Philologus· 2026Q2
Distorted Exegesis and Gregory of Nazianzus’ Poetic Response: A Revised Text and New Interpretation of Carm . II.1.39.1–24
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- 2026year
Short summary
This article presents a revised text and new interpretation of Gregory of Nazianzus' poem Carm. II.1.39.1–24, arguing that vocabulary drawn from Origen is key to understanding Gregory's defense of Christian poetics.
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Key points
- A revised text and new interpretation of Gregory of Nazianzus' poem Carm. II.1.39.1–24 are presented.
- Vocabulary from Origen is identified as crucial for understanding the poem's opening section.
- The poem centralizes Gregory's self-conscious articulation of a classicizing Christian poetics.
- Gregory argues that most individuals are ill-equipped for exegesis, leading to heretical interpretations.
- Gregory proposes recasting prose works into verse as a method to disseminate sound scriptural readings.
AI-generated from the title and abstract; the full text is not read.
Abstract
Abstract This article argues that vocabulary drawn from Origen is crucial for understanding the opening section of Gregory’s poem On His Own Verses , a poem central to his self-conscious articulation of a classicizing Christian poetics. It also adopts a transposition proposed by Nigel G. Wilson and presents a revised text, together with a translation and commentary on selected passages. Gregory’s argument may be summarized as follows: he expresses regret that he did not advise people in time against attempting exegesis, since writing about God is not for most, who can at best reach only the literal or lower senses, which can never yield unassailable explanations of Scripture. Since the world is already full of heretical interpretations, one remaining response – by way of further disseminating sound readings of Scripture – is to recast part of his prose works in verse.
The authors' abstract, as published at the source. Philologus, 2026 · DOI ↗
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Field: Classics
ClassicsArts and Humanities