Letter 98

Theodoret of CyrrhusPancharius|c. 440 AD|theodoret cyrrhus
imperial politics

To Pancharius.

We are distressed to see the tempest assailing the churches, but their Master and Ruler — through mighty billows — continually shows men his own wisdom and power. He rebukes the winds and brings on a calm, as he did in the apostles' boat. So although I am distressed, I know this power of our Savior, and I am aware of what he arranges for our good — and therefore, even when adversity comes, I give thanks and receive it as a gift from his hand. I have learned to set little store by the present, and to wait for the expected blessings.

But it befits your Excellency to defend the apostolic faith with zeal, so that you may receive from the God of all the recompense that such conduct deserves.

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

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