Shades of Grace: Origen and Gregory of Nyssa's Soteriological Exegesis of The "Black Andbeautiful" Bride in Song of Songs 1:5

Harvard Divinity School
Shades of Grace: Origen and Gregory of Nyssa's Soteriological Exegesis of the "Black and
Beautiful" Bride in Song of Songs 1:5
Author(s): Mark S. M. Scott
Source: The Harvard Theological Review, Vol. 99, No. 1 (Jan., 2006), pp. 65-83
Published by: Cambridge University Press on behalf of the Harvard Divinity School
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/4125253
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Shades of Grace: Origen and
Gregory of Nyssa's Soteriological
Exegesis of the "Black and Beautiful"
Bride in Song of Songs 1:5*
Mark S. M. Scott
Harvard University
Patristic exegesis soared to sublime heights with the allegorical interpretation of the
Song of Songs.' This nuptial tale, replete with evocative imagery and multivalent
symbolism, supplied fertile ground for the mystical musings of Origen (ca. 185-254
C.E.) and Gregory of Nyssa (ca. 335-395 C.E.).2 Although its overt eroticism engen-
'I wish to express my thanks to Sarah Coakley, Nicholas Constas, and Rowan Greer for reading
earlier drafts of this essay. I would also like to thank Lucian Turcescu for encouraging me to submit
an earlier edition to an essay contest sponsored by the Canadian Society of Patristic Studies (CSPS),
for which it won first prize. I presented it at their annual conference in 2005 in London, Ontario at
a session with Charles Kannengiesser. Thanks also to the editorial staff and the anonymous reader
for HTR. Lastly, I wish to thank Peter Widdicombe, who first opened the "wardrobe" doors and
guided me through the enchanted world of Origen's theology.
'For a concise and helpful overview of patristic biblical exegesis, especially vis-A-vis Origen's
hermeneutics, see chapter 4, "The Interpretation of Scripture," in Henri Crouzel's magisterial Origen:
The Life and Thought of the First Great Theologian (trans. A. S. Worrall; San Francisco: Harper &
Row, 1989) 61-84. Excellent broad overviews can be found in the articles "Allegory" and "Inter-
pretation of the Bible" in Encyclopedia of Early Christianity (ed. Everett Ferguson; 2d ed.; New
York: Garland Publishing Co., 1997). See also the fine articles by Manlio Simonetti "Cantico dei
Cantici" and "Scrittura Sacra" in Origene. Dizionario. La cultura, il pensiero, le opere by Adele
Monaci Castagno (Roma: Citta Nuova Editrice, 2000).
2In the prologue to his translation of Origen's Homilies on the Song of Songs Jerome extols
the singular brilliance of Origen's allegorical exegesis to Pope Damasus I (366-384 c.E.): "While
HTR 99:1 (2006) 65-83
66 HARVARD THEOLOGICAL REVIEW
dered some apprehension, the profound symbolic meaning

fathers enabled the church to embrace fully the Song of So
theological insight.3 Always provocative and potentially
generates hermeneutical difficulties. Since exegesis invar
and historical location of the interpreter, disparate them
with different readers in different eras. For a generation
the problem of racism, Song 1:5 merits particular attenti
employment of racial imagery. In this verse the Bride pro
and beautiful, O daughters of Jerusalem, like the tents o
of Solomon" ( ]M%! 'f. ,in [Dah.a6rd 'dni wa1-nda',d]; XXatvda ipt KGcti Kalr).
Both the Hebrew and Greek word for "black," ,'in't and plaX;, have negative
connotations, and the ambiguous sense of the conjunction between piXcatva and
KaQXl constitutes the grammatical crux of the hermeneutical debate.'
This essay advances two interrelated approaches to analyzing Origen and Greg-
ory's theological exegesis of Song 1:5. First, it problematizes their use of negative
symbolism for blackness in their expositions of this verse.5 Second, it proposes
that their innovative use of allegory enables them to transcend racial categories
and thus to obviate what might appear to modern readers as racist rhetoric. I will
argue that in distinct yet related ways, the exegesis of Origen and Gregory utilizes
black imagery to convey soteriological truth rather than racial stereotypes or anti-
black sentiments. They concern themselves ultimately not with race but with the
doctrine of salvation.
Origen surpassed all writers in his other books, in his Song of Songs he surpassed himself." in The
Song of Songs Commentary and Homilies (trans. R. P. Lawson: ACW 26; New York: The Newman
Press, 1956) 265. This paper will cite the pagination of Lawson's translation of the Latin original.
Lawson notes that the original Greek texts of Origen's commentary and homilies on the Songs of
Songs are no longer extant, although there are some small fragments. Rufinus translated the original
commentary into Latin. Unfortunately, he translated only three out of the ten books of the original,
as Jerome reports (2-3).
3The Song of Songs: Interpreted by Early Christian and Medieval Commentaries (ed. and trans.
Richard A. Norris, Jr.; The Church's Bible, ed. Robert Louis Wilken: Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2003)
xviii. Norris comments that the Song of Songs was included late in the Hebrew Canon because of
the interpretive difficulties involved in identifying the symbolic referents of the lovers and their
attendants. From an early point in Jewish and Christian interpretation, the book was "reckoned
among the deepest and most difficult texts in the Bible."
4Michael V. Fox notes that M1:1 " '~ in is best translated "black but beautiful" rather than
"black and beautiful" which inverts the meaning. See HarperCollins Study Bible: New Revised
Standard Version (London: HarperCollins. 1993) 1002, n. 1:5. T71X means "desirable," and KahXf
means "beautiful." The usual word for "beautiful" in Hebrew is (fem.) MF", hence the Greek text
is glossing over a, perhaps exegetically undesirable, nuance here.
5For a recent in-depth study of Origen's treatment of the Song of Songs, as well as his
hermeneutical method more generally, see J. Christopher King, Origen on the Song of Songs as
the Spirit of Scripture: The Bridegroom's Perfect Marriage Song (Oxford: New York: Oxford
University Press, 2005).
MARK S. M. SCOTT 67
Origen: The Bride as the Purified Gentile Churc
Consistent with his exegetical method, Origen begins the Co

