Orations
The collected sermons and addresses of Gregory of Nazianzus, bishop and theologian. They include the five Theological Orations preached at Constantinople between 379 and 381 and his farewell to the council of 381, and are first-hand evidence for both.
Read the text at newadvent.org ↗The same translation (CCEL) ↗
Forty-five orations of Gregory survive, delivered between his ordination as a presbyter in Cappadocia and his retirement from Constantinople. They were prepared for circulation as literature, and what stands in the collection may be fuller or more polished than what was spoken. Orations 27–31, the Theological Orations, set out the doctrine of the Trinity against those who denied the full deity of the Son and of the Spirit.
Oration 42, “The Last Farewell”, is addressed to the 150 bishops of the council of Constantinople in 381. In it Gregory defends his work in the city, asks the bishops to elect another in his place, and takes leave of his church. It is his own account of his resignation, written by a man with a grievance, and it should be read beside the later narratives of Socrates, Sozomen and Theodoret.
Cited in
- AD 52, traditional date
- about AD 370 to AD 381, estimated date
- May AD 381, firm date