Isaac the Syrian

Isaac the Syrian (Syriac: ܡܪܝ ܐܝܣܚܩ ܕܢܝܢܘܐ; Arabic: إسحاق النينوي Ishaq an-Naynuwī; Greek: Ἰσαὰκ Σῦρος; c. 613 – c. 700), also remembered as Saint Isaac the Syrian,[4][5] Isaac of Nineveh, Abba Isaac, Isaac Syrus and Isaac of Qatar,[6] was a 7th-century Syriac Christian bishop and theologian best remembered for his written works on Christian asceticism. He is regarded as a saint in the Assyrian Church of the East, the Catholic churches (Chaldean Catholic, Syro-Malabar Church), and Eastern Orthodox tradition. His feast day falls, together with 4th-century theologian and hymnographer St. Ephrem the Syrian, on January 28.

Saint

Isaac the Syrian
Icon of Saint Isaac the Syrian
Bishop, Hieromonk
Bornc. 613[1]
Beth Qatraye,[1][2][3] Qatar
Diedc. 700 (age c. 87)
Nineveh
Venerated inChurch of the East
Assyrian Church of the East
Chaldean Catholic Church
Syro-Malabar Catholic Church
Eastern Orthodox Church
Major shrineRabban Hormizd Monastery
FeastJanuary 28
AttributesTurban, cape, scrolls, writing tools

Life

He was born in the region of Beth Qatraye in Eastern Arabia, a mixed Syriac and Arabic speaking region encompassing the south east of Mesopotamia and the north eastern Arabian peninsula.[1][2][3] When still quite young, he entered a monastery where he devoted his energies towards the practice of asceticism. After many years of studying at the library attached to the monastery, he emerged as an authoritative figure in theology. Shortly after, he dedicated his life to monasticism and became involved in religious education throughout the Beth Qatraye region. When the Catholicos Giwargis I (661–680) visited Beth Qatraye in 676 to attend a synod, he ordained Isaac bishop of Nineveh far to the north in Assyria.[7]

The administrative duties did not suit his retiring and ascetic bent: he requested to abdicate after only five months, and went south to the wilderness of Mount Matout, a refuge for anchorites. There he lived in solitude for many years, eating only three loaves a week with some uncooked vegetables, a detail that never failed to astonish his hagiographers. Eventually blindness and old age forced him to retire to the Assyrian monastery of Rabban Shabur in Mesopotamia, where he died and was buried. At the time of his death he was nearly blind, a fact that some attribute to his devotion to study.

Legacy
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Isaac is remembered for his spiritual homilies on the inner life, which have a human breadth and theological depth that transcends the Christianity of the Church of the East, the Church to which he belonged. They survive in Syriac manuscripts and in later Greek, Arabic, and Georgian translations.[8] From Greek they were translated into Slavonic.[9]

Isaac stands in the tradition of the eastern mystical saints and placed a considerable emphasis on the work of the Holy Spirit.

His melancholic style as well as his affinity towards the sick and dying exerted considerable influence on Eastern Orthodoxy. His writings were continuously studied by monastery circles outside his church during the 8th and 9th century. Moreover, Isaac's conviction that the notion of God punishing men endlessly through the mystery of Gehenna (the lake of fire, or hell) is not compatible with his all encompassing love can likely be seen as the central thematic conflict in his second treatise of mystical teachings.[10]

Isaac's writings offer a rare example of a large corpus of ascetical texts written by an experienced hermit and is thus an important writer when it comes to understanding early Christian asceticism.[11]

Writings

St. Isaac was a prolific writer and composed multiple books which survived antiquity and were translated into Greek, Latin, and Arabic. A short list of his salient works include:

Universal Reconciliation

Various scholars[17] have noted that Brock's translation of the Second Part of Isaac's writings (discovered 1983) appears to confirm claims of earlier universalist historians such as John Wesley Hanson (1899) that Isaac was an advocate of universal reconciliation.[18] In chapter 39 of the Second Part, Isaac writes, "It is not the way of the compassionate Maker to create rational beings in order to deliver them over mercilessly to unending affliction in punishment for things of which He knew even before they were fashioned, aware how they would turn out when He created them, and whom nonetheless He created."[19] Likewise, in the Third Part, chapter 5, Isaac explains, "This is the mystery: that all creation by means of One, has been brought near to God in a mystery; then it is transmitted to all; thus all is united to Him...This action was performed for all of creation; there will, indeed, be a time when no part will fall short of the whole."[20]

