John Climacus Research Articles

The Portrayal of the Holy Convicts from the 5th Step of the Ladder of John Climacus in the Russian Art of the 16th Century

In the art of Rus’ of the Late Middle Ages there is a certain number of scattered pieces of art that share an iconographic cycle of the Monastic Feats — images of different sorts of self-torture that are described in the 5th logos of the Ladder of John Climacus. This chapter of the Ladder was copied not only as a part of the whole treaty, but on its own as well and inspired a ramified iconographic tradition first in the Byzantine Empire and then, since the 16th century, in Rus’. These monks resort to the mortification of the flesh for their ultimate absolution. In the article, all the examples of the Monastic Feats iconography which survived from the 16th century are taken to examination and analysed. As a result, two new attributions are proposed, one for the illuminated manuscript of the Ladder from the collection of the riznitsa of Trinity Lavra of St. Sergius and another for the vita icon of John Climacus from the Rybinsk Museum Reserve. From their analysis within the relative artistic context stems a suggestion of their Novgorod origin. In addition, a different and more early dating is proposed for the Rybinsk icon in relation to its identification with an image mentioned in the inventory of the Antoniev monastery in Novgorod. Some ideas are expressed about the choice of the subject of the Monastic Feats for the galleries of the Annunciation Cathedral in the Moscow Kremlin that were repainted after the fire of 1547. The conclusion of the article is that the spread and development of the iconography of the Monastic Feats should be ascribed to the art of Novgorod at the era of archiepiscopacy Macarius or soon after. Therefore, it is the Novgorod art that played a decisive role in the creation of the visual representation of the 5th logos of the Ladder, one of the most expressive and impactful pieces of text in the Slavic literacy.

«Великие грешники» и праведники Л. Н. Толстого и Ф. М. Достоевского в свете этического учения А. А. Ухтомского

The article proposes a typology of righteous heroes on the material of L. N. Tolstoy’s stories “Father Sergius,” “False Coupon,” “Alyosha the Pot,” and F. M. Dostoevsky’s novels “Teenager,” “The Brothers Karamazov.” The “great sinners” Dostoevsky and Tolstoy have gospel prototypes — the prodigal son and the “prudent thief.” At the same time, both writers have static characters — righteous people carrying Christian ideals. In the later stories of Tolstoy and the novels of Dostoevsky, there is a teleological plot, which includes the plot motifs of the test, the choice of the hero, and his movement toward salvation. Turning to the ethical teaching of A. A. Ukhtomsky, created based on the works of Tolstoy and Dostoevsky, allows us to highlight the dominant character of the hero, which involves the rejection of egocentrism and determines his salvation, as well as the hero’s “doubles” and “interlocutors” who are capable of awakening his selfawareness. A comparison of the reading range of Tolstoy and Dostoevsky shows their attention to the works of John Climacus, Isaac the Syrian, and Tikhon of Zadonsk.

“The Teachings of Neagoe Basarab to His Son Theodosius” – a Historiographic Retrospective

On the commemoration of five centuries after the death of Romanian Ruling Prince Neagoe Basarab (1512-1521), one of the most important representatives of cultural resistance on Romanian territory in the Middle Ages, the author of the present paper shines a light on the history, context and influences of his masterpiece, The Teachings of Neagoe Basarab to His Son Theodosius. Thus, the paper highlights Neagoe Basarab’s prophetic side, how his writings bring education to his people or the influences of authors like Basil I the Macedonian or Constantine Porphyrogenites on his style and ideas. At the same time, due attention is given to the influence of his work of patristic voices such as St John Chrysostom, Dionysius the Areopagite, John Climacus or mystical authors such as Varlaam și Iosafat, to his way of thinking, and the metamorphosis of his ideas. Furthermore, potential influences such as the one of Machiavelli and his chief work, The Prince, are also brought to attention in the paper, emphasising that there are voices that persist in the claim that the Italian author may have influenced Neagoe Basarab’s activity. The paper concludes, among other things, that, through his work, Neagoe Basarab managed to pave the way for Humanist culture on Romanian territory.

