Contra Eunomium, which dates from 378-383, is the principal theological work written by Gregory of Nyssa (circa 335 – after 394), bishop in Cappadocia. However, this milestone of Trinitarian theology, far from being a systematic work, is a polemical writing that refutes step by step a lost book of Eunomius. The present study offers a detailed analysis of the polemical methods, and, in particular, of the heresiologic tools and the literary techniques used. Indeed, critics have often taken at face value Gregory’s attacks against Eunomius. Considering that the interpretation of Scripture is one of the major issues in the discussion between the two men and one of the main thrusts of Gregory’s theological thought, a second part is devoted to the exegesis in the Contra Eunomium and to the bishop of Nyssa’s sources and interlocutors. The Contra Eunomium is a major step in the development of theological writing and of Patristic theology in Late Antiquity.
EAA 193: Paris, Institut d’études augustiniennes, 2012
ISBN: 978-2-85121-155-9
430 p., 165 x 250 mm
36 € TTC
