Hilary Anne-Marie Mooney: Eschatological themes in the writings of Gregory of Nyssa and Johannes Scottus Eriugena

Gregory's theory of the final fulfilment of created reality in general, and of the human in particular, is a complex and many faceted theological construction. It may be approached thematically via his theology of the infinite God or via his spiritual theology of the human outreach to the Divine, to indicate merely two of the individually necessary and mutually complementary perspectives from which his eschatology as a whole may be viewed. Firstly, this paper outlines major lines of argumentation in Gregory's eschatology. Secondly, it turns explicitly to his use of biblical narrative. Thirdly, the paper compares both Gregory's arguments and his use of eschatologically relevant biblical narratives to those of his ninth century translator and interpreter Johannes Scottus Eriugena.  The theological legacy of Gregory and its development in the hands of Eriugena are identified and distinguished from each other, by which means the patristic author's initial theological insight becomes more lucid.