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of all things, therefore there is also one God, the cause and creator of all things. {1From the same.}1 If indeed the good is being, the evil is not being. But if evil is being, the good is not being, according to the principle of immediate contraries, of health and sickness, of life and death. Therefore, God is not evil. {1From the same.}1 The good God has goodness essentially and by nature, but the evil one will surely have the state of the privation of goodness. And how can God be from a falling away and a deficiency? {1From the same.}1 If there were two Gods, or three, or simply many, the world would have long ago been destroyed, at different times in different ways, and being acted upon and moved variously. But its being always moved and conducted according to the same principles and in the same way, and the harmony through all things, and the symphony, and order, and permanence, and preservation proclaim one and the same cause, and creator, and provider, and sustainer. 130.316 {1From the same.}1 If this world below is evil, then we too are evil, being a part of it. But for us, being evil by nature, truth is not present. For truth is clearly good; but the good is foreign to the evil. And for those not possessing truth, their doctrines are both false and without substance. But if the world that has been revealed is good, it is surely also the creation of a good being. For the cause of a good effect is good, just as the cause of an evil one is evil.

{1From the same.}1 If indeed you confess that the world is good, but that God and the Father is evil, and not the creator of this world, there will surely be another, evil world, the creation of the evil God. But there is not. Therefore, there is not an evil God. For God is a principle and an efficient cause; but if there are no things that have a beginning and have been made, there will surely not be a principle either. Therefore, God is not evil. {1From the same.}1 The God of the Old, they say, Testament does not have the all-comprehending and divine foreknowledge. For he asks Adam, Where are you? and Cain, Where is Abel your brother? and Abraham, Where is Sarah your wife? and many such things. To them we say: The questions mentioned are not of ignorance, but rather of knowledge. For if he did not know that both Adam and Cain had sinned, he would not have asked immediately; and this is clear from what follows. For he said to Adam, although he had not yet confessed anything about the eating: Who told you that you are naked, unless you ate from the tree from which alone I commanded you not to eat? And to Cain, although he too was trying to hide: The voice of your brother's blood cries out to me. These things are indeed of one who knows very well, but who wishes through a feigned question to lead the sinners to repentance, once they realize that they have been caught. And again the question: Where is Sarah your wife? was from one who foreknew that he both has a wife and that she is called Sarah. And he who knew these things certainly also knew where she was. For he would not have said, while she was standing behind the door and after the promise of childbearing had laughed secretly: Why did Sarah laugh? Then he adds also the cause of the laughter. For saying, he says, within herself, Shall I indeed truly bear a child? For these things are of one who knows the heart. But he asked, Where is Sarah your wife? according to a plan, so that Abraham, learning from this that he is a foreknower and knows all things, might pay attention to him as to a superior, and for the future might believe all that he would say. And what was said concerning Sodom and Gomorrah, that I will go down and see whether they are acting according to their cry; but if not, that I may know, was said according to a plan, teaching us not to punish from foreknowledge, but to await the actual investigation. For if he did not know, how 130.317 did he say: The cry of Sodom and Gomorrah comes to me? The earth, he says, cries out even before the deeds, or the deeds themselves cry out. And there are many such questions of Christ not only in the Old, but also in the New Testament. And all are part of a divine plan, and establishing something else. For it is proper to God to know all things; and he who does not know all things is not God of all.

