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Gregory the Great

A Symposium

Edited by John C. Cavadini

Notre Dame Studies in Theology

Essays delivered at a symposium on Pope Gregory the Great, University of Notre Dame 1993.

In this collection of essays Gregory the Great emerges as a figure both interpreting and interpreted: interpreting the past; receiving, synthesizing, and developing the teachings of earlier writers; and, by this very process, presenting a persuasive theological and pastoral agenda which itself inspires ongoing projects of interpretation and development in later periods up to and including our own.

A group of renowned North American scholars gathered at the University of Notre Dame in 1993 for a symposium on Pope Gregory the Great (1502-1585). The essays collected in this volume are arranged in the order in which they were delivered, and there are several additional related contributions included as well. In these essays Gregory emerges as a figure both interpreting and interpreted: interpreting the past, receiving, synthesizing, and developing the teachings of earlier writers, and, by this very process, presenting a persuasive theological and pastoral agenda which itself inspires ongoing projects of interpretation and development in later periods up to and including our own.

Reviews:

“The list of luminaries contributing to this collection, including Robert Markus, Carole Straw, Conrad Leyser, and James J. O’Donnell, promise to make this publication insightful and valuable, and the reader is not disappointed. . . [T]he essays included here are uniformly perceptive, with some truly exceptional contributions.”

-Richard J. Dougherty, Cistercian Studies Quarterly

Reviews

“The Gregory that emerges from these essays is one who, while not speculative or systematic in his thought, responded creatively to the changed circumstances of Christianity in the sixth century, formulating the gospel message in ways his contemporaries found compelling. The essays in this volume are a helpful guide to this enigmatic theologian whose influence on western Christian spirituality was—and still is—profound.” — Pro Ecclesia

“The list of luminaries contributing to this collection, including Robert Markus, Carole Straw, Conrad Leyser, and James J. O’Donnell, promise to make this publication insightful and valuable, and the reader is not disappointed.… [T]he essays included here are uniformly perceptive, with some truly exceptional contributions.” — Cistercian Studies Quarterly

“Its scope, not just Gregory but the whole Christian culture he lived in, touches one very important issue for monastics. The book moves us toward a clearer understanding of the ‘transition period’ between the actual writing of the RB and its beginning observance by continental monasteries in the middle of the seventh century. Studying that period more carefully, we might better understand how and why the RB was adapted and modified from the very beginnings of its actual usage.” — American Benedictine Review

“These are all important essays and some of them contain profound insights or challenge received positions. A mixed collection of essays might not normally be expected to be accorded a place on standard lists of modern work on Gregory. This volume deserves to be there.” — Nederlands Archief voor Kerkgeschiedenis/Dutch Review of Church History