Practicing for Death in the Anthropocene

This article analyzes the theme of practicing for death as it has emerged in recent environmental discourse. In the first part, it situates Roy Scranton’s Learning to Die in the Anthropocene (2015) in the context of new critical approaches to death and asceticism, especially Peter Sloterdijk’s You Must Change Your Life: On Anthropotechnics (2013). In the second part, it offers an environmental reading of the “remembrance of death” as it appears in John Climacus’s influential seventh-century manual, The Ladder of Divine Ascent. Here, the authors build on Sloterdijk’s remarks on Climacus while developing Sloterdijk’s analysis substantially, drawing (in part three) on ecotheological readings of Byzantine asceticism to elucidate Climacus’s environmental practice. The authors argue that what is at stake in the remembrance of death is the death not of the self but of a perception of the self that valorizes the self-possessed subject. In the final part, they compare the death of specific self-images in Christian asceticism to the death of the human qua self-possessed subject in the posthumanist ethics of Rosi Braidotti. At the same time, the authors see Climacus as deepening positions sketched out in Braidotti’s posthumanism and providing a critical perspective on the idea of resigning from care.

Вопросоответы к князю Антиоху в южнославянской и русской книжности: Списки XIV–XV веков в конвое Лествицы Иоанна Синайского

This article explores the Pseudo-Athanasian writing Questions and Answers to Antiochus the Duke in the South-Slavic and Russian traditions in the 14th–15th centuries. The authors provide a brief overview of the research on the early history of the text and interact with the conclusions by W. R. Veder and L. Sels who distinguish two main groups of manuscripts and two versions of the text, respectively. The authors raise the problem of limited textual material and lack of understanding of the manuscript tradition, which often goes with the tendency of scholars to approach this writing without a proper historical perspective on its spread in the Slavic lands. As a way of contributing to the solution of this problem, the authors propose to introduce into the scientific circulation three new manuscripts of the Questions and Answers from the 14th–15th centuries, based on the research of T. G. Popova, who designated these manuscripts as those who contain the Lestvitsa (The Ladder of Divine Ascent) of John Climacus. The bulk of the article examines these manuscripts, their specific features and redactions in relation to the textual groups I and II. At the end of the article, the authors draw important conclusions concerning the early spread of the Questions and Answers as they were transmitted together with Lestvitsa.

Theology of Greek-Byzantine Church Fathers as a Specific Way of Philosophical Thinking in an Epistemological Context

The article presents the theological ideas and mystical–religious teachings of the Greek-Byzantine Church Fathers, which, at the same time, are philosophical because Byzantine theologians also reflected on human and their life, on the relationship between man and God, on the possibilities of God-cognition and obtaining higher sacred knowledge. Based on the analysis of the anthropological and epistemological ideas of the Greek Church Fathers, we highlight that philosophizing was always at the heart of Byzantine theology. Therefore, the Byzantine tradition of the Church Fathers is considered a unique type of philosophy of religion, which originated in the historical formation of the Christian faith in the era of the Triadic and Christological theological debates of the 4th to 7th centuries. This article reflects the teachings of three of the brightest thinkers-theologians of Byzantium—John Climacus, Maximus the Confessor, and Symeon the New Theologian. Their teachings are the foundation and main source of the mystical–religious tradition of Byzantine theology and philosophy. John Climacus’s conception of human self-improvement and self-cognition on the path of theosis is revealed as one of the first philosophical and moral systems of early Byzantium and the source of subsequent Christian concepts of Eastern Christianity. Maximus the Confessor’s conception of the logoi—or energies—of God is presented as a system of symbols with profound philosophical and anthropological meaning. The human being in St. Maximus’s doctrine is the main and self-sufficient symbol of the universe, connecting the two worlds—the Divine and the earthly ones. The doctrine of Symeon the New Theologian on uncreated light is revealed as a personal comprehension of God in the perception of Divine Light. The transforming power of the Light is demonstrated, which changes the nature of a human being and raises an individual to the height of spiritual unity with God. Finally, conclusions are made about the beginning and formation of the philosophy of religion as a special type of philosophical–religious thinking found already in the period of early Christianity.