of Songs by outlining his understanding of the literal sense
He speaks in the voice of the Bride to explicate the basic m
is beautiful despite being black. At this point in the narrative
the daughters of Jerusalem, who apparently have disparage
her dark complexion. She retorts that her black skin conceals
the black tents of Qedar and the black curtains of Solomon co
Origen's imaginative reconstruction of this text, he express
blackness with ugliness. The Bride herself implicitly affirms
skin with ugliness by attributing her beauty to an internal r
state, as Origen puts it: "I am indeed dark (fusca)--or blac
complexion goes, O daughters of Jerusalem; but, should a
features of my inward parts, then I am beautiful (formosa)
aesthetic locus from her external hue to her internal state
ing the context of her beauty from a surface condition to a s
betrays her internalization of their negative assessment of
At the same time, however, she supplants these negative at
by denying their ultimate significance in determining her a
Origen proceeds from the literal level of the text to the m
heres with his standard hermeneutical procedure.' As he enun
the Bride in the story represents the Church,"' but in this pas
specifically "the Church gathered from among the Gentile
tenet ex gentibus congregatae)." The daughters of Jerusale
6Origen, The Song of Songs: Commentary and Homilies. 19. Lawson

these texts uses the critical edition of Origen's works by W. Baehrens. D
Schriftsteller der ersten drei Jahrhunderte (GCS. vol. 8: Leipzig: J. C.
will also consult with this critical edition throughout.
'Origen, Song, 91.
'Moreover, the transposition of beauty from an external condition to an
to the shift from surface to depth, which is the modus operandi of Orig
'Origen, Song, 92. Norris, The Song of Songs, xviii: "The ancient wr
transferring the language of erotic love to spiritual matters. Indeed. the
to allegory is that they assumed that any writing included in scriptur
another, the relation between God and human beings. They believed that
is focused by desire for union with another human person, displays a re
out for a more ultimate love."
'0Origen, Song, 21.

"Ibid., 92. Norris, Song, 39. He translates E"Ovi as "nations" instead of "Gentiles." The first
systematic allegory of the Song of Songs was by Rabbi Akiba in the early second century, who
described it as "the Holy of Holies" and interpreted it as an allegory of "God's love for Israel"
(xviii): "This kind of exegesis was also practiced by Christians. beginning with Hippolytus of Rome
and Origen, both of whom saw in the Bridegroom a representation of Christ (i.e., the eternal Word
and Wisdom of God), and in the Bride a representation of the Church, that is, the people of God.
This ecclesiological interpretation of the Song became a dominant, and in some cases the exclu-
who "despise and vilify her for her ignoble birth," in other w
Gentile Christians because of their inferior ancestry. Accordin
interpretation, the aspersion "black" refers not to skin color but
ing unenlightened by the wisdom of the patriarchs and particu
law. As with his literal exegesis, "black" (nigra) here has an unm
resonance. Blackness symbolizes for Origen a particular sort of
Although the Gentile church (ecclesia ex gentibus) cannot boast
and Mosaic enlightenment (illuminatio Movsis), it nonetheless sh
an innate capacity for divine enlightenment. As Origen writes, "B
beauty, all the same. For in me too there is that primal thing,
(imago Dei), wherein I was created; and, coming now to the Wo
received my beauty.""' Origen regards divine ancestry as more
human ancestry. Since God created all humans, regardless of ra
God, the Gentile church can reflect divine beauty through the
Gentile church may lack the ancestral pedigree and exterior signs
but close inspection shows its truly authentic and salvific illum
Later, when Origen draws further symbolic parallels between t
of Sheba, and the personified Ethiopia of Psalm 67, he charac
before its conversion, as the "black one" who "has been darke
ing great and many sins and, having been stained (infectus) wi
wickedness, has been rendered black and dark (niger et teneb
typology operates under the assumption that the blackness of t
of Sheba, and Ethiopia signify spiritual opacity. In his exeges
blackness denotes sin, wickedness, and spiritual deficiency.14
Bride only becomes beautiful when she transforms her blackn
whiteness, which denotes spiritual enlightenment. Thus, Ethio
Gentile sinners who offer "confession and repentance" to God
it is implied, become beautiful by becoming white." Origen's
intends to use categories of color symbolically, but the racial i
commentary require careful nuance and critical reflection; I sha
in the final two sections.
In his exegesis of Song 1:6, Origen continues to develop the
themes and symbolic frameworks. In this verse the Bride expre
sive, theme of later Christian exegesis (and, not least, that of Nicholas of L
commentator). Origen, however, taught that the Song could also be taken t
between the Word of God and the individual soul" (xix).
"2Origen, Song, 92.
"3Ibid., 103. Origen notes the parallel between the Bride and the queen o
his First Homily on the Song of Songs 1.6, 277-78.
'4Gay L. Byron, Symbolic Blackness and Ethnic Difference in Early Chri
York: Routledge, 2002) 74.
'5Origen, Song, 103.
MARK S. M. SCOTT 69
her deformed condition of blackness (nigredine) or dark

