen, recalls Langerbeck, contrary to Völker, denied the idea of ​​​​the infinity of God, since the unlimited cannot comprehend itself 54. In this case, Gregory’s idea of ​​​​constant human movement has its own undeniable originality, since we are talking about “a thesis that does not primarily concern man, but rather primarily concerns God” 55. Langerbeck developed this idea in his doctoral monograph The Infinity of God according to the teachings of St. Gregory of Nyssa (Die Unendlichkeit Gottes bei Gregor von Nyssa, 1965) the already mentioned Muhlenberg. The monograph, which presents an extensive and comprehensive analysis of the idea of ​​infinity in ancient thought from Plato to Philo and then among the Alexandrian Christians, demonstrates that in Gregory’s presentation the thesis about the infinity of God has no analogues and even means a frontal attack on the entire Greek tradition of thinking from Plato and Aristotle to Origen 56 . Firstly, Aristotle (Mulenberg points out 57, again relying on Langerbeck) 58, logically denying infinity (regressus ad infinitum), identified the infinite with the limitless, which turned into a negative characterization of the unthinkable as alien to the self-thinking nature of God. It is precisely this interpolation of human logic onto the thinking of God that Gregory, according to Muhlenberg, destroys with his statement about God's infinity. At the same time, secondly, the idea of ​​​​an infinite path, in Muhlenberg’s interpretation, is not the starting point (as Völker believes), but only a consequence of the idea of ​​​​God’s infinity 59, developed by Gregory in a polemic with the Arian Eunomius: if God is infinite and if man must be His image, then the human path must also be infinite. Muhlenberg's book was regarded as "an important milestone in Gregory's research" by J. Hennessy, who analyzed in his unpublished dissertation The Background, Sources and Meaning of Divine Infinity in St. Gregory of Nyssa, Fordham University, New York 1963, microfilm Ann Arbor 1963 Gregory, starting with the Pre-Socratics, attempts to think about infinity. Both works, as we have already noted, were written at approximately the same time and are devoted to the same topic, but at the same time they differ greatly in approaches. Unlike Muhlenberg, Hennessy does not see in Gregory’s statements about the infinity of God any evidence of polemics with Aristotle, but quite clearly connects them with Plotinus’s ideas about the unlimitedness of the One 61, and also sees in it a systematization of early Christian ideas about the incomprehensible and absolutely perfect God 62. According to Hennessy, in his doctrine of the infinity of God, Gregory developed in a Christian context an idea that was already known to Plotinus and “seemed to be in the air” in the fourth century. Gregory’s main arguments in favor of the infinity of God as a “positive” statement about God’s essence are His immutability, perfection and simplicity 64. The created mind of man as the image of God is also “potentially infinite” 65, and its perfection lies in its constant growth 66. An attempt to bring Gregory’s idea of God’s infinity closer to Plotinus’s concept of the One (see first of all Enneads, V, 5), rather than to a polemic with Aristotle, which in this case would almost mean overcoming Greek metaphysics as a whole, was also made by Thomas Böhm in his dissertation “Contemplation (Oeopia) – Infinity – Ascension” 67. At the same time, he does not try to prove Gregory’s direct dependence on Plotinus, but only points to the “philosophical implications” of the language used by Gregory, whatever their immediate source 68. The originality of Gregory’s approach, on the contrary, is emphasized by Leo Sweeney, the author of the above-mentioned monograph on infinity in ancient and medieval thought (Leo Sweeney S. J. Divine Infinity in Greek and Medieval Thought, New York e.a. 1992). A separate chapter 69 is devoted to the consideration of infinity in the works of Gregory of Nyssa, as an addition, where the author, having analyzed several texts of Gregory 70, discovers to his surprise that he, long before Thomas Aquinas, interpreted infinity as “the perfection of the Divine essence itself,” although he developed this idea “less clearly, exhaustively and conclusively” than Thomas 71. Gregory's emphasis on the infinity of the human path may also have another motivation than the infinity