Between Perfection and Imperfection: On the Experience of Finitude in Isaac of Nineveh

Between Perfection and Imperfection: On the Experience of Finitude in Isaac of NinevehEphemerides Theologicae LovaniensesSyriaca.org: The Syriac Reference PortalThe National Endowment for the HumanitiesThe International Balzan Prize FoundationDavid A. Michelsoncbsc_adminRecord added to Zotero bycbsc_adminSyriaca.org: The Syriac Reference Portalhttp://syriaca.org/cbss/RQZ79PWD/tei

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2024-08-15-04:00

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CREATED: This bibl record was autogenerated from a Zotero record.ValentinaDucaBetween Perfection and Imperfection: On the Experience of Finitude in Isaac of Ninevehhttp://syriaca.org/cbss/RQZ79PWDhttps://www.zotero.org/groups/a_comprehensive_bibliography_on_syriac_studies/items/RQZ79PWDhttps://www.zotero.org/groups/4861694/items/RQZ79PWDEphemerides Theologicae Lovanienses99:120231-26The 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. Duca, Valentina. “Between Perfection and Imperfection: On the Experience of Finitude in Isaac of Nineveh.” Ephemerides Theologicae Lovanienses 99:1 (2023): 1–26. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.2143/ETL.99.1.3291435. Valentina Duca, Between Perfection and Imperfection: On the Experience of Finitude in Isaac of Nineveh, Ephemerides Theologicae Lovanienses 99:1 (2023): 1–26, https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.2143/ETL.99.1.3291435.IV-VII CEIsaac of NinevehNestoriansVII CEmysticismspirituality