The Influence of Plato on Gregory's Doctrine.
Gregory's theories were influenced by Plato, who expressed
similar ideas in Cratylus in the second speech of
Socrates. Things have a definite nature and their names should correspond to it.
Names are θεσει, not φυσει. The lawgiver who creates them is their artist. In
creating them he gives form to the universal idea behind the name by means of
sound. Names are the instruments of the intellect. Plato adds that there
are different kinds of artists and that not everything created by them is
equally valuable. Not all names are adequate and names can be unsuccessful in
the same way that a painting can be a failure. A name is the likeness of a
thing. In Cratylus Plato tries to respond to the question of whether or
not names give us any information about their object, and his answer is
negative. A thing can be known only by observation and contemplation, not by its
name. Aristotle develops Plato's idea and states that names are established by
men and that there are no names which arise from nature.
Gregory follows Plato in his reasoning. He turns his attention
from the name to the thing itself because things represent inexhaustible
experience. Things have a definite being which has been established by God,
their Creator, and not by their names. We can discern their definite nature and
to a certain extent express it but we can never create an exact replica of the
world within our own intellects. This would be a pointless undertaking because
such a replica would hide reality from us. Cognition and language are a means
for overcoming our limitations. They are not a sign of our strength. We need
words and concepts so that we can remember our experiences and describe them to
other people who have not shared them. "It is necessary for us to put signs on
things so that we can explain to each other the activity of our minds. If there
were another way for us to express our thoughts, we would not use words as
intermediaries. We would communicate with each other more clearly and more
purely because our intellects alone would express the very nature of the things
they observed." As the mind becomes purified in its ascent to God, the tongue
falls silent. "Every means of expression is inadequate before the truth."
Contemplation of the truth is beyond words, which are unnecessary to the
intellect when it beholds true being. Contemplation is superior to language, for
language is the instrument of human reason.
Gregory insists that certain experiences cannot be fully
conceptualized. However, the ineffability and incomprehensibility of the
Divinity do not mean that It is unapproachable. On the contrary, Gregory's
belief in the possibility of "deification" is one of the outstanding features of
his theology. What he wants to make clear is that human reason is limited and
that conceptualization should not be respected to the extent that experience is
ignored. Gregory does not deny that language is a valuable means of cognition,
and he cites Scripture to prove his point. This is the reason for his rejection
of the terminology of Eunomius. Gregory emphasizes the independence of the names
of the Trinity, the Father, Son, and Spirit, which have been revealed to us by
God.
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