КОНЦЕПЦИИ БОГОПОЗНАНИЯ ИОАННА ЛЕСТВИЧНИКА И МАКСИМА ИСПОВЕДНИКА В ФИЛОСОФСКОМ ДИСКУРСЕ ВИЗАНТИИ

The article reveals the theological and philosophical ideas of Greek-Byzantine Church Fathers in the context of religious epistemolo-gy. The author presents the doctrines of the two profound Byzantine thinkers-theologians – John Climacus and Maximus the Con-fessor. Their teachings are highlighted as the foundation and main source of the mystical-religious tradition of Byzantine theology and philosophy. The concepts of the uncreated Light, deification, and logoi are substantiated as the ways of God-knowing.

New Testament Names in the Text of the Ladder of John Climacus

The paper explores eleven New Testament names featured in the text of the Ladder by John Climacus, a translated monument of early Slavic writing. These personal names are a special kind of biblical quotations referring to the events of the holy history. The research is based on comparative analysis of the Greek texts of the Ladder published by Jacques Paul Migne (Patrologia Graeca, Vol. 88), four ancient Byzantine codes and five Slavic manuscripts which contain the first Slavic translation of the book made by Preslav scribes in the first half of the 10th century. The article follows research on the collective church memory of medieval scribes which manifests itself in the commonality of topics, images, plots, ideas, and expressions that go back to the text of the Bible. The New Testament characters that are featured in the Greek text of the Ladder and its Slavic traslations are: Jesus Christ, Mary, John the Baptist, John the Apostle, Lazarus, Peter, Paul, Timothy, Herod, Pontius Pilate, Judas. The author identifies the key biblical images in the Greek text of the Ladder (Jesus Christ and the supreme apostles Peter and Paul) and specifies the functions of New Testament names in the text: referential, symbolic, emphatic and indexical. The oldest Russian manuscript showcases spelling inconsistencies in relation to New Testament names as well as multiple errors indicating both the inexperience of the scribe and his poor knowledge of gospel stories. These errors were eliminated from the text of later manuscripts. The analysis identified four words that are absent in the historical dictionaries of the Russian and Old Slavonic languages (bezvrednitsa ‘dispassion’, besslovesne ‘wordlessly’, zluderzhanie ‘rancor’, suprotivpremeneniе ‘transformation’).

Nuove indagini sulle pitture rupestri dell’eremo di Selvascura presso il Santuario del Crocifisso a Bassiano

This article aims to re-examine the frescoes in the Selvascura hermitage in Bassiano, one of the medieval pictorial contexts created in caves in Lower Lazio, both from an iconographic and stylistic point of view. In the past, the paintings aroused some attention from local connoisseurs, but they collected a barely timid interest in critical publications. The carried out research revealed the existence of a link between the iconographic choices made in the cave paintings and the Greek theological literature, especially the Heavenly Ladder of St. John Climacus, known by the Franciscan Spirituals thanks to the translations by Angelo Clareno. Therefore, it is possible to suggest a new iconological interpretation of the frescoes on the right side of the cave and to overcome the traditional approach that considered the decoration of this hermitage as a mere juxtaposition of votive panels. Furthermore, an unpublished painting inspired by one of the apologues told by Barlaam to the Indian prince Josaphat has been identified and it can be added to the small list of monumental works with this theme related to the Italian Middle Age. This paper explains also all the documents from the current archives of the Soprintendenza concerning these frescoes and their preservative history from the 70s to the 90s of the XX century. Finally, an accurate analysis of the stylistic features and the comparison with other pictorial and mosaic works from Rome and the rest of Lazio allow to date back the paintings to the period between the end of the 13th and the beginning of the 14th century and to recognize the style of unknown artists trained in the school of Cavallini, very close to the Magister Conxolus’s lesson.