not a natural condition in which she was created," Orige
that she suffered through force of circumstance."' 6 In the
qualifies his assertion by remarking that the passage ob
"bodily blackness" (nigredine corporis) but to the soul's
King explains: "When the Bride speaks of her blackness
words asomatically."l7 Whereas the physical blackness
(gentem Aethiopum) results from prolonged exposure t
(107), spiritual blackness results from the "Sun of Jus
8tiatoojvigj;).'l The light of the "spiritual sun" (sol spirit
and disobedient differently. For the obedient and uprig
(illuminat), but for the disobedient, the sun "must nee
scorching the soul and making it black.'9 Origen correlates
effect of the sun to spiritual enlightenment and the negat
sun to spiritual darkening: "The sun has twofold power: it
but sinners it enlightens not, but burns."20 The symbolic
and light continues in his exegesis of Song 1:6, though
soul's illumination.
By uniting with Christ, the soul becomes purified from sin and gradually re-
covers its beauty: "Once she [the Bride or soul] begins to ... cleave to Him [the
Bridegroom or Christ] and suffer nothing whatever to separate her from Him, then
she will be made white and fair (dealbata et candida)."' Since spiritual blackness
occurs through neglect and sloth, one must transform it through industry, in other
words, through purification. Salvation then occurs in the movement away from
darkness into ever-brightening light: "When all her blackness has been cast away,
she will shine with the enveloping radiance of the true Light."'2 Thus, Origen's
exegesis of 1:6 reinforces the symbolic framework that he developed in his exegesis
of 1:5. Whereas his primary typological referent for the Bride in the Song of Songs
remains the Gentile church, he also identifies her with the individual soul. These
two typologies do not appear inconsistent or mutually exclusive for him, because
his allegorical approach allows him to discover multiple symbolic meanings that
need not cohere with each other. As Origen delves deeper into mysteries of the text,
his symbolism becomes increasingly multivalent and theologically complex.
'6Ibid., 107.
'7King, Origen on the Song of Songs as the Spirit of Scripture, 57.
'8Origen, Song, 108. Lawson, The Song of Songs, 331, n. 60. Lawson notes that the "Sun of
Justice" has Messianic overtones for Origen and that he explicitly identifies this "Sun" with Christ
throughout his corpus. He also mentions that the word Ethiopian (Ps 67:32, AiOioy: aiOo, 6)
means "burnt-face" (331, n. 57).
'9Ibid., 109.
20Ibid., 112.
2'Ibid., 107.
22Ibid.
Origen treats Song 1:5 in his First Homily, and many of the the
in his commentary echo here." In this homily Origen puzzles ove
ascription of blackness and beauty to the Bride. He takes it to b
the two are antithetical: "But the question is, in what way is sh
she lacks whiteness, is she fair?""'24 Here again Origen associates
and whiteness with beauty. He presupposes the same symbolic f
constructed in his commentary. The Bride represents the Genti
from sin, and her beauty, according to Origen, results from the d
lows repentance: "She has repented of her sins, beauty is the g
bestowed; that is the reason she is hymned as beautiful.'' 5 She
then, despite her blackness, which represents the vestiges of si
lowing conversion: "She is called black, however, because she h
purged of every stain of sin, she has not yet been washed unto sa
beauty of the Gentile church consists in its conversion to Christ,
consists in the continued tinge of sin in the church. Blackness r
of sin that must be washed away through the purification of bapt
Origen, this symbolic nexus explains how the Bride can be sim
and beautiful: "Intelleximus, quomodo et nigra etformosa sit sp
For Origen, then, blackness clearly connotes a negative predic
the state of the Gentile church before conversion. Salvation, con
metaphorically express as the gradual transformation from darkn
ness (purity): "Nevertheless she does not stay dark-hued, she is
The process of purification uses blackness and whiteness as pri
true homiletic fashion, Origen then applies the black and whi
individual soul: "But if you do not likewise practice penitence, t
soul be described as black and ugly."'2 Blackness indicates the
of sin in the Gentile church and in the individual soul. as he
Since it is "a forbidding hue," it engenders ridicule and cause
as he writes, "'Look not at me, for that I am blackened.' She a
23Lawson, 16-17. Origen's two Homilies on the Song of Songs were writt
no longer extant in the original version. Jerome translated them into Latin an
addressed to Pope Damasus I. Lawson surmises that Origen probably wrote
years after his Commentar,, that is, before 244 C.E. Furthermore. he argues t
an "indispensable" but often overlooked resource for apprehending Origen'
his soteriology or "doctrine on grace." His translation of these texts into En
this oversight.
24Origen, First Homily, 1.6, 276.
2"Ibid.
26Ibid.
27Ibid.
28Ibid.
29Ibid.
MARK S. M. SCOTT 71
blackness."30 Just as darkness represents the absence o

so in the spiritual realm darkness indicates the absen
has looked down on me. With full radiance His brigh
am darkened by His heat. I have not indeed received H
noted previously, Origen argues that the light of Chri
the soul, depending on its receptivity. A permeable so
through repentance and thereby becomes beautified
soul repels the light of Christ, which results in spir
section three Origen's portrayal of blackness in his
Song 1:5 will be analyzed further.
Gregory of Nyssa: The Bride as the Beaut

