NB: This essay is by no means complete. I simply present it as a series of reflections on a number of texts by Gregory of Nyssa related to the term apokatastasis which can be developed at a future time.

CONTENTS

Chapter One: A Definition of Two Key Words

Chapter Two: Migration

Chapter Three: Gregory of Nyssa's Fundamental Metaphor

Chapter Four: Theoria or "Seeing"

Chapter Five: Diastema or "Interval"

Chapter Six: The Corporate Nature of Apokatastasis

Chapter Seven: Jesus Christ as "First Fruits"

Conclusion

Appendix A: References to Apokatastasis

Appendix B: References to Anakephalaiosis

Appendix C: References to Diastema

Originally this manuscript emerged from a desire to make available on the Internet the most important references to the Greek word apokatastasis⁽¹⁾ as used by Gregory of Nyssa, a Christian theologian and bishop of Asia Minor who flourished during the fourth century of our era. In brief, apokatastasis means the reestablishment of both humankind and all creation to their original integrity as intended by God. According to Christian teaching, sin was responsible for corrupting human moral behavior, the debilitating effect of which has extended not only to human relationships but to the physical world. Despite this devastating consequence, the second century theologian of Alexandria, Origen, maintains that God holds out the prospect of ultimate salvation for every person. It was Origen who first developed the notion of apokatastasis at some length and maintained the view that all punishment--both temporal and in the spiritual world--serves to instruct rather than to condemn. Origen's insight into apokatastasis, however, was rejected by a synod of bishops at Constantinople in 543 since it implied the preexistence of souls⁽²⁾.

Despite misgivings by the Church as a whole with regard to the ambivalent character of apokatastasis, the Swiss theologian Hans Urs von Balthasar points out that Gregory of Nyssa had refined it in light of orthodox Christian teaching by emphasizing the unity of human nature and that "le Christ total n'est autre que l'humanite totale"⁽³⁾. Consider, for example, an excerpt from the Commentary on the Inscriptions of the Psalms where Gregory, like his predecessor Origen, stresses the complex response by God which involves instruction as opposed to the more human, simpler tactic of outright condemnation:

If God's wrath cannot be endured, its action can be borne with love. "Thus make known to us your right hand" that we may be wise, not punished, by your teaching. Having earlier clarified these words, we may now attend to their divinely inspired content. "For weakness overtakes us, and we shall be chastened. Who knows the power of your wrath, and who knows how to number his days because of the fear of your wrath? So manifest your right hand, and those who are instructed in wisdom and in the heart" [Ps 89.10]. This passage is welcome in relation to the grievous words which follow. We are incapable of enduring the force of God's wrath due to the weakness of our human nature against which sin militates, so we stand in need of instruction. Let salvation instruct us through conversion rather than by the punishment due to our sins. J.50⁽⁴⁾

One advantage of studying the implications of apokatastasis as the restitution of all things in God reveals that many contemporary opinions concerning the human person stem from a fractured, cynical viewpoint. These views have various, complex sources but share a common trait: disappearance of faith in a divine reality which effectively intervenes in human affairs. The reflections of Gregory of Nyssa are valuable here in that they echo across sixteen centuries with a refreshing modern insight into God's union with human nature through the person of Jesus Christ. Yet due to the huge temporal gap between the fourth century and our position at the threshold of the third millennium, I list four obstacles which may hinder the reader from fully appreciating Gregory of Nyssa's works: 1) despite a number of recent translations into English, some of Gregory's theological writings (for example, Against Eunomius, On the Making of Man and The Great Catechism) are in a somewhat stilted style characteristic of the English language at the close of the nineteenth century; 2) most of the important secondary sources on Gregory of Nyssa are in French and German⁽⁵⁾; 3) like many Church Fathers, Gregory's scriptural commentaries favor the allegorical method. The modern mind, steeped as it is in an objective, scientific approach, may balk at allegorical method as being too contrived and hence irrelevant. Finally, 4) there is a lack of methodology in Gregory's writings which makes it difficult to grasp his main ideas; instead, a person is compelled to wade through a lot of material (and often convoluted allegories) before getting a clear picture of his main themes.

With this last observation in mind, I prefer to concentrate upon several important themes flowing from Gregory's use of apokatastasis because it is a word which embraces several tenets of his thought: the soul's migration to God from the bonds of material reality, "seeing" (theoria⁽⁶⁾) or perceiving God's presence and finally, how our rootedness within space and time (diastema⁽⁷⁾) affects this special type of seeing. What makes this all possible is that we are made in God's image (eikon), a basic principle for Gregory's reflections upon fallen human nature which Christ had redeemed. Although this divine image lies at the heart of our humanity, our loss of the spontaneous practice of virtue requires a process of "subjection" to God, hupotage. Gregory develops this theme in a short but profound treatise based upon 1Cor 15.28 where St. Paul talks about Christ subjecting himself to the Father after all things have been subjected to him.

Realization of these insights as I have just outlined them does not take place in vacuum; because we require words for their description, I have drawn attention to an important intuition which Gregory lifts from the writings of St. Paul which fleshes out his own ideas into God's relationship with humanity. Although these notions share a common unity, they require separate chapters; however, throughout the focus will remain upon apokatastasis or that "restoration"⁽⁸⁾ of all things in Jesus Christ which is primarily effected through the act of "seeing," theoria.

By way of a scriptural introduction to the concept of apokatastasis, I find it helpful to note the only two New Testament instances found within the corpus of Gregory of Nyssa's writings:

Mt 17.11-12⁽⁹⁾: He [Christ] replied, "Elijah does come, and he is to restore [apokatastesei⁽¹⁰⁾] all things; but I tell you that Elijah has already come, and they did not know him but did to him whatever they pleased. So also the Son of man will suffer at their hands."

Acts 3.20-1: ...and that he may send the Christ appointed for you, Jesus, whom heaven must receive until the time for establishing [apokatastaseos] all that God spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets from of old.

An important New Testament passage which does not contain the word apokatastasis but one which Gregory of Nyssa finds essential to its proper understanding is 1Cor 15.21-2:

For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive. But each in his own order: Christ the first fruits [aparche], then at his coming those who belong to Christ.

I will develop this theme in a later chapter but for the moment wish to draw attention to the two phrases beginning with "as" (hosper) and "so" (outos) which help bridge not only the spacial-temporal gap but the moral and spiritual one between the first man, Adam, and Jesus Christ. As I will illustrate later, this parallel between two opposites, the first man and Christ as the "first fruits" (phurama) which is bridged by the two adverbs "as" and "so" constitutes the foundation upon which Gregory of Nyssa develops his reflections on the drama of human redemption. He does this by creating analogies put at the service of closing the spacial-temporal gap or that diastema between Adam and Christ, a point worth exploring in some detail.

The two scriptural passages quoted just above containing the word apokatastasis and which refer to Elijah are directly related to the person of Jesus Christ and are rooted within the Old Testament. It is interesting to note that Elijah (2Kg 1.9-12), along with Enoch (Gen 5.24⁽¹¹⁾), are the only two persons worthy of being taken up into heaven physically without having to undergo death. Several passages from Gregory's writings are worth noting in this respect:

At one time the Israelites mourned Elijah whom God snatched away from the earth [2Kg 2.1-11], but Elisha's fine sheepskin serves as a consolation for the fact that he has departed. Now the wound is beyond cure because Elijah was assumed and Elisha was not. Meletius, J.452.

Therefore an invisible power destroyed the Egyptian through the miracles in the sea, and the text names this power "cavalry." We assume this cavalry was the angelic host of which the prophet says "You mounted your horses, and your cavalry is salvation" [Hab 3.8]. David also mentions a chariot of God saying "The chariots of God are ten thousand fold" [Ps 67.17] to which are yoked the ten thousands of the upright. Further, the power which took up Elijah and removed him from the earth to the ethereal region is named a horse by Scripture [2 Kg 2.11]. The text calls the prophet the chariot of Israel and its horseman. Song Commentary, J.74-5.

Certain stars of the divine eloquence are bright twinklings and radiances of the soul's eyes. As the prophet says, they are as high as the heavens above the earth [Ps 102.11]. If this is the case with regard to our soul, Elijah's example shows us how our mind is taken up in a fiery chariot [2 Kgs 2.11] and raised on high to that heavenly beauty. (We understand this fire chariot as the Holy Spirit which the Lord had come to cast upon the earth; in the likeness of tongues, it was divided among the disciples). We will not despair from drawing near to the stars, I mean from considering divine things which illumine our souls by heavenly, spiritual utterances. Song Commentary, J.294.

Do we dare to proceed further by speaking of the exalted Elijah and to show that our teacher [Basil] resembles him? But he [Elijah] was whisked away in a fiery chariot, conduced by fiery horses and transported to the transcendent realm above [cf. 2Kg 2.11]. Let no one demand that human nature (it cannot remain unharmed in the midst of fire; divine power transports it above to that weightless realm from what is both heavy and earthly) can shut out by its own words heavenly support and close it again by its authority when it appears the right thing to do. For a considerable period of time he went without food except rye baked in ashes and conserved his strength for forty days [cf. 1Kg 19.6-8]. Basil, J.122.

Since neither the man [Christ] did not share our human nature nor did the incorporeal God assume flesh, let [Apollinarius'] disciples and followers of his error now state their position with regard to God's incarnation: "But the Greeks and Jews will assent to our opinion if we say that a divinized man was born of a woman as in the case of Elijah." And who among the Greeks will admit to the truth of Elijah's miracles [2Kg 2.11]? Fire manifested itself in two forms: chariot and horses descended from heaven, a movement contrary to their nature. Elijah was lifted up into the flaming chariot and saved from being burned by this fire while he was assumed along with the horses and chariot. If anyone accepts this as he should, he will imply a figure of the mystery, that is, a prophecy of the Lord's incarnation prefigured in this narrative. As fire tends upwards and the divine power downward, Elijah, who was infused by heavenly fire, partakes of its natural movement and is raised up on high. Thus the immaterial and incorporeal essence, the power of the Most High, assumed a servant's form through the Virgin and raised it up to his own sublimity, having transformed it into a divine, immortal form. Anyone finding this difficult to accept could not believe in Elijah's miracles, and the person who had earlier learned that the truth had overshadowed [Elijah] would stubbornly refuse to accept this truth. Against Apollinarius, J.169-70.

I had mentioned that Enoch was the other person directly assumed into heaven and as far as I know, Gregory of Nyssa refers to him only once in conjunction with Elijah:

We may suppose this to mean that every task begun by one person is shared by many. Scripture says that Thobel was the discoverer of things fashioned with iron, and all those who practice the making of iron implements attribute it to him. It is the same with Abel as shepherd, Cain as farmer, Nimrod who first knew about hunting, Noah as dresser of vines and Enoch who first hoped in God. Holy Scripture teaches us here to follow the example of one person. Therefore Elijah stands out as an eminent guide in his zeal for God. Those who imitate his zeal follow in the footsteps of his boldness; they become a herd of goats whose leader is the master of this life. They are the glory and praise of the Church set as an ornament in the hair; their lives have nothing to do with the senses. Song Commentary, J.453

The fundamental notion permeating the five passages just quoted is one of earthly elements being transported to an existence different from their inherently dense nature. I offer the following outline which distills the meaning of each excerpt:

-snatched away from the earth.

-removed him from the earth.

-our mind is taken up in a fiery chariot and raised on high to that heavenly beauty.

-divine power transports it [the soul] above to that weightless realm from what is both heavy and earthly.

-fire manifests itself in two forms: chariot and horses descended from heaven, a movement contrary to their nature.

Although I have cited a number of inspiring texts from the writings of Gregory of Nyssa, it remains to ask whether they have any relevance to our all too familiar "earthly" existence, or are they just fanciful exaggerations put at the service of enhancing rare characters like Elijah and Enoch? One way of responding to this question is to explore whether or not human nature contains an innate capacity for spiritual ascent which matches the pattern originally laid out by these prophets. Should this be true, such a goal ought to lie within our power. Their stories have a general correspondence with more contemporary descriptions of spiritual ascent as witnessed by a renewed interest in the writings of Gregory of Nyssa not just by scholars but by persons earnest in their search for God⁽¹²⁾. Because such interest is fairly widespread nowadays there remains the task of determining the most basic feature characteristic of Gregory's articulation of the spiritual life also common to traditions which ascribe to belief in a transcendent God, namely, that general pattern of passing from "down" (earth) to "up" (heaven). Having delineated this as perhaps the most important attribute of the spiritual quest, we can examine other features which enhance it. Interestingly, the bishop of Nyssa presents this ascent in terms of human relationships within the context of virtuous qualities which counter the dissipative nature of base, immoral behavior. In other words, a temporal and spacial pattern depicts those qualities which are normally invisible to observation, a person's attitude and state of mind.

Despite the common thread to this method, later centuries of Christian teaching on the spiritual life has been influenced by processes which favor a more abstract, disembodied approach. Here as in medieval scholasticism the tendency has been to favor invisible, more abstract features garnered from human experience over our bodies' rootedness within the physical world. Yet evidence from such persons as Mark Johnson, a philosopher with special interest in language and metaphor, indicates that employing features of the external world to describe our inner workings has been overlooked in favor of an abstract, metaphysical view. This is due in part to what Johnson calls the Objectivist tradition where "the decisive line is drawn between the mental, conceptual, rational, cognitive, a priori, and theoretical, on the one side, and the physical, perceptual, imaginative, emotional, a posteriori, and practical, on the other side"⁽¹³⁾. In this opinion significance is credited to the former, a tendency which underrates the corporeal features of human existence; in other words, we have the foundation for a classic dualism between that which is considered "spiritual" as opposed to that which is "natural."

It is not my intention to delineate the ramifications of this cleavage which has been sufficiently documented; instead, I wish to bring attention to it here in Chapter One because this essay will concentrate on how Gregory of Nyssa uses objects from the physical world as vessels to reflect God's life and love. Furthermore, Gregory desires to show that the pattern of an "upward" journey or ascent lies within the reach of ordinary Christians for whom the possibility of living unconditioned by any event, person or object is the goal set forth for our imitation. Diastema, a term Gregory employs for the spacial-temporal dimension, is that field which allows an unlimited amount of events to unfold; our experience of its structure is primarily horizontal, not vertical, for it moves from the past to the future as common experience relates. Here we have an example of what Mark Johnson calls "containment" where we move from some place to one that may not yet be known⁽¹⁴⁾ to us as in leaving one room and entering another. For Gregory of Nyssa, Elijah and Enoch are individuals who do not slavishly follow this well-tread path but are pioneers because they trace out another form of movement. Their example is uncommon not so much because the vertical path is arduous but because the horizontal one has become so firmly entrenched in our minds through an attachment...a conditioning...to a particular "path" which has become habitual with the passage of time. To break out of this habituated way requires a lengthy process of unconditioning or unlearning of acquired habits. Thus the upward ascent resembles fire; it consumes everything on the horizonal plane yet elevates us, like Elijah, upward toward heaven, the realm of unconditioned freedom⁽¹⁵⁾.

The bishop of Nyssa often views the assumption of human nature into the heavenly realm in terms of a migration to one's true homeland as embodied in the Old Testament figure of Elijah. Such a journey intimates the various forms of passage delineated at the close of the last chapter. Gregory presents it as a move from weighty or oppressive earthly existence to one which is "weightless" and is therefore symbolic of a heavenly life. Hence migration is a "going up" as opposed to the normal lateral or horizontal forms of movement with which we are more familiar. In addition to this, Elijah is seen with Moses at the Transfiguration conversing with Jesus Christ, and the symbolism of the mountain and fire is by no means inconsequential. I offer several excerpts containing the notion of migration in Gregory of Nyssa's own words:

Let us now attend to the words "Vanity of vanities, all is vanity," and "What advantage is to man in his labor under the sun?" In my opinion these words represent a soul stripped of its present condition here below when it migrates [metoikizo] to the life it yearns after. If a person pursues life's nobler aspects, he views his earlier condition in a harsh light and despises his present experience in comparison to what he has discovered. Commentary on Ecclesiastes, J.291.

But [Apollinarius] says, "the second man from heaven is spiritual. This signifies that the man united with God lacks an intelligence of his own." We should be able to refute this strange doctrine without much difficulty. [Paul's] words, "as is the man of heaven so are those who are of heaven" [1Cor 15.48] differ considerably with such a notion. Persons who believe their origin lies in heaven call themselves heavenly. As Paul says, they have migrated [methistemi] to the heavenly way of life and resemble the heavenly [Christ]; indeed, no one who has embraced the faith lacks reason. This comparison shows a necessary bond between [Christ] and men by virtue of his human mind: "as is the man of heaven so are those who are of heaven." But we confess that he was either fully invested with a human mind or lacked it completely. Just as we see the attributes of an earthly man at work in his offspring, so the Apostle says [Heb 4.15] in reference to life's necessities that [Christ] was tempted in all things and resembled us except by sin [1Cor 15.45]. The mind does not consist of sin yet [Christ] must share every aspect of our human nature. The Apostle correctly speaks of him in our human nature if we confess him to be made like us. In this way he who shared this nature might fashion us into what he himself is. Against Apollinarius, J.145-6.

Because true goodness is clearly opposed to that which is not good, we are faced with a contradiction. It follows that persons who separate themselves from that which is not beautiful become attached to true beauty which constantly and at all times remains good. Such a gesture have nothing to do with the temporal order; rather, the good always preserves its own integrity. The human soul migrates [meteimi] towards this good from corporeal existence after it has exchanged the present good for another one impossible to see clearly because we are burdened by this fleshly existence. However, we can have a notion [of this change] and draw a certain parallel between it and a possible withdrawal from that knowledge which pertains to this present life. No longer does corporeal existence weigh us down nor are we influenced by the weight of opposing elements, for this struggle within our human constitution is equally distributed and maintains our health. Concerning Those Who Have Died, J.34.

As the various forms of all three Greek words indicate, the concept of migration represents a continuous process of passing from one existence with which we are acquainted to another (meta, "after," "beyond") foreign to us. Gregory conceives such passages in spacial terms (earth to heaven, down to up, heavy to light); therefore it is only natural for him to transfer this essentially vertical imagry to that moral passage from a life of sin to the practice of virtue, arete. For Gregory passage to virtue is the true essence of our migration, and a proper understanding of it in spacial terms is indispensable for its practice. Since virtue is generally difficult to exercise, especially at the outset, the bishop of Nyssa makes it more palatable for his listeners by employing language with appropriate images for capturing their imagination. Such language employs impressions which have the potential of reconciling contradictory elements; in this instance Gregory is concerned with virtue and its opposite, moral deficiency. Once our imaginations are disposed for seizing virtue through the appealing terms of a migration from earth to heaven, from what is heavy to that which is light, we acquire a more spontaneous desire for having recourse to this imagry⁽¹⁶⁾ especially during those times when the practice of virtue becomes arduous. It orientates and inspires our confused minds, thereby leading us step by step "up" from our non-virtuous lives which Gregory associates with a purely "earthly existence."

Because migration is a journey from one place to another, it embodies a special allure in that we are engaged in a process of leaving what is familiar and advancing to foreign territory. Judging from his writings, Gregory of Nyssa was sensitive to this tension and presented our passage to virtue and divine life through attractive imagry which embodies a journey:

Those preparing to travel abroad have high expectations for the coming voyage. When they bring their merchant ship out from port and the helmsman directs the ship's prow towards the open sea, the sailors offer a prayer at the voyage's start, asking God for a safe journey. Of chief concern in their prayer is a gentle breeze to push their sails in the direction desired by the pilot at the ship's stern. With a favorable wind, calm sea, and gentle, rippling waves, the sea causes no distress, for the ship easily flies over the waves. To the sailors' eyes is already present the hoped-for wealth while their voyage is proceeding well and before any danger arises. I use these examples as a kind of prologue, for what I mean is quite evident to those receptive in listening. The vast sea represents contemplation [theoria] of the divine words. From this voyage we expect great wealth; the Church is this living vessel which expects the riches of divine guidance in all its fullness. But the Song's text acting as pilot, does not touch the tiller before prayer is offered to God by the entire crew so that the Holy Spirit's power might breathe on us and put into motion the waves of our thoughts [anakinesai ton noematon ta kumata]. In this way he guides our prayer as one directs a voyage. Having thus traversed the open sea by contemplation [theoria], we might traffic in the wealth of knowledge if by your prayers the Holy Spirit strikes our sails. Commentary on the Song of Songs, J.340-2.

Note Gregory's remarks, "I use these examples as a kind of prologue...the vast sea represents contemplation (theoria) of the divine words." Here he uses the engaging imagry of a sea voyage which in the ancient world not only encompassed that expectation I had mentioned above, but an adventure fraught with danger. Nevertheless, the idea is the same: reading the Song of Songs is for Gregory a journey par excellance fraught with hazards which are more perilous since they affect the very constitution of our souls. Here the likeness of a ship voyage which passes over the "horizontal" ocean is transformed into a "vertical" one where we ascend in our journey towards God aided by the Holy Spirit who "puts into motion the wave of our thoughts." Theoria or contemplation is that vehicle or ship enabling us to accomplish our voyage.

The "harbor" where these sailors of the Spirit come to rest is for Gregory of Nyssa the angelic realm which he describes in the following passages:

Commentary on the Song of Songs

The Song's text readily employs words whose obvious meaning indicates the enjoyment of carnal passion; it does not fall into any improper meaning but leads us to the philosophy of divine things by means of chaste concepts. It shows that we are no longer to be men with a nature of flesh and blood; rather, it points to the life we hope for at the resurrection of the saints, an angelic life free from all passion. J.30

This is the radiant, ripe cluster of grapes which warms its form and sweetens the soul's senses in chastity. The vine's tendril is union and kinship with eternal life. The growing shoots are the heavenly virtues rising up to the height of the angels. J.60

We assume this cavalry was the angelic host of which the prophet says "You mounted your horses, and your cavalry is salvation" [Hab 3.8]. David also mentions a chariot of God saying "The chariots of God are ten thousand fold" [Ps 67.17] to which are yoked the ten thousands of the upright. Further, the power which took up Elijah and removed him from the earth to the ethereal region is named a horse by Scripture [2 Kg 2.11]. The text calls the prophet the chariot of Israel and its horseman. J.75

After the resurrection we have been promised a life similar to the angels, and he who has promised it does not lie. It follows, therefore, the life in this world should be a preparation for the one we hope for later. Though living in the flesh and passing through the field of this world, we should not live according to the flesh nor be conformed to this world; rather, we ought to meditate on the life to come while we are still in this present one. Therefore, by imposing an oath, the bride confirms those souls under instruction: while spending their lives in this "field," they will look to the "powers" and imitate their angelic purity by detachment. Thus is love aroused and wakened; that is to say, it is elevated and continually spurred on to greater growth. God's good will is done "on earth as it is in heaven" [Mt 6.10] when the detachment of the angels is effected in us. J.134-5

The Word's voice is always one of power. As light shone at the creation by his command, and as the firmament was constituted at his bidding [Gen 1.2-24], the rest of creation appeared by his creative Word. In the same way, when the Word bids the soul that has advanced to approach him, it is immediately strengthened at his command and becomes what he wishes, that is, changed into something divine; and from the glory which the soul had, it is transformed into a loftier glory by a wonderful alteration. Thus the angelic choir around the bridegroom marvels at the bride and exclaims with admiration, "You have given us heart, our sister, our spouse" [4.9]. For a state free from passion illumines the bride as well as the angels; it gives her kinship and sisterhood with the spiritual powers. Therefore, they say to her, "You have given us heart, our sister, our spouse." J.253-4

When a person teems with desire or burns with rage, he uses reason to quench the passions. It is the same with the sleep of this present life: if you place the sober cinnamon of reason in your mouth, you will clearly and accurately bring forth the meaning it contains. This resembles the angels who do not sleep but are watchful. You therefore imitate by truth of speech the sleepless angels who do not shrink away from truth by any fantasies of the imagination. J.287

He who has girded himself with temperance lives in the light of a pure conscience, for his life is illumined by the lamp of confidence. His soul remains sleepless and undeceived under truth's rays, and he is not idly occupied by useless dreams. If we achieve this with the Word's assistance, we will attain the angelic life. For the divine precepts compare us to angels saying, "And you ought to be like men waiting for their master to return from the marriage feast, in order that when he comes and knocks, they will immediately open the door for him" [Lk 12.36]. J.317-8

Commentary on the Inscriptions of the Psalms

Everything considered earthly, dumb, and speechless joins the sound of its own chords to the great voice of the heavenly choruses. The stretched chords in such an instrument are steadfastness and immovability before evil in every virtue. The virtues unite the cymbal's

pleasing harmony with chords when the sound of cymbals arouses our eagerness for the divine choir. To me this signifies the union of our nature with the angels. "Praise the Lord with the sound of cymbals." I understand this as the union of the angelic [nature] with the human when our human nature attains its original state and gives forth that sweet sound in union with others in thanksgiving. J.66

When all creation above and below will join to form one dance, the pleasant sound from our symphony will complete what has been sundered, for sin now divides the spiritual creation which resembles a cymbal. When our humanity will be united to the angels and when the divine battle-order lifts it out of the present turmoil, it will sing a victorious song of triumph at the bloody defeat of the enemy. Then every spirit will praise God's grace forever, continually magnifying his blessedness by further graces. J.68

There was a time when only one choir with a spiritual nature existed which looked to one leader of the song and executed this song in accord with the harmony given by his command. Afterwards sin crept in and dissolved the divine harmony of the chorus. It brought about the fall of our first parents who had danced along with the angelic powers by tripping their feet by the slip of deception. Hence, man was deprived of unity with the angels because his fall had dissolved this unity. Fallen man needs to exert much toil and labor. By struggling against his fall, he might again rise to receive his rewards, the divine choir, the fruit of victory against his foe. J.87

Whenever you hear the inscription "For Maeleth" joined to "For the end," you then know the advise symbolically offered to you and do not succumb to temptations in conflict; instead, you keep in mind the goal of your victory. This victory consists in being numbered in the angelic choir and to have your soul cleansed from the assault of temptations. The Lord tells us something similar with regard to Lazarus [LK 16.19+]. Lazarus kept himself safe from falling by exercising patience in calamities. Once his tent [life] was loosed, and having overcome the adversary, he immediately entered the angels' presence. "The poor man [Lazarus] dies and was carried away by the angels' [Lk 16.22]. This is the chorus, the journey with the angels, and the bosom of the patriarch [Abraham] who received Lazarus in the radiant joy of the chorus' harmony. J.87

Therefore, the person who puts to death this force in his own life exacts vengeance upon this evil. He sees the heavens, the magnificence above them, and the dignity of our nature placed in the same order. By reason of his position, man has domination over irrational beasts and is made a little less than the angels by comparison. Man therefore takes precedence over irrational beasts and is associated with the angels. J.123

These passages which contain references to the angels are intended to show their connection with certain themes I have already abstracted for greater clarity and italicized as follows:

-the resurrection of the saints, an angelic life free from all passion.

-the heavenly virtues rising up to the height of the angels.

-this cavalry was the angelic host of which the prophet says "You mounted your horses, and your cavalry is salvation."

-we have been promised a life similar to the angels.

-imitate their angelic purity by detachment.

-the angelic choir around the bridegroom.

-the angels who do not sleep but are watchful.

-For the divine precepts compare us to angels.

-the union of the angelic [nature] with the human when our human nature original state.

-our first parents who had danced along with the angelic powers.

-the journey with the angels, and the bosom of the patriarch [Abraham].

-a little less than the angels by comparison.

Now that Gregory has established the spiritual life in terms of going from "down" (earth) to "up" (heaven), he enhances his foundation for erecting various metaphors and descriptions of the heavenly life because he is describing a journey not through diastema, the spacial-temporal realm, but one which is devoid of place-to-place movement. Gregory does this by having access to the concept of perpetual progress, epektasis, which he delineates in The Life of Moses:

All heavenly bodies that receive a downward motion [horme]...are rapidly carried downwards of themselves, provided that any surface on which they are moving is graded and sloping and that they meet no obstacle to interrupt their motion. Similarly, the soul advances in the opposite direction lightly and swiftly moving upwards once it is released from the sensuous and earthly attachments, soaring from the world below up towards the heavens. And if nothing comes from above to intercept its flight [horme], seeing that it is of the nature of Goodness to attract those who raise their eyes towards it, the soul keeps rising ever higher and higher, stretching with its desire [epithumia sunepekteinomene] for heavenly things "to those that are before," as the Apostle tells us, and thus it will always continue to soar ever higher. Because of what it has already attained, the soul does not wish to abandon the heights that lie beyond it. And thus the soul moves ceaselessly upwards, always reviving its tension for its onward flight by means of the progress it has already realized. Indeed, it is only spiritual activity that nourishes its force by exercise; it does not slacken its tension by action but rather increases it. This is the reason why we say that the great Moses, moving ever forwards, did not stop in his upward climb. He set no limit to his rise to the stars. But once he had put his foot upon the ladder of which the Lord had leaned, as Jacob tells us, he constantly kept moving to the next step; and he continued to go ever higher because he always found another step that lay beyond the highest one that he had reached⁽¹⁷⁾

.

Note the forward-looking dynamic of the italicized words which I now outline for greater clarity:

-swiftly moving upward

-soaring from

-keeps rising

-stretching..."to those that are before"

-continue to soar ever higher

-moves ceaselessly upwards

-onward flight

-does not slacken its tension

-moving ever forwards, did not stop in his upward climb

-he set no limits to his rise

-ladder

-constantly kept moving to the next step

-continued to go ever higher

-always found another step that lay beyond the highest one that he had reached

The astounding amount of words dealing with motion enhances Gregory's teaching on the spiritual life and shows how he employs epektasis which translates as "stretching with desire for heavenly things to those that are before."⁽¹⁸⁾ Surely the bishop of Nyssa is speaking from personal experience, and what saves him from lapsing into a spirituality conceived as an intellectual ascent is his emphasis upon desire which in the Moses text is epithumia. Compare the excerpt above with one from Gregory's Song Commentary which also treats epithumia in connection with forward-looking accent. Note that while this passage speaks in terms similar to epektasis, the Greek term is not used here:

Although the stage attained [of letting the Word enter one's heart] is indeed greater than what a person had earlier, this stage does not limit his good; rather, the limit [peras] of his achievement becomes a beginning [arche] for the discovery of higher blessings. The person rising never stands still. He moves from one beginning [arche] to another [arche], for the beginning [arche] of even greater blessings is never limited. The desire [epithumia] of a soul thus rising never remains in its knowledge, but by an ever greater desire [epithumia], it moves onwards. The soul thus progresses through higher realms towards the unbounded. J.247

The key sentence, "The limit of his achievement becomes a beginning for the discovery of higher blessings," represents an experience difficult to recount without having recourse to the practice of theoria or contemplation which enables us to perceive the paradox of an "end" miraculously being transformed into a "beginning." Such theoria permits the language of paradox, so typical of the spiritual life, to become more comprehensible. Note that Gregory uses the word "beginning" (arche) four times to stress the absence of memory with regard to previous stages of growth in awareness of God. This absence of the recollective faculty is important because our awareness as individually existing persons rests upon the accumulation of memories not only from our past personal experiences but from those exerted by our families and culture. In fact, memory is the source of our perceptions and defines an individual with regard to other persons. On the other hand, Gregory of Nyssa stresses the role of forgetfulness which plays an integral part in his more mature works on the spiritual life. It should be noted that such forgetting is one half of the equation; "straining forward" is the other half. In this light, epektasis should be considered as a constant "beginning" apart from which we have no end. Because Gregory's insight is important I present several passages from his Commentary on the Song of Songs containing the passage, Phil 3.13 ("...but one thing I do, forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead"):

The souls, therefore, draw to themselves a desire for their immortal bridegroom and follow the Lord God, as it is written [Hos 11.10]. The cause of their love is the scent of the perfume to which they eternally run; they stretch out to what is in front, forgetting what is behind. "We shall run after you toward the scent of your perfumes" [1.4]. J.39

Neither is it limited, nor can it be circumscribed in its growth towards the good; however, its present state of goodness, even if especially great and perfect, is only the beginning of a more transcendent, better stage. The Apostle's words are thus verified: stretching out to what lies before is related to forgetfulness of earlier accomplishments [Phil 3.13]. The good which is superior to the one already attained holds the attention of those participating in it while not allowing them to look at the past; by enjoying what is more worthy, their memory of inferior things is blotted out. J.174

When the great Apostle Paul gave an account to the Corinthians of his lofty vision he doubted his human nature, that is, whether he was in the body or in the spirit. He testifies "I consider myself not to have reached [the goal], but I stretch forward to what lies in front of me, forgetting what went before me" [Phil 3.13]. It is clear that Paul alone knew what laid beyond that third heaven (for Moses himself did not speak of it in his cosmogony). After hearing the unutterable mysteries of paradise, Paul still continued to move higher and did not cease to ascend. He never allowed the good already attained to limit his desire. Paul teaches us here, I believe, that the blessed nature of the good is eternally much than what we have received while what lies beyond our comprehension is always boundless. J.245

Sleep brings about forgetfulness of anxieties; it calms fears, softens rage, slackens the tension from bitter experiences, and makes one unaware of evils. Therefore, we have learned from the bride that she has risen higher and boasts, "I sleep but my heart is awake." J.312

Let us recapitulate the sense of the text. The soul which looks to God and conceives that desire for incorruptible beauty always has a new desire for the transcendent, and it is never dulled by satiety. Such a soul never ceases to stretch forth to what lies before, going out from her present stage to what lies ahead. Anything great and marvelous always seems inferior in comparison to what succeeds it, since what the bride has found seems more beautiful than her earlier discoveries. Thus Paul died each day [1Cor 15.13], because at all times he partook of a new life, being dead to the past and forgetful of previous things. J.366

I distill the meaning of each passage by the following outline which shows more clearly that Gregory's concept of forgetfulness entails past events and deeds regardless of their merit:

-forgetting what is behind

-forgetfulness of earlier accomplishments

-their memory of inferior things is blotted out

-forgetting what went before me

-forgetfulness of anxieties

-being dead to the past and forgetful of previous things

Such forgetfulness is neither a repression nor a suppression of unpleasant memories which may have been true with St. Paul; his experience as a persecutor of Christians could have played a role in formulating his insight recorded in Phil 3.13 quoted just above. Whether or not earlier humiliating experiences influence our present behavior, they assume a subordinate position with regard to the practice of theoria whose repeated practice makes the process of migration, of passing into an unknown territory, an increasingly attractive image for spiritual advancement.

