172. The Three Cappadocians

Who were the Cappadocian Fathers? In today’s journey back through the archives, Dr. Stephen Nichols introduces us to three ancient defenders of the doctrine of the Trinity.

Hello, thanks for tuning in to 5 Minutes in Church History. We’re taking a break from releasing new episodes on the podcast, but what you’re about to hear is one of my favorite episodes from the archives. We’ll be back with new episodes in the new year, but until then we hope you enjoy this episode of 5 Minutes in Church History. 

Welcome back to another episode of 5 Minutes in Church History. Who were the Three Cappadocians? Cappadocia is in Turkey, and these Three Cappadocians were three early Greek church fathers. Two of them were brothers and all three of them were friends. The first was Basil of Caesarea. He was born in 330 and he lived to 379. And then we have his brother Gregory, Gregory of Nyssa. He was born two years after his older brother Basil, so he was born in 332 and he lived until 395. And then there is the third Cappadocian, and this is another Gregory, and this is Gregory of Nazianzus. He was the oldest of the three. He was born in 329 and he died in 389. So the Three Cappadocians are Basil the Great, Gregory of Nyssa, and Gregory of Nazianzus.

Basil and Gregory of Nazianzus, and sometimes they just called him Gregory the Theologian, Basil and Gregory of Nazianzus were friends. They knew each other through their studies, they had met at numerous times in Caesarea, and then spent six years together studying in Athens. After his studies, Basil thought that he would have a career in rhetoric and a career as a philosopher, but he was challenged and encouraged by a bishop to pursue ministry, and so, he became a presbyter. And then when Eusebius of Caesarea, the Bishop of Caesarea died, Basil became the Bishop of Caesarea. His brother became a bishop and, as we've already mentioned, Gregory, the third Cappadocian, became the Bishop of Nazianzus.

The reason we talk about these Three Cappadocians is they made significant contributions to the development of the doctrine of the Trinity and also contributed to the development of the doctrine of Christology. This was a crucial time, the 300s, in the life of the church. Back in 325, we had the Council at Nicaea where it was firmly established that Jesus Christ is truly God and truly man. But after Nicaea, there were many Bishops who drifted away from the Nicene Creed and drifted away from that orthodox teaching. And there arose within the church significant numbers of Bishops that had rejected the teachings of Nicaea and rejected that Jesus Christ is truly God.

There was a time when another council was called, this was called at Constantinople in 381. By then Basil the Great was dead. Basil of Caesarea had died two years prior to the council. But both Gregorys were still alive and the works of all three contributed to the thought there at the Council of Constantinople. And in 381, the Nicene Creed was reaffirmed and reestablished in the church. In fact, when we recite the Nicene Creed, we're technically reciting the Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed, but that of course is a mouthful so we can just call it the Nicene Creed.

It was also the Three Cappadocians that firmly entrenched the definition of the Trinity in the life of the church. This goes back to Tertullian. He is the one who gives us this definition of the Trinity, that God is one substance in three persons. And it was the Three Cappadocians that helped that sentence work its way into the life of the church and be firmly established in the life of the church. It was also Basil who helped us think about the Holy Spirit and recognize that not only do we need to talk about the deity of Christ, we also need to talk about the deity of the Holy Spirit.

And so, these three theologians, and they were all quite different personalities. Basil, as they say, was a man of action. Gregory of Nyssa was also a man of action. And then there was the brains of the three, Gregory of Nazianzus, and so that's why we sometimes call him Gregory the Theologian. So who were the Three Cappadocians? They were these three early church fathers that significantly helped the church at a crucial moment in its existence. I'm Steve Nichols. Thanks for joining us for 5 Minutes in Church History.