Letter 240: Those who labor sincerely at both sacred and secular learning will find that they illuminate each other.
Those who labor sincerely at both sacred and secular learning will find that they illuminate each other. The sacred gives the secular its proper orientation, directing knowledge toward its highest purpose; the secular gives the sacred its practical application, translating heavenly wisdom into earthly action. Neither alone is sufficient; together they form the complete education of the Christian mind.
AI-assisted translation — This translation was produced with AI assistance and has not been peer-reviewed.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
αυ! γϑροϊρίλίυν. Οἱ νγὸ οἱ η}}}} βοῖγὰ δἱ ἀοοθΓα ΡΓΟ- [ ὲ ἰῃδοὶᾳ ἰΔΌΟΓΙΠ, π΄υ ἀΐδοῦγα ΘΟΠ Π) ροίοτῖ!, αυοὰ Ιοουηὶ ποθὴ ργαθθαὶ, υἱ δείΓα Υἱάοτὶ ιιραί. ΟΡΠΧΎΙΙ, --- ΒΕΆΕΝΟ ἸἸΑΘΟΟΝΟ. διρεγὺὶ εἰ οἰαιὶ ἀερτὶπιοπάϊ. Εἰ ὧν ἡμφιτθήτησας μὴ τυχὼν, ἀλλὰ λαμπρῶς ἡττηθεὶς, νῦν χάριν δοχεῖς αἰτεῖν, δῆλος εἶ τῷ τῆς χάριτος ὀνόματι λῦσαι τὰ χριθέντα πειρώμενος. Εἰ δὲ λέγοις καὶ παρὰ τοῦ διχάσαντος ἠδικῆσθαι (τὸ μὲν ὡς διχαίως ἡττηθεὶς, ἐάσω λέγειν), τὸ δὲ, ὡς χέχριται, λέξω. Οὐδὲ γὰρ ἂν οὐδ᾽ οὕτω κεχριμένον ἣν, τοῦ δικχάσαντος ἀδεχάστου τυγχάνοντος, εἰ μὴ τὸ διχαίως προσῆν. Πλὴν ἀλλὰ χαὶ μετὰ τὸ νιχῆσαι τὴν χάριν δίδωμι, ὅς γε οὐδ᾽ ἂν ἐξ ἀρχῆς ἡγωνισά» μην, εἴγε χαταγνοὺς σαυτοῦ συγγνώμην ἤτησας. Χρὴ γὰρ τὸ φρόνημα τῶν σφαλλομένων μὲν, μὴ οἰομένων δὲ ἐσφάλθαι, καθαιρεῖν" γνωσιμαχοῦσι δὲ συγγνώμην νέμειν.
Related Letters
I have already written to you on the matter of images, and yet I find I must write again.
Your deacon has property that belongs rightfully to the church of Fermo.
Against Some Envious Assailants of Martin.
Virtue must be practiced with all one's strength — not merely admired from a distance.
Theophilus writes to Epiphanius to convoke a council in Cyprus for the condemnation of Origenism and asks him to transmit to Constantinople by a trustworthy messenger a copy of its decrees together with the synodical letter of Theophilus himself. His anxiety about this last point is caused by the news that certain of the excommunicated monks hav...