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for in pitying the wronged, he punishes the wrongdoers. And I said: Therefore, if I do good to the good, but punish wrongdoers for the wrongs they have done to men, am I not a lover of mankind? And Peter answered: If, along with having foreknowledge, you also had the authority to judge, you would do this rightly, on the one hand, because you have received the authority, condemning those whom God created, and on the other hand, because of your foreknowledge, judging unerringly, acquitting some as righteous and condemning others as unrighteous. And I said: You have spoken rightly and truly; for it is impossible for one who does not have foreknowledge to judge rightly. For sometimes some seem good, while secretly committing unlawful deeds, while others, though good, are considered evil because of the slander of enemies. But even if one judges having the authority to torture and examine, not even so would it happen that he judges entirely justly. For some, being murderers, endured tortures and were acquitted as innocent, while others, being innocent, did not endure the tortures, and having falsely testified against themselves, were punished as guilty. And Peter said: These things are reasonable enough, but hear what is greater. Of the things that some men do, whether sinning or acting rightly, some are their own, and some are another's, and it is just for each to be punished for his own sins or rewarded for his own good deeds. But it is impossible for anyone except a prophet alone, who has foreknowledge, to know of the things done by someone, which are his own, and which are not; for all things done through him are seen. And I said: I wished to learn how some of the wrongdoings or good deeds are one's own, and some are another's. And Peter answered that: The prophet of truth said, "Good things must come, but blessed (he says) is he through whom they come; likewise, it is necessary for evil things to come, but woe to him through whom they come." And if evil things come through evil men and good things are brought by good men, to each must belong what is his own, whether to be good or evil, and from what he has previously done, through the coming of subsequent good or evil things, which being his own by choice, it has been arranged by the providence of God to come to pass, since this is a judgment for God, just as in a contest, that the one who has passed through every hardship and been found blameless, that he should be deemed worthy of eternal life; for those who have advanced in good things by their own will are tempted by those who by their own will have remained in wickedness, being persecuted, hated, reviled, plotted against, beaten, taken advantage of, slandered, compelled, insulted, suffering all those things by which it seems reasonable to become angry and rush to self-defense. But the teacher, knowing that those who do these things unjustly are condemned from former sins, and that the spirit of wickedness works these things through condemned men, advised to have pity on men insofar as they are men, even when they become instruments of wickedness through sin, as those practicing philanthropy, and as much as it is in their power, when wronged, even to release the wrongdoers from condemnation, so that just as the sober help the drunken, with prayers, fastings, blessings, not resisting, not defending themselves, so that they may not compel them to sin more. For when it is decreed for someone to suffer anyway, it is not reasonable to be indignant with him through whom the suffering comes, considering that, if

