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that dissimilar ways of life should be judged by the one and same name. 22.3 For instance, there is Judas the traitor and the other Judas, an apostle, or again, Zacharias a most unrighteous king and another Zacharias the prophet, and not only that, but also Ananias who was thrown into the fiery furnace, and besides this, another Ananias who persecuted the church instead of being persecuted, and ordered the apostle to be struck, to whom Paul spoke directly word for word in response: "God is going to strike you, you whitewashed wall. And do you sit to judge me according to the law, and in violation of the law command me to be struck?" 22.4 Therefore, if things are judged by a name, let those who rely on such tropological interpretations say by what method they see fit to interpret dissimilar kinds of knowledge or ways of life from the homonymy. Of course, even today many Jews, taking on the names of patriarchs or prophets, do lawless things, and many among the Greeks called Peters and Pauls do irreparable deeds. 22.5 Thus the hollowness of Origen's arguments is exposed not least through such frivolous talk. But whatever he heterodoxically introduces concerning the resurrection, it is not possible to declare at present. For Methodius, worthy of holy memory, wrote sufficiently on this point of speculation, and he showed <ανα>openly that he unintentionally gave an entrance to heretics, defining the resurrection in appearance, but not in the body itself. 22.6 But that he overturned everything with tropological interpretations and sowed the seeds of heterodoxy everywhere is easy to see, and repeating the same things up and down he filled the world with immeasurable nonsense. 22.7 And with such a method, allegorizing everything in every way as was his custom, he was unable to interpret tropologically only the words of the ventriloquist, nor again to relate the clear meaning from the sequence itself.

23.1 But what did he introduce in addition to these, fashioning evasions with a show of piety?

Since the phantom seemed to have said to Saul: "the Lord will tear the kingdom from your hand," to this he plausibly suggested in reply that one must not think that "a demon prophesies concerning the Israelite kingdom." 23.2 And we have already said before that the demon stole these words previously spoken by Samuel, so that by deceiving the senseless Saul he might seem to be speaking his own words. But this man does not pretend to know such schemes of the devil. So when he seemed to foretell that the kingdom of the madman would be torn apart, at that point he added: "and he will give it to your neighbor David." However, the very learned Origen, moved at this point, said: "a demon," he says, "cannot know of the kingdom of David ordained by the Lord." 23.3 But it occurs to me to wonder how this man still carries off a reputation for good counsel among the many, as being at once intelligent and best in judgment. If, then, the kingdom were unknown, it might perhaps be possible for someone to pretend ignorance as an excuse; 23.4 but if it had been testified to by God, and he had been anointed for this by Samuel, and distinguishing himself always in wars he was shown to be the son-in-law of the king, so that the dancing women ascribed to this man the myriads, but to Saul they assigned the thousands, and if these and such things had been established as clear, what was strange or what was paradoxical, if the demon recognized the kingdom that existed and had been ordained by the Lord through the prophet? 23.5 For must we not consider (if one must say hyperbolically that he knows only physical things) that the anointing with oil has the sensible application of touch? But that these things were manifest to all, no one will dispute; but that I may speak the surpassing thing by adding, even if <τὰ> such things had not been established as clear: which would be greater in comparison, to know the kingdom of David, or to bring up prophetic souls from Hades? 23.6 And yet this has been demonstrated also in the case of a greater person; for indeed in the case of Christ, the demons, being tormented and unwilling, cry out, word for word, "What have we to do with

