On Ascetical Life (English and Syriac Edition)

While perhaps not for everyone and a text which is to be digested very slowly, the thoughts/teachings from St. Isaac laid out in this book are gold. Truly a brilliant, striving mind with a genuine love for God.For one wanting to go deep into a slew of thoroughly Christian introspective insights and disciplines, I would highly recommend this book.

An english translation of Bedjan's Syriac text. Adequate, but missing the corresponding Syriac text.

St Isaac of Nineveh is a Saint in both the Catholic and the Orthodox Churches. This book gives an excellent insight into his attitude to life and to the quest for Sainthood on earth, which is really the path into God. Living a life of hardship, at a time when life was hard anyway, he advocates giving everything up for God, and outlines the difficulties one will encounter, and some of the signs of the coming of the Holy Spirit. To him, ascetism is the quickest path to Heaven. The translation makes the text easy to read.

Such beauty in thoughts, words, and reflections on God, spirituality, and our true nature and calling are rarely encountered. This is a must read for anyone who truly seeks to know God. Quotes from the Scriptures and God's love fill the very words and essence of the seventh century mystic monk. Beyond all comprehension, only God speaking through a human could produce such beauty and love.

I read most the other reviews here about this book & they were very eye opening. This book "Saint Isaac of Nineveh on Ascetical Life" is a collection of 6 Discourses which is of coarse set to 6 chapters all within 116 pages. I agree that the introduction is written very heavy handed from the history of the Roman Empire versus the Persians to the differences of so-called "Nestorian" (Patriarch Nestorian views & the Assyrian Church in Syria & Iran don't hold the exact same dogmas but are close) versus Orthodox (the One Holy Catholic & Apostolic Church around the Mediterranean sea) dogmas leaves very little information or foretaste of what Saint Isaac is going to write about in his Discourses. As another reviewer wrote the readings are free flowing & sort of kept to one subject but Saint Isaac does go off into tangents. When reading Saint Issac Discourses try to imagine that you are having a conversation with him & the going will be easier. There are a few Orthodox or Patristic words or concepts that might take awhile to soak in for new comers but those that read ancient historical spiritual writings will not have a problem. The most common theme in this book that I see is that the pure in heart shall see God. I think I will check out the other translations & see if I can gleam a little more from this Saint that has influenced so many beyond their set dogma structures or historical locations.

St. Isaac's discourses, while somewhat rambling, nevertheless provide much food for thought for Christians seeking to deepen their relationship with God. I found it especially valuable for the differences from Western writings on ascetism (one example - while the Western works I've read often point up the positive value of manual labor, St. Isaac describes manual labor as "a hindrance to the remembrance of God" and prescribes it only for the spiritually weak).A few points on this work:(1) Unless you are deeply interested in historical background, you can safely skip the introduction. It contains nothing necessary for understanding St. Isaac's actual writings.(2) St. Isaac's discourses are not really "themed," and while he will follow one train of thought for several verses, he also changes topics easily, and may drop a line of thought for several verses only to pick it back up again (or not). Treat this much as you would Pascal's "Pensees" - as a collection of thoughts with minimal organization.(3) Be careful of the bracketed words (included by the translator to make a passage more clear). In at least one case the verse definitely makes more sense if the bracketed words are omitted (fourth discourse, verse 8 - "Bread [earned through] sweat is sweet to the workman.", but since the next line of the verse says that "Labors for the sake of righteousness are sweet ...", it seems certain that Isaac means the sweat is sweet, not the bread). I suspect other cases of this could be found.

Readers who are new to St. Isaac, and who may well be wondering what all the fuss is about, would be wise to avoid the present book: 'St Isaac of Nineveh on Ascetical Life' ISBN: 0881410772. The Introduction, having been written apparently for scholars of Syriac literature, is dull. The translation is flat, uninspired, and contains many passages so obscure that it's impossible to extract any sort of meaning from them at all. The translator is a scholar who seems to have practically no feeling at all for the rich spirituality of this amazing Syrian Christian.I strongly recommend, instead of the present book, the following titles.Sebastian Brock's 'Daily Readings With St. Isaac of Syria' ISBN: 0872431738:  Daily Readings With St. Isaac of Syria (Daily Readings Series) Also the same scholar's 'The Syriac Fathers on Prayer and the Spiritual Life' (which contains 60 pages of extracts from St. Isaac) ISBN 0879079010:  Syriac Fathers on Prayer and the Spiritual Life (Cistercian Studies Series, 101) Hilarion Alfeyev's 'The Spiritual World of Isaac the Syrian' ISBN 0879077751:  The Spiritual World of Isaac the Syrian .Also strongly recommended is Brock's 'The Wisdom of St. Isaac the Syrian' ISBN: 0728301458.  The Wisdom of Saint Isaac the Syrian (Fairacres Publications) All four of these superbly translated books are happily in print and currently available at Amazon at the time of writing, and all will give you a good idea of the real beauty and profundity of St. Isaac. But the book under review, sadly, is only too likely to put you off him forever.