"we were all without exception created anew"

"we have in common reason, the Law, the Prophets, the very Sufferings of Christ, by which we were all without exception created anew, who partake of the same Adam, and were led astray by the serpent and slain by sin, and are saved by the heavenly Adam and brought back by the tree of shame to the tree of life from whence we had fallen." (Gregory of Nazianzus, Oratio 33,9)

The three are a single whole in their Godhead

The very fact of not being begotten, of being begotten and of proceeding, give them whatever names are applied to them - Father, Son, and Holy Spirit respectively. The aim is to safeguard the distinctness of the three hypostases within the single nature and quality of the Godhead. The Son is not Father; there is one Father, yet he is whatever the Father is. The Spirit is not Son because he is from God; there is one Only-begotten. Yet whatever the Son is, he is. The three are a single whole in their Godhead and the single whole is three in personalities. (Or. 31,9)

When I say God, I mean Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.

When I say God, I mean Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. (Θεοῦ δὲ ὅταν εἴπω, λέγω Πατρὸς, καὶ Υἱοῦ, καὶ ἁγίου Πνεύματος) (Gregory of Nazianzus, Oratio 38,8)

"Jesus goes up out of the water ... with Himself He carries up the world"

"But further — Jesus goes up out of the water...for with Himself He carries up the world...and sees the heaven opened which Adam had shut against himself and all his posterity, Genesis 3:24 as the gates of Paradise by the flaming sword. And the Spirit bears witness to His Godhead, for he descends upon One that is like Him, as does the Voice from Heaven (for He to Whom the witness is borne came from thence), and like a Dove, for He honours the Body (for this also was God, through its union with God) by being seen in a bodily form; and moreover, the Dove has from distant ages been wont to proclaim the end of the Deluge."  (Or. 39, PG 36.353)

"Ἀλλὰ καὶ ἄνεισιν Ἰησοῦς ἐκ τοῦ ὕδατος. Συναναφέρει γὰρ ἑαυτῷ τὸν κόσμον, καὶ ὁρᾷ σχιζομένους τοὺς οὐρανοὺς, οὓς ὁ Ἀδὰμ ἔκλεισεν ἑαυτῷ τε καὶ τοῖς μετ' αὐτὸν, ὥσπερ καὶ τῇ φλογίνῃ ῥομφαίᾳ τὸν παράδεισον. Καὶ τὸ Πνεῦμα μαρτυρεῖ τὴν θεότητα· τῷ γὰρ ὁμοίῳ προστρέχει· καὶ ἡ ἐξ οὐρανῶν φωνή· ἐκεῖθεν γὰρ ὁ μαρτυρούμενος· καὶ ὡς περιστερὰ, τιμᾷ γὰρ τὸ σῶμα, ἐπεὶ καὶ τοῦτο τῇ θεώσει Θεὸς, σωματικῶς ὁρωμένη. Καὶ ἅμα πόῤῥωθεν εἴθισται περιστερὰ κατακλυσμοῦ λύσιν εὐαγγελίζεσθαι."

"Humanity must be sanctified by the Humanity of God"

Now we are to examine another fact and dogma, neglected by most people, but in my judgment well worth enquiring into. To Whom was that Blood offered that was shed for us, and why was It shed? I mean the precious and famous Blood of our God and High priest and Sacrifice. We were detained in bondage by the Evil One, sold under sin, and receiving pleasure in exchange for wickedness. Now, since a ransom belongs only to him who holds in bondage, I ask to whom was this offered, and for what cause? If to the Evil One, fie upon the outrage! If the robber receives ransom, not only from God, but a ransom which consists of God Himself, and has such an illustrious payment for his tyranny, a payment for whose sake it would have been right for him to have left us alone altogether. But if to the Father, I ask first, how? For it was not by Him that we were being oppressed; and next, On what principle did the Blood of His Only begotten Son delight the Father, Who would not receive even Isaac, when he was being offered by his Father, but changed the sacrifice, putting a ram in the place of the human victim? Is it not evident that the Father accepts Him, but neither asked for Him nor demanded Him; but on account of the Incarnation, and because Humanity must be sanctified by the Humanity of God, that He might deliver us Himself, and overcome the tyrant, and draw us to Himself by the mediation of His Son, Who also arranged this to the honour of the Father, Whom it is manifest that He obeys in all things? So much we have said of Christ; the greater part of what we might say shall be reverenced with silence. But that brazen serpent Numbers 21:9 was hung up as a remedy for the biting serpents, not as a type of Him that suffered for us, but as a contrast; and it saved those that looked upon it, not because they believed it to live, but because it was killed, and killed with it the powers that were subject to it, being destroyed as it deserved. And what is the fitting epitaph for it from us? O death, where is your sting? O grave, where is your victory? You are overthrown by the Cross; you are slain by Him who is the Giver of life; you are without breath, dead, without motion, even though you keep the form of a serpent lifted up on high on a pole. (Gregory Nazianzen, Or. 45,22)

