14
June. Day of Remembrance by
Lutherans of Gregory of Nyssa.
Mr. Graves tells his version.
In front of
Gregory's eyes were remains from forty brave men who had died rather than
betray Jesus. Throughout Cappadocia (a region now in central Turkey), the story
was well known. But to see their actual bones... It transformed the story into
reality for him: the forty's defiance of their emperor's order to pour out a
drink offering (libation) to a heathen god, their whipping, imprisonment and
finally their death, exposed naked all night on ice. Gregory considered himself
a Christian. Suddenly he saw that God had the right to demand his whole life.
At once he determined to live his
life completely for Christ. But what did the Lord want of him? To become a
priest? Gregory thought about it, but decided it wasn't for him. He became a
professional orator (more or less a lawyer) like his father, married and
settled down, but served the church as an active layman. Gregory's brother,
known to us as Basil the Great, liked to put people in slots of his own
choosing. He needed bishops who would support him against the Arian heresy
(which denied the full divinity of Christ). He urged Gregory to reconsider.
Eventually Gregory listened and became a priest. This did not alter his
marriage. In that time and place, priests married.
Soon Basil made Gregory the
bishop of Nyssa, a small town near Caesarea. (That is why we refer to Gregory
as Gregory of Nyssa.) But his appointment was a disaster. He was not made for
administration. Naive, he did not get along with the church and its Arians. His
opponents accused him of mismanagement and embezzling church funds. The last
accusation was false but caused him difficulties anyhow.
He was arrested but escaped. In
his absence, a local council deposed him. For two years he wandered the region
until a change in politics changed his status. A new emperor came to the throne
and issued an edict or proclamation of tolerance concerning the religious
conflict. Gregory returned to Nyssa where he was warmly welcomed.
Basil died soon afterward and
Gregory took on a more important role in the defense of orthodox belief. He was
a leader in two councils and defended the Trinity.
He also wrote many books.
Passages from these are considered quite beautiful. His book on Moses urged
people to a deeper spiritual life. He taught that it is not so much our sins
that keep us out of heaven as our unwillingness to accept God's freely offered
forgiveness. For example, when the Israelites came out of Egypt, they grumbled,
worshipped an idol, and engaged in a sexual orgy. In spite of all this, God led
them toward the Promised Land. What kept them out was their refusal to believe
the report of Joshua and Caleb. Instead, they accepted the report of the ten
frightened spies. In the same way, we must believe Christ if we are to enter
Heaven, he taught.
The Lutheran Church commemorates
Gregory of Nyssa on this day, June 14.
Bibliography:
1. Baring-Gould, S. Lives of the
Saints. Edinburgh: John Grant, 1914, also the source of the picture.
2. "Gregory of Nyssa, St."
The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church. Edited by F. L. Cross and E. A.
Livingstone. Oxford, 1997.
3. LeClercq, H. "St. Gregory of
Nyssa." The Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton, 1914.
4. Schaff, Philip and Wace, Henry. A
Select library of Nicene and post-Nicene fathers of the Christian church.
Second series. Translated into English with prolegomena and explanatory notes,
under the editorial supervision of Philip Schaff and Henry Wace. Grand Rapids,
Mich., W. B. Eerdmans Pub. Co., 1952 - 57.
5. Various encyclopedia and internet
articles.
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