of God Himself: according to Endre von Ivânka, Gregory thus polemicizes with Origen's idea of ​​cosmic cycles, according to which the soul, satiated with the contemplation of God, turns away and therefore falls away from Him (and even repeatedly) 72 . The expression κόρος (satiation) in the indicated meaning is actually found in anti-Origen anathematisms (see the edict of Emperor Justinian in 542 73 and subsequent anathemas of the councils of Constantinople 74). The question of whether and in what sense the idea of satiety of the soul was really relevant for Origen was addressed by Marguerite Harl (Marguerite Harl, Recherches sur l’origénisme d’Origène: la satiété [κόρος] de la contemplation comme motif de la chute des âmes (in: Studia patristica, 8, 1966, pp. 373–405). In the surviving Greek texts of Origen, M. Arles points out, this expression in the sense of the cause of the fall of souls is absent, although it appears in the translation of Rufinus (satietas boni) 75. Parallel passages indicate that the phrase κόρον λαβεῖν or κόρον. ἔχειν means “to have enough (of something), to stop striving (for something)” and expresses approximately the same thing that Origen and other authors usually indicate as the reason for the falling away of souls: dissipation of efforts, exhaustion of zeal, idleness, forgetfulness, laziness. We are not at all talking about satiety in the sense of irrevocably quenching thirst, much less about exhausting the good “to the very bottom.” (implying its limitations). The soul, according to Origen's idea of ​​virtue, is drawn into the fall immediately, as soon as - even for a moment - it stops in its tireless path forward, which is the guarantee of virtue 76; the development of this particular topic brought fame to Gregory of Nyssa 77 . Obviously, M. Arles concludes, it was precisely the Neoplatonic connotation of the expression κόρος in the sense of saturation, satiety, intoxication that made this term unacceptable for Gregory and for later Christian theologians. In whatever meaning Origen used the expression κόρος as the cause of the falling away of souls (if he used it at all), it is obvious that Gregory is polemicizing with this idea. Paul Zemp, who in his work The Foundations of the Economy of Salvation according to Gregory of Nyssa (Die Grundlagen heilsgeschichtlichen Denkens bei Gregor von Nyssa, München 1970) examines Gregory's concept of time, does not see in the idea of ​​​​an endless path any guarantee against the repeated falling away of souls (and the repetition of the cosmic cycle 78). However, Zemp in his book does not pay special attention to Gregory’s alleged polemic with Origen. On the contrary, Ronald Heine chose this controversy as the starting point for his study in his work Perfection in the Virtuous Life. A Study in the Relationship Between Edification and Polemical Theology in Gregory of Nyssa's De Vita Moysis (Cambridge, Mass. 1975). In Heine’s understanding, Gregory’s main work - On the Life of Moses the Lawgiver - has as its purpose, in addition to correcting Origen’s theology in some of its implications (hence the special significance for Gregory of such themes as the infinity of God and the insatiable desire of the soul for Him, that is, zeal in virtue as a constant movement towards good), also a polemic with Eunomius (hence the incomprehensibility of God and, accordingly, are no less significant). the indispensability of asceticism for a virtuous life). Meanwhile, the personal respect that Gregory had for Origen kept him from the final conclusions subsequently formulated by Justinian and the councils of Constantinople, but Gregory’s unconditional merit, according to Heine, was his very attempt to “rethink Origenism in the light of orthodoxy IVb.” 79. This compromise of Gregory, who avoided direct confrontation with Origen, was chosen as the starting point of his research by Scott Wharton Gustafon in his unpublished dissertation, The Reform of Christian Thought in Gregory of Nyssa. Some Paradigmatic Implications of his Doctrine of Divine Infinity Drew University 1985, microfilm Ann Arbor 1985) 80. Here Gregory's idea of ​​the infinity of God is examined in comparison with the foundations of the doctrine of the Trinity, the foundations of cosmology, anthropology, soteriology and religious morality. Like Hennessy and Muhlenberg, Gustafson considers Gregory's idea of ​​God's infinity to be innovative in the