There are many ways to determine a certain doctrine held by a Patristic theologian. It can be difficult because most did not write, or even think, in terms of systematic doctrines. One of the ways to do this is to look at singular works written by a person. This is a very delicate work, because one must be careful to not take statements out of context. It can be done by being methodical and looking at the surrounding circumstances.
This is the task that I am going to undertake. I am going to look at part of Gregory of Nyssa’s doctrine of the Holy Spirit. I will do this by looking at his letter On the Holy Spirit, Against the Followers of Macedonius. This letter was written sometime shortly after the Council of Constantinople in 381. It was written against the followers of Macedonius. It was not addressed to a specific person, but rather against what the Macedonians were teaching about the Spirit.
I will show that there are six major parts of this letter. I will look at the letter as whole and will then focus on his doctrine of the Holy Spirit, primarily looking at his idea of kingship, anointing, and glory. I will show that these ideas of glory, honor, anointing, and kingship are all related. They are all different expressions of the Holy Spirit’s dignity. Gregory believed that the Spirit was divine, and to say otherwise is to deny what it means to be a Christian.