# On the Soul and the Resurrection

- Author: [Gregory of Nyssa](https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/authors/gregory-of-nyssa/)
- Latin title: *Dialogus de anima et resurrectione*
- Date: ca. 379–380 (approximate)
- Source: J.-P. Migne, ed., Patrologiae cursus completus, Series Graeca 46 (Paris: Migne, 1863), cols. 11–160 (reprinting the edition of J. G. Krabinger, Landshut, 1837/1840)

- Translation: Claude, from the original text, unless a passage says otherwise; each passage below gives the translator
- Work page: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/gregory-nyssa-anima-resurrectione/
- Passages: 75

## On the Soul and the Resurrection, Migne page 11

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/gregory-nyssa-anima-resurrectione/11/#p-11
- Source: PG 46:12a
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: After Basil’s death Gregory visits his dying sister Macrina, who first lets him grieve and then begins to restrain his grief by reason.

### Greek text

Ἐπειδὴ τοῦ ἀνθρωπίνου βίου πρὸς Θεὸν μετέστη ὀ πολὺς ὲν ἁγίοις Βασίλειος, καὶ κοινὴ πένθους ἀφορμὴ ταῖς Ἑκκλησίαις ἐγένετο, περιῆν δὲ ἔτι τῷ βίῳ ἡ ἀδελφὴ καὶ διδάσκαλος, ἐγὼ μὲν ᾔειν κατὰ σπουο δὴν κοινωνήσων ἐκείνῃ τῆς ἐπὶ τῷ ἀδελφῷ συμφορᾶς. Καί μοι περιώδυνος ἦν ὴ ψυχὴ, πρὸς τοιαύτην ζημίαν ὑπεραλγοῖηα, καί τινα τῶν δακρύων κοινωνδν ἐπεζήτουν τὸν ἴσον ἔχοντά μοι τῆς λύπης ἄχθος. Ὠς δὲ ὲν ὀφθαλμοῖς ἦμεν ἀλλήλων, ἐμοὶ μὲν ἀνεκίνει τὸ πάθος προφανεῖσα τοῖς ὀφθαλμοῖς ή διδάσκαλος · καὶ γὰρ ἢδη καὶ αὑτὴ τῇ πρὸς θάνατον ἀρρωστίᾳ συνείχετο. Ἡ δὲ … τοὺς τῆς ἱππικῆς ἐπιστήμονας ἔνδοῠσά μοι πρὸς ὀλίγον παρενεχθῆναι τῇ ῥύμῃ τοῦ πάθους, ἁναστομοῦν ἐπεχείρει μετὰ ταῦτα τῷ λόγῳ, καθάπερ χαλινῷ τινιτῷ ίδίῳ λογισμῷ τὸ ἀτακτοῦν τῆς ψυχῆς ἀπευθύνουσα, καὶ ἦν

### English translation (Claude)

When Basil, great among the saints, had departed from human life to God, and a common cause of mourning had come upon the churches, while his sister and my teacher was still living, I went in haste to share with her the misfortune of our brother. My soul was in deep pain, grieving excessively at such a loss, and I sought someone to share my tears who bore a burden of grief equal to mine. When we were in each other’s sight, the appearance of my teacher before my eyes stirred my grief again; for she too was already in the grip of the illness that led to her death. But she, like those skilled in horsemanship, gave way to me for a little while, letting me be carried along by the rush of my grief, and afterward tried to curb me with reason, guiding the disorder of my soul by her own reasoning as with a bridle; and she was …

### Translation notes

- Opening of the dialogue. Gregory narrates in the first person; his sister Macrina, called “the teacher,” is the main speaker. The unit breaks off at the end of Migne’s page; the following lines are lost in the scan (marked …).

### Citation (SBL)

Gregory of Nyssa, An. et res. 11 (PG 46:12a; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/gregory-nyssa-anima-resurrectione/11/#p-11).

## On the Soul and the Resurrection, Migne page 13

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/gregory-nyssa-anima-resurrectione/11/#p-13
- Source: PG 46:13a–13d
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: Gregory objects that grief at death is natural: all human effort, from houses and farming to medicine and armour, springs from the fear of death.

### Greek text

ειναι. A. Κάγὼ περιζεούσης ἔτι μοι τῆς καρδίας τῇ λύπῃ Ulli); ἐστιν, εἷποννὲν ἀνθρώποις τοῦτο κατορθωθῆναι, οὕτως ὲν ἑκάστῳ φυσικοῦ τινος πρὸς τὸν θάνατον τῆς διαβολῆς ὑπαρχούσης. καὶ οὔτε τῶν ὁρώντων τοὺς ἀποθνήσκοντας εὺκὸλως καταδεχομένων τὴν θέαν, οἷς τε ἂν προσίῃ ὁ θάνατος ἀποφευγόντων ἐφʼ ὅσον οἷόν τε ; Ἀλλὰ καὶ τῶν ἐπικρατούντων νόμον ἔςχατον ἐν ἀδικίαις καὶ ἔσχατον ὲν τιμωρίαις τοῦτο κρινόντων,τίς μηχανὴ τὸ μηδὲν ἡγεῖσθαι τὴν τοῦ ζῇν ἀναχώρησιν, καὶ ἐπὶ τῶν ἔξω τινὸς μὴ δτιγετῶν ἐπιτηδείων, ὅταν τοῦ βίου λήγωσιν; Ὀρῶμεν δὲ, εἷπον, καὶ πᾶσαν τὴν ἀνθρωπίνην σπουδὴν πρὸς τοῦτο βλέπουσαν, ὅπως ἂν ὲν τῷ ζῇν διαμένοιμεν. Διὰ τοῦτο γὰρ καὶ οἶκοι πρὸς διαγωγὴν 7)ή μίν ἑπινενὸηνται, ὡς ἂν μὴ τῷ περιέχοντι διὰ ψύξεως ἢ Α θερμότητος καταπονοῖτο τὰ σώματα. Γ εωπονία δὲ τί ἄλλο καὶ οὐχὶ τοῦ ζῇν ἐστιπαρασκευής 'll δὲ τῆς ζωῆς φροντὶς πάντως διὰ τὸν τοῦ θανάτου φόβον γίνεται. Ἡ δὲ ἰατρικὴ πόθεν τιμία τοῖς ἀνθρώποις ἐστίν ; Οὐκ ἐπειδὴ μάχεσθαί πως διὰ τῆς τέχνης δοκεῖ πρὸς τὸν θάνατον; Θώρακες δὲ, καὶ θυρεοὶ, καὶ κνημῖδες, καὶ κράνη, καὶ τὰ ἁμυντήρια τῶν ὅπλων, καὶ αἱ τῶν τειχῶν περιβολαὶ, καὶ σιδηρόδετοι πύλαι, καὶ ὴ τῶν τάφρων aerariis“ καὶ τὰ seuit-ra, τί ἄλλο πλὴν διὰ τον τοῦ θανάτου γίνεται φόὃον; Οὕτως οὖν ὗντος φοβεροῦ φυσικῶς τοῦ θανάτου, πῶς ἔστι ῥᾳδίως πεισθῆναι τῷ κελεύοντι ἄλυπον διαμέ-

### English translation (Claude)

… to be. Gregory: And I, my heart still boiling with grief, said: “How is it possible for this to be achieved among human beings, when there is in each a natural aversion to death, and those who see the dying do not easily bear the sight, while those whom death approaches flee it as far as they can? Even the rulers judge it the extreme law in crimes and the extreme penalty in punishments. What means is there to think the departure from life as nothing, even in the case of strangers, not to speak of friends, when their life ends? We see,” I said, “that all human effort looks to this, that we may remain alive. For this reason houses have been devised for us to live in, so that our bodies may not be distressed by the surrounding air through cold or heat. And what else is farming but a provision for living? And care for life arises entirely from the fear of death. Why is medicine honoured among men? Is it not because by its art it seems in some way to fight against death? Breastplates and shields, greaves and helmets, and the defensive weapons, the encircling walls, iron-bound gates, the safety of trenches and the like, what else are they made for but the fear of death? Since death is thus naturally fearful, how can one easily be persuaded by one who bids us remain without grief …

### Translation notes

- The unit begins and ends mid-sentence because lines at the edges of Migne’s pages are lost in the scan (marked …). Speaker labels (Gregory, Macrina) follow the edition’s marginal letters Γ. and Μ. Several words in the list of defences are garbled and translated by sense (“the safety of trenches and the like”).

### Citation (SBL)

Gregory of Nyssa, An. et res. 13 (PG 46:13a–13d; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/gregory-nyssa-anima-resurrectione/11/#p-13).

## On the Soul and the Resurrection, Migne page 15

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/gregory-nyssa-anima-resurrectione/11/#p-15
- Source: PG 46:16a–16d
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: Asked what is most painful about death, Gregory describes the dead body and the disappearance of the soul, which no element shows to have gone anywhere.

### Greek text

IEW ἐπὶ τοῦ κατοιχομένου τὸν περιόντας -ΜΧΠ δὲ, φησὶν ἡ διδάςκαλος, τί σοι μαλιστα λυπηρὸν αὐτὸ ἐφʼ ἑαυτοῦ, τὸ τοῦ Θανάτου δοκεῖ; οὐ γάρ ικανδν εἰς διαβολὴν ἡτῶν ἀλογωτέρων συνήθεια.-Γ. Τι μὲν οὖν οὐκ ἔστι λύπης ἄξιον, πρὸς αὐτὴν εἷπον ἐγὼ, ὅταν βλέπωμεν τὸν τέως ζῶντά τε καὶ φθεγγόμενον, ἄπνουν κα). ἄναυδον καὶ ἀκίνητον ἀθρόως γενόμενον, καὶ πάντα αὐτῶν σὸεσβἑντα τὰ φυσικὰ αἰσθητήρια, οὐκ adeo); οὐκ ἀκοῆς ἐνεργούσης, οὐκ ἄλλου τινος ὧν ἡ αἴσθησις τὴν ἀντΰιηψιν ἔχει; ᾯ κᾶν πῦρ προσενέγκῃς, κᾶν σίδηρον, κᾶν ἁνατέμῃς διὰ ξίφους τδ σῶμα, κᾶν τοῖς σαρκοβὁροις προῦῇς, κᾶν ἐγκρύψῃς χώματι, πρὸς ἅπαντα. ὁμοίως ὁ κείμενος ἔχει. Ὅταν οὖν ὲν τούτοις βλέπηται (ΜΗ) μεταβολὴ, τὸ δὲ Βν ζωτικὸν ἐκεῖνο αἴτιον, ὃ τῑ ποτε ἦν, ἀφανές τε κα). ἄδολον ἀορίίως γένηται, καθάπερ ἐπὶ λύχνου σεεςῧζντος τῆς τέως ἐξαπτομένης ἐφʼ ἑαυτοῦ φλογὸς οὒτε ἐπὶετῆς Θρυαλλίδος μενούσης, οὔτε ἑτέρωΟί που μεθισταμένης. ἀλλʼ εἰς ἀφανισμὸν παντελῆ μεταχωρούσης, πῶς ἂν γένοιτο τὴν τοσαύτην μετα.βολὴν ἐνεγκεῖν ἀλύπως μηδενὶ, προδήλως ἐπερειδόμενον; "Ege/30v γὰρ ψυχῆς ἀκούσαντες, τὸ μὲν ὑπολειφθὲν ὁρῶμεν, τὺ δὲ χωρισΊὲν ἀγνοοῦμεν, αὑτὸ τε ὃ τε ποτε κατά τὴν φύσιν ἐστὶ, καὶ εἰς ὃ τι μετακεχὼρηκεν, οὗ γῆς, οὐκ ἀέρος, οὐχ ὓδατος, οὐκ ἄλλου τινὸς τῶν στοιχείων ὲν ἑαυτῷ δεικνύντος ἐκείνην τὴν (Η) δύναμιν τὴν τοῦ σώματος ἐκχωρήτασαν · ἧς ὑπεξελοούσης νεκρόν ἐστι τὸ ὑπολειφθὲν κα). πρὸς διαφθορὰν ἤδη ἐκκείμενον (Η).

### English translation (Claude)

… over the departed, the survivors? Macrina: “What,” said my teacher, “seems to you most painful about death in itself? For the habit of the more irrational is not sufficient ground to condemn it.” Gregory: “What is there, then, not worthy of grief,” I said to her, “when we see one who until now was living and speaking suddenly become breathless, voiceless, and motionless, and all his natural senses quenched, no sight, no hearing working, nor any other of the things perceived by sense? Bring fire to him, or iron, cut his body with a sword, throw him to carnivorous beasts, hide him in earth: the one lying there is alike toward everything. When, then, such a change is seen in these things, and that life-giving cause, whatever it was, has suddenly become invisible and unknown, as when a lamp is put out and the flame that until then was burning by itself neither remains on the wick nor moves somewhere else but passes into complete disappearance, how could anyone bear such a change without grief, having nothing plain to lean on? For when we hear of the departure of the soul, we see what is left, but we do not know what has been separated, either what it is by nature or where it has gone, since neither earth nor air nor water nor any other of the elements shows in itself that power which has departed from the body, at whose withdrawal what is left is a corpse and already exposed to corruption.”

### Translation notes

- Some words at the start of the unit are lost or garbled in the scan (marked …). The lamp image compares the soul’s departure to a flame going out.

### Citation (SBL)

Gregory of Nyssa, An. et res. 15 (PG 46:16a–16d; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/gregory-nyssa-anima-resurrectione/11/#p-15).

## On the Soul and the Resurrection, Migne page 17

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/gregory-nyssa-anima-resurrectione/11/#p-17
- Source: PG 46:17a–17d
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: Macrina asks whether Gregory fears that the soul perishes with the body; he admits that faith in its survival rests on command rather than reason, and she replies that such doubt destroys virtue.

### Greek text

Γ. Ταῦταδέ μου διεξιόντος μεταξὺ κατασείσῖτα τῇ χειρὶὴδιδάσκαλος--ΜΛῙή τίς σε τοιοῦτος. φησὶ, φόβος ὑποταράπσει καὶ συνέχει τὴν διάνοιαν, ὡς οὐ διαμενού ι-ης εἰς ἀεὶ τῆς ψυχῆς, ἀλλὰ συγκαταληγούσης τῇ διαλύσει τοῦ σώματο;; -Γ. Ἐγὼ δὲ (καὶ γὰρ οὔπω τοῦ πάθους τὸν λογιcui» ἀνεδεξάμην) θρασύτερον πως ἀπεκρινάμην, οὔ πάνυ περισκεψάμενος τὸ λεγόμενον. Εἶπον γὰρ ἐπιτάγμασιν ἐοικέναι τὰς θείας φωνὰς, διʼ ὧν τὸ μὲν δεῖν πεπεῖσθαι τὴν ψυχὴν εἰσαεὶ διαμένειν ἀναγκαζόμεθα, οὐ μὴν λόγῳ τινὶ τῷ τοιούτῳ προσήχθημεν ξκιγματι. ἐυ-λʼ ἔοικεν ἡμῖν δουλικῶς ἔνδοθεν ὁ νοῦς φόβῳ τὸ κελευόμενον δέχεσθαι, οὐχ ἑκουσίᾳ τινὶ ὁρμῇ τοῖς λεγομένοις συντίθεσθαι. Ὅθεν καὶ fligi-rapat ἡμῖν ἐπὶ τῶν κατοικουμένων αἱ λύπαι γίνονται [οὐκ] ἀκριβῶς ἐπισταμένων ἡ μῶν, εἴτʼ ἔτι éstl. καθʼ αὐτὸ τοῦτο τὸ ζωοποιὺν αἴτιον, καὶ ὅπη, καὶ ὅπως, εἴτε οὐκ ἔστιν οὐδαμῆ οὐδαμῶς. Ἴσας γὰρ ποιεῖ τοῦ ἀληθῶς ὄντος ἀδηλία τὰς ἐφʼ ἑκάτερον ὑπολείψεις. Καὶ πολλοῖς μὲν τοῦτο, πολλοῖς δὲ τὸ ἐναντίον δοκεῖ. Καὶ εἰσί γέ τινες παρὰ τοῖς ’Ἓλλησιν οὺ μικρὰν ἔχοντες ἐπὶ φιλοσοφίᾳ τὴν δόξαν, οἳ ταῦτα ᾠήθησαν τε καὶ ἀπεοήναντο. -Μ. Ἔα, (meiut-oi); ἔξωθεν λήρους, ἐν οἷς ὁ τοῦ ψεύδους εὑρέτης ἐπὶ βλάβῃ τῆς ἀληθείας πιθανῶς τὰς ἡπατημένοις ὑπολήψεις συντίθησιν· σὺ δὲ πρὸς τοῦτο βλέπε, ὅτι τὸ οὕτως περ). ψυχῆς ἔχειν, οὐδὲν ἄλλο ἐστὶν ἢ ἀλλότριον πρὸς τὴν ἀρετὴν ἔχειν. καὶ πρὸς τὸ παρὸν ἡδὺ μόνον βλέπειν τὴν δὲ τοῖς αἰῶσιν ἐνοεωρουμένην ζωὴν ἀπʼ ἐλπίδος ποιεῖσθαι, καθʼ ἣν μόνη ἡ ἀρετὴ τὺ πλεῖον ἔχει. -Γ. Καὶ πῶς, ἔφην, γένοιτʼ ἂν ἡμῖν παγὶα (οι) τις καὶ ἁμετὰθετος ἡ περ). τοῦ διαμένειν τὴν ψυχὴν δόξας

### English translation (Claude)

Gregory: While I was going through this, my teacher, motioning with her hand, said: Macrina: “Is it such a fear that disturbs and grips your mind, that the soul does not remain forever but ends together with the dissolution of the body?” Gregory: And I, for I had not yet recovered my reasoning from my grief, answered rather rashly, without considering what was said very carefully. I said that the divine words seem like commands, by which we are compelled to believe that the soul remains forever, but we have not been brought to such a belief by any reasoning; rather, it seems that our mind within slavishly accepts by fear what is commanded, not agreeing with what is said by any willing impulse. “That is why,” I said, “our griefs over the departed become sharper, since we do not know exactly whether this life-giving cause still exists by itself, and where and how, or whether it does not exist anywhere in any way. For uncertainty about what truly is makes the suppositions on either side equal. Many hold this, and many the opposite. And there are some among the Greeks of no small reputation in philosophy who have thought and declared these things.” Macrina: “Away,” she said, “with that outside nonsense, in which the inventor of falsehood, to the harm of the truth, plausibly constructs suppositions for those he has deceived. But look at this: to hold such a view of the soul is nothing else than to be estranged from virtue, to look only to present pleasure, and to despair of the life seen in the ages, in which virtue alone has the advantage.” Gregory: “And how,” I said, “could we come to have a firm and unchangeable belief in the soul’s remaining …?”

### Scripture references

- John 8:44: echo, medium confidence

### Translation notes

- The edition prints a bracketed “not” ([οὐκ]) in “since we do not know exactly”; the sense requires the negative, and it is translated. “Outside nonsense” refers to pagan philosophy; “the inventor of falsehood” is the devil (John 8:44). The unit ends mid-sentence (marked …).

### Citation (SBL)

Gregory of Nyssa, An. et res. 17 (PG 46:17a–17d; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/gregory-nyssa-anima-resurrectione/11/#p-17).

## On the Soul and the Resurrection, Migne page 19

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/gregory-nyssa-anima-resurrectione/11/#p-19
- Source: PG 46:20a–20d
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: Gregory, at Macrina’s request, states the materialist objection: when the body dissolves into its elements, the soul either is one of them and so perishes, or has nowhere to be.

### Greek text

Λίσθάνομαι γὰρ καὶ αὐτὸς, δτι τοῦ καλλίστω τῶν κατὰ τὴν ζωὴν (τῆς ἀρετῆς λέγω) ὁ τῶν ἀνθρώπων χηρεύσει βίος, ει μή τις ὰναμφίΰολος ἡ περὶ τούτου πίστις ὲν ἡμῖν κρατυνθείη. Πῶς γὰρ ἐστι τὴν ἀρετὴν χώραν ἔχειν ἐφʼ ὧν ἡ παροῦσα ζωὴ περιγράφειν τὸ εἶναι ὑπείληπται, καὶ πλέον ἐλπίζεται μετὰ ταύτηνοπένς-Μ, οὐκοῦν ζητῆσαι χρὴ, φησὶν ὴδιδάσκαλος, ὅθεν ἂν ἡμῖν τὴν δέουσαν περ) τούτων ἀρχὴν ό λόγος λάβῃ. Καὶ εί δοκεῖ, παρὰ σοῦ γενέσθω τῶν ἐναντίων δογμάτων ἡ συμμαχίαο όρῶ γὰρ ὅτι σοι καὶ ὐποκεκίνηται πρὸς τοιαύτην καταφορὰν ὴ διάνοια. Εἴθʼ οὕτως ὁ τῆς ἀληθείας μετὰ τὴν ἀντίθεσιν ἀναζητηθήσεταιλῆγος.- Γ. Ἐπειδὴ τοῦτο ἐκέλευσε, παραιτησάμενος αὐτὴν μὴ ιατὰ ἀλήθειαν οἰηθῆναι τὰ παρʼ ἡμῶν ἀντιλέεσθαι. ἀλλʼ ὑπὲρ τοῦ βεβαίως κατασκευασθῆναι τὸ περὶ ψυχῆς δόγμα, τῶν ἀντιπιπτόντων πρὸς τὸν »:on τοῦτον ὑπεκλνθέντων· Ἦ που. ἔφην, ταῦτα ἂν εἴποιεν οἱ τῷ ἐναντίῳ παριστάμενοιλόγῳ, ὅτιτὸ σῶμα σύνθετον ὃν, πάντως εἰς τὰ, ἐξ ὧν συνέστηκε, διαλύεται; Λυοείσης δὲ τῶν στοιχείων τῆς ὲν τῷ σώματι συμφυῖας, ἐπὶ τὸ οἰκεῖον ὲν ἑκάστῳ γίνεται κατὰ τὸ εἰκὸς ἡ ῥοπὴ αὐτῆς φύσεως τῶν στοιχείων, διʼ ὁλκῆς τινος ἀναγκαίας τῇ ὁμογενεῑ τὸ οἰκεῖον ἀποδιδούσης. Τῷ τε γὰρ θερμῷ πάλιν τδ ὲν ἡμῖν ἑνωοήσεται, καὶ τῷ στεῤῥῷ τὸ γεῶδες, καὶ τῶν λοιπῶν ἑκάστῳ πρὸς τὺ συγγενὲς ἡ μεταχώρησις γίνεται. Ἡ οὖν ψυχὴ μετὰ τοῦτο ποῦ lerat; El μὲν γὰρ ὲν τοῖς στοιχείοις εῐναί τις λέγοι, τὴν αὐτὴν εἶναι τούτοις κατʼ ἀνάγκην συνθήσεται. Οὐ γὰρ ἂν γένοιτό τις τοῦ ἑτεροφυοῦς πρὸς τὸ ἀλλότριον μίξις, καὶ, εί ταῦτα εἴη, ποικίλη τις πάντως ἀναφανήσεται ἡ πρὸς τὰς ἐναντίας μεμιγμένη ποιότητας, τὸ δὲ ποικίλον ἁπλοῦν οὐκ ἔστιν, ἀλλʼ ὲν συνθέσει θεωρεῖται πάντως. Πᾶν δὲ τὸ σύνθετον καὶ διαλυτὸν ἐξ ἀνάγκης · ἡ δὲ διάλυσις φθορὰ τοῦ συνεστῶτός ἐστι. Τὸ δὲ φθειρόμενον

### English translation (Claude)

For I myself perceive that human life will be bereft of the finest thing in life, I mean virtue, unless an undoubting faith about this is established in us. For how can virtue have any place in those who suppose that the present life is the limit of their existence and hope for nothing more after it?” Macrina: “We must seek, then,” said my teacher, “where our discussion should properly begin on these things. And if you like, let the alliance of the opposing doctrines come from you; for I see that your mind is somewhat moved toward such a conclusion. Then the account of the truth will be sought after the objection.” Gregory: Since she commanded this, I begged her not to think that I was objecting in earnest, but that the objections to the doctrine might be raised so that the teaching about the soul might be firmly established. “Would not those,” I said, “who stand by the opposite account say this: that the body, being composite, is certainly dissolved into the things of which it is composed; and when the natural union of the elements in the body is dissolved, the inclination of the nature of the elements, as is likely, goes to what is proper to each, a necessary attraction giving back what is its own to what is of its own kind? For the heat in us will be united again with heat, and the earthy with the solid, and each of the rest passes to its kin. Where, then, is the soul after this? If one says that it is in the elements, he will necessarily agree that it is the same as they; for there could be no mixture of something of a different nature with what is foreign to it; and if this were so, it would certainly appear as something varied, mixed with opposite qualities; but what is varied is not simple, but is certainly seen in composition; and everything composite is necessarily dissoluble; and dissolution is the destruction of what was constituted; and what is destroyed …”

### Translation notes

- Gregory raises the objections at Macrina’s bidding, stating that he does not hold them himself.

### Citation (SBL)

Gregory of Nyssa, An. et res. 19 (PG 46:20a–20d; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/gregory-nyssa-anima-resurrectione/11/#p-19).

## On the Soul and the Resurrection, Migne page 21

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/gregory-nyssa-anima-resurrectione/11/#p-21
- Source: PG 46:21a–21d
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: Macrina answers that such arguments are those of the Stoics and Epicureans who opposed Paul at Athens; Epicurus, denying providence, thought life a bubble because he trusted only the senses.

### Greek text

οὐκ ἀθάνατονο ἢ οὕτως γε ἂν καὶ ἡ σὰρξ ἀθάνατος λέγοιτο, είς τὰ, ἐξ ὧν συνέστηκε, λυομένη. El δὲ ἄλλο τί που παρὰ ταῦτά ἔστι, ποῦ λόγος αὐτὴν εἶναι ὑποτίθεται, ὲν μὲν τοῖς στοιχείοις διὰ τοῦ ἑτεροφυῶς αὐτὴν ἔχειν οὐχ εὐρισκομένην, ἄλλου δὲ οὐδενὸς ὲν τῷ κόσμῳ ὄντος, ὲν ᾧ γένοιτʼ ἂν ἡψυχὴ καταλλήλως τῇ ἰδίᾳ φύσει ὲμβιοτεύουσα ; '0 δὲ μηδαμῆ ἐστιν, οὐδέ ἐστι πάντως. Μ. Καὶήδιδάσκαλος ἡρέμα τοῖς ῥηθεῖσιν ἐπιστενάξασα, Τάχα που ταῦτα καὶτὰ τοιαῦτα, φησι, πρὸς τὸν Ἀπόστολαν ὲν Ἀθήναις ποτὲ συστάντες προέφεροί Στωϊκοί τε καὶ Ἑπικού ρειοι. Καὶ γὰρ ἀκούω πρὸς ταῦτα μάλιστα τὸν Ἐπίκουρον ταῖς ὑπολήψεσι φέρεσθαι, ὡς τυχαία τις καὶ αὐτόματος ἡ τῶν ὄντων ὑπενοήθη φύσις, ὼς οὐδεμιᾶς προνοίας διὰ τῶν πραγμάτων διηκούcn;. Καὶ διὰ τοῦτο κατὰ τὸ ἀκόλουθον καὶ τὴν ἀνθρωπίνην ζωὴν πομφᾶλυγος δίκην ᾤετο πνεύ ματί τινιτοῦ σώματος ὴ μῶν περι-ταθέντος, ἕως ἂν περικωτῆται τὺ πνεῦμα τῷ περιέχοντι, τῇ δὲ διαπτώσει τοῦ ὄγκου καὶ τὸ ὲναπειλημμένον συγκατασβέννυσθαι. Ὅρος γὰρ τούτῳ τῆς τῶν ὄντων φύσεως τὸ φαινόμενον ἦν, καὶ μέτρον τῆς τοῦ παντὸς καταλήψεως ἐποιεῖτο τὴν αἴσθησιν, μεμυκὼς παντάπασι τὰ τὴς ψυχῆς αἰσθητήρια, καὶ πρὸς οὐδὲν τῶν νοητῶν τε καὶ ἀσωμάτων βλέπειν οἷός (Ῑ τε ῶν. ὥσπερ ὁ οἰκίσκῳ τινὶ καθειργμένος τῶν οὐρανίων θαυμάτων ἀθέατος μένει, τοῖς τοίχοις καὶ τῷ ὀρόφῳ πρὸς τὴν τῶν ἔξω θέαν ἐμποδιζόμενος. Ἀτεχνῶς γὰρ γήϊνοί τινές είσι τοῖχοι τὰ at!σθητά πάντα, ὅσα ὲν τῷ παντὶ καθορᾶται, πρὸς τὴν τῶν νοητῶν θεωρίαν διʼ ἑαυτῶν τοὺς μικραψυχοτέnou;

### English translation (Claude)

“… is not immortal; otherwise the flesh too would be called immortal, since it is dissolved into the things of which it is composed. But if the soul is something else besides these, where does reason suppose it to be, since it is not found in the elements, being of a different nature from them, and there is nothing else in the world in which the soul could live in a way suited to its own nature? But what is nowhere does not exist at all.” Macrina: And my teacher, sighing gently at what had been said, said: “Perhaps such things as these the Stoics and Epicureans brought forward when they gathered against the Apostle at Athens. For I hear that Epicurus was carried away chiefly to such suppositions, that the nature of things was thought to be accidental and spontaneous, with no providence passing through events. And for this reason, consistently, he thought human life too was like a bubble, our body being blown up by some breath, as long as the breath is held in by what encloses it, and that when the bulk collapses what was enclosed is quenched with it. For to him what appears was the limit of the nature of things, and he made sense the measure of his grasp of the universe, having wholly shut the senses of the soul and being unable to look at anything intelligible and incorporeal; like a man shut up in a little hut who remains without sight of the wonders of heaven, hindered by the walls and roof from seeing what is outside. For all the sensible things seen in the universe are simply earthen walls, which by themselves block the more small-minded from the contemplation of intelligible things …”

### Scripture references

- Acts 17:18: allusion, high confidence

### Translation notes

- References: Acts 17:18 (Paul at Athens). The view attributed to Epicurus (life as a bubble, the world without providence) is Macrina’s summary. The unit ends mid-sentence (marked …).

### Citation (SBL)

Gregory of Nyssa, An. et res. 21 (PG 46:21a–21d; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/gregory-nyssa-anima-resurrectione/11/#p-21).

## On the Soul and the Resurrection, Migne page 23

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/gregory-nyssa-anima-resurrectione/11/#p-23
- Source: PG 46:24a–24b
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: Macrina argues that those who deny the soul because it is unlike the elements must also deny that the living body has a soul, and even that God, who is unlike them, sustains the world.

### Greek text

διατειχίζοντες. Γῆν ό τοιοῦτος βλέπει μόνην. καὶ ὕδωρ, καὶ ἀέρα, καὶ πῦρ· ὅθεν δὲ τούτων ἒκαστον, ἢ ἐν τίνι ἐστὶν, ἢ ὐπδ τίνος περικρατεῖται, διιδεῖν ὑπὸ μικροψυχίας οὐ δύναται. Καὶ ἱμάτιον μέν τις ίδὼν τδν ὑφάντην ἀνελογίσατο, ’ καὶ διὰ τῆς νηὸς τδν ναυπηγὸν ἐνενόησεν, ἥ τε αὐτοῦ οἰκοδόμου χεὶρ ὁμοῦ τῇ τοῦ οίκοδομήματος ὄψει τῇ διανοίᾳ τῶν θεωμένων ἐγγίνεται. Oi δὲ πρὸς τὸν κόσμον ὁρῶντες πρὸς τὸν διὰ τούτων δηλούμενον ἀμὸλυωποῦσιν, ὅθεν τὰ σοφὰ ταῦτα καῖ δριμέα παρὰ τῶν τὸν ἀφανισμὸν ψυχῆς δογματιξόντων προφέρεταιο σῶμα ἐκ στοιχείων, καὶ στοιχεῖα ὲκ σώματος, καὶ τὸ μὴ δύνασθαι τὴν ψυχὴν καθʼ ἑαυτὴν εἶναι, εί μήτε τούτων τι εῐη, μήτε ὲν τούτοις. Εἰ γὰρ ὅτι μὴ ὁμοφυὴς τοῖς στοιχείοις ἐστὶν ἠ ψυχὴ, διὰ τοῦτο οὐδαμοῦ εἶναι αὐτὴν oi. ἀντιλέγοντες οἴονται· οὗτοι πρῶτον μὲν καὶ τὴν ἐν σαρκὶ ζωὴν ἄψυχον εῖναι δογματιζέτωσαν. υύ γὰρ ἄλλο τι τὸ σῶμα ἔστιν, εί μὴ συνδρομὴ τῶν στοιχείων · μὴ τοίνυν μηδʼ ὲν τούτοις τὴν ψυχὴν εἶναι λεγέτωσαν διʼ ἑαυτῆς ζωοποιοῦσαν τὸ σύγκριμα· ειπερ οὐκ ἔστι μετὰ ταῦτα δυνατὸν, καθὼς οἴονται, τῶν στοιξχεξων ὄντων καὶ τὴν ψυχὴν εἶναι, ὡς μηδὲν ἄλλο ἢ νεκρὰν τὴν ζωὴν ήμῶν παρʼ αὐτῶν ἀποδείκνυσθαι. Et δὲ νῦν ὲν τῷ σώματι τὴν ψυχὴν εἶναι οὐκ ἀμφιβάλλουσι, πῶς τοῦ σώματος εἰς τὰ στοιχεῖα τὸν ἀφανισμὸν αὐτῆς δογματίζουσι, ἔπειτα δὲ καὶ κατὰ ταύτης τῆς θείας φύσεως τὰ ἶσα τολμάτωσαν. Πῶς γὰρ ἐροῦσι τὴν νοεράν τε καὶ ἄῦλον καὶ ἀειδῆ φύσιν είς τὰ ὑγρά τε καὶ μαλακὰ καὶ στερέμνια ’διαδυομένην ὲν τῷ εἶναι συνέχειν τὰ ὄντα, οὔτε συγγενῶς ἔχουσαν πρὸς τὰ ὲν οἷς γίνεται, οὔτε διὰ τὸ ὲτερογενὲς ὲν αὐτοῖς εἶναι ἀδυνατοῦσαν ; Οὐκοῦν ἐξῃρήσθω καθόλου τοῦ δόγματος αύτῶν καὶ αὐτὸ τὸ Θεῖον, ᾦδιακρατείταιτὰδνταυ-Γ. Αὐτὸ δὲ τοῦτο, εἷπον ἐγὼ, πῶς ἂν τοῖς ἀντιλέγουσιν ἀναμφίόολον γένοιτο, τὸ ὲκ Θεοῦ εἶναι τὰ πάντα, καὶ ὲν αὐτῷ περικρατεῖσθαι τὰ ὄντα, ἢ καὶ ὅλως τὸ εἷναί τι θεῖον τῆς τῶν ὅντων ὑπερκείμενον φύσεωςς

### English translation (Claude)

Such a man sees only earth and water and air and fire; but where each of these comes from, or in what it is, or by what it is held together, he cannot see through because of his narrowness of soul. Yet one who sees a garment reasons to the weaver, and through the ship thinks of the shipwright, and the hand of the builder comes into the mind of those who see the building together with the sight of the building. But those who look at the world are dim-sighted toward the one shown through it. Hence these clever and sharp arguments are put forward by those who teach the annihilation of the soul: body from elements, and elements from body, and that the soul cannot exist by itself if it is neither one of these nor in these. For if the objectors think that the soul is nowhere because it is not of the same nature as the elements, let them first teach that life in the flesh too is without soul; for the body is nothing else than a concurrence of the elements; let them not say, then, that the soul is in these either, giving life to the compound by itself, if, as they think, it is not possible for the soul to exist after these things while the elements exist; so that they show our life to be nothing else than dead. But if they do not doubt that the soul is now in the body, how do they teach its annihilation when the body is dissolved into the elements? Then let them dare the same against the divine nature itself. For how will they say that the intelligent, immaterial, and formless nature, penetrating into moist and soft and solid things, holds existing things together in being, neither being akin to the things in which it comes to be nor unable to be in them because it is of a different kind? Let the divine itself, then, by which existing things are held together, be removed altogether from their doctrine.” Gregory: “But this very thing,” I said, “how could it become undoubted for the objectors, that all things are from God and that existing things are held together in him, or even at all that there is something divine above the nature of existing things?”

### Translation notes

- Speech continues from the previous unit; the speaker until “Gregory” is Macrina.

### Citation (SBL)

Gregory of Nyssa, An. et res. 23 (PG 46:24a–24b; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/gregory-nyssa-anima-resurrectione/11/#p-23).

## On the Soul and the Resurrection, Migne page 25

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/gregory-nyssa-anima-resurrectione/11/#p-25
- Source: PG 46:25a
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: Macrina answers that creation itself proclaims its Maker: the harmony of opposed elements, the movements of heat and water, rain, and the heavens show a divine power at work.

### Greek text

Μ. Ἦδὲσιωπᾷν μὲν ἦν, φησὶν, ἐπὶ τοῖς τοιούτοις ἁρμοδιώτερον, μηδὲ ἀξιοῦν ἀποκρίσεως τὰς τε καὶ ἀσεβεῖς τῶν προτάσεων, ἐπ;ὶ καί τις τῶν θείων ἀπαγορεύει λόγος μὴ ἀποκρίνεσθαι ippon ἑν τῇ ἀφροσύνῃ αὐτοῦ· ἄφρων δὲ πάντως ἐστὶ, κατὰ τὸν Προφήτην, ὁ μὴ εἶναι λέγων Θεόν. Ἐπεὶ δὲ χρὴ καὶ τοῦτο εἰπεῖν, ἐρῶ σοι, φησί, λόγον, ἐμὸν οὐχὶ, ἀλλʼ οὐδὲ ἄλλου τινος ἀνθρώπου · μικρὸς γὰρ οὒτος,ὂστις δʼ ἂνῇ· ἀλλʼ αὑτὸν ὃν ἡ κτίσις τῶν ὄντων διὰ τῶν ὲν αὐτῇ θαυμάτων διέξεισιν, ἀκροατὴς ὀφθαλμὸς γίνεται, διὰ τῶν φαινομένων, ὲνηχοῦντος τῇ καρδίᾳ τοῦ σοφοῦ τε καὶ τε· χνικοῦ λόγου. Βοᾷ γὰρ ἄντικρυ τὸν ποιητὴν ἡ κτίσις, αὐτῶν τῶν οὐρανῶν, καθώς φησιν ὁ Προφήτης, ταῖς ἀλαλήτοις φωναῖς τὴν δόξαν τοῦ Θεοῦ διηγουμένων. Τίς γὰρ βλέπων τὴν τοῦ παντὸς ἁρμονίαν, τῶν τε οὐρανίων καὶ τῶν κατὰ γῆν θαυμάτων, καὶ ὡς ἐναντίως ἔχοντα πρὸς ἄλληλα τὰ στοιχεῖα κατὰ τὴν φύσιν, πρὸς τὸν αὑτὸν τὰ πάντα σκοπὸν διά τινος ἀρρήτου κοινωνίας συμπλέκεται, τὴν παρʼ ἑαυτοῦ δύναμιν ἕκαστον πρὸς τὴν τοῦ παντὸς διαμονὴν συνεισφέροντα, καὶ οὔτε τὰ ἄμικτά τε καὶ ἀκοινώνητα κατὰ τὴν ἰδιότητα τῶν ποιοτήτων διαχωρεῖ ἀπʼ ἀλλήλων, οὔτε ὲν ἀλλήλοις φθείρεται κατακιρνὰμενα πρὸς ἄλληλα ταῖς ἐναντίαις ποιότησιν, ἀλλὰ καὶ οἷς ἀνωφερὴς ἐστιν ἡ φύσις, ἐπὶ τὰ κάτω φέρεται, τῆς ἡλιακῆς θερμότητος διὰ τῶν ἀκτίνων καταρρεούσης ' τά τε ἐμβριθῆ τῶν σωμάτων ἀνακουφῐξεται διὰ τῶν du: μῶν λεπτυνόμενα, ὼς καὶ τὸ ὕδωρ παρὰ τὴν ἑαυτοῦ φύσιν ἀνωφερὲς γενεσθαι, διʼ ἀέρος ἐπὶ πνευμάτων ὀχούμενον, καὶ τὺ αἰθέριον πῦρ πρόσγειον γίνεσθαι, ὠς καὶ τὸ βάθος μὴ ἀμοιρεῖν τῆς Οερμότητος, ἐπιχεομένην δὲ τῇ γῇ τὴν ὲκ τῶν ὄμβρων ἰκμάδα μίαν οὖσαν τῇ φύσει, μυρίας γεννᾷν βλαστημάτων διαφορὰς πᾶσι κατάλληλον τοῖς ὑποκειμένοις ἐμφυομένην τήν τε ὀξυτάτην τοῦ πόλου περιφορὰν χαὶ τῶν

### English translation (Claude)

Macrina: “It would be more fitting,” she said, “to keep silence on such matters and not to think foolish and impious propositions worthy of an answer, since one of the divine sayings forbids answering a fool according to his folly; and certainly, according to the Prophet, he is a fool who says there is no God. But since this too must be said, I will tell you,” she said, “an argument that is not mine, nor any other human being’s (for that would be small, whoever he was), but one which the creation of existing things itself goes through by the wonders in it, the eye becoming a hearer, as the wise and skilful word resounds in the heart through the things that appear. For creation openly cries out its Maker, the heavens themselves, as the Prophet says, declaring the glory of God with unspoken voices. For who, seeing the harmony of the universe, of the wonders in heaven and on earth, and how the elements, opposite to one another in nature, are all woven together to the same aim by some ineffable communion, each contributing its own power to the preservation of the whole; how things unmixable and incompatible in the property of their qualities are neither separated from one another nor destroyed when blended with one another by their opposite qualities; but even things whose nature is upward-tending are carried downward, as the sun’s heat flows down in its rays, while heavy bodies are lifted up, thinned out into vapours, so that water too becomes upward-tending against its nature, carried through the air on the winds, and the fire of the ether comes down to earth, so that even the depth has its share of heat; and the moisture from the rains poured on the earth, though one in nature, produces countless varieties of plants, growing in a manner suited to each subject; and the swiftest revolution of the pole and the contrary motion of the circles within …

### Scripture references

- Prov 26:4: allusion, high confidence
- Ps 14:1 (13:1 LXX): allusion, high confidence
- Ps 19:1 (18:2 LXX): allusion, high confidence
- Ps 19:3 (18:4 LXX): allusion, medium confidence

### Translation notes

- References: Prov 26:4; Ps 14:1 (13:1 LXX); Ps 19:1–3 (18:2–4 LXX). The unit ends mid-sentence; the sentence continues in the next unit.

### Citation (SBL)

Gregory of Nyssa, An. et res. 25 (PG 46:25a; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/gregory-nyssa-anima-resurrectione/11/#p-25).

## On the Soul and the Resurrection, Migne page 27

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/gregory-nyssa-anima-resurrectione/11/#p-27
- Source: PG 46:28a–28d
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: From the ordered motions of the heavens one infers one divine power holding the universe together; and since man is a little world, the visible body likewise points to the hidden, intelligible soul.

### Greek text

δντὸς κύκλων τὴν ἐπὶ τὸ ἔμπαλιν κίνησιν, τὰς τε ὑποδρομὰς καὶ τὰς συνόδους, καὶ τὰς ἐναρμονίους ἀποστάσεις τῶν ἄστρων· ό ταῦτα βλέπων τῷ διας· von-:er τῆς ψυχῆς ὀφθαλμῷ, ἆρα οὐχὶ φανερῶς ὲκ τῶν φαινομένων διδάσκεται, ὅτι θεία δύναμις ἐντεχνός τε καὶ σοφὴ τοῖς οὖσιν ἐμφαινομένη, καὶ διὰ πάντων ἥκουσα τὰ μέρη συναρμόζει τῷ ὅλῳ, καὶ τὸ ὅλον συμπληροῖ ὲν τοῖς μέρεσι, καὶ μιᾷ τινι περικρατείται δυνάμει τὸ πᾶν, αὐτὸ εν ἑαυτῷ μένον [καὶ περὶ ἑαυτὸ κινούμενον], καὶ οὔτε λῆγόν ποτετῆς κινήσεως, οὔτε είς ἄλλον τινὰ τόπον παρὰ τὸν, ὲν ᾧ ἐστι, μεθιστάμενον;-Γ.Καὶ πῶς, εἷπον, ή περὶ τὸ εἶναι τδν Θεὺν πίστις, καὶ τὴν ψυχὴν εἶναι τὴν ἀνθρωπίνην συναποδείκνυσινς Οὐ γὰρ δὴ ταύτόν ἐστι τῷ Θεῷ ἡ ψυχὴ, ὥστε εί τὸ ἓν όμολογοῖτο εἶναι συνομολογείσθαι πάντως καὶ τὺ λειπόμενον. Μ. Ἡδὲ, Λέγεται (Η), φησὶ, παρὰ τῶν σοφῶν μικρός τις εἶναι κόσμος ὁ ἄνθρωπος, ταῦτα περιἔχων έν ἑαυτῷ τὰ στοιχεῖα, οἷς τὸ πᾶν συμπεπλήρωται. Εἰ δὲ ἀληθὴς οὗτος ό λόγος (ἔοικε δὲ), τάχα st’ix ἂν ἑτέρας ἐδεήθημεν συμμαχίας εἰς τὸ βε- Βαιωθῆναι ἡμῖν ὃ πε pl ψυχῆς ὑπειλήφαμεν. ’Υτε ιλήφαμεν δὲ εἶναι αὐτὴν* καθʼ ἑαυτήν έν ἐξηλλαγμένῃ τε καὶ ίδιαζούσῃ φύσει, παρὰ τὴν σωματικὴν παχυμέρειαν. Ὦς γὰρ πάντα τὸν κόσμον διὰ τῆς αἰσθητικῆς ἀντιλήψεως ἐπιγινώσκοντες, διʼ αὐτῆς τῆς κατὰ τὴν αἴσθησιν ἡμῶν ἐνεργείας εἰς τὴν τοῦ ὑπὲρ ατο σθησιν πράγματος καὶ νοήματος ἔννοιαν ὁδηγούμεθα, καὶ γίνεται ἡμῖν ό ὀφθαλμὸς ἑρμηνεὺς τῆς παντοδυνάμου σοφίας, τῆς τῷ παντὶ μὲν ὲνθεωρουμένης, τὸν δὲ κατʼ αὐτὴν τοῦ παντὸς περιδεδραγμένον διʼ ἑαυτῆς μηνυούσης,· οὕτω καὶ πρὸς τὸν ἐν ἡμῖν βλέποντες κόσμον, οὐ μικρὰς ἔχομεν ἀφορμὰς πρὸς τὸ διὰ τῶν φαινομένων κα) τοῦ κεκρυμμένου καταστοχὰσασθαι. Κέκρυπται δὲ ἐκεῖνο, ὃ ἐφʼ ἑαυτοῦ δν νοητόν τε καὶ ἀειδὲς διαφεύγει τὴν αἰσθητικὴ. κατανόησιν. Γ. Κάγὼ εἷπον· Ἀλλὰ τὴν τοῦ παντὸς ὑπερκειμένην σοφίαν διὰ τῶν ὲνθεωρουμένων τῇ φύσει τῶν

### English translation (Claude)

… the motion in the opposite direction, the retrogradations and conjunctions and harmonious distances of the stars: one who sees these with the discerning eye of the soul, is he not clearly taught by what appears that a divine power, skilful and wise, appearing in existing things and pervading all, fits the parts to the whole and fills up the whole in the parts, and that the universe is held together by one power, abiding in itself, never ceasing from motion, nor passing to any other place than that in which it is?” Gregory: “And how,” I said, “does faith in the existence of God also prove the existence of the human soul? For the soul is not the same as God, so that if the one is admitted to exist the other must certainly be admitted too.” Macrina: “It is said by the wise,” she said, “that man is a kind of little world, containing in himself the elements of which the universe is made up. If this account is true (and it seems to be), perhaps we shall need no other ally to confirm what we have supposed about the soul. And we have supposed that it exists by itself in a distinct and peculiar nature, apart from bodily coarseness. For as, recognizing the whole world through sense perception, we are led by the very activity of our senses to the thought of the reality and idea beyond sense, and the eye becomes for us an interpreter of the all-powerful wisdom which is seen in the universe and through itself reveals the one who holds the universe in his grasp, so too, looking at the world within us, we have no small grounds for guessing the hidden through what appears. And that is hidden which, being intelligible and formless in itself, escapes the perception of sense.” Gregory: And I said: “But it is possible to infer the wisdom that is above the universe from the wise and skilful principles seen in the nature of …”

### Translation notes

- The edition prints in square brackets the words “and moving about itself” after “abiding in itself”; they are left out. “Little world” (microcosm) is the philosophers’ phrase, cited by Macrina; Gregory himself criticizes it in On the Making of Man 16.

### Citation (SBL)

Gregory of Nyssa, An. et res. 27 (PG 46:28a–28d; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/gregory-nyssa-anima-resurrectione/11/#p-27).

## On the Soul and the Resurrection, Migne page 29

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/gregory-nyssa-anima-resurrectione/11/#p-29
- Source: PG 46:29a–29d
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: Macrina says the soul teaches us about itself, defines it as a created, living, intellectual substance that gives life and perception to the body, and illustrates by the physician who diagnoses her illness through his senses guided by mind.

### Greek text

ὄντων σοφῶν τε καὶ τεχνικῶν λόγων, ὲν τῇ ἁρμονίᾳ ταύτῃ καὶ διακοσμήσει δυνατόν ἐστιν ἀναλογίσασθαι ψυχῆς δὲ γνῶσις διὰ τῶν κατά τὸ σῶμα δεικνυμένων τίς ἂν γένοιτο τοῖς ἀπὸ τῶν φαινομένων τὸ κρυπτὸν ἀνιχνεύουσινς -Μ.Καὶ μάλιστα μέν τοι, φησὶν ὴ παρθένος, τοῖς κατά τὸ σοφὸν έκεῖνο παράγγελμα γινώσκειν ἑαυτοὺς ἐπιθυμοῦσιν· εί κᾶν ή διδάσκαλος τῶν περὶ ψυχῆς ύπολήψεων αὐτὴ ἡ ψυχὴ, ὅτι deus; τις καὶ ἀσώματος, καταλλήλως τῇ ἰδίᾳ φύσει ένεργοῦσά τε καὶ κινουμένη, καὶ διά τῶν σωματικῶν ὀργάνων τὰς ἰδίας κινήσεις ὲνδεικνυμένη. Ἦ γὰρ ὀργανική τοῦ σώματος αῦτη διασκευὴ, ἔστι μὲν οὐδὲν ἦττον καὶ ἐπὶ τῶν ἀπονεκρωθέντων διὰ θανάτου, ἀλλʼ ἀκίνητος μένει καὶ ἀνενὲργητος, τῆς ψυχικῆς δυνάμεως ὲν αὐτῇ μὴ οὔσης. Κινεῖται δὲ τότε ὅταν ἥ τε αἴσθησις ὲν τοῖς ὀργάνοις ᾖ, καὶ διὰ τῆς αἰσθήσεως ή νοητὴ δύναμις διήκῃ ταῖς ίδίαις ὁρμαῖς συγκινοῦσα πρὸς τὸ δοκοῦν τὰ. ὀργανικά αἰσθητήρια, -Γ. Τ ίοῦν,εῖπον,ὲστὶν ἡ ψυχής εί δυνατὸν λόγῳ τινὶ τὴν φύσιν ὑπογραφῆναι, ὡς ἄν τις γένοιτο ήμῖν τοῦ ὑποκειμένου διὰ τῆς ὑπογραφῆς κατανόησις. Kell] ὀιδάσκαλος,-Μ.Ἀλλοι μὲν ἄλλως, φησὶ, τὸν περὶ αὐτῆς ἀπεφήναντο λόγον, κατὰ τὸ δοκοῦν ἕκαστος ὁριζόμενοι, ή δὲ ἡμετέρα περὶ αὐτῆς δόξα οὕτως ἔχει· Ψυχή ἐστιν ούσία γεννητὴ, οὐσία ζῶσα, νοερὰ, σώματι ὀργανικῷ καὶ αἰσθητικῷ, δύναμιν ζωτικὴν καὶ τῶν αἰσθητῶν ἀντιληπτικὴν διʼ ἑαυτῆς ένιοῦσα, ἕως ἂν ἡ δεκτικὴ τούτων συνέστηκε φύσιςΛίαὶ ἅμα ταῦτα λέγουσα δείκνυσι τῇ χειρὶ τὸν ἰατρὸν τὸν ἐπὶ θεραπείᾳ τοῦ σώματος αὐτῇἰτροσκαθὴμενον, καί φησιν· Ἐγγὺς ἡμῖν τῶν εἰρημένων ἡ μαρτυρία. Πῶς γὰρ, εἶπεν, οῦτος ἐπιβαλὼν τῇ ἀρτηρίᾳ τὴν τῶν δακτύλων ἁφὴν, ἀκούει τρόπον τινὰ διὰ τῆς ἀπτικῆς αἰσθήσεως τῆς φύσεως πρὸς αὐτὸν βοώσης, καὶ τά ἴδια πάθη διηγουμένης, δτι ἐν ἐπιτάσει ἐστὶ τῷ σώματι τὸ ἀρρώστημα, καὶ ἀπὺ τῶνδε τῶν σπλάγχνων ἡ νόσος ὥρμηται, καὶ ἐπὶ τοσόνδε παρατείνει τοῦ ’φλογμοῦ ἡ ὲπίτασις; Διδάσκεται δὲ καὶ ὑπὸ τοῦ ὀφθαλμοῦ ἄλλα τοιαῦτα, πρός τε τὸ σχῆμα τῆς κατακλίσεως βλέπων, καὶ πρὸς τὴν τῶν σαρκῶν τηκεδόνα. Καὶ ὡς ἐπισημαίνει τὴν ἔνδον διάθεσιν, τό τε εἶδος τοῦ χρώματος, ὕπωχρόν τε ὃν καὶ χολῶδες, καὶ ἠ τῶν ὀμμάτων βολὴ περὶ τῶν λυπούντων καὶ ἀλγύνον αὐτομάτως ὲγκλι νομένη. Ὡσαύτως δὲ καὶ ἡ ἀκοὴ τῶν ὁμοίων διδάσκαλος γίνεται, τῷ δὲ πυκνῷ τοῦ άσθ ματος, καὶ τῷ συνεκδιδομένῳ μετά τῆς ἀναπνοῆς στεναγμῷ τὸ πάθος ὲπιγινώσκουσα. Εἴποι δʼ ἄν τις μηδὲ τὴν ὄσφρησιν τοῦ ἐπιστήμονος ἀνεπίσκεπτον εἶναι τοῦ πάθους, ἀλλά διά τῆς ποιᾶς τοῦ ἄσθματος ἰδιότητος ἐπιγινώσκειν τὸ ἐγκεκρυμμένον τοῖς σπλάγχνοις ἀῤὒὲιίρέἑὲεξμὲέρςρμονίῳ ταύτῃ διακοσμήσει.

### English translation (Claude)

“… existing things, in this harmony and order; but what knowledge of the soul could come, through what is shown in the body, to those who track the hidden from what appears?” Macrina: “Most of all,” said the virgin, “to those who desire to know themselves according to that wise precept; for the soul itself would be the teacher of what is to be supposed about the soul: that it is something immaterial and incorporeal, acting and moving in a way suited to its own nature, and showing its own movements through the bodily organs. For this instrumental construction of the body exists no less in those deadened by death, but it remains motionless and inactive, since the power of soul is not in it. It moves when sense is in the organs and the intelligible power passes through sense, moving the sense organs with its own impulses as it pleases.” Gregory: “What, then,” I said, “is the soul, if its nature can be sketched by some definition, so that through the sketch we may gain some understanding of the subject?” Macrina: My teacher said: “Different people have given different accounts of it, each defining it as seemed good to him; but our opinion of it is this. The soul is a created substance, a living substance, intellectual, which by itself gives to an organic and sentient body a power of life and of perceiving sensible things, as long as the nature capable of receiving these holds together.” And as she said this she pointed with her hand to the physician who was sitting by her to care for her body, and said: “The evidence for what has been said is near us. For how,” she said, “does this man, laying the touch of his fingers on the artery, in a way hear through the sense of touch nature crying out to him and telling its own sufferings: that the disease is intense in the body, that the illness started from these inward parts, and that the intensity of the fever extends so far? He is taught other such things by the eye too, looking at the posture in which the patient lies and at the wasting of the flesh; and the colour of the complexion, sallow and bilious, and the glance of the eyes turning of themselves toward what pains and hurts, show the inward state. Likewise hearing becomes a teacher of similar things, recognizing the suffering by the shortness of breath and the groan that comes out with the breathing. And one might say that not even the expert’s sense of smell is without insight into the suffering, but recognizes by the particular quality of the breath the illness hidden in the inward parts …”

### Translation notes

- “That wise precept” is the Delphic “Know yourself.” Macrina’s definition of the soul is translated exactly as written. The last words of the unit are garbled in the scan; the sentence continues in the next unit.

### Citation (SBL)

Gregory of Nyssa, An. et res. 29 (PG 46:29a–29d; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/gregory-nyssa-anima-resurrectione/11/#p-29).

## On the Soul and the Resurrection, Migne page 31

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/gregory-nyssa-anima-resurrectione/11/#p-31
- Source: PG 46:32a–32d
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: The senses learn only because mind works through them (“mind sees, mind hears”), as in the astronomical reasoning by which we know the sun’s size and the moon’s borrowed light.

