Letter 499
Isidore of Pelusium→Unknown|isidore pelusium
From: Isidore of Pelusium, monk at Pelusium
To: Isidoros the Deacon
Date: ~410 AD
Context: Isidore on how Christians ought to handle disputes with one another — specifically the problem of taking internal disputes to secular courts, which Paul had already condemned.
The apostle Paul addressed this clearly, Isidoros: Christians who drag their disputes before pagan courts have already lost something more important than whatever they are fighting about. They have announced, publicly, that they do not trust the community of faith to resolve its own conflicts — and by this announcement they have done more damage to that community than any particular dispute ever could.
This does not mean that internal disputes should be suppressed or ignored. They should be addressed — carefully, honestly, with people of genuine wisdom and recognized standing as mediators. What it means is that the community has the resources to handle its own conflicts, and that using those resources is itself an act of faith.
Help such conflicts find their proper resolution, Isidoros. Your role as deacon puts you in a position to facilitate exactly this kind of work.
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From: Isidore of Pelusium, monk at Pelusium
To: Isidoros the Deacon
Date: ~410 AD
Context: Isidore on how Christians ought to handle disputes with one another — specifically the problem of taking internal disputes to secular courts, which Paul had already condemned.
The apostle Paul addressed this clearly, Isidoros: Christians who drag their disputes before pagan courts have already lost something more important than whatever they are fighting about. They have announced, publicly, that they do not trust the community of faith to resolve its own conflicts — and by this announcement they have done more damage to that community than any particular dispute ever could.
This does not mean that internal disputes should be suppressed or ignored. They should be addressed — carefully, honestly, with people of genuine wisdom and recognized standing as mediators. What it means is that the community has the resources to handle its own conflicts, and that using those resources is itself an act of faith.
Help such conflicts find their proper resolution, Isidoros. Your role as deacon puts you in a position to facilitate exactly this kind of work.
Modern English rendering for readability. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek for scholarly use.