Homiliae

Now it will be found that these things are beneficial to the soul. For desire was created in the living being by the one who made all things well, so that, led by it, he might increase humanity through intercourse, from which multitude a selection of better ones arises fit for eternal life. Indeed, without desire no one would undertake intercourse with a woman, but now, under the pretext of pleasure, as if gratifying himself, man does that one's will. Yet if one uses desire for lawful marriage, he does not impiety; but if he rushes to adultery, he acts impiously and is punished for this, because he used what was well established badly. Furthermore, similarly, anger has received from God the nature to be kindled in us, so that we may be drawn by it to the defense against sins. Yet if one uses it without measure, he does injustice, but using it appropriately he executes justice. But we are also capable of grief, so that we may have compassion at the death of relatives, wife, children, brothers, parents, friends, or others; for if we did not have fellow-feeling, we would be inhuman. Likewise, all other things will be found to be fitting, if indeed one understands why they came to be. And Simon said: Why then do untimely deaths occur, and periodic diseases, and also demons, and madness, and all kinds of sufferings capable of great punishment exist? And Peter said: Because men, gratifying everything to their own pleasure, have intercourse without observation, and thus the sowing of seeds, given at the wrong time, naturally produces countless evils. They ought to consider that just as a suitable time is appointed for planting and sowing, so

and days suitable for intercourse have been assigned. Hence someone learned from the tradition of Moses, accusing the people of sins, called them sons of new moons according to the moon and of sabbaths. Moreover, at the beginning of the world, people were both long-lived and free from disease; but when they neglected and abandoned the observance, from then on, by succession, sons of ignorance, by reason of intercourse at the wrong time, subject their own children to countless afflictions. Hence also our teacher, when asked about the man blind from birth who regained his sight through him, whether this man or his parents had sinned that he was born blind, answered: "Neither this man sinned nor his parents, but in order that through him the power of God might be made manifest," healing the sins of ignorance. And truly, such things happen by reason of ignorance, that is, from not knowing when one ought to have intercourse with one's wife, whether she is pure after menstruation. However, the afflictions I have mentioned are from ignorance, not wrought by evil. Moreover, grant the one who does not sin and take the one who does not suffer, and you will find him able not only not to suffer but also to heal others. For instance, Moses, through piety, passed the entire time of his life without suffering and healed the Egyptians, who were suffering because of sins, with prayers. And Simon said: "Let these things be so; does not the inequality among men seem to you most unjust? For one is poor, another rich—and one is sick, another healthy—and countless such things in human life." And Peter said: "Do you not see, Simon, that again you send your words outside the scope?

For while we were discussing evil, you made a digression and introduced the argument about apparent improprieties. Nevertheless, I will speak to that as well. The world is an instrument skillfully made so that the female might eternally bear righteous eternal sons to the male who is to come. But pious ones could not be produced here unless there were those in need whom they would assist—and likewise for this reason there are also those who are sick, whom they will care for—and the rest of the discourse contains this argument. And Simon said: "Then misfortune befalls the humble; for in order that the righteous be produced, they themselves are ill-treated." And Peter said: "If their humiliation were eternal, it would be the greatest misfortune; but humiliations and exaltations come to people according to the lot; and if one is not pleased with the lot, it is possible, by using an appeal and legally pleading one's case, to change one's life." And Simon said: "What is this lot and appeal?" And Peter said: "This is the explanation of another discourse; but if you permit, we can show you how, having been reborn and having changed your birth and lived lawfully, you will obtain eternal salvation." And Simon, having heard these things, said: "Do not suppose that because I agreed while inquiring into each point, I was fully persuaded and moved on to another point; rather, I gave you the impression of being persuaded so that you would proceed to another point, in order that, having learned all your thoughts, I might condemn you not by conjecture but with full knowledge. Now grant me three days, and when I return I will show that you know nothing." When Simon said this and was about to leave, my father said: "Hear a few words from me, Simon, and then go as you wish.

