The Incarnational Theology and Spirituality of John the Solitary
of Apamea
Seely J.
Beggiani
Independent Scholar
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James E. Walters
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https://hugoye.bethmardutho.org/article/hv21n2beggiani
Seely J. Beggiani
The Incarnational Theology and Spirituality of John the
Solitary of Apamea
https://hugoye.bethmardutho.org/pdf/vol21/HV21N2Beggiani.pdf
Hugoye: Journal of Syriac Studies
Beth Mardutho: The Syriac Institute, 2018
vol 21
issue 2
pp 391–421
Hugoye: Journal of Syriac Studies is an electronic journal
dedicated to the study of the Syriac tradition, published semi-annually (in
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John of Apamea
John the Solitary
Theology
Spirituality
Incarnation
File created by James E. Walters
Abstract
John the Solitary of Apamea, a fifth-century Syriac writer,
presents an early synthesis of theology and spirituality founded primarily on
the Incarnation and based on Scripture. John teaches that humans are created in
the image and likeness of the preexistent Christ, and this image is the basis of
their spiritual nature. Therefore, the incarnate Christ is the paradigm of human
existence in this life, and the risen Christ is the vehicle of transformation of
resurrected humanity. John develops the various levels of spiritual progress in
this life culminating in silent prayer, which is a foretaste of communing with
the wisdom and love of Christ in the world to come.
The Syriac religious writings of the first four Christian centuries
with their almost exclusive reliance on Scripture as a source represent a unique
approach to theology and spirituality. Ephrem and Aphrahat, early
representatives of this tradition, expressed their teachings within a biblical
world-view. The term “biblical world-view” is used to describe how
the biblical writers pictured and ordered reality. In contrast to the
classical world, biblical thought gives priority to faith and
revelation. Early Syriac culture did interact with Greek
philosophy and science. Ephrem was aware of Greek philosophy and science and
made use of the theory of the four elements in his teaching. Ute Possekel, “Syriac Theology,” in
Oxford Handbook to the Reception History of
Christian Theology, ed. by S. Coakley and R. Cross
(forthcoming), 2-7. See also Possekel, Evidence of
Greek Philosophical Cocnepts in the Wrtiting of Ephrem the
Syrian, CSCO 580 (Leuven: Peeters, 1999). It was in
the latter part of the fifth century that Greek philosophy and theology gained
more prominence and integration in Syriac scholarship. The substantial writings
on the spiritual life attributed to John the Solitary of Apamea, The principal published
works attributed to John the Solitary are: Brief von
Johannes dem Einsiedler, Lars Rignell, trans. (Lund: Hakan
Ohlssons, 1941), summarized by Irenée Hausherr, “Un grand auteur
spiritual retrouvé: Jean d’Apamée,” OCA 183 (Rome: 1969), 181–216; Drei Traktate von Johannes dem Einsiedler (Johannes
von Apamea), L.G. Rignell, ed, trans. (Lund, 1960), the first
Tractate is translated into English by Dana Miller in The Ascetical Homilies of Saint Isaac the Syrian (Boston: Holy
Transfiguration Monastery, 1981), 461–6; Johannes von
Lycopolis, Ein Dialog über die Seele und die Affekte des
Menschen, ed. Sven Dedering (Uppsala, 1936), translated by Mary
Hansbury, John the Solitary on the Soul
(Piscataway: Gorgias, 2013), also translated by Irenée Hausherr, Dialogue sur l’âme et les passions des hommes,
OCA 120 (Rome, 1939); Sechs Gesprache mit Thomasios,
Der Briefweschel zwischen Thomasios und Johannes und drei an
Thomasios gerichtete Abband lungen, Werner Strothmann, ed.,
trans. (Berlin: Walter de Gruyter, 1972), translated by René Levenant,
Jean d’Apamée. Dialogues et Traités, Sources
Chrétiennes 311 (Paris: Editions du Cerf, 1984); Sebastian Brock,
trans., “John the Solitary, On Prayer,” Journal of
Theological Studies 30 (1979), 84–101; Sebastian Brock, trans.,
“Letter to Hesychius” in The Syriac Fathers on Prayer
and the Spiritual Life (Kalamazoo: Cistercian, 1987), 81–98;
Sameer Maroki, “Jean le Solitaire (d’Apamée), Quatre Lettres inedités,
Textes Syriaques et Traduction française,” Parole de
l’Orient 35 (2010), 477–506. which probably date
from the first half of the fifth century, are more similar to earlier examples
of Syriac literature than later writings in this regard. Brouria Bitton-Ashkelony observes:
“The role of the Bible in his spirituality, a sort of continual
meditation on Scripture, is central, and his patterns of thought are
easily characterized as typically Semitic.” Brouria Bitton-Ashkelony,
“‘More interior than the Lips and the Tongue’: John of Apamea and Silent
Prayer in Late Antiquity,” Journal of Early Christian
Studies 20 (2012): 321. John the Solitary knew Greek
but hardly used Greek terminology in his writings. Irénée Hausherr observes that
John’s views are closer to those of Ephrem than to early Christian philosophers
such as Gregory of Nyssa or Evagrius of Pontus. See: Bitton-Ashkelony, “John of
Apamea,” 321-2. He shows no influence from Evagrius who
greatly influenced many subsequent Syriac writers. In terms of sources other
than Scripture, he refers only to Ignatius of Antioch. Irenée Hausherr, “Un grand auteur
spiritual retrouvé: Jean d’Apamée.” OCA 183 (1969): 213; Brock, Syriac Fathers, 78. He mentions in
passing Eusebius of Caesarea’s Ecclesiastical History. He
rejects by name the teachings of the Valentinians,
Quatrième Dialogue avec Thomasios sur l’extrême
variété des êtres créés par Dieu, su tout ce qu’il a opéré dans la
nature et hors de la nature. Et d’autres sujets, Levenant, Dialogues, 79–80. and in his writings
he also rejects docetism, Arianism, and Apollinarism.
Most of John’s published writings consist of spiritual direction
in the form of dialogues, tracts, and letters in response to queries from monks
and solitaries of the region. It is possible that his monastery was near
Nikertai where Theodoret lived as a monk prior to becoming bishop of Cyrrhus in
423. Sebastian
Brock, The Syriac Fathers on Prayer and the Spiritual
Life, (Kalamazoo: Cistercian, 1987): 78.
This article seeks to outline John’s incarnational theology and
its application to his spiritual doctrine based on a close reading of John’s
densely written tracts and dialogues.
THEOLOGY
John the Solitary sees creation as a wondrous manifestation of the
glory of God. The vast range of God’s creativity extends from the highest rank
of angels to the lowest material entity. Each being in creation has significance
in celebrating the glory of God. God’s “economy of salvation” includes all
spiritual beings, both angels and humans. Human beings are a microcosm of
spiritual and material creation. John locates spirit in humans in the deepest
part of the soul. Both in this life and in eternity, the body is an integral
part of the human self.
