Letter 135: You have reminded me of the ancient story -- how the king of Syria, knowing the merciful reputation of the kings of...

To Bishop Romulus, You have reminded me of the ancient story -- how the king of Syria, knowing the merciful reputation of the kings of Israel, assumed the posture of a suppliant and did not fail to obtain his petition [1 Kings 20:31-34]. But remember, my lord, the divine wrath that followed: God delivered Ahab to utter destruction for showing mercy in the wrong place, and pronounced His sentence through the prophet: "Your life shall go for his life, and your people for his people" [1 Kings 20:42]. We are commanded to temper mercy with justice, because not every kind of mercy is pleasing to the God of all. The present crisis especially demands prudent counsel, for we are contending on behalf of the divine doctrines in which we place our hope of salvation. And here we see the vast differences between people. Some are genuinely infected with the common impiety. Others advance first one doctrine, then its opposite, shifting without principle. Some who know the truth conceal it in the secret chambers of their hearts while publicly preaching heresy with everyone else. Still others, filled with private malice, have seized on the controversy as an excuse to wage war against the truth and heap every kind of mischief on its defenders. Then there are those who embrace the truth of apostolic teaching but are too afraid of the dominant party to proclaim it. They weep over our misfortunes but nevertheless side with the very people who set the mighty waves rolling. It is in this last category that I place your reverence. I believe you are sound in doctrine and that you still have affection for me, and that you go along with the times for no other reason than cowardice. This is why, although I am not writing to any of the others, I write to your holiness and welcome your reply. I see where you stand, and to some extent I pardon your timidity. But the loving Lord has now removed all grounds for cowardice. He has exposed the fraudulent heresy and revealed the plain truth of the Gospels. I have heard that the man who shares your holiness's roof, when he learned that anathemas had been published in the great cities, stopped imitating the crooked walk of crabs and, after debating doctrines in a certain assembly, began walking in the straight road at last. We must never tailor our words to the season. We must always preserve the unbending rule of truth.

Letter 135