Gregory of Nyssa as Biographer

Weaving Lives for Virtuous Readers

by Allison L. Gray

Book cover: Gregory of Nyssa as Biographer

Extent: 303 pages

Publisher: Mohr Siebeck

Subjects: Religious Studies

Series: Studien und Texte zu Antike und Christentum / Studies and Texts in Antiquity and Christianity

Series volume number: 123

Language: English

Paperback (Published)

(May 2021)

ISBN: 9783161575587

9.09 x 6.06 inches

Price: $124.00

In stock

In this study, Allison L. Gray analyzes three biographical narratives by the fourth-century Christian theologian Gregory of Nyssa (335-395 CE). When the Life of Moses , the Life of Macrina , and the Life of Gregory Thaumaturgus are examined in light of Greco-Roman rhetoric, biography, hagiography, and the history of education, it becomes evident that Gregory’s attention to audience is critical to understanding the texts’ form and function. Gregory recounts the lives of exemplary figures to inform his readers about lived virtue while simultaneously preparing them to be skilled readers and interpreters. He adopts and adapts familiar rhetorical and literary techniques to imagine, construct, and teach a new sort of ideal audience, training Christians to interpret Scripture. This study contributes to a more complete picture of how early Christian biographical writing shaped an emerging Christian paideia

  • By (author) Allison L Gray

"Gregory wrote three biographies: one of his sister Macrina; one of Gregory the Wonderworker, the third-century bishop whom Gregory credits with bringing Christianity to Pontus; and one of Moses. . . . The book's close readings insightfully align and juxtapose the three biographies, and its contextualization of Gregory's literary and rhetorical world sparkles with gems from ancient sources." Motia, Michael, Church History, July 29, 2022