Nazianzus Hermeneutical Synthesis Essay

One of the hermeneutical strategies used by Nazianzus is the incomprehensibility of God. God is something that can never be fully described by human words, as the subject of God “is impossible to [express], and yet more impossible to conceive,” as no human can see the face of God and live to tell the tale. Nazianzus defines God by what God is, but does not try to “comprehend the whole of so great a subject as this,” because it is impossible. Dr. Valeria A. Karras, an assistant professor of Church History at Southern Methodist University, says people should pursue God in this lifetime because “we may know God experientially at least “in part,” that is, that we may experience God to the extent humanly possible.” Nazianzus uses this strategy
Nazienzus’ opponents suggest that because Jesus was begotten in nature, He is not fully God, being that He is called “the Child of God” in scripture. Jesus’ deification is justified because He is “intermingled with God, as He is not only called the Son of God,” but also called God by the disciples, and by all those who profess Christianity. Jesus is not a holy man who has been sent to fulfill the prophecies of old and then pass away like the rulers of old; He is the second person of the divine Trinity that has come to redeem the fallen world. Jesus is made “both Lord and Christ” over all creation, and He completely and fully fulfills all the prophecies of old. Jesus, being that the Father eternally begets him, is equal in power to the Father, humbling himself to a death on a cross to fully defeat death. The Trinity, by nature, is “incompatible with ontological subordination,” because Jesus could not be God if he had not existed from eternity to eternity. This strategy shows that Jesus is not subservient to the Father, but instead is equal in power and essence to the Father and the Holy
Many people do not understand what to call the Holy Spirit, as the Sadducees “denied the existence” of the Holy Spirit and angels because they could not fully understand the third person of the Trinity in scripture. Instead of worshipping the Holy Spirit as a part of the Trinity, they elevate the Father and “take up a neutral position, or rather a very miserable one” in respect to the Holy Spirit. While some like the Sadducees misunderstand the true nature of the Holy Spirit, Nazienzus rightly asserts that He is “co-operator…and the Minister” who has the same dignity of the Father and the Son. The Holy Spirit is somewhat of a mystery to many people, and while scripture is clear on the deity of the Holy Spirit, the invisible power that strengthens believers is often hard to discern, which is why Nazienzus emphasizes the deity of the Holy Spirit. The Godhead is “one to the three and vice versa, [like someone] utterly blinded by the three-fold Sun,” as the Godhead cannot doctrinally be separated from one another. This strategy not only clarifies the divine nature of the Holy Spirit, but it gives Him equal honor in the Trinity and refutes the heretics who try to subvert the nature of the third person of the