Letter 69: I consider it a sacred duty to trust the divine oracles and follow them diligently, rather than to prefer one's own...

To Paulos. On vainglory, and restraint of the tongue. You do not do well to admire Athens, and the Stoa [the Stoics], and the Peripatos [the Peripatetic school of Aristotle], and Attic fancy, things to which you long ago devoted yourself for the sake of learning idle chatter, you who have been commanded to despise earthly things and to love none of the things here below. If, then, you have been raised together with Christ, set your mind on the things above, where he himself is. For those who see your cheap garment, and a philosophy that attends you in outward appearance alone, but a braggart's frame of mind and an arrogance of the tongue, blaspheme against the most divine religion. The partaking of the divine mysteries is called communion, because it grants to us union with Christ, and makes us partakers of his kingdom.

Περὶ κενοδοξίας, καὶ ἐγκρατείας γλώσσης. Οὐ καλῶς τὰς Ἀθήνας θαυμάζεις, καὶ Στοὰν, καὶ Περίπατον, καὶ Ἀττικὴν φαντασίαν, οἷς διὰ μάθησιν φλυαρίας πάλαι προσεκαρτέρεις, ὃ τὰ γήϊνα περιφρονήσας, καὶ μηδὲν ἀγαπῶν τῶν ἐνταῦθα κεκελευσμένος. Εἰ συνηγέρθης οὖν τῷ Χριστῷ, τὰ ἄνω φρόνει, οὗ ἐστιν αὐτός. Οἱ γὰρ τὴν εὐτελῆ ἐσθῆτά σου ὁρῶντες, καὶ φιλοσοφίαν ἐν μόνῃ σχήματί [σοι] προσοῦσαν, περπερείαν (14) δὲ γνώμης, καὶ γλώσσης ἀλαζονείαν, κατὰ τῆς θειοτάτης θρησκείας βλασφημοῦσι. Κοινωνία κέκληται ἡ τῶν θείων μυστηρίων μετά- ληψις, διὰ τὸ τὴν πρὸς Χριστὸν ἡμῖν χαρίζεσθαι ἕνωσιν, καὶ κοινωνοὺς ἡμᾶς τῆς αὐτοῦ ποιεῖν βασι- λείας.