St Gregory of Nyssa

Younger brother of Basil the Great and of Macrina, whose deathbed conversation he recorded with tender philosophical beauty, Gregory was the most speculative mind among the Cappadocian Fathers. Basil made him bishop of the small town of Nyssa around 372; Arian opponents deposed him for a time, but he returned in 378 and took a leading part in the Council of Constantinople in 381, which completed the Nicene Creed. His writings range from the great dogmatic works against Eunomius to mystical masterpieces like the Life of Moses, where he taught that the soul's ascent to God never ends — perfection is unlimited growth into infinite goodness, an idea he called epektasis. He wrote profoundly on the image of God in every human being and spoke against slavery with a force rare in the ancient world. The Seventh Ecumenical Council called him 'father of fathers.'

St Gregory of Nyssa is also one of the Church Fathers — read their biography, works, and verse-by-verse commentary.