Now that Gregory has taken words and images founded upon temporal motion for describing movement on the transcendent plane through the important concept of epektasis, of stretching forward, he is in a position to explain more clearly his concept of desire. His insight into such epithumia provides the springboard for our movement and can take either one or two directions, towards sensuality or things spiritual. I present a number of samples from two of Gregory's works which are quite vivid in their description of these two directions:

Life of Moses⁽¹⁹⁾

Since, then, those who know that is good by nature, desire participation in it [God as absolute virtue], and since this good has no limit, the participant's desire [epithumeton] itself necessarily has no stopping place but stretches out with the limitless. p.31

The Lord teaches the same thing in the Gospel, all but explicitly calling on us to kill the firstborn of the Egyptian evils when he commands us to abolish lust [epithumia] and anger and to have no more fear of the stain of adultery or the guilt of murder. Neither of these things would develop of itself, but anger produces murder and lust [epithumia] produces adultery. p.76

While in this way Scripture gives us through figures a scientific understanding of the nature of the soul, profane learning also places it before the mind, dividing the soul into the rational, the appetitive [epithumetikon]. Of these parts we are told that the spirit and the appetite [epithumia] are placed below, supporting on each side the intellectual part of the soul, while the rational aspect is joined to both so as to keep them together and to be held up by them, being trained for courage by the spirit and elevated to the participation in the Good by the appetite [epithumia]. pp.76-7

Hope always draws the soul from the beauty which is seen to what is beyond, always kindles the desire for the hidden through what is constantly perceived. Therefore, the ardent lover of beauty, although receiving what is always visible as an image of what he desires [epithumia], yet longs to be filled with the very stamp of the archetype. p.114

Those who pass through the mystical water of the whole phalanx of evil--such as covetousness, unbridled desire [epithumia], rapacious thinking, the passion of conceit and arrogance, wild impulse, wrath, anger, malice, envy, and all such things. p.84

Covetousness is another such master who provides no relief to the bondsman, but even if the one in bondage should slave in subservience to the commands of the master and acquire for him what he desires [epithumia], the servant is always driven on to more. p.85

If nothing comes from above to hinder its upward thrust (for the nature of the Good attracts to itself those who look to it), the soul rises ever higher and will always make its flight yet higher--by its desire [epithumia] of the heavenly things straining ahead for what is still to come, as the Apostle says [Phil 3.13]. p.113

He shone with glory. And although lifted up through such lofty experiences, he is still unsatisfied in his desire [epithumia] for more. He still thirsts for that with which he constantly filled himself to capacity, and he asks to attain as if he had never partaken, beseeching God to appear to him, not according to his capacity to partake, but according to God's true being. p.114

This truly is the vision of God: never to be satisfied in the desire [epithumia] to see him. But one must always, by looking at what he can see, rekindle his desire [epithumia] to see more. Thus, no limit would interrupt growth in the ascent to God, since no limit to the Good can be found nor is the increasing of desire [epithumia] for the Good brought to an end because it is satisfied. p.116

On Virginity⁽²⁰⁾

Thus while it [virginity] is the channel which draws down the Deity to share man's estate, it keeps wings for man's desires [epithumia] to rise to heavenly things, and is a bond of union between the Divine and human, by its mediation bringing into harmony these existences so widely divided. p.345, col. 1

In the same way, the mind of man, enclosed in the compact channel of an habitual continence, and not having any side issues, will be raised by virtue of its natural powers of motion to an exalted love [epithumia]. p.352, col. 1

The beauty noticed there will be but as the hand to lead us to the love [epithumia] of the supernal Beauty whose glory the heavens and the firmament declare, and whose secret the whole creation sings. p.356, col. 1

It is easy to see the importance of desire, epithumia, when Gregory depicts our ascent to God; even though the object may not be present to the person in whom this desire is active, our personal experience with such matters reveals that for all practical purposes it is already present. Desire for a coveted object or person has such impact upon one's behavior that memories of it from the past are projected into the present as though the beloved were already here and now; that distance or intervening diastema is bridged (the same can apply to the unfulfilled future). Epithumia is therefore a kind of seeing, a theoria, of the beloved not with physical eyes but with one's whole attention, even in those instances when circumstances cloud one's vision.

We have this epithumia as a limitless resource which, as noted above, can follow one of two directions. Regardless of the choice made, epithumia by its very nature appears contrary to that detachment, apatheia, of which Gregory speaks and which is another characteristic of a person ascending to God. I conclude this chapter by listing several passages from his Song Commentary which show how Gregory employs this term:

I will take up again what I said at the start of this homily: let no one who is passionate, fleshly and still smelling of the foul odor of the old man [2 Cor 2.16] drag down the significance of the divine thoughts and words to beastly, irrational thoughts. Rather, let each person go out of himself and out of the material world. Let him ascend into paradise through detachment, having become like God through purity. Then let him enter into the inner sanctuary of the mysteries revealed in this book [the Song of Songs]. J.25

What could be more paradoxical than to make nature purify itself of its own passions and teach detachment in words normally suggesting passion? Solomon does not speak of the necessity of being outside the flesh's impulses of mortifying our bodily limbs on earth nor of cleansing our mouths of talk of passion; rather, he disposes the soul to be attentive to purity through words which seem to indicate the complete opposite, and he indicates a pure meaning through the use of sensuous language. J.29

If a person should gather the aroma of every sweet flower from the various meadows of virtue and make his life fragrant through the good odor of his conduct and thus become perfect in every way, such a person would not have it in his nature to look steadily upon the Word of God as upon the sun; rather he sees it within himself as in a mirror. For the rays of that true, divine virtue shine forth in a pure life by the out-flow of detachment and make the invisible visible to us and the inaccessible comprehensible by depicting the sun in the mirror of our souls. J.90

Indeed we are not ignorant of the mystery contained in these words, that is, how St. Paul was a myrrh-hearing tree who was daily put to death [1Cor 15.31] and who put himself under

death's sentence; being fragrant through purity and detachment he became a scent of life

to those who were saved. J.307

The Christian tradition accommodates many ways of describing our relationship with God, chief among them is the theme of ascent which Gregory uses after the example of Elijah⁽²¹⁾. This common thread of "going up" implies a migration, a leaving behind of what is familiar in favor of the unknown; a preferred model used by Gregory of Nyssa is Abraham who left his homeland for a new one which God had appointed for him and his descendants:

The Song thus says, "Behold, you are fair, my companion, behold, you are fair" [4.1]. For the bride has imitated the Lord's love for mankind, and a young maiden is summoned to go out like Abraham--each maiden from her respective land and family with regard to the senses--that she may see the chaste bridegroom crowned with the Church. Truly the bride

becomes a companion of the Lord's goodness since she drew near to God through love.

Thus the text says to her, you are beautiful by having drawn near to beauty by your own

noble choice. Commentary on the Song of Songs, J.215

The foundation upon which Gregory builds his theme of spiritual ascent is 1Cor 15.21-3: "For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive. But each in his own order: Christ the first fruits, then at his coming those who belong to Christ."⁽²²⁾ A better picture of how Gregory constructs metaphors to demonstrate the relationship between the divine and human spheres emerges more clearly from an outline of the verses just quoted:

Here we have a good summary of the process of restoration of all things in Christ, apokatastasis, the goal of our migration "to the heavenly way of life" (Apollinarius J.145-6, above) which effects that "necessary bond" between us and Jesus Christ. The course along which such migration proceeds is an upward one as represented by the prophet Elijah's ascent. Gregory of Nyssa's other model, Abraham, is not delineated according to this upward pattern, but he is important in that he illustrates the continuous act of forsaking an earlier form of life on the earthly plane which achieves fulfillment in the person of Elijah. Even in Abraham's case, who undertook an outward form of migration, his true voyage was nevertheless an upward one.

In order to grasp the second part of Gregory's foundational insight mentioned just above, features which apply to Jesus Christ, it is important that we experience fully the imperfect condition signified by Adam ("dust"). Not only does this involve full awareness of our mortality and all it connotes but an appreciation of how the positive side of earthly existence may suggest a suitable image of that which is invisible. Usually the first step of obtaining knowledge about whatever happens to escapes immediate perception consists in realizing the inherent limitations of our sense faculties even if we do not yet make an immediate transition to transcendent reality. In other words, when confronted with the unknown there is operative within our minds and senses a tendency to make comparisons between that which is familiar and that which we have partial or vague knowledge. It is precisely here that Gregory of Nyssa sees the book of Ecclesiastes as having a formative role in making us conscious of those limitations we run up against in daily life primarily through the power of simple observation whether of ourselves, other persons or processes in nature. Like the Preacher, Gregory ascribes the word "vanity" to the limitations characteristic of life when we realize that they offer only so much. At the beginning of his Commentary on this book the bishop of Nyssa defines vanity as follows:

"Vanity of vanities," says Ecclesiastes, "all is vanity" [1.2]. Vanity may be described as something which lacks existence but has substance only in the utterance of this word. The reality behind the word is non-existent; only the letters transmit a useless, empty sound. These meaningless sounds randomly strike the ear much as in a game when we create names which lack meaning. This is one form of vanity. Another refers to persons who zealously accumulate objects with no goal in mind. For example, childrens' sand buildings, the shooting at stars with arrows, trapping the wind and racing with one's shadow while trying to reach its head. If we find other similar examples, they all fall under the term "vanity." Often human custom calls vanity the looking toward a goal and the pursuit of something profitable. If a person then does something contrary or foolish, he invests his energy to no avail. This is too is called vanity. We usually say in such circumstances, "I have labored, hoped and worked in vain." We will not examine each correct use of vanity; rather, we will briefly deal with the significance of this term. Vanity is either a senseless word, thoughtless action, unwise counsel, zeal lacking a goal or anything disadvantageous. J.281-2

The last sentence mentions five aspects of "vanity," all of which are related to the inherently limited nature of corporeal existence, the chief one of interest to Gregory of Nyssa being "(the accumulation of) objects with no goal in mind." In light of 1Cor 15.21 outlined earlier, we may situate the hoarding of material goods under the phrase "As was the man (Adam)" whose essence is "dust." This tendency to stockpile possessions is indicative of a focus upon the material benefits of life without taking into consideration alternate choices. We should not view in insolation Gregory's observation with regard to the negative consequences of "vanity" here and in other parts of Ecclesiastes. Instead, he is careful to see that the book of Proverbs with its instruction in the ways of virtuous living remains primary, after which a person advances to an awareness of "vanity" depicted in Ecclesiastes:

Not all periods of life according to the flesh are capable of every natural operation; nor do our lives advance in the same way at different periods. (The infant has no share in adult activities, nor is an adult taken up in its nurse's arms, but each time of life has its own proper activity). So too one can see in the soul an analogy to the body's growth where there is a certain order [taxis] and sequence [akolouthia] leading to a life in accord with virtue. For this reason, Proverbs teaches in one way and Ecclesiastes in another; the philosophy of the Song of Songs transcends both by its loftier teaching. The instruction in Proverbs provides words fit for the person who is still young, adapting its words of admonition to that period of life. "Hear, my son, your father's instruction and reject not your mother's teaching" [Prov 1.8].

...Then Solomon adds the philosophy contained in Ecclesiastes for the person who has been sufficiently introduced by proverbial training desires virtue. After having reproached in that book men's attitudes towards external appearances, and after having said that everything

unstable is vain and passing ("everything which passes is vanity," Eccl 8.1), Solomon elevates above everything grasped by sense the loving movement of our soul towards invisible beauty. Commentary on the Song of Songs, J.17-18; 22

Here Gregory's presentation differs somewhat from Origen's which for subsequent centuries of Christian spirituality has evolved into the traditional outline of the purgative way (Ecclesiastes), illuminative way (Proverbs) and unitive way (Song of Songs)⁽²³⁾. While both approaches are valid, we are concerned with Gregory's sequence where Proverbs represents instruction, Ecclesiastes, vanity and the Song of Songs, the unitive way. The lessons offered by Proverbs are essential at the beginning of human education for securing a deep appreciation of the positive aspects of reality after which we have matured sufficiently to learn about its "vain" aspects. This second way usually requires no external instruction; we obtain information through the humiliations and disappointments of daily life. It is a sobering experience which tempers our enthusiasm towards created goods; at first we may be dismayed at the frustration of our unfulfilled expectations, but further reflection reveals that if we learn from these disappointments, we come to a more mature appreciation of what life has to offer. Still this is not enough. A yearning deep within the human heart craves for something both facets of reality (represented by Proverbs and Ecclesiastes) cannot provide which consists in not only seeing them as two aspects of one reality but in transcending both for that philosophia offered by the Song of Songs which is infinitely better. Gregory, as well as his illustrious predecessor, Origen, recognizes this inclination which is why they posit the Song of Songs as the third and final step with its theme of marital love transformed into a depiction of the soul's union with God⁽²⁴⁾.

All three stages are characterized by movement: Proverbs and Ecclesiastes partake of varying degrees of physical motion where awareness of diastema ("interval") is important. Note, however, the difference in the third stage which may be summed up by the last sentence in the passage above from Gregory's Song Commentary: "Solomon elevates...the loving movement of our soul (ten epithumetiken tes psuches hemon kinesin) towards invisible beauty." Here Gregory puts epithumia, "desire," which I have examined in the last chapter at the service of motion on the transcendent plane after it had been purified by the first two stages of instruction in virtue and the folly of human pursuits. Movement of the material variety (kinesis) is not negated, a commonly held presupposition we may assert when first drawing a parallel physical and transcendent reality, especially when it is a question of passing from one to the other. Although movement necessitates a leaving behind for new, unexplored territory, it does not account for Gregory's more developed sense of movement which forms the transition to the second aspect of his formula: "as was the first man [Adam]" to "so is the man of heaven [Christ]." Here we pass from one to the other through that "loving movement of our soul" with epithumia, "desire," enabling us to accomplish the migration.

Because this form of migration is a path where the practice of virtue is essential for continued advancement, it is helpful to understand that Gregory of Nyssa sees its end, apokatastasis or the restoration of all things in Christ, as a goal which is present yet continuously eludes our grasp⁽²⁵⁾. The exercise of virtue is commonly conceived as an arduous, distasteful task. One way of alleviating this popular misunderstanding is to introduce appealing images which attract us to virtue. In this fashion people are better able to shake off their preconceived images of virtue, quite often formulated under the image of some authoritarian power and understand that it is an integral component to the spiritual ascent. This may not alleviate inevitable struggles lying along the way, but as a first step it helps to instill eagerness with regard to the path on which we are about to embark. The presentation of appealing images concerning the exercise of virtue allows us to be more at peace with ourselves because they prevent a relapse into that tendency of comparing ourselves to an unrealistic, often demanding standard. For this reason a discussion of Gregory's concept of migration, of passage from a familiar to an unfamiliar realm by means of the vehicle epithumia, sets the pursuit of virtue in an attractive mode. Embarking upon a journey elicits fascination with a destination that, although it may be known, is nevertheless fraught with dangers and the prospect of failure⁽²⁶⁾. Thus if we properly understand the image of virtue as journey (migration), we are in a better position to interiorize the spiritual ascent instead of seeing it as something imposed from without.

One essential component enabling us to understand how virtue, arete, fits into the process of spiritual migration consists in an appreciation that any type of journey is a passage from some place to another place. In other words, horizontal passage is the most basic feature of diastematic existence which we can put at the service of more particular aspects such as migration from political oppression to freedom, and so forth. Once this universal movement of "from/into" is intuited, we are better suited to transfer it from a customary horizontal passage to one which is vertical, that is, to an "up/down" scheme. Yet this shift is not done exclusively by our own efforts; we can prepare ourselves by becoming more conscious of that almost unconscious manner by which we orient ourselves within familiar surroundings and then dispose ourselves to God's intervention who transposes this orientation onto a radically different plane.

In the case at hand we witness transference from a familiar to an unfamiliar mode of reference requiring a new application of recognizable terms (migration, for example) which are in contrast to that pull of gravity ("up"), a movement so basic to our experience of reality that we are barely aware of it. Because we are accustomed to the operation of gravity upon all aspects of experience we must subject it to closer scrutiny and become aware of its role in our lives. Using more scientific terminology such upward movement which contradicts gravity's pull runs counter to entropy, the gradual dissipation of energy and breakdown of order as we perceive it. At the core of "migrating" from entropy ("down") towards incorruptibility ("up"), there is implicit that we carry over from our former acquaintance with earthly life some elements which continue to remain familiar on the new (heavenly) plane of existence. Despite the radical difference, the common point of identity lies in our being made in God's image (eikon) and likeness (homoiosis) around which all other features of existence revolve. Becoming aware of God's presence through our ontological identification with him is at the same time liberating and confining as the following passage from Gregory of Nyssa's Song Commentary reveals:

"Your name is ointment poured forth" [1.3]. To me something like the following is signified through this verse: the unlimited [divine] nature cannot be accurately contained by a name; rather, every capacity which seems to contain something great and befitting God's glory is unable to grasp his reality. But starting from certain traces and sparks, as it were, our words aim at the unknown, and from what we can grasp we make conjectures by a kind of analogy about the ungraspable. Whatever name we may adopt to signify the perfume of divinity, it is not the perfume itself which we signify by our expressions; rather, we reveal just the slightest trace of the divine odor by means of our theological terms. As in the case of jars from which perfume has been poured out, the perfume's own nature is not known. But from the slight traces left from the vapors in the jar we get some idea about the perfume that has been emptied out. Hence we learn that the perfume of divinity, whatever it is in its essence, transcends every name and thought. However, the wonders visible in the universe give material for the theological terms by which we call God wise, powerful, good, holy, blessed, eternal, judge, savior and so forth. All these give some small indication of the divine perfume's quality. Creation retains the traces of this divine perfume through its visible wonders as in the example of a perfume jar. "Therefore, the young maidens have loved you and have drawn you" [1.3]. The bridegroom states here the cause of their noble yearning and loving disposition. Who can help but love such a beauty provided that he has an eye capable of reaching out to its loveliness? The beauty grasped is great; but infinitely greater is the beauty of which we get a glimpse from the appearances. J.36-8

Note Gregory's reference to "certain traces and sparks" (ichnon tinon kai enausmaton), analogies we apply for exposing the "unlimited (aprositon) divine nature" "through theological terms" or those words best suited to express what cannot be expressed. In the Song Commentary Gregory bases his analogy upon a jar from which issues a perfume's fragrance, a symbol enabling us to obtain "a glimpse from the appearances" (dia tou phainomenou stochastikos eikazomenon). Despite the contrast between "appearances" and God, an observation which stems from Gregory's humble recognition that the two can never be equated, he nevertheless sees value in the reflective capacity of creation and our "theological terms" which articulate certain aspects of this creation insofar as they participate in divine life.

In this light the concept of migration, of passage from "certain traces and sparks" to "the beauty of which we get a glimpse from the appearances" (i.e., the traces and sparks), allows us to see how Gregory bridges a gap between two distinct realities. Overcoming this perceived breach has preoccupied spiritual masters of all faiths throughout the ages, and one way of bridging it is to focus upon the middle ground wherein lies the focus of "migration" as opposed to either one of the two sides. An impression of migration's distinctively fluid character is borne out by Gregory's reference to the "young maidens:" "Therefore, the young maidens have loved you and have drawn you." Gregory has the divine Bridegroom, Jesus Christ, drawing (eilkusan) these young maidens, symbolic of those persons on the spiritual path, to himself not across the bounds of space and time but because of their "noble yearning (epainetes epithumias) and loving disposition" (agapetikes diatheseos). Note the juxtaposition of two different words which refer to our affective nature and are subject to this "drawing:" epithumia and agapetikos, the former often suggesting lust, concupiscence and sexual desire, whereas the latter is derived from that well known New Testament, agape, a term which suggestive of God's love. Both stand in need of "migrating" to God and are part and parcel of our being made in God's image or eikon. The figure of migration thereby allows clearer insight into how Gregory associates apokatastasis, the "restoration of all things (in Christ)," with another similar type of motion, the "upward" one proper to the resurrection. The latter is a much more familiar term enabling us to comprehend a life of virtue perceived in terms of upward movement. To use Gregory's famous sentence, "The resurrection (anastasis) is nothing other than the restoration (apokatastasis) of all things to their original state" (Commentary on Ecclesiastes, J.296). The following sentences prior to this quotation spells out the difference the bishop of Nyssa makes between anastasis and apokatastasis:

The soul existed right from the beginning; it had been purified in the past and will appear in the future. God, who fashioned the human body, will show the resurrection at the proper time, for that which comes after the resurrection was indeed fashioned first.

Note the omission of references to space and time for describing the soul's existence (Gregory of Nyssa uses the term diastema, the interval or extension between two events, a point I will discuss later). These sentences from Ecclesiastes demonstrate that the soul's essence as fashioned in God's image or eikon is identical both before and after the resurrection of which Christ's rising from the dead is the prototype. In this instance the concept of migration, of passage, is absent because Gregory has turned our attention to the ontological unity between our origin and our end; in other words, he alternates between unity with God and the need to realize it by that passage through diastematic existence. Furthermore, Gregory had designated the resurrection as "nothing other than the restoration (apokatastasis) of all things to their original state;" because of this the resurrection is "external" to the soul in that it is an event to which we are passive. Despite the innate transcendence of our existence, the imagry Gregory utilizes for it is the realization of our rootedness within the spacial-temporal dimension. He expands upon this dimension within the parameters of orthodox Christian dogma chiefly by a luxurious (some would say excessive) use of allegory, thereby allowing room for our imaginative faculty to grasp how such imagry may be adapted to various situations. A chief means for putting this allegory into practice is through virtue, arete; when linked with theoria, "contemplation," the two flow from one to another and with time, enable us to become more human and divine⁽²⁷⁾.

Despite Gregory's enthusiasm over our accessibility to God in the guise of a bridegroom, he cautions in the Song Commentary that direct theoria of the divine nature is impossible: "The bride does not name all those earlier ascents contemplation (theoria) and clear recognition of truth, but she calls them the 'voice' of the bridegroom whom she desires" (J.138). Because God cannot be grasped directly even through the medium of theoria, a theme central to Gregory's Life of Moses⁽²⁸⁾, we require an array of images to describe this unique experience which, in a certain sense, cannot be experienced at all. For how can we conceive what is incorporeal and hems us in on all sides with darkness? Such a radical deficiency of sensible and intelligible perception makes one wonder if this so-called divine darkness has any practical bearing upon our daily lives. Yet as I had pointed out above, Gregory of Nyssa relates insight into divine darkness to the practice of virtue which has the unique capacity of revealing the invisible deity in concrete human behavior. The language which characterizes Gregory's description of the spiritual life's higher spheres attains its richest expression and most extravagant use of metaphors when he describes the "divine darkness" so typical of his mature works. The foundation for this luxuriant vocabulary rests upon Gregory's use of the "so-as" dynamic lifted from 1Cor 15.48, recounted in The Great Catechism⁽²⁹⁾ and which is expounded more fully in his treatise on this passage in conjunction with the theme of "subjection," hupotage:

And this is the resurrection, namely the return [epanodos], after they have been dissolved, of those elements that had been before linked together, into an indissoluble union through a mutual incorporation; in order that thus the primal grace which invested humanity might be recalled, and we restored to the everlasting life, when the vice that has evaporated through our dissolution, as happens to any liquid when the vessel that contained it is broken, and it is split and disappears, there being nothing to contain it. For as the principle of death took its rise in one person and passed on in succession through the whole of human kind, in like manner the principle of the Resurrection-life extends from one person to the whole of humanity.

Although explicit reference to apokatastasis is lacking here, its essence is present within the human soul which, as Gregory implies, had been created before the resurrection⁽³⁰⁾. Many scholars have accurately commented upon Gregory's interpretation of the soul's immortality and the sources which had influenced him, both Christian and pagan⁽³¹⁾. However, it remains for us to better understand the foundation of his insights which can be overlooked by assuming a too intellectual approach with regard to the sources of his inspiration⁽³²⁾. The true well-spring of inspiration lies in Gregory's own heart as well as our own and implies the practice of theoria that we may ponder the mystery of God's association with humanity. Concomitant with this inspiration is the use of metaphors built upon an orthodox interpretation of theoria concerning the Christian life. Gregory rests his foundation for creating metaphors upon the familiar theme of the soul being made in God's image (eikon) which the Greek Church Fathers had developed more fully than in the West. Here the essence of a human person consists in reflecting that which transcends reflection. The very notion of perceiving a person as an eikon of that which is eikon-less, as it were, sets the stage for the emergence of paradoxes which are more suggestive than explanatory. That is to say, the juxtaposition of two opposites, created and uncreated, cannot readily be presented in a logical format; to perceive the binding force between them requires a more suggestive approach typical of an artistic endeavor as poetry. This process is similar to perceiving an object at night; you don't look directly at the object but indirectly either the left or right in order to bring it into greater focus.

With this in mind we see that Gregory offers various modes of description from which to choose; although his process is not systematic in the modern sense, it does have its own rationale. Again, the basic insight of darkness so well described in the Life of Moses and developed later in the Song Commentary allows for various interpretations within the framework of the "so-as" dialectic delineated in 1Cor 15.48: "As was the man of dust...as is the man of heaven." What could be more dissimilar than dust and heaven, an eikon and that which is eikon-less? Yet this paradox lies at the heart of Gregory's metaphoric process which wonderfully blends two opposites while respecting their own spheres.

By their very definition words like "image" and "reflection" when dealing with immaterial reality run the risk of suggesting a secondary type (and therefore inferior) of existence. This vague sense of incompleteness, of inferior reproduction, can give birth to a fragmentary perception of our lives when reenforced by an unhealthy self image, a phenomenon brought to clearer light during the twentieth century by insights derived from such sciences as psychology and sociology. Such a disjointed notion of oneself-as-a-distinct-being also introduces a feeling of distance, of diastema, which underscores an idea of God as remote and disconnected from human affairs, not to mention that which is most basic to our existence, our dignity of being made in God's image and likeness. If this general feeling of remoteness is true for so important a reality as our identity and gives rise to a dichotomy between "body" and "soul," Gregory offers an antidote by offering the inspiring example of Elijah who achieved the goal of heavenly existence in corporeal form. Note in the excerpt from Ecclesiastes the bishop of Nyssa says "that which comes after the resurrection was indeed fashioned first." If such a reality is antecedent to the apokatastasis⁽³³⁾, does the soul consist in, to borrow the words of 1Cor 15.48, "the man of dust?" Not according to Gregory who says that the corporeal aspect of existence (and the division of male and female) was added on to the divine eikon or image much like a garment. Refer to the remarks by Paulos Mar Gregorios on this matter:

It is this whole pleroma⁽³⁴⁾ and not merely individual man that is in the image of God. We have, as the human race, a double fashioning (diple tis) Gregory proposes. One is a nature like unto God, the pleroma of humanity being the pleroma of all good, which in fact is God's nature. This is what was the original creation. The other is the individuated human nature, divided into male and female. This distinction of male and female does note belong to the original creation nor will it survive in the final fulfillment...But this dual nature, the one like unto God, and the other like the rest of creation--animals and vegetative life and inorganic matter is what becomes the ground of our mediating role between Creation and Creator. Both creations are then real. It cannot be said that creation in our kind of time, with its birth and death and individuality, has no function...By being born like animals and being nurtured with material food, the pleroma of mankind in history assimilates the rest of creation into itself and becomes integrally related to it, so that the redemption of the pleroma of mankind is also the redemption of the whole of creation⁽³⁵⁾.

Because an image receives in itself that which it reflects, both it and the object beheld have an element of shared participation. This participation is immediate, that is, without mediation. Take the example of a mirror; it lacks the capacity to pass judgment on the value of what it is reflecting. On the other hand, a heightened awareness of self hinders the image's reflective activity or an awareness that one exists over against those objects we are supposed to reflect. In conjunction with this notion of reflecting I wish to introduce the term awareness--explicit mention is lacking in Gregory of Nyssa but is certainly implied--which serves to bridge the gap between a created eikon and that which is eikon-less.

The example of a mirror enjoys the role of a traditional metaphor for describing the relationship of the human and divine spheres; furthermore, it can represent the more comprehensive aspect of human awareness, pure and simple, minus a subject-object relationship. The meaningfulness of this image rests upon our experience of theoria which, if we examine ourselves closely after having disposed ourselves to it, is characterized by a suspension of our recollective faculty including physical and mental perception. A cursory examination of this state which is devoid of any and all perception runs counter to the more accepted idea that human nature cannot otherwise be understood unless through the channels of normal perception. It is only natural that anyone who lacks insight into theoria would think this way and consider its practice to be a thinly disguised form of quietism. Despite such a danger of misinterpretation, the only authentic way of confirming whether or not one's theoria is based upon truth is ( as Gregory of Nyssa would consistently say) revealed by the practice of virtue, arete:

All you mortals who have within yourselves a desire to behold the supreme good [God], when you are told that the majesty of God is exalted above the heavens, that the divine glory is inexpressible, its beauty indescribable, its nature inaccessible, do not despair at never being able to behold what you desire. For you do have within your grasp the degree of the knowledge of God which you can attain. For, when God made you, He at once endowed your nature with this perfection: upon the structure of your nature He imprinted an imitation of the perfections of His own nature, just as one would impress upon the outline of an emblem...You must then wash away, by a life of virtue, the dirt that has come to cling to your heart like plaster, and then your divine beauty will once again shine forth. Beatitudes, PG#44.1272B-C.

Given the Hellenistic culture in which Gregory of Nyssa had been raised, it is reasonable to expect an absence of terms corresponding to "awareness" or "consciousness" as developed in other religions, for example, Buddhism. Despite the lack of words to designate what I wish to specify as awareness minus a subject-object regard, its reality can be recognized through the layers of allegorical interpretation which Gregory brings to bear upon his scriptural commentaries. Even the Beatitudes passage cited just above gives an indication that Gregory is speaking about this special type of awareness by the following phrases usually categorized under the "apophatic" theology:

the divine glory is inexpressible

its beauty indescribable

its nature inaccessible

never being able to behold what you desire

imprinted...an imitation of the perfections of His own nature

We treat with suspicion the existence of anything which happens to fall outside the range our perception, and because it lies outside the parameters of normal experience, so-called apophatic language must be employed. We find abundant use of it in Gregory of Nyssa's Life of Moses and the Song Commentary which can be summed up by a passage from the latter text:

Having reached, as she thought, the summit of her hope, and already thinking that she is united to her beloved, the bride calls "bed" this more perfect participation in the good and calls "night" the time of darkness. By "night," the bride shows us the contemplation of what is unseen, and like Moses, she is in the darkness of God's presence [Ex 20.21]. Of him the prophet says, "He has placed darkness as a concealment round about him" [Ps 17.12]. (J.181)

The use of apophatic terminology has the advantage of being non-specific, not that its author (in this instance, Gregory of Nyssa) deliberately wishes to avoid or conceal something but that he or she has hit upon a transcendent reality impossible to describe yet available to those wishing to discover it. A chief means of accessing this sphere is through the witness of other persons, especially through their own lives or writings they have left behind. In different ways they say "do this and such and such will happen;" that is, they lay out a methodology⁽³⁶⁾ which leads to a desired result by following certain dictates. Yet like most Church Fathers, Gregory of Nyssa does not present a systematic teaching on the spiritual life; the reader must gleam insights from throughout his writings which have direct bearing upon the quest for God. As noted above, early writers of Christian spirituality lacked a precise vocabulary for awareness minus a subject-object regard, the lack which compelled them to adopt language more suggestive of it. They achieved this with mixed success often through the indirect medium of allegory which was compounded by a convoluted moralistic language. Nevertheless, once a reader has surmounted this formidable barrier, he or she is able to see that a writer like Gregory of Nyssa is pointing towards true freedom which is gained by that suspension of our recollective faculty, another way of describing the practice of theoria. One way to approach theoria is by presenting Gregory's own words through nine excerpts of his writings. Note the preponderance of terms related to the act of seeing in virtually every passage:

Paul says, "We look not to the things that are seen but to the things which are not seen" [2Cor 4.18]. What is seen is transitory whereas what is invisible is eternal. But once we have turned to a contemplation [theoria] of the invisible nature within us, we must truly believe in it, even though it escapes our perception. Concerning Those Who Have Died, J.92

Whoever looks to Moses and the cloud, both of whom are guides to those who progress in virtue...he it is who then advances to the contemplation [theoria] of the transcendent nature. Life of Moses⁽³⁷⁾, p.40

His way to such knowledge is purity, not only purity of a body sprinkled by some lustral vessels but also of the clothes washed from every stain with water. This means that the one person who would approach the contemplation [theoria] of Being must be pure in all things so as to be pure in soul and body...in order that he might appear pure to the One who sees what his hidden and that visible respectability might correspond to the inward condition of the soul. Life of Moses, p.92

That none of the irrational animals was allowed to appear on the mountain signifies, in my opinion, that in the contemplation [theoria] of the intelligibles we surpass the knowledge which originates with the senses. Life of Moses, p.93

The contemplation [theoria] of God is not effected by sight and hearing, nor it is comprehended by any of the customary perceptions of the mind. Life of Moses, p.93

A feeble mind may interpret in its own way what we have just said. Since vanity exists apart from the senses and the mind contemplating [theoria] unseen realities attempts to explain what it comprehends, we need to strenuously exert ourselves in the task of interpretation even though we cannot clearly express the inexpressible. Ecclesiastes, J.293

On the other hand, how many are those who are concerned with heavenly blessings and the contemplation [theoria] of true reality! They seem blind and useless with respect to material concerns. Such was the case of Paul who boasted about himself and considered himself as foolish for the sake of Christ. Ecclesiastes, J.359

The Song of Songs now leads us to desire a contemplation [theoria] of the transcendent good. At the same time it causes pain in our souls when we recognize that we cannot grasp this good. Song of Songs, J.137

The bride does not name all those earlier ascents contemplation [theoria] and clear recognition of truth, but she calls them the "voice" of the bridegroom whom she desire. Song of Songs, J.138

All nine passages point to theoria as a type of "seeing" which Gregory of Nyssa explains in light of the Greek word for "God," theos, in a passage from Against Eunomius. It should be noted, however, that this passage contains no direct reference to theoria which is derived from the verb theoreo. Nevertheless, it is interesting to consider because of its close affinity with theaomai, "to view, behold:"

Then also having learnt from the Divine writings the incorruptibility of the judgment to come, we therefore call Him Judge and Just, and to sum up in a word, we transfer the thoughts that arise within us about the Divine Being into the mould of a corresponding name; so that there is no appellation given to the Divine Being apart from some distinct intuition about Him. Even the word God [theos] we understand to have come into usage from the activity of His seeing; for our faith tells us that the Deity is everywhere, and sees [theathai] all things, and penetrates all things, and then we stamp this thought with this name [theos] guided to it by the Holy Voice⁽³⁸⁾. (J.397)

Despite the strained interpretation of God as theoria, it has value in that Gregory is quick to discern God's chief attribute as seeing; extending this definition, we may say that it is a seeing formulated according to the lines of pure awareness as I had already delineated. In the passages cited just above, the first one (Concerning Those Who Have Died) is revealing because Gregory sees the path laid out in 2Cor 4.18 for developing his ideas on theoria or contemplation: "We look not (me skopounton⁽³⁹⁾) to the things that are seen (ta blepomena) but to the things that are unseen (ta me blepomena)." Here we are as close to a definition of beholding minus a subject-object relationship as we can ever find within the early Christian tradition on spirituality. Gregory further enhances it with St. Paul's remarks upon this verse by continuing, "for the things that are seen are transient (proskaira), but the things that are unseen are eternal (aionia)." The bishop of Nyssa makes use of paradox when he says "once we have turned to a theoria of the invisible within us;" in other words, he exhorts his listeners to apply themselves to a seeing...a beholding...of that which is not seen. Gregory then introduces the element of belief: "we must truly believe in it, even though it escapes our perception." Now the shift is made from "seeing" to "belief" (pistis), a gesture performed by the will requiring acknowledgement of an object not present to the senses and mind and whose absence with regard to our rational faculties makes us doubt its existence. A common misunderstanding of the word "belief" intimates adherence through will power to something which we have little, if any, knowledge of and must rely upon an authority external to ourselves supposedly better informed. Of course, Gregory is speaking not from this common view point but from the authority of personal experience; he is attempting to stimulate his readers that they too acknowledge transcendent reality. For him belief means contact with the Christian mystery which surpasses all forms of human comprehension; it can be articulated only through words centering around the suspension of those faculties which lie at the service of such comprehension. Hence the equation, "belief" = "suspension" (of our faculties).

