Studies on Gregory of Nyssa are flourishing. In this highly valuable
bibliography, two areas stand out: mysticism and eschatology. The former
has also been at the centre of a lively controversy, concerning the
possibility that Gregory could be described as the actual initiator of
mysticism. Eschatology, on its part, has received particular attention,
especially in the areas of epektasis and apokatastasis.
But these dimensions are connected, as shown by Gregory’s Commentary
on the Song of Songs, a mystical text par excellence, which offers
numerous eschatological insights, which this volume tries to present.
The issue is all the more interesting in that Gregory’s
eschatology is marked by a hermeneutical tension which is reflected in a
dichotomy present in the studies devoted to it. Clearly, Gregory has
been inspired by the apokatastasis of Origen, but for him, as for
the Alexandrian, is it possible to speak of a universal salvation? If
the human being is simply a soul which has to be restored to its initial
state, what is the value of its history? And the body? And freedom?
These questions seem to be linked to the tension between the
circular dimension of apokatastasis and the linear dynamic of
epektasis. This is approached through the lens of Christology
and ontology, two areas which, in the context of Nyssa studies as a
whole, are among the least studied. Therefore, the chapters of the book
are aimed at covering the themes in such a way as to reveal the profound
relationships between the two foci of theological reflection on
the mystery of Christ: on the one hand, the Christological focus proper,
on the other, the ontology which emerges from Christological and
Trinitarian considerations. Thus, we shall be able to identify the
influences and relations, intrinsic and systematic, between the thought
about being, the protology and the eschatology, of classical origin, and
the thought about Christ in which the divine and the human are united in
and through history.
This volume, therefore, is arranged in three
main parts. The first, most fundamental, approximates to the question of
the point of view of eschatology itself, seeking to indicate the
importance of mysticism in its development. The second part of the
volume is devoted precisely to Gregory’s Commentary on the Song of
Songs, where the eschatological dimension is clearly highlighted.
The third and last part of the volume is devoted to the
apokatastasis. Here the different, even contrasting positions,
are presented, providing, simultaneously, some tools which could assist
a deeper penetration into the tensions of eschatology through the
mystical perspective which is characteristic of the Commentary on the
Song of Songs. In particular, the Christological and ontological
elements linked to epektasis seem to promise a greater immersion
into Gregory’s eschatology and appreciation of its theological
significance, not despite its tensions but precisely by means
of them.