Gregory of Nyssa's fifteen homilies on the Song
hermeneutical trajectory that began with Hippolyt
whom most scholars agree composed the first Christia
the Song of Songs.32 Origen, however, receives the cr
reading of the Song its classic expression.33 In fact, G
exposition in his prologue and situates his commen
Origen laboriously applied himself to the Song of S
publish our efforts."34 Their commentaries, though
theological approach, differ in symbolic emphasis.
primarily with the individual soul, while Origen ide
church. Quasten remarks:
The Song of Songs represents to him the union of lov

soul under the figure of a wedding. It is this aspect of
nates in Gregory's commentary in contrast to Origen,
homilies on the subject, prefers to regard the Bride as
the Gentile Church]-an interpretation that Gregory
relegates to a minor role.3
30Ibid, 278.
3Ibid.
32For an extensive treatment of Gregory's commentary on the Song of Songs, see Franz Diinzl's
Braut and Briiutigam: die Auslegung des Caniticum durch Gregor ion Nvssa (Beitrige zur Geschichte
der biblischen Exegese 32: Tiibingen: Mohr/Siebeck. 1993).
33Gregory of Nyssa, Commentary on the Song oqfSongs (trans. Casimir McCambley: Brookline,
Mass.: Hellenic College Press. 1987) 5-6. All references to Gregory will utilize McCambley's
pagination.
34Gregory, Commentary. 39.
35Johannes Quasten remarks on the relationship between Gregory and Origen: "The forward
concludes with high praise of Origen, whose mystical exegesis has beyond doubt had a powerful
influence on Gregory. Nevertheless. Gregory is too deep and independent a thinker to follow slav-
ishly the Alexandrian master" (Patrology [Utrecht: Spectrum Publishers, 1964-1966] 3:266).
Much like Origen, however, Gregory posits that the S

meaning beyond the literal storyline.36 When understo
as a paradigmatic text for the transmission of both ph
knowledge: "Once again the Song of Songs (Tz6 AtoiPa T
to us as a guide for every type of philosophy and know
Tr Kai O6eoyvoYia)."37 Gregory operates with a twofold c
corresponds to the twofold levels of meaning. The exte
easily apprehensible by everyone. Conversely, the inter
requires purification from sin as a necessary precondition
"All these things can be found in the literal meaning if
to enter the Holy of Holies (T &iyta T(v atyicv) after h
the filth (n inov) of shameful thoughts by the bath of
X6yoii)."38 Just as entry into the Holy of Holies was fo
entry into the mystical knowledge of God is forbidden
have cleansed themselves from sin have the capacity to
hidden within the story.
Once the purified soul perceives that a figurative nar
literal story (though on a hidden, mystical level), the t
emerge. Gregory depicts the Bride in Song 1:5 as a teac
about the mysteries of God. Her self-description as "bla
KKatc KtXi) discloses not her self-perception or complexi
divine love. For Gregory, the Bride represents the soul, a
ness denotes its sinfulness: "I have become dark throug
Bride's blackness signifies the "repulsiveness" that resu
deeds. Consequently, in harmony with Origen, Grego
blackness as the antithesis of beauty. Something makes
being black: "Although I am black, I am now this beauti
blackness has been transformed into beauty (P~Ercioe

opKrdog Eig KdlXXovg jopniv)."4' When juxtaposing th
that Gregory and Origen employ similar hermeneutica
categories in their exegesis of this verse. Both employ
and utilize racial categories to describe the spiritual st
blackness represents their principal symbol for spiritu
and ugliness, which indicates the quality of the soul
either overlook or transform.
36Norris, The Song of Songs, xx, 37. Gregory follows Origen's twofold application of a moral
(individual soul) and Christological or ecclesiastical (the church) reading of the Song.
37Gregorii Nysseni, In Canticum Canticoruin (ed. W. Jaeger; trans. Hermannus Langerbeck; Gregorii
Nysseni Opera, vol. 6; Leiden: E. J. Brill, 1960) 59. This paper cites from this critical edition.
38Gregory, Commentary, 60.
39Ibid.
40Ibid.
41Ibid. 61.
MARK S. M. SCOTT 73
According to Gregory, the fundamental theological meani

humanity's sinfulness but rather of God's "immense love f
sinful condition the Bride remains unsuitable for marriag
graciously transforms her ugliness into beauty. Gregory
process by which the soul becomes beautiful through the i
incarnation and atonement:
Although I have become dark through sin and have dwelt in gloom by my
deeds, the Bridegroom made me beautiful through his love, having exchanged
his very own beauty for my disgrace [Is 53:2-3: Phil 2:7]. After taking the
filth of my sins upon himself, he allowed me to share his own purity, and
filled me with his beauty.43
Gregory delineates the nature of divine love, which deigns to enter into the human
condition and assume humanity's sinfulness for its salvation. The Bride's beauty
metaphorically expresses the soul's salvation from sin, and by imitating Christ the
sinful soul grows in beauty. Gregory, like Origen, associates the soul's blackness
with its past sin: "My former life has created this dark, shadowy appearance ('t
1Ko'ttvOv Kat o0Q68 e)."44 Although the soul's past sins impinge upon its present
existence, it nevertheless remains beautiful on the grounds that it abides "loved by
righteousness."45 The traces of sin indelibly affixed to the soul do not mar its beauty,
since these traces only indicate a sign of its past life, not its present reality.
Gregory posits a theological link between Song 1:5 and Rom 5:8: "But God
proves his love for us in that while we were sinners Christ died for us." Both
God's love and humanity's sinfulness constitute the central features of both texts,
he avers. Gregory expounds Rom 5:8 using the racial categories of Song 1:5: "Al-
though we were darkened through sin, God made us bright (T0orootS^1;) and loving
through his resplendent grace."46 Here Gregory applies the duality of darkness and
light to soteriological transformation. The gloom of night (i.e., sin) has darkened
our souls, although they are "light by nature" (Xla'ctpa ar 40nytv), and stand
in need of spiritual illumination. Salvation means the process whereby the soul
becomes beautiful by internalizing Christ's resplendent grace. Gregory illustrates
the soteriological import of Song 1:5 using Paul's conversion: "Paul, the bride of
Christ, had become radiant from darkness."47 Hence, just as the Bride's blackness
transformed into beauty, so Paul, "a blasphemer, persecutor, insulter, and black in
color ( la;)," became illuminated, in effect made spiritually light/white, by Christ.
This transformation from darkness to light, in other words, from sin to salvation,
occurs in the cleansing of baptism, which symbolizes the "bath of regeneration"
42Ibid., 60.
43Ibid.
44Ibid., 61.
45Ibid.
46Ibid.
47Ibid.
that washes away the soul's "dark form" (1 oKorTEtvEi M

