Kephalaia Gnostica of Isaac of Nineveh

The Kephalaia Gnostica of Isaac of Nineveh corresponds to Chapter 3 of Part 2 of his Ascetical Homilies (or Spiritual Discourses). It has 4 centuries (one century has 100 sections each).

Kephalaia Gnostica 1

Section(s)	Content
1-2	The hidden purpose of God’s creation is so that angels and human beings should become inheritors of his Glory in the age to come.
3-9	Different levels of description; different states of awareness; different states
10	The final state
11-12, 17	The three levels of relationship to God, King/Judge (Old Testament), Master of the household (Gospels), and Father (through baptism), and how experienced:
17	Examples (of the above) from the Old Testament
13	Different kinds of light (cf. K3.4-5,40)
14-16	Communicating truth to others
18-19	Lament over our lack of awareness
20	Length of time in prayer is not wasted; likewise with psalmody
21-22	Christ’s role as priest for all eternity
23, 31	Dangers of eating too much
24	The reward of a well-spent vigil
25-27	Two kinds of knowledge, each with a different source (cf. K1.56, K3.47-9 and K4.40-41)
28-29	Contemplation and distraction
30-31	Battling with Satan
32	A definition of purity
33	A definition of impassibility (cf. K3.41)
34	A prayer to be used day and night
35	Blessed is the person who is aware of God’s hidden intention
36	Different types of ministry (pulḥana)
37-40	The spiritual mode of life (dubbara ruḥana)
41	Instructions to the reader
42	Prayer and listlessness
43	An analogy using the image of a mirror
44	A pledge of the Kingdom to come
45	The dangers of ease (cf. K2.79)
46-48	Brief aspects of the solitary life
49	Significance of the two titles of Christ, First-Born and Only-Begotten (cf. K2.65-6)
50-51	Application of some biblical passages
52	The noetic cloud
53	The true penitent
54-55	The aim and practice of psalmody
56-58	Two kinds of knowledge, praxis and theoria (cf. K1.25-6)
59	Two kinds of prayer
6o-61	The relationship of the mind to the senses
62	Contemplation of the world to come
63	Abandoning pure prayer prematurely
64	A definition of faith
65-67	Various pieces of practical advice
68	The different sources of spiritual meaning
69-72	On ascetic labors
73	Dealing with the devil
74-78	Various short definitions
79	The move from fear to love
80	The stirring of hope
81	A short prayer
82	Weeping; the example of Arsenius
83	Two stages on the spiritual path
84	A prayer
85-90	The process of dying-to the body, to the soul, and to the spirit; with interspersed prayers (86, 88, 90; cf. K2.37)
91-92	Union with God
93-95	Different kinds of sacrifice (cf. K3.16)
96-97	Knowledge in prayer
98-100	Different kinds of words in prayer, and the imprint left by them (cf. 2.2)

Kephalaia Gnostica 2

Section(s)	Content
1	Analogy of changes in the weather
2	On the imprints left by words (cf. K1.98-100)
3	The two states, present and future
4-7	The utterances of God at Creation
8	The different objects of contemplation: Old Testament-bodies; New Testament – the body of Christ, and hope of the New World
9	The great expectation for the human race
10-16	On how the reception of light depends on the capacity of the receiver; on times of illumination preceded by times of darkness
17-19	Hope in what is to come; its nature
20-29	On anger and other passions: their workings, and how to deal with them.
23	On humility (cf. K2.34 below)
30	A prayer
31-33	Solitude and its benefits
34	On humility (cf. K2.23 above)
35	On interior stillness
36	Truth is imageless
37	Deadness to the world (cf. K1.85-90)
38	On compassion
39	Against fault-finders
40-44	On the solitary life: the aim is not to seek after virtue, but to become dead to virtue (43); and on different kinds of “labor”
45-50	On dealing with spiritual darkness
51-58	On sanctification and the activity of the Holy Spirit (cf. K3.23-24), with a digression (56), stressing that novices should keep strictly to the specified quantities of psalmody
59-64	On imageless prayer as the aim; opponents of the idea; and the effects of a “divine power” accorded by grace
65-66	The title “First-Born” (cf. K1.49)
67-8	On “the image”
69-72	On angels; how they experience only growth and ascent
73-78	Spiritual revelation; different forms of discernment and experience
79	The dangers of ease (cf. K1.45)
80-83	Practical advice on going to bed, etc.
84	A topic for meditation
85-105	Further advice, both practical and general

