Letter 213: Secular power and spiritual authority are different things and must not be confused.
Suffering is not the opposite of blessing but often its instrument. The gold must pass through the fire to be purified, the grape must be crushed to yield wine, and the grain must be ground to become bread. So too the soul must endure the press of affliction to produce the wine of virtue and the bread of character.
AI-assisted translation — This translation was produced with AI assistance and has not been peer-reviewed.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
ΣΙΓ΄. – ΙΣΚΥΡΙΩΝΙ.
Εἰς τὸ εἰρημένον ·· Ἐὰν μὴ περισσεύσῃ ἡ δικαιο-
σύνη ὑμῶν πλέον τῶν Γραμματέων· · καὶ ὅτι
τοῦτο οὐκ ἐναντιοῦται τῷ, « Οὐαὶ ὑμῖν, Γραμ-
ματεῖς.»
Ἐπειδὴ ἴσως ἐναντιολογίαν τινὰ ἐνόμισας (78)
κεῖσθαι ἐν τοῖς ἱεροῖς Εὐαγγελίοις, γέγραφας, εἰ-
ρηκέναι τὸν Σωτῆρα, τοῖς μὲν Φαρισαίοις ὡς ἑρή-
μοις ἀρετῆς· « Οὐαὶ ὑμῖν, Γραμματεῖς, καὶ Φαρι-
σαῖοι, ὑποκριταί · · τοῖς δ᾽ ἀποστόλοις, « Ἐὰν μὴ
περισσεύσῃ ὑμῶν ἡ δικαιοσύνη πλέον τῶν Γραμμα-
τέων καὶ Φαρισαίων, οὐ μὴ εἰσέλθητε εἰς τὴν
βασιλείαν τῶν οὐρανῶν. » Αντεπιστέλλω, ὅτε νοεῖν
χρὴ, πλέον, εἰρῆσθαι, τῆς δικαιοσύνης ἧς εἰκὸς,
μᾶλλον δὲ ἐχρῆν ἐκείνους ἔχειν. Οὐ γὰρ οἱ τῶν ταλα-
νιζομένων καὶ καταθρηνουμένων πλέοντες (79),
βασιλεῦσαι δίκαιοι ἂν εἶεν· ἀλλ᾽ οἱ τοὺς κατὰ νόμον
εὐδοκίμους ἐκ πολλοῦ τοῦ περιόντος ὑπερβαίνοντες,
καὶ οὐρανῷ πρέπουσαν πολιτείαν πολιτευσάμε-
νοι (80).
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