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the Lord Abraham) of evil and being ignorant of the end of his endurance. Nevertheless, Simon seemed to show from many scriptures that God is subject to every passion. and Peter said to this: If the evil and very wicked man does not at all like to be reproved for the things in which he sins, answer me. And Simon said: He does not like it. And Peter said: How then can God be evil and wicked, if by his will the evil things against him that were publicly written were added? And Simon: It is possible that against his will the reproof against him was written by another power. And Peter said: First, then, let us investigate this. if he reproved himself by his own counsel, as you previously acknowledged, he is not wicked; but if by another power, we must seek and examine with all strength whether someone subjected him, who is good alone, to all the evils. And Simon: You are obviously fleeing from the scriptures so as not to hear the reproof against your God. And Peter: You yourself seem to me to be doing this; for he who flees the proper order of inquiry does not wish a true examination to take place. Therefore I, by using the proper order and wishing first for the writer to be understood, am clearly wanting to travel the straight path. And Simon: First acknowledge if the things written against the Creator are true and that he is not superior to all things, being, according to the scriptures, subject to all wickedness, and afterwards we will seek the writer. And Peter: So that I may not seem to be speaking against your disorderliness nor to be unwilling to inquire, I answer: I say that, even if the things written against God were true, this does not yet show God to be wicked. And Simon said: How can you establish this? And Peter: Because opposite things have been written to the passages that speak ill of him, for which reason neither of the two can be confirmed. And Simon: How then, from the scriptures, of which some call him evil and others good, is it possible to know the truth? And Peter: Whichever passages of the scriptures are in harmony with the creation made by him are true, but whichever are contrary, happen to be false. And Simon said: How can you show that the scriptures contradict themselves? And Peter said: You say that Adam was created blind, which was not so; for he would not have been pointing it out while commanding a blind man, saying, 'But from the tree of knowing good and evil you shall not taste.' And Simon: It meant his mind was blind. And Peter: How could he have been blind in mind, he who, before tasting of the plant, in harmony with his creator, gave fitting names to all the living creatures? And Simon: If Adam had foreknowledge, why did he not foreknow that the serpent would deceive his wife? And Peter: If Adam did not have foreknowledge, how did he, at the time of their birth, give his sons their names with a view to their future actions? calling the first Cain, which is interpreted as envy, who out of envy killed his brother Abel, which is interpreted as mourning; for his parents mourned over him, the first to be murdered. But if Adam, being a work of God, had foreknowledge, much more so did God who created him. And what is written is false: 'God considered,' as though he used reasoning on account of ignorance. Moreover, if 'the Lord was test-

