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creator of the whole world. And they call themselves Christians, but us Romans. And they say eagerly to those who are ignorant of them, "we believe in the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, the heavenly Father; and anathema," they say, "to the one not believing thus," very deliberately devising their own wickedness. For they do not add, when they speak of the heavenly Father, that He is the only true God who made heaven and earth and all things in them. But the Orthodox person conversing with a Manichaean should ask him to say the symbol of the faith, "I believe in one God, Father almighty, maker of heaven and earth, of all things visible and invisible" and what follows. Then they blaspheme immeasurably against the all-holy Theotokos; but if they are compelled by us to confess her, they say allegorically, "I believe in the holy Theotokos, into whom the Lord entered and from whom He came forth." And they mean the Jerusalem above, into which Christ entered as a forerunner for us, as the Apostle says, and they do not in truth speak of the holy Mary as Theotokos, nor that the Lord was incarnate from her. And they blaspheme also against the divine mysteries of the holy communion of the precious body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, saying that the Lord, in giving his words to the apostles, said, "Take, eat and drink," not bread and wine; and it is not necessary, he says, for bread and wine to be offered. And they blaspheme also against the precious cross, saying that Christ 1.760 is the cross, and that the wood should not be venerated, as it is a cursed instrument. And they reject the prophets and the other saints. Moreover, Saint Peter, the great chief apostle, they revile and reject more than all, saying that none of them is among the number of the saved. The catholic church [they say is] their own assemblies, speaking to us in their allegory; for among themselves they call them prayers. And baptism [they say are] the words of the gospel, as the Lord says, "I am the living water." All these things, and more than these, when they are detected, they allegorize. But one must converse with them intelligently and distinctly on all points. For they also have falsehood ready at hand as their own law, always lying, but especially when they are compelled, and saying whatever they are commanded or urged, and are blameless among themselves. For thus Mani delivered to them that "I am not unmerciful," he says, "like the Christ who said, ‘Whoever denies me, I also will deny him.’ But I say, of the one who denies me before men and by a lie provides for his own salvation as if not denying, I joyfully accept both the recantation and the lie as a confession to me without guilt." Similarly, however, they also reject the presbyters and other priests from among us. And they call their own priests "fellow travelers" and "notaries," being indistinguishable from all of them in both appearance and diet and in every 1.761 arrangement of the rest of their life. And they have all the sayings of the gospel and of the apostle perverted, contrary to what is held by you, but composed by them as supposedly fitting their own heresies. For as it is said in scripture and in the sayings, they are thus just as the things among us, unvaried, but they distort the meanings, as has been said by me more clearly about these things at greater length. And they venerate the gospel among us, when it happens, not on the cross but in the book, saying that they are the words of Christ and for this reason we venerate them. And in weakness and some pain, when some of them fall into it, they place the cross upon themselves; and upon regaining health they break it again and throw it into the fire and burn it or trample it. And some of them even have their own children baptized by our presbyters. And others, entering our church of the Orthodox, secretly partake

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κόσμου παντὸς ποιητήν. καλοῦσι δὲ ἑαυτοὺς μὲν Χριστιανοὺς ἡμᾶς δὲ Ῥωμαίους. λέγουσι δὲ πρὸς τοὺς ἀγνοοῦντας αὐτοὺς προθύμως "πιστεύομεν εἰς πατέρα καὶ υἱὸν καὶ ἅγιον πνεῦμα, τὸν ἐπουράνιον πατέρα· καὶ ἀνάθεμα," φασί, "τῷ μὴ οὕτως πιστεύοντι," μεμελετημένως λίαν τὴν ἑαυτῶν κα κίαν μεθοδεύοντες. οὐ γὰρ προστιθέασιν, ὅτε λέγουσι τὸν πατέρα τὸν ἐπουράνιον, ὅτι τὸν μόνον ἀληθινὸν θεὸν τὸν ποιήσαντα τὸν οὐρανὸν καὶ τὴν γῆν καὶ πάντα τὰ ἐν αὐτοῖς. χρὴ δὲ τὸν προσ διαλεγόμενον ὀρθόδοξον αἰτεῖν τὸν Μανιχαῖον τοῦ εἰπεῖν τὸ σύμ βολον τῆς πίστεως, τό "πιστεύω ἕνα θεόν, πατέρα παντοκράτορα, ποιητὴν οὐρανοῦ καὶ γῆς, ὁρατῶν τε πάντων καὶ ἀοράτων" καὶ τὰ ἑξῆς. ἔπειτα δὲ βλασφημοῦσι μὲν εἰς τὴν παναγίαν θεοτόκον ἄμετρα· ἐὰν δὲ βιασθῶσι παρ' ἡμῶν ὁμολογῆσαι αὐτήν, ἀλλη γορικῶς λέγουσι "πιστεύω εἰς τὴν ἁγίαν θεοτόκον, ἐν ᾗ εἰσῆλθε καὶ ἐξῆλθεν ὁ κύριος." λέγουσι δὲ τὴν ἄνω Ἱερουσαλήμ, ἐν ᾗ πρόδρομος ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν εἰσῆλθε Χριστός, καθώς φησιν ἀπό στολος, καὶ οὐ λέγουσι κατὰ ἀλήθειαν τὴν ἁγίαν Μαρίαν θεοτόκον, οὐδὲ ἐξ αὐτῆς σαρκωθῆναι τὸν κύριον. βλασφη μοῦσι δὲ καὶ εἰς τὰ θεῖα μυστήρια τῆς ἁγίας κοινωνίας τοῦ τιμίου σώματος καὶ αἵματος