Epektasis ἐπέκτασις
perpetual stretching-out (default; Gregory of Nyssa's signature term for the unending contemplative ascent)
Epektasis (ἐπέκτασις) — Gregory of Nyssa’s doctrine that the soul’s ascent to God is unending because the divine infinity exceeds every contemplative grasp; each seeing-of-God opens onto a more-to-be-seen. Echoes Paul’s epekteinomenos in Philippians 3:13. ‘Progress’ and ‘extension’ are forbidden because they imply a teleological terminus that the doctrine denies — the stretching is the terminus. Daniélou 1944 made the term central to modern Gregorian scholarship.
Etymology
[STUB: editor to author etymology, root, and morphological notes.]
Cross-tradition resonance
[STUB: editor to author cross-tradition resonances.]
Primary sources
[STUB: editor to list locus classicus and other canonical attestations.]
Scholarly literature
[STUB: editor to list standard secondary scholarship.]
Stable URLs are part of the editorial commitment. This address will not change.
Hekhal Editorial. "Epektasis." Hekhal: An Open Reference for Esoteric Tradition. Last modified May 2, 2026. https://hekhal.org/lexicon/epektasis.
Hekhal Editorial. 2026. "Epektasis." Hekhal: An Open Reference for Esoteric Tradition. https://hekhal.org/lexicon/epektasis.
Hekhal Editorial. "Epektasis." Hekhal: An Open Reference for Esoteric Tradition, May 2, 2026, hekhal.org/lexicon/epektasis.
Hekhal Editorial. (2026). Epektasis. Hekhal: An Open Reference for Esoteric Tradition. https://hekhal.org/lexicon/epektasis
@misc{hekhal-lexicon-epektasis-2026,
author = {{Hekhal Editorial}},
title = {{Epektasis}},
year = {2026},
publisher = {{Hekhal: An Open Reference for Esoteric Tradition}},
url = {https://hekhal.org/lexicon/epektasis},
urldate = {[date accessed]}
}