According to the Church Fathers, what is the sin of judging, and what is considered judging?
By CopticBot.ai (Coptic Space Inc.) · Last reviewed 2026-10-10
In the teachings of the Church Fathers, the sin of judging others (katakrisis in Greek) is regarded as one of the most perilous spiritual diseases. It is not merely a social fault or a slip of the tongue; it is a profound spiritual blindness born of pride, wherein a mortal man usurps the throne that belongs exclusively to God.
1. What Is the Sin of Judging?
According to the Holy Fathers, the sin of judging consists of three primary spiritual transgressions:
A. Usurping the Authority of God
Only God—Phnouti—is the righteous Judge who knows the hidden thoughts, struggles, tears, and secrets of every human heart. When an individual passes judgment on someone else, he audaciously places himself on the judgment seat of Christ.
As St. John Climacus writes in The Ladder of Divine Ascent:
"If you see someone falling into sin at the very moment of his death, even then do not judge him, because the Divine judgment is hidden from men. Some have fallen openly into great sins, but they have done greater good deeds in secret; so their critics were tricked, getting smoke instead of the sun."
B. Spiritual Blindness and Lack of Self-Knowledge
The Fathers teach that a person judges others precisely because he does not see his own wretchedness. The Lord taught: "And why do you look at the speck in your brother’s eye, but do not consider the plank in your own eye?" (Matthew 7:3).
St. John Climacus notes:
"Hasty and severe judges of the sins of their neighbour fall into this predicament because they have not yet attained to a thorough and constant remembrance and concern for their own sins."
When a Christian truly mourns over his own sins, he has neither the time nor the inclination to examine the sins of his neighbor. The Desert Fathers often noted: "A man who has a dead body in his house does not leave it to go and weep over his neighbor's dead body."
C. The Inevitable Consequence: Falling into the Same Sin
A universal rule among the ascetic Fathers is that judging another invites spiritual abandonment, leading the judge to fall into the exact same fault. St. John Climacus warns:
"If it is true (as it really is true) that 'with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged,' then whatever sins we blame our neighbour for, whether bodily or spiritual, we shall fall into them ourselves. That is certain."
2. What Is Considered "Judging"?
The Fathers, particularly St. Dorotheos of Gaza, make a careful distinction between noticing a fault and judging:
| Action | Spiritual Reality | Patristic Verdict |
|:--- |:--- |:--- |
| Seeing/Noticing an Action | Recognizing an objective wrong (e.g., seeing someone steal or lie). | Not sinful in itself, provided it remains a mere observation without an internal verdict. |
| *Speaking Ill / Blaming (katalalia) | Saying to someone, "So-and-so committed this sin."* | A sin of the tongue and slander. |
| *Judging the Person (katakrisis) | Concluding in the heart: "He is a thief," or "He is wicked,"* condemning his soul and inner disposition. | A grave spiritual sin. |
St. Dorotheos explains that two people might commit the exact same act, but their inner circumstances, upbringing, demonic warfare, and weaknesses are entirely different. One may fall due to intense weakness while weeping inwardly in repentance, while another may act out of malice. Because man can never know these inner depths, declaring an inner verdict on a soul is always an act of judgment.
3. What Is Not Considered the Sin of Judging?
The Church Fathers are careful to clarify that Christ’s command "Judge not, that you be not judged" (Matthew 7:1) does not call for moral apathy, cowardice, or the abandonment of truth.
A. Discerning Truth from Heresy
The Church has an absolute obligation to judge teachings and doctrines. St. Paul commands the Church to reject heretics after a first and second admonition (Titus 3:10) and anathematize anyone preaching a false gospel (Galatians 1:8–9). Exposing false doctrines, guarding the true Orthodox faith, and condemning heresies are acts of pastoral duty and fidelity to the Truth, not the sin of personal judgment.
B. Spiritual Discernment (Diakrisis)
Christ Himself said: "Do not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment" (John 7:24). The spiritual gift of discernment allows a Christian to distinguish good from evil, holy from profane, and truth from falsehood, without despising the sinner.
C. Pastoral Correction and Discipline
Spiritual fathers, bishops, and priests are entrusted with pastoral authority to bind and loose, to admonish, and to impose canons or excommunication when necessary for the salvation of the sinner and the protection of the flock (1 Corinthians 5:12–13; Matthew 18:15–17). When administered out of genuine love and grief over the sin, correction is a work of mercy, not personal condemnation.
D. Self-Judgment
The highest and most necessary form of judgment commended by the Fathers is the judgment of oneself. St. Paul writes:
"For if we would judge ourselves, we would not be judged. But when we are judged, we are chastened by the Lord, that we may not be condemned with the world." (1 Corinthians 11:31–32)
Clement of Alexandria and the early commentaries emphasize that when we voluntarily condemn our own faults before God in confession and repentance, we invite God's temporal chastening—which is for our education and purification—so that we escape eternal condemnation at the Last Judgment.
Summary of the Patristic Counsel
When the desert elder Abba Moses the Black was summoned to sit in judgment over a brother who had committed a fault, he carried a leaking basket of sand behind his back. When asked what it meant, he replied:
"My sins run out behind me, and I do not see them, and today I have come to judge the sins of another."
To the Church Fathers, the antidote to the sin of judging is relentless self-examination, unceasing repentance, and looking upon every neighbor as better than oneself, leaving the final verdict on every soul entirely to the righteous judgment of Jesus Christ.