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He says of the angels; for these reasons, therefore, evil is not in the angels either. He also gives the etymology of why they were called angels.

An image of God: Note that he says the angels are images of the good; and note how he says it.

(14S_174> But by punishing: As if by way of refutation, he anticipates the objection of certain heresies, of those who posit the punishers to be angels by God's command, and punishment itself to be from evil; and he immediately refutes these things most philosophically and appropriately, and from the priests who exclude the accursed and profane from the Church and cast them out for profane and accursed deeds, showing that not even they, in punishing the accursed, are from evil; may it not be! For it has been said: “For he does not bear the sword in vain; for he is the minister of God for wrath on the one who does evil.” Note, therefore, the solutions; for he resolves many questions of those who say, "Are executioners and rulers from God?"

Those who exclude the profane from the divine mysteries: Note that the profane must be excluded from the divine mysteries by the priests.

Nor to be punished: That it is not being punished that is evil, but becoming worthy of punishment. Note concerning priests and rulers, who punish the profane.

But not even the demons: That not even the demons are evil by nature. Then neither is this for everyone. Note that destruction is not for everyone and always evil, as

in the case of wild beasts and reptiles and destructive plants. But neither is it destroyed: That none of the things that exist is destroyed, insofar as it is substance. But by the lack: Note that he calls destruction also the defective and

inharmonious movement of nature contrary to its order. And you have this also in Ezekiel concerning the devil: “your knowledge was corrupted with your beauty”; and he says, refuting what is said by (14S_176> the Greeks and Manichaeans, that not even the demons are evil by nature. Then he sets forth and refutes their hypothetical objections, saying: First, the demons do not destroy substances; for substances, insofar as they are substances, do not pass into non-existence; secondly, even if this were so, destruction is not evil for all or in all cases, as with wild beasts, and reptiles, and destructive plants, and other similar things. It must therefore be investigated whether demons destroy a power or an activity, and for now it is necessary to say in brief what power is and what activity is; it must be known, therefore, that the difference between power and activity is such as that between a state and the activity according to that state; for a state is a persistent quality. And it will be clear thus: Fire has a heating power, and its state, that is, its quality, is its heating capacity. The activity, therefore, is according to the state, that is, the quality, when some body is also being heated; for behold, the activity of the state of the fire is being accomplished; the power, therefore, has the activity from itself; for the activity of the power is that which is accomplished from it; for power is understood in terms of doing. Therefore, the destruction of a power—just as power is of a substance—and the same is true of an activity, is a weak progression contrary to order and symmetry and harmony, according to which, as it proceeds defectively, the power, and the activity, and the substance cannot remain as they were; for if there is a complete weakness, as we said, but not a partial one of the aforementioned things; it also corrupts the subject, in which are the power and the activity, and neither the power nor the activity, just as neither the substance, (14S_178> but neither will destruction itself be left behind, when those things concerning which the destruction occurs have perished. The activity, therefore, of intelligible and intelligent minds is to act according to nature, that is, to be stretched out toward God; but the power of the mind is to descend into thoughts, concerning which the things that have been said, being moved defectively, are lacking in the good. Therefore, nothing is evil by nature.

But a deficient good. As not introducing the complete destruction of destruction.

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τούς ἀγγέλους φησί· κατά τάς αἰτίας τοίνυν ταύτας οὔτε ἐν ἀγγέλοις τό κακόν. Ἐτυμολογεῖ δέ, διά τί ἐκλήθησαν ἄγγελοι.

Εἰκών ἐστι τοῦ Θεοῦ: Σημείωσαι, ὅτι τούς ἀγγέλους εἰκόνας φησί τοῦ ἀγαθοῦ· καἵ σημείωσαι πῶς λέγει.

(14S_174> Ἀλλά τῷ κολάζειν: Ὡς ἐξ ὑποκρούσεως προλαμβάνει τήν τινων αἱρέσεων ἀντίθεσιν, τῶν τούς κολαστάς κελεύσει Θεοῦ ἀγγέλους, καί αὐτήν δέ τήν κόλασιν τοῦ κακοῦ τιθεμένων· καί εὐθύς ἐκλύει ταῦτα φιλοσοφώτατα καί προσφυῶς, καί ἐκ τῶν ἱερέων τούς ἐναγεῖς καί βεβήλους τῆς Ἐκκλησίας εἱργόντων καί ἐξωθούντων ἐπί βεβήλοις καί ἐναγέσι πράξεσι, δηλῶν ὡς οὐδέ αὐτοί, τιμωρούμενοι τούς ἐναγεῖς, ἐκ τοῦ κακοῦ εἰσι· μή γένοιτο! εἴρηται γάρ· «οὐ γάρ εἰκῇ τήν μάχαιραν φορεῖ· διάκονος γάρ ἐστι Θεοῦ εἰς ὀργήν τῷ τό κακόν πράσσοντι». Σημείωσαι οὖν τάς λύσεις· πολλάς γάρ ζητήσεις διαλύει τῶν λεγόντων, Εἰ ἐκ Θεοῦ οἱ δήμιοι καί οἱ ἄρχοντες.

Οἱ τόν βέβηλον τῶν θείων μυστηρίων ἀπείργοντες: Σημείωσαι, ὅτι δεῖ τούς βεβήλους ἀπείργεσθαι τῶν θείων μυστηρίων διά τῶν ἱερέων.