 Ἔστι τοίνυν ἐξετάσαι πρᾶγμα καὶ δόγμα, τοῖς μὲν πολλοῖς παρορώμενον, ἐμοὶ δὲ, καὶ λίαν ἐξεταζόμενον. Τίνι γὰρ τὸ ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν αἷμα, καὶ περὶ τίνος ἐχέθη, τὸ μέγα καὶ περιβόητον τοῦ Θεοῦ, καὶ ἀρχιερέως, καὶ θύματος; Κατειχόμεθα μὲν γὰρ ὑπὸ τοῦ πονηροῦ, πεπραμένοι ὑπὸ τὴν ἁμαρτίαν, καὶ ἀντιλαβόντες τῆς κακίας τὴν ἡδονήν. Εἰ δὲ τὸ λύτρον οὐκ ἄλλου τινὸς, ἢ τοῦ κατέχοντος γίνεται, ζητῶ τίνι τοῦτο εἰσηνέχθη, καὶ δι' ἥντινα τὴν αἰτίαν; Εἰ μὲν τῷ πονηρῷ, φεῦ τῆς ὕβρεως· εἰ μὴ παρὰ τοῦ Θεοῦ μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ τὸν Θεὸν αὐτὸν λύ τρον ὁ λῃστὴς λαμβάνει, καὶ μισθὸν οὕτως ὑπερ φυῆ τῆς ἑαυτοῦ τυραννίδος, δι' ὃν καὶ ἡμῶν φείδεσθαι δίκαιον ἦν· εἰ δὲ τῷ Πατρὶ, πρῶτον μὲν πῶς; Οὐχ ὑπ' ἐκείνου γὰρ ἐκρατούμεθα. ∆εύτερον δὲ, τίς ὁ λόγος, Μονογενοῦς αἷμα τέρπειν Πατέρα, ὃς οὐδὲ τὸν Ἰσαὰκ ἐδέξατο παρὰ τοῦ πατρὸς προσ φερόμενον, ἀλλ' ἀντηλλάξατο τὴν θυσίαν, κριὸν ἀντι δοὺς τοῦ λογικοῦ θύματος; Ἢ δῆλον, ὅτι λαμβάνει μὲν ὁ Πατὴρ, οὐκ αἰτήσας, οὐδὲ δεηθεὶς, ἀλλὰ διὰ τὴν οἰκονομίαν, καὶ τὸ χρῆναι ἁγιασθῆναι τῷ ἀνθρωπίνῳ τοῦ Θεοῦ τὸν ἄνθρωπον· ἵν' αὐτὸς ἡμᾶς ἐξέληται, τοῦ τυράννου βίᾳ κρατήσας, καὶ πρὸς ἑαυτὸν ἐπαναγάγῃ διὰ τοῦ Υἱοῦ μεσιτεύσαν τος, καὶ εἰς τιμὴν τοῦ Πατρὸς τοῦτο οἰκονομήσαν τος, ᾧ τὰ πάντα παραχωρῶν φαίνεται. Τὰ μὲν δὴ Χριστοῦ τοιαῦτα, καὶ τὰ πλείω σιγῇ σεβέσθω. Ὁ δὲ χαλκοῦς ὄφις κρεμᾶτοι μὲν κατὰ τῶν δα κνόντων ὄφεων, οὐχ ὡς τύπος δὲ τοῦ ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν παθόντος, ἀλλ' ὡς ἀντίτυπος· καὶ σώζει τοὺς εἰς αὐτὸν ὁρῶντας, οὐχ ὅτι ζῇ πιστευόμενος, ἀλλ' ὅτι νενέκρωται, καὶ συννεκροῖ τὰς ὑπ' αὐτὸν δυνά μεις, καταλυθεὶς, ὥσπερ ἦν ἄξιος. Καὶ τίς ὁ πρέ πων αὐτῷ παρ' ἡμῶν ἐπιτάφιος; Ποῦ σου, θά νατε, τὸ κέντρον; Ποῦ σου, ᾅδη, τὸ νῖκος; Τῷ σταυρῷ βέβλησαι, τῷ ζωοποιῷ τεθανάτωσαι. Ἄ πνους, νεκρὸς, ἀκίνητος, ἀνενέργητος, καὶ, εἰ τὸ σχῆμα σώζεις ὄφεως, ἐν ὕψει στηλιτευόμενος. (PG 36,653-656)

"As long then as I am disobedient and rebellious, both by denial of God and by my passions, so long Christ also is called disobedient on my account."

