Letter 456
Isidore of Pelusium→Unknown|isidore pelusium
From: Isidore of Pelusium, monk at Pelusium
To: Arabianus the Bishop
Date: ~410 AD
Context: Isidore sets the bar for episcopal conduct higher than mere blamelessness — the bishop must not merely avoid reproach but actively merit praise.
Do not think you need only to be above reproach, Arabianus. Be filled with praise as well. The first is available to anyone at all; the second belongs to those who have reached the heights of virtue.
A bishop who has merely avoided doing obvious wrong has cleared the minimum. He has not yet done his job. The job is to become the kind of person whose example educates even without words — whose presence in a room changes what the room is about. That is the standard. Aim for that.
Περὶ τοῦ ὁποῖος ἂν ἡ ἄριστος ἱερεύς. Μὴ μόνον μέμψεως χρείττονα οἵου δεῖν εἶναι σαυτὸν, ἀλλὰ χαὶ ἐπαίνων ἔμπλεων" τὸ μὲν γὰρ χαὶ τῶν τυχόντων ἐστὶ, τὸ δὲ τῶν ἄχρων εἰς ἀρετήν. Μ΄. -- ΕΥ̓ΔΑΙΜΟΝῚ ΔΙΆΚΟΝΩ. Περὶ αὐταρκείας. Βδρόγι ΡῈΓΡ δυῃιη)8πὶ ρου] Δη( ) σοπίι : ΠΟίδΙη ᾿μ : ρ υγίηΐ ᾿ΝΟΙ ἐπ , " εἰσ ΟἸ ) , ἃ ( Οἰἶδει)δὶ, 'η ] ΕΥ πη . ὁδιγ η- ) δοζορογίηι. ὕιἋ ἰρίιαν Δ0 οὐ θυ5 [ π8 οχ δ γὶ5 ( δ ἢ ΟρΡ᾿Ο) ἴδς τοΐρδαιν ΠοβοὶΒ.
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From: Isidore of Pelusium, monk at Pelusium
To: Arabianus the Bishop
Date: ~410 AD
Context: Isidore sets the bar for episcopal conduct higher than mere blamelessness — the bishop must not merely avoid reproach but actively merit praise.
Do not think you need only to be above reproach, Arabianus. Be filled with praise as well. The first is available to anyone at all; the second belongs to those who have reached the heights of virtue.
A bishop who has merely avoided doing obvious wrong has cleared the minimum. He has not yet done his job. The job is to become the kind of person whose example educates even without words — whose presence in a room changes what the room is about. That is the standard. Aim for that.
Modern English rendering for readability. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek for scholarly use.