You have remembered that at the beginning, before the inquiry, as if you had not yet taken experience of me, you brought forward your preconceptions against me. And now, having heard the inquiry in turn, and having known Peter to be preeminent, and having granted that he speaks the truth, what do I seem to you? Do I know how to judge correctly or not? For if you say that I have judged correctly, but you do not agree, you appear prejudiced, being unwilling to agree even after acknowledging defeat. But if, then, I did not rightly declare Peter to be preeminent in the inquiry, convince us how we did not judge correctly. Or will he not cease inquiring on every point? Since it will be that you, being defeated each time and agreeing (if you have any sense of shame, being condemned by all the hearers as under the greatest punishment and behaving disgracefully), will grieve your own soul under conscience; for we saw that you were defeated in deed, and we heard your professed argument. At any rate, I do not think you came to the inquiry, as you promised, but you promised to return, going out so as not to appear ashamed. And Simon, hearing these things, gnashing his teeth in anger, went away in silence. And Peter, since there was still no little time, having laid his hands on the great crowd for healing and dismissed them, went in home with his more familiar companions and sat down. And one of the followers, named Sophonias, said: Blessed, Peter, is the God who chose you and made you wise for the sake of the rest of the well-disposed; for truly you discoursed greatly and patiently with Simon.

We also ask you to discourse with us about evil, hoping that you will reveal to us a more genuine account of it, and this not at the present hour, but tomorrow, if it pleases you. For we sympathize with you on account of the labors of the inquiry. And Peter said: I want you to know that he who does something with pleasure is refreshed by the labors themselves, while he who does not do what he wishes is most greatly wearied by the rest itself. So you grant me great rest by causing me to discourse on what is dear to me. Nevertheless, satisfied with his choice and sympathizing with his labors, we deemed it right that the postponement should take place until night, as was his custom to discourse with the more intimate. And after partaking of salt, we turned to sleep. [ M L K.] But rising by night and waking us, he sat down as usual and said: Ask me about whatever you wish. And Sophonias began first with him: How the account of evil truly stands, guide us who are eager to learn. And Peter said: Already, he said, I revealed it through the discourse with Simon, but since I spoke about it together with other topics, it was not very clearly illuminated. For many topics that seem equivalent to the truth provide some knowledge of the truth itself to the majority; so that, if I now tell you what I then said to Simon along with many topics, do not think that you have been honored with equal honor as him. And Sophonias said: You speak correctly; for if you now separate out the truth itself from the many topics then spoken, you will make it clearer. And Peter said: Listen, then, to the truth of the harmony concerning evil.

God, having established two kingdoms and constituted two ages, judged that the present world be given to the evil one because it is small and passes quickly, and promised to give the future age to the good one, since it is great and eternal. He therefore made man self-determined, having the capacity to incline toward whichever actions he wishes. And his body is tripartite, having its origin from the female; for it possesses desire, anger, grief, and the things that follow from these—but the spirit (which is not third-born, but tripartite) has its origin from the male and is receptive to reason, knowledge, fear, and the things that follow from these. Each of the triads has one root, so that man is from two mixtures, female and male. Hence two ways were set before him, of law and of lawlessness—and two kingdoms were defined, one called the kingdom of the heavens, the other that of those now ruling on earth. But also two kings were appointed, of whom one is elected to rule by law over the present and temporary world, who was also blended to rejoice in the destruction of the wicked—while the other, himself also being king (of the future age), cherishes the whole nature of men, though unable to have freedom of speech in present circumstances, and, trying to conceal who he is, advises what is beneficial. Of these two, one overpowers the other, by God's command. And each man has authority to obey whichever of them he wishes, so as to do good or evil.

