“A few drops of His blood recreates the entire world”: Gregory Nazianzen’s Final Oration (with a background on the Cappadocian Fathers and the formation of the Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed)
Background to the Cappadocian Fathers, the First Two Ecumenical Councils and the formation of the Creed
This is the second selection from a collection of over 350 of Basil’s letters and is written to Gregory of Nazianzus, one of Basil’s closest lifelong friends. Basil (329-379) together with his brother, Gregory of Nyssa (335-394) as well as Gregory Nazianzen (later known as Gregory the Theologian, 325-389), became known as the Cappadocian Fathers due to their lifetime friendship and critical ministries in the southwest of Cappadocia during the periods between the First and Second Ecumenical Councils (325 and 381, respectively).
Though we will, no doubt, return to this theme, their theological labors in this period would lay the foundations for the establishment of true Nicene, trinitarian theology, the fruits of which we are still reaping after nearly two millennia. That is to say, if we recite in our particular churches the Nicene Creed, we are, in the words of Jesus, “entering into their labor”:
‘One sows and another reaps.’ I sent you to reap that for which you have not labored; others have labored, and you have entered into their labors (Jn 4:37-38).
For these were precisely those who “laid the foundation, and another builds on it;” and the “foundation” on which they built was none other than “Jesus Christ” (I Cor 3:11).
In the first council, Athanasius would fight (Athanasius contra mundum) to uphold the full divinity of the Son with the Father, introducing the critical word into the creed that Jesus was homoousios (‘of the same’ [homo] ‘being’ [ousios]) with the Father. This first creed would end with one short line on the Third Person of the trinity:
“And we believe in the Holy Spirit.”
The ecumenical document ends with the warning that struck at the heart of Arianism (and Gnosticism):
But as for those who say, There was when He was not,
and, Before being born He was not,
and that He came into existence out of nothing,
or who assert that the Son of God is of a different hypostasis or substance,
or created,
or is subject to alteration or change
—these the Catholic and apostolic Church anathematizes.
(The original Greek text with the first Latin translation can be found here)
In the second council, Gregory of Nazianzus, who presided over the 150 bishops present, would drive forward Basil’s (who was now two-years deceased) work, De Spiritu Sancto so as to uphold the full divinity of the Holy Spirit, expanding its teaching for the Church. As such, the Creed of Constantinople (381) would profess:
And [we believe] in the Holy Spirit, the Lord and life-giver,
Who proceeds from the Father,
Who with the Father and the Son is together worshipped and together glorified,
Who spoke through the prophets;
[And we believe] in one holy Catholic and apostolic Church.
We confess one baptism for the remission of sins;
We look forward to the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come.
Amen
(The original texts and translations can again be found here.)
Taken together, then, these two councils under the leadership of Athanasius, Basil and Gregory, enabled the formation of the Nicene Creed, or more precisely, the Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed.
Brief Background to the intertwined lives of Gregory and Basil
Gregory (also known as Gregory Nazianzen and Gregory the Theologian) was born at Arianzus in Asia Minor c. 325 and died at the same place in 389. He was the son of Gregory (329-374), also a Bishop of Nazianzus, who had been converted to the orthodox faith by the influence of his wife prior to his own birth and his brothers’ births. Both brothers were sent to a famous school at Caesarea, capital of Cappadocia, and educated by Carterius, who was likely the later tutor of John Chrysostom (347-407). It was here that where he first met and befriended Basil and his brother, Gregory of Nyssa.
From Caesarea in Cappadocia, Gregory proceeded to Caesarea in Palestine, where he studied rhetoric under Thespesius. For further training, he continued on to Alexandria, where Athanasius (293-373) was then bishop, though at the time in exile (one of his six exiles, many of which would be spent in the Desert communities under the tutelage of Anthony). Given his intellectual ability, Gregory was finally sent from Alexandria to complete his studies in philosophy at the University of Athens, which was the chief institution of learning in the ancient world at that time. It was here where he again met Basil, renewing what would become a lifelong friendship.
