Gregory of Nyssa’s Engagement with Conceptual Metaphors: The Analogies of “Father,” “Son,” and “Begetting” in the Against Eunomius

Isabella Sandwell*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticle (Academic Journal)peer-review

1 Citation (Scopus)
261 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

This essay explores what Gregory of Nyssa is doing when he claims in Against Eunomius that his use of the language of “father,” “son” and “begetting” for the divine is supported by the “apprehension of ordinary people” and by the“ judgement of nature.” It uses conceptual metaphor theory in order to show that while Gregory recognised the role of ordinary human language in comprehending the divine, and so engaged with normal conceptual mappings from the domain of kinship, he also sought to transform those mappings in order to transform peoples’ thought processes and thus how they conceptualised the divine.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)112-146
Number of pages35
JournalReligion and Theology
Volume26
Issue number1-2
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 21 Jun 2019

Keywords

  • Eunomius
  • Gregory of Nyssa
  • doctrine
  • Conceptual metaphor
  • Conceptual metaphors
  • Divine Sonship of Christ
  • Development of Trinitarian doctrine

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