One of the three Cappadocian Fathers, whose theological orations so shaped Trinitarian doctrine that he is honored simply as "the Theologian."
Life
Gregory of Nazianzus (329–390), friend of Basil of Caesarea, was a Cappadocian Father whose Theological Orations at Constantinople decisively defended the full divinity of the Son and the Holy Spirit against Arianism. Briefly archbishop of Constantinople, he presided at the council of 381 before withdrawing, weary of church politics, to contemplation and poetry. His formulations of the Trinity became normative for Eastern and Western Christianity; he is honored as a Doctor of the Church and one of the Three Holy Hierarchs.