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To whom shall he flee, on whom shall he lean? For having no resistance, he is cast into the void. Yes, he says, one must not fear God, but love him. I say so too. But a good conscience will provide this from every good deed. And the good deed comes from fearing. But fear, he says, terrifies the soul. But I say that it does not terrify, but awakens and converts. And perhaps it was rightly said that one should not fear God, if we humans did not fear many other things, I mean the plots from our fellows, and furthermore wild beasts, reptiles, diseases, passions, demons, and countless other things. Let him, therefore, who deems that we should not fear God, deliver us from these things, so that we may not fear them either. But if he cannot, why does he begrudge us being delivered from countless fears by one fear toward the Just One, and by a little faith in him to become able to transfer countless passions both of ourselves and of others, in addition to expecting a reward of good things, and by cause of the fear of the all-seeing God, doing no evil, to continue in peace even in the present? Thus, grateful servitude to the true master sets all others free. If, therefore, it is possible for anyone not to sin without fearing God, let him not fear. For it is possible through love for him not to do what does not seem right to him. For it is written to fear and it is commanded to love, so that each may use the remedy suitable to his own temperament. It is possible, therefore, to fear him, because he is just. Therefore, whether fearing or loving, do not sin. And may it be that someone who fears is able to master lawless pleasures, not to desire what belongs to others, to practice philanthropy, to be temperate, to act justly. For I see some who, being imperfect in their fear toward him, sin very much. Let us therefore fear God not only because he is just; for in pitying the wronged, he punishes the wrongdoers. As, therefore, water extinguishes fire, so also does fear destroy the desire for evil things. The one who teaches fearlessness does not himself fear, and the one who does not fear does not believe there will be a judgment, he increases desires, practices magic, and slanders others for what he himself does. Simon, hearing these things, interrupted and said: I know to whom you say these things, but so that I myself, saying the same things, do not spend the time I do not want in refuting you, I promised to answer regarding the things appointed to us, saying that you have understood the things of your teacher sufficiently, because of being present you see and hear him with clarity, and that it is not possible for anyone else to have the like by a vision or an apparition. But that this is false, I will show. The one who hears someone with clarity is not fully assured about the things being said; for his mind can reason whether perhaps the one who appears, being a man, is lying. But the apparition, as soon as it is seen, provides faith to the one seeing that it is divinity. To this first answer me. And Peter said: Proposing to speak on one thing, you have answered on another; for you proposed that someone hearing from an apparition is more able to understand more than from clarity, but then you went on to persuade us that the one hearing from an apparition is more secure than the one hearing from clarity itself. At last, at any rate, for this reason you asserted that you know the things of Jesus more competently than I, as one who has heard the word from an apparition of him. Nevertheless, I am answering to what was proposed from the beginning. The prophet, because he is a prophet

