Th e publisher and the University of California Press Foundation gratefully acknowledge the generous support of the Joan Palevsky Imprint in Classical Literature. Th e Body and Desire CHRISTIANITY IN LATE ANTIQUITY THE OFFICIAL BOOK SERIES OF THE NORTH AMERICAN PATRISTICS SOCIETY Editor: Christopher A. Beeley, Yale University Associate Editors: Elizabeth A. Clark, Duke University Robin Darling Young, Th e Catholic University of America International Advisory Board Lewis Ayres, Durham University • John Behr, St Vladimir’s Orthodox Th eological Seminary, New York • Brouria Bitton-Ashkelony, Hebrew University of Jerusalem • Marie-Odile Boulnois, École Pratique des Hautes Études, Paris • Kimberly D. Bowes, University of Pennsylvania and the American Academy in Rome • Virginia Burrus, Syracuse University • Stephen Davis, Yale University • Elizabeth DePalma Digeser, University of California Santa Barbara • Mark Edwards, University of Oxford • Susanna Elm, University of California Berkeley • Th omas Graumann, Cambridge University • Sidney H. Griffi th, Catholic University of America • David G. Hunter, University of Kentucky • Andrew S. Jacobs, Scripps College • Robin M. Jensen, University of Notre Dame • AnneMarie Luijendijk, Princeton University • Christoph Markschies, Humboldt- Universität zu Berlin • Andrew B. McGowan, Berkeley Divinity School at Yale • Claudia Rapp, Universität Wien • Samuel Rubenson, Lunds Universitet • Rita Lizzi Testa, Università degli Studi di Perugia 1. Incorruptible Bodies: Christology, Society, and Authority in Late Antiquity, by Yonatan Moss 2. Epiphanius of Cyprus: A Cultural Biography of Late Antiquity, by Andrew S. Jacobs 3. Melania: Early Christianity through the Life of One Family, edited by Catherine M. Chin and Caroline T. Schroeder 4. Th e Body and Desire: Gregory of Nyssa’s Ascetical Th eology, by Raphael A. Cadenhead Th e Body and Desire Gregory of Nyssa’s Ascetical Th eology Raphael A. Cadenhead UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA PRESS University of California Press, one of the most distinguished university presses in the United States, enriches lives around the world by advancing scholarship in the humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences. Its activities are supported by the UC Press Foundation and by philanthropic contributions from individuals and institutions. For more information, visit www.ucpress.edu. University of California Press Oakland, California © 2018 by Th e Regents of the University of California Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Names: Cadenhead, Raphael A., author. Title: Th e body and desire : Gregory of Nyssa’s ascetical theology / Raphael A. Cadenhead. Description: Oakland, California : University of California Press, [2018] | Series: Christianity in late antiquity ; v.4 | Identifi ers: lccn 2018025165 (print) | lccn 2018032521 (ebook) | isbn 9780520970106 | isbn 9780520297968 (cloth : alk. paper) Subjects: lcsh: Gregory, of Nyssa, Saint, approximately 335–approximately 394. | Marriage—Religious aspects—Christianity. | Asceticism— Christianity. | Gender identity—Religious aspects—Chrisitanity. Classifi cation: lcc br65.G76 (ebook) | lcc br65.g76 c33 2018 (print) | ddc 230/.14092—dc23 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2018025165 Manufactured in the United States of America 25 24 23 22 21 20 19 18 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 To my parents contents Acknowledgments xi Introduction 1 Setting the Scene 1 Th e Structure of the Study 3 Resisting the Charge of Anachronism: Semantic and Terminological Clarifi cations 6 Th e Renaissance of Scholarly Interest in Gregory of Nyssa: From Obscurity to Approbation to Eisegesis 12 Prelude 19 Christianity aft er Constantine’s Conversion 19 Th e Burgeoning Monastic Movement 22 Th e Asceticism of Gregory’s Family 25 Conclusion 28 part one. the early phase, 371–september 378: the integrative significance of the body in the life of virtue 29 1. Marriage, Celibacy, and Pederasty 33 Marriage and Celibacy 33 Pederasty and Celibacy 44 Conclusion 52