Gregory the Great on Spiritual Theology
by Kevin Hester
Gregory I, Bishop of Rome (590-604 C.E.), was perhaps the most important hinge figure between late antiquity and the early medieval period.[1] Though not recognized as a great theologian, his gift was in understanding and expressing earlier exegetical and theological ideas. In this way, Gregory gave a certain “tone” to theology that highlighted images and concepts that would become more important as the medieval period progressed.
Gregory’s tone developed from within his concept of the spiritual life. He wed the church fathers’ and apologists’ theological thought (especially Augustine’s) with the ascetic movement’s emphasis upon the spiritual life and contemplation.
Prolegomena: Interiority and the Exercise of Theology
To appreciate Gregory’s work, we must understand first that his spirituality manifested itself in what Claude Dagens has termed “interiority”. This means that theological concepts are always discussed from the basis of how they impact the spiritual life. In fact, this concept becomes the nexus from which Gregory expounds all theological assertions.[2] It is a wonderful example of “lived theology”.
As a pastor, Gregory always called his people to a spirituality that was theologically developed; he did this through his exegesis and the images he used. Gregory is therefore instructive to today’s theologians in that we should always seek to weigh the practical aspects of theological assertions. Indeed, the only theology that is a real theology is that which is lived out in our experience with God. Rather than an abstract, philosophical exercise, theology is a vibrant exercise of meditation and praise.
As examples of this perspective in Gregory’s thought, we will briefly examine his approach to the problem of pain, the nearness of the end, and the fear of God.
I. The Problem of Pain
Jean Laporte argues that Gregory’s theology concerning the problem of evil is quite original. Gregory builds an edifice whereby all of the world’s evil may be seen as the flagella Dei.[3] Although this concept is present in Clement of Alexandria, Origen, Chrysostom, Augustine, and Cassian, Gregory adds to their understanding on the spiritual value of evil.[4] Gregory’s emphasis on interiority allows him to develop a “psychology” of pain, which allows the sufferer to meditate upon the experience of pain as an “act of love”.[5]
For Gregory, life is a pilgrimage, and pain marks the road to the eternal kingdom. All pilgrims must bear in mind their goal of a vision of the invisible God. Markus writes, “Whoever still longs after visible things does not understand the misery of his pilgrimage and does not have the skill to see the evil which he is suffering.”[6] This world’s offerings are mere obstacles to be overcome; and the more enjoyable ones are all the more dangerous. Instead, since Christ has promised to return and to end pain and suffering, Christians must reevaluate their priorities and seek the higher good—not the temporal and the physical, but the eternal and the spiritual. They must disentangle themselves from this world’s weights so that they can more easily ascend to the heights of contemplation. Thus, in considering the problem of pain, Gregory points to its purpose.
II. The Nearness of the End
In addition to discussing the problem of pain, Gregory also considers the nearness of the end. However, his accent on eschatology as an impetus toward spirituality was not simply individualistic, but also included elements of service and good works. In fact, for Gregory these good works give evidence of the Christian’s growth through contemplation. And they come only as a result of God’s grace.[7]
Additionally, good works illustrate the condition of our hearts. Gregory offers the imagery of good works as “divine sacrifices offered to the Judge of the interior on the altar of the heart”.[8] Finally and most importantly, good works, though they cannot be trusted without reservation, provide believers with a certain amount of security, whether they’re facing persecutions now or in the coming tribulation and future judgment. Gregory writes, “[T]hose established in good works rejoice in a sure hope in God”.[9]
Gregory’s emphasis on the seriousness in the pursuit of good works came directly from his belief that the world was coming quickly to an end and the judgment would soon be upon this world. This conviction gave his preaching and pastoral work its “intensity and urgency”.[10] When humans contemplate their works in light of the coming judgment, they find themselves wanting. This want works fear, and this fear should compel repentance of past sins, commitment to following God and His precepts, and continuance in good works.
