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, Isaac of Nineveh, Abba Isaac, Isaac Syrus and Isaac of Qatar, was a 7th-century Syriac Christian bishop of the Church of the East, and theologian best remembered for his written works on Christian asceticism. He is regarded as a saint in the Catholic, Eastern Orthodox and Church of the East traditions. His feast day falls, together with 4th-century theologian and hymnographer St. Ephrem the Syrian, on January 28.
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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. From Greek they were translated into Slavonic.
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.
Isaac's writings, strongly influenced by those of Evagrius Ponticus and other earlier Christian writers, 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.
Isaac the Syrian - Wikipedia
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. From Greek they were translated into Slavonic.
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.
Isaac's writings, strongly influenced by those of Evagrius Ponticus and other earlier Christian writers, 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.