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γὰρ καὶ ἐλεῶν τοὺς ἠδικημένους τιμωρεῖ τοὺς ἠδικηκότας. κἀγὼ ἔφην· Oὐκ- οῦν, εἰ κἀγὼ ἀγαθοὺς μὲν εὐεργετῶ, τοὺς δὲ ἀδικοῦντας καθὸ ἀνθρώ- πους ἠδίκησαν τιμωρῶ, φιλάνθρωπός εἰμι; καὶ ὁ Πέτρος ἀπεκρίνατο· Eἰ μετὰ τοῦ πρόγνωσιν ἔχειν εἶχες καὶ τοῦ κρίνειν ἐξουσίαν, ὀρθῶς ἂν τοῦτο ἐποίεις, διὰ μὲν τὸ εἰληφέναι τὴν ἐξουσίαν καταδικάζων οὓς ὁ θεὸς ἐδη- μιούργησεν, διὰ δὲ τὴν πρόγνωσιν ἀπταίστως ἐν τῷ κρίνειν οὓς μὲν ὡς δι- καίους δικαιῶν, οὓς δὲ ὡς ἀδίκους καταδικάζων. κἀγὼ ἔφην· Ὀρθῶς ἔφης καὶ ἀληθῶς· ἀδύνατον γάρ τινα πρόγνωσιν οὐκ ἔχοντα ὀρθῶς κρῖναι. ἐνίοτε γὰρ φαίνονταί τινες ἀγαθοί, ἀθέμιτα κρύφα διαπρασσόμενοι, ἔνιοι δὲ ἀγα- θοὶ ὑπὸ διαβολῆς ἐχθρῶν κακοὶ ὑπολαμβανόμενοι. ἀλλ' εἰ καὶ τοῦ βασα- νίζειν καὶ ἀνακρίνειν ἐξουσίαν τις ἔχων δικάζει, οὐδὲ οὕτως τὸ πάντως δι- καίως αὐτῷ δικάσαι ἐγίνετο. ἔνιοι γὰρ φονεῖς ὄντες τὰς βασάνους ὑπομεί- ναντες ὡς ἀθῷοι ἀπελύθησαν, ἕτεροι δὲ ἀθῷοι ὄντες τὰς βασάνους μὴ ὑπο- μείναντες, ἑαυτῶν καταψευσάμενοι ὡς αἴτιοι ἐκολάσθησαν. καὶ ὁ Πέτρος· Μετρίως, ἔφη, ἔχει καὶ ταῦτα, τὸ δὲ μεῖζον ἄκουσον. ἐνίων ἀνθρώπων ἁμαρτανόντων ἢ εὖ πραττόντων, ὧν ποιοῦσιν ἃ μὲν ἴδια αὐτῶν ἐστιν, ἃ δὲ ἀλλότρια, δίκαιον δὲ ἕκαστον ἐπὶ τοῖς ἰδίοις ἁμαρτήμασιν τιμωρεῖσθαι ἢ ἐπὶ τοῖς ἰδίοις κατορθώμασιν εὐεργετεῖσθαι. ἀδύνατον δέ τινι πλὴν προ φήτῃ μόνῳ πρόγνωσιν ἔχοντι τὰ ὑπό τινος γινόμενα εἰδέναι ποῖά ἐστιν αὐτοῦ ἴδια, ποῖα δὲ οὐκ ἦν· πάντα γὰρ δι' αὐτοῦ γινόμενα βλέπεται. κἀγὼ ἔφην· Ἐβουλόμην μαθεῖν πῶς τῶν ἀδικημάτων ἢ κατορθωμάτων ἃ μὲν ἴδια, ἃ δὲ ἀλλότρια. καὶ ὁ Πέτρος ἀπεκρίνατο ὅτι· Ὁ τῆς ἀληθείας προφήτης ἔφη· «Τὰ ἀγαθὰ ἐλθεῖν δεῖ, μακάριος δέ (φησίν) δι' οὗ ἔρχεται· ὁμοίως καὶ τὰ κακὰ ἀνάγκη ἐλθεῖν, οὐαὶ δὲ δι' οὗ ἔρχεται». εἰ δὲ διὰ κακῶν κακὰ ἔρχεται καὶ δι' ἀγαθῶν ἀγαθὰ φέρεται, προσεῖναι δεῖ ἑκάστῳ τὸ ἴδιον, τὸ ἀγαθὸν εἶναι ἢ κακόν, καὶ ἐξ ὧν προέπραξεν, διὰ τοῦ ἐλθεῖν τὰ δεύτερα ἀγαθὰ ἢ κακά, ἅτινα ἴδια αὐτοῦ τῆς αἱρέσεως ὄντα ὑπὸ τῆς τοῦ θεοῦ προνοίας διελθεῖν ᾠκονόμηται, ἐπεὶ κρίσις αὕτη θεῷ, ὥσπερ ἐπ' ἀγῶνος τὸν διὰ πάσης κακουχίας διεληλυθότα καὶ ἄμεμπτον εὑρεθέντα, ἐκεῖνον ζωῆς αἰωνίου καταξιοῦσθαι· οἱ γὰρ ἐν ἀγα- θοῖς ἰδίᾳ βουλῇ προκόψαντες ὑπὸ τῶν ἰδίᾳ βουλῇ ἐν κακίᾳ παραμεινάν- των πειράζονται, διωκόμενοι, μισούμενοι, λοιδορούμενοι, ἐπιβουλευό- μενοι, τυπτόμενοι, πλεονεκτούμενοι, διαβαλλόμενοι, ἀγγαρευόμενοι, ἐπη- ρεαζόμενοι, πάντα ἐκεῖνα πάσχοντες, δι' ὧν εὐλόγως δοκεῖ τὸ ὀργίζεσθαι γίνεσθαι καὶ πρὸς ἄμυναν ὁρμᾶν. ὁ δὲ διδάσκαλος εἰδὼς ὅτι οἱ ταῦτα ἀδίκως ποιοῦντες ἐκ προτέρων ἁμαρτημάτων κατάδικοί εἰσιν καὶ ὅτι διὰ καταδίκων τὸ τῆς κακίας πνεῦμα ταῦτα ἐνεργεῖ, τοὺς μὲν ἀνθρώ- πους καθὸ ἄνθρωποί εἰσιν, καὶ δι' ἁμαρτίας ὄργανα γινομένους κακίας ἐλεεῖν συνεβούλευσεν, ὡς φιλανθρωπίαν ἀσκοῦσιν, καὶ τὸ ὅσον ἐπ' αὐτοῖς ἐστιν, ἀδικουμένους καὶ ἀπολύειν τῆς καταδίκης τοὺς ἀδικοῦντας, ἵνα ὥσπερ οἱ νήφοντες τοῖς μεθύουσιν βοηθῶσιν, εὐχαῖς, νηστείαις, εὐλογίαις, μὴ ἀνθιστάμενοι, μὴ ἀμυνόμενοι, ἵνα μὴ ἐπὶ τὸ πλεῖον αὐτοὺς ἁμαρ- τεῖν ἀναγκάσωσιν. τοῦ γὰρ παθεῖν πάντως κεκριμένου τινί, οὐκ εὔ- λογον ἀγανακτεῖν ἐκείνῳ, δι' οὗ τὸ παθεῖν γίνεται, λογισάμενον ὅτι, εἰ