chapter 9
We have examined the theology of deification as it was understood by the Cappadocian Fathers, while recognizing that their development of theology did not occur in a vacuum. Significantly, they each wrote about the women who were involved in their lives. The stories of these women have been included and as a result, our understanding of theosis or deification has become more robust. The lives of their female relatives were the source of the concrete experience of personal relationships and manner of life which shaped the Cappadocians’ theology of theosis, making it more than mere theory. The Cappadocian women exemplified theosis at all levels.
The Cappadocian Fathers took the time to include their female relatives in their writings, and we have been asking the question, “why?” We have been searching for the plot, and specifically, what we were to learn from their stories. The question of objectivity continues to rise; and the reality is that one cannot be completely objective in the evaluation of these stories, for they are hagiographic in nature and beg to be read within their context. Gabrielle Spiegel encourages a reading which registers the social logic, and that has emerged as we have read these documents from a theological perspective.1009 For the Cappadocians, the human experience that is portrayed within the lives of the women provides the flesh stretched over their theological skeleton of theosis. They are the living examples of their theological perspectives. They provide the illustrations for individuals in all manner of life, male and female, for living a life completely devoted to God.
The three Cappadocian Fathers fought the major theological battles of their day and after great personal sacrifice came out the victors, and yet, theological victory was not the goal, but rather, the goal was God himself. Their lifestyle was just as important to them as their theology, for their theology was a lived-out theology which had been instilled in all of them from their very childhood. The ultimate goal of theosis meant that the Cappadocians could interpret their theology within several different contexts. When Nyssen gave his discourse De Virginitate, he suggested that everyone desiring to live a life of virtue must find a “fitting guide for such a life,” one who “by the grace of God” can “point the way to the safeguarding of a life of virtue.”1010 He reminded his readers that there are saints who have been placed before us who were on their way to God and these lives serve as guiding lights.1011 Those worth emulating were not young people, new in their faith, but rather those who were adorned with heads of gray hair.1012 For these great men, it was the community of women who nurtured them, taught them, cajoled them, led them and loved them that became their fitting guides and taught them what it really meant to have the image restored, become united with Christ and, ultimately, to become his bride. Basil had said, “You are children of confessors and children of martyrs, who strove unto blood against sin. Let each of you use his own kin as example of constancy on behalf of piety.”1013 These women became for the Cappadocian Fathers the flame on a lit candle. This was a light which the women shared with all of those around them so that they too could become light but without diminishing the original light, their light becoming “equally present in those lighted from it.”1014 In this way they have distributed the dignity of this life “to those who come near . . . for the prophetic word is true that one associating with the holy and the innocent and the elect will take on their characteristics.”1015 Basil the Great, his brother Gregory of Nyssa and his friend Gregory Nazianzen all took upon themselves characteristics of the holy women who had helped to shape their lives. The very holiness of these women became a part of their nature and infused them to the very core with a desire for God and Christlikeness. This drive toward Christlikeness, or transformation into the image of God, changed them on a personal level, not by their own ability, but by the grace of God combined with the life of virtue. Nyssen explained, “Being like the divine is not our function, nor is it the product of human ability, but it is part of the generosity of God who freely, at the birth of the first man, gave our nature a likeness to Himself.”1016 The women paved the way, living lives of virtue which became road maps for men and women alike, leading all to the very likeness of Christ.
This study has included placing the lives of the women on a road map, that of the kenosis-theosis parabola. While it may not have been the intent of the Cappadocians to place them within the parabola, the goal and theology of theosis so permeated their lives that this pattern emerged. Along the way the life of a woman emerged which became illustrative of their theology. The emotion expressed in regard to the Fallen Virgin brought about a clearer understanding of the restoration of the image. Nonna and Gorgonia became for all of humanity the new Eve and presented a clearer picture of God’s original intent for a marriage of partners which reflected the perichoretic relationship found in the Trinity. Macrina, pure and undefiled, living a life of virginity completely focused on Christ became his bride. The emphasis on theosis and women like Macrina the Elder and Emmelia also provided additional implications in understanding the purpose of holiness in the home. Sadly they may not have fully understood these implications at the time. And finally, the focus on deification allowed the Cappadocians to develop thoughts on slavery and gender equality, and women in ministry which are appreciated to this day.
