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In my article, I will discuss Gregory’s view of beauty from a theological-anthropological perspective, focusing on why beauty is deceptive and where the limits and boundaries lie between beauty as a theological category and beauty that becomes an idol and does not lead to God. The key question will be how beauty, whose source is God – the essential beauty – can be deceptive. I want to emphasise that although Gregory sometimes speaks about the deceptiveness of beauty, the ambiguity lies not in the beauty itself but in the ability or inability of the human being to discern the beautiful. Here I draw on the foundation of Gregory’s anthropology, namely the creation of human beings in the image and likeness of God. I will further analyse Gregory’s concept of the knowledge of beauty and its relationship to desire and passion in Gregory. I will conclude by reflecting on the moment when beauty becomes an idol that leads people away from the path of knowledge of the truly beautiful. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Verse 7:17 from Isaiah presents its interpreters, both ancient and modern, with difficulties and ambiguities regarding the text that must be accounted for on the level of formulation (problematic grammar), content (uncertain meaning) and incorporation into the larger context of Isa 7:1-17. The Damascus Document from Qumran uses this verse twice (in CD VII & XIII) in texts of different types (Admonitions and Laws). The author of the Damascus Document resolves the ambiguities of the biblical verse and incorporates it into his two compositions for the benefit of his argumentation. This type of redactional work is possible due to a recognition by the author of a continuity between the biblical Israel and the current (Qumran) community. While resolving the problems inherent to the biblical verse, the author of the Damascus Document also creates a new tension between the ways in which this verse is incorporated into the two documents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]