The Incanticum Canticorum on Faith and Knowledge

Dew on the Locks of the Beloved: the In Canticum Canticorum on Faith and Knowledge

Martin Laird, O.S.A.

1 Introduction

For all of Gregory of Nyssa’s association with the apophatic tradition, the unknowability of the divine ousia, and rightly so. If one reads, however, his Homilies on the Song of Songs with only this in mind, the impatient reader of Gregory’s most theologically rich work, will likely miss the fact that Gregory’s apophatic theology assumes the shape it does precisely because Gregory is so concerned with knowledge, teaching and doctrine. What is his concern? To begin with Gregory is concerned to show that the most reliable knowledge, teachings or doctrines concerning God, are those grounded in, indeed the fruit of, apophatic union, which is often signaled by its classical markers and motifs such as anabasis, aphairesis, alpha-privitives and so forth. Nor can Gregory’s apophatic pedagogy be reduced to anti-Eunomian polem- ic, though surely this is present. In these Homilies Gregory is concerned to show us several things. First, he wants to show that a fully developed apophatic theology is not about divine absence, but about a surfeit of divine presence and how the divine presence manifests as the Word itself, the second person of the Trinity, incarnate in the text of Scripture, gives something of itself to the discursive mind. Second, Gregory does not want to suggest that the many examples of union with the Word Incarnate in the text of Scripture, such as we see in the figures of the Bride, the Beloved Disciple, St. Paul, compromises in any way the unknowability of the divine ousia. And third, by the very fact of this apophatic union beyond the grasp of all concepts and images, the Bride, the Beloved Dis- ciple, St. Paul, among others, all receive something conceptual in the form of teachings and doctrines which are in some way passed on for the good of all. Hence, Gregory leads us into yet another of his preaching paradoxes.The ascent to apophatic union with God has a clear contour: by virtue of this apophatic union, the soul, having been trained by (askesis) of Solomonic writings is led by the Word incarnate in Scripture itself into divinizing union. By virtue of this divinizing union the person is transfigured and thereby takes on the incarna- tional dynamic of the Word and as a result is sent forth in ecclesial mission. As personal and consummating as divinizing union is, it is far from private to the individual—and this is crucial to grasp–divinizing union for Gregory of

Nyssa is also deeply ecclesial. For Gregory of Nyssa, apophatic union, beyond all image and concept, paradoxically grounds the very possibility of being able to teach something true of God. As I have argued elsewhere, Gregory’s apophasis flowers as logophasis: that is the Word speaking itself in the deeds and dis- course of those in apophatic union with the mystery of God in Christ.1 How this happens is crucial to understanding the vital relationship Gregory sees between faith and knowledge, and serves further to show that we can know something of God upon which truth claims can be made, without pin- ning down God by concepts, and yet by which ecclesial life is shaped. For Gregory, apophatic union bestows something to the discursive mind. What does it do? The discursive mind is trained and formed by the very apophatic union into which the mind has been led by the Word, in which the discursive mind cannot grasp, simply because there is nothing for it to grasp. However, and this is a characteristic nuance intrinsic to Gregory’s apophati- cism, in apophatic union the Bride, the Beloved Disciple, Paul, among others, the discursive mind is transfigured from a compulsive, obsessive, clinging mind to an intellect that is humbled by adoration and can therefore receive and serve. But before developing this further let us consider some special challenges in reading the Homilies on the Song of Songs.

2 Certain Difficulties in Reading the Homilies on the Song of Songs

It is very nearly a throw-away line to say that if one seeks in Gregory of Nyssa an author who is consistently organized in his manner of pursuing an argument by careful exposition, consistency and coherence, then Gregory of Nyssa will at times disappoint. However, this does not mean that Gregory’s Homilies on the Song of Songs is untidy or remotely arbitrary. As with patristic theology in general, it is vitally important to realize that patristic theology is thoroughly grounded in and shaped by Scripture. Hence, one must always take note of what Scriptural lemma Gregory is commenting on, for this leads him to develop his thought in a certain direction as opposed to another.Without an eye for this, one can easily conclude that Gregory is frequently inconsistent. For example, one of Gregory’s signature themes is what many call a “mysticism of darkness”. This is surely present, as we see both in the Life of Moses as well as in the Hom- ilies on the Song of Songs. However, in each of these texts Gregory only pursues

1 M. Laird, “Apophasis and Logophasis in Gregory of Nyssa’s Commentarius in Canticum Canti- corum”, Studia Patristica 34 (2001) 126–132.