OF OUR HOLY FATHER GREGORY THE THEOLOGIAN, ARCHBISHOP OF CONSTANTINOPLE, ORATIONS.
NOTICE ON THE FIVE FOLLOWING THEOLOGICAL ORATIONS.
I. We have finally arrived at those famous orations of Gregory "On Theology," which have earned him the rightfully distinguished title of "Theologian." For day by day, as we have already seen, the prurience of tongues was increasing in Constantinople; and it was to be feared that the unbridled audacity of impiety and error would utterly extinguish the venerable doctrine of the Faith and the Trinity. For some time, a man had been needed who, by the integrity of his morals, the strength and sharpness of his intellect, and the excellence of his piety and doctrine, might gently recall the blinded people from the shadows of error to the light of truth. No one was more suitable for such an arduous task than Gregory, none more excellent; for he was deeply versed in the study of the Holy Scriptures and could interpret and elucidate the most obscure matters concerning divine things with remarkable ease of intellect. Since he had assumed the governance of the Church of Constantinople, he had indeed provided many proofs of both his doctrine and his piety; and he had committed himself entirely to the single goal of routing heresy and restoring the faltering doctrine of the Trinity. For this reason, he never ceased to interweave something concerning the Trinity in all the orations he delivered in Constantinople, nor did he rest from the labor or the battle he had begun with the heretics. But even that was not enough. He had to engage the enemy at close range and in open battle; and the "Theological" orations he had promised the previous year he now brings to light. Great was their power, such that heresy, struck by a valid blow, could never again lift its head.
II. Among the heretics with whom Gregory had entered into conflict, the Eunomians were the most audacious. They had rushed into such impiety and folly that they professed "to know all things, even the deep things of God." Furthermore, burning with an eagerness for ornate speech, and by means of the novelty of their ideas as well as the allurement of their words, they ambitiously affected the praise of elegance for themselves. Gregory attacks them first, and urges them to "bridle their tongue for a while, if they are able, and lend an ear to themselves." Then, in the whole series of his oration, he instructs exclusively on what kind of person the teacher and master of theology ought to be; and he assigns "when, and before whom, and of what matters, and for how long one should discourse about God, lest, by speaking untimely, we cause injury both to ourselves and to others." This is the first "Theological" oration, which, according to the learned, should be held as the preamble or preface to the others. In the second, however, having invoked the Trinity, he approaches the discourse about God Himself, albeit with trembling. He establishes the existence of God most invincibly, although he confesses that His nature can be explained by no words, and even less can it be comprehended by the intellect. Then he passes to the origin of idolatry, by which blinded men, referring everything to their senses, foolishly and stupidly invented for themselves earthly, heavenly, and subterranean gods, even though God can be known by the mere contemplation of natural things. The third Theological oration is inscribed "On the Son." Whatever pertains to the divinity and humanity of Christ is treated extensively and vigorously. Gregory pursues the same argument in the fourth, and by examining many testimonies of Scripture, which to