Gregory of Nazianzus De Spiritu Sancto (Orat. 31) 25

Arthur James Mason (Translator)

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De Spiritu Sancto (Orat. 31). Gregory of Nazianzus. Arthur James Mason (Translator). Germany. 2014.

Sponsored by University of Leipzig.

Funding provided by European Social Fund Saxony.

Current edition First1KGreek

De Spiritu Sancto (Orat. 31) (Greek) (Gregory of Nazianzus. The Five Theological Orations. Mason, Arthur James, translator. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1899.)

Notes on the current edition

De Spiritu Sancto (Orat. 31)

1. 25. 9 μηδε] μήτε ag ‘duo Reg.’ || 11 ἕνεκεν] ἕνεκα df
2. 1. ἐπικρύψεως] the reticence of the Bible on the subject of the Spirit’s Godhead.
3. ib. σοφοῖς] of course ironical, ‘although you are so wise as to need no instruction.’
4. 2. ἀναγαγών] ‘going some distance back’; not back over the preargument, but to principles somewhat remote from the conclusion.
5. 25. Two great changes have occurred in the history of religion, when inert passed under the first and second Covenants respectively. In neither case was the change violently made. Like a skilled teacher or physician, God made the new order agreeable by permitting for a while something from the old, until mem were ready to give it up of themselves.
6. 3. μεταθέσεις βίων] He calls two dispensations by this title, because he is about to dwell on the practical difficulties attending such transitions.
7. 4. σεισμοὶ γῆς] The ref. is to Heb. xii 26.
8. 5. διὰ τὸ...περιβόητον] ‘because of the celebrity of the thing,’ cause the change was so great and on such a scale as to compel wide attention.
9. 7. ἐντεῦθεν ... ἐκεῖσε] from the present order to that which is beyond.
10. 9. μήδε’ σαλευόμενα] Heb. xii 28.
11. 10. ἀθρόως] Cp. § 22.
12. 12. τὸ μὲν γὰρ ἅκ. οὐδὲ μόνιμον] ‘for what is not voluntary is not lasting either.’
13. 15. τὸ μὲν τοῦ βίας.] In the one instance, the change would be the work of him who forced it on ; in the other, it is our own. The one kind of change is in keeping with the the considerateness of God ; the other would be a mark of tyrannical power.
14. 7 μακρω] τῶν μακρῶ b : τὼ μακρῶ def
15. 2. τὸ μὲν ὑφαῖρει] ‘like α school- master or physician, He withdraws some parts of the hereditary system, and leaves others as α concession, giving in upon some small points which tend to keep men happy.’
16. 5. φαρματτ. τοῖς χρηστ.] ‘being seasoned with something nicer’ than itself. The rhythm of the sentence is in favour of joining διὰ τῆς τέχνης to παραδεχθῇ rather than to φαρμ.
17. 6. ῥᾴστη] used as an equivalent to the simple ῥᾳδία.
18. 7. μακρῷ χρόνω Cp. ii 14.
19. 8. τὰς θυσίας σνεχ.] This, which is the usual patristic view of the legal sacrifices, is well expressed by Cyr. Al. c. Iul. iv p. 126 (Aubert) ; and by Greg, the Great in his letter to Mellitus (Bede Hist. Eccl. i 30).
20. 10. ἐδέξαντο τὴν ὑφ.] ‘as soon as they were reconciled to the with- drawal, they conceded the concession that had been made to them.’ It is not clear at what point Gr. means that the Jews ‘conceded’ the sacrifaces. It ought, ace. to the parallelism, to mean when ‘they became Jews instead of heathens,’ as gave up circumcision when they ‘became Christians instead of Jews.’ This, however, would only be of special representatives of the race, like Samuel and other prophets and psalmists, who taught that obedi- ence was better than sacrifice. If Gr. is not thinking of these, we must suppose that the time when they gave up the sacrifices was practically the same as when they gave up circumcision, i.e. not when they first became ‘Jews,’ but when they became Christians.
21. 13. κλαπέντες] For the use of κλέπτειν cp. i 2.
22. 14. ἐκ τοῦ περιτ. καἰ ἅγν’.] Acts xvi 3, xxi 26.
23. 16. ἐγὼ δέ, ἀδελφοί] Gal. v. 11. Probably Gr. does not mean that this was an advance in St Paul’s views. He can hardly have failed to know that the Ep. to the Gal. was written before the incident in Acts xxi 26. He only means we see St Paul sometimes acting on the principle of οἰκονομία, i.e. departure from what is absolutely best, out of consideration for the circumstances of others, and sometimes on the principle of τελειότης.