 V. Take, in the next place, the subjection by which you subject the Son to the Father. What, you say, is He not now subject, or must He, if He is God, be subject to God? You are fashioning your argument as if it concerned some robber, or some hostile deity. But look at it in this manner: that as for my sake He was called a curse, Who destroyed my curse; and sin, who takes away the sin of the world; and became a new Adam to take the place of the old, just so He makes my disobedience His own as Head of the whole body. As long then as I am disobedient and rebellious, both by denial of God and by my passions, so long Christ also is called disobedient on my account. But when all things shall be subdued unto Him on the one hand by acknowledgment of Him, and on the other by a reformation, then He Himself also will have fulfilled His submission, bringing me whom He has saved to God. For this, according to my view, is the subjection of Christ; namely, the fulfilling of the Father's Will. But as the Son subjects all to the Father, so does the Father to the Son; the One by His Work, the Other by His good pleasure, as we have already said. And thus He Who subjects presents to God that which he has subjected, making our condition His own. Of the same kind, it appears to me, is the expression, "My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?" It was not He who was forsaken either by the Father, or by His own Godhead, as some have thought, as if It were afraid of the Passion, and therefore withdrew Itself from Him in His Sufferings (for who compelled Him either to be born on earth at all, or to be lifted up on the Cross?) But as I said, He was in His own Person representing us. For we were the forsaken and despised before, but now by the Sufferings of Him Who could not suffer, we were taken up and saved. Similarly, He makes His own our folly and our transgressions; and says what follows in the Psalm, for it is very evident that the Twenty-first Psalm refers to Christ. (Gregory Nazianzen, Or. 30,5)

"We needed an Incarnate God, a God put to death"

"We needed an Incarnate God, a God put to death, that we might live. We were put to death together with Him, that we might be cleansed; we rose again with Him because we were put to death with Him; we were glorified with Him, because we rose again with Him." (Gregory Nazianzen, Or. 45,28.)

Νῦν δὲ ἀναγκαῖον ἡμῖν οὕτω κεφαλαιῶσαι τὸν λόγον· Γεγόναμεν, ἵν' εὖ
πάθωμεν· εὖ πεπόνθαμεν, ἐπειδὴ γεγόναμεν. Τὸν παράδεισον ἐπιστεύθημεν, ἵνα
τρυφήσωμεν. Ἐντολὴν ἐλάβομεν, ἵν' εὐδοκιμήσωμεν ταύτην φυλάξαντες· οὐκ
ἀγνοοῦντος τοῦ Θεοῦ τὸ ἐσόμενον, ἀλλὰ νομοθετοῦντος τὸ αὐτεξούσιον.
Ἠπατήθημεν, ἐπειδὴ ἐφθονήθημεν· ἐκπεπτώκαμεν, ἐπειδὴ παρέβημεν·
ἐνηστεύσαμεν, ἐπειδὴ μὴ ἐνηστεύσαμεν, τοῦ ξύλου τῆς γνώσεως ὑποκρατηθέντες.
Ἀρχαία γὰρ ἦν ἡ ἐντολὴ, καὶ ἡμῖν ὁμόχρονος ψυχῆς τις οὖσα παιδαγωγία, καὶ
τρυφῆς σωφρόνισμα· ἣν ἐπετάχθημεν εἰκότως, ἵν' ὃ μὴ φυλάξαντες ἀποβεβλήκαμεν,
φυλάξαντες ἀπολάβωμεν. Ἐδεήθημεν Θεοῦ σαρκουμένου καὶ νεκρουμένου, ἵνα
ζήσωμεν· συνενεκρώθημεν, ἵνα καθαρῶμεν· συνανέστημεν, ἐπειδὴ συνενεκρώθημεν· συνεδοξάσθημεν, ἐπειδὴ συνανέστημεν.

