Letter 41: What the Apostle did to the sorcerer does not contradict the divine law that commands us to love our enemies — far...
If we briefly champion the truth, I believe we shall receive a better reward. For the swarm of evils will immediately be revealed, and those who embrace wickedness will be exposed. Let us not, then, trade eternal goods for fleeting ones, nor barter the approval of God for the applause of men.
AI-assisted translation — This translation was produced with AI assistance and has not been peer-reviewed.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
Ε΄. ΚΑΣΣΑΝΔΡΩ ΕΥΤΡΑΠΕΛΙΩ.
Έδει τῶν τὸ χεῖρον ἢ ἀγαθόν ὅσον ἂν ᾖ τοῦτο
ΡΗΓ΄. – ΘΕΟΔΩΡΟ.
ἔρας ἐξήρπασε, μᾶλλον δὲ τὴν ἁμαρτίαν καὶ τὸν θάνατον ἐσταύρωσε;
ΜΑ΄. – ΤΩ ΑΥΤΩ
Εἰ τῆς ἀληθείας εἰ καὶ δι᾿ ὀλίγων ἀντιποιησαίμεθα, ἀμείνονα οἶμαι ἀποληψόμεθα ἀμοιβήν. Αὐτίκα γὰρ φανερὸν ἔσται τὸ σμῆνος τῶν κακῶν διασκορπιζόμενον ἅπαν εἰς τὸ ἱκανὸν τῆς ἀρετῆς καταληφθέντος.
ΑΘ΄. – ΙΣΙΔΩΡΟ ΔΙΑΚΟΝΟ.
Multiplices tentationum fructus.
Πολλοὶ δόξαντές ἀνδρεῖοι εἶναι καὶ γενναῖοι οὐδὲ
τὴν προσβολὴν καὶ τὸν ἀκροβολισμὸν τῶν πειρασμῶν
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ΡΝΗ΄. – ΑΘΑΝΑΣΙΩ ΕΠΙΣΚΟΠΩ
Θαυμάζειν χρὴ, πῶς τινες διὰ τὴν ἀμέλειαν, ἑτέρους λυμαίνεσθαι τολμῶσιν.
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1. I thank you that, instead of a mere formal salutation, you wrote me a letter, though it was much shorter than I would desire to have from you; since nothing that comes from you is tedious, however much time it may demand. Wherefore, although I am beset with great anxieties about the affairs of others, and that, too, in regard to secular matte...