### Greek text

Βὼστημα. Ἀρ οὖν εί μή τις δύναμις ἦν νοητὴ ἡ ἑκάστῳ τῶν αἰσθητηρίων παροῦσα ; Τί ἂν ἡμᾶς ἡ χεὶρ ἀφʼ ἑαυτῆς ἐδιδάξατο, μὴ τῆς ἐννοίας πρὸς τὴν τοῦ ὑποκειμένου γνῶσιν τὴν ἁφὴν samem; Ti δʼ ἂν ἡ ἀκοὴ διανοίας διεζευγμὲνη, ἢ ὀφθαλμὸς, ἢ μυκτὴρ, ἦ ἄλλο τι αἰσθητήριον πρὸς τὴν ἐπίγνωσιν τοῦ ζητουμένου συνήργησεν, εἰ ἐφʼ ἑαυτοῦ μόνου τούτων ἕκαστον ἦν ; ’ᾼλϊ ὃ πάντων ἐστὶν ἁληθέστατον, ὃ καλῶς τις τῶν ἔξω πεπαιδευμένων εἰπὼν μνημονεύεται, τὸν νοῦν εἶναι τὸν ὁρῶντα, κα). νοῦν τὸν ἀκούοντα. Εἰ γάρ μὴ τοῦτο δοίη τις ἀληθὲς εἶναι, πῶς, είπὲ σὺ, πρὸς τὸν ἥλιον βλέπων, καθὼς ἐδιδάχθης παρά τοῦ διδασκάλου βλέπειν, οὐχ ὅσος φαίνεται τοῖς πολλοῖς, τοσοῦτον αὐτὸν φῂς εἶναι τῷ μεγέθει τοῦ κύκλου, ἀλλʼ ὑπερβαλεῖν πολλαπλάxta- τῷ μέτρῳ πᾶσαν τὴν γῆν; Οὐκ ἐπειδὴ τῇ ποίᾳ. κινήσει, καὶ τοῖς χρονικοῖς τε καὶ τοπικοῖς δια· στήμασι, καὶ ταῖς ὲκλειπτικαῖς αἰτίαις τῇ διανοίᾳ. διὰ τῶν φαινομένων ἀκολουθήσας, 0αρρὦ ἀποφαίέ νων τὸ οὕτως Ξχτινς Kal. τῆς σελήνης μείωσίν τε καὶ αὔξησιν βλέπων, ᾶλλα διδάσκει διά τοῦ φαινομένου περὶ τὸ στοιχεῖον σχημάτων, τὸ, ἀφεγγῆ τε εἶναι αὐτὴν κατά τὴν ίδίαν φύσιν, καὶτὸν πρόσγειον κύκλον περιπολεῖνο λάμπει δὲ ἀπὸ τῶν ἡλιακῶν ἀκτίνων, ὡς ἐπὶ τῶν κατόπτρων γίνεσθαι πεφυκέναι τὸν ἥλιον, ἐφʼ ἑαυτῶν δεχόμενα ούκ ἰδίας αὐγὰς ἀντιδίδωσιν, ἀλλά τοῦ ἡλιακοῦ φωτὸςκὲκ τοῦ λείου καὶ στίλβοντοςσώματος εῑς τὸ ἔμπαλιν ἀνακλωμένου. Ὥσπερ τοῖς ἀνεξετάστως βλέπουσιν ἐξ αὐτῆς δοκεῖ τῆς σελήνης εἶναι τὸ φέγγος. Δείκνυται δὲ τὸ μὴ ἔχειν, ὅτι γινομένη μὲν ἀντιπρόσωπος τῷ ἡλίῳ κατὰ διάμετρον ὅλῳ τῷ πρὸς ἡμᾶς βλέποντι κύκλῳ καταφωτίζεται · ἐν ἐλάττονι δὲ τῷ κατʼ αύτὴν τόπῳ θᾶττον περιοῦσα τὸν ὲν ᾧ ἐστι κύκλον, πρὶν ἅπαξ τὸν ἥλιον περιοδεῦσαι τὸν ἴδιον δρόμον, πλέον ἢ δωδεκάκις αὑτὴ τὸν κατʼ αύτὴν περιέρχεται. Διὸ συμβαίνει μὴ ἀεὶ πεπλη

### English translation (Claude)

Would this be so if there were not some intelligible power present to each of the senses? What would the hand have taught us by itself, if thought did not lead its touch to the knowledge of the subject? What would hearing, separated from understanding, or the eye, or the nostril, or any other sense organ have contributed to the recognition of what is sought, if each of them were by itself alone? But what is truest of all is what one of those educated outside the faith is remembered to have said well: that it is mind that sees and mind that hears. For if one did not grant this to be true, how is it, tell me, that when you look at the sun, as you were taught by your teacher to look, you say that it is not as large as it appears to most people in the size of its disc, but exceeds the whole earth many times in measure? Is it not because, having followed with your understanding, through what appears, its particular motion, the intervals of time and place, and the causes of eclipses, you confidently declare that it is so? And seeing the waning and waxing of the moon, you are taught other things through the appearance of the shapes of that luminary: that it is without light in its own nature and revolves in the circle near the earth, and shines from the sun’s rays, as happens naturally with mirrors, which, receiving the sun on themselves, give back not rays of their own but those of the sun’s light reflected back from the smooth and shining body. To those who look without examination the light seems to come from the moon itself. But it is shown not to have it because, when it stands diametrically opposite the sun, it is lit over the whole disc turned toward us; but going round more quickly in the smaller circle proper to it, it goes round its own circle more than twelve times before the sun has once completed its own course. So it happens that it is not always full …

### Translation notes

- “Mind sees and mind hears” is a saying of Epicharmus (frag. 12 Diels–Kranz), quoted by many ancient writers; the name is not given. “Your teacher” is presumably Basil. The astronomy is that of Gregory’s time.

### Citation (SBL)

Gregory of Nyssa, An. et res. 31 (PG 46:32a–32d; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/gregory-nyssa-anima-resurrectione/11/#p-31).

## On the Soul and the Resurrection, Migne page 33

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/gregory-nyssa-anima-resurrectione/11/#p-33
- Source: PG 46:33a–33d
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: Macrina ends her argument from astronomy: the eye alone could not teach the phases of the moon without a mind seeing through it. Gregory objects that thought might be a natural power of matter, like the workings of machines.

### Greek text

53 DE ΑΝΙΜᾹ ΕΤ ρῶσοαι φωτὸς τὸ στοιχεῖον ' οὐ γὰρ μένει ἐν τῷ πυκνῴ τῆς περιόδου διηνεκῶς ἀντιπρόσωπος Θέσις, ἅπαν τὸ πρὸς ἡμᾶς τῆς σελήνης μέρος διὰ τῶν ἡλιακῶν ἀκτίνων πεφωτισμένον ἐποίησεν, οὓτως ὅταν ἐπὶ τὰ πλάγια γίνεται τοῦ ἡλίου τοῦ ἀεὶ κατʼ αὐτὸν γινομένου τῆς σελήνης ἡμισφαιρίου διελαμόανομένου τῇ τοῦ ἀκτίνων περιβολῇ, τὸ πρὸς ἡμᾶς κατʼ ἀνάγκην ἁποσκιάζεται, ἁντιμεῦισταμένης τῆς λαμπηδόνος ἀπὸ τοῦ μὴ δυναμένου πρὸς τὸν ἥλιον βλέπειν μέρους ἐπὶ τὸν ἀεὶ κατʼ ἐκεῖ· νον γινόμενον, ἓως ἂν ὑποβἄσα κατʼ εὐθεῖαν τὸν ἡλιακὸν κύκλον κατὰ νώτου τὴν ἀκτῖνα δέξηται, καὶ οὕτω τοῦ ἄνωθεν ἡμισφαιρίου περιλαμφθέντος ἀόρατον ποιεῖ τὸ πρὸς ἡμᾶς μέρος, τὸ εἶναι καθόλου τῇ [δίᾳ φύσει ἀφεγγὲς καὶ ἀχεώτιστον ὅπερ δὴ παντελὴς τοῦ στοιχείου μείωσις λέγεται. Εἰ δὲ παρέλθῃ πάλιν τὸν ἥλιον κατὰ τὴν ἰδίαν τοῦ δρόμου κίνησιν, καὶ ἐκ πλαγίου γένοιτο τῇ ἀκτῖνι, τὸ πρὸ ὀλίγου ἀλαμπὲς ὑπολάμπειν ἄρχεται, τῆς ἀκτῖνος ἀπὸ τοῦπεφωτιςμένου πρὸς τὸ τέως ἀφανὲς ( l) μετιούςης, Ὁρᾷς οἷόν (Ξ) σοι γίνεται ἡ ὄψις διδάσκαλος, οὐκ ἄν σοι παρασχομένη διʼ ἑαυτῆς τῶν τοιούτων τὴν θεωρίαν, εἰ μή τι οὖν (lt) τὸ διὰ τῶν ὄψεων βλέπων, ὃ τοῖς κατʼ αἴσθησιν γινωσκομένοις οἷόν τισιν ὁδηγοῖς κεχρημένον διὰ τῶν φαινομένων, ἐπὶ τὰ μὴ βλεπόμενα (β) dictatis-.415; Τί δεῖ προστιῡὲνττι τὰς γεωμετρικὰς ἐφόδους διὰ τῶν αἰσθητῶν χαρα‹ γμάτων, πρὸς τὰ ὑπὲρ αϊσῦησιν ἡμᾶς χειραγωγούauc, καὶ μυρία ἐπὶ τούτοις ἄλλα, διʼ ὧν συνίσταται διὰ τῶν ὲν ἡμῖν σωματικῶς ἐνεργουμένων τῆς ἰγκεκρυμμένης τῇ φύσει ἡμῶν νοερᾶς οὐσίας τὴν κατάληψιν γίνεσθαι ; ——1". Τίδὲ, εἷπον, εί ὥσπερ κοινὸν μέν ἐστιν ἐπὶ τῆς αίσοητῆς τῶν στοιχείων φύσεως τὸ ὑλῶδες, διαφορὰ δὲ κατὰ τὸ ίδίοιζον ἐν ἑκάστῳ εῖδει τῆς ὕλης πολλὴ (ἥ τε γὰρ κίνησις αὑτοῖς ὲκ τοῦ ἐναντίου ἐστὶν, τοῦ μὲν ἀνωφεροῦς ὄντος, τοῦ δὲ ἐπὶ τοῦ κάτω βρίθοντος, τὸ δὲ εἶδος οὐ τὸ αὐτὸ, καὶὴ ποιότης διάφορος ἕν τινι), τούτων (Η) κατὰ τὸν λόγον συνουσιωμὲνην τἰς εἶναι λέγοι δύναμιν, τὴν τὰς νοητικὲις ταύτας φαντασίας τε καὶ κινήσεις. ὲκ φυσικῆς ἰδιότητάς τε καὶ δυνάμεως δνεργᾶῶσαη Οἷα δὴ πολλὰ βλέπομεν ὑπὸ τῶν (μηχανοποιῶν ἐνεργούμενα, ἐφʼ ὧν ἡ ὕλη τεχνικῶς

### English translation (Claude)

… of light; for its position opposite does not remain continually in the quickness of its revolution … made the whole part of the moon toward us lit by the sun’s rays; so when it comes to the side of the sun, the hemisphere of the moon always facing the sun being taken up by the embrace of the rays, the side toward us is necessarily shadowed, the brightness moving from the part unable to look at the sun to the part always facing it; until, passing directly beneath the sun’s circle, it receives the ray on its back, and so, the upper hemisphere being lit all round, it makes the part toward us invisible, since by its own nature it is wholly without light and dark; and this is called the complete waning of the luminary. But if it passes the sun again by the motion of its own course and comes to the side of the ray, what was just now without light begins to shine faintly, the ray passing from the lit part to what was until then invisible. Do you see how sight becomes your teacher? It would not give you such knowledge by itself, unless there were something looking through the eyes, which uses the things known by sense as guides and through what appears looks into what is not seen. What need is there to add the methods of geometry, which lead us by the hand through sensible figures to things beyond sense, and countless other things besides, by which it is established that the perception of the intellectual substance hidden in our nature comes about through what is bodily at work in us?” Gregory: “But what,” I said, “if, as the material is common in the sensible nature of the elements, while there is a great difference in what is peculiar to each form of matter (for their motion is opposite, one being upward-tending and the other weighing downward, and the form is not the same, and the quality differs in each), someone were to say that there is a power essentially bound up with these by their principle, which produces these intellectual images and movements from a natural property and power? As we see many things worked by mechanics, in which matter, skilfully …”

### Translation notes

- Lines are lost in the scan at the start of the unit (marked …). The unit ends mid-sentence; the objection continues in the next unit.

### Citation (SBL)

Gregory of Nyssa, An. et res. 33 (PG 46:33a–33d; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/gregory-nyssa-anima-resurrectione/11/#p-33).

## On the Soul and the Resurrection, Migne page 35

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/gregory-nyssa-anima-resurrectione/11/#p-35
- Source: PG 46:36a–36d
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: Gregory asks whether thought might be a mechanical power of matter, like an automaton; Macrina replies that the inventor who designs such machines in his mind proves the existence of an intelligent soul, and begins to explain how the water-organ was devised.

### Greek text

διατεθεῖσα μιμεῖται τὴν φύσιν, οὐκ ἐν τῷ σχήματι μόνῳ δεικνῦσα τὸ ὅμοιον, ἀλλά καὶ ἐν κινήσει γίνεται, καὶ φθόγγον τινὰ ὑποκρίνεται,ιʼγχοῦντος ἐν τῷ φωνητικῷ μέρει τοῦ μηχανήματος, καὶ οὐδὲ που νοητήν τινα δύναμιν γινομένοις esset... ροῦμεν τὴν καθʼ ἕκαστον ἐργαζομένην τὸ σχῆμα, τὸ εἷδος, βξ), τὸν ἦχον, τὴν κίνησιν. Ei ταῦτα λέγομεν καὶ περὶ τδ μηχανικὸν τοῦτο τῆς φύσεως ἡμῶν ὄργανον, μηδεμιᾶς κατὰ τὸ ξδιάζον νοητῆς οὐσίας ἐγκεκραμένης γίνεσθαι, ἀλλά τινος τῇ φύσει τῶν ἐν ἡμῖν στοιχείων κινητικῆς δυνάμεως ἐγκειμένης, καὶ τὴν τοιαύτην ἐνέργειαν ἀποτέλεσμα εῖναι ἐφʼ,ἑαυτῆς τὴν νοητὴν ἐκείνην καὶ ἀσώματον τῆς ψυχῆς οὐσίαν ἀποδεικνύοιτο,ἢ τὸ μηδὸλως εἶναι ;. M. Ἡδὲ, Συμμαχεῖ, φησὶ, τῷλόγῳ καὶ τὸ ὑπόδειγμα, καὶ ἡ κατασκευὴ πᾶσα τῆς ἀνθυπενεχοείσης ἡμῖν ἀντιρρήσεως οὐ μικρὰ συντελέσει πρὸς τὴν τῶν νοηθέντων ἡμῖν βεβαιότητα.-Γ. ιξῶςοοῦν τοῦτο λέγειςς -Μ.Ὄτιτοι, φησι, τὸ οῦτωςείδέναι μεταχειρίζεσθαι τι κα) διατιθέναι τὴν ἄψυχον ῦλην, ὡς τὴν ἐναποτιθεῖσαν τοῖς μηχανήμασι τέχνην μικροῦ δεῖν ἀντί τῆς ψυχῆς τῇ ῦλῃ γίνεσθαι, διʼ ὧν κίνησίν τε καὶ ἦχον, καὶ σχήματα, καὶ τὰ τοιαῦτα καθυποκρίνεται, ἀπόδειξις ἂν εἴη τοῦ εἷναί τι τοιοῦτον ἐν τῷ ἀνθρώπῳ, ᾧ ταῦτα πέφυκε διὰ ο τῆς Θεωρητικῆς καὶ ἐφευρετικῆς δυνάμεως κατανοεῖν τε ἐν ἐαυτῷ κοιλ προκατασκευάζειν τῇ διανοίᾳ τὰ μηχανήματα, εἷθʼ οὕτως εἰς ἐνέργειαν διὰ τῆς τέχνης ἄγειν, καὶ διὰ τῆς ὕλης δεικνύειν τὸ νόημα. Προὲάν γὰρ ὅτι πνεύματῦς ἐστι χρεία πρὸς τὴν-ἐκφώνησιν, κατενόησεν · εἷθʼ ὅπως ἂν ἐπινοηθείη πνεῦμα τῷ μηχανήματι τῷ λογισμῷ προεξήτασε, τὴν τῶν στοιχείων φύσιν ἐπισκεψάμενος, ὃτι οὐδὲν κενὸν ἐν τοῖς οὗσίν ἐστιν, ἀλλὰ πρὸς τὸ βαρύτερον παραθέσει κενὸν τὸ κοῦφον νομίζεται, ἐπεὶ καὶ αὐτὸς ἐφʼ ἑαυτοῦ κατʼ ίδίαν ὑπόστασιν μεστός τε ὁ ἀὴρ καὶ πλήρης ἐστί. Διάκενον γὰρ τὸ ἀγγεῖον ἐκ καταχρήσεως λέγεται. Ὅταν γὰρ τοῦ ὑγροῦ κενὸν ᾖ, οὐδὲν ἦττον μεστὸν ἀέρος πεπαιδευμένος καὶ τοῦτο λέγει. Σημεῖον δέ τὸν ἐπαχθέντα τῇ λίμνῃ ἀμφορέα μὴ εὐθὺς πληροῦσθαι τοῦ ὕδατος, ἀλλʼ ἐπιπολάζειν τὰ πρῶτα, τοῦ ἐναπειλημμένου ἀέρος

### English translation (Claude)

“… arranged, imitates nature, showing likeness not in shape only but also coming to be in motion, and it imitates a sound when the vocal part of the machine resounds; yet we see no intelligible power anywhere in what is happening that works the shape, the form, the sound, the motion in each case. If we say this also about this mechanical instrument of our nature, that it comes about with no particular intelligible substance mixed in, but by a moving power lying in the nature of the elements in us, and that such activity is the result of that power by itself, would that intelligible and incorporeal substance of the soul be shown to be anything at all, or not to exist at all?” Macrina: “The example,” she said, “is an ally of our argument too, and the whole construction of the objection you have put to us will contribute not a little to the confirmation of what we have thought.” Gregory: “How do you say that?” Macrina: “Because,” she said, “to know how to handle and arrange lifeless matter so that the art put into the machines almost takes the place of the soul in the matter, by which they imitate motion and sound and shapes and the like, would be a proof that there is something of this kind in man, by which he is naturally able, through his power of contemplation and invention, to conceive these things within himself and design the machines beforehand in his mind, and then bring them into operation by art and show his thought through matter. For first he understood that breath is needed for producing sound; then he examined beforehand by reasoning how breath might be contrived for the machine, considering the nature of the elements: that there is nothing empty in existing things, but what is light is thought empty by comparison with what is heavier, since air itself in its own existence is full and complete. A vessel is called empty by a misuse of the word; for when it is empty of liquid, one who has been taught says that it is no less full of air. A sign of this is that a jar brought down to a pool is not at once filled with water but floats at first, the air enclosed …

### Translation notes

- Several lines of the critical apparatus printed at the foot of Migne’s page leaked into the digital text at the end of this unit and are removed (logged). The machine described (a water-organ, operated by water forcing air into pipes) continues in the next unit.

### Citation (SBL)

Gregory of Nyssa, An. et res. 35 (PG 46:36a–36d; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/gregory-nyssa-anima-resurrectione/11/#p-35).

## On the Soul and the Resurrection, Migne page 37

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/gregory-nyssa-anima-resurrectione/11/#p-37
- Source: PG 46:37a–37d
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: Macrina explains how the inventor of the water-organ, by observing that air fills seemingly empty vessels, devised a way to drive air into pipes with water.

### Greek text

ἐπὶ sb ἄνω τὸ κοῖλον ἀνέχοντος, ἕως ἂν πιεσθεὶς ὸ ἀμφορεὺς τῇ χειρὶ τοῦ ἀρυομενον ὲν τῷ βάθει γίνεται, καὶ τοῦτο δέξηται τῷ στόματι τὸ ὕδωρ· οὗ γινομένου δείκνυται τὸ μὴ κενδν αὑτὸν εἶναι καὶ πρὸ τοῦ ὕδατος. Μάχη γάρ τις περὶ. τῷ στόματι τῶν δύο στοιχείων ὁρᾶται, τοῦ μὲν ὕδατος ὑπὸ βάρους ἐπὶ τὸ κοῖλον βιαζομένου τε καὶ είσρέοντος, τοῦ δὲ ἀέρος τοῦ ἐναπειλημμένου τῷ κοίλῳ διὰ τοῦ αὐτοῦ στόματος ἐπὶ τὸ ἔμπαλιν συνθλιβομένου περὶ τὸ ὕδωρ, καὶ ἀναρρέοντος, ὡς καὶ ἀνακόπτεσθαι διὰ τούτου καὶ ἀνακοχλὰζειν τὸ ὕδωρ περιαφρίζον τῇ βίᾳ τοῦ πνεύματος. Ταῦτα οὖν κατενόησε, καὶ ὅπως ἂν ὲντεθείη πνεῦμα τῷ μηχανήματι διὰ τῆς τῶν στοιχείων φύσεως ἐπενόησε. Κοῖλον γάρ τι ὲκ στεγανῆς ὕλης καταᾱκευάσας, καὶ πανταχόθεν τὸν ἐν αὐτῷ ἀέρα περισχὼν ἀδιάπνευστον, ἐπάγει τὸ ὕδωρ διὰ στόματος (fl) τῷ κοίλῳ, κατὰ τὸ μέτρον τῆς χρείας τὺ ποσὸν συμμετρήσας τοῦ ὓδατος, εἷθʼ obtine ἐπὶ τὸν παρακείμενον αὺλὺν δίδωσι κατὰ τὸ ἀντικείμενον τῷ ἀέρι τὴν δίοδον, ἐκθλιβόμενος δὲτῷ ὕδατι βιαιὸτερον ὁ ἀὴρ πνεῦμα γίνεται· ὅπερ ἐκπίπτον τῇ κατασκευῇ τοῦ αὐλοῦ τὸν ἦχον ποιεῖ.

### English translation (Claude)

… holding the hollow up, until the jar, pressed down by the hand of the one drawing water, goes into the depth and takes in the water at its mouth. When this happens it is shown that it was not empty even before the water. For a kind of battle between the two elements is seen at the mouth: the water forced by its weight into the hollow and flowing in, the air enclosed in the hollow pressed out through the same mouth in the opposite direction against the water and flowing up, so that the water is checked by it and bubbles up, foaming around under the force of the air. He understood these things, then, and devised how breath might be put into the machine through the nature of the elements. Making a hollow of watertight material and enclosing the air in it on every side so that it could not escape, he brings water into the hollow through an opening, measuring the amount of water to the need; then he gives the air a passage into the pipe lying beside it, on the side opposite; and the air, forced out more violently by the water, becomes wind, which, rushing out through the construction of the pipe, makes the sound.

### Translation notes

- The conclusion of Macrina’s argument, at the foot of Migne’s page, is lost in the scan; the next unit resumes mid-sentence.

### Citation (SBL)

Gregory of Nyssa, An. et res. 37 (PG 46:37a–37d; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/gregory-nyssa-anima-resurrectione/11/#p-37).

## On the Soul and the Resurrection, Migne page 39

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/gregory-nyssa-anima-resurrectione/39/#p-39
- Source: PG 46:40a–40d
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: Gregory accepts that mind differs from what appears but asks what it positively is; Macrina answers that it can be known by negation, as not colour, shape, weight, or any material property; Gregory fears that nothing then remains.

### Greek text

τέχνη διάνοιά τίς ἐστι ποία κίνησίς τε καὶ ὲνέρ γεια, ἄρα κα). διὰ τῶν ἀντιθέτων ἡμῖν τὸ ἄλλο τ παρᾶ τὸ φαινόμενον εἶναι τὸν νοῦν ἠ ἀκολουθία τῶ εἰρημένων ἀπέδειξεν. Γ. Ἐγὼδέ,Τοῢτο μὲν οὕτως ἔχειν φημὶ καὶ αὐ τὸς, τὸ μὴ ταύτὸν εἶναι τῷ φαινομένῳ τὸ μὴ φαινόμε νον· οὐ μὴν τὸ ζητούμενον ἐν τῷ λόγῳ τούτῳ βλέπω οὔπω γάρ μοι δῆλόν ἐστιν, ὅ τί ποτε χρὴ νομίζειν ἐκεῖνο εἶναι τὸ μὴ φαινόμενον, ἀλλʼ ὅτι μέν ὑλικόν τ οὐκ ἐστιν ἐδιδάχθην τῷ λόγῳ · οὐδέπω δὲ ἔγνων, ἰ τι περ). αὐτοῦ προσήκει λέγειν* ἐγὼ δέ τοῦτο μάλι· στα ἐδεόμην μαθεῖν, οὐχ ὅτι οὐκ ἐστιν, ἀλλʼ ὅπερ ἐστίν. -—M. Ἦδέ,ῐῙολλά, (memmi. περ). πολλῶν οὖτα μανθάνομεν ὲν τῷ μὴ τόδε τι λέγειν εἷναι αὐτὸ τὲ εἶναι τοῦ ζητουμένου, δ τί ποτέ ἐστι διερμηνεύοντες. Ἀπόνηρον γὰρ εἰπόντες τὸν ἀγαθὸν παρεστήκαμεν, καὶ ἄνανδρον ὀνομάσαντες τὸν δειλὸν ἐγνωρίσαμεν, καὶ πολλά τούτοις ἔστιν εἰπεῖν ὁμοιότροπα. Διʼ ὧν ἢ τὸ χρηστότερον ἀναλαμβάνομεν νόημα διὰ τῆς τῶν πονηρῶν ἀποφάσεως, ἢ τὸ ἔμπαλιν ἐπὶ τὸ χεῖρον ταῖς ὑπονοίαις τρεπόμεθα, τῇ τῶν καλῶν ἀφαιρέσει τὸ πονηρὸν ἐνδειξάμενοι. Οὕτω τοίνυν καὶ ἐπὶ τοῦ παρόντος τις λόγου κατανοήσας, οὐκ ἂν τῆς δεούσης περὶ τὸ ζητούμενον ἐννοίας ἀποσφαλείη. Ζητεῖται δέ τί χρὴ τὸν νοῦν οἴεσθαι κατʼ αὐτὴν τὴν οὐσίαν. '0 τοίνυν τὸ μὲν εἶναι τοῦτο, περὶ οὗ ὁ λόγος ἐστὶ, διὰ τῆς παρʼ αὑτοῦ δεικνυμένης ἡμῖν ἐνεργείας μὴ ἀμφιδάλλων, τὸ δὲ ὅ τί ἐστι γνῶναι βουλόμενος, ἱκανῶς ἂν εὕροιτο, μὴ, τοῦτο μαθεῖν εἶναι αὐτὸ ὃ καταλαμσάνειή αἴσθησις, μὴ χρῶμα. μὴ σχῆμαν μὴ ἀντιτυπίαν. μὴ βάρος, μὴ πηλικότητα, μὴ τὴν είς τρία διάστασιν, μὴ τὴν ἐπὶ τόπου θέσιν, μηδέ τι τῶν περ). τὴν ὕλην καταλαμβανομένων ὅλως μηδὲν ίδη, τί ἄλλο ποιρά ταῦτά ἐστιν. Ἐγὼ δὲ μεταξὺ διεξιούσης,-Γ. Ούκ οἴδα, ἔφην, πῶς ἐστι, πάντων τούτων ἀφαιρουμένων τοῦ λόγου, μὴ συνεξαλειφθῆναι τούτοις καὶ τὸ ζητούμενον. Τίνι γὰρ προσφυῇ δίχα τούτων ή καταληπτικὴ περιεργία, κατά γε τὴν ἐμὴν ὑπόληψιν ὤπω ὁρᾶται. Πανταχῆ γάρ ἐν τῇ τῶν ὄντων ἀναζητήσει διὰ τῆς ἐξεταστικῆς διανοίας ὅσον τε τὸ ζητούμενον, ῶσπερ τινὲς τυφλοὶ διὰ τοίχων ἐπὶ

### English translation (Claude)

… art is a kind of understanding, a particular movement and activity, then the sequence of what has been said has shown us, even through the objections, that the mind is something other than what appears.” Gregory: And I said: “I too say this is so, that what does not appear is not the same as what appears; but I do not yet see in this argument what is sought. For it is not yet clear to me what we should think that invisible thing to be. I have been taught by the argument that it is not material; but I do not yet know what it is proper to say about it. And this is what I most wanted to learn: not what it is not, but what it is.” Macrina: “We learn many things about many matters,” she said, “by saying that the thing sought is not this or that, thereby explaining what it is. For by calling the good man ‘free from wickedness’ we have presented him, and by naming the coward ‘unmanly’ we have made him known; and one may say many similar things. Through these we either take up the better idea by denying the bad, or conversely turn our thoughts to the worse, showing the bad by the removal of the good. Whoever considers the present argument in this way, then, would not miss the proper understanding of what is sought. And what is sought is what we must think the mind to be in its very substance. One who does not doubt that the thing of which we speak exists, because of the activity it shows us, but wishes to know what it is, would find a sufficient answer by learning that it is not what sense perceives: not colour, not shape, not resistance, not weight, not magnitude, not extension in three dimensions, not position in place, nor anything at all of what is perceived about matter, if there is anything besides these.” Gregory: But while she was still going through this, I said: “I do not know how, when all these are taken away from the account, what is sought is not wiped out with them. For to what the curiosity of comprehension can attach itself apart from these I, at least, do not see. For everywhere in our search into existing things with the examining mind, like blind men led by the hand along walls to …”

### Translation notes

- The unit begins mid-sentence after lines lost in the scan (marked …).

### Citation (SBL)

Gregory of Nyssa, An. et res. 39 (PG 46:40a–40d; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/gregory-nyssa-anima-resurrectione/39/#p-39).

## On the Soul and the Resurrection, Migne page 41

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/gregory-nyssa-anima-resurrectione/39/#p-41
- Source: PG 46:41a–41d
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: Macrina rebukes the view that what sense cannot grasp does not exist, since that would abolish God; the mind is not the same as God but like him as his image, as a small piece of glass reflects the whole sun.

### Greek text

τὴν θύραν χειραγωγούμενοι, ἑνὸς τῶν εἰρημένω πάντως θιγγάνομεν, ἢ χρῶμα εὑρίσκοντες, ἢ σχῆμα, ἢ πηλικότητα, ἧ τι τῶν παρά σοῦ νῦν ἀπηριθμημένων ἕτερον ὅταν δὲ τούτων μηδὲν εἶναι λέγηται ἂν, εἰς τὸ μηδόλως τι εἶναι οἴεσθαι ὑπὸ μικροψυχίας περιαγόμεθα. Μ. Ἦ δὲ σχετλιάσασα μεταξὺ τοῦ λόγου, Φεῦ τῆς ἀτοπίας, φησὶν, εἰς οἷον καταστρέφει πέρας ἡ μικροφυὴς αὕτη καὶ χαμαίζηλος περί τῶν ὄντων κρίσιςῐ Εἰ γὰρ ἐξῄρηται τοῦ ὄντος ἅπαν ὃ μὴ τῇ αἰσθήσει γνωρίζεται, οὐδʼ ἂν αὐτὴν τὴν τοῦ παντὸς ἐπιστατοῦσαν καὶ περιδεδραγμὲνην τῶν ὄντων δῦναμιν ὁμολογοίη πάντως ὁ τοῦτο λέγων, ἀλλά τί ἀσώματόν τε καὶ ἀειδὲς περί τῆς θείας φύσεως διδαχθεὶς, τὸ μὴ εῖναι αὐτὴν ὅλως ὲκ τῆς τοιαύτης πάντως ἀκολουθίας λογίζεται. Εἰ δὲ ἐκεῖ τὸ ταῦτα μὴ εἶναι περιγραφὴ τοῦ εἶναι οὐ γίνεται, πῶς ό ἀνθρώπινος νοῦς τοῦ ὄντος ἐκθλίβεται τῇ ἀφαιρὲπιτῶν σωματικῶν ἰδιωμάτων συνδαπανὼμενος ; -Γ, Οὐκοῦν, εἷπον, ἐξ ἀτόπων μεταλαμβάνομεν ἕτερον ἄτοπον διὰ τῆς ἀκολουθίας ταύτης. Περίκειται γὰρ ό λόγος ἡμῖν εἰς τὸ ταύτὸν οἴεσθαι τῇ θείᾳ φύσει, καὶ τὸν νοῦν τὸν ἡμέτερον, εἴπερ τῇ ὀπεξαιρέσει τῶν κατʼ αἴσθησιν εὑρισκομένων νοεῖται ἑκάτερον,-Μ. Μὴ ταύτόνεῐπῃς, φησὶν ἠ διδάσκαλος (ἀσεβὴς γὰρ καὶ οὗτος ὁ λόγος), ἀλλʼ ὡς ἐδιδάχθης παρά τῆς θείας Γραφῆς, ὅμοιον εἰπὲ τοῦτο ἐκείνῳ. To γὰρ κατʼ εἰκόνα γενόμενον διά πάντων ἔχει πάντως τὴν πρὸς τὸ ἀρχέτυπον ὁμοιότητα, νοερὰν τοῦ νοεροῦ, καὶ τοῦ ἀσωμάτου ἀσώματον, ὄγκου τε παντὸς ἀπηλλαγμένον ὧσπερ ἐκεῖνο, καὶ πᾶσαν ὲκφεῦγον διὰ σημαντικὴν καταμέτρησιν ὁμοίως ἐκείνῳ ο ἄλλο δέ τι παρʼ ἐκεῖνο κατά τὴν τῆς φύσεως ἰδιότητα. Οὐκέτι γὰρ ἀν εἴη εἰκὼν, εἰ ἐκείνῳ διʼἁπάντων εἴη ταύτὸν, ἀλλʼ ἐν οἷς ἐν τῇ ἀκτίστῳ φύσει καθορᾶται ἐκεῖνο, ιν τοῖς αὐτοῖς ἡ κτιστὴ φύσις δείκνυσι τοῦτοʼ κα) ὥσπερ πολλάκις ὲν μικρῷ ψήγματι ὑελίνῃ, ὅταν τύχῃ πρὸς ἀκτῖνα κείμενον, ὄλος ἐνορᾶται τοῦ ἡλίου ό κύκλος, οὐ κατά τὸ ἴδιον μέγεθος αὐτῷ ἐμφαινόμενος, ἀλλʼ ὡς χωρεῖ βραχύτης τοῦ ψήγματος τοῦ κύκλου τὴν ἔμφασιν · οὕτως ὲν τῇ βραχύτητι τῆς ἡμετέρας φύσεως τῶν άφράστων ἐκείνων τῆς θεότητος ἰδιωμάτων αἰ εἰκόνες ἐκλάμπουσιν, ὥστε διὰ τούτων τὸν λόγον χειραγωγοῦ μενον, μήτε ἀποπίπτειν

### English translation (Claude)

“… the door, we certainly touch one of the things mentioned, finding colour or shape or size or some other of the things you have just counted up; but when it is said to be none of these, we are led by narrowness of soul to think it is nothing at all.” Macrina: And she, protesting in the middle of the argument, said: “Alas for the absurdity! To what end this petty and earthbound judgment of existing things leads! For if everything not known by sense is removed from being, one who says this would certainly not admit even the power that presides over the universe and holds existing things in its grasp; but, taught that the divine nature is incorporeal and formless, he would by such a sequence certainly reckon that it does not exist at all. But if there the absence of these things is no limit of being, how is the human mind squeezed out of being, consumed along with the removal of bodily properties?” Gregory: “Then,” I said, “we take another absurdity from absurdities by this sequence. For our argument has come round to thinking that our mind is the same as the divine nature, if each is understood by the removal of what is found by sense.” Macrina: “Do not say ‘the same,’” said my teacher, “(for this account too is impious), but, as you were taught by divine Scripture, say that the one is like the other. For what has come to be according to the image certainly has likeness to the archetype in all things: intellectual like the intellectual, incorporeal like the incorporeal, free from all bulk like it, and escaping all measurement by dimension like it, yet something other than it in the property of its nature. For it would no longer be an image if it were in all things the same as that; but in the very things in which that is seen in the uncreated nature, this is shown by the created nature. And as often in a small fragment of glass, when it happens to lie toward a ray, the whole disc of the sun is seen, appearing in it not in its own size but as far as the smallness of the fragment can contain the reflection of the disc, so in the smallness of our nature the images of those ineffable properties of the Godhead shine out; so that the argument, led by these, neither falls away …”

### Scripture references

- Gen 1:26: allusion, high confidence
- Gen 1:27: allusion, medium confidence

### Translation notes

- References: Gen 1:26–27 (the image). Macrina’s distinction (the mind like God, not the same as God) is translated exactly as written.

### Citation (SBL)

Gregory of Nyssa, An. et res. 41 (PG 46:41a–41d; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/gregory-nyssa-anima-resurrectione/39/#p-41).

## On the Soul and the Resurrection, Migne page 43

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/gregory-nyssa-anima-resurrectione/39/#p-43
- Source: PG 46:44a–44d
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: Macrina argues that, as God is present in all things though unlike them, the soul, though unlike the elements, can exist and remain present to the scattered elements of its body after death.

### Greek text

τῆς κατὰ τὴν ούσίαν τοῦ νοῦ καταλήψεως, ἀποκαθαιρομένης ἐν τῇ ἐξετάσει τοῦ σκέμματος τῆς σωματικῆς ίδιάτητος ο μηδʼ αὖ πάλιν εἰς ἴσον ἄγειν τῇ ἀορίστῳ τε καὶ ἀκηράτῳ φύσει, τὴν μικρὰν καὶ ἐπίκηρον · ἀλλά νοητὴν μὲν οἴεσθαι τὴν οὐσίαν · ἐπειδὴ καὶ νοητῆς οὐσίας ἐστὶν εἰκὼν, μὴ μέντοι τὴν αὐτὴν τῷ ἀρχετύπῳ τὴν εἰκόνα λέγειν. Ὥσπερ οὖν διά τῆς ἀπορρήτου σοφίας τοῦ Θεοῦ τῆς τῷ παντὶ ἐμφαινομένης τὴν Θείαν φύσιν τε καὶ δύναμιν ἐν πᾶσι τοῖς οὖσιν εῖναι οὐκ ἀμφιβάλλομεν, ὡς ἂν ἐν τῷ εἶναι τά πάντα μένοι ο καί τοί γε εί τὸν τῆς φύσεως ἀπαιτοίης λόγον, παμπλήθως ἀπέχει οὐσία Θεοῦ πρὸς τά καθʼ ’ἑκαστον ἐν τῇ κτίσει δεικνύμενά τε καὶ νοούμενα ο ἀλλʼ ὅμως ἐν τούτοις εἶναι τὸ διεστὸς κατά τὴν φύσιν ὁμολογεῖται· οὖτως οὐδὲν ἄπιστον καὶ τὴν τῆς ψυχῆς οὐσίαν, ἀλλο τι καθʼ ἐαυτὴν οὖσαν, ὃ τί ποτε καὶ εἶναι εἰκάζεται, μὴ ἐμποδίζεσθαι πρὸς τὸ εἶναι, τῶν στοιχειωδῶς ἐν τῷ κόσμῳ θεωρουμένων οὐ συμδαινόντων αὐτῇ κατά τὸν λόγον τῆς φύσεως οὐδὲ ἐπὶ τῶν ζώντων σωμάτων, καθὼς ἤδη προείρηται, οἷς ἡ ὑπόστασις ἐκ τῆς τῶν στοιχείων ἐστὶ συγκράσεως. κοινωνία τις κατά τὸν τῆς οὐσίας λόγον ἐστὶ τῷ ἀπλῷ τε καὶ ἀειδεῖ τῆς ψυχῆς πρὸς τὴν σωματικὴν παχυμερίαν ο ἀλλʼ ὅμως τὸ ἐν τούτοις εἶναι τὴν ζωτικὴν τῆς ψυχῆς ἐνέργειαν, οὐκ ἀμφιβάλλεται, λόγῳ τιν). κρείττονι τῆς ἀνθρωπίνης κατανοήσεως ἀνακραθείσαν. Οὐκοῦν ούδέ ἀναλυσάντων πρὸς ἐαυτά τῶν ἐν τοῖς σώμασι στοιχείων, τὸ συνδέον αύτά διὰ τῆς ζωτικῆς ἐνεργείας ἀπόλωλεν. Ἀλλʼ ὥσπερ συνεστῶτος ἐτι τοῦ τῶν στοιχείων συγκρίματος ψυχοῦο ται καὶ τά καθʼ ἕκαστον, ἴσως τε καὶ ὁμοίως πᾶσι τοῖς μέρεσι τοῖς συμπληροῦσι τὸ σῶμα τῆς ψυχῆς ἐνδυομένης, καὶ οὐκ ἄν τις εἴποι, οὔτε στερῤἀν αὐτὴν καὶ ἀντίτυπον εἷναι, τῷ γεώδει συγ· κεκραμένην, οὔτε ὑγρὰν, ἢ ψυχρὰν ἢ τὴν τῷ ψυχριῖι ἀντικειμένην ποιότητα, τὴν ἐν πᾶσιν οὖσαν τούς τοις, καὶ ἐκάστῳ τὴν ζωτικὴν δύναμιν ἐνιοῦσαν: οὓτω, κα) λυθέντος τοῦ συγκρίματος, καὶ είς τά οἰκεῖα πάλιν ἀναδραμόντος, τὴν ἁπλῆν ἐκείνην καὶ ἀσύνθετον φύσιν ἑκάστῳ παρεῖναι τῶν μερῶν, καὶ μετά τὴν διάλυσιν οἴεσθαι, οὐδὲν τοῦ εἰκότος ἐστίν ° ἀλλά τὴν ἅπαξ ἀρρήτῳ τινὶ συμφυεῖσαν λόγῳ τῷ τῶν στοιχείων (ιι) συγκρίματι, καὶ εἰσαεὶ παραμένειν, οἷς κατεμίχθη, μηδενὶ τρόπῳ τῆς γινομένης ἅπαξ αὐτῇ συμφυΐας άποσπωμένην. Οὐ γὰρ

### English translation (Claude)

“… from the comprehension of the mind’s substance, when bodily properties are purged away in examining the question, nor again puts the small and perishable on a level with the boundless and undefiled nature; but thinks the substance intelligible, since it is the image of an intelligible substance, without saying that the image is the same as the archetype. As, then, through the ineffable wisdom of God which appears in the universe we do not doubt that the divine nature and power are in all existing things, so that all things remain in being, even though, if you ask for an account of its nature, the substance of God is vastly distant from each of the things shown and conceived in creation, yet it is admitted that what differs in nature is in them: so it is not incredible that the substance of the soul too, being something other in itself, whatever it is conjectured to be, is not hindered from existing, though the elements seen in the world do not agree with it in the principle of its nature. Even in living bodies, as was said before, whose existence is from the blending of the elements, … there is no communion in the principle of substance between the simple and formless nature of the soul and bodily coarseness; yet it is not doubted that the vital activity of the soul is in them, blended with them by a principle higher than human understanding. Neither, then, when the elements in bodies have been dissolved into themselves, has that which bound them together by its vital activity perished. But as, while the compound of the elements still holds together, each part is given soul, the soul entering all the parts that fill up the body equally and alike, and one would not say that it is either solid and resistant, being mixed with the earthy, or moist or cold or of the quality opposed to cold, though it is in all these and gives the vital power to each; so, when the compound has been dissolved and has run back to its own elements, it is nothing unlikely to think that that simple and uncompounded nature is present to each of the parts even after the dissolution; and that, having once grown together with the compound of the elements by some ineffable principle, it remains forever with those with which it was mixed, in no way torn from the union that once came about for it. For it is not …

### Translation notes

- A few words are lost in the scan where marked …. Macrina’s view that the soul stays present to the dispersed elements of its body is translated exactly as written.

### Citation (SBL)

Gregory of Nyssa, An. et res. 43 (PG 46:44a–44d; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/gregory-nyssa-anima-resurrectione/39/#p-43).

## On the Soul and the Resurrection, Migne page 45

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/gregory-nyssa-anima-resurrectione/39/#p-45
- Source: PG 46:45a–45d
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: Gregory objects that when the body’s elements scatter, the soul, being indivisible, could cling to only one of them, like a shipwrecked sailor clutching a single plank.

### Greek text

ἐπειδὴ λύεται τὸ συγκείμενον, κινδυνεύει συνδιαλυθῆναι τῷ συνβέτῳ τὸ μὴ συγκείμενον.. Γ. Κάγὼ εἶπον, Ἀλλὰ τά μὲν στοιχεῖα συμπίπτειν τε πρὸς ἄλληλα, καὶ πρὸς ἀλλήλων διακρίνεσθαι, καὶ τοῦτο εἶναι τὴν τοῦ σώματος σύστασίν τε καὶ διάλυσιν, οὐδεὶς ἂν ἀντείποι. Ἐπειδὴ δὲ πολὺ τὸ μέσον ἑκάστῳ νοεῖται τοῦτο τῶν ὲτερογενῶς ἑχόντων πρὸς ἄλληλα, κατά τε τὴν τοπικὴν Θέσιν, καὶ τὴν τῶν ποιημάτων διαφοράν τε καὶ ἰδιότητα, συνδεδραμηκότων μὲν ἀλλήλοις περὶ τὸ ὑποκείο μενον τῶν στοιχείων, τὴν νοεράν ταύτην καὶ ἀδιάστατον φύσιν ἥν καλοῦμεν ψυχὴν, ἀκόλουθον συμφυῶς πρὸς τὸ ἡνωμένον ἔχειν · εί δὲ ἀπʼ ἀλλήλων διακριθείη ταῦτα, κάκεῖσε γένοιτο, ὅπηπερ ἂν ἕκαστον ἡ φύσις ἄγοι (id), τὶ πείσεται ἡ ψυχὴ πολλαχῆ τοῦ ὀχήματος αὐτῇ διασπαρέντος· ὥσπερ τις ναύτης τῆς ὁλκάδος ὲν ναυαγίῳ διαλυθείσης ἀδυνατῶν πᾶσι τοῖς τοῦ πλοίου μορίοις ἄλλοις ἀλλαχῆ τοῦ πελάγους ἐσκεδασμένοις κατʼ αὐτὸν ἐπινήξασθαι (παντὸς γάρ τοῦ ὲπιτυχοῦντος λαβόμενος τά λοιπά φέρειν καταλείψει τοῖς κύμασι), τὸν αὐτὸν τρόπον ἡ ψυχὴ τῇ διακρίσει τῶν στοιχείων συνδιασχισθῆναι τὴν φύσιν οὐκ ἔχουσα, εἴπερ δυσαπαλλάκτως ἔχει τοῦ σώματος, ἐνί τινι πάντως προσο φυεῖσα στοιχείων, τῶν ἄλλων ἀποσχισθήσεται, καὶ οὐδὲν μᾶλλον ἀθάνατον αὐτὴν διὰ τὸ ὲν ἑνὶ ζῇν, ἢ Θνητὴν, διὰ τὸ ὲν τοῖς πλείοσι μὴ εἶναι, ἡ ἀκολου- Θία τοῦ λόγου δίδωσιν οἴεσθαι.

### English translation (Claude)

“… because the compound is dissolved, that what is not compounded is in danger of being dissolved together with the composite.” Gregory: And I said: “No one would deny that the elements come together with one another and separate from one another, and that this is the constitution and dissolution of the body. But since a great distance is conceived between each of these things that are of different kinds from one another, both in their position in place and in the difference and property of their qualities, when the elements have come together with one another in the subject it follows that this intellectual and unextended nature which we call soul is naturally bound to the united whole; but if these are separated from one another and go wherever nature leads each, what will happen to the soul when its vehicle is scattered in many places? Like a sailor whose merchant ship has broken up in a shipwreck, unable to swim after all the parts of the ship scattered over the sea in different places (for, catching hold of whatever comes to hand, he will leave the rest to be carried by the waves), in the same way the soul, not having a nature that can be split with the separation of the elements, if it is inseparable from the body, will certainly grow fast to one of the elements and be cut off from the others; and the sequence of the argument gives no more reason to think it immortal because it lives in one than mortal because it is not in the many.”

### Translation notes

- Gregory raises this objection to test Macrina’s argument.

### Citation (SBL)

Gregory of Nyssa, An. et res. 45 (PG 46:45a–45d; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/gregory-nyssa-anima-resurrectione/39/#p-45).

## On the Soul and the Resurrection, Migne page 47

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/gregory-nyssa-anima-resurrectione/39/#p-47
- Source: PG 46:48a–48d
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: Macrina argues that the indivisible soul, like the art that fused gold and silver, remains present to the separated elements without being divided. Gregory objects that her definition leaves out desire and anger.

### Greek text

ἐκὰστῳ παρεῖναι, οἷς ama ἐνεφύη, διὰ κράσεως μὴ συνδιασχιζομένη τῇ τῶν στοιχείων ὲναντιότητι. Οὐ γὰρ ἐπειδὴ κατὰ τὴν τοπικὴν διάστασιν, καὶ τὴν ποίαν ἰδιότητα, πόρρωθεν ἀλλήλων ταῦτα νομίζεται, διὰ τοῦτο κάμνει ἡ ἀδιάστατος φύσις τοῖς τοπικῶς διεστηκόσι συναπτομένη, ἐπεὶ κα) νῦν ἔξεστι τῇ διανοίᾳ ὁμοῦ τε τὸν οὐρανὸν θεωρεῖν, καὶ ἐπὶ τὰ πέρατα τοῦ κόσμου ταῖς πολυπραγμοσύναις ἐκτείνεσθαι κα) οὐ διασπᾶται πρὸς τοσαῦτα μήκη τὺ θεωρητικὸν τῆς ψυχῆς ἡμῶν διατεινόμενον. Οὐκοῦν οὑδὲν ἐμπόδιόν ἐστι τῇ ψυχῇ κατὰ τὸ ῐσον παρεῖναι τοῖς τοῦ σώματος στοιχείοις, καὶ συγκεκραμένοις διὰ τῆς συνδρομῆς, καὶ ἀπολυομένοις διὰ τῆς ἀνακράσεως. Καθάπερ γὰρ χρυσοῦ καὶ ἀργύρου συντετηκότων ὲνοεωρεῖταί τις τεχνικὴ δύναμις ἡ τὰς ὔλας συντήξασα· καὶ εἰ πάλιν ἀποτακείη τοῦ ἑτέρου τὸ ἕτερον, οὐδὲν ἔλαττον ό τῆς τέχνης λόγος ὲν ἑκατέρῳ μένει· καὶ ἠ μὲν ιλη διεμερίσθη, ἡ δὲ τέχνη οὐ awδιετμήθη τῇ ὕλῃ· πῶς γὰρ ἂν διαιρεθείη τὸ ἄτμητονς κατὰ τὸν αὑτὸν λόγον καὶ ἡ νοερὰ τῆς ψυχῆς φύσις, καὶ τῇ συνδρομῇ τῶν στοιχείων ὲνθεωρεῖται, ιιια) διαλυθέντων οὐκ ἀποκρίνεται, ἀλλὰ καὶ ὲν αὑτοῖς μένει καὶ ὲν τῷ χωρισμῴ αὐτῶν συμπαρεκτεινομένη οὐ διακόπτεται, οὐδὲ πρὸς τὸν ἀριθμὸν τῶν στοιχείων είς μερικὰ τμήματα κατακερματίζεται. Τοῦτο γὰρ ἴδιον τῆς σωματικῆς καὶ διαστηματικῆς ἐστι φύσεως* ἠ δὲ νοερά τε καὶ ἁδιὰστατος φύσις τὰ ἐκ διαστάσεως οὐκ ἀναδέχεται πάθη. Οὐκοῦν ἐστιν ὲν αὐτοῖς ἠ ψυχὴ, ἑν οἷς ἅπαξ ἐγέ- ,νετο, οὐδεμιᾶς ἀνάγκης τῆς πρὸς ἐκεῖνα συμφυΐας αὐτὴν ἀποσπώσης. Τί οὖν τὸ σκυθρωπὸν ἐν τούτοις ἐστὶν. εί τοῦ ὁρωμένου τὸ ἀειδὲς ἀνταλλάσσεται; καὶ ὑπὲρ τίνος οὕτω διαβέβληταί σοι πρὸς τὸν θάνατον ἡ διάνοιας-Γ, Ἐγὼ δὲ, ἀναλαβὼν τῇ διανοίᾳ τὸν ὁρισμδν, ὃν ὲν τοῖς πρὸ τούτου λόγοις περὶ ψυχῆς ἑποιήσατο, οὐχ ἱκανῶς εἶπον ἐνδεδεῖχθαι μοι τὸν λόγον ἐκεῖνον τὰς ἐνοεωρουμένας τῇ ψυχῇ δυνάμεις · ὅς φησι νοερὰν αὐτὴν εῖναι οὐσίαν, καὶ τῷ ὀργανικῷ σώματι ζωτικὴν δύναμιν πρὸς τὴν τῶν αἰσθήσεων ἐνέργειαν ἐμποιεῖν · οὐ γὰρ μόνον περὶ τὴν ἐπιστημονικήν τε καὶ θεωρητικὴν διάνοιαν ἐνεργός ἐστιν ἡμῶν ἠ ψυχὴ, ὲν τῷ νοερῷ τῆς οὐσίας τὸ τοιοῦτον ἐργαζομένη, οὐδὲ τὰ αἰσθητήρια μόνα πρὸς τὴν κατὰ φύσιν ἐνέργειαν οἰκονομεῖ ἀλλὰ πολλὴ μὲν ἡ κατὰ ἐπιουμίαν, πολλὴ δὲ καὶ ἡ κατὰ θυμὸν κίνησις ἑνθεωρείται τῇ φύσει ’ ἑκατέρας δὲ τούτων γενικῶς

### English translation (Claude)

Macrina: “… to be present to each of the things with which it once grew together through blending, not split along with the opposition of the elements. For it is not because these are thought to be far from one another in distance of place and particular property that the unextended nature labours when joined to things separated in place; for even now it is possible for the mind at once to contemplate heaven and to stretch out in its inquiries to the ends of the world, and the contemplative part of our soul is not torn apart when it is stretched to such lengths. Nothing, then, hinders the soul from being present equally to the elements of the body, both when they are blended through their concurrence and when they are released through their dissolution. For as, when gold and silver are fused together, an artistic power is seen which fused the materials, and if the one is melted away again from the other, the principle of the art remains no less in each, and the material has been divided but the art has not been cut along with the material (for how could the indivisible be divided?), by the same reasoning the intellectual nature of the soul too is seen in the concurrence of the elements and is not separated when they are dissolved; it remains in them, and, extending along with them in their separation, is not cut off nor broken into small pieces according to the number of the elements. For this is proper to bodily and extended nature; but the intellectual and unextended nature does not admit the effects of extension. The soul, then, is in those things in which it once came to be, no necessity tearing it away from its union with them. What, then, is gloomy in this, if the visible is exchanged for the invisible? And why is your mind so set against death?” Gregory: And I, recalling the definition she had given of the soul in the earlier discussion, said that that account did not sufficiently show me the powers seen in the soul. “For it says that it is an intellectual substance and produces in the organic body a vital power for the activity of the senses. But our soul is not active only in scientific and contemplative thought, working this in the intellectual part of its substance, nor does it govern only the sense organs for their natural activity; but much movement of desire and much of anger is seen in our nature; and since each of these exists in us in general …”

### Translation notes

- The beginning of Macrina’s answer is lost at the edge of Migne’s page (marked …).

### Citation (SBL)

Gregory of Nyssa, An. et res. 47 (PG 46:48a–48d; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/gregory-nyssa-anima-resurrectione/39/#p-47).

## On the Soul and the Resurrection, Migne page 49

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/gregory-nyssa-anima-resurrectione/39/#p-49
- Source: PG 46:49a–49d
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: Gregory argues that if desire and anger are intellectual they would be separate souls; Macrina replies that the question is old, and that Christians must take Scripture, not pagan philosophy such as Plato’s chariot image, as their rule.

### Greek text

ἡμῖν ἐνυπαρχούσης, εις πολλάς τε καὶ ποικίλας διαφορὰς ὁρῶμεν προϊοῦσαν ταῖς ἐνεργείαις ἀμφοτέρων τὴν κίνησιν. Πολλά μὲν γὰρ ἔστιν ἰδεῖν, ὧν si) ἐπιθυμητικὸν καθηγεῖται πολλά γε πάλιν.ἆ τῆς θυμοειδοῦς αἰτίας ὲκφύεται, καὶ οὐδὲν τοῦτο σῶμά ἐστι, τὸ δὲ ἀσώματον νοερὸν πάντως · νοερὸν δέ τι (Η) τὴν ψυχὴν ὁ ὁρισμὸς ἀπεφήνατο, ὥστε δυοῖν ἀτόποις τὸ ἕτερον ἐκ τῆς ἀκολουθίας ἀνακύπτειν τοῦ Myoqu καὶ τὸν θυμὸν καὶ τὴν ἐπιθυμίαν ἄλλας ὲν ἡμῖν εἶναι ψυχὰς, καὶ πλῆθος ψυχῶν ἀντὶ μιᾶς καθορᾶσθαι, ἢ μηδὲ τὸ διανοητικὺν τὸ ὲν ἡμῖν ψυχὴν οἴεσθαι. Τὸ γὰρ νοερὸν ἐπίσης πᾶσιν ὲφαρμοζόμενον,ἢ πάντας ψυχὰς ἀποδείξει ταῦτα, ἢ ’ἑκαστον τούτων ἐκ τοῦ ἴσου τοῦ ἰδιώματος τῆς ψυχῆς ἐξαιρήσει. ” Μ.ἮδὲΠολλοίς φησὶν,. ιἤδη καὲ ἀλλοις ἐζητημένον τὸν λόγον τοῦτον ἀκολούθως καί αὐτὸς ἐπιζητεῖς, 6, τι ποτὲ χρὴ ταῦτα νομίζειν εἶναι τὸ ἐπιθυμητικὸν καὶ τὸ θυμοειδὲς, εἴτε συνουσιωμένα τῇ ψυχῇ, καὶ παρά τὴν αὐτὴν εὐθὺς τῇ κατασκευῇ συνυπάρχοντα. εἴτε τι ἄλλο παρʼ αὐτὴν ὅντα καὶ ὕστερον ἡμῖν ἐπιγινόμενα. Τὸ μὲν γὰρ ἐνορᾶσθαι τῇ ψυχῇ ταῦτα, παρὰ πάντων ἐπίσης ὀμολογεῑται· τὸ δὲ 6, τι χρὴ περὶ αὐτῶν οἴεσθαι, οῦπω διʼ ἀκριβείας εὗρεν δ λόγος. ὥστε βεβαίαν τὴν περὶ τού- ’των ὑπόληψιν ἔχε ιν, ἀλλʼ ἔτι πεπλανημένως οἰ πολλοὶ καὶ διαφόροις ταῖς περὶ τούτων δόξαις ἐπιδιστάζωσιν. Ἡμῖν δὲ εί μὲν ἱκανὴ πρὸς ἀπόδειξιν ἀληθῶς ἦν ἡ ἔξω φιλοσοφία, ἡ τεχνικῶς περὶ τούτων διαλαβοῦσα, περιττὸν ἂν ἧν ἴσως τὸν περὶ ψυχῆς λόγον προτιθέναι (Si) τῷ σκέμματι. Ἐπεὶ- τοῖς μὲν κατά τὸ φανὲν ἀκόλουθον κατʼ ἐξουσίαν προῆλθεν ή περὶ ψυχῆς θεωρία · ἡμεῖς δὲ τῆς ἐξουσίας ἄμοιροι ταύτης ἐσμὲν, τῆς λέγειν φημὶ ἀπερ βουλόμεθα, κανόνι παντὸς δόγματος καὶ νόμῳ κεχρημένοι τῇ ἁγίᾳ Γραφῇʼ ἀναγκαίως πρὸς ταύτην βλέποντες, τοῦτο δεχόμεθα μόνον, 6, τι περ ἂν ᾗ συμφωνοῦν τῷ τῶν γεγραμμένων σκοπῷ. Οὐκοῦν παρέντες τδ Πλατωνικὸν ἅρμα, καὶ τὴν ύπεζευγμένην αύτῷ ξυνωρίδα τῶν πώλων. οὐχ ὁμοίως ταῖς ὁρμαῖς πρὸς ἀλλήλους ἐχόντων, καὶ τὸν ὑπὲρ τούτων ἡνίοχον, διʼ ὦν ἁπάντων τὰ τοιαῦτα περὶ

### English translation (Claude)

“… we see the movement of both advancing into many and varied differences in their activities. For one can see many things led by the desiring part, and many again that spring from the cause of anger; and none of this is body; and what is incorporeal is certainly intellectual; and the definition declared the soul to be something intellectual. So one of two absurdities emerges from the sequence of the argument: either anger and desire are other souls in us and a multitude of souls is seen instead of one, or not even the thinking part in us is to be thought a soul. For the intellectual, fitting all of them equally, will either prove them all souls or exclude each of them alike from the property of soul.” Macrina: “You too,” she said, “are asking, as is natural, a question already asked by many others: what we should think the desiring and the spirited parts to be, whether they are of one substance with the soul and coexist from the first with its constitution, or are something else besides it that comes upon us later. For that these are seen in the soul is agreed by all equally; but what we should think about them the argument has not yet found exactly, so as to have a firm belief about them; the many still waver uncertainly among different opinions about them. If the outside philosophy, which treated these things systematically, were truly sufficient for proof, it would perhaps be superfluous to set the discussion of the soul before our inquiry. But whereas they went forward with freedom in their contemplation of the soul according to what appeared to follow, we have no share in this freedom, I mean of saying what we please, since we use holy Scripture as the rule and law of every doctrine; necessarily looking to it, we accept only what agrees with the aim of what is written. Leaving aside, then, the Platonic chariot and the pair of horses yoked to it, which do not have the same impulses toward each other, and the charioteer over them, by all of which he philosophizes in a riddle about such things concerning …”

### Extrabiblical texts

- Plato, Phaedr. 246a (Plato (works)): allusion, high confidence

### Translation notes

- The “Platonic chariot” is the charioteer and two horses of Plato, Phaedrus 246a–254e.

