My rating:
add to my books
Loading...
Gregory of Nyssa: The Life of Moses
St. Gregory of Nyssa (335-394 CE), who came from an illustrious Christian family of Capadocia, became bishop of the small town of Nyssa in 371 and is known as one of the founders of mystical theology in the Church. In "The Life of Moses," one of the most important books in the study of Christian mysticism, Gregory retells the story of Moses's life from the biblic
...morePaperback, 132 pages
Published
February 28th 2006
by HarperOne
(first published 390)
There is a good chance some of your friends read this book. Sign in to see!
sign in »
Friend Reviews
To see what your friends thought of this book,
please sign up.
This book is currently not featured on any Listopia lists.
Add this book to your favorite list »
Community Reviews
(showing
1-30
of
109)
This is my first foray into Alexandrian theologians, and I read this book on the recommendation of an Eastern Orthodox friend.
Gregory of Nyssa was an Alexandrian, emphasizing the allegorical approach to Biblical interpretation. This approach was a popular approach in his day, and probably a necessary one. After all, the Alexandrians were trying to reach the learned Greeks and philosophers of their day with the gospel of Jesus Christ. If Paul can rejoice in Christ's being preached even ...more
Gregory of Nyssa was an Alexandrian, emphasizing the allegorical approach to Biblical interpretation. This approach was a popular approach in his day, and probably a necessary one. After all, the Alexandrians were trying to reach the learned Greeks and philosophers of their day with the gospel of Jesus Christ. If Paul can rejoice in Christ's being preached even ...more
view all 4 comments
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
click here.
I read this book a year or so back and was challenged, though I found it very difficult in places -- in such cases I simply move on and take what I can. I re-read it over the past 5 weeks as the text in the "Reading the Classics" short course I did at the Catholic Institute of Sydney, and was challenged, encouraged and moved beyond all expectation. It was still a challenging read, in that it expresses concepts I was not, and many Christians in the 21st century may not, be familiar with...more
This St. Gregory was one of the first Christian mystics, and parts of this little book point in that direction. "As the mind progresses and comes to apprehend reality, leaving behind not only what sense comprehends but also what the intelligence thinks it sees, it keeps on penetrating deeper until by the intelligence's yearning for understanding it gains access to the invisible and the incomprehensible, and there it sees God" (80). Also, as a true believer (Bishop of Nyssa - pre-modern...more
An excellent work that serves as a foundation for the Christian mystical tradition. Gregory takes Moses and uses a typology to help describe the Christian walk. Gregory synthesizes Greek Thought into Christianity, as is shown through the his use of apophasis. That is, Moses life, and the Christian life in general, should move from the light of the burning bush to the darkness of Divine Contemplation on the mountain that, "many people approach but few ever climb" (yes, I just demolished...more
This book is an incredible book, although small in size, it does perfectly what I have told every person to do when reading The Bible and that is to see the Spiritual Reality underscoring the literal historical words written. Often people say, "How can a Loving God allow X to happen?" Of course one would be at a lost to explain this if one was limited to a Historical-Literal Interpretation of Scripture, however such is not the case when one reads the more difficult texts with a Spiritu...more
I'm tempted to give this one two stars because it is a classic, but I'd be lying. It didn't work for me- I couldn't get over the allegorical reading of Moses' life. That and it really bothered me that Gregory conveniently overlooked everything Moses ever did that was remotely wrong. I know that's what they did in ancient biography as a genre and all, but that's one of the most profound aspects of the Old Testament to me: its heroes are flawed human beings just like the rest of us.
I enjoyed parts of this book. Most profound is his belief that we will never attain perfect or at least be fully like G-d. How could the created ever fully attained the status of the Uncreated.
Mike Walters
is currently reading it
Allissa
marked it as to-read
There are no discussion topics on this book yet.
Be the first to start one »
Readers Also Enjoyed
Share This Book
No trivia or quizzes yet. Add some now »
“Concepts create idols; only wonder grasps anything.”
—
3 people liked it
More quotes…
