A Creaturely Wisdom: Suffering, Compassion and Grace in Isaac of Nineveh

A Creaturely Wisdom: Suffering, Compassion and Grace in Isaac of NinevehScottish Journal of TheologySyriaca.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/SR6BC9U5/tei

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2024-08-15-04:00

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CREATED: This bibl record was autogenerated from a Zotero record.ValentinaDucaA Creaturely Wisdom: Suffering, Compassion and Grace in Isaac of Ninevehhttp://syriaca.org/cbss/SR6BC9U5https://www.zotero.org/groups/a_comprehensive_bibliography_on_syriac_studies/items/SR6BC9U5https://www.zotero.org/groups/4861694/items/SR6BC9U5Scottish Journal of Theology73:32020225-238In 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. Duca, Valentina. “A Creaturely Wisdom: Suffering, Compassion and Grace in Isaac of Nineveh.” Scottish Journal of Theology 73:3 (2020): 225–38. Valentina Duca, A Creaturely Wisdom: Suffering, Compassion and Grace in Isaac of Nineveh, Scottish Journal of Theology 73:3 (2020): 225–38.Isaac of NinevehNestoriansVII CEVII-XVIII CEgracespiritualitysuffering