By: Metropolitan Bishoy of Damietta, Coptic Orthodox Church
Isaac the Syrian is highly appreciated in the monastic field for his ascetic life, his spiritual guidance for monks, and his precious advise for anchorites in the life of solitude.
However, Isaac of Nineveh was a native of Beth Katraye (near present day Bahrain) on the Persian Gulf, he became a monk and a teacher near his home, then the Nestorian Patriarch George consecrated him as Bishop of Nineveh (ca. 660-690) at the monastery of Beth Abhe.[1] Thus, the Catholic Encyclopedia writes bluntly: Isaac of Nineveh.. “A Nestorian bishop of that city in the latter half of the seventh century, being consecrated by the Nestorian Patriarch George.”
Isaac of Nineveh “consciously avoided writing on topics that were disputed or discussed in the contemporary theological debates. This gives Isaac a certain ecumenical potential”[2] and is probably the reason that although he was faithful to his own tradition he has come to be known far outside his own “Nestorian” church.
In spite of the fact that Isaac the Syrian avoided writing on disputable theological subjects, Ibn as-Salt who compiled his writings in Arabic from Syriac in his introductory remarks alludes to the controversy surrounding Isaac (which resulted in his leaving the episcopate after only five months) and concludes that the problem is Isaac’s insistence on the primacy of mercy. In fact, the writings of Isaac contain constant reminders of the love one should have for mercy, which he sees as the foundation of adoration and humility.[3]
And what is a merciful heart? It is the heart’s burning for all of creation, for men, for birds, for animals and even for demons. At the remembrance and at the sight of them, the merciful man’s eyes fill with tears which arise from the great compassion that urges his heart. It grows tender and cannot endure hearing or seeing any injury or slight sorrow to anything in creation. Because of this, such a man continually offers tearful prayer even for irrational animals and for the enemies of truth and for all who harm it, that they may be guarded and forgiven.[4]
For Isaac, mercy was carried to the extent that it includes final salvation for all creation, including demons.[5] This Origenist non-biblical tendency was refuted and rejected by the churches centuries ago.
Refutation of Isaac’s Theory on Mercy and its Opposition of Justice:
Isaac of Nineveh wrote:
Mercy is opposed to justice. Justice is equality of the even scale, for it gives to each as he deserves… Mercy, on the other hand, is a sorrow and pity stirred up by goodness, and it compassionately inclines a man in the direction of all; it does not requite a man who is deserving of evil, and to him who is deserving of good it gives a double portion. If, therefore, it is evident that mercy belongs to the portion of righteousness, then justice belongs to the portion of wickedness. As grass and fire cannot coexist in one place, so justice and mercy cannot abide in one soul. As a grain of sand cannot counterbalance a great quantity of gold, so in comparison God’s use of justice cannot counterbalance His mercy. As a handful of sand thrown into the great sea, so are the sins of the flesh in comparison with the mind of God. And just as a strongly flowing spring is not obscured by a handful of dust, so the mercy of the Creator is not stemmed by the vices of His Creatures.[6]
First: Mercy is not Opposed to Justice
All the divine attributes are perfect quantitatively and qualitatively. The perfection that characterizes the divine properties makes all of them equal and “counterbalance”. No divine attribute is superior to another or opposed to another, since all of them are the perfect traits of God and there is no conflict in God. God is merciful and just at the same time. His mercy does not contradict with His justice and vice versa.
The psalmist writes: “Mercy and truth have met together; Righteousness and peace have kissed” (Psa 85:10 NKJ), noting that the Hebrew wordאֱמֶ֥ת (emet) which is translated into English “truth”, means firmness, faithfulness, or truth.
The psalmist also wrote: “The judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether” (Psa 19:9 NKJ).
Again he says: “I will sing of mercy and justice; To You, O Lord, I will sing praises” (Psa 101:1 NKJ).
Our teacher Paul the Apostle said: “Therefore consider the goodness and severity of God: on those who fell, severity; but toward you, goodness, if you continue in His goodness. Otherwise you also will be cut off” (Rom 11:22 NKJ).
His Holiness Pope Shenouda III always teaches that God is merciful in His justice and just in His mercy.
Second: God is Just
God’s justice is praised, honored and admired. It is never considered an inferior attribute, or an attribute that “belongs to the portion of wickedness” as Isaac of Nineveh states. No one can deny that God is just even non-Christians!
Following are some examples of biblical verses which prove that God is just:
“God is a just judge, And God is angry with the wicked every day” (Psa 7:11 NKJ).
“The Lord is righteous in her midst, He will do no unrighteousness. Every morning He brings His justice to light; He never fails, But the unjust knows no shame” (Zep 3:5 NKJ).
“Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your King is coming to you; He is just and having salvation, Lowly and riding on a donkey, A colt, the foal of a donkey” (Zec 9:9 NKJ).
“It is a righteous thing with God to repay with tribulation those who trouble you” (2Th 1:6 NKJ).
Jesus Christ said: “As I hear, I judge; and my judgment is just, because I seek to do not my own will but the will of him who sent me” (Joh 5:30 NRS).
In the revelation it is written that those who have the victory: “sing the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying: Great and marvelous are Your works, Lord God Almighty! Just and true are Your ways, O King of the saints” (Rev 15:3 NKJ).
So, the saints praise the Lord for being just and true not only for being merciful because they understand how precious His justice is and how much man is in need of this justice.
Third: Why the Divine Work of Salvation, i.e. Why Christianity?
What is the need for salvation, atonement and redemption fulfilled for mankind by the Only-Begotten Son of God who is of the same essence of the Father? Why did He undergo incarnation, passions and the cross?
In other words, if what Isaac of Nineveh wrote in the abovementioned passage was true then either the Only-Begotten Son of God did not incarnate or die on the cross, and this would be pure Nestorianism, or, there is no need for salvation, redemption or atonement that are the essential basics of Christianity.
How can his concept agree with what St. John the Apostle wrote: “In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins” (1Jo 4:10 NKJ).
Because God is just so sin should be punished but because He is merciful He carried the punishment and saved our souls. Thus, no contradiction exists in his attributes. It is true that “the mercy of the Creator is not stemmed by the vices of His Creatures” but this does not mean that God ignores the sin of His creatures, forgives without a penalty or takes to heaven those who do not repent and do not deserve.
Fourth: God is Holy and Merciful But a Hater and Rejecter of Sin
God is merciful, and knowing this, in the Liturgical prayers of our church the congregation pleads to the Lord saying:
“According to your mercy O Lord and not according to our sin”.
However, God is Holy so if He does not punish sin this would mean that righteousness and evil are equivalents for Him, which can never be true. God proves His righteousness and holiness by showing that He is a hater and rejecter of sin and evil, and He punishes for them.
No one can deny not only God’s justice but even His wrath against sin. The perfect holiness of God as a rejecter of evil should be announced. The justice of God in judging sin means that the full holiness of God is manifested through the just penalty of sin, thus justice does not contradict with mercy because He Himself carried the penalty.
St. Paul explained the result of man’s sin and how God healed it saying: “For if by the one man’s offense death reigned through the one, much more those who receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ. Therefore, as through one man’s offense judgment came to all men, resulting in condemnation, even so through one Man’s righteous act the free gift came to all men, resulting in justification of life. For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so also by one Man’s obedience many will be made righteous” (Rom 5:17-19 NKJ).
The cross is the manifestation of the love of God: “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life” (John 3: 16).
The cross also is the manifestation of God’s perfect holiness and absolute justice, as it is written “without shedding of blood there is no remission” (Heb. 9: 22).
The Divine forgiveness is a forgiveness that is paid for, because sin and righteousness are never equivalents according to God. For God to manifest His full righteousness and absolute holiness He had to announce His wrath against sin.
Saint Paul the apostle said: “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness” (Rom 1: 18 NKJ).
Saint Paul also says: “It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God” (Heb. 10: 31), “For our God is a consuming fire” (Heb 12: 29 NKJ).
As regards to the Lord Jesus Christ it is written in the Revelation : “He Himself treads the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God” (Rev 19: 15 NKJ).
Also: “And the kings of the earth, the great men, the rich men, the commanders, the mighty men, every slave and every free man, hid themselves in the caves and in the rocks of the mountains, and said to the mountains and rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of Him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb!” (Rev 6:15-16 NKJ).