### Citation (SBL)

Gregory of Nyssa, An. et res. 49 (PG 46:49a–49d; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/gregory-nyssa-anima-resurrectione/39/#p-49).

## On the Soul and the Resurrection, Migne page 51

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/gregory-nyssa-anima-resurrectione/39/#p-51
- Source: PG 46:52a–52d
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: Macrina sets aside Plato and Aristotle and dialectical proofs, taking Scripture as her rule: since the soul is God’s likeness, nothing foreign to God, such as anger or desire, belongs to its essence; and the definition of man as rational does not include them.

### Greek text

ψυχῆς φιλοσοφεῖ διʼ αἰνίγματος · ὅσα θʼ 6 μετʼ ἐκεῖνον φιλόσοφος 6 τεχνικῶς τοῖς φαινομένοις ἀκολουθῶν, καὶ τά νῦν ἡμῖν προκείμενα διʼ ἐπιμε- ’ λείας κατεξετάζων, θνητὴν εἶναι διὰ τούτων τὴν ψυχὴν ἀπεφήνατο, καὶ πάντας τούς τε πρὸ τούτων, καὶ τοὺς ἑφεξῆς, τούς τε καταλογάδην καὶ τοὺς ὲν ῥυθμῷ τινι καὶ μέτρῳ φιλοσοφήσαντας καταλιπόντες, σκοπὸν τοῦ λόγου τὴν θεόπνευστον Γραφὴν ποιησώμεθα, η ψυχῆς ἐξαίρετον μηδὲν νομίζειν εἶναι νομοθετεῖ,δ μὴ κα) τῆς Θείας φύσεώς ἐστιν ῐδιον. '0 γὰρ ὁμοίωμα Θεοῦ τὴν ψυχὴν εἴναι φήσας, πᾶν 6 ἀλλότριόν ἐστι Θεοῦ, ἐκτὸς εἶναι τοῦ ὅρου τῆς ψυχῆς ἀπεφήνατο. Οὐδὲ γὰρ ἂν ἐν τοῖς παρηλλαγμένοις διασωθείη τὸ ὅμοιον. Οὐκοῦν ἐπειδὴ τοιοῦτον οὐδὲ τῇ θείᾳ συνθεωρείται φύσει, οὐδὲ τῇ ψυχῇ συνουσιοῦσθαι ταῦτα κατὰ λόγον ἀν τις ύπονοή σειε. T6 μὲν οὖν κατά τὴν διαλεκτικὴν τέχνην διὰ συλο λογιστικῆς τε καὶ ἀναλυτικῆς ἐπιστήμης βεβαιοῦσθαι καὶ τὰ ἡμέτερα δόγματα, ὡς σαθρόν τε καὶ ὕποπτον είς ἀπόδειξιν ἀληθείας τὸ τοιοῦτον εἶδος τοῦ λόγου παραιτησόμεθα. Πᾶσι γάρ ἔστι πρόδηλον τὸ τὴν διαλεκτικὴν περιεργίαν ῐσην ἐφʼ ἑκάτερα τὴν ἰσχὺν ἔχειν, πρός τε τὴν τῆς ἀληθείας ἀνατροπὴν, καὶ πρὸς τὴν τοῦ ψεύδους κατηγορίαν. ’Ὅθεν καὶ αὐτὴν τὴν ἀλήθειαν, ὅταν μετά τινος τοιαύτης τέχνης προάγηο ται, διʼ ὑποψίας πολλάκις ποιούμεθα, ὡς τῆς περὶ ταύτης δεινότητος παρακρουομένης ἡμῶν τὴν διάνοιαν, καὶ τῆς ἀληθείας ἀποσφαλείσης. Εἰ δέ τις τὸν ἅκατάσκευόν τε καὶ γυμνὸν πάσης περιβολῆς προσίοιτο λόγον, ἐροῦμεν ὡς ἀν οἷόν τε κατά τὸν εἱρμὸν τῆς γραφικῆς ύφηγήσεως τὴν περ), τούτων θεωρίαν προσάγοντες. Τί οὖν ἐστιν 6 φαμεν; T6 λογικὸν τοῦτο ζῶον 6 ἄνθρωπος νοῦ τε καὶ ἐπιστήμης δεκτικόν εἶναι, ἢ παρά τῶν ἔξω τοῦ λόγου τοῦ καθʼ ἡμᾶς μεμαρτύρηται, οὐκ ἂν οὕτω τοῦ 69tσμοῦ τὴν φύσιν ἡμῶν ύπογράφοντος, είπερ ἐνεώρα θυμόν τε καὶ ἐπιθυμίαν καὶ τὰ τοιαῦτα πάντα συνουσιωμένα τῇ φύσει. Οὐδὲ γάρ ἐπʼ άλλου τινος ὅρον ἄν τις ἀποδοίη τοῦ ὑποκειμένου, τὸ κοινὸν ἀντὶ τοῦ ἰδίου λέγων.

### English translation (Claude)

“… the soul; and whatever the philosopher after him, following appearances systematically and examining with care the questions now before us, declared, showing by them that the soul is mortal; leaving aside all those before and after them, both those who philosophized in prose and those in rhythm and metre, let us make the inspired Scripture the aim of our discussion, which lays down that nothing should be thought peculiar to the soul that is not also proper to the divine nature. For he who said that the soul is a likeness of God declared that whatever is foreign to God is outside the definition of the soul; for likeness could not be preserved in things that differ. Since, then, nothing of this kind is seen together with the divine nature, one could not reasonably suppose that these are of one substance with the soul either. To establish our doctrines too by the art of dialectic, through syllogistic and analytic science, we shall decline, since such a kind of argument is rotten and suspect for the demonstration of truth. For it is plain to all that dialectical subtlety has equal strength on either side, both for overturning truth and for accusing falsehood. Hence we often regard truth itself with suspicion when it is brought forward with some such art, as though the cleverness about it were deceiving our mind and the truth had been missed. But if one will accept an argument that is unadorned and stripped of all dress, we shall speak as far as we can, bringing our contemplation of these things according to the sequence of Scripture’s guidance. What, then, do we say? That this rational animal, man, is capable of mind and knowledge, as has been attested even by those outside our faith; and the definition would not so describe our nature if it saw anger and desire and all such things as of one substance with our nature. For one would not give a definition of any other subject by stating the common instead of the proper.

### Scripture references

- Gen 1:26: allusion, medium confidence

### Extrabiblical texts

- Aristotle, On the Soul (Aristotle (works)): allusion, medium confidence

### Translation notes

- “The philosopher after him” is Aristotle, whom Macrina takes to have held the soul mortal. References: Gen 1:26–27. Macrina’s distrust of dialectic is translated exactly as written.

### Citation (SBL)

Gregory of Nyssa, An. et res. 51 (PG 46:52a–52d; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/gregory-nyssa-anima-resurrectione/39/#p-51).

## On the Soul and the Resurrection, Migne page 53

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/gregory-nyssa-anima-resurrectione/39/#p-53
- Source: PG 46:53a–53d
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: Since anger and desire are common to animals, they cannot define human nature; Moses, free from both yet fully human, shows they are not of the soul’s essence.

### Greek text

Ἐπεὶ οὖν τὸ ἐπιθυμητικόν τε καὶ θυμοειδὲς κατὰ τὸ iam: καὶ ἐπὶ τῆς ἀλόγου τε καὶ λογικῆς φύσεως καθορᾶται, οὐκ ἄν τις εὐλόγως ἐκ τοῦ κοινοῦ χαρακτηρίζει τὸ ἴδιον.0 δὲ πρὸς τὴν τῆς φύσεως ὑπογραφὴν περιττόν τε καὶ ἀπόβλητον, πῶς ἐνεστιν ὡς μέρος τῆς φύσεως, ἐπʼ ἀνατροπῇ τοῦ ὅρου τὴν ίσχὺν ἔχεινς Πᾶς γὰρ ὁρισμὸς οὐσίας πρὸς τὸ ωιον τοῦ ὑποκειμένου βλέπει. Ὅ, τι δʼ ἂν ἔξω τοῦ ίδιάζοντος ᾖ, ὡς ἀλλότριον παρορᾶται τοῦ ὅρου. Ἀλλὰ μὴν ἡ κατὰ θυμόν τε καὶ ἐπιθυμίαν ἐνέργεια κοινὴ πάσης εἶναι τῆς λογικῆς τε καὶ ἀλόγου φύσεως ὁμολογεῖται. Πᾶν δὲ τὸ κοινὸν, οὐ ταύτόν ἐστι τῷ ἰδιάζοντι. Ἀνάγκη ἄρα διὰ τούτων ἐστὶ, μὴ ὲν τούτοις εἶναι ταῦτα λογίζεσθαι, ὲν οἷς κατεξαίρετον ἡ ἀνθρωπίνη χαρακτηρίζεται φύσις. Ἀλλʼ ὥσπερ τὺ αἰσθητικὸν καὶτὸ θρεπτικὸν καὶ αὐξητικὸν ὲν ἡμῖν τις ίδὼν οὐκ ἀναλύει διὰ τούτων,τὸν ἀποδοθέντα τῆς ψυχῆς ὅρον (οὑ γὰρ ἐπειδὴ τοῦτό ἐστιν ὲν τῇ ψυχῇ, ἐκεῖνο οὐκ ἐστιν), οὕτω καὶ τὰ περὶ τὸν θυμὸν καὶ τὴν ἐπιθυμίαν κατανοήσας τῆς φύσεως ἡμῶν κινήματα, οὐκ ἂν εὐλόγως τῷ ὅρῳ μάχοιτο, ὡς ὲλλειπῶς ἑνδειξαμένῳ τὴν φύσιν. Γ. Τί οὖν χρὴ περὶ τούτου γινώσκειν, εἷπον πρὸς τὴν διδάσκαλον; Οὔπω γὰρ οἷός τέ εἰμι κατιδεῖν ὅπως προσήκει τὰ ἐν ἡμῖν ὄντα, ὡς ἀλλότρια τῆς φύσεως ἡμῶν ἀποποιεῖσθαι. -Μ, Ὁρᾷς, φησὶν, ὅτι μάχη τίς ἐστι τοῦ λογισμοῦ πρὸς ταῦτα, κα) σπουδὴ τοῦ μονωθῆναι τὴν ψυχὴν τούτων, ὡς ἂν οἷόν τις Καί είσί γέ τινες οἷς κατώρθωται ἡ σπουδὴ. καθάπερ ἐπὶ τοῦ Μωῦσέως ἀκούομεν, ὅτι κρείττων ἦν θυμοῦ τε καὶ ἐπιθυμίας ἐκεῖνος, ἀμφότερα μαρτυρούσης αύτῷ τῆς ίστορίας, ὅτι πρᾷος ἦν παρὰ πάντας ἀνθρώ· παυς (ἐνδείκνυται δὲ τὸ ἀόργητον διὰ τοῦ πρᾴου, καὶ τὴν πρὸς τόν θυμὸν ἀλλοτρίωσιν), καὶ ὅτι οὐκ ἐπεθύμησε τούτων τινὸς, περὶ ἃ ὁρῶμεν ὲν τοῖς πολλοῖς τὸ ἐπιθυμητικὸν ἐνεργούμενον. Ὅπερ οὐκ ἂν ἐγένετο, εί φύσις ἦν ταῦτα, καὶ είς τὸν λόγον τῆς οὐσίας ἀνήγετο. Οὐ γάρ ἐστι δυνατὸν τὸν ἔξω γεγονότα τῆς φύσεως ἐν τῷ εἷναι μένειν. ’Λλλά μὴν εἰ Μωσῆς καὶ ἐν τῷ εἶναι ἦν, καὶ ὲν τούτοις οὐκ ἦν, ἄλλο τι ἄρα παρὰ τὴν φύσιν ἐστὶ ταῦτα, καὶ οὐχὶ φύσις. Ei γὰρ ἀληθῶς φύσις τοῦτό ἐστιν, ἐν τὸ εἶναι τῆς οὐσίας καταλαμβάνεται, τούτων δὲ ἡ ἁλλοτρίωσις ἐφʼ ἡμῖν κεῖται, ὡς μὴ μόνον ἀζήμιον, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἑπικερδὲς εἶναι τῇ φύσει τὸν ἀφανισμὸν τῶν τοιούτων. Δῆλον οὖν ὅτι τῶν ἔξωθεν ὲπιθεωρουμένων ἐστὶ

### English translation (Claude)

“Since, then, the desiring and the spirited are seen equally in irrational and rational nature, one could not reasonably characterize what is proper by what is common. But how can what is superfluous and to be rejected in describing a nature have the force, as part of the nature, to overturn the definition? For every definition of a substance looks to what is proper to the subject; whatever is outside what is peculiar is disregarded as foreign to the definition. Yet the activity of anger and desire is admitted to be common to all rational and irrational nature; and everything common is not the same as what is peculiar. It is necessary, then, not to reckon these among the things by which human nature is specially characterized. But as one who sees in us the sentient and the nourishing and growing powers does not thereby undo the definition given of the soul (for it is not because this is in the soul that that is not), so one who considers the movements of anger and desire in our nature would not reasonably fight against the definition as showing the nature defectively.” Gregory: “What, then, should we think about this?” I said to my teacher. “For I am not yet able to see how it is fitting to disown things that are in us as foreign to our nature.” Macrina: “You see,” she said, “that there is a battle of reason against these, and an effort to free the soul from them as far as one can … And there are some in whom the effort has succeeded, as we hear of Moses, that he was superior to anger and desire, the history bearing witness to both: that he was meek above all men (meekness shows freedom from anger and estrangement from wrath), and that he desired none of the things about which we see the desiring part at work in most people. This would not have happened if these things were nature and belonged to the definition of the substance. For one who has come to be outside his nature cannot remain in being. But if Moses both was in being and was not in these things, then these are something other than nature, and not nature. For if that is truly nature in which the being of the substance is grasped, while estrangement from these lies in our power, so that their removal is not only no loss but even a gain to the nature, it is clear that they are among the things seen from outside …”

### Scripture references

- Num 12:3: allusion, high confidence

### Translation notes

- A few words are lost in the scan where marked …. References: Num 12:3 (Moses the meekest of men). Macrina’s claim that Moses had no desires is her reading of the history.

### Citation (SBL)

Gregory of Nyssa, An. et res. 53 (PG 46:53a–53d; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/gregory-nyssa-anima-resurrectione/39/#p-53).

## On the Soul and the Resurrection, Migne page 55

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/gregory-nyssa-anima-resurrectione/39/#p-55
- Source: PG 46:56a–56b
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: Macrina defines anger, desire, and the related passions and concludes that they are around the soul but not the soul, like warts growing on its thinking part.

### Greek text

ταῦτα τὰ πάθη τῆς φύσεως ὄντα καὶ οὐκ οὐσία. Ἣ μὲν γάρ ἐστιν ὅπερ ἐστίν· θυμὸν δὲ ζέσιν εἶναι τοῦ περὶ καρδίαν αἵματος τοῖς πολλοῖς δοκεῖ. Ἕτεροι δὲ, δρεξιν τοῦ ἀντιλυπῆσαι τὸν προκατάρξαντα. Ὧς δʼ ἂν ἡμεῖς ὑπολάβοιμεν, θυμός ἐστιν ὁρμὴ τοῦ κακῶσαι τδν παροξύνοντα. Ὧν οὐδὲν τῷ περὶ ψυχῆς ὅρῳ συμβαίνει. Κᾶν τὴν ἐπιθυμίαν ἐφʼ ἑαυτῆς διορισώμεθα, ἔφεσιν λέξομεν τοῦ ἐνδέοντος, ἢ πόθον τῆς καθʼ ἡδονὴν ἀπολαύσεως, ἢ λύπην ἐπὶ τῷ μὴ κατʼ ἐξουσίαν δντι καταθυμητικῷ· ἦ τινα πρὸς τὸ ἡδὺ σχέσιν, οὗ μὴ πάρεστιν ἠ ἀπόλαυσις. Ταῦτα γὰρ πάντα καὶ τὰ τοιαῦτα τὴν μὲν ἐπιθυμίαν ἐνδείκνυται, τοῦ δὲ ὁρισμοῦ τοῦ περὶ ψυχῆς ού προσάπτεται. Ἀλλά καὶ ὅσα ἄλλα περὶ ψυχὴν καθορᾶται, τὰ ἐξ ἀντιθέτου ἀλλήλοις ὁρώμενα, οἷον δειλίαν καὶ θράσος, λύπην καὶ ἡδονὴν, φόβον καὶ καταφρόνησιν, καὶ ὅσα τοιαῦτα, ὧν ἕκαστον συγγενῶς ἔχειν δοκεῖ πρὸς τὸ ἐπιθυμητικὸν ἢ θυμοειδὲς, ἰδιάζοντι δὲ ὅρῳ τὴν ίδίαν ἀνυπογράφει φύσιν. Τό τε γὰρ θράσος καὶὴ καταφρόνησις ἔμφασιν ὑποσημαίνει τινά τῆς θυμώδους ὁρμῆς θ ἐλάττωσιν δέ τινα καὶ ὕφεσιν τοῦ αὐτοῦ τούτου ἡ κατὰ δειλίαν καὶ φόβον ἐγγινομένη σχέσις. Ἢ δὲ λύπη ἐξ ἀμφοτέρων ἔχει τὰς ὕλας.Ἥ τε γὰρ τοῦ θυμοῦ ἀτονία, ὲν λτῷ τοῦ ἀμύνασθαι τοὺς προλελυπηκότας ἀδυνάτῳ λύπη γίνεταιο καὶ ἡ ἀπόγνωσις τῶν ὲπιθυμουμένων, καὶ ἡ στέρησις τῶν καταθυμίων, τὴν σκυθρωπὴν ταύτην ἐμποιεῖ. τῇ διανοίᾳ διάθεσιν. Καὶ τδ άντιθεωρούμενον τῇ λύπη, ’ἒεδ me" ἡδονὴν λέγω νόημα, suam, τῷ θυμῷ τε καὶ τῇ ἐπιθυμία ὲπιμερίζεται. Ἡδονὴ γάρ ἐκατέρου τούτων κατά τὸ ἶσον ἡγεμονεύει. "A πάντα καὶ περ). τὴν ψυχήν ἐστι, καὶ ψυχὴ οὐκ ἔστιν, ἀλλʼ οἷον μυρμηκίαι τινὲς τοῦ διανοητικοῦ μέρους τῆς ψυχῆς ὲκφυόμεναι. ’Δ μέρη μὲν αὐτῆς εἶναι διὰ τὸ προσπεφυκέναινομίζεται, οὐ μὴν ἐκεῖνό εἰσιν, ὅπερ ἐστὶν ἡ ψυχὴ κατʼ οὐσίαν. - Γ. Καὶ μὴν ὁρῶμεν, φημὶ πρὸς τὴν παρθένον, ού μικρὰν ὲκ τούτων γινομένην

### English translation (Claude)

“… these passions belong to the nature and are not its substance. For the substance is what it is; but anger is thought by many to be a boiling of the blood around the heart; by others, a desire to pay back pain to the one who began it; as we would take it, anger is an impulse to harm the one who provokes. None of these fits the definition of the soul. And if we define desire by itself, we shall call it a longing for what is lacking, or a yearning for the enjoyment of pleasure, or grief at a desired thing not in one’s power, or a kind of attachment to the pleasant whose enjoyment is not present. All these and the like show desire, but do not touch the definition of the soul. So too all the other things seen about the soul which are seen as opposite to each other, such as cowardice and boldness, grief and pleasure, fear and contempt, and all such, each of which seems akin to the desiring or the spirited part, but describes its own nature by its own definition. For boldness and contempt suggest a kind of expression of the impulse of anger, while the state arising from cowardice and fear is a kind of lessening and slackening of the same. Grief draws its material from both: the weakness of anger, in the impossibility of avenging oneself on those who have caused pain, becomes grief; and despair of what is desired and the loss of what is pleasing produce this gloomy disposition in the mind. And the idea seen opposite to grief, I mean pleasure, is likewise divided between anger and desire; for pleasure equally leads each of them. All these are about the soul, but are not the soul; they are like warts growing out of the thinking part of the soul, which are thought to be its parts because they have grown on it, yet are not what the soul is in its substance.” Gregory: “And yet we see,” I said to the virgin, “no small contribution to the better arising from these …”

### Translation notes

- Macrina’s comparison of the passions to warts on the soul is translated exactly as written.

### Citation (SBL)

Gregory of Nyssa, An. et res. 55 (PG 46:56a–56b; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/gregory-nyssa-anima-resurrectione/39/#p-55).

## On the Soul and the Resurrection, Migne page 57

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/gregory-nyssa-anima-resurrectione/39/#p-57
- Source: PG 46:57a–57d
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: Gregory points out that Scripture praises desire, anger, fear, and grief in the saints; Macrina distinguishes the soul’s godlike power of contemplation and judgment, its own by nature, from movements like anger and fear, which came upon it from outside and can be used for good or ill.

### Greek text

τὴν πρὸς rb κρεῖττον συνεισφορὰν τοῖς ἐναρέτοις. Τῷ τε γὰρ Δανιὴλ ἔπαινος ἦν ἡ ἐπιθυμία· καὶ ὁ Φινεὲς τῷ θυμῷ τὸν Θεὸν ίλεώσατο καὶ ἀρχὴν σοφίας φόβον ἐμάθομεν, καὶτῆς κατὰ Θεὸν λύπης σωτηρίαν εἶναι τὸ πέρας παρὰ τοῦ Παύλου ἠκούσαμενο τῶν τε δεινῶν τὴν καταφρόνησιν νουθετεῖ ἡμῖν τὸ Εὐαγγέλιονο καὶ τὸ μὴ φοβεῖσθαι πτόησιν οὐδὲν ἄλλο ἢ τοῦ θράσους ἐστὶν ὑπογραφὴ ὅπερ ὲν ἀγαθοῖς ὑπὸ τῆς Σοφίας κατείλεκται. Δείκνυσι τοίνυν διὰ τῶν τοιούτων ὁ λόγος, τὸ μὴ πάθη τὰ τοιαῦτα δεῖν οἴεσθαι · οὐ γὰρ ἂν πρὸς ἀρετῆς κατόρθωσιν συμπαραληφθείη τὰ Μ. Καὶ ἡ διδασκαλος, Ἕοικα,φη si, τῆς τοιαύτης τῶν λογισμῶν συγχύσεως αὐτὴν τὴν αἰτίαν παρέχειν, μὴ διακρίνασα τὸν περ). τούτου λόγον, ὥστε τινὰ τάξιν ἀκόλουθον ἐπιτεθῆναι τῇ θεωρίᾳ. Νῦν οὖν, ὅπως ἂν οἷόν τε ᾖ, ὲπινοηθήσεταί τις τάξις τῷ σκέμματι, ὡς ἂν διʼ ἀκολούθου προϊούσης τῆς θεωρίας, μὴ καθʼ ἡμῶν αἱ τοιαῦται τῶν ἀντιθέσεων ἔχοιεν χώραν. Φαμὲν γὰρ τῆς ψυχῆς τὴν μὲν θεωρητικήν τε κα). διακριτικὴν καὶτῶν ὄντων ὲποπτικὴν δύναμιν οἰκείαν εἶναι καὶ κατὰ φύσιν αὐτὴν, καὶ διὰ τῆς θεοειδοῦς χάριτος, διὰ τοῦτο σώζειν ὲν αὐο τῇ τὴν εἰκόνα. Ἐπεὶ καὶ τὸ Θεῖον, ὅ, τί ποτε κατὰ τὴν φύσιν ἐστὶν, ὲν τούτοις ὁ λογισμὸς εἶναι στοχάζεται ’ ὲν τῷ ἀφορᾷν τε τὰ πάντα καὶ διακρίνειν τὸ καλὸν ἀπὸ τοῦ χείρονος. Ὅσα δὲ τῆς ψυχῆς ὲν μεθορίῳ κεῖται πρὸς ἑκάτερον τῶν ἐναντίων ὲπιρῤεπῶς κατὰ τὴν ἰδίαν φύσιν ἔχοντα· ὧν ή ποία χρῆσις, ἢ πρὸς τὸ καλὸν ἢ πρὸς τὸ ὲναντίον ἄγει τὴν ἔκβασιν, οἷον τὸν θυμὸν. ἢ τὸν φόβον, ἢ εί τι τὸ τοιοῦτον τῶν ἐν τῇ ψυχῇ κινημάτων ἐστὶν, ὧν ἄνευ οὐκ ἔστιν ἀνθρωπίνην θεωρηθῆναι φύσινο ταῦτα ἔξωθεν ἐπιγενέσθαι αὐτῇ λογιζόμεθα, διὰ τὸ τῷ ἀρχετύπῳ κάλλει μηδένα τοιοῦτον ὲνθεωρηθῆναι χαρακτῆρα. Ὀ δὲ δὴ περ). τούτων λόγος ἡμῖν ὡς ἐν γυμνασίῳ προκείσθω, ὡς ἄν διαφύγοι τῶν συκοφαντικῶς ἀκουόντων τὰς ἐπηρείας, ὀδῷ τινι καὶ τάξεως ἀκολουθίᾳ πρὸς τὴν ἀνθρωποποιῖαν ὁρμῆσαι τὸ Θεῖον διηγεῖται ό λόγος.

### English translation (Claude)

“… for the virtuous. For desire was Daniel’s praise, and Phinehas appeased God by his anger; we have learned that fear is the beginning of wisdom, and we have heard from Paul that the end of godly grief is salvation; the Gospel urges on us contempt of dangers, and not being afraid of terror is nothing else than a description of boldness, which is listed among good things by Wisdom. By such examples, then, the word shows that we should not think such things passions; for they would not be taken up to help in achieving virtue …” Macrina: And my teacher said: “I seem myself to be the cause of such confusion in your reasonings, since I did not divide the discussion of this so as to give the inquiry a consistent order. Now, then, as far as possible, an order will be devised for the inquiry, so that, the contemplation proceeding in sequence, such objections may have no place against us. We say that the power of the soul which contemplates and judges and surveys existing things is proper to it and according to its nature, and that through this godlike grace it preserves the image in itself; since reason conjectures that the divine, whatever it is by nature, lies in these things: in surveying all things and distinguishing the good from the worse. But those things of the soul that lie on the border, inclining by their nature to either of the opposites, whose particular use leads to an outcome either good or the opposite, such as anger or fear or any such movement in the soul without which human nature cannot be seen, these we reckon have come upon it from outside, because no such feature is seen in the archetypal beauty. Let our account of these be set out as in an exercise, so that it may escape the insults of those who listen in order to slander. The word relates that the divine set out upon the making of man by a certain road and order of sequence …”

### Scripture references

- Dan 9:23: allusion, high confidence
- Num 25:11: allusion, high confidence
- Prov 1:7: allusion, high confidence
- Ps 111:10 (110:10 LXX): allusion, medium confidence
- 2 Cor 7:10: allusion, high confidence
- Matt 10:28: allusion, medium confidence
- Prov 3:25: allusion, high confidence

### Translation notes

- A few words are lost in the scan where marked …. References: Dan 9:23 and 10:11 (Septuagint, “man of desires”); Num 25:7–13 (Phinehas); Prov 1:7 and Ps 111:10; 2 Cor 7:10; Matt 10:28; Prov 3:25 (Septuagint). Macrina presents her account “as in an exercise,” that is, as a tentative inquiry.

### Citation (SBL)

Gregory of Nyssa, An. et res. 57 (PG 46:57a–57d; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/gregory-nyssa-anima-resurrectione/39/#p-57).

## On the Soul and the Resurrection, Migne page 59

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/gregory-nyssa-anima-resurrectione/39/#p-59
- Source: PG 46:60a–60d
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: Macrina explains that creation advanced from plants to animals to man, who contains all forms of life; reason alone is proper to man and bears God’s image, while anger, fear, and the like came from his kinship with the animals.

### Greek text

Επειδὴ γὰρ συνέστη τι πᾶν, καθὼς ἡ ἱστορία φη· σὶν, οὐκ εὐθὺς ό ἄνθρωπος ἐν τῇ γῇ γίνεται, ἀλλά τούτου μὲν ἡ τῶν ἀλόγων προηγήσατο φύσις ο ἐκείνων δὲ τά βλαστήματα. Δείκνυσιν, οἶμαι, διὰ τούτων ό λόγος, ὅτι η ζωτικὴ δύναμις ἀκολουθίᾳ τινὶ τῇ σωματικῇ καταμίγνυται φύσει, πρῶτον μὲν τοῖς ἀναισθήτοις ἐνδύουσα, κατά τοῦτο 6t ἐπὶ τὸ αἰσθητικὸν προϊοῦσα, εἷθʼ οὕτως πρὸς τὺ νοερδν καὶ λογιστικὸν ἀναβαίνουσα. Οὐκοῦν τῶν ὄντων τὸ μὲν σωματικὸν, τὺ δὲ νοερόν ἐστι πάντως τοῦ δέ σωματικοῦ, τὸ μὲν ἔμψυχόν ἐστι, τδ 6t ἄψυχον. Ἔμψνχον δὲ λέγω τὸ μετέχον ζωῆς· τῶν δέ ζώντων, τά μὲν αἰσθήσει συζῆμθ), τά ἀμοιρεῖ ταύτης. Πάλιν τῶν αἰσθητικῶν, τά μὲν λογικά ἐστι, τά δέ ἀλογα. Ἐπεὶ οῦν ἡ αἰσθητικὴ ζωὴ οὐκ ἂν δίχα τῆς ὓλης συσταίη, οὐδʼ ἀν τὸ νοερὸν ἄλλως ἐν σώματι γένοιτο, μὴ τῷ αἰσθητικῷ ἐμφυόμενον, τούτου χάριν τελευταία ἡ τοῦ ἀνθρώπου κατασκευὴ ἱστορεῖται, ὡς πᾶσαν ἐκπεριειληφότος τὴν ζωτικὴν ἰδέαν, τήν τε tv τοῖς βλαστήμασι καὶ τὴν ἐν τοῖς ἀλόγοις θεωρουμένην. Τδ μὲν τρέφεσθαί τε αὔξεσθαι (fl) ἐκ τῆς φυτικῆς ἔχει ζωῆς· ἔστι γὰρ τὸ τοιοῦτον καὶ ἐν ἐκείνοις ἰδεῖν, ἑλκομένης τε καὶ διὰ ῥιζῶν τῆς τροφῆς καὶ ἀποποιουμένης διὰ καρπῶν τε καὶ φύλλων ο τὸ δὲ κατʼ αἴσθησιν οἰκονομεῖσθαι ἐκ τῶν ἀλόγων ἔχει. Τὸ δέ διανοητικόν τε καὶ λογικὸν ἄμικτόν ἐστι ἰδιάζον με), ἐπὶ ταύτης τῆς φύσεως ἐφʼ ἑαυτῆ θεωρούμενον. Ἀλλʼ ὥσπερ τὸ ἐφελκτικδν τῶν ἀναγκαίων πρὸς τὴν ὑλικὴν ζωὴν ῆ φύσις ἔχει, ὅπερ ἐν ἡμῖν γενόμενον ὄρεξις λὲο γεται. Τοῦτο δέ φαμεν τοῦ φυσικοῦ τῆς ζωῆς εῐδους εἶναι· ἐπεὶ δὲ καί ἐν ἐκείνοις ἐστιν ἰδεῖν, οἷόν τινας όρμάς φυσικῶς ἐνεργουμὲνας ἐν τῷ πληροῦσθαί τε τοῦ οἰκείου καὶ ὀργᾷν πρὸς τὴν ἔκφυσιν · οὕτω καὶ ὅσα τῆς ἀλόγου φύσεώς ἐστιν ἴδια, ταῦτα τῷ νοερῷ τῆς ψυχῆς κατεμίχθη. Ἐκείο νων, φησὶν, ὁ θυμὸς, ἐκείνων ό φόβος, ἐκείνων τά ἄλλα πάντα ὅσα κατὰ τὺ ἐναντίον ἐν ἡμῖν ἐνερο γεῖται, πλὴν τῆς λογικῆς τε καὶ διανοητικῆς δυνάμεως· ὃ δὴ μόνον τῆς ἡμετέρας ζωῆς ἐξαίρετον ἐν ἑαυτῷ, καθὼς εἰρηται, τοῦ θείου χαρακτῆρος ἔχον τὴν μίμησιν. Ἀλλʼ ἐπειδὴ κατά τὸν ἤδη προ· arto600tvra λόγον, οὐκ ἐστιν ἄλλως τὴν λογιἰ) κὴν δύναμιν ἐγγενέσθαι τῇ σωματικῇ ζωῇ, μὴ διὰ τῶν αἰσθήσεων ἐγγινομένην· ἠ δέ αἴσθησις ἐν

### English translation (Claude)

Macrina: “For when the universe had been constituted, as the history says, man did not come to be on the earth at once; the nature of the irrational creatures came before him, and the plants before them. By this the word shows, I think, that the vital power is mingled with bodily nature in a certain sequence, first entering things without sense, then advancing to the sentient, and then going up to the intellectual and rational. Of existing things, then, some are bodily and some intellectual; of the bodily, some are animate and some inanimate; by animate I mean what shares in life; of the living, some live with sense and some lack it; again, of the sentient, some are rational and some irrational. Since, then, sentient life could not exist without matter, nor could the intellectual come to be in a body otherwise than by being grafted onto the sentient, for this reason the making of man is related last, as of one who has embraced every form of life, both that seen in plants and that seen in irrational creatures. Being nourished and growing he has from the life of plants; for this can be seen in them too, nourishment being drawn in through roots and given off through fruits and leaves; being governed by sense he has from the irrational creatures; but the thinking and rational is unmixed and peculiar in this nature, seen by itself. And as nature has the power of drawing in what is necessary for material life, which in us is called appetite (and we say this belongs to the natural form of life, since one can see in plants too certain impulses working naturally, when they are filled with what is proper to them and swell toward growth), so too the things proper to irrational nature were mingled with the intellectual part of the soul. Theirs, it says, is anger, theirs is fear, theirs are all the other things that work in us in opposition, except the rational and thinking power, which alone is the special mark of our life, having in itself, as was said, the imitation of the divine stamp. But since, according to the argument already given, the rational power cannot come to be in bodily life except by arising through the senses, and sense existed before in the nature of irrational creatures …”

### Scripture references

- Gen 1:11: allusion, high confidence
- Gen 1:24: allusion, high confidence
- Gen 1:26: allusion, medium confidence

### Extrabiblical texts

- Gregory of Nyssa, Hom. opif. 8 (On the Making of Man): echo, medium confidence

### Translation notes

- References: Gen 1:11–27 (the order of creation). Macrina’s account parallels Gregory’s On the Making of Man 8 and 18.

### Citation (SBL)

Gregory of Nyssa, An. et res. 59 (PG 46:60a–60d; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/gregory-nyssa-anima-resurrectione/39/#p-59).

## On the Soul and the Resurrection, Migne page 61

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/gregory-nyssa-anima-resurrectione/39/#p-61
- Source: PG 46:61a–61d
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: The passions were not given for evil: like iron they can be shaped by free choice into tools of virtue or vice; ruled by reason they serve virtue, but when reason drops the reins they make man brutish.

### Greek text

τῇ τῶν ἀλόγων προϋπέστη φύσει· ὡς ἀναγκαίως διὰ τοῦ ὲνδς καὶ πρὸς τά συνημμένα τούτων] γίνεται τῆς ψυχῆς ημῶν ηʼ κοινωνία. Ταῦτα δέ ἐστιν ὅσα ὲν ἡμῖν γινόμενα πάθη λέγεται, ἀ οὐχ). πάντως ἐπὶ κακῷ τινι τῇ ἀνθρωπίνῃ συνεκληρώθη ζωῇ ο ἦ γὰρ ἂν ό Δημιουργὺς τῶν κακῶν τὴν αἰτίαν ἔχῃ (βι), εί ἐκεῖθεν at! τῶν πλημμελημάτων ἦσαν ἀνάγκαι συγκαταβεβλημέναι τῇ φύσει · ἀλλὰ τῇ ποιᾷ χρήσει τῆς προαιρέσεως, ἢ ἀρετῆς, ἦ κακίας όργανα τά τοιαῦτα τῆς ψυχῆς κινήματα γίνεται. Καθάπερ ὁ σίδηρος κατά γνώμην τοῦ τεχνίτου τυπούμενος, πρὸς ὅπερ ἂν ἔθετο τοῦ τεχνιτεύοντος ἡ ὲνθύμησις, πρὸς τοῦτο καὶ σχηματί· ζεται,ἢ ξίφος, ἦ τι γεωργικὸν ἐργαλεῖον γινόμενος. Οὐκοῦν εί μὲν ό λόγος, ὃ δὴ τῆς φύσεώς ἐστιν ἐξαίρετον, τῶν ἔξωθεν ὲπεισκριθέντων ἠγεμονίαν ἔχοι, καθὼς καὶ διʼ αἰνίγματος ὁ τῆς Γραφῇς τξίξρεδήλωσε λόγος, ἄρχειν ἐγκελευόμενος πάντων τῶν ἀλόγων, οὐκ ἄν τι πρὸς κακίας ὑπηρεσίαν τῶν τοιούτων κινημάτων ἡμῖν ὲνεργήσειε, τοῦ μὲν φόβου τὸ ὑπήκοον ἐμποιοῦντος, τοῦ δὲ θυμοῦ τὸ ἀνι δρεῖον, τῆς δειλίας δὲ τὴν ἀσφάλειαν, τῆς δὲ ἐπιθυμητικῆς ὁρμῆς τὴν Θείαν τε καὶ ἀκήρατον ἡμῖν ἠδοπροξενούσης. Εἰ δὲ ἀποβάλοι τάς ἡνίας ὀ λόγος. καὶ οἷόν τις ἡνίοχοςι ἐμπλακεὶς τῷ ἅρματι κατόπιν ὑπʼ αὐτοῦ σύροιτο, ἐκεῖ ἀπαγόμενος ὅπουπερ ἂν ἡ ἄλογος κίνησις τῶν ὑπεζευγμένων φέρει, τότε εἰς πάθος αἱ ὁρμαὶ καταστρέφονται, οἷον δὴ καὶ ἐπὶ τοῖς ἀλόγοιςἐστιν ἰδεῖν. ζΕπεὶ γὰρ οὐκ ἐπιστατεῖ λογισμοῖς τοῖς φυσικῶς αὺτοῖς ἐγκωμιαζομένης κινήσεως, τὰ μὲν θυμὼδη τῶν ζώων ὲν ἀλλήλοις φθείρεται τῷ θυμῷ στραέ τηγούμενα · τὰ δὲ πςιλύσαρκά τε κα). δυνατά είς οὑδὲν οἰκεῖον ἀγαθὸν ἀπώνατο τῆς δυνάμεως, κτῆμα τοῦ λογικοῦ διὰ τὴν ἀλογίαν γινόμενα · ἥ τε τῆς ἑπιθυμίας καὶτῆς ήδονῆς ἐνέργεια περ). οὐδὲν τῶν ὑψηλῶν ἀσχολοζηαι· οὕτε ἄλλο τι τῶν ὲν αὐτοῖς θεωρουμένων λόγῳ τινὶ πρὸς τὸ λυσιτελοῦν διεξάγεται. Οὕτω καὶ ὲν ἡμῖν εί μὴ πρὸς τὸ δέον ἄγοιτο ταῦτα. atat τοῦ λογισμοῦ, ἀλλʼ ὲπικρατοίη τῆς τοῦ νοῦ δυναστείας τά «idos, πρὸς τὸ ἄλογόν τὲ κά) ἀνόητον μεταβαίνων ὁ ἄνθρωπος, ἀπὸ τοῦ διανοητικοῦ καὶ θεοειδοῖκ τῇ ὁρμῇ τῶν τοιούτων παθημάτων

### English translation (Claude)

“… so that through the one our soul necessarily comes to have fellowship also with what is joined to it. And these are what are called the passions arising in us, which were not allotted to human life for any evil purpose; otherwise the Creator would be the cause of evils, if the necessities of sins had been laid down in our nature from there. Rather, by the particular use of choice, such movements of the soul become instruments either of virtue or of vice; as iron, shaped by the craftsman’s judgment, is formed into whatever the purpose of the one working it has set, becoming a sword or some farming tool. If, then, reason, which is the special mark of our nature, holds rule over what has been introduced from outside, as the word of Scripture showed in a riddle when it commanded man to rule over all the irrational creatures, none of these movements would work in us in the service of vice: fear would produce obedience, anger courage, cowardice caution, and the impulse of desire would procure for us the divine and undefiled pleasure. But if reason lets go the reins and, like a charioteer entangled in his chariot, is dragged behind it, carried wherever the irrational movement of the yoked animals takes him, then the impulses turn into passion, as can be seen in the irrational creatures too. For since reason does not preside over their naturally implanted movement, the angry animals destroy one another, led on by anger; and the bulky and strong ones gain no good of their own from their strength, becoming the property of the rational because of their lack of reason; the activity of desire and pleasure is busy with nothing lofty; nor is anything else seen in them carried on by reason toward what is profitable. So too in us, if these things are not led by reasoning to what is fitting, but the passions prevail over the rule of the mind, man passes over to the irrational and senseless, being made a brute instead of thinking and godlike by the impulse of such passions …”

### Scripture references

- Gen 1:26: allusion, high confidence
- Gen 1:28: allusion, medium confidence

### Translation notes

- The edition prints a bracketed word ([τούτων]) at the start of the unit; it is left out. References: Gen 1:26, 28 (rule over the animals); the charioteer image recalls Plato’s Phaedrus, which Macrina had set aside.

### Citation (SBL)

Gregory of Nyssa, An. et res. 61 (PG 46:61a–61d; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/gregory-nyssa-anima-resurrectione/39/#p-61).

## On the Soul and the Resurrection, Migne page 63

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/gregory-nyssa-anima-resurrectione/63/#p-63
- Source: PG 46:64a–64d
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: Gregory asks for Scripture’s witness; Macrina cites the parable of the wheat and the tares: the soul’s impulses are the good seed, and sin sowed beside them an error about the good that turned them toward the brutish.

### Greek text

ἁποκτηνούμενος.-Γ. Ἐγὼ δὲ καὶ σφόδρα τερ), τὰ εἰρημένα διατεθεὶς,’Δρκεῖ μὲν, ἔφην, παντὶ τῷ γε νοῦν ἔχοντι ψιλῶς οὑτωσὶ καὶ ἀκατασκεύως διʼ ἀκολούθου προελθὼν ὁ λόγος, εὖ ἔχειν δόξαι καὶ μηδαμοῦ παρεσφάλθαι τῆς ἀληθείας. Ἐπεὶ δὲ τοῖς μὲν τὰς τεχκινὰς ἐφόδους μεμελιο ιηκόσι τῶν ἀποδείξεων, ό συλλογισμὸς ίκανδς είς πίστιν δοκεῖʼ ἡμῖν δὲ πάντων τῶν τεχνικῶν συ μ·περασμάτων ἕεις πιστότερον εἶναι ὡμολογεῖτο τὸ διὰ τῶν ἱερῶν τῆς Γραφῆς διδαγμάτων ἀναφαινόμενον ο ζητεῖν οἶμαι δεῖν ἐπὶ τοῖς εἰρημένοις, εί ἡ θεόπνευστος διδασκαλία τούτοις συμφέρεται.-Μ. Ἦδὲ, Καὶ τίς ἂν ἀντείποι, φησὶ, μὴ οὐχ). ὲν τούτῳ μόνῳ τὴν ἀλήθειαν τιθέσθω, ᾧ σφραγὶς ἔπεστι τῆς γραφικῆς μαρτυρίαςς Οὐκοῦν εί χρή τι καὶ τῆς τοῦ Εύαγγελίου διδασκαλίας πρὸς τὴν τοῦ δόγματος τούτου συνηγορίαν παραληφθῆναι, οὐκ ἀπὸ καιροῦ γένοιτʼ ἂν ἡμῖν τῆς παραβολῆς τῶν ζιζανίων ὴ θεωρία. Ἐσπειρε γὰρ ἐκεῖ τὸ καλὸν σπέρμα ό οἰκοδεσπότης ( ἡμεῖς δὲ πάντως ό οἶκός ἐσμεν) ο καθεύδοντας δὲ τοὺς ἀνθρὼπους ὲπιφυλάξας ὲνέσπειρεν ὁ ἐχθρὸς τῷ τροφίμῳ τὺ ἄχρηστον, αύτῷ τῷ σίτῳ κατὰ τὺ μέσον ἐνθεὶς τὺ ζιζάνιον. Καὶ συνεδλάστησαν ἀλλήλοις τά σπέρματα. Οὐ γὰρ ἦν δυνατὸν τδ αύτῷ τῷ σίτῳ ὲντεθὲν σπέρμα μὴ σὺν ἐκείνῳ βλαστῆσαι. Κωλύει δὲ τοὺς ὑπηρέτας ό τῆς γεωργίας ἔφορος μὴ ἀποτίλλειν τὸ ἄχρηστον διὰ τὴν ἐν τῇ ῥίζῃ τῶν ἐναντίων συμφυῒαν, ὡς ἂν μὴ τὺ ἀλλότριον συνεκτίνει τὸ τρόφιμον. Τὰς γὰρ τοιαύτας τῆς ψυχῆς ὁρμὰς διὰ τῶν καλῶν σπερμάτων οίόμεθα τὸν λόγον ἐνδείκνυσθαι, ὧν ἕκαστον, εί μόνον πρὸς τὸ ἀγαθὸν ἐγεωρο γεῖτο, τὸν τῆς ἀρετῆς ἐν ἡμῖν καρπὸν πάντως ἐβλάστησεν. Ἐπειδὴ δὲ παρενεσπάρη τούτοις ἡ περὶ τὴν τοῦ καλοῦ κρίσιν διʼ ἁμαρτίαν (l), καὶ τὸ ὅντως καὶ μόνον κατά τὴν ίδίαν φύσιν καλὸν, διὰ τοῦ συναναφυέντος βλαστοῦ τῆς ἀπάτης ἐπεσκοτίσθη (Ξ)· ( τὸ γὰρ ἐπιθυμητικὸν ού πρὸς τὸ φύσει καλὸν οὗ χάριν κατεσπάρη ἡμῖν ἐφύη τε καὶ ἀνέδραμεν, ἀλλά πρὸς τὸ κτηνῶδες καὶ ἄλογον τὸν βλαστὸν μετεποίησε τῆς περὶ τὸ καλὸν ἀκρισίας, πρὸς τοῦτο

### English translation (Claude)

“… made brute.” Gregory: And I, much moved by what had been said, said: “For anyone of sense the argument, proceeding in sequence so plainly and without artifice, is enough to seem right and nowhere to have missed the truth. But since for those who have studied the methods of demonstration by art a syllogism seems sufficient for belief, while we agreed that what appears through the sacred teachings of Scripture is more trustworthy than all the conclusions of art, I think we must ask, after what has been said, whether the inspired teaching agrees with it.” Macrina: “And who could deny,” she said, “that truth is to be placed only in that which bears the seal of the witness of Scripture? If, then, something from the teaching of the Gospel must be brought in to support this doctrine, the contemplation of the parable of the tares would not be out of season for us. For there the master of the house sowed the good seed (and we are surely the house); but the enemy, watching for the men to sleep, sowed among the nourishing seed what was useless, putting the tares right in the middle of the wheat. And the seeds sprang up together; for it was not possible for the seed put in the very midst of the wheat not to sprout with it. But the overseer of the farm forbids the servants to pull up the useless plant, because of the union of the opposites at the root, so that the foreign may not uproot the nourishing with it. For we think the word shows by the good seeds such impulses of the soul, each of which, if cultivated only for the good, would certainly have produced the fruit of virtue in us. But since error in judging the good was sown among them through sin, and what is truly and alone good by its own nature was darkened by the growth of deceit that sprang up with it (for the desiring power did not grow and shoot up toward what is good by nature, for whose sake it was sown in us, but changed its shoot toward the brutish and irrational through lack of judgment about the good, bringing the impulse of desire to that …”

### Scripture references

- Matt 13:24: allusion, high confidence
- Matt 13:25: allusion, high confidence
- Matt 13:29: allusion, high confidence

### Translation notes

- References: Matt 13:24–30.

### Citation (SBL)

Gregory of Nyssa, An. et res. 63 (PG 46:64a–64d; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/gregory-nyssa-anima-resurrectione/63/#p-63).

## On the Soul and the Resurrection, Migne page 65

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/gregory-nyssa-anima-resurrectione/63/#p-65
- Source: PG 46:65a–65d
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: Desire, anger, and love are left in the soul like the tares, because without them we could not rise to God or fight the enemy; reason must master them, and in themselves they are neither virtue nor vice.

### Greek text

65 DE ΛΝΙΜΑ ΕΤ τὴν τῆς ἐπιθυμίας ἐνεγκοῦταν ὁρμήν. Ὡσαύτως καὶ τὸ τοῦ θυμοῦ σπέρμα ού πρὸς ἀνδρείαν ἐστόμω- . σεν, ἀλλὰ πρὸς τὴν τῶν ὁμοφύλων μάχην ὲξὼπλισεν· ἦ τε τῆς ἀγάπης δύναμις τῶν νοητῶν ἀπέστη, περὶ τὴν τῶν αἰσθητῶν ἀπόλαυσιν πέρα τοῦ μέτρου όλομανήσασα., καὶ τὰ ἄλλα τὸν αὐτὸν τρόπον, τοὺς χείρονας βλαστοὺς ἀντὶ τῶν κρειττόνων ἐξήνθησενο) τούτου χάριν ἀφίησιν 6 σοφὸς γεωργὸς τὸ ἐμφυέν τῷ σπέρματι βλάστημα ἐν αὐτῷ εἶναι, προμηθείᾳ τοῦ μὴ γυμνωθῆναι τῶν κρειττόνων ἡμᾶς, καθόλου τῆς ἐπιθυμίας τῷ ἀχρήστῳ βλαστῷ συνεκριο ζωθείσης. Et γὰρ τοῦτο πάθῃ ἡ φύσις, τί ἔσται τὸ ἐπαῖρον ἡμᾶς πρὸς τὴν τῶν ἐπουρανίων συνάφειαν; ἢ τῆς ἀγάπης ἀφαιρεθείσης, τίνι τρόπῳ πρὸς τὸ Θεῖον συναφθησόμεθα; Τοῦ δὲ θυμοῦ κατασκευασθέντος, ποῖον ὅπλον κατά τοῦ προσπαλαίοντος ἕξομεν ; Ἐφίησι τοίνυν τά νόθα τῶν σπερμάτων ἐν ἡμῖν 6 γεωργὸς, οὐχ ὠς ἀεὶ κατακρατεῖν τῆς τιμιωτέρας σπορᾶς, ἀλλʼ ὡς αὐτὴν τὴν ἄρουραν ( οὕτω γάρ τὴν καρδίαν τροπικῶς ὀνομάζει) διὰ τῆς ἐγκειμένης αὐτῇ φυσικῆς δυνάμεως, ἥτις ἐστὶν 6 λογισμὸς, τὸ μὲν ξηρᾶναι τῶν βλαστημάτων, τὸ δὲ κάρπιμον καὶ εὐθαλὲς ἀπεργάσασθαι. Εἰ δὲ μὴ τοῦτο γένοιτο, τῷ πυρὶ τὴν τῆς γεωργίας διάκρισιν ταμιεύεται. Οὐκοῦν εί μέν τις τούτοις κατά τὸν δέοντα χρήσαι λόγον, ἐν αὐτῷ λαμβάνηται ἐκεῖνα, καὶ μὴ αὐτὸς ἐν ἐκείνοις, ἀλλʼ οἷόν τις βασιλεὺς τῇ πολυχειρίᾳ τῶν ὑπηκόων συνεργῷ χρώμενος, ῥᾷον κατορθώσει τὸ κατʼ ἀρετὴν σπουδαζόμενον. Et δὲ ἐκείνοις γένοιτο, καθάπερ δούλων τινῶν ἐπαναστάντων τῷ κεκτημένῳ, καὶ ἐξ ὧν δραποδισθείη ταῖς δουλικαῖς ἐπινοίαις ἀγεννῶς ὑποκύψαι, καὶ κτῆμα γένοιτο τῶν ὑπεζευγμένων κατὰ τὴν φύσιν αύτῷ, πρὸς ἐκεῖνα κατʼ ἀνάγκην μετατεθήσεται, πρὸς ἆπερ ἂν ἡ ἐπικράτησις τῶν καθηγουμένων βιάζεται. Εἰ δὲ ταῦτα τοῦτον ἔχει τὸν τρόπον, οὔτε ἀρετὴν, οὗτε κακίαν ἐφʼ ἑαυτῶν ταῦτα ἁποφανούμεθα, ὅσα κινήματα τῆς ψυχῆς ὄντα ἐπὶ τῇ ἐξουσίᾳ τῶν χρωμένων κεῖται, ἢ καλῶς ἦ ἑτέρως ἔχειν. Ἀλλʼ ὅταν μὲν αὐτοῖς πρὸς τὸ κρεῖττον ή

### English translation (Claude)

“… likewise the seed of anger was not sharpened to courage but armed for battle against one’s own kind; and the power of love departed from intelligible things and raged beyond measure in the enjoyment of sensible things; and the rest in the same way put forth the worse shoots instead of the better); for this reason the wise farmer lets the growth that sprang up in the seed remain in it, taking care that we may not be stripped of the better things, if desire were uprooted altogether together with the useless shoot. For if our nature suffered this, what would lift us up to union with heavenly things? Or, if love were taken away, in what way shall we be joined to God? And if anger were quenched, what weapon shall we have against the one who wrestles with us? The farmer therefore lets the bastard seeds remain in us, not so that they may always prevail over the more precious crop, but so that the field itself (for so he names the heart figuratively), by the natural power lying in it, which is reasoning, may wither the one kind of growth and make the other fruitful and flourishing. But if this does not happen, he reserves for the fire the separation of the crop. If, then, someone uses these things by right reason, holds them within himself and is not held by them, and, like a king, uses the many hands of his subjects as helpers, he will more easily achieve what he pursues for virtue. But if he comes to be in their power, as when slaves rise up against their master, and is enslaved by them, ignobly bowing to slavish designs, and becomes the property of what is by nature yoked under him, he will necessarily be carried over to whatever the domination of those now leading him forces. If this is so, we shall declare these things, which are movements of the soul lying in the power of those who use them to be good or otherwise, to be neither virtue nor vice in themselves. But when their movement is toward the better …”

### Scripture references

- Matt 13:30: allusion, high confidence

### Translation notes

- References: Matt 13:30 (the fire at harvest).

### Citation (SBL)

Gregory of Nyssa, An. et res. 65 (PG 46:65a–65d; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/gregory-nyssa-anima-resurrectione/63/#p-65).

## On the Soul and the Resurrection, Migne page 67

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/gregory-nyssa-anima-resurrectione/63/#p-67
- Source: PG 46:68a–68c
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: Gregory asks where Hades is; Macrina explains that Hades means the soul’s passage into the invisible, and that even if it is under the earth this does not harm the doctrine, since the spherical earth is surrounded alike on every side.

### Greek text

είνησις ᾗ, ἐπαίνων γίνεσθαι ὓλην, ὡς τῷ Δανιὴλ τὴν ἐπιθυμίαν, καὶ τῷ Φινεὲς τὸν θυμδν, καὶ τῷ καλῶς πενθοῦντι τὴν λύπην. Εἰ δὲ πρὸς τὸ χείρω ο γένοιτο ἡ ῥοπὴ, τότε πάθη γίνεσθαι ταῦτα καὶ ovoμάζεσθαι κ54).-Γ. Ἐγὼ, ταῦτα διεξελθούσης. ἐπειδὴ παυσαμένη βραχύ τι ἔδωκε τῷ λόγῳ διαλιπεῖν, κα). συνελεξάμην τῇ διανοίᾳ τὰ εἰρημένα, πάλιν ἐπὶ τὴν προτέραν διέδραμον ἀκολουθίαν τοῦ λόγου, ὲν ᾧ κατεσκευάζετο, μὴ ἀδύνατον εἷναι τὴν ψυχὴν διαλυθέντος τοῦ σώματος ὲν τοῖς στοιχείοις εἶναι. Καὶ τούτο εἷπον πρὸς τὴν διδάσκαλον· Ποῦ ἐκεῖνο τὸ πολυθρύλλητον τοῦ ᾷδου ὄνομα · πολὺ μὲν ὲν τῇ συνηθείᾳ τοῦ βίου. πολὺ δὲ ὲν ταῖς συγγραφαῖς ταῖς τε ἔξωθεν καὶ ταῖς ἡμετέραις περιφερόμενον, εἰς δ πάντες οἴονται καθάπερ δοχεῖον ἐνθένδε τὰς ψυ- [ἀς μετανίστασθαι; Oi’) ἂν τά στοιχεῖα τὸν ᾅδην λέγοις. --M. Καὶ ἡ διδάσκαλος, Δῆλος.φησὶ, μὴ λίαν προσεσχηκώς τῷ λόγῳ. Τὴν γὰρ ἐκ τοῦ ὁρωμένου πρὸς τὸ ἀειδὲς μετάστασιν τῆς ψυχῆς είποῦσα, οὐδὲν ᾤμην ἀπολελοιπέναι είς τὸ περὶ τοῦ ᾅδου ζητούμενον. Οὐδὲν ἀλλο τί μοι δοκεῖ παρά τε τῶν ἔξωθεν καὶ παρά τῆς θείας Γραφῆς τὸ ὄνομα τοῦτο διασημαίνειν, ὲν ᾧ τὰς ψυχὰς γίνεσθαι λέγουσι, πλὴν εἰς τδ ἀειδὲς καὶ ἀφανὲς μετέχουσιν. - Γ. Καὶ πῶς, εἷπον, τὺν ὑποχθόνιον χῶρον οἴονταί τινες οὕτω λέγεσθαι, καὶ ὲν αύτῷ κακείνων τὰς ψυχὰς πανδοχεύειν, καθάπερ τι χώρημα τῆς τοιαύτης φύσεως δεκτικὸν τὰς ἀποπτάσας ήδη τῆς ἀνθρωπίνης ζωῆς πρὸς ἑαυτὸν ἑφελκό- Μ. Ἀλλʼ οὐδὲν μᾶλλον, φησὶν ὴ διδάσκαλος, τὸ δόγμα διὰ τῆς ὑπονοίας ταύτης παραβλαβήσεται, κᾶν ἀληθὴς ὁ λόγος δ κατά σέ. Et γὰρ συνεχῆ τε πρὸς ἑαυτὸν κα). ἀδιάσπαστον εἶναι τὸν ού ράνιον πόλον τῷ ἰδίῳ κύκλῳ πάντα ἐμπεριέχοντα, καὶ ἐν τῷ μέσῳ τὴν γῆν καὶ τά περί αὐτὴν αἰωρεῖσθαι, καὶ πάντως κυκλοφορουμένων τὴν κίνησιν περὶ τὸ ἑστὼς καὶ πάγιον γίνεσθαι, ἀνάγκη πᾶσα, φησὶν, ὅτι· περ ἂν ἑκάστῳ ὲκ τῶν στοιχείων κατά τὸ ἀνω τῆς γῆς μέρος, τοῦτο κατὰ τὸ ἀντικείμενον εἷναι, μιᾶς τῆς οὐσίας ὅλον αὐτῆς τὸν ὄγκον ὲν κύκλῳ περιθεούσης. Καὶ ὥσπερ ὑπὲρ τοῦ ἡλίου φανέντος ἐπὶ τὸ ὑποκείμενον αὐτῆς στρέφεται ἡ

### English translation (Claude)

“… they become matter for praise, as desire was for Daniel, anger for Phinehas, and grief for one who mourns well. But if the inclination is toward the worse, then they become and are named passions.” Gregory: When she had gone through this and had paused briefly in the discussion, I gathered in my mind what had been said and ran back to the earlier sequence of the argument, in which it was established that it is not impossible for the soul to be in the elements when the body has been dissolved. And I said this to my teacher: “Where is that much-talked-of name of Hades, used so much in ordinary life and so much in writings, both those outside and ours, into which all think souls pass from here as into a receptacle? For you would not say the elements are Hades.” Macrina: And my teacher said: “You have clearly not paid much attention to the argument. For when I spoke of the soul’s passing from the visible to the invisible, I thought I had left nothing out of the inquiry about Hades. This name, both in outside writers and in divine Scripture, seems to me to signify nothing else, as the place where they say souls come to be, than their passing into the formless and invisible.” Gregory: “And how,” I said, “do some think that the place under the earth is so called, and that it receives the souls of those down there, as a space fit for such a nature, drawing to itself those that have already flown from human life?” Macrina: “But the doctrine will be no more harmed by this supposition,” said my teacher, “even if the account you mention is true. For if the heavenly pole is continuous with itself and unbroken, containing all things in its own circle, and the earth and what is around it hang in the middle, and the motion of the revolving bodies is certainly around what is fixed and stable, it is entirely necessary,” she said, “that whatever is found for each of the elements on the upper side of the earth is also on the opposite side, since one substance runs around its whole bulk in a circle. And as, when the sun appears above it, the shadow …”

### Scripture references

- Dan 10:11: allusion, medium confidence
- Num 25:11: allusion, high confidence
- Matt 5:4: allusion, medium confidence

### Translation notes

- References: Dan 10:11; Num 25:11; Matt 5:4. Macrina interprets “Hades” (ᾅδης) by its supposed derivation, “unseen” (ἀειδής). The cosmology (a spherical earth at the centre of the revolving heavens) is that of Gregory’s time.