III. The Fear of God
Gregory’s work on the fear of God manifests itself in at least three ways: interiority, exteriority, and love.
a. Interiority
Firstly, for Gregory, fear is a means of prevenient grace, making the sinner open to the Gospel. Using Job 28:26-27, he explains that God makes “a course for the thunderbolt” and then interprets these thunder strikes allegorically as the judgments experienced by humanity here and now; these in turn herald the storm of God’s final, impending judgment.[11] Just as a child fears a thunderstorm, humanity should fear the coming judgment. In this way, God helps make humans willing listeners.
This tempest is the law. Reminiscent of Paul, Gregory speaks of the way that law brings an awareness of sin to individuals.[12] When Christians become aware of their sins and shortcomings regarding the law, they are struck with a fear and dread of the coming judgment. Thus, God has “made entry to the hearts of a humanity stricken with dread of the judgment to come”.[13]
Fear of God’s coming judgment should cause Christians to turn immediately inward and assess their spiritual condition and progress. Gregory says that such persons find themselves “fearing the sentence of God’s judgments and examining [their] own sel[ves]”.[14] This fear is the first stage of compunction and the beginning of penance, which is also a grace. Gregory writes, the “Lord spares sin at the very hour when, the moment we yield tears he does away with the guilt of sin”.[15] Fear then is a means of grace as it brings penitents to contrition and leads them to the contemplation of God. “Behold, the terror of the converted is turned into power,” write Gregory, “because while they punish their sins by penance they ascend even to the exercise of judgment”.[16]
b. Exteriority
Just as the coming judgment should cause us to contemplate our inner hearts, Gregory argues that it should also cause us to contemplate our actions (i.e., exteriority). The fear of judgment includes past action but also drives individuals to perform the service and good works that they ought to do. In light of the Lord’s coming judgment and the strict justice, each person ought “never to pass over anything that ought to be done”.[17]
Like most concepts in Gregory, the fear of God has both a passive and a negative aspect. Persons must always (a) examine their actions to make sure that they are done according to God’s law; (b) look into their hearts to determine whether their motives are pure; and (c) remember that their fear of God is in keeping with the letter of the law in its prohibitions, as well as the law of love in acts of service.
c. Love
Ultimately, for Gregory the goal of fear for God is love. Through fear Christians learn to love the coming Judge as they proceed in their spiritual lives. The grace of godly fear is changed into the power of correction in their lives. It moves them to penance and drives them from the Judge’s fear to the love of the One Who has redeemed them and forgiven their past transgressions.[18]
The coming judgment is a reason both to fear and love. Gregory strives to point out a thin line running between the fear of God and the hope of His return for His elect who anticipate and desire His glorious return. Gregory’s primary concern is to moderate this fear and hope by maintaining a middle position between being: (a) careful not to be frozen in fear before the coming Judge; and (b) content to live a life of idleness feeling secure in a false hope. Through this via media Gregory hopes to avoid the extremes of desperation and pride and to inculcate an attitude of humility so that Christians may stand accepted on judgment day.[19]
Conclusion
From Gregory we can learn that we should never explore our theology without fear of God’s judgment and love for His redemption. As F. Leroy Forlines has pointed out, theology must include every aspect of the human person and every social domain he or she encounters.[20] Only will a lived and spiritual theology lead us to the Father through Christ by the Holy Spirit. If our theology fails to lead us to contemplation and back into the world in service, ultimately it has failed its purpose.
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About the Author: Kevin L. Hester is the Chairman of the Department of Theological Studies and professor of Theology and Church History at Welch College in Nashville, Tennessee where he teaches courses in church history, theology, philosophy, and New Testament. He holds the M.Div. from Covenant Theological Seminary (1997) and the Ph.D. from Saint Louis University (2002). Dr. Hester’s primary area of research is in late classical and early medieval theology where his interests lie in issues of biblical exegesis, Christology, and theological anthropology. He is the author of Free Will Baptists & the Priesthood of All Believers (The Historical Commission: National Association of Free Will Baptists, 2010); and, Eschatology and Pain in St. Gregory the Great: The Christological Synthesis of Gregory’s Morals on the Book of Iob (Paternoster, 2007). He resides in Spring Hill with Leslie Hampton Hester, his wife of 23 years, and his four sons, Spencer, Seth, Justin, and Jackson. When he isn’t teaching, reading, or researching, he enjoys running with his wife, playing disc golf, and coaching Little League baseball.
