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St. Gregory of Nyssa (d. ca. 386 A.D.)
Of the three "Cappadocian Fathers" Gregory of Nyssa was the most brilliant and accomplished. His humanism is laudable, and he sided with Origen on the topic of restoration of all beings, declaring that salvation must be collective - i.e., involving all of humanity - leaving no created being out. However, as Berdyaev remarked, Gregory did not pursue this ideal with the dogged conviction of Origen, and so lapsed into silence on the matter - a fact that saved him from ultimate condemnation. Nevertheless, in Gregory we find a Christian thinker whose zeal for the preservation of Orthodoxy is unmatched. Yet, for all his zeal, he never ceases to plumb the mysterious depths of his faith. For this reason he is, like Origen, an authentic philosopher of the early Church.
Selected Works:
Against Eunomius
Answer to Eunomius’ Second Book
The Great Catechism
Letters
Also See in Theandros:
Spring 2004 - Eschatology and final restoration (apokatastasis) - Andreas Andreopoulos
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