The Centrality of the Incarnation in Creation
John’s view of God’s plan of salvation incorporates all of
creation including both angels and humans. John seems to take for granted
that the incarnation of Christ was essential to this plan from the
beginning, since the resurrected humanity of Christ is an
integral part of bringing about the transformation of humanity. In his Third Treatise on the mystery of the economy of Christ our
Lord, John declares that the Scriptures manifest the authenticity
of Christ’s economy of salvation because they do not confess his divinity
without associating it with his humanity, or his humanity without his
divinity. According to John, they teach the unique person of the only Son of
God in exaltation and humiliation. To those who refuse to confess Christ’s
corporeity, St. Paul teaches that He is of the line of David according to
the flesh. To those who do not speak of his being the only Son of the
Father, Paul declares that in the fullness of time God sent his son born of
a woman. To those who distinguish two sons, the Gospels announce that the
Savior is the only Son of God. John affirms the mystery of the divine will
to imprint on the human soul the image of the only Son of God.
Lettre to Thomasios, Levanant, Dialogues,
166–68.
Created in the image and likeness of Christ, humans can only reach
fulfillment in Christ
For John human beings were created not only in the image of God
but in the image of the Word made flesh. He declares: “By his foreknowledge,
God had predestined, chosen, sanctified and fashioned us in the image of His
Son, so that after having lost and forgotten our grandeur, dignity and glory
that we had received in our creation, we are, thanks to Christ, renewed,
rendered perfect and receive life, truth, and wisdom of the mysteries of God
in his holy world.” Ibid., 138. The Son of God had created all living
beings perfect according to his image. From the beginning of their
existence, he was their “knowledge, life, light, true repose, holy kingdom
and place of peace.” Ibid., 137. He had prepared and
sanctified this present world with all its splendors in preparation for the
perfect world to come. This plan of salvation prepared from the beginning of
the world is invisible and exists invisibly in the world and was executed
visibly through the actions of Christ. Ibid., 136–8.
The ideal is for the spiritual soul and body to exist in
perfect harmony. However, since the body’s senses and passions can go
astray, the soul can only arrive at mastery of the body through
long discipline. On one level the soul relies on its bodily senses for its
natural knowledge and on its passions to act in the secular world. But by
nature, the soul seeks understanding through intellectual activity. The
spiritual part of humans is called to a higher understanding and activity.
In the present world the spirit has difficulty functioning, since it is part
of the soul which in turn relies on the body and sense knowledge. John
compares this condition to a complete embryo with all its senses, arms and
legs, but unable to act as long as it is in its mother’s womb. In the same
way, while the spiritual soul is in the physical world it cannot operate
until it rises to the spiritual world.
Dialogues, 36–7; Premier
Dialogue de Mar Jean le Solitaire avec le bienheureux Thomasios
sur l’expérance future, 54–5 in René Levenant, trans,, Jean d’Apamée. Dialogues et Traités, Sources
Chrétiennes 311 (Paris: Editions du Cerf, 1984).
Reflecting the teachings of St. Paul, John states that on the
level of the material world, God has chosen to teach humans through the
splendor of his works and his wisdom in creation. We can come to some
understanding of God’s works, but not of God in himself. Creation manifests
the grandeur of God’s marvelous skill. However, God chooses often in
Scripture to show His plans not in grand gestures but in small ways. Since
God cannot be known in himself, humans use the highest names available in
referring to him. Cinquième Dialogue du meme Mar Jean le
Solitaire sur ce thème: pourquoi malgré la transformation si
grande and si élevé dont elle doit bénéficier, la nature humaine
a-t-elle d’abord été créé en ce monde avec un corps composé?
in Levenant, Jean d’Apamée, 104–6; Réponse de Mar Jean le Solitaire à Thomasios qui
l’avait interrogé sur le mystère de l’économie du Christ qui a
eu lieu pour tous: Premier Traité, ibid., 132.
In his Letter to Hesychius, John offers
the following advice to the solitary:
When evening comes, collect your thoughts and ponder
over the entire course of the Day: observe God’s providential care for
you; consider the grace he has wrought in you throughout the whole span
of the day; consider the rising of the moon, the joy of daylight, all
the hours and moments, the divisions of time, the sight of different
colors, the beautiful adornment of creation, the course of the sun, the
growth of your own stature, how your own person has been
protected; consider the blowing of the winds, the ripe and varied
fruits, how the elements minister to your comfort, how you have been
preserved from accidents, and all the other activities of grace. When
you have pondered all of this, wonder of God’s love towards you will
well up within you, and gratitude for his acts of grace will bubble up
inside you.
Brock, Syriac Fathers, 94–5.
The invisible and the visible
A key in articulating his theology and found throughout his
writings is John’s distinction between the invisible and the visible.
Invisible reality is the realm of God. God’s activity in creating, in
revealing, and in the working out of the plan of salvation introduces the
invisible into visible reality. The human soul, which in its depths is
spirit stamped in the image of God, represents the meeting point between the
invisible and the visible. Human beings in their earthly condition are able
to know and function by way of visible things, but the invisible realities
embedded in material creation can be grasped only partially and with
difficulty. For John, since the God is unknowable and unattainable, humans
cannot attain God through knowledge, because they become lost in mystery.
The human will is wearied in its unlimited searching, and it is only
Christ’s presence that can give it rest. Sameer Maroki, “Jean le Solitaire (d’Apamée),
Quatre Lettres inedités, Textes Syriaques et Traduction française,”
Parole de l’Orient 35 (2010), 481, and
“Lettere: Sur le Mystère du Christ,“ 497. Nevertheless,
it is in God’s plan of salvation that human beings will recover their
original state allowing the spirit to function in the realm of the
invisible.
John speaks of creation containing “two mysteries: its outward
appearance and the creative workmanship of God which lies within it.” Mary Hansbury, John the Solitary on the Soul (Piscataway:
Gorgias, 2013):5 The eyes can only see material things
whereas the intellect can know the invisible. Human beings are essentially
spirit in matter with the realization that finitude is a part
of their nature. The ability to know is limited by their material senses and
the limitations of their intellect, will and spirit. Yet, human beings with
their double substance manifested in the body and concealed in the soul are
called to delight in seeing God’s hidden wisdom shining forth in the amazing
beauties of creation. Ibid., 6.
John states that since “God conceals within the inner members
a nature having senses more subtle than all the bodies,” Ibid. the human
intellect is able to go beyond one’s external senses. “Now because of the
subtleness of its stirrings, this nature searches out the hidden wisdom of
the things created by the Lord of all.” Ibid., 6 John encourages his readers
to strive for a purity of intellect which is the “only true wisdom that God
has put in human nature in this life.” Ibid., 156. John advises that humans
pray that “God might make the light of His knowledge to shine in us that the
virtues which He has put in us at the creation of our soul might be
visible.” Ibid.,
106. As such, humans should devote themselves to study
so that their intellects would turn within and focus on their interior
selves.