Кризисы и этапы в служении и жизни священника

In this paper, we reconsider the ways to understand the ministry and life of a priest, based on empirical evidence. We propose supplement the understanding that sees it as a normative way of exercising the priesthood as unaltered throughout life with an approach to priesthood as changing over time and therefore going through a number of significantly different stages that involve specific conditions to proceed to the next one. In contrast to the normative image of a priest in pastoral theology, empirical evidence suggests that the ministry and life of a priest are constituted by a series of different stages -- from accepting the priesthood after ordination to aging and the leaving at the end of life. The concept of pastoral temptation used by pastoral theology can be contrasted with the concept of developmental crisis. The latter can lead to mistakes and temptations, up to the abandonment of the priesthood, but in case of productive comprehension leads to the passage to a new stage of ministry.A developmental crisis is a passage from one stage of ministry to the other, which is characterized by following: 1) it brings to collision with something fundamentally new, which arises from the accumulated positive experience but finds the priest unprepared; 2) it is potentially dangerous, 3) it ends up with a breakdown or passage to a new stage, 4) it is never repeated afterwards, e.g. during the passage to a new stage.Pastoral temptation is always a situational distortion of ministry. This implies: 1) the danger of distortion of the ministry as a whole, up to its collapse and loss of the priesthood; 2) potential threat throughout the entire period of the priest's ministry, temptation can come back regardless of the accumulated experience, 3) possibility of a developmental crisis.If temptations must be avoided, although this is not always possible, if they are external, then passages are not only inevitable, but directly necessary for the spiritual growth of the priest and and help acquire the fullness of pastoral experience.The passage to the next stage is not always accompanied or is a reaction to a crisis, understood as a pastoral temptation or a life catastrophe. On the contrary, it can be interpreted not as one-time, but as an extended period of accumulation of pastoral experience that occurs at every stage of the ministry and life of a priest.In the paper, we provide a primary description of the main developmental crises and stages in the ministry and life of a priest: the acceptance of the priesthood, pastoral development, an active priest, a mature priest, an experienced priest, aging and leaving”. Each stage corresponds to the corresponding group of steps of the "Ladder" by St. John Climacus. Situations in which the crisis component of the passagts appears, and various types of reaction to them are analyzed.Criticism of the psychological understanding of the ministry and life of a priest is offered. Including criticized the concept of "pastoral burnout".

Христианские монастыри Востока VI-VII вв. в «священном пространстве» Лествицы Иоанна Синайского

The article studies the translation of The Ladder of Divine Ascent by John Climacus with the aim to name historical evidence and facts about the life in Eastern monasticism of the 6th-7th centuries, described in this work of literature. The author uses the term “sacred space” to define the residences of Egyptian monks described by John Climacus. In total, The Ladder names four Christian monasteries (St. Catherine’s Monastery of Sinai, the Raifa Monastery, the Lavra of St. Savva the Sanctified, and the Tavennisi Monastery), Scetis, five places of monastic seclusion near St. Catherine’s Monastery of Sinai (Fola, Siddin, Arsilaia, and two unnamed places: the residence of St. Stephen on Mount Sinai and the residence of Isychii on Mount Khoriv). The names of three monasteries included in the “sacred space” are not given, though The Ladder contains vivid pictures of the life there. These are: 1) a monastery in Asia, where St. Acacius of Sinai lived; 2) a monastery in Pontus, where St. John the Silent lived; 3) a monastery near Alexandria, which plays the key role in the “sacred space” of The Ladder. This monastery owned a lavra and a metochion, used a prison. The name of the hegumen of this monastery is also unknown, though The Ladder presents him as an ideal collective vision of a senior priest: a sheperd, father, teacher, judge, doctor, helmsman, and artist. The symbolic key to understanding The Ladder is the Parable about the Good Shepherd and the Mercenary. The traits of a “good shepherd” The Ladder are epitomized by an anonymous hegumen of an anonymous monastery. Concealing the name of the hegumen, John Climacus names the monks who lived in this monastery (Isidore, Lawrence, Avvakir, Macedonian, Mina). In total, there were 330 monks, besides those were in the lavra or metochion. John Climacus privides a vibrant description of the life in this monastery, which he observed for two month, paying special attention to the description of the monastery prison. The monks voluntarily doom themselves to suffering in the prison, with their torments making the deepest impression on the medieval reader. These images can be found in various types of fine arts, in Byzantine hymnography and in other literary monuments, for example, in the “Testament” of the Kiev Metropolitan Constantine I, who ordered not to bury his body after death, but to drag it out to the wasteland and leave it to be torn apart by the street dogs. The question remains why the name of a huge monastery near Alexandria, whose hegumen enjoyed undoubted spiritual authority, has not been mentioned in The Ladder. Probably, the monastery was the spiritual center of Monothelitism, so that it was cursed and deleted from all sources, including The Ladder. The author declares no conflicts of interests.

