A creaturely wisdom: Suffering, compassion and grace in Isaac of Nineveh
In the writings of Isaac of Nineveh, a seventh-century East Syriac solitary, one finds a profound compassion for every created being, including wild animals, heretics and demons. This article shows that this compassionate attitude towards external negative entities is rooted in the creature's r...
| Published in: | Scottish journal of theology |
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| Main Author: | |
| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
Cambridge Univ. Press
[2020]
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| In: |
Scottish journal of theology
Year: 2020, Volume: 73, Issue: 3, Pages: 225-238 |
| Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains: | B
Isaac Syrus 640-700
/ Sympathy
/ Suffering
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| IxTheo Classification: | CB Christian life; spirituality KAD Church history 500-900; early Middle Ages ZD Psychology |
| Further subjects: | B
Humility
B Grace B Isaac of Nineveh B Relationship B Compassion B Suffering |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (Verlag) Volltext (doi) |
| Summary: | In the writings of Isaac of Nineveh, a seventh-century East Syriac solitary, one finds a profound compassion for every created being, including wild animals, heretics and demons. This article shows that this compassionate attitude towards external negative entities is rooted in the creature's relationship with its own condition of vulnerability. This vulnerability is distinctive of the human condition. Isaac conceives of the passions as attempts to remove this ontological condition, proposing that one can instead learn to deal with it and to ‘take it on’. This occurs through a demanding exercise of relationship with one's suffering self, and only once this relationship has been discovered does grace reveal itself to the creature. Grace, therefore, emerges from Isaac's writings as something that never removes one's creaturely poverty, but reveals itself only to the person who has the courage to experience, ‘bear’ and ‘take on’ this poverty. |
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| ISSN: | 1475-3065 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Scottish journal of theology
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1017/S0036930620000344 |