Studying rhetoric under the famous teachers Himerius and Proaeresius, their acumen was such that they were both asked to remain on faculty at the University. While Gregory stayed in Athens for ten years, Basil would ultimately return home, being increasingly pressed by his devout sister, Macrina. In the years that followed, Basil would go on to establish a monastic settlement on the family estate at Annesi in Pontus. There his decades of labor in this community, which would lead him to travel around the Ancient Near East even to the communities of the Desert Fathers so as to better understand the dynamics of living Life Together through and in Christ, would lead to the eventual composition of his Short and Long Rules, which form the foundation of every monastic community in Eastern Orthodoxy even to this day.
Background to the 45th oration on Easter
The Second Oration on Easter was delivered in the church of Arianzus, a village near Nazianzus, where he had inherited property, to which he withdrew after resigning the Archbishopric of Constantinople, and then, finding the administration even of the little Bishopric of Nazianzus too much for his advancing years and declining strength, he retired to Arianzus about the end of A.D. 383, dying there in 389 or 390.
"The exordium of this discourse is quite in the style of the Bible; the Orator here describes and puts words into the mouth of the Angel of the Resurrection. His object is to show the importance of the day's solemnities, and to explain allegorically all the circumstances of the ancient Passover, applying them to Christ and the Christian life. Two passages are borrowed verbatim from the discourse on the Nativity, preached at Constantinople" (Benoit).
The full text of the sermon is here. The closing sections are below.
The text of the final sections of the Oration
XXIII. Now we will partake of a Passover which is still typical; though it is plainer than the old one. For that is ever new which is now becoming known. It is ours to learn what is that drinking and that enjoyment, and His to teach and communicate the Word to His disciples. For teaching is food, even to the Giver of food.
Come hither then, and let us partake of the Law, but in a Gospel manner, not a literal one; perfectly, not imperfectly; eternally, not temporarily. Let us make our Head, not the earthly Jerusalem, but the heavenly City (Heb 12:22); not that which is now trodden under foot by armies (Lk 21:20-24), but that which is glorified by Angels. Let us sacrifice not young calves, nor lambs that put forth horns and hoofs, in which many parts are destitute of life and feeling; but let us sacrifice to God the sacrifice of praise upon the heavenly Altar, with the heavenly dances; let us hold aside the first veil; let us approach the second, and look into the Holy of Holies.
Shall I say that which is a greater thing yet? Let us sacrifice ourselves to God (Rom 12:1-2); or rather let us go on sacrificing throughout every day and at every moment. Let us accept anything for the Word's sake. By sufferings let us imitate His Passion: by our blood let us reverence His Blood: let us gladly mount upon the Cross. Sweet are the nails, though they be very painful. For to suffer with Christ and for Christ is better than a life of ease with others.
XXIV. If you are a Simon of Cyrene take up the Cross and follow (Mk 15:21) . If you are crucified with Him as a robber, acknowledge God as a penitent robber (Lk 23:42) . If even He was numbered among the transgressors for you and your sin, do you become law-abiding for His sake (Is 53:12). Worship Him Who was hanged for you, even if you yourself are hanging; make some gain even from your wickedness; purchase salvation by your death; enter with Jesus into Paradise (Lk 23:43) so that you may learn from what you have fallen (Rev 2:5).
Contemplate the glories that are there; let the murderer die outside with his blasphemies; and if you be a Joseph of Arimathæa, beg the Body from him that crucified Him (Lk 23:52), make your own that which cleanses the world (1 Jn 1:7). If you be a Nicodemus, the worshipper of God by night, bury Him with spices (Jn 19:39). If you be a Mary, or another Mary, or a Salome, or a Joanna, weep in the early morning. Be first to see the stone taken away, and perhaps you will see the Angels and Jesus Himself. Say something; hear His Voice. If He say to you, “Touch Me not”, stand afar off; reverence the Word, but grieve not; for He knows those to whom He appears first.