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δὲ τὰς ἀνομοίους τοῦ βίου πολιτείας ἐκ τοῦ ἑνὸς ὡσαύτως ὀνόματος κρίνεσθαι. 22.3 ἔστιν γοῦν Ἰούδας ὁ προδότης καὶ θάτερος Ἰούδας ἀπόστολος, ἢ αὖ πάλιν Ζαχαρίας ἀδικώτατος βασιλεὺς καὶ Ζαχαρίας ἕτερος ὁ προφήτης, οὐ μὴν ἀλλὰ καὶ ὁ βληθεὶς ἐν τῇ καμίνῳ τοῦ πυρὸς Ἀνανίας, ἔτι δὲ παρὰ τοῦτο ἄλλος Ἀνανίας ὁ διώκων μὲν ἐκκλησίαν ἀντὶ τοῦ διώκεσθαι, προστάττων δὲ τύπτεσθαι τὸν ἀπόστολον, ᾧ καὶ καταντικρὺ πρὸς ἔπος ὁ Παῦλος ἀντεφθέγξατο· «τύπτειν σε μέλλει ὁ θεός, τοῖχε κεκονιαμένε. καὶ σὺ κάθῃ κρῖναί με κατὰ τὸν νόμον, καὶ παρανομῶν κελεύεις με τύπτεσθαι;» 22.4 τοιγαροῦν, εἴπερ ὀνόματι τὰ πράγματα κρίνεται, λεγέτωσαν οἱ ταῖς τοιαύταις ἐπερειδόμενοι τροπολογίαις ὁποίᾳ μεθόδῳ τὰς ἀνομοίους ἐπιστήμας ἢ πολιτειῶν ἀναγωγὰς ἐκ τῆς ὁμωνυμίας ἀξιοῦσιν ἑρμηνεύειν. ἀμέλει πολλοὶ μὲν ἔτι καὶ τήμερον Ἰουδαῖοι προπατόρων ἢ προφητῶν ὀνόματα περιβαλλόμενοι δρῶσιν ἀθέμιτα, πολλοὶ δὲ καὶ παρ' Ἕλλησιν Πέτροι καὶ Παῦλοι καλούμενοι πράττουσιν ἀνήκεστα. 22.5 τὰ μὲν τοίνυν ὑπόκενα τῶν λόγων Ὠριγένους οὐχ ἥκιστα καὶ διὰ τῆς τοιαύτης ἁλίσκεται κουφολογίας. ὅσα δὲ τῆς ἀναστάσεως ἕνεκα κακοδόξως εἰσηγεῖται, δηλῶσαι μὲν ἐπὶ τοῦ παρόντος οὐχ οἷόν τε. Μεθόδιος γὰρ ὁ τῆς ἁγίας ἄξιος μνήμης ἔγραψεν ἀποχρώντως εἰς τόδε τὸ θεώρημα, καὶ διέδειξέ γε <ἀνα>φανδὸν ὅτι τοῖς αἱρεσιώταις ἔδωκε πάροδον ἀβούλως, ἐπὶ εἴδους, ἀλλ' οὐκ ἐπὶ σώματος αὐτοῦ τὴν ἀνάστασιν ὁρισάμενος. 22.6 ἀλλ' ὅτι μὲν ἅπαντα τροπολογίαις ἀνέτρεψε καὶ τὰ τῆς κακοδοξίας ἔσπειρεν ἑκασταχοῦ σπέρματα ῥᾷόν ἐστιν ἰδεῖν, ἄνω δὲ καὶ κάτω ταυτολογῶν ἐπλήρωσε τὴν οἰκουμένην ἀμέτρῳ φλυαρίᾳ. 22.7 τοιαύτῃ δὲ δὴ μεθόδῳ συνήθως ἀλληγορῶν ἅπαντα πανταχῶς, οὐχ οἷός τε ἐγένετο τὰ τῆς ἐγγαστριμύθου τροπολογῆσαι ῥήματα μόνον, οὐδ' αὖ τὸ σαφὲς ἐξ αὐτῆς ἱστορῆσαι τῆς ἀκολουθίας.

23.1 Ἀλλὰ τί πρὸς ἐπὶ τούτοις εἰσήγαγεν, ἀφοσιώσει πλαττόμενος ἀποφυγάς;

