The Philokalia

by Nicodemus of the Holy Mountain

In short, the saints possessed both spiritual and secular knowledge but preferred the first; they made use, however, of their worldly education wisely and for a limited purpose, guided by St Paul's rule not to boast beyond limits (cf. 2 Cor. 10:13), as did those Egyptians who, according to the Clementine writings, mocked the prosaic diction of the Apostle Barnabas, not realizing that his preaching contained words of life (cf. John 6:68). Many of us are guilty of doing the same: when we hear someone speaking with a strange accent we laugh, though he may perhaps be a wise man in his own tongue and be speaking of awe-inspiring mysteries. This happens because of our inexperience. But the fathers themselves often deliberately wrote in a very simple manner, depending on the particular circumstances and the people for whom they were writing.