Thus in John’s anthropology, the spiritual soul and body
constitute the complete human being both in this world and the next. In this
world, spirit element is limited in its activity because of its reliance on
the soul, and the soul’s intellectual activity is restrained by the body.
God provides instruction through his wisdom found hidden in the works of
creation and through Scripture adapted to humans’ limited understanding. The
goal is to seek the spiritual reality that lies within humanity.
Divine revelation: the Word expressed in “speech” The English term “voice” is also
used depending on the conext.
Furthermore for John, the Word of God is the divine expression
and divine image, yet hidden and mysterious in the realm of silence. In
revelation the “word” is expressed in human “speech,” yet speech is hardly
adequate to the task. No human words can represent the Word.
Letter sent to Eutropius and Eusebius in
Hausherr, “Un grand auteur,” 209–10. If God had chosen
to be understood, he would have chosen the way of knowledge
and not of faith. He would have chosen philosophers as his disciples, not
fishermen. Even when He reveals himself to humans, it is according to human
ability to comprehend. Maroki, “Lettre: sur le Mystère,”
497–8.
According to John, physical expression whether through the
prose, poetry, figures or allegories of Scripture or the preaching of
prophets and ministers is the only way to communicate with human intellects
in the present world. It is in the spiritual world to come that humans are
able to see the mysteries themselves without figures. At the present time
humans are in communion with God through the mysteries of the Church. The
future majesty shall be revealed not in figures, enigmas, similitudes and
parables, but shall be given to those who have guarded purely the pledge of
the Spirit.
While on earth humans are a composite of body and soul, where
the corporeal side is expressed in voice or speech. The “word” or “logos” is
not corporeal. “Word” is to be understood as that part of the soul that is
in the image and likeness of God, and “speech” is the soul expressed in its
corporeal form. The word is expressed in speech as long as the soul is
dependent on the body. The external senses are unable to consider hidden
things. Hidden things can only be studied through contemplation.
Lettre to Eutropius and Eusebius, in
Hausherr, “Un grand auteur,” 203–4.
John also uses this distinction between word and “voice” when
comparing the human condition in this life with that of the world to come.
He cites Ignatius of Antioch’s Letter to the Romans
urging his readers not to deter his desire to witness to Christ in
martyrdom. His hope through death for the faith is to become a “word” of
God. If the Romans would want him to hang on to his earthly body, he would
remain a “voice” of God. He would rather his readers not love the life he
has on earth more than his entering the life of the spirit. John continues
that when Ignatius says that he shall be a word of God, he means that in the
future world, humans shall live the life of the spirit and know the truth
through wisdom, which cannot be known from human speech. Making use of a
Pauline metaphor, humans will no longer see an image of the
truth in a mirror, but face to face without intermediary.
Letter sent to Eutropius and Eusebius in
Hausherr, “Un grand auteur,” 200-3..
The Incarnation as Word become “Voice”
John applies the distinction between word and voice in his
teaching about the Incarnation. In this regard, John cites John the Baptist
who refers to himself as a voice crying in the wilderness, but who refers to
Christ as the Word. Christ is designated as the word because he is the
prophet on behalf of the Father. Christ put on a body as the word puts on
voice. The body as voice is not just an outer robe but expresses the word
which is unreachable because of the Lord’s “unlimited rationality.”
Therefore, God the Word in his plentitude is to be found in his perfect
humanity. The Word expresses himself in voice in order to be heard by human
ears. However, God the Word is always in the presence of the Father. He
takes a perfect body to be seen and revealed to the human family, otherwise
he would not be known. The mixture of the word in voice is not confused, but
is combined in a single power and humans perceive a sole expression all the
while understanding two powers, the power of the voice and the power of the
word. The power of the voice connotes a body and the power of the word a
soul. It is impossible to separate the two. The same can be applied to the
mixture of divinity and humanity in Christ. “[M]ore (intimate) than the
mixture and communion of word proceeding from intelligence and voice from
the body, is the true communication…of the divinity and humanity in
Christ.”
Ibid., 206. See also: 205–7.
John emphasizes the limitations on divine revelation to
rational creatures: “When God speaks to us, He speaks in our language and
not in His. God is unknowable even to the angels. Our concepts of Him are
analogous, not univocal…The silence of God speaks to us in a voice without
becoming voice.”
Ibid., 209 What God shows in visions is not his essence.
No created comparison approaches God. “No word expresses His Word. We know
only that He exists.” Ibid., 209-10. The goal of humans in this
life is to arrive at silence, to progress through the ranks of
voice, word and silence, to a knowledge of the truth known in itself without
symbols, to a knowledge of the new life. Ibid., 211.
Humans went astray by choosing the material world and ignorance over
wisdom
In John’s theology, human beings have distanced themselves from
God and rendered themselves strangers to Him. They have lost all trace of
the perfect and true life, and dissipated the treasures hidden in them. They
have chosen to be amazed no longer “at the invisible riches which are in all
the worlds and in the celestial multitudes, of their glorious and perfect
beauties.”
Troisième Traité du meme sur le mystè de
l’économie du Christ notre Seigneur, Levenant, Dialogues, 159.
Deprived of the knowledge of God, humans had fallen “into the
profound darkness of ignorance and became darkness themselves, enveloped in
the fog of error and incapable of knowing themselves.”
Deuxième Traité du même sur le mystère du
Christ, Levanent, Dialogues,
154. Captivated by the flesh, “creatures had gone outside
their nature in turning toward the exterior world, having lost knowledge of
themselves and of the dignity received at creation, and forgotten the
invisible action of God hidden in them.”
Reponse à Thomasios, Levanent, Dialogues, 136-7, With the
corporeal world as their only source of knowledge, a barrier hindered access
to their inner self. Wandering far from God, each evil passion became an
obstacle hindering the soul from seeing anything other than the corporeal.
The evil powers brought it about that humans were without knowledge of their
creator or of creation, did not understand themselves and were unaware of
where or how they were. The original harmony and concord that God had placed
in creatures was broken by rebellion and error.
Lettre de Mar Jean à Thomasios, 125.
The Invisible Word became the visible Christ to be teacher, exemplar and
redeemer
John declares that Christ uniquely is the whole content of the
mystery of the Gospel. When God chose to reveal this plan of salvation
through the intermediary of His Son, the Son chose poverty and
smallness to manifest the glory of His wisdom.
Cinquième Dialogue, Levenant, Dialogues, 106. Divine
intervention was needed to break all barriers to enable human souls to see
the mystery of the other world. Since they had lost the light of knowledge,
they lived on the level of the body and did not realize they were more than
flesh and blood. Throughout the years God sent messengers, seers, and
helpers. Since no one else could deliver them, the one who is invisible and
hidden in himself went out of the invisible to the visible to render himself
visible to creatures. Since humans were not persuaded that this mystery was
given to them by God, Christ clothed himself visibly to teach them. He
limited his infinite light, power, and wisdom into a single human form.