then, that Paul conceives of salvation as the enlightenme
"Paul also says that Christ entered the world to enlighten
Hence, Gregory correlates Paul's explicit soteriology in R
soteriology of Song 1:5.
Gregory adduces another scriptural passage to elucidate
salvific enlightenment. In Ps 87:4 the citizenry of the "h
cludes Ethiopia and other foreign peoples.49 The demogra
Gregory avers, will be multi-ethnic and multi-national. Int
that "the Ethiopians become light in color" in the heaven
symbolically marks their salvific transformation. When
Gregory argues that this passage reveals the Bridegroom
his black Bride. When read allegorically, however, it test
Christ, who receives the "blackened soul" and "restores i
with himself (T-i rtpo;g icautov Kotvoviq KaXflv dtnep
cording to Gregory, consists of the beautification of the
purification from sin. But the negative metaphysical or spi
entails that the soul's beauty requires illumination or wh
salvation as the process of "becoming light" or white, he
quality both spiritually and physically. Although Gregory
between blackness and sin on a spiritual level, it neverth
racially prejudiced opinions. He may, thus, inadvertently
legitimization for prejudicial views, since the material wor
in the spiritual realm. In the final two sections, I shall d
advance a theological solution.
After explicating verse five, Gregory proceeds to expou
connected verse six. Apparently the Bride, not originally
exposure to the sun: "Do not gaze at me because I am da
gazed on me" (Song 1:6). Allegorically this verse accoun
which the pigmentation of the Bride symbolically repre
originated white, so the soul originated pure of sin. Mor
became dark by exposure to the sun, so the soul becom
to temptation: "The cause of darkness is not ascribed to t
is attributed to the free will of each person.""5 Blacknes
"natural," either spiritually or physically. Gregory focus
but on the spiritual implications that follow, namely, th
that it suggests: "Human nature was an image of the true
48Ibid.
49Ibid., 62.
5oIbid.
Slbid.
MARK S. M. SCOTT 75
any darkness: it gleamed by imitation of the archetype's

or white condition of the soul, then, corresponds to its c
and enlightened by God. But by their exercise of free
by the sin that results from yielding to temptation, wh
burns the bright surface of the body by the assault of t
form in ugliness,""3 The anthropology that he develop
reinforces the negative association between blackness
he argues, results from a perversion of the original w
soul.
Gregory returns to the theme of the Bride's beauty in

commenting on the passionate panegyric in verses 15-
pauses to reflect once more on the nature of spiritual be
which he introduced in his exegesis of Song 1:5. He co
tion from sin and return to primal beauty to the puri
through fire. In the beginning human souls remained br
reflection of God: "Human nature was golden at the beg
of its resemblance to the undefiled good."54 But a "for
with the soul and resulted in its defilement and adultera
ated the soul's ability to reflect God's light. Verse fiv
indicated this problem: "However, it [the soul] becam
by the admixture of vice as we have heard the Bride s
Song of Songs: her neglect to tend the vineyard made
represents the failure of the soul to continue in its nat
sinful state the soul becomes "discolored and blackene
since impurities have adulterated its golden or bright
here cohere with Gregory's earlier ones. A healthy. pu
bright, while an unhealthy, impure soul becomes dis
source of the darkening of the soul, consistent with t
above, comes from sin.
As before, Gregory does not place the weight of his
on the sinfulness of the blackened soul. On the contra
tion, not the problem, gleaned from Song 1:5. Mired b
capacity to reflect the divine, the soul stands in need
needs beautification. Not willing to put her away quietl
state of beauty, which corresponds to God's redemptio
God, who fashions all things in his wisdom, cares for h

He does not contrive for her any new beauty which was
52Ibid., 63
53Ibid.
54Ibid., 91. See also Gregorii, Canticum, 100.
55Ibid.
rather, He leads her back to her first grace by removing w

through evil, changing her color to one which is not defiled
A spiritually black soul, deformed, unnatural, and defili

