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Greeting and warning against pride and grumbling
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Epiphanius opens his letter to John of Jerusalem with a formal greeting, then immediately warns him not to be carried away by pride of office, citing Scripture against grumbling.
To the most reverend brother and papa John, Epiphanius, bishop, sends greetings in the Lord.
We ought not, beloved, to be carried away by the pride of office, but... For the divine Scripture says: “Do not grumble, as some of them grumbled and were destroyed by the destroyer” (1 Corinthians 10:10 , with allusion to 10:9).
Greek Πρὸς Ἰωάννην τὸν Αἰλείας ἐπίσκοπον ἐπιγεγραμμένη ἐπιστολή.
Τῷ αἰδεσιμωτάτῳ ἀδελφῷ πάπᾳ Ἰωάννῃ Ἐπιφάνιος ἐπίσκοπος ἐν Κυρίῳ
χαίρειν.
Ἔδει ἡμᾶς ἀγαπητὲ μὴ τῇ οἰήσει τῶν κλήρων φέρεσθαι, ἀλλὰ ... 282 ... φησὶ
γὰρ ἡ θεία γραφή· (Paul. ad. Cor. 10, 10) μηδὲ γογγύζετε καθάπερ τινὲς ἐγόγγυσαν
καὶ ἀπώλοντο ὑπὸ τοῦ ὀλοθρευτοῦ (cf. 10, 9 ὑπὸ τῶν ὄφεων ἀπώλοντο) ... ...
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About this text A bishop's urgent plea for unity and truth amid accusations of idolatry in a holy land.
Epiphanius of Salamis (c. 310/320–403) wrote this letter to John, bishop of Jerusalem, in 394 or 395. Epiphanius was bishop of Salamis in Cyprus. He wrote to explain and defend his action of tearing a curtain with a painted human image in a church at Anautha, and to send what he had obtained as a replacement.
John was angry that Epiphanius had ordained a priest inside John's jurisdiction, and Epiphanius had openly charged John with being an Origenist.
Epiphanius urges John not to be carried away by pride of office but to heed Scripture's warning against grumbling. He prays that God will crush Satan under the feet of Christians and prevent the bond of Christ's unfeigned love, peace, right faith, and truth from being torn away from them. He then recounts that while traveling to the holy place of Bethel to meet with John, he entered a church at the village of Anautha, found a curtain painted with a human image said to be Christ or a saint, tore it as an abomination in church, and advised using it to wrap a poor dead person. He notes that some grumbled, saying he should have replaced the curtain from his own resources before tearing it, though he had promised to send another. He now sends what he found, having expected to send something from Cyprus, and asks John to order the local presbyter to receive it and to prevent such things from being placed in churches. The letter quotes 1 Corinthians 10:10 directly without naming Paul, with a possible allusion to 10:9.
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Translated from PG 41 – 43 This work has passed our source check. We made this study translation with AI help. No scholar has yet certified it as faithful and complete. Open Greek on any section to see the source text. It is not a critical edition.
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