The Concept of “Meekness” in “The Ladder” of John Climacus

The Concept of “Meekness” in “The Ladder” of John Climacus

Old Testament Names in the Text of the Ladder of John Climacus

The paper explores twenty-one Old Testament names found in the text of the translated monument of early Slavic writing, the Ladder of John Climacus. These personal names are a special kind of biblical quotations referring to the events of the Holy History. The study builds on a comparative analysis of the Greek text of the Ladder according to the publication in Patrologia Graeca (Vol. 88) and the text of the oldest Russian manuscript of the 12th century. The author looks to identify various strategies of delivering biblical citations used by the author, translator and scribe of the book, which is explained by the absence of the canonical text of the Holy Scriptures and the long history of existence of the Ladder in Byzantine and Slavic book literature. The article follows research on the collective church memory of medieval scribes which manifests itself in the commonality of topics, images, plots, ideas, and expressions that go back to the text of the Bible. The novelty of the work lies in incorporating new linguistic material extracted both from the text published in Patrologia Graeca and from the texts of unpublished Byzantine and Slavic codes. Personal names found in the Greek text of the Ladder (Jacob, Moses, David, Job, Lot, Adam) allude to key symbolic images and reveal several functions of the Old Testament anthroponyms in the Ladder texts: referential, symbolic, emphatic and indexical. Observations on the text of the translation evidenced to the high skill and erudition of the author of the first Slavic translation but at the same time revealed a translation error (new Adam), which was obviously caused by illegible or incorrect reading in the Greek version used as a source text for the translation. Contrastingly, the Russian manuscript under study showcases spelling inconsistencies in relation to Old Testament names as well as multiple errors and omissions of the names of characters. These are the result of multiple copies of the book made by inattentive and inexperienced scribes, one of whom was the scribe of the oldest surviving manuscript of the Ladder, created two centuries after the first translation appeared.

The Naming of Food and Drink in the Ladder of John Climacus

The article is devoted to the analysis of the names of food and drink in the Ladder of John Climacus. The material for analysis is the published text of the work (Patrologia Graeca, vol. LXXXVIII) and three unpublished ancient Greek manuscripts of the Ladder. In total, 21 words were found in the work, included in the lexical-semantic group “Food”, and 6 words included in the lexical-semantic group “Drink”. In many cases, lexemes are used in pairs (salt and oil, milk and honey, bread and water, bread and mustard). This use is obviously due to the biblical tradition, on the basis of which the author of the Ladder built his book. For the general designation of food, nouns such as βρῶμα, τροφή, τρυφή, βρῶσις, ἔδεσμα, ἑστίασις, ὄψον, τράπεζα, ἐδώδιμον are used. In a collective sense, the lexemes καρπός and ὀπώρα are used to designate fruits. For the names of vegetables (herbs) in the Ladder, lexemes such as πικρίς and λάχανον are used. Of the specific types of food in the Ladder, there are names of baked goods (ἄρτος ‘bread’ and ἄζυμον ‘unleavened bread’), grapes (βότρυς and ῥάγας), spices (ἔλαιον ‘olive oil’ and ἅλας ‘salt’), honey (μέλι) and cheese (τυρός). To designate drink, in general, in the Ladder there are the lexemes πόμα, νάμα and ποτόν. Specific drinks are called ὕδωρ ‘water’, οἶνος ‘wine’ and γάλα ‘milk’. In the lexical-semantic groups “Food” and “Drink” hyperonyms clearly prevail over hyponyms. The small amount of specific vocabulary is explained by the fact that for a monk, as he moves up the ladder of virtues, it is less and less important what food he consumes. Monks who have reached the highest degrees of spiritual life (ἰσάγγελοι, equal to the angels) no longer feel the taste of food and forget to take it; for them the most important thing is spiritual food. In the lexico-semantic groups “Food” and “Drink” in the Ladder, as in the texts of the Holy Scriptures, direct (physical) and figurative (spiritual) meanings are masterfully connected. Almost all examples of the use of these words can be viewed both in the direct and in the symbolic sense. In the highest metaphorical meaning, all lexemes included in the thematic field “Nutrition” represent a symbol of participation in God’s salvation in Christ.

