Cappadocian Fathers

Background

Cappadocia was a Roman province on the Anatolian plateau in what is now central Türkiye. The region is also mentioned in the New Testament (Acts 2:9; 1 Peter 1:1). Three fourth-century theologians from this region are collectively known as the Cappadocian Fathers. The term "Church Fathers" refers to church leaders who shaped the teaching of the early church.

• Basil of Caesarea (Basileios, c. 330–379)
• Gregory of Nyssa (c. 335–c. 395): Basil's younger brother.
• Gregory of Nazianzus (c. 329–c. 390): Basil's friend.

Macrina, the sister of Basil and Gregory of Nyssa, is also known to have had a significant influence on their faith and monastic life.

In 325 the Council of Nicaea confessed that the Son is "of the same essence" as the Father. Even afterward, however, the controversy over Arianism continued for decades. Theologians such as Eunomius maintained that the Son's essence differs from the Father's, and groups also emerged that denied the divinity of the Holy Spirit. Finding the right language to explain the Nicene confession therefore became a pressing task for the church of the time.

Developments

• In 370 Basil became bishop of Caesarea, and around 372 Gregory of Nyssa became bishop of Nyssa.
• Basil wrote Against Eunomius and On the Holy Spirit (c. 375). In these works he argued that the Son and the Holy Spirit share the same glory with the Father.
• The three men articulated the formula that God is one in essence (ousia) and three in person (hypostasis, a distinct personal subsistence). Previously the two terms had often been used almost interchangeably, causing considerable confusion, and their work helped to reduce it.
• In 380 Gregory of Nazianzus delivered his five "Theological Orations" in Constantinople. At the Council of Constantinople in 381 he presided over the proceedings for a time but withdrew in the face of opposition. Gregory of Nyssa also attended the council. Basil had died earlier, in 379.

Outcome and Influence

The council of 381 is generally held to have produced a creed that expanded the Nicene Creed and confessed the Holy Spirit as "the Lord, the Giver of life." The text used today under the name "Nicene Creed" is usually this expanded creed. In Korea, the Anglican Church of Korea and the Lutheran Church in Korea, among others, use this creed in worship. Other denominations also teach it as a classic foundation of the doctrine of the Trinity.

In refuting Apollinaris, who denied the full humanity of Christ, Gregory of Nazianzus set forth the principle that "what is not assumed is not healed." This principle influenced later Christological controversies. The monastic rules Basil established became the foundation of the Eastern monastic tradition. He is also known for founding an institution in Caesarea to care for the sick and the poor.

Assessment

The Orthodox Church counts them among the most important Church Fathers and gives Gregory of Nazianzus the title "the Theologian." The Catholic Church honors Basil and Gregory of Nazianzus as Doctors of the Church. Protestantism does not venerate them as saints. Nevertheless, the Reformers accepted the ancient creeds, and John Calvin quoted Gregory of Nazianzus in explaining the Trinity in his Institutes of the Christian Religion.

Some aspects of their legacy remain contested. Certain passages in the writings of Gregory of Nyssa can be read as teaching a "restoration of all things," in which all creatures ultimately return to God, and later interpreters have disagreed about them. In addition, since the twentieth century some theologians have drawn on the Cappadocians' concept of person as a basis for social Trinitarianism, an approach that critics argue goes beyond their original intent.