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[1] The best works on Gregory’s thought and life are the following: F. Homes Dudden, Gregory the Great: His Place in History and Thought, 2 vols., (London 1905). Claude Dagens, Saint Grégoire le Grand: culture et expérience chrétiennes, (Paris 1977). R.A. Markus, Gregory the Great and His World, (Cambridge 1997). Carole Straw, Gregory the Great: Perfection in Imperfection, (Berkeley 1988).
[2] Jean Laporte, “Une théologie systématique chez Grégoire?” in Jacques Fontaine, Robert Gillet and Stan Pellistrandi (eds), Grégoire le Grand, (Paris 1986), 235-254, 236. “Il est une principe unificateur par excellence.” Dagens refers to Gregory’s concept of interiority as “un thème central de la doctrine spirituelle de Grégoire”. Dagens, Grégoire, 136, esp. 135-204. See also on this concept, P. Aubin, “Intériorité et extériorité dans le Moralia in Iob de saint Grégoire le Grand,” Recherches de sciences religieuse 62 (1974) 117-166; and Carole Straw, Gregory, Perfection, 28-65.
[3] This phrase best translates as the “stripes” or “wounds” of God which ultimately speaks to Gregory’s recognition of God’s sovereignty.
[4] For a discussion of these fathers of the Church and their contributions to Gregory’s thought see, Jean Laporte, “Gregory the Great as a Theologian of Suffering,” The Patristic and Byzantine Review 1 (1982) 22-29.
[5] Jean Laporte, “Une théologie systématique?”, 239. “D’autres additions seront faites par la suite, que l’antiquité n’avait pas perçues, par example la valeur spirituelle de la souffrance dans son aspect psychologique, le sentir, comme acte d’amour.”
[6] Markus, Gregory, 58. This tension is discussed at length in Carole Straw, Gregory, Perfection, 128-46. See also P. Aubin, “Intériorité et extériorité dans le Moralia in Job de saint Grégoire le Grand”, Recherches de science religieuse 62 (1974) 117-66.
[7] Gregory the Great, Moralia, 12.34.39.
[8] Gregory the Great, Moralia, 8.47.79. “…hoc ad honorem intimi iudicis in ara cordis immolemus.”
[9] Gregory the Great, Moralia, 6.16.26. “…qui in bonis actibus positi, spe in Deum firma gratulantur.”
[10] Markus, Gregory, 205.
[11] Gregory the Great, Moralia, 19.7.13.
[12] See Romans 3:20, Galatians 3:24, and 1 Timothy 1:8-10. Paul speaks of the law as the “knowledge of sin,” a “schoolmaster” and a “good” as long as it is used for its purpose of convicting the hearts of humanity.
[13] Gregory the Great, Moralia, 19.7.13. “Viam autem procelis sonantibus posuit, cum praedicatoribus suis ad corda hominum terrore venturi iudicii perculsa auditum fecit.”
[14] Gregory the Great, Moralia, 23.21.41. “…aut iudiciorum Dei sententiam metuens et secum quarens, cogitat ubi erit.”
[15] Gregory the Great, Moralia, 9.40.83. “Ad horum Dominus peccatum parcit, cum reatum culpae concessis protinus fletibus diluit.”
[16] Gregory the Great, Moralia, 27.17.34. “Ecce conversorum terror vertitur in petestatem, quia dum mala sua paenitendo puniunt, usque ad exercendum iudicium ascendunt.”
[17] Gregory the Great, Moralia, 1.3.3. “Deum timere est nulla quae facienda sunt bona praeterire.”
[18] Gregory the Great, Moralia, 22.20.48
[19] Gregory the Great, Moralia, 30.27.83.
[20] F. Leroy Forlines, The Quest for Truth: Answering Life’s Inescapable Questions. (Nashville 2001), xiii-xvi.
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