Sea Monsters in Soteriology: The Misconception of Gregory of Nyssa as a Ransom Theorist

Abstract In Gregory of Nyssa's Oratio catechetica magna , Jesus functions as a ransom for humanity. Jesus is characterized as bait and fishhook while the enemy is characterized as greedy fish in a dramatic depiction of atonement. In contemporary atonement theology, Gregory of Nyssa is often cited as a ransom theorist because of this passage. While Gregory uses the concept of ransom, I argue that he is at least equally focused on the concept of the ‘sign of Jonah’, a popular motif in fourth‐century art history. Gregory, far from being a ransom theorist, layers together ransom, the sign of Jonah and a range of other images in the Oratio to gesture toward the ultimately mysterious doctrine of salvation.