beautification, namely, the return to the pristine beauty of
the grime of sin. To illustrate the soul's purification, Grego
of the goldsmith. Just as adulterated gold needs to under
by fire to restore it to its unalloyed state, so the sinful sou
fications, before one can cleanse it from all stain of sin and
state of beauty: "So too the attendant of the blackened go
has brightened the soul by a kind of refining process throu
remedies."57 So Gregory develops here the themes of div
beautification, which involve a change from darkness to
analogy of the refinement of gold.
In summary, then, salvation, for Gregory, means the
original state. Put in the terms of the Song, salvation m
beautification entails changing from black to white: "T
words about the restoration of beauty which the Bride g
true beauty from which she has departed."58 The Origeni
return of souls informs Gregory's soteriology. Beauty
soteriological category, which he deploys throughout his
egesis of Song 1:15: "Behold, you are fair, my companio
Song 1:5 and succinctly articulates his theological anthrop
namely, the soul's primal beauty and its corruption throug
not fair. Having strayed from the archetypal beauty by
became ugly."59 The misuse of free will, he asserts, cause
symbol for salvation, and ugliness remains the symbol for
and ugliness correspond to whiteness and blackness, whic
features for each. So for Gregory the story of the Bride co
and soteriological truth. He emphasizes not the soul's on
but the divine love as expressed through its beautificatio
In his interpretation of Song 1:5, Gregory consistently p
wherein the Bride's blackness represents the soul's sinfulne
56Ibid.
"5Ibid.
"8Ibid. 92. The soul functions like a mirror that reflects whatever it is exposed to, according to
Gregory. By turning away from evil the soul is able to become beautiful by reflecting the Beauti-
ful One: "So too the soul, when cleansed by the Word from vice, it receives within itself the sun's
orb and shines with this reflected light. Therefore, the Word says to his Bride: 'You have become
beautiful by approaching my light; by drawing near to me, you have attained communion with my
beauty'" (93).
59Ibid., 92.
MARK S. M. SCOTT 77
sessed a beautiful quality expressed by the metaphor o

But once sin corrupted its original beauty, it develope
by the metaphor of darkness or blackness. Since sinfu
outside of God's original creation, ugliness must ultim
although that begs the question of the origin of Satan.
Gregory, is antithetical to beauty; I have noted the d
this symbolism for racial discourse and will expand on
over, Gregory considers the quality of blackness unna
"golden" or bright, and their salvation consists of return
then, the passage speaks to the nature of sin and salv
then speaks about our transformation from a good co
(pCL av)."6' Gregory, however, cautions against interpr
"very precisely," recommending instead a symbolic her
the racial categories presented in Song 1:5 allegorically
avoid detrimental misapprehensions and misapplicatio
Black Theology and the Soteriological Foci

We must now ask whether or not Origen and Gregory
withstand the searching critiques of black theology.
this stage of the argument, we must raise an importa
is it fair to evaluate their exegesis from a modern her
perspective? We must bear in mind that modern rac
sensitive to the problem of racism and exploitation in
in antiquity in the same way that it does for contempora
then, we must vigilantly avoid anachronistically assess
standards that they could not possibly meet. As I mentio
exegesis remains deeply contextual, and so we cannot
to treat this racially charged material with the critical n
They attended to the social and theological problems of
to Jewish-Christian relations and the doctrine of salvati
consider it unfair and misguided to subject them to m
Although we must avoid anachronistic judgments, we m
ing questions about the racial implications and undercu
one justify their use of racial metaphors? Does their trea
or reinforce racial prejudices? I submit that Origen and
5 soteriologically, not racially, which demonstrates bot
these racial categories and their appropriation of neg
Origen, the condition of blackness denotes, not a negativ
6oThe origin of evil must lay in the privation of the good. si

good.
61Ibid., 63.
62Ibid. 63-64.
tive spiritual state. He does not equate black pigmentat

the quality of blackness constitutes simply a metaphoric
sinful state: it in no way indicates or promotes any ant
not occur to him to make an aesthetical judgment of co
only to ascertain the spiritual sense of blackness. In fact,
Bride] is not speaking of bodily blackness." 63The darkn
merely as his point of entry for reflecting on the purific
and the soul from a state of sin to a state of salvation.
categories was a matter of textual necessity rather than
the presence of these categories, however, he does not
legitimize racial stereotypes but rather to see in the na
cal truths about the movement from sin to salvation. O
racial categories by transposing the context from the phy
beauty for him remains a condition, not of the body, but
But this explanation does not imply that Origen's exeg
negative racial symbolism. In his Homilies on Jeremia
within a wider commentary on Jeremiah 13:11. Just as th
verse appears dark at the beginning but becomes bright t
appears dark at the start of its purification but eventu
are dark at the beginning in believing-hence in the beg
Canticles it is said, I am very dark and beautiful, and w
Ethiopian at the beginning."" What does Origen mean b
Ai0io tv?65 He seems to suggest that the souls of Eth
Bride, correspond to their skin color, with the implicat
black souls. Although the absence of the definite article
Ethiopians, it seems more plausible, given his explicit r
he limits the ascription of a blackened soul to the Bride
of blackness precedes the soul's purification through b
"Then we are cleansed so that we may be more bright
Who is she who comes up whitened (Song 8:5)?'"66 Blac
earth, must become more white and bright (Xatrtp'6mpo
worthy "to cling to God" (KoXko6at 6 T 6ef), which c
the progressive purification of the soul. In contrast to
he seems to draw a more explicit correspondence betw
(i.e., sinful) soul.
63Origen, Commentary 11.2. 107.

"Origen, Homily 11.6.3, from Origen, Homilies on Jeremiah,
John Clark Smith; The Fathers of the Church 97: Washington,
America Press, 1998) 109.
65Origen, Homilies sur Jermie I-XI (trans. Pierre Husson and Pierre Nautin; Sources chr6tiennes
323; Paris: Cerf, 1976) 430.
66Origen, Homilies on Jeremiah. 11.6.3. 109.
MARK S. M. SCOTT 79
Origen's exegesis of Song 1:6 evinces the most racially