Deuxième Dialogue avec Thomasios sur la
transformation dont bénéficiera l’homme dans le vie future: dans
le monde futur il sera spiritual. Et d’autres sujets,
Levenant, Dialogues, 64; Deuxième Traité, 148; Troisième
Traité, 167.
In a letter to a young monk named Hesychius, John gives this
advice:
Now it is only when your mind is wrapped in meditation
on the incarnation of our
Lord – at whose good will and pleasure you have been
held worthy to perform
good works – that pride will not be sown within you. For
without his self-
abasement, we should have been far too low down for
those beautiful qualities of
his, and not even a distant recollection of them would
have entered our minds.
Letter to Hesychius, translated by Sebastian
Brock in Syriac Fathers, 83.
Christ was sent as a messenger and came as a physician, as a
brother and spoke as a teacher. He was poor with the poor, tempted with
those who are tempted and liberated his friends from captivity, while he was
led to death. His lowliness is seen in the body he took from us, while his
human actions are attributed to his divinity to which he is indivisibly
united. Troisième Traité, Levenant, Dialogues, 168–70.
According to John, Christ fought against Satan and his
temptations as an example to humans. Humans had not been convinced of God’s
invisible mystery that those who fight against Satan and triumph over
temptations to evil will be worthy of the mysteries known to the angels. The
Son of God abased himself thus teaching humans how far they had
fallen from their true dignity. He accepted crucifixion to teach humans how
they are captive to their passions and plunged in the darkness of error. In
his humanity Christ demonstrates the internal spiritual battle that humans
must wage against temptations to vainglory, pride and arrogance. He
fashioned humans in his image, restored life, light and intelligence,
reconciled, enabled humans to participate in his grandeur, and raised them
to his world of truth and his kingdom of peace, the new world.
Réponse à Thomasios, Levenant, Dialogues, 139; Deuxième
Traité, 150, 155–6. Through his work of
salvation, Christ bestows a wisdom that was not attainable by the righteous
who lived before his coming. Hansbury, John the Solitary,
130–2; Levenant, Dialogues, 39.
Christ by his will saves invisibly by guiding, reconciling,
affirming and sanctifying human beings. John declares that Christ “elevates
and traces the image and structure of the new man in resemblance to his
knowledge and in the image of his wisdom and in according to the form of his
living and vivifying way of understanding. He operates in the interior self
and by his all-powerful force.” Troisième Traité, Levenant,
Dialogues, 162–3.
John teaches that the words of Christ are portrayed in his
works. He advises his reader that if he wishes to put on the image of
Christ, he should accomplish his works. “For where there exist works, there
also is his image. And where there is his image, there is his
perceptibility, and where there is his perceptibility there is his
communion. His communion is union with the Father and union with the
Spirit.”
Maroki, “Lettre,” in “Jean le Solitaire,” 501–2.
The wisdom of Christ gives hope for the future resurrection
The wisdom that comes from communion with Christ enables humans
to attain their hope unimpeded. John emphasizes the fact that Christ teaches
that the ultimate destiny of human beings is their future resurrection and a
new life similar to that of the angels. Christ offers this hope of
resurrection to those who are baptized and seek a life of virtue according
to His teachings. The truth that humans seek cannot be found through human
effort or from the wisdom of the world. It is only God’s
revelation and God’s grace that can raise them above their human nature.
Humans live through faith which hopes in God, “who in his mercy makes us
worthy of this hope by communion in his spiritual mysteries. “
Quatrième Dialogue, Levenant, Dialogues, 99; Also “Introduction,”
28–29.
According to John, Christ’s plan of salvation extends to all
rational creatures. It is adapted to beings on high and humans below
according to their capacity. Regarding celestial beings he elevates them,
enriches them and brings renewal in understanding. To earthly beings he
grants resurrection, life and participation in his grandeur. To rebellious
Principalities and Powers he brings humiliation of their pride, a
liquidation of their activity and an annihilation of their power.
Réponse à Thomasios, Levenant, Dialogues, 142; Troisième
Traité, 163.
In his Third Treatise on the Mystery of the
Economy of Christ Our Savior, John declares that all he has exposed
on the richness of the mysteries of Christ is but a small stone from a high
mountain or a grain of sand from the shore. Humans know only of the
salvation he brought to them, but not of the other worlds, nor “of the
renewal accomplished among the angels, his action regarding the Powers, his
power among the Dominations, his lordship over the Principalities, his
wisdom regarding the Seraphim, his knowledge regarding the Cherubim, his
grandeur, his richness, his perfection and his truth before the
Father.”
Levenant, Dialogues, 159-60. John
declares that Christ’s mystery “lives in all, is hidden in all, is mingled
and united in all and adorned by all.” Ibid., 160. John teaches that the
power of Christ resides hidden in all orders, powers and rational creatures.
He “holds in his hand the end of all ends, the heights of the heights, the
depth of the depths…The force of divine wisdom of Christ envelopes all the
worlds, is extended to all and acts in all. It renders all things great and
it enriches the knowledge of each of the orders.” Ibid., 161-2.
THE SPIRITUAL LIFE
Baptism
Initiation into the life of the spirit begins with baptism.
John observes that just as the power of Christ in His miracles was not revealed to humans before Christ’s baptism, so the
knowledge of the divine mysteries is not manifested to humans before
receiving baptism. Baptism involves not only visible baptism, but also
plunging completely beyond this visible world. “Just as after his baptism
our Lord manifested signs and prodigies, likewise man now possesses
perfectly the holy power of baptism, while he is adorned of the divine
gifts.”
Deuxième Traité, Levenant, Dialogues,
149.
The reception of baptism enrolls humans in the great mystery
of achieving communion with God. John claims that in a sense remission of
sins is a secondary result of baptism. Otherwise, he asks what would be the
reason to baptize infants. “The principal effect of baptism is to make us
children of God for the liberty of the new life in the name of the glorious
Trinity.”
Letter to Theodolus and companions in
Hausherr, “Un grand auteur,” 189. Infants were born into
servitude, because the transgression of the first man reigns over all
humans. Christ drew a figure of the reality to come by the mystery of his
baptism, which served as a type of his death and Resurrection. Just as He
rose from the tomb, humans ascend from the baptismal font into a spiritual
life. Christ has produced in humans a hope of a new life. It is not the
water that renews but the “incubation of a secret force.” Ibid., 191-2. For the
baptized it is no longer the Law which is their teacher, but the baptismal
mystery which becomes the master which guides the baptized. The freedom that
Christ confers means that humans will not be dealing with the Law or further
moral combat in the heavenly Jerusalem. Ibid., 192.
Before the revelation of Christ humans knew only of Divine
Providence. When Christ manifested himself as a light which chases the
darkness, the true knowledge of the new life dissipated the obscurity of
error. The Jerusalem on high will receive humans according to the measure of
their growth in the knowledge of the new man. Ibid.,190.
Baptism operates secretly in this present life and will be
manifested fully in the future life. John offers examples from the
Scriptures. Jeremiah was consecrated prophet in his mother’s womb, but his
vocation appeared only in his public life. David received his royal
anointing long before he was recognized as king. Joseph
received his gift of interpreting dreams as a youth, but exercised it later
when imprisoned by Pharaoh. Ibid., 192.
For John, there are two resurrections. The first is at baptism
when one is introduced to the spiritual life. The second is when one rises
to eternity. If human conduct after baptism is without fault, one is already
in the new life, but not in its understanding. This life in the spirit can
give a partial anticipation of the contemplation proper to the future life.
Nevertheless, the future life begins here on earth. Hausherr, “Un grand auteur,”
211–2.
Hope
In John’s theological system, divine revelation culminating in
the teachings and actions of the incarnate Christ marks a significant
milestone in God’s plan of salvation. However, the destiny of humanity and
all of creation awaits the completion of the divine plan. Relying on the
promises of Jesus Christ believers confidently hope that the fulfillment
will take place. For John, hope is the key virtue that consistently urges
humans to strive for that goal. According to Irenée Hausherr, the letters of
John “show us a sentiment of the goods to come, a waiting on God, becoming
here below a source of freedom, knowledge, joy of heart beyond the struggle
with resolutions and of intellectual discourse. The future glory already
appears as a dawn to the eyes of faith. The mysticism of John consists of
living eternity in time…(It is a) science of the mysteries of the other
world, of a knowledge illumined by the hope of God. …It is charity which
enables other virtues to grow, a charity nourished by being attached to
future goods.”
Ibid., 212–3. According to John the hope promised by
Christ includes the resurrection of the dead, communion with God, life with
the angels, ineffable blessings, promises, life, diverse revelations,
spiritual knowledge, wisdom, a peace exempt of any struggle with thoughts,
and a true rest from combat against sin.
Troisième Traité, Levenant, Dialogues, 163–4.
Progress in the Spiritual Life
John depicts the spiritual life as a long struggle with
passions and temptations which must be overcome by seeking the truth. John
speaks of three levels or orders of the spiritual life, the level of the
body, of the soul, and of the spirit. This threefold approach was adopted by
many Syriac writers including Isaac of Nineveh and Joseph the
Visionary.
Brock, Syriac Fathers, 79.
Using the term “level” does not mean that there are three
discrete stages in the spiritual life wherein one completes the first stage
to proceed to the next. Nor does it mean that when one is operating on the
level of the soul that the level of the body is no longer an issue. Rather
John is trying to delve into the human composite which in its earthly
existence is made up of the earthly body with its senses and passions, the
soul with its interior senses and intellectual and volitional activity, and
the spiritual nature which is located at the depths of the soul. When one is
given over primarily to the secular world and the waywardness of the
physical passions, one’s lifestyle or way of life is on the corporeal level.
When one has disciplined the urges of the body, the soul becomes focused on
the aspirations of the intellect to seek knowledge and wisdom. However, even
at this level the soul must function through the senses and passions now
under control. While it is difficult in this life, humans strive to reach
the level of the spirit. However, here again the spirit must work with its
earthly intellect, will, and senses. This is why John notes constantly that
living according to the spirit for an extended time is rare in this life.
The Corporeal Level
The level of the body is the condition where one is inclined
toward the desires of the body and is absorbed with evil thoughts. Since the
soul is joined to the body, there is a life-long struggle between the body’s
will and that of the soul. At this level one is subject to jealousy,
contention and divisions. In his discussion on the passions, John speaks of
three divisions of passions. There are those that arise through the body’s
activity, those that arise from the soul’s activity through the body, and
those that arise from activity on the level of the soul.
Passions that arise from the body include those that lead to anger, envy,
malice, hatred, boastfulness, vanity and pride. Levenant, Dialogues, 40; Hansbury, On the
Soul, 98–102.
John refers often to the rebellious Principalities and Powers
who in their arrogance and love of vainglory wish to control the world and
subject it to their power. He cites St. Paul’s Epistle to the Ephesians:
“For our struggle is not with flesh and blood, but with the principalities,
with the powers, with the world rulers of this present darkness, with the
evil spirits in the heavens.” These Powers knew that humans were possessed
of a glorious nature from their creator that lay dormant in their souls and
were led only by their bodily senses. Men interested only in the visible
were seduced and became subject to their will. By use of visions, plants,
stones, reptiles, and animals, these Powers delude humans into thinking that
they have power over the world. Réponse à Thomasios, Levenant,
Dialogues, 135–6.
However, John notes that the demon is unable to touch the soul
directly since it is invisible to him. However, because the soul is attached
to the body, especially to the heart and brain, he is able to cause
confusion. He is unable to see or touch the soul, but only the organs in
which are hidden the soul’s vigor. If he were able to affect the soul, he
would be able to do so after the soul leaves the body. But since he cannot
see the soul, he has no power over it, because his power is stopped at the
body. Sixième Dialogue, Levenant, Dialogues,
117–8.
Those living on the corporeal level seek power, honors and
desire to accumulate material things. Some persons remain at this level
because they have no fear of judgment nor do they care for instruction.
Their prayer is filled with distractions and they have an anthropomorphic
view of God.
Hansbury, John the Solitary,
30–2.
However, others reach a point where they begin resisting
improper desires. When they begin to achieve a harmony between soul and
body, they experience a salutary fear of judgment and of provoking of God’s
wrath. At this point the soul realizes that this fear that it will be
“deprived of true wisdom and become a stranger to the mysteries of God”
arises from its own true nature. Ibid., 172.
The Level of the Soul
On the level of the soul one must practice asceticism by
fasting, vigil, detachment from earthly things, patience, and fear of God.
John teaches that by nature the human soul seeks to arrive at truth and
therefore when the soul is liberated from the urges of the body it pursues
its love for instruction. As the soul strives for recollection, the struggle
with bad thoughts continues. By avoiding the way of iniquity, it walks on
the way to truth. In getting rid of hateful conduct, it gains access to
divine knowledge. Passions of the soul include ignorance, forgetfulness,
conceit and unbelief. However, the soul can persevere in not giving in to
them by keeping distant from all earthly things, by stillness, by love, and
“by the nurturing of the knowledge of the truth.” Mar John the Solitary “An
Epistle on Stillness,” L. Rignel, ed., transl., Drei Traktate von Johannes dem Einsiedler, transl. into
English by Dana Miller, The Ascetical Homilies of
Saint Isaac the Syrian (Boston: Holy Transfiguration
Monastery, 1984): 461–2. It is the soul’s nature to be on
a higher level than the body, but is subject to evil temptations because of
its association with the body. The needs of living in the world offer many
distractions when one is seeking to meditate on God. To achieve this goal
one must strive to arrive at a higher level. Hansbury, John
the Solitary, 32–4;
John observes that “in this life there is nothing more
excellent than virtuous conduct by a faith which hopes in God. In his mercy
he will render us worthy of this hope by communion with his mysteries.”