### Citation (SBL)

Gregory of Nyssa, An. et res. 67 (PG 46:68a–68c; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/gregory-nyssa-anima-resurrectione/63/#p-67).

## On the Soul and the Resurrection, Migne page 69

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/gregory-nyssa-anima-resurrectione/63/#p-69
- Source: PG 46:69a–69d
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: Macrina declines to fix Hades in any place, since the soul is incorporeal; Gregory raises Phil 2:10, and Macrina begins to explain that the “heavenly, earthly, and under the earth” are three states of rational beings, not places.

### Greek text

σκιά τοῦ σφαιροειδοῦς σχήματος, οὐ δυναμένου κατʼ αὑτὸν ὲν κύκλῳ διαληφοῆναι τῇ τῆς ἀκτῖνος περιβολῇ, ἀλλά κατά πᾶσαν ἀνάγκην, καθʼ ὅπερ ἂν τῆς γῆς μέρος προσβάλλῃ ταῖς ἀκτῖσιν ὁ ἥλιος, κατά τινος κέντρου πάντως ἐπὶ τῆς σφαίρας γινόμενος, πρὸς τὴν εὐθεῖαν διάμετρον κατά τὸ ἕτερον πέρας σκότος ἔσται· κα) οὕτω κατὰ τὺ διηνεκὲς, τῷ ἡλιακῷ δρόμῳ ἐπὶ τὸ ἀντικείμενον τῇ τῆς ἀκτῖνος εὐθείᾳ συμπεριοδεύει τὸ σκότος, ὥστε κατά τὸ ἶσον, τόν τε ὑπέργειον, καὶ τὸν ὑπόγειον τόπον ἀνά μέρος γίνεσθαι ἐν φωτί τε καὶ σκότει· οὕτως εἰκὸς καὶ τᾶλλα πάντα ὅτιπερ ἂν στοιχειωδῶς ὲν τῷ καθʼ ἡμᾶς ἡμισφαιρίῳ τῆς γῆς θεωρεῖται, τὸ αὐτὸ καὶ περὶ τὸ ἕτερον εἶναι μὴ ἀμφιβάλλειν. Μιᾶς δὲ καὶτῆς αὐτῆς οὔσης κατὰ πᾶν τῆς γῆς μέρος τῆς τιῦν στοιχείων περιβολῆς, οὕτε ἀντιλέγειν, abte συναγορεύειν οἶμαι δεῖν τοῖς περὶ τούτων ἐνισταμένοις, ὡς δέον ἢ τοῦτον, ἢ τὸν καταχθόνιον τόπον ἀποτετάχθαι οἴεσθαι ταῖς τῶν σωμάτων ὲκλυθείσαις ψυχαῖς. Ἕως γὰρ ἂν μὴ παρακινοίη τὸ προηγούμενον δόγμα ἡ ἔνστασις περὶ τοῦ εἶναι μετά τὴν ἐν σαρκὶ ζωὴν τὰς ψυχὰς, οὐδὲν περὶ τόπου ὁ ἡμέτερος λόγος διενεχθήσεται, μόνον σωμάτων ἴδιον εἶναι τὴν ἐπὶ τόπου θέσιν καταλαμβάνων θ ψυχὴν δὲ ἀσώματον οὖσαν, μηδεμίαν ἀνάγκην ἔχειν ἐκ φύσεως τόποις τισὶν ἐγκατέχεσθαι. Γ. Τί οὖν, εἷπον, εί τὸν ’Λπόστολον ὁ ἀντιλέγων προβάλλοιτο, πᾶσαν λέγοντα τὴν λογικὴν κτίσιν ὲν τῇ τοῦ παντὸς ἀποκαταστάσει πρὸς τὸν τοῦ παντὸς ἐξηγούμενον βλέπειν, ὲν οἷς καταχθονίων μνημονεύει τινῶν διʼ Ἐπιστολῆς πρὸς Φιλιππησίους είπὼν· ὅτι Αύτῷ πᾶν γόνυ κάμψει ἐπουρανίων καὶ ὲπιγείων καὶ καταχθονίων; —M. Ἑπιμενοῦμεν τῷ δόγματι, φησιν ἡ διδάσκαλος, κᾶν ταῦτα λεγόντων ἀκούωμεν, περὶ μέντοι τοῦ εἶναιτὴν ψυχὴν καὶτὸν ἀντιλέγοντα σύμψηφον ἔχοντες, περὶ τόπου, καθὼς ὲν τοῖς φθάσασιν είρηται, οὐκ ἐνιστάμενοι. - Γ. Τοῖς οὖν ἐπιζητοῦσιν, εἶπον, τὴν ἀποστολικὴν· ὲν τῇ φωνῇ ταύτῃ διάνοιαν, τί ἄν τις εἴπῃ, εἴπερ τῆς τοπικῆς σημασίας ἀποκινοίης τὴν λέξιν; — M. Ἡ δὲ, Οῦ μοι δοκεῖ, φησὶν, ὁ θεῖος ’Δπόστολος,τοπικῶς τὴν νοερὰν διακρίνων οὐσίαν, τδ μὲν ἐπουράνιον, τὺ δὲ ἐπίγειον, τὸ δὲ καταχθόνιον ὀνομάσαι,. Ἀλλʼ ἐπειδὴ τρεῖς τῆς λογικῆς φύσεώς εἱσι καταστάσεις ἡμῖν, ἐξ ἀρχῆς τὴν ἀσώματον λαχοῦσαι ζωὴν,ἢν ἀγγελικὴν ὀνομάζομεν θ ἡ δὲ πρὸς τὴν σάρκα

### English translation (Claude)

“… of the spherical shape turns to the side beneath it, since it cannot be wrapped all round at once by the embrace of the ray; but by every necessity, on whatever part of the earth the sun strikes with its rays, being certainly over some centre on the sphere, at the other end of the straight diameter there will be darkness; and so continually the darkness travels round on the side opposite to the straight line of the ray, along with the course of the sun, so that the region above the earth and the region below are equally in light and darkness in turn. So it is likely that whatever is seen in the elements in our hemisphere of the earth is the same about the other too, and we need not doubt it. Since the surrounding elements are one and the same about every part of the earth, I think we should neither contradict nor support those who insist on these matters, holding that either this place or the place under the earth must be thought assigned to souls released from bodies. For as long as the objection does not unsettle the main doctrine, that souls exist after life in the flesh, our argument will not quarrel about place, holding that position in place is proper to bodies alone, while the soul, being incorporeal, is under no natural necessity to be held in particular places.” Gregory: “What, then,” I said, “if the objector brings forward the Apostle, who says that the whole rational creation looks to the one who leads the universe in the restoration of all, where he mentions some under the earth, saying in the letter to the Philippians, ‘To him every knee will bow, of those in heaven and on earth and under the earth’?” Macrina: “We shall hold to the doctrine,” said my teacher, “even if we hear people say this, having the objector on our side about the existence of the soul, and, as was said earlier, not quarrelling about place.” Gregory: “To those who ask the Apostle’s meaning in this saying,” I said, “what would one say, if one removed the word from its local sense?” Macrina: She said: “It does not seem to me that the divine Apostle, dividing the intellectual substance by place, named one part heavenly, another earthly, and another under the earth. But since there are three states of rational nature for us, one that received from the beginning the incorporeal life, which we call angelic; another united with the flesh …”

### Scripture references

- Phil 2:10: quotation, high confidence

### Translation notes

- References: Phil 2:10. “The restoration of all” renders ἀποκατάστασις τοῦ παντός; this is Gregory’s wording of the objector’s use of Paul, and Macrina’s reading (in the next unit) is that all rational nature will finally confess God. Translated exactly as written.

### Citation (SBL)

Gregory of Nyssa, An. et res. 69 (PG 46:69a–69d; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/gregory-nyssa-anima-resurrectione/63/#p-69).

## On the Soul and the Resurrection, Migne page 71

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/gregory-nyssa-anima-resurrectione/63/#p-71
- Source: PG 46:72a–72d
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: Macrina reads Phil 2:10 as the final harmony of all rational beings (angels, the living, the dead, and even the demons) in confessing Christ, when evil has been destroyed. Gregory, satisfied that the soul survives, asks to return to the main argument.

### Greek text

συμπεπλεγμένην ἀνθρωπίνην φαμέν· ή δὲ διὰ θανάτου τῶν σαρκικῶν ἀπολελυμένη. Ὅπερ ὲν ψυχαῖς θεωρεῖται, τοῦτο οἴμαι, τῷ βάθει τῆς σοφίας βλέποντα τὸν θεῖον ’Δπὸστολον, πάσης τῆς λογικῆς φύσεως τὴν ὲν τῷ ἀγαθῷ ποτε γενησομένην συμφωνίαν ἀποσημαίνειν ο ἐπουράνιον μὲν καλοῦντα τὸ ἀγγελικὸν καὶ ἀσώματον· ἐπίγειον δὲ τὸ συμπεπλεγμένον τῷ σώματι καταχθόνιον δὲτὸ διακεκρυμμένον ήδη τοῦ σώματος, ἢ δή τις καὶ ἀλλη παρά τὰ εἰρημένα φύσις ὲν λογικῇ) θεωρεῖται, ἢν εἴτε δαίμονας εἴτε πνεύματα, εἴτε τοιοῦτον ἐθέλοι τις κατονομάζειν, ού διοισόμεθα. Πεπίστευται γὰρ ἐκ τε τῆς κοινῆς ὑπολήψεως, καὶ ὲκ τῆς τῶν Γραφῶν παραδόσεως, εῖναί τινα φύσιν ἔξω τῶν τοιούτων σωμάτων ὑπεναντίως πρὸς τὸ καλὸν διακειμένην,κα“ι θλαπτικὴν τῆς ἀνθρωπίνης ζωῆς, ἑκουσίως τῆς κρείττονος ὑπολήψεως (δι) ἀπορρυεῖσανο κα) τῇ ἀποστάσει τοῦ καλοῦ τὸ ὲκ τοῦ ἐναντίου νοούμενον ὲν αύτῇ ὑποστήσασαν ’ ἤνπερ φασί καταχθονίοις ὲναριθμείν τὸν Ἀπόστολον, τοῦτο ὲν ἐκείνῳ τῷ λόγῳ σημαίνοντα, ὅτι τῆς κακίας ποτὲ ταῖς μακραῖς τῶν αἰώνων περιόδοις ἀφανισθείσης. οὐδὲν ἔξω τοῦ ἀγαθοῦ καταλειφθήσεται. Ἀλλά καὶ παρʼ ἐκείνων ὁμοφώνως ή ὁμολογία τῆς τοῦ Χριστοῦ κυριότητος ἔσται. Τούτων οὓτως ἐχόντων, οὐκέτʼ ἀν τις ἡμᾶς ἀναγκάζοι τῷ τῶν καταχθονίων ὁνὸματι τὸν ὑπόγειον ἐννοεῖν χῶρον· ἐπίσης τοῦ ἀέρος πανταχόθεν περικεχυ μένου τῇ γῇ, ὡς μηδὲν αύτῆς μέρος γυ μνὸν τῆς περι- 6ολῆς τοῦ ἀέρος καταλαμβάνεσθαι. -Γ. Ταῦτα δὲ διεξελθούσης τῆς διδασκάλου, μικρὸν ἐπισχὼν, Οὔπω ἱκανῶς ἔχω, φημὶ, τοῦ ζητουμένου· ἀλλʼ ἔτι μοι τοῖς εἰρημένοις ἐπιδιστάζει πως ή διάνοια, καὶ δέομαι πάλιν ἐπαναχθῆναι μοι πρὸς τὴν αὑτὴν ἀκολουθίαν τὸν λόγον, τῶν μὲν ήδη συμβιβασθέντων ἡμῖν ἀπαλλαγέντα. Μέτριον γὰρ οἶμαι διά τῶν εἰρημένων τοὺς μὴ λίαν ἀντιτύπως ἔχοντας ὲναχθήσεσθαι μὴ εἰς ἀναίρεσιν καὶ ἀνυπαρξίαν τήν ψυχὴν μετά τὴν διάλυσιν τῶν σωμάτων ἄγειν, μηδὲ κατασκευάζειν μην δαμοῢ δύνασθαι αὑτὴν ὲν τοῖς οὖσιν εἰναι διά τὸ ἑτεροειδῶς ἔχειν πρὸς τὴν τῶν στοιχείων ού·σίαν. Κᾶν μὴ συμβαίνῃ γὰρ τούτοιςή νοερά τε καὶ ἀῦλος φύσις, τὸ εἶναι αὐτοῖς ού κωλύεται, διχόθεν ἡμῖν τῆς ὑπολήψεως ταύτης βεβαιουμένης, ἔκ τε τοῦ νῦν ὲν τῇ ζωῇ ταύτῃ τὴν ψυχὴν ὲν τοῖς σώμασιν εἶναι, ἀλλο τι παρά τὸ σῶμα κατά τὴν οὐσίαν ὑπάρχουσαν, κα) ὲκ τοῦ τὴν θείαν φύσιν ἀποδεῖξαι

### English translation (Claude)

“… we call human; and another released from the flesh through death. What is seen in souls, I think, the divine Apostle saw with the depth of his wisdom, and indicated the harmony in the good that will one day come about of the whole rational nature: calling the angelic and incorporeal ‘heavenly,’ what is joined to the body ‘earthly,’ and what has already been separated from the body ‘under the earth’; or if some other nature besides these is seen among rational beings, which one may wish to name demons or spirits or something of the kind, we shall not dispute it. For it is believed, both from common opinion and from the tradition of the Scriptures, that there is a nature outside such bodies, opposed to the good and harmful to human life, which of its own will fell away from the better choice and by its departure from the good gave existence in itself to what is conceived as its opposite; and they say the Apostle counts this among those ‘under the earth,’ signifying by that word that, when vice has one day been destroyed in the long periods of the ages, nothing will be left outside the good, but even from them there will be a harmonious confession of the lordship of Christ. This being so, no one could any longer compel us to understand the place under the earth by the name ‘under the earth,’ since the air is poured around the earth equally on every side, so that no part of it is found bare of the covering of the air.” Gregory: When my teacher had gone through this, I paused a little and said: “I do not yet have enough of what is sought; my mind still hesitates somewhat at what has been said, and I ask that the argument be brought back to the same sequence, leaving aside what we have already agreed. For I think that through what has been said those who are not very obstinate will be moderately led not to bring the soul to destruction and non-existence after the dissolution of bodies, nor to maintain that it cannot be anywhere among existing things because it is of a different kind from the substance of the elements. For even if the intellectual and immaterial nature does not agree with these, it is not prevented from being with them, this supposition being confirmed for us in two ways: from the fact that the soul is now in this life in bodies while being something other than the body in substance, and from the argument’s having shown that the divine nature …”

### Scripture references

- Phil 2:10: allusion, high confidence
- Phil 2:11: allusion, high confidence

### Translation notes

- This passage states Gregory’s teaching (through Macrina) that evil will at last be destroyed and that even the fallen spirits will confess Christ’s lordship, often called the doctrine of universal restoration (ἀποκατάστασις). Translated exactly as written. References: Phil 2:10–11.

### Citation (SBL)

Gregory of Nyssa, An. et res. 71 (PG 46:72a–72d; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/gregory-nyssa-anima-resurrectione/63/#p-71).

## On the Soul and the Resurrection, Migne page 73

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/gregory-nyssa-anima-resurrectione/63/#p-73
- Source: PG 46:73a–73d
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: Gregory asks how the soul will recognize its elements once the body’s form is gone; Macrina answers with the image of a painter who can unmix colours and still recognize each and remix them.

### Greek text

τὸν λόγον, ἄλλο τι παντάπασιν οὖσαν τῆς αἱσθητικῆς τε καὶ ὑλικῆς οὐσίας · ὅμως δέ ἑκάστου τῶν ὄντων διήκειν, καὶ τῇ πρὸς τὸ πᾶν ἀνακράσει συνέχειν ἐν τῷ εἶναι τὰ ὄντα, ὡς διὰ τούτων κατὰ τὸ ἀκόλουθον μηδὲ τὴν ψυχὴν ἔξω τῶν ὄντων οίεσθαι ἀπὸ τῆς ἐν εἴδει θεωρουμένης ζωῆς είς τὸ ἀειδὲς μετα- Ἀλλὰ πῶς, εἷπον, τῆς τῶν στοιχείων ένώσεως ἕτερόν τι διὰ τῆς πρὸς ἄλληλα μίξεως εἶδος ἀναλαβόντων, πρὸς ἃ τῆς ψυχῆς γέγονεν ήοὶκείωσις, ἐπειδὰν τῇ διαλύσει τῶν στοιχείων ' κατὰ τὸ εἰκὸς συναφανισθῇ καὶ τὸ εἷδοςς Τίνι σημείῳ κατακολουθήσει ἡ ψυχὴ μετὰ τοῦ ἐγνωσμένου μὴ παραμείναντος; -Μ, Ἡδὲ μικρὸν ἐπισχοῦσα, Δεδόσθω μοι, φησὶ, κατʼ ἐξουσίαν πλάσαι τινὰ λόγον,ἐν ὑποδείγματι, πρὸς τὴν τοῦ προκειμένου σαφήνειαν, κᾶν ἔξω τοῦ δυνατοῦ δοκῇ τὸ λεγόμενον. Δεδόσθω γὰρ δυνατὸν εἶναι τῇ τοῦ ζωγράφου τέχνῃ, μὴ μόνον μιγνύειν ἐξ ἐναντίου τὲ χρώματα, καθὼς ἔθος ποιεῖν αὐτοῖς πρὸς τὴν τῆς μορφῆς ὁμοιότητα, ἀλλὰ καὶ διακρίνειν τὰ μεμιγμένα, καὶ τὴν κατὰ φύσιν πάλιν ἑκάστῳ τῶν χρωμάτων ἀποδιδόναι βαψήν. Οὐκοῦν τὸ λευκὸν, καὶ τὸ μέλαν, ἢ τὸ ἐρυθρὸν, xui τὸ χρυσοειδές, ἢ εῐ τις άλλη βαφὴ πρὸς τὴν ὁμοιότητα τοῦ προκειμένου συγκρίνεται, εί πάλιν ἀποκριθείη τῆς πρὸς ἕτερον μίξεως, καὶ ἐφ ἐτέρου γένοιτο, οὐδὲν ἦττον γινώσκεσθαι ὑπὸ τοῦ τεχνίτου φαμὲν αὐτὸ τὸ εἶδος τοῦ χρώματος, καὶ μὴ μίαν ἐγγίνεσθαι λήθην αὐτῷ, μήτε τοῦ ἐρυθροῦ μήτε τοῦ μέλανος, εἰ ἐτερόχρωα κατὰ τὴν τοῦ πρὸς ἄλληλα μίξιν γινόμενα, πάλιν εἰς τὴν κατὰ φύσιν ἐπανέλθῃ βαφήν ο μεμνημένου δὲ τοῦ τρόπον τῆς πρὸς ἄλληλα τῶν χρωμάτων συγκράσεως ο εἰδέναι ποῖον έν τινι γινόμενον οἷον ἀπειργάσατο χρῶμα, καὶ ὅπως ἐκβληθέντος ἐκ τοῦ ἀπολυθῆναι τοῦ ἐτέρου πάλιν είς τὸ οἰκεῖον ἐπανέδραμεν ἄνθος, καὶ εί πάλιν δέοι διὰ τῆς μίξεως τὸ ἴσον ἐργάσασθαι, ἁπονωτέρα ἔσται αὑτῷ ἡ κατα· σκευὴ ὲν τῇ προλαβούσῃ δημιουργία μελετηθεῖσα. δέ τι ἀκόλουθον ἐν τῷ ὑποδείγματι, φησιν, ἐ λόγος ἔχει, ἐξεταστέον ἤδη ἡμῖν αὐτὸ τὸ προκείμενον. ’Δντὶ γὰρ τῆς γραφικῆς τέχνης ἡτῶν στοιχείων νοείσθω φύσις, ἡ δὲ μίξις τῆς ποικίλης τῶι ἔτεροχροούντων βαφῆς, καὶ πάλιν ἡ δοθεῖσα ήμῖπ an‘ ὑπόθεσιν εἰς τὰ οἰκεῖα τούτων ἐπάνοδος, τὴ) συνδρομήν τε καὶ διάστασιν τῶν στοιχείων ὑπογραφέτω.

### English translation (Claude)

“… is something altogether other than the sensible and material substance, yet passes through each existing thing and by its blending with the universe holds existing things together in being; so that, consistently, we should not think the soul either to be outside existing things when it passes from the life seen in form to the formless.” Gregory: “But how,” I said, “ when the elements, by their mixture with one another, have taken on another form in their union, to which the soul became attached, will the soul follow, when the form too has probably disappeared with the dissolution of the elements? By what sign will it follow, when what it knew has not remained?” Macrina: She paused a little and said: “Let me be allowed to invent freely an illustration to make the matter clear, even if what is said seems impossible. Let it be granted that the painter’s art can not only mix colours of opposite kinds, as they are accustomed to do for the likeness of the form, but also separate what has been mixed and give back to each of the colours its natural tint. If, then, white and black, or red and gold, or any other tint combined for the likeness of the subject, were separated again from its mixture with another and came to be by itself, we say that the artist would no less know the very form of the colour, and that no forgetfulness would come upon him either of the red or of the black, if, having become of other colours by their mixture with one another, they returned again to their natural tint; but, remembering the manner of the blending of the colours with one another, he would know what kind of colour each produced when it was in which, and how, when it was released from the other, it ran back to its own bloom; and if it were necessary to produce the same again by mixing, the preparation would be less laborious for him, having been practised in the earlier work. If the illustration has any consistency,” she said, “we must now examine the matter itself. Instead of the painter’s art let the nature of the elements be understood; and let the mixture of the varied tint of different colours, and again the return to their own, granted us by hypothesis, sketch the concurrence and separation of the elements.

### Translation notes

- A few words at the start of Gregory’s question are lost at a page edge. The sentence applying the illustration (“Instead of the painter’s art …”) appears defective in the scan and is translated as it stands.

### Citation (SBL)

Gregory of Nyssa, An. et res. 73 (PG 46:73a–73d; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/gregory-nyssa-anima-resurrectione/63/#p-73).

## On the Soul and the Resurrection, Migne page 75

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/gregory-nyssa-anima-resurrectione/63/#p-75
- Source: PG 46:76a–76d
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: The soul, like the painter who knows each separated colour, remains with each of its body’s elements until they come together again in the resurrection; Macrina states the objection that a body made of other matter would be a new man, not the same one.

### Greek text

Ὠσπερ οὖν φαμεν ἐν τῷ ὑποδείγματι μὴ ἀγνοεῖν τὴν βαφὴν τοῦ χρώματος τὸν τεχνίτην, μετά μίξιν πάλιν είς τδ οἰκεῖον ἀνθος ἐπανελθοῦσαν, ἀλλʼ ἐπιγινώσκειν τό τε ἐρυθρὸν καὶ τὺ μέλαν, καὶεῐ τι ἕτερον διὰ τῆς ποιᾶς πρὸς τὸ ἑτερογενές κοινωνίας τὴν μορφὴν ἀπειργάσατο, οἷον μὲν ἐν τῇ μίξει, οἷον καὶ νῦν ἐστιν ἐν τῷ κατά τὴν φύσιν γινομένῳ ο οἷον δέ πάλιν ἔσται, εί ὁμοιοτρόπως αὖθις ἀλλήλοις ἀναμιχθείη τά χρώματα · οὕτως ειδέναι τὴν ψυχὴν τῶν συνδραμόντων στοιχείων πρὸς τὴν τοῦ σώματος κατασκευὴν, ᾧ ἐνεφύη, καὶ μετὰ τὴν διάλυσιν αὐτῶν τὴν φυσικὴν ίδιότητα. Κᾶν πόρρωθεν ἀπʼ ἀλλήλων αύτὰ ἡ φύσις ἀφέλκῃ διὰ τὰς ἐγκειμένας ἐναντιότητας, ἐκαστον αὐτῶν τῆς πρὸς τὸ ἐναντίον ἐπιμιξίας ἀπείργουσα, οὐδὲν ἦττον παρʼ ἑκάστῳ ἔσται τῇ γνωστικῇ δυνάμει τοῦ οίκείου ἐφαπτομένη. καὶ παρα· μένουσα ἕως ἂν εἰς ταύτδ πάλιν ὴ τῶν διεστώτων γένηται συνδρομὴ πρὸς τὴν τοῦ διαλυθέντος ἀναστοιχείωσιν, ὅπερ ἀνάστασις κυρίως καὶ ἔσται καὶ ὀνομάζεται. Γ. Καὶ ἐγὼ είπον,Ἀριστά μοι δοκεῖς κατά τὸ παρὸν συμμεμαχηκέναι τῷ λόγῳ τῆς ἀναστάσεως. Δύνασθαι γὰρ ἂν διὰ τούτων ἠρέμα προσαχθῆναι τοὺς ἀπομαχομένους τῇ πίστει, πρὸς τὸ μὴ οῐεσθαι τῶν ἀδυνάτων εἶναι πάλιν ἀλλήλοις συνελθεῖν τά στοιχεῖα, καὶ τὸν αὑτὸν ἀπεργάσασθαι ἄνθρωπον, - Μ. Καί φησινή διδάσκαλος·Ἀληθές τοῦτο λέβγεις. Ἔστίγάιρ ’λεγόντων ἀκούειν τῶν πρὸς τὸν λόγον τοῦτον ἐνισταμένων,ὃτι El; τὸ πᾶν κατά τὸ συγγενὲς γινομένης τῶν στοιχείων τῆς ἀναλύσεως τίς μηχανὴ τὸ ἐν τῷδε θερμὸν ἐν τῷ καθόλου γενόμενον συμμιγὲς, τοῦ συγγενοῦς πάλιν ἀποκριθῆναι πρὸς τὸ συστῆναι τὸν ἀπαλλασσόμενον ἄνθρωπον ; Et γὰρ μὴ ἀκριβῶς τὸ ίδιον ἐπανέλθοι, ἐκ δέ τοῦ ὁμογενοῦς ἀντὶ τοῦ ίδιάξοντός τι παραληφθείη ἕτερον ἀνθʼ ἐτέρου γενήσεται, καὶ οὐκέτι ἂν εἴη τὸ τοιοῦτον ἀνάστασις, ἀλλά καινοῦ ἀνθρώπου δημιουργία. Et δὲ χρὴ τὸν αὑτὸν είς ἐαυτὸν πάλιν ἐπανελθεῖν, διʼ ὅλου εῐναι προσήκει τὸν αὑτὸν, ἑαυτοῖς πᾶσι τοῖς τῶν, στοιχείων μέρεσι τὴν ἐξ ἀρχῆς ἐπαναλαβόνταφύσιν. -Γ. Οὐκοῦν, ὓς (ιιι) εἷπον, αὐτάρκης ἡμῖν πρὸς ταύτην τὴν ἔνστασιν ἡτοιαύτη περὶτῆς ψυχῆς ἂν είη ὑπόληψις ’τὸ δίς ἐξ ἀρχῆς ἐνεφύη στοιχείοις τούτοις, καὶ μετά

### English translation (Claude)

“As, then, we say in the illustration that the artist is not ignorant of the tint of the colour that has returned to its own bloom after mixture, but recognizes the red and the black and anything else that produced the form by its particular fellowship with what is of another kind, what it was like in the mixture, what it is now in its natural state, and what it will be again if the colours are mixed again with one another in a like way: so the soul knows the natural property of the elements that came together for the construction of the body in which it grew, even after their dissolution. And even if nature draws them far from one another because of the oppositions lying in them, keeping each from mixing with its opposite, the soul will be no less with each, laying hold of what is its own by its power of knowledge, and remaining until the concurrence of the separated elements comes about again for the reconstitution of what was dissolved, which will properly be and be named resurrection.” Gregory: And I said: “You seem to me to have fought very well at present for the doctrine of the resurrection. For through these things those who fight against the faith might be gently brought not to think it impossible for the elements to come together again with one another and produce the same man.” Macrina: And my teacher said: “What you say is true. For one may hear those who oppose this doctrine say: ‘Since the dissolution of the elements into the universe takes place according to kinship, what means is there for the heat in this man, which has been mixed into the whole, to be separated again from its kin so that the departed man may be reconstituted? For if exactly what was his own does not return, but something of the same kind is taken instead of what was peculiar, one thing will come to be instead of another, and such a thing would no longer be resurrection but the making of a new man. But if the same man is to return to himself, he must be the same throughout, taking up again his original nature in all the parts of the elements.’” Gregory: “Then,” I said, “such a supposition about the soul would be sufficient for us against this objection: that the soul, having grown together with these elements from the beginning, remains with them after …”

### Translation notes

- “Resurrection” here is ἀνάστασις, explained by Macrina as the reconstitution (ἀναστοιχείωσις) of the dissolved body.

### Citation (SBL)

Gregory of Nyssa, An. et res. 75 (PG 46:76a–76d; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/gregory-nyssa-anima-resurrectione/63/#p-75).

## On the Soul and the Resurrection, Migne page 77

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/gregory-nyssa-anima-resurrectione/63/#p-77
- Source: PG 46:77a–77d
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: Gregory concludes that the soul guards its elements and at God’s signal will draw them together again like ropes tied to one point; Macrina adds the example of a potter’s vessels owned by different masters.

### Greek text

τὴν διάλυσιν παραμένειν, οἷον εἰ φύλακα τῶν οἰκείων καθισταμένην, καὶ ἐν τῇ ἀνακράσει τῇ πρὸς τὸ ὁμόφυλον οὐ διαφιεϊσαν τὸ ἴδιον ὲν τῷ λεπτῷ τε καὶ εὐκινήτῳ τῆς νοερᾶς δυνάμεως, οὐδεμίαν ὲν τῇ λεπτομερίᾳ τῶν στοιχείων ὑπομένουσαν πλάνην · ἀλλὰ συνδιαλύεσθαι τοῖς ἰδίοις καταμιγνυμένοις πρὸς τὸ ὁμόφυλον, καὶ μὴ ἀτονεῖν συνδωξωῦσαν αὐτοῖς, ὅταν πρὸς τὸ πᾶν ἀναχέωνται, ἀλλʼ ὲν αὺτῷ ἀεὶ μένειν ὅποιπερ αὐτὰ, καί ὅπως παρασκευάσῃ ὴ φύσις. Εἰ δὲ γένοιτο πάλιν παρὰ τῆς τὺ πᾶν οἰκονομούσης δυνάμεως τοῖς διαλυθεῖσι πρὸς τὴν συνδρομὴν τὺ ὲνέδόσιμον ’ τότε καθάπερ εἰ μιᾶς ἀρχῆς ὲξαφθεῖεν σχοῖνοι διάφοροι, ὁμοῦ καὶ κατʼ αὐτὸν al πᾶσαι τῷ ἐφελκομένῳ συνέπονται · οὕτως ὲν μιᾷ τῇ τῆς ψυχῆς δυνάμει, τῆς τῶν στοιχείων διαφορᾶς ἑλκομένης, ἀθρόως ὲν τῇ συνδρομῇ τῶν οἰκείων, ἡ τοῦ σώματος ήμῶν σειρὰ διὰ τῆς ψυχῆς συμπλακήσεται, καταλλήλως ἑκάστου πάλιν πρὸς τὸ ἀρχαῖον καὶ σύνηθες πλακου μένου, καὶ περιπτυσσομένου τὸ γνώριμον.-Μ. Ἀλλᾶ κα). τοῦτο τὸ ὑπόδειγμα, φησὶν ἡ διδάσκαλος, εἰκότως ἂν προστεθείη τοῖς ὲξητασμένοις εἰς ἀπόδειξιν τοῦ μὴ πολλὴν εἶναι τῇ ψυχῇ τὴν διδασκαλίαν ὲν τοῖς στοιχείοις διακρίνειν τοῦ ἀλλοτρίου τὸ ἴδιον. Προκείσθω γὰρ τῷ κεραμεύοντι πηλὸς καθʼ ὑπόθεσιν, πολὺς δὲ οὗτος εἶναι δεδόσθω, οὗ τὸ μέν τοι πρὸς τὴν τῶν σκευῶν ἀπεργασίαν ιἤδη τετύπωται, τὸ δὲ μέλλον. Τὰ δὲ σκεύη πάντα μὴ ὁμοειδῶς ἀλλήλοις διεσχηματίσθω, ἀλλὰ τὸ μὲν πίθος, τὸ δὲ ἀμφορεὺς, ἕτερον δὲ πινάκιον, ἢ τριδλίον, ἢ ἄλλο τι τῶν κατὰ τὴν χρῆσιν ἐπιτηδείων ἔστω, ταῦτα δὲ πάντα μὴ εἷς κεκτήσθω, ἀλλʼ ίδιον ἑκάστου δεσπότου, ὑποκείσθω τῷ λόγῳ.

### English translation (Claude)

“… the dissolution, set as a kind of guard over what is its own, and in their blending with their kin not letting go of what is its own through the fineness and quickness of its intellectual power, suffering no error amid the fine particles of the elements; but being dispersed along with its own as they mingle with their kind, not failing as it runs along with them when they are poured out into the universe, but always remaining in them, wherever and however nature arranges them. And if the signal for their concurrence is given again to the dissolved elements by the power that governs the universe, then, as when various ropes are fastened to one beginning, they all follow together at once the one that draws them, so, the different elements being drawn by the one power of the soul, the chain of our body will be woven together at once through the soul in the concurrence of its own elements, each being woven again suitably to its ancient and accustomed state and embracing what it knows.” Macrina: “This illustration too,” said my teacher, “might fittingly be added to what has been examined, to show that the soul needs no great instruction to distinguish its own among the elements from what is foreign. Let us suppose a potter with clay, and let it be granted that there is much of it, part of which has already been shaped into vessels and part is yet to be. Let the vessels not all be shaped alike, but let one be a jar, another a pitcher, another a plate or a bowl or some other thing useful for service; and let all these not be owned by one person, but let each be supposed to belong to its own master …”

### Translation notes

- The potter illustration continues in the next unit; lines at the page edge are lost.

### Citation (SBL)

Gregory of Nyssa, An. et res. 77 (PG 46:77a–77d; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/gregory-nyssa-anima-resurrectione/63/#p-77).

## On the Soul and the Resurrection, Migne page 79

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/gregory-nyssa-anima-resurrectione/63/#p-79
- Source: PG 46:80a–80d
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: As owners know their own broken vessels, the soul knows its body’s remains. Gregory raises the rich man and Lazarus; Macrina argues that the story’s bodily details (eyes, tongue, finger, chasm) cannot be literal for incorporeal souls and must be read spiritually.

### Greek text

τι σκεῦος, ό καθʼ εκαστόν ἐστιν ἄνθρωπος, ἐκ τῆς συνδρομῆς τῶν στοιχείων ἀπὸ τῆς κοινῆς ὕλης ἀνατετυπωμένος, ἐν ἰδιάζοντι πάντως τῷ σχήματι πολλὴν πρὸς rb ὁμογενὲς τὴν διαφοράν ἔχων. οὗ διαλυθέντος οὐδὲν ἦττον καὶ ἀπὸ στῶν λειψάνων ἡ κεκτημένη τὸ σκεῦος ψυχὴ τδ οἰκεῖον ἐπιγινώσκει. οὕτε ἐν τῇ κοινωνίᾳ τῶν συντριμμάτων, οὔτε εἰ πρὸς τὸ ἀκατέργαστον τῆς τῶν στοιχείων ὕλης καταμιχθείη, τοῦ οἰκείου ἀφισταμένη, ἀλλʼ ἀεὶ ἐπισταο μένη τὸ ῐδιον, οἶόν τε συνεστὼς ἐν τῷ σχήματι ἦν, καὶ μετὰ τὴν διάλυσιν ἐκ τῶν άπομεινάντων σημείων τοῖς λειψάνοις ού πλανωμένη περὶ τὸ [διον. — Γ. Ἐπιδεξάμενος δέ τά εἰρημένα ὼς προσφυῶς τε καὶ οἰκείως πρὸς τὸν προκείμενον εὑρεθέντα σκοπὸν, Ταῦτα μὶν οὔτως, εἷπον, λέγεσθαί τε καὶ πιστεύεσθαι καλῶς ἔχει · εί δέ tr; τὸ ἐν τῷ Εὐαγγελίῳ τοῦ Κυρίου περί τῶν ἐν ᾅδου διήγημα πρὸς τά εἰρημένα προσ φέροι, ὼς ού συμβαῖνον τοῖς ἐξητασμένοις, πῶς χρὴ παρασκευάσασθαι πρὸς τὴν ἀπόκρισιν; Μ. Ἦ διδάσκαλος δέ, Σωματικὼτε ρον μὲν, φησὶν, ό λόγος ἐκτίθεται τὸ διήγημα, πολλάς δὲ κατασπείρει τάς ἀφορμὰς, διʼ ὧν εἰς λεπτοτέραν θεωρίαν ἐκκαλεῖται τὸν ἐξεταστὴν ἐπαΐοντα. Ὀ γάρ χάσματι μεγάλῳ διείργων τὸ κακὸν ἐκ τοῦ κρείττονος, σταγόνος τέ τινος δακτύλῳ κομιζομένης ἐπιδεᾶ ποιήσας τὸν ὀδυνώμενον, καὶ πατριάρχου κόλπον τῷ διὰ τῆς ζωῆς ταύτης κεκακωμένῳ ὑποθεὶς ἀνάπαυσιν, πρὸ τούτων δὲ καὶ τὸ τεθνᾶναι αύτοὺς, καὶ ταφῇ δοθῆναι διηγησάμενος, ού μικρῶς ἀφίστησι τῆς κατά πρόχειρον διανοίας τὺν- μὴ ἀσυνέτως τοῖς λεγομένοις ἑπόμενον. Ποίους γὰρ ὀφθαλμοὺς ἐπαίρει tv τῷ ᾅδῃ ὁ πλούσιος, τοὺς τῆς σαρκὸς ἐναφεὶς τῷ τάφως Πῶς δὲ φλογὸς ᾐσθάνετο τὸ ἀσώματον ; Ποίαν δὲ γλῶσσαν καταψυχθῆναι διά τῆς σταγόνος ἐπιθυμεῖ, τῆς σαρκίνης αὐτῷ μὴ παρούσης; Τίς δὲ ὁ διακομίζων αὐτῷ τὴν ῥανίδα δάκτυλος; Αὐτὸς δὲ ὁ κόλπος τῆς ἀναπαύσεως, τίς; Τῶν γὰρ σωμάτων ἐν τάφοις ὄντων, τῆς δὲ ψυχῆς οὕτε ἐν σώματι οὔσης, οὔτε ἐκ μερῶν συνεστώσης, ἄπορον ἂν εἴη τὴν τοῦ διηγήματος διασκευὴν κατά τὸ προχείρως νοούμενον ἐφαρμόσαι τῇ ἀληθεία, εἰ μή τις μεταλάβῃ τά καθʼ ἕκαστον εἰς νοητὴν θεωρίαν · ὥστε χάσμα τὸ διεῖργον τῶν ἀμίκτων τὴν κοινωνίαν, μὴ γῆς διάστασιν οἴεσθαγ τῷ γάρ ἀσωμάτῳ καί νοερῷ, τίς πόνος διαπτῆναι sb χάσμα. καὶ εἰ μήκιστον ἦν;Διότι τὸ νοερδν τῇ iptio-et, tv ᾧπερ ἂν ἐθέλῃ ἀχρόνως γίνεται. -— Γ. Τί οὖν ἂν εἰη,φημ“ἰ,

### English translation (Claude)

“… vessel is each individual man, shaped by the concurrence of the elements from the common matter, having a great difference in his particular shape from those of his own kind. When it has been dissolved, the soul that owned the vessel no less recognizes its own from the remains, not departing from its own either in the company of the fragments or if it is mixed with the unworked matter of the elements, but always knowing its own, what it was like when it held together in its shape, and after the dissolution not going astray about its own because of the marks that remain on the remains.” Gregory: Accepting what had been said as fitting and proper to the aim before us, I said: “These things are rightly said and believed so. But if someone brings forward the Lord’s story in the Gospel about those in Hades as not agreeing with what has been examined, how should we prepare our answer?” Macrina: My teacher said: “The word sets out the story in rather bodily terms, but it scatters many hints through which it calls the attentive examiner to a finer contemplation. For by separating the bad from the better by a great chasm, making the sufferer need a drop carried on a finger, and placing the patriarch’s bosom as a rest for the one who was afflicted in this life, and before this relating that they died and were given burial, it draws away not a little from the obvious sense one who follows what is said with understanding. For what eyes does the rich man lift up in Hades, having left those of the flesh in the tomb? How did the incorporeal feel the flame? What tongue does he desire to be cooled by the drop, when he has no tongue of flesh? What is the finger that carries the drop to him? What is the bosom of rest itself? For since the bodies are in the tombs, and the soul is neither in a body nor composed of parts, it would be impossible to fit the details of the story to the truth according to the obvious sense, unless one transfers each detail to intellectual contemplation; so that the chasm separating the fellowship of things that cannot mix should not be thought a distance of earth; for what labour would it be for the incorporeal and intellectual to fly across the chasm, even if it were very wide? For the intellectual is by nature present instantly wherever it wishes.” Gregory: “What, then,” I said, “would be …”

### Scripture references

- Luke 16:22: allusion, high confidence
- Luke 16:23: allusion, high confidence
- Luke 16:24: allusion, high confidence
- Luke 16:26: allusion, high confidence

### Translation notes

- The start of the unit is lost at a page edge. Several lines of the critical apparatus (variant readings) leaked into the digital text at the end of this unit and are removed (logged). References: Luke 16:19–26.

### Citation (SBL)

Gregory of Nyssa, An. et res. 79 (PG 46:80a–80d; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/gregory-nyssa-anima-resurrectione/63/#p-79).

## On the Soul and the Resurrection, Migne page 81

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/gregory-nyssa-anima-resurrectione/63/#p-81
- Source: PG 46:81a–81d
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: Macrina begins to interpret the details of the parable: Abraham’s words about each having received his share in life point to a deeper doctrine.

### Greek text

τδ πῦρ, ἢ τὸ χάσμα, ἢ τὰ. λοιπά τῶν εἰρημένων, ἢ μὴ ἃ λέγεται; - Μ. Ἐμοὶ δοκεῖ, φησὶ, δόγματά τινα mp‘t τῶν κατὰ ψυχὴν ζητουμένων διʼ ἑκάστου τούτων ὑποσημαίνειν τὸ Εὑαγγέλιον. Προειπὼν γὰρ πρὸς τὸν πλούσιον ὁ πατριάρχης, ὅτι Ἀπὲσχες τῷ διὰ σαρκὸς βίῳ τῶν ἀγαθῶν τὴν μοῖραν, καὶ περί τοῦ πτωχοῦ τὺ ἴσον εἰπὼν, ὅτι Καὶ οὗτος ἀπέπλησε παρὰ τὸν βίον τῆς τῶν κακῶν μετουσίας λειτουργίας · εἷθʼ οὕτως ἐπαγαγὼν περὶ τοῦ χάσματος, ὡς ἀπʼ ἀλλήλων διατειχίζονται, μέγα τι διὰ τούτων ἔοικεν ὑποδεικνύειν τῷ λόγω.

### English translation (Claude)

“… the fire, or the chasm, or the rest of what was said, if not what is said?” Macrina: “It seems to me,” she said, “that through each of these the Gospel indicates certain doctrines about what is sought concerning the soul. For the patriarch first said to the rich man, ‘You received your share of good things in the life of the flesh,’ and said the same of the poor man, that he too had his fill of the service of evils during his life; and then, adding the chasm, that they are walled off from each other, he seems by this to indicate something great by the word …”

### Scripture references

- Luke 16:25: allusion, high confidence
- Luke 16:26: allusion, high confidence

### Translation notes

- References: Luke 16:25–26. The rest of Macrina’s explanation, at the foot of Migne’s page, is lost in the scan (marked …); the next unit resumes mid-sentence.

### Citation (SBL)

Gregory of Nyssa, An. et res. 81 (PG 46:81a–81d; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/gregory-nyssa-anima-resurrectione/63/#p-81).

## On the Soul and the Resurrection, Migne page 83

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/gregory-nyssa-anima-resurrectione/63/#p-83
- Source: PG 46:84a–84d
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: Macrina interprets the chasm as the gulf made by contrary choices in life, Abraham’s bosom as the haven of goods awaiting those who endured hardship as he did, and the flame as the soul’s deprivation of those goods.

### Greek text

τοῦ βελτίονος ἀνεπίσκεπτος, οὗτοι ὑπὸ λαιμαργίαν (ti) ἑν τῷ σαρκίνῳ βίῳ τὴν χρεωστουμένην τῇ φύσει τοῦ ἀγαθοῦ μοῖραν προαναλίσκουσιν, οὐδὲν τῷ μετά ταῦτα βίῳ ταμιευόμενοι· oi δὲ λογισμῷ διακριτικῷ τε καὶ σώφρονι τὴν ἑαυτῶν οίκονομοῦντες ζωὴν, ἐν τῷ βραχεῖ τούτῳ βίῳ, διὰ τῶν τὴν αἴσθησιν λυπούντων ἀνιαθέντεςητῷ ἐφεξῆς αἰῶνι τὸ ἀγαθὸν ταμιεύονται, ὥστε αὐτοῖς τῇ ἀϊδίῳ ζωῇ τὴν κρείττω λῆξιν συμπαρατείνεσθαι. Τοῦτο οὖν ἐστιν, ῶς γε ό ἐμὸς λόγος, τὸ χάσμα, δ οὐχὶ γῆς διασχούσης γίνεται, ἀλλʼ ἡ παρὰ τδν βίον κρίσις πρὸς τὰς ἐναντίας προαιρέσεις διασχισθείσα ποιεῖ. Ὁ γὰρ ἅπαξ τὸ ἡδὺ κατά τὸν βίον τοῦτον ἑλκόμενος, καὶ μὴ θεραπεύσαςι ἐκ μεταμελείας τὴν ἀβουλίαν, ἀδατον ἐαυτῷ μετὰ ταῦτα τὴν τῶν ἀγαθῶν χώραν ἐργάζεται, τὴν ἀδιάβατον ταύτην ἀνάγκην, καθάπερ τι βάραθρον ἀχανές τε καὶ ἀπαρόδευτον καθʼ ἑαυτοῦ διορύξας. Διό μοι δοκεῖ καὶ τὴν ἀγαθὴν τῆς ψυχῆς κατάστασιν, ὲν τὸν τῆς ὑπομονῆς ἀθλητὴν ἀναπαύει ό λόγος. κόλπον τοῦ ’Δσραὰμ ὀνομάσαι. Πρῶτος γὰρ οὗτος ό πατριάρχης τῶν πώποτε γεγονότων ἱστόρηται τὴν ἐλπίδα τῶν μελλόντων τῆς ἀπολαύσεως τῶν παρόν. των ἀνταλλαξάμενος, ὃς γε πάντων γυμνωθεὶς, ὲν οἷς ἦν αὐτῷ καταρχὰς ὴ ζωὴ, ὲν ἀλλοτρίοις εἶχε τὴν δίαιταν, διὰ τῆς παρούσης κακοπαθείας, τὴν ἐλπιζομένην εὐκληρίαν ἐμπορευόμενος. Ὥσπερ οὖν τὴν ποιὰν τοῦ πελάγους περιγραφὴν ὲκ καταχρήσεώς τινος ὀνομάζομεν κόλπον, οὕτω δοκεῖ τῶν ἀμετρήτων ἐκείνων ἀγαθῶν τὴν ἔνδειξιν ό λόγος τῷ τοῦ κόλπου διασημαίνειν ὀνόματι, ᾧ πάντες oi διʼ ἀρετῆς τὸν παρόντα διαπλέοντες βίον, ὅταν ἐντεῦθεν ἀπαίρωσιν, ὥσπερ ὲν ἀκατακλύστῳ λιμένι τῷ ἀγαθῷ κόλπῳ τὰς ψυχὰς ἐνορμιζονται, τοῖς δὲ λοιποῖς ἡ τῶν φαινομένων αὐτοῖς ἀγαθῶν στέρησις φλὸξ γίνεται τὴν ψυχὴν διασμ ύχουσα (ll), ρανίδος τι·νὺς ὲκ τοῦ πελάγους τῶν τοὺς ὁσίους περικλυζόντων ἀγαθῶν είς παραμυθίαν προσδεομένη, καὶ ού τυγχὰο νουσα. Γλῶσσαν δὲ καὶ ὀφθαλμὸν, καὶ δάκτυλον, καὶ τά λοιπά τῶν σωματικῶν ὀνομάτων ἐν τῷ διαλόγῳ τῶν ἀσωμάτων βλέπων, τὸν καταστοχασμὸν, ἡμῖν ἤδη νοηθέντι περὶ ψυχῆς λόγῳ συμφώνως ἔχειν ὁμολογήσεις, ἐπισκεψάμενος τῶν ῥητῶν (ιβ-1 ’7) τὴν διάνοιαν. Ὠσπερ γὰρ ὅλου τοῦ σώματος ἡ τῶν στοιχείων συνδρομὴ ποιεῖ τὴν οὐσίαν, οὕτως είκδς καὶτῶν ὲν τῷ σώματι μερῶν ὲκ τῆς αὐτῆς

### English translation (Claude)

“… without consideration for the better, these, through gluttony in the life of the flesh, use up beforehand the share of good owed to their nature, storing up nothing for the life after; while those who manage their life with discerning and self-controlled reasoning, being afflicted in this short life by what pains the senses, store up the good for the age that follows, so that the better lot extends for them along with eternal life. This, then, in my account at least, is the chasm: it is not made by the earth parting, but the judgment made during life, divided toward opposite choices, makes it. For one who has once been drawn by pleasure in this life and has not cured his folly by repentance makes the land of the good impassable for himself afterward, digging against himself this impassable necessity like a yawning pit that cannot be crossed. That is why, it seems to me, the word named the good state of the soul, in which it gives rest to the athlete of patience, the bosom of Abraham. For this patriarch is recorded as the first of all who ever lived to exchange the enjoyment of the present for the hope of the future: stripped of everything among which his life was at first, he lived among strangers, purchasing by present hardship the good fortune he hoped for. As, then, by a certain extension of meaning we call a particular outline of the sea a ‘bosom’ (a bay), so the word seems to signify by the name ‘bosom’ the showing forth of those immeasurable goods, in which all who sail through the present life by virtue, when they set out from here, bring their souls to anchor as in a harbour safe from storms, in the good bosom; while for the rest the deprivation of the goods that appear to them becomes a flame smouldering in the soul, needing for consolation a drop from the sea of goods that flows around the holy, and not obtaining it. And when you see tongue and eye and finger and the other bodily names in the dialogue of incorporeal beings, you will agree, on examining the sense of the words, that the conjecture agrees with the account of the soul already reached. For as the concurrence of the elements makes the substance of the whole body, so it is likely that the nature of the parts in the body too is filled up from the same …”

### Scripture references

- Luke 16:22: allusion, high confidence
- Luke 16:24: allusion, high confidence
- Luke 16:26: allusion, high confidence
- Gen 12:1: allusion, medium confidence
- Heb 11:9: allusion, medium confidence

### Translation notes

- Several lines of the critical apparatus leaked into the digital text at the end of this unit and are removed (logged). References: Luke 16:22–26; Gen 12:1 and Heb 11:9 (Abraham living as a stranger).

### Citation (SBL)

Gregory of Nyssa, An. et res. 83 (PG 46:84a–84d; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/gregory-nyssa-anima-resurrectione/63/#p-83).

## On the Soul and the Resurrection, Migne page 85

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/gregory-nyssa-anima-resurrectione/63/#p-85
- Source: PG 46:85a–85d
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: The soul’s presence to its scattered elements explains the bodily terms (finger, eye, tongue) in the parable; Hades is a formless state of life, not a place; the parable also shows the rich man’s concern for his living brothers.

### Greek text

αίτεας συμπληροῦσθαι τὴν φύσιν. Et οὖν πάρεστιν ὴ ψυχὴ τοῖς ἐκ τοῦ σώματος στοιχείοις πρὸς τὸ πᾶν ἀναμιχθεῖσιν, οὐ μόνον τὸ πλήρωμα τῶν είς ὅλον τὸ σύγκριμα συνδεδραμηκότων γνωρίσει, καὶ ἐν αὐτοῖς ἔσται* ἀλλʼ οὐ τὴν ἰδιάζουσαν ἑκάστου τῶν μερῶν σύστασιν ἀγνοήσει, διὰ ποίων ’τῶν ἐν τοῖς στοιχείοις μορίων ἀποτελεσθῇ τὰ ἐν ήμῖν μέλη· τ Τὴν οῦν ἐν παντὶ οὖσαν τῷ τῶν στοιχείων πληρώματι, καὶ ἐν τοῖς καθʼ ἕκαστον εἶναι, οὐδὲν ἔξω τοῦ εἰκότος ἐστίν· καὶ οὕτω πρὸς τά στοιχεῖά τις βλέπων, οἷς ἐνυπάρχει τῇ δυνάμει τὰ καθʼ ἐκαστον μέλη τοῦ σώματος, δάκτυλόν τε περὶ αὐτὴν εἷναι καὶ ὀφθαλμὸν καὶ γλῶσσαν, καὶ τὰ ἄλλα πάντα με.τά τὴν διάλυσιν τοῦ συγκρίματος τὴν Γραφὴν λέγειν ὑπονοῶν, τοῦ εἰκότος οὐχ ἁμαρτήσεται. El οῦν τὰ καθʼ ἕκαστον ἀπάγει τὸν νοῦν τῆς σωματικῆς πρὶ τοῦ διηγήματος ὑπολήψεως, εἰκὸς δήπου καὶ τὸν μνημονευθέντα νῦν ᾅδην μὴ τόπον τινὰ οὕτως ὀνομαζόμενον οἴεσθαι, ἀλλά τινα κατάστασιν ζωῆς ὰειδῆ καὶ ἀσώματον, τὴν ψυχὴν ἐμβιοτεύειν παρά τῆς Γραφῆς ἐκδιδασκόμεθα. Ἀλλὰ καὶ ἕτερον ὲν τῷ κατά τὸν πλούσιον καὶ πτωχὸν διηγήματι δόγμα μανθάνομεν, ὂ πολλὴν ἔχει πρὸς τὰ ὲξητ τασμένα τὴν οἰκειότητα. Ἐποίησεν ἐκεῖνον τὸν ἐμπαθῆ καὶ φιλόσαρκον, ἐπειδὴ τὸ ἄφυκτον εῐδε τῆς παρʼ ἑαυτοῦ συμφορᾶς, φροντίδα τῶν ὑπὲρ γῆς αὖτῷ κατὰ τὸ γένος προσεκτῶν ἔχειν, καὶ τοῦ ’Δὸραὲιμ εἰπόντος μὴ ἀπρονόητον εἶναιτῶν ἐν σαρκὶ ζώντων βίον, ἀλλὰ κατʼ ἐξουσίαν προκεῖσθαι αὐτοῖς τὴν ἐκ τοῦ νόμου καὶ τῶν προφητῶν χειρὶ αγωγὶαψ ἔτι παραμένειν προσλιπαροῦντα τὸν δίκαιον, ὅπως ἂν ἐκ τοῦ παραδόξου πιθανὸν αὐτοῖς τὺ κήρυγμα γένοιτο, ὑπό τινος ἐκ τῶν νεκρῶν ἁναβεβιωκότος καταγγελλόμενον.

### English translation (Claude)

“… cause. If, then, the soul is present to the elements of the body mixed into the universe, it will not only recognize the whole of what came together into the entire compound and be in them, but it will not be ignorant of the particular constitution of each of the parts, of which particles in the elements our members were completed. It is nothing unlikely, then, that the soul which is in the whole of the elements is also in each of them; and so, looking to the elements in which each member of the body exists in potency, one who supposes that Scripture speaks of a finger and an eye and a tongue and all the rest belonging to the soul after the dissolution of the compound will not miss what is probable. If, then, each detail leads the mind away from the bodily understanding of the story, it is surely likely that we should not think the Hades now mentioned to be some place so named, but we are taught by Scripture that it is a formless and incorporeal state of life in which the soul lives. And we learn another doctrine too in the story of the rich man and the poor man, which is closely related to what has been examined. It made that passionate lover of the flesh, when he saw that his own misfortune was inescapable, take thought for those of his family still on earth; and when Abraham said that the life of those living in the flesh was not left without providence, but that the guidance of the law and the prophets was set before them for their use, he still went on pleading with the righteous man that the proclamation might become persuasive to them by being announced, paradoxically, by someone come back to life from the dead.”

### Scripture references

- Luke 16:27: allusion, high confidence
- Luke 16:29: allusion, high confidence
- Luke 16:31: allusion, high confidence

### Translation notes

- References: Luke 16:27–31.