Saint Athanasius the Apostolic explained the concept of in the stead death, in his book “The Incarnation of the Word“. In Chapter 8 he said:
And thus taking from our bodies one of like nature, because all were under penalty of the corruption of death He gave it over to death in the stead of all, and offered it to the Father – doing this, moreover, of His loving-kindness, to the end that, firstly, all being held to have died in Him, the law involving the ruin of men might be undone (inasmuch as its power was fully spent in the Lord’s body, and had no longer holding-ground against men, his peers), and that, secondly, whereas men had turned toward corruption, He might turn them again toward incorruption, and quicken them from death by the appropriation of His body and by the grace of the Resurrection, banishing death from them like straw from the fire. [7]
Also in chapter 9 He said:
For the Word, perceiving that no otherwise could the corruption of men be undone save by death as a necessary condition, while it was impossible for the Word to suffer death, being immortal, and Son of the Father; to this end He takes to Himself a body capable of death, that it, by partaking of the Word Who is above all, might be worthy to die in the stead of all, and might, because of the Word which was come to dwell in it, remain incorruptible, and that thenceforth corruption might be stayed from all by the Grace of the Resurrection. Whence, by offering unto death the body He Himself had taken, as an offering and sacrifice free from any stain, straightway He put away death from all His peers by the offering of an equivalent.[8]
Saint Athanasius clarified that the Divine justice was fulfilled or paid for by the suffering and death upon the cross. He said:
For His was at once more both to bring the corruptible to incorruption, and to maintain intact the just claim of the Father upon all. For being Word of the Father, and above all, He alone of natural fitness was both able to recreate everything, and worthy to suffer on behalf of all and to be ambassador for all with the Father.[9]
The Lord Jesus Christ was a substitute for the sinners, was crucified instead of them repaying their debt. He is the Only Savior through Whom we received salvation. He is the only One Who is sinless, the only One Who can carry the sin of the whole world and become an accepted ransom before the Heavenly Father, because of His perfect righteousness and His super valuable sacrifice in the perception of God the Father since it is the sacrifice of the only begotten son. “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life” (John 3:16).
Moreover, he healed the corruption that mankind suffered from as a result of sin. No one but the Only-Begotten Son of God could have done this to man.
This is the genuine understanding of God’s mercy. His, is a just mercy and a merciful justice.
Fifth: God Punishes the Evil
Following are some verses that prove that God punishes the evildoer and the evil one:
St. John the Baptist used to say: “And even now the ax is laid to the root of the trees. Therefore every tree which does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire” (Mat 3:10 NKJ).
Jesus Christ said: “Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it” (Mat 7:13 NKJ).
He also said: “Many will say to Me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name? And then I will declare to them, I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness” (Mat 7:22-23 NKJ).
And said: “Then He will also say to those on the left hand, Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels: for I was hungry and you gave Me no food; I was thirsty and you gave Me no drink” (Mat 25:41-42 NKJ).
Our Lord also said: “So it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come forth, separate the wicked from among the just, and cast them into the furnace of fire. There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth” (Mat 13:49-50 NKJ).
He said: “I tell you, no; but unless you repent you will all likewise perish” (Luk 13:3 NKJ).
In the parable of the rich and Lazarus: “Abraham said, Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things; but now he is comforted and you are tormented” (Luk 16:25 NKJ).
Even the chosen can fall for the Lord said, “Simon, Simon! Indeed, Satan has asked for you, that he may sift you as wheat. But I have prayed for you, that your faith should not fail” (Luk 22:31-32 NKJ).
St. Paul the Apostle said: “And why not say, Let us do evil that good may come? as we are slanderously reported and as some affirm that we say. Their condemnation is just” (Rom 3:8 NKJ).
Our teacher St. Paul the Apostle said: “Therefore consider the goodness and severity of God: on those who fell, severity; but toward you, goodness, if you continue in His goodness. Otherwise you also will be cut off” (Rom 11:22 NKJ).
He also said: “For when they say, “Peace and safety!” then sudden destruction comes upon them, as labor pains upon a pregnant woman. And they shall not escape” (1Th 5:3 NKJ).
St. Peter said: “But there were also false prophets among the people, even as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Lord who bought them, and bring on themselves swift destruction” (2Pe 2:1 NKJ).
St. John in the revelation wrote: “But the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death” (Rev 21:8 NKJ).
[1] St. Isaac of Nineveh, On Ascetical Life, St. Vladimir’s Seminary Press, Crestwood, New York 1989, p. 7.
[2] Isaac of Nineveh from Wikipedia.
[3] St. Isaac of Nineveh, On Ascetical Life, St. Vladimir’s Seminary Press, Crestwood, New York 1989, p. 11-12.
[4] See P. Bedjan, ed. Mar Isaacus Ninivita, De Perfectione Religisa (Paris-Leipzig, 1909), p. 507.
[5] St. Isaac of Nineveh, On Ascetical Life, St. Vladimir’s Seminary Press, Crestwood, New York 1989, p. 12.
[6] I/51 (244) = B50 (345). Translation from the Greek in The Ascetical Homilies of Saint Isaac the Syrian, translated by the Holy Transfiguration Monastery (Boston, 1984), p244.
[7]N&PN Fathers, series2. vol. 4, St. Athanasius, Incarnation of the Word, Chapter 8.
[8]Ibid. Chapter 9.
[9] ibid. Chapter 7.