Homilies 19.1–19.14

The next day Peter came out earlier than usual, and seeing Simon waiting for him with many others, he greeted the crowd and began to speak. But as soon as he began, Simon cut in and said: "Leave out these long preambles of yours and answer my questions on the matter before us. For I perceive, from what I have heard you say from the beginning, that you have no other aim than to show by every device that the Creator himself alone is the blameless God, and that you have so great a desire in your resolve to maintain this that you dare to call false even certain passages of the Scriptures that clearly speak against him. For this reason I have resolved today to prove that it is impossible for him, being the Creator of all things, to be blameless. And I can begin the proof at once, if you will answer me what I ask you."

"Do you say that there is a leader of evil, or not? If you say there is not, I can prove from many sayings, including those of your teacher, that there is. But if you candidly admit that the evil one exists, I will build my argument on that." And Peter said: "It is impossible for me to deny a saying of my teacher. Therefore I admit that the evil one exists, because the teacher, who spoke the truth in all things, said many times that he exists. To begin with, he acknowledges that the evil one conversed with him and tempted him for forty days. And I know that he said elsewhere, 'If Satan casts out Satan, he is divided against himself; how then will his kingdom stand?' And he declared that he had seen the evil one falling like lightning from heaven. And elsewhere he said, 'The one who sowed the bad seed is the devil.' And again, 'Give no occasion to the evil one.' And in giving counsel he said, 'Let your yes be yes, and your no, no; what is more than these is from the evil one.' And in the prayer that he handed down we have it said, 'Deliver us from the evil one.' And elsewhere he promised the ungodly: 'Go away into the outer darkness, which the Father prepared for the devil and his angels.' And not to draw out my argument at length, I know that my teacher said many times that the evil one exists. Therefore I too agree that he exists. Now, if you have anything to say on this basis, as you promised, say it."

And Simon said: "Since, then, you have candidly admitted from the Scriptures that there is an evil one, tell also how he came to be, if indeed he came to be, and by whom, and why." And Peter said: "Forgive me, Simon, if I do not dare to say what is not written. If you say it is written, show it. But if, since it is not written, you cannot show it either, why should we run the risk of making pronouncements about things not written? Is it that we do not believe we shall be judged, or believe we shall be judged only about what we do and not also about what we say as believers, and so speak about God more rashly?" But Simon, perceiving that this had been said against his own recklessness, said: "Let me run the risk; but do not take what you call blasphemy as a pretext for withdrawing. For I perceive that you want to back away so as to escape refutation before the crowds: at one moment as though afraid to hear blasphemy, at another because it is not written how, by whom, and why the evil one came to be, and one must not dare to say more than Scripture. So, as a devout man, you affirm only this, that he exists. But in contriving this you deceive yourself, not knowing that if it is blasphemy to inquire precisely about the evil one, the blame falls on me, the accuser, not on you, who plead God's cause. And if what is being sought is unwritten, and for that reason you are unwilling to inquire, there are certain adequate ways which can show what is sought no less than the Scriptures. For instance, is it not necessary that the evil one, whom you too say exists, is either originated or unoriginated?"

And Peter said: "It is necessary." And Simon said: "Then, if he is originated, he came to be through the God who made all things: either begotten as a living being, or put forth from his substance and then arising externally through a mixture; or the matter from which he came was outside God, whether living or lifeless; or he came to be through God himself, or from himself, or arose out of things that did not exist; or he belongs to the class of things that are relative; or he always was. Since every way, I think, is here divided out for finding him, those who travel one of them must necessarily find him. So one must travel each way in seeking his origin, and, having found the one who is responsible, recognize that he is blameworthy. Or how does it seem to you?"