history of philosophical and theological thinking. This interpretation, in Gustafson’s assessment, constitutes the key principle of Gregory’s entire philosophy: the understanding of infinity as God’s essence is an argument refuting Arius in favor of the trinity of God (according to Gregory, the attribute of infinity, which by definition is self-identical and unchangeable, is equally relevant in relation to all Hypostases). There is a main difference between the triune God and the world, which lies in the diastematic* character of the creature. The creature cannot (and should not) get rid of this essential attribute: therefore, for Gregory, redemption does not mean overcoming the spatio-temporal human character and the subsequent deification of man, but, on the contrary, God’s “involvement in time” and the revaluation of time as an endless path of approaching the infinite God. Further clarification of the concept Negative infinity. Although some scholars, as we see, understand the “positive meaning” of Gregory’s infinity as an innovative statement about God’s essence, 81 others, on the contrary, tend to include Gregory’s thought about the infinity of God in the tradition of apophatic theology. This is the opinion, for example, of Robert S. Brigthman 82 and Deirdre Carabine 83. In the framework of the polemic with Eunomius, who considered the name “unborn” to be a defining attribute, for Gregory, on the contrary, an attribute that is no less decisive here is the incomprehensibility of God both in thought and in language. God's infinity is rather a kind of justification for God's incomprehensibility than a cataphatic expression of God's essence, and the human endless path to God takes on the epistemological meaning of ever-new attempts to comprehend the incomprehensible and get closer to the inaccessible. This motif obviously has its synchronic parallel in Neoplatonism 84 . Dionysian infinity. Noteworthy is the unexpected, but in its own way, fruitful attempt by Charalambos Apostolopoulos to consider Gregory’s dialogue On the Soul and Resurrection and his other texts as a description of the insatiable Dionysian eros of the constant self-overcoming of a finite being, by analogy with the intradivine “erotic tension” of the constant Self-transcendence of the infinite God 85. Apostolopoulos positions his book as a protest against most scholarship on Gregory, where it is deliberately and, in the author's opinion, too simply inscribed within the boundaries of fourth-century Christian orthodoxy. Anti-Arian infinity. Regarding Gregory's ideas about the infinity of God, considerations that, in contrast to the interpretation of E. Muhlenberg, were expressed by W. Ullman 86 also seem important. In his interpretation, the infinity of God, as Gregory defended it in his polemic with Eunomius, is not an end in itself, but only a link in a chain of reasoning, which should show that in the triune Godhead there are no differences of degree. Quantitative-qualitative infinity. In turn, K. G. Uteman 87 also (again contrary to E. Muhlenberg 88) recalls that it is necessary to distinguish between qualitative infinity (infinity in the sense of “limitless absolute perfection”) and “quantitative infinity” (a series that cannot be completed to the end: ἀδιεξίτητον). Apparently, Gregory understands the infinity of God precisely in the first meaning indicated here, that is, according to Plotinus’ formulation: “[The beginning] can be called infinite (ἄπειρον), but again not in the sense of boundless (τῷ άδιεξιτήτῳ) size or mass, but in the sense of immense (τῷ ἀπεριλήπτῳ), immeasurable omnipotence" 89 . In the presentation of E. Muhlenberg, on the contrary, the concept of the infinity of God developed by Gregory should be regarded as a revolutionary rethinking of the Aristotelian regressu ad infinitum. Human endless path: Since the seventies of the 20th century, Gregory’s teaching about the infinity of God and about man’s endless path to Him has been subjected, in one aspect or another and, accordingly, from different points of view, to various interpretations. For example, Everett Ferguson explores the motif of the “constant progress” of the human path to God, in which Gregory follows his Alexandrian predecessors, systematizing this thought in accordance with the doctrine of God's infinity 90. Patricia Wilson-Kastner finds clear echoes of Gregory's teaching about the infinity of God and