The Witness of Gregory of Nazianzus

But perhaps, because those we have listed came from various parts of the world, their authority may seem to you of less value. That would be absurd, since faith is not affected by place, and we have to consider what a man is, not where he is, especially since religion unites everyone, and those who are in the one faith may be known to be in the one body. Still, we will bring forward for you some from the East as well, whom you cannot despise. There is Gregory, that magnificent light of knowledge and teaching. Though he has been dead for some time, he still lives in authority and faith, and though he has been removed in body from the churches for some time, he has not abandoned them in word and authority. [a]

“When, then,” he says, “God had come forth from the Virgin in the human nature he had taken, he existed as one out of two things that are opposite to each other, flesh and spirit. The one is taken up into God; the other lifts up into the grace of the Godhead. What a new and unheard-of mingling! What a wonderful and exquisite union! He who was comes to be, and the Creator is created. He who is boundless is contained by the soul, which stands midway between God and the flesh. And he who makes all rich is made poor.” Again, he says on the Epiphany: “But what is happening? What is being done about us and for us? A new and unheard-of change of natures is brought about, and God is made man.” And again in this passage: “The Son of God began to be also the Son of Man, not changed from what he was, for he is unchangeable, but taking to himself what he was not. For he is full of compassion, so that he who could not be contained can now be contained.”

You see how grandly and nobly he asserts the majesty of his Godhead, so that he may bring in his stooping down in the incarnation. For that admirable teacher of the faith knew well that, of all the blessings God granted us by his coming into the world, this was the chief, and that it lessened his glory in no way. For whatever God has given to man ought to increase our love for him, and not lessen the honor we give him.