For Gregory of Nyssa theoria is an intrinsic part of beauty, especially divine beauty, which he often designates as to kallos. Because everyone is attracted to beauty in all its manifestations, it is this "object" which he invites his readers to have as the focus of their attention. Within the Commentary on the Song of Songs we find numerous references to to kallos, and I have excerpted a considerable amount of the more important passages below. When reading them, keep in mind the various aspects of beauty to which Gregory refers and how they all combine to a theoria of God as the focus of our attention:

Thus Proverbs begins the description of wisdom to the child in several different ways and

expounds the ineffable beauty so as not to inspire any fear or constraint; rather, it draws the child by yearning and desire to participate in the good. The description of beauty somehow attracts the desire of the young to what is shown, fanning their desire for a participation in beauty. J.19

Solomon elevates above everything grasped by sense the loving movement of our soul towards invisible beauty. Having thus cleansed the heart with respect to external matters, Solomon then initiates the soul into the divine sanctuary by means of the Song of Songs. What is described there is a marriage; but what is understood is the union of the human a marriage; but what is the union of the human soul with God. J.22

Since it is Wisdom speaking, love as much as you can with your whole heart and strength [Dt 6.5]; desire as much as you can. I boldly add to these words, "Be passionate about it." This affection for incorporeal things is beyond reproach and free from lust as wisdom states in Proverbs when she prescribes passionate love wisdom states in Proverbs when she prescribes passionate love [eros] for the divine beauty. J.23

But the text now before us gives the same exhortation. It does not merely offer advice regarding love, but through ineffable mysteries it philosophizes and offers an image of the pleasures of life as a preparation for its instruction. The image is one of marriage where the desire for beauty acts as intermediary. J.23

When the virgin receives all these divine gifts from the noble bearers who bring them through their prophetic teaching, she both confesses her desire and hastens to enjoy the favor of the beauty of the One she so eagerly desires. The virgin's attendants and associates hear her and spurn her on to an even greater desire. J.24

The most acute physical pleasure (I mean erotic passion) is used as a symbol in the exposition of this doctrine on love. It teaches us of the need for the soul to reach out to the divine nature' s invisible beauty and to love it as much as the body is inclined to love what is akin to itself. The soul must transform passion into passionlessness so that when every corporeal affection has been quenched, our mind may seethe with passion for the spirit alone and be warmed by that fire which the Lord came to cast upon the earth [Lk 12.49]. J.27

Even now the soul united to God never has its fill of enjoyment. The more it enjoys his beauty, the more its desire for him increases. The words of the bridegroom are spirit and life [Jn 5.24], and everyone who clings to the Spirit becomes spirit. He who attaches himself to life passes from death into life as the Lord has said. Thus the virginal soul desires to draw near to the fountain of spiritual life. The fountain is the bridegroom's mouth from which the words of eternal life well forth. It fills the mouth drawn to it, just as with the prophet when he drew in the spirit through his mouth [Ps 118.131]. J.32

The bridegroom states here the cause of their noble yearning and loving disposition. Who can help but love such a beauty provided that he has an eye capable of reaching out to its loveliness? The beauty grasped is great; but infinitely greater is the beauty of which we get a glimpse from the appearances. J.38

Passion does not touch those who are still infants, for an infant is incapable of passion; neither is it a problem for those in extreme old age. So too with regard to the divine beauty: both the person who is still an infant tossed about by every wind of doctrine and the aged person approaching death are incapable of desire. The invisible beauty does not touch such people, but only the soul which has passed the state of infancy and has attained the flower of spiritual maturity. J.38

This soul obeys the greatest and first commandment of the Law-to love that divine beauty with all its heart and strength [Dt 6.5]. The human mind is unable to find any description, example, or adequate expression of that beauty. J.38

Therefore, such maidens have grown through their virtues and at the proper time have entered the bridal chamber of the divine mysteries. Now they love the bridegroom's beauty, and through love they draw him to themselves. J.39

The visible exterior of the sacred tent of witness was not equal in honor to the beauty hidden within. J.43

Although I have become dark through sin and have dwelt in gloom by my deeds, the bridegroom made me beautiful through his love, having exchanged his very own beauty for my disgrace [Is 53.2-3; Phil 2.7]. J.43

Thus the bride eagerly encourages the daughters of Jerusalem, recommending to them the bridegroom's goodness because if he receives a blackened soul, he restores its beauty by fellowship with himself. J.49

Therefore we learn the following from the Master: human nature was an image of the true light, far removed from any darkness; it gleamed by imitation of the archetype's beauty [Gen 1.27]. J.51

Whichever expression we take, one idea is common to all, namely, that from the virtues we obtain knowledge of the good which transcends all understanding just as the beauty of an archetype can be inferred from its image. Thus Paul the bride imitated the bridegroom by his virtues and depicted by his fragrance the unapproachable beauty. J.91

"Behold, you are fair, my companion: behold you are fair; your eyes are doves [1.15]. The Song teaches us by these words about the restoration of beauty which the bride gained by approaching the true beauty from which she has departed, for the bridegroom says: "Behold, you are fair, my companion," which is to say: "Formerly you were not fair. Having strayed from the archetypal beauty by association with vice, you became ugly." J.101-2

"You have rejected fellowship with evil and have drawn near to me. By approaching my archetypal beauty, you have become beautiful. Just like a mirror you have taken on my appearance." Human nature is in fact like a mirror, and it takes on different appearances according to the impressions of free will. J.104

For this reason the soul freed of bodily attractions is said to have the image of a dove in its eyes, meaning that the stamp of the spiritual life shines from within. When the purified eye of the soul has received the impression of a dove, it becomes capable of contemplating the bridegroom's loveliness. First the virgin gazes at her bridegroom's beauty when she has the dove in her eyes. "For no one can say 'Jesus is Lord' unless he is in the Holy Spirit" [1 Cor 12.3]. And the bride says, "Behold, you are fair, my beloved, and beautiful" [1.16]. "Since nothing seems beautiful to me now that I have turned away from everything which I had first estimated as good, no longer is my judgment of beauty in error. I do not hold anything else as beautiful in comparison with you-neither human acclamation, glory, nor worldly power." For those who look to the senses, these things appear beautiful, but they are not what hey seem to be. How can anything be beautiful which lacks substance? Things held honorable in this world have existence only in the minds of those who think they exist. But you are truly

beautiful; and not only are you beautiful, you are the very substance of beauty. You always remain what you are. You do not blossom for a season and then lose your flower. Throughout the eternity of your life your beauty lasts. J.106-7

How can one behold a beautiful sight in a mirror unless the mirror has reflected the image of a beautiful form? Human nature is also mirror, and it was not beautiful until it drew near to Beauty and was transformed by the image of the divine loveliness. Human nature had the image of the serpent as long as it lay upon the earth and beheld its image. But now that human nature rose up, turned to face the good, and turned its hack on evil, it was conformed to what it beheld, i.e., the archetypal beauty. Therefore, by drawing near to the light, human nature becomes light. In this light it takes on the beautiful form of a dove, I mean the dove which indicates the presence of the Holy Spirit. J.150-1

We now see the bride being led by the Word up a rising staircase by the steps of virtue to the heights of perfection. First the Word sends her a ray of light through the windows of the prophets and the lattices of the Law. He exhorts her to draw near to the light and to become beautiful by being transformed into a dove's image in the light. The bride at this point partakes in the good as much as she can. Then he starts again to draw her to participate in a higher beauty, as if she had never tasted it. Thus, as she progresses, her desire grows with each step. And, because there is always an unlimited good beyond what the bride has attained, she always seems to be just beginning her ascent. J.158-9

The beauty of the entire Church's body will, in the future, be glorified in each member

through some kind of comparison and likeness. J.232

Thus the bridegroom imparts to the soul ascending to him an intensity in her enjoyment of goodness. Not only does he manifest his own beauty to the bride, but he reminds her of her horrible, beastly forms in order that she may delight in her present enjoyment, by comparing them with her former state. J.252

If I may put it more boldly, by contemplating the bridegroom's beauty in his spouse, they are marvelling at his invisible, incomprehensible presence in all creatures. "No one has ever seen God," as John says [1 Jn 4.12], nor as Paul testifies, can anyone see him [1Tim 6.16]. He has made the Church his own body, and by those who have been saved, God builds it up in love until we all reach the perfect man in the "measure of the age of the fullness of Christ" [Eph 4.13]. J.256

Who can worthily comprehend the wonders applied to the bride? It seems that she has no further to reach once she has been compared to beauty's archetype. She closely imitates her bridegroom's fountain by one of her own; his life by hers and his water by her water. God's Word is living, and the soul who has received it is living. J.293

As the prophet says [Ps 35.9], those who drink from the richness of God's house and the stream of his delight become inebriated. Similarly, the great David became inebriated because he went out of himself and into ecstasy: he saw the invisible beauty and exclaimed in that inspired voice of his, "Every man is a liar" [Ps 115.2]. By that statement David explained those ineffable treasures. J.309

In the same way, the person looking at the divine, invisible beauty will always discover it anew since he will see it as something newer and more wondrous in comparison to what he had already comprehended. He continues to wonder at God' s continuous revelation; he never exhausts his desire to see more because what he awaits is always more magnificent and

more divine than anything has seen. Thus the bride wonders and is amazed at her

knowledge. Despite this, she never ceases to long for further vision. J.321

When the soul is purged of the gross habits of earthly life, it looks up through virtue to what is connatural and divine; it does not cease to search out and seek the origin of created reality, the source of its beauty from which springs the power whose wisdom is manifested in it. Wisdom moves all one's thoughts and capacity for investigation to grasp out of curiosity the object of one's search. J.334

What can be better than the image of incorruptible beauty? If everything is exceedingly beautiful, and man was among them and created above them, death certainly was not present in him. Man would not have been beautiful if the sullen stamp of death were in him. However, man was the image and likeness of eternal life, truly beautiful and exceedingly good, adorned with the radiant form of life. J.348

The soul which looks to God and conceives that desire for incorruptible beauty always has a new desire for the transcendent, and it is never dulled by satiety. Such a soul never ceases to stretch forth to what lies before, going out from her present stage to what lies ahead. Anything great and marvelous always seems inferior in comparison to what succeeds it, since what the bride has found seems more beautiful than her earlier discoveries. J.366

Because the desire for her beloved is frustrated, her yearning for his beauty cannot be fulfilled. But the veil of despair is removed when the bride learns that the true satisfaction of her desire consists in always progressing in her search and ascent: when her desire is fulfilled, it gives birth to a further desire for the transcendent. Thus the veil of her despair is removed, and the bride will always see more of her beloved's incomprehensible beauty throughout all eternity. J.369-70

With her veil now removed, the bride sees with pure eyes the ineffable beauty of her spouse and is wounded by a spiritual, fiery shaft of desire [eros]. For love [agape] which is aroused is called desire. There is no shame present because the arrow is not from the flesh but from God; but, the bride boasts of her wound when she receives the point of spiritual desire in the depths of her heart. She makes this known to her maidens saying, "I am wounded with love." J.383

Therefore, whoever looks at the visible world and understands the wisdom that has been made manifest by the beauty of creatures, can make an analogy from the visible to invisible beauty, the fountain of beauty whose emanation established all living beings in existence. Similarly, whoever views the world of this new creation in the Church sees in it him who is all in all. This person is then led by faith through what is finite and comprehensible to knowledge of the infinite. J.386

The following words come from the pure, unsullied bride: "I am my beloved's, and my beloved is mine" [6.3]. Such is the measure and bond of perfection in virtue. We learn here that the purified soul must have God alone and never look at anything except him. Thus it must cleanse itself of every material deed and thought and be transformed into that which is spiritual and immaterial, a splendid image of the archetype's beauty. When a person sees a picture upon a board which accurately conforms to its model, he exclaims that one form exists in both: the model's beauty is in the likeness and the archetype is clearly seen by the imitation. Similarly, the bride says, "I am my beloved's, and my beloved is mine." In her conformity to Christ she receives her proper beauty, that primal blessedness of our nature, according to the image and likeness of the original beauty which alone is true and worthy of adoration. This resembles a mirror expertly fashioned by hand which accurately reflects the image of a face. Thus, when the soul has prepared itself and has rejected every material stain, it represents the image of that pure, unstained beauty. J.439-40

As these passages related to the concept of beauty reveal, beauty (to kallos) is a prime object of "seeing," and according to Jean Danielou, is a movement of the spirit which looks beyond appearances to the essence of things⁽⁴⁰⁾. Here we have the most basic definition of theoria. Since human nature has an innate attraction to beauty in all its manifestations, it is only natural that beauty be an integral component of "seeing," of theoria, which can go either of two ways, towards created reality or towards God ("that which truly is," to alethos onti) as the Commentary on Ecclesiastes points out:

The words that follow introduce our soul to a high philosophy concerning the beings. He (i.e., the Ecclesiastes) shows namely that the universe is continuous with itself and the harmony of the being has no rupture [lusin], but there is a union [sumpnoia] of all beings with one another. And the conjunction [sunapheias] of the universe is not severed, but everything remains in existence held together [perikratoumena] by the power of the "real Being." Now "that which really is [to de ontos on] is the Goodness Itself [he autoagathotes] or something still higher, if such a name signifying the unutterable nature could be detected...Therefore, this Good [itself: to agathon] or even "beyond the Good" [huper to agathon] is Itself truly existent [hos alethos esti] and was and is giving of itself those which exist both the power to come into being [tou genesthai] and the permanence in existence [ten en to einai diamonen]⁽⁴¹⁾.

Despite the portrayal of God in somewhat technical terms, Gregory of Nyssa is not speaking about an abstract form of existence but union with a divine person. Because beauty is integral to our "seeing" it transcends any category such as personal/impersonal; common experience tells us that we are instinctively attracted to beauty in any form. I have already cited key elements from the Song Commentary which illustrate the diverse aspects of beauty when related to God. These are followed by a further distillation of key words enabling us to see more clearly the dynamism related to the concept of beauty which had such great appeal for Gregory of Nyssa:

The description of beauty somehow attracts the desire of the young to what is shown, fanning their desire for a participation in beauty. J.19 (attracts to what is shown)

Solomon elevates above everything grasped by sense the loving movement of our soul towards invisible beauty. J.22 (the loving movement of our soul)

The image is one of marriage where the desire for beauty acts as intermediary. J.23 (marriage)

Hastens to enjoy the favor of the beauty of the One she so eagerly desires. J.24 (hasten to enjoy)

It [physical pleasure] teaches us of the need for the soul to reach out to the divine nature's invisible beauty and to love it as much as the body is inclined to love what is akin to itself. J.27 (to reach out)

Who can help but love such a beauty provided that he has an eye capable of reaching out to its loveliness? J.38 (an eye capable)

The invisible beauty does not touch such people, but only the soul which has passed the state of infancy and has attained the flower of spiritual maturity. J.38 (touch)

This soul obeys the greatest and first commandment of the Law--to love that divine beauty with all its heart and strength [Dt 6.5]. J.38 (to love)

Now they love the bridegroom's beauty, and through love they draw him to themselves. J.39 (love...draw)

The visible exterior of the sacred tent of witness was not equal in honor to the beauty hidden within. J.43 (hidden)

Having exchanged his very own beauty for my disgrace [Is 53.2-3; Phil 2.7]. J.43 (exchange)

If he receives a blackened soul, he restores its beauty by fellowship with himself. J.49 (blackened)

Human nature was an image of the true light, far removed from any darkness; it gleamed by imitation of the archetype's beauty [Gen 1.27]. J.51 (gleamed)

Thus Paul the bride imitated the bridegroom by his virtues and depicted by his fragrance the unapproachable beauty. J.91 (fragrance)

The Song teaches us by these words about the restoration of beauty which the bride gained by approaching the true beauty from which she has departed. J.101 (approaching)

When the purified eye of the soul has received the impression of a dove, it becomes capable of contemplating the bridegroom's loveliness. J.106 (impression of dove)

Human nature is also mirror, and it was not beautiful until it drew near to Beauty and was transformed by the image of the divine loveliness. J.150 (mirror)

Then he starts again to draw her to participate in a higher beauty, as if she had never tasted it. Thus, as she progresses, her desire grows with each step. J.158 (taste...progress)

Not only does he manifest his own beauty to the bride, but he reminds her of her horrible, beastly forms in order that she may delight in her present enjoyment, by comparing them with her former state. J.252 (beastly forms)

It seems that she has no further to reach once she has been compared to beauty's archetype. She closely imitates her bridegroom's fountain by one of her own. J.293 (fountain)

He [David] saw [as inebriated] the invisible beauty J.309 (inebriation)

In the same way, the person looking at the divine, invisible beauty will always discover it anew since he will see it as something newer and more wondrous in comparison to what he had already comprehended. J.321 (see something newer...more wondrous)

It does not cease to search out and seek the origin of created reality, the source of its beauty from which springs the power whose wisdom is manifested in it. J.334 (search, seek)

Man would not have been beautiful if the sullen stamp of death were in him. J.348 (death)

The soul which looks to God and conceives that desire for incorruptible beauty always has a new desire for the transcendent. J.366 (desire)

Thus the veil of her despair is removed, and the bride will always see more of her beloved's incomprehensible beauty throughout all eternity. J.370 (veil)

With her veil now removed, the bride sees with pure eyes the ineffable beauty of her spouse and is wounded by a spiritual, fiery shaft of desire [eros]. For love [agape] which is aroused is called desire. J.383 (see...eros & agape)

Therefore, whoever looks at the visible world and understands the wisdom that has been made manifest by the beauty of creatures, can make an analogy from the visible to invisible beauty. J.386 (wisdom)

Thus, when the soul has prepared itself and has rejected every material stain, it represents the image of that pure, unstained beauty. J.439-40 (prepare...reject)

Here is a further distillation of the excerpts just quoted from the Song Commentary with various accents on beauty:

Beauty is...

J.19: ineffable, attracts desire of the young.

J.22: invisible, marriage of soul with God.

J.23: an eros for it.

J.24: image of marriage.

J.27: invisible, divine to be loved as much as bodily love.

J.32: increase as a fountain.

J.38: we get a glimpse of it from appearances.

J.38: invisible touches only soul of spiritual maturity.

J.38: as first commandment, to love God with whole heart & strength.

J.39: maidens draw bridegroom to themselves through love.

J.43: hidden within.

J.43: bridegroom exchanged his beauty for my disgrace.

J.49: its restoration.

J.51: archetype's beauty.

J.91: unapproachable depicted through Paul's fragrance.

J.101-2: straying from it makes one ugly.

J.104: different appearances seen in a mirror.

J.106-7: bridegroom's reflected in bride's when she has a dove in her eyes.

J.150-1: our human nature assumes beautiful form of dove, the Holy Spirit.

J.158-9: participate in a higher one.

J.232: that of the Church.

J.252: bridegroom reminds bride of her former state.

J.256: bridegroom's in his spouse.

J.293: bride imitates her spouse's fountain.

J.309: invisible, seen in ecstasy.

J.321: invisible, to be discovered anew.

J.334: united with wisdom which moves one's thoughts.

J.348: incorruptible.

J.366: makes one stretch out constantly.

J.369-70: incomprehensible, even though bride's veil of despair is removed.

J.383: ineffable; bride wounded by shaft of desire (eros).

J.386: its fountain which established living beings in existence.

J.439-40: as primal blessedness of which bride is image.

It should be further noted that Gregory of Nyssa frequent alludes to forward movement with regard to his concept of beauty; these abbreviated excerpts make it easier to see how Gregory comprehends theoria, "seeing" or "beholding" with regard to God in a dynamic fashion. He allows little or no room for pausing on the spiritual path, but only enough time to take stock of our present condition and to use this interlude as a springboard for further advancement. Such activity of seeing...theoria...finds its starting point on the physical level; if we do not stop seeing or beholding the world about us with the exception of sleep or occasional daydreaming, we stand in danger of letting life slip by unnoticed. When we see on this natural level we constantly make judgments as to what objects of sight enter our consciousness and then pass into our memory, thereby carving out a meaningful place for ourselves in the world; if it were not for this discernment, our minds would quickly suffer overload. Yet if we consider the manner in which pre-rational societies viewed themselves and their environment, they most likely allowed experiences and images to pass through their senses and minds without attributing meaning to them. If they had done so, we would have records of their experience, usually a hallmark associated with the concept of civilization which includes such basics as language, writing, monuments and the like⁽⁴²⁾.

The physical world's continual passing in and out of human awareness which is associated with a primeval way of seeing or elementary theoria bears superficial resemblance to the more advanced type of seeing mentioned by spiritual masters in general and by Gregory of Nyssa in particular⁽⁴³⁾. Perhaps this proximation of undifferentiated seeing with that theoria characteristic of persons sufficiently advanced in the spiritual path is responsible for creating a sympathy with societies characteristic of humanity's origins. In more extreme cases a tendency exists of identifying with them in reaction against the modern world dominated as it is by a rational world view. Such sympathy stands midway between these primeval beginnings and the yet to be realized sphere of future maturation. Despite the temporal evolution of humanity, each society has representatives who have appeared as shining examples of a mature spirituality.

The primeval form of theoria under discussion has a correlation on the microscopic level through the example of a child who advances from infancy through maturity and then old age. Here one's initial, indiscriminate gaze evolves into the ego characteristic of adolescence (refer to the book of Proverbs above with its emphasis upon instruction), advances to the modification of this ego in adulthood (the book of Ecclesiastes with its emphasis upon vanity) and culminates in old age (the Song of Songs) and death where the ego vanishes. Gregory of Nyssa speaks of these three stages as follows:

What, then, is this irrational fear we have about the next life? In our anxiety, fear and ignorance we resemble a youth who is afraid of insubstantial things. Anyone who wishes to see the truth of reality first considers that which by nature is beneficial, pleasant, perplexing or subject to evil. But how can we appraise something which is not at all clear, obscure, difficult and remote from our experience such as fire and a wild animal? For example, life teaches us not to always rely upon human custom but to continuously modify our desire in light of what is beautiful. Life does not remain in an embryonic state but as long as it is in the womb it follows its natural development. Similarly, a newly born child does not constantly remain at its mother's breast but advances from this early stage to a more advanced one. Once the child grows, it is weaned from its mother's breast. It outgrows the periods of infancy, childhood and later stages of development, thereby changing its habits with age without being depressed about this change. Concerning Those Who Have Died, J.45-6.

On the other hand, a mature perception of theoria which I have used following Gregory's example of a child is achieved with later stages of development. In this instance an adult who has advanced through the first two stages represented by Proverbs and Ecclesiastes, instruction and vanity, "becomes a child undisturbed by passion:"

On the other hand, the bed signifies rest for the saved. We learn from the Lord who says to the one shamelessly knocking on the door at night, "The door is already shut, and my children are with me in bed" [Lk 11.7]. Rightly does he call "children" those who have achieved a state free from passion through the weapons of justice. By this example we are instructed that the good attained by our own diligence are instructed that the good attained by our own diligence is none other than the one implanted in our nature at the beginning. When a person has his sword girded upon his thigh by devoting his life to virtue, he has rejected passion, he becomes a child undisturbed by passion; for the state of infancy is not subject to passion. Therefore, the lesson of these warriors about the royal bed and the children in bed have one meaning: both are free from passion, the children have not experienced it while the warriors have driven it away. The children have not known passion, while the warriors have returned to their first state by becoming children through freedom from passion. Blessedness is found in all three: the child, warrior and Israelite. As an Israelite, he sees God with a pure heart; as a warrior, he guards the king's bed, that is, his own heart, in a state free from passion and in purity; as a child, he rests upon the couch of blessedness in Christ Jesus our Lord, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen. Song Commentary, J.198-9.

Here Gregory takes up the theme of returning to that good "implanted in our nature at the beginning." According to the teaching of persons being made in God's image and likeness which the Orthodox tradition had developed more fully than the West, we are firmly established in theoria by reason of our birth right. Therefore this seeing or beholding is not considered a special gift rarely bestowed but is seminal to one's baptism awaiting development and maturity. Regardless of which stage of "seeing" one happens to realize at any given moment, plenty of room exists for growth. These stages follow their own logic or as Gregory would say, their appropriate akolouthia or "sequence." Hence the attractive way he views theoria: on one hand it is expressed through the paradox of possession, and on the other, of continuous attainment. Awareness of this wonderful paradox is important in that it can alter for the better our preconceived ideas about spiritual growth which is often colored by a sense of incompleteness to be surmounted by our own efforts where divine grace, perceived as coming "from outside," plays a subordinate role. If we keep in mind the example of a primitive human being and the corresponding undeveloped nature of an infant, we realize that the forms of "seeing" appropriate to both consists in that fascination they have towards the creatureliness aspect of the physical realm which appears so mundane to uninitiated eyes. Here careful attention is given to creation's infinitely varied details without bestowing forms on them. In other words, the mental activity proper to both stages functions without imposing those forms we observe in higher, more transcendent stages of spiritual advancement. Such activity experienced by the primitive and the child is in-formal, that is, it lacks permanent form. This focus of attention, of theoria, is marked by a fascination with the spontaneous emergence of things, animate and inanimate, and their natural movement which appears so fascinating to the beholder engaged in theoria. Our senses faculties are endowed with a similar spontaneous, non-reflective contact with the world (perhaps it is better to say that they are pre-reflective) adapted for massive or gross forms of seeing. This massive, unrestricted attribute resembles unity consciousness which transcends anything coming into and passing out of existence. Due to this similarity (although superficial) the two stages--beginning and end--are sometimes confused and exchanged among unexperienced persons. It is as though we were to confuse the simplicity of a child with that belonging to a person mature in years: both are characterized by an absence of stress upon form which emerges during intermediate states of human development and is so important, for example, to a young adult.

Our senses form the primary means empowering us to "see" on the natural level. Although Gregory of Nyssa talks about theoria mostly through images related to sight, it encompasses the other faculties of smell, touch and hearing which contribute to form one global type of beholding put at God's service. Even a cursory reading of Gregory's Song Commentary discloses that he underscores the value of these senses as vehicles for conveying God's presence. Our sense faculties are dependable vehicles for how we get about in the world and offer raw material for the creation of metaphors representative of our contact with indescribable, transcendent reality. Since metaphors offer significant guidance to impart meaning through various stages of life, it is helpful to recall that passage from St. Paul (1Cor 15.48) which Gregory borrows because it is the root from which all his metaphors concerning the spiritual life flow:

Gregory intimates that a prerequisite of making contact with Jesus Christ through faith is by a thorough familiarity with earthly existence in all its ramifications which the tiny yet crucial adverb "as" represents. We then reflect upon the varied possibilities this "as" opens up since we are all associated with Adam of whom the New Testament speaks. Certain verses of Romans chapter five are worth outlining since they elaborate upon the person of Adam and shed further light upon Gregory's use of 1Cor 15.48. Note the italicized words where the adverb "as" and similar terms represent "Adam" and all he signified, and "so" represents Jesus Christ. Although these verses obviously deal with the subject of righteousness, it is not my intent to focus upon this theme, simply the way St. Paul juxtaposes Adam and Jesus Christ, and the use Gregory makes of this contrast:

vs. 12: As sin came into the world through one man and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all men sinned.

vs. 14: yet death reigned from Adam to Moses...Adam, a type of the one who was to come.

vs. 15: For if many died through one man's trespass, much more have the grace of God and the free gift in the grace of that one man Jesus Christ abounded for many...And the free gift is not like the effect of that one man's sin.

For the judgment following one trespass brought condemnation, but the free gift following many trespasses brings justification.

vs. 17: If, because of one's trespass, death reigned through that one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ.

vs. 18: Then as one man's trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one man's act of righteousness leads to acquittal and life for all men.

vs. 19: For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by one man's obedience many were made sinners, so by one man's obedience many will be made righteous.

vs. 21: So that, as sin reigned in death, grace also might reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

The comparisons drawn from the physical world must parallel Jesus Christ as being "dead to sin once for all" [Rom 6.11]; when accurately applied to represent...make-present-again...the transcendent sphere, they must not bear any form of sin or distort what they are intended to describe. As in the case of all genuine religions, there is a tension between a reliable portrayal of the transcendent realm by the physical without confusing the realities of both planes. Gregory struggles to illustrate this tension which is often the milieu where "beholding" or theoria transpires, and a resolution is introduced by asking a question:

For how can what is invisible be seen at night? The bridegroom bestows upon the soul a perception of his presence [aisthesis tes parousias], although a clear apprehension escapes it since his invisible nature lies hidden. What, then, is the mystic initiation which the soul experiences during this night? It is the Word touching the door. We understand by this door the human mind searching for what is hidden; through it the object sought after enters. Therefore, truth stands outside our souls because, as the Apostle says [1Cor 13.12], we know in part. Truth knocks at the mind by means of allegory and mystery saying "Open," and with this summons the bridegroom suggests a way we can open the door. He gives us certain keys, that is, the beautiful words of the Song. Names such as sister, companion, dove and perfect one are clearly the keys which open what is hidden. Song Commentary, J. 324-5

As an aide to understanding this crucial passage, it is helpful to outline the key ingredients which are put at the service of Gregory's phrase, "perception of presence," (aisthesis tes parousias) which implies feeling God's presence with one's whole being:

"As was the man of dust" (Adam) "So is the man of heaven" (Christ)

night invisible nature

allegory and mystery truth

door human mind

keys beautiful words of the Song

On one hand we have familiar, concrete objects from the everyday world while on the other hand, those more intangible realities in which they participate. These objects are directly available to sense perception and are part and parcel of the heritage belonging to the "the man of dust (Adam)"⁽⁴⁴⁾. On the other hand, the intangible nature of the latter do not fall into the realm of objects; they are transcendent and escape sense perception as belonging to "the man of heaven (Christ)." The Song Commentary passage just outlined enables us to behold how both sides--the perceptible and imperceptible realms--interact or how the former proceeds from the transcendence of "night" to create the "beautiful words of the Song (of Songs)" or proceeds from that which is obscure to that which is lovely. In short, we have an insight into the dynamics of theoria as Gregory of Nyssa presents it. "Night" may be taken as that parousia, God's presence, whereas the "beautiful words of the Song" may stand for aisthesis, concrete instances of sense perception. These two opposites combine, as it were, in varying degrees of intensity to beget a unified act of "beholding" (theoria) God and creation.

It should be noted that our five senses participate in a kind of unitive consciousness existing prior to the distinction between a subjective "I" and an objective "it." For example, if we touch a hot stove our hand retracts immediately without mediation of the intellect. This almost instantaneous contact sense perceptions have with the world provides a mirror of that higher form of unity consciousness which belongs to the transcendent realm. Only in the latter the distinction between subject and object has been transcended, neither absorbed nor destroyed. One example of this is seen in the human bride of Gregory's Song Commentary who always reaches out to a further step of growth and never abandons her upward call. The unity of senses achieved in God's presence can provide us with an image of unity consciousness. The former may be defined as complete absorption within the realm of particulars along with forgetfulness of a personal self, whereas the latter implies a unity between particular objects and a personal self while preserving the distinction between all these objects and a self. Unitive consciousness exists prior to education which Gregory presents through the Book of Proverbs; unity consciousness exists only after education, that is, after a person has learned how to perceive the relationships between his or her own self and the objects of knowledge.

At first glance it seems that we could pass from unitive to unity consciousness due to an apparent sympathy between them. However, closer reflection reveals that a profound gulf indeed exists. It is this breech that the second educative stage addresses in an attempt to heal the existing rift. Instruction in the various ways of how to handle the plurality of things found in the world restrains our tendency to hastily see an identity between the first and third stages. Such is the task Gregory sees in the book of Ecclesiastes which teaches its readers to perceive the "vanity" of created objects, rather, our craving for them.

The three modes of awareness, unitive consciousness, education and unity consciousness as presented by the bishop of Nyssa unite to form a trajectory depicting human growth; as pointed out earlier, Proverbs and Ecclesiastes culminate in the Song of Songs. Our innate sympathy for the first and third stages appeals to a romantic sense and nostalgia for unity. Such a perception tends to blind us to the real task at hand, namely, the necessary educative process. Our sympathy for the first and third stages may tempt us to construct an artificial bridge not only between them but to skip over the educative process (better to leap from Proverbs to the Song of Songs without passing through Ecclesiastes!). Another temptation may lead us to short circuit development of the important second stage or to deny its existence outrightly. Nevertheless, this second stage of progressive education is the crucial factor which eventually discerns unitive from unity consciousness. Even though we may deny its existence, it will sooner or later make its presence felt by revealing our incapacity for initiation and leave us waiting and unable to enter at the door of the third stage, unity consciousness⁽⁴⁵⁾. For an illustration of these three stages, refer to the following text:

He [Solomon] leads the youth to a more perfect state in the final verses of Proverbs where he calls "blessed" the union of love in that section pertaining to the praises of the brave woman. Then Solomon adds the philosophy contained in Ecclesiastes for the person who has been sufficiently introduced by proverbial training to desire virtue. After having reproached in that book men's attitudes towards external appearances, and after having said that everything unstable is vain and passing ("everything which passes is vanity," Eccl .8.1). Solomon elevates above everything grasped by sense the loving movement of our soul towards invisible beauty. Having thus cleansed the heart with respect to external matters, Solomon then initiates the soul into the divine sanctuary by means of the Song of Songs. What is described there is a marriage; but what is understood is the union of the human soul with God. Song Commentary, J.22

This excerpt teaches the need for recognition and development of the second stage of education. By it we see the necessary though limited nature of the first stage and allow ourselves to be schooled in the "vanity" of multiplicity. This second stage reveals that the first one was more complicated than was initially perceived; more accurately, our minds had been unschooled in the relationship between multiplicity and simplicity, thereby preventing us from appreciating the task at hand.

