Although the reception of the Eastern Father Gregory of Nyssa has varied over the centuries, the past few decades have witnessed a profound awakening of interest in his thought. The Body and Desire sets out to retrieve the full range of Gregory’s thinking on the challenges of the ascetic life by examining within the context of his theological commitments his evolving attitudes on what we now call gender, sex, and sexuality. Exploring Gregory’s understanding of the importance of bodily and spiritual maturation for the practices of contemplation and virtue, Raphael A. Cadenhead recovers the vital relevance of this vision of transformation for contemporary ethical discourse.
Raphael A. Cadenhead holds a doctorate in Theology and Religious Studies from the University of Cambridge.
"This impressive study, both detailed and comprehensive, will become among the most significant studies of Gregory of Nyssa’s ascetical theology in the last 15 years and will likely remain so for quite some time."—Martin Laird, O.S.A., Professor of Early Christian Studies, Villanova University
"This rich and theologically-sensitive study probes asceticism’s relationship to the body in fascinating ways. By using Gregory’s idea of spiritual ascent as an interpretative lens, Cadenhead makes two important claims: that Gregory’s views developed over his lifetime and that his concepts of spiritual and physical maturation were intimately connected."—Morwenna Ludlow, Professor of Christian History and Theology, University of Exeter
260 pp.6 x 9
9780520297968$95.00|£80.00Hardcover
Nov 2018