Letter 214

Isidore of PelusiumUnknown|isidore pelusium
From: Isidore of Pelusium, monk at Pelusium
To: Neidus
Date: ~410 AD
Context: Isidore makes the uncomfortable argument that the Church's troubles are not caused by external enemies but by the conduct of its own clergy.

It is a bold claim — but the calamity threatening the Church does not come primarily from external enemies. It comes from within. The bishops and clergy who live in ways that contradict what they teach; who use the authority of their office for personal advantage; who create factions and pursue quarrels rather than the things that actually matter — these are the source of the wound.

External enemies can only harm the Church by working through that wound. Close the wound, and they lose their opening.

This is not comfortable to hear. But the alternative — blaming outsiders while leaving the internal problem unaddressed — guarantees that the problem will only deepen.

Modern English rendering for readability. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek for scholarly use.