When Hatred Isn't Holy

St. Isaac and the Way of Mercy

We’ve heard the saying a million times before.

“Love the sinner, hate the sin.”

But where does it come from? Is it found in Holy Scripture? Not exactly. Christians across traditions often quote this phrase, but they’re unknowingly paraphrasing St. Isaac the Syrian… and leaving out the heart of what he actually said.

Why is it so easy to weaponize this line as a justification to treat others harshly? Let’s look closer.

“Love sinners, but hate their deeds, and do not disdain sinners for their failings, so that you yourself do not fall into the temptation in which they abide… Do not be angry at anyone and do not hate anyone, neither for their faith, nor for their shameful deeds… Do not foster hatred for the sinner, for we are all guilty… Hate his sins, and pray for him, so that you may be made like unto Christ, who had no dislike for sinners, but prayed for them.”

~ St. Isaac the Syrian, Ascetical Homily 57

The Church has never denied that sin is real. But holiness was never defined by our ability to hate others for it. In fact, the early saints taught that if you hate the sinner, you’ve already lost the heart of Christ.

St. Isaac isn’t giving us a loophole for condemnation, he’s calling us into the likeness of Jesus. The Jesus who touched lepers, ate with traitors, and forgave murderers. The One who never compromised the truth, but also never withheld mercy.

The only way to live this tension rightly is, in my opinion, to live sacramentally:

• We must enter the intercession of Jesus and His saints.

• We must pray instead of accuse.

• We must discern sin but never disdain sinners.

This is not softness. This is cruciform love.

The kind that looks into the eyes of those mocking you and says, “Father, forgive them.” The kind that builds altars, not arguments. That mourns sin as a wound to be healed, not a weapon to hurl.

Yes, it is right to hate what harms souls. And it is holy to pray through it. It is never holy to despise those bound by it.

So the next time we’re stirred to “call out sin” in someone else, let’s pause and ask: What’s our motive? Because unless we are moved with the same compassion that moved Christ, we may be driving a deeper wound into the very ones He died to heal.

Let our theology bow to mercy. And let our love become light for those still walking in the shadows.

Christ had no disdain for sinners. Let us be made like Him.

~ R. Alvin