Quatrième Dialogue, Levenant, Dialogues, 99. Detouring from
virtuous conduct leads to error. John declares that the Epicureans strayed
from honest conduct by deciding to go no further than the body and thinking
there is nothing beyond this world. Levanant, Premier
Dialogue, 53.
At the level of the soul, one is called to practice charity
and mercy. Charity is manifested in the zeal to bring those who err to the
knowledge of the truth. The commandment of Christ to love one’s enemies
means that those engaged in the spiritual life must not only express their
love exteriorly, but also purify their interior senses and attitudes. Mercy
consists not only in giving alms and performing the corporal works of mercy,
but also to show compassion and forgiveness. It seeks to
teach those who lack purpose, and to preach hope to the hopeless. Hansbury, John the Solitary, 14, 176.
Humility
According to John, and many spiritual writers before and
after him, humility is the key to the way of life of the interior
person. Humility involves self-emptying of the love of money, followed
by emptying oneself of the love of praise. Humility should in no way be
manifested exteriorly. It consists of a pure transparence of the soul to
the love of God. One can arrive at a point of loving without fear, free
from any attachment which is not God. In true humility one attains the
perfection of loving God uniquely for himself. Ibid., 14; Levenant, Dialogues, 25, 30.
John speaks of self-emptying on several levels. There is
the self-emptying of the body by abandoning of possessions, of the soul
by turning away from its passions, and of the spirit by ridding itself
of opinions.
Hansbury, John the Solitary,
176.
In meditating on Christ’s humility, John explains that one
can attain an inner sight which can see beyond corporeal things and is
able to understand that Christ’s humbling of Himself is the door to His
mysteries. John declares that insofar as one has sanctified oneself, he
will become rich in discernments. And, insofar as one has multiplied his
humiliations, he shall be worthy of a knowledge of the Holy
Trinity.”
Maroki, “Lettre,“ in “Jean le Solitaire,” 504–5.
Stillness (Tranquility)
Prayer is a principal characteristic of living on the level
of the soul. However, at this stage it is not free of all distractions
or is continual. Since in John’s worldview the realm of the divine to
which humans are destined is marked by silence, a primary goal of the
spiritual life is to arrive at a state of tranquility or stillness. John
teaches tranquility consists in the heart and mind’s not being troubled
and divided by thoughts, and the will not quarrelling with itself. It is
a state of serenity and gentleness of soul. Later, on the level of the
spirit, tranquility will consist of a mind undivided concerning the
truth and a soul not confused by opinions. It is a state of
unity and harmony of the worlds. Hansbury, 178, 190.
To reach tranquility one must deprive oneself of anything
that would captivate the intellect. John says that during prayer one
should renounce the exercise of the external senses. The soul cannot
perceive its true self if it is bound by the impulses of the body. It
should seek a continual abiding within itself in stillness so that it
can overcome wandering thoughts and empty recollections. Along with
stillness, there should be further instruction in the knowledge of the
truth through study of the Sacred Scriptures, insight into the mysteries
of the natures of created things, and by narrations of God’s
revelations. “Little by little [one] begins to be enlightened and to
perceive the good that lies in his own nature. Thus he is formed in the
image of his Maker and made to resemble his beauty…The longer one
perseveres in stillness, the more his passions weaken; and the more the
passions weaken, the more he becomes strong and finds peace.” “An Epistle on
Stillness,” in Asectical Homilies of Saint
Isaac, 463-4. John teaches that “when we see
one another, we see ourselves, because our image and our seal (stamp)
are found in each other; and we are supported by each other as we are
supported by the knowledge of ourselves.” Ibid., 464.
Purity and Luminosity of Soul
As noted above, the soul must go through a long process to
arrive at this level. One should strive for serenity and mental
awareness. One must have perfect love of God and of human beings.
Through these things a person approaches purity of soul. Purity of soul
is expressed in a life of good deeds and of chanting praise to God. It
is only after a long process of purification that one arrives at
luminosity of soul. John the Solitary, On the
Soul, Sebastian Brock, trans., Syriac
Fathers, 80. John describes this state of
perfection with the Syriac word, shafyuta,
“luminosity” or “limpidity” of soul. It can also be translated as
“integrity” since the soul recovers its original purity. Paul Harb,
citing Irenée Hausherr, distinguishes between dahyuta and shafyuta. While both refer
to the purity of the soul, dahyuta refers to the beginning of the process, and shafyuta is its crown. Paul Harb, “Doctrine spirituelle de Jean Le
Solitaire, Jean d’Apamée,” Parole de
l’Orient 2 (1971): 243. Robert Kitchen
observes that “the path to Perfection necessarily begins in this life,
for the Christian must first achieve the level of purity and only then
graduate up to luminosity and finally to Perfection.” Robert Kitchen, “In Search
of Lost Apophthegmata in John the Solitary of Apamea,” 13-14
www.academia.edu/1176465. According to René
Levenant, the term shafyuta has the meaning of
“total purification which gives access to divine intimacy and renders
the senses of the soul capable of perceiving the mysteries of the world
to come.”
Levenant, Dialogues, 42. The
soul is now open totally to the future hope. One can arrive at this
state only through divine aid. Faith is a necessary condition for this
purification. Christ himself is the model. The soul transcends not only
evil passions but also the life of virtue in the body. The soul operates
exclusively on the level of spirit. In this state of integrity, the
opacity of the body gives way to transparency. This new condition is
invisible to humans and to Satan.
The Level of the Spirit
Having gone beyond the struggle with evil passions of the body,
and the distractions and wanderings of the intellect and will, the soul
enters a place of peace in divine love. It receives through revelation a
vision of the mysteries. On the level of the spirit, one is beyond earthly
thoughts. One seeks the wisdom of God and nothing else. Premier
Dialogue, Levenant, Dialogues, 55;
Hansbury, John the Solitary, 34.
In a prayer offered to God John declares the following:
What wonders has your love effected!
When someone is still alive
he has left this world:
though his bodily condition remains
with the world’s bodily condition,
yet his spirit has been raised up towards you,
so that for a period of time
he is where he knows not,
being totally raptured and drawn towards you. Brock, Syriac Fathers, 346.
