Letter 1536: It is good to do good to friends.

But it is the wickedness of certain individuals that brings discredit upon the Church itself. For what wrong has the Church done, if Zosimus and Maron, as you say, and Eustathius dare what ought not be dared, and glory in things for which they ought rightly to be ashamed, and surpass all who are notorious for wickedness? The Church is the bride of Christ, holy and without blemish; it is her unfaithful ministers who soil her reputation. When a physician kills through negligence, it is not medicine that is blamed but the physician; and when a soldier deserts his post, it is not the army that is shamed but the deserter. So when priests and deacons live scandalously, the fault belongs to them, not to the Church they serve. Let those who are scandalized by the behavior of bad clergy look not at the ministers but at the Master, not at the servants but at the Lord, and they will find in him no cause for offense.

Σ. ΙΣΙΔΩΡΟΥ ΠΗΛΟΥΣΙΩΤΗ Α ἀλλ' ὑπὸ τῆς ἐνίων πονηρίας αὐτὴν κακίζει. Τι γὰρ ἐκείνη ἠδίκησεν, εἰ Ζώσιμος, καὶ Μάρων, ὡς φὴς, καὶ Εὐστάθιος ἀτόλμητα τολμῶντες, σεμνυνόμενοί τε ἐφ' οἷς ἐπαισχύνεσθαι δίκαιον· πάντας τε άποκρύψαντες τοὺς (7) κακίᾳ βεβοημένους, καὶ μηδὲ ἐν τοῖς λαϊκοῖς εἶναι ὀφείλοντες εἰς κλήρον δοκοῦσί τε; Διὰ τὶ δὲ μὴ ἀπὸ τῶν κατορθούντων αὐτὴν ἀνακηρύττεις, ἀλλ᾿ ἀπὸ τῶν πταιόντων διασύρεις; καὶ δοκεῖς εὐπρόσωπον ῥαθυμίαν τεθηρευκέναι τοῦ μὴ δύνασθαι δι' αὐτοὺς τῇ θειοτάτῃ προσελθεῖν φιλοσοφίᾳ ἡ εἰ δὲ οὐ βούλει ἀπὸ τῶν διαλαμπόντων τὴν ψῆφον ἐνεργεῖν, αὐτὸ τὸ πρᾶγμα καθ' ἑαυτὸ βασάνισον· καὶ ὄψει αὐτὸ τοσούτων ἐπαίνων άξιον, ὡς καὶ τοὺς λίαν ρητορικωτάτους ἀπαγορεῦσαι, εἰ δεήσειεν αὐτοῦ ἐγκώμιον ὑφῆναι. Μείζον γάρ ἐστιν, B ἢ ὡς ἂν λόγῳ τις εἴποι. Εἰ δὲ μήτε αὐτὸ (8) ἐξετάσειας, μήτε ἐκ τῶν εὐδοκίμων αὐτῷ ψηφίσμιο, ἀλλ' ἐκ τῶν πταιόντων κακίσαι τολμήσειας, οὔτε δίκαια ποιήσειας, οὔτε εἰκότα. Εἰ δὲ ἐκεῖνο ἀποδεχόμενος, ἀγανακτοίης κατὰ τῶν οὐ δεόντως αὐτῷ χρωμένων, εὐγνώμονος καὶ φρονίμου ἀνδρὸς ἀποίσεις δόξαν, τῷ μὴ τὰ τῶν πταιόντων πλημμελήματα εἰς πρᾶγμα τρέπειν θεῖον καὶ δίκαιον, καὶ ἐκδικήσεως τυχεῖν διὰ τὴν τῶν παρανόμως αὐτὸ μετιόντων παράνοιαν.