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suddenly to come into being from himself he was not able; for one who did not yet exist could not form himself, nor can anything that comes into being from non-being have substance, and it would not be right for someone to say that what is created is equal in power to that which always is. And Simon: Is it not then one of the relative things and so evil? Evil indeed Χν as water is to fire, but good for the earth that thirsts in due season; just as iron is good for agriculture, but evil for murders—and desire is not evil for marriages, but grievous for adultery—just as killing is evil, but for the killer it is good for what he has planned—and greed is evil, but pleasant to the one who is greedy—and whatever such things there are, contain this characteristic. But by this reasoning neither is evil evil, nor is good good; for each works the other. Does not that which seems to happen evilly please the one who does it, but punish the one who suffers it? And if it seems unjust to please oneself by loving oneself as much as possible, [and] for this reason to suffer terrible things from a just judge for having loved oneself, to whom does this not seem unjust? And Peter: One must punish oneself with self-control, when desire wants to rush towards harming another, knowing that the evil one can destroy the wicked, having received authority over them from the beginning; and this is not yet evil for those who have done evil things, but for their souls to remain being punished after their destruction, this is truly grievous, since he justly said that the one preordained for evil is rightly so; for which reason one must refrain (as I said) from wronging another for the sake of a brief pleasure, so as not to involve oneself in eternal punishment for the sake of a little pleasure. And Simon: Is it not then that there is no evil or good by nature, but it differs by law and custom? .. among the Persians it is a peculiarity to marry mothers, sisters, daughters, but to others it is forbidden as most grievous. Whence, evils not being defined for all, it is not possible to expect judgment from God. And Peter said: You cannot establish this; for it is apparent to all that to have intercourse with mothers is abominable, even if the Persians, being a portion of the whole, through an evil custom do not perceive the lawlessness of their abominable act. Just as the Britons also openly have intercourse in front of everyone and are not ashamed—and others eat the flesh of men and are not disgusted, and others that of dogs—and others do unspeakable things. Thus one must not make judgments by a perception that has been turned away from what is according to nature by custom. For to be murdered is evil, even if not all say so, because no one wishes to suffer it himself, and no one delights in a theft for his own punishment. Therefore, even if there are sins acknowledged at any time by one person, it is of necessity also right to expect a third judgment for the sins. When Peter had said these things, Simon answered: If it seems so to you concerning the evil one, tell me. And Peter: We remember our Lord and Teacher, how, when commanding, he said to us: “Keep the mysteries for me and for the sons of my house”; wherefore also “to his disciples he explained in private” the mysteries of the kingdom of the heavens. But to you who war against us and examine nothing else than our things .... (whether they are true or false), to speak the secret things is to be impious. But lest some of those present think that being unable

