Editing Gregory of Nazianzus (section)

=== Theological and other works ===
<!-- As of 2024-05-18, ''[[Poemata Arcana]]'' redirects here. Please update this redirect if changing the section title.-->

Gregory's most significant theological contributions arose from his defense of the doctrine of the [[Trinity]]. He is especially noted for his contributions to the field of [[Pneumatology (Christianity)|pneumatology]] — that is, theology concerning the nature of the [[Holy Spirit in Christianity|Holy Spirit]].<ref>Michael O'Carroll, "Gregory of Nazianzus" in ''Trinitas'' (Wilmington, DE, Michael Glazier, 1987).</ref> In this regard, Gregory is the first to use the idea of ''procession'' to describe the relationship between the Spirit and the Godhead: "The Holy Spirit is truly Spirit, coming forth from the Father indeed but not after the manner of the Son, for it is not by generation but by ''procession'', since I must coin a word for the sake of clearness."<ref>Gregory of Nazianzus, ''Five Theological Orations'', oration five. This fifth oration deals entirely with the Holy Spirit.</ref> Although Gregory does not fully develop the concept, the idea of procession would shape most later thought about the Holy Spirit.<ref>HEW Turner and Francis Young, "Procession(s)" in ''The Westminster Dictionary of Christian Theology'', ed. A. Richardson and J. Bowden (Philadelphia, Westminster Press, 1983). Through Augustine, the idea would develop in the West into "double-procession", resulting in the ''[[Filioque|Filioque clause]]'' and the split between Eastern and Western Christianity.</ref>

He emphasized that Jesus did not cease to be God when he became a man, nor did he lose any of his divine attributes when he took on human nature. Furthermore, Gregory asserted that Christ was fully human, including a full human soul. He also proclaimed the eternality of the Holy Spirit, saying that the Holy Spirit's actions were somewhat hidden in the [[Old Testament]] but much clearer since the ascension of Jesus into Heaven and the descent of the Holy Spirit at the feast of Pentecost.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Meinel |first=Fabian |date=2009 |title=Gregory of Nazianzus' ''Poemata Arcana'': ἄρρητα and Christian Persuasion |journal=The Cambridge Classical Journal |volume=55 |pages=71–96 |doi=10.1017/S1750270500000208 |jstor=44688044 |s2cid=170730880 |issn=1750-2705}}</ref>

In contrast to the Neo-Arian belief that the Son is ''anomoios'', or "unlike" the Father, and with the [[Semi-Arian]] assertion that the Son is {{Transliteration|grc|[[Homoiousian|homoiousios]]}}, or "like" the Father, Gregory and his fellow Cappadocians maintained the Nicaean doctrine of {{lang|grc|homoousia}}, or [[consubstantiality]] of the Son with the Father.<ref name="Børtnes">{{Citation |last=Børtnes |date=2006 |title=Gregory of Nazianzus - Images and Reflections}}</ref>{{rp |9–10}} The Cappadocian Fathers asserted that God's nature is unknowable to man; helped to develop the framework of {{Transliteration|grc|[[Hypostasis (philosophy and religion)|hypostases]]}}, or three persons united in a single Godhead; illustrated how Jesus is the {{Transliteration|grc|[[icon|eikon]]}} of the Father; and explained the concept of {{Transliteration|grc|[[Theosis (Eastern Orthodox theology)|theosis]]}}, the belief that all Christians can be assimilated with God in "imitation of the incarnate Son as the divine model".<ref name="Børtnes" />{{rp |10}}

Some of Gregory's theological writings suggest that, like his friend [[Gregory of Nyssa]], he may have supported some form of the doctrine of [[Apokatastasis]], the belief that God will bring all of creation into harmony with the [[Kingdom of heaven (Gospel of Matthew)|Kingdom of Heaven]].<ref>"[http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/encyc01.html?term=Apocatastasis Apokatastasis]", ''New Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge, Vol. I''.</ref> This led [[Philip Schaff]] and late-nineteenth century [[Christian universalists]] such as [[John Wesley Hanson]] to describe Gregory's theology as universalist.<ref>Hanson, J. W.; ''Universalism - The Prevailing Doctrine Of The Christian Church During Its First Five Hundred Years''. [http://www.tentmaker.org/books/Prevailing.html#211 Chapter XV: Gregory Nazianzen], Boston and Chicago [[Universalist Church of America|Universalist Publishing House]], 1899.</ref> This view of Gregory is also held by some modern theologians such as John Sachs, who said that Gregory had "leanings" toward apokatastasis, but in a "cautious, undogmatic" way.<ref>Sachs, John R.; "Apocatastasis in Patristic Theology", Theological Studies, 54 (December 1993), p. 632.</ref> However, it is not clear or universally accepted that Gregory held to the doctrine of Apokatastasis.<ref>David L. Balas, "Apokatastasis" in ''The Encyclopedia of Early Christianity'', second edition, ed. Everett Ferguson (New York, [[Garland Science|Garland Publishing]], 1997), details [[Gregory of Nyssa]]'s adherence to the doctrine, while making no mention of Gregory of Nazianzus.</ref>

Apart from the several theological discourses, Gregory was also one of the most important early Christian men of letters, a very accomplished orator, even perhaps one of the greatest of his time.<ref name="Børtnes" />{{rp |21}} Gregory was also a very prolific poet who wrote theological, moral, and biographical poems.<ref>{{Cite thesis |last=McDonald |first=James Joseph |title=Paideia in the poetry of Gregory Nazianzen |type=PhD thesis |publisher=University of Glasgow |date=2020 |url=https://theses.gla.ac.uk/81630/23/2020McDonaldJJPhD.pdf |access-date=31 January 2025}}</ref> The book VIII of the ''[[Greek Anthology]]'' contains exclusively 254 [[epigrams]] of his.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Storin |first=Bradley K. |title=In a Silent Way: Asceticism and Literature in the Rehabilitation of Gregory of Nazianzus |url=https://www.academia.edu/29216789 |website=Academia.edu |access-date=31 January 2025}}</ref>