Kephalaia Gnostica 3

Section(s)	Content
1, 3, 6	Appellations of God and of rational beings (cf. K4.3-6)
4-5	On light (cf. K1.13, and K3.40 below)
7-8	On virtue (myattruta, also “excellence”)
9-10	Different forms of contemplation
11-14	Different kinds of prayer
15	Need for wariness over the senses and thoughts
16	On the term “sacrificial victim” (cf. K1.93-5)
17, 19	The need for divine assistance
18, 20	The need for humility in order for grace to approach
21-22	Angels as the “first-born” in heaven; on whether or not they are “undeviating”
23-24	On sanctity (cf. K2.51)
25-26	On how Satan fights against the saints by means of women
27-29	31-3 On hope and despair
30	A taste of the Kingdom
33-34	Physical weakness is not an obstacle to the life of solitude
35-36	The righteous and the virtuous
37	On tears
38	On stillness experienced during the office
39-40	On the inheritance of light
41	On impassibility (cf. K1.33)
42-46	On pure prayer
47-49	On two kinds of knowledge (cf. K1.25-6,56-8); contemplation of angels (47-48)
50	Prayer unaccompanied by “beautiful actions” is like an eagle with plucked wings
51	The difference between a pure and a spiritual mentality
52-54	The difference between virtue in body and mind
55-60	Different kinds of revelations
61	The soul of a solitary compared to a spring of water: clear or muddied?
62-64	Purity of heart does not have to be attained before spiritual benefit is perceived; the example of the Israelites entering the Promised Land: this did not take place all at once (64)
65-67	The passions are sweet but their fruit is bitter
68-69	The education provided by God in this world will be exchanged for something else in the New World
70-75	What God has in mind, the true nature of which is concealed from us: pointers to its astonishing nature
74-75	Therefore do not be grieved by death and corruption
76-78	The five faculties of the soul, and which ones remain at death
79-81	On angels; after the coming of Christ angels acquire new knowledge
82-83	What will come about
84-85	During prayer is the most suitable time for revelations
86	A warning to a solitary who reaches great heights but despises psalmody
87	The fall of the Morning Star (Is 14.12; Lk 10.18)
88	How the thought of evil had its beginning in the desire of freedom
89	What being subject to Christ means
90-92	The role of angels; their revelations, and how they make us temples of the Holy Spirit
93-100	The importance of the will behind actions, and of intention

Kephalaia Gnostica 4

Section(s)	Content
1-2	The progress from repentance to purity to luminosity
3-6	Terms used of God; the difference between El Shaddai and Ehyeh asher ehyeh (cf. K3.1,3,6)
7-11	Aspects of the perfection of the intellect, and progress towards it
12-19	On the spiritual mode of being, and some misconceptions
20-24, 26	Various “virtuous acts” that are subject to rejection by God: it is essential for the solitary to accept the negative aspects of the spiritual life, and the dangers of neglecting these
25	The various names applied to “divine working” in the ministry of a solitary
27-30	The passions of the body and of the soul
31	The role of kneeling in bringing about compassion; the danger of neglecting psalmody
32-36	Purity of prayer and purity of heart; prayer and distraction
37-39	What will be judged; various kinds of vexations and “battles”
40-41	Two kinds of knowledge (cf. K1.25-26,56; K3.47-49)
42-48	The three “summits” in the spiritual life, with the progression described, ending with total wonder in prayer
49-55	The need for solitude; the various hindrances and difficulties
56-59	How to deal with the passions
6o-61	The level of the mode of life of the inner person; the priesthood of the intellect
62-63	How to tell at what stage one is
64-68	The stages in prayer
69-70	The relationship between prayer and the office
71	Advice for someone entering monastic life with a strong yearning for God: attach yourself to an elder, who will train you for the solitary life of stillness; keep yourself away from the lax members of the community
72	What books a solitary should read, and what to avoid
73-74	Consolation in prayer: the importance of purity, and of a proper understanding of Christ’s various commandments in the New Testament-they are directed towards different categories of people, and it is not intended that a single person should keep them all
75-76	The principles of a solitary’s mode of life, and the need to recognize what is involved
77	On the wrong kind of zeal
78-81	On God’s ultimate purpose: it is God’s love, not human sin, that is the reason behind the incarnation
82-89	Intimations of the world to come; various objections are met
90	The different interpretations of Scripture to be found in different Headings are not contradicting one another: some are more interior than others
91	Acquiring confidence in prayer
92-95	The stages in the life of a solitary
96-97	On humility
99-100	Doxological conclusion