Fragments of the Letters · §4 · Dionysius of Corinth

The devil's agents have corrupted my letters

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Dionysius is speaking in his own voice, quoted by Eusebius, about what happened to his own letters.

Dionysius also says this about his own letters, namely that they were tampered with. "When the brethren asked me to write letters, I wrote them. And the agents of the devil have filled these with weeds, taking some things out and adding others. For them the woe is laid up. It is no wonder, then, that some have undertaken to tamper even with the Lord's writings, when they have laid hands on writings that are not such as these."

Greek

Ἔτι δὲ ὁ αὐτὸς καὶ περὶ τῶν ἰδίων ἐπιστολῶν (verba Eusebii sunt in lib. iv. Hist. c. 23.) ὡς ῥᾳδιουργηθεισῶν, ταῦτα φησίν. Ἐπιστολὰς γὰρ ἀδελφῶν ἀξιωσάντων με γράψαι, ἔνραψα. καὶ ταύτας οἱ τοῦ διαβόλου ἀπόστολοι ζιζανίων γεγέμικαν· ἃ μὲν ἐξαιροῦντες, ἃ δὲ προστιθέντες· οἷς τὸ οὐαὶ κεῖται. οὐ θαυμαστὸν ἄρα εἰ καὶ τῶν Κυριακῶν ῥαδιουργῆσαί τινες (for. legend. τινας) ἐπιβέβληνται γραφῶν, ὁπότε καὶ ταῖς οὐ τοιαύταις ἐπιβεβλήκασι (alii ἐπιβουλεύκασι).

About this text

Fragments of letters from Dionysius, bishop of Corinth, to churches across the Greek world, quoted by Eusebius.

Dionysius was bishop of Corinth in the mid-second century. He wrote pastoral letters to churches and individuals across the Greek-speaking world, including Rome, Sparta, Athens, Nicomedia, Gortyn in Crete, Amastris in Pontus, Cnossus, and a Christian woman named Chrysophora. He wrote to address local needs, encourage sound teaching, and respond to requests from fellow believers.

The letters survive only in fragments quoted by the church historian Eusebius. Dionysius wrote in a period when his letters carried enough authority that heretical groups tried to alter them by adding or removing material. He himself warns that his writings had been corrupted by agents of the devil. The fragments show his wide pastoral concern for orthodoxy, peace, and moral discipline across many churches.

A reader will meet Soter, bishop of Rome, praised for his generosity in sending aid to needy churches and to Christians condemned to forced labor in the mines. Dionysius recalls reading the Romans' letter publicly on the Lord's day and says the Corinthians will keep reading it, just as they do the earlier letter written through Clement. He praises the Romans and Corinthians for blending together the planting made by the apostles Peter and Paul, who taught together in Italy and were martyred at the same time. He also mentions Publius, a leader of the Athenian church who was martyred, and Quadratus, bishop of Athens after him. Dionysius the Areopagite, a member of the Athenian council converted by Paul according to the Acts of the Apostles, appears as the first bishop of Athens. Other figures include Philip, bishop of Gortyn, and Pinytus, bishop of Cnossus, whom Dionysius urged not to impose too heavy a burden of purity on the brethren. Bacchylides and Elpistus are two men who urged Dionysius to write to the church at Amastris. The fragments also refer to the heresy of Marcion, a false teaching judged by the standard of truth.

New English from the Greek base text; no published English used as wording.

Printed text used

Translated from Reliquiae sacrae Martin Joseph Routh Dionysius Corinthius Oxford University Press Oxford 1846 (Greek)

This work has passed this project's source check. This is an AI-assisted study translation. Source fidelity and completeness have not been independently certified. Open Greek on each section for the source text. This is not a complete critical edition.