Gregory of Nyssa’s The Life of Saint Macrina and the Praiseworthiness of Women

Abstract

As early church father Tertullian begins his writing of The Apparel of Women, a treatise aimed at instructing Christian women as to what sort of external dress is appropriate, he quickly reminds women that their womanhood comes with the burden of Eve’s original failure. Written around 200 C.E., Tertullian’s exposition of feminine modesty reveals the existence of a theological standard for women from the early days of Christianity’s history that requires an “overcoming” of the female nature in order to be counted as praiseworthy. As Gregory of Nyssa composed The Life of Saint Macrina around 380 C.E., this understanding of women as inherently flawed is certainly the cultural milieu from which he writes. Throughout Macrina, Gregory’s praise of this holy woman is predicated upon the ways that she has overcome femininity and exhibited (both implicitly and explicitly) masculine virtues. Underlying this drive to elevate Macrina as “more than a woman,” are anthropological and theological interpretations of the purpose and nature of both male and female human beings. This presentation will explore the connections between these underlying beliefs and the masculinization of Macrina in Gregory of Nyssa’s The Life of Saint Macrina with a particular focus on Gregory’s own perspectives expressed in his other writings.