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τίνα καταφύγῃ, εἰς τίνα ἐρείσῃ; ἀντιτυπίαν γὰρ οὐκ ἔχων εἰς κενὸν ἐκ- βαθρεύεται. ναί φησιν, οὐ χρὴ θεὸν φοβεῖσθαι, ἀλλὰ ἀγαπᾶν. φημὶ κἀγώ. ἀλλὰ τοῦτο παρέξει ἑκάστης εὐποιίας εὐσυνειδησία. ἡ δὲ εὐποιία ἐκ τοῦ φοβεῖσθαι γίνεται. ἀλλ' ὁ φόβος, φησίν, ἐκπλήσσει τὴν ψυχήν. ἀλλ' ἐγώ φημι ὅτι οὐκ ἐκπλήσσει, ἀλλ' ἐξυπνίζει καὶ ἐπιστρέφει. ἴσως δὲ ὀρθῶς ἐλέγετο μὴ δεῖν θεὸν φοβεῖσθαι, εἰ μὴ πολλὰ ἕτερα οἱ ἄνθρωποι ἐφοβού- μεθα, λέγω δὲ τὰς ἐκ τῶν ὁμοίων ἐπιβουλάς, ἔτι τε θηρία, ἑρπετά, νόσους, πάθη, δαίμονας καὶ ἄλλα μυρία. ὁ οὖν ἡμᾶς ἀξιῶν μὴ φοβεῖσθαι θεὸν τούτων ἡμᾶς ·υσάσθω, ἵνα μηδὲ ταῦτα φοβώμεθα. εἰ δ' οὐ δύναται, τί ἡμῖν φθονεῖ ἑνὶ φόβῳ τῷ πρὸς τὸν δίκαιον μυρίων ἀπαλλαγῆναι φόβων καὶ βραχείᾳ τῇ πρὸς αὐτὸν πίστει μυρία πάθη καὶ ἑαυτῶν καὶ ἄλλων μετατιθέναι δυνα- τὸν γενέσθαι μετὰ τοῦ καὶ ἀμοιβὴν ἀγαθῶν προσδέχεσθαι καὶ αἰτίᾳ φόβου τοῦ πάντα ὁρῶντος θεοῦ μηδὲν κακὸν πράσσοντας καὶ ἐν τῷ παρόντι ἐν εἰρήνῃ διατελεῖν; οὕτως ἡ πρὸς τὸν ὄντως δεσπότην εὐγνώμων δουλεία τοὺς λοι- ποὺς πάντας ἐλευθέρους τίθησιν. εἰ μὲν οὖν τινι δυνατόν ἐστιν ἄνευ τοῦ φοβεῖσθαι τὸν θεὸν μὴ ἁμαρτάνειν, μὴ φοβείσθω. ἔξεστιν γὰρ ἀγάπῃ τῇ πρὸς αὐτὸν ὃ αὐτῷ μὴ δοκεῖ μὴ πράττειν. καὶ γὰρ φοβηθῆναι γέγραπται καὶ ἀγαπᾶν παρήγγελται, ἵνα πρὸς τὴν αὑτοῦ ἕκαστος κρᾶσιν ἐπιτηδείῳ χρήσηται φαρμάκῳ. φοβεῖσθαι οὖν αὐτὸν ἔστιν, ὅτι δίκαιός ἐστιν. εἴτε οὖν φοβούμενοι εἴτε ἀγαπῶντες, μὴ ἁμαρτάνετε. γένοιτο δὲ φοβούμε- νόν τινα ἡδονῶν ἀνόμων κρατεῖν δύνασθαι, ἀλλότρια μὴ ἐπιθυμεῖν, φιλ- ανθρωπίαν ἀσκεῖν, σωφρονεῖν, δικαιοπραγεῖν. ὁρῶ γάρ τινας ἀτελεῖς τοῦ πρὸς αὐτὸν φόβου πλεῖστα ἁμαρτάνοντας. φοβηθῶμεν οὖν τὸν θεὸν μὴ μόνον ὅτι δίκαιός ἐστιν· ἐλεῶν γὰρ τοὺς ἠδικημένους τιμωρεῖ τοὺς ἠδικηκότας. ὡς οὖν ὕδωρ πῦρ σβέννυσιν, οὕτως καὶ φόβος τὴν τῶν κακῶν ἐπιθυμίαν ἀναιρεῖ. ὁ ἀφοβίαν διδάσκων οὐδὲ αὐτὸς φοβεῖται, ὁ δὲ μὴ φοβούμενος οὐδὲ κρίσιν ἔσεσθαι πιστεύει, τὰς ἐπιθυμίας αὔξει, μαγεύει, ἄλλους ἐφ' οἷς αὐτὸς πράσσει διαβάλλει. Ταῦτα ὁ Σίμων ἀκούων ἐπικόψας ἔφη· Oἶδα πρὸς τίνα ταῦτα λέγεις, ἀλλ' ἵνα μὴ αὐτὸς τὰ αὐτὰ λέγων πρὸς τὸ ἐλέγχειν σε δαπανῶ τὸν χρόνον εἰς ἃ μὴ θέλω, πρὸς τὰ ὁρισθέντα ἡμῖν ἀποκρίνασθαι ἐπηγγείλω, ἱκανῶς νενοη- κέναι σε τὰ τοῦ διδασκάλου σου λέγων, διὰ τὸ παρόντα ἐναργείᾳ ὁρᾶν καὶ ἀκούειν αὐτοῦ, καὶ ἑτέρῳ τινὶ μὴ δυνατὸν εἶναι ὁράματι ἢ ὀπτασίᾳ ἔχειν τὸ ὅμοιον. ὅτι δὲ τοῦτο ψεῦδός ἐστιν, δείξω. ὁ ἐναργῶς ἀκούων τινὸς οὐ πάνυ πληροφορεῖται ἐπὶ τοῖς λεγομένοις· ἔχει γὰρ ὁ νοῦς αὐτοῦ λογίσασθαι μὴ ἄρα ψεύδεται ἄνθρωπος ὢν τὸ φαινόμενον. ἡ δὲ ὀπτασία ἅμα τῷ ὀφθῆναι πίστιν παρέχει τῷ ὁρῶντι ὅτι θειότης ἐστίν. πρὸς τοῦτό μοι πρῶτον ἀπόκριναι. καὶ ὁ Πέτρος ἔφη· Eἰς ἄλλο προτεί- νας εἰπεῖν εἰς ἕτερον ἀπεκρίνω· προέτεινας γὰρ ὡς μᾶλλον δύνασθαί τινα πλεῖον νοεῖν παρ' ὀπτασίας ἀκούοντα ἢ γὰρ παρὰ τῆς ἐναργείας, ἐπιβαλὼν δὲ ἔπειθες ἡμᾶς ὅτι ἀσφαλέστερός ἐστιν ὁ ὑπὸ ὀπτασίας ἀκούων τοῦ παρ' αὐτῆς ἐναργείας ἀκούοντος. πέρας γοῦν διὰ τοῦτο ἐμοῦ ἱκανώτερον ἔφασκες εἰδέναι τὰ τοῦ Ἰησοῦ ὡς ὑπὸ ὀπτασίας αὐτοῦ ἀκηκοὼς τὸν λόγον. πλὴν ἐγὼ εἰς τὸ ἀπ' ἀρχῆς προταθὲν ἀποκρίνομαι. ὁ προφήτης, ὅτι προφήτης