man's chronologically unlimited participation in God, which can never exhaust His infinite perfection, in the ideas of the American Calvinist theologian Jonathan Edwards (1703–1758) 91 . For Georges A. Barrois, the source of the motive of human perfection developed by Gregory as an endless path to the transcendental is obvious already in Plato’s dialogues, when read in an eschatological vein: in Gregory’s interpretation, even posthumous bliss is not the achievement of a goal, but only a defining desire for it 92 . Albrecht Diehle comes to the same conclusion as a result of comparing Gregory’s exegesis of the Old Testament theophany to Moses with their interpretation by Philo: unlike Philo, that is, in the indicated agreement with Plato, Gregory sees the infinity accessible to man not in achieving a goal, but in its constant search 93 . Andreas Spira emphasizes Gregory's positive assessment of human imperfection as a possibility of endless improvement (in contrast to ancient ideas about human destiny), pointing, like H.-W. von Balthasar, to a corresponding parallel in secular literature of the modern era - a similar motif in Goethe's Faust 94 . Among others, it is this work, the last of those mentioned, that indicates that Gregory’s ideas about infinity are quite relevant and fruitful for modern thinking. Their origin and development in his writings deserves even more detailed consideration. Unfortunately, this task is somewhat complicated by the not entirely clear chronology of Gregory’s work, which must be mentioned right away. The expression ἐπέκτασις (striving forward) in the form of a noun is found only once in Gregory (In Cant. VI: GNO VI, 174.15), but Maximus the Confessor already treats it as a “technical term” (Tomus dogmaticus ad Marinum presbyterum: PG 91, 228b), see about this P. M. Blowers, "Maximus the Confessor, Gregory of Nyssa, and the Concept of "Perpetual Progress" // Vigiliae Christianae, 46, 1992, p. 151–171, especially 154. See J. Daniélou, Platonisme, p. 309–326. See J. Daniélou, L'être, p. 18–50. See J. Daniélou, L'être, p. 95–115. See J. Daniélou, L'être, p. 116–132. See J. Daniélou, L'être, p. 186–204. See N. Urs von Balthasar, Présence, p. 75–80. See N. Urs von Balthasar, Présence, p. 81–100. See N. Urs von Balthasar, Présence, p. 101–139. See N. Urs von Balthasar, Der versiegelte Quell, c. 15. This comparison will later be used by A. Spira, see below, note. 56. See W. Volker, Gregor, p. 186–195. See W. Volker, Gregor, p. 231 and below. See W. Volker, Gregor, p. 293. See N. Langerbeck, “Zur Interpretation Gregors von Nyssa” // Theologische Literaturzeitung, 82,1957, p. 81–90. H. Langerbeck, Zwr Interpretation, c. 87. See above, ch. The concept of infinity in the interpretation of the predecessors of St. Gregory, approx. 24. About this N. Langerbeck, Zur Interpretation, p. 86. N. Langerbeck, Zur Interpretation p. 86. See E. Mühlenberg, Die Unendlichkeit, p. 19. See E. Mühlenberg, Die Unendlichkeit, p. 26 and below. On Aristotle's concept of infinity, see also p. 43–58. See N. Langerbeck, Zur Interpretation, p. 86. See E. Mühlenberg, Die Unendlichkeit, p. 23. This is what Ch. points out in his review. Kannengiesser, while expressing certain critical remarks about Muhlenberg's work: the author, in his opinion, too decisively separates Gregory from the tradition of both apophatic theology and mystical theology, which considers the union of the soul with God as the goal of Christian spirituality. See Ch. Kannengiesser, “L’infinité divine chez Grégoire de Nysse” // Recherches de science religieuse, 55,1967, p. 55–65. See J. E. Hennessy, The Background, p. 84–87. See J. E. Hennessy, The Background, p. 199–202. Cm. J. E. Hennessy, The Background, c. 202. Cm. J. E. Hennessy, The Background, c. 264 and below, 292. See J. E. Hennessy, The Background, p. 293. J. E. Hennessy devotes a separate chapter that concludes his work to the endless spiritual growth of the created spiritual being (see The Background, pp. 273–284). He points out the clear relationship of this idea with Gregory’s teaching about the infinity of God, without, however, establishing a cause-and-effect relationship here. See Thomas Böhm, Theoria – Unendlichkeit – Aufstieg. Philosophische Implikationen zu De Vita Moysis von Gregor von Nyssa, Leiden – New York – Köln 1996. The same impression is made by the remark of Boehm’s teacher W. Beierwaltes on this topic, directed against