On the Making of Man
- gregory-bishop-of-nyssa-to-his. Gregory, Bishop of Nyssa, to his brother Peter, the servant of God
- 1. Wherein is a partial inquiry into the nature of the world, and a more minute exposition of the things which preceded the genesis of man
- 2. Why man appeared last, after the creation
- 3. That the nature of man is more precious than all the visible creation
- 4. That the construction of man throughout signifies his ruling power
- 5. That man is a likeness of the Divine sovereignty
- 6. An examination of the kindred of mind to nature: wherein, by way of digression, is refuted the doctrine of the Anomœans
- 7. Why man is destitute of natural weapons and covering
- 8. Why man's form is upright; and that hands were given him because of reason; wherein also is a speculation on the difference of souls
- 9. That the form of man was framed to serve as an instrument for the use of reason
- 10. That the mind works by means of the senses
- 11. That the nature of mind is invisible
- 12. An examination of the question where the ruling principle is to be considered to reside; wherein also is a discussion of tears and laughter, and a physiological speculation as to the inter-relation of matter, nature, and mind
- 13. A Rationale of sleep, of yawning, and of dreams
- 14. That the mind is not in a part of the body; wherein also is a distinction of the movements of the body and of the soul
- 15. That the soul proper, in fact and name, is the rational soul, while the others are called so equivocally; wherein also is this statement, that the power of the mind extends throughout the whole body in fitting contact with every part
- 16. A contemplation of the Divine utterance which said--“Let us make man after our image and likeness”; wherein is examined what is the definition of the image, and how the passible and mortal is like to the Blessed and Impassible, and how in the image there are male and female, seeing these are not in the prototype
- 17. What we must answer to those who raise the question--“If procreation is after sin, how would souls have come into being if the first of mankind had remained sinless”
- 18. That our irrational passions have their rise from kindred with irrational nature
- 19. To those who say that the enjoyment of the good things we look for will again consist in meat and drink, because it is written that by these means man at first lived in Paradise
- 20. What was the life in Paradise, and what was the forbidden tree?
- 21. That the resurrection is looked for as a consequence, not so much from the declaration of Scripture as from the very necessity of things
- 22. To those who say, “If the resurrection is a thing excellent and good, how is it that it has not happened already, but is hoped for in some periods of time?”
- 23. That he who confesses the beginning of the world's existence must necessarily also agree as to its end
- 24. An argument against those who say that matter is co-eternal with God
- 25. How one even of those who are without may be brought to believe the Scripture when teaching of the resurrection
- 26. That the resurrection is not beyond probability
- 27. That it is possible, when the human body is dissolved into the elements of the universe, that each should have his own body restored from the common source
- 28. To those who say that souls existed before bodies, or that bodies were formed before souls; wherein there is also a refutation of the fables concerning transmigration of souls
- 29. An establishment of the doctrine that the cause of the existence of soul and body is one and the same
- 30. A brief examination of the construction of our bodies from a medical point of view