Letter 156
Isidore of Pelusium→Unknown|isidore pelusium
From: Isidore of Pelusium, monk at Pelusium
To: Nemesius the Magistrianus
Date: ~410 AD
Context: Isidore addresses three difficult scriptural passages about obedience, spiritual understanding, and the nature of corruption.
On three texts:
First: "All that the Lord has spoken, we will do and we will hear" [Exodus 24:7]. You may find this statement strange coming from people who, as history shows, consistently failed to do either. But notice that the lawgiver did not rebuke them for saying it. The reason: what they promised is actually the correct order of things. We learn by doing. Practice precedes understanding. The man who acts rightly will in time understand why — but the man who demands understanding first and acts later will neither act nor understand.
Second: "The natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God" [1 Corinthians 2:14]. Paul is not condemning human nature as such. He is describing a particular condition — the person who has chosen to live entirely within the horizon of the senses, who has trained himself to receive no signal from above. Such a person genuinely cannot receive what the Spirit offers, not because it isn't offered but because he has closed the organ that would receive it.
Third: "A corrupt tree cannot produce good fruit" [Matthew 7:18]. The corruption here is not original nature but acquired habit. The tree was not made corrupt; it became corrupt. And what became corrupt can become uncorrupt — but only through the radical work the gospel describes.
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ΙΒΘΙΌΟΒΙ ΡΕΓΌΘΒΙΟΤΕ ι{᾿ εἰθοίανιϑ ; ἰάεῖγοο ὑδηα ἀϊείαπι : « ΟἸμηΐδ - Α πράττειν μανθάνομεν, διὰ. τοῦτο εὖ εἰρῆσθαι" « Πάντα. ἐμαυα αἰχίε Ποῦ, δείθπιιδ, οἱ δυϑόπια . » Νδα }}} ᾳιίίδην, ᾳυὶ οἰἴδαι φυδπιρίδῃι γϑι ἀΐβοφηι, ρτο- ".}}} ογάϊιἐθ γαιΐοπθ ργίυβ διι ΐαηιϊ, ἀεϊδά ὁ (δοίμη!ι; } νγὸ οὐ γὶνα ριτθοορὶᾶ ἰω ορυδ δειυπαυθ ρῥτοῦυ-- οδγὸ δίυάεμι, δὺ ρε δοίΐοῃϑ ὠΐβουῃ!, θὲ ἰΔη ΟΓ - ιἰον, φυ δι δειίοιθ εἰ Οραγα δοφηϊἰομθι ραγίοηιϊο. μ οεδ γ Γὰ Υἱγίωι δ εὐ ΡῈ ἱρδᾶπι δχογοϊδιϊοηθιῃ ἐδιυἢυν δά νἱριυίοπι, οἱ ᾳφυοράδηνπιοῦο ἀΐδεἰϊ, Θπὶ οἱ }}|} , εἰ ἀφοθῃ ἰδ δι ΒΟ . ΠΙ, οἱ ηιδχίπια οοηδδγνδηίθιῃ πδίυγα, οἱ αἱ Γ βαπείιδιη. Αιαπα δος φυΐϊάθηι ἀδ γὰ ᾿ιδοίθηιϑ ἀϊχῖθ βυῃήβοϊδὶ. ἩΠω δυίοα : « Νου ροιοϑί ἀΓΌΟΥ Π|} [γυςίι ὈΟηΟΒ [- ἐδγὰ, » ἤθη [Π}} ρορηἰϊοπίϊαπι ; ] γοάλγαι!! οὁπ|- "υογδιϊοιιθ ἰπ οοηβυοιυάΐο νυἱἰοτυιη. 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Κηυϊάδην ος ἰμϑιπὶ αφυοᾳι ᾳφυοὐ ἰυ ἀρουγάυϊη ἀΐεῖ, οἱ δ ερο!υγὶδ οὐ υδάδηι δαρίοη μυ (.. Νιιῃ δὶ ΟὨληΐα [υἰβδθηὶ ΕΔΓ ἃς.
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From: Isidore of Pelusium, monk at Pelusium
To: Nemesius the Magistrianus
Date: ~410 AD
Context: Isidore addresses three difficult scriptural passages about obedience, spiritual understanding, and the nature of corruption.
On three texts:
First: "All that the Lord has spoken, we will do and we will hear" [Exodus 24:7]. You may find this statement strange coming from people who, as history shows, consistently failed to do either. But notice that the lawgiver did not rebuke them for saying it. The reason: what they promised is actually the correct order of things. We learn by doing. Practice precedes understanding. The man who acts rightly will in time understand why — but the man who demands understanding first and acts later will neither act nor understand.
Second: "The natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God" [1 Corinthians 2:14]. Paul is not condemning human nature as such. He is describing a particular condition — the person who has chosen to live entirely within the horizon of the senses, who has trained himself to receive no signal from above. Such a person genuinely cannot receive what the Spirit offers, not because it isn't offered but because he has closed the organ that would receive it.
Third: "A corrupt tree cannot produce good fruit" [Matthew 7:18]. The corruption here is not original nature but acquired habit. The tree was not made corrupt; it became corrupt. And what became corrupt can become uncorrupt — but only through the radical work the gospel describes.
Modern English rendering for readability. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek for scholarly use.