Muhlenberg’s conclusions, see W. Beierwaltes, “Hen” // Reallexikon für Antike und Christentum, 14,1988, p. 446–472, zejm. 465. V. H. Drecoll, in a review of Böhm’s work (Zeitschrift für antikes Christentum, 2, 1998, pp. 144–147), points out the unfoundedness of the method of searching for “philosophical implications” adopted by this researcher from W. Beierwaltes. This method, of course, does not replace the search for direct sources, but it can reveal important connections in the history of thought. Regarding Gregory’s acquaintance with the work of Plotinus, we can only speak with confidence about the influence of Enneads I, 6 and VI, 9 on him (see J. Daniélou, “Grégoire de Nysse et Plotin” // Actes du Congrès de Tours et Poitiers, Association Guillaume Budé, Paris 1954, pp. 259–262; aka, “Bulletin” d’histoire des origines chrétiennes”// Recherches de science religieuse, 53, 1965, pp. 121–170, especially 158–161; in honor of Hadwig Hörner, Heidelberg 1990, pp. 133–145), and possibly IV, 8 (see N. Langerbeck, Zur Interpretation, p. 89); Of course, the thinking of both authors differs in many ways, see A. Meredith, “Gregory of Nyssa and Plotinus” // Studia patristica, 17/3, 1982, p. 1120–1126; aka, “Plato’s “cave” (Republic vii 514a-517e) in Origen, Plotinus, and Gregory of Nyssa” // Studia patristica, 27, 1993, p. 49–61. Cm. L. Sweeney, Divine Infinity, c. 473–503. Especially S. Eun. I,19 (GNO I,94.15 – 96.12), S. Eun. II (GNO I, 245.19 – 255.1) a Vita Mos. II, 224–239. Cm. L. Sweeney, Divine Infinity, c. 503. Origen, De princ. I, 3, 8; II, 9, 2: SC 252, 164, 317a322; 354, 43 and below. See E. von Ivánka, Hellenistisches und Christliches im frühbyzantinischen Geistesleben Wien 1948, p. 49 and below; aka Plato Christianus. Übernahme und Umgestaltung des Platonismus durch die Väter, Einsiedeln 1964, p. 183 and below. ... κόρον δὲ λαβούσας τῆς θείας θεωρίας (Acta conciliorum oecumenicorum, ed. E. Schwarz, III, Berlin 1940, p. 213,14). ... κόρον δὲ αὐτὸν λαβεῖν τῆς θείας θεωρίας (J. D. Mansi, ed., Sacrorum conciliorum nova et amplissima collectio, IX, Florentiae 1763, c. 396bc, where this text is listed as the canon of the 2nd Council of Constantinople in 550). De princ. I, 3, 8: 252,164,317. See De orat. 25.2: GCS, Origen II, 358.16 and below. See M. Harl, Recherches, p. 397. See R. Zemp, Die Grundlagen p. 194 and below, p. 207. Already Maximus the Confessor, who used Gregory’s idea of ​​epectasis in polemics against the Origenism of his time, complements Gregory’s thought with the motive of eschatological achievement of the goal in a kind of “immovable movement” or “moving rest,” which also means the achievement of the fullness of human nature and constant movement directed towards God. On this see R. M. Blowers, Maximus. R. E. Heine, Perfection c. 7. According to the author, the key role for Origen is played by the freedom of intelligent beings (λόγικοι), who were saturated with the contemplation of God and fell away from Him in a free choice. Some (human beings) after their fall were united to the body and through the divine Logos must be redeemed again, i.e. brought back to the contemplation of God. It is precisely because of the freedom of intelligent beings that it cannot be assumed that everyone will turn to God during their life in the body, and therefore the cosmic cycle must be repeated an infinite number of times. A further difficulty lies in the fact that intelligent entities can, even after their return to God, become fed up again and fall again (see S. W. Gustafson, Gregory, pp. 14–26). See above E. Mühlenberg, J. E. Hennessy, S. W. Gustafson, L. Sweeney. See R. S. Brightman, "Apophatic Theology and Divine Infinity in St. Gregory of Nyssa” // Greek Orthodox Theological Review, 18, 1973, p. 97–114. See D. Carabine, “Gregory of Nyssa on the Incomprehensibility of God,” in T. Finan – V. Twomey (ed.), The Relationship between Neoplatonism and Christianity (Proceedings of the First Patristic Conference at Maynooth), Dublin 1992, p. 79–99. See D. Carabine, Gregory, p. 80 and below. On the possible influence of Plotinus on Gregory, see above, note. 31. For apophatic statements about the One in Plotinus, see F. Karfik, Prolegomena, p. 84. J. Daniélou even suggests the influence of Ammonius Saccas, who taught in Athens in the 4th century, mediated by the Platonists Origen and Longinus. According to Daniélou, Basil could have encountered this version of