Gregory of Nazianzus — Commentary on Scripture

And David and all Israel went to Jerusalem, which is Jebus; where the Jebusites were, the inhabitants of the land.

Farewell likewise, grand and renowned temple, our new inheritance, whose greatness is now due to the Word, which once was a Jebus and has now been made by us a Jerusalem.

1 Corinthians 13:7

Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.

Bearing all things, enduring all things for our love and hope regarding him, let us give thanks for all things, both favorable and unfavorable alike—I mean the pleasant and the painful—since reason often knows even these as arms of salvation.

1 Corinthians 13:12

For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.

No one has yet discovered or shall ever discover what God is in his nature and essence. As for a discovery some time in the future, let those who have a mind for it research and speculate. The discovery will take place, so my reason tells me, when this Godlike, divine thing, I mean our mind and reason, mingles with its kin, when the copy returns to the pattern it now longs after. This seems to me to be the meaning of the great dictum that we shall, in time to come, know even as we are known.

1 Corinthians 14:15

What is it then? I will pray with the spirit, and I will pray with the understanding also: I will sing with the spirit, and I will sing with the understanding also.

Worshiping and praying in the Spirit seem to me to be simply the Spirit presenting prayer and worship to himself.

1 Corinthians 15:25

For he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet.

“He must reign” till such and such a time … and “be received by heaven until the time of restitution” and have the seat at the right hand until the overthrow of his enemies. But after this? Must he cease to be king or be removed from heaven? Why, who shall make him cease, or for what cause? What a bold and very anarchical interpreter you are, and yet you have heard that of his kingdom there shall be no end. Your mistake arises from not understanding that “until” is not always exclusive of what comes after but asserts up to that time, without denying what comes after it. To take a single instance, how else would you understand “Lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world”? Does it mean that he will no longer be so afterward?

1 Corinthians 15:28 · 2 passages

And when all things shall be subdued unto him, then shall the Son also himself be subject unto him that put all things under him, that God may be all in all.

As the Son subjects all to the Father, so does the Father to the Son, the one by his work, the other by his good pleasure.

“God will be all in all” at the time of restoration—“God,” not “the Father.” The Son will not revert to disappear completely in the Father, like a torch temporarily withdrawn from a great flame and then joined up again with it—Sabellians must not wrest this text. No, God will be “all in all” when we are no longer what we are now, a multiplicity of impulses and emotions, with little or nothing of God in us, but are fully like God, with room for God and God alone. This is the “maturity” toward which we speed.

1 Corinthians 15:52

In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.

Why am I so earthly in my thoughts? I shall await the voice of the archangel, the last trumpet, the transformation of heaven, the change of earth, the freedom of the elements, the renewal of the universe. Then I shall see my brother Caesarius himself, no longer in exile, no longer being buried, no longer mourned, no longer pitied, but splendid, glorious, sublime, such as you were often seen in a dream, dearest and most loving of brothers, whether my desire or truth itself represented you.

1 John 2:1

My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous:

We have an advocate, Jesus Christ, not indeed someone who prostrates himself before the Father on our behalf—such an idea is slavish and unworthy of the Spirit! It would be unworthy of the Father to require this, as also for the Son to submit to it, nor is it right to think such things of God. But by what he suffered as man, he as the Word and counselor persuades the Father to be patient with us. I think this is the meaning of his advocacy.

1 Samuel 15:26

And Samuel said unto Saul, I will not return with thee: for thou hast rejected the word of the LORD, and the LORD hath rejected thee from being king over Israel.

Moreover, to distinguish still more clearly between them, we have, against the fear of office, a possible help in the law of obedience, inasmuch as God in his goodness rewards our faith, and makes a perfect ruler of the one who has confidence in him, and places all his hopes in him; but against the danger of disobedience I know of nothing which can help us, and of no ground to encourage our confidence. For we should fear that we will have to hear these words concerning those who have been entrusted to us: “I will require their souls at your hands”; and, “Because you have rejected me, and [have] not been leaders and rulers of my people, I also will reject you, that I should not be king over you”; and, “As you refused to listen to my voice, and turned a stubborn back, and were disobedient, so shall it be when you call upon me, and I will not regard nor hear your prayer.”

1 Samuel 16:6-7

And it came to pass, when they were come, that he looked on Eliab, and said, Surely the LORD'S anointed is before him.

