John Climacus
Abbot of the Monastery of Sinai around the year 600. Climacus (klimakos) means ‘of the Ladder’, after the title of an important spiritual treatise in which he describes the monk’s ascent to God as a ladder of thirty steps, each step being a particular stage of the spiritual life. The work was originally composed in Greek and enjoyed great popularity in the Byzantine tradition. A Syriac translation originated in Melk. circles, but was in the East mostly read in Arabic. In the W.-Syr. tradition this Melk. Syriac version (ktābā d-massqāne) remained virtually unknown until Bar ʿEbroyo (d. 1286) inserted important fragments into his ‘Ethicon’ and the ‘Book of the Dove’.
Sources
- CPG 7850–7853.
- C. Luibheid and N. Russell, John Climacus. The Ladder of Divine Ascent (1982).
- H. Teule, ‘L’Echelle du Paradis de Jean Climaque dans la tradition syriaque: Premières investigations’, ParOr 20 (1995), 279–93.
How to Cite This Entry
Footnote Style Citation with Date:
Herman G. B. Teule , “John Climacus,” in Gorgias Encyclopedic Dictionary of the Syriac Heritage: Electronic Edition, edited by Sebastian P. Brock, Aaron M. Butts, George A. Kiraz and Lucas Van Rompay (Gorgias Press, 2011; online ed. Beth Mardutho, 2018), https://gedsh.bethmardutho.org/John-Climacus.
Bibliography Entry Citation:
Teule, Herman G. B. “John Climacus.” In Gorgias Encyclopedic Dictionary of the Syriac Heritage: Electronic Edition. Edited by Sebastian P. Brock, Aaron M. Butts, George A. Kiraz and Lucas Van Rompay. Digital edition prepared by David Michelson, Ute Possekel, and Daniel L. Schwartz. Gorgias Press, 2011; online ed. Beth Mardutho, 2018. https://gedsh.bethmardutho.org/John-Climacus.
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