But if someone chooses to do good deeds, he becomes the possession of the future good king; but if someone does evil deeds, he becomes the servant of the present evil one, who, having received authority over him by a just judgment through sins, delights in punishing him in the present life even before the future age, as if gratifying his own desire, and thus executes the will of God. The other, created to rejoice in the authority over the righteous, greatly rejoices when he finds a righteous man, saving him for eternal life, and he himself, as if gratifying himself, offers thanks to God for these things. It is possible for every unjust person who repents to be saved, and for every righteous man to suffer punishment for a final sin. However, these two rulers are swift hands of God, desiring to receive and execute his will. That this is so is also stated in the law from the mouth of God: "I will kill and I will make alive, I will strike and I will heal." For truly he kills and gives life: he kills through the left hand, that is, through the evil one, who was created to rejoice in the affliction of the impious; and he saves and benefits through the right hand, that is, through the good one, who was created to rejoice in the benefit and salvation of the righteous. And these have their substances not outside of God; for there is no other principle.

They were not projected by God as animals (for they were of the same opinion as him), nor did they come about by chance, spontaneously against his will (since the greatest part of his power would have been abolished), but from God the four primary elements were projected—hot and cold, wet and dry. Hence he is indeed the father of all substance... of the disposition that exists after the mixture; for when they were mixed externally, choice was born as a child. Therefore the evil one, having served God blamelessly at the end of the present world, since he is not of a single substance only prone to evil, can, by being recombined, become good. For even now he does nothing evil, though he is evil, having received authority to administer evil lawfully. When Peter said this, Michaias, who was also one of the followers, asked: "Whence then comes sinning to men?" And Peter said: "From ignorance that concerning the things they do wrongly, when judgment occurs, they will certainly be punished; hence also desire, as I said on another occasion, they have for the succession of life, and they fulfill it haphazardly, either by adultery or by corruption of children or by some other flattering sin. For because they are ignorant that they are judged, as I said before, due to fearlessness they are eager to fulfill desire unlawfully. So God is not evil, who rightly placed desire so that succession of life might occur, but they themselves are most impious who have used the good of desire badly. Thus also in the case of anger one can reason, that if someone uses it justly as is permitted, he is pious—but if he goes beyond the measure and takes judgment upon himself, he is impious." And Sophonias again said:

Your forbearance, my lord Peter, grants us the boldness to inquire of you in many matters for the sake of precision; therefore, taking courage, we conduct the examination in every way. I recall, then, that yesterday Simon, in his disputation with you, said that the evil one, if he was generated from God, would consequently be of the same substance as the one who projected him and ought to be good and not evil. But you answered that this is not entirely the case, inasmuch as many are born evil from good parents, just as from Adam two were born, of whom one was evil and the other good. And when Simon objected that you had used human examples, you replied that by this reasoning one ought not even to accept that God generates, for that too is a human example. But I, Sophonias, accept that God generates, but I do not admit that he generates evil, even if good humans generate evil ones. And do not think that I irrationally attribute some things that pertain to humans to God and others not, since I grant the act of generating, but not

but I do not grant that he can generate something unlike himself. For men, as is reasonable, generate sons unlike their own dispositions for this reason: being composed of four elements, according to the different changes they are differently altered in their bodies, and as in a human body at each time the peculiarity of the change, being increased or diminished, sets aside the balanced mixture. For since the mixtures do not always remain the same, the seeds are separated having at one time one mixture and at another another, and to these, according to the mixture of the time, the dispositions also follow, whether good or evil. But in the case of God, nothing of this kind can be conceived; for he is unchangeable and always existing, and whenever he might wish to produce, it is absolutely necessary that what is produced by him should have everything in the same way as the begetter, both the substance, I mean, and the disposition. But if someone should wish to say that he too is changeable, I do not know how he can also call him immortal. When Peter heard this and after being briefly in thought, he said: I think that no one who discourses about evil can avoid doing the will of evil itself. Hence, knowing this very thing, I do not know what to do, whether to be silent or to speak. If I should be silent, I would incur ridicule from the many, because while professing to proclaim the truth, I am ignorant of the discourse about evil; but if I should speak, I fear lest it might not please God to inquire into evil, but only into good. Nevertheless, I will make my opinions clearer to you in the discourse of Sophonias. I also agree that not all human things must be attributed to God.