Οὐδέ τό κολάζεσθαι: Ὅτι οὐ τό κολάζεσθαι κακόν, ἀλλά τό κολάσεως ἄξιον γενέσθαι. Σημείωσαι περί ἱερέων καί ἀρχόντων, τῶν βεβήλους κολαζόντων.

Ἀλλ' οὔτε οἱ δαίμονες: Ὅτι οὔτε οἱ δαίμονες φύσει κακοί. Ἔπειτα οὐδέ τοῦτο παντί. Σημείωσαι, ὅτι οὐ παντί καί ἀεί κακόν ἡ φθορά, ὡς

ἐπί θηρίων καί ἑρπετῶν καί βοτανῶν ὀλεθρίων. Ἀλλ' οὐδέ φθείρεται: Ὅτι οὐδέ φθείρεταί τι τῶν ὄντων, καθ' ὅ οὐσία. Ἀλλά τῇ ἐλλείψει: Σημείωσαι, ὅτι φθοράν καλεῖ καί τήν πλημμελῆ καί

ἀναρμόνιον παρά τήν τάξιν κίνησιν τῆς φύσεως. Ἔχεις δέ καί τοῦτο παρά τῷ Ἰεζεκιήλ περί τοῦ διαβόλου· «ἐφθάρη ἡ ἐπιστήμη σου σύν τῷ κάλλει σου»· φησί δέ τό παρ' (14S_176> Ἕλλησι καί Μανιχαίοις λεγόμενον διαλύων, ὅτι οὔτε οἱ δαίμονες φύσει κακοί. Εἶτα τά καθ' ὑπόθεσιν παρ' αὐτῶν ἀντιτιθέμενα προτίθησι καί διαλύει, λέγων· Πρῶτον μέν οὐ φθείρουσιν οἱ δαίμονες οὐσίας· αἱ γάρ οὐσίαι καθ' ὅ οὐσίαι, οὐ χωροῦσιν εἰς ἀνυπαρξίαν· ἔπειτα, καί εἰ τοῦτο ἦν, οὐ πᾶσιν οὐδέ παντων ἡ φθορά κακή, ὡς ἐν τοῖς θηρίοις, καί τοῖς ἕρπουσιν, καί πόαις ὀλεθρίαις, καί τοῖς ἄλλοις τοῖς ὁμοίοις. Ζητητέον οὖν, μή δύναμιν ἤ ἐνέργειαν φθείρουσιν οἱ δαίμονες, καί τέως ἐν συντόμῳ χρή εἰπεῖν, τί δύναμις καί τί ἐνέργεια· ἰστέον οὖν, ὅτι ἡ διαφορά τῆς δυνάμεως πρός τήν ἐνέργειαν τοιαύτη ἐστίν, ὡς ἡ ἕξις πρός τήν ἐνέργειαν τήν κατά τήν ἕξιν· ἡ μέν οὖν ἕξις ποιότης ἐστίν ἔμμονος. Σαφές δέ ἔσται οὕτω· Τό πῦρ δύναμιν ἔχει θερμαντικήν, καί ἔστιν αὐτοῦ ἕξις, ἤτοι ποιότης, τό θερμαντικόν. Ἔστιν οὖν ἐνέργεια ἡ κατά τήν ἕξιν, ἤτοι ποιότητα, ὅτε καί τι σῶμα θερμαίνεται· ἰδού γάρ ἀποτελεῖται ἡ ἐνέργεια τῆς ἕξεως τοῦ πυρός· ἡ οὖν δύναμις παρ' ἑαυτῆς ἔχει τήν ἐνέργειαν· αὐτῆς γάρ ἐστι τῆς δυνάμεως ἡ ἐνέργεια τό ἐξ αὐτῆς ἀποτελούμενον· ἡ γάρ δύναμις κατά τό ποιεῖν λαμβάνεται. Φθορά οὖν δυνάμεως ἡ ἐνέργεια, ὥσπερ οὖν καί οὐσίας ἡ δύναμις, ταὐτόν δέ καί περί τῆς ἐνεργείας ἡ παρά τήν τάξιν καί τήν συμμετρίαν καί ἁρμονίαν ἀσθενής πρόοδος, καθ' ἥν προϊοῦσαν πλημμελῶς οὐ δύνανται μένειν ὡς εἶχον ἡ δύναμις, καί ἡ ἐνέργεια, καί ἡ οὐσία· εἰ γάρ παντελής, ὡς ἔφημεν, ἔσται ἀσθένεια, οὐ μήν ἡ μερική τῶν εἰρημένων· καί τό ὑποκείμενον φθείρει, ἐν ᾧ ἡ δύναμις καί ἡ ἐνέργεια, καί οὔτε ἡ δύναμις καί ἡ ἐνέργεια, ὡς οὔτε ἡ οὐσία, (14S_178> ἀλλ' οὔτε αὐτή ἡ φθορά παραλειφθήσονται, ἀπολομένων ἐκείνων περί ἅ ἡ φθορά. Ἐνέργεια μέν οὖν νοητῶν καί νοερῶν νοῶν τό κατά φύσιν πράττειν, τουτέστι τό εἰς Θεόν ἀνατετάσθαι· δύναμις δέ νοῦ τό εἰς νοήσεις κατιέναι, περί οὗ τά εἰρημένα, πλημμελῶς κινούμενα, ἐλλείπουσι τοῦ ἀγαθοῦ. Φύσει οὖν κακόν οὐδέν.

Ἀλλ' ἐλλιπές ἀγαθόν. Ὡς μή τήν τελείαν φθοράν τῆς φθορᾶς εἰσάγον.