commentary, although he does not expressly disparage b
ing on the allegorical meaning of this verse, he parentheti
origin of physical blackness. He comments that "the Eth
through prolonged exposure to the intense rays of the
argues, white Ethiopians became black, departing from t
ter being "scorched and darkened." Once darkened, the
"congenital stain" to their progeny.67 To classify blackn
rather than as an expression of divine creativity reveals
ness. In these deliberations Origen presupposes whitenes
of humanity and blackness as an anomalous state that ar
sumptions make black pigmentation an ailment that one
invert the analogy to spiritual blackness to apply to phy
blackness a negative physical quality, Origen reveals th
internalized the ethnocentric views of his socio-historic
must then ask how this ethnocentrism informs his theo
well. These opinions shape his allegorical interpretation
and explain why spiritual blackness has negative symbol
On a more promising note, however, Origen's mystical
anthropology that negates racial and ethnic differences. H
fundamental unity of humanity despite these distinctio
"For in me too there is that primal thing, the Image of Go
and, coming now to the Word of God, I have received my
anthropology constitutes a salutary starting point for und
significance of race and ethnicity. If God created all hum
then each person, regardless of his or her racial or ethni
imperfectly) the beauty of divinity. Skin color cannot dim
ner beauty. Moreover, although one's dark or light hue mi
one's physical beauty, the real locus of beauty lies in the s
share equally. As one grows in Christ, the soul becomes
marred by the effects of sin, which thus deepens the corr
created capacity and existential reality. Hence, Origen's
ground for salvific purification transcends racial categorie
unity over physical differentiation. Frank Snowden affir
no hostile opinions against blacks and actually fostered
67Ibid., 107.
6"Origen, Commentar, II. 1, 92. Norris. The Song of Songs, 39. Norris translates this passage
as follows: "For in me what is most elemental and deep-seated is that which has been made after
the image of God; and now drawing near to the Word of God I have recovered my beauteous ap-
pearance."
of blacks."69 Nevertheless, Origen does appropriate an anc

his allegorical interpretation: "In his language of spiritua
Origen's adaptation of the Greco-Roman back-white imag
clear is his indebtedness to classical themes of black-whi
way Origen overcomes anti-black sentiments latent with
he does not, pace Snowden, entirely wrest himself free
Nevertheless, he makes great strides in that direction.
Gregory also employs racial categories in his homileti
but, like Origen, he uses them not to promote or reinfor
deep spiritual truth. He probes beyond the surface mean
does more than merely equate blackness with sin. The sou
the beginning of the knowledge disclosed by this verse. F
point remains not the sinfulness of the soul but the love of
soul's ugliness into beauty: "The Bride further speaks to
fact about herself in order that we might learn of the Br
for mankind who added beauty to the beloved [Bride] th
than simply diagnosing the problem, Gregory's exegesi
to sin: the beautification of the soul through Christ. God
of divine love by loving humanity despite their sin and b
its amelioration. This verse, then, far from merely app
antiquated assumptions about blackness, uses the given
narrative to illustrate and to extol the magnitude of God's
one might justifiably perceive as a relic of ancient bigo
love for lost souls. Thus, Gregory shifts the focus from
associated with black skin to the spiritual reality of the sin
the salvation afforded by God.
The theological affirmation of God's love combines wit
phasis on the soul's beautification. Gregory expresses his
through the analogy of the Bride's transformation from b
corresponds to the soul's transformation from sin to salvat
soul's purification as an exchange, whereby Christ impar
and assumes the sin of the soul.7" Two important passages
69Frank Snowden, Before Color Prejudice: The Ancient View o

Harvard University Press, 1983) 66.
70Snowden, 103.
7tSnowden, 101.
72Gregory, Fourth Homily, 60.
73Ibid., 60-61, 67. This idea anticipates what Luther later called t
the soul and Christ whereby Christ's righteousness becomes ours, and
Luther's Two Kinds of Righteousness and The Freedom of a Christia
by employing the Song of Songs' portrayal of the love between marri
351). In a marriage union all that belongs to the Bridegroom is give
(TKR, 297). Likewise, according to Luther, all that belongs to Chris
MARK S. M. SCOTT 81
the Suffering Servant song in Isaiah 53 and the hymn to

He does not explicate the mechanics of this exchange bet
but the main lines of his conception appear clear. God th
human condition, assumes humanity's sinfulness, and pu
by filling it with his beauty and making it lovely.74 He
"black in color" souls.7"
Though tempting, it would be anachronistic to cast O
nascent black theologians. But it would also be anach
anti-black. The situation is more complex than either op
Gregory exhibited favorable attitudes toward blackness
negative attitudes.76 I submit that they transcended these c
ultimate significance and by utilizing them to convey prof
Nevertheless, for the modem reader, the association betw
whiteness and salvation remains problematic. One can m
objection by highlighting their shared sense of a commo
ogy, whereby the souls of all people, regardless of skin c
God" (as Origen writes) and share an "archetypal beauty"
fall into sin. Moreover, with Snowden, one could praise t
and global conception of salvation: "Origen and his exeg
clear that all men, regardless of the color of their skin, we
their interpretations they employed a deeply spiritualize
The problem remains, however, that symbolic associatio
sin carry over to the physical realm and engender negat
certainly did not intend this-and Snowden correctly note
give rise to a marked antipathy toward blacks and did no
in the domain of social behavior"-but it nevertheless f
consequence.78
all that belongs to the Christian belongs to Christ. The union between
exchange of attributes whereby Christ's "grace, life, and salvation"
death, and damnation," which belong to the soul, becomes Christ'
74Ibid., 60.
75Ibid., 61.
76Gregory's positive attitude toward darkness is expressly seen in his Life of Moses, where
Moses sees God in the darkness, which signifies "the unknown and unseen" (96). Darkness is the
condition for spiritual enlightenment: "What is now recounted seems somehow to be contradictory
to the first theophany, for then the Divine was beheld in light but now he is seen in darkness."
Gregory of Nyssa, The Life of Moses (trans. Abraham J. Malherbe and Everett Ferguson; New
York: Paulist Press, 1978) 95.
77Snowden, Before Color Prejudice, 107.
78Ibid.
Origen and Gregory of Nyssa: The First Apo