For instance, men, not having bodies that are changeable, do not change, but over time they naturally undergo alteration through changes. God, however, is not like this; for by the ineffable power of his innate spirit, his body becomes whatever he wishes. And this is all the more credible because air, having received such a nature from him, when transformed and thickened by the incorporeal mind that pervades it, becomes water, and water when solidified becomes stones and earth, and stones striking together ignite fire. So great is the change and transformation that air, having first become water, ends as fire through these changes, and the moist element is transformed into its opposite nature. What then? Did not God also transform Moses' rod into a living creature, making it a serpent, which he then turned back into a rod? And through that same transformed rod, did he not turn the water of the Nile into blood, which he then turned back into water? Moreover, did he not transform man, who is dust, into flesh by the breath of his blowing, and then turn him back into dust? And was not Moses himself, being flesh, transformed into a great light, so that the sons of Israel could not look at him? Much more, then, is God most capable of transforming himself into whatever he wishes. But perhaps one of you has thought that while one thing can be generated by another, a being cannot itself transform itself into what it wishes, and that changeability belongs to that which is subject to aging and death. But concerning immortal beings, one must not think this.

For do not angels, being ageless and of fiery substance, change into flesh, as those who were once entertained by Abraham, whose feet men washed as if they were of the same substance as men? And also with Jacob, who was a man, an angel wrestled, having turned into flesh, so that he might be able to wrestle with him. And after wrestling, he turned back to his own nature when he wished. Already having changed into fire, he did not burn the broad sinew of Jacob, but he scorched it and made him lame. But one who cannot become something else when he wishes, as being subject to his own nature, is mortal; but one who can become whatever he wishes whenever he wishes, as being master of nature itself and returning to youthfulness, is immortal. Hence, much more the power of God, whenever it wishes, changes the substance of the body into whatever it wishes, and produces something of the same substance as the present change, but not of equal power. For the one who produces, when that which is produced has changed into another substance again, can do so of himself; but that which is produced, being the offspring of the change from him, cannot become something else without the will of the one who produced it, unless that one wishes. When Peter said these things, Michaias, who was himself one of the companions following, said: "I myself wished to learn from you whether, just as the evil one came to be, so also the good one came to be. But if they came to be in a similar way, they seem to me to be brothers." And Peter said:

Not similarly have they come to be, if indeed you remember what I said at the beginning, that the fourfold substance of the body, which is contentious, was projected by God, and that outside it, according to the will of the one who projected it, being held for the mixture..., the disposition that delights in evils came to be, so as to understand that the fourfold substance projected from God is a child of God, itself also being eternal, while the disposition that delights in evils supervened upon the substance held outside by him. And thus it was neither born from God nor from any other, nor was it projected by him, nor did it come forth spontaneously, nor was it eternal (as the substance before the mixture was), but it supervened upon the mixture outside according to the will of God. And that this must be so, we have often said. But the good, born from the most beautiful transformation of God and not supervening upon a mixture outside, is truly a son. However, since these things are unwritten and confirmed by conjectures, let the truth not be affirmed as certainly being so. Otherwise, the mind, having already grasped the truth, ceases to inquire. And remember this as well: that such things ought not to be spoken to all, but only to those most tested by experience. Nor ought you to assert such things lightly among yourselves, nor should you dare to speak as if you were accurately discovering the secrets, but you must only ponder them in silence; for in speaking, the speaker may perhaps err as to how things are and will suffer punishment for having dared (even to himself) to utter what is honored by silence. When Peter said this, a certain Lazarus, one of the followers, also said:

