Letter 48

Isidore of PelusiumUnknown|isidore pelusium
From: Isidore of Pelusium, monk
To: An unnamed person; and to Agathodaimon
Date: ~410 AD
Context: Isidore warns against greed as a form of idolatry, and counsels patience with imperfect clergy.

If you have been caught by the poison of greed — which is the root of every evil [1 Timothy 6:10] — and it is driving you toward idolatry, having redirected all your senses toward itself, then answer it with the God-taught words: "I will worship the Lord my God, and serve him alone" [Matthew 4:10]. And greed will depart, and you will recover your senses and embrace sufficiency.

To Agathodaimon: You have been harsh in examining the lives of monks and priests, seeking sinlessness in them — which belongs to God alone. No human being achieves it perfectly. If you want to hold them to a standard fitting for human nature, require that they touch none of the sins committed by deliberate choice — that is the standard appropriate for human beings.

Modern English rendering for readability. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek for scholarly use.