John’s Epistle on Stillness opens with
the statement: “The perfection of the truth that is fulfilled in the
knowledge of the Divinity is understood by knowledge through the perception
of perfect wisdom. This is the ‘full stature’ and the ‘light of knowledge’:
knowledge which is the vision of him who promised through prophecy that he
would appear to those who love him and keep his commandments.” “Epistle on
Stillness,” 461. In the Letter to
Hesychius, John advises: “Consider that your true wealth lies in
truth; for truth consists in the love of God, the awareness of his wisdom,
and the fulfilling of his will.” Brock, Syriac Fathers,
93.
On the level of spirit, knowledge of the mysteries is totally
invisible without any exterior effect. True revelations of the world to come
take place only in the soul which is above the turmoil of thoughts. The soul
understands God’s revelations not through hearing since God speaks to humans
without the sound of a voice but invisibly. He establishes an intimate
relationship with the interior person.
Sixième Dialogue, Levenant, Dialogues, 118-9. John cites St. Paul to the
Ephesians asking that God grant a spirit of wisdom and revelation enabling
knowledge of Him.
Ibid., 114.
Knowledge of the mysteries of the future world leads to
perfect charity in the love of others and total humility. One’s love for
others is a prerequisite for love of God. On the level of the spirit, one
loves God uniquely for himself. Furthermore, one can only truly love others
when there is an insight into the mysteries of love. Perfect love is to love
all persons like God. The love of Christ gathers together into one the sons
of light, enables them to have harmony among themselves and makes them to
dwell in one another. John urges his readers to implant the love of Christ
in themselves. Without becoming perfect in the love of Christ, one is not
able to arrive at a knowledge of him. Hansbury, On the Soul,
42–6, 188; Letter À Thomasios. Levenant,
123.
Silent Prayer
According to John the Solitary the goal of the spiritual life
while on earth is to break through, at least on rare occasions, into the
life of the world to come. The means to approach this intimacy with God is
through the perfecting of one’s prayer. John considers the
Incarnation of the Word entering humanity as the paradigm for its approach
to God. Humans retrace his steps to ascend to the realm of the Word. Indeed,
as noted above, the resurrected humanity of Christ is the vehicle of future
communion with the divine. Therefore, in prayer humans are called to
transcend not only the corporeal character of prayer with spoken words, but
also to go beyond the interior prayer of the mind and heart. Ultimately
prayer reaches its completion in the realm of God where all is silence
beyond words or expression. Just as in the Incarnation the Word departed
from the realm of silence to become voice, so those who have put on Christ
are called through this union to go from voice to the silence of the
Word.
John advises that “spiritual prayer does not reach its
fullness as a result of either learning or the repetition of words.” Since
one is addressing God who is Spirit, one should pray in spirit. John
continues:
[S]piritual prayer is more interior than the tongue,
more deeply interiorized than anything on the lips, more interiorized
than any words, and beyond vocal song. When someone prays this kind of
prayer he has sunk deeper than all speech, and he stands where spiritual
beings and angels are to be found; like them, he utters ‘holy’ without
any words.
Sebastian Brock, transl. in “John the Solitary on Prayer,” The Journal of Theological Studies 30
(1979) 97.
The person who worships by chanting with his tongue night and
day is considered one of the “just.” But one who goes deeper and chants in
intellect and the spirit is called “spiritual.” To arrive at spiritual
prayer is a long process. It involves extended periods of prayer, chanting
the psalms, observing vigils, fasting and abstaining, and meditation on the
God’s judgment in fear and trembling. One’s practice of humility should
reach a point where he considers others even great sinners as better than
himself.
Ibid., 98. Brouria Bitton-Ashkelony observes that the distinction
between the “just” and the “spiritual” could be a reflection of a
similar distinction in the Book of Steps.
See: “More interior than the lips and the Tongue,”
324-325.
John explains that silent prayer does not consist merely in
silencing one’s tongue. This type of silence along with the quieting of
thought is a pre-requisite before the interior tongue of the intellect can
express itself. John describes five types of silence: the silence of the
tongue, the silence of the body, the silence of the soul, the silence of the
intellect and the silence of the spirit. The silence of the tongue is
achieved when one avoids evil speech. The silence of the body is when the
senses are inactive. The silence of the soul occurs when there are no evil
thoughts. The silence of the intellect is when one is not reflecting on
harmful or distracting knowledge. “The silence of the spirit is when the
intellect ceases even from stirrings caused by created spiritual beings and
all its movements are stirred solely by Being [the Existent One], at the
wondrous awe of the silence which surrounds Being.” Brock, “John the Solitary on
Prayer, 99.
Brouria Bitton-Ashkelony distinguishes John the Solitary’s
understanding of silent prayer from Evagrius’ teaching on pure prayer. Where
“Evagrius’s concept of pure prayer centered on the inner dynamic of the
mind, thus a major part of his descriptions is devoted to the nature and
experience of the mind itself, whereas John’s concept of silent prayer
centered on the entire self.” Bitton-Ashkelony, “Silent Prayer,” 321-2.
John concludes the Letter on Prayer by
teaching that prayer is not an end in itself. Here on earth one’s very self,
spirit, soul and body should become the words we have prayed. Prayer should
become embodied and result in virtuous deeds. In other words, the highest
form of prayer should become incarnate in deeds. John observes that as a
result “you are seen in the world to be a man of God.” Brock, “John the Solitary on
Prayer,” 87–8. In a sense one is imitating on a
creaturely level the Word of God who emerges from the realm of divine
silence and dwells among us to carry out the work of salvation.
THE NEW WORLD
As noted above, the promise of the spiritual life begins with
baptism. In baptism one is sanctified for a future glory, but its manifestation
will take place only in the world to come. Letter to Theodoulos in
Hausherr, “Un grand auteur,” 192. Earthly baptism is a “type”
of the new birth after the resurrection. John claims that the
mystery of baptism, of resurrection and of luminosity is one process. He cites
the example of the veil covering a fetus. Just as physical birth involves going
through the veil into earthly existence, so the birth of the true person goes
beyond luminosity into the new world. Limpidity is an intermediate state for the
virtuous person to go out into the spiritual world where the mind achieves true
understanding. Again, it is rare in this life for one to reach this state of
perceiving the wisdom of the new world. Above luminosity is the new life of the
new person not in doing works but in knowledge. No one has lived this new life
here on earth but Christ. Hansbury, John the Solitary,
122–6.
The New Person in the World to Come
As noted above, some are able to have intimations of the new
person in the present life. They begin to receive the future gifts and begin
to live the new life at least on rare occasions. From his study of the
Scriptures John in his writings attempts to describe some of the features of
the world to come.
As long as the soul is in its earthly body its own interior
senses are not able to operate on the spiritual level. Revelations which
directed to the level of the spirit can be communicated only in corporeal
images. But once the soul arises completely from the body and enters into
the spiritual world, and its thought is no longer enclosed in the body, then
its spiritual senses begin to operate efficaciously on spiritual things.