Theosebia’s presence and ministry in Nyssa asks us to examine the present and future role of women in ministry. For both the Orthodox and Roman Catholic Churches, tradition is the authority. If, traditionally, women such as Theosebia were ordained into official roles of ministry in the early church, why should women not be ordained today? This brings into question whether the goal of the church today continues to be deification. The Cappadocians’ theology appears open to various applications if one remains within the framework of deification. As with the case of Nonna and Gregory, the roles of husband and wife become malleable when the goal is theosis.
It is nearly impossible to dissect the intertwined relationships and influences of the Cappadocian Mothers on the Fathers. In many ways, they are all one and the same. Their theological thoughts belong to one another, and each helped to form the other along the way. Overall, the theology of deification in the Cappadocians combined with the influence of the women in their lives led them to the development of an optimistic eschatology for men and women alike. The Cappadocian Fathers chose to write about these women, and it must be recognized that this had a purpose, and the reasons are not simple. Averil Cameron in referring to Nyssen and Nazianzen states, “For just as real women were denied an answer to the rhetoric of their portrayal, so a male author ostensibly writing about women was writing about authority and control, and about the resolution of irreconcilable polarities.”1017 She believes that the Fathers were very conscious of the broader issues at hand and completely conscious of the effect the women had on them. The Fathers had to write about these women within the confines of the rhetoric of their day. While we have not endeavored to prove the literal truth of all of their writings, it is obvious that the women in many ways informed their theology.1018 The difficulty is in determining which came first, the theology, or the practice. Ramelli argued that the Cappadocians’ “theological perspectives informed social realities.”1019 Elm believes the exact opposite stating, “I am not arguing that shifts in theology cause shifts in practice.”1020 I concur with Ramelli that the Cappadocians’ theological perspectives did inform their realities, and this is why so many of their perspectives were progressive for their day. At the same time, their social realities and relationships informed their theology. The homes in which they were raised provided a theological foundation on which the rest of their thought was developed. The women provided the living examples of their theological thought. Given the raw actuality of their experience there were those whom they simply could not discount, like Macrina and Theosebia who had become significant in the life of the church.
At the close of the fourth century, the Cappadocians were dying off, and the voice of Augustine was rising up from the new center of power in the Latin West. He did not embrace the same perspectives as the Cappadocians in regard to women, and the result on the life of women both within and without the church was profound. Lost was the hope found in the Cappadocians, and the church has yet to recover. By returning to the Cappadocians and their women, we have are optimistic. As we have seen, their perspective for both married women and virgins appears to be quite positive. There is the hope of salvation, for the grace of God reaches out to all who are lost. There is the hope of restoration in the image of God for all of humanity, for the image is neither male nor female. Therefore, the women can be, and do serve as models of theosis for both women and men. A woman has a renewed hope of restoration so as to be as the original Eve. There is the hope of a marriage within the original state which God intended. There is the hope for women in ministry and leadership, and ultimately, there is the future hope of being united with Christ.
As Kruger so poignantly said about the sacramental nature of Macrina’s life, we may now say about all of these women’s lives. The Cappadocians have gifted us with their women, and all of them, not just Macrina, are a sacrament. As the host of Eucharist remains ever available, needing only to be consecrated for us in order to be properly received by us, so too they are for us and by us.1021 These lives, so long hidden within history, are now placed on the table inviting us to join with them as “participants of the divine nature.”1022
1009. Clark, “Lady Vanishes,” 23.
1010. Nyssen, DV (PG 46:320) (SC 119) (GNO VIII.I) (FC, 7). Interestingly later in DV 6 he uses Elias and John the Baptist as role models, which seems a bit curious. It seems that he may have discovered that the bent toward female models of virginity was dominant and therefore needed to include male models. Overall, however, he returns to female role models for the bride of Christ and virginity.
1011. Nyssen, DV 12 (PG 46:369) (SC 119) (GNO VIII.I) (FC, 42).
1012. Ibid., 23 (PG 46:405) (SC 119) (GNO VIII.I) (FC, 70).
1013. Basil, Ep. 240 (Deferrari, LCL).
1014. Nyssen, DV 23 (PG 46:405) (SC 119) (GNO VIII.I) (FC, 72).
1015. Ibid. Ps 17:26–27.
1016. Nyssen, DV 12 (PG 46:369) (SC 119) (GNO VIII.I) (FC, 44).
1017. Cameron, “Virginity as Metaphor,” 200.
1018. Ibid.
1019. Ramelli, “Theosebia,” 80.
1020. Elm, “Virgins of God,” 382.
1021. Kruger, “Writing and the Liturgy,” 510.
1022. 2 Pet 1:4 NRSV.