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κύριος τὸν Ἀβραάμή) κακοῦ καὶ τὸ τέλος τῆς ὑπομονῆς ἀγνοοῦντος. Ὁμῶς ὁ Σίμων πολλὰ ἀπὸ τῶν γραφῶν ἐδόκει δεικνύειν τὸν θεὸν παντὶ πάθει ὑποκείμενον. καὶ ὁ Πέτρος πρὸς ταῦτα ἔφη· Eἰ μηδὲν ἀγαπᾷ ὁ κακὸς καὶ πάνυ μοχθηρὸς ἐφ' οἷς ἁμαρτάνει ἑαυτὸν ἐλέγχειν, ἀπόκριναί μοι. καὶ ὁ Σίμων ἔφη· Oὐκ ἀγαπᾷ. καὶ ὁ Πέτρος ἔφη· Πῶς οὖν κακὸς καὶ μοχθη- ρὸς εἶναι δύναται ὁ θεός, εἴπερ αὐτοῦ θελήματι τὰ κατ' αὐτοῦ κακὰ δη- μοσίᾳ γραφέντα προσετέθη; καὶ ὁ Σίμων· Ἐνδέχεται παρὰ προαίρεσιν αὐτοῦ ὑφ' ἑτέρας δυνάμεως τὸν κατ' αὐτοῦ γραφῆναι ἔλεγχον. καὶ ὁ Πέτρος ἔφη· Πρῶτον οὖν τοῦτο ζητήσωμεν. εἰ μὲν ὑπὸ τῆς ἑαυτοῦ βουλῆς ἑαυ- τὸν ἤλεγξεν, ὡς φθάσας συνωμολόγησας, μοχθηρὸς οὐκ ἔστιν· εἰ δὲ ὑφ' ἑτέρας δυνάμεως, ζητητέον καὶ παντὶ σθένει ἐξεταστέον μή τις αὐτὸν μόνον ἀγαθὸν ὄντα ἐπὶ πᾶσιν τοῖς κακοῖς ὑπέβαλεν. καὶ ὁ Σίμων· Πρό- δηλος εἶ φεύγων ἀπὸ τῶν γραφῶν τὸν κατὰ τοῦ θεοῦ σου ἀκοῦσαι ἔλεγχον. καὶ ὁ Πέτρος· Aὐτός μοι φαίνῃ τοῦτο ποιῶν· ὁ γὰρ τάξιν ζητήσεως φεύγων ἐξέτασιν ἀληθῆ γενέσθαι οὐ βούλεται. ὅθεν ἐγὼ τῇ τάξει χρώμενος καὶ βουλόμενος πρῶτον τὸν συγγραφέα νοηθῆναι, πρό- δηλός εἰμι τὴν εὐθεῖαν ὁδεύειν θέλων. καὶ ὁ Σίμων· Ὁμολόγησον πρῶ- τον εἴγε τὰ κατὰ τοῦ δημιουργοῦ γεγραμμένα ἀληθῆ ἐστιν καὶ οὐκ ἔστιν τῶν ὅλων ἀνώτερος, κατὰ τὰς γραφὰς πάσῃ ὑποκείμενος μοχθηρίᾳ, καὶ ὕστερον ζητήσομεν τὸν συνγράψαντα. καὶ ὁ Πέτρος· Ἵνα μὴ δόξω ἀντι- λέγειν σου τῇ ἀταξίᾳ μηδὲ θέλειν ζητεῖν, ἀποκρίνομαι· ἐγώ φημι ὅτι, εἰ τὰ κατὰ τοῦ θεοῦ γεγραμμένα ἀληθῆ εἴη, οὔπω τὸν θεὸν δείκνυσιν μοχθηρόν. καὶ ὁ Σίμων ἔφη· Πῶς τοῦτο συστῆσαι δύνασαι; καὶ ὁ Πέτρος· Ὅτι ταῖς αὐτὸν κακῶς λεγούσαις φωναῖς τὰ ἐναντία γέγραπται, οὗ εἵνεκεν οὐδ' ὁπότερον βεβαιωθῆναι δύναται. καὶ ὁ Σίμων· Πῶς οὖν τῶν γραφῶν τῶν μὲν αὐτὸν κακὸν λεγουσῶν, τῶν δὲ ἀγαθόν, τὸ ἀληθὲς ἔστιν ἐπιγνῶναι; καὶ ὁ Πέτρος· Ὅσαι τῶν γραφῶν φωναὶ συμφωνοῦσιν τῇ ὑπ' αὐτοῦ γενομένῃ κτίσει, ἀληθεῖς εἰσιν, ὅσαι δὲ ἐναντίαι, ψευδεῖς τυγχά- νουσιν. καὶ ὁ Σίμων ἔφη· Πῶς δύνασαι ἐναντιουμένας ἑαυταῖς δεῖξαι τὰς γραφάς; καὶ ὁ Πέτρος ἔφη· Τὸν Ἀδὰμ τυφλὸν λέγεις γεγενῆσθαι, ὅπερ οὐκ ἦν· οὐ γὰρ ἂν τυφλῷ ἐντελλόμενος ἐδείκνυεν λέγων· «Ἀπὸ δὲ τοῦ ξύλου τοῦ γινώσκειν καλὸν καὶ πονηρὸν μὴ γεύσησθε». καὶ ὁ Σίμων· Τυφλὸν ἔλεγεν τὸν νοῦν αὐτοῦ. καὶ ὁ Πέτρος· Πῶς καὶ τὸν νοῦν τυφλὸς εἶναι ἐδύνατο, ὁ πρὸ τοῦ γεύσασθαι τοῦ φυτοῦ συμφώνως τῷ κτίσαντι αὐτὸν οἰκεῖα πᾶσιν τοῖς ζσοις ἐπιθεὶς ὀνόματα; καὶ ὁ Σίμων· Eἰ πρόγνωσιν εἶχεν ὁ Ἀδάμ, διὰ τί οὐ προέγνω τὸ τὴν γυναῖκα αὐτοῦ ἀπατᾶν ὄφιν; καὶ ὁ Πέτρος· Eἰ πρόγνωσιν μὴ εἶχεν ὁ Ἀδάμ, πῶς τοῖς υἱοῖς αὐτοῦ πρὸς τὰς ἐσομένας πράξεις ἅμα τῷ γεννηθῆναι τὰ ὀνό- ματα ἐπέθηκεν; τὸν μὲν πρῶτον καλέσας Κάιν, ὃ ἑρμηνεύεται ζῆλος, ὃς καὶ ζηλώσας ἀνεῖλεν τὸν ἀδελφὸν αὐτοῦ Ἄβελ, ὃ ἑρμηνεύεται πένθος· ἐπ' αὐτῷ γὰρ πρώτῳ φονευθέντι ἐπένθησαν οἱ γονεῖς. εἰ δὲ Ἀδὰμ ἔργον θεοῦ ὑπάρχων πρόγνωσιν εἶχεν, πολὺ μᾶλλον ὁ δημιουργήσας αὐτὸν θεός. καὶ ψεῦδός ἐστιν τὸ γεγράφθαι· «Ἐνεθυμήθη ὁ θεός», ὡς λογισμῷ χρησαμένου διὰ τὴν ἄγνοιαν. ἔτι μὴν καὶ εἰ «ἐπείραζεν κύ-