### Citation (SBL)

Gregory of Nyssa, An. et res. 85 (PG 46:85a–85d; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/gregory-nyssa-anima-resurrectione/63/#p-85).

## On the Soul and the Resurrection, Migne page 87

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/gregory-nyssa-anima-resurrectione/63/#p-87
- Source: PG 46:88a–88b
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: Macrina teaches that one should be detached from the flesh by virtue during life, so as not to need a further cleansing after death; souls attached to the flesh carry its foulness with them, as ghosts seen near tombs suggest. Gregory notes a difficulty about the passions.

### Greek text

lsiag), έκ τούτων, φησὶ, τῶν διηγημάτων οἰόμεθα τοῦτο δογματίζειν τὸν Κύριον, τὸ δεῖν δτι μάλιστα τοὺς ὲν σαρκὶ βιοτεύοντας, διὰ τῆς κατά ἀρεο τὴν ζωῆς, χωρίζεσθαι πως καὶ ἀπολύεσθαι τῆς πρὸς αὐτὴν σχέσεως, ἴνα μετὰ τὸν θάνατον μὴ πάλιν ἄλλου θανάτου δεώμεθα, τά λείψανα τῆς σαρκώο δους κόλλης ἀποκαθαίροντος ἀλλά καθάπερ δεσμῶν τὴν ψυχὴν περιρραγέντων. κοῦφος αὐτῇ καὶ ἄνετος ὁ πρὸς τὸ ἀγαθὸν γένηται δρόμος, οὐδεμιᾶς αὐτὸν σωματικῆς ἀλγηδόνος (ιο) πρὸς ἑαυτὴν ἀφελκούσης. Ὧς εῐ τις δλος διʼ ὅλων ἀποσαρκωθείη τῇ διανοίᾳ. πᾶσαν ψυχῆς κίνησεν τε καὶ ἐνέργειαν ἐν τοῖς θελήμασι τῆς σαρκὸς ἀσχολῶν, ὁ τοιοῦτος οὐδὲ τῆς σαρκὸς ἔξω γενόμενος τῶν κατʼ αὐτὴν παθημάτων χωρίζεται, καθάπερ (ιε) οῖ Β ἐπὶ πλέον ἐνδιατρίψαντες τοῖς δυσωδεστέροις τῶν τόπων, οὐδὲ εἰ πρὸς τὸν εὔπνουν ἀέρα μετέλθοιεν καθαρεύουσι τῆς ἀηδείας, ῆν διὰ τῆς χρονιωτέρας έν αὐτῇ διαγωγῆς ἀναμίξαντο ο οὕτως οὐδὲ πρὸς τὸν ἀηδῆ καὶ ἄβλεπτον βίον τῆς μεταβολῆς γενομένης, δυνατὸν ἂν εἴη τοὺς φιλοσάρκους μὴ ἁφέλκεσθαί τι πάντως τῆς σαρκικῆς δυσωδίας, διʼ ὧν πλέον αὐτοῖς ἡ ὀδύνη βαρύνεται, ὑλωδεστέρας ὲκ τοιαύτης περιστάσεως τῆς ψυχῆς γινομένης. Δοκεῖ δέ πως πρὸς τοιαύτην ὑπόληψιν συνᾴδειν δ παρά τινων λέγεται, πολλάκις δρᾶσθαι τάς περὶ τῶν σωμάτων θέσεις, σκιοειδῆ τινα τῶν κατοιχομένων φαντάσματα. El γὰρ τοῖόν τι γίνεται, οὕτως ἐλέγχεται τῆς ψυχῆς ἡ πέρα τοῦ δέοντος γινομένη νῦν πρὸς τὸν σαρκώδη βίον προσπάθεια, ὡς μηδὲ ὲξωσθεῖσαν τῆς σαρκὸς καθαρῶς αὐτὴν ἐθέλειν ἀφίπτασθαι, μηδὲ συγχωρεῖν τὴν παντελῆ γίνεσθαι πρὸς τὸ ἀειδὲς τοῦ σχήματος μεταποίησιν, ἀλλά παραμένειν ἔτι τῷ εῖδει μετά τὸ λυθῆναι τὺ εἶδος, καὶ ἔξω γενομένην ῆδη τούτου πόθῳ τοῖς τῆς ὖλης ὲπιπλανᾶσθαι τόποις, καὶ περὶ αὐτοὺς ἀναστρέφεσθαι. Γ. Ἐγὼ δὲ μικρὸν ἐπισχὼν καὶ ἀναλαβὼν τὴν τῶν εἰρημένων διάνοιαν, Δοκεῖ μοι, εἷπον, τοῖς περὶ παθῶν προεξητασμένοις ἀνακύπτειν ἐκ τῶν εἰρημένων τις ἐναντίωσις. Et γὰρ ἐκ τῆς πρὸς τά ἄλογα συγγενείας ἐνομίσθη τὰ τοιαῦτα τῆς ψυχῆς ὲν ἡμῖν ἐνεργεῖσθαι κινήματα, ὅσα προσλαβὼν ὁ λόγος ἀπηριθμήσατο, θυμόν τε καὶ φόβον, καὶ ἡδονὴν καὶ

### English translation (Claude)

“… from these stories,” she said, “we think the Lord teaches this: that those who live in the flesh must as far as possible, through the life of virtue, be separated and released in some way from attachment to it, so that after death we may not need another death to cleanse away the remnants of the fleshly glue, but, the bonds as it were having been broken from round the soul, its course to the good may be light and free, no bodily pain dragging it back to itself. But if someone has become wholly and entirely fleshly in mind, occupying every movement and activity of the soul with the wills of the flesh, such a one, even when he has come outside the flesh, is not separated from its passions; as those who have stayed long in foul-smelling places are not free of the unpleasantness they have taken in through their long stay, even if they move to fresh air; so too, when the change to the unpleasant and invisible life comes about, it would not be possible for lovers of the flesh not to draw with them something of the fleshly foulness, by which their pain is made heavier, the soul having become more material from such a circumstance. And what some say seems somehow to agree with such a supposition, that shadowy phantoms of the departed are often seen about the places where bodies lie. For if anything of the kind happens, the soul’s excessive attachment now to the life of the flesh is thereby shown: even when thrust out of the flesh it does not wish to fly away cleanly, nor allow its complete change into the formless, but still remains with the form after the form has been dissolved, and, though already outside it, wanders out of longing about the places of matter and lingers around them.” Gregory: Pausing a little and taking up the sense of what had been said, I said: “It seems to me that a contradiction arises from what has been said with what was examined earlier about the passions. For if such movements of the soul were thought to work in us from kinship with the irrational creatures, the ones the argument listed, anger and fear and pleasure and …”

### Translation notes

- Lines are lost in the scan before this unit, including a question by Gregory; the unit begins mid-sentence (marked …). “Another death to cleanse away the remnants” refers to purification after death, which Macrina develops later in the dialogue; translated exactly as written.

### Citation (SBL)

Gregory of Nyssa, An. et res. 87 (PG 46:88a–88b; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/gregory-nyssa-anima-resurrectione/63/#p-87).

## On the Soul and the Resurrection, Migne page 89

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/gregory-nyssa-anima-resurrectione/89/#p-89
- Source: PG 46:89a–89d
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: Gregory objects that if desire is removed by purification the soul can no longer long for God; Macrina answers that the purified soul’s contemplative power is drawn by the beautiful itself, and so is united with God.

### Greek text

ἐπιθυμίαν. καὶ τὰ τοιαῦτα · εἴρηται δὲ τὴν μὲν άγαο Α Θὴντῶν τοιούτων χρῆσιν apale," εἶναι, διὰ δὲ τῆς ἐσφαλμὲνης τὴν κακίαν γίνεσθαι· προσέθηκε. διὸ λογος ἑκάστου τε τῶν ἄλλων τὴν πρὸς τὸν κατʼ ἀρετὴν βίον συνεισφορὰν, ὅτι διʼ ἐπιθυμίαν rrvpberbv Θεὸν άναγὸμεθα, οἷόν τινα σειρὰν κάτωθεν πρὸς αὐτὸν ἁνελκόμενοι, δοκεῖ πως, ἔφην, ἐναντιοῦσθαι πρὸς τὸν σκοπὸν ὁ λόγος. - M. Πῶς τοῦτον λέγειςς φησίν. - Γ. ’Ὁτι τοι, εἷπον, τῆς ἅλόγου πάσης κινήσεως μετὰ τὴν κάθαρσιν ὲν ἡμῖν ἀποσβεσθείσης, ωδε τὸ ἐπιθυμητικὸν πάντως ἔσται τούτου δὲ μὴ ὄντος οὐδʼ ἂν ἡ τοῦ κρείττονος ἔφεσις εἴη, μηδενὸς ὑπολειφθέντος τῇ ψυχῇ τοιούτου κινήμαυ τος. τοῦ πρὸς τὴν ὄρεξιν τῶν ἀγαθῶν ἐπεγείρονto;.—M. Ἂλλὰ πρὸς τοῦτο, φησὶν, ἐκεῖνό φαμεν, ὅτι τὸ θεωρητικόν τε καὶ διακριτικὸν ἴδιόν ἐστι τοῦ θεοειδοῦς τῆς ψυχῆς, ἐπεὶ καὶ τὸ Θεῖον ὲν τούτοις καταλαμβάνομεν. Εἰ τοίνυν εἴτε ἐκ τῆς νῦν ἐπιμελείας, εἴτε ἐκ τῆς μετὰ ταῦτα καθάρσεως ἐλευθέρα γένοιτο ἡμῖν ἡ ψυχὴ τῆς πρὸς τὰ ἄλογα τῶν παθῶν συμφυΐας, οὐδὲν πρὸς τὴν τοῦ καλοῦ θεωρίαν ὲναποδισθήσεται. Τ δ γὰρ καλὸν ἐλκτικόν πως κατὰ τὴν ἑαυτοῦ φύσιν παντὸς τοῦ πρὸς ἐκεῖνο βλέποντος. ΕΞ οὖν πάσης κακίας ἡ ψυχὴ καθαρεύσειεν, ὲν τῷ καλῷ πάντως ἔσται. Καλὸν δὲ τῇ ἑαυτοῦ φύσει τδ Θεῖον πρὸς ὃ διὰ τῆς καθαρότητος τὴν συνάφειαν ἔξει τῷ οίκείῳ συναπτομένη.

### English translation (Claude)

“… desire and the like, and it was said that the good use of these is a virtue and that vice arises through their mistaken use; and the argument added the contribution of each of the others to the life of virtue, that through desire we are led up to God, drawn up to him from below as by a kind of chain; the argument seems somehow,” I said, “to go against its aim.” Macrina: “How do you mean?” she said. Gregory: “Because,” I said, “when every irrational movement in us has been quenched after the purification, the desiring part too will certainly not exist; and if this does not exist, neither would there be any longing for the better, no such movement being left in the soul to rouse it to the appetite for good things.” Macrina: “But to this,” she said, “we say that the contemplative and discerning power is proper to the godlike part of the soul, since we grasp the divine too in these. If, then, either by care now or by purification afterward, our soul becomes free from its union with the irrational passions, it will be hindered in nothing toward the contemplation of the beautiful. For the beautiful by its own nature somehow draws everyone who looks toward it. If, then, the soul is purified of all vice, it will certainly be in the beautiful. And the divine is beautiful by its own nature, to which the soul will have union through purity, joined to what is akin to it …”

### Translation notes

- “Either by care now or by purification afterward” refers again to purification after death.

### Citation (SBL)

Gregory of Nyssa, An. et res. 89 (PG 46:89a–89d; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/gregory-nyssa-anima-resurrectione/89/#p-89).

## On the Soul and the Resurrection, Migne page 91

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/gregory-nyssa-anima-resurrectione/89/#p-91
- Source: PG 46:92a–92d
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: Macrina contrasts human life, always moving between hope and memory and driven by desire for what it lacks, with the divine nature, which lacks nothing because it is itself the fullness of good.

### Greek text

σθαί πως τὴν ἡμετέραν ζωὴν τὴν ὑπερκειμένην οὐσίαν. Ἣ γὰρ ὑπεράνω παντὸς νοήματος φύσις πὸρῤω τῶν ὲν ἡμῖν θεωρουμένων ἀφιδρυμένη, ἄλλῳ τινὶ τρόπῳ τὴν ἰδίαν ὲξοδεύει ζωὴν, καὶ οὐ καθὼς ἡμεῖς νῦν ὲν τῷ ζῇν ἐσμεν. ’Ἄνθρωποι μὲν γὰρ, · διὰ τὸ del πάντως ὲν κινήσει τὴν φύσιν εἶναι, καθάπερ ἂν ἡ ὁρμὴ τῆς προαιρέσεως γένηται, κατʼ ἐκεῖνο φερόμεθα, οὐχ ὁμοίως τῆς ψυχῆς κατά τὸ ἔμπροσθεν αὐτῆς, ὡς ἂν εἴποι τις, καὶ τὺ ὀπίσω διακειμένης. Ἐλπὶς μὲν γάρ καθηγεῖται τῆς ἐπὶ τὸ πρόσω κινήσεως, μνήμη δὲ δέχεται πρὸς τὴν ἐλπίδα προϊοῦσαν τὴν κίνησινο ἀλλʼ εἰ μὲν προς τὸ φύσει καλὸν ἡ ἐλπὶς τὴν ψυχὴν ἄγοι, φαιδρὸν ἑνσημαίνεται τῇ μνήμῃ τὸ ἰχνος ἡ τῆς προαιρέσεως κίνησις ο εἰ δὲ διαψευσθείη τοῦ κρείττονος, εἰδώλῳ τινὶ- καλοῦ, παρασοφισαμένηξ τὴν ψυχὴν die ἐλπίδος, ἡ ὲπακολουθοῦσα τοῖς γινομένοις μνήμη αἰσχύνη γίνεται. Kal ὲμφύλως οὗτος ὁ πόλει μος ὲν τῇ ψυχῇ συνίσταται, μαχομένης τῇ ἐλπίδι τῆς μνήμης. ὡς κακῷς καθηγησαμένης τῆς προαιρέσεως, Τοιοῦτον γάρ τινα νοῦν ἑρμηνεύει σαφῶς τὸ κατʼ αἰσχύνην πάθος, ὅταν δάκνηται πρὸς τὸ ἀποβὰν ἡ ψυχὴ, οἷόν τινι μάστιγι τῇ μεταμελείᾳ καθαπτομένη τῆς ἀδουλήτου ὁρμῆς, καὶ εἰς συμμαχίαν κατὰ τοῦ λυποῦντος ἐφελκομένη τὴν λήθην. Ἀλλʼ ἡμῖν μὲν, διὰ τὸ πτωχὴν εἶναι τοῦ κιλοῦ, ὴ φύσις ἀεὶ πρὸς τὸ ἐνδέον ἵεται, καὶ ἡ τοῦ λείποντος ἔφεσις αὕτη ἐστὶν ή ὲπιθυμητική τῆς φύσεως ἡμῶν διάθεσις, ἦτοι σφαλλομένη διʼ ἀκρισίαν τοῦ ὄντος καλοῦ, ἢ καὶ τυγχάνουσα οὗ τυχεῖν ἀγαθόν. Ἦ δὲ ὑπερέχουσα πᾶσαν ἀγαθὴν ἔννοιαν φύσις, καὶ πάσης ὑπερκειμένη δυνάμεως, ἆτε μηδενὸς ὲνδεῶςʼἐχουσα τῶν πρὸς τὺ ἀγαθὸν νοουμένων, αὕτη τῶν ἀγαθῶν οὖσα τὸ πλήρωμα, οὐδὲ κατά μετοχὴν

### English translation (Claude)

“… our life … the transcendent substance. For the nature that is above all thought, set far from what is seen in us, passes its own life in another way, and not as we now are in our living. For human beings, because our nature is always in motion, are carried in whatever direction the impulse of choice goes, the soul not being disposed in the same way, as one might say, toward what is in front of it and what is behind. For hope leads the movement forward, while memory receives the movement as it advances toward hope; and if hope leads the soul to what is beautiful by nature, the movement of choice leaves a bright track on the memory; but if it is cheated of the better, hope having deceived the soul by some image of the beautiful, the memory that follows on what happened becomes shame. And so this civil war arises in the soul, memory fighting against hope as having led choice badly. For the passion of shame clearly expresses some such meaning, when the soul is stung at what has resulted, lashing the unwanted impulse with repentance as with a whip and calling in forgetfulness as an ally against what pains it. But our nature, because it is poor in the good, always strives toward what is lacking; and this longing for what is lacking is the desiring disposition of our nature, either mistaken through lack of judgment about the true good or obtaining what it is good to obtain. But the nature that surpasses every thought of good and transcends every power, lacking nothing of what is conceived as good, being itself the fullness of goods, … not by sharing in …”

### Translation notes

- The beginning of the unit is lost at a page edge. A marginal note (scholion) and lines of the critical apparatus leaked into the digital text at the end of this unit and are removed (logged); the last words before them run on into the next unit.

### Citation (SBL)

Gregory of Nyssa, An. et res. 91 (PG 46:92a–92d; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/gregory-nyssa-anima-resurrectione/89/#p-91).

## On the Soul and the Resurrection, Migne page 93

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/gregory-nyssa-anima-resurrectione/89/#p-93
- Source: PG 46:93a–93b
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: God, being the good itself, needs neither hope nor memory and has nothing outside him but evil, which is non-being; the purified soul, freed from desire, keeps only love and is united with God, being formed ever anew by what it finds.

### Greek text

καλοῦ τινος ἐν τῷ καλῷ κινουμένη, ἀλλʼ αὕτη οὖσα ἡ τοῦ καλοῦ φύσις, ὅ τί ποτε καὶ εἶναι τὸ καλὸν 6 νοῦς ὑποτίθεται, οὔτε τὴν ἐλπιστικὴν κίνησιν ἐν ἑαυτῇ δέχεται. Πρὸς γὰρ τὸ μὴ παρὸν ή ἐλπὶς ὲνήργηται μόνον. Ὅ δὲʼ ἔχει τις, τί καὶ hilariter; φησὶν ὁ Ἀπόστολος. Οῠτε εῆς μνημονευτικῆς ἐνεργείας πρὸς τὴν τῶν ὄντων ἐπιστήμην ἐπιδεής ἐστι· τὺ γὰρ βλεπόμενον τοῦ μνημονευθῆναι οὐκ ἐπιδέεται. Ἐπεὶ δὲ οὗν παντὸς ἀγαθοῦ ἐπέκεινα ή θεία φύσις, τὸ δὲ ἀγαθὸν ἀγαθοῦ φίλον πάντως, διὰ τοῦτο ἐν ἑαυτῇ βλέπουσα, καὶ ὃ ἔχει θέλει, καὶ ὃ θέλει ἔχει, οὐδὲν τῶν ἔξωθεν είς ἑαυτὴν δεχομένη, ἔξω δὲ una"); οὐδὲν, ὅτι μὴ ἡ κακία μόνη, ἥτις, εί κᾶν παράδοξον εἰπεῖν, ἐν τῷ μὴ εἶναι τὸ εἶναι ἔχειʼ οὐ γὰρ ἀλλη τίς ἐστι καὶ κακίας γένεσις, εί μὴ τοῦ ὄντος στέρησις. Τὸ δὲ κυρίως δν ἡ τοῦ ἀγαθοῦ φύσις ἐστίν. '0 οὖν ἐν τῷ ὄντι οὐκ ἐστιν, ἐν τῷ μὴ εἶναι πάντως ἐστίν. Ἐπειδὰν οὖν καὶ ἡ ψυχὴ πάντα τὰ ποικίλα τῆς φύσεως ἀποσκευασαμένη κινήματα θεοειδὴς γίνεται, καὶ ὑπερδᾶσα τὴν ἐπιθυμίαν ἐν ἐκείνῳ ᾖ, πρὸς ὃ ὑπὸ τῆς ἐπιθυμίας τέως ὑπῄρετο, οὐκέτι τινὰ, σχολὴν δίδωσιν ἐν ἑαυτῇ, οὗτε τῇ ἐλπίδι, οὔτε τῇ μνήμῃ, τὸ γὰρ ἐλπιζόμενον ἔχει· ἠ δὲ (β) περὶ τὴν ἀπόλαυσιν τῶν ἀγαθῶν ἀσχολία τὴν μνήμην ἐκκρούει τῆς διανοίας· καὶ οὕτω τὴν ὑπερέχουσαν μιμεῖται ζωὴν τοῖς ίδιὼμασι τῆς θείας φύσεως ἐμμορφωθεῖσα, ὡς μηδὲν ὑπολειφθῆναι τῶν ἄλλων αὐτῇ, πλὴν τῆς ἀγαπητικῆς διαθέσεως, φυσικῶς τῷ καλῷ τέροσφυομένης. Τοῦτο γάρ ἐστιν ἡ ἀγάπη, ἡ πρὸς τὸ καταθύμιον ἐνδιάθετος σχέσις. Ὅταν οὖν ἡ ἁπλῆ καὶ μονοειδὴς καὶ ἀκριβῶς θεοείκελος ἡ ψυχὴ γινομένη εὕροιτο ἀληθῶς ἁπλοῦν τε καὶ ἄῦλον ἀγαθὸν, ἐκεῖνο τὸ μόνον τοιόν τι ἀγαπητὸν καὶ ἐράσμιον προσφύεται τε αὐτῷ καὶ συνανακιρνᾶται διὰ τῆς ἀγαητῆς κινήσεώς τε καὶ ἐνεργείας, πρὸς τὸ ἀεὶ καταλαμβανόμενόν τε καὶ εὑρισκόμενον ἑαυτὴν μορφοῦσα· καὶ

### English translation (Claude)

“… of some good, moving in the good, but being itself the nature of the good, whatever the mind supposes the good to be, it does not admit in itself the movement of hope either. For hope is active only toward what is not present; ‘for what one has, why does he still hope for it?’ says the Apostle. Nor does it need the activity of memory for knowledge of things; for what is seen does not need to be remembered. Since, then, the divine nature is beyond every good, and the good is certainly dear to the good, for this reason, looking into itself, it both wills what it has and has what it wills, receiving nothing from outside into itself; and there is nothing outside it except vice alone, which, paradoxical as it is to say, has its being in not being; for there is no other origin of vice than the privation of being; and what properly is, is the nature of the good. What is not in being, then, is certainly in not being. When, then, the soul too, having put off all the varied movements of nature, becomes godlike, and, having passed beyond desire, is in that toward which it was until then lifted by desire, it no longer gives any room in itself either to hope or to memory: for it has what it hoped for, and its occupation with the enjoyment of good things drives memory out of the mind. And so it imitates the transcendent life, being formed by the properties of the divine nature, so that nothing else is left to it but the disposition of love, which naturally grows to the beautiful. For this is love: the inward attachment to what pleases the heart. When, then, the soul, having become simple and uniform and exactly godlike, finds the truly simple and immaterial good, the only thing that is truly lovable and desirable, it grows to it and is blended with it through the movement and activity of love, forming itself to what is always being grasped and found; and …”

### Scripture references

- Rom 8:24: quotation, high confidence

### Translation notes

- References: Rom 8:24. Evil as privation of being (στέρησις τοῦ ὄντος) is a common patristic doctrine. Lines of the critical apparatus leaked into the digital text at the end of this unit and are removed (logged).

### Citation (SBL)

Gregory of Nyssa, An. et res. 93 (PG 46:93a–93b; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/gregory-nyssa-anima-resurrectione/89/#p-93).

## On the Soul and the Resurrection, Migne page 95

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/gregory-nyssa-anima-resurrectione/89/#p-95
- Source: PG 46:96a–96d
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: The purified soul, lacking nothing, has no further need of desire, hope, or faith; only love remains, as Paul says, and love is the very life of God, who never tires of the beautiful.

### Greek text

τοῦτο γινομένη διά τῆς τοῦ ἀγαθοῦ ὁμοιότητος, ὅπερ ἠ τοῦ μετεχομένου φύσις ἐστὶν, ἐπιθυμίας ἐν ἐκείνῳ μὴ οὔσης διά τὸ μηδέ τινος τῶν ἀγαθῶν εν. δειαν ἐν αύτῷ εἶναι, ἀκόλουθον ἀν ετη καὶ τὴν ψυχὴν ἐν τῷ ἀνενδεεῖ γινομένην ἐκβάλλειν ἀφʼ ἑαυτῆς καὶ τὴν ἐπιθυμητικὴν κίνησίν τε καὶ διάθεσιν. ἡ (id) τότε γίνεται μόνον, ὅταν μὴ παρῇ τὸ ποθούμενον. Τοῦ δὲ τοῦ τοιούτου δόγματος καὶ ὁ θεῖος ’Λπόστολος ἡμῖν καθηγήσατο, πάντων τῶν νῦν ὲν ἡμῖν καὶ ἐπὶ τῷ κρείττονι σπουδαζομένων παῦλάν τινα καὶ καταστολὴν προαγγεῖλας, μόνης δὲ τῆς ἀγάπης ούχ εὑρὼν τὸν ὅρον. Προφητεῖαι γάρ, φησὶ, κατ· αργηθήσονται, καὶ γνώσεις παύσονταιο ἡ δὲ ἀγάπη οὐδέ ποτε πίπτει· ὅπερ ἴσον ἐστί τῷ ἀεὶ ὡσαύτως ἔχειν· ἀλλά καὶ πίστιν καὶ ἐλπίδα συμπαραμεμενηκέναι τῇ ἀγάπῃ λέγων, πάλιν καὶ τούτων αὐτὴν ὑπερτίθησιν εἰκότως. Ἦ γάρ ἐλπὶς μέχρι ἐκείνου κινεῖται, ἕως ἂν μὴ παρείη τῶν ἐλπιζομένων ἀπόλαυσις, καὶ ἠ πίστις ὡσαύτως ἔρεισμα τῆς τῶν ἐλπιζομένων ἀδηλίας γίνεται. Οὕτω γὰρ αὐτὴν καὶ ὡρίσατο λέγων· Ἔστι δὲ πίστις ἐλπιζό μένων ὑπόστασις. Ἐπειδὰν δὲ ἔλθῃ τὸ ἐλπιζόμενον, τῶν ἀλλων εύτηρεμόντων πάντων, ή κατά τὴν ἀγάπην ἐνέργεια μένει, τὸ διαδεχόμενον αὐτὴν οὐχ εὑρίσκουσαν. Διδ κα) προτερεύει τῶν τε κατʼ ἀρετὴν κατορθουμένων ἁπάντων, καὶ τῶν τοῦ νόμου παραγγελμάτων. Εἰ οὗν ἐπὶ τοῦτο ποτε τὸ τέλος φθάσειεν ή ψυχὴ, ἀνενδεῶς ἔξει τῶν ἄλλων, ἅτε δὴ τοῦ πληρώματος περιδεδραγμένη τῶν δντων, καὶ δοκεῖ μάνη πως αὐτῆς τῆς θείας μακαριάο τητος ἐν αὐτῇ σώζειν τὸν χαρακτῆρα.Ἦ τε γὰρ ζωὴ τῆς ἀνω φύσεως ἀγάπη ἐστὶν, ἐπειδὴ τὺ καλὸν ἀγαπητὸν πάντως ἐστὶ τοῖς γινώσκουσι· γι· νώσκει δέ αὐτὸ τὸ Θεῖον· ἡ δὲ γνῶσις ἀγάπη γε· νεται. Διὸ τὸ καλόν ἐστι τῇ φύσει τὸ γινωσκόο μενον, τοῦ δέ ἀληθῶς καλοῦ ό ὑβριστὴς οὺ προσάπτεται κόρος (ὅθʼ κόρου δέ τὴν ἀγαπητικὴν πρὸς τὸ καλὸν σχέσιν οὐ διακόπτοντος, ἀεὶ ἡ θεία ζωὴ διʼ ἀγάπης ἐνεργηθήσεται, ἡ καλή τε κατά φύσιν

### English translation (Claude)

“… becoming through likeness to the good that which the nature of what it shares in is. And since there is no desire in that nature, because there is no lack of any good in it, it would follow that the soul too, when it comes to be in what lacks nothing, casts out from itself the movement and disposition of desire, which arises only when what is longed for is not present. The divine Apostle too has led us to such a doctrine, foretelling a cessation and end of all the things we now pursue, even for the better, and finding no limit for love alone. ‘For prophecies,’ he says, ‘will be done away, and knowledge will cease; but love never fails,’ which is the same as always remaining the same. And though he says that faith and hope have remained along with love, again he rightly sets love above them too. For hope is active only until the enjoyment of what is hoped for is present; and faith likewise becomes a support in the uncertainty of what is hoped for; for so he defined it, saying, ‘Faith is the substance of things hoped for.’ But when what is hoped for comes, while all the rest come to rest, the activity of love remains, finding nothing to succeed it. That is why it takes precedence over all achievements of virtue and all the precepts of the law. If, then, the soul ever reaches this end, it will lack nothing else, since it has grasped the fullness of existing things, and it alone seems in some way to preserve in itself the stamp of the divine blessedness. For the life of the higher nature is love, since the beautiful is certainly lovable to those who know it; and the divine knows it; and knowledge becomes love. Therefore what is known is the beautiful by nature, and no insolent satiety touches the truly beautiful; and since satiety does not cut off the loving relation to the beautiful, the divine life will always be active through love, being beautiful by nature …”

### Scripture references

- 1 Cor 13:8: quotation, high confidence
- 1 Cor 13:13: allusion, high confidence
- Heb 11:1: quotation, high confidence
- Rom 13:10: echo, low confidence

### Translation notes

- References: 1 Cor 13:8, 13; Heb 11:1; Rom 13:10.

### Citation (SBL)

Gregory of Nyssa, An. et res. 95 (PG 46:96a–96d; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/gregory-nyssa-anima-resurrectione/89/#p-95).

## On the Soul and the Resurrection, Migne page 97

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/gregory-nyssa-anima-resurrectione/89/#p-97
- Source: PG 46:97a–97c
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: Since the good is limitless, love has no end; God draws every soul, as his own, to himself; souls nailed to material things suffer as they are pulled free, like bodies dragged from earthquake ruins, but this pain is not God’s revenge, only the cost of being drawn to good.

### Greek text

ἔστι, καὶ ἁγαπητικῶς πρὸς τὸ καλὸν ὲκ φύσεως ἔχει, κα). ὅρον τῆς κατὰ τὴν,ἀγάπην ἐνεργείας οὐκ εχει, ἐπειδὴ οὐδὲ τοῦ καλοῦ τι πέρας καταλαμβάνεται, ὼς συναπολὴγειν τῷ πέρατι τοῦ καλοῦ τὴν ἀγάπην ο μόνῳ γὰρ τῷ ἐναντίῳ τὸ καλὸν περαιτιοῦται · οὗ δὲ ὴ φύσις άνεπίδεκτός ἐστι τοῦ χείρονος, πρὸς τὸ ἀπέραντόν τε καὶ ἀόριστον τὸ thraθὺν προελεύσεται. Ἐπεὶ οὖν ἑλκτικὴ τῶν οἰκείων πᾶσα φύσις ἐστὶν, οἰκεῖον δέ πως τῷ Θεῷ τὸ ἀνθρώπινον, ἅτε δὴ φέρον ὲν ἑαυτῷ τοῦ ἀρχετύπου μιμήματα, ἕλκεται κατὰ πᾶσαν ἀνάγκην πρὸς τὸ θεῖόν τε καὶ συγγενὲς ἡ ψυχή. Δεῖ γὰρ πάντη καὶ πάντως τῷ Θεῷ ἀποσω- θῆναι τὺ ῐδιοψ ἀλλʼ εί μὲν κούφη καὶ ἀπέριττός τύχῃ, μηδεμιᾶς σωματικῆς ἀχθηδόνος αὐτὴν πιεζούσης, ἡδεῖα καὶ εύκολος αὐτῇ ἡ πρὸς τὸν ἐπισπώμενον προσχώρησις γίνεται. Et δὲ τοῖς τῆς προπαθείας ἥλοις είς τὴν πρὸς τὰ ὑλώδη σχέσιν καταπαρῇ, οἷόν τινα πάσχειν εἰκὸς ὲν τοῖς συμπτώμασι τῶν σεισμῶν, τὰ ὲμπιεσθέντα τοῖς χώμασι σώματαο προκείσθω δὲ καθʼ ὑπόθεσιν τὸ μὴ βεβαρῆσθαι μόνον αὐτὰ τοῖς συμπτώμασιν, ἀλλὰ καὶ διαπεπερονῆσθαί τισιν ὀβελοῖς ἢ ξύλοις τοῖς ἐνευρεθεῖσι τῷ χώματι ° ὅπερ οὖν εἰκὸς ὑπομεῖναι τὰ οὕτω διακείμενα σώματα, παρὰ τῶν οἰκείων τῆς συμπτώσεως ὁσίας ἕνεκεν ἐξελκόμενα· ξανθήσεται γὰρ πάντως, καὶ σπαραχθήσεται, ’ κα) πᾶν ὁτιοῦν τῶν χαλεπωτάτων πείσεται, τοῦ χὼματος αὐτὰ καὶ τῶν ἥλων διὰ τὴν τῶν ἐφελκομένων βίαν καταξαινόντων τοιοῦτόν τί μοι δοκεῖ καὶ περὶ τὴν ψυχὴν γίνεσθαι πάθος, ὅταγ ἠ θεία ᾃύναμις ὑπὸ φιλανθρωπίας ὲκ τῶν ἀλόγων τε καὶ ὑλικῶν συμπτωμάτων ἐφέλκηται τὸ ἴδιον. oo γὰρ μισῶν οὐδʼ ἀμυνόμενος ἐπ). τῇ κακῇ ζωῇ, κατά γε τὸν ὲμὸν λόγον, ἐπάγει τοῖς ἑξημαρτηκὸσι τὰς όδυνηρὰς διαθέσεις ό Θεὸς, ό ἀντιποιούμενός τε καὶ πρὸς ἑαυτὸν ἕλκων πᾶν ὅτιπερ αὐτοῦ χάριν ἦλθεν είς γένεσιν · ἀλλʼ ὁ μὲν ἐπὶ τῷ κρείττονι σκοπῷ πρὸς ἑαυτὺν, ὃς ἐστι πηγὴ πάσης μακαριότητος, ἐπισπᾶται τὴν ψυχήν ὲπισυμβαίνει δὲ κατʼ ἀνάγκην ἡ ἀλγεινὴ διάθεσις τῷ ἑλκομένῳ.

### English translation (Claude)

“… is, and has by nature a loving relation to the beautiful, and has no limit to the activity of love, since no limit of the beautiful is found such that love should end with the end of the beautiful; for the beautiful is limited only by its opposite; and where the nature does not admit the worse, the good will advance to the unlimited and boundless. Since, then, every nature draws to itself what is akin to it, and the human is in some way akin to God, as bearing in itself imitations of the archetype, the soul is by every necessity drawn to the divine and akin. For what is God’s own must in every way and altogether be saved for God. But if the soul happens to be light and unencumbered, no bodily burden weighing it down, its approach to the one who draws it is pleasant and easy. But if it has been nailed by the nails of attachment to its relation with material things, it suffers something like what bodies buried in the debris of earthquakes are likely to suffer; and let it be supposed that they are not only weighed down by the fallen ruins but also pierced by stakes or pieces of wood found in the debris. What such bodies are likely to undergo when they are pulled out by their relatives for the sake of burial (for they will certainly be torn and lacerated and suffer every kind of the harshest pain, the debris and the nails tearing them because of the force of those who pull), something of that kind, it seems to me, happens to the soul too, when the divine power, out of love for mankind, draws its own out of the irrational and material ruins. For it is not in hatred, nor in revenge for an evil life, at least in my account, that God brings painful conditions on those who have sinned, he who claims and draws to himself everything that came into being for his sake; rather, he draws the soul to himself, the fountain of all blessedness, for a better purpose, and the painful condition necessarily follows for the one who is drawn.”

### Translation notes

- Lines of the critical apparatus leaked into the digital text at the end of this unit and are removed (logged). Macrina’s teaching that God draws every soul to himself and that the pain of the wicked is remedial, not vindictive, is translated exactly as written.

### Citation (SBL)

Gregory of Nyssa, An. et res. 97 (PG 46:97a–97c; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/gregory-nyssa-anima-resurrectione/89/#p-97).

## On the Soul and the Resurrection, Migne page 99

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/gregory-nyssa-anima-resurrectione/89/#p-99
- Source: PG 46:100a–100b
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: Like gold refined by fire, or a clay-coated rope pulled through a narrow hole, the soul suffers while its vice is burned or scraped away; God’s judgment aims only at good, and the pain is proportioned to the amount of vice.

### Greek text

Καὶ ὥσπερ τὴν ὲμμιχθεῖσαν τῷ χρυσίῳ ὓλην οἱ διά πυρὸς ἐκκαθαροῦντες οὑ μόνον τὺ νόθον τῷ πυρὶ τήκουσιν, ἀλλά κατά πᾶσαν ἀνάγκην καὶ τὸ καθαρὸν τῷ κιβδήλῳ συγκατατήκεται, κάκείνου δὲ δαπανωμένου τοῦτο μένει · οὕτω καὶ τῆς κακίας τῷ ἀκοιμήτῳ πυρὶ δαπανωμένης, ἀνάγκη πᾶσα καὶ τὴν ἑνωθείσαν αὐτῇ ψυχὴν ὲν τῷ πυρὶ εἶναι, ὡς ἂν τὸ κατεσπαρμένον νόθον καὶ ὑλῶδες, καὶ κίβδηλον ἀπαναλωθῇ τῷ αἰωνίῳ πυρὶ δαπανῶμενον. Καὶ καθάπερ εί τινι σχοινίῳ πηλὸς τῶν κολλωδεστέρων διά βάθους περιπλασθείη, εἶτα διά τινος λεπτοῦ χωρήματος ἡ ἀρχὴ διεξαχθείη τῆς σχοίνου, καὶ βιαίως τις ἐπὶ τά ἐντὸς ὲκ τοῦ ἄκρου τὴν σχοῖνον ἐφέλκοιτο, ἀνάγκη πᾶσα. τὴν μὲν ἕπεσθαι τῷ ὲπισπωμένῳ, τὸν δὲ παραπλασθέντα πηλὸν ὲκ τῆς βιαίας δλκῆς ἔξω τῆςτρυμαλιᾶς μένειν τῆς σχοίνου ἀποξυόμενον, καὶ αἴτιον αὐτῇ γίνεσθαι τοῦ μὴ εὐοδοῦσθαι κατά τὴν πάροδον, ἀλλά βιαίαν ὑπομένειν ὲκ τοῦ ὲφελκομένου τὴν τάσιν· τοιοῦτόν τί μοι δοκεῖ καὶ τὸ περὶ τὴν ψυχὴν ἐννοεῖν ταῖς ὑλικαίς τε καὶ γεώδεσι προσπαθείαις ὲνειληθεῖσαν, κάμνειν καὶ διατείνεσθαι, τοῦμὲν Θεοῦ τὸ ἴδιον πρὸς ἑαυτὸν ἕλκοντος· τοῦ δʼ ἀλλοτρίου, διὰ τὸ συμφυῆναί πως αὐτῇ, βιαίως ἀποξυρομένου (βό-65), καὶ τὰς δριμείας αὐτῇ καὶ ἀνυποστάτους ἀλγηδόνας ἐπάγοντος. — Γ. Οὐκοῦν, εἶπον, οὐχ ἡ θεία κρίσις, ὡς ἔοικε, κατά τδ προηγούμενον, τοῖς ἐξημαρτηκόσιν ἐπάγει τὴν κόλασιν, ἀλλά τὸ μὲν ὡς 6 λόγος ἀπέδειξεν, ἀγαθὸν ἐνεργεῖ μόνον τοῦ κακοῦ ἀποκρίνουσα, καὶ πρὸς τὴν τῆς μακαριότητος κοινωνίανιὲπισπωμένη · ό δὲ τῆς συμφυΐας διασπασμὸς ὀδύνη τῷ ἑλκομένῳ γίνεται. — M. Οὕτω, φησὶν ἡ διδάσκαλος, καὶ 6 ὲμός ἐστι λόγος, καὶ ὅτι μέτρον τῆς ἀλγηδόνος ὴ τῆς κακίας ἐν ἑκάστῳ ποσότης ἐστίν. Οὐ γὰρ εἰκὸς ὲκ τοῦ ἴσου τὸν εἰς τοσοῦτον ὲν ἀπηγορευ μένοις γεγονότα κακοῖς, καὶ τὸν μετρίοις συνενεχθέντα πλημμελήμασιν, ἐν τῇ κρίσει τῆς μοχθηρᾶς ἕξεως ἀνιαθῆναι. Ἀλλά παρά τὸ ποσὸν τῆς ὕλης, ἢ πλεῖον ἢ ἔλαττον ἡ ὀδυνηρά ἐκείνη φλὸξ ὲξαφθήσεται, ὼς ἂν τὸ ὑποτρέφον ᾮ τοίνυν πολὺς 6 ὑλώδης ἔπεστι φόρτος, πολλὴν ἀνάγκη καὶ διαρκεστέραν ἐπʼ αὐτῷ γίνεσθαι τὴν ἀναλίσκουσαν φλόγα· ᾧ δὲ ἐπʼ ἔλαττον ἡ τοῦ πυρὸς δαπάνη ἐγκαταμέμικται, τοσοῦτον ὑποκαο ταβαίνει τῆς σφοδροτέρας τε καὶ δριμυτέρας ἐνεργείας

### English translation (Claude)

“And as those who refine gold from the matter mixed with it by fire not only melt the base metal in the fire, but the pure is necessarily melted together with the dross, and when that is consumed this remains, so too, when vice is consumed by the unsleeping fire, it is entirely necessary that the soul united with it should be in the fire too, until what was sown in it, base and material and counterfeit, has been used up, consumed by the eternal fire. And as, if clay of the stickier kind were plastered deeply around a rope, and then the end of the rope were passed through a narrow hole and someone pulled the rope violently from the end toward the inside, the rope must follow the one who pulls, while the clay plastered on it is scraped off by the violent pulling and remains outside the hole, and it becomes the cause of the rope’s not passing easily but undergoing a violent strain from the one pulling: something of this kind it seems to me we should think about the soul, entangled in material and earthy attachments, that it labours and is strained, God drawing his own to himself, while what is foreign, because it has grown together with it in some way, is violently scraped off and brings it sharp and unbearable pains.” Gregory: “Then,” I said, “it seems that the divine judgment does not primarily bring punishment on sinners, but, as the argument has shown, works only the good, separating from evil and drawing to the fellowship of blessedness; while the tearing apart of what had grown together becomes pain for the one who is drawn.” Macrina: “That is my account too,” said my teacher, “and also that the measure of the pain is the amount of vice in each. For it is not likely that one who has gone so far in forbidden evils and one who has fallen into moderate faults should be pained equally in the judgment of their wicked habit; but according to the amount of the material the painful flame will be kindled more or less, as long as there is something to feed it. One on whom a heavy material burden lies must necessarily have a great and long-lasting flame that consumes it; but for one in whom less of what fire consumes is mixed, the punishment falls short of the more violent and sharper activity …”

### Scripture references

- Mark 9:48: echo, medium confidence
- Matt 25:41: allusion, medium confidence
- Mal 3:3: echo, low confidence
- 1 Cor 3:15: echo, medium confidence

### Translation notes

- The “unsleeping” and “eternal fire” (cf. Mark 9:48; Matt 25:41) is here interpreted as purifying; this is Gregory’s teaching through Macrina, translated exactly as written. References also: Mal 3:3 and 1 Cor 3:13–15 (refining fire).

### Citation (SBL)

Gregory of Nyssa, An. et res. 99 (PG 46:100a–100b; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/gregory-nyssa-anima-resurrectione/89/#p-99).

## On the Soul and the Resurrection, Migne page 101

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/gregory-nyssa-anima-resurrectione/89/#p-101
- Source: PG 46:101a–101d
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: Evil, existing only in choice, will vanish when every choice is in God. Gregory fears long suffering; Macrina urges keeping sins few and curable, since, as the Gospel’s debtors show, each will pay in torment until all is paid, and then be free.

### Greek text

ήκόλασις, ὅσον ἠλάττωται τῷ τῆς κακίας μέτρῳ τὸ ὑπερκείμενον. Χρὴ γὰρ πάντη καὶ πάντως ἐξαιρεθῆναί ποτε τὸ κακὸν ἐκ τοῦ ὂντος, καὶ ὅπερ ἐν τοῖς φθάσασιν εἴρηται, τὸ ὄντως μὴ ὃν, μηδʼ εἶναι ὅλως. Ἐπειδὴ γάρ ἔξω τῆς προαιρέσεως ἡ κακία εἶναι φύσιν οὐκ ἔχει, ὅταν πᾶσα προαίρεσις ἐν τῷ Θεῷ γένηται, εἰς παντελῆ ἀφανισμὸν ἡ κακία μὴ χωρήσει. τῷ μηδὲν αὐτῆς ὑπολειφθῆναι δοχεῖον. Γ. Ἀλλά τί κέρδος τῆς χρηστῆς ἐλπίδος, εἶπου ἐγὼ, τῷ λογιζομένῳ ὅσον ἐστὶ κακὸν καὶ ἐνιαυσσιαίαν μόνην ὑποσχεῖν ἀλγηδόνα, εί δʼ εἰς αἰώνιόν τι διάστημα ή ἄσχετος ἐκείνη ὀδύνη παραταθείην τίς ἐκ τῆς ὕστερον ἐλπίδος ὑπολέλειπται παο ραμυθία, πρὸς ὅλον αίῶνα συνδιαμετρεῖται ἡ κόλασιςς -Μ, Ὥστε προνοητέον ἦ καθόλου τῶν τῆς κακίας μολυσμάτων φυλάξαι τὴν ψυχὴν ἀμιγῆ τε καὶ ἀκοινάωητον ἢ εἰ τοῦτο πάντη ἀμήχανον διὰ τὸ ἔμπαθες τῆς φύσεως ἡμῶν, ὡς ὅτι μάλιστα ἐν μετρίοις τισὶ καὶ εύθεραπεύτοις εἶναι τὰ τῆς ἀρετῆς ἀποτεύγματα. Οἶδε γὰρ ἡ εὐαγγελικὴ διδασκαλία καὶ μυρίων ὀφειλέτην τινὰ ταλάντων-89), καὶ πεντακοσίων δηναρίων, καὶ πεντήκοντα, καὶ κοδράντου τινὸς, ὅπερ τὸ ἔσχατόν ἐστιν ἐν νομίσμασι τὴν δὲ τοῦ Θεοῦ δικαίαν κρίσιν διὰ πάντων διεξιέναι, καὶ τῷ βάρει τοῦ ὀφλήματος συνεπιτείνουσαν τὴν ἀνάγκην τῆς ἀπαιτήσεως. καὶ οὐδὲ τῶν σμικροτάτων ὑπερορῶσαν. Τὴν δὲ ἀπόδοσιν τῶν ὀφλημάτων τὸ Εὑαγγέλιον εἶπεν οὐκ ἐκ χρημάτων διαλύσεως γίνεσθαι, ἀλλά παραδίδοσθαι τοῖς βασανισταῖς τὸν ὑπόχρεων, ἕως ἂν, φησὶν, ἀποδῷ πᾶν τὸ ὀφειλόμενον · ὅπερ οὐδὲν ἕτερόν ἐστιν, ἢ διὰ τῆς βασάνου τὴν ἀναγκαίαν ὀφειλὴν ἀποτίσαι, τὸ ὄφλημα τῆς τῶν λυπηρῶν μετουσίας, ὧν παρά τὸν βίον ὑπόχρεως ἐγένετο, ἀμιγῆ τε καὶ ἄκρατον τοῦ ἐναντίου τὴν ἡδονὴν ὑπὸ ἀβουλίας ἐλόμενος, καὶ οὕτως, ἅπαν ἀποθέμενος τὺ ἀλλότριον ἑαυτοῦ, ὅπερ ἐστὶν ἡ ἁμαρτία, καὶ τὴν ἐκ τῶν ὀφλημάτων αἰσχύνην ἀποδυσάμενος, ἐν ἐλευθερίᾳ τε καὶ παρῤησίᾳ γένηται. Ἦ δʼ ἐλευθερία ἐστὶν ἡ πρὸς τὸ ἀδέσποτόν τε καὶ αὐτοκρατὲς ἐξομοίωσις, ἡ κατʼ ἀρχὰς μὲν ἡμῖν παρὰ Θεοῦ δεδωρη μένη, συγκαλυφθείσα τῇτῶν ὀφλημάτων αἰσχύvn. Πᾶσα δʼ ἐλευθερία μία τίς ἐστι τῇ φύσει καὶ πρὸς ἑαυτὴν οἰκείως ἔχει. Ἀκολούθως οῦν πᾶν τὸ ἐλεύθερον τῷ ὁμοίῳ συναρμοσθήσεται · ἀρετὴ δὲ ἀδέσποἀδέσποτον

### English translation (Claude)

“… of the punishment, as much as what lies upon it is lessened in the measure of vice. For evil must in every way and altogether one day be removed from existence, and, as was said before, what truly is not must not exist at all. For since vice cannot exist outside choice, when every choice comes to be in God, vice will pass into complete disappearance, no receptacle of it being left.” Gregory: “But what gain is there in this good hope,” I said, “for one who reckons how great an evil it is to undergo pain even for a single year? And if that intolerable pain is extended over an eternal interval, what consolation is left from the later hope, when the punishment is measured out along with a whole age?” Macrina: “So we must take care either to keep the soul altogether unmixed with and without share in the defilements of vice, or, if this is wholly impossible because of the passionate character of our nature, that our failures in virtue may be as moderate and easily cured as possible. For the teaching of the Gospel knows a debtor of ten thousand talents, and of five hundred denarii, and of fifty, and of a farthing, which is the least of coins; and that the just judgment of God passes through all, increasing the strictness of the demand with the weight of the debt, and not overlooking even the smallest. And the Gospel said that the payment of debts is not made by settlement in money, but that the debtor is handed over to the torturers until, it says, he pays all that is owed; which is nothing else than paying the necessary debt through torment, the debt of sharing in painful things, which he incurred during life when in his folly he chose pleasure unmixed and untempered with its opposite; and so, having put off all that is foreign to himself, which is sin, and stripped off the shame of his debts, he comes to be in freedom and boldness. And freedom is likeness to what has no master and rules itself, given to us by God at the beginning but covered over by the shame of our debts. And all freedom is by nature one and akin to itself. Consistently, then, everything free will be joined to its like; and virtue is without a master …”

### Scripture references

- Matt 18:24: allusion, high confidence
- Matt 18:34: quotation, high confidence
- Luke 7:41: allusion, high confidence
- Matt 5:26: allusion, high confidence

### Translation notes

- References: Matt 18:24, 34; Luke 7:41; Matt 5:26 (the farthing). Macrina’s teaching that evil will finally disappear and that the debtor is released after paying is translated exactly as written; it is part of Gregory’s doctrine of universal restoration.

### Citation (SBL)

Gregory of Nyssa, An. et res. 101 (PG 46:101a–101d; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/gregory-nyssa-anima-resurrectione/89/#p-101).

## On the Soul and the Resurrection, Migne page 103

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/gregory-nyssa-anima-resurrectione/89/#p-103
- Source: PG 46:104a
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: Freed from vice, all will be in God, who will become “all in all”: everything we now need will be supplied by God himself, and therefore evil will no longer exist at all.

### Greek text

γὰρ τὸ ἐλεύθερον. Ἀλλὰ μὴν ἡ Θεία φύσις ἡ πηγὴ πάσης ἐστὶ τῆς ἀρετῆς. Ἐν ταύτῃ ἄρα oi τῆς κακίας ἀπηλλαγμένοι γενήσονται, ἵνα, καθώς φησιν ὁ ’Λπὸστολος, ὁ Θεὸς τὰ πάντα ὲν πᾶσιν. Αὕτη γὰρ ὴ φωνὴ σαφῶς μοι δοκεί βεβαιοῦν τὴν προεξητασμένην διάνοιαν, ἡ λέγουσα, καὶ εἰς πάντα (Ι) γενέσθαι τὸν Θεὸν, καὶ ἐν πᾶσι. Τῆς γὰρ ἐν τῷ παρόντι ζωῆς ποικίλως τε καὶ πολυειδῶς ἡμῖν ἐνεργουμένης, πολλὰ μέν ἐστιν ὧν μετέχομεν, οἷον χρόνου καὶ ἀέρος καὶ τόπου, βρτὶσεώς τε καὶ πόσεως, καὶ σκεπασμάτων, καὶ filiae, καὶ λύχνου, καὶ ἄλλων πρὸς τὴν χρείαν τοῦ βίου πολλῶν, ὧν οὐδέν ἐστιν ὁ Θεὸς · ἡ δὲ προσδοκωμένη μακαριότης μὲν οὐδενός ἐστιν ἐπιδεὴς, πάντα δὲ ἡμῖν καὶ ἀντὶ Ζιιιᾱιντων ὴ θεία γενήσεται φύσις, πῴς πᾶσαν χρείαν τῆς ζωῆς ἐκείνης ἑαυτὴν ἁρμοδίως ὲπιμερίζουσα. Καὶ τοῦτο δῆλόν ἔστιν ἐκ τῶν θείων λόγων, ὅτι καὶ τόπος γίνεται ὁ Θεὸς τοῖς ἀξίοις, καὶ οἶκος, καὶ ἔνδυμα. καὶ τροφὴ, καὶ πόσις, καὶ φῶς, καὶ πλοῦτος, καὶ βασιλεία, καὶ πᾶν νόημά τε καὶ ὄνομα τῶν πρὸς τὴν ἀγαθὴν ἡμῖν συντελούντων ζωήν. ὐ δὲ πάντα γινόμενος καὶ ὲν πᾶςι γίνεται. Ἕν τούτῳ δέ μοι δοκεῖ τὸν παντελῆ τῆς κακίας ἀςανισμὸν δογματίζειν ὁ λόγος. Εἰ γὰρ ὲν πᾶσι τοῖς οὖσιν ὀ Θεὸς ἔσται, ἡ κακία δηλαδὴ ἐν τοῖς οὖσιν οὐκ ἔσται. Εἰ γάρ τις ὑπόθοιτο κάκείνην εἶναι, πῶς σωθήσεται τὸ ἐν πᾶσι τὴν Θεὸν εἶναι ς Ἠ γὰρ ὑπεξαίρεσις ἐκείνης, ἐλλιπῆ τῶν πάντων ποιεῖ

### English translation (Claude)

“… for freedom is without a master. But the divine nature is the fountain of all virtue. Those freed from vice, then, will come to be in it, so that, as the Apostle says, God may be all in all. For this saying seems to me clearly to confirm the meaning examined earlier, which says that God becomes both all and in all. For while the present life is carried on in us in varied and manifold ways, there are many things we share in, such as time and air and place, food and drink, clothing and sunlight and lamplight, and many others for the needs of life, none of which is God; but the blessedness we expect needs none of these, and the divine nature will become all things to us and instead of all things, distributing itself suitably for every need of that life. And this is clear from the divine words, that God becomes for the worthy place and house and clothing and food and drink and light and wealth and kingdom, and every thought and name of what contributes to the good life for us. And he who becomes all comes to be in all. In this the saying seems to me to teach the complete disappearance of vice. For if God will be in all existing things, vice clearly will not be among existing things. For if one supposed that it too exists, how will God’s being in all be preserved? For its exception makes the inclusion of all defective …”

### Scripture references

- 1 Cor 15:28: quotation, high confidence

### Translation notes

- References: 1 Cor 15:28. A long marginal note (scholion) by a later reader, objecting to this teaching and appealing to eternal punishment, together with lines of the critical apparatus, leaked into the digital text at the end of this unit; it is not part of Gregory’s text and is removed (logged). Gregory’s teaching on the disappearance of evil is translated exactly as written.

### Citation (SBL)

Gregory of Nyssa, An. et res. 103 (PG 46:104a; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/gregory-nyssa-anima-resurrectione/89/#p-103).

## On the Soul and the Resurrection, Migne page 105

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/gregory-nyssa-anima-resurrectione/89/#p-105
- Source: PG 46:105a–105d
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: Macrina tells the faint-hearted that all things are ordered toward union with God, and that rational souls were made as free vessels for God’s goods, ever growing as more is poured in.

### Greek text

τὴν περίληψιν. Ἀλλʼ ὁ ἐν τοϊς πᾶσιν ἐσόμενος, ἐντοῖς μή οὖσιν οὐκ ἔσται. - Γ. Τί οὖν χρὴ λέγειν, εἷπον, τοὺς μικροψύχως ταῖς συμβολαῖς διακειμένουςς-Μ, πρὸς αὐτοὺς, φησὶν ἡ διδάσκαλος,ὃτι Μάτην, ὧοῦτοι, δυπνασχετείτε καὶ δυσχεραίνετε τῷ είρμῷ τῆς ἀναγκαίας πραγμάτων ἀκολονθίας, ἀγνοοῦντες πρὸς ὅντινα σκοπὸν τὰ καθʼ ἐκαστον ἐν τῷ παντὶ οἰκονομούμενα φέρεται, ὅτι πάντα χρὴ τάξει τινὶ καὶ ἀκολουθίᾳ κατά τὴν τεχνικὴν τοῦ καθηγεμόνος σοφίαν τῇ θείᾳ προσοικειωθῆναι φύσει. Τούτου γὰρ ἕνεκεν ἡ λογικὴ φύσις ἦλθεν εἰς γένεσιν, ὡς τὸν πλοῦτον τῶν θείων ἀγαθῶν μὴ ἀργὸν εἶναιʼ ἀλλʼ οἷον ἀγγεῖά τινα προαιρετικά τῶν ψυχῶν δοχεᾶι, παρὰ τῆς τὸ πᾶν συστησαμένης σοφίας κατεσκάσθη, ἐφʼ ᾧτε εἶναί τι χώρημα δεκτικὸν ἀγαθῶν, τὸ ἀεὶ τῇ προσθήκῃ τοῦ είσχεομένου μεῖζον γινόμενον. ’

### English translation (Claude)

“… of all. But he who will be in all will not be in what does not exist.” Gregory: “What, then,” I said, “should we say to those who are faint-hearted about these comparisons?” Macrina: “To them,” said my teacher, “we say: ‘In vain, sirs, do you chafe and fret at the connection of the necessary sequence of things, not knowing to what aim each thing in the universe is ordered and carried: that all things must, in a certain order and sequence, according to the skilful wisdom of the One who guides them, be made akin to the divine nature. For this reason rational nature came into being, so that the wealth of the divine goods might not be idle; but souls were constructed by the wisdom that established the universe as vessels with free choice, so to speak, so that there might be a capacity able to receive goods, always becoming greater by the addition of what is poured in …’”

### Translation notes

- The sentence begun in the previous unit ends here. The rest of Macrina’s answer, at the foot of Migne’s page, is lost in the scan (marked …).

### Citation (SBL)

Gregory of Nyssa, An. et res. 105 (PG 46:105a–105d; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/gregory-nyssa-anima-resurrectione/89/#p-105).

## On the Soul and the Resurrection, Migne page 107

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/gregory-nyssa-anima-resurrectione/89/#p-107
- Source: PG 46:108a–108d
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: Macrina promises that the body will be rewoven finer and more beautiful; Gregory asks for reasoned support for the resurrection; Macrina reviews pagan views of transmigration, accepting only what agrees with the resurrection, that the soul is again joined to a body made of the world’s elements.

