Introduction

Abstract

The three Cappadocian Fathers—St. Basil the Great (ca. 330–79); St. Gregory of Nazianzus (ca. 329–ca. 389), known in the Orthodox Church as Gregory the Theologian; and St. Gregory of Nyssa (ca. 330–ca. 395)—have made a fundamental and enduring contribution to theology in both the East and the West. After 1,600 years, their vision of Christian faith and life remains fresh and relevant to our contemporary situation. What, then, can we learn from their ecumenical legacy? Among the many aspects of their experience and teaching, four themes stand out as particularly important: their testimony to the value of the Christian family and Christian friendship, their contribution to the evolution of the monastic ideal, their consistently Trinitarian standpoint, and their insistence on the inexhaustible mystery of the living God.