Keep the feast of the Resurrection; come to the aid of Eve who was first to fall, of Her who first embraced the Christ, and made Him known to the disciples. Be a Peter or a John; hasten to the Sepulchre, running together, running against one another, vying in the noble race. And even if you be beaten in speed, win the victory of zeal; not looking into the tomb, but going in. And if, like a Thomas, you were left out when the disciples were assembled to whom Christ shows Himself, when you do see Him be not faithless; and if you do not believe, then believe those who tell you; and if you cannot believe them either, then have confidence in the print of the nails (Jn 20:24-29). If He descend into Hell (1 Pet 3:19), descend with Him. Learn to know the mysteries of Christ there also, what is the providential purpose of the twofold descent, to save all men absolutely by His manifestation, or there too only them that believe.
XXV. And if He ascend up into Heaven (Lk 24:51), ascend with Him. Be one of those angels who escort Him, or one of those who receive Him. Bid the gates be lifted up, or be made higher, that they may receive Him, exalted after His Passion. Answer to those who are in doubt because He bears up with Him His body and the tokens of His Passion, which He had not when He came down, and who therefore inquire, “Who is this King of Glory? that it is the Lord strong and mighty” (Ps 24:8) as in all things that He has done from time to time and does, so now in His battle and triumph for the sake of Mankind. And give to the doubting of the question the twofold answer. And if they marvel and say as in Isaiah's drama Who is this that comes from Edom and from the things of earth? Or How are the garments red of Him that is without blood or body, as of one that treads in the full wine-press (Is 63:1)? set forth the beauty of the array of the Body that suffered, adorned by the Passion, and made splendid by the Godhead, than which nothing can be more lovely or more beautiful.
XXVI. To this what will those cavilers say, those bitter reasoners about Godhead, those detractors of all things that are praiseworthy, those darkeners of Light, uncultured in respect of Wisdom, for whom Christ died in vain, unthankful creatures, the work of the Evil One. Do you turn this benefit into a reproach to God? Will you deem Him little on this account, that He humbled Himself for your sake, and because to seek for that which had wandered the Good Shepherd, He who lays down His life for the sheep (Jn 10:11) came upon the mountains and hills upon which you used to sacrifice (Hos 4:13), and found the wandering one; and having found it, took it upon His shoulders, on which He also bore the wood (Gen 22:6-8-> Jn 19:17); and having borne it, brought it back to the life above; and having brought it back, numbered it among those who have never strayed.
That He lit a candle, (Lk 15:4-5) His own flesh, and swept the house, by cleansing away the sin of the world, and sought for the coin, the Royal Image that was all covered up with passions, and calls together His friends, the Angelic Powers, at the finding of the coin, and makes them sharers of His joy, as He had before made them sharers of the secret of His Incarnation (Lk 15:8-10)? That the Light that is exceeding bright should follow the Candle — Forerunner, and the Word, the Voice, and the Bridegroom, the Bridegroom's friend, that prepared for the Lord a peculiar people and cleansed them by the water in preparation for the Spirit (Mt 3:11; I Jn 5:6-8)?
Do you Reproach God with this? Do you conceive of Him as less because He girds Himself with a towel and washes His disciples (Jn 13:4-5) and shows that humiliation is the best road to exaltation (Mt 23:12), because He humbles Himself for the sake of the soul that is bent down to the ground, that He may even exalt with Himself that which is bent double under a weight of sin?
How comes it that you do not also charge it upon Him as a crime that He eats with Publicans and at Publicans' tables (Mk 2:15-16), and makes disciples of Publicans (Lk 15:2) that He too may make some gain?
And what gain?
The salvation of sinners. If so, one must blame the physician for stooping over suffering and putting up with evil smells in order to give health to the sick; and him also who leans over the ditch, that he may, according to the Law, save the beast that has fallen into it (Lk 14:3-6).
XXVII. He was sent, but sent according to His Manhood (for He was of two Natures), since He was hungry and thirsty and weary, and was distressed and wept, according to the Laws of human nature. But even if He were sent also as God, what of that? Consider the Mission to be the good pleasure of the Father, to which He refers all that concerns Himself, both that He may honour the Eternal Principle, and that He may avoid the appearance of being a rival God (Phil 2:5-11).
