The basic points of Christian epistemology in the theological system of St. Gregory of Nyssa: referential-ontological aspect

The speaker, making a reference in speech, that is, correlating linguistic signs with the cognitive-communicative mode of his consciousness, takes into account not only the general semantics of linguistic signs, but also depends on the cognitive activity of his own cognition. Communication takes place on the basis of cognition and in the bosom of being rooted in the experience of the external world. The article systematizes the theological and philosophical conception of St. Gregory of Nyssa about human cognition: its possibilities, foundations, boundaries, objects, methods, types and specifics. Based on the analysis of the epistemology of one of the great Cappadocians, the author formulates the basic principles of the Christian theory of knowledge in general. In the ontognoseological perspective, the theory of reference receives a theoretical formulation adequate to its scale, which gives linguistic research the necessary depth and fundamentality. Based on the theological and philosophical teachings of St. Gregory, the author reconstructs and clarifies the content of the basic terms of the theory of reference. The article proposes a refined referential model that takes into account not only the ontological and epistemological problem, but also the problem of the general and specific meaning of a linguistic sign.