Do not say, “I do not mind a mere priest, if he is a celibate, and a religious [person], and of angelic life; for it would be a sad thing for me to be defiled even in the moment of my cleansing.” Do not ask for credentials of the preacher or the baptizer. For another is his judge and the examiner of what you can’t see. For humans look on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.

1 Thessalonians 2:19

For what is our hope, or joy, or crown of rejoicing? Are not even ye in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ at his coming?

What then is my defense? If it be false, you must convict me. But if true, you on behalf of whom and in whose presence I speak, must bear witness to it. For you are my defense, my witnesses and my crown of rejoicing, if I also may venture to boast myself a little in the apostle’s language. This flock was, when it was small and poor, as far as appearances went, no, not even a flock, but only a trace and relic of a flock, without order, shepherd or boundaries, with neither the right to pasture nor the defense of a sheepfold. Instead, you were wandering upon the mountains, in caves and dens of the earth, scattered and dispersed hither and yon as each one could find shelter or pasture or could gratefully secure its own safety.… Such then was the condition of this flock. Now it is so healthy and well grown that if it is not yet perfect, it is advancing toward perfection by constant growth, and I prophesy that it will advance.

1 Thessalonians 4:16

For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:

I believe the words of the wise, that every fair and God-beloved soul, when, set free from the bonds of the body, it departs hence, at once enjoys a sense and perception of the blessings which await it. This happens to the extent that whatever darkened that soul has been purged away, or laid aside—this is the only way I can express it—such that it feels a marvelous pleasure and exultation and goes rejoicing to meet its Lord. This soul has escaped, as it were, the grievous poison of life here and has shaken off the fetters which bound it and held down the wings of the mind. And so the soul enters upon the bliss laid up for it, a bliss of which it has even now some conception.… Why, then, be faint-hearted in my hopes? Why behave like a mere creature of the day? I await the voice of the archangel, the last trumpet, the transformation of the heavens, the transfiguration of the earth, the liberation of the elements, the renovation of the universe. Then shall I see Caesarius for myself, no longer in exile, no longer laid upon a bier, no longer the object of mourning and pity, but brilliant…

I believe the words of the wise, that every fair and God-beloved soul, when, set free from the bonds of the body, it departs hence, at once enjoys a sense and perception of the blessings which await it. This happens to the extent that whatever darkened that soul has been purged away, or laid aside—this is the only way I can express it—such that it feels a marvelous pleasure and exultation and goes rejoicing to meet its Lord. This soul has escaped, as it were, the grievous poison of life here and has shaken off the fetters which bound it and held down the wings of the mind. And so the soul enters upon the bliss laid up for it, a bliss of which it has even now some conception.… Why, then, be faint-hearted in my hopes? Why behave like a mere creature of the day? I await the voice of the archangel, the last trumpet, the transformation of the heavens, the transfiguration of the earth, the liberation of the elements, the renovation of the universe. Then shall I see Caesarius for myself, no longer in exile, no longer laid upon a bier, no longer the object of mourning and pity, but brilliant, glorious, heavenly, such as in my dreams I have often beheld you, dearest and most loving of brothers, pictured thus by my desire, if not by the truth itself. ON HIS BROTHER ST.

1 Timothy 2:5

For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus;

O how beautiful and mystical and kind! For to intercede does not imply to seek for vengeance, as is most men’s way (for in that there would be something of humiliation), but it is to plead for us by reason of his mediatorship, just as the Spirit is also said to make intercession for us. For “there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.” For he still pleads even now as man for my salvation. He continues to wear the body which he assumed, until he makes me divine by the power of his incarnation; although he is no longer known after the flesh—the same as ours, except for sin.

1 Timothy 6:4-5

He is proud, knowing nothing, but doting about questions and strifes of words, whereof cometh envy, strife, railings, evil surmisings,

I shall address my words to those whose cleverness is in words.… “Strife of words” is the term given to all elaborate verbiage by Paul, who proclaims and confirms the “short and final account,” Paul, the pupil and teacher of fishermen. These people I speak of have versatile tongues and are resourceful in attacking doctrines nobler and worthier than their own. I only wish they would display comparable energy in their actions.

1 Timothy 6:15

Which in his times he shall shew, who is the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings, and Lord of lords;

God’s other titles fall into two distinct groups. The first group belongs to his power, the second to his providential ordering of the world, a twofold providential ordering—involving, and not involving, incarnation. Clear cases of titles which belong to his power are … “King” of “rulers” and “Lord of the masters.” … For since we are controlled by three conditions—fear of punishment, hope for salvation and glory too, and the practice of the virtues which result in these last—the name which mentions retribution deals with fear. The one which mentions salvation with hope, and that which refers to virtues, disciplines us to practice them. The intention is that by, as it were, carrying God inside him, one may have some success here and press on all the harder to perfection, toward that affinity with God which comes from the virtues.

