Imitations of Infinity: Gregory of Nyssa and the Transformation of Mimesis. By Michael Motia

Abstract

“Christianity is mimesis of the divine nature” (1). This is how Gregory of Nyssa defined Christianity to his young friend Harmonius, and it also captures the theological puzzle at the heart of Imitations of Infinity: Gregory of Nyssa and the Transformation of Mimesis. Imitation, or mimesis, is wrapped up with desire and knowledge, but how does one desire or know what is infinite and therefore unknowable? What does it mean for a finite creature to imitate an infinite and unknowable God? Michael Motia’s study, with its beautifully written prose, dances through the various strands of Gregory’s theological and ascetic writings to untangle Gregory’s theory of mimesis. It argues that Gregory’s readers, tasked with imitating an infinite and unknowable God, are not left aimless in their quests. Rather, Gregory’s writing on mimesis reveals both what and how to imitate by drawing together the ontological and aesthetic dimensions of mimesis. Imitations of Infinity deftly combines close readings of Gregory’s texts with careful attention to the philosophical background to show how, for Gregory, mimesis “became both the way and the goal of Christian perfection” (8).