Letter 471
Isidore of Pelusium→Unknown|isidore pelusium
From: Isidore of Pelusium, monk at Pelusium
To: Roigonios the Bishop
Date: ~410 AD
Context: Isidore urges a bishop to administer church affairs with the strict impartiality of a judge — showing no favoritism to those who are powerful or well-connected.
Justice in ecclesiastical administration requires exactly what it requires in civil administration: impartiality. The bishop who resolves disputes in favor of those who are powerful within the congregation, or who are related to him, or who have been generous to the church in ways that create a sense of obligation — that bishop is administering not justice but preference.
This is destructive in a particular way: those who observe it learn that the church's standards are not what they appear to be. That the fine words about equity and truth are for public occasions, while the actual decisions follow the usual human calculations of advantage. This destroys more than the particular case. It destroys trust.
Be what you say you are, Roigonios. Decide as if you will be asked to account for each decision. You will be.
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From: Isidore of Pelusium, monk at Pelusium
To: Roigonios the Bishop
Date: ~410 AD
Context: Isidore urges a bishop to administer church affairs with the strict impartiality of a judge — showing no favoritism to those who are powerful or well-connected.
Justice in ecclesiastical administration requires exactly what it requires in civil administration: impartiality. The bishop who resolves disputes in favor of those who are powerful within the congregation, or who are related to him, or who have been generous to the church in ways that create a sense of obligation — that bishop is administering not justice but preference.
This is destructive in a particular way: those who observe it learn that the church's standards are not what they appear to be. That the fine words about equity and truth are for public occasions, while the actual decisions follow the usual human calculations of advantage. This destroys more than the particular case. It destroys trust.
Be what you say you are, Roigonios. Decide as if you will be asked to account for each decision. You will be.
Modern English rendering for readability. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek for scholarly use.