Gregory's Position on "Philosophizing."
Gregory is objecting not to true philosophy, but to
argumentation for its own sake. He took this firm stand against excessive
loquaciousness and imprecision during the period of the Arian controversies. He
was opposed to idle curiosity about theological problems and insisted on a
reasonable and well-defined system for acquiring knowledge. He wanted to avoid
exciting the random curiosity of the crowd, which was easily stirred up by
theological argument. At this point those who were initiating the sophistic
tricks of Pyrrho and Chrysippus were benefiting from the general atmosphere of
mistrust and confusion. Gregory therefore tried to set forth his philosophy
according to dogma, and not as an independent system; by following the example
of the fishermen, not Aristotle; in a spiritual way, and not by clever tricks;
and according to the rules of the Church, not the rules of the marketplace."
Gregory hoped to direct the attention of those who were unprepared to things
which were more accessible to them than the mystery of the three suns of the
Divinity. "Think about the world or worlds, about matter, about the soul, about
the intellectual powers, about good end evil, about the resurrection and final
judgment, about the intimate reward, and about the sufferings of Christ."
During the era of the activity of the Cappadocian fathers, the
arguments of the Arians often degenerated into sophistry and a "science of
blasphemy." Gregory tried to fight against this tendency, but he was never
hostile to true theology or philosophy. "Speak when your words are more valuable
than silence, but love silence when it is better than words." Gregory loved and
respected wisdom and for exactly this reason he frequently chose to be silent.
He considered that theology was a way of striving toward God, and therefore he
was restrained in his use of words and much preferred quiet reflection.
thanks to and source:
No comments:
Post a Comment