St. Gregory, the "Theologian of the Trinity."
The Church has given Gregory the title "Theologian of the
Trinity." This is appropriate for him not only because he spent his whole life
defending the orthodox doctrine of the Trinity against false and heretical
teachings, but also because for him the contemplation of the Trinity is the
ultimate goal of all spiritual life. "Ever since I first freed myself from the
material world," Gregory writes, "I have devoted myself to radiant thoughts of
heaven, and the great intellect, which has taken me away from here, has
separated me from the flesh and hidden me in the heavens. Since then the light
of the Trinity has illuminated me and I can imagine nothing more radiant than
It. From the highest throne in heaven the Trinity pours an ineffable light down
on everyone, and the Trinity is a Source for everything which is separated from
the highest things by time. Since then, I say, I am dead to the world and the
world is dead to me." All of Gregory's religious verses are dedicated to the
Trinity. "The Trinity is my adornment and the goal of my thought," he cries. At
the end of his life he prays to join "my Trinity and Its compound light, my
Trinity, since even Its dimmest shadow leads me to ecstasy."
Much of Gregory's doctrine of the Trinity is developed from the
teaching of Basil the Great, whom he recognized as his "teacher of dogma."
Gregory uses Basil's terminology in his own theology, but in a more exact and
structured way. He does not hesitate to "devise new names" when this is
necessary for him to be clear and orthodox. Gregory is also influenced by
Athanasius, especially in his doctrine on the divinity of the Holy Spirit, even
more than Basil is. About Athanasius Gregory writes: "A great number of Fathers
were first given the ability to know the doctrine of the Son, and Athanasius was
later inspired to teach about the Holy Spirit."
The full strength of Gregory's personal experience and vision
is evident in his doctrine of the Trinity. His basic premise is that "the
Trinity is in truth a Trinity." "In truth" means in reality. The name of the
Trinity, he writes, "does not enumerate several unequal things, but designates a
totality of things which are equal to each other," united by and in nature.
Gregory constantly emphasizes the complete unity of the Divinity. "The perfect
Trinity is composed of three perfect elements." "As soon as I think about One,"
he writes, "I am enlightened by Three. As soon as I distinguish Three, my mind
is elevated to One. When I conceive of One of the Three, I still consider It as
a whole . . . Whenever I contemplate the Three as a totality, I see a single
effulgence, and cannot separate or measure this compound light." The Trinity is
Unity and the Unity is a Trinity. "There is an eternal sharing of nature among
the eternal Three." Each of the Three contemplated by Itself is God, and all
Three contemplated together are also a single God. "One God is revealed in three
lights, and this is the ultimate nature of the Trinity."
Gregory tries to describe the mystery of this nature. The
separate elements in God's nature can be distinguished but not divided. It is a
combination of separate elements. The Divinity is a single whole in Three, and
this whole is Three which contain the Divinity or, rather, which are the
Divinity." It is as though three suns are contained in each other and their
light is blended together. There is no division within the Trinity and It has no
independent sections, just as there is no division or gap between the orb of the
sun and its light. "There is a single Divinity and a single Strength which
abides in the Three as a whole and in each individually, without distinction of
essence or nature, Without growing or shrinking, without addition or
subtraction, everywhere equal and everywhere the same, just as the heavens have
a single beauty and grandeur."
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