τοῦ κυρίου ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ, λέγοντες ὅτι τὰ ῥήματα αὐτοῦ ὁ κύριος διδοὺς τοῖς ἀποστό λοις ἔλεγε "λάβετε, φάγετε καὶ πίετε," οὐκ ἄρτον καὶ οἶνον· καὶ οὐ χρή, φησί, προσάγεσθαι ἄρτον καὶ οἶνον. βλασφημοῦσι δὲ καὶ εἰς τὸν τίμιον σταυρόν, λέγοντες ὅτι σταυρὸς ὁ Χριστός 1.760 ἐστιν, οὐ χρὴ δὲ προσκυνεῖσθαι τὸ ξύλον ὡς κεκατηραμένον ὄργα νον. τοὺς δὲ προφήτας καὶ λοιποὺς ἁγίους ἀποβάλλονται. ἔτι δὲ τὸν ἅγιον Πέτρον, τὸν μέγαν πρωταπόστολον, πλέον πάντων καὶ δυσφημοῦσι καὶ ἀποστρέφονται, ἐξ αὐτῶν μηδένα τινὰ ἐν μέρει τῶν σωζομένων εἶναι λέγοντες. καθολικὴν ἐκκλησίαν τὰ ἑαυτῶν συνέδρια, πρὸς ἡμᾶς ἐν τῇ ἀλληγορίᾳ αὐτῶν λέγοντες· πρὸς ἑαυτοὺς γὰρ ἐκεῖνοι προσευχὰς αὐτὰ λέγουσι. βάπτισμα δὲ τὰ ῥήματα τοῦ εὐαγγελίου, καθώς φησιν ὁ κύριος "ἐγώ εἰμι τὸ ὕδωρ τὸ ζῶν." ταῦτα πάντα, καὶ πλείω τούτων, ὅτε φωραθῶ σιν, ἀλληγοροῦσιν. ἀλλὰ χρὴ νουνεχῶς καὶ διωρισμένως αὐτοῖς εἰς πάντα διαλέγεσθαι. καὶ γὰρ καὶ τὸ ψεῦδος προχείρως ἔχου σιν ὡς νόμον οἰκεῖον, πάντοτε μέν, μάλιστα δὲ ὅταν βιασθῶσι, διαψευδόμενοι καὶ λέγοντες καθὼς ἐὰν προσταχθῶσιν ἢ προτρα πῶσι, καὶ ἀνέγκλητοι ὄντες παρ' ἑαυτοῖς. οὕτως γὰρ ὁ Μάνης αὐτοῖς παρέδωκεν ὅτι οὐκ εἰμὶ ἐγὼ ἄσπλαγχνος, φησίν, ὡς ὁ Χρι στὸς ὁ εἰπών «ὅστις με ἀρνήσεται, ἀρνήσομαι αὐτὸν κἀγώ.» ἀλλ' ἐγὼ λέγω, τοῦ ἀρνουμένου με ἔμπροσθεν τῶν ἀνθρώπων καὶ τῷ ψεύδει τὴν οἰκείαν σωτηρίαν ποριζομένου ὡς μὴ ἀρνουμένου μετὰ χαρᾶς δέχομαι καὶ τὴν ἀνάκλησιν καὶ τὸ ψεῦδος ὡς τὴν πρὸς ἐμὲ ὁμολογίαν ἀνευθύνως. ὁμοίως μέντοι καὶ τοὺς πρεσβυτέρους καὶ λοιποὺς ἱερεῖς τῶν παρ' ἡμῖν ἀποβάλλονται. ἐκεῖνοι δὲ καὶ τοὺς ἱερεῖς αὐτοὺς συνεκδήμους λέγουσι καὶ νοταρίους, ἀδιαφόρους πᾶσιν αὐτοῖς ὄντας καὶ τοῖς σχήμασι καὶ ταῖς διαίταις καὶ πάσῃ 1.761 τῇ τοῦ λοιποῦ βίου κατασκευῇ. ἔχουσι δὲ πάντα τὰ τοῦ εὐαγγε λίου καὶ τοῦ ἀποστόλου ῥητὰ διάστροφα, πρὸς τὰ παρ' ὑμῖν ὄντα ἐναντία, παρ' αὐτῶν δὲ συντεθέντα ὡς δῆθεν ἁρμόζοντα ταῖς οἰκείαις αὐτῶν αἱρέσεσιν. ὡς γὰρ εἴρηται τῇ γραφῇ καὶ τοῖς λόγοις, οὕτως εἰσὶν ὡς καὶ τὰ παρ' ἡμῖν ἀπαράλλακτα, τὰ δὲ νοήματα διαστρέφουσι, καθὼς ἐν τοῖς διὰ πλάτος μοι λέλεκται περὶ τούτων σαφέστερον. προσκυνοῦσι δὲ τὸ παρ' ἡμῖν εὐαγγέ λιον, ὅτε τύχῃ, οὐκ ἐν τῷ σταυρῷ ἀλλ' ἐν τῷ βιβλίῳ, λέγοντες ὅτι λόγοι τοῦ Χριστοῦ εἰσὶ καὶ διὰ τοῦτο αὐτοῖς προσκυνοῦμεν. ἐν ἀσθενείᾳ δὲ καὶ πόνῳ τινὲς ἐξ αὐτῶν ὅτε περιπέσωσι, τὸν σταυ ρὸν ἐπιτιθέασιν ἑαυτοῖς· καὶ ὑγιείας τυγχάνοντες πάλιν αὐτὸν συγκλῶσι καὶ εἰς πῦρ βάλλουσι καὶ καίουσιν ἢ καταπατοῦσιν αὐ τόν. τινὲς δὲ ἐξ αὐτῶν καὶ τὰ παιδία ἑαυτῶν βαπτίζουσιν ὑπὸ τῶν ἡμετέρων πρεσβυτέρων. ἕτεροι δὲ εἰσερχόμενοι ἐν τῇ ἡμε τέρᾳ ἐκκλησίᾳ τῶν ὀρθοδόξων λεληθότως μεταλαμβάνουσι