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to answer what has been said by you, while I am contriving a pretext, I will first speak, asking you if there were no pain, what then would the evil one be? And Simon said: Nothing. And Peter: Is evil then pain and death? And Simon: It seems so. <And Peter:> Therefore evil does not exist always, nor indeed can it exist; for to be in pain and to die are among the things that happen, neither of which exists in the presence of good health. For what is it to be in pain but for something to be out of harmony? And what is death but the separation of soul from body? Therefore, when harmony is present, there is no pain; for dying is not among existing things at all, because death is nothing, as I said, but a separation of soul from body, and when this happens the body, by nature unfeeling, is dissolved, while the soul, being sentient, continues living— therefore, when harmony is present, it is not possible to be in pain, nor to die, nor indeed are there deadly herbs, nor venomous reptiles, nor any other such thing whose end is death. Therefore, when immortality prevails, all created things will with good reason be made manifest. And this will be so, whenever on account of righteousness man becomes immortal, when the peace<ful> kingdom of Christ prevails, when his temperament is also well-tempered, so that he might not <suffer> sharp impulses, and also his knowledge is unerring, so that he might not c<all any of the evil things good, and he will be outside> of pain, so that he may not be mortal. And Simon said: You have said these things correctly; but in the present world, does it not seem to you that man is susceptible to every passion? I mean desire, anger, grief, and such things. And Peter: These things too are among the things that happen, not among the things that always are; and it will be found that they happen now for the benefit of the soul. For desire has been brought into being to be present in the living being by him who created all things well, so that, being led by it to intercourse, it might multiply humanity, from which a multitude of an election of better ones comes into being, fit for eternal life. But without desire, no one would have undertaken intercourse with a woman, but now, on the pretext of pleasure, as if indulging himself, man does His will. Yet if someone uses desire for lawful marriage, he does not act impiously; but if he rushes toward adultery, he acts impiously and for this is punished, because he used badly what was well established. Moreover, similarly, anger has received from God its nature to be kindled in us, so that we may be drawn by it to the defense against sins. But one who uses it without measure does wrong, while one who uses it according to its worth performs what is just. But we are also susceptible to grief, so that we may have sympathy at the death of relatives, a wife or children or brothers or parents or friends or any others; since if we did not have fellow-feeling, we would be inhuman. Likewise, all other things will be found to be appropriate, if indeed the reason for which they came to be is understood. And Simon: But why do untimely deaths and periodic diseases occur, and moreover why do demons and madnesses and all sorts of passions exist, which have great power to punish? And Peter: Because men, indulging all their things in pleasure, have intercourse without observation, and thus the depositing of seeds, being given over at the wrong time, naturally brings forth countless evils. But they ought to consider that just as a suitable time is appointed for planting and sowing, so also

