East meets West: the-curious-case-of-st-john-cassian

Saturday, May 11, 2013

Excellent article on a most significant Eastern writer and his impact on the West, and why he has been forgotten...
http://orthodoxyandheterodoxy.org/2012/08/13/the-curious-case-of-st-john-cassian/

Isaac the Syrian's ascetic interpretation of apatheia and agon

Tuesday, February 19, 2013

Last week I presented a paper on Isaac the Syrian at the ANZAMEMS conference- Australia and New Zealand Medieval and Early Modern Society, held in Melbourne.

Abstract/Intro: 
Isaac the Syrian has often been compared to Evagrius who he quoted extensively, but while Evagrius was condemned, Isaac was lauded. One key difference is that Isaac is far more Stoic than Evagrius, and his asceticism is less speculative. Isaac’s ascetic homilies were originally written for an audience of monastics in the 690s. He wrote in Syriac and his work was early translated into Greek and Arabic, becoming a central text for monks across the Orthodox and Oriental churches. His work evidences many Syriac thought-forms intermingled with Greek philosophy, especially Stoicism. Other authors have focussed on his Neoplatonic thought, but as Marcia Colish has noted, there is a Western academic  bias against Stoicism, and this has meant that almost nothing has been written about Isaac’s Stoicism. Alfeyev’s much-cited and excellent work only treats Isaac’s NeoPlatonism and does not even mention his Stoic approach.

This paper thus analyses key themes in Isaac’s writing, especially the concepts of agon, apatheia and ataraxia, and discusses how he appropriated Greek ascetic thought, Stoicism in particular, to shape Christian spiritual practice.

Combatting the soul in al-Muhasibi and Isaac of Nineveh

Tuesday, February 12, 2013

On Monday I presented at the Australian Early Medieval Association's annual conference. The abstract:

When al-Ghazali wrote his works on purification of the soul he drew especially on the 3^rd/9^th century works of al-Muhasibi. Al-Muhasibi developed a rich terminology of inner spiritual battle and soul purification which he considered was 90% of jihad. Smith, Schoonover, Renard and Picken have described his works but not analysed the metaphors and concepts involved. This paper analyses key aspects of al-Muhasibi’s approach to combatting the soul, and briefly compares this with Isaac of Nineveh’s roughly contemporary writings, demonstrating significant similarities and differences between them. This analysis informs the current debate over the meaning and methods of jihad.

5 years of "A Common Word"

Wednesday, October 31, 2012

In the 5 years since its official release, A Common Word (ACW) has become arguably the most influential interfaith dialogue between Muslims and Christians in history.

It has provided a common ground on which thousands of Muslim and Christian religious leaders have been brought together.

Here is the original Muslim position statement
and the Yale-based Christian Response
Hopefully there will be more developments over the next few years, and an avoidance of the media-hyped-up nonsensical government-orchestrated "clash of civilisations".

Stoic asceticism and St Isaac

Tuesday, October 30, 2012

I've been finding many ways in which St Isaac's asceticism imbibed elements of Stoicism. Also found some useful free online philosophy texts,eg Essays in Ancient Philosophy by Michael Frede, which has some useful material on Stoicism.

Ektobe Syriac Manuscripts database

Thursday, October 4, 2012

The Ektobe Syriac Manuscripts database is a massive project to develop a comprehensive online database of Syriac manuscripts. This will be of enormous use for scholars as the information and images presented are excellent. See:

http://www.mss-syriaques.org/

jihad and the saints

Sunday, September 23, 2012

"Jihad" in the spiritual sense of striving, struggle, and spiritual battle against the passions and demons, (as discussed in Greek and Syriac from earliest days of the church, and in Arabic from 600s onwards), is central to Greek, Syriac and Arabic Christian life. It is an aspect of the lives of nearly every saint! My research is mostly on Syrian saints and struggle, but there's so much more that could be done. Found this amazing reference site on saints: http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/sbook3.asp