GREGORY OF NYSSA, SAINT (c. 330-395), a theologian. With Saint
GREGORY OF NAZIANZUS and Saint BASIL THE GREAT, his older
brother, he was one of the three Cappadocian fathers. He set out
to become a rhetorician, but Gregory of Nazianzus convinced him
to dedicate himself rather to the ecclesiastical life. Basil
nominated him to be bishop of Nyssa, a small city in Cappadocia.
He resided there only at irregular intervals, at first because
of the Arian controversy and then because of his long voyages.
He participated in the First Council of CONSTANTINOPLE in 381.
As an opponent of ARIANISM, Gregory found favor in the Coptic
Church, but was not regarded as a saint, although he is in the
Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches. He is best known in Coptic
literature by a few translations of his philosophical works.
These translations exist as follows: 1. Vita Gregorii
Thaumaturgi has survived in a Sahidic codex from DAYR ANBA
SHINUDAH (the White Monastery), dating from the tenth and
eleventh centuries, and in a Bohairic