Volker Drecoll: The Impact of Basil of Caesarea on the Theology of Gregory of Nyssa

Since the analysis of Karl Holl (Amphilochius von Ikonium, Tuebingen 1904) it is common to deal with the specific profile of Basil, Gregory of Nyssa and Gregory of Nazianzus. A wide range of monographs has appeared especially on Basil and Gregory of Nyssa in the last two decades. For Basil there is extensive documentation of the manuscript tradition (ed.  Fedwick), but a critical edition is not available for all works. For Gregory of Nyssa, the critical edition (Gregorii Nysseni Opera) is nearly finished, but some volumes need a revision on the basis of modern knowledge of the manuscripts.

Until now, both fields of research have been quite isolated from each other. The most important exception is the debate about the authenticity of Basil, Letter 38 viz. Gregory of Nyssa, De differentia ousias et hypostaseos. The workshop does not aim to pursue this debate (the last contributions to this question will appear in the Proceedings of the International Colloquium on Gregory of Nyssa of 2008 and 2010), but it seeks to focus upon the relation between Basil and Gregory in a wider context.

Gregory himself declares quite often his dependence on and veneration of Basil. It is clear, however, that he developed an own profile (e.g. his concept of infinity, his Christology, his interpretation of Moses and the Song of Songs). As a first step, the workshop aims to elucidate the relationship between Basil and Gregory in the following fields:

-          Basil in Gregory’s refutation of Eunomius (Matthieu Cassin, IRHT Paris, France)

-          The Letters of Basil and Gregory (Andrew Radde-Gallwitz, LU Chicago, USA)

-          Apollinaris, Basil and Gregory (Alessandro Capone, Univ. Lecce, Italy)

-          Gregory’s and Basil’s Exegesis of Gen 1 (David DeMarco, Univ. Chicago, USA)

-          The Ascetic works of Basil and Gregory (Ann Silvas, Univ. of New Engl., Australia)

-          Exegesis of the Psalms in Basil and Gregory (Volker Drecoll, Univ. Tuebingen)

The panelists will circulate in advance preliminary versions of their papers together with examples of specific texts that will be the subject of group discussion. After the short presentation of the papers by the authors (15min. each) the round table discussion will follow (60min.). Chair of the discussion: Johannes Zachhuber (Trinity, Oxford, UK).

Individual proposals for the papers will be delivered by 31 March 2011.