Gregory closes out his oration considering the things that drove him from ministry and those that drew him back to it. He makes a tour of biblical texts that make this line of work scary–think of Paul’s litany of his suffering and various prophets’ declarations of God’s judgment on faulty shepherds and priests. The things […]
Gregory of Nazianzus, Oration 2 — The Physician of Souls
Gregory uses any number of metaphors for the minister and the work of ministry, at least in passing. As well as the soul of the body he mentions the shepherd of the flock, the silver or gold coin, and the painter, or even the animal trainer. Other kinds of metaphors apply to the Christian’s (and […]
Gregory of Nazianzus: Oration 2 — Perspectives and Patterns
While Gregory defends his integrity he presents his theology of ministry. You might say he presents ministry as such a weighty responsibility that anyone in their right mind would have run away from it. If he were talking to a candidate for ordination today, the conversation would probably sound something like that between Frodo and […]
On ‘the art of theological reflection’
When trying to make good use of writings that stand at a great distance from us–whether because they come from long ago or from across the boundaries of cultures, we need some guidelines, some sense of how we might go about it. We pick up a patristic theologian, say John Chrysostom, and find his style […]
What to do with a giant?
The giants should be easy to spot. I mean, hey, they are big. Maybe you heard the name of one in “Western Civilization” or “Introduction to Church History.” Their name got mentioned because they wrote something that mattered. Their words stood the test of time. Or they did something that mattered so much then that […]