Ineffably Effable: The Pinnacle of Mystical Ascent in G regory of N yssa's D e vita M oysis

In his commentary on the S ong of S ongs, Gregory of N yssa describes a three‐step progression of the soul to G od, an ascent which ends in the darkness of G od's ineffability. Though some of G regory's most prominent interpreters understand M oses' ascent into the darkness to be the definitive encounter with G od in D e vita M oysis as well, it is here argued that in D e vita M oysis   G regory of N yssa makes the culminating moment, not the apophatic experience of the darkness, but the encounter with the celestial tabernacle, Christ. G regory thereby suggests that the mystical ascent to G od ends in the encounter of G od as both unknowable and known, transcendent but also incarnate.