Due to the transcendent nature of the third stage--unity consciousness as represented by the biblical Song of Songs--we require symbolic language because it surpasses logical or rational wording. A person cannot take it upon him or herself to create this new form of language; one must be disposed to receive it because it lies beyond human capacity. The symbolic form of language or allegorical method used by Gregory of Nyssa transcends familiar expressions and conceptions appropriate to education. It belongs to the second stage, the process of education, to impart training in simplicity through awareness of that "vanity" of the created realm; in this way we can pass over to the third stage, unity consciousness. At this threshold a person has just been liberated from recollection of past events or those memories culled from a familiar past and which can be extended into an indefinite, unextended future. Instead of functioning out of the memory and expressing oneself through ordinary language, there is an exchange for the relative ambiguity of symbolic vocabulary because the suspension of our recollective faculty requires a different mode of expression. For several examples, refer to some passages from Gregory's Song Commentary which deal with the theme of forgetfulness as it is related to the third and final stage:

The souls, therefore, draw to themselves a desire for their immortal bridegroom and follow the Lord God, as it is written [Hos 11.10]. The cause of their love is the scent of the perfume to which they eternally run; they stretch out to what is in front, forgetting what is behind. "We shall run after you toward the scent of your perfumes" [1.4]. J.39

"As a lily among thorns, thus is my sister among the daughters" [2.2]. What great progress we see in the ascent of the soul! The first step in the ascent was the comparison of the bride to the horses which destroyed the Egyptian forces; the second was the bride's becoming a "companion" to the bridegroom and the comparison of her eyes to doves. The present step, the third, consists in no longer being called "companion," but "sister" of the Lord. "Whoever does the will of my heavenly Father, this one is my brother, my sister, and my mother" [Mt 12.50]. Having thus become a flower, the soul is not injured by thorny temptations in her transformation into lily; she forgets the people and house of her father and looks to her true Father. Therefore she is named sister of the son, having been introduced by the Spirit of adoption into this relationship and released from fellowship with the daughters of that false father. And so she becomes still more sublime and gazes at the mystery through dove's eyes. I mean she does this by the spirit of prophecy. J.115

The intelligible and spiritual is free from constraint; it escapes limitation and is circumscribed by nothing. Furthermore, a spiritual nature has two aspects. First, the uncreated or Creator of beings always remains what it is. And always being itself, it does not admit an increase or diminution with respect to the good. The second aspect comes into existence through creation and always looks back to its first cause. By participation in the transcendent, it continually remains stable in the good; in a certain sense, it is always being created while ever changing for the better in its growth in perfection. Neither is it limited, nor can it be circumscribed in its growth towards the good; however, its present state of goodness, even if especially great and perfect, is only the beginning of a more transcendent, better stage. The Apostle's words are thus verified: stretching out to what lies before is related to forgetfulness of earlier accomplishments [Phil 3.13]. The good which is superior to the one already attained holds the attention of those participating in it while not allowing them to look at the past; by enjoying what is more worthy, their memory of inferior things is blotted out. J.174

The sentence in the very last excerpt sums up my earlier remarks concerning the suspension of our recollective faculty: "The good which is superior to the one already attained holds the attention of those participating in it while not allowing them to look at the past." What is this good? Surely Gregory uses "good" or to agathon as another term for God; more precisely, he veils the divinity in terms of that awareness minus a subject-object relationship whose presence in us does not "allow to look at the past" or those earlier memories we have registered. Gregory uses blunt language when saying that such memories are "inferior" and are to be "blotted out" regardless of how sublime they happen to be. It seems that this pure awareness, always present to us and which may be called the eikon or image of God, "blots out" any perception we have received and wards off those continuously entering our awareness. In other words, Gregory is making a distinction between thoughts and that eikon which is pure awareness in itself. Reliance upon rational or technical terms to express suspension of our faculties, while having the precision of focusing upon more specific aspects of experience, is not quite adequate because a number of apparently contradictory elements must be held in balance. The "grammar" of such language is learned within the state of suspension after which we return to the plane of everyday existence with a more mature, comprehensive understanding than the first and second stages (that is, unitive consciousness and the process of education or Proverbs and Ecclesiastes) of development.

When we engage in the practice of what Gregory of Nyssa and other Church Fathers call theoria or contemplation, we "see" or "behold" God. However, this beholding is quite different from ordinary perception and is marked by a suspension of mental and emotive processes which we had been accustomed through education and culture to designate as our true life while in actuality they are not so⁽⁴⁶⁾. Our mode of living prior to having our faculties suspended by divine intervention, even if it happens to be momentary, may not undergo an immediate change but this experience makes us question how we have behaved up to this juncture⁽⁴⁷⁾. The newly discovered suspension which makes us doubt our behavior and reorientates our lives towards the practice of virtue escapes efforts at duplication because they are instances which cannot be captured, for example, by recalling the kairoi events mentioned earlier.

It is only natural that we seek to replicate a pleasant experience yet transcendent reality can never be confined by human efforts. Nevertheless, this unique experience of suspension remains the same each time we dispose ourselves for theoria; it is different in that the increase of memories puts our actualization of theoria in a new light. It empowers us to become divested of so-called "normal behavior" in favor of activities which the majority of people shun, for example, a new found desire for solitude, a disposition for the practice of virtue and simple contentment with one's lot in life. Despite the attractive features of this "beholding," experience with theoria reveals that our attempts at its practice is subject to contamination by negative memories. Another way of saying the same thing is that objects which we had valued intrude upon that special occasion...kairos...of having our faculties suspended. These impediments arise not so much from the objects of our regard in and by themselves but from the projections of past experiences which we impose upon them; they can effect a gradual alienation from persons and things which reflect God's glory. In these instances we have cultivated more or less unconsciously a heightened sense of distance, diastema: we have inserted an "interval" separating us from that state of mental suspension, the result of theoria or "beholding." Granted that there already exists a diastema between creation and God; it is those films from past experiences to which I am drawing attention. The chief means of overcoming this often painful awareness of diastema, of a temporal gap, lies in paying close attention...watching...as disinterestedly as possible the spontaneous generation of mental representations within ourselves. Simultaneous with this remedy--and perhaps a more difficult task--is to refrain from judging the quality of these spontaneous representations. Assuming this impartial stance runs counter our tendency of assessing each and every mental representation which arises instead of gently laying them aside in favor of continued exposures to theoria. Consider, for example, how Gregory of Nyssa articulates our alienation from God; he views it as the artificial introduction of distance where no distance exists. That is, he speaks of our tendency to impose diastema where no diastema is present⁽⁴⁸⁾. A passage from Against Eunomius⁽⁴⁹⁾ speaks of diastema and our frustrated attempts of imposing it on that which lacks extension:

The creation, as we have said, comes into existence according to a sequence [akolouthia] of order [taxis], and is commensurate with the duration of the ages, so that if one ascends along the line of things created to their beginning, one will bound the search with the foundation of those ages. But the world above creation, being removed from all conception of distance [diastema], eludes all sequence of time: it has no commencement of that sort...It is clear even with a moderate insight into the nature of things, that there is nothing by which we can measure the divine and blessed Life. It is not in time, but time flows from it; whereas the creation, starting from a manifest beginning, journeys onward to its proper end through spaces of time...But the supreme and blessed life has no time-extension [diastema] accompanying its course, and therefore no span nor measure. Created thing are confined within the fitting measures as within a boundary, with due regard to the good adjustment of the whole by the pleasure of a wise Creator; and so, though human reason in its weakness cannot reach the whole way to the contents of creation, yet still we do not doubt that the creative power has assigned to all of them their limits and that they do not stretch beyond creation. But this creative power itself, while circumscribing by itself the growth of things, has itself no circumscribing bounds; it buries in itself every effort of thought to mount up to the source of God's life, and it eludes the busy and ambitious strivings to get to the end of the Infinite.

In contrast to this natural diastema which in Gregory's view is not inferior ("by the pleasure of a wise Creator"), consider a passage from his treatise, Concerning Those Who have Died, where he speaks of the soul as being adiastatos, without interval, a quality characteristic of a person being made in God's image:

What is the divinity which the soul resembles? It is not the body, lacks form, likeness, quality, figure, depth, place, time and anything else which resembles material creation; rather, once all these attributes are stripped away, the soul reveals its nature which is spiritual, immaterial, invisible, incorporeal and unchangeable. If we contemplate the stamp of the archetype, the soul necessarily conforms itself according to that image. The soul is recognized by its characteristics, that is, as being immaterial, without form [adiastatos], spiritual and incorporeal. J.41

Note the italicized words describing the soul: not the body, lacks form...spiritual, immaterial, invisible, incorporeal, unchangeable. They are all negative or apophatic and stress what the soul is not; these words can be summed up by the term adiastatos or by adjectives characteristic of an eikon (image) which make the soul like God⁽⁵⁰⁾. Gregory's reflections in both excerpts just cited are valuable in that he does not adapt a dogmatic stance which imposes a particular thought pattern upon the power of simple, unhindered observation or theoria whether applied either to creation or the adiastamatic realm. By beginning with the universal experience of boundedness with which we are all familiar, the bishop of Nyssa observes that concomitant with it we possess an inbuilt yearning to shake it off in favor of sharing God's complete transcendence. For him this desire is proof of our being made in God's image, along with the ultimate disaffection with anything created which he describes so well in his Commentary on Ecclesiastes. Furthermore, in On the Making of Man⁽⁵¹⁾ Gregory says that human nature "extends from the first to the last (apo ton proton mechri ton eschaton diekousa) and is one image (eikon) of Him Who is." Such extension which comprises the entire spacial-temporal realm is a fine definition of diastema; it sets the stage for human growth and development in history while standing in contrast to the transcendent divine nature⁽⁵²⁾. However, diastema implies much more than its literal translation as an interval of space and time or the distance separating two events. Gregory uses it in two fundamental ways, negatively as applied to God and positively to creation⁽⁵³⁾:

Again, only in the case of the creation is it true to speak of "priority." The sequence of works [tes akolouthias ton ergon] was there displayed in the order [taxis] of the days; and the heavens may be said to have preceded by so much the making of man, and that interval [diastema] may be measured by the interval of days. But in the divine nature, which transcends all idea of time and surpasses all reach of thought, to talk of a "prior" and a "latter" in the honors of time is a privilege only of this new-fangled philosophy. Against Eunomius⁽⁵⁴⁾

In the last chapter I pointed out that the soul's essence as eikon is to behold, to pay attention...purely and simply...a fact which Gregory has realized in his own life to an exceptional degree as evident in his writings. Yet at first glance the act of beholding may appear too vague a description of the human soul. Also the very word "soul," used with some frequency when discussing the spiritual realm, is an ambiguous term; it conjures up a ghost-like entity existing alongside or within corporeal existence. This incomplete perception which is fairly common in more or less subtle or gross modes of expression demonstrates the importance of developing adequate representations to depict as best as possible that which transcends depiction. Since I have established observation as one of the most human of all activities, and Gregory articulates this type of seeing as a definition of God (theos):

Then also having learnt from the Divine writings the incorruptibility of the judgment to come, we therefore call Him Judge and Just, and to sum up in one word, we transfer the thoughts that arise within us about the Divine Being into the mould of a corresponding name; so that there is no appellation given to the Divine Being apart from some distinct intuition about Him. Even the word God [theos] we understand to have come into usage from the activity of His seeing; for our faith tells us that the Deity is everywhere, and sees [theathai] all things, and penetrates all things, and then we stamp this thought with this name [theos] guided to it by the Holy Voice. For he who says, "O God, attend unto me" [Ps 60.2], and, "Look, O God" [Ps 119.132], and, "God knoweth the secrets of the heart plainly" [Ps 140.21], reveals the latent meaning of this word, viz., that Theos is so called from theoasthai⁽⁵⁵⁾. Against Eunomius⁽⁵⁶⁾

Quite often Gregory of Nyssa applies the actualization of theoria within the context of a "return" or "going back" to a natural, divine condition which we once enjoyed in its fullness but is currently obscured. Such a return follows the pattern of Elijah's physical ascent into heaven which reestablishes the soul's paradoxical capacity to behold without seeing anything. We may say that recovery of this lost ability is an apokatastasis or a "restoration" on the individual level of the soul's original unity in the image or eikon of God which, in Gregory's view, transcends the distinction between male and female genders. The human race's division into two sexes was, according to Jean Danielou, "though first in the order of time is only second in the order of intention."⁽⁵⁷⁾ For Gregory, the corporate nature of such apokatastasis is ecclesiastical:

If a worthy conversion comes about, the number of years are not reckoned but the suddenness of which leads one to restoration [apokatastasis] in the Church and participation in the good. Canonical Epistle to Letonius, PG #45.232C.

Keeping in mind that spiritual growth occurs through the medium of diastema, we need a positive view of diastema's linear progression, not its abolition or denial, because it is an essential ingredient in our advancement towards God. To demonstrate this influence, Gregory of Nyssa employs two important terms, taxis and akolouthia, which I have already noted in several passages already cited in this essay. For Gregory, diastema does not simply mean interval or gap because this definition would omit the notion of extension which, in turn, is linked with movement and change. Because diastema necessitates extension and hence movement, it consists in an orderly advancement⁽⁵⁸⁾ from a beginning (arche) to an end (telos) as revealed by an excerpt from Against Eunomius⁽⁵⁹⁾:

In this life we can apprehend the beginning [arche] and the end [telos] of all things that exist, but the beatitude [makariotes] that is above the creature admits neither end nor beginning, but is above all that is connoted by either, being ever the same, self-dependent, not travelling on by degrees from one point to another in its life...For increase [epauxesis] has no place in the infinite, and that which is by its nature passionless [apathes] excludes all notion of decrease.

Such extension intimates a certain connection or akolouthia between the various parts or stages when applied to advancement in the love and knowledge of God. Jean Danielou had written extensively on the subject and defines the essence of akolouthia ("enchainement") as "le lien necessaire" which unites creation⁽⁶⁰⁾. Akolouthia has several connotations, the first excerpt related to logic where one thing is the consequence of another as in the following excerpts:

It is necessary, therefore,...to frame your argument in accordance with the error into which each has fallen, by advancing in each discussion certain principles and reasonable propositions, that thus, through what is agreed upon on both sides, the truth may conclusively [kata to akolouthon] be brought to light. The Great Catechism⁽⁶¹⁾

Thus our consideration [theoria] of the task set before us has the goal [skopos] of enabling us to persuade many persons to exchange their habits [sunethous] for sound reasoning. Concerning Those Who Have Died, J.29

In the second passage Gregory presents his skopos or goal in conjunction with theoria; he does so in practical terms by appealing that we forsake irrational behavior arising from passion and to choose the good. But in order to achieve this end which is ultimately "likeness to God" (J.51), we must progress towards it; we do not achieve it all at once but through stages. Gregory's identity of the human soul with divine goodness has the benefit of making us aware that we have already attained union with God despite the temporal-spacial gap exiting between us and him. To describe this continuum along we must travel he uses akolouthia with the meaning of "order" or "sequence:"

Because true goodness is clearly opposed to that which is not good, we are faced with a contradiction. It follows that [akolouthon] persons who separate themselves from that which is not beautiful become attached to true beauty which constantly and at all times remains good. Concerning Those Who Have Died, J.34

Akolouthia is a term difficult to translate and conveys a sense of logical progression whether belonging to the intellectual realm, moral development or natural stages of human growth. Initiation into the akolouthia of events, so necessary for becoming "attached to true beauty," tends towards the skopos or particular goal which Gregory of Nyssa sets forth. For the purpose of contrasting corporeal and spiritual existence he employs a form of dialectical argumentation with some degree of precision. Such reasoning sets forth his case for the existence of spiritual reality when we pay close attention to "the sequence (akolouthia) of our words which will reveal that the changes (metastasis) of this life hinder us from participating in whatever is not good" (J.34). Observe how Gregory employs these two words: within his treatise akolouthia implies an orderly progression towards a goal whereas metastasis suggests a change or alteration from one state to another. The notion of change has a significant role to play in Concerning Those Who Have Died as revealed by the following terms: allattesthai (J.62.14), hupallayenai (J.65.14), metapoiesis (J.62.20), summetatithesthai (J.63.1) and metastoicheiousthai (J.62.26). All these words form an akolouthia or sequence which refer in one way or another to the unstable condition of our human nature in dire need of transformation. The prime example for such advancement is portrayed by means of the detailed description of an ear of corn. It starts from a seed hidden in the ground and culminates in the ear which we eat, "the final goal" (teleioseos, J.49-52). The entire process includes a whole series of deaths as they relate to the previous stages all the way until the farmer reaps his harvest. Gregory applies this example to our true goal in an important passage:

The final goal of our journey is restoration [apokatastasis] to our original state or likeness

[homoiosis] to God. Just as the corn grows and puts forth green shoots which include the husk, grain, stem and the plant's various segments without our assistance, the edible fruit attains maturity through all these stages. In a similar fashion we await the goal of blessedness. Concerning Those Who Have Died, J.51

Jean Danielou points out a second important concept related to akolouthia, namely, cosmological matters where "la suite necessaire des phenomenes qui constitute l'ordre du cosmos"⁽⁶²⁾:

Creation consists of a spatial extension [diastematike paratasis]; the succession [akolouthia kai taxis] of phenomena which constitutes time is contained in the aeons, but the anterior nature to these aeons escapes any opposition composed of a before or after...One might say that creation in its entirety is produced according to a regular succession [taxeos akolouthia] is measured by the extension of aeons. If anyone elevates his spirit through the succession [akolouthia] of aeons all the way to the principle of engendered things, his search will be circumscribed by the condition of these same aeons. But the [divine] nature which is above creation, insofar as it is apart from every spatial category, escapes every kind of temporal succession [chronike akolouthia]. Against Eunomius, J.361-3

Although theoria ("beholding") is not mentioned here, Gregory implies it by the phrase "if anyone elevates his spirit." Such theoria runs backwards in time, as it were, through the various akolouthia yet hits a barrier beyond which a person cannot proceed ("the divine nature...escapes every kind of temporal succession"). Akolouthia therefore signifies our created condition enclosed with the sphere of diastema. As with the logical sense of akolouthia, the cosmological significance embodies a beginning (arche) and end (telos).

A third meaning of akolouthia is related to historical events, the exclusive domain of human interactions, and follows upon that succession found in the natural order. Here akolouthia has a corporate sense as pertaining to an individual and humankind as a whole which is also two-fold: on one hand an akolouthia towards sin and corruption and on the other an akolouthia towards apokatastasis, "the final goal of our journey is restoration (apokatastasis) to our original state or likeness (homoiosis) to God"⁽⁶³⁾. Gregory's application of akolouthia to the historical process and human relationships is an attempt to give a coherent interpretation to humanity's passage from its beginning as made in God's image and likeness through its present state of alienation from this divine stamp and then on to its apokatastasis. Here is an example of the first aspect of akolouthia as pertaining to alienation from God:

We, then, who in our first ancestor were thus ejected [from paradise], are allowed to return to our earliest state of blessedness by the very same stages [akolouthias] by which we lost Paradise. What are they [i.e., akolouthia]? Pleasure, craftily offered, began the Fall, and there followed after pleasure shame and fear...Now if we are destined "to depart hence, and be with Christ" [Phil 1.23], we must begin at the end of the route of departure (which lies nearest to ourselves)...Marriage, then, is the last stage of our separation from the life that was led in Paradise; marriage therefore, as our discourse has been suggesting, is the first thing to be left; it is the first station as it were for our departure to Christ. On Virginity⁽⁶⁴⁾

Gregory clearly states that the last akolouthia, marriage, is the first akolouthia⁽⁶⁵⁾ insofar that it resembles a pole in a race track for horses; upon reaching the furthest end, they immediately begin their return to the finish line. Thus this example of akolouthia embodies a departure and a return within that diastema ("extension") which represents awareness of this course of human existence. Gregory's perception of marriage and hence propagation is awkward if regarded from a purely historical view which traces our origins in a chronological fashion. This view, while having value in its own right, can make us lose sight of the larger framework of his reflections on human nature which fall under the umbrella of theoria, that special act of beholding where our physical and mental faculties are suspended. Gregory's insights with regard to our origins make sense only to the person engaged in theoria, of contemplation, which intuits the relationship between human propagation and the increased likelihood for further deviation (through diastema) from God. Propagation represents various stages or akolouthia "away" from God; not that such generation causes sin, but it has the potential of abating appreciation for one being made in God's image and likeness. Here is a type of diastema on the moral plane; as I have noted earlier, Gregory posits a close relationship between the practice of virtue and theoria with regard to one's eikon-nature. An excerpt from On the Making of Man⁽⁶⁶⁾ demonstrates what Gregory is getting at through propagation:

Now seeing that the full number of men pre-conceived by the operation of foreknowledge will come into life by means of this animal generation, God, Who governs all things in a certain order and sequence [taxei tini kai heiromo],--since the inclination of our nature to what was beneath it (which He Who beholds the future equally with the present saw before it existed) made some such form of generation absolutely necessary for mankind,--therefore also foreknew the time co-extensive with the creation of men, so that the extend of time should be adapted for the entrances of the pre-determined souls, and that the flux and motion of time should halt at the moment when humanity is no longer produced by means of it; and that when the generation of men is completed, time should cease together with its completion, and then should take place the restitution of all things, and with the World-Reformation [anastoicheiosis] humanity also should be changed from the corruptible and earthly to the impassible and eternal.

Humanity is "halted" at an unspecified time in the future once the process of generation is completed. Although one may assume that Gregory is speaking about a halt to physical reproduction, perhaps a more immediate type of propagation is the activity of our thoughts and emotions which are suspended through the medium of theoria. Although suspension may not have visible or historical effects, even the briefest exposure to it gives rise to an insight that humanity would have long ago perished if holy persons who have been engaged in theoria were not present as leaven in dough⁽⁶⁷⁾. Anyone who has undertaken the practice of contemplation knows that these acts of suspension abolish, albeit temporarily, diastematic existence and proceed "back" to the divine source of all existence⁽⁶⁸⁾. Here is a way of putting this allegorically:

I think that if someone who has been inititated under the guidance of the history [Israel] follows closely the order of the historical figures, the sequence [akolouthia] of the development in virtue marked out in our account will be clear. There is something fleshly and uncircumcised in what is taught by philosophy's generative faculty; when that has been completely removed, there remains the pure Israelite race. Life of Moses⁽⁶⁹⁾

The other term closely related to akolouthia is taxis, "order or "system," a broader category which includes various levels of the former. In the following texts note the second excerpt which situates taxis within the context of a musical rhythm, an image with Stoic overtones which viewed the cosmos as a living organism⁽⁷⁰⁾:

We say that the bride's praises are lessons which teach about more refined matters. Such a teaching is as follows: beings are created and renewed not in accord with the same order and system [akolouthia kai taxis]. Because creation exists from its very beginning by the divine power, the end of each created being is immediately [adiastatos, that is, with no intervening diastema] linked with its beginning: everything created from nothing comes into existence with its beginning. Human nature is also created but does not, like other created beings, advance towards its perfection, but right from the beginning it is created perfect: "Let us make man according to the image and likeness of God" [Gen 1.26]. Here is the very summit and perfection of goodness. What can be more exalted than similarity to God? Thus the end of the first creation is simultaneous with its beginning, for human nature originated in perfection. Since this human nature became subject to death because of its disposition to evil, perseverance in the good was destroyed. Human nature takes up its perfection not at once, as in the beginning, but progresses towards the good by an order which gradually gets rid of our inclination towards evil. In the first creation there was no impediment present with the birth of our human nature, for it was perfect and lacked evil. But in the second restoration, an interval of time necessarily accompanies those pursuing the first good. Because our minds incline towards evil, our association with evil is removed like bark which is gradually scraped off by a more becoming life. Song Commentary, J.457-9

I have heard that certain wise persons who have pondered over our human nature say that man is a microcosm containing in himself everything in the world at large. The order [diadosmesis] of the universe is a kind of musical harmony [harmonia] of varied shapes and colors with a certain order [taxis] and rhythm, an arrangement that is integral and in accord with itself and never dissonant, even if different parts differ greatly. Inscriptions of the Psalms, J.30-1

In each of these five divisions [of the psalter] the text considers the good which enables us to obtain God's blessedness with respect to a certain order [akolouthos taxis]; the soul is always committed to a higher state until it attains the summit of goodness. Inscriptions of the Psalms, J.65

The Song Commentary's encouraging words "right from the beginning it (human nature) is created perfect" demonstrate the provisional nature of diastema; although we occasionally find the passage of time distressing, there remains the assurance that such interval, while not abolishing the distinction between God and creation, is added on the eikon in which we are fashioned much like the garments of skin⁽⁷¹⁾. While by no means comprehensive, my observations with regard to akolouthia and taxis are intended to show the essentially provisional role of all things in Jesus Christ in light of that restoration or apokatastasis of all things. For Gregory of Nyssa akolouthia has various connotations such as growth and history, all of which designate advancement from one point to another through the medium of diastema. Once we grasp this necessary though ultimately provisional nature of akolouthia and taxis we have better insight into that phrase in 1Cor 15.48 mentioned in Chapter Four, "as was the man of dust (Adam)...so is the man of heaven (Christ)." Here the "as," representative of earthly existence which includes positive and negative aspects, may equate one general taxis, order, in which are multiform akolouthias, sequences. However, the second half of Paul's equation, "so," does not include any akolouthia because Christ is the fulfillment of all stages of both physical and spiritual advancement. In him every diastema is transcended in the final or macroscopic level, whereas our realization of this apokatastasis is available through the practice of theoria where our faculties are suspended. Hence this suspension holds sway between the "as" of Adam, earthly existence, and the "so" of Christ, heavenly existence. I conclude this chapter with two references to diastema taken from Gregory's Against Eunomius⁽⁷²⁾ where he speaks in a wonderful manner about realization of the life of Christ through theoria in this present life:

The latter is confined within its own boundaries according to the pleasure of its Maker. The former is bounded only by infinity. The latter stretches itself out within certain degrees of extension, limited by time and space; the former transcends all notion of degree, baffling curiosity from every point of view. In this life we can apprehend the beginning and the end of all things that exist, but the beatitude that is above the creature admits neither end nor beginning, but is above all that is connoted by either, being ever the same, self-dependent, not travelling on by degrees from one point to another in its life.

For seeing that human life, moving from stage to stage, advances in its progress from a beginning to an end, and our life here is divided between that which is past and that which is expected, so that the one is the subject of hope, the other of memory; on this account, as, in relation to ourselves, we apprehend a past and a future in this measurable extent, so also we apply the thought, though incorrectly, to the transcendent nature of God; not of course that God in his own existence leaves any interval behind, or passes on afresh to something that lies before, but because our intellect can only conceive things according to our nature, and measures the eternal by a past and a future, where neither the past precludes the march of thought to the illimitable and infinite, nor the future tells us of any pause or limit of his endless life.

The first chapter of this essay defined apokatastasis as the restoration of all things in Jesus Christ. This all-inclusive embrace suggests that individual persons do not return to Christ isolated from each other; by reason of being made in God's image (eikon) and likeness (homoiosis), each person contains within him or herself a reflection of that all-inclusive apokatastasis. Due to our situation within the temporal and spacial extension of diastema, we sometimes have the impression of being cut off from other persons. In these predicaments we feel the weight of time which drags on interminably, yet closer examination⁽⁷³⁾ reveals that the real culprit is our susceptibility to various mental images of isolation, not aloneness itself; such images which are beyond control press upon our minds and are the prime agents for feelings of loneliness. A close relationship exists with regard to how these perceptions impinge upon awareness of diastema, extendedness, either making it "fly" or "drag." Closer examination of our mental state at any given moment--whether under the label of "positive" or "negative"--reveals that they share a type of succession, albeit haphazard, which governs our activity for better or worse. My chief concern here is to favor neither side but to bring attention to their continuous succession or the ceaseless birth and death of thoughts and images. It is precisely these mental images generated from our weariness with diastema which hinder us from realizing that we are made in God's image and likeness and ultimately from our connectedness with other persons who, taken together, form what Gregory calls pleroma, "fullness." We may say that each of us by reason of our eikon is a seed, a favorite image of Gregory, which contributes to that fullness represented by the Church as demonstrated by a passage from On the Soul and the Resurrection⁽⁷⁴⁾:

But as to the number of souls, our reason must necessarily contemplate a stopping some day of its increase; so that Nature's stream may not flow on forever, pouring forward in her successive births and never staying that onward movement. The reason for our race having some day to come to a standstill is as follows, in our opinion: since every intellectual reality if fixed in a plenitude [pleroma] of its own, it is reasonable to expect that humanity also will arrive at a goal (for in this respect also humanity is not to be parted from the intellectual world); so that we are to believe that it will not be visible forever only in defect, as it is now: for this continual addition of after generations indicates that there is something deficient in our race.

The words "so that Nature's stream may not flow on forever, pouring forward in her successive births and never staying that onward movement" is another way of expressing the various sequences or akolouthia shared by the natural and human spheres. Their force appears inexorable, beyond any one individual's power to halt or alter; however, an integral part of theoria's practice implies close observation of these "successive births" and abstracting from them that which is most characteristic of their patterns, namely, the act of begetting or bringing forth into existence. Once we intuit an act of begetting within "the natural and human spheres," it can apply to every other created being, for regardless of their nature they all have a beginning, extension and dissolution. These are the three most general qualities of existence on the diastematic plane we can extract from an encounter with God in theoria, thereby allowing us to remain serene before the manifestations of a constantly changing world. Nevertheless, there is always a temptation to perceive this succession of creation-destruction as an indefinite pattern knowing no end and which perpetuates itself indefinitely. It can lead to a mistaken image of eternity as diastema where extension, however indefinitely, can imitate eternity yet never grasp it. Instead of the temporal order being made in the image and likeness of eternity, the natural order is willfully reversed: eternity is made into the image and likeness of the temporal order. Basically we are dealing with a profound confusion where the sameness or constancy of the diastematic order misconstrues the apparent sameness of aion or that temporal order which Christ has redeemed. Several lengthy examples from Gregory of Nyssa's writings are helpful for his understanding of aion⁽⁷⁵⁾:

To me, first place seems given to silence, that is, to God who transcends every thought and name [Phil 2.9]. Once the soul breaks from evil, it always seeks and desires to be sewn onto the object of its search, God, who is loftier than any of our words. Anyone detracting from the significance of the text sins against God whom we believe utterly transcends our capacity for speech. However, the person attempting to comprehend God who cannot be circumscribed by limitations, does not admit that God transcends the universe. He sets his own reason up in opposition, considering it to be such and such a thing which can contain any type of thought. He does not know that God in whom we believe transcends our knowledge and that every consideration befitting him serves to guard his true existence. Why is this so? Because every created being looks to what is connatural, and no being can remain in existence apart from itself. Fire cannot exist in water; neither can water be present in fire, dry land in the depth, water in dry land, earth in the sky nor the sky in the earth. Everything is limited by its own nature as long as it exists and stays within its own bounds. If anything created goes outside itself, it will lose its own essence just like the senses which cannot transgress their natural functions. The eye does not function like the ear nor does our sense of touch speak; hearing does not taste, but each sense is limited by the power natural to it. Thus all creation cannot transgress its natural limitations by a temporal insight [diastematiken ennoian]; it always remains within its own bounds and whatever it may view, it sees itself. Should creation think it beholds anything which transcends it, this cannot be because it lacks the capacity to look beyond its own nature.

The contemplation of beings is restricted by a certain notion of temporal interval [diastematiken ennoian] which cannot be transgressed. Indeed, for every conception which the mind gives birth an interval of time is considered along with the substance of that which had thought it; an interval of time [diastema] is nothing other than creation. The good which we strongly encourage to seek, guard, to unite ourselves and cling to transcends creation and thought. Our mind functions by using intervals within time [diastematike paratasei], so how can it grasp [God's] nature which is not subject to temporal extension [adiastaton]? Through the medium of time the inquisitive [mind] always leaves behind any thought older than what it just discovered. The mind also busily searches through all kinds of knowledge yet never discovers the means to grasp eternity [aion] in order to transcend both itself and what we earlier considered, namely, the eternal existence of beings. This effort resembles a person standing on a precipice (Let a smooth, precipitous rock which abruptly falls off to a limitless distance suggest this transcendence whose prominence reaches on high which also falls to the gaping deep below). A person's foot can touch that ridge falling off to the depths below and find neither step nor support for his hand. To me, this example pertains to the soul's passage through intervals of time in its search for [God's] nature which exists before eternity and is not subject to time. His nature cannot be grasped because it lacks space, time, measure and anything else we can apprehend; instead, our mind is overcome with dizziness and stumbles all over the place because it cannot lay hold of transcendent reality. Being powerless, it returns to its connatural state. Our minds love to know only about God's transcendence of which they are persuaded because his nature differs from anything we know. Commentary on Ecclesiastes, J.411-14

Accordingly, as the nature that is in the creation, as the phrase of the most excellent Wisdom somewhere tells us, exhibits "the beginning, ending, and midst of the times" [Wis 7.18] in itself, and extends concurrently with all temporal intervals, we take as a sort of characteristic of the subject this property, that in it we see some beginning of its formation, look on its midst, and extend our expectations to its end. For we have learnt that the heaven and the earth were not from eternity, and will not last to eternity, and thus it is hence clear that those things are both started from some beginning, and will surely cease at some end. But the Divine Nature, being limited in no respect, but passing all limitations on every side in its infinity, is far removed from those marks which we find in creation. For that power which is without interval [adiastatos], without quantity, without circumscription, having in itself all the ages [aionas] and all the creation that has taken place in them, and overpassing at all points, by virtue of the infinity of its own nature, the unmeasured extent of the ages, either has no mark which indicates its nature, or has one of an entirely different sort, and not that which creation has. Against Eunomius⁽⁷⁶⁾

And He Who made all these things is the Only-begotten God Who made the ages [aionas]. For if the interval of the ages [diastematos ton aionon] has preceded existing things, it is proper to employ the temporal adverb, and to say "He then [tote] willed" and "He then made": but since the age [aionos] was not, since no conception of interval [oude tinos diastematikes ennoias] is present to our minds in regard to that Divine Nature which is not measured by quantity and by interval [adiastaton] is present to our minds in regard that Divine Nature which is not measured by quantity or by interval, the force of temporal expressions must surely be void. Against Eunomius⁽⁷⁷⁾

I have often spoken of theoria as contemplation or beholding minus a subject-object relationship and the means Gregory of Nyssa provides for its realization. This same theoria applies for aion as the passage above from Ecclesiastes clearly reveals and which I cite with italicized words indicating the experience of theoria. I follow it with an excerpt from the Song Commentary which is a different account of theoria but one worth contrasting to Ecclesiastes:

This effort [of seeking eternity] resembles a person standing on a precipice (Let a smooth, precipitous rock which abruptly falls off to a limitless distance suggest this transcendence whose prominence reaches on high which also falls to the gaping deep below). A person's foot can touch that ridge falling off to the depths below and find neither step nor support for his hand. To me, this example pertains to the soul's passage through intervals of time in its search for [God's] nature which exists before eternity and is not subject to time. His nature cannot be grasped because it lacks space, time, measure and anything else we can apprehend; instead, our mind is overcome with dizziness and stumbles all over the place because it cannot lay hold of transcendent reality.