And Peter said: "It seems to me that, if he is shown to have been made by God, the one who made him need not on that account be blamed, since his usefulness might perhaps be found more necessary than anything. And if he is shown not to have come into being, as one who always existed, not even so is the Creator blameworthy, or less than the greatest of all, even if he could not put an end to a beginning without beginning, since it is not in its nature; or if, being able, he does not destroy him, judging it unjust to put an end to what has had no beginning, and pardoning one who is evil by nature, because he cannot become anything else, even if he had the desire to become so. And if, wishing to make him good, he cannot, even so he is good, because he wishes to, though he cannot; and in his very inability he is the most powerful of all, since the power is not left to another. But if there is some other who is able and does not set it right, then, in that he is able and does not set it right, he is admitted to be evil, since he does not stop him, as though pleased with what is done by him. And if he too is unable, better is the one who, in the face of that inability, does not shrink from benefiting us as far as he can."

And Simon said: "When you have discussed each of the points I put forward, I will show you the cause of evil. Then I will also answer what you have said, and prove that the God whom you call blameless is open to blame." And Peter said: "Since I perceive from what you have said from the beginning that you are intent on nothing else than to subject God to blame as the leader of evil, I have resolved to travel with you along every way you wish and to show that God is beyond all blame." And Simon said: "You say this as one who loves the God whom you have imagined, but you do not speak the truth." And Peter said: "And you speak as a wicked man who hates the God of whom you are ignorant, letting out blasphemous words." And Simon said: "Remember that you likened me to the leader of evil." And Peter said: "I admit I lied in likening you to the evil one; I was forced to it because I could not find your equal, or anyone worse. That is why I likened you to the evil one: because you are in fact far more wicked even than the leader of evil. For no one can show that the evil one spoke against God, but all of us present can testify that you speak against him boldly." And Simon said: "One who seeks the truth owes no one any favor contrary to what is. Otherwise why seek at all? And why could I not also give up examining things precisely, and spend all my time in praise of a God whom I do not know?"

And Peter said: "You are not so blessed as to sing his praises, nor indeed can you do this good thing; for you would be full of him. For so our truthful teacher said: 'Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.' Hence you, overflowing with an evil will through ignorance, speak against the only good God, and are not yet suffering as you deserve for what you have dared to say. Or do you think there will be no judgment? Perhaps you think there is not even a God. Hence, not grasping his great long-suffering, you stretch yourself further toward madness." And Simon said: "Do not hope to shame me with fear into not seeking from you the truth about your illustrations. For I long for the truth so much that for its sake I do not shrink even from facing danger. But now, if you have anything to say, answer what I put to you at the start."

And Peter said: "Since you force us to dare to speak as if we had precisely found out God's workings, and that though we are men who cannot even precisely understand the workings of our equals, I will, for the sake of those standing here, discuss what you wish, instead of keeping the most reverent silence. I agree with you that there is a leader of evil, whose origin Scripture has not dared to state either truly or falsely. But let us examine together, in many ways, how he came to be, if he came to be, and of the views that present themselves let us choose the more reverent. For among probable views this one is firmly held: that it is fitting to ascribe the more reverent to God; all the more when all suppositions have been sifted and another adequate and less dangerous one lies at hand. But I promise you now, before the inquiry, that every way of inquiry can show that God alone is blameless."

"But, as you said, if the evil one is originated, either he was begotten as a living being, or was put forth by God from his substance, or was mixed externally, or his will arose by the mixture; or it happened that, without mixture and without God's will, he came to be out of things that did not exist, or by God; or he came to be nowhere and in no way; or the matter from which he came, whether living or lifeless, was outside God; or he fashioned himself, or was made by God; or he belongs to the class of things that are relative; or he always was. For we cannot say that he does not exist, since we have agreed that he does." And Simon said: "You have divided well all the ways of it, the chief point of the matter. It remains for me to examine the division and show you that the Creator is open to blame; and it is your task to prove, as you promised, that he is beyond all blame. But I wonder whether you will be able. First, if the evil one was begotten by God as a living being, it follows that he has the same wickedness as the one who put him forth." And Peter said: "Not at all. For we see many men who are good and have begotten bad children, and others who are bad and have had good ones, others who are bad and produce good ones, and others who are good and have fathered both bad and good. For instance, the first man who was fashioned begot unjust Cain and just Abel." To this Simon said: "You act foolishly in using human examples when discussing God." And Peter said: "Then speak to us about God without using human examples, but in such a way that what is said can be understood. But you will not be able to."

