Letter 763

Nilus of AncyraBerimus|c. 415 AD|nilus ancyra|From Ancyra|AI-assisted

To Berimus the Protos [proteuon, a leading citizen / chief civic magistrate].

Even if, as you say, you are without confidence [parrhesia, the boldness of free access to God] and unclean, do not cast yourself into despair; for you have confidence in the blood of Jesus Christ the Son of God. For he himself accepted death on behalf of impious, and unclean, and unconfident men. And he himself promises in the prophet Isaiah, saying: And it shall come to pass in that day, when the good Lord is also willing to be well pleased, that, as you make confession with tears, you shall find rest from the pain of your transgressions and from the harsh slavery in which you were enslaved to the demons through shameful conduct. And again he says: The dead shall rise -- not only bodily then, in the universal resurrection of the dead, but also now, already from this present moment, those shall be raised up spiritually who lie wickedly idle upon the earth, entombed in various base deeds. For having received the firstfruits of the Holy Spirit, as it is written, let us groan, awaiting adoption as sons, and after baptism the redemption of our body -- that is, the freedom of a body that has been enslaved and worn down by sin. For the creation, he says, shall be set free -- from the slavery and the corruption into the glory of freedom, and incorruption, and everlastingness, and unchangeableness, and joy unspeakable, and the wearing of the crown.

AI-assisted translation - This translation was produced with AI assistance and has not been peer-reviewed. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek below for scholarly use.

Latin / Greek Original

Κἂν, ὡς λέγεις, ἀπαῤῥησίαστος καὶ ἀκάθαρτος ὑπάρχεις, μὴ ῥίψῃς ἑαυτὸν εἰς τὴν ἀνελπιστίαν· ἔχεις γὰρ παῤῥησίαν ἐν τῷ αἵματι Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ τοῦ Υἱοῦ τοῦ Θεοῦ. Αὐτὸς γὰρ ὑπὲρ ἀσεβῶν, καὶ ἀκαθάρτων, καὶ ἀπαῤῥησιάστων ἀνθρώπων θάνατον κατεδέξατο. Καὶ αὐτὸς ἐν τῷ προφήτῃ τῷ Ἠσαΐᾳ κατεπαγγέλλεται λέγων· Καὶ ἔσται ἐν τῇ ἡμέρᾳ ἐκείνῃ, ὅτε καὶ βουληθῇ εὐδοκῆσαι ὁ ἀγαθὸς Κύριος· ἐξομολογουμένου σου μετὰ δακρύων, ἀναπαυθήσῃ ἀπὸ τῆς ὀδύνης τῶν πλημμελημάτων σου καὶ τῆς σκληρᾶς δουλείας, ἧσπερ ἐδούλευσας τοῖς δαιμονίοις διὰ τῆς αἰσχροπραγίας. Καὶ πάλιν φησίν· Ἀναστήσονται οἱ νεκροὶ, οὐ μόνον σωματικῶς τότε ἐν τῇ καθολικῇ τῶν νεκρῶν ἀναστάσει, ἀλλὰ καὶ νῦν ἐντεῦθεν ἤδη νοητῶς ἐγερθήσονται οἱ κακῶς ἡσυχάζοντες ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς, καὶ ἐντυμβούμενοι φαυλότησι ποικίλαις. Τὴν γὰρ ἀπαρχὴν τοῦ Πνεύματος τοῦ ἁγίου λαβόντες, καθὼς γέγραπται, στενάζωμεν υἱοθεσίαν ἀπεκδεχόμενοι, καὶ μετὰ τὸ βάπτισμα τὴν ἀπολύτρωσιν τοῦ σώματος ἡμῶν, δηλονότι ἐλευθερίαν σώματος δουλωθέντος καὶ καταπονηθέντος τῇ ἁμαρτίᾳ. Ἡ γὰρ κτίσις, φησὶν, ἐλευθερωθήσεται.
ἀπὸ τῆς δουλείας καὶ τῆς φθορᾶς εἰς δόξαν τῆς ἐλευθερίας, καὶ ἀφθαρσίας, καὶ ἀϊδιότητος, καὶ ἀτρεψίας, καὶ χαρᾶς ἀνεκλαλήτου, καὶ στεφανηφορίας.

Revision history

  1. 2026-05-27v2.2.34-import

    Initial corpus import from modern nilus ancyra workflow v1.

    Fields: letter text, metadata, source links. Source: project source import

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