Letter 202
Isidore of Pelusium→Unknown|isidore pelusium
From: Isidore of Pelusium, monk at Pelusium
To: Retheus
Date: ~410 AD
Context: Isidore refuses to pass judgment on a man he has never met — insisting on the basic principle of hearing both sides.
I will not pass judgment, and I will not condemn, a man whom I have never heard speak and never met in person. This is not indifference to the matter at hand — it is the basic principle of justice, which has always required that both parties be heard before any verdict is rendered.
You may bring me one account of what happened. Bring me the other account as well, and then let us think together about what actually occurred. Until then, my opinion is suspended.
ΝΟ ἰέπιότο ἀὁ αἰϊο μαἀϊσαπάμηι. Ἐγὼ οὐ χαταψηφιοῦμαι, οὔτε χαταποφανοῦμαι ἀνδρὸς, οὗ μήτε ἀχροατὴς ἐγενόμην, μήτε διχαατής" εἰ δὲ κρινόμενος ἁλοίη, τὸ τηνικαῦτα ἡ κατ᾽ αὐτοῦ ἐξενεχθήσεται Ψῆφος. ᾿
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From: Isidore of Pelusium, monk at Pelusium
To: Retheus
Date: ~410 AD
Context: Isidore refuses to pass judgment on a man he has never met — insisting on the basic principle of hearing both sides.
I will not pass judgment, and I will not condemn, a man whom I have never heard speak and never met in person. This is not indifference to the matter at hand — it is the basic principle of justice, which has always required that both parties be heard before any verdict is rendered.
You may bring me one account of what happened. Bring me the other account as well, and then let us think together about what actually occurred. Until then, my opinion is suspended.
Modern English rendering for readability. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek for scholarly use.