ALTERITY, RECOGNITION AND THE DIALOGICAL PRINCIPLE

The author presents the dialogical principle I am constituted through Thou as a tool to understand the double edge concept of identity, as sketched by Zygmunt Bauman whom he considers an enlightened sceptic. He pays special attention to the concept of recognition or acknowledgment, as a meeting point of the universal and the unique, for the building of relational and dynamic identities in post-modern societies. Contemporary authors such as Kierkegaard and Rosenzweig, or Church Fathers such as Saint Augustine and St John Climacus, and other traditions, consider the I and Thou relationship as the fundamental standpoint for man’s existence; as such, we may follow their ideas as a reference for intercultural and interreligious dialogue in a globalized world.

Michael Psellos’ Theologica I.30 and the Byzantine Interpretations of Scala Paradisi XXVII/2.13

"The article examines the exegesis of Michael Psellos on the most mysterious of the “difficult places” of the Ladder by John of Sinai — Step XXVІІ/2.13. This interpretation is one of the so-called Theologica treatises (Theol. I.30). It differs significantly from the rest of the Byzantine explanations of this “difficult place”. Michael Psellos decisively rejects the Christological interpretation of the “vision” and the questions of St. John. He also develops the doctrine of the accessibility to a human in present life of the vision of God in “symbols” and “forms” only. Higher contemplations are linked to the degree of detachment of the soul from the body. Unlike Michael Psellos, other interpreters, firstly, pay more attention to the context in which the chapter of the Ladder in question is located, secondly, they mostly prefer a Christological interpretation of St. John’s questions to the unknown interlocutor, thirdly, they ask themselves who this interlocutor was, an angel or Christ Himself. One of the anonymous Byzantine commentaries convincingly defends the point of view according to which John Climacus talked with Christ. This paper analyses all the extensive interpretations of the difficult passage, and on the basis of the handwritten tradition, draws the conclusion that the exegesis of Michael Psellos had much circulation in Byzantium along with other conceptions of the mysterious chapter. In addition, there has been noted the reception of Psellos’s interpretation in the first Slavic edition of the Ladder in 1647. Appendices I and II contain the edition of the Greek text of an anonymous Scholium and a fragment from the commentary by Elias of Crete respectively. Keywords: Michael Psellos, Theologica, John Climacus, Ladder of Divine Ascent, Photius of Constantinople, Elias of Crete, byzantine commentaries, Church Slavonic translation. "

Le discours Ad pastorem de Jean Climaque et son Commentaire par Nicéphore Calliste Xanthopoulos : une édition critique de la partie finale

The present paper traces firstly the history of the rich manuscript tradition of the discourse To the shepherd (Πρὸς τὸν ποιμένα), the last piece of the Ladder (Κλίμαξ), an ascetic book composed in the 7th century by Saint John of Sinai (also known as John Climacus). The reception of this discourse is also studied through its Commentary (Ἐξήγησις) written by Nikephoros Kallistos Xanthopoulos in the 14th century. Secondly, this article provides an edition of the final part of the text To the shepherd commented by Nikephoros which is a metaphorical praise of the perfection of the hegumen, monastic leader and guide of monks. The edition is based on the unique witness of the Nikephoros’ exegesis (the end of the codex Chig. gr. 38) ; the lemmas of John Climacus’ text included in the Commentary, are edited taking into account the abundant direct tradition of the Ladder in order to identify a manuscript model possibly used by the exegete.