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πρὸς τὰ ὑπὸ σοῦ ·ηθέντα ἀποκρίνασθαι προφάσεως διαμηχανῶμαι, ἐρῶ πρότερον πυνθανόμενός σου εἰ τὸ μὴ ἀλγεῖν ἦν, τί ἂν ἔτι ἦν ὁ πονηρός; καὶ ὁ Σίμων ἔφη· Oὐδέν. καὶ ὁ Πέτρος· Ἀρά γε τὸ πονηρὸν τὸ ἀλγεῖν ἐστι καὶ τὸ θανεῖν; καὶ ὁ Σίμων· Φαίνεται. <καὶ ὁ Πέτρος·> Oὐκ ἄρα ὑπάρχει τὸ πονηρὸν ἀεί, ἀλλ' οὐδὲ μὴν ὑπάρξαι δύναται· τὸ γὰρ ἀλγῆσαι καὶ θανεῖν τῶν συμβαινόντων ἐστίν, ὧν οὐθέτερόν ἐστι παρούσης εὐσθε- νείας. τί γάρ ἐστιν ἀλγεῖν ἤ τι ἀναρμοστεῖν; τί δὲ θάνατος ἢ χωρισμὸς ψυχῆς ἀπὸ σώματος; οὔτ' οὖν ἁρμονίας οὔσης τὸ ἀλγεῖν ἔστι· τὸ γὰρ θανεῖν οὐδὲ ὅλως τῶν ὑπαρκτῶν ἐστιν, ὅτι θάνατος οὐδέν ἐστιν, ὡς ἔφην, ἢ χωρισμὸς ψυχῆς ἀπὸ σώματος, οὗ συμβάντος τὸ μὲν σῶμα φύ- σει ἀναίσθητον Χν λύεται, ἡ δὲ ψυχὴ αἰσθητὴ οὖσα ζῶσα ὑπάρχει- ὅθεν ἁρμονίας οὔσης οὐκ ἀλγεῖν ἔστιν, οὐκ ἀποθανεῖν, ἀλλ' οὐδὲ μὴν βοτάναι θανάσιμοι, οὐχ ἑρπετὰ ἰοβόλα οὐδὲ ἄλλο τι τοιοῦτον, οὗ τὸ τέλος θάνατος. ὅθεν ἀθανασίας ἐπικρατούσης εὐλόγως πάντα γεγονότα φανήσεται. ὅπερ καὶ οὕτως ἔσται, ὁπόταν δικαιοσύνης αἰτίᾳ ὁ ἄνθρωπος ἀθάνατος γένηται τῆς τοῦ Χριστοῦ εἰρηνι<κῆς> ἐπικρατούσης βασι- λείας, ὅτε αὐτοῦ καὶ ἡ κρᾶσις εὔκρατός ἐστιν, ἵνα μὴ ὀξείας <πάσχῃ> ὁρμάς, ἔτι τε καὶ γνῶσις ἄπταιστος, ἵνα μή τι τῶν κακῶν ὡς ἀγαθὸν π<ροσαγορεύῃ, ἐκτός> τε ἀλγῶν ἔσται, ἵνα μὴ θνητὸς ᾖ. καὶ ὁ Σίμων ἔφη· Ταῦτα μὲν ὀρθῶς ἔφης· πλὴν ἐν τῷ νῦν κόσμῳ οὐ δοκεῖ σοι παντὸς πάθους δεκτι- κὸς εἶναι ὁ ἄνθρωπος; λέγω δὲ ἐπιθυμίας, ὀργῆς, λύπης καὶ τῶν τοιούτων. καὶ ὁ Πέτρος· Καὶ ταῦτα τῶν συμβαινόντων ἐστίν, οὐ τῶν ἀεὶ ὄντων· χρησίμως δὲ τῇ ψυχῇ συμβαίνοντα νῦν εὑρεθήσεται. ἥ τε γὰρ ἐπιθυμία ἐκ τοῦ πάντα καλῶς δημιουργήσαντος συμβαίνειν τῷ ζσῳ γεγένηται, ἵνα ὑπ' αὐτῆς ἀγόμενον πρὸς κοινωνίαν τὴν ἀνθρωπότητα πληθύνῃ, ἀφ' ἧς πλῆθος ἐκλογῆς κρειττόνων γίνεται πρὸς αἰώνιον ζωὴν ἐπιτήδειον. πλὴν ἄνευ ἐπιθυμίας τὴν πρὸς γυναῖκα κοινωνίαν οὐδεὶς ἂν ἀνεδέξατο, νῦν δὲ προ- φάσει ἡδονῆς ὡς ἑαυτῷ χαριζόμενος ὁ ἄνθρωπος τὸ ἐκείνου βούλημα ποιεῖ. πλὴν ἐάν τις τῇ ἐπιθυμίᾳ χρῆται πρὸς νόμιμον γάμον, οὐκ ἀσεβεῖ· πρὸς μοιχείαν δὲ ὁρμῶν δυσσεβεῖ καὶ διὰ τοῦτο τιμωρεῖται, ὅτι τῷ καλῶς τεθέντι ἐχρήσατο κακῶς. ἔτι τε ὁμοίως ἡ ὀργὴ ἐν ἡμῖν ἐξάπτεσθαι φύσιν ἔχειν εἴληφε παρὰ θεοῦ, ἵνα πρὸς ἄμυναν ἁμαρτημάτων ὑπ' αὐτῆς ἑλ- κώμεθα. πλὴν ἀμέτρῳ αὐτῇ τις χρησάμενος ἀδικεῖ, κατ' ἀξίαν δὲ χρώ μενος τὸ δίκαιον ἐκτελεῖ. ἀλλὰ καὶ λύπης ἐσμὲν δεκτικοί, ἵνα τὸ συμ- παθητικὸν ἔχωμεν ἐπί τε θανάτῳ οἰκείων, γυναικὸς ἢ τέκνων ἢ ἀδελ- φῶν ἢ γονέων ἢ φίλων ἢ ἄλλων τινῶν· ἐπείπερ εἰ τὸ συμπάσχειν οὐκ εἴχομεν, ἀπάνθρωποι ἂν ἦμεν. ὁμῶς καὶ τὰ ἄλλα πάντα οἰκείως εὑρε- θήσεται ἔχοντα, ἐάν γε διὸ γέγονε νοηθῇ. καὶ ὁ Σίμων· ∆ιὰ τί δὲ καὶ ἄωροι τελευτῶσι καὶ περιοδικαὶ νόσοι γίνονται, ἔτι μὴν καὶ δαίμονες καὶ μανίαι καὶ πάθη παντοδαπά, κολάζειν μεγάλως δυνάμενα, ὑπάρχει; καὶ ὁ Πέτρος· Ὅτι οἱ ἄνθρωποι τὰ πάντα αὐτῶν τῇ ἡδονῇ χαριζόμενοι ἀπαρατηρήτως κοινωνοῦσι καὶ οὕτως ἡ τῶν σπερμάτων καταβολὴ ἀκαί- ρως ἐπιδοθεῖσα φυσικῶς τὰ μυρία ἐκφύει κακά. ἐχρῆν δὲ αὐτοὺς λογί- ζεσθαι ὅτι ὡς τοῦ φυτεῦσαι καὶ σπεῖραι καιρὸς ἐπιτήδειος ὥρισται, οὕτω