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Dear Parish Faithful, In a recent meditation, I referenced the Apostle Paul's tripartite understanding of human nature as consisting of spirit (pneuma), soul (psyche) and body (soma), as found in I Thess. 5:23. Many of the Church Fathers would echo this terminology of the Apostle Paul; while others would speak of only soul and body as encompassing human nature, with the spirit as the highest aspect of the soul. And, often, the later spiritual tradition would use the term nous to refer to the spirit, translating nous as "mind," but much more successfully as "spiritual intellect." When these levels of our human nature are harmoniously directed to the pursuit of virtue and the Kingdom of God, then the fulness of our nature is realized, so that our creation "in the image and likeness of God" shines forth to the glory of God. Be that as it may, there is a real fulness to our human nature, but also a certain complexity! But, again, this reveals that a human being is "more than meets the eye." With this in mind, I recently came across a passage from the writings of St. Isaac the Syrian, the great ascetic and spiritual teacher from the Syriac tradition. His terms in describing human nature are derived from his native Syriac language, but they are closely related to the Greek language terms that he knew from reading such exponents of the ascetical/spiritual tradition as Evagrius of Pontus (+399), for example. Here, then, is a short but revealing passage from St. Isaac as he "prioritizes" the harmonious working of the spirit in directing our entire being toward God. Of great interest, is how St. Isaac relates this to faith in the resurrection: "The person who in his understanding is on the level of the body cannot be above fear of death in his thoughts; rather, he is continually terrified at the recollection of it. Because he is on the level of the body he thinks of the things of the body. Therefore there is always in him some doubt about the resurrection. "In the person who is on the level of the soul there vibrates a fear of soul. He does not think of the things belonging to the body - its death, affliction, or its welfare and misfortunes. Rather, he readily accepts these for the sake of what is to come, seeing that he is in truth endowed with reason. But he only possesses the level of the soul, which consists in continual reflection of what pertains to the resurrection from the dead. "As for the person who is on the level of the spirit, neither of these other descriptions is applicable: rather he stands in the knowledge and joy which is in God, seeing that he has become a child and sharer in the mystery of God." More than a little bit to mediate on! |