Black theology raises salient criticisms about the stigma a
the concomitant fusion of the physical with the moral an
context of the patristic period, Robert Hood remarks tha
the dominant cultural attitudes toward "blacks and blackn
tive years of the Christian church in the Roman Empire
a distinctive negative connotation, but also was persona
church expressed spiritual categories in terms of shade an
light and white signified spirit and divine goodness, and
materiality and evil. Hood further comments that these cat
patristic exegesis of Song 1:5, which intentionally deviat
nuance of the verse because of a widespread uneasiness
between blackness and beauty:
The Greek-language Septuagint translated the Hebrew 'I am

ful'; the Latin Vulgate by Jerome resisted the theological im
Greek Nigra sum et pulchra and instead renders it in the L
formosa: 'I am black but comely' (or 'beautifully formed
very dark, but comely.')10
Hood extols Origen as the "first apostle of blackness"

blackness into a positive witness to salvation in his comm
the Song of Songs."' Hood's insight into Origen could eq
who also redeployed black imagery to positive ends. In co
Snowden argues that we have no evidence of racial prejud
"The ancient world did not make color the focus of irrat
basis for uncritical evaluation . .. nothing comparable to
dice of modern times existed in the ancient world."82 Snow
fact that "the ancients did not fall into the error of bio
color was not a sign of inferiority," but, conversely, Ho
we do have evidence of negative connotations associated
studying Origen and Gregory's interpretation of Song 1
Hood's thesis about the early church's attitude toward bla
while Snowden's appears too optimistic-the truth lies s
Origen and Gregory at once exhibit negative attitudes to
tive attitudes toward the salvific import of black imagery
while we cannot classify Origen and Gregory as "the fir
79Robert E. Hood, Begrimed and Black: Christian Traditions on B

neapolis: Fortress Press, 1994) 73.
80Hood, 75.
8Idem., 18, 80.
8Snowden, Before Color Prejudice, 63.
83Ibid.
MARK S. M. SCOTT 83
we may nonetheless recognize their positive employment o

inherent in this verse, despite the fact that the very use of
problematic assumptions. For Origen the black Bride corres
Gentile church and his central metaphor for salvation is pu
the Bride corresponds primarily to the soul and his central m
beautification. For both the racial categories in Song 1:5 are
soteriological truth, not racism.
Conclusion
When the church fathers read the Song of Songs, they perceived deep theologica
truths beneath the surface narrative. The passionate nuptial relationship detaile
in the story, often in overtly erotic terms, became in the industrious hands of the
Fathers an allegory of Christ's relationship to the soul and the church. Origen an
Gregory exemplify this hermeneutical trajectory and while some might characte
ize their homilies and commentaries on the Song of Songs as eisegesis rather tha
exegesis, their speculative flights nonetheless have captured the imagination o
generations of exegetes. By treating Origen and Gregory together in this essay I do
not mean to elide their differences. As I stated above, they have disparate symbolic
emphases. Nevertheless, their exegesis of the Song of Songs evinces remarkab
similarities. With respect to Song 1:5, they both affirm the soteriological significan
of the Bride's blackness, though with slightly different nuances. For both, the stor
manifests divine grace in symbolic shades. Once the symbolism of these shade
of grace comes into view, the potentially offensive racial aspects of the narrativ
become less problematic, though not altogether obsolete. In this way, Origen an
Gregory's soteriological exegesis of the racially charged language in this verse open
up new exegetical pathways for black theology. It also provides a new imaginativ
context for Christian theology to conceive of divine love and salvation.

Shades of Grace: Origen and Gregory of Nyssa's Soteriological Exegesis of The "Black Andbeautiful" Bride in Song of Songs 1:5

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Harvard Divinity School

HTR 99:1 (2006) 65-83

dered some apprehension, the profound symbolic meaning

Origen: The Bride as the Purified Gentile Churc

Consistent with his exegetical method, Origen begins the Co

6Origen, The Song of Songs: Commentary and Homilies. 19. Lawson

'0Origen, Song, 21.

her deformed condition of blackness (nigredine) or dark

blackness."30 Just as darkness represents the absence o

Gregory of Nyssa: The Bride as the Beaut

The Song of Songs represents to him the union of lov

Much like Origen, however, Gregory posits that the S

blackness has been transformed into beauty (P~Ercioe

According to Gregory, the fundamental theological meani

that washes away the soul's "dark form" (1 oKorTEtvEi M

any darkness: it gleamed by imitation of the archetype's

Gregory returns to the theme of the Bride's beauty in

God, who fashions all things in his wisdom, cares for h

rather, He leads her back to her first grace by removing w

A spiritually black soul, deformed, unnatural, and defili

sessed a beautiful quality expressed by the metaphor o

Black Theology and the Soteriological Foci

6oThe origin of evil must lay in the privation of the good. si

tive spiritual state. He does not equate black pigmentat

63Origen, Commentary 11.2. 107.

Origen's exegesis of Song 1:6 evinces the most racially

of blacks."69 Nevertheless, Origen does appropriate an anc

69Frank Snowden, Before Color Prejudice: The Ancient View o

the Suffering Servant song in Isaiah 53 and the hymn to

Origen and Gregory of Nyssa: The First Apo

The Greek-language Septuagint translated the Hebrew 'I am

Hood extols Origen as the "first apostle of blackness"

79Robert E. Hood, Begrimed and Black: Christian Traditions on B

we may nonetheless recognize their positive employment o

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