Jason Scully
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- December 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780198803584
- eISBN:
- 9780191842009
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780198803584.003.0006
- Subject:
- Religion, Religion and Society
This chapter demonstrates that Isaac’s moral psychology is both an explanation of how the heavenly mysteries affect the soul and a description of how the soul helps prepare the mind for the reception ...
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This chapter demonstrates that Isaac’s moral psychology is both an explanation of how the heavenly mysteries affect the soul and a description of how the soul helps prepare the mind for the reception of the heavenly mysteries through wonder. In formulating his moral psychology, Isaac takes bits and pieces from a number of currents already within his own tradition: he uses John the Solitary’s “three degrees” as an explanation for moral failing in the soul; he uses Evagrius’s tripartite (i.e., Platonic) theory of the soul in order to describe the constitution of the soul; and finally, he uses language borrowed from the Syriac translations of the Pseudo-Dionysian and Pseudo-Macarian corpi in order to explain how loving desire (eros) aids the soul in contemplation. Finally, Isaac’s unique contribution is his account of the soul’s impulses, which work to counteract the negative effects of the bodily senses.Less
This chapter demonstrates that Isaac’s moral psychology is both an explanation of how the heavenly mysteries affect the soul and a description of how the soul helps prepare the mind for the reception of the heavenly mysteries through wonder. In formulating his moral psychology, Isaac takes bits and pieces from a number of currents already within his own tradition: he uses John the Solitary’s “three degrees” as an explanation for moral failing in the soul; he uses Evagrius’s tripartite (i.e., Platonic) theory of the soul in order to describe the constitution of the soul; and finally, he uses language borrowed from the Syriac translations of the Pseudo-Dionysian and Pseudo-Macarian corpi in order to explain how loving desire (eros) aids the soul in contemplation. Finally, Isaac’s unique contribution is his account of the soul’s impulses, which work to counteract the negative effects of the bodily senses.
Jason Scully
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- December 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780198803584
- eISBN:
- 9780191842009
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780198803584.003.0007
- Subject:
- Religion, Religion and Society
This chapter examines Isaac’s synthetic account of wonder and astonishment, which makes use of all the source material discussed in the previous three chapters. According to Isaac, the human soul is ...
More
This chapter examines Isaac’s synthetic account of wonder and astonishment, which makes use of all the source material discussed in the previous three chapters. According to Isaac, the human soul is capable of processing material sensations with temporal reasoning, but it cannot process spiritual forms of knowledge. Since spiritual insights are immaterial and cannot be understood through temporal reasoning, the soul enters into a state of uncomprehending astonishment when it receives spiritual insights from divine revelation. The mind, by contrast, is capable of comprehending spiritual insights through wonder. The transition from astonishment to wonder represents the moment when a person moves from soul to mind and begins to comprehend the mysteries of the future world through ecstasy. Once people understand the mysteries of the future world, they begin to live the heavenly way of life while remaining in the material world.Less
This chapter examines Isaac’s synthetic account of wonder and astonishment, which makes use of all the source material discussed in the previous three chapters. According to Isaac, the human soul is capable of processing material sensations with temporal reasoning, but it cannot process spiritual forms of knowledge. Since spiritual insights are immaterial and cannot be understood through temporal reasoning, the soul enters into a state of uncomprehending astonishment when it receives spiritual insights from divine revelation. The mind, by contrast, is capable of comprehending spiritual insights through wonder. The transition from astonishment to wonder represents the moment when a person moves from soul to mind and begins to comprehend the mysteries of the future world through ecstasy. Once people understand the mysteries of the future world, they begin to live the heavenly way of life while remaining in the material world.