Nicaea Library › Library

Gregory of Nyssa: Dogmatic Treatises, Select Writings and Letters

Gregory of Nyssa · translated by William Moore and Henry Austin Wilson · 1893

Against Eunomius, the Great Catechism, On the Soul and the Resurrection, On Virginity, and On the Making of Man — the philosophical voice of the Cappadocians.

Edition: Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 2, vol. 5 · www.ccel.org

Free to read, with no account needed. Public domain or openly licensed, with every source named.

Read it free online Download for Windows (free)

From the opening: Letter ii

380. On the Soul and the Resurrection.

On the Making of Man.

On the Holy Trinity.

381. Gregory present at the Second Council. Oration on Meletius.

382-3. Against Eunomius, Books I-XII.

383. Present at Constantinople. Letter xxi.

384. Answer to Eunomius' Second Book.

385. The Great Catechism.

386. Letter xiii.

390. Letter iv.

393. Letter to Flavian.

394. Present for Synod at Constantinople.

395. On Infant's Early Deaths.

The Life and Writings of Gregory of Nyssa.

Chapter I — A Sketch of the Life of S. Gregory of Nyssa

In the roll of the Nicene Fathers there is no more honoured name than that of Gregory of Nyssa. Besides the praises of his great brother Basil and of his equally great friend Gregory Nazianzen, the sanctity of his life, his theological learning, and his strenuous advocacy of the faith embodied in the Nicene clauses, have received the praises of Jerome, Socrates, Theodoret, and many other Christian writers. Indeed such was the estimation in which he was held that some did not hesitate to call him the Father of Fathers' as well as the Star of Nyssa' ."

Gregory of Nyssa was equally fortunate in his country, the name he bore, and the family which produced him. He was a native of Cappadocia, and was born most probably at Cæsarea, the capital, about a.d. 335 or 336. No province of the Roman Empire had in those early ages received more eminent Christian bishops than Cappadocia and the adjoining district of Pontus.

In the previous century the great prelate Firmilian, the disciple and friend of Origen, who visited him at his See, had held the Bishopric of Cæsarea. In the same age another saint, Gregory Thaumaturgus, a friend also and disciple of Origen, was bishop of Neo-Cæsarea in Pontus. During the same century, too, no less than four other Gregories shed more or less lustre on bishoprics in that country. The family of Gregory of Nyssa was one of considerable wealth and distinction, and one also conspicuously Christian.

During the Diocletian persecution his grandparents had fled for safety to the mountainous region of Pontus, where they endured great hardships and privations. It is said that his maternal grandfather, whose name is unknown, eventually lost both life and property. After a retirement of some few years the family appear to have returned and settled at Cæsarea in Cappadocia, or else at Neo-Cæsarea in Pontus, for there is some uncertainty in the account.

Keep reading in the library →

Contents (115 sections)

  1. About this edition
  2. Post-Nicene Fathers
  3. Professor of Church History in the Union Theological Seminary, New York
  4. Grand Rapids, Michigan
  5. Preface
  6. Letter ii
  7. Chapter II — His General Character as a Theologian
  8. Chapter III — His Origenism
  9. Chapter IV — His Teaching on the Holy Trinity
  10. Chapter V — Mss. And Editions
  11. Letter I
  12. Letter II
  13. Book I
  14. Book I (continued)
  15. Book I (continued)
  16. Book I (continued)
  17. Book I (continued)
  18. Book I (continued)
  19. Book I (continued)
  20. Book I (continued)
  21. Book II
  22. Book II (continued)
  23. Book II (continued)
  24. Book II (continued)
  25. Book II (continued)
  26. Book III
  27. Book III (continued)
  28. Book III (continued)
  29. Book IV
  30. Book IV (continued)
  31. Book IV (continued)
  32. Book V
  33. Book V (continued)
  34. Book VI
  35. Book VI (continued)
  36. Book VII
  37. Book VII (continued)
  38. Book VIII
  39. Book VIII (continued)
  40. Book IX
  41. Book X
  42. Book X (continued)
  43. Book XI
  44. Book XI (continued)
  45. Book XII
  46. Introduction to 'Epinoia
  47. Introduction to 'Epinoia (continued)
  48. Introduction to 'Epinoia (continued)
  49. Introduction to 'Epinoia (continued)
  50. Introduction to 'Epinoia (continued)
  51. Introduction to 'Epinoia (continued)
  52. Introduction to 'Epinoia (continued)
  53. Introduction to 'Epinoia (continued)
  54. Introduction to 'Epinoia (continued)
  55. Introduction to 'Epinoia (continued)
  56. Introduction to 'Epinoia (continued)
  57. Preface
  58. Introduction
  59. Chapter III
  60. Chapter IV
  61. Chapters V–VIII
  62. Chapters IX–X
  63. Chapter XI
  64. Chapter XII
  65. Chapter XIII
  66. Chapters XIV–XVI
  67. Chapters XVII–XVIII
  68. Chapters XIX–XX
  69. Chapters XXI–XXII
  70. Chapter XXIII
  71. Chapter XXIV
  72. Chapter XXIV (continued)
  73. Chapter XXIV (continued)
  74. Chapter XXIV (continued)
  75. Chapter XXIV (continued)
  76. Chapter XXIV (continued)
  77. Chapter XXIV (continued)
  78. The first
  79. The first (continued)
  80. The first (continued)
  81. The first (continued)
  82. The first (continued)
  83. Chapters XL–I
  84. Chapters II–V
  85. Chapter VI
  86. Chapters VII–VIII
  87. Chapters IX–XII
  88. Chapters XIII–XV
  89. Chapters XVI–XVII
  90. Chapters XVIII–XX
  91. Chapters XXI–XXIII
  92. Chapters XXIV–XXVI
  93. Chapters XXVII–XXVIII
  94. Chapters XXIX–XXXII
  95. Chapters XXXIII–XXXV
  96. Chapters XXXVI–XXXVII
  97. Chapters XXXVIII–XL
  98. Chapter XXXVIII (continued)
  99. Letter I. — To Eusebius
  100. Letter II. — To the City of Sebasteia
  101. Letter III. — To Ablabius
  102. Letter IV. — To Cynegius
  103. Letter V. — A Testimonial
  104. Letter VI. — To Stagirius
  105. Letter VII. — To a Friend
  106. Letter VIII . — To a Student of the Classics
  107. Letter IX. — An Invitation
  108. Letter X . — To Libanius
  109. Letter XI. — To Libanius
  110. Letter XII . — On his work against Eunomius
  111. Letter XIII. — To the Church at Nicomedia
  112. Letter XIV . — To the Bishop of Melitene
  113. Letter XV. — To Adelphius the Lawyer
  114. Letter XVI. — To Amphilochius
  115. Letter XVIII. — To Flavian

How to cite it

Chicago
Gregory of Nyssa. Gregory of Nyssa: Dogmatic Treatises, Select Writings and Letters. Translated by William Moore and Henry Austin Wilson. Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 2, vol. 5, 1893. https://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/npnf205
MLA
Gregory of Nyssa. Gregory of Nyssa: Dogmatic Treatises, Select Writings and Letters. Translated by William Moore and Henry Austin Wilson, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 2, vol. 5, 1893. https://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/npnf205
APA
Gregory of Nyssa (1893). Gregory of Nyssa: Dogmatic Treatises, Select Writings and Letters (William Moore and Henry Austin Wilson, Trans.). Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 2, vol. 5. https://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/npnf205

More from Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers