Isaac the Syrian

6th century

Who he was

An anchorite and bishop towards the end of the 6th century.
He was by birth a Syrian, and, with his brother who became abbot, entered the great monastery of St. Matthew at Nineveh.
Afterwards he retired to a lonely cell, where he long remained. Isaac’s fame as an anchorite became so great that he was raised to the bishopric of Nineveh, which, however, he resigned from on the very day of his consecration, owing to an incident which convinced him that his office was superfluous in a place where the Gospel was little esteemed. Feeling also that episcopal

functions interfered with the ascetic life, he finally retired to the desert of Scete or Scetis in Egypt, where he died.

He is much quoted by the old Syrian writers. His Christology
Following a tradition derived from Theodore of Mopsuestia, Diodore, and Nestorius, Isaac wrote: We do not hesitate to call the humanity of our Lord – He being truly man – ‘God’ and ‘Creator’ and ‘Lord’; or to apply to Him in divine fashion the statement that ‘by His hand the worlds were established and everything was created.’ For He to whom all these things apply willingly dwelt in him, giving him the honor of His divinity and authority over all, because of the benefits which creation was about to receive through Him…He even bade the angels worship him, according to the words of the blessed Paul: ‘introducing the Firstborn into the world, he said: Him shall all the angels of God worship.’ He granted him that he should be worshipped with Himself indistinguishably, with a single act of worship for the man who became Lord and for the Divinity equally, while the two natures are preserved with their properties, without there being any difference of honor. 34
Isaac says that the cross is a symbol of “the man who completely became a temple” of God (II/11,12); the cross is made in the name of “that man in whom the Divinity dwells” (II/11,13); the humanity of Christ is the “garment of his divinity” (II/11,24).
The above texts highlight that Isaac’s Christology was Nestorian.

Ebedjesu writes that “he composedSeven Tomes On Spiritual Guidance, and On Divine Mysteries, Judgments, and Government.” A considerable number, though not all, of these discourses are extant in Syriac, Arabic and Greek MSS. in the Vatican and other libraries.
53 of his homilies were rendered from Greek into Latin, ca. 1407, by a monk who freely abridged and altered the order of his original.
His style teems with metaphor; his matter is often interesting, both theologically and historically. He treats mainlyof the ascetic life,its rules and spiritual

experiences. Watching, fasting, silence, and solitude are means to self-master.

For him a soul can approach unto God by love, fear and divine training. He who has gotten love feeds on Christ at all times, and becomes immortal (Jn 6:52).
On humility Isaac the Syrian said: A humble man is never rushed, hasty, or agitated, never has any hot or volatile thoughts, but at all times remains calm. Even if heaven were to fall and cleave to the earth, the humble man would not be dismayed. Not every quiet man is humble, but every humble man is quiet…for the humble man is always at rest, because there is nothing which can agitate or shake his mind. Just as no one can frighten a mountain, so the mind of a humble man cannot be frightened. 36
On tears in the monastic life, he wrote:
What meditation can a monk have in his cell save weeping? Could he have any free time from weeping to turn his gaze to another thought? And what occupation is better than this? A monk’s very cell and his solitude, which bear a likeness to life in a tomb, far from human joys, teach him that his work is to mourn. And the very calling of his name urges him on to this, because he is called ‘the mournful one’ (abila), that is, bitter in heart. All the saints have left this life in mourning. If, therefore, all the saints mourned and their eyes were ever filled with tears till they departed from this life, who would have no need of weeping? A monk’s consolation is born of his weeping. 37