For He is said on the one hand to have been betrayed (Jn 13:18-30), and on the other it is written that He gave Himself up (Mt 20:17-19); and so too that He was raised and taken up by the Father (Acts 2:32-33; Rom 6:3-4; 8:9-11), and also that of His own power He rose and ascended (Jn 10:17-18). The former belongs to the Good Pleasure, the latter to His own Authority; but you dwell upon all that diminishes Him, while you ignore all that exalts Him.
For instance, you score that He suffered, but you do not add of His own Will. Ah, what things has the Word even now to suffer! By some He is honoured as God but confused with the Father; by others He is dishonoured as Flesh, and is severed from God. With whom shall He be most angry— or rather which shall He forgive — those who falsely contract Him, or those who divide Him?
For the former ought to have made a distinction, and the latter to have made a Union, the one in number, the other in Godhead.
Do you stumble at His Flesh (I Cor 1:18-25)?
So did the Jews.
Do you call Him a Samaritan (Jn 8:46-52) and the rest which I will not utter? This did not even the demons (Mk 1:24; Jam 2:19), O man more unbelieving than demons, and more stupid than Jews. The Jews recognized the title Son as expressing equal rank; and the demons knew that He who drove them out was God (Mk 5:7), for they were persuaded by their own experience.
But you will not either admit the equality or confess the Godhead. It would have been better for you to have been circumcised and a demoniac— to reduce the matter to an absurdity — than in uncircumcision and robust health to be thus ill and ungodly disposed. But for our war with such men, let it be brought to an end by their returning, however late, to a sound mind, if they will; or else if they will not, let it be postponed to another occasion, if they continue as they are. Anyhow, we will have no fear when contending for the Trinity with the help of the Trinity.
XXVIII. It is now needful for us to sum up our discourse as follows: We were created that we might be made blessed. We were made blessed when we were created. We were entrusted with Paradise that we might enjoy life. We received a Commandment that we might obtain a good repute by keeping it; not that God did not know what would take place, but because He had laid down the law of Free Will.
We were deceived because we were the objects of envy. We were cast out because we transgressed. We fasted because we refused to fast, being overpowered by the Tree of Knowledge. For the Commandment was ancient, coeval with ourselves, and was a kind of education of our souls and curb of luxury, to which we were reasonably made subject, in order that we might recover by keeping it that which we had lost by not keeping it.
We needed an Incarnate God, a God put to death, that we might live. We were put to death together with Him, that we might be cleansed; we rose again with Him because we were put to death with Him; we were glorified with Him, because we rose again with Him (Rom 6:1-10).
XXIX. Many indeed are the miracles of that time:
God crucified; the sun darkened and again rekindled; for it was fitting that the creatures should suffer with their Creator; the veil rent; the Blood and Water shed from His Side; the one as from a man, the other as above man; the rocks rent for the Rock's sake; the dead raised for a pledge of the final Resurrection of all men; the Signs at the Sepulcher and after the Sepulcher, which none can worthily celebrate; and yet none of these equal the Miracle of my salvation. A few drops of Blood recreate the entire world, and become to all men what rennet is to milk, drawing us together and compressing us into unity.
XXX. But, O Pascha, great and holy and purifier of all the world — for I will speak to you as to a living person — O Word of God and Light and Life and Wisdom and Might — for I rejoice in all Your names — O Offspring and Expression and Signet of the Great Mind (nous); O Word conceived and Man contemplated, Who bearest all things, binding them by the Word of Your power; receive this discourse, not now as firstfruits, but perhaps as the completion of my offerings, a thanksgiving, and at the same time a supplication, that we may suffer no evil beyond those necessary and sacred cares in which our life has been passed;
And stay the tyranny of the body over us; You see—O Lord, how great it is and how it bows me down—Your own sentence, if we are to be condemned by You. But if we are to be released, in accordance with our desire, and be received into the Heavenly Tabernacle, there too it may be we shall offer You acceptable Sacrifices upon Your Altar, to Father and Word and Holy Spirit; for to You belongs all glory and honour and might, world without end. Amen.