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Gregory of Nazianzus On God and Christ: The Five Theological Orations and Two Letters to Cledonius Translated by Frederick Williams and Lionel Wickham Popular Patristic Series Crestwood: St. Vladimir's Seminary Press, 2002 Pp. 176. $12.95.
These translations of Gregory of Nazianzus' Five Theological Orations were made by Frederick Williams and Lionel Wickham in the 1970s (Williams is responsible for the first oration, Wickham the rest). This edition, however, is not their first appearance in print. Frederick Norris used these translations as the basis for his excellent commentary, Faith Gives Fullness to Reasoning (Leiden: Brill, 1991). For this popular and affordable edition, Wickham has added a translation of two of Gregory's letters to his deputy Cledonius as well as his own introduction and notes. Such an edition has been long overdue, and, as in so many other instances, we have the Popular Patristic Series of St. Vladimir's Seminary Press to thank for its delivery. While Wickham's brief introduction is successful enough, readers wanting a fuller introduction and more detailed notes would do well to look to Norris' study.
Tradition has it that Gregory delivered these five orations in the Church of the Resurrection in Constantinople, where he had been called...