Gregory of Nyssa's treatment of ancient beliefs in his homilies

Abstract

In his many homilies, Gregory of Nyssa contrasts Christian belief to earlier forms of belief that were still very present in the Roman empire during the fourth century, namely the classical polytheistic faith and Judaism, with the explicit intention of showing its superiority over them. Even though Gregory is clearly against any belief that is not Christian orthodoxy, he presents these other beliefs from two different perspectives: at times, he presents them as the enemies of Christianity, showing clearly how they seek to harm the true faith; at other times, he also seeks to show how, in a way, they are of benefit to Christianity because their very presence and the behaviour of their followers help to show how much the Christian way of life outshines any other. This discussion on other faiths in relation to Christian belief is present in many contexts; however, attacks on paganism are more evident in the sermons in honour of martyrs, while invectives addressed to Jews are present mainly in his sermons on biblical books. In this paper, an attempt will be made to present in detail what Gregory has to say about these other faiths and their relation to Christianity (desired and factual), concluding with how his attitude towards other faiths can be classified and described.