Between Perfection and Imperfection: On the Experience of Finitude in Isaac of Nineveh
The interplay between the notions of perfection and imperfection has been crucial to Christian ascetic-mystical reflection from an early stage. Isaac of Nineveh (7th cent.), the best representative of the Syriac ascetic-mystical tradition, offers an original perspective on the theme, that the articl...
| Published in: | Ephemerides theologicae Lovanienses |
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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: |
Peeters
2023
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| In: |
Ephemerides theologicae Lovanienses
Year: 2023, Volume: 99, Issue: 1, Pages: 1-26 |
| Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains: | B
Isaac Syrus 640-700
/ Perfection
/ Sin
/ Passion
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| IxTheo Classification: | CB Christian life; spirituality KAD Church history 500-900; early Middle Ages NBE Anthropology NCA Ethics |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
| Summary: | The interplay between the notions of perfection and imperfection has been crucial to Christian ascetic-mystical reflection from an early stage. Isaac of Nineveh (7th cent.), the best representative of the Syriac ascetic-mystical tradition, offers an original perspective on the theme, that the article examines for the first time through analysing his edited and unedited writings. Isaac’s thought is characterised by a strong tension between the desire for perfection and an awareness of the ineradicable nature of imperfection. Although problematic, this tension can become highly generative for the subject who accepts to remain within it, 'inhabiting' it, instead of looking for a solution or the prevailing of a single pole. When this 'inhabiting' occurs, the passions born of the fear of imperfection decrease and a new form of perfection can mysteriously emerge, which neither expels 'the negative' nor integrates it into a synthesis, but acknowledges and respects its distinctive space. |
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| ISSN: | 1783-1423 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Ephemerides theologicae Lovanienses
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.2143/ETL.99.1.3291435 |