### Greek text

διάζευξις, μηδέ τοῦτό σοι ἀπʼ ἐλπίδος ἔσται. Ὀψει γὰρ τοῦτο τδ σωματικὸν περιβόλαιον τὸν νῦν διαλυθὲν τῷ Θανάτῳ ἐκ τῶν αὐτῶν πάλιν ἐξυφαινόμενον, οὐ κατά τὴν παχυμερῆ ταύτην καὶ βαρεῖαν κατασκευὴν, ἀλλʼ ἐπὶ τὸ λεπτότερόν τε καὶ ἀερῶδες, μετακλωσθέντος τοῦ νήματος, ὥστε σοι καὶ παρεῖναι τὺ ἀγαπώμενον, καὶ ἐν ἀμείνονι καὶ ἐρασμιωτέρῳ κάλλει πάλιν ἀποκαθίστασθαι. - Γ. ’Δλλʼ ἔοικέ πως, εἶπον, ἐξ ἀκολουθίας milia τό δόγμα τῆς ἀναστάσεως ἐπεισεληλυθέναι τῷ λόγῳ, ὅ μοι δοκεῖ iam ἀληθὲς μὲν καὶ πιστὸν ἐκ τῆς τῶν Γραφῶν διδασκαλίας, ἵνα μὴ ἀμφιβάλλει· ἐπειδὴ πῶς ἡ ἀσθένεια τῆς ἀνθρωπίνης διανοίας, τοῖς χώρη-τοῖς ἡμῖν λογισμοῖς, μᾶλλον πρὸς τοιαύτην πίστιν ἐπιστηρίζεται, καλῶς ἂν ἔχοι μηδὲ τοῦτο τὸ μέρος παραδραμεῖν ἀθεώρητον. Ti οὖν χρὴ λέγειν, περισκεψώμεθα. M. Καὶ ἡ διδάσκαλος, Οί μὲν ἔξω, φησὶ, τῆς καθʼ ἡμᾶς φιλοσοφίας ἐν διαφόροις ὑπολήψεσιν, ἄλλος ἀλα λως 5) μέρε ι τινὶ τοῦ κατά τὴν ἀνάστασιν ἐφήψαντο δόγματος, οὕτε διʼ ἀκριβείας τοῖς ἡμετέροις συνενεχθέντες, οὔτε πάντη τῆς τοιαύτης ἀποσφαλέντες ἐλπίδος. Τινές μὲν γὰρ ὑβρίζουσι τῇ κοινότητι τὸ ἀνθρώπινον, τὴν αὐτὴν ἀνά μέρος ἀνθρώπου τε καὶ ἀλόγου ψυχὴν διοριζόμενοι γίνεσθαι, μετενδυομένην τά σώματα, καὶ πρὸς τὸ ἀρέσκον ἀεὶ μεταβαίνουσαν, ἢ πτηνὸν, ἢ ένυδρον, ἥ χερσαῖόν τι ζῶον γινομένην μετά τὸν ἀνθρωπον, καὶ πάλιν ἀπὺ τούτων πρὸς τὴν ἀνθρωπίνην ἐπανιέναι φύσιν. Ἕτεροι δὲ μέχρι τῶν θάμνων τὸν τοιοῦτον λῆρον ἐκτείνουσιν, ὡς καὶ τὸν ξυλώδη βίον αὐτῇ κατάλληλόν τε καὶ οἰκεῖον νομίζειν. Τοῖς δὲ τοῦτο δοκεῖ μόνον τὸ ἐξ ἀνθρώπου ἕτερον ἀνθρωπον ἀεὶ μεταλαμβάνειν, καὶ διὰ τῶν αὐτῶν πάντοτε τὸν ἀνθρώπινον διεξάγεσθαι βίον, νῦν μὲν ἐν τούτοις, πάλιν δὲ ἐν ἑτέροις τῶν αὐτῶν ψυχῶν είς τὸ διηνειιὲς γινομένων. Ἡμεῖς δὲ καλῶς ἔχειν φαμὲν, ἐκ τῶν ἐκκλησιαστικῶν δογμάτων ὁρμώμενοι, τοσοῦτον παραδέξασθαι μόνον τῶν τοιαῦτα πεφιλοσοφηκότων, ὅσον συ μφωνοῦντας αὐτοὺς τρόπον τινὰ δεῖξαι τῷ τῆς ἀνας στάσεως δόγματι. Τὸ γὰρ λέγειν αὐτοὺς πάλιν τισὶν [47) ἐπεισκρίνεσθαι δόγμασιν μετά τὴν ἀπὺ τούτουʼδιάλυσιν ψυχην, ὀὗ λίαν τῆς ἐλπιζομένης ἡμῖν ἀναβιώσεως, ὅτι γὰρ ἡμέτερος λόγος ἐκτῶν τοῦ κόσμου στοιχείων, νῦν τε καὶ είσαῦὶις τὸ σῶμα ἡμῶν συνίστασθαι λέγει, καὶ τοῖς ἔξω·

### English translation (Claude)

Macrina: “… separation, let not even this be without hope for you. For you will see this bodily covering, now dissolved by death, woven again from the same materials, not in this coarse and heavy construction, but with the thread spun into something finer and airier, so that what you love will be with you and will be restored again in a better and more lovely beauty.” Gregory: “But it seems,” I said, “that the doctrine of the resurrection has come into the discussion by the sequence of the argument. It seems to me true and trustworthy from the teaching of the Scriptures, so that I do not doubt it; but since the weakness of the human mind is somehow more strengthened in such faith by reasonings within our reach, it would be well not to pass this part over unexamined either. Let us consider, then, what must be said.” Macrina: And my teacher said: “Those outside our philosophy, in different suppositions, one in one way and another in another, have touched on some part of the doctrine of the resurrection, neither agreeing exactly with ours nor wholly missing such a hope. For some insult humanity by making it common with the brutes, defining that the same soul becomes in turn that of a man and of an irrational animal, changing bodies like clothes and always passing to what pleases it, becoming after the man a bird or a water creature or a land animal, and from these returning again to human nature. Others extend such nonsense as far as bushes, so as to think the life of trees suited and proper to it too. Others hold only that another man always takes the soul from a man, and that human life is always carried on through the same souls, now in these and again in others, forever. But we say, starting from the doctrines of the Church, that it is right to accept from those who have philosophized in this way only so much as shows them in some way agreeing with the doctrine of the resurrection. For their saying that the soul, after its dissolution from this body, enters again into certain bodies is not far from the revival we hope for. For our account too says that our body is constituted, both now and hereafter, from the elements of the world; and those outside …”

### Extrabiblical texts

- Plato, Resp. 10.617 (Plato (works)): echo, low confidence

### Translation notes

- The beginning of the unit is lost at a page edge. Lines of the critical apparatus leaked into the digital text at the end of this unit and are removed (logged); a phrase in the sentence on re-entering bodies is garbled and translated by sense with help of the variant reading recorded in that apparatus (σώμασιν, “bodies”).

### Citation (SBL)

Gregory of Nyssa, An. et res. 107 (PG 46:108a–108d; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/gregory-nyssa-anima-resurrectione/89/#p-107).

## On the Soul and the Resurrection, Migne page 109

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/gregory-nyssa-anima-resurrectione/89/#p-109
- Source: PG 46:109a–109d
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: Pagans and Christians agree the soul returns to a body of the world’s elements, but transmigration into animals and plants confuses all natures into one, which is absurd.

### Greek text

θεν τδ ἷσον δοκεῖ. Οὐ γὰρ ἄλλην τινὰ τοῦ σώματος ἐπινοήσεις φύσιν ἔξω τῆς δρομῆς τῶν στοιχείων. Διαφέρει δὲ τοσοῦτον, ὅσον παρʼ ἡμῶν μὲν τὸ αὐτὸ λέγεσθαι πάλιν περὶ τὴν ψυχὴν συ μπήγνυσθαι σῶμα, ὲκ τῶν αὐτῶν στοιχείων συναρμοζόμενον · ὲκείνους δὲ οἴεσθαι πρὸς ἄλλα τινὰ σώματα λογικά τε καὶ ἄλογα, καὶ ἀναίσθητα τὴν ψυχὴν καταπίπτειν · οἷς τὸ μὲν ὲκ τῶν τοῦ κόσμου μερῶν εἶναι τὴν σύστασιν ὁμολογεῖται, διαφωνεῖ δὲ τὸ μὴ ὲκ τῶν αὐτῶν οἴεσθαι τῶν κατʼ ἀρχὰς ὲν τῇ διὰ σαρκὸς ζωῇ τῇ ψυχῇ προσφυέντων. Οὐκοῦν τὸ μὲν μὴ ἔξω τοῦ εἰκότος εἶναι τὸ πάλιν τὴν ψυχὴν ὲν σώματι γενέσθαι, παρὰ τῆς ἔξω φιλοσοφίας μεμαρτυρῆσθω· τὸ δὲ ἀσύστατον τοῦ ἐκείνων δόγματος καιρὸς ἂν εἴη διασκορπίσασβαι, καὶ διʼ αὐτῆς δὲ τῆς κατὰ τὸ εὔλογον ἁνακυπτούσης ἡμῖν ἀκολουθίας,φαο νερῶται ῥαδίως ἐστὶ δυνατὸν τὴν ἀλήθειαν. Τίς οὖν ό περὶ τούτων λόγος; Oi πρὸς διαφόρους φύσεις τὴν ψυχὴν μετοικίζοντες, συσχεῖν μοι δοκοῦσι τὰς τῆς φύσεως ἰδιότητας καὶ πάντα χρὴ (ει) καταμιγνύειν τε καὶ ἀναφύρειν πρὸς ἄλληλα, τὸ ἆλογον, τὸ λογικὸν, τὸ αἰσθητικὸν, τὸ ἀναίσθητον · εἰπερ ὲν ἀλλήλοις ταῦτα γένοιτο, μηδέ τινι φύσεως είρμῷ κατὰ τὸ ἀμετάπτωτον ἀπʼ ἀλλήλων διαστοιχιζόμενα. Τὸ γὰρ τὴν αὐτὴν ψυχὴν λέγειν, νῦν μὲν λογικήν τε καὶ διανοητικὴν. διὰ τῆς τοιᾶσδε τοῦ σώματος περιβολῆς γίνεσθαι· πάλιν δὲ μετὰ τῶν ἑρπετῶν φωλεύειν, ἢ τοῖς ὀρνέοις συναγελάζεσθαι, ἢ ἀχθοφορεῖν, ἢ σαρκοβορεῖν, ἢ ὑποβρύχιον εἶναι, ἢ καὶ πρὸς τὸ ἀναίσθητον μεταπίπτειν, ριζουμένην τε καὶ ἀποδενδρουμένην, καὶ κλάδων smptiσεις ἀναβλαστάνουσαν. καὶ ἐν τούτοις ἢ ἄνθος, ἧ ἀκάνθην, ἢ τρόφιμόν τι φυομένην,ἢ δηλητήριον, οὐδὲν ἕτερόν ἐστιν, ἢ ταύτὸν ἡγεῖσθαι τὰ πάντα, καὶ μίαν ἐν τοῖς οὖσιν εἶναι τὴν φύσιν ὲν συγκεχυμέvn τινὶ καὶ ἀδιακρίτῳ κοινωνίᾳ πεφυρμένην, μηδεμιᾶς ἰδιότητος τὸ ἕτερον τοῦ ἑτέρου ἀποκρινούσης. '0 ξὰρ λέγων τὸ αὐτὸ ὲν παντὶ γίνεσθαι, οὐδὲν ἕτερον, ἢ ἓν εἶναι τὰ πάντα βούλεται, τῆς ἐμφαινομένης δια·φορᾶς τοῖς οὖσιν οὐδὲν πρὸς ἐπιμιξίαν τῶν ἀκοινωνήτων ἐμποδιζούσης· ὡς ἀνάγκην εῖναι, κᾶν τι τῶν ἰοβόλων, καὶ σαρκοβόρων θεάσηται, ὁμόφυ-

### English translation (Claude)

“… seem to think the same. For you will not conceive of any other nature of the body outside the concurrence of the elements. The difference is this: we say that the same body is compacted again around the soul, fitted together from the same elements; while they think that the soul falls into other bodies, rational and irrational and without sense. They agree that the constitution is from the parts of the world, but disagree in not thinking it is from the same elements that grew with the soul at the beginning in its life in the flesh. That it is not beyond what is probable for the soul to come to be in a body again, then, let it be witnessed by the outside philosophy; but it is time to examine the incoherence of their doctrine, and the truth can easily be made plain through the very sequence that emerges reasonably for us. What, then, is the account of these things? Those who move the soul into different natures seem to me to confuse the properties of nature and mix and jumble everything together, the irrational, the rational, the sentient, the insentient, if these come to be in one another, not separated from one another by any unchangeable sequence of nature. For to say that the same soul is now rational and thinking through such a covering of the body, and again lurks in holes with reptiles, or flocks with birds, or carries burdens, or eats flesh, or lives under water, or even falls to the insensible, taking root and becoming a tree and sprouting outgrowths of branches, and in them growing as a flower or a thorn or something nourishing or poisonous, is nothing else than to think all things the same, and that there is one nature in existing things, jumbled in a confused and undistinguished communion, no property separating one from another. For one who says that the same thing comes to be in everything wishes nothing else than that all things are one, the difference appearing in existing things in no way hindering the mixture of incompatible things; so that it would be necessary, if one sees one of the venomous or carnivorous animals, to think …”

### Translation notes

- Lines of the critical apparatus leaked into the digital text at the end of this unit and are removed (logged). “Examine” follows the variant διασκοπήσασθαι recorded in the apparatus; the printed text has διασκορπίσασθαι, “scatter.”

### Citation (SBL)

Gregory of Nyssa, An. et res. 109 (PG 46:109a–109d; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/gregory-nyssa-anima-resurrectione/89/#p-109).

## On the Soul and the Resurrection, Migne page 111

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/gregory-nyssa-anima-resurrectione/89/#p-111
- Source: PG 46:112a–112d
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: If souls passed into animals and plants, one could not reap, prune, or kindle a fire without fear of harming kin; and the related myth that pre-existent souls fall into bodies for their sins is equally untenable.

### Greek text

λον νομίζειν ἑαυτῷ καὶ συγγενὲς τὺ φαινόμενον, οὐδὲ τὸ κώνειον 6 τοιοῦτος ὡς ἀλλότριον τῆς ιδίας ὕψεται φύσεως εἴπερ βλέπει καὶ tv φυτοῖς τὸ ἀνθρώπινον ο ἀλλʼ οὐδὲ πρὸς αὐτὸν ἀνυπόπτως ἑξει τὸν βότρυν τὸν ἑπὶ τῇ χρείᾳ τῆς ζωῆς γεωργούμενον. Καὶ γὰρ κα.) αὐτὸς τῶν φυομένων ἑστίν ο φυτά δὲ ἡμῖν καὶ τά τῶν ἀσταχύων γεννήματα, διʼ ὧν τρε· ξ φόμεθα. Πῶς οὗνὲπάξειτὴν δρεπάνην ἀσταχύων τομῇ; πῶς δὲ ἀποθλίψει τὸν βότρυν, ἢ ἀνορύξει τῆς ἀρούρας τὴν ἄκανθαν, ἢ τὸ ἄνθος δρέψει, ἢ θηρεύσει τοὺς ὄρνιθας. ἢ ἀπὸ ξύλων ἀναπαύσει πυρὰν, ἄδηλον δν εί μὴ κατά συγγενῶν, ἢ προγόνων, ῆόμοφύλων, ή χεὶρ φέρεται,,καʼί διὰ τοῦ σώματος αὐτῶν ἢτὺ πῦρ ἀνάπτεται, ἢ 6 κρατὴρ κιρνᾶται, ἢ ἡ τροφὴ παρασκευάζεται ; Τὸ γάρ οἴεσθαι διʼ ἑκάστου τούτων τὴν ψυχὴν τοῦ ἀνθρώπου γίνεσθαι φυτὸν ἢ ζῶον, σημεῖα δὲ μὴ ἐπικεῖσθαι, ποῖον μὲν τὸ ἑξ ἀνθρώπου φυτὸν ἢ ζῶον, ποῖον δὲ τὺ ἑτέρως γινόμενον, πρὸς πάντα κατὰ τὸ ἶσον 6 τῇ τοιαύτῃ προειλημμένος ὑπολήψει διατεθήσεται, ὡς κατʼ ἀνάγκην, ἢ καὶ κατʼ αὐτῶν τῶν ὲν τῇ φύσει ζώντων ἀνθρώπων ἀπηνῶς ἔχειν, ἢ εἴπερ ἐπὶ τῶν ὁμοφύλων πρὸς φιλανθρωπίαν ἑκ φύσεως ῥέποι, ὁμοίως αὐτὸν διακεῖσθαι πρὸς πᾶν ἔμψυχον, κᾶν ἑν ἑρπετοῖς,, κᾶν tv θηρίοις τύχοι ἀλλὰ κᾶν tv ὕλῃ δένδρον γίνεται, 6 τὸ δόγμα τοῦτο παραδεξάμενος, δῆμον ἀνθρώπων τά δένδρα οἰήσεται. Τίς οὖνό τοιοῦτος βίος ἢ πρδς πάντα εὐλαβῶς διά τὸ ὁμόφυλον, ἢ καὶ πρὸς τοὺς ἀνθρώπους ἀπηνῶς διὰ τὴν ἐπὶ τῶν ἄλλων ἀδιαφορίαν ἔχοντος Οὐκοῦν ἀπόβλητος ὲκ τῶν εἰρημένων ό τοιοῦτος ἂν εἵη λόγος, πολλῶν καὶ ἄλλων τῆς τοιαύτης ἡμᾶς ὑπολήψεως κατά τὸ εὔλογον ἀπαγόνο των. Ἤκουσα γὰρ τῶν τοιαῦτα δογματιζόντων, ὅτι ἔθνη τινὰ τῶν ψυχῶν ἀποτίθεται tv ἰδιαζούσῃ τινὶ πολιτείᾳ πρὸς τὴν ὲν σώματι ζωὴν βιοτεύοντα, tv τῷ λεπτῷ τε καὶ εὐκινήτῳ τῆς φύσεως ἑαυτῶν τῇ τοῦ παντὸς συμπεριπολοῦντος δινήσει, ῥοπῇ δέ τινι τῇ πρὸς κακίαν msρορροούσας τὰς ψυχὰς tv σώματι γίνεσθαι· πρῶτον μὲν ἀνθρώποις, εἶθʼ οὕτως διὰ τῆς πρὸς τά ἄλογα τῶν παθῶν όειιλίας, μετά τού ἀνθρωί πίνου βίου ὲγχὼρησιν ἀποκτηνοῦσθαι, κάκεῖθεν μέχρι τῆς φυσικῆς ταύτης καὶ ἀναισθήτου καταπίπτειν

### English translation (Claude)

“… what appears akin and related to himself; nor will such a man look on hemlock as foreign to his own nature, if he sees the human in plants too; nor will he be free from suspicion even toward the grape cultivated for the needs of life, for it too is among the things that grow; and the products of the ears of grain by which we are fed are plants to us. How, then, will he set the sickle to the cutting of the ears? How will he press the grape, or dig the thorn out of the field, or pluck the flower, or hunt birds, or light a fire from wood, when it is uncertain whether his hand is not moving against kinsmen or ancestors or those of his own race, and whether it is through their body that the fire is kindled or the bowl mixed or the food prepared? For if one thinks that through each of these the soul of a man becomes a plant or an animal, while there are no marks set on them to show which plant or animal comes from a man and which came about otherwise, one prepossessed by such a supposition will be disposed equally toward all, so that necessarily either he is harsh even toward the human beings living by nature, or, if he inclines by nature to love toward those of his own race, he is similarly disposed toward every living thing, even reptiles and wild beasts; indeed, if he goes into a wood, one who has accepted this doctrine will think the trees a people of human beings. What, then, would the life of such a person be, either cautious toward everything because of kinship, or harsh toward human beings too because of his indifference toward the others? Such an account, then, is to be rejected from what has been said, many other things too leading us reasonably away from such a supposition. For I have heard those who teach such things say that nations of souls are kept in a commonwealth of their own before life in the body, living in the fineness and mobility of their nature together with the whirling of the universe; and that by some inclination to vice the souls lose their wings and come to be in bodies, first in human beings, and then, through fellowship with the irrational passions, after leaving human life, become brutes, and from there fall as far as this natural and insensible life …”

### Extrabiblical texts

- Plato, Phaedr. 248c (Plato (works)): allusion, medium confidence

### Translation notes

- The account of souls falling from a heavenly “commonwealth” by losing their wings echoes Plato, Phaedrus 246c–248c, and the teaching on pre-existence criticized in On the Making of Man 28.

### Citation (SBL)

Gregory of Nyssa, An. et res. 111 (PG 46:112a–112d; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/gregory-nyssa-anima-resurrectione/89/#p-111).

## On the Soul and the Resurrection, Migne page 113

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/gregory-nyssa-anima-resurrectione/89/#p-113
- Source: PG 46:113a–113d
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: The doctrine of a cycle of falls and ascents is self-contradictory: it makes heaven the source of vice and the life of plants a purification, and leaves the soul forever unstable.

### Greek text

ζωῆς, mea (τῇ φύσει λεπτὸν καὶ εὐκίνητον, ὅπερ ἐστὶν ἡ ψυχὴ, πρῶτον μὲν ἐμβριθές τε καὶ κατωφερὲς γίνεσθαι τοῖς ἀνθρωπίνοις σώμασι διὰ κακίας είσοικιζόμενον· εἶτα τῆς λογικῆς δυνάμεως ἀποσβεσθείσης τοῖς ἀλόγοις ἐμβιοτεύειν · ἐκεῖθεν δὲ καὶ τῆς τοιαύτης τῶν αἰσθήσεων χάριτος ἀφαιη ρεθείσης, τὴν ἀναίσθητον ταύτην ζωὴν τὴν ἐν φυτοῖς μεταλαμβάνειν· ἀπὸ τούτου δὲ πάλιν διὰ τῶν αὐτῶν ’ἀνιέναι βαθμῶν, καὶπρὸς οὐράνιον χῶρον amneίστασθαι. Τὸ δὲʼ τοιοῦτον δόγμα τοῖς καὶ μετρίως κρίνεικ. ἐπεσκεμμένοις αὐτόθεν ἐλέγχεται, μηδεμίαν ἔχειν ὲνοὲαυτοίς στάσιν. Εἰ γὰρ ἀπὸ τῆς οὐρανίας ζωῆς διὰ κακίας ἐπὶ τὸν ξυλώδη βίονή ψυχὴ κατασύρεται, άπὸ τούτου δὲ πάλιν διʼ ἀρετῆς ἐπὶ τὸν οὐράνιον ἀνατρέχει, εὑρίσκεται ὁ λόγος αὐτῶν ἀπορῶν, ὅ τι προτιμότερον οίεται, εἴτε τὴν ξυλίνην, εἴτε τὴν οὐρανίαν ζωήν. Κύκλος γάρ τίς ἐστι διὰ τῶν ὁμοίων περιχωρῶν, ἀεὶ τῆς ψυχῆς, ὲν ᾧπερ ἂν ᾗ, ἀστατούσης. Ei γὰρ ἐκ τῆς ἀσωμάτου ζωῆς πρὸς τὴν σωματικὴν ἀναπίπτει, καὶ ὲκ ταύτης πρὸς τὴν ἀναίσθητον· ἐκεῖθεν δὲ πάλιν πρὸς τὴν ἀσώματον ἀνατρέχει, οὐδὲν ἕτερον ἢ ἀδιάκριτος κακῶν τε καὶ ἀγαθῶν σύγχυσις παρά τοῖς ταῦτα δογματίζουσιν ὑπονοείται. Οὐτε γὰρ ἡούρανίσ. διαγωγὴ ὲν τῷ μακαρισμῷ διαμένει, εἴπερ κακία τῶν ὲ,κεί ζώντων καῦἀπτεται · οὔτε τὰ ξύλα τῆς ἀρετῆς ἀμοιρή. σει, εἴπερ ἐντεῦθεν μὲν ἐπὶ τὸ ἀγαθὸν παλινδρομεῖν οἴονται τὴν ψυχὴν, ἐκεῖθεν δὲ τοῦ κατά κακίαν ἀνάρχεσθαι. Εί γὰρ ὲν τῷ οὐρανῷ ὴ ψυχὴ συμπεριπολοῢσα τῇ κακίᾳ συμπλέκεται, καὶ διὰ ταύτης ἐπὶ τὸν ὑλώδη καθελκυσθείσα βίον, ἀν·ωοείται πάλιν ἐντεῦθεν ἐπὶ τὴν ὲν seu διαγωγήν · ἄρα τὺ ἔμπαλιν παρʼ ἐκείνων κατασκευάζεται, τδ τὴν μὲν ὑλικὴν ζωὴν κακίας εἶναι κάθαρσιν, τὴν δὲ-ἀπλανῆ περιφορὰν κακῶν ἀρχηγὸν καὶ αἰτίαν ταῖς ψυχαῖς γίνεσθαι, εἰπερ ἐντεῦθεν διʼ ἀρετῆς πτεροφυήσασαι μετεωροποροῦσιν, ἐκεῖθεν δὲ διὰ κακίας τῶν πτερῶν ἐκπιπτόντων χαμαιπετεῖς πρὸσγειοι γίνονται, τῇ παχύτητι τῆς ὑλικῆς καταμιγνύμεναι φύσεως. Καὶ οὐ μέχρι τούτων ἵσταται τῶν τοιούτων δογμάτων ἡ ἀτοπία, τῷ ἀντεστράφθαι πρὸς τούναντίον τάς ὑπολήψεις. Ἀλλʼ οὐδὲ

### English translation (Claude)

“… so that what is by nature fine and mobile, which the soul is, first becomes heavy and downward-tending, settling into human bodies through vice; then, when its rational power has been quenched, lives in the irrational creatures; and from there, when even this gift of the senses has been taken away, takes on this insensible life in plants; and from this goes up again by the same steps and is restored to the heavenly region. Such a doctrine is refuted at once for those who have examined it even moderately, as having no stability in itself. For if the soul is dragged down by vice from the heavenly life to the life of a tree, and from this runs back up again by virtue to the heavenly, their argument is found at a loss as to which it thinks more honourable, the life of wood or the heavenly. For there is a circle going round through the same things, the soul never being stable wherever it is. For if it falls from the incorporeal life to the bodily, and from this to the insensible, and from there runs back again to the incorporeal, those who teach this suppose nothing else than an indiscriminate confusion of evil and good. For neither does the heavenly way of life remain in blessedness, if vice touches those who live there, nor will trees be without a share of virtue, if they think the soul runs back from here to the good, and from there begins vice. For if the soul, revolving in heaven, is entangled with vice and, dragged down by it to the material life, is drawn up again from here to the life on high, then the opposite is established by them: that the material life is a purification from vice, while the unerring revolution becomes the leader and cause of evils for souls, if from here they grow wings through virtue and travel aloft, while from there, their wings falling off through vice, they become earthbound, mixed with the coarseness of material nature. And the absurdity of such doctrines does not stop at this, that their suppositions are turned into their opposites; but not even …”

### Translation notes

- “Unerring revolution” refers to the motion of the fixed heavens in Platonic cosmology.

### Citation (SBL)

Gregory of Nyssa, An. et res. 113 (PG 46:113a–113d; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/gregory-nyssa-anima-resurrectione/89/#p-113).

## On the Soul and the Resurrection, Migne page 115

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/gregory-nyssa-anima-resurrectione/89/#p-115
- Source: PG 46:116a–116b
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: The transmigration doctrine confuses changeless heaven with passion and makes the world’s very existence begin from vice, since every birth would require a soul to fall by sin.

### Greek text

αὑτὴ παγία διαμένει μέχρι πάντων αὐτοῖς ἡ ὑπόνοια. Εἰ γὰρ ἄτρεπτον τὴν οὐράνιον λέγουσι φύσιν, πῶς χώραν ἔχει ὲν τῷ ἀτρέπτῳ τδ πάθος; Καὶ εί ἐμπαθὴς ὴ κάτω φύσις, πῶς ὲν τῷ παθητῷ κατορθοῦται ἡ ἀπάθειας Ἀλλά qauροῦσι τὰ ἄμικτα, καὶ ἐνοῦσι τά ἀκοινώνητα, ἐν πάθει τὸ ἄτρεπτον, καὶ ἐν τῷ στρεπτῷ πάλιν καθορῶντες τὴν ἀπάθειαν. Καὶ οὐδὲ τούτοις είσαεὶ διαμένουσιν· ἀλλʼ ὅθεν τὴν ψυχὴν διὰ κακίας ἀπῴκησαν, ἐκεῖσε πάλιν αὐτὴν ὡς ἀσφαλῆ καὶ ἀκήρατον ζωὴν ὲκ τῆς ὑλικῆς ἀνοικίζουσιν, ὥσπερ ἐπιλαθόμενοι τὸ ἐκεῖθεν αὐτὴν ἡ κακία βρύσασα, τῇ κάτω καταμιχθῆναι φύσει. Ἦ τε οὖν διαβολὴ τοῦ τῇδε βίου, καὶ ὁ τῶν οὐρανίων ἔπαινος ὲν ἀλλήλοις συγχέονται, καὶ ἀνω· φεροῦνται, τοῦ μὲν διαβεβλημένου κατά τὴν ἐκείνων δόξαν πρὸς τὸ καλὸν καθηγουμένου ο τοῦ δὲ πρὸς κρείττονος ὑπειλημμένου τὴν ἀφορμὴν ἐνδιδόντος τῇ ψυχῇ τῆς πρὸς τὸ χεῖρον ῥοπῆς. Ούκοὖν ἐκβλητέα τῶν τῆς ἀληθείας δογμάτων πᾶσα πεπλανημένη τε καὶ ἀστατούσα περ). τῶν τοιούτων ὑπόληψις· μήθʼ ὅσοι καταβαίνειν ἐκ γυναικείων σωμάτων πρὸς τὴν ἀνδρώδη ζωὴν τάς ψυχάς δοκείη τὸ ἔμπαλιν ὲν γυναιξὶ γίνεσθαι τάς τῶν ἀνδρικῶν σωμάτων χωρισθείσας ψυχὰς, ἢ καὶ πρὸς ἄνδρας ἐξ ἀνδρῶν μεταβαίνειν, καί γυναῖκας ὲκ γυ·ναικῶν γίνεσθαι λέγουσιν, ὠς τῆς ἀληθείας ἐστο χασμένους ἀκολουθήσωμεν. '0 μὲν γὰρ πρότερος >ὐ μόνον τῷ (Μʼ) άστατος καὶ ἀπατηλὸς εἶναι ἀπεδοκιμάσθη ὁ λόγος, αὐτὸς ὲν ἑαυτῷ πρὸς τὰς ἐναντίας ὑπολήψεις περιτρεπόμενος, ἀλλʼ ὅτι καὶ ἀσεβῶς ἔχει, μηδὲν τῶν ὄντων είς γένεσιν ἄγεσθαι δογματίζων, καὶ κακίας τῇ ἑκάστου φύσει τὴν ἀρχὴν ἐνδιδούσης. Εἰ γὰρ οὔτε ἄνθρωποι, οὔτε φυτὰ, οὔτε βοσκήματα, μὴ ψυχῆς ἀνωθεν ἐπὶ ταῦτα ἐμπεσούσης φύονται· ή δὲ πτῶσις διὰ κακίας γίνεται, ἄρα κατάρχειν οἴονται τὴν κακίαν τῆς τῶν ὄντων συστάσεως. Καί πως συμβαίνει κατὰ τὸν αύτὸν χρόνον ἀμφότεραμὸ), καὶ ἄνθρωπον ἐκ γάμου φύεσθαι, καὶ τῆς ψυχῆς τὴν κατάπτωσιν τῇ τοῦ γά-

### English translation (Claude)

“… this supposition itself remains firm for them throughout. For if they call the heavenly nature unchangeable, how does passion have room in what is unchangeable? And if the nature below is subject to passion, how is freedom from passion achieved in what is passible? But they mix what cannot be mixed and unite what is incompatible, seeing the unchangeable in passion and freedom from passion again in what changes. And they do not even remain in this; but where they exiled the soul from because of vice, there they settle it again from the material life, as in a safe and undefiled life, as if forgetting that vice, springing up there, made it mingle with the nature below. So the condemnation of life here and the praise of heavenly things are confused with one another and turned upside down, what is condemned in their opinion leading to the good, while what was supposed better gives the soul the occasion for its inclination to the worse. Every mistaken and unstable supposition about such things, then, must be cast out from the doctrines of truth; nor should we follow, as aiming at the truth, those who say that souls go down from women’s bodies to manly life, or conversely that souls separated from men’s bodies come to be in women, or pass from men to men and from women to women. For the former account was rejected not only because it is unstable and deceptive, turning round in itself to contrary suppositions, but also because it is impious, teaching that none of existing things is brought into being unless vice gives the beginning to the nature of each. For if neither men nor plants nor cattle grow unless a soul falls on them from above, and the fall comes about through vice, then they think vice begins the constitution of existing things. And somehow both things happen at the same time, a man growing from marriage and the soul’s fall coinciding with the zeal of mar…”

### Translation notes

- Lines of the critical apparatus leaked into the digital text at the end of this unit and are removed (logged); the last word breaks off and continues in the next unit.

### Citation (SBL)

Gregory of Nyssa, An. et res. 115 (PG 46:116a–116b; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/gregory-nyssa-anima-resurrectione/89/#p-115).

## On the Soul and the Resurrection, Migne page 117

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/gregory-nyssa-anima-resurrectione/117/#p-117
- Source: PG 46:117a–117b
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: Linking souls’ falls to matings, plantings, and births is absurd, leaves souls homeless if people stay unmarried, and makes life begin by chance and evil, which denies providence.

### Greek text

μου συμβαίνειν σπουδῇ. Καὶ τὸ ἐτι τούτου παραλογὼτερον, εί ἔαρι τὰ πολλά τῆς ἀλόγου φύσεως συνδυάζεται. 'Ap‘ οὖν ἐστιν εἰπεῖν δτι καὶ τῇ ἀνω περιφορᾷ τὸ ἔαρ ἐμφύεσθαι, τὴν κακίαν ποιεῖ. ὥστε συμβαίνει ὁμοῦ τε τοῦ κακοῦ τὰς ψυχὰς πληρουμένας πίπτειν, καὶ τὰς γαστέρας τῶν ἀλόγων κυΐσκεσθαι ; Τί δʼ ἀν εἴπῃ τις περὶ τοῦ γεωπόνου τοῦ καταπηγνύοντος τῇ γῇ τὰς τῶν φυτῶν ἁποο σπάδας; Πῶς ή τούτου χεὶρ συγκατέχωσε τῷ φυτῷ τὴν ἀνθρωπίνην ψυχὴν, συντρεχούσης πτερορρυήη σεως τῇ τοῦ ἀνθρώπου πρὸς τὴν φυτείαν ὁρμῇ ἶ Τὸ αὐτὸ τοίνυν ἄτοπον καὶ ἐπὶ τοῦ ἑτέρου τῶν λόγων, ἐπὶ τὺ οἴεσθαι τὴν ψυχὴν τὰς συνόδους ὲν συζυγίᾳ ζώντων περιεργάσασθαι, ἢ τὰς λοχείας ἐπιτηρεῖν, ἵνα τοῖς φυομένοις σώμασιν ἐπεισκριθῶσιν.’“Ει δὲ ἀπείποι ὲ ἀνηρ τʼδν γάμον, {es γυνὴ ἑαυτὴν τῆς τῶν ὀδυνῶν ἀνάγκης ἐλευθερὼσειεν· ἄρʼ οὗ βαρήσει τὴν ψυχὴν ὴ κακία; Οὐκοῦν ὁ γάμος τῇ ἀνω κακίᾳ τὸ κατά τῶν ψυχῶν ὲνδώσιμον δίδωσιν, ἢ καὶ δίχα τούτου καθάπτεται τῆς ψυχῆς ἡ πρὸς τὸ ἐναντίον σχέσις. Οὐκοῦν ἄοικος ὲν τῷ μέσῳ καὶ ἀλῆτις ή ψυχὴ πεπλανήσεται, τῶν μὲν οὐρανίων ἀπορρυεῖσαο σώματος δὲ ἂν οὕτω τύχοι πρὸς ὑποδοχὴν ἀμοιρήσασα. Εἶτα καὶ πῶς διά τούτων ἐπιστατεῖν τὸ Θεῖον τῶν ὄντων ὑπονοήσουσι, τῇ τυχαίᾳ ταύτῃ καὶ ἀλόγῳ τῶν ψυχῶν καταπτώσει τὰς ἀρχὰς τῆς ἀνθρωπίνης ἀνατιθέντες ζωῆς; Ἀνάγκη γάρ πᾶσα τῇ ἀρχῇ καὶ τὰ μετά ταύτην συμφώνως ἔχειν. El γάρ ὲκ συντυχίας αὐτομάτου τινὸς ό βίος ἤρξατο, τυχέα πάντως καὶ ἡ κατʼ αὐτῶν διέξοδος γίνεται. Καὶ μάτην τῆς θείας δυνάμεως οί τοιοῦτοι τὰ ὄντα ἐξάπτουσιν, οἱ μὴ βουλήματι θείῳ τὰ ὲν τῷ κόσμῳ φύεσθαι λέγοντες, ἀλλʼ εἰς πονηράν τινων συντυχίαν τάς ἀρχὰς τῶν γινομένων ἀνάγοντες, ὡς οὐκ ἂν συστάσης τῆς ὀνθρωπίνης ζωῆς μὴ τοῦ κακοῦ δόντος τῇ ζωῇ τὸ ἑνδόσιμον.Είοῦν ἡ ἀρχὴ τοῦ βίου τοιαύτη, δηλαδὴ καὶ τὰ ἐφεξῆς κατὰ τὴν ἀρχὴν κινηθήσεται. Οὐ γὰρ ἄν τις κακοιῖικαλὸν, οὐδὲ ἐξ ἀγαθοῦ τὸ ἐναντίον φύεσθαι λέγοι. Ἀλλὰ κατά τὴν τοῦ σπέρματος φύσιν, καὶτοὺς καρποὺς ἀναμένομεν. Οὐκοῦν πάσης τῆς ζωῆς ἡ αὐτόματος αὕτη καὶ συντυχικὴ κίνησις ἠγεμονεύεξβξὲὃ), μηδεμιᾶς προνοίας διὰ τῶν ὄντων οίχού- σης ο σης (ον).

### English translation (Claude)

“… riage. And what is still more absurd, most of the irrational creatures mate in spring. Can one say, then, that spring, coming on in the revolution above, produces vice, so that souls fall filled with evil at the same time as the wombs of irrational creatures conceive? And what would one say about the farmer who plants cuttings of plants in the earth? How has his hand buried a human soul together with the plant, the shedding of wings coinciding with the man’s impulse to plant? The same absurdity attends the other account too, thinking that the soul busies itself about the unions of living things in pairs or watches for births, so as to enter the bodies being born. And if the man renounces marriage, and the woman frees herself from the necessity of labour pains, will vice not weigh down the soul? Then either marriage gives the signal to the vice above against souls, or even without it the attachment to the opposite takes hold of the soul. Then the soul will wander homeless and vagrant in the middle, having fallen from heaven and perhaps having no body to receive it. Then too, how will they suppose by this that the divine presides over existing things, ascribing the beginnings of human life to this accidental and irrational fall of souls? For what follows must necessarily agree with the beginning. If life began from some spontaneous chance, its course too will certainly be by chance. And in vain do such people make existing things depend on the divine power, when they say that the things in the world grow not by divine will but refer the beginnings of what comes to be to an evil chance, as though human life could not have come to exist unless evil had given the signal to life. If, then, the beginning of life is such, clearly what follows will move according to the beginning; for no one would say that good grows from evil or the opposite from good; but we expect the fruits according to the nature of the seed. This spontaneous and chance movement, then, would rule the whole of life, no providence passing through existing things.”

### Translation notes

- The sentence begun in the previous unit ends at the start of this one.

### Citation (SBL)

Gregory of Nyssa, An. et res. 117 (PG 46:117a–117b; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/gregory-nyssa-anima-resurrectione/117/#p-117).

## On the Soul and the Resurrection, Migne page 119

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/gregory-nyssa-anima-resurrectione/117/#p-119
- Source: PG 46:120a–120d
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: If life began from vice, there would be no providence, no judgment, and no desire for virtue; in fact God’s wisdom begins life, and the soul, created good and free, can choose to close its eye to the good, like a man who shuts his eyes.

### Greek text

Ιιάντα γάρ πάντως ἐπὶ τῷ φέροντι κείσεται, καί οὐδὲν ὁ βίος διοίσει τῶν ἀνερματίστων πλοίων, ταῖς αὐτομάτοις συντυχίαις, οἷόν τισι κύμασιν. άλλοτε πρὸς ἀλλην καλῶν ἢ φαύλων σὺν τύχῃ μεθορμιζόμενος. Οὐ γὰρ ἔστι τὸ ἐξ ἀρετῆς ἐγγενέσθαι κέρδος, οἷς ἡ φύσις ἐκ τῶν ἐναντίων (Ἵ 5) τὴν ἀρχὴν ἔχει. Ei μὲν γὰρ θεόθεν οἰκονομεῖται ἡμῶν η ζωὴ, τὸ δὲ κακίαν κατάρχειν τῆς ζωῆς ἡμῶν συνομολογεῖται. Είδέ διʼ ἐκείνης φυόμεθα, πάντη τε καὶ πάντως κατʼ αὐτὴν βιοτεύσομεν. Λῆρος οὖν διὰ τούτων ἀποδειχθήσεται, τά μετὰ τὸν τῇδε βίον δικαιωτήρια ’ καὶ ἡ πρὸς ἀξίαν ἀνταπόδοσις, καὶ ὅσα ἄλλα πρὸς ἀναίρεσιν τῆς κακίας λέγεται καὶ πεπίστευται. Πῶς γὰρ δυνατὸν ἔξω ταύτης εἶναι τὸν ἄνθρωπον τὸν διʼ ἐκείνης φύντα; Πῶς δὲ καὶ ὁρμή τις ἐγένετο προαιρετικὴ τῷ ἀνθρώπῳ πρὸς τὸν κατʼ ἀρετὴν βίον, οῦή φύσις ἐκ κακίας, ὡς λέγουσι, τὴν ἀρχὴν ἔχει; Ὠς γὰρ οὐκ ἐπιχειρεί τι τῶν ἀλόγων ἀνθρωπικῶς φθέγξασθαι, τῇ δὲ συντρόφῳ κα). κατὰ φύσιν κεχρημένα φωνῇ, 0662μίαν ἡγεῖται ζημίαν ἀμοιροῦντα τῷ λόγῳ ' κατά τὸν αὑτὸν τρόπον, καὶ οἷς ἡ κακία νομίζεται εἶναι τῆς ζωῆς ἀρχὴ κα). αἰτία, οὐκ ἂν είς ἐπιθυμίαν,ἔλθοιεν τῆς ἀρετῆς, ὡς ἔξω τῆς φύσεως αύτῶν οὔσης. Ἀλλά μὴν πᾶσι τοῖς κεκαθαρμένοις ἐκ λογισμῶν τὴν ψυχὴν διὰ σπουδῆς τε καὶ ἐπιθυμίας ὁ κατʼ ἀρετὴν βίος ἐστίν. Ἀρα διὰ τούτων σαφῶς ἀποδείκνυται, τὺ μὴ πρεσβυτέραν εἶναι τῆς ζωῆς τὴν κακίαν, μήτʼ ἐκεῖθεν τὰς πρώτας ἀρχὰς ἐσχηκέναι τὴν φύσιν, ἀλλὰ κατάρχειν ἡμῶν τῆς ζωῆς τὴν τὸ πᾶν οίκονομοῦσαν τοῦ Θεοῦ σοφίαν. Ἐλθοῦσαν δὲ, είς γένεσιν τὴν ψυχὴν κατά τὸν ἀρέσκοντα τρόπον τῷ κτίσαντι, τότε κατʼ ἐξουσίαν αὐτὴν αἱρεῖσθαι τὸ κατά γνώμην ἐκ τῆς προαιρετικῖκ δυνάμεως, ὂ τί περ ἂν ἐθέλει τοῦτο καὶ γινομένην. Μάθοιμεν δʼ ἀν τὸν λόγον ἐκ τοῦ τῶν ὀφθαλμῶν ύποδείγματος, ᾧ τδ μὲν.ὁρᾷν ἐστιν ἐκ φύσεως τὸ δὲ μὴ ὁρᾷν ἐκ προαιρέσεως ἢ καὶ πάθους. Γένοιτο γὰρ ἄν ποτε καὶ τὸ παρά φύσιν ἀντὶ τῆς φύσεως, ἢ ἑκουσίως τινὸς τὸν ὀφθαλμὸν μύοντος, ἢ ἐκ πάθους στερηθέντος τῆς ὅψεως. Οὕτως ἐστιν εἰπεῖν, καὶ τῇ ψυχῇ θεόθεν μὲν εἶναι τὴν σύστασιν, μηδεμιᾶς δὲ νοουμένης περὶ τὸ Θεῖον κακίας, ἔξω τῆς κατʼ αὐτὴν ἀνάγκης εἶναιʼ γενομένην δὲ οὕτως τῇ) ίδία γνώμη πρὸς-το δοκοῦν ἄγεσθαι, Vi) ἐκ προαιρέσεως πρὸς τὸ καλὸν ἐπιμύουσαν, ἢ ἐξ ἐπι-ν βουλῆς τοῦ συνοικοῦντος ἡμῶν τῇ ζωῇ πολέμου τὸν ὀφθαλμὸν βλαπτομένην, κα). ἐν τῷ τῆς ἀπάτης

### English translation (Claude)

“For everything will certainly lie with the one who carries it along, and life will differ in nothing from ships without ballast, carried now to one harbour, now to another, of good or bad fortune, by spontaneous chances as by waves. For there can be no gain from virtue for those whose nature has its beginning from the opposite. For if our life is governed by God, it is admitted that vice cannot begin our life; but if we grow through vice, we shall live entirely and altogether according to it. The tribunals after life here, and repayment according to worth, and all else that is said and believed for the abolition of vice, will then be shown by this to be nonsense. For how can a man who grew through vice be outside it? And how could there be any impulse of choice in man toward the life of virtue, if his nature has its beginning from vice, as they say? For as none of the irrational creatures attempts to speak like a human being, but, using the voice natural to it and bred with it, thinks it no loss to lack speech, in the same way those for whom vice is thought to be the beginning and cause of life would not come to desire virtue, as being outside their nature. But for all who have purified their soul by reasoning, the life of virtue is a matter of zeal and desire. By this, then, it is clearly shown that vice is not older than life, and that nature did not have its first beginnings from it, but that the wisdom of God, which governs the universe, begins our life. And when the soul has come into being in the manner pleasing to the Creator, then it chooses by its own authority, from its power of choice, whatever it wishes, and becomes that. We may learn the point from the example of the eyes, for which seeing is from nature and not seeing from choice or from affliction. For what is against nature may sometimes come in place of nature, either when someone closes his eye of his own will or is deprived of sight by affliction. So one may say that the soul has its constitution from God, and, since no vice is conceived in the divine, it is outside the necessity of vice; but having come into being in this way, it is led by its own judgment to what it thinks good, either closing its eye to the good by choice, or having its eye harmed by the plotting of the enemy who dwells with our life, and living in the darkness of deceit …”

### Translation notes

- Lines of the critical apparatus leaked into the digital text at the end of this unit and are removed (logged).

### Citation (SBL)

Gregory of Nyssa, An. et res. 119 (PG 46:120a–120d; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/gregory-nyssa-anima-resurrectione/117/#p-119).

## On the Soul and the Resurrection, Migne page 121

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/gregory-nyssa-anima-resurrectione/117/#p-121
- Source: PG 46:121a–121d
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: How the soul or anything came into being is beyond inquiry, as Hebrews 11:3 shows; creation cannot be from God’s substance, nor from some other eternal matter.

### Greek text

βιοτεύουσαν σκότει, καὶ τὸ ἔμπαλιν καθαρῶς πρὸς τὴν ἀλήθειαν βλέπουσαν, πόρρω γίνεσθαι τῶν σκοτεινῶν παθημάτων. Πότε οὖν ἐρεῖ τις γινομένην, καὶ πῶς; Ἀλλέ τὴν μὲν ζήτησιν τὴν περὶ τοῦ πῶς τὰ καθʼ ἔκαστον γέγονεν, ἐξαιρετέον πάντη τοῦ λόγου. Οὔτε γὰρ περὶ τῶν προχείρων ἡμῖν είς κατανόησιν, ῶν τὴν ἀντίληψιν διʼ αἰσθήσεως ἔχομεν, δυνατὸν ἂν γένοιτο τῴ διερευνωμένῳ λόγῳ, τὸ πῶς ὑπέστη τὸ φαινόμενον κατανοῆσαι, ὡς μήτε τοῖς θεοφορουμένοις καὶ ἁγίοις ἀνδράσι τὸ τοιοῦτον ληπτὸν νομισθῆναι. Πίστει γὰρ νοοῦμεν, φησὶν ὁ Ἀπόστολος (ὅ), κατηρτίσθαι τοὺς αίῶνας ῥήματι Θεοῦ, είς τὸ μὴ ὲμμαινομένων τὰ ὁρώμενα γεγονέναι· οὐκ ἂν, ὡς οἴομαι, τοῦτο είπὼν, εἴπερ ᾤετο γνωστὸν, εἶναι διὰ τῶν λογισμῶν τὸ ζητούμενον. Ἀλλʼ ὅτι μὲν θελήματι θείῳ κατήρτισται αὑτός τε ὁ αἰὼν, καὶ πάντα ὅσα ὲν αὐτῷ γεγένηται (ὁστισοῦν ἂν εἴη οὗτος ὁ αίὼν, ᾧ παραθεωρείται πᾶσα ὁρατὴ τε καὶ ἀόρατος κτίσις), τοῦτο πεπιστευκέναι φησὶν ὁ Ἀπόστολος, τὸ δὲ πῶς ἀφῆκεν ἀδιερεύνητον. Οὐδὲ γὰρ ἐφικτὸν τὸ τοιοῦτον οἶμαι τοῖς ἀναζητοῦσιν εἶναι, πολλὰς ἀμηχανίας τοῦ περὶ τούτων ζητήματος ἡμῖν προδεικνύντος, πῶς ὲκ τῆς ἑστώσης φύσεως τὸ κινούμενον ὲκ τῆς ἁπλῆς τε καὶ ἀδιαστάτου τὸ διαστηματικόν τε καὶ σύνθετον; ’Ᾱρα ἐξ αὐτῆς τῆς ὑπερκειμένης οὖσίας; Ἀλλʼ οὐχ ὁμολογεί τὸ έτερογενὲς ζ 10) ἔχειν πρὸς ὲακείνην τὰ ὄντα, ἀλλʼ ἑτέρωθεν πόθεν. Καὶ μὴν οὐδὲν ἔξωθεν τῆς θείας φύσεως ὁλόγος βλέπει. Ἦ γὰρ ἂν διασχισθείη πρὸς διαφόρους ἁρχὰς ὴ ὑπόληψις, εἴτι τῆς ποιητικῆς αἰτίας ἔξω νομισθείη, παρτ οῦὴ τεχνικὴ σοφία, τὰς πρὸς τὴν κτίσιν παρασκευὰς ἐρανίζεται. Ἐπεὶ οῦν ἓν μὲν τῶν ὄντων τὸ αἴτιον, οὐχ ὁμογενῆ δὲ τῇ ὑπερκειμένη φύσει τὰ διʼ ἐκείνης παραχθέντα είς γένεσιν · ίση δὲ καθʼ ἑκάτερον ὲν τοῖς ὑπονοουμένοις ἡ ἀτοπία, τό τε ὲκ τῆς φύσεως τοῦ Θεοῦ τὴν κτίσιν οίεσθαι, καὶ τὸ ἐξ ἑτέρας τινὸς οὐσίας ὑποστῆναι τὰ πάντα · ἦ γὰρ καὶ τὺ Θείον ὲν τοῖς τῆς κτίσεως ἰδιώμασιν εῖναι ὑπονοηθήσεται, εἴπερ ὁμογενῶς πρὸς τὸν Θεὸν ἔχοι τὰ γεγονότα· 1) τις ὑλικὴ φύσις ἔξω τῆς θείας οὐσίας ἀντεξαχθήσεται τῷ

### English translation (Claude)

“… and, conversely, looking purely at the truth, comes to be far from the passions of darkness. When, then, someone will say, does it come into being, and how? But the inquiry into how each thing came to be must be removed from the discussion altogether. For not even about the things readily open to our understanding, which we perceive through sense, would it be possible for searching reason to understand how what appears came to exist, so that such a thing was not thought within the grasp even of inspired and holy men. ‘For by faith we understand,’ says the Apostle, ‘that the ages were framed by the word of God, so that what is seen came to be from things that do not appear’; he would not have said this, I think, if he had thought that what is sought could be known by reasonings. But the Apostle says he has believed that the age itself, and all that has come to be in it (whatever this age is, in which the whole visible and invisible creation is seen), was framed by the divine will; but the how he left unsearched. For I think such a thing is not attainable by those who search, since the question about these things shows us many perplexities: how the moving comes from the stable nature, and the extended and composite from the simple and unextended. From the transcendent substance itself? But what exists does not admit being of a different kind from it. From elsewhere, then? But reason sees nothing outside the divine nature. For our conception would be split into different principles if anything were thought to be outside the making cause, from which the skilful wisdom collected its materials for creation. Since, then, the cause of existing things is one, while the things brought into being through it are not of the same kind as the transcendent nature, and the absurdity is equal either way in the suppositions, both to think that creation is from the nature of God and that all things came to exist from some other substance (for either the divine will be supposed to be in the properties of creation, if the things that came to be are of the same kind as God, or some material nature outside the divine substance will be set up against God …”

### Scripture references

- Heb 11:3: quotation, high confidence

### Translation notes

- References: Heb 11:3.

### Citation (SBL)

Gregory of Nyssa, An. et res. 121 (PG 46:121a–121d; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/gregory-nyssa-anima-resurrectione/117/#p-121).

## On the Soul and the Resurrection, Migne page 123

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/gregory-nyssa-anima-resurrectione/117/#p-123
- Source: PG 46:124a–124d
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: Macrina leaves aside how creation happened, saying only that God’s will becomes reality at once; bodies are a concurrence of qualities that are themselves intelligible, so an intellectual God can produce them.

### Greek text

Βεῷ κατά τδ ἀγέννητον τῇ ἀῑδιότητι τοῦ ὄντος παρισουμένη · ὅπερ δή καὶ Μανιχαϊοι φαντασθέντες,ὶ καί τινες τῆς Ἑλληνικῆς φιλοσοφίας ταῖς ἴσαις ὅπονοίαις συνενεχθέντες, δόγμα τὴν φαντασίαν ταύτην πεποίηνται. Ὠς ἀν μάλιστα οὖν ἐκφύγοιμεν τὴν ἀφʼ eumρου ἀτοπίαν ὲν τῇ ζητήσει τῶν ὄντων, κατὰ τὺ τοῦ Ἀποστόλου ὑπόδειγμα, ἀπολυπραγμόνητον τὸν λόγον τὸν περὶ τοῦ, πῶς ἕκαστον ἐστιν, καταλείψομεν, τοσοῦτον παρασημαινόμενοι μόνον, ὃτι ἡ ὁρμὴ τῆς θείας προαιρέσεως, ὅταν ἐθέλει, πρᾶγμα γίνεται, καὶ οὑσιοὺται τὸ βούλευμα εὐθὺς ἡ φύσις γινόμενον, τῆς παντοδυνάμου ἐξουσίας, ὅπερ ἂν,σοφῶς τε κα). τεχνικῶς ἐθέλῃ, μὴ ἀνυπόστατον ποιούσης τὸ θέλημα. Ἢ δὲτοῦ θελήματος ὓπαρξις ούσία ἐστί. Διχῆ δὲ διακρινομέ· νων τῶν ὄντων, είς τὺ νοερόν τε καὶ σωματικόνο ἡ μὲν τῶν νοερῶν κτίσις οὑ δοκεῖ πως ἀπᾴδειν τῆς τοῦ ἀσωμάτου φύσεως, ἀλλʼ ὲκ τοῦ σύνεγγυς εῖναι τὸ ἀειδές τε καὶ ἀναφὲς καὶ ἀδιάστατον δεικνύουσα. Ὅπερ δὴ καὶ περὶ τὴν ὑπερκειμένην φύσιν ὑπονοῶν τις οὑχ ἁμαρτήσεται. Τῆς δὲ σωματικῆς κτίσεως ἐν ἀκοινωνήτοις ὡς πρὸς τδ Θεῖον τοῖς ίδιώμασι θεωρουμένης· καὶ ταύτην μάλιστα τὴν πολλὴν ἀμηχανίαν ἐμποιούσης τῷ λόγῳ, μὴ δυναμένου κατιδεῖν, πῶς ὲκ τοῦ ἀοράτου τὸ ὁρώμενον; ἐκ τοῦ ἀναφοῦς rb στερρὸν καὶ ἀντίτυπον, ὲκ τοῦ ἀορίστου τὺ ὡρισμένον, ὲκ τοῦ ἀπόσου τε καὶ ἀμεγέθου τὸ πάντως μέτροις τισὶ τοῖς κατά τὸ ποσὸν θεωρουμένοις περιειρο γόμενον; Καὶ τὰ καθʼ ἕκαστον ὃσα περὶ τὴν σωματι κήν καταλαμβάνεται φύσιν, περ). ὧν τοσοῦτόν φαμεν, ὅτι οὐδὲν ἐφʼ ἑαυτοῦ τῶν περὶ τὸ σῶμα θεωρουμένων σῶμά ἐστιν, οὑ σχῆμα, οὑ χρῶμα, ού βάρος, ού διάστημα, οὑ ἁτηλικότης, οὑκ ἄλλο τι τῶν ἐν ςποιότητι θεωρουμένων οὐδὲν, ἀλλά τούτων ἕκαστον λόγος ἐστίνʼ ἡ δὲ πρὸς ἄλληλα συνδρομὴ τούτων καὶ ἓνωσις σῶμα γίνεται. Ἐπεὶ οὖν αί συμπληρωματικα). τοῦ σώματος ποιότητες νῷ κα ε ταλαμδάνονται καὶ οὑκ αἰσθήσει, νοερὸν δὲ τὸ Θεῖον, τίς πόνος τῶν νοητῶν τά νοήματα κατεργάσασοαις Ὦν ἡ πρὸς ἄλληλα συνδρομὴ τὴν τοῦ σώματος ε ημῖν ἀπεγέννησε φύσιν. Ἀλλά ταῦτα μὲν ἔξω τιῡ

### English translation (Claude)

“… as unbegotten, made equal to the eternity of Being; which indeed the Manichees imagined, and some of the Greek philosophy, carried along by like suppositions, have made this fancy a doctrine). So that we may best escape the absurdity on either side in our inquiry into existing things, following the Apostle’s example we shall leave the question how each thing exists uninquired into, pointing out only this: that the impulse of the divine choice, when it wills, becomes fact, and the purpose at once becomes nature and is given substance, the all-powerful authority not leaving unrealized whatever it wills wisely and skilfully; and the existence of the will is substance. Since existing things are divided in two, into the intellectual and the bodily, the creation of intellectual things does not seem in any way out of keeping with the incorporeal nature, but shows its nearness in being formless, intangible, and unextended; and one who supposes this about the transcendent nature too will not be wrong. But since bodily creation is seen in properties that have no communion with the divine, it produces the greatest perplexity for reason, which cannot see how the visible comes from the invisible, the solid and resistant from the intangible, the limited from the unlimited, from what has no quantity or magnitude what is certainly bounded by measures seen in quantity, and each of the other things grasped about bodily nature. About these we say only this: that nothing seen about the body is body by itself, not shape, not colour, not weight, not extension, not magnitude, nor anything else seen as a quality; but each of these is a principle (a thought); and their concurrence and union with one another becomes body. Since, then, the qualities that complete the body are grasped by mind and not by sense, and the divine is intellectual, what labour is it for the intelligible to produce the thoughts, whose concurrence with one another has produced for us the nature of the body? But these things …”

### Extrabiblical texts

- Gregory of Nyssa, Hom. opif. 24 (On the Making of Man): echo, medium confidence

### Translation notes

- Parallel to On the Making of Man 24. The Manichees taught two eternal principles, good and matter.

