Letter 212: Why, best of men, do you place divine assistance second to human support?

Isidore of PelusiumUnknown|c. 394 AD|Isidore of Pelusium
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of Isidore of Pelusium for me. This is one of the fragments of Eusebius of Caesarea’s Gospel Problems and Solutions, so I have a translation of it. The friend commented on the style of translation adopted, versus a more literal approach. Your translator did a nice job making a loose translation that is quite faithful to the intent and meaning of the letter. … I don’t think the translator was too loose. For an academic translation, which is usually more literal, it does toe the line a little bit, but it does make a far more interesting and pleasant read. Here are two passages that I translated literally. Mine are in [normal text], your translator’s are in italics. Τὸ γὰρ ἀδύνατον καὶ ὄν καὶ δοκοῦν, ὅσον πρὸς τὴν τῶν ἀνθρώπων ἀσθένειαν, φημὶ, κατορθώσας, ούκ ἄν περὶ τὸ δυνατὸν ἐξησθένησεν He accomplished, I say, something both apparently and actually – as far as human weakness is concerned – impossible; so he would have shown no weakness in a matter that was possible. For, I say, h

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

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