Isaac the Syrian lived the solitary life in the 7th century. He was born in Qatar and subsequently lived in present day Iraq and Iran. After life as a monk, then briefly as a bishop, he withdrew to live the solitary life. These discourses are primarily for solitaries to consolidate them in the love and mercy of God. Isaac returns frequently in this work to the theme of joy as it relates to repentance and also to inebriation – even as it were, as a participation in divine Nature. In ch.5, he discusses theosis. Discussions of divinization are not that common to his writings. Already Isaac has been able to cross all kinds of boundaries, both geographical and ecclesial. Now with theosis in ch. 5 there is possibility of ongoing discussion in Asian Christianity, especially with India in relation to Advaita. In this volume, the text of Isaac V has also been included because of the light which it sheds on Apocatastasis, of increasing interest in academic and ecclesial circles. Isaac III was originally edited and translated by Sabino Chialà of Bose. A French translation was subsequently done by Andre Louf.

Mary Hansbury received her Ph.D. from Temple University in Philadelphia, specializing in Early Christian Studies in a World Religions context. Her program included Syriac language studies at Princeton University and Hebrew at Hebrew University in Jerusalem. Previously she translated On the Ascetical Life of St. Isaac of Nineveh; John the Solitary on the Soul; and the Letters of John of Dalyatha. She has also translated and edited some of the homilies of Jacob of Serug. She studied in China for a semester and conducted research on the contact between the East Syrian tradition and Buddhism during the Tang dynasty. Presently she returns regularly to do research at SEERI, the Syriac center in Kerala, India. She is trained as an iconographer and in addition to traditional motifs, explores the connection between word and image in Scripture and in the early Syriac tradition.