“Beyond Belief”

The Homilies on the Song of Songs by the late antique Christian author Gregory of Nyssa are commonly studied for their spiritual interpretations and mystical theology. At the same time, his Homilies also are a rich resource for Gregory’s knowledge of and assumptions about the natural world. This article concentrates on a list of spices and perfumes in Song of Songs 4:13–14, to the qualities and significance of which Gregory pays close attention. Cinnamon especially fascinates him. He reports that it cools boiling water at once, has an antiseptic effect, and enables people to answer questions while asleep. Gregory qualifies these wondrous effects as implausible and beyond belief. However, he is unwilling to reject the stories about cinnamon in spite of their doubtfulness. This article investigates why. What is at stake for Gregory in thinking with cinnamon and other stories that go against expectation? It is argued that Gregory, by comparing the case of cinnamon to the appearance of the Greek mythological figure of Amaltheia in the book of Job, aims to convince his audience that stories of doubtful credibility can be used to speak about moral and spiritual progress, as long as they are interpreted figuratively. By focusing on Gregory’s “reading” of nature and scripture, this article aims to show for what polemical and pedagogical purposes stories about the unexpected and extraordinary could be used in late antique Christian biblical interpretation

Antique · Credibility · Mysticism · Mythology · Narrative · Augustinian Studies and Theology · Biblical Studies and Interpretation · Karl Barth and Christian Theology