Isaac of Syria

[Vlad Benea]

I had a controversy with a colleague of mine from the Faculty: he claims that St. Isaac of Syria was a nestorian bishop. All I could find out was that he was indeed a bishop, but only for a few months many many years before he died, but my source did not mention his faith. Do you people know anything about this?

Also, perhaps this doesn't fit here, but Matthew, I saw you are in Oxford, so I want to ask you, do you by any chance know Fr. Rafail Noica? He was a spiritual son of Archimandrite Sophrony, and he is now here in Romania (he is Romanian), he has a "skete" in a village in the mountains, where my mother was born. But no one really knows for sure where exactly. (Sorry I asked here, I thought there was no need for starting any other topic).

In Christ,
Vlad

[Chris Carlson]

Beloved,

I am looking for text that contain the writings of St. Isaac of Syria; does anyone have suggestion where I might look?

Thanks to you and all praise and glory to Our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

Chrisc

[Eugene]

Dear Chris. Look here:

On Ascetical Life. St Isaac of Nineveh
http://www.svspress.com/product_info.php?cPath=43_8&products_id=173
(This books contains only excerpts from volume I)

Wensinck, Arent Jan, Mystic Treatises by Isaac of Nineveh
http://dogbert.abebooks.com/servlet/BookDetailsPL?bi=466878544
(This is complete translation of volume I from original Cyriac manuscript)

Brock,S., Isaac of Nineveh (Isaac the Syrian). "The Second Part"
http://dogbert.abebooks.com/servlet/BookDetailsPL?bi=357025708
(This is volume II, it is still questionable whether St/ Isaac is tha author of all the chapters of this volume II)

In Christ,
Evgeny

[Chris Carlson]

Thank you so much!

Yours in Christ,

Chrisc

[patrick oshana]

For texts on st isaac theres a book called syriac fathers on prayer and spiritual life by Sebastian Brock he is a lecturer in aramaic and syriac at oxford.

[Edward Henderson]

Holy Transfiguration Monastery in Boston has made a translation of the "Ascetic Homilies of Saint Isaac" but it may be out of print. Their website is www.thehtm.org (http://www.thehtm.org)

[Basil]

One source I read said St. Isaac of Ninevah, was a Nestorian bishop, although he served for a very short period of time, is this correct? If so, how did he become an Orthodox saint?

Thanks.

Basil

[Theopesta]

the same topic nearly present in this forum under name of: Volume II of St. Isaak of Syria

[patrick oshana]

dear basil

st isaac of nineveh was a nestorian bishop because he talks about the worship of the bare cross which in assyrian nestorian churches thats the only thing they venerate im from the assyrian church and in none of our churches do we have any icons we only have a cross on top of the altar and also the monastery of rabban shabur is where he retired at and that is a assyrian nestorian monastery.

[Kosmas Damianides]

I think that St Isaac belonged to a canonical Monastic community which later beccame Nestorian, but he himself was not affected by this heresy. Please correct me if I am wrong, it's been a long time since I have studied him.

Also, are any of his works on the internet, so I can have a read?

[Eugene]

I think that St Isaac belonged to a canonical Monastic community which later beccame Nestorian, but he himself was not affected by this heresy. Please correct me if I am wrong, it's been a long time since I have studied him.

All historical evidences and records that we have today don't support this assumption that he belonged to a canonical monastic communiy which later became Nestorian.

[Edward Henderson]

Saint Isaac of Syria was certainly not Nestorian. I don't think the Church Fathers would have been stupid enough to glorify him as a saint is he was a heretic. His name is included in menologion and the Church Calendar. Perhaps this "Isaac of Nineva" is someone else.
Edward

[Kosmas Damianides]

Archmandrite Vasileios the Hegumen of the Holy Monastery of Iveron (mt Athos) tells us that "Abba Isaac of Syria is anti-Nestorian in both his teaching and his life."

Even if he did belong to a Nestorian Church or monastic order, this does not make him Nestorian. I think that we would still acknowledge him as a Father of the Orthodox Church since he had contributed so much to the Orthodox way of life. Anyway, I think that there was a mis-understanding between the Byzantine terminology and that of the Syriac which caused so much fuss in the first place.

Today the 'Nestorian Church' of Assyria does not preach Nestorianism, in fact it preaches orthodox theology. Christ has two ousies (natures) but has one prosopon (person or hypostasis). So it should not be called Nestorian but perhaps non-Ephesian.

The teaching of the Church of the East is based on the faith of the universal Church as set forth in the Nicene Creed. The mystery of the Holy Trinity and the mystery of the Incarnation are central to its teaching.


The Church believes in One Triune God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. It also believes and teaches that the Only-begotten Son of God, God the Word, became incarnate for us men and for our salvation and became man. The same God the Word, begotten of his Father before all worlds without beginning according to his divinity, was begotten of a mother without a father in the last times according to his humanity, in a body of flesh, with a rational, intelligent, and immortal soul which he took from the womb of the Blessed Virgin Mary and united to himself, making it his very own at the moment of conception. The humanity which he took for his own was assumed by God the Word, who was, thenceforth and for ever, the personal subject of the divine and human natures. His divine and human natures retain their own properties, faculties, and operations unconfusedly, immutably, undividedly, and inseparably.

Therefore, because the divinity and humanity are united in the Person of the same and only Son of God and Lord Jesus Christ, the Church of the East rejects any teaching which suggests that Christ is an "ordinary man" whom God the Word inhabited, like the righteous men and the prophets of old. The Church of the East further rejects any teaching that explicitly or implicitly suggests that there are two Sons, or two Lords, or two Christs in our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, but we confess one Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who is the same yesterday, today, and forever. The same, through his passion, death, burial, and resurrection, redeemed humanity from the bondage of sin and death, and secured the hope of resurrection and new life for all who put their faith in him, to whom, with his Father and the Holy Spirit, belongs confession, worship, and adoration unto ages of ages. Amen. -- Holy Apostolic Catholic Assyrian Church of the East.

[patrick oshana]

dear kosmas the assyrian church of the east is not nestorian as u have noted because he is not the founder of the church st thomas and st thadeus were the ones who broght christianity to mesopatamia but as regards to the teaching on christology it is nestorian it venerates him along with theodore of mopsuestia and diodore of tarsus as saints and has given the virgin mary the title mother of christ (christtotokos) and rejects the term mother of god (theotokos).

[Daniel Smith]

THe Assyrian Theology is not Orthodox. It does not allow any communication of idioms, and supports a mere Parsopic Union instead of an Hypostatic in accordance with Cyril of Alexandria.

THis means that they will not say that "God was BOrn" or "God Died, being crucified for us"; but this is necessary, because if only the HUman nature was involved with human things, and NOt the Entire DIvine Hypostasis, then there would be no eternal salvation: For what can mere Man accomplish apart from Godhead? What could the Son of David assumed by the Word do if the Word did not do it himself? Certainly not save us all.

THere is one Being of God the Word incarnate, in Two natures who acts and wills in accordance with the properties of both natures, united without confusion, distinguished without division in his one being. THis is the Faith of the Fathers, Cyril taught thus, Chalcedon taught thus, Agatho and Maximus taught thus.