Abstract
Gregory the Great was undoubtedly one of the greatest occupants of the Chair of Peter. He was bishop of Rome at the turn of the seventh century, and served with distinction in a difficult time from both the ecclesiastical and civil point of view. Today he is often considered to be a somewhat confusing figure, as the different aspects of his life are not well integrated in the various studies on him and some authors even speak of the problem of the two Gregories. Many scholars have not been able to reconcile Gregory’s double role of theologian and administrator. Traditionally his biographers have concentrated on Gregory’s role as a doctor of the Church, his rich contribution to theology and his contribution as the first monk to become Bishop of Rome. Others have portrayed him as a wily political operator who saved the city of Rome from being sacked by the Lombards and extended the influence and the prerogatives of the Holy See, laying a foundation for a temporal papacy on which his successors could build. Demacopoulos is to be commended on this new introduction to the figure of Gregory that succeeds in reconciling the two aspects of his life into one clear and compelling portrait. Demacopoulos has been publishing different material on Gregory for the last 15 years, since completing his doctoral dissertation on him, and has honed his views and scholarship until he finally felt ready to write a full book dedicated to this central figure in Western Christendom. It has been worth the wait. This new book will help to bring forward the understanding of Gregory as both an ascetic theologian and a shrewd spiritual leader, as well as helping to close the gap between these two aspects of his persona. Demacopoulos suggests that his book sets itself apart from earlier works in two ways. ‘First, it situates Gregory’s ascetic commitments and the uniqueness of his ascetic theology as the baseline for his other theological investments. Second, it seeks to build upon the analysis of Gregory’s thought by seeking ways to understand how his theological commitments are revealed in his pastoral, administrative and diplomatic activities’ (p. 8). As an Orthodox scholar, Demacopoulos brings a new perspective to another dichotomy that marks the figure of Gregory both as a figure that is much revered by Orthodox Christians as a Father of the Church and as someone who contributed to giving the papacy its current shape, a shape that is not always appreciated by Orthodox Christians. In order to provide this new analysis of Gregory and to bind his asceticism and leadership together, Demacopoulos proposes how Gregory had a different understanding of asceticism to that of his contemporaries. Unlike, for example, Basil and Cassian, who saw the goal of the ascetic life as being ‘mystical union with God,’ for Gregory ‘the apex of the spiritual life was to be found in the sacrifice that corresponds to service for others’ (p. 28). This new understanding of the sacrificial dimension of service, whereby Gregory sacrifices the mystical fruits of contemplation in order to serve his fellow Christians and citizens of Rome, provides the starting point for the new synthesis of his life that Demacopoulos proposes. The book is methodically divided into three parts dealing with Gregory as an ascetic theologian, as a pastoral theologian and as the ‘first man’ of Rome, thus passing from his original vocation as a monk, then as a bishop who had the care of souls, to his role as a civic figure in the city of Rome, often caught between various political interests of the Roman Emperor, now living in Constantinople, and the new ‘Barbarian’ rulers in what was to become Western Europe. Demacopoulos writes in a very readable style and makes abundant use of the different primary sources that we possess from Gregory. I enjoyed his perspective and insights. However, this book was not written as a general introduction to the figure of Gregory and is aimed at a somewhat more specialized audience. Therefore it would not be the first book that I would recommend to introduce a newcomer to Gregory (for this I would recommend starting with Robert Markus’s 1997 Gregory the Great and his World or with an annotated selection of his writings, such as John Moorhead’s 2005 Gregory the Great). Nevertheless, it is a great addition to any theological or historical library and provides a fascinating insight into the person of Gregory and the world he inhabited for anyone who is interested in getting to know him better.