Tell us the consistency: how can it be reasonable that one established by a just God be wicked, so as to be an avenger of the impious, and that this same one later, together with his angels, be sent with the sinners into the lower darkness? For I also remember this being said by the Teacher himself. And Peter said: I too, he said, acknowledge that the wicked one does nothing wicked in this respect, in that he executes the law given to him. And yet, though he has an evil disposition, nevertheless from fear of God he does nothing unjustly, but by slandering teachers of truth for the ambush of the undiscerning, he himself is called the Devil. But that our truthful Teacher said that he and his angels go with the deceived sinners into the lower darkness—this has some such meaning. The wicked one, having obtained a mixture that delights in darkness, having gone down with his fellow-servant angels into the darkness of Tartarus, rejoices; for darkness is friendly to fire. But the souls of men, being drops of pure light, compressed by a foreign substance of fire and having no nature to die, are punished according to merit. But if the leader of wickedness, being a man, is not sent into the darkness as not delighting in it, then his mixture that delights in evils can be recombined into a disposition for good, and thus he will be judged to be good, consorting with this mixture rather because, having obtained a mixture that delights in evils, through the cause of fear of God he did nothing contrary to what seemed good to the law of God.

And is it not the case that the staff of the high priest Aaron became a serpent and was again transformed back into a staff, did not scripture mysteriously prefigure this as a foreshadowing of the future transformation of the evil one? After Lazarus, Joseph (himself one of the followers) said: You have spoken correctly about everything. Now grant me this, which I wish to learn: why, when the same words are proclaimed to all, are some persuaded and others disobedient? And Peter said: For the words are not incantations, so that anyone who hears them must necessarily believe. But that some are persuaded and others are not intelligently demonstrates free will. When he said this, we all blessed him. And as we were about to dine, someone rushed in and said: Appion the pleistonices has come with Annubion, just now from Antioch, and is being entertained by Simon. When my father heard this, he rejoiced and said to Peter: If you permit me, I will go to greet Appion and Annubion, who have been my friends from early youth. For perhaps I will persuade Annubion to converse with Clement about generation. And Peter said: I permit it, he said, and I commend you for fulfilling the duties of friendship, only consider for me how, by the providence of God, everything from all sides converges to complete your own full assurance, producing the fitting harmony. I said this because of Annubion's arrival, which has become useful for you. And my father said: Truly I see that this is so. And having said this, he went to Simon. And we who were with Peter spent the whole night continuously asking questions, sober from pleasure and joy at what was said, and we passed the night awake.

Now, as night was just beginning to grow light, Peter, looking at me and my brothers, said: "I am perplexed as to what seemed good to your father." And as he was saying this, my father arrived there, having come upon Peter speaking to us about him; and seeing him dejected, he greeted him and explained the reason why he had slept outside. But we, looking at him, were astounded, seeing the form of Simon but hearing the voice of our father Faustus. And indeed, as we fled from him and shrank back, my father was amazed that we treated him so harshly and hostilely. But Peter alone, seeing his natural form, said to us: "Why do you abhor and reject your father?" And we and my mother said: "This man appears to us as Simon, having the voice of our father." And Peter said: "To you, only his unadulterated voice is recognizable, but to my unadulterated eyes, his form as it truly is is visible, that he is not Simon, but Faustus, your father." Then, looking intently at my father, he said: "His genuine form does not appear to them, but that of Simon, the most impious and most hostile to us." While Peter was saying these things, one of the advance messengers arrived, having come from Antioch, and said to Peter: "I want you to know, my lord, that Simon in Antioch, publicly performing many marvels, spoke of nothing else but to incite them to hatred against you, calling you a magician and a sorcerer and a murderer, and he prepared them to such hatred that every man there who had arrived longed to taste of your flesh.

