Saint Gregory the Wonderworker, Bishop of Neocaesarea. His life, works and theology

Pathological research The history of church theology in the Greek East in the period from Origen to the Council of Nicaea represents one of the most difficult problems in the history of the ancient Church. After the powerful scientific upsurge and revival in theology that Origen caused in the places of his activity and in the circles that came into close contact with him, after his death there was a noticeable decline. No matter how this phenomenon is explained, it remains an indisputable fact, clearly confirmed by a strong decrease in literary productivity. But even from the sparse theological literature that arose in the second half of the 3rd century, very few monuments have survived to this day, and mostly in fragments. Under such conditions, it is extremely difficult to penetrate into the process of adapting the rich scientific and theological heritage of Origen to the church needs and, in general, harmonizing scientific theology with the devoted church faith, which undoubtedly took place both in Alexandria itself and in other centers of church life in the East - its presence is clearly evidenced although by the fragmentary voices of defenders and opponents of Origen, heard in different places (St. Dionysius, Theognostus, Pierius, St. Peter - in Alexandria, St. Methodius of Olympus and the author of the dialogue “On the right faith in God” - in Asia Minor, Pamphilus - in Caesarea Palestine, St. Gregory the Wonderworker - in Pontus), and its results appeared already at the beginning of the 4th century, when a radical change in the external position of Christianity in the Greco-Roman Empire provided the Church with the opportunity to concentrate its forces on solving internal church problems. When comparing the theology of Origen with the theology of church leaders of the early 15th century, who were undoubtedly influenced by Origen and the scientific movement in the Church in the first half of the 3rd century, a gap is revealed, which is very difficult to fill given the current state of data on the development of theological science in the second half of the 3rd century. The absence of sources that, to a greater or lesser extent, would mutually illuminate each other and help to dispel the darkness enveloping this period, even seemed to weaken scientific interest in church writers of the second half of the 3rd century - at least, little attention is focused on them in scientific research, and judgments about them are made without a detailed scientific analysis of even those materials that are known. This state of affairs provides sufficient justification for the appearance of this study on one of the prominent church figures of this period - St. Gregory the Wonderworker, Bishop of Neocaesarea. Direct student of Origen, St. Gregory was a church leader on the distant outskirts of the then enlightened world - in Pontus, in which he was also the founder of the church; however, this outskirts, a hundred years after him, became an important center of church theological science, which had an extraordinary influence on the disclosure and final formulation of the dogmatic teaching of the Church. And the leaders of this time, the great Cappadocian fathers and theologians - St. Basil the Great, Gregory the Theologian and Gregory of Nyssa were deep admirers of St. Gregory - the enlightener of their native country and the guardians of its theological traditions. Thus, the meaning of St. Gregory the Wonderworker is indisputable not only for the greatness of his personality and the significance of his activities in contemporary church life, but also for his influence on subsequent generations. Meanwhile, until now there has been no scientific research about him that would cover all aspects of his life and work, and a complete scientific publication of his creations is still a question for the future. True, there are scattered studies and notes on individual issues from his life and literary activity; but there are relatively few of them and, taken together, they do not give a complete picture of St. Gregory the Wonderworker. Possible satisfaction of this urgent scientific need for research about St. Gregory - constitutes the task of this work. A thorough analysis of the surviving news about the personality of St. Gregory and his pastoral activity provides material for an outline of his life; critical assessment of data on literary works and clarification of the actual volume of the true works of St. Gregory, in addition to the independent significance of this issue, serves as the basis for determining theological views and the theological direction of which he was a representative, remaining an animated and reverent student of the famous Alexandrian teacher and at the same time gaining the glory of the indisputable authority of Orthodoxy, “like a luminous great luminary shining in the Church of God” (St. Basil the Great). Attached to the study is an image of St. Gregory the Wonderworker, which presents a photograph from an ancient icon located in the Russian Museum of Emperor Alexander III in Petrograd. This icon was described by N. Sychev in the article: “Ancient storage of the Russian Museum of Emperor Alexander III”, published in the magazine “Old Years”, January - February 1916 - a photograph from the icon was also attached to it 1. About the icon N. Sychev says the following (pp. 7–8): “the oldest example of Byzantine icon painting of the 11th-12th centuries is the icon of St. Gregory the Wonderworker (234). Half-length image of St. Gregory, dressed in a white, slightly yellowish, phelonion and a white omophorion with large crosses ornamented with gold, still retains the decorative manner characteristic of Byzantine monumental painting of this time. The schematically painted face of the saint, despite the attempt to indicate shadows, looks flat. The figure is outlined confidently and clearly, but also schematically and strictly. The golden background gives the icon some special solemnity, beautifully harmonizing with the light colors of the clothes and the somewhat dark coloring of the face.” November 17, 1916 - the day of remembrance of St. Gregory the Wonderworker, Bishop of Neocaesarea. Currently, the icon is kept in the State Hermitage. Ed.