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1. The problem of Apollinarism and the reactions of the Fathers
The problem of Apollinarism1 was at first seen as a simple "brotherly dispute"2 and only gradually gained momentum especially in the later stages of its development. This was due to various factors and especially: a) to the fact that the instigator of this problem, Apollinaris of Laodicea, was recognized at first as a great defender of Orthodoxy,3 who had distinguished himself by having attempted and succeeded in rendering the Bible into classical idiom for the education of the Greek speaking Christian youth, thus providing the Church with an apologetic against its pagan objectors;4 and b) to the fact that Apollinaris' disciples attempted to shake up the local unity of the ecclesiastical body through the creation of schismatic conventicles at Laodicea, Antioch and at various bishoprics of Syria and Asia Minor, including Cappadocia itself.5 The subversive character of the ecclesiastical policy of the Apollinarists, would be fully exposed two centuries later when their attempts to disseminate Apollinarist literature through forgeries would be fully exposed.6
Very important in this context was the reaction of the accredited fathers of the Church to the Apollinarist challenge. The first reactions came from St Athanasius during the 360s and early 370s. Of particular relevance here are Athanasius' Tome to the Antiochenes, his Letter to Epictetus and, especially, his so-called Two Later Treatises against the Apollinarists.7 Other notable reactions, after Athanasius' death (May 373), came from Epiphanius and the Cappadocian fathers. Epiphanius wrote his anti-Apollinarist account in his Panarion on the basis of Athanasius' Letter to Epictetus in 375.8 Gregory the Theologian wrote the celebrated anti-Apollinarist Letters to Cledonius in the 380s.9 Still later Gregory of Nyssa wrote his Letter to Theophilus of Alexandria and his Refutation (Antirrhetikos) of Apollinaris ' Demonstration (Apodeixis) of the Divine Incarnation according to human Likeness.10 These reactions specified the dogmatic basis of the synodical condemnation of Apollinarism both locally and ecumenically between 373 and 381.
2. Modern scholarship on Gregory of Nyssa 's reaction to Apollinaris
Gregory of Nyssa's reaction to Apollinaris, coming at the end of a process, was methodologically and dogmatically. more daring - it attempted to answer Apollinaris in his own terms, and deserves special attention. It was outlined in a...