Беседа 3. (Фрагмент) Того же мар Исаака, епископа и отшельника. О знании. (spuria [подложное слово]) 280

If zeal was suitable for the correction of people, why did God the Word take on flesh to bring the world back to His Father through meekness and humility? And why was He hanged on the Cross for the sake of sinners, giving up His holy body for the world? I say that God did all this for no other <reason> than to show the world the love that He has. His goal was that when we realize this, our love will increase in us, and we will be captivated by His love, for by the death of His Son He contributed to this manifestation of the great power of the Kingdom of Heaven, which is love. The death of our Lord was not for our redemption from sin or for any other <purpose>, but solely so that the world would know the love that God has for creation. If all this amazing work had happened only for the sake of remission of sins, it would have been enough to redeem us in some other way. What could be objected to if He accomplished all this through ordinary death? But He died in a very unusual way - so that you understand the meaning of the sacrament: He tasted death in the terrible suffering of the Cross. What was the need for this insult and this spitting? For our redemption, death was sufficient—His death! – without everything else that happened. O wisdom of God, full of love! Now you understand and realize why the coming of Christ was accompanied by all the events that followed it, because He Himself very clearly indicated His goal with His most holy lips: God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son. 281 about the Incarnation and the renewal that He . 282 The full title in the manuscript: “Again the same mar of Isaac, bishop and hermit, various chapters on knowledge, in which there are sublime contemplations, perfect knowledge, abundant and wonderful insights, and great mysteries. They bring benefit and pleasure to the soul, and its growth in the spiritual.” This Discourse consists of four hundred chapters, divided into four hundreds. We do not dare to fully translate this Discourse until there is a critical edition of its text (there is only an Italian translation by P. Bettiolo: see Isaaco di Ninive. Discorsi spirituali e altri opusculi. Introduzione, traduzione e note a cura di Paolo Bettiolo. Bose, 1985. Pp. 49–194). We translate a fragment of the Conversation, namely part of chapter 78 of the fourth hundred. Lit. "and about His renewal." You might be interested in: