C. Bozinis (Aristoteleio Panepistèmio, Thessaloniki)
Ιn my paper, I begin by trying to bring to the fore the philosophical presuppositions of Gregory’s interpretation of the phrase Ἐλθέτω ἡ βασιλεία σου from the Lord’s Prayer (Orat. III). Furthermore, taking into account the whole hermeneutical approach of the Lord’s Prayer by Gregory of Nyssa, I draw attention to the social parameters that the Church Father sees in the hope expressed by the prayer “May your Kingdom Come”. It is obvious from what Gregory says throughout his homilies in the De Oratione Dominica that the Kingdom of God reflects, according to his opinion, not only the inner state of the human soul but also –to some extent at least- the restoration of justice and peace throughout the whole spectrum of society. Finally, in the last part of my paper, I focus on Gregory’s interpretation of the parable of the bad servant from Matthew 18, 23-35 (διὰ τοῦτο ὡμοιώθη ἡ βασιλεία τῶν οὐρανῶν άνθρώπω βασιλεῖ etc. [Orat. V]), underlining its similarities with that of John Chrysostom (In Matt., Hom. LXI, PG 58, 2-4).