### Citation (SBL)

Gregory of Nyssa, An. et res. 123 (PG 46:124a–124d; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/gregory-nyssa-anima-resurrectione/117/#p-123).

## On the Soul and the Resurrection, Migne page 125

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/gregory-nyssa-anima-resurrectione/117/#p-125
- Source: PG 46:125a–125d
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: Macrina asks when souls begin: not before bodies (that leads to the absurd fall of souls), nor after them, since the embryo already moves and grows, which nothing without soul can do.

### Greek text

προκειμένου παρεξετάσθη. Τὸ δὲ ζητούμενον ἦν, η ei προῦφεστήκασιν αξ ψυχαὶ τῶν σωμάτων. πότε ἢ πῶς γίνονται. Καὶ τούτου χάριν ἡμῖν περὶ τοῦ πῶς ζήτησιν ὡς ἀνέφικτον οὖσαν ἀπολυπραγμόνητον ἀφῆκεν ὁ λόγος. Περὶ τοῦ πότε τὰς ἀρχὰς αἱ ψυχαὶ τῆς ὑπάρξεως ἔχουσιν, ὡς ἀκόλουθον ὃν tot: προεξητασμένοις, ζητεῖν καταλείπεται. El. γὰρ δοθείη τὸ πρὸ τοῦ σώματος ὲν ἰδιαζούσῃ τινὶ καταστάσει τὴν ψυχὴν βιοτεύειν ἀνάγκη πᾶσα τὰς ἀτόπους ὲκείνας δογματοποιεας ἰσχὺν ἔχειν νομιζειν τῶν διὰ κακίας τὰς ψυχὰς εἰσοικιζόντων τοῖς σώμασιν. Ἀλλὰ μὴν ἐφυστεριζειν τὰς ψυχὰς τὴν γένεσιν, καὶ νεωτέρας τῆς τῶν σωμάτων εἶναι συμπλάσεως, οὐδεὶς ἂν τῶν εὖ φρονούντων ὑπονοήσειεν, φανεροῦ πᾶσιν ὕντος ὅτι οὐδὲν τῶν ..ων..ι-υννοινεηι, Vw-.."....-., -.ην ν-- ---ρ - ν ἀψύχων κινητικὴν τε καὶ· αὐξητικὴν ὲν αὐτῷ δύναμιν ἔχει. Τῶν δʼ ἐν νηδύϊ ἐντρεφομένων, οὔτε ἓοῗῦξησις, οὔτε ή τοπικὴ κίνησίς ἐστιν ἀμφί- ος.

### English translation (Claude)

“… were examined outside the subject. What was sought was whether souls exist before bodies, and when or how they come to be. And for this reason the argument left the inquiry about how uninvestigated, as being beyond reach. It remains to seek when souls have the beginning of their existence, as following from what was examined earlier. For if it were granted that the soul lives in a state of its own before the body, it would necessarily follow that those absurd doctrines have force which settle souls in bodies because of vice. But no sensible person would suppose that souls are later in their genesis and younger than the forming of bodies, since it is plain to all that nothing … of what is soulless has in itself a power of motion and growth. But of those nourished in the womb neither growth nor local motion is doubtful …”

### Extrabiblical texts

- Gregory of Nyssa, Hom. opif. 29 (On the Making of Man): echo, medium confidence

### Translation notes

- A line is garbled in the scan in the middle of the unit (marked …), and the unit ends mid-sentence. Parallel to On the Making of Man 28–29.

### Citation (SBL)

Gregory of Nyssa, An. et res. 125 (PG 46:125a–125d; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/gregory-nyssa-anima-resurrectione/117/#p-125).

## On the Soul and the Resurrection, Migne page 127

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/gregory-nyssa-anima-resurrectione/117/#p-127
- Source: PG 46:128a–128b
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: Soul and body begin together, the soul’s powers unfolding with the body’s growth; when humanity reaches its full number, birth and death will cease and a stable, indissoluble life will follow.

### Greek text

ἀνθρωπίνης συστάσεως, πρὸς λόγον τῆς σωματικῆς ποσότητος, καὶ η τῆς ψυχῆς διαφαίνεται δῦναιμις· πρῶτον μὲν διά τοῦ θρεπτικοῦ καὶ αὐξητικοῦ τοτς ἔνδοθεν πλασσομένοις ἐγγινομένη. Μετά ταῦτα δὲ τὴν αἰσθητικὴν χάριν τοῖς εἰς φῶς προελθοῦσιν ἐπάγουσα, εἷθʼ οὕτω, καθάπερ τινὰ καρπὸν, αὐξηθένο τος ἠδη τοῦ φυτοῦ, μετρίως τὴν λογικὴν ἐμφαίνουσα δύναμιν, οὐ πᾶσαν κατὰ τὸ ἀθρόον, ἀλλὰ τῇ ἀναδρομῇ τοῦ φυτοῦ διʼ ἀκολούθου προκοπῆς συναυί ξανομένην. Ἐπειδὴ τοίνυν τδ ἐκ τῶν ἐμψύχων είς ἀφορμὴν ἐμψύχου συστάσεως ἀποσπώμενον, νεκρδν εἶναι οὔ δύναται (ὴ γὰρ νεκρότης κατά ψυχῆς στέρησιν γίνεταιο οὐκ ἂν δὴ προσλάβῃ τὴν ἕξιν ἠ στέρησις )° ἐκ τούτων καταλαμβάνομεν τὸ κοινὴν τῷ ἐξ ἀμφοτέρων συνισταμένῳ συγκρίματι, τὴν είς τὸ εἶναι πάροδον γίνεσθαι, οὔτε τούτου προτερεύοντος, οὔτʼ ἐκείνου ἐφυστερίζοντοςο στᾶσιν δέ ποτε τῆς τοῦ ἀριθμοῦ τῶν ψυχίῦν αὐξήσεως, ἀναγκαίως προορᾷ ὁ λόγοςξ Ὠς ἂν μὴ διαπαντὸς ῥέοι ἡ φύσις, ἀεὶ διὰ τῶν ἐπιγινομένων ἐπὶ τὸ πρόσω χεομένη, καὶ οὐδέποτε τῆς κινήσεως λήγουσα. Τὴν δὲ αἰτίαν τοῦ δεῖν πάντως στάσιμόν ποτεψκαὶ την ἡμετέραν γίνεσθαι φύσιν, ταύτην οἰόμεθα, ὅτι πάσης τῆς νοητῆς φύσεως ἐν τῷ ἰδίῳ πληρώματι ἑστώσης, εἰκός ποτε καὶ τδ ἀνθρώπινον εἰς πέρας ἐλθεῖν, οὐδὲ γὰρ τοῦτο τῆς νοητῆς ἠλλοτρίωται ξρύζ σεωςομως μὴ πάντοτε δοκεῖν ἐν τῷ λείποντι καθορᾶσθαι. ᾝ γάρ ἀεὶ τῶν ἐπιγινομένων προσθήκη, κατηγορία τοῦ ἐλλείποντος ἔχειν τὴν φύσιν-γίνεται. Ἐπειδὰν οὖν είς τὸ οἰκεῖον πλήρωμα τδ ἀνθρώπινον φθάσῃ, στήσεται πάντως ήηῤοῦδης (ο) αὕτη τῆς φύσεως κίνησις, είς τδ ἀναγκαίον καταντὴέ σασα πέρας, καί τις ἑτέρα κατάστασις τὴν ζωὴν διαδέχεται, τῆς νῦν ἐν γενέσει καὶ φθορᾷ διεξαγομένης κεχωρισμένη. Μὴ οὔσης γὰρ γενέσεως, κατὰ πᾶσαν ἀνάγκην οὐδὲ τὸ φθειρόμενον ἔσται. El γὰρ πρὸ τῆς διαλύσεως σύνθεσις ἄρχεται, σύνθεσιν δέ φαμεν τὴν διὰ γενέσεως πάροδον ο ἀκόλουθον πάντως μὴ καθηγουμένης τῆς συνθέσεως, μηδὲ τὴν διά λυσιν ἕπεσθαι. Οὐκοῦν ἑστῶσά τις κα). ἀδιάλυτος ἡ μετά ταῦτα ζωὴ διʼ ἀκολουθίας προφαίνεται ), οὔτε ὑπὸ γενέσεως, ἀλλοῖον μένη.

### English translation (Claude)

“… of the human constitution, the power of the soul too shows itself in proportion to the bodily quantity: first arising in those being formed within through the nourishing and growing power, then bringing the gift of sense to those who have come out into the light, and then, like a fruit when the plant has already grown, showing the rational power moderately, not all at once, but growing along with the plant’s rising by a sequence of progress. Since, then, what is taken from living beings as the beginning of a living constitution cannot be dead (for deadness comes by privation of soul, and privation would not come before the possession), we gather from this that the compound made of both has a common passage into being, neither the one coming first nor the other later. But reason necessarily foresees a halt one day to the increase in the number of souls, so that nature may not always be flowing, always poured forward through those who come after and never ceasing its motion. And we think the reason why our nature too must certainly one day become stable is this: since the whole intelligible nature stands in its own fullness, it is likely that humanity too will one day come to an end; for this too is not estranged from the intelligible nature; so that it may not always seem to be seen in want. For the continual addition of those born afterward becomes a charge that the nature has something lacking. When, then, humanity reaches its own fullness, this flowing movement of nature will certainly stop, having come to its necessary end, and another state will succeed life, separated from the present one carried on in birth and corruption. For when there is no birth, there will by every necessity be nothing that perishes either. For if composition comes before dissolution (and by composition we mean the passage through birth), it certainly follows that if composition does not go before, dissolution will not follow. The life after this, then, appears by consequence to be stable and indissoluble, not altered by birth …”

### Translation notes

- The last words of the unit are garbled in the scan and translated by sense. Parallel to On the Making of Man 22 and 29.

### Citation (SBL)

Gregory of Nyssa, An. et res. 127 (PG 46:128a–128b; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/gregory-nyssa-anima-resurrectione/117/#p-127).

## On the Soul and the Resurrection, Migne page 129

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/gregory-nyssa-anima-resurrectione/117/#p-129
- Source: PG 46:129a–129b
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: Gregory, fearing Macrina will soon die, asks her to address the doctrine of the resurrection itself, which Scripture teaches will follow when humanity is complete.

### Greek text

ιʼ. Ἐγὼ δέ ταῦτα διεξελθούσης διδασκάλον, ἐπειδὴ τοῖς πολλοῖς παρακαθημένοις ἐδόκει τὸ προσῆκον ἐσχηκέναι πέρας ὁ λόγος, φοὸηθεὶς μὴ ούκ ἔτι ὁ διαλύων -ἡμῖν τὰ περὶ τῆς ἀναστάσεως παρὰ τῶν ἔξωθεν προφερόμενα, εἴτι ἐκ τῆς ἀρρωστίας ἡ διδάσκαλος πάθοι, ὅ δὴ καὶ ἐγένετο οὔπω, φημὶ, τοῦ κυριωτάτου τῶν κατὰ δόγμα ζητουμένων ὀ λόγος· 1Ιλψατο. Φησὶ γὰρ ἡ θεόπνευστος Γ ραφὴ, κατά τε τὴν νέαν καὶ ἁρχαίαν διδασκαλίαν, πάντως ποτὲ τάξει τινὶ ἶ καὶ εἱρμῶ τῆς φύσεως ήμῶν κατὰ τὴν παροδικὴν τοῦ χρόνου κίνησιν διεξιούσης, στήσεσθαι μὲν τὴν ῥοώδη ταύτην φορὰν τὴν διὰ τῆς τῶν ἐπι· γινομένων διαδοχῆς προϊοῦσαν, τῆς δὲ τοῦ παντὸς συμπληρώσεως μηκέτι τὴν ἐπὶ τὸ πλεῖον ἐπαύξησιν προδεχομένης, ἅπαν τὸ τῶν ψυχῶν πλήρωμα, πάλιν ἐκ τοῦ ἀειδοῦς καὶ ἐσκεδασμένου πρὸς τὸ συνεστὸς καὶ φαινόμενον ἐπανελεύσεσθαι, τῶν αὐτῶν στοιχείων κατὰ τὸν αὐτὸν εἱρμὸν πρὸς ἄλληλα πάλιν ἀναδραμόντων. Ἦ δὲ τοιαύτη τῆς ζωῆς κατάστασις, περὶτῶν τῆς θείας διδασκαλίας Γραφῶν ἀνάστασις λέγεται, τῇ τοῦ γεώδους ἀνορθώσει, πάσης τῆς τῶν στοιχείων κινήσεως συνονομαζομένης. -Μ. Τί οὖν, φησὶ, τούτων ἀμνημόνευτον ἐν τοῖς εἰρημένοις ἐστίν; —- Γ. Αὐτὸ, φημὶ, τὸ δόγμα τῆς ἀναστάσεως. _

### English translation (Claude)

Gregory: When my teacher had gone through this, since it seemed to the many sitting by that the discussion had reached its fitting end, I was afraid that there would no longer be anyone to resolve for us the objections brought by those outside against the resurrection, if anything should happen to my teacher from her illness, as indeed it did. “The discussion,” I said, “has not yet touched the most important of the questions of doctrine. For the inspired Scripture says, both in the new and in the ancient teaching, that when our nature has passed through the passing movement of time in a certain order and sequence, this flowing course, which proceeds through the succession of those born afterward, will certainly stop one day; and when the completion of the universe no longer admits increase, the whole fullness of souls will return from the invisible and scattered to the compacted and visible, the same elements running together again in the same order. And such a state of life is called resurrection in the Scriptures of divine teaching, the whole movement of the elements being named together with the raising up of what is earthy.” Macrina: “What, then,” she said, “of these things has not been mentioned in what was said?” Gregory: “The very doctrine of the resurrection,” I said.

### Translation notes

- “As indeed it did” refers to Macrina’s death soon afterward.

### Citation (SBL)

Gregory of Nyssa, An. et res. 129 (PG 46:129a–129b; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/gregory-nyssa-anima-resurrectione/117/#p-129).

## On the Soul and the Resurrection, Migne page 131

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/gregory-nyssa-anima-resurrectione/117/#p-131
- Source: PG 46:132a–132d
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: Macrina finds the resurrection in Ps 104:29–30 (the Spirit’s return renews the dead) and in Ps 118:27, where the feast of Tabernacles “with thick branches” prefigures the rebuilding of the body’s tent; the temple’s graded courts introduce her next point.

### Greek text

ιδ πρόσωπον τῆς γῆς. ι Πάντα ὲν πᾶσιν ἐνεργοῦσαν τοῦ πνεύματος δύναμιν, ζωοποιεῖν τε λέγων, οἷς ἂν ἐγγένηται, καὶ ἀφιστᾷν τῆς ζωῆς πάλιν ὧν ἂν-98) ἀπογένηται. Ἐπεὶ οὖν τῇ ἀναχωρήσει τοῦ πνεύματος τὴν τῶν ζώντων ἔκλειψιν, τῇ δὲ τούτου ( ‘2) παρουσίᾳ τὸν τῶν ἐκλειπόντων ἀνακαινισμὸν γίνεσθαι λέγει, προηγεῖται δὲ κατὰ τὴν τοῦ λόγου τάξιν τῶν ἀνακαινιζομένων ἡ ἔκλειψις· τούτῳ ἐκείνῳ φαμὲν τὸ κατὰ τὴν ἀνάστασιν καταγγέλλεσθαι τῇ Ἐκκλησία μυστήριον, τῷ προφητικῷ πνεύματι τοῦ Δαβὶδ τὴν χάριν ταύτην προεκφωνήσαντος. Ἀλλὰ καὶ ἐτέρωοέν φησιν t. αὐτὸς οὗτος προφήτης, ὅτι ό τοῦ παντὸς Θεὸς, ὁ τῶν ὅντων Κύριος ὲπέφανεν ἡμῖν ἐπ). τῷ συστήσασθαι τὴν ἑορτὴν ἐν τοῖς πυκάζουσι τὴν τῶν Σκηνοπηγίων ἑορτην διὰ της ἢτοῦ πυκασμοῦ λέξεως ἐρμηνεύων, ἢ πάλαι μὲν ἐκ τῆς παραδόσεως τοῦ Μωῦσέως νενόμιστο· προφητικῶς, οἶμαι, τὰ μέλλοντα τοῦ νομοθέτου προαγορεύοντος· ἀεὶ δὲ γενόμενος, οὔπω ἐγεγόνει. Προεδηλοῦτο μὲν γὰρ τοῖς τῶν γινομένων αἰνίγμασι τυπικῶς ή ἀλήθεια αὓτη δὲ ἠ ἀλη- Οὴς σκηνοπηγία οὔπω ἦν, ἀλλὰ τούτου χάριν, κατᾶ τὸν προφητικὸν λόγον, ὁ Θεὸς τῶν ὅλων καὶ Κύριος ἐαυτὸν ὲπέφανεν ἡμῖν, ὡς ἂν συσταίη τῇ ἀνθρωπίνῃ φύσει ἡ τοῦ διαλυθέντος ἡμῶν οἰκητηρίου σκηνοπηγία, πάλιν διὰ τῆς συνόδου τῶν στοιχείων σωματικῶς πυκαζομένη. Τὴν γὰρ περιβολὴν καὶ τὸν ἐκ ταύτης κόσμον ἡ τοῦ πυκασμοῦ λέξις κατὰ τὴν ἰδίαν ἔμφασιν διασημαίνει. Ἐχει δὲ ἡ ῥῆσις τῆς ψαλμῳδίας τοῦτον τὸν τρόπονʼ Θεδς Κύριος καὶ ὲπέφανεν ἡμῖν συστήσασθαι ἑορτὴν ὲν τοῖς πυκάζουσιν ἕως τῶν κεράτων τοῦ θυσιαστηρίου. Ὅπερ δοκεί μοι προαναφωνεῖν διʼ αἰνίγματος, τὸ μίαν ἑορτὴν πάσῃ τῇ λογικῇ κτίσει συνίστασθαι τῶν ὑποδεεστέρων τοῖς ὑπερέχουσιν ἐν τῇ τῶν ἀγαθῶν συνόδῳ συγχορευόντων. Ἐπειδὴ γὰρ ἐν τῇ τυπικῇ τοῦ ναοῦ κατασκευῇ, οὐ πᾶσιν ἐφεῖτο τῆς ἔξωθεν περιβολῆς ἐντὸς γενέσθαι, ἀλλά περικέκριτο τῆς εἰσόδου πᾶν ὅσον ἐθνικδν καὶ ἀλλόφυλον, τῶν τε αὖ ἐντὺς γινομένων, οὐ με· τῆν ἐκ τοῦ ἴσου πᾶσι τῆς ἐπὶ τὸ ἐνδότερον παρόδου, μή τινι καραρωτέρᾳ διαίτῃ, καί τισι περιρρανο τηρίοις ἀφαγνισθεϊσι· πάλιν δὲ κα). ἐν αὐτοῖς τούτοις ού πᾶσι βάσιμος ἦν ό ἔνδον ναὸς, ἀλλὰ

### English translation (Claude)

Macrina: “… the face of the earth.’ He says that the power of the Spirit, working all in all, gives life to those in whom it comes to be and removes from life again those from whom it departs. Since, then, he says that the failing of the living comes about by the withdrawal of the Spirit, and the renewal of those who have failed by its presence, and in the order of the saying the failing of those renewed comes first, we say that by this the mystery of the resurrection is proclaimed to the Church, the prophetic spirit of David having foretold this grace. And elsewhere this same prophet says that the God of all, the Lord of existing things, appeared to us to establish the feast with thick branches, interpreting the feast of Tabernacles by the word ‘thick branches.’ This feast had long been customary from the tradition of Moses, the lawgiver, I think, foretelling the future prophetically; and though it was always being kept, it had not yet taken place. For the truth was foreshown figuratively in the riddles of what was done, but this true pitching of tabernacles had not yet come. For this reason, according to the prophetic word, the God and Lord of all showed himself to us, so that the pitching of the tabernacle of our dissolved dwelling might be established for human nature, being covered again bodily, thick with branches, through the coming together of the elements. For the word ‘thick branches’ by its proper sense signifies the covering and the adornment from it. The saying of the psalm runs thus: ‘God is the Lord, and he has appeared to us; establish the feast with thick branches, up to the horns of the altar.’ This seems to me to foretell in a riddle that one feast is being established for the whole rational creation, the lesser dancing together with the higher in the gathering of good things. For in the figurative construction of the temple not all were allowed within the outer enclosure, but every Gentile and foreigner was kept from entering; and of those who came within, not all had equal share in the passage further in, unless purified by a purer way of life and certain sprinklings; and again even among these the inner temple was not accessible to all, but …”

### Scripture references

- Ps 104:30 (103:30 LXX): quotation, high confidence
- Ps 118:27 (117:27 LXX): quotation, high confidence
- Lev 23:40: allusion, high confidence
- 2 Cor 5:1: echo, medium confidence

### Translation notes

- Lines are lost in the scan before this unit, including the beginning of Macrina’s reply and of the quotation (marked …). References: Ps 104:29–30 (103:29–30 LXX); Ps 118:27 (117:27 LXX), read in the Septuagint (“establish the feast with thick branches, up to the horns of the altar”); Lev 23:40–43; 2 Cor 5:1. Temple arrangements: Exod 26–27; Lev 16.

### Citation (SBL)

Gregory of Nyssa, An. et res. 131 (PG 46:132a–132d; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/gregory-nyssa-anima-resurrectione/117/#p-131).

## On the Soul and the Resurrection, Migne page 133

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/gregory-nyssa-anima-resurrectione/117/#p-133
- Source: PG 46:133a–133b
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: The graded courts of the temple image the ranks of rational beings, with humanity shut out by vice; at the resurrection the barriers will fall and all, even those now outside, will share one feast within the sanctuary.

### Greek text

τοῖς ἱερεῦσι μόνοις νόμιμον ἦν κατὰ χρείαν isρουργίας ἐντὸς τοῦ καταπετάσματος γίνεσθαι, τὸ δὲ ἀπόκρυφόν τε καὶ ἄδυτον τοῦ ναοῦ, ὲν ᾧ τὺ θυσιαστήριον ἵδρυτο κεράτων τισὶ προσβολαῖς κεκαλλωπισμένον, καὶ αὐτοῖς τοῖς ἱερεῦσιν ἀνεπίβατον ἦν, πλὴν ἐνὸς τοῦ προτεταγμένου τῆς ἱερωσύνης, ὼς ἀει-’.αξ τοῦ ἐνιαυτοῦ κατά τινα νόμιμον ἡμέραν, μόνος πορῤητοτέραν τινά καὶ μυστικωτέραν προσάγων ,ερουργίαν ἐπὶ τδ ἐντὸς παρεδύετο. Τοσαύτης οὖν οὕσης περὶ τὸν ναὸν τοῦτον διαφορᾶς, ὅτι τις ε ίκὼν καὶ μίμημα τῆς νοητῆς ἦν καταστά· τεως, τοῦτο τῆς σωματικῆς παρατηρήσεως διδασκούς 7ης, ὅτι οὔτε πᾶσα ἡ λογικὴ φύσις τῷ ναῷ τοῦ θεοῦ, τουτέστι τῇ ὁμολογία τοῦ μεγάλου Θεοῦ προσιγγίζει· ἀλλʼ οἱ πρὸς τὰς ψευδεῖς ὑπολήψεις πεπλανημένοι ἐκτός εἱσι τοῦ θείου περισχοινίσματος. Tt?» δὲ διὰ τῆς ὁμολογίας ὲντὸς γεγενημένων προτιμοτέρων τῶν ἄλλων, οἱ περιῤῥαντηρίοις καὶ ἁγνείαις προκαθαιρόμενοι, καὶ τούτων οἱ ἀφιερωθέντες ἥδη τὸ πλέον ἔχουσιν, ὥστε τῆς ὲσωτερικῆς ἀξιοῦσθαι μυσταγωγίας, ὼς δʼ ἀν τις ἐπὶ τὸ φανερώτερον προάγοι τὴν τοῦ αἰνίγματος ἔμφασιν. Ταῦτα ἐστι μαθεῖν τοῦ λόγου διδάσκοντος, ὅτι τῶν λογικῶν δυνάμεων, αἱ μέν τινές εἰσιν οἷον τὸ ἅγιον Ouσιαστήριον ἐν τῷ ἀδύτῳ τῆς θεότητος καθιδρυμένοι· αἱ δέ τινες πάλιν καὶ τούτων ὲν ἐξοχῇ θεωροῦνται, κεράτων δίκην προβεβλημέναι, καὶ ἄλλαι περὶ ὲκείνας κατά τινα τάξεως ἀκολουθίαν προτερεύουσί τε καὶ δευτερεύουσι. Τὸ δὲ τῶν ἀνθρώπων γένος διὰ τὴν ὲγγινομένην κακίαν ἔξω τῆς θείας περιβολῆς ἀπεώσθη· ὅπερ τῷ περιράντρῳ λουτρῷ καθηράμενον ὲντδς γίνεται. Ἀλλʼ ἐπειδὴ μέλλει ποτὲ τὰ μετά ταῦτα παραφράγματα λύεσθαι, διʼ ὧν ἡμᾶς ἡ κακία πρὸς τὰ ἐντὸς τοῦ καταπετάσματος ἀπετείχισεν, ὃταν σκηνοπηχθῇ πάλιν διὰ τῆς ἀναστάσεως ἡμῶν ἡ φύσις, καὶ πᾶσα ἡ κατά κακίαν ἐγγινομένη (τι) διαφθορὰ ὲξαφανισθῇ τῶν ὄντων, τότε κοινὴ συστήσεται ἡ περὶ τὸν Θεὸν ἑορτὴ τοῖς διά τῆς ἀναστάσεως πυκασθεῖσιν, ὡς μίαν τε καὶ τὴν αὐτὴν προκεῖσθαι πᾶσι τὴν εὐφροσύνην· μηκέτι διαφορᾶς τινος τῆς τῶν ῑτων μετουσίας, τὴν λογικὴν φύσιν διατεμνούσης, ἀλλά τῶν νῦν ἔξω διὰ τὴν κακίαν ὄντων ἐντὸς τῶν ἀδύτων τῆς θείας μακαριότητος ποτε γενησομένων, καὶ τοῖς κέρασι τοῦ θυσιαστηρίου, τουτέστι, ταῖς ὲξεχούσαις τῶν ὑπερκοσμίων δυνάμεσιν ἑαυτοὺς

### English translation (Claude)

“… it was lawful only for the priests to go within the veil as the service required; while the hidden and inaccessible part of the temple, in which the altar stood adorned with projecting horns, was not to be entered even by the priests themselves, except by the one at the head of the priesthood, who slipped in alone once a year on a certain appointed day, bringing a more secret and mystical service. Since there was such distinction in this temple, because it was an image and imitation of the intelligible state, the bodily observance taught this: that not the whole rational nature draws near to the temple of God, that is, to the confession of the great God; but those who have wandered into false suppositions are outside the divine enclosure; and of those who have come within through confession, those purified beforehand by sprinklings and purifications are more honoured than the others, and of these, those already consecrated have more, so as to be counted worthy of the inner initiation, as one might bring the sense of the riddle to greater clarity. One can learn this from the word’s teaching: that of the rational powers some are set like the holy altar in the sanctuary of the Godhead; others again among these are seen in prominence, projecting like horns; and others around them come first and second in an order of sequence; while the human race, because of the vice that came about, was driven outside the divine enclosure, and is brought within when purified by the washing of sprinkling. But since the barriers by which vice walled us off from what is within the veil will one day be dissolved, when our nature has its tabernacle pitched again through the resurrection and all the corruption that came about through vice has disappeared from existing things, then a common feast around God will be established for those covered thick through the resurrection, so that one and the same joy is set before all, no longer any difference in sharing equal things dividing the rational nature, but those who are now outside because of vice will one day be within the sanctuary of the divine blessedness, and will join themselves to the horns of the altar, that is, to the prominent ones among the supramundane powers.”

### Scripture references

- Heb 9:7: allusion, high confidence
- Exod 30:10: allusion, medium confidence
- Heb 10:22: allusion, medium confidence

### Translation notes

- References: Heb 9:3–7 (the high priest once a year); Exod 30:10; Heb 10:22 (the washing). Macrina’s expectation that “those who are now outside because of vice” will one day be within is part of Gregory’s teaching on universal restoration; translated exactly as written.

### Citation (SBL)

Gregory of Nyssa, An. et res. 133 (PG 46:133a–133b; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/gregory-nyssa-anima-resurrectione/117/#p-133).

## On the Soul and the Resurrection, Migne page 135

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/gregory-nyssa-anima-resurrectione/117/#p-135
- Source: PG 46:136a–136d
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: Phil 2:10–11 states the same universal harmony plainly; Ezekiel’s vision of dry bones and Paul’s teaching on the last trumpet show the resurrection, which Christ also performed in deed.

### Greek text

συναπτόντων. Ὅπερ δὴ γυμνότερόν φησιν 6 Ἀπόστολος, τὴν τοῦ παντὸς πρὸς τὸ ἀγαθὸν συμφωνίαν διερμηνεύων, ὅτι αὖτῷ πᾶν γόνυ κάμψει ἐπουρανίων καὶ ὲπιγείων καὶ καταχθονίων, καὶ πᾶσα γλῶσσα ἐξομολογήσεται, δτι Κύριος Ἰησοῦς Χριστὸς είς δόξαν Θεοῦ Πατρός · ἀντὶ μὲν τῶν κεράτων λέγων τὸ ἀγγελικόν τε καὶ ἐπουράνιον, διὰ δὲ τῶν λοιπῶν σημαίνων τὴν μετʼ ἐκείνους νοουμένην κτίσιν ἡμᾶς, οὓς πάντας μία καὶ σύμφωνος ἑορτὴ κατακρατήσει. Ἑορτή ἐστιν ἡ τοῦ ὅντως ὖντος ὁμολογία τε καὶ ἐπίγνωσις. Ἔστι δὲ, φησὶ, καὶ ἄλλα πολλά τῆς ἁγίας Γραφῆς πρὸς σύστασιν τοῦ κατά τὴν ἀνάστασιν δόγματος ἀναλέξασθαι.’0 τε γὰρ Ἑζεκιὴλ τῷ προφητικῷ πνεύματι τὸν ὲν τῷ μέσῳ πάντα χρόνον, καὶΙ τὸ ὲν τούτῳ διάστημα ὕπερδας, ἐπʼ αὑτοῦ ἵσταται τοῦ καιροῦ τῆς ἀναστάσεως τῇ προγνωστικῇ δυνάμει καὶ τὸ ἐσόμενον ὡς ἢδη τεθεαμένος ὑπʼ ὄψιν ἄγει τῷ διηγήματι. Πεδίον μέγα καὶ είς ἄπειρον εἶδε διηπλωμένον, ὀστέων σωρείαν ἐπὶ τούτῳ πολλὴν, ἄλλων ἀλλαχῆ πρὸς τὸ ωμὸἀν διερριμμένων · εἶτα θείᾳ. δυνάμει πρὸς τὰ συγγενῆ καὶ ίδια συγκινουμένων, κα) ταῖς οἰκείαις ἁρμονίαις ἐμφυομένων. Εἶτα νεύροις καὶ capit καὶ δέρμασι καλυπτομένων (ὅπερ ἡ ψαλμῳδία πυκαζομένων λέγει), καὶ πνεῦμα ζωοποιοῦν τε καὶ διεγεῖρον άπαν τὸ κείμενον. Τὴν δὲ τοῦ Ἀποστόλου κατά τὴν ἀνάστασιν θαυμάτων διασκευὴν, ὼς πρόχειρον οὖσαν τοῖς ὲντυγχάνουσιν, τί ἄν τις λέγοι; Ὅπως ὲν κελεύσματί τινι καὶ σαλπίγγων ἤχει φησὶν ό λόγος ὲν ἀκαρεῖ τοῦ χρόνου ἆπαν ἀθρόως τὸ τεθνηκός τε καὶ κείμενον, εἰς ἀθανάτου φύσιν ὑπαμειφθήσεσθαι; Ἀλλά καὶ τὰς εὐαγγελικάς φωνὰς, ὡς προδήλους ἅπασιν οὔσας, παρήσαμεν. Οὐ γὰρ μόνῳ λόγῳ φησὶν ὀ Κύριος τοὺς νεκροὺς ἀναστήσεσθαι, ἀλλά καὶ αὐτὴν ἐνεργεῖ τὴν ἀνάστασιν, ἀπὸ τῶν ὲγγυτέρων ἡμῖν καὶ ἦττον ἀπιστεῖσθαι δυο ναμένων τῆς θαυματοποιίας ἀρξάμενος. Πρῶτον μὲν

### English translation (Claude)

“The Apostle says this more plainly, explaining the harmony of the universe in the good, that to him every knee will bow, of those in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father; meaning by the horns the angelic and heavenly, and signifying by the rest the creation understood as coming after them, us, all of whom one harmonious feast will hold. The feast is the confession and recognition of Him who truly is. There are also many other passages of holy Scripture,” she said, “that one could gather for establishing the doctrine of the resurrection. For Ezekiel, by the prophetic spirit, passing over the whole intervening time and the interval in it, stands at the very moment of the resurrection by his power of foreknowledge, and, as having already seen what will be, brings it before our eyes in his narrative. He saw a great plain spread out without limit, and a great heap of bones on it, scattered here and there at random; then, by divine power, moving to what was akin and their own and growing into their proper joints; then covered with sinews and flesh and skin (which the psalm calls being covered with thick branches); and a spirit giving life and raising up all that lay there. And why should one speak of the Apostle’s description of the wonders at the resurrection, since it is ready to hand for readers: how, at a command and the sound of trumpets, the word says, in an instant of time all at once everything dead and lying will be changed into an immortal nature? We have passed over the sayings of the Gospel too, as plain to all. For the Lord does not only say by word that the dead will rise, but works the resurrection itself, beginning his miracles from things nearer to us and less able to be disbelieved. First …”

### Scripture references

- Phil 2:10: quotation, high confidence
- Phil 2:11: quotation, high confidence
- Ezek 37:1: allusion, high confidence
- Ezek 37:8: allusion, high confidence
- 1 Cor 15:52: allusion, high confidence
- 1 Thess 4:16: allusion, high confidence
- Matt 24:31: allusion, medium confidence

### Translation notes

- References: Phil 2:10–11; Ezek 37:1–10; 1 Cor 15:51–52; 1 Thess 4:16; Matt 24:31.

### Citation (SBL)

Gregory of Nyssa, An. et res. 135 (PG 46:136a–136d; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/gregory-nyssa-anima-resurrectione/117/#p-135).

## On the Soul and the Resurrection, Migne page 137

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/gregory-nyssa-anima-resurrectione/117/#p-137
- Source: PG 46:137a–137d
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: Macrina recalls Christ’s miracles of raising the dead and his own resurrection. Gregory grants that the resurrection is believed but asks whether bodies will rise as they died, old, wasted, or diseased, which would make resurrection a misfortune.

### Greek text

γὰρ ιν τοῖς ὲπιθανασίοις τῶν νοσημάτων τὴν ζυοσνσιδν δείκνυσι δύναμιν, ἀπελαύνων προστάγματι καὶλόγῳ τὰ πάθη εἶτα ἀρτιθανὲς ἐγείρει παιδίον, εἷτα νεανίαν τοῖς τάφοις ἤδη προσκομιζὸμενσνιίῆς σσροῦ διαναστήσας τῇ μητρὶ δίδωσι· μετὰ ταῦτοδιαὶιέπτωκότα ἤδη τετραημέρῳ χρόνῳ τὸν Λά- Cum νικρὲιν ἐξάγει τοῦ τάφου φωνῇ λ καὶ προστάγματι ζωοποιήσας τὸν κείμενον · εἶτα τὸν ἑαυτοῦ ἄνθρωπον ἥλοις καὶ λόγχῃ διαπεπαρμένον ὲκ νεκρῶν διὰ τρίτης ἡμέρας διανίστησι, τοὺς τύπους τῶν ἥλων καὶ τὴν πληγὴν τῆς λόγχης ek μαρτυρίαν τῆς ἀναστάσεως ἐπαγόμενος. Περὶ ᾦν οὐδὲν οἶμαι χρῆναι διεξιέναι, μῆ μιᾶς ἀμφιβολίας ἐν τοῖς τὰ προγεγραμμένα παραδεδειγμένοις εἰπούσης. Γ. Ἀλλʼ οὗ τοῦτο, εἷπον ἐγὼ, τὸ ζητούμενον ἦνʼ τύτὰρ ἔσεσθαί ποτε τὴν ἀνάστασιν, καὶ τὸ ὑπαχθησεσοαι τῇ ἀδεκάστῳ κρίσει τὸν ἄνθρωπον, διά τε τῶν γραφιῑῶν ἀποδείξεων, καὶτῶν ήδη προεξητασμένων, οἱ mihi. τῶν ἀκουόντων συνθήσονται. Ὑπόλοιπον ἂν atq σκοπεῖν, φησιν, εί ὥσπερ τὺ νῦν καὶτὸ nmmum ἐσται. Ὅπερ εἰ ὄντως εἴη, φευmh εἷπον τοῖς ἀνθρώποις τὴν ἐλπίδα τῆς ἀναστῷσεως εῐνάι. Εἰ γὰρ οἷα γίνεται, ὅταν λήγετιιι eoi ζῇν τὰ ἀνθρώπινα σώματα, τοιαῦτα τῇ ζωῇ πάλιν ἀποκαθίσταται · ἄρα τις ἀτέλεστος συμφορὰ διὰ τῆς ἀναστάσεως τοίς ἀνορώποις ὲλπίζεται. Τίγὰρἃ ἐλεεινότερον γένοιτο θέαμα, ἢ ὅταν ἐν δσχάτῳ γήρᾳ καταρριγνυθέντα τὰ σώματα μεταθηιηθῇ πρὸς τὸ εἰδεχθὲς τε καὶ ἄμορφον, τῆς μὲν modum; περιεσκληκὸτος τοῦ δέρματος Τῶν δὲ δὴ νεύρων συνεσπασμένων διὰ τὸ μηκέτι τῇ φυσικῇ ἰκμάδι ὕποπιαίνεσθαι, καὶ διὰ τοῦτο παντὸς συνελκομὲνου τοῦ σώματος, ἄτοπόν τι καὶ ἐλεεινὸν θέαμα γῖνεται, τῆς μὲν κεφαλῆς ἐπὶ τὸ γόνυ συγκεκλιμένης τῆς δι χειρὸς ἔνθεν καὶ ἔνθεν πρὸς μὲν τὴν κατὰ φύσιν ἐνέργειαν ἀπρακτούσης, ἐντρομῆς δὲ κατὰ ἰδ ἀκούσιον ἀεὶ κραδαινομένης. Οἴα δὲ πάλιν τῶν ταῖς χρονίαις νόσοις ὲκτετηκὸτων τὰ mima-ca; ’Δ τοσοῦτον διαφέρει τῶν γυμνωθέντων ὀστέων, ὅσον ἑπικαλύφθαι δοκεῖ λεπτῷ, καὶ ὲκδεδαπανημένῳ ἤδη τῷ δέρματι. Οἴα δὲ καὶ τῶν ὲν ταῖς ὑδερι-

### English translation (Claude)

“… he shows his life-giving power in deadly diseases, driving away the afflictions by command and word; then he raises a child just dead; then he raises a young man already being carried to the tomb from the bier and gives him to his mother; after this he brings Lazarus, already decayed after four days, out of the tomb, giving life to the one lying there by voice and command; then he raises his own man, pierced with nails and spear, from the dead on the third day, bringing the marks of the nails and the wound of the spear as witness of the resurrection. About these I think there is no need to go through anything, since no doubt remains for those who have accepted what is written.” Gregory: “But that was not what was in question,” I said. “Most of those who hear will agree, both from the proofs of Scripture and from what has already been examined, that there will one day be a resurrection and that man will be brought to the impartial judgment. What remains to consider,” I said, “is whether the body will be such as it is now. If it really is, I said, people should flee the hope of the resurrection. For if human bodies are restored to life such as they are when they cease to live, then an endless misfortune is expected for people through the resurrection. For what could be a more pitiable sight than when bodies, shrivelled in extreme old age, are changed into what is hideous and shapeless, the flesh withered away, the skin hardened, the sinews contracted because no longer fattened by natural moisture, and so the whole body drawn together; an absurd and pitiable sight arises, the head bent down toward the knee, the hands on either side idle for their natural activity and always shaking with involuntary trembling? And what of the bodies of those wasted by long diseases, which differ from bare bones only in seeming to be covered with thin and already consumed skin? And what of those swollen with dropsical …”

### Scripture references

- Mark 5:41: allusion, high confidence
- Luke 7:14: allusion, high confidence
- John 11:39: allusion, high confidence
- John 11:43: allusion, high confidence
- John 20:25: allusion, high confidence
- John 20:27: allusion, medium confidence

### Translation notes

- References: Mark 5:41–42; Luke 7:14–15; John 11:39–44; John 20:25–27. “His own man” (τὸν ἑαυτοῦ ἄνθρωπον) is Christ’s human nature; translated as written. Several lines of the critical apparatus and a marginal note leaked into the digital text at the end of this unit and are removed (logged).

### Citation (SBL)

Gregory of Nyssa, An. et res. 137 (PG 46:137a–137d; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/gregory-nyssa-anima-resurrectione/117/#p-137).

## On the Soul and the Resurrection, Migne page 139

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/gregory-nyssa-anima-resurrectione/117/#p-139
- Source: PG 46:140a–140d
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: Gregory presses the dilemma: if bodies rise as they were (mutilated, diseased, infant), the resurrection is a misfortune; if they rise different, it is not the same person who rises.

### Greek text

ἀρρωστίαις ἐξῳδηκότων, τῶν δὲ τῇ ἱερᾷ νόσῳ κεκρατημένων τὴν ἀσχήμονα λώβην τίς ἂν ὑπʼ ὄψιν ἀγάγοι λόγος, ὡς ’κατʼ ὀλίγον αὐτοῖς πάντα τὰ μέλη τὰ ὀργανικά τε καὶ αἰσθητὰ προσιοῦσα ἡ σηπεδὼν ὲπιὸὀσκεται ; τῶνδὲ ὲν σεισμοῖς, ἢ πολὲμοις, ἢ ἐξ ἑτέρας τινὸς αἰτίας ἠκροτηριασμένων, καὶ πρὸ τοῦ θανάτου χρόνον τινὰ ὲν τῇ συμφορᾷ ταύτῃ ὲπιῦιούντων, ἢ τῶν ἀπὸ γενέσεως λὼδῃ τινὶ συναποτελεσθέντων ὲν διαστρόφοιςτοίς μέλεσι, περιὸν. τι ἄν τις λέγοις Περὶ τῶν ἀρτιγενῶν νηπίων τῶν τε ἐκτιθεμένων, καὶ τῶν καταπνιγομένων, καὶ τῶν κατά τὺ αὑτὸματον ἀπολλυμένων, τί ἔστι λογίσασθαι, εἰ τὰ τοιαῦτα πάλιν πρὸς τὴν ζωὴν ἐπαναγοιτο, ἄρα ὲναπομένῃ τῇ νηπιότητι, καὶ τι ἀθλιώτερον; ς ’ἀλλʼ ἐπὶ τὸ ἄκρον ἥξει τῆς ἡλικίας, καὶ ποίῳ γάλακτι πάλιν ἡ φύσις αὐτὰ τιθηνήσεταιςὭστε ει μὲν διὰ πάντων ταύτὸν ἡμῖν τὺ σῶμα πάλιν ἀναβιώσεται, συμφορὰ ἔσται τὸ προσδοκώμενον ο εἰ δὲ μὴ ταύτὸν, ἄλλος τις ὁ ἐγειρόμενος ἔσται παρὰ τὸν κείμενον. Ei γὰρ πέπτωκε μὲν τὸ παιδίον, ἀνίσταται δὲ τέλειος, ἢ τὸ ἔμπαλιν, πῶς εστιν εἰπεῖν αὐτὸν ἀνωροῶσθαι τὸν κείμενον, ὲν τῇ τῆς ἡλικίας διαφορᾷ τοῦ πεπτωκότος ὑπηλλαγμένου ὄντος· ἀντὶ γὰρ τοῦ παιδίου τέλειον, καὶ ἀντὶ τοῦ πρεσβυτέρου τὸν ἀκμηστὸν τις ὀρῶν, ἕτερον ἀνθʼ ἑτέρου τεθέαται, καὶ ἀντὶ τοῦ λελωβημένου τὸν ἄρτιον, καὶ ἀντὶτοῦ ἐκτετηκότος τὸν εὔσαρκον, καὶτὰ ἄλλα πάντα ὡσαύτως, ἵνα μὴ, τὰ καθʼ ἕκαστον τις διεξιὼν, ὕχλον ὲπεισάγῃ τῷ λόγῳς Εἰ μὴ οὖν τοιοῦτον ἁναδιώσῃ τὸ σῶμα πάλιν, οἷον ἦν ὅτε τῇ γῇ κατεμίγνυτο, οὐ τὸ τεθνηιὺν ἀναστήσεται, ἀλλʼ εἰς ἄλλον ἄνθρωπον ἡ γῆ διαπλασοὴσεται. Τί οὖν πρὸς ἐμὲ ἠ ἀνάστασις, ει ἀντʼ ἐμοῦ τις ἄλλος ἀναβαὒσεται; Πῶς γὰρ ἂν ἐπιγνοίην αὐτὸς ἐμαυτὸν, βλέπων ὲν ἐμαυτῷ (l) οὐκ ὲμαυτόν; Οὖ γὰρ ἂν εἴην ἀὶηθῶς ἐγὼ, ει μὴ διὰ πάντων εῐην ὁ αὐτὸς ἐμαυτῷ. Καθάπερ γὰρ κατὰ τὸν παρόντα βίον ει τινος ἔχοιμι διὰ μνήμης τὸν χαρακτῆρα, ὑποκείσθω δὲ κατὰ τὸν λόγον ψεδνὸς ὁ τοιοῦτος εἶναι, προχιιλὴς, ὐποσιμδς, λευκόχρους, γλαυκόμματος, ιν που λιᾷ τῇ τριχὶ, καὶ ῥυσῴ τῷ σώματι εἶτα ζητῶν τὸν τοιοῦτον

### English translation (Claude)

“… diseases; and the shameful mutilation of those overcome by the sacred disease, what word could bring before the eyes, how the rot, advancing little by little, feeds on all their organic and sentient members? And what could one say about those maimed in earthquakes or wars or from some other cause, who live in this misfortune for some time before death, or those born with some mutilation in twisted limbs? About newborn infants, those exposed, those smothered, and those who die of themselves, what can one reckon, if such are brought back to life? Will they remain in infancy, and what could be more wretched? Or will they reach full age, and with what milk will nature nurse them again? So if our body comes to life again the same in all respects, what we expect will be a misfortune; but if not the same, the one raised will be someone other than the one who lies dead. For if a child has fallen but a grown man rises, or the opposite, how can one say that the one who lay dead has been raised, when the one who fell has been changed in the difference of age? For one who sees a grown man instead of the child, and one in his prime instead of the old man, has seen one instead of another; and one whole instead of the mutilated, and well-fleshed instead of the wasted, and so with all the rest, so that one need not burden the discussion by going through each. If, then, the body does not come to life again such as it was when it was mingled with the earth, the dead will not rise, but the earth will be formed into another man. What, then, is the resurrection to me, if another will come to life instead of me? How could I recognize myself, seeing in myself not myself? For I would not truly be I, unless I were in every respect the same as myself. For as in the present life, if I have in memory the features of someone, and let it be supposed for argument that he is bald, with thick lips, snub-nosed, pale, grey-eyed, grey-haired, and wrinkled, then looking for him …”

### Translation notes

- “The sacred disease” here is leprosy (elephantiasis), not epilepsy, judging by the description. A garbled passage and lines of the critical apparatus leaked into the digital text at the end of this unit and are removed (logged); the sentence continues in the next unit.

### Citation (SBL)

Gregory of Nyssa, An. et res. 139 (PG 46:140a–140d; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/gregory-nyssa-anima-resurrectione/117/#p-139).

## On the Soul and the Resurrection, Migne page 141

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/gregory-nyssa-anima-resurrectione/117/#p-141
- Source: PG 46:141a–141b
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: Gregory adds a stronger objection: the body is always in flux like a flame, never the same from day to day, so a resurrected body containing all its states would make one man a crowd.

### Greek text

τσιοῦτον, ἐντύχοιμι νέῳ, κομήτῃ, γρυπῷ. μελανοχροΐ, καὶ τὰ λοιπὰ πάντα τοῦ κατὰ τὴν μορφὴν χαρακτῆρος ἑτέρως ἔχοντι. Ἆρα τοῦτον εἰδὼς ἐκεῖνον οἰήσομαι ; μᾶλλον δὲ τὶ χρὴ ταῖς ἐλάττοσι τῶν ὲνστάσεων ὲνδιατρίὸειν τον ἰσχυρότερον ἀφιέμενον; Τίς γὰρ οὐκ οἶδεν, ὅτι ῥοῇ τινι προσέοικεν ἢ ἀνθρωπίνη φύσις, ἀπὸ γενέσεως εἰς Θάνατον ἀεὶ 8ιά τινος κινήσεως προϊοῦσα, τότε τῆς κινήσεως λήγουσα, ὅταν καὶ τοῦ εἶναι παύσεται ; Ἦ δὲ κίνησις αὕτη οὐ τοπικὴ τίς ἐστι μετάστασις (οὐ γὰρ ἑκδαίνει ἑαυτὴν ἡ φύσις), anser ἀλλοιώσεως ’ὂ λέγεται, οὖδέποτε ἐπὶ τοῦ αὐτοῦ μένει · (πῶς γὰρ ἂν ἐν ταύτότητι φυλαχθείη τὸ ἀλλοιούμενον; ) ἀλλʼ ὥσπερ τὸ ἐπὶ τῆς θρυαλλίδος πῦρ, τῷ μὲν δοκεῖν ἀεὶτὸ αὐτὸ φαίνεται (τὸ γὰρ συνεχὲς ἀεὶ τῆς κινήσεως ἀδιάσπαστον αὑτὸ καὶ ἡνωμένον πρὸς ἑαυτὸ δείκνυσι), τῇ δὲ ἀληθείᾳ πάντως πάντοτε ἔαυτδνᾼῌλι) αὐτὸ διαδεχόμενον, οὐδέποτε αὐτὸ μένει (ἡ γὰρ ἐξελκυσοεῖσα διὰ τῆς θερμότητος ἰκμὰς, ὁμοῦ τε ὲξεφλογώθη καὶ εἰς λίγνην ἐκκαυοεῖσα {Laterum-1101;, κα). ἀεὶ τῇ ἀλλοιωτικῇ δυνάμει ὴ τῆς φλογὸς κίνησις ἐνεργεῖται, εἰς λίγνην διʼ εαυτῆς anuos“ τὺ ὑποκείμενον) ' ὥσπερ τοί- ’νυν δὶς κατὰ ταύτὸν τῆς φλογὸς θίγον-τα, οὐκ ἔστι τῆς αὐτῆς τὸ ὣς ἆψασθαι - (τὸ γὰρ ὀξὺ τῆς ἁλλοιώσεως οὐκ ἀναμένει τὸν ὲκ δευτέρου πάλιν ἐπιθιγγάνοντα, κᾶν ὡς τάχιστα τοῦτο ποιῇ), ἀλλʼ ἀεὶ καινή τε καὶ πρόσφατος ἐστιν ἠ φλὸξ πάντοτε γινομένη, καὶ ἀεὶ ἑαυτὴν διαδεχομένη, καὶ οὐδέποτε ἐπὶ τοῦ αὑτοῦ μένουσα· τοιοῦτον τι καὶ ἧτερὶ τὴν τοῦ σώματος ἡμῶν φύσιν ἐστί. Τὸ γὰρ ἐπίρρυτον τῆς φύσεως ἡμῶν, καὶ τὸ ἀπόρρυτον διὰ τῆς ἀλλοιωδ τικῆς κινήσεως ἀεὶ πορευόμενον, τότε κινούμενον ἵσταται, ὅταν καὶ τῆς ζωῆς ἀπολήξῃ · ἕως δʼ ἂν ὲν τῷ ζῇν ᾗ, στάσιν οὐκ ἔχει. Ἣ γὰρ πληροῦται, ἢ διαπνέεται, ἢ διʼ ἑκατέρων πάντως εἰσαεὶ διεξάγεται. Ει τοίνυν οὐδὲ τίῷ χθιζῷ τις ὁ αὑτός ἐστιν, ἀλλʼ ἕτερος τῇ ἀπαλλαγῇ γίνεται, ’ὅταν ὲπαναγάγῃ ’πάλιν τὸ σῶμα ἡμῶν πρὸς τὴν ζωὴν ἡ ἀνάστασις, δῆμός τις ἀνθρώπων πάντως ὁ εἷς γενήσεται, ὡς ἂν μηδὲν ἐλλείποι τοῦ ἀνισταμένου τδ βρέφος, τὸ νήπιον, ’ὁ παῖς, τὺ μειράκιον, ὸὰνὴρ, ὁ πατὴρ, ὁπρεσβύτης, καὶ τὰ διὰ μέσον πάντα. Σωφροσύνης δὲ καὶ ἀκολασίας διὰ σαρκὸς ἐνεργουμένης, τῶν δὲ ὑπομεα

### English translation (Claude)

“… such a one, I met a young man, long-haired, hook-nosed, dark-skinned, and differing in all the rest of the features of his form, would I, seeing this one, think him to be that one? But rather, why should I linger on the lesser objections and pass over the stronger? For who does not know that human nature is like a stream, always advancing by a kind of motion from birth to death, and ceasing from motion only when it ceases to exist? This motion is not a change of place (for nature does not step out of itself), but proceeds by alteration, and never remains in the same state (for how could what is altered be kept in sameness?); but as the fire on a wick seems always to appear the same (for the continuity of its motion shows it unbroken and united with itself), but in truth always succeeds itself and never remains the same (for the moisture drawn up by the heat is at once set ablaze and burned into smoke, and the motion of the flame is always worked by its altering power, turning what underlies it into smoke through itself); as, then, one who touches the flame twice in the same place cannot touch the same flame twice (for the quickness of the alteration does not wait for one who touches it a second time, however quickly he does it), but the flame is always new and fresh, always coming to be and succeeding itself and never remaining the same: something of this kind is the nature of our body too. For what flows into our nature and what flows out of it, always proceeding by the altering motion, stops moving only when it ceases from life; while it is in life it has no rest; for it is either being filled or exhaled, or always carried on by both. If, then, a person is not the same even as yesterday, but becomes another by the change, when the resurrection brings our body back to life the one man will certainly become a whole crowd of people, so that nothing may be lacking to the one who rises: the baby, the infant, the child, the boy, the man, the father, the old man, and all the stages between. And since self-control and licentiousness are exercised through the flesh, and of those who endure …”

### Translation notes

- The image of the flame that cannot be touched twice recalls Heraclitus’s river (frag. 91 Diels–Kranz), not named. The unit ends mid-sentence.

### Citation (SBL)

Gregory of Nyssa, An. et res. 141 (PG 46:141a–141b; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/gregory-nyssa-anima-resurrectione/117/#p-141).

## On the Soul and the Resurrection, Migne page 143

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/gregory-nyssa-anima-resurrectione/143/#p-143
- Source: PG 46:144a–144d
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: Gregory continues the objections: which body will be judged, since the body of the sinner and the penitent keep changing? And what use will the organs of eating and procreation have in a life without marriage or food?

### Greek text

νὸντων ὑπὲρ τῆς εὐσεβείας τὰς ἀλγεινὰς τῶν κολάσεων, τῶν τε αὖ μαλακιζομένων πρὸς ταῦτα διὰ τῆς σωματικῆς αἰσθήσεως, ἑκατέρων τούτων ἐπιδεικνυμένων, πῶς ἔστι παρὰ τὴν κρίσιν διασωθῆναι τὸ δίκαιον ; Ἦ τοῦ αὐτοῦ νῦν μὲν πεπλημμεληκότος, αὖθις δὲ διὰ μεταμελείας ἑαυτὸν ὲκκαθάραντος, κᾶν οὕτω τύχῃ πάλιν ἐπὶ τδ πλημμελὲς ὁλισθήσαντος, ὑπαμειφθέντος δὲ κατὰ τὴν ἀκολουθίαν τῆς φύσεως, καὶ τοῦ μεμολυσμένον καὶ 106 ἀμολύντου σώματος, καὶ μήθʼ ἑτέρουβό) τούτων είς τὸ διηνεκὲς ὲξαρκέσαντος, ποῖον τῷ ἀκολάστῳ σῶμα συγκολασθήσεται, τὸ ρικνωοὲν ὲν τῷ γήρᾳ πρὸς τῷ Θανάτῳ; Ἀλλʼ ἕτερον ῆν τοῦτο παρὰ τὸ τὴν ἁμαρτίαν κατειργασμένον, ἀλλʼ ὅπερ κατεμολύνθη τῷ πείθεις καὶ ποῦ 6 πρεσβύτηςς Ἢ γὰρ οὐκ ἀναστήσεται οὗτος, καὶ οὐκ ἐνεργὸς ὴ ἀνάστασις · ἢ οὗτος ἐγερθήσεται, καὶ διαφεύξεται τὴν δίκην 661:0κείμενος. “ Είπω τι κα) · ἄλλο τῶν προφερομένων ἡμῖν παρά τῶν οὐ δεδεγμένων τὸν λόγον. Οὐδὲν, φησὶν, ἄπρακτον τῶν ὲν τῷ σώματι μορίων ἡφύσις ἐποίησε. Τὰ μὲν γὰρ τὴν 106 ζῇν αίτίαν καὶ δύναμιν ἑν ἡμῖν ἔχει, ὧν ἄνευ συστῆναι διὰ σαρκὸς ζωὴν ἡ μῶν, οὐκ ἐνδέχεται, οἷον, καρδία, ἧπαρ, ἐγκέφαλος, πνεύμων, γαστὴρ, καὶτὰ λοιπὰ σπλάγχνα ο τὰ δὲ τῇ αἱ· σθητικῇ κινήσει ἀποκεκλήρωται ο τὰ δὲτῆς παρεκτιο κῆς καὶ μεταβατικῆς ἐνεργείας ἐστίνʼ ἄλλα δὲ πρὸς τὴν διαδοχὴν τῶν ἐπιγινομένων ἐπιτηδείως ἔχει. El μὲν οὖν ὲν τοῖς αὐτοῖς ἡμῖν 6 μετὰ ταῦτα βίος ἔσται, πρὸς οὐδὲν ἠ μετάστασις γίνεταιο εἰδὲ ἀληθὴς 6 λόγος (ὥσπερ οὖν ἐστιν ἀληθὴς), 6 μήτε γάμον ὲμπολιτεύεσθαι τῷ μετὰ τὴν ἀνάστασιν βίῳ διοριζόμεvoc, μήτε διὰ βρώσεως καὶ πόσεως τὴν τότε διακρατεῖσθαι ζωὴν, τίς ἔσται χρῆσις τῶν μερῶν τοῦ σώμαι τος, οὐκέτι τῶν διʼ ἃ νῦν ἐστιτὰ μέλη κατὰ τὴν ζωὴν ἐκείνην ὲλπιζομένωνς Εἰ γὰρ 106 γάμου χάριν τὰ πρὸς τὸν γάμον ἐστὶ μέλη, ὅταν ἐκεῖνος μὴ ᾖ, οὐδὲ τῶν πρὸς ἐκεῖνον δεόμεθα. Οὕτω πρὸς τὸ ἔργον αί χεῖρες, καὶπρὸς τὸν δρόμον οί πόδες, καὶ πρὸς τὴν παραδοχὴν (AM) τῶν σιτίων τὸ στόμα, καὶ οἱ ὀδόντες πρὸς τὴν τῆς τροφῆς ὑπηρεσίαν, καὶ πρὸς τὴν πέψιν τὰ σπλάγχνα, καὶ πρὸς τὴν ἀποβολὴν τῶν ἀχρειωθέντων αἱ ὲξοδικοὶ τῶν πόρων. Ὅταν οὖν ἐκεῖνα μὴ ᾖ, τὰ διʼ ἐκεῖνα γινομένα πῶς ἢ

### English translation (Claude)

“… endure the painful punishments for godliness, and of those who are soft toward them through bodily sensation, since both show themselves in this, how can justice be preserved at the judgment? Or, when the same man has now sinned and then purified himself by repentance and then perhaps slipped back into sin, and both the defiled and the undefiled body have been changed by the sequence of nature, and neither of them has lasted continuously, what kind of body will be punished along with the licentious man? The one shrivelled in old age near death? But this was other than the one that did the sin. The one defiled by passion, then? And where is the old man? For either this one will not rise, and the resurrection is not effective; or this one will be raised, and the guilty one will escape justice. Let me say something else too of what is brought against us by those who have not accepted the doctrine. Nature, they say, made none of the parts in the body idle. Some have in us the cause and power of living, without which our life through the flesh cannot exist, such as the heart, liver, brain, lungs, stomach, and the other inner organs; others are allotted to the movement of sense; others belong to the activity of handling and moving about; others are fitted for the succession of offspring. If, then, the life afterward is to be in the same things, the change is for nothing; but if the saying is true (as indeed it is) which lays down that marriage has no place in the life after the resurrection, and that life then is not sustained by food and drink, what use will there be for the parts of the body, when the things for which the members now exist are no longer hoped for in that life? For if the members for marriage exist for marriage, when that is not, we do not need what is for it either. So the hands are for work, the feet for running, the mouth for receiving food, the teeth for serving nourishment, the inner organs for digestion, and the passages for expelling what is useless. When those things are not, how or …”

### Scripture references

- Matt 22:30: allusion, high confidence
- Luke 20:35: allusion, medium confidence

### Translation notes

- References: Matt 22:30 and Luke 20:35 (no marriage in the resurrection).