Even in the First Part (Isaac's well-known Ascetical Homilies), however, there are arguably quite a few hints of universalism. For example, see the following quotes and excerpts: "God will not abandon anyone."[21] "There was a time when sin did not exist, and there will be a time when it will not exist."[22] "As a handful of sand thrown into the ocean, so are the sins of all flesh as compared with the mind of God; as a fountain that flows abundantly is not dammed by a handful of earth, so the compassion of the Creator is not overcome by the wickedness of the creatures... If He is compassionate here, we believe that there will be no change in Him; far be it from us that we should wickedly think that God could not possibly be compassionate; God’s properties are not liable to variations as those of mortals... What is hell as compared with the grace of resurrection? Come and let us wonder at the grace of our Creator."[23] Many other relevant passages throughout the corpus of Isaac's writings could be cited in demonstration of his belief in eventual universal salvation.[24]

See also

References
  1. Markose, Biji (2004). Prayers and Fasts According to Bar Ebroyo (AD 1225/6-1286): A Study on the Prayers and Fasts of the Oriental Churches. LIT Verlag. p. 32. ISBN 9783825867959.
  2. Kurian, George (2010). The Encyclopedia of Christian Literature, Volume 2. Scarecrow Press. p. 385. ISBN 978-0810869875.
  3. Johnston, William M. (2000). Encyclopedia of Monasticism: A-L. Taylor & Francis. p. 665. ISBN 1579580904.
  4. Great Synaxaristes: (in Greek) Ὁ Ὅσιος Ἰσαὰκ ὁ Σύρος Ἐπίσκοπος Νινευΐ. 28 Ιανουαρίου. ΜΕΓΑΣ ΣΥΝΑΞΑΡΙΣΤΗΣ.
  5. St Isaac the Syrian the Bishop of Nineveh. OCA - Lives of the Saints.
  6. Fromherz, Allen (2012). Qatar: A Modern History. I. B. Tauris. p. 43. ISBN 978-1-58901-910-2.
  7. Kozah, Mario; Abu-Husayn, Abdulrahim; Al-Murikhi, Saif Shaheen; Al-Thani, Haya (2014). The Syriac Writers of Qatar in the Seventh Century (print ed.). Gorgias Press LLC. p. 263. ISBN 978-1463203559.
  8. Brock, Sebastian (2001). "Syriac into Greek at Mar Saba: The Translation of St. Isaac the Syrian". In Patrich, Joseph (ed.). The Sabaite Heritage in the Orthodox Church from the Fifth Century to the Present. Louvain: Peeters. pp. 201–208. ISBN 9042909765.
  9. "Commentary on Song of Songs; Letter on the Soul; Letter on Ascesis and the Monastic Life". World Digital Library. Retrieved 7 March 2013.
  10. Brock, S., trans. (1997). The Wisdom of Saint Isaac the Syrian. pp. 5-9. Fairacres Oxford, England: SLG Press, Convent of the Incarnation. ISSN 0307-1405.
  11. Hagman, Patrik: The Asceticism of Isaac of Nineveh (Oxford University Press 2010)
  12. Brock, Sebastian P. (2006). The Wisdom of St. Isaac of Nineveh. Piscataway, NJ: Gorgias Press. pp. vii–xix. ISBN 1-59333-335-8.
  13. Nineveh), Isaac (Bishop of (2022). Headings on Spiritual Knowledge: (the Second Part, Chapters 1-3). St Vladimir's Seminary Press. ISBN 978-0-88141-702-9.
  14. Wensinck, A. J. Mystic Treatises by Isaac of Nineveh. Gorgias Press, LLC. ISBN 978-1-61719-502-0.
  15. Spiritual Alphabet. Vladimir Djambov. 2017-10-24.
  16. The Virtuous Life. Dalcassian Publishing Company. 2010-07-01. ISBN 979-8-8689-3921-1.
  17. Wacław Hryniewicz (2007), Ilaria Ramelli (2013), et al.
  18. Wacław Hryniewicz The challenge of our hope: Christian faith in dialogue 2007 The 7th-century mystic, Isaac the Syrian, known also as Isaac of Nineveh is, in the history of the Church, one of the most courageous supporters of the eschatological hope of universal salvation.
  19. The Second Part, 39.6 (Tr. Brock, p. 165)
  20. Isaac, The Third Part, 5. Translated from Syriac by Mary T. Hansbury, Isaac the Syrian's Spiritual Works, 84.
  21. The First Part, Ch. 5.
  22. The First Part, Ch. 26.
  23. The First Part, Ch. 50.
  24. For instance, see The First Part 19, 27, 43, 65, 74; The Second Part 3.1.62, 3.2.30, 3.3.70-73, 3.3.81-82, 3.3.94, 5.29-32, 38-40; The Third Part 5.9-14, 6.59-63, 11.24-30.
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