The Usefulness of Platonic and Neoplatonic Terminology for
Approaching Biblical Truths.
Gregory frequently uses Platonic and Neoplatonic terminology.
Part of the reason for this is that his studies had shown him that some of the
philosophers who were secular or "alien," as he described them in a reference to
Plato, had nevertheless waged to approach the truths contained in the Bible.
Therefore their terminology could be useful. Gregory was also motivated by the
need to argue effectively against certain heretical sects whose doctrines were
based on secular philosophy. Furthermore, the use of Platonic comparisons and
imagery had been established by the practice of the school at Alexandria.
Gregory had read Plato and probably Plotinus as well. He knew that the Christian
teachers Clement and Origen had taken some of their material from Plato.
At the same time Gregory always uses the Bible to defend his
arguments. He supports his teaching on the ways of gaining a knowledge of God
with Scriptural texts, which in fact are its primary source. In his application
and interpretation of the Bible he follows the Alexandrian tradition of
exegesis, which was always predominant in the patristic doctrine of the
knowledge of God.
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