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Project

De tekst en parateksten in het Boek van de Ladder van Johannes van Sinaï: constructie van het ladderbeeld en handschriftelijke traditie The text and paratexts in the Book of the Ladder by John of Sinaï: construction of the ladder and manuscript tradition

The study on the ladder as the way to perfection are based on the pagan and Christian texts between the 3rd and the 7th century AD, especially on the ascetic treatise named the Ladder of Divine Ascent, composed by John Cimacus.

It would be necessary to compare the gradation of the virtues of the Neoplatonists with the patristic exegesis of Jacob's vision of the ladder; to show the complexity of spiritual progression (three dimensions: vertical, horizontal and cosmological) in Christian ascetic conceptions and practices; to highlight the specificity of the book of the Ladder and its place in the Syriac and Byzantine ascetic literature.
Research on the notion of klimax focuses on the book of the Ladder of John Sinai: 1) the mentions of klimax and spiritual progression in John's discourses; 2) the notions of klimax and ascension in the titles given to the book; 3) conclusive sentences, including the final epilogue, which organize the structure of the book presented as the Scala made of thirty degrees; 4) the retrograde table: inverted index, the path to the acquisition of virtues; 5) poems appearing in the codices of the Ladder which evoke different aspects of the klimax; 6) schema of virtues and vices; 7) The Pastor's Discourse: Ultimate step? how to integrate this discourse in the organization of the Scala?

Date:23 Mar 2018 →  23 Mar 2022
Keywords:Climacus, Ladder, Step, Asceticism
Disciplines:Language studies, Literary studies
Project type:PhD project