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Spiritual Struggle and Gregory of Nyssa's Theory of Perpetual Ascent Duquesne University Duquesne Scholarship Collection Electronic Theses and Dissertations Spring 5-10-2019 Spiritual Struggle and Gregory of Nyssa’s Theory of Perpetual Ascent: An Orthodox Christian Virtue Ethic Stephen M. Meawad Follow this and additional works at: https://dsc.duq.edu/etd Part of the Christianity Commons, and the Ethics in Religion Commons Recommended Citation Meawad, S. M. (2019). Spiritual Struggle and Gregory of Nyssa’s Theory of Perpetual Ascent: An Orthodox Christian Virtue Ethic (Doctoral dissertation, Duquesne University). Retrieved from https://dsc.duq.edu/etd/1768 This Immediate Access is brought to you for free and open access by Duquesne Scholarship Collection. It has been accepted for inclusion in Electronic Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Duquesne Scholarship Collection. SPIRITUAL STRUGGLE AND GREGORY OF NYSSA’S THEORY OF PERPETUAL ASCENT: AN ORTHODOX CHRISTIAN VIRTUE ETHIC A Dissertation Submitted to the McAnulty College and Graduate School of Liberal Arts Duquesne University In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy By Stephen M. Meawad May 2019 Copyright by Stephen Meawad 2019 SPIRITUAL STRUGGLE AND GREGORY OF NYSSA’S THEORY OF PERPETUAL ASCENT: AN ORTHODOX CHRISTIAN VIRTUE ETHIC By Stephen M. Meawad Approved December 14, 2018 _______________________________ _______________________________ Darlene F. Weaver, Ph.D. Elizabeth A. Cochran, Ph.D. Professor of Theology Associate Professor of Theology Director, Ctr for Catholic Intellectual Tradition Director of Graduate Studies (Committee Chair) (Committee Member – First Reader) _______________________________ _______________________________ Bogdan G. Bucur, Ph.D. Marinus C. Iwuchukwu, Ph.D. Associate Professor of Theology Associate Professor of Theology (Committee Member – Second Reader) Chair, Department of Theology Chair, Consortium Christian-Muslim Dial. _______________________________ James C. Swindal, Ph.D. Professor of Philosophy Dean, McAnulty School of Liberal Arts iii ABSTRACT SPIRITUAL STRUGGLE AND GREGORY OF NYSSA’S THEORY OF PERPETUAL ASCENT: AN ORTHODOX CHRISTIAN VIRTUE ETHIC By Stephen M. Meawad May 2019 Dissertation supervised by Darlene F. Weaver, Ph.D. This project utilizes virtue ethics as an especially suitable lens by which to develop an Orthodox Christian ethical model generally. At the same time, virtue ethics carries with it some complexities that are in turn mitigated by the particulars of this Orthodox model—spiritual struggle and perpetual progress, or epektasis. Spiritual struggle in this project, which ultimately shifts the emphasis from virtue’s acquisition to its pursuit, is defined as the exertion of effort in all conceivable dimensions—physical, emotional, psychological, intellectual, and spiritual—with intent to attain a semblance of, knowledge of, and intimacy with Jesus Christ in community, for God and for others. Gregory of Nyssa’s theory of epektasis assumes a basic three-tiered conception of perpetual ascent, beginning with purification and detachment from fleshly passions, strengthening the soul by increasing in similitude to God, and ending with unity with God, that is, with inexpressible and transformative experience of God. God—the infinite, the iv Good, and the Paragon of virtue—functions as the orienting principle of this perpetual ascent, mitigating the issues of the unity of the virtues and the self-centeredness and self-effacement of virtue. This project goes on to provide two of many potential concrete examples of this Orthodox ethical model as applied to the body in the practice of asceticism and as applied to Scripture in the practice of sacred reading. In the end, a model of love of God and neighbor emerges that is characteristic of Orthodox Christianity’s inherent integrative nature, that locates God as telos, and that construes virtue as an enabler, marker, and result of the struggle-laden, epektatic journey to God. v TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ABSTRACT ................................................................................................................................... iv Ch. 1 – A Framework for Struggle and Perpetual Ascent .............................................................. 1 1 – Introduction ........................................................................................................................... 1 2 – Complexities in Virtue Ethics Mitigated by Spiritual Struggle and Perpetual Ascent ......... 8 2.1 – The Virtuous Agent and the Unity of the Virtues .......................................................... 8 2.2 – Moral Luck and Moral Effort ...................................................................................... 13 2.3 – Self-Centeredness and Self-Effacement ...................................................................... 19 2.4 – Grace and Works.......................................................................................................... 21 2.4.1 – Grace and Virtue ................................................................................................... 23 2.4.2 – Works and Antinomianism ................................................................................... 28 2.4.3 – A Contemporary Consensus Between Grace and Works ..................................... 35 3 - Chapter Overview ................................................................................................................ 43 Ch. 2 – Spiritual Struggle.............................................................................................................. 48 1 – What is Spiritual Struggle? ................................................................................................. 48 1.1 – Selecting a Precise Term .............................................................................................. 48 1.2 – Origins and Scope of Spiritual Struggle ...................................................................... 51 1.3 – Communal Dimension of Spiritual Struggle................................................................ 54 2 – A Way of Life Far and Wide .............................................................................................. 61 2.1 – The Ancients ................................................................................................................ 62 2.1.1 - Aristotle ................................................................................................................. 62 2.1.2 – The Stoics.............................................................................................................. 64 vi 2.2 - Patristics........................................................................................................................ 70 2.3 – Medieval Western Mystics .......................................................................................... 72 2.3.1 – Julian of Norwich .................................................................................................. 72 2.3.2 – Teresa of Avila ...................................................................................................... 75 2.3.3 – John of the Cross ................................................................................................... 77 2.4 - Søren Kierkegaard ........................................................................................................ 78 2.5 –Paisios of Athos ............................................................................................................ 81 3 – Conclusions Regarding Spiritual Struggle .......................................................................... 84 Ch. 3 – Gregory of Nyssa’s Theory Of Perpetual Ascent and Its Implications for Virtue Ethics 91 1 - Introduction ......................................................................................................................... 91 1.2 – Philosophies Contrary to Epektasis ............................................................................. 92 2 – Gregory of Nyssa’s Theological Integrity .......................................................................... 99 3 – Gregory’s Primary Sources on Epektasis ......................................................................... 102 3.1 – De Perfectione ............................................................................................................ 103 3.2 – Commentary on the Beatitudes .................................................................................. 105 3.3 – Commentary on the Psalms ....................................................................................... 107 3.4 – Commentary on the Song of Songs ........................................................................... 109 3.5 – De Vita Moysis .......................................................................................................... 113 4 – Analyzing the Theory of Epektasis and Its Implications for Virtue Ethics ...................... 119 4.1 – Stages of the Journey ................................................................................................. 119 4.1.1 – The Spiritual Journey as a Non-linear Spectrum ................................................ 123 4.1.2 – God as Infinite, Goodness, and Virtue ................................................................ 129 5 – Conclusion ........................................................................................................................ 135 vii Ch. 4 – Asceticism as Epektatic Spiritual Struggle: Sexuality, Angelification,
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