Letter 454
Isidore of Pelusium→Unknown|isidore pelusium
From: Isidore of Pelusium, monk at Pelusium
To: Bishop Perapos
Date: ~410 AD
Context: Isidore reflects on the nature of episcopal authority — it is a form of service, not dominion, and the bishop who mistakes command for caregiving has misunderstood his calling.
Two things are generally confused by those who hold authority: the power to command and the obligation to care. These are not the same, and the confusion between them does damage.
The bishop who rules as a ruler — who measures his success by his command of the situation rather than by the flourishing of those entrusted to him — has taken on the form of the office without its substance. He has the chair but not the shepherd's rod, which is a tool for guiding, not for striking.
You have been placed above others not because you are better than they are in the way that a king is better than a subject, but because you are responsible for them in the way that a father is responsible for children. Remember this when the temptation to command rather than serve becomes strong.
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From: Isidore of Pelusium, monk at Pelusium
To: Bishop Perapos
Date: ~410 AD
Context: Isidore reflects on the nature of episcopal authority — it is a form of service, not dominion, and the bishop who mistakes command for caregiving has misunderstood his calling.
Two things are generally confused by those who hold authority: the power to command and the obligation to care. These are not the same, and the confusion between them does damage.
The bishop who rules as a ruler — who measures his success by his command of the situation rather than by the flourishing of those entrusted to him — has taken on the form of the office without its substance. He has the chair but not the shepherd's rod, which is a tool for guiding, not for striking.
You have been placed above others not because you are better than they are in the way that a king is better than a subject, but because you are responsible for them in the way that a father is responsible for children. Remember this when the temptation to command rather than serve becomes strong.
Modern English rendering for readability. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek for scholarly use.