Lately, I have been studying more of the Cappadocian fathers. One of them is Gregory of Nyssa. Between Catholics and Protestants, he is cited by both sides to prove their respective theological viewpoints.
More recently, I also have been reading articles from Roman Catholic apologists where they provide patristic citations which they think prove the immaculate conception of Mary. One such article is from Dave Armstrong (link). A lot of cut-and-paste type citations from the church fathers can be found in this article, usually without any context provided to them so the reader can check for themselves.
In the section on Gregory of Nyssa, Armstrong posts the following quote from the Cappadocian father (which is cited by other Roman Catholic apologists as well):
"It was, to divulge by the manner of His Incarnation this great secret; that purity is the only complete indication of the presence of God and of His coming, and that no one can in reality secure this for himself, unless he has altogether estranged himself from the passions of the flesh. What happened in the stainless Mary when the fulness of the Godhead which was in Christ shone out through her, that happens in every soul that leads by rule the virgin life." (On Virginity, 2; NPNF 2, Vol. V, 344)
First of all, it needs to be clear what Gregory of Nyssa is talking about when he speaks of Mary "stainless" in this context. Note that he is addressing the issues of sex and virginity (the whole name of the treatise is "On Virginity", after all). In the previous sentence, Gregory speaks of those who have "estranged himself from the passions of the flesh". This provides us with the context for what he is talking about (i.e. sexual sin, things like fornication and adultery). Mary was "stainless" as regards the "passions of the flesh". Is this the same thing as the doctrine of the immaculate conception? Not at all. For starters, here is the official definition of the dogma of the immaculate conception from Ineffabilis Deus:
"[Mary] in the first instant of her conception, by a singular privilege and grace granted by God, in view of the merits of Jesus Christ, the Savior of the human race, was preserved exempt from all stain of original sin" (https://www.papalencyclicals.net/pius09/p9ineff.htm)
That is not what Gregory of Nyssa is teaching in this quote. That does not fit with the context of his writing here. He is talking about virginity, and how Mary was "stainless" in that regard.
Furthermore, the immaculate conception wouldn't fit with Gregory of Nyssa's theology in light of what he says elsewhere:
"Only the Lord is free from the adversary's possessions; he conformed himself to us and our passions yet had no sin [Hebrews 4:15]. "The prince of this world is coming and he has no power over me" [John 14:30]. Anyone who takes care to cleanse himself by repentance can observe persons who allow virtue to shine through. Paul despised the evil of unbelief by accepting the gift of prophecy [Galatians 2:8-9] since it had the treasure he sought. Isaiah lost all impurity of word and thought through purification by the divine coal [Isaiah 6:6-7] and was filled by the Holy Spirit. He lost every bit by participating in the good or anything he reckoned contrary to it. And so, the temperate man loses licentiousness, the righteous loses unrighteousness, the modest person loses arrogance, the benevolent loses jealousy and the loving person loses hostility. Similarly, the blind man in the Gospel found what he did not have and lost what he already had [Mark 8:22-26], that is, the splendor of light took the place of his blindness. Also the leper received the boon of health [Matthew 8:1-4], and life was bestowed upon those who rose from the dead while death passed away [Mark 1:40-45]. Therefore our teaching claims that we cannot possess anything on high unless we lose our earthly, humble qualities." (Gregory of Nyssa, Commentary on Ecclesiastes, Homily 7)
In the above quote, Gregory says explicitly that "only the Lord" (referring to Jesus) is free from the "devil's possessions", and immediately puts sin forward as one of those "possessions", citing Hebrews 4:15.
No comments:
Post a Comment