Along with the change in the body is a change in how the soul understands
itself. Its knowledge and understanding go beyond itself. The body itself is
transformed by the resurrection to constitute with the soul a spiritual
unity. It operates within the spiritual man and is circumscribed by him.
John cites Paul’s letter to the Corinthians that what is sown as a natural
body is resurrected a spiritual body. Humans become like the angels who are
not exteriorly corporeal and interiorly spiritual, but their spirituality is
all of the same order. Premier Dialogue, Levenant, 54–6; Letter to
Eutropius and Eusebius in Hausherr, “Un grand auteur,”
197.
In the new world the mind seeks communion with the wisdom of
God in the knowledge of His mysteries. There is a thirst for the spiritual
mysteries which gives delight to the new person in the new
life. In this state of spiritual awareness, the intellect “emanates from the
wisdom of God.”
Hansbury, John the Solitary, 134; See also:
138, 146, 148, 192. The soul experiences joy and divine
love. The soul is elevated to the sublime majesty where it becomes aware of
its own smallness. At this level one does not judge those who have gone
astray nor consider oneself better than others.
Letter to Eutropius and Eusebius in Hausherr,
“Un grand auteur,” 197.
“After the resurrection of the body, God gives us true
knowledge. Humans are new persons without sin or evil thoughts.”
Letter to Theodoulos in Hausherr, “Un grand
auteur,” 190. Their sole concern is God’s will with an
attitude free of abstract thinking and where soul and body are in harmony
and equilibrium. The earthly world was made of lifeless elements which
nevertheless manifest the wisdom of God. The world to come is living,
constituted by living beings, the angels and the just. There is no need for
intellectual searching. The saints know God by revelation, by an interior
perception.
Ibid., 190-1.
Hope in the new world is manifested in an understanding
different from what one presently possesses, “to have our thoughts
completely transformed and our deficient movements replaced by perfect ones.
We do not know how our understanding will be or how we will know God.”
Lettre à Thomasios, Levenant, Dialogues, 121. Humans are called
to turn to God in love and faith and will learn in a divine manner. John
explains that in the new world one will be able to see the invisible by an
invisible thought without the need of form or intermediary and according to
one’s capacity. The divine mysteries are known without image, form or
color. Sixième Dialogue, Levenant, Dialogues, 112–3.
In a response to Thomasios, John prays that “Christ who is the
true form and true body, the image and beauty of all the worlds to act in us
by his grace, to reveal his invisible mystery, to illumine our intelligence,
to make us understand the depth of his invisible wisdom, to purify the
operations of our thought, so that we are able to see the multiple beauties
which compose the image of his mystery.”
Réponse à Thomasios, Levenant, Dialogues, 131. Yet, God’s wisdom
is incomprehensible and without limit. While one may know the
forms under which it manifests itself, we are unable to explain its mystery,
but only know that it is. God is known in the new world by a new vision that
is unknowable to humans and which reduces them to silence. It is beyond
words and thoughts. One exults in a knowledge that he cannot understand in
the bosom of the mystery of God. Deuxième Dialogue avec
Thomasios, Levenant, Dialogues,
59. John’s view is reflected in this prayer: “the more a
person has loved you, the more you will manifest the wondrous sight of you.
Not that you refuse to manifest yourself here, only that here this takes
place by means of the revelation of mysteries, whereas at the end of time it
will be by means of a glorious vision of you. Not everyone will behold you
there equally but each in accordance with his capability.” Brock, Syriac Fathers, 347.
CONCLUSION
John the Solitary offers a spiritual doctrine based primarily on
Scripture. While his writings are focused on spiritual direction, they reflect a
developed and consistent theology based on a biblical world-view. John views
creation as a manifestation of God’s glory. All creatures spiritual and
material, animate and inanimate were created for a purpose, and all of creation
is destined for transformation and fulfillment. While John does not know the
shape or form of this ultimate stage, he relies on Scripture to project what
future may await human beings and the rest of creation.
John does not separate spirit from soul, but rather describes the
spiritual component as invisible and embedded in the depths of the soul. John
declares that the spirit is stamped with the image and likeness of the
preexistent Word of God made flesh. This understanding forms the basis of his
spiritual doctrine. It is also the approach of other Eastern spiritual writers
including Isaac of Nineveh. The whole human person constituted of spirit, soul
and body was intended from the beginning to grow towards perfection in this
world. This process of maturation would reach its completion in the
transformation of the human person in the resurrection.
In attempting to describe the bridging of the divide between the
divine and the created John uses the terms “invisible” and “visible.” Echoing
Paul, John states that God reveals himself in material creation. For him this
means a true presence but invisible by nature. In the same way,
God’s revelation, the Incarnation, the actions of the Holy Spirit and grace, all
partake of invisible reality. The image and likeness of God constituent of human
beings is also invisible to human knowledge.
In John’s view, the Word of God becoming human was a necessary
part of God’s plan for the world. Constituted of soul and body, humans do not
have the capacity on their own to deal with the spiritual way of life to which
they are called. Their limited capacity became even more obstructed by sin.
God’s revelation in the Scriptures and in the coming of Christ was the only way
to teach and guide humans toward the spiritual way of life. Christ carried out
the role of teacher and physician. He extended his divinizing activity on earth
by instituting baptism, the Eucharist and the other mysteries of the Church.
Ultimately, he was the ideal example of achieving the life of the spirit by his
life, death and resurrection. The resurrected and transformed humanity of Christ
becomes the vehicle of future transformation for humans.
John’s spiritual direction addresses how human beings are to
conduct themselves in the present world to arrive at fulfillment in communion
with the resurrected Christ. His approach is to deal with the human condition as
he finds it. His method is to address the particular characteristics of the
body, the soul and the spirit, and provide direction on their purification. This
threefold analysis differs from the threefold approach of purification,
illumination and contemplation found in Evagrius and other spiritual writers.
For John a way of life focused on the body is a condition where
the urgings of the body dominate the intellect and will. The spiritual life is
not a concern and there is no attempt at asceticism. The way of the soul
describes those who are aware of God’s teachings as expressed in the human
language of Scripture. At this level, one strives to obey the commandments,
practice asceticism to achieve harmony between soul and body, pray publicly and
privately, and perform good works. Humility and self-denial are essential for
progress. Ultimately, one seeks to arrive at purity and luminosity of soul.
The level of the spirit is rarely achievable on a regular basis in
this life. It represents a foreshadowing of the life to come. One experiences
communion with the resurrected Christ and insights into his wisdom. The result
is an overflow of charity towards others. John presents a
description of this high point of the spiritual journey in his teaching on
silent prayer. In quelling all activity of the body and soul, one’s spirit is
released from all of its ties to the created world and enters the silence of the
divine.
In John the Solitary we find a spirituality founded on the premise
that humans having been created in the image and likeness of the incarnate God
are destined to be in union with his resurrected humanity and sharing in his
wisdom and love for all creation.
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