"Yesterday I was crucified with Him; today I am glorified with Him"

"IV. Yesterday I was crucified with Him; today I am glorified with Him; yesterday I died with Him; to-day I am quickened with Him; yesterday I was buried with Him; to-day I rise with Him. But let us offer to Him Who suffered and rose again for us—you will think perhaps that I am going to say gold, or silver, or woven work or transparent and costly stones, the mere passing material of earth, that remains here below, and is for the most part always possessed by bad men, slaves of the world and of the Prince of the world. Let us offer ourselves, the possession most precious to God, and most fitting; let us give back to the Image what is made after the Image. Let us recognize our Dignity; let us honour our Archetype; let us know the power of the Mystery, and for what Christ died. V. Let us become like Christ, since Christ became like us. Let us become God’s for His sake, since He for ours became Man. He assumed the worse that He might give us the better; He became poor that we through His poverty might be rich; 2537 He took upon Him the form of a servant that we might receive back our liberty; He came down that we might be exalted; He was tempted that we might conquer; He was dishonoured that He might glorify us; He died that He might save us; He ascended that He might draw to Himself us, who were lying low in the Fall of sin. Let us give all, offer all, to Him Who gave Himself a Ransom and a Reconciliation for us. But one can give nothing like oneself, understanding the Mystery, and becoming for His sake all that He became for ours." (Gregory Nazianzen, Oration I. On Easter and His Reluctance, npnf 2,7, p. 424, In sanctum pascha et in tarditatem 4-5)

"∆ʹ. Χθὲς συνεσταυρούμην Χριστῷ, σήμερον συνδο ξάζομαι· χθὲς συνενεκρούμην, συζωοποιοῦμαι σήμε ρον· χθὲς συνεθαπτόμην, σήμερον συνεγείρομαι. Ἀλλὰ καρποφορήσωμεν τῷ ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν παθόντι καὶ ἀναστάντι. Χρυσόν με ἴσως οἴεσθε λέγειν, ἢ ἄργυρον, ἢ ὑφάσματα, ἢ λίθους τῶν διαφανῶν καὶ τιμίων, γῆς ῥέουσαν ὕλην, καὶ κάτω μένουσαν, ἧς ἀεὶ τὸ πλεῖον ἔχουσιν οἱ κακοὶ καὶ δοῦλοι τῶν κάτω καὶ τοῦ κοσμο κράτορος. Καρποφορήσωμεν ἡμᾶς αὐτοὺς, τὸ τι μιώτατον Θεῷ κτῆμα καὶ οἰκειότατον· ἀποδῶμεν τῇ εἰκόνι τὸ κατ' εἰκόνα, γνωρίσωμεν ἡμῶν τὸ ἀξίωμα, τιμήσωμεν τὸ ἀρχέτυπον, γνῶμεν τοῦ μυστηρίου τὴν δύναμιν, καὶ ὑπὲρ τίνος Χριστὸς ἀπέθανε. Εʹ. Γενώμεθα ὡς Χριστὸς, ἐπεὶ καὶ Χριστὸς ὡς ἡμεῖς· γενώμεθα θεοὶ δι' αὐτὸν, ἐπειδὴ κἀκεῖνος δι' ἡμᾶς ἄνθρωπος. Προσέλαβε τὸ χεῖρον, ἵνα δῷ τὸ βέλ τιον· ἐπτώχευσεν, ἵν' ἡμεῖς τῇ ἐκείνου πτωχείᾳ πλουτήσωμεν· δούλου μορφὴν ἔλαβεν, ἵνα τὴν ἐλευ 35.400 θερίαν ἡμεῖς ἀπολάβωμεν· κατῆλθεν, ἵν' ὑψωθῶ μεν· ἐπειράσθη, ἵνα νικήσωμεν· ἠτιμάσθη, ἵνα δοξά σῃ· ἀπέθανεν, ἵνα σώσῃ· ἀνῆλθεν, ἵν' ἑλκύσῃ πρὸς ἑαυτὸν κάτω κειμένους ἐν τῷ τῆς ἁμαρτίας πτώμα τι. Πάντα διδότω τις, πάντα καρποφορείτω τῷ δόντι ἑαυτὸν λυτρὸν ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν καὶ ἀντάλλαγμα· δώσει δὲ οὐδὲν τοιοῦτον οἷον ἑαυτὸν τοῦ μυστηρίου συνιέντα, καὶ δι' ἐκεῖνον πάντα ὅσα ἐκεῖνος δι' ἡμᾶς γενόμενον."

