Who he was
- Born at Alexandria and commonly believed to have been an abbot of a mountain monastery near Pelusium in Egypt. St. Severus of Antioch calls him “a priest, correct in faith, full of divine wisdom and biblical knowledge.”
- His letters prove that he led a monastic life and enjoyed a great reputation among the ascetics so that he might be called a father of the monks, but hardly a head of a cenobium.
- He defends the ecclesiastical Christology against the different heresies on many occasions. St. Isidore maintains first of all the divinity of Christ against the Arians and refutes them by a careful, literal interpretation of Holy Scripture. Also he defends the true humanity of Christ against the Manichaeans. He rejects a mixture as well as a separation of the two natures in Christ.
- Abba Isidore said, “To live without speaking is better than to speak without living. For the former who lives rightly does good even by his silence but the latter does no good even when he speaks.”
What he wrote
1. Letters
- St. Isidore’s correspondence reveals indeed an outstanding personality with a classical education and excellent theological training.
- His main source is Holy Bible, but he knows the early Christian writers too.
- Some of his letters are taken almost word for word from St. Clement of Alexandria.
- The two thousand epistles which have been preserved are enough to make St. Isidore’s correspondence unique in the patristic period. 2. Lost Writings
- He mentions occasionally in his letters two treatises he composed.
- Twice he refers to a tract Against the Greeks and once to a work On the non-existence of Fate.
- He also said, “Prize the virtues and do not be the slave of glory; for the former are immortal, while the latter soon fades.” 19