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πάντων, εἷς ἄρα καὶ Θεὸς, ὁ πάντων αἴτιος καὶ δημιουργός. {1Ἐκ τῆς αὐτῆς.}1 Εἰ μὲν τὸ ἀγαθὸν ὂν, τὸ πονηρὸν οὐκ ὄν. Εἰ δὲ τὸ πονηρὸν ὂν, τὸ ἀγαθὸν οὐκ ὂν, κατὰ τὸν λόγον τῶν ἀμέσων ἐναντίων, ὑγείας καὶ νόσου, ζωῆς καὶ θα νάτου. Οὐκ ἄρα Θεὸς πονηρός. {1Ἐκ τῆς αὐτῆς.}1 Ὁ μὲν ἀγαθὸς Θεὸς οὐσιώδη καὶ φυσικὴν ἔχει τὴν ἀγαθότητα, ὁ δὲ πονηρὸς τὴν στέρησιν τῆς ἀγα θότητος ἕξιν ἕξει πάντως. Καὶ πῶς Θεὸς ἐξ ἀποπτώ σεως καὶ ἐλλείψεως; {1Ἐκ τῆς αὐτῆς.}1 Εἰ δύο ἦσαν Θεοὶ, ἢ τρεῖς, ἢ ἁπλῶς πολλοὶ, πάλαι ἂν ὁ κόσμος ἀπωλώλει ἄλλοτε ἄλλως, καὶ διαφόρως ἐνεργούμενος, καὶ κινούμενος. Τὸ δὲ κατὰ ταυτὰ, καὶ ὡσαύτως ἀεὶ κινεῖσθαι, καὶ διεξάγεσθαι, καὶ ἡ διὰ πάντων εὐαρμοστία, καὶ συμφωνία, καὶ τάξις, καὶ διαμονὴ, καὶ συντήρησις ἕνα καὶ τὸν αὐτὸν κη ρύττει τὸν αἴτιον, καὶ δημιουργὸν, καὶ προνοητὴν, καὶ συνοχέα. 130.316 {1Ἐκ τῆς αὐτῆς.}1 Εἰ μὲν πονηρὸς ὁ κάτω κόσμος οὗτος, καὶ ἡμεῖς ἄρα πονηροὶ, μέρος ὄντες αὐτοῦ. Πονηροῖς δὲ ἡμῖν κατὰ φύσιν οὖσιν οὐ πρόσεστιν ἀλήθεια. Ἡ γὰρ ἀλήθεια σαφῶς ἀγαθόν· τὸ δὲ ἀγαθὸν ἀλλότριον πονηροῦ. Μὴ κεκτημένοις δὲ ἀλήθειαν τὰ δεδογμένα ψευδῆ τε καὶ ἀνυπόστατα. Εἰ δὲ ἀγαθὸς ὁ δηλω θεὶς κόσμος, ἀγαθοῦ πάντως καὶ δημιούργημα. Ἀγαθοῦ γὰρ αἰτιατοῦ ἀγαθὸν τὸ αἴτιον, ὥσπερ καὶ πονηροῦ πονηρόν.

{1Ἐκ τῆς αὐτῆς.}1 Εἴπερ μὲν τὸν κόσμον ἀγαθὸν ὁμολογεῖτε τὸν δὲ Θεὸν καὶ Πατέρα πονηρὸν, καὶ οὐ τοῦ κόσμου τού του δημιουργὸν, ἔσται πάντως καὶ πονηρὸς ἄλλος κόσμος τοῦ πονηροῦ Θεοῦ δημιούργημα. Ἀλλὰ μὲν οὐκ ἔστιν. Οὐδὲ Θεός ἐστιν ἄρα πονηρός. Ὁ μὲν γὰρ Θεὸς ἀρχὴ καὶ ποιητικὸν αἴτιον· ἀρχομένων δὲ καὶ πεποιημένων οὐκ ὄντων, οὐδὲ ἀρχὴ πάντως ἔσται. Οὐκ ἄρα οὖν πονηρός ἐστι Θεός. {1Ἐκ τῆς αὐτῆς.