"He was ever being partaken, but not partaking"

"He was ever being partaken, but not partaking; perfecting, not being perfected; sanctifying, not being sanctified; deifying, not being deified; Himself ever the same with Himself, and with Those with Whom He is ranged; invisible, eternal, incomprehensible, unchangeable, without quality, without quantity, without form, impalpable, self-moving, eternally moving, with free-will, self-powerful, All-powerful (even though all that is of the Spirit is referable to the First Cause, just as is all that is of the Only-begotten); Life and Lifegiver; Light and Lightgiver; absolute Good, and Spring of Goodness; the Right, the Princely Spirit; the Lord, the Sender, the Separator; Builder of His own Temple; leading, working as He wills; distributing His own Gifts; the Spirit of Adoption, of Truth, of Wisdom, of Understanding, of Knowledge, of Godliness, of Counsel, of Fear (which are ascribed to Him) by Whom the Father is known and the Son is glorified; and by Whom alone He is known; one class, one service, worship, power, perfection, sanctification. Why make a long discourse of it?" (Gregory of Nazianzus, On Pentecost, NPNF 2,7, p. 761)

Gregory of Nazianzen: God may be thought of as "transcending being"

“God is the most beautiful and exalted of the things that exist (τῶν ὄντων) – unless one prefers to think of him as transcending being (ὑπὲρ τὴν οὐσίαν), or to place the sum total of existence (τὸ εἶνα) in him, from whom it also flows to others.” (Gregory Nazianzen, Or. 6, 12 (PG 35, 737 B))

Gregory of Nazianzus on trinitarian monotheism

 "Monotheism, with its single governing principle, is what we value - not monotheism defined as the sovereignty of a single person (after all, self-discordant unity can become a plurality) but the single rule produced by equality of nature, harmony of will, identity of action, and the convergence towards their source of what springs from unity - none of which is possible in the case of created nature. The result is that though there is numerical distinction, there is no division in the substance." (Gregory of Nazianzus, Or. 29,2)

"Attack [...]"

"Attack the silence of Pythagoras, or the Orphic beans, or the extraordinary pretentiousness of "Thus spake the Master." Attack Plato's Ideas, and the Re-embodiments and Cycles of our souls, and their Recollections, and those distasteful love-affairs where the soul was the object, but the beautiful body the route. Then there is Epicurus' atheism, or his atoms, or his ideal of Pleasure, unworthy of a philosopher; or Aristotle's mean conception of Providence, his artificial system, his mortal view of the soul, and the human-centered nature of his teaching. Or what about the superciliousness of the Stoics, the greed and vulgarity of the Cynics? Attack "the Void" - which is full of nonsense, or all the mumbojumbo of gods and sacrifices, idols, demons beneficent or malignant, of soothsaying, summoning the gods or the spirits of the dead, and of the influences of the stars." (Gregory Nazianzus, or. 28??)

"That God, the creative and sustaining cause of all, exists, sight and instinctive law inform us[...]"

That God, the creative and sustaining cause of all, exists, sight and instinctive law inform us - sight, which lights upon things seen as nobly fixed in their course, borne along in, so to speak, motionless movement; instinctive law, which infers their author through the things seen in their orderliness. How could this universe have had a foundation or constitution, unless God gave all things being and sustains them?

"Every slightest objection bars, hinders, the course of the argument, and checks its progress."

"Every slightest objection bars, hinders, the course of the argument, and checks its progress. It is like applying the reins suddenly to galloping horses, making them veer round with the surprise of the shock. So it was with Solomon, the superior of his predecessors and contemporaries in education, gifted by God with breadth of heart and an expanse of vision ampler than the sand. The more he entered into profundities, the more his mind reeled. He made it a goal of his wisdom to discover just how far off it was. (Gregory of Nazianzus, Or. 28,21)

"All truth, all philosophy, to be sure, is obscure, hard to trace out."

All truth, all philosophy, to be sure, is obscure, hard to trace out. It is like employing a small tool on big constructions, if we use human wisdom in the hunt for knowledge of reality. We do not abandon the senses, they go with us, when we look at supra-sensible realities. But by these same senses we are perplexed and led astray. We cannot get nearer the truth by meeting things in their naked reality with naked intellect. (Gregory of Nazianzus, Or. 28,21)