Letter 56: The Cappadocian who corrupted our citizens is now in the military camp, trying once again to seize power for himself.

He who declared that the axe lies at the root of the trees proclaimed the sharp and swift division of the Gospel, by which every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down, but not uprooted. For the growth of the roots -- that is, the Law -- is left intact, and upon it the new people is grafted. The old is not destroyed but fulfilled; the root remains so that the new branches may draw life from ancient sap.

ΣΤ΄. – ΤΟ ΑΥΤΩ. τὴν ῥίζαν αὐτῶν κεῖσθαι τὴν ἀξίνην ἀποφηνάμενος, τὴν ὀξεῖαν καὶ σύντομον τοῦ Εὐαγγελίου διαίρεσιν, ὑφ᾽ ἧς πᾶν δένδρον μὴ ποιοῦν καρπὸν καλὸν, ἐκ-κόπτεται (62), οὐκ ὀρύσσεται. Ἡ γὰρ φυὴ τῶν ῥιζῶν, ὁ νόμος δηλαδή, καταλείπεται, ἐφ᾽ ἣν ὁ νέος λαὸς ἐγ-κεντρίζεται. Νϛ΄. – ΤΩ ΑΥΤΩ Εἶεν γὰρ καὶ διὰ τῶν ἀλλοτρίων σφαλλόμεθα κακῶς, ἵν᾿ εἰ κατὰ μέλος ἀλλήλοις τὴν διόρθωσιν προσαγάγομεν, τοῦ λόγου προσκυνήσαντες τὰς τοῦ πλησίον ἐγκλίσεις; ΡΟΓ΄. – ΑΝΔΡΟΝΙΚΩ Τὴν ἀπόλειψιν μισεῖν χρὴ, μὴ τὸν ἀπολειπόμενον.