As long as the mind lives alone and untroubled by the senses, it is as though the body were overcome by sleep and torpor. One can then truly say that sight is at rest through inaction while the soul has contempt for visions which frighten little children. I speak not only of material things such as gold, silver, and colorful stones which arouse greedy eyes, but the wonderful marvels in the heavens: the twinkling stars, the sun's orb, the moon's many changes, and anything else giving pleasure to the eyes; these things will not last forever, but will move and pass away with the cycle of time. Despising all such wonders through the contemplation of true goodness, the body's eye becomes tired, and the more perfect soul is not attracted to anything visible; with the mind it regards only what transcends visible objects. Hearing, too, is dead and does not function, for it is now occupied with what lies beyond speech. The soul keeps far away from our more animal sensations as if they were a foul stench; I mean the sense of smell which enjoys perfumes, the sense of taste which is subservient to the stomach, and the vulgar sense of touch which lacks sight; it seems that touch is for the blind. Once all these senses have been put to sleep and are gripped by inaction, the heart's action is pure; reason looks above while it remains undisturbed and free from the senses' movement. Commentary on the Song of Songs, J.312-13

In these two excerpts we have two apparently contrasting accounts of theoria: the striking image of standing at the edge of a cliff and the more prosaic one of sleep which symbolizes inaction on the physical plane. In a certain sense the Song passage should be read prior to Ecclesiastes because it directly relates to the limited capacity of seeing as well as the one "free from the senses' movement:"

-sight is at rest through inaction

-the soul has contempt for vision

-greedy eyes

-pleasure to the eyes

-the body's eye becomes tired

-more perfect soul is not attracted to anything visible

-the mind regards what transcends visible objects

-reason looks above undisturbed by senses' movement

In the first example (Ecclesiastes) Gregory of Nyssa presents the "precipitous rock" reaching in two directions, to "on high" and "to the "gaping deep below" which is symbolic of our search for God. Note that Gregory does not say that this experience is representative of finding God but of those intervals (diastema) which he simultaneously embraces and transcends. Gregory's brilliant use of the common experience of vertigo and its association with theoria intuits the common feature of both, their lack of familiar reference point. In brief, the passages cited above take into consideration the border between created being and God's uncreated nature "which is not measured by quantity or by interval" where "the force of temporal expressions must surely be void." The term Gregory of Nyssa uses to determine this boundary is akrotaton⁽⁷⁸⁾:

And this it seems to be the Divine apostle considered when he declared in his epistle to the Corinthians the sudden stoppage of time, and the change of the things that are now moving on back to the opposite end where he says, "Behold, I show you a mystery; we shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment [en atomo], in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet" [1Cor 15.51-2]. For when, as I suppose, the full complement of human nature [pleromatos tes anthropines phuseos] has reached the limit of the pre-determined measure [kata to prognosthen metron], because there is no longer anything to be made up in the way of increase to the number of souls, he teaches us that the change in existing things will take place in an instant of time [ein akarei tou chronou], giving to that limit of time (which has no parts or extension the names of "a moment [atomon]," and "the twinkling of an eye;" so that it will no more be possible for one who reaches the verge of time [kata to eschaton te kai akrotaton] (which is the last and extreme point, from the fact that nothing is lacking to the attainment of its extremity, akroteti) to obtain by death this change which takes place at a fixed period, but only when the trumpet of the resurrection sounds, which awakens the dead...so that the weight of the flesh is no longer heavy. On the Making of Man⁽⁷⁹⁾

This passage can be illustrated by having access to philosophical and theological terms but keeping in mind the experience of vertigo or hiliggia in the Song Commentary, Gregory of Nyssa's attempt to explain what cannot be explained is best appreciated through a cultivation of theoria. In this context Gregory's reliance upon a quotation from 1Cor 15.51-2 is significant. St. Paul is speaking about a Christian mystery...musterion...concerning life and death which can be fathomed but never grasped by the practice of contemplation as seeing, theoria. Full insight into the boundedness of our human condition vis-a-vis God is only possible when we reach "the verge of time;" this theoria occurs "in an instant of time" and "in the twinkling of an eye." Theoria has its own inner logic and makes sense only to the person disposed to receive it. One is immediately either in a state of theoria or not; one experiences suspension of faculties or not. This experience can be best described by the paradox of sleep-wakefulness which Gregory outlines through the example of inebriation:

Sleep results [akolouthos] from inebriation; it is an occasion for the digestion of food and the maintenance of health for those at the banquet table. Therefore, the bride sleeps after her banquet. This sleep is quite extraordinary and different from one's natural habit, for in natural sleep, one is not awake. Both are opposed to each other, for sleep and waking succeed and follow one another. We see in the bride a new, paradoxical mixture of opposites: "I sleep," she says, "but my heart is awake" [5.2]. What can we understand by this statement? This sleep is like death. In it each sensory function of the body is lost: there is no vision, hearing, scent, taste, nor feeling, but the body's tension is loosed. Sleep brings about forgetfulness of anxieties; it calms fears, softens rage, slackens the tension from bitter experiences, and makes one unaware of evils. Therefore, we have learned from the bride that she has risen higher and boasts, "I sleep but my heart is awake." Song Commentary, J.311-12

As Gregory recounts, "sleep and waking succeed and follow one another," a type of akolouthia, the adverbial form of which is in the first sentence. In this instance the succession of events as in sleep and wakefulness terminate or are fulfilled in the paradox of wakefulness which knows no succession (akolouthia) or passage into sleep. Observe how Gregory parallels the two states resembling death: no vision, hearing, scent, taste nor feeling. The suspension of these five faculties begets a lack of anxiety, fear, rage, bitter experiences and no comprehension of evil, all of which are the direct result of having our sensations held in abeyance. Through the practice of theoria the perception of akrotaton or the boundedness in which we live is likewise suspended and we find ourselves standing on the edge of that abyss mentioned earlier. Even more importantly, Gregory's use of akrotaton as applied to evil is suspended once it attains its "limit" and stands in opposition to that which is good:

But if its bias ["that which is always in motion"] be in the opposite direction, when its has finished the course of wickedness and reached the extreme [akrotaton metron] limit of evil, then that which is ever moving, finding no halting point for its impulse natural to itself, when it has run through the lengths [diastema] that can be run in wickedness, of necessity turns its motion to the good: for as evil does not extend to infinity, but is comprehended by necessary limits, it would appear that good once more follows in succession upon the limit of evil. On the Making of Man⁽⁸⁰⁾

Once we realize this akrotaton whether it applies to evil, our human limitations or simply the boundedness of human existence--for everything is circumscribed by diastema as the numerous passages already cited demonstrate--we have obtained, at least on the individual level, insight into that apokatastasis or the restoration of all things in Jesus Christ. Again, the words from On the Making of Man are worth quoting: "It will no more be possible for one who reaches the verge of time (kata to eschaton te kai akrotaton) to obtain by death this change...but only when the trumpet of the resurrection sounds." Keeping in mind Gregory's allusion to St. Paul's use of musterion, we perceive this restoration not in outward, visible form but in mystery or in a hidden fashion through practice of theoria.

This mystery of apokatastasis is not only perceived individually but collectively through the ecclesiastical feature of the Church as Gregory makes clear in both his Commentary on Ecclesiastes, Against Apollinarius and Commentary on the Song of Songs cited respectively:

That we were once numbered with the full group, that is, the sacred number of one hundred rational sheep [Mt 18.12]. When one sheep strayed from the heavenly way of life, evil drew our nature to an arid, uncultivated place; no longer does this number [one] pertain to the sheep which have not strayed but refers to the ninety-nine sheep. Vanity does not belong to the flock which is why "deficiency cannot be numbered." Therefore Christ comes to seek and save the last sheep. He places it upon his shoulders, thereby restoring [apokatastasis] [the sheep] lost in the vanity of insubstantial things in order make whole the number of God's creation by saving the lost along with those who have not been destroyed. (J.304)

Who does not know that divine mystery when the Founder of our salvation pursued the lost sheep as a shepherd [Lk 15.5, Mt 18.12]? We are that sheep who have strayed through sin from the flock of the one hundred rational sheep. [Christ] laid the entire sheep on his own shoulders; not just one sheep had strayed but since all have strayed, he gathers them all together. He does not carry the skin nor leave behind the innards as Apollinarius would like it. Having placed the sheep on his shoulders, it becomes one with him by partaking his divinity. [Christ] therefore placed the sheep on his shoulders because in his desire to seek and save the lost, he had found it. This sheep which had once erred did not walk on its own feet; instead, God bears it. And because what appeared as a sheep, that is man, [God's] footsteps were unknown as scripture says [Ps 76.20]. He who bears the sheep upon himself bears no trace of sin nor going astray; God's footprint is impressed upon him throughout his life's journey which appears as teachings, cures, raising the dead and other such marvels. Once the pastor took the sheep upon himself, he becomes one with it and speaks with the voice of the sheep to his flock. How does our human weakness hear the divine voice? In a human fashion, that is to say, in the manner of sheep he says to us, "My sheep hear my voice" [Jn 10.16]. And so, the pastor who has taken upon himself the sheep speaks our language and is both sheep and shepherd. He assumed the sheep in his own person, and what he had assumed is a pastor. (J.151-2).

"Tell me, you whom my soul has loved, where do you pasture, where do you cause your flocks to rest at noon, lest I become as one who is veiled by the flocks of your companions" [1.7]?" Where do you feed, good Shepherd, you who take the entire flock upon your shoulders? For there is one sheep which you have taken upon your shoulders, our human nature. Show me the verdant place. Make known to me the waters of rest [Ps 22.2]. Lead me to the nourishing grass. Call me by name [Jn 10.16] that I may hear your voice, I who am your sheep. Give me eternal life through your voice. 'Tell me, you whom my soul has loved.'" (J.61)

Concomitant with Gregory's insight into apokatastasis is a return to that state which was originally in our possession but is not completely lost. The bishop of Nyssa is keenly aware of this nostalgia yet says, as I have often pointed out, that its possession depends upon realization that we are eikons of the living God. A survey of several passages containing this notion of "return" is helpful to see how Gregory uses it in a broader context:

Well, to sketch in a definition, we will say that the Resurrection is the reconstitution [apokatastasis] of our nature in its original form [eis to archaion]. But in that form of life, of which God Himself was the Creator, it is reasonable to believe that there was neither age nor infancy nor any of the sufferings arising from our present various infirmities, nor any kind of bodily affliction whatever. On the Soul and the Resurrection⁽⁸¹⁾

The "chamber" is indeed the heart which becomes an acceptable dwelling of God when it returns to that state which it had in the beginning made by "her who conceived me."

Therefore, the lesson of these warriors about the royal bed and the children in bed have one meaning: both are free from passion, the children have not experienced it while the warriors have driven it away. The children have not known passion, while the warriors have returned to their first state by becoming children through freedom from passion. Song of Songs, J.198-9.

A person's foot can therefore touch that ridge falling off to the depths below and find neither step nor support for his hand. This example may pertain to the soul's passage through intervals [diastema] of time in its search for [God's] nature which exists before eternity and is not subject to time. His nature cannot be grasped, for it lacks space, time, measure, and anything else we can apprehend; instead, our mind is overcome with dizziness and stumbles all over the place because it cannot lay hold of transcendent reality. Being powerless, it returns to its connatural state. Our mind loves to know only about God's transcendence of which it is persuaded because his nature differs from anything we know. Ecclesiastes, J.413-4.

Since the psalmist says that mutable human beings have turned aside from the good, you must use your mutability for turning to the good and for returning to the place from the place from which you have fallen. Thus man possesses by his free choice what he desires, whether it is good or base. Inscriptions on the Psalms, J.46-7.

Death entered the world and was then cast out; by man sin entered, and by man it was ejected. The first man opened a way for death; by the second man life returned and brought about death's destruction. Christ therefore descended into death's abyss by his passion and bound the captive under death's sway in order to restore on high him who had laid in the abyss. Concerning Those Who Have Died, J.96-7.

The first passage above from On the Soul and the Resurrection defines the resurrection as apokatastasis. Here Gregory is refuting an argument against the resurrection which maintained that because we pass through various stages of human growth, the resurrection must contain them all. "Gregory meets this objection by holding that heaven is without birth, growth or age, because we will revert to our original 'divine-like' state in which such temporal stages were irrelevant"⁽⁸²⁾. In other words, Gregory is not speaking about begetting, that type of generation which knows a beginning, term and end:

If anything created goes outside itself, it will lose its own essence just like the senses which cannot transgress their natural functions. The eye does not function like the ear nor does our sense of touch speak; hearing does not taste, but each sense is limited by the power natural to it. Thus all creation cannot transgress its natural limitations by a temporal insight [diastematiken ennoian]; it always remains within its own bounds and whatever it may view, it sees itself. Should creation think it beholds anything which transcends it, this cannot be because it lacks the capacity to look beyond its own nature. Commentary on Ecclesiastes, J.412

As I had mentioned earlier, we have a natural tendency to view eternity (that is, without divinely inspired theoria or contemplation) through "temporal insights." Gregory recognizes this temptation and counters it with King David's confession of God's transcendence in his Song Commentary:

According to the true words of the Lord [Mt 5.8], the pure in heart will see God. They will receive as much as their minds can comprehend. However, the unbounded, incomprehensible divinity remains beyond all understanding. God's exceedingly great glory is endless as the prophet testifies [Ps 144.5]. God always remains the same as we contemplate Him in his loftiness. Similarly, the great David placed in his heart those wonderful ascents. He always proceeded from strength to strength [Ps 83.7] and exclaimed to God, "You are the Most High forever, Lord" [Ps 91.8]. To me this signifies that in all the endless ages of eternity the person running to you becomes greater and more highly exalted, always growing in proportion to his ascent through the good. You are the Most High forever, never appearing smaller to those who approach you; you are always higher and loftier than the capacity of those who are rising. J.246-7

To better grasp the insights contained in these two excerpts, consider the following abstract:

Commentary on Ecclesiastes

-senses cannot transgress their natural functions

-the eye does not function like the ear, etc.

-creation cannot transgress its natural limitations

-it always remains within its own bounds

-it lacks the capacity to look beyond its own nature

Commentary on the Song of Songs

-the pure in heart will see God

-the unbounded, incomprehensible divinity remains beyond all understanding

-God's glory is endless

-He always remains the same

-the person running to God always grows in proportion to his ascent through the good

-God never appears smaller to those who approach him

-He is loftier than the capacity of those rising

Both groups accentuate the boundedness of creation with respect to God's unbounded nature; note that while physical seeing is circumscribed by the limits of diastema, "the pure in heart will see God." In other words, this is the beholding which belongs to theoria⁽⁸³⁾. Since Gregory of Nyssa has transposed "seeing" onto a level not yet familiar to us, he seeks to bridge the gap through the means of desire, epithumia, discussed in Chapter Two, by which we migrate towards God. Observe how On the Soul and the Resurrection handles the yearning associated with desire and its suspension or transformation of our physical and mental faculties:

Why, when every unreasoning instinct is quenched within us after our purgation, this principle of desire [epithumetikon] will not exist any more than the other principles; and this being removed, it looks as if the striving after the better way would also cease, no other emotion remaining in the soul that can stir us up to the appetence of Good. To that objection, she replied, we answer this. The speculative and critical faculty is the property of the soul's godlike part [to theoretikon kai diapritikon idion esti tou theoidous tes psuches]; for it is by these that we grasp the Deity also. If, then, hereafter, our soul becomes free from any emotional connection with the brute creation, there will be nothing to impede its contemplation [theoria] of the Beautiful; for this last is essentially capable of attracting in a certain way every being that looks towards it. If, then, the soul is purified of every vice, it will most certainly be in the sphere of Beauty.

Whenever the soul, then, having divested itself of the multifarious emotions incident to its nature, gets its Divine form [theoeides] and, mounting above Desire [epithumia], enters within that towards which it was once incited by that Desire [pros ho hupo tes epithumias teos hupereto], it offers no harbour within itself either for hope or for memory. It holds the object of the one; the other is extruded from the consciousness [dianoia] by the occupation in enjoying all that is good: and thus the soul copies [mimeitai] the life that is above, and is conformed to the peculiar features of the Divine nature; none of its habits are left to it except that of love, which clings by natural affinity to the Beautiful. For this is what love [agape] is; the inherent affection [schesis] towards a chosen object [pros to katathumion].⁽⁸⁴⁾

These dense paragraphs contain two themes which have been running throughout this essay: the interplay between time and eternity, movement and rest. In the constant interaction between the various features of two opposite yet complementary realities, desire (epithumia, the human response to this action) never achieves final satisfaction. Nevertheless, the extension⁽⁸⁵⁾ produced by desire, as Gregory so often maintains, is the very function of perfection. On one hand our rootedness within diastema precludes grasping God in his eternity, that is, in an objective fashion; on the other hand, by reason of being made in his image and likeness we are present to God minus the medium of diastema and therefore have a "subjective" realization of his presence. This paradox between subjective desire (space-time) and objective enjoyment (eternity) can be misunderstood if we are content to remain solely on the physical plane with its equally physical descriptions and do not consider how these words represent eternity where we are "free from any emotional connection with the brute creation." One way of making better sense of this interplay between objective (within diastema) and subjective (outside diastema or adiastamatos by reason of our eikon-nature) realities implicit in the second paragraph above is by becoming aware of its sequence or progression (akolouthia) which follows our desire "towards a chosen object:"

divestiture of emotions --> divine form --> mounts above desire --> enters the object of desire --> no hope nor memory --> copies life above --> has habits of love --> clings to the beautiful

This framework by which Gregory depicts the akolouthia of desire, epithumia, can be further enhanced by a passage from his Song Commentary where our aspiration with its subjective and objective features interact:

Because the [subjective] desire for her beloved is frustrated, her yearning for his beauty cannot be fulfilled [objectively]. But the veil of despair is removed when the bride learns that the true satisfaction of her [subjective] desire consists in always progressing in her [objective] search and ascent: when her [subjective] desire is fulfilled, it gives birth to a further [objective] desire for the transcendent. Thus the veil of her despair is removed, and the bride will always see more of her beloved's incomprehensible beauty throughout all eternity. Song Commentary, J.369-70

This outline from On the Soul and the Resurrection in conjunction with the Song passage gives a fitting summary of Gregory's teaching on spiritual advancement which embodies the three stages of Proverbs, Ecclesiastes and the Song of Songs mentioned in Chapter Three and which finds completion in the Song Commentary:

The instruction in Proverbs provides words fit for the person who is still young, adapting its words of admonition to that period of life...Then Solomon adds the philosophy contained in Ecclesiastes, for the person who has been sufficiently introduced by proverbial training desires virtue. After having reproached in that book men's attitudes towards external appearances, and after having said that everything unstable is vain and passing, Solomon elevates above everything grasped by sense the loving movement [ten epithumetiken tes psuches kinesin] of our souls towards invisible beauty. Having thus cleansed the heart with respect to external matters, Solomon then initiates the soul into the divine sanctuary by means of the Song of Songs. J.18 & 22

Here we have an akolouthia from a lower to a higher stage in the spiritual life, or in Gregory's words when commenting upon the sequence of psalms, "The text considers the good which enables us to obtain God's blessedness with respect to a certain order (taxis kai akolouthia); the soul is always committed to a higher state until it attains the summit of goodness"⁽⁸⁶⁾. In the Song passage Gregory articulates a movement in terms of instruction for the young (Proverbs), philosophy for those desiring virtue (Ecclesiastes) and the divine sanctuary for cleansed hearts (Song of Songs). One can appreciate the significance of the second step where Ecclesiastes has two functions, that of "reproaching men's attitudes towards external appearances" and admonishing that "everything unstable is vain and passing." Gregory thus sees a unity between that which is subjective ("attitudes") and objective ("everything unstable") as discussed above.

To conclude this chapter, I refer to Chapter One and the bodily ascension of Elijah into which heaven prefigures Christ's resurrection and is the chief reason why Gregory affiliates him with the concept of apokatastasis. In the person of Elijah both the visible and invisible--subjective and objective spheres--are brought together to form a single unity which is characteristic of the angelic realm:

Because he [Christ] is present wherever he happens to be and contains everything in himself, he makes it [human nature] deserving by receiving it (For not only was he a man among men but had united his own nature with that of the angels). Ascension, J.326.

After the resurrection we have been promised a life similar to the angels, and he who has promised it does not lie. It follows, therefore, that life in this world should be a preparation for the one we hope for later. Though living in the flesh and passing through the field of this world, we should not live according to the flesh nor be conformed to this world; rather, we ought to meditate on the life to come while we are still in this present one. Song Commentary, J.134.

Note that the "preparation for the one (life) we hope for later" embodies an incomplete aspiration while we "pass through the field of this world" and is a suitable description for our current existence within diastema which is bound by the two dimensions of past (memory) and future (hope). This diastematic existence stands in contrast to the words from On the Soul and the Resurrection above, "it (desire) offers no harbour within itself either for hope or for memory." In other words, desire or epithumia is transformed into that special love taken up and sanctified by Jesus Christ, agape.

The concept of apokatastasis is essential for a correct understanding of how Gregory of Nyssa perceives human nature not simply as a receptacle for receiving the divinity of Jesus Christ but of participating in his divine nature. I have already discussed this theme in Chapter One as outlined in 1Cor 15.20-1: "But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits (aparche) of those who have fallen asleep. For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead." In Chapter One we had seen the parallel between two phrases, "by a man (Adam) came death" and "by a man (Christ) has come the resurrection." For Gregory these phrases which contain the sacrificial theme of "first fruits" apply to that humanity we all share as individual persons as noted by the words, "from the entirety of human nature (ek pases tes anthropines phuseos):"

Here then is the object of our treatise...What therefore does Paul teach us? It consists in saying that all evil will come to nought and will be completely destroyed. The divine, pure goodness will contain in itself every nature endowed with reason; nothing made by God is excluded from his kingdom once everything mixed with some elements of base material has been consumed by refinement in fire. Such things had their origin in God; what was made in the beginning did not receive evil. Paul says this is so. He said that the pure and undefiled

divinity of the Only-Begotten [Son] assumed man's mortal and perishable nature. However, from the entirety of human nature to which the divinity is mixed, the man constituted according to Christ is a kind of first fruits of the common dough [oion aparche tis tou koinou phuramatos]. It is through this man that all mankind is joined to the divinity. In Illud, PG#44.1313A-B.

Gregory's insight of Christ permeating "the common dough" (phurama) as leaven is further developed in the following three passages, the first two being from The Great Catechism and the third from Against Apollinarius:

For as the principle [arche] of death took its rise in one person and passed on in succession through the whole of human kind, in a like manner the principle [arche] of the Resurrection-life extends from one person to the whole of humanity. For He Who reunited to His own proper body the soul that had been assumed by Himself, by virtue of that power which had mingled with both of these component elements at their first framing, then, upon a more general scale [genikotero tini tropo] as it were, conjoined the intellectual to the sentient nature, the new principle freely progressing to the extremities by natural consequence [akolouthon]. For when, in that concrete humanity which He had taken to Himself, the soul after the dissolution returned to the body, then this uniting of the several portions passes, as by a new principle, in equal force upon the whole human race⁽⁸⁷⁾.

Since, then, there was needed a lifting up from death for the whole of our nature, He stretches forth a hand as it were to prostrate man, and stooping down to our dead corpse he came so far within the grasp of death as to touch a state of deadness, and then in His own body to bestow on our nature the principle of the resurrection, raising as He did by His power along with Himself the whole man. For since from no other source than from the concrete lump [phurama] of our nature had come that flesh, which was the receptacle of the Godhead and in the resurrection was raised up together with that Godhead, therefore just in the same way as, in the instance of this body of ours, the operation of one of the organs of sense is felt at once by the whole system, as one with that member, so also the resurrection principle of this Member, as though the whole of mankind was a single living being, passes through the entire race, being imparted from the Member to the whole by virtue of that continuity and oneness of the nature⁽⁸⁸⁾.

How is the Creator of the ages begotten and anointed in time? The divinity is not subject to death but is risen; not subject to death because what is composite is not dissolved; risen because he who exists allows himself to undergo dissolution in accord with the law of human nature. And so, the property of each nature remains, and Christ cures the nature of the body through the body and the nature of the soul through the soul. Again, he united in himself that which has been separated and raises it up in his exalted state. Just as a reed is divided into two and these ends are then united, the entire cut part of the reed is by necessity brought together to form a whole because the union of one extremity joined with another forms a whole. In a similar way with respect to [Christ], the soul is united to the body through the resurrection (for nothing bodily can hinder the mystery of [God's] dispensation in the resurrection). Inasmuch as human nature is one, it is united through death to the soul and body by our hope in the resurrection since what has been sundered is brought to unity. Paul expresses the same sentiment: "Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep" [1Cor 15.20], and "just as all have died in Adam, so all are restored to life in Christ" [1Cor 15.22]. The example of a reed shows that sin has severed our human nature whose origin lies in Adam and that death has separated our soul from the body. Human nature revitalizes itself from the part which is according to Christ while the severed part is restored in the resurrection of a man according to Christ. Because we have died with him who died for us, I do not say that death is common and necessary for our human nature, for this would involve a lack of free will; since we must freely undergo death with him who has died, we should regard death as a free act because our imitation of this free choice is done without coercion. Since everyone undergoes death whether they will it or not, no one has ever said that a person assumes death freely. However, in a different manner we freely die with him who has died, "having been buried with him through baptism into death" [Rom 6.4]. By imitating his death we might also imitate his resurrection. J.225-7

Although the intriguing phrase "on a more general scale" (genikotero tini tropo) from the first passage above is a bit unclear⁽⁸⁹⁾, it shows a possible influence upon Gregory by the Platonic teaching on Ideas, of the individual (human person) being assimilated by the whole (God). Without a doubt Plato influenced the bishop of Nyssa, a theme discussed in numerous monographs, but I wish to focus upon Gregory's interpretation of 1Cor 15.22 cited in the Apollinarius text just above and treated earlier in this manuscript: "just as all have died in Adam, so all are restored to life in Christ." Note the plurality: (all) have died in one person (Adam) and one person (Christ) vivifies a plurality (the restored). While this interplay between one and the many follows traditional Platonic lines, here it is explicitly Christian as begun by Paul and later amplified by Gregory: Christ, who is both God and a person, effects the redemption of humanity by proceeding outward, as it were, from his divinity to the totality of the human race. This expansion, a type of epektasis, rectifies the process initiated by Adam whose individual act of disobedience expanded outward to humanity and is marked (to borrow a scientific term) by entropy or the gradual breakdown of the moral order.

Note Gregory's words in the first passage cited above from his Great Catechism: "(Christ) conjoined the intellectual (noeran) to the sentient (aisthete) nature, the new principle (arche) freely progressing to the extremities by natural consequence (akolouthon)." Here Gregory makes a distinction between our two natures which runs the risk of being interpreted as a division, but in actuality they are complementary. As to be expected, his focus is upon the person of Jesus Christ who transcends both the intellectual and sentient natures. For a description of this division, refer to the following passage:

Now the ultimate division of all being is into the Intelligible [to noeton] and the Sensible [to aistheton]. The Sensible world is called by the Apostle broadly "that which is seen" [Col 1.16]...The common term, again, for all the intellectual world, is with the Apostle "that which is not seen [Col 1.16]:" by withdrawing all idea of comprehension by the sense he leads the mind on to the immaterial and intellectual. Reason again divides this "which is not seen" into the uncreate and the created, inferentially comprehending it: the uncreate being that which effects the Creation, the created that which owes its origin and its force to the uncreate. In the Sensible world, then, is found everything that we comprehend by our organs of bodily sense, and in which the differences of qualities involve the idea of more and less, such differences consisting in quantity, quality, and the other properties.

But in the Intelligible world,--that part of it, I mean, which is created,--the idea of such differences as are perceived in the Sensible cannot find a place: another method, then, is devised for discovering the degrees of greater and less. The fountain, the origin, the supply of every good is regarded as being in the world that is uncreate, and the whole creation inclines to that, and touches and shares the Highest Existence only by virtue of its part in the First Good: therefore it follows from this participation in the highest blessings varying in degree according to the amount of freedom in the will that each possesses, that the greater and less in this creation is disclosed according to the proportion of this tendency in each.⁽⁹⁰⁾

For clarity I have outlined the above two paragraphs and added three passages from Gregory's works which clarify his distinction between to noeton and to aistheton:

uncreate: effects creation

Intelligible (to noeton): not seen --> |

created

Sensible (to aistheton): bodily sense: qualities of more and less

Since everything comes from God, what is seen in creation would be futile and no one, I believe, would assail our response when considering the truth of the matter. It is agreed that the universe has one cause and is not responsible for bringing itself into existence. But the universe as a whole is always uncreated, eternal, self-contained, transcends every concept of measurement [diastematikou noematos], remains constant, is infinite and transcends all bounds. Its nature, time, space and everything in it lies beyond our grasp even if we could grasp anything which existed before it. Divinely inspired teaching also includes human nature. God brings everything into existence; man's created nature is composed of various elements; it is also carefully composed from what is both divine and intelligible. God intended this to be so for man when he endowed him with a living likeness of himself. In this instance I think it is better to quote Scripture: "And God made man in his image; in the image of God he created him" [Gen 1.27]. The source of this living creation which existed before us has a two-fold division which belongs to every creature and, as the Apostle says [Col 1.16], is visible and invisible (The invisible signifies what is intelligible [to noeton] and incorporeal while the visible belongs to the senses [to aistheton] and the body).

Therefore the two-fold nature of every creature (I mean the sensible and rational) including the angelic, incorporeal nature which is invisible, belongs to the transcendent, celestial realm where it dwells in harmony (Since our intellectual nature is subtle, pure, light, easily moved, the heavenly body is subtle, weightless and always in motion). On the other hand, what belongs to the earth lies is completely opposite, the senses, and does not conform to what the mind comprehends (For how can what which lacks mass and is light have compatibility with what is heavy and dense?). Certainly the earth has nothing in common with what is intellectual and incorporeal. Thus [divine] foresight has in mind something better for human existence by reason of the soul's intellectual and divine union with earthly life, and the soul has an connaturality with fleshly existence due to its affinity with what is heavy and corporeal. The goal of these created qualities is to glorify [God's] transcendent power through our intellectual nature as well as our heavenly and earthy qualities (By this I mean the person who turns his regard to God), and to achieve unity with a single purpose in mind.

Concerning Infants Who Have Died Prematurely, J.77-9

Let us therefore not be depressed, my brethren, if we are deprived of earthly things. For if a man is released from these, he lives in the palaces of Heaven. The rational nature has been allotted two elements [stoicheia] of the created universe--earth and Heaven--for its life. The place of those who have received life in the flesh is the earth, whereas Heaven is the abode of the immaterial beings. If we are not chased away from the earth, we surely remain on earth. But when we depart from here, we shall be translated [metoikisthesometha] to Heaven. The Beatitudes⁽⁹¹⁾

The whole rational creation [logike ktisis] is divided into the incorporeal and the corporeal natures. The incorporeal species is the angelic creature, and the other one is we men. The spiritual creature, inasmuch as it is separated from the body that weighs down--I mean the earthly body that is solid and heavy--sojourns in the upper region. It dwells in the light and ethereal places and is of a nimble and agile nature. But the other nature has necessarily been allotted to the earthly life because of the kinship of our body, which is, as it were, a sediment of mud, with what is earthly. Now I do not know what was the purpose of the Divine Will in so ordering it. Perhaps it was to bring the whole creation into relationship with itself, so that neither the lower portion should be without part in the heavenly heights, nor heaven wholly without a share in the things pertaining to earth. Thus the creation of man would effect in each of the elements [stoicheia] a participation [metousia] in the things belonging to the other; for the spiritual [noerou] nature of the soul, which seems to be decidedly akin to the heavenly powers, dwells in earthly bodies, and in the restoration [apokatastasis] of all, this earthly flesh will be translated [summetoikizomenes] into the heavenly places together with the soul. The Lord's Prayer⁽⁹²⁾

In the Beatitudes passage Jean Danielou notes that Gregory of Nyssa employs the word stoicheia "pour designer non l'un des quatre elements qui constituent le cosmos, mais le cosmos d'un cote et l'hypercosmos de l'autre"⁽⁹³⁾. This view of stoicheia as part "of the created universe," including earth and heaven, endows them with participation in both realities which initially may appear contradictory. In The Lord's Prayer passage just above Gregory asks how these two contradictory natures can coexist within us at the same time. He answers his question by commenting, "neither the lower portion (what is of the earth) should be without part in the heavenly heights, nor heaven wholly without a share in the things pertaining to earth." Hence, the beauty of man's creation which effects a metousia or participation where both the stoicheia of heaven and earth work hand in hand to form a unity. Only with this realization can Gregory develop a true apokatastasis or restoration of all things which consists in the totality of the stoicheia regardless of their origin. It is important for students of Gregory's thought to track down the sources which had come to influence his teaching here, and a number of monographs have done just that. It is not my express intent to outline these important studies but to trace Gregory's spirit of theoria, of contemplation, which was his principle "tool" or method and which is also ours by reason of being made in God's image and likeness. As noted earlier, the chief mark of theoria is suspension of our physical and mental faculties which enables them to return immediately--without mediation--to their source. Such suspension does not imply extinction⁽⁹⁴⁾; instead it readies us, in Gregory's words, for "translation into the heavenly places" (Lord's Prayer).

This interaction between the stoicheia of heaven and earth presents a dynamic picture of how Gregory perceives human nature in light of Christ's incarnation. Realization of this to the best of our ability through the practice of theoria is a far cry from the usual static image we have of such discipline. In accordance with the Church, Gregory of Nyssa teaches that Christ's incarnation penetrates "the whole of mankind" and is reminiscent of his remarks concerning the human race in its entirety as being made in God's image or eikon as described in his On the Making of Man:

Now just as any particular man is limited by his bodily dimensions, and the peculiar size which is conjoined with the superficies of his body is the measure of his separate existence, so I think that the entire plenitude [pleroma] of humanity was included by the God of all, by His power of foreknowledge, as it were in one body, and that this is what the text teaches us which says "God created man, in the image [eikon] of God He created him." For the image is not in part of our nature, nor is the grace in any one of the things found in that nature, but this power extends equally to all the race: and a sign of this is that mind [nous] is implanted, alike in all. For all have the power of understanding and deliberating, and of all else whereby the Divine nature finds its image in that which was made according to it: the man that was manifested at the first creation of the world, and he that shall be after the consummation [sunteleia] of all, are alike: they equally bear in themselves the Divine image. For this reason the whole race was spoken of as one man, namely, that to God's power nothing is either past or future, but even that which we expect is comprehended, equally with what is at present existing, by the all-sustaining energy. Our whole nature, then, extending from the first to the last [apo ton proton mechri ton eschaton diekousa], is, so to say, one image of Him Who is; but the distinction of kind in male and female was added to His work last⁽⁹⁵⁾.

