Isaac the Syrian's Spiritual Works

by Mary T. Hansbury (Editor)

Isaac the Syrian lived the solitary life in the 7th century. He was born in Qatar and subsequently lived in present day Iraq and Iran. After life as a monk, then briefly as a bishop, he withdrew to live the solitary life. These discourses are primarily for solitaries to consolidate them in the love and mercy of God. Isaac returns frequently in this work to the theme of joy as it relates to repentance and also to inebriation - even as it were, as a participation in divine Nature. In ch.5, he discusses theosis. Discussions of divinization are not that common to his writings. Already Isaac has been able to cross all kinds of boundaries, both geographical and ecclesial. Now with theosis in ch. 5 there is possibility of ongoing discussion in Asian Christianity, especially with India in relation to Advaita. In this volume, the text of Isaac V has also been included because of the light which it sheds on Apocatastasis, of increasing interest in academic and ecclesial circles. Isaac III was originally edited and translated by Sabino ChialA of Bose. A French translation was subsequently done by Andre Louf.

404 pages, Paperback

Published July 28, 2016

Reviews

[Toby · Rating 4 out of 5]

This volume: Fantastic. The Syriac-English format is a must. Plenty of helpful footnotes.

translation: while I admire the effort (I couldn’t have done better), the translation is a bit clunky and confusing at times.

content: Isaac’s actual writing is quite moving and spiritually insightful yet at times redundant and obscure. Then again, the latter issue might be with the translation. I might come back to this at some point in the future, but in the meantime, I am looking forward to reading the S. Brock translated PPS volume of Isaac’s ‘Second Part.’