Letter 188

Isidore of PelusiumUnknown|isidore pelusium
From: Isidore of Pelusium, monk at Pelusium
To: Theophilus
Date: ~410 AD
Context: Isidore on the proper source of correction — and on a personal encounter he had at dawn that illustrated the point.

Correction that actually corrects must come from those with the authority and standing to give it — from teachers, from fathers, from those whose own lives give them the right to speak. Correction from an equal or a lesser person is received as an insult, regardless of its truth.

A short while ago, while it was still dawn, I had an encounter that illustrated this exactly. Someone who had no business rebuking anyone stood up and made a great show of admonishing his betters. The result was not repentance but resentment. His words were right; his standing was wrong. And standing matters.

Modern English rendering for readability. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek for scholarly use.