"For instance, what did you say at the beginning? If the evil one was begotten from God, being of the same substance with him, he is also evil. But when I showed from the very example you yourself gave that the bad come from the good and the good from the bad, you did not accept it, saying that the example was human. So now I do not accept even that God begot, since begetting belongs to human beings, not to God. And God cannot be good or bad, just or unjust, nor wise, nor a living being, nor anything else that can belong to human beings; for such things belong to human beings. And if, when inquiring about God, we must not ascribe to him the good things that belong to human beings, then nothing remains to think or say, except to inquire only into what concerns his will, which he himself has allowed us to understand, so that when we are judged we may be without excuse for the things we knew and did not keep."

And Simon, hearing this, said: "You will not shame me into keeping silent about his substance and inquiring only about his will. For it is possible both to think and to speak about his substance, I mean from the good things that belong to human beings. For example, living and dying belong to a human being; but to God belongs not dying but living, and living eternally. Again, it belongs to human beings to be bad and good, but to God to be incomparably good. And not to draw out my argument at length, the better of the things belonging to human beings belong eternally to God." And Peter said: "Tell me, Simon: does it belong to human beings to beget bad and good children, and to do bad and good things?" And Simon said: "It does." And Peter said: "Since you have said that one must assign to God the better of the things that belong to human beings, then, while human beings beget bad and good, God can beget only the good; and while human beings do bad and good, he alone delights in doing good. Is it so, or not? Is it not reasonable, by way of the good things that belong to human beings, to assign to him the better? And so he alone is the cause of all good things."

And Simon said: "Then, if God is the cause of good things only, what remains to think, except that some other principle begot the evil one, or that evil is unbegotten?" And Peter said: "Neither did some other power beget the evil one, nor is evil unbegotten, as I will show at the end; for now my task is to prove, as I promised from the beginning, that God is blameless in every way. We have granted, then, that God has incomparably the better of the things that belong to human beings. Therefore it is possible that he became the one who put forth the four substances, hot and cold, wet and dry. By nature, as being at first simple and unmixed, they had no desire toward anything else; but when they had been put forth by God and mixed outside him, they became a living being with a will to destroy the wicked. And so, since all things were begotten from him, the evil one is neither from elsewhere, nor did he receive his wickedness from the God who made all things, in whom it cannot exist. For the substances, being different, were put forth from him carefully distinguished; and when they had been mixed outside him by his art, the desire for the destruction of the wicked came upon them by his will. But the wickedness that has come about cannot destroy the good, not even if it wished, for by law it has power over sinners. So, not knowing the ways of each person, it puts them to the test, and having convicted them, punishes them." And Simon said: "Since he is able to mix the elements and to make a mixture for whatever wills he wishes to arise, why did he not make each one's mixture such as to choose the good?"

And Peter said: "The question now before us is how the evil one came to be, if indeed he came to be, and by whom. Whether it was blamelessly, I will show when I have gone through the argument now before us; then I will show how and why he came to be, and fully prove that the one who made him is blameless. But we said that four substances were put forth by God. And so, by the will of him who combined them, the will directed against the wicked came about as he wished. For if it had come about against his will, or from some other substance or occasion, the mixture would not have been securely in God's control, and perhaps, against his will, leaders of evil would keep arising, warring against his purposes. But it is impossible that this should be so. For no living thing, least of all one fit to rule, can come about by accident; for everything that comes to be must come to be by someone."

And Simon said: "But what if matter, being coeval with him and equal in power, puts forth leaders against him as his enemy, hindering his purposes?" And Peter said: "If matter is eternal, it is not anyone's enemy either. For what always exists is also free from passion, and what is free from passion is blessed, and what is blessed cannot become capable of enmity, since by its eternal constitution it has no fear of being deprived of anything. And how would matter not rather love the Creator, since …