Here Gregory clearly outlines the unity of humankind from Adam to the present and extending into the indefinite future. Since we exist within this timeline or diastema, the exercise of theoria enables us through that special type of physical and mental suspension to dispose ourselves for participation in divine reality which is both transcendent and immanent to diastematic existence. Gregory even adds that such a suspension surpasses the distinction between male and female where the true meaning of what he means by "man" is realized. Here the ambiguity of religious language used both by Christ's parables and later patristic commentaries on them assume a whole new meaning. Note the connection between pleroma and phurama in On the Making of Man and The Great Catechism cited on pages 87⁽⁹⁶⁾ and 99 respectively. In the first passage Gregory speaks of things "now moving on back to the opposite end," that is, of movement paradoxically perceived in terms of achieving the same goal which it had at the outset. At this point I recall the following outline to 1Cor 15.21-3 as found on page 26 because it helps to clarify this paradoxical movement which is a dialectic between pleroma (fullness) and phurama ("lump"...of our nature), both terms dealing with the notion of an aggregate or sum of parts:

We may alter this outline to:

Adam is representative of human nature in its entirety; before God this humanity forms a unity without distinction between members, a statement which can easily be misunderstood because it appears to neglect our individuality and hence our personal uniqueness. While such concerns are legitimate, they pale when confronted with the former intuition which comes to birth after we have emerged from that theoria when our faculties had been suspended. Such abeyance signals another more important one or at least a bringing into question those former beliefs centered upon awareness of our individuality we were accustomed to hold in such esteem. The suspension of our faculties allows us to gain insight into general patterns and schemes which hitherto had remained obscured; being more inclusive, they have the advantage of lifting us from an undue self-consciousness. On occasion discussion about religion revolves around service to one's neighbor, thereby stressing the moral aspect of human behavior while neglecting to offer the means to attain the insights lying behind such pronouncements. Perhaps this divorce between officially sounding doctrine and ignorance with regard to its attainment accounts for a paradox common nowadays: an alienation with regard to traditional religious practices on one hand and on the other, a keen interest in mysticism usually entwined with influence from modern physics, all of which has its antecedents in Stoicism. Gregory was confronted with a similar situation falling under the umbrella of gnosticism which, in general, sought to know God through a process of philosophical speculation where the distinction between genuine transcendence and immanence was often blurred. Yet there are frequent benefits⁽⁹⁷⁾ to the employment of philosophical though such as the Stoic teaching on the perennial question of unity and plurality, references to such concepts as refinement, fire and purity. Some of these are obvious in two excerpts from Gregory's treatise on 1Cor 15.28:

Here then is the object of our treatise. I will first set forth, however, my own understanding of the text, and will add the Apostle Paul's words as applied to my understanding. What, then, does Paul teach us? It consists in saying that evil will come to nought and will be completely destroyed. The divine, pure goodness will contain in itself every nature endowed with reason; nothing made by God is excluded from his kingdom once everything mixed with some elements of base material has been consumed by refinement in fire. Such things had their origin in God; what was made in the beginning did not receive evil. Paul says this is so. He said that the pure and undefiled divinity of the Only-Begotten [Son] assumed man's mortal and perishable nature. However, from the entirety of human nature to which the divinity is mixed, the man constituted according to Christ is a kind of first fruits of the common dough [oion aparche tis tou koinou phuramatos]. It is through this [divinized] man that all mankind is joined to the divinity. [PG 44.1313]

We therefore learn by the examples mentioned above that the person in God has everything which God himself has. To have God means nothing else than to be united with him. Unity then means to be one body with him as Paul states, for all who are joined to the one body of Christ by participation are one body with him. When the good pervades everything, then the entirety of Christ's body will be subjected to God's vivifying power. Thus, the subjection of this body will be said to be the subjection of Church. Regarding this point, Paul says to the Colossians, "Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I complete what is lacking in Christ's afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the Church of which 1 became a minister according to his dispensation" [Col 1.24]. To the Church at Corinth Paul says, "You are the body of Christ and his members" [1 Cor 12.27]. To the Ephesians Paul more clearly puts this teaching when saying, "Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by every joint with which it is supplied, when each part is working properly, makes bodily growth and builds itself up in love" [Eph 4.15-16]. (1317)

On page 92 I spoke of Gregory's use of the term pleroma, "the full complement of human nature," in the context of a passage from On the Making of Man which I wish to consider in conjunction with the two excerpts from the treatise on First Corinthians. In the former passage we have "the change of things that are now moving on back" in contrast to the Corinthians treatise with emphasis upon a future completion. Note how Gregory of Nyssa takes the Stoic insight into the inter-connectedness (sumpnoia)⁽⁹⁸⁾ of all physical elements and shifts it to his teaching on the unity of all members of Christ's Church, a reality which transcends physical creation. Several passages are helpful to demonstrate the basis of this shift:

The words which now follow conduct the soul to a loftier philosophy about creation. It shows that the universe contains everything, and its harmony does not admit the dissolution of created beings; instead, we have concord [sumpnoia] between them all. Neither is the universe severed from any of its parts, but all things remain in their essence by the power of him who truly exists. Indeed the Being [God] is true existence or absolute goodness, and any name we ascribe to him points to his unutterable reality. (Ecclesiastes, J.406)

If he was [divine] from the beginning, what did his humiliation consist of? Now the Most High humbled himself by a union with our humble nature. When he united himself to the form of a slave and become one with it, he shared the sufferings proper to this condition. Our bodily members are connected [sumphuias] to each other as though by nails; as a result, the body suffers as a whole when it is affected. Thus the unity of our human nature appropriates passions as our own. As Isaiah says, "He bore our infirmities and carried our sorrows" [Is 53.4] and sustained abuse that he may heal us by his affliction. The divinity did not suffer; rather, the man united to the divinity endured these blows. As a result, evil lost its grip over us. Since death entered the world through man's disobedience, the obedience of the second man had driven it out [Rom 5.19]. Therefore [Christ] was obedient unto death which healed the disobedience resulting from our sins, for he destroyed death, the result of our disobedience, by his resurrection from the dead. Against Apollinarius, J.160-1

Human nature united with the Lord becomes one with the divinity whose loftiness exalts it from its humble state. Christ the Lord experienced the humble form of a slave and was exulted. Since Christ was called a man with respect to his humanity, Gabriel announced his humanity to the Virgin [Lk 1.31]. Even though the divine nature cannot be named, one person exists from a union of two natures: God receives a name from his humanity. "The name of Jesus every knee shall bend" [Phil 2.10]. The divinity which is nameless belongs to the man who is above every name in order that just as the lofty [divine nature] is present within humility, so does humility assume lofty characteristics. For just as the divinity is named through humanity, so he who transcends every name is united to the divinity by reason of his humble condition. Just as the lowly status of a slave's form is united to God, so adoration of the divinity attributed to God strives for union with the divinity. Thus "at the name of Jesus Christ every knee shall bend in the heaven, on the earth and under the earth, and every tongue shall confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. Amen" [Phil 2.10]. Against Apollinarius, J.161-2

He who teaches Christ as the head of the Church [Eph 5.23] holds this observation as most important: the entire head has the same nature and substance as the body under subjection, and the individual members as a whole share a single unity effecting cooperation among the limbs in every activity. If anything is external to the body, it does not belong to the head. Therefore the head has the same nature as each member in order that they may conform to it. But we are the limbs which contribute to Christ's body. On Perfection, J.197-8

The sumpnoia mentioned in the first Apollinarius excerpt enables us to have a foretaste of that apokatastasis or restitution of all things in Christ as visible both within creation, human society and seminally in the Church. But because sumpnoia is inserted within our diastematic existence and provides structure, it comprises a dialectic between stasis (rest) and kenosis (movement) or fulfillment and expectation. To borrow words from On the Soul and the Resurrection on page 94, "it (the soul) offers no harbour within itself either for hope (the future or kenosis) or for memory (the past or stasis⁽⁹⁹⁾). Gregory of Nyssa's use of sumpnoia is interesting in that he bases it upon music, another Stoic usage, whose harmony forms the first true archetype of the universe; it is also applied to the world where individual persons form microcosms or imitators of the larger world. However, Gregory limits the idea of man as microcosm strictly to the human body (J.30 & J.32) in order to proclaim man in his totality; he is not in imitation of the world after the Stoic affiliation with nature but of God. This parallel is significant because it shows that the natural dwelling of the microcosm is the world and human beings into which the Holy Spirit is poured. Gregory is opposed to any doctrine which fuses the nature of God with that of man, preferring to keep human nature dynamic and open. As von Balthasar states, the nature of a created spirit consists in becoming or movement not by displacement but by change, for the change which defines human nature is nothing other than assimilation to God⁽¹⁰⁰⁾: "Therefore the definition (horos) of human blessedness is likeness (homoiosis) to God" (J.26). Here Gregory stresses likeness as opposed to image (eikon) which is not a distinction between two different realities but between two aspects of the same reality. Roger Leys offers the following remarks on this distinction: "La premiere, l'eikon, presente plutot l'aspect statique, originel out terminal, de la ressemblance ave Dieu. La seconde, l'homoiosis...est une notion dynamique impliquant un devenir. L'homoiosis est la conquete ou la realisation progressive de l'eikon⁽¹⁰¹⁾." A passage dealing with this progressive nature of homoiosis is found in Gregory's Commentary on the Inscriptions of the Psalms:

Anything undertaken with a purpose has a certain natural, necessary order [taxis tis epesti phusike te kai anagkaia] which brings about the end [akolouthia] one strives after. Similarly, a sculptor's goal is to make stone conform to some kind of image [homoiosis]. He does not immediately begin from a completed form, but his art of fashioning stone must proceed with order and care, otherwise he could accomplish nothing. The grosser parts of useless stone must first be stripped away to bring out the intended form, and so the sculptor laboriously prunes away those parts of stone. Once they are removed, the remaining stone begins to take on the form of a living subject on which the artisan has exerted his talent. The sculptor next removes the rough parts of the stone with more subtle, precise instruments and then imposes upon the stone the likeness [homoiosis] of the model's form. He polishes and smooths the stone's surface, actions which will enhance his work. Similarly, when earthly inclinations have turned our human nature to stone, God's chiseling us to his divine likeness [homoiosis] proceeds according to a certain method and order to complete his goal.

I say that we must first separate ourselves from connatural evils to which we were habitually attached. Then [the divine sculptor] cuts away superficial material and begins to form his subject matter to the likeness [homoiosis] of his final goal by removing anything which hinders the representation. Thus by more subtle teachings of his intentions [tia tes leptoteras ton noematon] the divine sculptor scrapes and polishes our minds [dianoia] and forms Christ in us according to the pattern of virtue. We had Christ's image [eikon] from the very beginning and are now restored [palin ginometha] to this state. J.115-6

This vivid image of a sculptor fashioning a statue where the artisan's intention or skopos is to create an homoiosis, a likeness, of the model (Christ) captured Roger Ley's attention who notes eleven other examples related to homoiosis⁽¹⁰²⁾. He observes that homoiosis is an "effort d'assimilation, une minesis selon les exigences de l'eikon⁽¹⁰³⁾:

1) For truly herein consists the real assimilation [homoiosis] to the Divine; viz. in making our own life in some degree a copy of the Supreme Being. On the Soul and the Resurrection⁽¹⁰⁴⁾

2) To become like [homoiothenia] God means to become just, holy, and good and suchlike things. On the Lord's Prayer⁽¹⁰⁵⁾

3) ...and these would be godlike thoughts [theoeideis logismoi], which are fashioned according to the Divine image [eikon], by faith in Him Who had been created and begotten, and set up in us. Against Eunomius⁽¹⁰⁶⁾

4) And therefore we ought narrowly to scrutinize our Father's characteristics, that by fashioning and framing ourselves to the likeness [homoiosis] of our Father, we may appear true children of Him Who calls us to the adoption according to grace. On the Baptism of Christ⁽¹⁰⁷⁾

5) Rather, let each person go out of himself and out of the material world. Let him ascend into paradise through detachment, having become like [homoiotheis] God through purity. Commentary on the Song of Songs, J.25

6) You alone are made in the likeness [homoiosis] of that nature which surpasses all understanding, the image of incorruptible beauty, the impression of true divinity, receptacle of blessed life, seal of true light. Commentary on the Song of Songs, J.68

7) The end of a virtuous life is likeness [homoiosis] to God. Because of this, purity of soul and freedom from the disturbance of passion is exercised by attention to the virtues so that a certain form of the transcendent nature might become present in them due to their more refined way of life. Commentary on the Song of Songs, J.271

8) When a person sees a picture upon a board which accurately conforms to its model, he exclaims that one form exists in both: the model's beauty is in the likeness [eikon is the word used here] and the archetype is clearly seen by the imitation. Commentary on the Song of Songs, J.439

9) For He who made man for the participation of His own peculiar good, and incorporated in him the instincts for all that was excellent, in order that his desire might be carried forward by a corresponding movement in each case to its like [homoiosis], would never have deprived him of that most excellent and precious of all goods; I mean the gift implied in being his own master, and having a free will. The Great Catechism⁽¹⁰⁸⁾

10) But since, by the wiles of him that sowed in us the tares of disobedience, our nature no longer preserved in itself the impress of the Father's image, but was transformed into the foul likeness [homoiosis] of sin, for this cause it was engrafted by virtue of similarity of will into the evil family of the father of sin. Against Eunomius⁽¹⁰⁹⁾

11) "Sinners have gone astray from the womb, and have gone astray from the belly" [Ps 57]. This indeed means a miscarriage caused by passion which resembles [homoiosis] a serpent and asp. Commentary on the Inscriptions of the Psalms, J.164. Included under this passage Leys makes the following reference: Thus when the evil poison worked its effect against man's life, then man, that noble thing and name, the image of God's nature, was made, as the prophet says, "like unto vanity" [Ps 144.4, lxx]. The image, therefore, properly belongs to the better part of our attributes; but all in our life that is painful and miserable is far removed from the likeness [homoiosis] to the Divine. On the Making of Man⁽¹¹⁰⁾

Keeping In mind the eighth excerpt above (a picture inscribed upon a board), our task as being made in God's image and likeness is that of imitating the archetype in which are continuously being fashioned, in other words, to effect that particular sumpnoia or "con-spiration" inasmuch as it lies within our power. What do I mean by this? As I have maintained throughout this essay, one of the most effective means at our disposal is the practice of theoria, the fruit of which is the suspension of our physical and intellectual faculties. Although such abeyance is no guarantee that we have become united with God, it is nevertheless a sign of the first and most important step. The second and equally crucial step is to observe how we comport ourselves after emerging from theoria, that is, whether or not we endeavor to live virtuously in a spirit of humility. One danger intrinsic to this suspension is that we have become fragile and susceptible to thoughts and images; although they may not be virtuous, they are at least distracting. Part of this vulnerability lies in the fact that, contrary to any discipline at mental concentration, we are defenseless to the spontaneous emergence of thoughts and images over which we have little or no control. Yet a means of averting being swept away by distractions is through frequent returns to theoria because these gestures breathe-together...sum + pneo...for the purpose of gradually freeing us from the grip of the material world which is marked by diastema. At this point it should be noted that thoughts about theoria, whether helpful or harmful means of orientation, should be perceived in equal fashion as thoughts and nothing more.

Gregory of Nyssa knows that sumpnoia is a Stoic term pertaining to the harmony of the traditional four elements, earth, air, fire and water. This physical image can be transferred easily to a Christian one which redefines the four elements in their constant stasis-kinesis⁽¹¹¹⁾. Gregory also develops a notion of sumpnoia with musical connotations as in the following excerpts; all are taken from the same section of his Commentary on the Inscriptions of the Psalms:

I have heard that certain wise persons who have carefully examined our human nature say that man is a microcosm containing everything in the world at large. The order of the universe resembles a musical harmony of varied shapes and colors with a certain order and rhythm which is correct, proper and never dissonant, even if different parts differ greatly. J.30-1

Everything in the heavens is in constant motion, turns around a fixed point, or has a reverse motion influenced by the planets. These bodies always have a connection based on identical elements; neither is anything new substituted for something else, but each body always remains the same and on its proper course. Hence, stability agrees with movement in an established order which is always a well-arranged musical harmony effecting a unified, ineffable hymn of God's power embracing the universe. J.31

The first true archetype is music, for harmony and concord adapts all things with respect to each other through an order, arrangement and system. The Maker of the universe works skillfully through his ineffable word of wisdom by those things which were always rooted in wisdom. If the entire world order is a kind of musical harmony whose artisan and creator is God, as the Apostle says [Heb 11.10], then man is a microcosm, an imitator of him who made the world. The divine plan for the world at large sees this image in what is small, for the part is indeed the same as the whole. Similarly, a piece of small, transparent stone reflects like a mirror the entire sun in the same way a small object reflects God's light. Thus I say that in the microcosm, man's nature, all the music of the universe is analogously seen in the whole through the particular inasmuch as the whole is contained by the particular. The structure of our body's organs follows this example, for nature has skillfully constructed it to produce music. Observe the tube-like structure of the windpipe and the harp of the palate where the tongue and mouth resemble a lyre with chord and plectrum. J.32-3

The last paragraph sums up Gregory's thought with respect to the relationship between a human being and the world where he uses two complementary images, acoustic (music) and visual (a transparent stone). The bishop of Nyssa establishes the criterion for discovering this relationship: "inasmuch as the whole is contained by the particular." When speaking about our experience of theoria we must strive to see if any correspondence to it exists in the material world. Although the correlation can be found at several levels (visual, acoustical, the sense of taste and of touch), we should ask which one best contributes to an understanding of theoria's effect of physical and mental abeyance. Although we may undergo periods of suspension, experiences reveals that the sense of hearing often remains active. This suggests that one of the most successful field for images lies within the realm of hearing because it is invisible and flows out from its source to permeate its surroundings in a diffuse manner regardless of its point of origin. Perhaps it is the Stoic image of music that has attracted Gregory's attention in his attempt to make an analogy between visible and invisible realities where "man is a microcosm containing everything in the world at large" (J.30-1 above). Sound produced by music is not simply noise but follows an order with precise mathematical laws which remain invisible as the music itself.

We have seen that Gregory of Nyssa uses the term apokatastasis or the restoration of all things initiated through the incarnation of Jesus Christ as an important guide for his theological reflection on the mystery of God's revelation. For a New Testament basis Gregory utilizes Eph 1.10: "as a plan for the fullness of time (pleromatoston kairon⁽¹¹²⁾), to unite (anakephalaiosasthai) all things in Christ, things in heaven and things on earth." St. Paul prefers to use anakephalaiosis (literally, a "heading towards" in the sense of recapitulation) instead of apokatastasis; perhaps he has in mind that specific restoration where the person of Jesus Christ is the aspiration to which individual parts or components of the pleroma tend⁽¹¹³⁾. All persons, events and things must be "headed" in Christ who is the head (kephailos) of his Church after which he will subject (hupotage, in the sense used by Gregory in his treatise on 1Cor 15.48) both them and himself to "his own head," the Father.

Since this manuscript has touched upon a number of interrelated concepts focused upon the theme of apokatastasis, it might be helpful to sum up the pattern which Gregory of Nyssa follows in accord with the following sequence of words:

phurama -> aparche -> pleroma -> anakephalaiosis -> hupotage -> apokatastasis

-Humanity is that phurama or dough into which Christ is incarnated.

-Christ as first fruits (aparche) achieves final pleroma once he has "headed" all things in himself (anakephalaiosis).

-Christ then subjects (hupotage) all things and himself to his Father.

-These three steps culminate in a final restoration or apokatastasis where God the Father will be all in all.

Gregory's reflections upon humanity begins, as it were, with the raw material for this sequence, the "dough" (phurama), and delineates that diastema or chain of various "intervals" which unfold between the First Adam and the Second Adam (Christ), the fulfillment of creation, and which continues down to the present day within the Church:

Because creation exists from its very beginning by the divine power, the end of each created being is linked with its beginning without any interval: everything created from nothing comes into existence with its beginning. Human nature is also created but does not, like other created beings, advance towards its perfection, but right from the beginning it is created perfect: "Let us make man according to the image and likeness of God" [Gen 1.26]. Here is the very summit and perfection of goodness. What can be more exalted than similarity to God? Thus the end of the first creation is simultaneous with its beginning, for human nature originated in perfection. Since this human nature became subject to death because of its disposition to evil, perseverance in the good was destroyed. Human nature takes up its perfection not at once as in the beginning but progresses towards the good by an order which gradually gets rid of our inclination towards evil. In the first creation there was no impediment present with the birth of our human nature for it was perfect and lacked evil. But in the second restoration [anastoicheioseos], an interval of time [he diastematike paratasis] necessarily accompanies those pursuing the first good. Song Commentary, J.457-8

Note the italicized words:

--the end of each created being is linked with its beginning without any interval (adiastatos te arche sunapertisthe to peras)

--human nature right from the beginning is created perfect (apo tes protes huparcheos sumplastheisa te teleioteti)

--the end of the first creation is simultaneous with its beginning (epi...tes protes ktiseos adiastatos te arche sunanephane to peras)

Now contrast this Song Commentary passage with one from On the Soul and the Resurrection where Gregory of Nyssa presents Epicurus' view of human nature, a dominant philosophic belief in the ancient world. Note the accent upon words signifying restraint (bubble, membrane, earthen wall, barrier) formed by the material world's four elements which lies in sharp contrast to Gregory's stress upon the soul's freedom from diastematic existence and which finds realization within the Church:

He [Epicurus] thought that human life was like a bubble, existing only as long as the breath within was held in by the enveloping substance, inasmuch as our body was a mere membrane, as it were, encompassing a breath; and that on the collapse of the inflation the imprisoned essence was extinguished. To him the visible was the limit of existence; he made our senses the only means of our apprehension of things; he completely closed the eyes of his soul, and was incapable of seeing anything in the intelligible and immaterial world...Verily, everything in the universe that is seen to be an object of sense is an earthen wall, forming in itself a barrier between the narrower souls and that intelligible world which is ready for their contemplation; and it is the earth and water and fire alone that such behold; whence comes each of these elements, in what and by what they are encompassed, such souls because of their narrowness cannot detect⁽¹¹⁴⁾.

Here Gregory displays Epicurus "closing the eyes of his soul" to immaterial reality which is not simply a withdrawing from contact with physical objects but negligence to grasp the essence of theoria as seeing, of beholding, minus a subject-object relationship. Theoria thus forms a special activity of that "second restoration" (anastoicheioseos) which redeems diastematic existence by allowing us to behold material creation represented by the above mentioned four-fold division (air, earth, water, fire) in light of eternity, a theme known to anyone familiar with Plato's writings.

We have two uses of adiastatos ("no interval" or "no extension") in the Song Commentary: one used in conjunction with "created beings" in general and the other with "human nature." According to Gregory of Nyssa this lack of diastema which is rooted within our very constitution as part and parcel of being made in God's image (eikon) at first glance appears to abrogate attempts at describing our relationship with God. The reason for this assertion lies in the fact that diastema, the extension of space and time, is the most fundamental component for the descriptive process. The question then remains of how we can establish ways of delineating that which surpasses any explanation. Immediately there springs to mind a realization that this attempt is futile because metaphors are grounded within experience of the concrete world, not with anything outside it. Yet there always has been considerable interest in the writings of persons like Gregory of Nyssa who entrance our minds and hearts with a captivating portrait of transcendent reality. In fact, some of the world's finest literature has emanated from religious sources whose common denominator converges around what I have called the suspension of our physical and intellectual faculties. This paradox of abeyance of what is central to human creativity has a direct relationship to its expression and has, in turn, affected societies through their respective religious traditions.

Since I have raised the paradox of how we can construct adequate means for describing that which is at best is indescribable, there remains the important task of pinpointing that locus from which these descriptions arise. Right away this attempt at focusing upon a source is reminiscent of images of a spring emanating from a hidden source, a popular image to depict the divine indwelling as we see in Gregory of Nyssa's Song Commentary:

The human soul has two natures: the incorporeal, intellectual and pure on the one hand; the bodily, material, and irrational on the other. When the soul is purged of the gross habits of earthly life, it looks up through virtue to what is connatural and divine; it does not cease to search out and seek the origin of created reality, the source of its beauty from which springs the power whose wisdom is manifested in it. Wisdom moves all one's thoughts and capacity for investigation to grasp out of curiosity the object of one's search. Wisdom limits our comprehension of God and is the sole divine operation which descends to our mortal existence for the purpose of giving us life. Similarly, water moved by wind does not remain at the edge of the lake, but it becomes a spring gushing forth which rushes on high to its connatural state [pros to suggenes]. Once it has passed the highest manifestation of water and becomes mixed with air, the wind's movement comes to rest on high. Such is the case with the soul seeking the divinity. Because the soul reaches from below to a knowledge of the transcendent and to a comprehension of God's wonderful works, it is unable to proceed further in curiously scrutinizing these works; rather, it marvels and worships him who alone is recognized by his works. J.333-5

Note the sentence, "Wisdom moves (anakinousa) all one's thoughts and capacity for investigation to grasp (katalabein) out of curiosity the object of one's search." Here Gregory describes his quest for that which is invisible or transcendent under the guidance of wisdom, sophia. This primary intuition of upward movement (anakineo) enables Gregory to trace the path leading from created to uncreated reality, and upon it he establishes the image of "water moved (sunanadidomenon) by wind." The water, in turn, "becomes a spring gushing forth which rises to its connatural state (epi to ano pros to suggenes)." This latter phenomenon, while having no basis in the natural world, demonstrates that Gregory perceives water, a Stoic symbol of heaviness, coming to reside in a condition opposite to itself (lightness or air). The original spectacle of a spring rushing on high inspired him because it suggested that some reality must lie beyond sensible comprehension. He could not help but exclaim, "such is the case with the soul seeking (diereunomene) the divinity." Gregory's metaphor employs that axis of "up-down," perhaps the most fundamental component of any description pertaining to our passage from earth to heaven. Superimposed upon it is the image of wind which in the natural world normally blows horizontally but in this instance follows the direction from "down" to "up" or from what is heavy to that which is light and therefore representative of heaven.

In brief, Gregory's intuition centers around that special type of suspension affecting all our faculties, both sensible and intellectual. As I have maintained throughout this manuscript, we have here a bare-bones description of contact with transcendent reality or the most basic element common to all human experience with respect to the divinity stripped of cultural doctrinal features. Anyone like Gregory who engages in this activity recognized as theoria knows that such suspension results not from one's own efforts but remains "external" to them. Usually this is described as a divine intervention, a kairos event, but for now remains secondary to the point I wish to convey: any attribution appears later with respect to the special type of physical and mental suspension which always remains primary. Although the abeyance of all our faculties is often fleeting, its capacity to affect our memory is like nothing else we have encountered. Upon emerging from this suspension we seek words to describe its unique character and like Gregory, look to those natural phenomena best suit to mirror our experience. Hence the appealing image of a spring moved by the wind which

rushes on high. The choice of a natural phenomenon which confirms the validity of our faculties having undergone suspension rests upon the fact that there exists a spontaneous, uncontrived correspondence between them and that state of contemplation or theoria. This is a "eureka" experience which rouses us from that innate lethargy and indifference and fulfills our search. Another example is the 1Cor 15.48 passage outlined towards the beginning of this manuscript:

As was the man of dust (Adam) so are those who are of dust

and as is the man of heaven (Christ) so are those who are of heaven (Christ)

Here we have the primary metaphor of dust or in biblical terms, Adam, the first man, upon whom St. Paul models persons resembling him in accord with the "so-as" pattern. On the other hand Paul presents Christ and those following him; while this latter group assumes a pattern similar to Adam/dust, it is radically different. The pattern's form ("as...of dust" and "as...of heaven") is the same yet the content is dissimilar ("as...of dust" and "as...of heaven"). This example reveals an important distinction to keep in mind when drawing analogies from natural phenomena ("dust"/Adam) when we wish to describe that which transcends description ("heaven"/Christ). In the first instance there is no distinction between the essence of two (or more) persons; both are composed of dust. A similar feature marks the second situation; both (two or more persons) are of heaven.

Since created reality is diastematic by nature, everything can approximate our experience of that suspension of our faculties (which is adiastematic) but never overtake it. Gregory of Nyssa was keenly aware of this predicament and observes towards the beginning of his Song Commentary:

Yet Paul somewhere calls the shift [metastasin] from the corporeal to [pros] the spiritual "a turning [epistrophen] to the Lord and the removal of a veil" [2Cor 3.16]. In all these different expressions and names of contemplation [theoria] Paul is teaching us an important lesson: we must pass [metabainein] to a spiritual and intelligent investigation [theoria] of scripture so that considerations of the merely human element might be changed [metablethenai] into something perceived by the mind once the more fleshly sense of the words has been shaken off like dust. For this reason Paul says, "the letter kills, but the spirit gives life" [2Cor 3.6]. J.6-7

Note the four words indicating "change" or it various connotations in conjunction with theoria, contemplation or seeing outlined by the following italicized words and summed up by Gregory when he quotes 2Cor 3.6:

-a shift from the corporeal to the spiritual

-a turning to the Lord

-we must pass to a spiritual and intelligent investigation

-considerations of the merely human element might be changed

Three of the four verbs contain the preface meta ("after," "beyond") and heighten the transition or migration from visible to invisible reality. They should be regarded within the context of Gregory's dynamic insight into theoria which superficially resembles a Platonic shift from visible to invisible reality where the former is "shaken off like dust." This statement appears extreme yet underscores the experience of suspension recounted earlier where all forms of perception except that of being aware--purely and simply--are "shaken off." Although there is no parallel between "dust" and the above mention "as was the man of dust" of 1Cor 15.48, the similarity is worth noting. Such a process resembles death, a good image of suspension, as noted in several passages from Gregory's Song Commentary:

Even now the soul united to God never has its fill of enjoyment. The more it enjoys his beauty, the more its desire for him increases. The words of the bridegroom are spirit and life [Jn 5.24], and everyone who clings to the Spirit becomes spirit. He who attaches himself to life passes from death into life as the Lord has said. Thus the virginal soul desires to draw near to the fountain of spiritual life. J.32

Persons skilled in studying natural phenomena say that the eye sees by receiving the impression of images emanating from visible objects. For this reason the beauty of the bride's eyes is praised since the image of a dove appears in her pupils. Whenever a person gazes upon an object he receives in himself the image of that object. He who no longer attends to flesh and blood looks toward the life of the Spirit. As the Apostle says [Gal 5.25], such a

person lives in the Spirit, conforms to the Spirit, and by the Spirit puts to death the deeds of the body. This person has become wholly spiritual; he is neither natural nor carnal. J.105

Sleep results from inebriation; it is an occasion for the digestion of food and the maintenance of health for those at the banquet table. Therefore, the bride sleeps after her banquet. This sleep is quite extraordinary and different from one's natural habit, for in natural sleep, one is not awake. Both are opposed to each other, for sleep and waking succeed and follow one another. We see in the bride a new, paradoxical mixture of opposites: "I sleep," she says, "but my heart is awake" [5.2]. What can we understand by this statement? This sleep is like death. In it each sensory function of the body is lost: there is no vision, hearing, scent, taste, nor feeling, but the body's tension is loosed. Sleep brings about forgetfulness of anxieties; it calms fears, softens rage, slackens the tension from hitter experiences, and makes one unaware of evils. Therefore, we have learned from the bride that she has risen higher and boasts, "I sleep but my heart is awake." J.311-2

Our nature is two-fold: on the one hand, the subtle and light, and on the other, the thick, material and heavy. Thus the movement of each has a proper activity which cannot be communicated to the other. For the intelligent and light is characteristic of upward movement, while the heavy and material always tends downward and is carried there. Because these two movements are by nature contradictory, the movement of one cannot function properly unless the other is slackened in its natural movement. J.345

Although the last passage contains no specific reference to death, it is immediately preceded by the following sentence: "Paul preaches...the necessity for death to precede life, for life cannot be in a person unless it enters death's gate." Here Gregory stresses the incompatibility of our experience of divine transcendence and those images derived from natural phenomena as opposed to emphasizing their similarity: "the movement of each (earth and heaven) has a proper activity which cannot be communicated to the other."

In his Song Commentary Gregory of Nyssa employs a word similar to apokatastasis, ("restoration"), anastoicheosis, "restitution," as represented by three examples:

Now seeing that the full number of men preconceived by the operation of foreknowledge will come into life by means of this animal generation, God, Who governs all things in a certain order and sequence,--since the inclination of our nature to what was beneath it (which He Who beholds the future equally with the present saw before it existed) made some such form of generation absolutely necessary for mankind,--therefore also foreknew the time coextensive with the creation of men, so that the extent of time should be adapted for the entrances of the predetermined souls, and that the flux and motion of time should halt at the moment when humanity is no longer produced by means of it; and that when the generation of men is completed, time should cease together with its completion, and then should take place the restitution [anastoicheosis] of all things, and with the World-Reformation humanity also should be changed from the corruptible and earthly to the impassible and eternal. On the Making of Man⁽¹¹⁵⁾.

I mean that without the laver of regeneration [anagenneseos] it is impossible for the man to be in the resurrection [anastasei]; but in saying this I do not regard the mere remoulding (anaplasin) and refashioning [anastoicheiosin] of our composite body. The Great Catechism⁽¹¹⁶⁾.

Therefore evil which is rooted in us does not endure forever; by a providential foresight time dissolves the vessel in a better type of death in order to renew humanity from this implanted evil and that evil not be mingled at life's restoration [apokatastasis] as was the case at the beginning [cf. Acts 3.21]. This is the resurrection which is a renewal [anastoicheiosis] of our original nature. Therefore [human] nature cannot be renewed without the resurrection [anastasis]; it cannot take place without death preceding it which is the beginning and way leading to our betterment. Pulcheria, J.472.

Gregory obtained some of his insight into apokatastasis from Origen as the following passage from the latter's Song Commentary reveals:

And when the perfection of all things [ad perfectionem omnium] has been achieved and the Bride, who has been perfected--in other words, the whole rational creation--is united with Him, "because He hath made peace through His blood, not only as to the things that are on earth, but also as to the things that are in heaven" [Col 1.20], then He is called Solomon only, "when He shall have brought to nought all principality and power. For he must reign until He hath put all His enemies under His feet and death, the last enemy, is destroyed" (15.24-6)⁽¹¹⁷⁾.

