Mojžiš – Boží priateľ: Priateľstvo človeka s Bohom ako vrchol duchovného rozvoja (Gregor z Nyssy, Život Mojžiša II,319–321)

At the end of the Life of Moses Gregory of Nyssa presents his hero under the biblical title "God’s friend" (Ex 33:11 LXX). The Hellenistic idea about friendship between a human and God is delicately linked with the argumentation that human perfection consists in the renewal of God’s image in a human. (1) The friendship of Moses and God is connected with Gregory’s central exposition on epectasis: both themes are derived from the exegesis of one biblical episode (Ex 33:12–23) and are also connected with the explanation that the motivation is love. (2) Friendship with God formed part of the original image of God in humans. So when Moses renewed God’s image in him, he automatically became God’s friend. (3) Friendship is characterized by reciprocity. In the relationship between Moses and God Gregory sees it in the process of cognition. Moses/a human gets to know God and in the end he/she is known by God. What is meant here is probably the reciprocal relationship between two processes in a human: getting to know the true God and changing into a true human being (renewal of God’s image).