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Gregory of Nyssa

Gregory of Nyssa

335 CE–395 CE · Caesarea in Cappadocia

Gregory of Nyssa (c. 335–395), younger brother of Basil of Caesarea and a leading Cappadocian Father, served as bishop of Nyssa from around 372; a subtle and original thinker, he defended Nicene orthodoxy against Arianism, contributed to the definitive formulation of Trinitarian theology at Constantinople, and developed a rich mystical theology of the soul's perpetual ascent toward the infinite God.

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Did you know?

  • Two of the great Church Fathers were brothers from a family of saints

    Basil the Great and Gregory of Nyssa — two of the three Cappadocian Fathers whose writing shaped the doctrine of the Trinity — were biological brothers in a single 4th-century household. Their older sister Macrina the Younger and another brother, Peter of Sebaste, are also venerated as saints, and their parents and grandmother are honored too. One family produced a remarkable cluster of the early Church's saints.

    How we know

    Basil the Great c.330–379 and Gregory of Nyssa c.335–395 were brothers; their siblings Macrina the Younger and Peter of Sebaste, and their parents and grandmother, are all venerated as saints.

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Stop 1 of 6335–365Birthplace, Early Formation

Caesarea in CappadociaTurkey

What they did here

Gregory was born and raised in or near Caesarea, the metropolis of Cappadocia; his elder brother Basil shaped his intellectual formation, while his sister Macrina, who had withdrawn to the family estate at Annisa in Pontus, remained a spiritual influence known to him from youth.

About Caesarea in Cappadocia

Caesarea in Cappadocia (ancient Mazaca, modern Kayseri, central Turkey), the metropolis of Cappadocia. It was the see of Basil the Great and a major centre of 4th-century theology; Gregory of Nazianzus and Gregory of Nyssa were closely associated with its church.

In Caesarea in Cappadocia at the same time

Gregory of Nazianzus

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In the same place & time

Sages whose lives overlapped with Gregory of Nyssa’s in the same cities, drawn from their recorded journeys.

Across the traditions

The world in their lifetime

Thinkers, teachers, and rulers whose lives overlapped with Gregory of Nyssa’s — a glimpse of the wider world they lived in. Drawn purely from recorded birth and death years.

Christian world

Luminaries & Explorers world

Works(15)

On the Holy Trinity, and of the Godhead of the Holy Spirit

Nyssa · 395

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