St. Gregory of Nyssa's Solution to the Logical Problem of the Trinity [Part 3]

 

(notes on Dr. Beau Branson's PhD dissertation on The Logical Problem of the Trinity). 

Defending St. Gregory of Nyssa's Argument for Trinitarian Theology

[1]. The Formal Adequacy of Gregory's Argument - One might object that Gregory's views and arguments in Ad Ablabium are unique to himself and thus would not have counted as the church's formal answer to the anti-Nicene arguments and objections of the Arians at that time period. However, we can see that Gregory is not alone in his views on the Trinity, in particular his idea that because the divine energeia (activity or operation - "energy") is one, that thus the hypostases share the same nature. Other fathers of the church had the same idea. Here are some examples:

"Or who that sees the earth, heaviest of all things by nature, fixed upon the waters, and remaining unmoved upon what is by nature mobile, will fail to understand that there is One that has made and ordered it, even God? Who . . . can resist the inference that there is one Power which orders and administers them, ordaining things well as it thinks fit?" (Athanasius, Against the Heathen, section 36)

"Lastly, that one may not think that there is any difference of work either in time or in order between the Father and the Son, but may believe the oneness of the same operation, He says: The works which I do He does. And again, that one may not think that there is any difference in the distinction of the works, but may judge that the will, the working, and the power of the Father and the Son are the same, Wisdom says concerning the Father: For whatsoever things He does, the Son likewise does the same. John 5:19 So that the action of neither Person is before or after that of the Other, but the same result of one operation. And for this reason the Son says that He can do nothing of Himself, because His operation cannot be separated from that of the Father. In like manner the operation of the Holy Spirit is not separated. Whence also the things which He speaks, He is said to hear from the Father." (Ambrose of Milan, On the Holy Spirit, Book 2, Chapter 12)

"For we confess this blessed Trinity to be One God for this reason, because in these three Persons there is no diversity either of substance, or of power, or of will, or of operation." (Pope Leo the Great, Sermon 75)

"I conclude, then, that what is really essential to Gregory’s solution to the LPT – that “God” expresses an energeia, that the hypostases synergize on that energeia, and that synergizing on this energeia is the fact in virtue of which the hypostases count as “one,” was clearly part of the orthodox (pro-Nicene) consensus" (Branson)

[2] - Answering Semantic Objections - One might object that Gregory's idea of "is God" predicating the energeia rather than the divine nature is an innovation. Two things should be said in response:

1). In church history, the concern was less for a person's semantics as it was for their substantive theology.

2). People often use the same words but intend different meanings when they use them. Church history is certainly no exception to this reality. 

[3]. Answering Metaphysical Objections - The aspect of St. Gregory's metaphysics that is essential for his defense of the Trinity is his view that the hypostases are distinct while sharing a distinct token energeia. Someone could argue that the concept of synergy is impossible. Donald Davidson, in his work on the individuation of events, has shown otherwise. His final conclusion was that synergy was indeed philosophically and logically possible. 

Another objection to Gregory's view would be that ousia are not individuated by energeia. Here is the response to this objection:

1) Michael Rene Barnes in his book The Power of God: Dynamis in Gregory of Nyssa's Trinitarian Theology has shown that the idea of ousia being individuated by their energeia or properties is something that goes all the way back to pre-Socratic philosophy. In more modern times, Syndey Shoemaker has defended the idea that properties are individuated by their causal powers. 

[4]. Answering Theological Objections - One might object that the idea of the hypostases in the Holy Trinity sharing the same energeia is unbiblical. However, I would encourage them to take a look at John 5:17-19:

"But Jesus answered them, 'My Father is working until now, and I am working.' This was why the Jews were seeking all the more to kill him, because not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God.So Jesus said to them, 'Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of his own accord, but only what he sees the Father doing. For whatever the Father does, that the Son does likewise." (John 5:17-19 ESV)