The Teaching on Heaven as the Ultimate Fulfillment of Human Life in the Orations of St. Gregory of Nazianzus
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.12775/BPTh.2020.021Keywords
heaven, eternal life, eternal happiness, heavenly kingdom, eternal dwelling with God, contemplation of God’s natureAbstract
Alongside St. Basil and St. Gregory of Nyssa, St. Gregory of Nazianzus is regarded as one of the outstanding representatives of eastern patristics of the 4th century, known as the Cappadocian Fathers. He became famous as an excellent orator, earning the nickname of “Christian Demosthenes”, and also as a witness of Christian orthodoxy, undertaking a wide variety of theological themes in his speeches. He bears the honorific title “Theologian,” which appears as early as in the acts of the Council of Chalcedon (451) in recognition of the importance of his teachings.
Gregory addresses the question of heaven as the ultimate fulfillment of Christian life in his numerous orations. In particular, those delivered on the occasion of the death of people dear to him, such as his father, brother Caesarius, sister Gorgonia, or the closest friend, St. Basil, deserve special attention.
This article presents three aspects of St. Gregory’s teachings on heaven as the ultimate fulfillment of human life, namely the terminology concerning heaven applied by the author, the essential features of the image of heavenly reality in his orations, and the paths which lead Christians to heaven as the aim of their aspirations.
References
Altaner B., Stuiber A., Patrologia, tłum. P. Pachciarek, Warszawa 1990.
Balter L., Doskonała radość zbawionych w niebie, Ateneum Kapłańskie 439 (1982), s. 218–226.
Bober A., Światła ekumeny, Kraków 1965.
Bronk A., Religia i nauka, w: Zrozumieć świat współczesny, tenże (red.), Lublin 1998, s. 203–256.
Campenhausen H.v., Ojcowie Kościoła, tłum. K. Wierszyłowski, Warszawa 1998.
Częsz B., Ojcowie Kościoła i pytania współczesnej eschatologii, Studia Nauk Teologicznych, 1 (2006), s. 133–149.
Drączkowski F., Patrologia, Pelplin–Lublin 1998.
Fiedorowicz M., Teologia ojców Kościoła. Podstawy wczesnochrześcijańskiej refleksji nad wiarą, Kraków 2009.
Forstner D., Świat symboliki chrześcijańskiej, tłum. W. Zakrzewska, P. Pachciarek, R. Turzyński, Warszawa 1990.
McGuckin J.A., St. Gregory of Nazianzus: An Intellectual Biography, New York 2001.
Sancti Gregorii Theologi Orationes, PG 35,396–36,664, apud J.P. Migne, 1858.
Święty Grzegorz z Nazjanzu. Mowy wybrane, Warszawa 1967.
Święty Grzegorz z Nazjanzu. Opowieść o moim życiu, tłum. A.M. Komornicka, Poznań 2003.
Szymusiak J.M., Grzegorz Teolog, Poznań 1965.
Zagórski D., Model doskonalenia chrześcijańskiego w świetle ekshortacji pastoralnych Grzegorza z Nazjanzu, Toruń 2007.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
CC BY ND 4.0. The Creator/Contributor is the Licensor, who grants the Licensee a non-exclusive license to use the Work on the fields indicated in the License Agreement.
- The Licensor grants the Licensee a non-exclusive license to use the Work/related rights item specified in § 1 within the following fields: a) recording of Work/related rights item; b) reproduction (multiplication) of Work/related rights item in print and digital technology (e-book, audiobook); c) placing the copies of the multiplied Work/related rights item on the market; d) entering the Work/related rights item to computer memory; e) distribution of the work in electronic version in the open access form on the basis of Creative Commons license (CC BY-ND 3.0) via the digital platform of the Nicolaus Copernicus University Press and file repository of the Nicolaus Copernicus University.
- Usage of the recorded Work by the Licensee within the above fields is not restricted by time, numbers or territory.
- The Licensor grants the license for the Work/related rights item to the Licensee free of charge and for an unspecified period of time.
FULL TEXT License Agreement
Stats
Number of views and downloads: 1222
Number of citations: 0
