Letter 210: The things of this life are fleeting and shadowy.
Isidore of Pelusium→Paul|c. 406 AD|Isidore of Pelusium|AI-assisted
grief death
210. To Christodorus.
Since you have asked to have explained to you by letter the signs of the final distress [of the times], which the Lord revealed for our knowledge, learn quickly the meaning of these things. "Let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains" [Matthew 24:16]: those who are grounded in piety (for this is what "Judea" means by interpretation) - let them look toward the lofty refuge, guarded by their own confession. "And let the one on the housetop not come down to take anything out of his house" [Matthew 24:17]: the one who has despised the present house, and trampled down the whole tent here below, and become exalted in his manner of life, and dismissed the passions that dwell within - let him drag down nothing out of them: not cowardice, not sloth, not vainglory, not the craving for wealth, which things are a descent from the height. "Let the one in the field not turn back to take his cloak" [Matthew 24:18]: the one who has stripped off the old man, and renounced fleshly things, let him wear the new man, who has renewed him into the knowledge of God and cleansed him from the mire. For in these things he will have his safety, free from treachery, against that great affliction.
Since you have asked to have explained to you by letter the signs of the final distress [of the times], which the Lord revealed for our knowledge, learn quickly the meaning of these things. "Let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains" [Matthew 24:16]: those who are grounded in piety (for this is what "Judea" means by interpretation) - let them look toward the lofty refuge, guarded by their own confession. "And let the one on the housetop not come down to take anything out of his house" [Matthew 24:17]: the one who has despised the present house, and trampled down the whole tent here below, and become exalted in his manner of life, and dismissed the passions that dwell within - let him drag down nothing out of them: not cowardice, not sloth, not vainglory, not the craving for wealth, which things are a descent from the height. "Let the one in the field not turn back to take his cloak" [Matthew 24:18]: the one who has stripped off the old man, and renounced fleshly things, let him wear the new man, who has renewed him into the knowledge of God and cleansed him from the mire. For in these things he will have his safety, free from treachery, against that great affliction.
AI-assisted translation - This translation was produced with AI assistance and has not been peer-reviewed. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek below for scholarly use.