ἐπειδήπερ ἐδόκει τὸ φάσμα τῷ Σαοὺλ εἰρηκέναι· «διαρρήξει κύριος τὴν βασιλείαν ἐκ χειρός σου», πρὸς ταῦτα πιθανολογῶν ἀνθυπέφερεν ὡς οὐ χρεὼν εἴη νοεῖν ὅτι «δαιμόνιον προφητεύει περὶ βασιλείας Ἰσραηλιτικῆς». 23.2 ἤδη δὲ καὶ πρόσθεν ἔφαμεν ὅτι ταῦτα τὰ ῥήματα τῷ Σαμουὴλ εἰρημένα πρόσθεν ἔκλεψεν ὁ δαίμων, ἵνα δὴ τὸν ἔκφρονα Σαοὺλ ἐξαπατήσας ἴδια δόξῃ λέγειν. ἀλλ' οὗτος οὐ προσποιεῖται τὰ τοιάδε τοῦ διαβόλου δράματα γιγνώσκειν. ὡς οὖν ἐδόκει προλέγειν ὅτι διαρραγήσοιτο τοῦ παραπλῆγος ἡ βασιλεία, τηνικαῦτα προσετίθει· «καὶ δώσει αὐτὴν τῷ πλησίον σου τῷ ∆αβίδ». ὁ μέντοιγε πολυΐστωρ Ὠριγένης ἐνταῦθα κινηθεὶς ἔφη· «δαιμόνιον δὲ» λέγων «οὐ δύναται εἰδέναι τὴν βασιλείαν ∆αβὶδ τὴν ὑπὸ κυρίου χειροτονηθεῖσαν». 23.3 ἀλλ' ἔμοιγε θαυμάζειν ἔπεισιν ὅπως οὗτος ἀποφέρεται δόξαν ἐτ' εὐβουλίᾳ παρὰ τοῖς πολλοῖς, ὡς ἔμφρων ἅμα καὶ γνώμης ἄριστος. εἰ μὲν οὖν ἄδηλος ἦν ἡ βασιλεία, ἐξῆν ἂν ἴσως ἄγνοιαν ὑποκρίνεσθαί τινα σκηπτόμενον· 23.4 εἰ δὲ μεμαρτύρητο μὲν ὑπὸ τοῦ θεοῦ, κέχριστο δ' ἐπὶ τούτοις ὑπὸ τοῦ Σαμουήλ, ἔν τε τοῖς πολέμοις ἀριστεύων ἀεὶ γαμβρὸς ἀναδέδεικτο τοῦ βασιλέως, ὥστε τούτῳ μὲν τὰς χορευούσας ἀναθεῖναι τὰς μυριάδας, τῷ δὲ Σαοὺλ ἀποδοῦναι τὰς χιλιάδας, εἰ δὲ ταῦτα καὶ τὰ τοιαῦτα καθειστήκει σαφῆ, τί ξένον ἢ τί παράδοξον ἦν, εἰ τὴν οὖσαν καὶ κεχειροτονημένην ὑπὸ τοῦ κυρίου διὰ τοῦ προφήτου βασιλείαν ἐπεγίνωσκεν ὁ δαίμων; 23.5 ἦ γὰρ οὐ διανοητέον (εἴ γε δεῖ λέγειν ἐξ ὑπερβολῆς ὅτι τὰ σωματικὰ μόνον οἶδεν) ὡς ἡ τοῦ ἐλαίου χρίσις αἰσθητὴν ἔχει τὴν τῆς ἁφῆς ἐπιφοράν; ἀλλὰ ταῦτα μὲν οὐδεὶς ἀμφιλέξει πρόδηλα καθεστάναι πᾶσιν· ἵνα δὲ τὸ ὑπερβάλλον ἐρῶ προσθεὶς εἰ καὶ μὴ <τὰ> τοιαῦτα καθειστήκει σαφῆ· πότερον ἂν εἴη μεῖζον πρὸς σύγκρισιν τὸ γνῶναι τὴν τοῦ ∆αβὶδ βασιλείαν, ἢ ψυχὰς ἐξ ᾅδου προφητικὰς ἀνάξαι; 23.6 καίτοι τοῦτο καὶ ἐπὶ τοῦ κρείττονος ἀποδέδεικται προσώπου· καὶ γὰρ καὶ ἐπὶ τοῦ Χριστοῦ στρεβλούμενοι καὶ ἄκοντες ἐκβοῶσιν οἱ δαίμονες, αὐτολεξεὶ «τί ἡμῖν καὶ