The image of Moses' ascent of Mt. Sinai from Exodus 19 is among the favorites of Gregory of Nazianzus, especially in his discussions of the problem of Christian knowledge of God. Drawing heavily from the narrative content of the passage, and paying special attention to the roles of Moses, Aaron, and the Hebrew people waiting below the mountain, Gregory uses the story to illustrate a number of complex points regarding how Christians are able to come to a knowledge of God. His use of the passage in this way has been explored in some recent scholarship, but as yet no study has examined the corporate and ecclesiastical elements of Gregory's use of the narrative. This paper explores Gregory's use of the characters of Moses, Aaron, and the people at large in making several key arguments about how, in Gregory's view, the Church as a whole is led to the knowledge of God.
In numerous passages scattered throughout his Orations (esp. 2, 11, 20, 28, 32) Gregory uses the Exodus narrative to explore the relationship between Christianity's spiritual leaders, and the broad mass of Christians who make up the Church. Gregory especially relies on the narrative to illustrate his understanding that, for the mass of Christians, no direct approach to the knowledge of God is possible. At the same time, Gregory uses the characters of Moses and Aaron in particular to indicate the important responsibility of Christian spiritual elites to lead other Christians towards God. Gregory's discussions of the interlacing relationships which exists between Moses, Aaron and the Hebrew people reveal a consistent vision of corporate epistemology driven by Church leadership. Through careful reading, this study of Gregory's use of the Sinai narrative serves to open a new window on Gregory's deeply corporate epistemology, while also helping to illuminate more fully the details of Gregory's vision of Christian leadership, its requirements, and its role in making the Church the place in which God is known to Christian seekers.
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