### Citation (SBL)

Gregory of Nyssa, An. et res. 143 (PG 46:144a–144d; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/gregory-nyssa-anima-resurrectione/143/#p-143).

## On the Soul and the Resurrection, Migne page 145

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/gregory-nyssa-anima-resurrectione/143/#p-145
- Source: PG 46:145a–145d
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: Gregory ends his objections; Macrina praises their rhetorical skill but says the truth will be shown by the event itself, like sunrise ending talk of the sun; she begins by defining the aim of the resurrection.

### Greek text

με ὑπὲρ τινος ἔσται, ὼς ἀνάγκην εἶναι, ει μὲν εῖη περιττά τά σώματα πρὸς οὐδὲν πρὸς τὴν ζωὴν ὲκείνην συνεργεῖν μέλλοντα, μηδὲ εἷναί τι τῶν νῦν συμπληρούντων ἡμῖν τὸ σῶμα (ὲν ἀλλοις γὰρ ἡ ζωὴ), καὶ οὐκέτι τὸ τοιοῦτον ἀνάστασιν ὀνομάσειε, τῶν καθʼ ἕκαστον μελῶν διὰ τὴν ἐκείνῃ τῇ ζωῇ ἀχρηστίαν οὑ συνανισταμένων τῷ σώματι; Εί δὲ διά πάντων ἔσται τούτων ἐναργὴς ἡ ἀνάστασις, μάταια ἡμῖν καὶ ἀνόνητα ’ πρὸς τὴν ζωὴν ἐκείνην δημιουργήσει ό ἐνεργῶν,τὴν ἀνάστασιν. Ἀλλά μὴν καὶ εἶναι πιστεύειν χρὴ τὴν ἀνάστασιν, καὶ μὴ ματαίαν εἶναι. Οὐκοῦν προσεκτέον τῷ λόγῳ, ὅπως ἀν ἡμῖν διά πάντων ἐν τῷ δόγματι τὸ εἰκὸς διασώ- Μ. Ἐμοῦ δὲ ταῦτα διεξελθόντος, Οὐκ ἀγεννῶς, φησὶν ἡ διδάσκαλος, κατά τὴν λεγομένην ῥητορικὴν τῶν τῆς ἀναστάσεως δογμάτων κατεπεχείρησας, πιθανῶς τοῖς ἀνασκευαστικοῖς τῶν λόγων ὲν κύκλῳ περιδραμὼν τὴν ἀλήθειαν, ὥστε τοὺς μὴ λίαν ὲπεσκεμμένους τὺ τῆς ἀληθείας μυστήριον παθεῖν ἀν πως τὸ κατά τὸ εἰκὸς πρὸς τὸν λόγον, κα). οἰηθῆναι μὴ ἔξω τοῦ δέον ο τος ὲπῆχθαι τοῖς εἰρημένοις τὴν ὲπαπόρησιν. Ἔχει δὲ οὐχ οὕτω, φησὶν,ή ἀλήθεια, κᾶν ἀδυνάτως ἔχωμεν ἑκ τῶν όμοίων ἀντιρητορεύειν τῷ λόγῳ, ἀλλʼ ό μὲν ἀληθὴς περ) τούτων λόγος ὲν τοῖς ἀποκρύφοις σοφίας θησαυροῖς τεταμίευται, τότε είς τὸ ὲμα φανὶς ἥξων, ὅταν ἔργῳ τὸ τῆς ἀναστάσεως διδαχθῶμεν μυστήριον, ὅτε οὐκέτι δεήσει ῥημάτων ἡμῖν πρὸς τὴν ἐλπιζομένων φανέρωσιν. Ἀλλʼ ὥσπερ ὲν νυκτὶ πολλῶν κινουμένων τοῖς διαγρυπνοῦσι λόγοις περὶ τῆς τοῦ ἡλίου λαμπηδόνος, οἵα ἐστὶν, ἀργὴν ποιεῖτὴν τοῦ λόγου ὑπογραφὴν προφανεῖσα μόνον τῆς ἀκτῖνοςή χάρις, οὕτω πάντα λογισμὸν στοχαστικῶς τῆς μελλούσης καταστάσεως ἐφαπτόμενον, ἀντʼ οὐδενὸς ὑποδείκνυσιν, ὅτε γένηται ἡμῖν ὲν τῇ πείρα τὸ προσδοκώμενον. Ἐπειδὴ δὲ χρὴ μὴ παντάπασιν άνεξετάστους ὲαθῆναι τὰς ἀντυπεν. εχθείσας ἡμῖν ἐνστάσεις, οὑτωσὶ τὸν πε ρ). τούτων λόγον διαληψόμεθα. Νοῆσαι χρὴ πρῶτον τίςό σκοπὸς τοῦ κατὰ τὴν ἀνάστασιν δόγματος, καὶ ὅτου χάριν καὶ εἴρηται τοῦτο παρά τῆς ἀγίας φωνῆς καὶ πεπίστευται. Οὐκοῦν, ὡς ἀν τις ὅρῳ τινὶ τί τοιοῦτον περιλαβὼν ὑπογράψειεν, οὕτως ἐροῦμεν

### English translation (Claude)

“… for what will they be? So that necessarily, if the bodies are superfluous, going to contribute nothing to that life, none of the things that now make up our body will exist (for that life is in other things); and one would no longer call such a thing resurrection, the individual members not rising with the body because of their uselessness for that life. But if the resurrection is to be effective in all of them, the one who works the resurrection will make for us things vain and useless for that life. Yet we must believe both that the resurrection exists and that it is not vain. We must attend to the argument, then, so that what is probable may be preserved for us in the doctrine in every respect.” Macrina: When I had gone through this, my teacher said: “You have attacked the doctrines of the resurrection not ignobly, according to what is called rhetoric, running round the truth plausibly with arguments of refutation, so that those who have not examined the mystery of the truth very carefully might be somewhat affected by the argument as probable, and think that the difficulty has not been raised against what was said without reason. But the truth is not so,” she said, “even if we cannot rhetorically argue back against the argument in like terms. The true account of these things is stored in the hidden treasures of wisdom, to come into the open when we are taught the mystery of the resurrection by the fact, when we shall no longer need words to make plain what we hope for. But as, at night, when many words are moved by those keeping watch about the brightness of the sun, what it is like, the mere appearance of the grace of the ray makes the description by words idle, so the coming of what we expect, when it happens in our experience, will show to be nothing every reasoning that conjecturally touches the future state. But since the objections raised against us must not be left wholly unexamined, we shall treat the account of them in this way. We must first understand what the aim of the doctrine of the resurrection is, and for what reason it has been spoken by the holy voice and believed. So, as one might sketch such a thing by comprising it in a definition, we shall say …”

### Scripture references

- Col 2:3: allusion, high confidence

### Translation notes

- The unit includes the end of Gregory’s objections. References: Col 2:3 (“hidden treasures of wisdom”).

### Citation (SBL)

Gregory of Nyssa, An. et res. 145 (PG 46:145a–145d; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/gregory-nyssa-anima-resurrectione/143/#p-145).

## On the Soul and the Resurrection, Migne page 147

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/gregory-nyssa-anima-resurrectione/143/#p-147
- Source: PG 46:148a–148b
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: Macrina defines the resurrection as the restoration of human nature to its first state, which had no age, disease, or misery; these came with sin, symbolized by the “garments of skin,” and will be cast off with it.

### Greek text

· ὅτι ἀνάστασις ἐστιν ἠ εἰς τὸ ἀρχαῖον τῆς φύσεως ἡμῶν ἀποκατάστασις. Ἀλλʼ ὲν τῇ πρώτῃ ζωῇ, ἧς αὐτὸς γέγονε δημιουργὸς 6 Θεὸς, οὔτε γῆρας ἦν. ὡς εἰκὸς, οὔτε νηπιότης, οὔτε κατά. τὰς πολυτρόπως ἀρρωστίας πάθη, οὔτε ἀλλο τῆς σωματικῆς ταλαιπωρίας οὐδὲν (οὕτε γάρ εἰκὸς ἦν. τά τοιαῦτα δημιουργεῖν τὸν Θεὸν), ἀλλά θεῖόν τιν Α (ρῆμα ἦνή ἀνθρωπίνη φύσις πρὶν ὲν ὁρμῇ γίνεσθαι τοῦ κακοῦ τὸ ἀνθρώπινον. Ταῦτα δὲ πάντα τῇ εἰσόδῳ τῆς κακίας ἡμῖν συνεισέβαλεν. Οὐκοῦν οὐδεμίαν, ἀνᾲγκην ἕξει 6 ἄνευ κακίας βίος ὲν. τοῖς διὰ mima. συμβεβηκόσιν εἶναι., Ὥσπερ γὰρ ἐπακολουθεῖ τῷ διά κρυμῶν ὁδοιποροῦντι τὸ ψύχεσθαι τὸ σῶμα, ἢ τῷ διά θερμῶν ἀκτίς νων πορευομένῳ τὸ μελαίνεσθαι τὴν ἐπιφάνειαι· εἰδὲ ἐκτὸς ἑκατέρου γένοιτο τούτων aui/artant» γήσεται πάντως καὶ τοῦ μελασμοῦ καὶ τῆς ψύα εεως, καὶ οὐκ ἄν τις εὐλόγως ὲπιζητοίη τὸ ἐκ τις. νος αἰτίας συμβαῖνον, τῆς αἰτίας οὐκ οὔσης · οὔτ τως ἡ φύσις ὴ μῶν ἐμπαθὴς γενομένη, τοῖς ἀναγκαίως ἐπακολουθοῦσι τῇ παθητικῇ ζωῇ συνηνέχθη, Πρὸς δὲ τὴν ἀπαθῆ μακαριότητα πάλιν ἀναδραμοῦσα, οὐκέτι τοῖς ὲπακολωδθοῦσι τῆς κααιν κίας συνενεχθήσεται. Ἐπεὶ οὖν ὃσα ὲκ τῆς ἀλόγου, ζωῆς τῇ ἀνθρωπίνῃ καπμίχθη φύσει, οὐ πρότερον ἦν ὲν ἡμῖν πρὶν είς πάθος διὰ κακίας mosi»; τὸ ἀνθρώπινον, ἀναγκαίως καταλιπόντες τὸ πάθος, καὶ πάντα ὅσα μετʼ (αὑτοῦ καθορᾶται σιῖγκαταλείιῖκοιμν Ὥστε οὐκ ἄν τις εὐλόγως ὲν τῷ βίῳ ἐκείνῳ τὰ ὲκ τοῦ. πάθους ἡμῖν συμβεβηκότα ζητήσειεν>Ὦσπερ γὰρ. εἰ τις ῥωγαλέον περὶ αὐτὸν ἔχων χιτῶνα. γυμνωθείη τοῦ περιβλήματος, οίδκέαιιιχ ἂν τὴν toil dmpétpévrog ἀσχημοσύνην ἐφʼ ἑαυτοῦ βλέποι, οὕτω καὶ ἡμῶν ἀποδυσαμένων τὸν νεκρὸν ἐκεῖνον καὶ εἰν δεχθῆ χιτῶνα, τὸν ὲκ τῶν ἀλόγων δερμάτων ἡμῖν. ἐπιβληθέντα (δέρμα δὲ ἀκούων τὸ σχῆμα τῆς ἀλόγου φύσεως νοεῖν μοι δοκῶ, ᾧ πρὸς τὸ πάθος οἱκειωθέντες περιεὸλήθημεν),. πάντα ὅσα τοῦ ἀλόγου δέρματος περὶ ἡμᾶς ἦν ὲν τῇ ἀπεκδύσει τοῦ χιτῶνος συναποδαλλόμοθα, Ἐστι δὲ, ἃ προσέλαδεν άπδ τοῦ ἀλόγου δέρματος, ἡ μίξις, ἠ σύλληψις, 6 τόκος, 6 ῥύπος, ή θηλὴ, ήη τροιρὴ, ἡ ὲκ·

### English translation (Claude)

“… that the resurrection is the restoration of our nature to its ancient state. But in the first life, of which God himself was the maker, there was, as is likely, neither old age nor infancy nor the sufferings of the many kinds of disease nor any other bodily misery (for it was not fitting for God to make such things); rather, human nature was something divine before humanity came under the impulse of evil. All these things came in upon us with the entrance of vice. The life without vice, then, will have no necessity to be in what happened through vice. For as it follows for one travelling in frost that his body is chilled, or for one walking in hot rays that his skin is darkened, but if he is out of both he will certainly be free of both the darkening and the chilling, and no one would reasonably look for what happens from some cause when the cause does not exist: so our nature, having become passionate, fell in with the things that necessarily follow a life of passion; but when it runs back to the passionless blessedness it will no longer fall in with what follows vice. Since, then, whatever was mingled with human nature from irrational life was not in us before humanity fell into passion through vice, when we leave the passion we shall necessarily leave together all that is seen with it. So no one would reasonably look in that life for what happened to us from the passion. For as, if someone wearing a ragged tunic were stripped of the covering, he would no longer see on himself the unsightliness of what had been thrown off, so too, when we have put off that dead and hideous tunic, made from the skins of irrational creatures and laid upon us (when I hear ‘skin’ I think I understand the form of irrational nature, with which we were clothed when we became akin to passion), we cast off together, in the stripping off of the tunic, all that belonged to the irrational skin around us. And the things it took from the irrational skin are: intercourse, conception, birth, filth, the breast, nourishment, ex…”

### Scripture references

- Gen 3:21: allusion, high confidence

### Translation notes

- “Restoration … to its ancient state” renders ἀποκατάστασις. The “tunic of skins” is Gen 3:21, which Macrina interprets as the irrational, passible condition added after the fall; translated exactly as written.

### Citation (SBL)

Gregory of Nyssa, An. et res. 147 (PG 46:148a–148b; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/gregory-nyssa-anima-resurrectione/143/#p-147).

## On the Soul and the Resurrection, Migne page 149

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/gregory-nyssa-anima-resurrectione/143/#p-149
- Source: PG 46:149a–149d
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: The resurrection requires only that a man was born; how long he lived or how he died bears on judgment, not on resurrection; when God restores nature to its first state, the objections about age and disease fall away.

### Greek text

ποίησις, ἠ κατʼ ὀλίγον ἐπὶ τὸ τέλειον αὔξησις, i ἀκμὴν τδ γῆρας, ὴ νόσος, ὁ θάνατος. El οὖς έκεῖνο περὶ ἡμᾶς οὐκ ἔσται. πῶς ἡμῖν τὰ ἐξ ἐκείνοι ὕπολειφθήσεται; Ὥστε μάταιον ἄλλης τινὸς καταστάσεως κατά τὴν μέλλουσαν ζωὴν ἐλπιζομένης, bid-rein! μηδὲν αὐτῇ κοινωνούντων ἐνίστασθαι πρὸς τὸ δόγμα τῆς ἀναστάσεως. τί γάρ κοινὸν ἔχει η ρικνότης καὶ πολυσαρκίσ καὶ τηκεδὼν, καὶ πληθώρα, καὶ ετ τι ἄλλο τῇ ρευστῇ φύσει τῶν σωμάτων έπισυμβαίνει πρὸς την. ζωὴν εκείνην, ἢ τῆς (l) ῥοώδους τε καὶ παροδικῆς τού βίου διαγωγῆς ἠλλοτρίωταις Ἐν ζητεῖ μόνον ὁ τῆς ἀναστάσεως λόγος, rb φυῆναι διὰ γενέσεως ἀνθρωπον · μᾶλλον δὲ, καὶ καθώς φησι τὸ Εὑαγγέλιον, εί έγενήθη (ἄ) ἄνθρωπος είς τὸν κόσμον, τὸ δὲ μαο κρόβιον ἦ ὠκύμορον, ἢ τὸν τού θανάτου τρόπον τοιῶσδεἦ ἑτέρως συμβεβηκέναι, μάταιον τῷ τῆς ἀναν στάσεως λόγῳ συνεξετάξειν. Ὅπως γὰρ ἂν τοῦτο δῶμεν καθʼ ὑπόθεσιν ἔχειν, ὲν τῷ ὁμοίῳ πάντως ἐστὶν, οὔτε δυσκολίας, οὔτε ῥᾳστώνης ἐκ τῆς τοιαύτης διαφορᾶς περὶ τὴν ἀνάστασιν οὔσης. Τὸν γὰρ τού ζῇν ἀμξάᾼμενον, ζῆσαι χρὴ πάντως, τῆς ὲν τῷ μέσῳ διὰ τοῦ θανάτου συμβάσης αὐτῷ διαλύσεως έν τῇ ἀναστάσει διορθωθείσης. Τὸ δὲ πῶς ἢ πότε ὴ διάλυσις γίνεται, τί τοῦτο πρὸς τὴν ἀνάστασιν; Πρὸς ἕτερον γὰρ σκοπὸν βλέπει ὴ περὶ τούτου σκέψις, οἷον καθʼ ἡδονήν τις ἐβίω, ἢ ἀνιώμενος, κατʼ ἀρετὴνη κακίαν, ἐπαινετὸς ἢ ὑπαίτιος, ἐλεεινῶς ἦ μακαρὶως παρῆλθε τὸν χρόνον. Ταῦτα γὰρ πάντα καὶ τά τοιαῦτα ὲκ τοῦ μέτρου τῆς ζωῆς καὶ ὲκ τοῦ εί·δους κατὰ τὸν Βίον εὑρίσκεται, καὶ οὓτω πρὸς τὴν κρίσιν τῶν βεβιωμένων, ἀναγκαῖον ἂν εῐη τῷ κριτῇ πάθος καὶ λώβην, καὶ νόσον, καὶ γῆρας, καὶ ἀκμὴν, καὶ νεότητα, καὶ πλοῦτον, καὶ πενίαν διερευνᾶσθαι · ὅπως τις διʼ ἑκάστου τούτων γενόμενος, ἢ εὖ ἥ κακῶς τὸν συγκληρωθέντα βίον παρέδραμε, καὶ ἢ πολλῶν ἐγένετο δεκτικὸς ἀγαθῶν, ἦ κακῶν ( l l), ὲν μακρῷ τῷ χρόνῳ, ἢ οὐδὲ τὴν ἀρχὴν ὅλως ἐκατέρου τούτων ἐφήψατο, ὲν ἀτελεῖ τῇ διανοίᾳ τοῦ ζῇν παυσάμενος; ’Όταν δὲ πρὸς τὴν πρώτην τοῦ ἀνθρώπου κατασκευὴν διʼ ἀναστάσεως ὁ Θεὸς ὲπανάγῃ τὴν φύσιν, ἀργὸν ἂν εἴη τὰ τοιαῦτα λέγειν, καὶτὸ δ.ἀ τῶν τοιούτων ὲνστάσεων (IL) οἴεσθαι τὴν τοῦ Θεοῦ δύναμιν πρὸς τὸν σκοπὸν ἐμποδίζεσθαι.

### English translation (Claude)

“… cretion, gradual growth to maturity, the prime, old age, disease, death. If, then, that is not about us, how will what comes from it be left to us? So it is vain, when another state is hoped for in the life to come, to object to the doctrine of the resurrection things that have nothing in common with it. For what do shrivelling and fatness, wasting and plethora, and anything else that befalls the flowing nature of bodies, have in common with that life, which is estranged from the flowing and passing course of this life? The account of the resurrection seeks one thing only: that a man has come into being by birth; or rather, as the Gospel says, that a man has been born into the world; whether his life was long or short, or his manner of death this or another, it is vain to examine along with the account of the resurrection. For however we suppose this to be, it is all the same; there is neither difficulty nor ease for the resurrection from such difference. For one who has begun to live must certainly live, the dissolution that came about in the middle through death being set right in the resurrection. But how or when the dissolution happens, what has that to do with the resurrection? The consideration of this looks to another aim: for example, whether someone lived in pleasure or in pain, in virtue or in vice, praiseworthy or blameworthy, whether he passed his time pitiably or blessedly. For all these and the like are found from the measure of life and the form of one’s life; and so, for the judgment of what has been lived, it would be necessary for the judge to search out passion and mutilation, disease and age, prime and youth, wealth and poverty: how each man, having been in each of these, passed the life allotted to him well or badly, and whether he received many goods or evils in a long time, or did not touch even the beginning of either, ceasing to live with an immature mind. But when God brings back our nature through the resurrection to the first construction of man, it would be idle to say such things and to think that God’s power is hindered from its aim by such objections.”

### Scripture references

- John 16:21: quotation, high confidence

### Translation notes

- References: John 16:21 (“a man has been born into the world”).

### Citation (SBL)

Gregory of Nyssa, An. et res. 149 (PG 46:149a–149d; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/gregory-nyssa-anima-resurrectione/143/#p-149).

## On the Soul and the Resurrection, Migne page 151

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/gregory-nyssa-anima-resurrectione/143/#p-151
- Source: PG 46:152a–152d
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: God’s single aim is to bring all humanity, once complete, into the good beyond sight and hearing: some purified in this life, others healed afterward by fire, the length of healing matching each one’s vice. Paul’s answer to the Corinthians silences those who measure God by their own power.

### Greek text

Σκοπὸς δὲ αὐτῷ εἷς, τὸ τελειωθέντος ἢ διὰ τῶν καθʼ ἕκαστον ἀνθρώπων, παντὸς τοῦ τῆς φύσεως ἡμῶν πληρώματος, τῶν μὲν εὐθὺς 1ἢδη κατὰ τὸν βίον τοῦτον ἀπὸ κακίας κεκαθαρμένων, τῶν δὲ μετὰ ταῦτα διὰ τοῦ πυρὸς τοῖς καθήκουσι χρόνοις ἰατρευθέντων, τῶν δέ ἐπίσης καὶ τοῦ καλοῦ καὶ τοῦ κακοῦ τὴν πεῖραν παρὰ τδν τῇδε βίον ἀγνοησάντων, πᾶσι προθεῖναι τὴν μετουσίαν τῶν ἐν. αὐτῷ καλῶν, ειπερ φησὶν ἡ Γραφὴ, μήτε ὀφθαλμὸν ἰδεῖν, μήτε ἀκοὴν δέξασθαι, μήτε λογισμοῖς ἐφικτὸν γενέσθαι. Τοῦτο δὲ οὐδὲν ἄλλο ἐστὶ, κατά γε τὸν ἐμὸν λόγον, ἢ τὸ ἐν αὑτῷ τῷ Θεῷ γενέσθαι · τὸ γὰρ aruo. θὸν τὸ ὑπὲρ ἀκοὴν καὶ ὀφθαλμὸν καὶ καρδίαν. αὐτὸ ἂν εἰη τὸ τοῦ παντὸς ὑπερκείμενον. Ἦ δὲ τοῦ κατʼ ἀρετὴν ἢ κακίαν βίον διαφορὰ ἐν τῷ μετὰ ταῦτα κατὰ τοῦτο δειχθήσεται μάλιστα, ἐν τῷ θᾶττον ἢ σχολαιὸη τερον μετασχεῖν τῆς ἐλπιζομένης μακαριότητος, Τῷ γὰρ μέτρῳ τῆς ἐγγενομένης ἑκάστῳ κακίας ἀναλογὴσεται πάντως καὶὴ τῆς ἰατρείας παράτασις. ’ἰατρεία δὲ ἂν εῖη ψυχῆς τὸ τῆς κακίας καθάρσιον ' τοῦτο δέ ἄνευ ἀλγεινῆς διαθέσεως κατορθωθῆναι οὐχ οἷόν τε, καθὼς ἐν τοῖς προλαβοῦσιν ἐξήτασται. Μᾶλλον δέ ἂν τις ἐπιγνοίη τῶν ἐνστάσεων τὸ περιττὸν καὶ ἀνοίκειον, εἰς τὸ βάθος τῆς ἀποστολικῆς διακύψας σοφίας. Τοῖς γὰρ Κορινθίοις τὸ περὶ τούτων σαφηνίζων μυστήριον, τάχα ταῦτα προτεινόντων αὺτῷ κάκείνων, ἃ παρὰ τῶν νῦν κατ·επιχειρούντων τοῦ δόγματος ἐπὶ ἀνατροπῇ τῶν πεπιστευμένων προφέρεται, τῷ ἰδίῳ ἀξιώματι τὸ τῆς ἀμαθίας αὐτῶν ἐπικόπτων θράσος, οὕτωσ). λέγει. ι Ἐρεῖς οὖν μοι· Πῶς ἐγείρονται οἰ νεκροί; () namss σώματι ἔρχονται; Ἄφρων, ι φησι, ι σὺ δ σπείρεις οὐ ζωοποιεῖται ἐὰν μὴ ἀποθάνῃ, καὶ δ σπείρεις, οὐ τὸ. σῶμα τδ γενησόμενον σπείρεις, ἀλλὰ γυμνὸν κόκκον, εἰτύχοι σίτου, ἦ ἄλλου τινὸς τῶν σπερμάτων ο ὁ δὲ Θεὸς δίδωσιν αὺτῷ σῶμα καθὼς ἠθέλησεν. ι Ἐνταῦθα γὰρ ἐπιστομίζειν μοι δοκεῖ τοὺς ἀγνοοῦντας τὰ οἰκεῖα μέτρα τῆς φύσεως, κα). πρὸς τὴν ἑαυτῶν ἰσχὺν τὴν θείαν ἀντεξετάζοντας δύναμιν, καὶ οἰομένους τοσοῦτον εἷναι τῷ Θεῷ δυνατὸν, ὅσον (τι) χωρεῖ καὶ ὴ ἀνθρωπίνη κατάληψις · τὸ δέ ὑπὲρ ἡμᾶς ὃν. καί τοῦ Θεοῦ παριέναι τὴν δύναμιν. '0 γὰρ ἐρωτήσας τὸν Ἀπόστολον τὸ πῶς ἐγείρονται oi. νεκροὶ, ὡς Α ἀμήχανον ὃν τὸ ἐσκεδασμένων τῶν τοῦ σώματος στοιχείων εἰς συνδρομὴν πάλιν ἐλθεῖν ἀποφαίνεται ο καὶ ὡς τούτου μὴ δυναμένου, ἄλλου δὲ σώματος παρὰ τὴν συνδρομὴν τῶν στοιχείων οὐχ ὑπολειπομένου, τοῦτόν φησι κατὰ τοὺς δεινοὺς τῶν διαλεγομένων συμπεράνας διά τινος ἀκολουθίας ἥπερ ὑπέθετο·

### English translation (Claude)

“His aim is one: when the whole fullness of our nature has been completed in each human being, some already purified from vice in this life, others healed afterward through fire in the proper times, and others who in this life equally did not know the experience of either good or evil, to set before all the participation in the good things in him, which, Scripture says, eye has not seen, nor ear received, nor have they come within reach of reasonings. And this is nothing else, in my account at least, than to come to be in God himself; for the good beyond ear and eye and heart would be the very thing that is above all. And the difference between the life of virtue and of vice will be shown afterward chiefly in this: in sharing sooner or later in the blessedness we hope for. For the length of the healing will certainly correspond to the measure of the vice in each. And the healing of the soul would be the cleansing of vice; and this cannot be achieved without a painful condition, as was examined earlier. But one would recognize better how superfluous and irrelevant the objections are by looking into the depth of the apostolic wisdom. For, making the mystery of these things clear to the Corinthians, who perhaps also put to him what is now brought forward by those who attack the doctrine to overturn what is believed, cutting short the boldness of their ignorance by his own authority, he speaks thus: ‘You will say to me, How are the dead raised? With what body do they come? Fool! What you sow is not made alive unless it dies; and what you sow is not the body that is to be, but a bare grain, perhaps of wheat or of some other seed; but God gives it a body as he willed.’ Here he seems to me to silence those who do not know the proper measures of nature, who compare the divine power with their own strength and think that as much is possible to God as human comprehension can contain, and that what is beyond us passes beyond God’s power too. For the one who asked the Apostle how the dead are raised declares it impossible for the scattered elements of the body to come together again; and since this is not possible and no other body is left besides the concurrence of the elements, he concludes, in the manner of skilled debaters, by a certain sequence from what he supposed …”

### Scripture references

- 1 Cor 2:9: quotation, high confidence
- Isa 64:4: allusion, medium confidence
- 1 Cor 15:35: quotation, high confidence
- 1 Cor 15:36: quotation, high confidence
- 1 Cor 15:37: quotation, high confidence
- 1 Cor 15:38: quotation, high confidence

### Translation notes

- This passage states plainly Gregory’s teaching (through Macrina) that those not purified in this life will be “healed afterward through fire in the proper times,” and that all will finally share in the good; translated exactly as written. References: 1 Cor 2:9 (Isa 64:4); 1 Cor 15:35–38.

### Citation (SBL)

Gregory of Nyssa, An. et res. 151 (PG 46:152a–152d; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/gregory-nyssa-anima-resurrectione/143/#p-151).

## On the Soul and the Resurrection, Migne page 153

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/gregory-nyssa-anima-resurrectione/143/#p-153
- Source: PG 46:153a–153b
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: Macrina explains Paul’s seed analogy: the grain dies and is dissolved, yet God brings from it an ear both the same and more glorious; so the risen body will be restored and enriched, raised in incorruption, power, glory, and spirit.

### Greek text

ιιδ, Et σῶμά ἐστι συνδρομὴ στοιχείων, τούτων δὲ ἀμή· χανος ὲκ δευτέρου ή σύνοδος, ποίῳ χρήσονται σώματι οξ ἀνιστάμενοι; Τοῦτο τοίνυν τὸ δοκοῦν διὰ ervo; τεχνικῆς caspia; αὐτοῖς συμπεπλέχθαι, ἀφροσύνην ὠνόμασε, τῶν μὴ κατιδόντιον ὲν τῇ λοιπῇ κτίσει τὸ ὑπερέχον τῆς Θείας δυνάμεως. Καταλιπὼν γὰρ τὰ ὑψηλότερα τοῦ Θεοῦ θαύματα, διʼ ὧν ἦν είς ἀπορίαν ἀγαγεῖν τὸν ἀκούοντα, οἷον, τί τὸ οὐράνιον σῶμα, καὶ πόθεν, τί δὲ τὸ ἡλιακὸν, ἢ τὸ σεληναῖον, ire 91.1035 ἄστροις φαινόμενον, ὁ αἰθὴρ, ὁ ἀὴρ, τὸ ὕδωρ, ἡ γῆ ; ἀλλʼ ὲκ τῶν συντρόφων ἡμῖν καὶ κοινοτέρων ἐλέγχει τῶν ἐνισταμένων τὸ ἀνεπίσκεπτον. Οὐδὲ ἡ γεωργία σε διδάσκει, φησὶν, ὅτι μάταιός ἐστιν ό πρὸς τὸ ἑαυτοῦ μέτρον ’τῆς θείας δυνάμεως τὸ ΰπερέχον στοχαζόμενοςς πόθεν τοῖς σπέρμασι τὰ περιφυόμενα adipata; τί δὲ καθηγεῖται τῆς βλάστης αὑτῶνς οὐχὶ θάνατος, εἴπερ θάνατός ἐστιν ἡ τοῦ συνεστηκότος διάλυσις; Τὸ γὰρ σπέρμα μὴ ἀνέλθοι εἰς ἔκφυσιν μὴ διαλυθὲν ὲν τῇ βώλῳ, καὶ γενόμενον ἀραιὸν καὶ πολύπορον, ὥστε καταμιχθῆναι πρὸς τὴν παρακειμένην ἰκμάδα τῇ οἰκείᾳ ποιότητι, καὶ οὕτως είς ῥίζαν καὶ βλάστην μεταποιηθῆναι, καὶ μηδὲ ὲν τούτῳ μεῖναι, ἀλλὰ μεταβαλεῖν καλάμην, τοῖς διὰ μέσου γόνασιν, οἷόν τισι συνδέσμοις ὑπεζωσμένην, πρὸς τδ δύνασθαι φέρειν ὲν ὀρθίῳ τῷ σχήματι τὸν στάχυν τῷ καρπῷ βαρυνόμενον. Ποῦ τοίνυν ταῦτα περὶ τὸν σῖτον ἦν πρὸ τῆς ἐν τῇ βώλῳ αὑτοῦ διαλύσεωςς Ἀλλά μὴν ἐκεῖθεν τοῦτό ἐστιν. Et γὰρ μὴ ἐκεῖνο πρότερον ἦν, οὐδʼ,ἆν ό στάχυς ἐγένετο. Ὠσπερ τοίνυν τὸ κατὰ τὸν στάχυν σῶμα ἐκ τοῦ σπέρματος φαίνεται, τῆς θείας δυνάμεως ἐξ αὑτοῦ ἐκείνου τοῦτο φιλοτεχνούσης, καὶ οὔτε διʼ ὅλου ταύτόν ἐστι τῷ σπέρματαοΰτε παντάπασιν ἕτερον · οὔτω, φησὶ, καὶ τδ μυστήριον τῆς ἀναστάσεως σοι διὰ τῶν ὲν τοῖς σπέρμασι θαυματοποιουμένων προερμηνεύα εται, ὡς τῆς θείας δυνάμεως ὲν τῷ περιόντι τῆς ἐξουσίας, οὐ μόνον έκεῖνο τό διαλυθέν σοι πάλιν ἀποδιδούσης, ἀλλὰ μεγάλα τε καὶ καλὰ προστιθείσης, διʼ ὧν σοι πρὸς τὺ μεγαλοπρεπέστερονή φύσις κατασκευάζεται. ι Σπείρεται, ι φησὶν, ι ὲν φθορᾷ, ἐγείρεται ὲν ἀφθαρσίᾳο σπείρεται ὲν ἀσθενείᾳ, - ἐγείρεται ὲν δυνάμειʼ σπείρεται ὲν ἀτιμίᾳ. ἐγείρεσαι ἐν δόξῃ ο σπείρεται σῶμα ψυχικὸν, ἑγείρεταισῶμα πνευματικόν. Ὠς γὰρ καταλιταῦν μετὰ τὸ διαλυ-

### English translation (Claude)

“… thus: if a body is a concurrence of elements, and their coming together a second time is impossible, what body will those who rise use? This, then, which seemed to them woven together by some artful skill, he called folly, coming from people who did not see the surpassing divine power in the rest of creation. For, leaving aside the loftier wonders of God, by which he could have brought the hearer to perplexity, such as what the heavenly body is and where from, what the body of the sun or the moon or that seen in the stars, the ether, the air, the water, the earth, he refutes the thoughtlessness of the objectors from things that grow with us and are more common. ‘Does not even farming teach you,’ he says, ‘that he is a fool who guesses the surpassing divine power by his own measure? Where do the bodies that grow around seeds come from? What goes before their sprouting? Is it not death, if death is the dissolution of what was compounded?’ For the seed would not come up to growth unless it were dissolved in the clod and became loose and porous, so as to mix its own quality with the surrounding moisture and so be changed into root and shoot; and not to stop even at this, but to change into a stalk girded with joints between, as with bands, so as to be able to carry upright the ear weighed down with its fruit. Where, then, were these things in the wheat before its dissolution in the clod? Yet this is from there; for if that had not been first, the ear would not have come to be. As, then, the body of the ear appears from the seed, the divine power skilfully making this from that very thing, and it is neither wholly the same as the seed nor altogether different, so too, he says, the mystery of the resurrection is interpreted to you beforehand through the wonders worked in seeds: that the divine power, in the abundance of its authority, not only gives you back what was dissolved, but adds great and beautiful things, by which your nature is furnished more magnificently. ‘It is sown,’ he says, ‘in corruption, it is raised in incorruption; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; it is sown in dishonour, it is raised in glory; it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body.’ For as, having left behind after its dissolu…”

### Scripture references

- 1 Cor 15:36: allusion, high confidence
- 1 Cor 15:37: allusion, high confidence
- 1 Cor 15:42: quotation, high confidence
- 1 Cor 15:43: quotation, high confidence
- 1 Cor 15:44: quotation, high confidence

### Translation notes

- References: 1 Cor 15:36–38, 42–44. Lines of the critical apparatus leaked into the digital text at the end of this unit and are removed (logged).

### Citation (SBL)

Gregory of Nyssa, An. et res. 153 (PG 46:153a–153b; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/gregory-nyssa-anima-resurrectione/143/#p-153).

## On the Soul and the Resurrection, Migne page 155

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/gregory-nyssa-anima-resurrectione/143/#p-155
- Source: PG 46:156a–156d
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: As the grain becomes an ear, human nature will shed the marks of passion and rise incorruptible and spiritual; and since in Genesis the plant came before the seed, the resurrection is a return to the first state of grace.

### Greek text

νῆναι ιν τῇ βώλῳ σῖτος τὴν ἐν τῷ ποσῷ βρα. [ύτητα, καὶ τὴν ὲν τῷ ποιῷ σχήματος αὐτοῦ διότητα, ἑαυτὸν οὐκ ἀφῆκεν, ἀλλʼ ἐν αύτῷ μένων ιτάχυς γίνεται, πάμπολλα διαφέρων αὐτὸς ιαυτοῦ, μεγέθει, καὶ κάλλει, καὶ ποικιλίᾳ, καὶ σχήματι · κατὰ τὸν αὐτὸν τρόπον καὶ ὴ ἀνθρωπίνη φύσις ἑναφεϊσα τῷ θανάτῳ πάντα τά περ). αὐτὴν ἰδιώματα, ὅσα διά τῆς ὲμπαθοῦς διαθέσεως ἐπεκτήσ τατο, τὴν ἀτιμίαν λέγω, τὴν φθορὰν, τήν-ἀσθένειαν, τὴν κατά τῆς ἡλικίας διαφορὰν, ἑαυτὴν οὐκ ὶφίησιν, ἀλλʼ ὥσπερ εις στάχυν τινά πρὸς τὴν ἀφθαρτίαν μεθίσταται, καὶ τὴν δόξαν, καὶ τὴν τιμὴν. καὶ τὴν δύναμιν, καὶ τὴν ὲν παντὶ τελειότητα, καὶ τὸ μηκέτι τὴν ζωὴν αὐτῆς οἰκονομεῖσθαι τοῖς φυσικοῖς Ιδιώμασιν, ἀλλʼ εις πνευματικήν τινα καὶ ἀπαθῆ μεταδῆναι κατάστασιν. Αὕτη γάρ ἐστιν ἡ τοῦ ψυχικοῦ σώματος ἰδιοτης, ἀεὶ διά τινος ῥοῆς καὶ κινήο σεως ἀπὺ τοῦ ἐν ᾧ ἐστιν ἀλλοιοῦσθαι, κα). μεταβάλλειν εἰς ἕτερον. Ἀ γὰρ οὖν οὐκ ἐπʼ ἀνθρώποις μόνον ὁρῶμεν, ἀλλά καὶ ἑν φυτοῖς καὶ ὲν βοσκήμασι, τούτων οὐδὲν ιν τῷ τῷδι βιῳ ὑπολειφθήσεται. Δοκεῖ δέ μοι καὶ διὰ πάντων συναγορεύειν ὁ ἀποστολικδς λόγος τῇ καθʼ ἡμᾶς ὑπολήψει τῆς ἀναν στάσεως, καὶτοῦτο δεικνύειν ὅπερ ὁ ἡμέτερος ὀρισμὸς περιέχει λέγων, Μηδὲν ἓτερον εἶναι ἀνάστασιν, ἢ τὴν εις τὸ ἀρχαῖον τῆς φύσεως ἡμῶν ἀποκατάο στασιν. Ἐπειδὴ γὰρ ὲν τῇ πρώτῃ κοσμογονίᾳ τοῦτο παρά τῆς Γραφῆς μεμαθήκαμεν, ὅτι πρῶτον ἐβλάστησεν ἡ γῆ βοτάνην χόρτου, καθὼς ὁ λόγος φησὶν, εἶτα. ὲκ τῆς βλάστης σπέρμα ἐγένετο, οὗπερ επὶ τὴν γῆν καταρρυέντος, τὸ αὐτὸ πάλιν εἶδος τοῦ , ἐξ ἀρχῆς φυέντος ἀνέδραμε · φησὶ δὲ τοῦτο ὁ θεῖος Ἀπόστολος κα). ἐπὶ τῆς ἀναστάσεως γίνεσθαι. Οὐ μόνον δὲ τοῦτο παρʼ αὑτοῦ διδασκόμεθα, τὸ πρὸς τὸ μεγαλοπρεπέστατον μεθίστασθαι τὸ ἀνθρώπινον, ἀλλʼ ὅτι τὸ ἐλπιζόμενον οὐδὲν ἕτερόν ἑστιν, ἢ ὅπερ ὲν πρώτοις ἦν. Ἐπειδὴ γὰρ τδ κατʼ ἀρχὰς οὐχ ὠς (Gl) στάχυς ἀπὸ τοῦ σπέρματος, ἀλλʼ ἐκεῖθεν τὸ σπέρμα· μετά ταῦτα δὲ οὗτος τῷ σπέρματι περιφύεται, ἠ τοῦ ὑποδείγματος ἀκολουθία σαφῶς ἐπιδείκνυσι, τὸ πᾶσαν τὴν διὰ τῆς ἀναστάσεως ἀνα· βλαστήσουσαν ἡμῖν μακαριότητα, πρὸς τὴν ἐξ ἀρχῆς ἐπανιέναι χάριν. Στάχυς γὰρ ὄντες καταρχὰς τρόπον τινὰ καὶ ἡμεῖς, ἐπειδὴ τῷ καύσωνι τῆς

### English translation (Claude)

“… tion in the clod its smallness in quantity and the particular property of its shape, the wheat did not abandon itself, but, remaining itself, becomes an ear, differing very greatly from itself in size and beauty and variety and shape: in the same way human nature too, leaving to death all the properties it acquired through its passionate disposition (I mean dishonour, corruption, weakness, the difference of age), does not abandon itself, but changes as into an ear into incorruption and glory and honour and power and perfection in everything, and into its life being no longer governed by natural properties, but passing into a spiritual and passionless state. For this is the property of the natural body: always, through some flow and motion, to be altered from the state it is in and to change into another. None of these things, which we see not only in human beings but also in plants and cattle, will be left in the life then. And it seems to me that the apostolic saying agrees in every way with our understanding of the resurrection, and shows what our definition contains, which says that the resurrection is nothing else than the restoration of our nature to its ancient state. For since we have learned from Scripture in the first creation of the world that first the earth sprouted green grass, as the word says, and then seed came from the plant, which, when it fell to the earth, sprang up again in the same form as what grew at the beginning, the divine Apostle says that this happens in the resurrection too. And we are taught by him not only that humanity changes to what is most magnificent, but that what we hope for is nothing else than what was at the beginning. For since at the beginning it was not an ear from the seed, but the seed from there, and afterward the ear grows around the seed, the sequence of the illustration clearly shows that all the blessedness that will spring up for us through the resurrection returns to the original grace. For we too were in a way an ear at the beginning; but since we were withered by the heat of …”

### Scripture references

- Gen 1:11: allusion, high confidence
- Gen 1:12: allusion, medium confidence
- 1 Cor 15:42: allusion, high confidence
- 1 Cor 15:44: allusion, high confidence

### Translation notes

- References: Gen 1:11–12; 1 Cor 15:42–44. “Restoration … to its ancient state” renders ἀποκατάστασις.

### Citation (SBL)

Gregory of Nyssa, An. et res. 155 (PG 46:156a–156d; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/gregory-nyssa-anima-resurrectione/143/#p-155).

## On the Soul and the Resurrection, Migne page 157

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/gregory-nyssa-anima-resurrectione/143/#p-157
- Source: PG 46:157a–157d
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: Adam was the first ear; through sin humanity was scattered like grain, and at the resurrection all will rise; the virtuous at once in full form, the vicious only after the tares within them are burned away by fire, when, after long ages, they too will regain the original form.

### Greek text

κακίας κατεξηράνθημεν, ὑπολαβοῦσα ἡμᾶς· t) γῆ διὰ τοῦ θανάτου λυθέντας, πάλιν κατὰ τὸ ξαρ τῆς ἀναστάσεως στάχυν ἀναδείξει τὸν γυμνὸν τοῦτον κόκκον τοῦ σώματος, εὐμεγέθη τε καὶ ἀμφιλαφῆ καὶ όρθιον, καὶ είς τὺ οὐράνιον ὕψος ἀνατεινόμενον, ἀντ). καλάμης ἢ ἀνθέρικος τῇ ἀφθαρσίᾳ καὶ τοῖς λοιποῖς τῶν θεοπρεπῶν γνωρισμάτων ὡραϊξόμενον. ι Δεῖ γὰρ τὸ φθαρτὸν τοῦτο ἐνδύσασθαι ἀφθαρσίαν. ι Ἦ δὲ ἀφθαρσία, καὶ ἡ δόξα, καὶ ἡ - τιμὴ, καὶ ἡ δύναμις, ίδια τῆς θείας φύσεως εἶναι ὁμολογεῖται, άπερ πρότερόν τε περ). τὸν κατʼ εἰκόνα γενόμενον ἦν, ινα) εἰσαῦθις ὲλπίζεται. '0 γὰρ πρῶτος στάχυς ό πρῶτος ἄνθρωπος ἦν ’Δδάμ ί 70). Ἀλλʼ hcet“) τῇ τῆς κακίας εἰσόδῳ είς πλῆθος ἡφύσις κατεμερίσθη, καθὼς γίνεται ό καρπὸς ὲν τῷ στάχυῐο ούτως ὀἱ ἑκαστον γυμνιιιίκύιιιες τοῦ κατὰ..τὸν στάχυν ἐκεῖνον εωους, καὶ τῇ γῇ καταμιχθέντες, πάλιν ἑν τῇ ἀναστάσει κατά τὸ ἀρχέγονον κάλλος ἀναφυόμεθα, ἀντ). ἑνὸς τοῦ πρώτου στάχυος ἀνάπειο ροι μυριάδες τῶν ληῖων γενόμενοι- '0 δὲ κατʼ ἀρετὴν βίος ὲν τούτῳ πρὸς τὴν κακίαν τὸ διάφορον ἔχει, δτι οῖ μὲν ἐνταῦθα παρὰ τὸν βίον διʼ ἀρετῆς ἑαυτοὺς γεωργήσαντες, εὐθὺς ὲν τελείῳ τῷ στάχυϊ φαίνωνται ο οἷς δὲ διὰ κακίας ἐξίτηλός τε κα). ἀνεμόφθορος ό κόκκος γέγονε παρά τὸν βίον τοῦτον ἠ ἐν τῷ ψυχικῷ σπέρματι δύναμις, καθάπερ τὰ λεγόμενα κεράσὸολα οί τῶν τοιούτων ἐπιστήμονες λέγουσι γίνεσθαι· οὕτω κα). οὗτοι, κᾶν φύωσι διὰ τῆς ἀναστάσεως, πολλὴν ἀποτομίαν παρὰ τῷ κριτῇ ἕξουσιν, ἃτε δὴ οὐκ ἰσχύοντες ἀναδραμεῖν ἐπ). τὸ εἶδος τοῦ στάχυος, κα). γενέσθαι ἐκεῖνο ὅπερ ἦμεν πρὸ τῆς, ξπ). τὴν γῆν καταπτώσεως. Ἦ δὲ θεραπεία τοῦ ὲπι πατοῦντος τῶν γεννημάτων, ἡ τῶν ζιζανίων τε κα) τῶν ἀκανθῶν ἔστι συλλογὴ, τῶν συναναιρυέντων τῷ σπέρματι, πάσης τῆς ύποτρεφούσης τὴν ῥίζαν δυνάμεως πρὸς τὸν νόθον μεταρρυείσης, διʼ ὧν ἀτροφόν τε καὶ ἀτελεσφόρητον τὸ γνήσιον ἔμεινε σπέρμα τῇ παρὰ φύσιν βλαστῇ συμπεπλεγμένον. Ἐπειδὰν οὗν πᾶν ὅσον νόθον τε κα). ἀλλότριον ἐκτιλῇ τοῦ τροφίμου, καὶ είς ἀφανισμὸν ἔλθῃ, τοῦ πυρὸς τὸ παρά φύσιν ἐκδαπανήσαντος τῷ αἰωνίῳ πυρὶ παραδοθὲν, τότε κα). τούτοις εὑτροφήσει ἡ φύσις, καὶ εἰς καρπὸν ἀδρυνθήσεται διὰ τῆς τοιαύτης ἐπιμελείας, μακραῖς ποτε περιόδοις τὸ κοινὸν εἶδος τὸ ἐξ ἀρχῆς ἡμῖν θεόθεν ὲπιὸληθὲν dmoλαόούσα. Μακάριοι δέ εἰσιν οἷς εὐθὺς τὸ τέλειον

### English translation (Claude)

“… vice, the earth received us when we were dissolved through death, and again in the spring of the resurrection it will show this bare grain of the body as an ear, tall and full and upright, stretched up to the heavenly height, adorned instead of stalk and beard with incorruption and the other marks befitting God. ‘For this corruptible must put on incorruption.’ And incorruption and glory and honour and power are admitted to be proper to the divine nature; they belonged formerly to the one made according to the image, and are hoped for again. For the first ear was the first man, Adam. But since with the entrance of vice the nature was divided into a multitude, as happens with the fruit in the ear, so we, each stripped of the form of that ear and mingled with the earth, grow up again in the resurrection in the original beauty, becoming countless myriads of crops instead of the one first ear. And the life of virtue differs from vice in this: those who have cultivated themselves by virtue during life here appear at once in the perfect ear; while those in whom, through vice during this life, the power in the soul’s seed has become faded and blasted by the wind, as experts in such things say happens with the so-called hard-horned seeds, these too, even if they grow up through the resurrection, will find much severity with the judge, since they are not able to run up to the form of the ear and become what we were before the fall to earth. And the care given by the overseer of the crops is the gathering of the tares and the thorns that grew up with the seed, all the power that nourishes the root having flowed into the bastard growth, by which the genuine seed has remained unfed and unfruitful, entangled with the unnatural growth. When, then, all that is bastard and foreign has been plucked out from what nourishes and has come to disappearance, the fire having consumed what is against nature, handed over to the eternal fire, then nature will thrive in these too and ripen into fruit through such care, receiving back one day, in long periods, the common form laid upon us from God at the beginning. Blessed are those in whom the perfect …”

### Scripture references

- 1 Cor 15:53: quotation, high confidence
- Gen 1:27: allusion, medium confidence
- Matt 13:30: allusion, high confidence
- Matt 13:40: allusion, medium confidence

### Translation notes

- References: 1 Cor 15:53; Gen 1:27; Matt 13:30, 40 (tares and fire); Rom 5:12. Macrina’s teaching that even the vicious, after the purifying “eternal fire” has consumed what is against nature, will in long periods regain the original form is translated exactly as written. Lines of the critical apparatus leaked into the digital text at the end of this unit and are removed (logged).

### Citation (SBL)

Gregory of Nyssa, An. et res. 157 (PG 46:157a–157d; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/gregory-nyssa-anima-resurrectione/143/#p-157).

## On the Soul and the Resurrection, Migne page 159

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/gregory-nyssa-anima-resurrectione/143/#p-159
- Source: PG 46:160a–160d
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: The difference between the good and the wicked at the resurrection is not bodily but in joy or deprivation of good; once the passions of vice have been cleansed by fire, incorruption, life, honour, and glory will take their place in human nature, God’s image.

### Greek text

κάλλος τῶν ἀσταχύων συνανατελεῖ τοῖς φυομένοις διά τῆς ἀναστάσεως. Τᾶῦτα δέ φαμεν οὐχ ὡς σωματικῆς τινος διαφορᾶς ὲν τοῖς κατʼ ἀρετὴν ἢ κακίαν βεβιωκύσιν ἐν τῇ ἀναστάσει φανησομένης, ὡς τὸν μὲν ἀτεέῆ κατάκτὸησῶμα νομίζειν, τὸν δὲ τὸ τέλειον ἔχειν οῐεσθαι · ἀλλʼ ὥσπερ παρά τὸν βίον ὁ δεσμώτης. τε ’καὶ ἄνετος, ἕξουσι ἀμφότεροι παραπλησίως τῷ σώματι, πολλὴ δὲ μεταξὺ ἀμφοτέρων ἡ καθʼ ἡδονήν τε καὶ λύπην διαφορά · οὕτως οἴμαι χρῆναι τῶν ἀγαθῶν τε καὶ κακῶν ὲν τῷ μεταξὺ ταῦτα χρόνῳ λογίζεσθαι τὸ διάφορον. Ἠ γὰρ τελείωσις τῶν ὲκ τῆς φθορᾶς ἀναφυομένων σωμάτων ὲν ἀφθαρσίᾳ τε καὶ δόξῃ. καὶ τιμῇ. καὶ δυνάμει παρὰ τοῦ Ἀποστὸλου γενέσθαι λέγεται ο ἡ δὲ τῶν τοιούτων ἐλάττωσις οὐ σωματικήν τινα τοῦ φυέντος διασημαίνει κολόὅωσιν, ἀλλʼ ἑκάστου τῶν κατά τὸ ἀγαθὸν νοουμένων στέρησίν τε καὶ ἀλλοτρίωσιν. Ἐπεὶ οὗν ἓν τι χρὴ πάντως περὶ ἡμᾶς εἶναι τῶν κατʼ ἀντίθεσιν νοουμένων, ἢ ἀγαθὸν, ἢ κακὸν, δηλονότι τὸ ἐν τῷ ἀγαθῷ τινα λέγειν μὴ εἶναι, ἀπόδειξις γίνεται τοῦ ιν τῷ κακῷ πάντως. Ἀλλά μὴν περὶ τὴν κακίαν, ού τιμὴ, ού δόξα, οὐκ ἀφθαρσία,,οὐ δύναμις. Ἀνάγκη πᾶσα, περὶ ὃν μὴ ἦν ταῦτα, τά τούτοις ἐξ ἀντιθέτου νοούμενα παρεῖ- ,‘vvh‘ilwé'ptptadvlifiwl, ἀσθένειαν, ἀτιμίιῖν, φθοράν, καὶ ὅσα τοιούτου γένους ἐστὶν, ἀ ὲν τοῖς ἔμπροσθεν εῐρηται λόγοις, ὅσα δυσαπάλλακτα γίνεται τῇ ψυχῇ τά ἐκ κακίας πάθη, διʼ ὅλης αὐτῆς ἀνακραθέντα καὶ συμφυέντα, καὶ ἓν πρὸς ἐκείνην γενόμενα. Τῶν τοιούτων οὖν ταῖς διὰ πυρὸς ίατρείαις ὲκκαθαρθέντων τε καὶ ἀφανισθέντων, ἔκαστον τῶν πρὸς τὸ κρεῖττον νοουμένων άντεπελεύσεται (δ). ήάφθαρσία. ὴ ζωὴ. ἡ τιμὴ. ὴ χάρις, ι δόξα. ή δύναμις, καὶ εἴτι ἄλλο τοιοῦτον ἐν τε τῷ Θεῷ ὲπιθεωρεῖσοαι εἰκάζομεν, καὶ τῇ εἰκόνι αὐτοῦ, ἥ τίς ἐστιν ἠ ἀνθρωπίνη φύσις.

### English translation (Claude)

“… beauty of the ears rises together with those who grow up through the resurrection. We say this not as though a bodily difference will appear in the resurrection among those who have lived in virtue or vice, so that one would think one has an imperfect body and the other the perfect one; but as in life the prisoner and the free man have bodies much alike, while there is a great difference between them in pleasure and pain, so I think we must reckon the difference between the good and the bad in the time between. For the perfecting of bodies that grow up from corruption is said by the Apostle to be in incorruption and glory and honour and power; and the lessening of these does not signify some bodily mutilation of what has grown, but the deprivation of and estrangement from each of the things conceived as good. Since, then, one of the two opposites, good or evil, must certainly be about us, it is clear that to say someone is not in the good is a proof that he is certainly in evil. But about vice there is no honour, no glory, no incorruption, no power. It is entirely necessary that where these are not, their opposites are present: weakness, dishonour, corruption, and all such things, which were spoken of in the earlier discussion, the passions from vice that are hard for the soul to be rid of, blended with and grown into the whole of it and become one with it. When, then, these have been cleansed and made to disappear by the healings through fire, each of the things conceived as better will come in their place: incorruption, life, honour, grace, glory, power, and whatever else of this kind we conjecture to be seen both in God and in his image, which is human nature.”

### Scripture references

- 1 Cor 15:42: allusion, high confidence
- 1 Cor 15:43: allusion, high confidence
- Gen 1:27: allusion, medium confidence

### Translation notes

- End of the dialogue. References: 1 Cor 15:42–43. The “healings through fire” after which all good things return is part of Gregory’s teaching on universal restoration; translated exactly as written.

### Citation (SBL)

Gregory of Nyssa, An. et res. 159 (PG 46:160a–160d; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/gregory-nyssa-anima-resurrectione/143/#p-159).