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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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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metropolis of Cappadocia; his elder brother Basil shaped his intellectual formation, while his sister Macrina, who had withdrawn to the family estate at Annisa in Pontus, remained a spiritual influence known to him from youth.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 and teachers of other traditions 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.

Works(15)

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

Nyssa · 395

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