This handsome tome is an updated version of the proceedings of the sixth international colloquium on Gregory of Nyssa, held in Pamplona in 1986, and published in 1988. The volume retains Stuart Hall's English translation of Gregory's Contra Eunomium I, as well as a number of the original conference papers. To these have been added a selection of more recent studies by R. Winling, G. Maspero and others, which not only provide the reader with a greater breadth of reflection on the Contra Eunomium I, but also help to illustrate the shifting interests of contemporary Nyssa scholarship. The book thus completes Brill's trilogy of translations and supporting papers: the Contra Eunomium II was published as Vigiliae Christianae lxxxii in 2007, and the Contra Eunomium III was published as Vigiliae Christianae cxxiv in 2014.

Following some scene-setting studies by Studer (on the historical background), Winling (on Aetius’ influence on Eunomius) and Silvas (on Gregory's Letters 29 and 30), Hall's translation of the Contra Eunomium I then takes up the first third of the volume. Hall provides a useful (though perhaps overly neat) structural guide to Gregory's work, recognising a basic tripartite division of, firstly, a narrative of Eunomius’ recent actions; secondly, a systematic refutation of Eunomius’ statement of faith; and thirdly, a vindication of Basil's doctrine against Eunomius’ false charges. The second and third sections have, of course, traditionally been the focus of attention for those interested in the developing articulation of Cappadocian/Nicene orthodoxy – a tendency reflected in the articles in this volume – but one wonders whether Gregory's first section has perhaps been unduly neglected. After all, we are presented here with a carefully shaped narrative, designed to discredit Eunomius’ character. This historical case is a vital component of Gregory's polemic against Eunomius, and should not be skipped over by those keen to rush to the theology. Perhaps Hall's lucid and reliable translation of the first part of the Contra Eunomium, now available to a far wider readership, may help to stimulate further analysis of this crucial aspect of Gregory's rhetorical strategy.

Nineteen articles follow. Collections such as this tend to resemble the proverbial curate's egg – good in parts – but the quality of these studies is consistently (and refreshingly) high. Twelve of the papers were presented at the 1986 conference (though several have now been substantially revised), and the remaining seven are entirely new. Of the older pieces, Friedhelm Mann's detailed analysis of Eunomius’ use of technical vocabulary is outstanding, as is G. Christopher Stead's penetrating philosophical account of Eunomius’ application of names to God. It is notable that a number of the papers, both old and new, bring out the centrality of Scripture in Gregory's case against Eunomius. Hubertus Drobner (‘Die biblische Argumentation Gregors von Nyssa im ersten Buch Contra Eunomium’), Miguel Brugarolas (‘Divine attributes and God's unity in the Contra Eunomium I of Gregory of Nyssa’), Guiluo Maspero (‘Trinitarian theology in Gregory of Nyssa's Contra Eunomium I’) and Lucas F. Mateo-Seco (‘Christology and soteriology in the Contra Eunomium I’) all demonstrate the various ways in which Gregory's position was fundamentally shaped by biblical patterns of thought, rather than merely layering these, post hoc, upon an essentially philosophical system. As Paulos Mar Gregorios puts it (in his illuminating piece, ‘Theurgic neo-Platonism and the Eunomius-Gregory debate’), Nyssa ‘sifted the prevailing system of pagan philosophy through a religious-dogmatic sieve – the faith in the Triune God and in the historical Incarnation of the Second Person of the Trinity’. For Eunomius, by contrast, the Platonic tradition was the normative structure, and he sought to fit and conform the Christian faith to these philosophical categories. Eunomius himself, of course, only ever lurks in the shadows of these discussions, crudely stereotyped by Gregory as a mere logic-chopper – it would be fascinating to know (if it were ever possible) whether Eunomius possessed some sort of genuine religious vision, a beating heart that gave life to his logic.

Of the remaining articles, Constantine Bozinis (‘Dogmatics and politics in Gregory of Nyssa: monarchy, democracy, kingship, tyranny and anarchy in the Against Eunomius’) nicely reveals how Gregory used political metaphors to show sensitivity to a wider classically-educated audience, Torstein Theodor Tollefsen gives a thorough account of the use of energeia in the Contra Eunomium I, and Elias Moutsoulas considers the significant role for pneumatology in the work.

There is, in short, much to be welcomed and enjoyed in this volume, which should find a place on the bookshelves of all Nyssa scholars.