Letter 134: The terrible pirate does not simply launch himself at those sailing this storm-tossed sea.
The word of God is a two-edged sword, cutting in both directions. It wounds the sinner with conviction and heals the penitent with grace. Do not flinch from its edge, for the pain it inflicts is the pain of surgery, not of violence, and its purpose is restoration, not destruction.
AI-assisted translation — This translation was produced with AI assistance and has not been peer-reviewed. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek below for scholarly use.
Latin / Greek Original
ΡΑΔ΄. – ΖΩΣΙΜΟ.
Περὶ ἀναλγησίας.
Εἰ βασιλεία σε οὐ προτρέπεται, οὐδὲ γέεννα πάλιν
δεδίττεται, λανθάνομεν ἀτιθάσσῳ θηρίῳ ἐπάδοντες,
ἐν ἀνθρωπείᾳ μορφῇ, πονηρῷ δαίμονι [πρὸς] πα-
λαίοντες (29).
ΡΑΔ΄. – ΖΩΣΙΜΟ ΠΡΕΣΒΥΤΕΡΩ.
Ἡ πέπαυσε τρυφῶν ἐκ τῶν ἀλλοτρίων συμφορῶν,
κεκοιμημένον διεγείρων καὶ παρακαλῶν τὸ ἀκόλα-
στον, ἢ ταῦτα δρῶν τῷ σεπτῷ θυσιαστηρίῳ μὴ πρόσ-
ιθι. Πολλοὺς γὰρ σκανδαλίζων ἀπελαύνεις τοῦ προσ
ιέναι, μὴ ὑπομένοντας ἰδεῖν τοσαύτην κηλίδα τῷ
ἀμιάντῳ θυσιαστηρίῳ παρεφεδρεύουσαν.
ΡΝΑ΄. – ΘΕΟΔΩΡΩ
Διδάσκειν τοὺς εἰς τὰ ἐπίπονα γυμναζομένους.
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