Neoplatonism, partially different from the teachings of Plotinus, Porphyry and Iamblichus, and inspired his receptive younger brother with them (see J. Daniélou, “Grégoire de Nysse et le néoplatonisme de l’école d’Ahtène” // Revue des Études Grecques, 80, 1967, pp. 395–401). Whether this hypothesis is correct and whether apophatic theology was also part of Basil’s Athenian Neoplatonic baggage cannot be said with certainty. See Ch. Apostolopoulos, Phaedo Christianus. Studien zur Verbindung und Abwägung des Verhältnisses zwischen dem platonischen „Phaidon“ und dem Dialog Gregors von Nyssa „Über die Seele und Auferstehung“, Frankfurt a. M. – Bern – New York 1986, in particular the chapter entitled “Insatiable Eros (Dionysian zeal, or on the ascension of the soul and the so-called “vision of God”) - on the infinite and indefinite character of the Divine and its anthropomorphic basis,” pp. 321–366. According to the author, Gregory starts from the situation of human finitude, which must be overcome and is constantly being overcome (see p. 358) in Dionysian eros (see p. 342), striving for the infinite and indefinite (see p. 269), there is a movement of self-overcoming in the good itself, which “continues” to infinity, that is, the Divine overcomes Itself in an endless insatiable movement (see pp. 336–340). See W. Ullmann, Der logische und der theologische Sinn, especially c. 158–163. See K.-H. Uthemann, Die Unendlichkeit Gottes bei Gregor von Nyssa, as an excursion to: “Die Sprache der Theologie nach Eunomius von Cyzicus” // Zeitschrift für Kirchengeschichte, 104, 1993, p. 143–175 (excursion. 170–175). See E. Mühlenberg, Die Unendlichkeit, p. 141 and below. Enn. VI, 9 [9], 6, 10–12. See E. Ferguson, “God’s Infinity and Man’s Mutability.” Perpetual Progress According to Gregory of Nyssa” // Greek Orthodox Theological Review, 18, 1973, p. 59–78. The author mentions the motive of the unfinished search for the immense God in Philo of Alexandria (Post. Cain. 14–15), Clement of Alexandria (Strom. VII, 2.10; V, 12), Origen (In Num., hom. XVII, 4; De orat. 25, 2), etc. Further, he cites individual metaphors used by Gregory: running to the goal, rising, flying upward, growth, removal of old clothes. The author understands the infinity of God as the basis of infinite virtue and, consequently, the infinite path to it. In contrast to the cyclical movement of nature/nature, the path of virtue, illuminated by God's grace, is a linear movement forward throughout eternity. See R. Wilson-Kastner, “Gods Infinity and His Relationship to Creation in the Theologies of Gregory of Nyssa and Jonathan Edwards,” Foundations, 21, 1978, p. 305–321. The author draws primarily from Gregory's dialogue On the Soul and Resurrection and Edwards's A Dissertation Concerning the End for Which God Created the World (1755), especially noting the aspect of freedom that is associated with infinity. See G. A. Barrois, “Vertu, “épectase”, perfection. Les métamorphoses d’un thème philosophique, de Socrate à saint Grégoire de Nysse, et au delà” // Diotima, 11,1983, p. 30–39. See A. Diehle, “Das Streben nach Vollkommenheit nach Philon und Gregor von Nyssa” // G. Schöllgen, C. Schölten, ed., Stimuli. Exegese und ihre Hermeneutik in Antike und Christentum, collection in memory of E. Dassmann, Münster 1996, p. 329–335. See A. Spira, “Le temps d'un homme selon Aristote et Grégoire de Nysse: Stabilité et instabilité dans la pensée grecque” // Le temps chrétien de la fin de l`Antiquité au Moyen Age, Colloque international du C.N.R.S., N. 604, Paris 1984, p. 283–294. The author presents Gregory's thought about the endless human path as a clear novum in comparison with Greek ideas about the changeable human destiny, in which only virtue can be unshakable. For Gregory, virtue, on the contrary, lies in constant movement forward. This idea about the endless path of virtue, according to the author, finds its “tragic” expression in Faust’s zeal for endless progress, a kind of symbol of modern civilization in general. See the famous words with which Goethe’s hero addresses Mephistopheles: “Werd’ ich zum Augenblicke sagen:/ Verweile doch! du bist so schön!/ Dann magst du mich in Fesseln schlagen,/ Dann will ich gern zugrunde gehn!” (“As soon as I exalt a single moment, / Crying out: “A moment, wait!” - / It’s all over, and I am your prey, / And there is no escape for me from the trap,” vv. 1699–1702, translation by B. Pasternak).