A principle feature of such "perfection" is the abolition of evil which be subjected (hupotage) to Christ. Consider two passages, the first from Gregory and the second from Origen, which are seen in light of Phil 2.20:

Subjection [hupotage] to God is our chief good when all creation resounds as one voice, when everything in heaven, on earth and under the earth bends the knee to him, and when every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord [Phil 2.10]. Then when every creature has become one body and is joined in Christ through obedience to one another, he will be into subjection his own body to the Father⁽¹¹⁸⁾.

For the end is always like the beginning; as therefore there is one end of all things, so we must understand that there is one beginning of all things, and as there is one end of many things, so from one beginning arise many differences and varieties, which in their turn are restored through God's goodness, through their subjection to Christ and their unity with the Holy Spirit, to one end, which is like the beginning. I refer to all those who, by "bending the knee in the name of Jesus" [Phil 2.10], have through this very fact displayed the sign of their subjection. These are they who dwell "in heaven and on earth and under the earth," the three terms indicating the entire universe, that is, all those beings who started from one beginning but were drawn in various directions⁽¹¹⁹⁾.

Keeping in mind the passage of 15 quoted above which contains Origen's concept of apokatastasis, it is apparent that God will abolish all evil:

It is clear that God will truly be in all things when no evil will be found. It is not proper for God to be present in evil; thus he will not be in everything as long as some evil remains. If it compels us to truly believe that God is in everything, then evil cannot be seen as existing along with faith, for God cannot be present in evil⁽¹²⁰⁾.

Note that the following passage from the treatise On the Inscriptions of the Psalms speaks of that "original state:"

"Praise the Lord with the sound of the trumpet" because the varied, multiform virtues imitate the harmony of the universe while human nature acts as an instrument in rhythm with God's melody. The psalm designates this by the figurative symbols of a psaltery and a harp. Everything considered earthly, dumb, and speechless joins the sound of its own chords to the great voice of the heavenly choruses. The stretched chords in such an instrument are steadfastness and immovability before evil in every virtue. The virtues unite the cymbal's

pleasing harmony with chords when the sound of cymbals arouses our eagerness for the divine choir. To me this signifies the union of our nature with the angels. "Praise the Lord with the sound of cymbals." I understand this as the union of the angelic [nature] with the human when our human nature attains its original state [pros ten archaian lexin] and gives forth that sweet sound in union with others in thanksgiving. J.66

Commentary on Ecclesiastes

When one sheep strayed from the heavenly way of life, evil drew our nature to an arid, uncultivated place; no longer does this number [one] pertain to the sheep which have not strayed, but refers to the ninety-nine sheep. Vanity does not belong to the flock which is why "deficiency cannot be numbered." Therefore, Christ comes to seek and save the last sheep. He places it upon his shoulders, thereby restoring (apokatastasis) [the sheep] lost in the vanity of insubstantial things in order make whole the number of God's creation by saving the lost along with those who have not been destroyed. J.305.5

The soul existed right from the beginning; it had been purified in the past and will appear in the future. God, who fashioned the human body, will show the resurrection at the proper time, for that which comes after the resurrection was indeed fashioned first. The resurrection is nothing other than the restoration (apokatastasis) of all things to their original state. J.296.18

On Virginity

If such then is the meaning of this discovering of the looked for object, the restoration (apokatastasis; cf. Presence..., p.58) in its primitive stage of the divine image actually hidden by the flesh's squalor, we become that which the first man had in his first life. What was it then? He was naked, deprived of all covering of the tunics of skin and looked upon God's face with freedom. J.416.12; S.C.#119, p.417⁽¹²¹⁾

Life of Moses

Perhaps someone, taking his departure from the fact that after three days of distress in darkness the Egyptians did not share in the light, might be led to perceive the final restoration (apokatastasis) which is expected to take place later in the kingdom of heaven of those who have suffered condemnation in Gehenna. J.154.17; Malherbe & Ferguson, p.73

Pulcheria

Therefore, evil which is rooted in us does not endure forever; by a providential foresight times dissolves the vessel in a better type of death in order to renew humanity from this implanted evil and that evil not be mingled at life's restoration (to apokataste bio) as was the case at the beginning [cf. Acts 3.21]. J.472.9

Ascension

No longer do we have the following response, "He who is strong and mighty in battle," but "the Lord of hosts who has obtained rule over all, has recapitulated everything in himself, holds primacy in everything [cf. Col 1.18] and restores (apokatastesas) creation to its pristine state: "he is the king of glory." J.327.3

Fate

For example, we obtain a different result from what has either come together (apokatastasis) or has been separated as in a triangle with uneven sides or any other geometrical shape. This person claims that fate interprets such matters because its unalterable nature is responsible for the union existing among stars. J.35.9

Concerning Those Who Have Died

This example [an ear of corn's growth] applies to us since [human] nature achieves its own goal without difficulty. The illustration of the seed should instruct you with regard to that which is always present, beneficial and necessary because we are not that agent which has brought us to birth. The Creator did not form us to remain in the womb. Also the last stage of life does not take into consideration the succeeding stages where forms continuously succeed each other and at their proper time. Neither is it aware of death which is dissolved with the body; instead all the stages through which we pass form an integral whole. The final goal of our journey is restoration (apokatastasis) to our original stage or likeness to God. J. 51.17

On the Lord's Prayer

Thus the creation of man would effect in each of the elements a participation in the things belonging to the other; for the spiritual nature of the soul, which seems to be decidedly akin to the heavenly powers, dwells in earthly bodies, and in the restoration (apokatastasis) of all, this earthly flesh will be translated into the heavenly places together with the soul. J.274.20⁽¹²²⁾

Through the formation of man both of these elements (earthly and heavenly) may receive a participation of the things pertaining to the other; insofar as the intellectual nature of the soul which seems to be akin and belonging to the celestial powers, is dwelling in terrestrial bodies, and in the restoration of all things (apokatastasis) this earthly flesh will be transferred to the heavenly place. 1165B-C⁽¹²³⁾

Beatitudes

For in the Psalms the prophet signifies the day of the Resurrection through the mystery of the number eight; the purification indicates man's return from defilement to his natural purity; the circumcision means the casting off of the dead skins which we put on when we had been stripped of the supernatural life after the transgression; and here the eighth Beatitude contains the re-instatement (apokatastasis) in heaven of those who had fallen into servitude and who are now from their slavery recalled to the Kingdom. J. 162.1

Inscriptions of the Psalms

The fifth section [of the psalter] then leads us to the loftiest peak and degree of contemplation if we are capable to reach such a height and to fly with strong wings beyond the weavings of this life's webs...Thus the sublime prophet raises himself and advances to the summits of this fifth ascent where he finds the fulfillment and restoration (apokatastasis) of human salvation. J.52

If a troublesome, insubstantial root briefly sprouts up, it will pass away and disappear in the restoration (apokatastasis) of all things to the good. J.155

Against Eunomius

He (Basil) alone took so much to heart the man's (Eunomius) desperate condition as to compose as an antidote of deadly poisons his refutation of this heresy which aimed at saving its author and restoring (apokatastesai) him to the Church. J.23.24; p.35⁽¹²⁴⁾

...the conjunctions of planets, the courses of those that pass below, the eclipses of those that are above, the adumbrations of the earth, the reappearance (apokatastasis) of eclipsed bodies, the moon's multiform changes. J.247.19; p.257⁽¹²⁵⁾

...that I (Eunomius putting words into Christ's mouth) may declare to you the things that happen day by day for your salvation and may put you in mind by recounting the things from everlasting which you have forgotten (for it is no new gospel that I now proclaim, but I labor at your restoration (apokatastasis) to your first estate),--for this I was created. J.21.19; p.141⁽¹²⁶⁾

On the Making of Man

Now the resurrection promises us nothing else than the restoration (apokatastasis) of the fallen to their ancient state; for the grace we look for is a certain return to the first life, bringing back again to Paradise him who was cast out from it. 188C⁽¹²⁷⁾

...and they (heretics) rehearse many such trivialities unworthy of God's great power and authority for the overthrow of the doctrine, arguing as though God were not able to restore (apokatastesai) to man his own by return through the same ways. 224C⁽¹²⁸⁾

On the Soul and the Resurrection

But what, I asked, if your opponent should shield himself behind the Apostle where he says that every reasoning creature in the restitution (apokatastasis) of all things is to look towards him who presides over the whole? In that passage in the Epistle to the Philippians [2.10] he makes mention of certain things that are "under the earth," "every knee shall bow " to him "of things in heaven and things in earth and things under the earth." 69C⁽¹²⁹⁾

Well, to sketch the outline of so vast a truth and to embrace it in a definition, we will say that the resurrection is "the reconstitution (apokatastasis) of our nature in its original form." But in that form of life of which God himself was the Creator, it is reasonable to believe that there was neither age nor infancy nor any of the sufferings arising from our present various infirmities, nor any kind of bodily affliction whatever. 148A⁽¹³⁰⁾

Further, it seems to me that the words of the Apostle [ 15.42] in every respect harmonize with our own conception of what the resurrection is. They indicate the very same thing that we have embodied in our own definition of it wherein we said that the resurrection is no other thing than "the reconstitution (apokatastasis) of our nature in its original form." 156C⁽¹³¹⁾

Canonical Epistle to Letonius

If a worthy conversion comes about, the number of years are not reckoned but the suddenness which leads one to restoration (apokatastasis) in the Church and participation in the good. 45.232C

In addition to these passages on apokatastasis, I include a list of references from other Fathers of the Church which allude to the reality it signifies through the theme of the eighth day when God rested from creation⁽¹³²⁾:

The economy of the ark at the deluge, in which eight persons among Noah's relatives were saved, indicates the salvific Ogdoad. Similarly, David was the eighth child among his brothers. The circumcision occurred on the eighth day, for its manifests the circumcision of the Ogdoad on high. The scriptures, when pointing to the number eight for our belief, have in mind the mystery of the Ogdoad. Ireneaus, Against Heresies, PG#7.645B.

The sixth day represents life here below: "God made the world in six days" [cf. Gen 1.31]. During this sixth day one must gather and put in reserve provisions sufficient for the [seventh] day to come. If you amass during this time treasures of justice, mercy, and pity, they will serve as nourishment in the age to come...But if one gathers good works, they will live for the next day. (This 'next day' is the Sabbath represented by the Ogdoad). Origen, Homilies on Exodus, PG#12.346C.

The octave is the day of Christ the Lord's salvific resurrection on which we believe occurs the purgation of all sins. It is also symbolic of an infant's circumcision by which the soul is purged through regeneration by being begotten by God. This day is better than the seventh because on it the Law is dissolved. Eusebius of Caesarea, Commentary on the Psalms, PG#23.120A.

What is the octave? It is the day of the Lord's resurrection on which we receive the fruit of our labors. Indeed our enemies have been turned back with shame and confusion. This psalm [six] sings of that blessed time of repentance made for sin. St. Athanasius, Treatise on the Psalms, PG#27.75D.

Psalm six contains a more divine sense in its verses. It sings about the end, because [these verses] are the most perfect contemplation on the octave. The person is circumcised spiritually by God, for it is not carnal. Circumcision is perfected in the octave because it is extolled above the six days in which the world has made and attains the seventh day, the true, holy, and delightful Sabbath. Since perfect beatitude cannot be obtained through created things, we must assume a transcendent state, the octave. Didymus, Treatise on the Psalms, PG#39.1173D-76A.

The day of the Lord is without evening, without succession, and without end. It is not unknown to scripture, and it is the day that the Psalmist calls the eighth because it is outside this time of weeks. Thus whether you call it day, or whether you call it eternity, you express the same idea. Basil the Great, The Hexaemeron, PG#29.52A.

For the number seven multiplied by itself produces fifty minus one day, and we add this by taking it as the world to come; it is at once the first and the eighth, or rather one and indestructible. And indeed we must there cease the Sabbath-keeping of our souls, so that one part of seven may be given to some, of eight to others, as certain men who have come before us have explained. Gregory the Theologian, On Pentecost, PG#36.432B.

What is the octave? It is that great and glorious day of the Lord, a bright furnace at whose sight the Virtues tremble and which manifests the hastening of the King. The octave calls him, declaring him to be a change of condition and a renewal of the future life. For the present life is none other than seven days which commences from the first day and is perfected in the seventh day. John Chrysostom, On Compunction, PG#47.415D-16A.

Song Commentary

Therefore, all who have put on the divine armor surround the king's bed and are one Israel. Because the twelve tribes are the most valiant, the full number of these valiant men comes (anakephalaioumenou) to the sum of sixty. There is one battle-line, one army, one bed, that is, one Church and one people who will become one bride united in harmony in the fellowship of one body under one commander, one leader and one bridegroom. J.197: 17

Song Commentary

Let us recapitulate (anakephalaiosamemoi) the sense of the text. The soul which looks to God and conceives that desire for incorruptible beauty always has a new desire for the transcendent, and it is never dulled by satiety. J. 366.10

Song Commentary

The bride now proceeds to sum up (anakephalaioumene) her spouses's beauty by saying, "His form is as Lebanon, choice as the cedars. His throat is sweet, and altogether desirable. This is my kinsman and this is my beloved, Oh daughters of Jerusalem" [Sg 5.15-16]. I think that she points out her spouse here more clearly because the beauty she praises is visible. This visibility follows the apostle's consideration of the Church as a body with its respective limbs [ 12.12]. J. 419.20

Inscriptions of the Psalms

If any bird resembling an eagle looks directly at the light's rays by not turning away the eye of its soul and has fallen in among these spider webs while stretching forward on high, the air alone from the rushing motion of the bird's flight scatters everything by the power of its wings. Thus the sublime prophet raises himself and advances (M.468) to the summits of this fifth ascent [of the psalter] where he finds the fulfillment and restoration (anakephalaiosis) of human salvation. J. 52.21

Inscriptions of the Psalms

The text which now follows sums up (anakephalaioutai) Psalm One-Hundred and Six, and in many ways it both recounts the passions and brings before our eyes God's deeds. The few words which condense this psalm read, "They became few and were brought low by the tribulation of evils and pain." J. 62.8

On Perfection

Why should we speak further about those terms signifying Christ's name and which enable us to lead a life according to virtue since each one serves to perfect our life? But I say our recollection of these names is intended to help us achieve (anakephalaiosasthai) the goal we have sought to establish from the outset, namely, how a person might bring about perfection in himself. J. 209.20

Commentary on Ecclesiastes

"I know that there is nothing better for them [men] than to be happy and enjoy themselves as long as they live" (3.12). These words [of Ecclesiastes] sum (anakephalaioutai) up everything we have already said. If the right use of God's deeds in time defines the good of human life, it is the one joy born from good works which endures among other beautiful things. For the observance of the commandments now gladdens our good works through hope. Then the enjoyment of good things enlivens those persons worthy to receive their eternal hope. As the Lord says to those who have done good, "Come, blessed, inherit the kingdom prepared for you" (Mt 25.34). As food and drink sustain the body, so the soul must look to the good, a true gift of God on which we have fixed our eyes." J. 441.3

Ascension

cf. same reference above under the apokatastasis listing, J.327.3

Against Eunomius

Then he [Eunomius] must tell us on what grounds he has measured out more length of life (diastema) to the Father, while no distinctions of time whatever have been previously conceived of in the personality of the Son. J.78.2 (52).

Every measure (diastema) of distance that we could discover is beneath the divine nature: so no ground is left for those who attempt to divide this pretemporal and incomprehensible being by distinctions of superior & inferior. J.79.5 (52).

Again; only in the case of the creation is it true to speak of "priority." The sequence of works was there displayed in other order of the days; and the heavens may be said to have preceded by so much the making of man, and that interval (diastema) may be measured by the interval (diastema) of days. But in the divine nature, which transcends all idea of time and surpasses all reach of thought, to talk of a "prior" and a "latter" in the honors of time is a privilege only of this new-fangled philosophy. J.128.13(67)

When he pronounces that the life of the Father is prior to that of the Son, he places a certain interval (diastema) between the two; now, he must mean, either that this interval is infinite, or that it is included within fixed limits. J.129.15 (67).

When we say that man was made the fifth day after the heavens, we tacitly imply that before those same days the heavens did not exist either; a subsequent event goes to define, by means of the interval (diastema) which precedes it, the occurrence also of a previous event. J.129.27 (67).

Our adversaries conceive of the existences of Father, Son and Holy Spirit as involving elder and younger, respectively. Well then, if at the bidding of this heresy, we journey up beyond the generation of the Son, and approach that intervening duration (diastema) which the mere fancy of these dogmatists supposes between the Father and the Son, and then reach that other and supreme point of time by which they close that duration (diastema), then we find the life of the Father fixed as it were upon an apex; and thence we must necessarily conclude that before it the Father is not to be believed to have existed always. J.130.17 & 30 (68).

So, if there is, as our adversaries say, an excess of some kind in the Father's life as compared with the Son's, it must needs consist in some definite interval of duration: and they will allow that this interval (diastema) of excess cannot be in the future, for that Both are imperishable, even the foes of the truth will grant. No; they conceive of this difference as in the past, and instead of equalizing the life of the Father and the Son there, they extend the conception of the Father by an interval (diastema) of living. But every interval (diastema) must be founded by two ends: and so for this interval (diastema) which they have devised we must grasp the two points by which the ends are denoted. The one portion takes its beginning, in their view, from the Son's generation; and the other portion must end in some other point, from which the interval (diastema) starts, and by which it limits itself...It admits not of a doubt, then, that they will not be able to find at all the other portion, corresponding to the first portion of their fancied interval (diastema), except they were to suppose some beginning of their Ungenerate, whence the middle, that connects with the generation of the Son, may be conceived of as starting...Let it suffice on the ground of causation only to conceive of the Father as before the Son; and let not the Father's life be thought of as a separate and peculiar one before the generation of the Son, lest we should have to admit the idea inevitably associated with this of an interval (diastema) before the appearance of the Son which measure the life of him who begot him, and then the necessary consequence of this, that a beginning of the Father's life also must be supposed by virtue of which their fancied interval (diastema) may be stayed in its upward advance so as to set a limit and a beginning to this previous life of the Father as well: let it suffice for us when we confess the "coming from him," to admit also, bold as it may seem, the "living along with him;" for we are led by the written oracles to such a belief. J.131.8, 13, 14, 20, 25; 132 3, 5, 20, 23 (68).

One therefore of two things must follow. Either the Creation is everlasting; or, it must be boldly admitted, the Son is later in time (than the Father). The conception of an interval (diastema) in time will lead to monstrous conclusions, even when measured from the Creation up to the Creator. 133.15 (68).

If he could point to anything above Creation which as its origin marked by any interval (diastema) of time, and it were acknowledged possible by all to think of any time-interval (diastema) as existing before Creation, he might have occasion for endeavoring to destroy by such attracts that everlastingness of the Son which we have proved above. J.133.21,23 (69).

But seeing that by all the suffrages of the faithful it is agreed that, of all things that are, and that the divine nature is to be believed uncreate (although within it, as our faith teaches, there is a cause, and there is a subsistence produced, but without separation, from the cause), while the creation is to be viewed in an extension (diastema) of distances,--all order and sequence of time in events can be perceived only in the ages (of this creation)...But the world above creation, being removed from all conception of distance (diastema), eludes all sequence of time: it has no commencement of that sort: it has no end in which to cease its advance, according to any discoverable method of order. J.134.3, 10, 14 (69).

It is clear, even with a moderate insight into the nature of things, that there is nothing by which we can measure the divine and blessed Life. It is not in time, but time flows from it; whereas the creation, starting from a manifest beginning, journeys onward to its proper end through spaces of time...But the supreme and blessed life has no time-extension (diastema) accompanying its course, and therefore no span (diastema) nor measure. J.135.4, 9 (69).

Well, then, if in this uncreate existence those wondrous realities, with their wondrous names of Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, are to be in our thoughts, how can we imagine, of that pretemporal world, that which our busy, restless minds perceive in things here below by comparing one of them with another and giving it precedence by an interval (diastema) of time? J.138.3 (79).

...as the Only-begotten Light, and having shone forth in that very Light, being divisible neither by duration (diastema) nor by an alien nature from the Father or from the Only-begotten. 138.14 (70).

There are no intervals (diastema) in that pretemporal world; and difference on the score of being there is none. J.138.16 (70).

...and that, if any interval (diastema) were to be imagined dividing the two [Son's birth and Father's ungeneracy], that same interval would fix a beginning for the life of the Almighty. 139.4 (70).

Then again, we see yet another such Light after the same fashion, sundered by no interval (diastema) of time from that offspring Light, and while shining forth by means of It yet tracing the source of its being to the Primal Light. J.180.28 (85).

You cannot take one of these [Fatherhood and Ungeneracy plus other divine attributes] and separate it in thought from the rest by any interval (diastema) of time, as if it preceded or followed something else; no sublime or adorable attribute in Him can be discovered, which is not simultaneously expressed in His everlastingness. J.196.12 (90).

I for my part cannot see what there is to think of in connection with the Father, by himself, that is parted by any interval (diastema) so as to precede our apprehension of the Son. J.197.21 (90).

When there is no intermediate matter, or idea, or interval (diastema) of time, to separate the being of the Son from the Father, no symbol can be thought of, either, by which the Only-begotten can be unlinked from the Father's life and shown to proceed from some special source of his own. J.210.7 (94).

Those who draw a circular figure in plane geometry from a center to the distance (diastema) of the line of circumference tell us there is no definite beginning to their figure; and that the line is interrupted by no ascertained end (diastema) any more than by any visible commencement. J.218.1, 4 (97).

On the other hand, because the existence of the Son is not marked by any intervals (diastema) of time, and the infinitude of his life flows back before the ages and onward beyond them in an all-pervading tide, he is properly addressed with the title of Eternal. J.224.13 (100).

The latter is confined within its own boundaries according to the pleasure of its Maker. The former is bounded only by infinity. The latter stretches itself out within certain degrees of extension (diastema), limited by time and space; the former transcends all notion of degree, baffling curiosity from every point of view. In this life we can apprehend the beginning and the end of all things that exist, but the beatitude that is above the creature admits neither end nor beginning, but is above all that is connoted by either, being ever the same, self-dependent, not travelling on by degrees from one point to another in its life. J.246.19, 21, 27 (257).

For you cannot apply the same definition to "light" and "day", but light is what we understand by the opposite of darkness, and day is the extent of the measure of the interval (diastema) of light. J.309.7 (279).

What is this vain flourish of baseless expressions, seeing that our Master simply says that whatever in the Divine essence transcends the measurable distances (diastema) of the ages in either direction is called by certain distinctive names. J.359.24 (296).

For seeing that human life, moving from stage to stage, advances in its progress from a beginning to an end, and our life here is divided between that which is past and that which is expected, so that the one is the subject of hope, the other of memory; on this account, as, in relation to ourselves, we apprehend a past and a future in this measurable extent, so also we apply the thought, though incorrectly, to the transcendent nature of God; not of course that God in his own existence leaves any interval (diastema) behind, or passes on afresh to something that lies before, but because our intellect can only conceive things according to our nature, and measures the eternal by a past and a future, where neither the past precludes the march of thought to the illimitable and infinite, nor the future tells us of any pause or limit of his endless life. J.360.16 (296).

...and Moses, speaking of the kingdom of God as "extending beyond all ages," so that we are taught by both [ref. to David] that every duration (diastema) conceivable is environed by the Divine nature, bounded on all sides by the infinity of him who holds the universe in his embrace. J.361.10 (296).

For, as beginning means one thing, and end means another, by virtue of an intervening extension (diastema), if anyone allow the privation of the first of these to be essence, he must suppose his life to be only half subsisting in this being without beginning, and not to extend further, by virtue of his nature, to the being without end, if ungeneracy be regarded as itself his nature. J.381.13 (303).

All that actually comes within our comprehension is such that it must be of one of these four kinds: either contemplated as existing in an extension (diastema) of distance...J.395.5 (308).

...in the notion of a human father there is included not only all that the flesh suggests to our thoughts, but a certain notion of interval (diastema) is also undoubtedly conceived with the idea of human fatherhood, it would be well, in the case of the divine generation, to reject, together with bodily pollution, the notion of interval (diastema) also, that so what properly belongs to matter may be completely purged away. J.31.15 (144).

...since we too confess the close connection and relation of the Son with the Father, so that there is nothing inserted between them which is found to intervene in the connection of the Son with the Father, no conception of interval (diastema), not even that minute and indivisible one, which, when time is divided into past, present and future, is conceived indivisibly by itself as the present...J.91.14 (166).

Neither does this immediate conjunction exclude the "willing" of the Father, in the sense that he has a Son without choice, by some necessity of his nature, nor does the "willing" separate the Son from the Father, coming in between them as a kind of interval (diastema). J.191.19 (202).

Now every such conception of matter and interval (diastema) being excluded from the sense of the word "Son," nature alone remains and hereby in the word "Son" is declared concerning the Only-begotten the close and true character of his manifestation from the Father. J.199.4 (205).

...but this only, as we have said, is manifested by this particular mode of generation, that he is conceived to be of him and also with him, no intermediate interval (diastema) existing between the Father and that Son who is of him. J.200.2 (205).

For there is nothing else by which we can mark the beginning of things that have been made, if time does not define by its own interval (diastema) the beginnings and the endings of the things that come into being. J.207.24 (208).

For if the interval of the ages has preceded existing things, it is proper to employ the temporal adverb, and to say "He then willed" and He then made": but since the age was not, since no conception of interval (diastema) is present to our minds in regard to that divine nature which is not measured by quantity or by interval (diastema), the force of temporal expressions must surely be void....but to regard the divine nature itself as being in a kind of extension measured by intervals (diastema), belongs only to those who have been trained in the new wisdom. J.217.3 (211).

And what is this that is inserted as intervening between the life of the Father and that of the Son, that is not time nor space, nor any idea of extension (diastema), nor any like thing? J.219.22 (212).

That the divine generation, therefore, may be clear of every idea connected with passion, we shall avoid conceiving with regard to it even that extension which is measured by intervals (diastema). Now that which begins and ends is surely regarded as being in a kind of extension (diastema), all extension (diastema) is measured by time, and as time (by which we mark both the end of birth and its beginning) is excluded, it would be vain, in the case of the uninterrupted generation, to entertain the idea of end or beginning, since no idea can be formed to mark either the point at which such generation begins or that at which it ceases. J.225.13 (215).

For it is only as being circumscribed in some quantitative way that things can be said either to begin or to cease on arriving at a limit, and the measure expressed by time (having its extension (diastema) concomitant with the quantity of that which is produced) differentiates the beginning from the end by the interval (diastema) between them. But how can any one measure or treat as extended that which is without quantity and without extension?...Now the divine nature is without extension, and, being without extension, it has no limit; and that which is limitless is infinite, and is spoken of accordingly. J.226.22 (215).

For any of the things that do not exist is no more in a state of "not being" now than if it were non-existent before, but the idea of "not being" is one applied to that which "is not" at any distance of time (diastema). J.232.11: (217).

Refutation Against Eunomius

Now every such conception of matter and interval (diastema) being excluded from the sense of the word "Son," nature alone remains, and hereby in the word "Son" is declared concerning the Only-begotten the close and true character of his manifestation from the Father. J.350.23 (205).

But this only, as we have said, is manifested by this particular mode of generation, that he is conceived to be of him and also with him, no intermediate interval (diastema) existing between the Father and that Son who is of him. J.351.24 (205).

For who believes in the Father according to the Lord's precept likewise hears the Father and does not conceive the Son by any intervening interval (diastema), immediately passing from the Son to the Father. (J.353.25, my own translation).

There was before their generation an interval (diastema) of time. J.355.16, ibid, 513a).

Adversus the Macedonians

The mysterious meaning of the anointing is that no distance (diastema) exists between the Son and the Holy Spirit. (J.102.32, ibid, 1521a).

On the Inscriptions of the Psalms

The first words of Psalm Eighty-Nine read, "Lord, you have been a refuge for us from one generation to the next." What does this mean? That you [God], the origin and end of time, exist before creation and embrace every period of time (diastema), for infinity is an end without bounds. "Before the mountains were born and the earth formed, and even from age to age, you are." Because human nature is mutable, it was pulled down from the heavenly good and cast into the error of sin. Therefore, God, extend your unfailing hands to our fallen human nature. What you are by nature you have imparted to us. Do not let [human nature] return from its loftiness in your presence to the humility of sin. J.46.7.

If anyone regards the period of time (diastema) in which David lived. and the sequence of his deeds. J.115.12.

That people is all humanity which joined themselves to God and which was separated from the holy commands by a great & infinite interval (diastema). J.145.25.

On the Sixth Psalm

When we measure time with days, beginning from the first and closing with the seventh again, we return to the first day. We always measure the totality of time (diastema) through the circle of seven days until things endowed with motion pass away and the flux of the world's movement ceases. J.189.4.

Commentary on Ecclesiastes

The sun which has enlightened heaven above has run its course and is subject to darkness at sunset. The earth is stationary and unmovable, while anything subject to movement (diastema) does not stand still. This demonstrates that everything is subject to time, for nothing changes to a newer condition. J.286.7.

We are never satiated; rather, appetite is common to us all while passion flowers with enjoyment and is not circumscribed by the attainment of its desire." But inasmuch as we perceive the good in pleasure, any delight sets desire aflame, for pleasure is united to desire and is always attractive to each stage (diastema) of our growth. J.313.16.

Because men earnestly strive after corporeal pleasure which is a pursuit and distraction of the soul from things above to what is below, they squander the time (diastema) alloted to them in this life by gathering material possessions. Thus whoever judges this good to be from God knows how to define it as vanity. J.372.6.

Indeed, whatever belongs to time, extension, or interval (diastema) is determined by smallness and greatness. Time is the measure of conception, the growth of corn, fruit, the measure of sailing, walking, the periods of life which are infancy, childhood, adolescence, youth, early manhood, the prime of life, middle age, fullness of maturity, past one's prime, old age, and senility. Time is not restricted by one measure (for each stage of growth is not the same because persons differ from one another), while everything subject to measure has the same, all-encompassing time. For this reason Ecclesiastes does not say that measure belongs to all things because there is equality in great and small with regard to measure. However, time is a general measure and standard. J.377.3.

Who does not know that each action is judged according to its own merits, whether evil or not? The time of the action is considered apart from the nature of the person who committed the deed. What shares a common interval of time (diastema) with an action we freely committed? If asked of what the day consists, our response is that the sun above the earth measures morning and evening. Our answer not only pertains to the circuit of the seventh day, but to the first and second day right up to the seventh, and that the Sabbath day does not differ from the others according to our notion of a day. J.392.14.

All our notions are bound (diastematike) by time; they attempt to transcend their proper limits but cannot. Intervals of time constitute all our thoughts as well as the substance of a person who gives rise to such thoughts. Such intervals (diastema) are created. The good we teach, however, must be pursued and guarded. We also advise that a person unite himself to this reality which transcends creation and thought. Our mind functions by using intervals within time, so how can it grasp [God's] nature which not subject to temporal extension (diastematike)? Through the medium of time, the inquisitive [mind] always leaves behind any thought older than what it just discovered. The mind also busily searches through all kinds of knowledge yet never discovers the means to grasp eternity in order to transcend both itself and what we earlier considered, namely, the eternal existence of beings. This effort resembles a person standing on a precipice (A smooth, precipitous rock which abruptly falls down into a boundless distance suggests this transcendence. Its prominence reaches on high while also falling to the gaping deep below). A person's foot can therefore touch that ridge falling off to the depths below and find neither step nor support for his hand. This example may pertain to the soul's passage through intervals of time (diastematike) in its search for [God's] nature which exists before eternity and is not subject to time. His nature cannot be grasped, for it lacks space, time, measure, and anything else we can apprehend; instead, our mind is overcome with dizziness and stumbles all over the place because it cannot lay hold of transcendent reality. Being powerless, it returns to its connatural state. Our mind loves to know only about God's transcendence of which it is persuaded because his nature differs from anything we know. J.412.10, 14, 414.1.

Our conception of eternity, limited (diastematike) as it is by our thoughts, signifies all creation which [God] contains. Therefore, the text points out all created beings embraced by God. For our benefit God put into our hearts everything he made in eternity that we might contemplate their Creator by reason of their greatness and beauty. However, persons who benefited from them do not necessarily suffer affliction if they use them profitably. Because of this Ecclesiastes says, "Man cannot find out what God had done" (3.11). Here he implies the treachery lying within the human soul. It becomes stronger and results in ignorance of the good which God performs for our usefulness in all the things he made from the beginning of creation until their fulfillment when evil shall be no more. Neither does evil naturally arise from the good. If the Creator and Author of the universe is good, then all things are substantially good. J.440.3.

On the Resurrection of Christ

It suffices to say that a little temporal interval (diastema) suffices the all-powerful wisdom in the heart of the earth to mock that great mind. J.280.16.

286.1& 5: Do not marvel if the creation of the good is divided in a chronological interval (diastema). For in the first creation of the world the divine power does not exhaust to perfect all beings at once but distributes by their fabrication chronological distensions.

Since the mystic and unutterable reason seeks a number, not the accustomed interval (diastema) of days and nights hinders to the action of the divine power of operation. J.290.13.

So shall the Son of man be in the heart of the earth for an interval (diastema) of three days. J.291.2.

Therefore when in this occasion the moon by its form since it completes according to its own course by an interval (diastema) of night, comes the rest to the circle so that light might fulfill with the rays of day. J.297.13.

Hexaemeron (Migne references, PG#44)

Thus being able, by which matter contains all things by wisdom and by power of will establishes regarding completion, gravity, density, lightness, heaviness, pressed together, rarity, softness, hardness, humidity, dryness, coldness, warmth, color, form, circumscription, interval(diastema): all are such notions and mere considerations. 69.42.

The meaning of each is clear: "in the head" is the gathering of everything. Through "the beginning" clearly is what is a moment and lacks interval (adiastatos). The beginning is quite different from an understanding based upon interval (diastema). 72.12.

In like manner according to temporal interval (diastema) is a spacial succession, I mean light and darkness. 77.17.

Because the firmament is called heaven, the measure of perceptible creation from which a certain perceptible creation is comprehended in which is no form, greatness, setting in place, interval (diastema), color, figure, quantity, nor anything which is seen under heaven. 81.46.

Nature is the bound with regard to the terminus of interval (diastema), constituting spacial & temporal (diastema) properties which the perceptible and undiastematic (adiastatos) nature finds. 84.43.

the diastema of three days. 116.16.

...or how through the unerring globe contains the substance in the midst of all interval (diastema) the great wisdom of God constitutes the sun so that we do not wholly walk in the dark and the stars' splendor cause light before we are consumed by the intervening interval (diastema). 117.17, 22.