Therefore we, the advance party, seeing that the city was greatly raging against you because of the brothers you had suborned to Simon, gathered secretly in the same place and considered what we should do. And while we were in perplexity, Cornelius the centurion arrived, sent by Caesar to the governor of the province, whom the Lord healed in Caesarea when he was possessed by a demon. This man, summoned secretly by us and learning from us the cause of our despondency and being asked to help, very readily promised to frighten him and drive him away, if we would assist in his undertaking. And when we promised to do everything readily, he said: "While I, through many friends, secretly go about to seize him, claiming to seek him because Caesar, having put many magicians to death and learned about him, sent me to search for him, so that he might punish him as he did the magicians before him, let your men who are with him, as if they had secretly heard from somewhere, report that I have been sent to arrest him, and if he hears of it, he will be frightened and flee." Since then we devised something else to do, nevertheless it happened thus. For, hearing from many outsiders who secretly said they were granting him great favors, and also from our own suborned men within, and taking it as the opinion of his own people, he decided to withdraw. So, having fled from Antioch with Athenodorus, he has come here, as we have heard. Therefore we advise you not to enter that city yet, until we know whether, in his absence, they will be able to allay that slander against you.

When the advance party reported this, Peter looked at his father and said, "Do you hear, Faustus, that your transformation was brought about by Simon the magician, as now appears? For thinking that he was seeking Caesar to do him harm, he fled in fear, placing his own form upon you, so that when you died, grief would come to your children." Hearing this, the father, weeping and lamenting, said, "You have rightly conjectured, Peter. Annubion, while kissing me, mysteriously revealed the plot, and I, wretched one, did not believe it, because I was worthy of suffering." When the father said this, not long after Annubion came to us, revealing Simon's flight and that he had set out for Judea that very night. He found our father beating himself and saying with lamentations, "Woe is me, wretched one; hearing that he was a magician, I, miserable, did not believe. Recognized by my wife and children for a single day, I quickly returned to the former calamity of ignorance." And our mother, lamenting, tore out her hair, while we, distressed about our father's alteration, groaned, unable to understand what had happened. Annubion, hearing and seeing this, stood aghast. Then Peter said to us, the children, before all, "Believe me, this is Faustus, your father. Therefore I command you to attend to him as a father; for God will provide some occasion through which, having cast off Simon's form, he will again manifestly display your father's form." Having said this to us, he looked at the father and said, "I permitted you to address Appion and Annubion, since you confess they have been your friends from childhood, not to consort with Simon the magician." And the father said, "I have sinned, I confess.

And Annubion said, "I too join him in begging you to forgive this noble and good old man who has been deceived; for the unfortunate man has become a plaything of the notorious one. But I will tell how it happened. This good old man came to greet us. At that very hour we happened to be present there listening to Simon, who wished to flee that same night, having heard that some men were coming to Laodicea from somewhere by royal command seeking him. When Faustus entered, Simon, in his own anger... spoke to us thus: 'Make him join you in taking salt together, and I will prepare some ointment, so that after he dines and anoints his face with it, he will seem to everyone to have my form. But you, having first anointed yourselves with juices of a certain herb given by me, will not be deceived by his strange appearance; to all others, however, Faustus will seem to be Simon.' When Simon said this, I asked, 'What profit do you have now from such a scheme?' And Simon said, 'First, those who seek me will seize him and cease their search for me. And if he is also put to death by royal hand, his sons, who left me and fled to Peter to assist him, will suffer the greatest grief. For now, O Peter, I confess the truth to you, that I was afraid at that time to reveal this to Faustus. But Simon gave us no opportunity to speak privately, so that one of us might disclose his evil plan to him. However, in the middle of the night Simon arose and fled toward Judea, escorted by Appion and Athenodorus.