Kyiv Manuscripts of “The Ladder” of John Climacus

Kyiv Manuscripts of “The Ladder” of John Climacus

'The Silent Tone of the Eternal': Søren Kierkegaard and John Climacus on Silence

'The Silent Tone of the Eternal':Søren Kierkegaard and John Climacus on Silence1 Christopher D. L. Johnson (bio) As historian Diarmaid MacCulloch has pointed out in his history of Christian silence, "every silence is different and distinctive… Silence is always contextual."2 While this is undoubtedly true, one should also add that some silences sound more alike than others. Nineteenth-century Danish philosopher and theologian Søren Aabye Kierkegaard is far removed from the world and thought of the seventh-century Abbot John Climacus or John of Sinai.3 Yet, despite the many differences in their circumstances and viewpoints, silence has a central role in the writings of both of these authors.4 Taking as a starting point their common preoccupation with silence as well as Kierkegaard's cryptic use of John Climacus' name in two of his pseudonyms, this article puts these authors into a "dialogue of silence" to determine what their silences have in common and what they can learn from each other. I argue that both authors affirm the necessity of positive silence as both the beginning and goal of religious life and a learned practice that can be distinguished from potentially harmful forms of silence, that it is linked to the nature of self and God, and leads to inner knowledge and unitive experience with God. The authors speak a common "language of silence" which is inherited from the ongoing conversation on contemplative silence in Christianity, but their respective emphases reveal two distinct accents: they differ in their advice on how to acquire silence, how closely one can approach divine silence, whether one can look to others for guidance, and the nature and role of asceticism in cultivating silence. The article does not claim to discover a secret sympathy unique to Climacus and Kierkegaard but views the authors as important representatives of Christian silence whose "dialects" of silence are both distinctive and consonant. Their distinctiveness helps to mutually illuminate their thought and their consonance can help contribute to a general understanding of what unites various forms of Christian silence into a single harmonious chord. The theme of silence is so persistent throughout Kierkegaard's corpus that it has led some to suggest that "Kierkegaard remains obsessed with notions of silence (tavshed) and quiet or stillness (stilhed) throughout his writings"5 and "the fundamental tone sounded throughout the authorship is communication of silence."6 The origins of Kierkegaard's emphasis on silence have been traced [End Page 199] to several sources, including Madame Guyon's Quietism as filtered through the writings of Fénelon,7 Gehard Tersteegen's Neo-Platonism,8 Thomas à Kempis,9 and Romantic authors like Johann Gottlieb Fichte and Johann Wolfgang von Goethe.10 It is likely that earlier Christian mystics also had direct and indirect influences on Kierkegaard but this topic has so far been left mostly unexplored. In general, Kierkegaard's earlier pseudonymous works deal with the demonic or ambiguous nature of silence and the necessity of indirect communication, while his later signed writings explore positive religious silence. A comparison of Kierkegaard's early writings on silence with early monastic authors such as Climacus would be a worthwhile endeavor but the primary focus in the present article will be on Kierkegaard's later writings on positive religious silence. There are many features of Kierkegaard's views of silence. This article will highlight four themes: 1) the various stages of silence; 2) silence as divine ground of self; 3) silence as necessary for confession; and 4) silence as receptivity. First, Kierkegaard's conception of silence is multiform. There are a number of "varieties of silence," each corresponding to a different stage in life.11 The framework of these stages is laid out in his 1845 work Stages on Life's Way.12 Kierkegaard describes three stages of life: aesthetic, ethical, and religious, each of which corresponds to its own form of silence and has its own norms (stages that also roughly correspond to the stages of Kierkegaard's own writing).13 In his early and middle works, Kierkegaard considers silence mostly as an aesthetic and ethical problem, while his later writing deals extensively with the possibility and necessity of religious silence...

About the Medieval Slavic Translations of John Climacus’ Ladder and their Names in the Scholarly Literature

About the Medieval Slavic Translations of John Climacus’ Ladder and their Names in the Scholarly Literature