Letter 142

From: Isidore of Pelusium, monk at Pelusium To: Retius Date: ~410 AD Context: Isidore on not practicing righteousness for show — a brief note on Matthew 6:1. On "Do not practice your righteousness before others to be seen by them" [Matthew 6:1]. The Lord is not forbidding good deeds done in public — he is forbidding the performance of good deeds for the purpose of being seen. There is a difference between a deed that happens to be witnessed and a deed staged for an audience. The first may be rewarded; the second has already received its reward in the watching eyes.

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