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ἐξαίφνης ἀφ' ἑαυτοῦ γενέσθαι οὐχ οἷός τε ἦν· ἑαυτὸν γὰρ ὁ μήπω ὢν πλάτ- τειν οὐκ ἐδύνατο οὔτε ἐξ οὐκ ὄντων γενέσθαι τι οὐσίαν ἔχειν δύναται καὶ γεννητὸν ὑπάρχον τῷ ἀεὶ ἰσοδυναμεῖν οὐκ ὀρθῶς ἂν εἴποι τις. καὶ ὁ Σίμων· Μήτι οὖν τῶν πρὸς τί ἐστι καὶ οὕτως πονηρόν ἐστι; κακὸν μὲν Χν ὡς ὕδωρ πυρί, ἀγαθὸν δὲ τῇ εὐκαίρως διψώσῃ γῇ· ὥσπερ γε καὶ σίδηρος εἰς μὲν γεωργίαν καλός, εἰς δὲ φόνους κακός-καὶ ἡ ἐπιθυμία δὲ εἰς μὲν γάμους οὐ κακή, εἰς δὲ μοιχείαν χαλεπή-ὡς καὶ τὸ φονεῦσαι κακόν, ἀλλὰ τῷ φονεύσαντι πρὸς ὃ βεβούλευται καλόν-καὶ ἡ πλεονεξία κακόν, ἀλλὰ τῷ πλεονεκτοῦντι ἡδύ-καὶ ὅσα τοιαῦτα τυγχάνει, τοῦτον περιέχει τὸν τρόπον. τούτῳ δὲ τῷ λόγῳ οὔτε τὸ κακὸν κακόν ἐστιν οὔτε τὸ ἀγαθὸν ἀγαθὸν τυγχάνει· ἑκάτερον γὰρ τὸ ἕτερον ἐργάζεται. μήτιγε τὸ δοκοῦν κα- κῶς γίνεσθαι εὐφραίνει μὲν τὸν ποιοῦντα, κολάζει δὲ τὸν πάσχοντα; καὶ εἰ ἄδικον δοκεῖ τὸ ἑαυτὸν ἀγαπήσαντα εὐφραίνειν ὡς δυνατόν ἐστι, [καὶ] διὰ τοῦτο χαλεπὰ πείσεσθαι ὑπὸ δικαίου δικαστοῦ περὶ τοῦ ἑαυτὸν ἠγαπη- κέναι, τίνι οὐκ ἄδικον φαίνεται; καὶ ὁ Πέτρος· Ἑαυτὸν χρὴ κολάζειν τότε τῇ ἐγκρατείᾳ, ὅταν ἡ ἐπιθυμία πρὸς ἑτέρου βλάβην ὁρμῆσαι θέλῃ, εἰ- δότα <ὅτι> ὁ πονηρὸς τοὺς μὲν κακοὺς ἀνελεῖν δύναται, ἀπ' ἀρχῆς τὴν κατ' αὐτῶν εἰληφὼς ἐξουσίαν· καὶ οὔπω τοῦτο κακὸν τοῖς κακὰ πράξασιν, ἀλλὰ τὸ μετὰ τὴν ἀναίρεσιν τὰς ψυχὰς αὐτῶν κολαζομένας διαμένειν, τοῦτο ὄντως εἶναι χαλεπὸν δικαίως τὸν κακῶς προδιωρισμένον ὀρθῶς ἔχειν εἰπόντος · οὗ εἵνεκεν παραιτεῖσθαι χρή (ὡς ἔφην) βραχείας χάριν ἡδονῆς ἄλλον ἀδικεῖν πρὸς τὸ μὴ αὑτόν τινα ὀλίγης χάριν ἡδονῆς ἀιδίῳ περιβα- λεῖν κολάσει. καὶ ὁ Σίμων· Μήτι οὖν οὐκ ἔστι τῇ φύσει πονηρὸν ἢ ἀγαθόν, ἀλλὰ νόμῳ διαφέρει καὶ ἔθει. .. παρὰ Πέρσαις ἴδιον τὸ γαμεῖν μητέ- ρας, ἀδελφάς, θυγατέρας, ἄλλοις δὲ ὥσπερ χαλεπώτ<ατον ἀπη>γόρευται. ὅθεν τῶν κακῶν μὴ ὡρισμένων πᾶσι τὴν ἐκ θεοῦ κρίσιν προσδοκᾶν οὐκ ἔστι. καὶ ὁ Πέτρος ἔφη· Oὐ δύνασαι τοῦτο συστῆσαι· πᾶσι γὰρ φαίνεται ὅτι τὸ μη- τράσι μίγνυσθαι μυσαρόν, κἂν Πέρσαι, μόριον ὑπάρχοντες τοῦ παντός, ὑπὸ κακοῦ ἔθους τῆς μυσαρᾶς αὐτῶν πράξεως τὸ ἄνομον μὴ ἀντιλαμβά- νωνται. ὡς καὶ Βρεττανοὶ ἐμφανῶς ἐπὶ πάντων κοινωνοῦσι καὶ οὐκ αἰδοῦν- ται-καὶ ἄλλοι σάρκας ἀνθρώπων ἐσθίουσι καὶ οὐ μυσάττονται, καὶ ἕτεροι κυνῶν-καὶ ἄλλοι ἄρρητα πράσσουσιν. οὕτως οὐ χρὴ αἰσθήσει ὑπὸ ἔθους τοῦ κατὰ φύσιν ἐκτραπείσῃ τὰς κρίσεις ποιεῖσθαι. καὶ γὰρ τὸ φονευθῆναι κακόν ἐστι, κἂν μὴ πάντες λέγωσιν ὅτι μηδεὶς αὐτοπαθεῖν θέλει, καὶ κλοπῇ οὐδεὶς ἐπὶ τῇ ἑαυτοῦ κολάσει ἥδεται. κἂν οὖν ἑνὸς οὐδήποτε ὁμολο- γουμένου εἶναι ἁμαρτήματα, ἐξ ἀνάγκης καὶ τρίτην κρίσιν πρὸς τὰ ἁμαρτήματα ὀρθῶς ἔστι προσδοκᾶν. ταῦτα τοῦ Πέτρου εἰπόντος ὁ Σίμων ἀπεκρίνατο· <Eἰ> οὕτως σοι δοκεῖ τὰ κατὰ τὸν πονηρὸν εἶναι, εἰπέ μοι. καὶ ὁ Πέτρος· Μεμνήμεθα τοῦ κυρίου ἡμῶν καὶ διδασκάλου ὡς ἐντελλόμενος εἶπεν ἡμῖν· «Τὰ μυστήρια ἐμοὶ καὶ τοῖς υἱοῖς τοῦ οἴκου μου φυλάξατε»· διὸ καὶ «τοῖς αὐτοῦ μαθηταῖς κατ' ἰδίαν ἐπέλυε» τῆς τῶν οὐρανῶν βασιλείας τὰ μυστήρια. σοὶ δὲ πολεμοῦντι ἡμᾶς καὶ μηδὲν ἕτερον διασκοποῦντι ἢ τὰ ἡμέτερα <....> (εἴτε ἀληθῆ ὄντα εἴτε ψευδῆ) τὰ ἀπόρρητα λέγειν ἀσεβεῖν ἐστιν. ἀλλ' ἵνα μὴ δόξωσί τινες τῶν παρεστώτων ὅτι ἀδυνατῶν