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Gregory Theologian Bilingual Anthology, Resources Online and in Print
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17 Pages
Page 16
II
I. The Orations.—These—forty-five in number—raise him to equality with the best Orators of antiquity.
a. The Five Theological Orations.—These won him the title of The Theologian. They were delivered in Constantinople, in defence of the Church's faith in the Trinity, against Eunomians and Macedonians. In the First and Second he treats of the existence, nature, being, and attributes of God, so far as man's finite intellect can comprehend them. In the Third and Fourth the subject is the Godhead of the Son, which he establishes by exposition of Scripture, and by refutation of the specious arguments brought forward by the heretics. In the Fifth he similarly maintains the Deity, and Personality of the Holy Ghost.
b. The Two Invectives against Julian.—These were delivered at Nazianzus after the death of the Emperor, and present us with a very dark picture of his character. The orator dwells upon his attempt to rebuild the Temple at Jerusalem, and its failure, and his overthrow in the campaign against Persia. From these facts he demonstrates the power of God's Justice, and sets forth the Christian doctrine of the Divine Providence inculcating a lesson of trust in God.
c. Moral Orations.—(1) The Apology for his flight. As was said above, it is most probable that this discourse was never actually spoken; if it was, it certainly must have been considerably enlarged afterwards. In it Gregory dwells on the motive of his flight and his return after his forced ordination; he speaks of his love of retirement, but most of all lays stress upon the difficulty of the Priestly Office, its heavy responsibilities and grave dangers, and upon his own sense of unworthiness. His return, he says, was prompted by respect for his hearers and by care for his aged parents; by the fear of losing his father's blessing; and by the recollection of what befel the Prophet Jonas on account of his resistance to the will of God. The remainder of the Oration is practically a treatise on the Priesthood, and was made use of by S. Chrysostom and S. Gregory the Great in their books on the subject.
(2) The Farewell Oration at Constantinople, containing an account of his work there.
(3) On Love of the Poor.
(4) On the Indissolubility of Marriage, the only Sermon of S. Gregory on a definite text which has come down to us.
(5) Three Orations on Peace.
(6) One on Moderation in theological discussion.
Reference address : https://elpenor.org/gregory-nazianzen/orations-introduction.asp?pg=16
