One of the champions of Trinitarian orthodoxy in the early Church is known to history as Gregory of Nazianzus. He is sometimes called the “Trinitarian theologian.” Many today have never heard of this man and are unfamiliar with his important contributions to patristic theology.

Gregory was born circa A.D. 330. He was the son of aristocratic parents who held a high place in Greek society and owned a large tract of land near the town of Nazianzus in the province of Cappadocia, in what is now eastern Turkey. His father, also named Gregory, was not a Christian at the time of his son’s birth.

Gregory’s mother, Nonna, had a tremendous influence upon the trajectory of her son’s life. A pious Christian woman, Nonna’s pure life and virtuous character eventually influenced her pagan husband to embrace Christianity. Gregory’s father became the pastor in his local church and exerted a powerful influence for good throughout all of Cappadocia.

Gregory studied first at Nazianzus while still living with his parents. When older, he was sent to study philosophy and rhetoric. He then went south to the land of the Bible and studied at Caesarea on the Mediterranean coast. From there, he pursued further studies in Alexandria and finally in Athens, the great seat of ancient learning.

On his way to Athens, the ship on which Gregory traveled was beset by a tremendous storm that was similar to the one that was weathered by Paul in the Book of Acts. In the midst of this storm, Gregory of Nazianzus vowed that if God would spare his life, he would give himself to the proclamation of the Gospel and to the service of the Lord Jesus. As yet, the young scholar had not professed Christ or been baptized as a Christian.

Once he arrived safely in Athens, Gregory made the acquaintance of two men who would shape the course of his life. The first was Basil of Caesarea, a man who became a friend like a brother and a fellow-laborer in the cause of orthodoxy. The second was Flavius Claudius Julianus, the man who would one day become the Roman emperor known to the world as Julian the Apostate. The latter man would reject Christianity and be the force behind the Roman Empire’s return to paganism.

Gregory was baptized and ordained as an elder in A.D. 361. At the time of his ordination, the church was still facing persecution. But the pernicious errors of false teachers, such as Arius and other heretics, was spreading widely throughout the empire. Arianism denied the Trinity, asserted that Jesus the Son of God was not eternal, and downgraded the Holy Spirit to a mere influence rather than a Person of the Godhead.

Faithful men of God, such as Athanasius of Alexandria, defended the Biblical truth of the Trinity, but the early Church father and defender of the faith could not do the work alone. Other men of God were needed to proclaim Biblical truth in their spheres of influence: the Biblical truth that Christ is God and that the Holy Spirit is not merely a force but a member of the Godhead.

For a time, Gregory hesitated between a secluded life of scholarship and study and a public life of pulpit ministry. He was clearly gifted as an orator and a public defender of truth. But his natural preference was for a life of seclusion. He wore rough garments similar to those of John the Baptist and Elijah. He preferred to live alone in the mountains. His only sustenance was salt, bread, and water. At night, he slept on the bare ground.

The Lord finally led Gregory, as He did with the prophet Elijah, from the solitude that he loved into the glare of public service and the duties of pastoral ministry. For many years, Gregory served alongside his father in pastoring the church at Nazianzus. From this place of service, he wrote, preached, and defended the Trinity against those who denied the eternal nature of the Son of God.

Some of his quotes as an orator have become famous and quoted often throughout church history. Here is one of the best known passages on the Trinity:

This I give you to share, and to defend all your life, The one
Godhead and power, found in the three in unit, and comprising
the three separately; not unequal, in substances or natures, neither
increased nor diminished by superiorities nor inferiorities; in every
respect equal, in every respect the same; just as the beauty and the
greatness of the heavens is one; the infinite conjunction of three
infinite ones, each God when considered in himself; as the Father,
so the Son; as the Son, so the Holy Spirit; the three one God when
contemplated together; each God because consubstantial; one God
because of the monarchia. No sooner do I conceive of the one
than I am illumined by the splendor of the three; no sooner
do I distinguish them than I am carried back to the one (emphasis added).

Gregory of Nazianzus coined the term “procession” to articulate the relationship of the Holy Spirit with the Father and the Son. The theologian wrote, “The Holy Spirit is truly Spirit, coming forth from the Father indeed but not after the manner of the Son, for it is not by generation but by procession.” In the same way that the Son is eternally begotten of the Father, the Holy Spirit is eternally proceeding from the Father and the Son. This term would be adopted by many other theologians over the coming centuries.

In A.D. 372, Gregory was ordained as Bishop of Sasima and served the church there, which was approximately 24 miles south of his hometown. He returned to Nazianzus later that same year to assist his elderly father, who was now almost 100 years old and very near death. His father died two years later, and Gregory had the privilege of preaching at his father’s funeral. Gregory’s beloved mother, Nonna, soon followed her husband to glory, dying at an advanced age and while praying in church. Her dying words were, “Be gracious to me, O Christ, my King!” She lived to see all her prayers answered and her family entirely devoted to Christ.

Gregory took the mantle of his father and served as pastor of the church at Nazianzus. He inherited great wealth upon the death of his parents, but he gave his wealth to needy widows and orphans and to support the advance of the Gospel. The humble theologian and pastor continued to live only on bread and water, even into advancing age.

In A.D. 379, Gregory was called to Constantinople, the capital of the eastern empire, to take the pastorship of a small, dwindling congregation. The large, fashionable churches in Constantinople had been heavily influenced by the false teaching of Arianism. Gregory bravely assumed the challenge to properly instruct the people in Christian doctrine. Under his leadership, the small Constantinople church grew in power and influence, and the Nicene orthodox creed soon gained the upper hand against heresy. The church was renamed Anastasia, the Church of the Resurrection.

With his health becoming increasingly poor, Gregory retired to Nazianzus to spend the rest of his days on earth. He died in A.D. 390, assured that orthodoxy had won the victory against heresy, and that the Church of Jesus Christ, as a whole, would continue to affirm the doctrine of the Trinity.

Sources and Further Reference:

Schaff, Philip. History of the Christian Church, Volume 3: Nicene and Post-Nicene Christianity A.D. 311–600. Peabody, MA: Hendrickson Publishers, 2006.