}1 Ὁ τῆς Παλαιᾶς, φασὶ, ∆ιαθήκης Θεὸς οὐκ ἔχει τὴν περιληπτικὴν πάντων καὶ θείαν πρόγνωσιν. Ἐρωτᾷ γὰρ τὸν Ἀδὰμ, Ποῦ εἶ; καὶ τὸν Κάϊν, Ποῦ Ἄβελ ὁ ἀδελφός σου; καὶ τὸν Ἀβραὰμ, Ποῦ Σάῤῥα ἡ γυνή σου; καὶ πολλὰ τοιαῦτα. Πρὸς οὕς φαμεν. Οὐκ ἀγνοίας αἱ δηλωθεῖσαι ἐρωτήσεις, ἀλλὰ μᾶλλον γνώσεως. Εἰ μὴ γὰρ ἔγνω καὶ τὸν Ἀδὰμ, καὶ τὸν Κάϊν ἁμαρτήσαντα, οὐκ ἂν εὐθὺς ἠρώτησε· καὶ δῆλον ἀπὸ τῶν ἑξῆς. Εἴρηκε γὰρ πρὸς μὲν τὸν Ἀδὰμ, καίτοι μήπω μηδὲν περὶ τῆς βρώσεως ὁμολογήσαντα· Τίς ἀνήγειλέ σοι, ὅτι γυμνὸς εἶ, εἰ μὴ ἀπὸ τοῦ ξύλου οὗ ἐνετειλά-μην σοι μόνου μὴ φαγεῖν, ἀπ' αὐτοῦ ἔφαγες; Πρὸς δὲ τὸν Κάϊν, καίτοι καὶ αὐτὸν πειρώμενον λαθεῖν· Φωνὴ αἵματος τοῦ ἀδελφοῦ σου βοᾷ πρός με. Ταῦτα καὶ λίαν μὲν εἰδότος εἰσὶ, βουλομένου δὲ διὰ τῆς προσποιήτου ἐρωτήσεως εἰς μετάνοιαν ἀγαγεῖν τοὺς ἡμαρτηκότας, ἐπιγνόντας ὅτι πεφώρανται. Πάλιν δὲ καὶ τό· Ποῦ Σάῤῥα ἡ γυνή σου; προγινώσκοντος ἦν ὅτι καὶ γυναῖκα ἔχει, καὶ Σάῤῥα κέκληται. Ὁ δὲ ταῦτα εἰδὼς καὶ ὅπου ἦν ἐγίνωσκε πάντως. Οὐ γὰρ ἂν ὄπισθεν τῆς θύρας ἑστώσης, καὶ μετὰ τὴν τῆς τεκνογονίας ἐπαγγελίαν γελασάσης κρύβδην, ἔλεγε· Τί ὅτι ἐγέλασε Σάῤῥα; Εἶτα προσ-τίθησι καὶ τὴν αἰτίαν τοῦ γέλωτος. Λέγουσα γὰρ, φησὶν, ἐν ἑαυτῇ, Ἆρά γε ἀληθῶς τέξομαι; Ταῦτα γὰρ καὶ καρδιογνώστου. Ἠρώτησε δὲ Ποῦ Σάῤῥα ἡ γυνή σου; κατ' οἰκονομίαν, ἵνα μαθὼν ἐντεῦθεν Ἀβραὰμ ὅτι προγνώστης ἐστὶ, καὶ πάντα εἰδὼς, ὡς κρείττονι προσέχῃ, καὶ τοῦ λοιποῦ πιστεύῃ πᾶ-σιν, οἷς ἂν ἐρεῖ. Καὶ τὸ περὶ τῶν Σοδόμων δὲ καὶ Γομόῤῥων εἰρημένον, ὅτι Καταβὰς ὄψομαι εἰ κατὰ τὴν κραυγὴν αὐτῶν συντελοῦνται· εἰ δὲ μὴ, ἵνα γνῶ, κατ' οἰκονομίαν εἴρηται, παιδεύων ἡμᾶς μὴ κολάζειν ἀπὸ προγνώσεως, ἀλλ' ἀναμένειν τὴν πραγματικὴν διάγνωσιν. Εἰ γὰρ μὴ ἐγίνωσκε, πῶς 130.317 ἔλεγε· Κραυγὴ Σοδόμων καὶ Γομόῤῥων ἔρχεται πρός με; Ἡ γῆ, φησὶ, βοᾷ καὶ πρὸ τῶν πραγμά-των, ἢ αὐτὰ τὰ πράγματα κράζει. Πολλαὶ δὲ τοιαῦ-ται οὐ μόνον παρὰ τῇ Παλαιᾷ, ἀλλὰ καὶ παρὰ τῇ Νέᾳ ἐρωτήσεις τοῦ Χριστοῦ. Πᾶσαι δὲ οἰκονομικαὶ, καί τι ἕτερον κατασκευάζουσαι. Ἴδιον γὰρ τοῦ Θεοῦ τὸ πάντα γινώσκειν· καὶ ὁ μὴ πάντα εἰδὼς οὐ πάν-των Θεός.