Nilus of Ancyra→Eumathius (correspondent of Nilus of Ancyra)|c. 415 AD|nilus ancyra|From Ancyra|AI-assisted
To Eumathius the Monk.
Whenever some of the brethren, before the complete cleansing away of their defilements and before the more perfect settled condition, undertake to teach, then the demons, laughing, nod to one another, conversing in this way and saying: This man, at the fitting moment, will become our plunder, since he dares to admonish contrary to the judgment of the Lord. Therefore let us not be willing, while we are still unripe and have not yet obtained the ripe cluster, to admonish and to teach others, so that we may not become the demons' plaything.
Whenever some of the brethren, before the complete cleansing away of their defilements and before the more perfect settled condition, undertake to teach, then the demons, laughing, nod to one another, conversing in this way and saying: This man, at the fitting moment, will become our plunder, since he dares to admonish contrary to the judgment of the Lord. Therefore let us not be willing, while we are still unripe and have not yet obtained the ripe cluster, to admonish and to teach others, so that we may not become the demons' plaything.
AI-assisted translation - This translation was produced with AI assistance and has not been peer-reviewed.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.