1 Timothy 6:16

Who only hath immortality, dwelling in the light which no man can approach unto; whom no man hath seen, nor can see: to whom be honour and power everlasting. Amen.

God is light: the highest, the unapproachable, the ineffable, that can neither be conceived in the mind nor uttered with the lips, that gives life to every reasoning creature. He is in the world of thought what the sun is in the world of sense; presenting himself to our minds in proportion as we are cleansed; and loved in proportion as he is presented to our mind; and again, conceived in proportion as we love him; himself contemplating and comprehending himself and pouring himself out on what is external to him. That light, I mean, which is contemplated in the Father and the Son and the Holy Ghost, whose riches is their unity of nature and the one out-leaping of their brightness.

2 Chronicles 1:10

Give me now wisdom and knowledge, that I may go out and come in before this people: for who can judge this thy people, that is so great?

The truth, and the whole Word, is full of difficulty and obscurity; and as it were with a small instrument we are undertaking a great work, when with merely human wisdom we pursue the knowledge of the self-existent, and in company with, or not apart from, the senses, by which we are borne hither and thither and led into error, we apply ourselves to the search after things that are only to be grasped by the mind, and we are unable by meeting bare realities with bare intellect to approximate somewhat more closely to the truth and to mold the mind by its concepts. Now the subject of God is harder to come at, in proportion as it is more perfect than any other and is open to more objections, and the solutions of them are more laborious. For every objection, however small, stops and hinders the course of our argument and cuts off its further advance, just like people who suddenly check with the rein the horses in full career and turn them right round by the unexpected shock. Thus Solomon, who was the wisest of all people, whether before him or in his own time, to whom God gave breadth of h…

The truth, and the whole Word, is full of difficulty and obscurity; and as it were with a small instrument we are undertaking a great work, when with merely human wisdom we pursue the knowledge of the self-existent, and in company with, or not apart from, the senses, by which we are borne hither and thither and led into error, we apply ourselves to the search after things that are only to be grasped by the mind, and we are unable by meeting bare realities with bare intellect to approximate somewhat more closely to the truth and to mold the mind by its concepts. Now the subject of God is harder to come at, in proportion as it is more perfect than any other and is open to more objections, and the solutions of them are more laborious. For every objection, however small, stops and hinders the course of our argument and cuts off its further advance, just like people who suddenly check with the rein the horses in full career and turn them right round by the unexpected shock. Thus Solomon, who was the wisest of all people, whether before him or in his own time, to whom God gave breadth of heart and a flood of contemplation, more abundant than the sand, even he, the more he entered into the depth, the more dizzy he became, and he declared the furthest point of wisdom to be the discovery of how very far off it was from him.

2 Chronicles 33:10-12

And the LORD spake to Manasseh, and to his people: but they would not hearken.

I know of a fifth baptism also, which is that of tears and takes much more work. It is received by one who washes his bed every night and his couch with tears; whose bruises sting through his wickedness; and who goes about mourning and is of a sad disposition. It is received by one who imitates the repentance of Manasseh and the humiliation of the Ninevites upon whom God had mercy; who utters the words of the Publican in the Temple, and is justified rather than the stiff-necked Pharisee; who like the Canaanite woman bends down and asks for mercy and crumbs, the food of a dog that is very hungry.

2 Corinthians 3:18

But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.

For the matter stands thus: The Old Testament proclaimed the Father openly and the Son more obscurely. The New manifested the Son and suggested the deity of the Spirit. Now the Spirit himself dwells among us and supplies us with a clearer demonstration of himself. For it was not safe, when the Godhead of the Father was not yet acknowledged, plainly to proclaim the Son; nor when that of the Son was not yet received, to burden us further (if I may use so bold an expression) with the Holy Ghost.… For this reason it was, I think, that he gradually came to dwell in the disciples, measuring himself out to them according to their capacity to receive him, at the beginning of the gospel, after the passion, after the ascension, making perfect their powers, being breathed upon them and appearing in fiery tongues. And indeed it is by little and little that he is declared by Jesus, as you will learn for yourself if you will read more carefully.