Therefore the sun's light shines upon us that we are not obscured by a long interval (diastema). 117.24.

Light...between the interval (diastema) of past time which distinguishes similar properties from what is in common. 117.51.

since indeed in time all things move and a myriad of them concurs with each other by a temporal interval (diastema). 120.23.

If all things are established beforehand at once by the Creator's power with regard to their constitution, the distinct manifestation of visible things in the world, are perfected by a certain natural order and sequence in a distinct interval (diastema). 120.16.

On the Making of Man (Migne references, PG#44)

since the interval (diastema) by a course from evil according to necessity turns movement to the good. 201.29.

If anyone now sees in the world's movement a certain order by which is observed a temporal interval (diastema), no one can say that stability receives movement for it is clear that not believing in the beginning by God was the heaven and earth. 209.22.

If God who is simple by nature, immaterial, without quality, magnitude, composed of nothing, circumscribed by no form, contains all material in temporal (diastema) extension. 209.50.

Therefore the dead restored after no small interval (diastema). 220.31.

On the Soul and the Resurrection (Migne references, PG#46)

But the corporeal, is naturally bound by interval (diastema) while the intellectual and non-temporal (adiastema) nature does not admit passions from diastema. 48.26.

But since the punishment of death is for transgressors of the law regarding which death necessarily follows, human life is two-fold, one through the flesh and another outside the body, not according to equal measure of interval (diastema) but circumscribed by a very brief temporal bound. 81.37.

For I do not think that this is easy to attain by those seeking, showing many difficulties how what is moved from a stable nature from simplicity and adiastematic comes the diastematic and composite? 121.32.

Each which is grasped according to corporeal nature, regarding what we say, because nothing of those things regarding the body are the body in itself, not form, color, depth, diastema, complexity, nor any other quality, but the fact of each: their combination and union is the body. 124.40.

Ezekiel in a prophetic spirit all things in the midst of time and what is above this diastema, in his own time foresaw the time of resurrection. 136.15.

On the Song of Songs

This field, even if it is called a valley in comparison to the life of heaven, is in no way less a field, and the soul that is well tended in it is not prevented from being a flower. From this hollow valley the shoot rises up to the heights just as in the case of a lily. Quite often a lily's green shoot runs up to the heights from its roots like a reed; then the flower spreads out on the top. There is also quite a distance (diastema) between the flower and the ground. J.114.7.

For who does not know that at the beginning the assembly from among the nations was dark from idolatry before it became the Church? It lived far from knowledge of the true God and was separated by a great gulf (diastema) of ignorance. J.205.8.

The dead center of a completely bounded object is determined by its equidistance from the circumference. Since a circle has one center, it can never have two centers occupying the same location (diastema). J.349.6.

But in the second restoration, an interval of time (diastema) necessarily accompanies those pursuing the first good. Because our minds incline towards evil, our association with evil is removed like bark which is gradually scraped off by a more becoming life. J.458.20.

Against Fate

As a result, they firmly believe that the stars' light advances and recedes according to their respective orbits, and that the superior light succeeds and hides the inferior light from view. Once the inferior becomes obscured, the following is supposed to happen: a different form appears when the star's revolution encompasses the one lying behind it so that the greater either immediately overshadows it or makes this star turn aside. The orbit occurs in either a brief or longer temporal interval (diastema) according to the revolution's size which bears a necessary correlation to the speed or slowness of each circuit. J.36.10.

In like manner, a person who diligently applies himself to the stars above and considers each one knows their strength by the way in which they are combined. Their influence is not identical with respect to a brief period of time (diastema); instead, their movement never remains the same with respect to other stars, and varying degrees of movement from these stars continuously affects their particular motion. In a short period of time each star's property influences life by foretelling and influencing [the fate of] every person. Just as a seal impresses its form upon wax, so a person whose life is influenced by the stars' movement conforms to their properties and retains their influence right from the beginning. Having been sealed in such a manner, this influence expands to one's activities because the stars have determined his beginning and continue to motivate him. J.39.1.

All types of movement have one measure of time (diastema) whether or not it is from one place to another. If fate does not cause temporal interruptions with regard to the flow of rivers, motion of ships or our wanderings, how can the stars' movement be responsible for them? How can you claim that observation of the stars enables us to perceive the influence of fate upon an hour or fraction of an hour? J.45.21.

On the Beatitudes (Migne references, PG#44.)

Should what appear to be lofty by reason of spacial interval (diastema) but according to intellectual nature which thought cannot ascend unless first it passes by what sense perception touches. 1209.14.

For seeing anything lofty...and being co-extensive with every interval (diastema) of life. 1244.44.

The Life of Gregory the Wonderworker

Therefore Phaidimos was divinely inspired to undertake a journey of three days's distance (diastema) which separated him from Gregory. J.15.21.

Being urged by both the sight and report much like an approaching sound, he remained motionless for a long time (diastema) in their midst. Once this phenomenon happened which had a good effect, [Gregory] regained his composure and praised God with a clear voice. J.49.18.

On Meeting the Lord (De Occursu Domini) (Migne reference, PG#46)

For the Law says that every male...must be purified after an interval (diastema) of forty days. 1157.1.

Concerning Infants Who have Died Prematurely

It is agreed that the universe has one cause and is not responsible for bringing itself into existence. But the universe as a whole is always uncreated, eternal, self-contained, transcends every concept of measurement (diastema), remains constant, is infinite and transcends all bounds. Its nature, time, space and everything in it lies beyond our grasp even if we could grasp anything which existed before it. Divinely inspired teaching also includes human nature. God brings everything into existence; man's created nature is composed of various elements; it is also carefully composed from what is both divine and intelligible. J.77.8.

Against Eunomius

Every discursive effort of thought to go back beyond the ages will ascend only so far as to see that which it seeks can never be passed through: time and its contents seem the measure (diatasis) and the limit of the movement & the working of human thought, but that which lies beyond remains outside its reach. J.135.24.

So that there is no gulf (diastasis) whatever between the being of the Son and the being of the Spirit, is shown by the identity of the power which gives them their subsistence. J.142.26 (72).

Where distance (diastasis) is not considered, indeed is admitted what is in due proportion. J.287.27.

And what we have displayed as an incorruptible and incorporeal consideration so that one name to each, the undiastematic in which the tripartive diastasis of bodies is not seen. J.399.22.

And how can there be any fight or diastasis that dividing God's subsisting power so that one part of his power overthrows another? J.218.15.

Not time, place nor any diastematic thought nor any other thing. To what therefore the sharp and penetrating eye sees the diastasis of the Son's life from that of the Father? J.219.24.

For he showing that not according to any defect or stretching of what is generated to be a diastasis with regard to the ungenerate. J.296.11.

On the Soul and the Resurrection (Migne references, PG#46)

Let the nature of elements be understood, the mixture of various shades of color and again the gift and example of summing up their properties which describe the union and diastasis of elements. 73.49.

When the body is in the grave, the soul is not in the body nor is constituted by parts. It is difficult to narrate its structure, readily to harmonize what is understood according to the truth, unless one transfers the understanding of each so that the chasm of unmixed parts might have commonality, not to understood as a diastasis of the earth. 80.46.

Concerning Those Who have Died

After a day's journey, Moses was illumined by rays of light, that Once the soul is no longer identified with appearances after exiting the body, it is united to that good which is in accord with its nature. No more does the sight of beautiful colors entice the eye, nor do we choose anything else which delights the senses; every bodily perception has now been shaken off. There only remains immaterial thought which comprehends its own good because it freely perceives spiritual beauty which lacks color, form, interval (diastasis) and quantity while at the same time it transcends anything we may conjecture. J.48.23.

Against Eunomius

...in whom was the cause which true religion teaches to have substance from the cause without interval (adiastatos), seeing creation in a diastematic sequence. J.134.2.

In whom the Father is without beginning, ungenerate and always considered as Father from whom the only begotten Son without distension and interruption is considered as the only begotten Son to the Father...So that in no way is divided the undiastamatic nature. J.138.6& 28.

...neither to dissolve the undiastematic union when one's purpose considers the generation. J.191.23.

...immediate is the union of the Son to the Father and neither is the will expelled nor taken away by their adiastematic union which always subsists in a good nature. J.192.16.

...by the splendor the union has no interval (adiastatos), the name of God equally applies to the Father and Son. J.202.24.

For the undiastematic, without quality and uncircumscribed power in himself embracing the ages and containing every creature. J.210.12.

Neither being any age, diastematic concept concerning the divine nature as understood to be without distension (adiastatos). J.217.7.

All extension is understood as a measure of time. But when there is no time, we mean the end & beginning of birth, it would be a vain end & beginning to understand with regard to a birth without interval (adiastatos). J.225.18.

Concerning Those Who have Died

What is the divinity which the soul resembles? It is not the body, lacks form, likeness, quality, figure, depth, place, time and anything else which resembles material creation; rather, once all these attributes are stripped away, the soul reveals its nature which is spiritual, immaterial, invisible, incorporeal and unchangeable. If we contemplate the stamp of the archetype, the soul necessarily conforms itself according to that image. The soul is recognized by its characteristics, that is, as being immaterial, without form (adiastatos), spiritual and incorporeal. J.41.25.

On the Making of Man (Migne reference, PG#44)

To me this verse [ 15.51] seems to be the measure of human nature according to a predefined measure when the number of souls will no longer increase and in a moment of time shows the change of beings by the name of a point and twinkling of an eye that last bound and adiastaton of time. J.208.1.

On the Soul and the Resurrection (Migne reference, PG#46)

This spiritual and adiastaton nature which we call the soul. 45.16.

But neither, he says, is shortened nor diffused that which is intellectual & adiastaton (for what is proper to bodies is a contraction and expansion). 45.36.

On the Song of Songs

Since the shelter of the rock lies close to the wall, your passage from the wall to the rock is short (adiastatos). J.162.10.

On the Inscriptions of the Psalms

Just as the sun overshadowed (adiastatos) by the night is symbolized by these rays, so does this everlasting light abide and constantly shine from a luminous pillar, for it always has beams of sun-like rays. Moses sweetened the bitter, unpotable water by wood and changed the rock into water for the thirsty people. He exchanged earthly food for heavenly food; he gazed into the divine darkness with a keen mind and beheld the invisible God. J.44.14.

In the same way, when the Word bids the soul that has advanced to approach him, it is immediately (adiastatos) strengthened at his command and becomes what he wishes, that is, changed into something divine; and from the glory which the soul had, it is transformed into a loftier glory by a wonderful alteration. J.253.14.

Because creation exists from its very beginning by the divine power, the end of each created being is linked with its beginning (adiastatos): everything created from nothing comes into existence with its beginning. J.458.1.

Thus the end of the first creation is simultaneous (adiastatos) with its beginning, for human nature originated in perfection. J.458.10.

1. Two studies exclusively devoted to apokatastasis, the first being scriptural and the second pertaining to Origen of Alexandria (second century): The Concept of Apokatastasis in Acts by James Parker, III (Austin, Tx, 1978) and Allversohnung by Werner van Laak (Bonn, 1990). I had established the Gregory of Nyssa Home Page in January 1996 which contains numerous translations of his writings, studies with regard to his thought, references to secondary sources and several listings of key words used by Gregory. The Home Page address: http://ucc.uconn.edu/~das93006/nyssa.html. I am grateful to Prof. David Salomon of the University of Connecticut at Storrs for both organizing and being responsible for maintaining this home page.

2. One of the passages in question: "And, if this be the case [referring to the union of body and soul], whether it [the soul] comes as a new creation that has only just been made when the body is seen to have been formed; in which case we should adjudge the reason for its creation to be the need for furnishing the body with a soul; or whether we should think that, having been created some time earlier, it comes for some reason to assume a body. And, if it is believed to be thus drawn into the body for some cause, then the work of knowledge is to determine what that cause may be." The Song of Songs, Ancient Christian Writers #26 (London, 1957), p.135.

3. Presence et Pensee (Paris, 1944), p.59.

4. Many references to the writings of Gregory of Nyssa in this essay will be indicated by the letter "J" followed by a page number. This refers to the critical edition begun under the direction of Werner Jaeger and which continued after his death. The critical editions are published by E.J. Brill, Leiden, The Netherlands; it also forms part of the Thesaurus Linguae Graecae project, University of California at Irvine.

Within passages cited (with the exception of those taken from such sources as The Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers) I put in brackets occasional brief insertions needed for clarification. Those sentences within parentheses form part of the critical texts.

It may be of interest to note that a concordance to Gregory's works exists in microfiche: A Concordance to Gregory of Nyssa by Cajus Fabricius and Daniel Ridings (University of Goteborg, Sweden), 1989.

5. A vague perception also exists that only "scholars" are qualified to read works by someone like Gregory of Nyssa. Granted that the content and literary style of his works are quite dense and that he occasionally uses technical, theological terms and language, Gregory was chiefly concerned with his readers' assimilation of the Christian message.

6. In English, theoria (from which we get the word "theory") is commonly translated as "contemplation" but has a more comprehensive meaning in Greek, the subject of Chapter Four.

7. For references to diastema in the writings of Gregory of Nyssa, refer to Appendix C at the end of this manuscript.

8. Gregory uses a word related to apokatastasis, anakephalaiosis, "recapitulation," "summary." In Appendices A and B I list references from among Gregory's writings which contain these terms.

9. Unless otherwise noted, all scriptural references within this essay are cited according to the Revised Standard Version.

10. When inserting transliterations of Greek words, I will maintain the respective forms as found in each text.

11. "Enoch walked with God; and he was not, for God took him."

12. One personal note on this: I had established the Home Page on Gregory of Nyssa more or less as an experiment, expecting a handful of visitors per week. Within one month of its inception, the home page was accessed by several hundred persons.

13. The Body in the Mind: The Bodily Basis of Meaning, Imagination, and Reason (Chicago, 1987), p.xxvi.

14. Ibid, pp.20-2.

15. For a detailed study on Gregory's concept of freedom, refer to La Conception de la Liberte chez Gregoire de Nysse by Jerome Gaith (Paris, 1953).

16. For example, the ascension of Elijah as an expression of our hope for heaven.

17. Translation: From Glory to Glory, Jean Danielou and Herbert Musurillo (New York, 1961), pp.57-8; translation by Malherbe and Ferguson, pp.113-4.

Compare the following text similar to the Moses one just cited:

In fact, speaking of our race for the prize of our heavenly vocation, Paul advises us to increase our speed; "So run," he says, "that you may obtain [1Cor 9.24]. For he himself came to seize what was before him by an increasingly fast movement, forgetting the things he had left behind. Beatitudes (Ancient Christian Writers, p.100)

18. The verb used here is sunepekteinomene, an intensive form of epektasis, containing the suffix sun.

19. Translation: Malherbe and Ferguson.

20. Translation: The Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers.

21. Another Old Testament individual associated with the theme of ascent is Moses whom Gregory presents as ascending the mountain of God ("steep indeed and difficult to climb," Malherbe and Ferguson, p.93) and where God dwells in inaccessible darkness. However, the figure of Elijah plus that of Enoch are representative of a physical assumption into heaven.

22. This passage contains two keys words I will examine later, taxis ("order") and phurama ("dough").

23. Louis Bouyer comments on this division with Gregory's Life of Moses in mind: "We cannot, without distorting the texts, make the succession of light, cloud, and darkness with Gregory coincide with the three divisions of Origen." The Spirituality of the New Testament and the Fathers (New York and Tournai, 1963), pp.355-6. Gregory himself sums up his division: "The purpose of the book of Proverbs is to teach while that of Ecclesiastes is to preach. The philosophy of the Song of Songs transcends both by its loftier doctrine." Song Commentary, J.18. For a discussion of the different orders used by Origen and Gregory, refer to Platonisme et Theologie Mystique by Jean Danielou (Paris, 1944), pp.17-26.

24. In the Prologue to the Song Commentary Gregory acknowledges his indebtedness to Origen: "Although Origen laboriously applied himself to the Song of Songs, we too have desired to publish our efforts." J.13

25. Cf. my remarks above where the spiritual journey is always a beginning.

26. Cf. the excerpt above from the Commentary on the Song of Songs, J.340-2.

27. There are numerous studies on Gregory of Nyssa's use of the word theoria. One recommended publication: L'Etre et le Temps chez Gregoire de Nysse by Jean Danielou (Leiden, 1970), pp.1-17. On page one Danielou gives a general definition of theoria: "De facon generale, la theoria est l'activite de l'esprit connaissant la realite intelligible des choses et ne s'arretant pas a leur apparence sensible." This definition applies not only to spiritual reality but to how we develop images and metaphors which describe our experience within the spacial-temporal domain. A passage from On Virginity reveals this process of separation and synthesis: "sa raison separe [chorizei] en effet chacune de ces qualities en particulier, puis considere [theorei] comment toutes en commun elles concourent [sundromen] et conspirent [sustasin] a la constitution du sujet." Traite de la Virginite, Sources Chretiennes #119 (Paris, 1966), p.381. Also, I have listed extensive references to theoria from Gregory's works in the Home Page.

28. "But as the mind progresses and, through an ever greater and more perfect diligence, comes to apprehend reality, as it approaches more nearly to contemplation [theoria], it sees more clearly what of the divine nature [ousia] is uncontemplated." Translation by Abraham Malherbe and Everett Ferguson, p.95.

29. The Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, p.489.

30. "Now the resurrection promises nothing else than the restoration [apokatastasis] of the fallen to their ancient state; for the grace we look for is a certain return to the first life, bringing back again to Paradise him who was cast out from it." On the Making of Man, The Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, p.407.

31. Cf. "Secular" and "Ecclesiastical" References in the Commentary on the Song of Songs by Gregory of Nyssa located on the Gregory of Nyssa Home Page. This text gives a fairly extensive list not only of Christian but non-Christian influences which had influenced Gregory in his composition of the Song Commentary.

32. It is important to clarify at this point what I mean by "source." I do not mean writers of various philosophical disciplines which have influenced Gregory in formulating his insights. Important as these are, the primary "source" of interest to me in this manuscript is Gregory's (as well as ours) human capacity to ask comprehensive questions about the meaning of existence in light of Christian revelation. Sometimes when dealing with spiritual writers of the highest calibre, a tendency exists to focus upon those influences which had motivated him or her while neglecting the fact that close examination of one's own being and asking questions about it is the chief "source."

33. Rather, the soul embodies apokatastasis in its essence. Again, refer to Gregory's statement in Ecclesiastes, "the resurrection is nothing other than the apokatastasis."

34. In Chapter Six I will discuss the relationship between pleroma and apokatastasis.

35. Cosmic Man: The Divine Presence (New York, 1988), p.188.

36. For a discussion on the three modes of knowing (sensory, symbolic and spiritual), refer to Eye to Eye: The Quest for the New Paradigm by Ken Wilber (Boston, 1990). Wilber lays out three basic ways to acquire data, all of which may apply to the realms of sensibilia, intelligibilia and transcendelia: "1) Instrumental injunction. This is always of the form, 'If you what to know this, do this.' 2) Intuitive apprehension. This is a cognitive grasp, prehension, or immediate experience of the object domain (or aspect of the object domain) addressed by the injunction; that is, the immediate data-apprehension. 3) Communal confirmation. This is a checking of results (apprehensions or data) with others who have adequately completed the injunctive and apprehensive strands." p.44.

37. Excerpts from The Life of Moses by Malherbe and Fergurson.

38. The Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, p.309.

39. Note the word skopeo which means, "to behold, contemplate." The meaning here is to closely consider an object, not merely to look at it in passing.

40. "De facon generale, la theoria est l'activite de l'esprit connaissant la realite intelligible des choses et ne s'arretant pas a leur apparence sensible." L'Etre et le Temps chez Gregoire de Nysse (Leiden, 1970), p.1.

41. Quoted from Metousia Theou: Man's Participation in God's Perfections According to Saint Gregory of Nyssa by David Balas (Rome, 1966), p.118.

42. Ken Wilber has written about the evolution of human beings from their origen to the present while speculating upon future developments. For a detailed description of his views, refer to Up From Eden: A Transpersonal View of Human Evolution (Boston, 1986). While reading this book, it is interesting to insert the word theoria into each stage of advancement in human consciousness and observe how Wilber "translates" it in his various chapters.

43. I am differentiating how early humans perceived the world with our present age. Nevertheless, all period of human development have witnessed the frequent emergence of holy persons throughout the various stages of evolution. They include shamans, medicine men, witches, priests, saints, all of which have their counterparts in modern society.

44. Again, keep in must that "dust"-Adam does not imply a negative view of created reality standing in sharp opposition to "heavenly"-Christ. These negative elements are of course present, but these two realities signify a balanced account of human nature as well as all aspects of creation.

45. Recall the parable of the wise and foolish maidens, Lk 25.1-13. The wise maidens who took "flasks of oil with their lamps" [vs. 4] were invited by the bridegroom, Christ, into the marriage feast. On the other hand, the foolish maidens who neglected to take oil were left outside: "and the door was shut" [vs. 10].

46. Some authorities on the spiritual life may call this incompleteness illusory. Although true from the vantage point of one who has undergone extensive training, such deficiency can be misleading for those just setting out on the spiritual path.

47. Such an experience may be designated a kairos, a term the New Testament uses to denote a decisive intervention by God into human affairs.

48. "Diastema cannot be understood as a spatial gap between the Creator and the Creation, for that would mean that the diastema is the limit of the Creator as well. It is a unilateral gap--from the side of the creation. It is a "standing apart," a diastasis or an apostasis from the Creator, but the Creation being fully, i.e., with arche, telos and all in between, immediately present to the Creator." Diastema and Diastasis in Gregory of Nyssa: Introduction to a Concept and the Posing of a Problem by T. Paul Verghese in Gregor von Nyssa und Die Philosophie, (Leiden, 1976), p.253.

49. The Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, p.69.

50. These descriptions also apply to that state of suspension because the only way we can depict it is by apophatic terms.

51. The Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, p.406.

52. At the end of this essay in Appendix C I give a listing of key excerpts from Gregory's writings which contain the word diastema as well as its opposite, adiastema.

53. "It (diastema) is thus extension not only in space, but also in time. For what is time after all? It is the interval between the beginning and the end or between inception and perfection. This latter is a particular characteristic of creation, totally absent in God. Gregory never tires of making this distinction in the dispute against Eunomius, for the heart of Eunomius' contention is that the Son has a beginning and therefore that he cannot be God." Cosmic Man by Paulos Mar Gregorios, (New York, 1988), pp. 75-6. Also: "Diastema is so central to the structure of Gregory's thought that he can apply it negatively or positively in three ways--(a) to God, negatively, (b) to the creation, positively, and (c) to the relation between God and the creation in a specially qualified sense." Ibid, p.67.

54. Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, p.67.

55. This passage contains no direct reference to theoria which is derived from the verb theoreo. However, it is interesting to consider because of its close affinity with theaomai, "to view, behold."

56. Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, p.309.

57. From Glory to Glory (Crestwood, NY, 1979 reprint), p.14. On this matter also refer to Presence et Pensee by Hans Urs von Balthasar (Paris, 1942), pp.52-5.

58. The terms epektasis and prokope may be used for this advancement.

59. Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, p.257.

60. The treatment I give akolouthia here parallels in certain respects that given by Danielou in L'Etre et le Temps chez Gregoire de Nysse (Leiden, 1970), pp.18-50.

61. The Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, p.474.

62. L'Etre et Le Temps, p.24.

63. Concerning Those Who Have Died, J.51 (cited several pages above).

64. Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, p.358.

65. It is not my intention to discuss Gregory's view on marriage which may seem alien to the modern mind. In brief, marriage represents corporeal propagation of the human race which implies the distinction between male and female. Gregory maintains that a person is made in God's image or eikon and that the distinction of gender was, as it were, added on to this image.

66. The Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, p.412. The chapter which begins this excerpt runs as follows: "It may be that some one, giving his thought wings to soar towards the sweetness of our hope." Here Gregory insinuates through "hope" that the goal of his reflections upon humankind's origins is not scientific in the modern sense; rather, he wishes us to "soar" using theoria through the various akolouthia or through that distance separating us from God.

67. For Gregory's analogy of "dough" (phurama), refer to Chapter Seven.

68. On the relationship between theoria and allegory, the means by which Gregory articulates his concept on humankind's relationship with God, refer to Thomas Bohm's remarks: "Die Bibel kann--wie sich dies von der Sprachtheorie her nahelegt--Gott in seinem Wesen nicht beschreiben. Sind aber Sprache und Wirklichkeit in dem Sinne aufeinander bezogen, das Sprache die in sich differente Wirklichkeit beschreibt, kann die Bibel in ihrer akolouthia die Anahnlichung an Gott in der absoluten Differenz zu Gott erfassen. Angesichts der Unendlichkeit Gottes ist die Allegorie die notwendige, wenn auch unzureichende Moglichkeit, die Annaherung an Gott im Modus der Sprache darzustellen. Interpretieren--undter Beachtung der Rolle des Lehrers--ist in diesem Kontext selbst ein unendlicher Vorgang der Anahnlichung. Ist die theoria jedoch als Blick in sich selbst und dardurch als Blick auf den vorlaufenden Grund zu verstehen, dann ist die Allegorie--in der Auswertung des von Plotin verwendeten theoria-Begriffs--notwendig auf die historia werwiesen, die Schritt fur Schritt anagogisch auszulegen ist." Theoria: Unendlichkeit Aufstieg (Leiden, 1996), p.230.

69. Translation by Malherbe and Ferguson, p.63.

70. With reference to this passage Jean Danielou notes: "L'ordre des spheres est immutable. Au contraire la terre est l'element le plus immobile selon le mouvement local, mais le plus mobile selon le changement d'order. C'est le domaine de l'ataxia, du desordonne." L'Etre et Le Temps, p.80.

71. Concerning Those Who Have Died, J.55.

72. Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, pp.257 and 296 respectively.

73. Perhaps it would be better to say closer seeing or beholding in the sense of theoria. Here is a practical exercise of this gift.

74. Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, p.459.

75. "The most important meaning of the term, used in singular or plural, is to designate the spatial and temporal or (quasi-)temporal dimensions within which all created being is included. Thus aion and aiones in this sense are intimately connected with diastema and its derivatives, designating the extended or 'distended' character of created existence. Gregory does not use aion (or aiones) as a special term for the mode of duration of spiritual creatures (angels or human souls). It is true, however, that he sometimes restricts the meaning of chronos to the time of empirical history, whereas the aion or aiones include both the material and the spiritual creatures, the present time and the future blessedness." David Balas, Eternity and Time in Contra Eunomium in Gregor von Nyssa und die Philosophie (Leiden, 1976), pp.152-3.

76. Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, p.209.

77. Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, p.211.

78. "Il (akrotaton) designe d'abord chez Gregoire l'extreme limite du mond sensible. Ceci vaut de sa dimension spatiale. Mais nous pouvons observer que c'est vrai aussi de sa dimension temporelle. En ce sens, pour Gregoire, akrotaton est associe a eschaton pour designer la limite extreme du temps." L'Etre et Le Temps chez Gregoire de Nysse, p.198.

79. Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, p.412.

80. Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, p.411.

81. Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, p.464.

82. Transcendent Time and Eternity in Gregory of Nyssa by Paul Plass, from Vigiliae Christianae #34, Leiden, 1980), p.183. Refer to this article for Gregory's treatment of aion.

83. "Even the word God [theos] we understand to have come into usage from the activity of His seeing; for our faith tells us that the Deity is everywhere, and sees [theathai] all things, and penetrates all things, and then we stamp this thought with this name [theos] guided to it by the Holy Voice." Against Eunomius, from Nicene and Post Nicene Fathers, p.309.

84. Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, p.449 and 450, respectively.

85. "Extension" here in the sense of epektasis. Cf. Chapter Two for this word's relationship with epithumia, desire.

86. On the Inscriptions of the Psalms, J.65.

87. The Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, p.489.

88. The Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, p.499.

89. Cf. footnote #6 to the text, ibid, p.489. Consider the following remarks with regard to this passage: "Dies Worte konnen aber nicht so verstanden werden, dass Gregor hier von der Idee (eidos = genos) des Menschen spreche. Wie sollte auf der Ebene der Idee der Logos die geistige mit der sinnlichen Wesenheit vereinen konnen? Davon abgesehen musste diese Vereinigung ein einmaliger und augenblicklich vollendeter Akt sein, da die Idee ja der Zeit entnommen ist und keinen Entfaltungsprozess kennt; dadurch, das alle Menschen an ihr teilhaben, hatten sie auch automatisch (in eigentlichem Sinne) an dem Auferstehungsgeschehen teil. Dagegen wird die Bedeutung der Worte genikotero tini tropo durch die nachfolgenden begrundenden Satze genugend klar bestimmt." Reinhard Hubner, Die Einheit des Leibes Christi bei Gregor von Nyssa (Leiden, 1974), pp.156-7.

90. Against Eunomius, from The Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, p.60. With regard to this passage Reinhard Jakob Kees notes: "Nicht die Unterscheidung von noeton und aistheton, sondern die von Geschaffen und Ungeschaffen ist die Hautunderscheidung. In den aistheta liegt die Unterscheidung von 'Mehr oder Weniger' auf der Hand. Es gibt Qualitaten und Quantitaten. Bei den geschaffenen noeta ist dies nicht so offensichtlich, aber auch feststellbar. Sie verdanken sich namlich enem andeeren, zu dem sie hingeneigt sind, an dem sie teilhaben. Insofern sie nun mehr oder weniger, je nach ihrem freien willen, teilhaben, lasst sich ein 'Mehr oder Weniger' feststellen. Die ungeschaffene Natur kennt einen solchen Unterschied nicht, da sie das Gute nicht qua Teilhabe an einem hoheren Gut hat, sondern das Gute selbst ist." Die Lehre von Der oikonomia Gottes in der Oratio Catechetica Gregor von Nyssa, (Leiden, 1995), p.238.

91. Ancient Christian Writers, volume 18 (London, 1954), pp.173-4.

92. Ancient Christian Writers, volume 18, p.61.

93. L'Etre et Le Temps Chez Gregoire de Nysse, pp.84-5. Danielou further notes (p.85) that the concept of migration (which I have used in conjunction with Elijah) "ne se retrouve pas dans les textes ulterieurs. Il confirme que ces deux groupes d'homelies (De Beatitudinibus and De Oratione) sont de la premiere periode de la vie de Gregoire, anterieurement au De Opificio et a ses recherches cosmologiques."

94. Many traditions within the Christian context related to contemplation speak of this practice as a kind of death not in the sense of a physical dissolution but a radical separation from what is familiar. Such an image of death is often used to foreshadow bodily dissolution; by accustoming ourselves to the practice of theoria through the "practice of death," we are in a better position to understand that the physical kind is not absolute but is a threshold to a life wholly different from what we are familiar.

95. The Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, p.406.

96. Note the words in this text, "the sudden stoppage of time" and "there is no longer anything to be made up in the way of increase to the number of souls." According to Gregory this will occur at some undisclosed point in the future; clearly he obtained this insight through that theoria, the natural consequence of which is suspension of our physical and mental facilities.

97. Here is one example of the regard Gregory had for non-Christian philosophy: "Thus he [Gregory] became great by his acquaintance and attention to pagan philosophy which augments Greek [wisdom] and leads to an understanding of Christianity. Having forsaken the erroneous religion of their ancestors, he sought the truth, for such foreign teaching is not in harmony with regard to Greek beliefs. Since [Gregory] knew that philosophy concerning the divinity was two-fold, Greek and barbarian, he pondered over these conflicting teachings and attempted to confirm each by close attention to their words." Gregory the Wonderworker, J.10.

98. Both Danielou and Hubner note the influence of Hippocrates with regard to sumpnoia: L'Etre et le Temps chez Gregoire de Nysse, pp.51-2 and Die Einheit des Leibes Christi bei Gregor von Nyssa, p.147ff.

99. Not that stasis is the most appropriate word to represent the past. I give stasis a loose identification with the past because it includes everything which we cannot change; stasis stands in contrast to kenosis with its dynamic, forward movement (into the future).

100. Presence et Pensee, p.87.

101. L'Image de Dieu chez Saint Gregoire de Nysse (Paris, 1951), p.116.

102. L'Image de Dieu chez Saint Gregoire de Nysse, pp.117-8. Several passages do not contain the word homoiosis but deal with this theme.

103. L'Image de Dieu chez Saint Gregoire de Nysse, p.118.

104. The Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, p.449.

105. Ancient Christian Writers, p.42.

106. The Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, p.142.

107. The Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, p.524.

108. The Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, p.479.

109. The Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, p.241.

110. The Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, p.410.

111. Gregory sees the ceaseless give and take of natural movement in terms of "vanity:" "The sea is a receptacle for water which tends to flow everywhere; water never ceases to flow while the sea never grows larger. What is the goal of the water's course which always fills the unquenchable sea? What is this influx of water which never fills the ever-constant sea? Ecclesiastes speaks like this that he may explain the insubstantiality of our frenzied pursuits which result from elements constituting man's existence." Commentary on Ecclesiastes, J.286

112. Notice the use of kairos instead of chronos, the latter being a more common name for conventual (circular) time. Kairos means a special occasion or event when God intervenes in human affairs. Thus the "fullness" of kairoi suggests the sum total of those occasions when we perceived God's acting on our behalf.

113. Again, keep in mind my remarks in the last endnote with regard to kairos: the "individual parts" are more specifically kairoi, events of divine revelation or intervention.

114. The Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, p.432.

115. The Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, p.412.

116. Ibid, p.504. With reference to anaplasis and anastoicheiosis Reinhard Jakob Kees says that they refer to "die Zusammensetzung des Getrennten, namlich Leib und Seele" whereas apokatastasis implies "den Eingang in die Gluckseligkeit, in die apatheia, in den gottlichen Chor, in die Gemeinschaft des Gottlich." Dier Lehre von der Oikonomia Gottes in der Oratio Catechetica Gregors von Nyssa (Leiden, 1995), p.178.

117. Ancient Christian Writers (Westminster, Md, 1957), p.52. Translation by R.P. Lawson.

118. Quando Sibi Subiec., 1320A.

119. De Principiis, i.6, 2.

120. Quando Sibi Subiec. PG44.1316D.

121. S.C.: Sources Cretiennes.

122. The Lord's Prayer from Ancient Christian Writers #18, p.61 (1954).

123. Metousia Theou: Man's Participation in God's Perfection According to Saint Gregory of Nyssa by David Balas (Rome, 1966), p.49.

124. The Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers (Grand Rapids, Mi), p.35.

125. Ibid, p.257.

126. Ibid, p.141.

127. Ibid, p.407.

128. Ibid, p.417.

129. Ibid, p.444.

130. Ibid, p.464.

131. Ibid, p.467.

132. Taken from On the Sixth Psalm, Concerning the Octave by Gregory of Nyssa. Published in The Greek Orthodox Theological Review, volume 32, number 1 (Brookline, Ma, 1987), pp.45-6.