Was Gregory of Nyssa a universalist? This is a question that has plagued scholars for years. Most scholars teach that he was. Steven Harmon, Anthony Merdith, and Morwenna Ludlow are just a few of the scholars who have taught that he was a universalist. There have only been a few voices on the other side; Jean Danielou being one example.
I am going to enter this conversation by taking a different approach. I am going to look at a quote from the Great Catechism 35: ‘Since, then, there is a cleansing virtue in fire and water, they who by the mystic water have washed way the defilement of their sin have no further need of the other form of purification, while they who have not been admitted to that form of purgation must needs be purified by fire.’ I am going to determine what Gregory meant when he said, ‘must be purified by fire’. I will focus on the concept of ‘purifying fire’ and how this relates to his eschatology. I will join Dr. Steven Harmon in saying that the effect of fire for Gregory “is not destruction, but transformation.” (editorial information found below)“ However, I will go further and show that this quote connects to his doctrine of baptism, and his view of soteriology. I will do this by looking at the immediate context of the chapter. I will then look at some of the texts utilized by those who teach that Gregory is a universalist. I will focus on several other chapters from the Great Catechism and On the Soul and Resurrection. Finally, I will show that it is more accurate to say that Gregory believed in the temporality of hell, than it is to call him a universalist, as the term is understood today.
Quote from Steve Harmon. “The Subjection of All Things in Christ: The Christocentric Universalism of Gregory of Nyssa,” in All Shall Be Well, ed. Gregory MacDonald (Cambridge: Wipf and Stock Publishers, 2011), 61.