By Alexandria
Something I definitely noticed while reading the First Homily on the Forty Martyrs of Sebaste by Gregory Nyssa was his constant use of biblical text to support his arguments. It felt like there was at least a quote (if not many) from Scripture in almost every paragraph I read. For example in a paragraph in which he argued that martyrs were responsible for restoring human nature after it was brought down by the sins of Adam and Eve; Gregory mentioned that Adam and Eve were chased from Paradise to earth and martyrs were transferred from earth to Paradise. To back up this point about Adam and Eve he quoted Scripture, "For Scripture says that sin is the weapon of death (cf. 1 Cor. 15:56)" (Nyssa, 102-103). He also used Scripture to strengthen his argument about martyrs, "the latter rendered death that was armed with sin ineffective through their courage; by their endurance of sufferings they blunted the point of the sting, in agreement with what is beautifully said: 'Death, where is your sting? Hades, where is your victory?' (cf. 1 Cor. 15:55)" (Nyssa, 103).
He definitely isn't shy about quoting Scripture and once even blatantly started out his argument with, "What does Scripture say about Eve?", he goes on to mention that Scripture says "She saw that is was attractive to see and good to taste' (Gen. 3:6)" (Nyssa, 103). Here he doesn't even shed light on his own opinion first, he just jumps right in to Scripture and uses it almost as an icebreaker for his ideas.
After finally getting to the point in his homily where he begins to discuss the forty martyrs of Sebaste, he begins to describe the mother of one of the martyrs' and her devotion. He tells the reader that she endured the cold with her son and witnessed his death. But instead of trying to keep him warm, she nobly stood her ground. Gregory said, "When his mother had seen these things, did she experience any motherly feeling? Was she moved to the bottom of her heart, did she tear up her clothing or did she throw herself on her child to warm the withering body with the warmth of her arms? Not at all! Even to mention such a thing is absurd. No, truly, by the fruit we recongnise the tree: a diseased tree cannot produce good fruits (cf. Matt. 7:16-18; Luck 6:43-4)" (Nyssa, 106).
These three examples are few among the dozens of Scripture quotations found throughout the text and they are good evidence that Gregory of Nyssa puts his trust in the teachings of the bible.
Something I definitely noticed while reading the First Homily on the Forty Martyrs of Sebaste by Gregory Nyssa was his constant use of biblical text to support his arguments. It felt like there was at least a quote (if not many) from Scripture in almost every paragraph I read. For example in a paragraph in which he argued that martyrs were responsible for restoring human nature after it was brought down by the sins of Adam and Eve; Gregory mentioned that Adam and Eve were chased from Paradise to earth and martyrs were transferred from earth to Paradise. To back up this point about Adam and Eve he quoted Scripture, "For Scripture says that sin is the weapon of death (cf. 1 Cor. 15:56)" (Nyssa, 102-103). He also used Scripture to strengthen his argument about martyrs, "the latter rendered death that was armed with sin ineffective through their courage; by their endurance of sufferings they blunted the point of the sting, in agreement with what is beautifully said: 'Death, where is your sting? Hades, where is your victory?' (cf. 1 Cor. 15:55)" (Nyssa, 103).
He definitely isn't shy about quoting Scripture and once even blatantly started out his argument with, "What does Scripture say about Eve?", he goes on to mention that Scripture says "She saw that is was attractive to see and good to taste' (Gen. 3:6)" (Nyssa, 103). Here he doesn't even shed light on his own opinion first, he just jumps right in to Scripture and uses it almost as an icebreaker for his ideas.
After finally getting to the point in his homily where he begins to discuss the forty martyrs of Sebaste, he begins to describe the mother of one of the martyrs' and her devotion. He tells the reader that she endured the cold with her son and witnessed his death. But instead of trying to keep him warm, she nobly stood her ground. Gregory said, "When his mother had seen these things, did she experience any motherly feeling? Was she moved to the bottom of her heart, did she tear up her clothing or did she throw herself on her child to warm the withering body with the warmth of her arms? Not at all! Even to mention such a thing is absurd. No, truly, by the fruit we recongnise the tree: a diseased tree cannot produce good fruits (cf. Matt. 7:16-18; Luck 6:43-4)" (Nyssa, 106).
These three examples are few among the dozens of Scripture quotations found throughout the text and they are good evidence that Gregory of Nyssa puts his trust in the teachings of the bible.