Isaac of Syria and Dostoevsky
"Isaac of Syria and Dostoevsky", acrylic on canvas, 2022, Bishop Maxim
St. Isaac the Syrian, a seventhcentury monk who is mentioned by name several times in Karamozov, to whose Ascetical Discourses (which had been recently translated into Slavoinc) Dostoevsky is said to have returned to again and again; and who likely inspired many of the ideas expressed by Dostoevsky’s figure of Zosima. It has often been noted that St. Isaac of Syria had a strong and decisive influence upon Dostoevsky’s thought, especially regarding the relation between God and nature.