Then I pretended to be unwell in body, so that after they had gone, I might immediately make him return to his own affairs, if somehow he could be hidden and escape notice among you, lest he be seized by Simon's agents as Simon and die under the king's wrath. So I sent him to you at an untimely hour, and out of concern for him I came by night to see him and would depart quickly, before those who sent Simon returned. And looking at us, he said, "I, Annubion, see the true form of your father, anointed by Simon himself as I related, so that to my eyes the true form of Faustus might appear." Then, utterly astounded, I marvel at Simon's magic, that you, standing here, do not recognize your own father. While the father and mother and we ourselves were weeping, Annubion also, sympathizing with the common misfortune of us all, wept. Then Peter promised us the restoration of our father's form, saying to him, "You have heard, Faustus, our circumstances. So when the deceptive form that surrounds you becomes useful to us and you assist us in what we command, then I will restore your true form to you, after you have first done what I tell you." And when our father said, "I will do everything that is possible for me with the utmost readiness, only restore my form to my family," Peter replied:

You yourself have heard with your own ears from those who came from Antioch, reporting my progress, that Simon, having arrived there, violently stirred up the crowds against me, calling me a magician, a murderer, an impostor, and a sorcerer, to such an extent that all there were eager to taste my flesh. Therefore, you will do as I say: leave Clement with me, and lead us to Antioch with your wife, and also with Faustinus and Faustinianus, your sons. Some others whom I deem capable of serving my will will also accompany you. When you are in Antioch with these, while you appear as Simon, publicly proclaim your repentance, saying: "I, Simon, proclaim these things to you. I confess that I have unjustly slandered Peter. He is not an impostor, not a murderer, not a sorcerer, nor any of the vile things I ever said about him, driven by anger. I myself, who became the cause of your hatred toward him, beg you: cease hating him. For he is the true apostle of the true prophet sent by God for the salvation of the world. Therefore, I myself advise you to obey him concerning what he proclaims, since your entire city will be utterly destroyed. I want you to know why I have confessed these things to you. This night, angels of God severely scourged me, the impious one, as an enemy of the herald of truth. I therefore entreat you: even if I myself should later come and attempt to speak against Peter, do not accept me. For I confess to you: I am a magician, I am an impostor, I am a sorcerer, but I repent; for it is perhaps possible through repentance to absolve the sins I have previously committed.

While Peter was suggesting these things, "I see," said my father, "what you want; therefore do not weary yourself. For I, no less than you, will take care, when I go there, to say what ought to be said about you." And Peter again suggested, "When, then, you perceive that the city has changed from its hatred and is desiring to see us, send and inform me, and I will come and join you there. And when I am there, on that same day, I will drive away your alien form and make your own appear without error to your family and to all others." Having said this, he caused his sons, who are my brothers, to be with him, and he ordered Mattidia, our mother, and some of the more intimate friends to go with him. But my mother was reluctant to go with him; "For I seem to be an adulteress," she said, "living with the form of Simon. But if I am forced to go with him, it is impossible for me to lie down on the same couch. I do not know, indeed, if I will be persuaded to go with him." And as she hesitated to go, Annubion encouraged her, saying, "Be persuaded by me and by Peter and by the voice itself that Faustus is your husband, whom I love no less than you do. And I myself will go with him." When Annubion said this, my mother promised to go with him. And Peter said, "Most appropriately does God manage our affairs. For we have with us Annubion the astrologer. For when we arrive in Antioch, he will converse with us more intimately about the future nativity.

And indeed, when my father set out by night with those whom Peter had ordered, along with Annubion, for nearby Antioch, at dawn of the next day, before Peter went out to debate, Appion and Athenodorus returned to Laodicea, having sent Simon on ahead, seeking my father. Peter, learning of this, ordered them to enter. When they had entered and sat down, and said, "Where is Faustus?" Peter answered, "We do not know; for after coming to you that evening, he no longer appeared to his own people, and yesterday at dawn Simon himself sought him, and since we gave him no answer, I do not know what he thought, but claiming to be Faustus and not being believed, weeping and beating himself, he threatened to kill himself and rushed off toward the sea." Hearing these things, Appion and those with him cried out and lamented, saying, "Why did you not receive him?" And just as Athenodorus was about to say to me, "Faustus was your father," Appion interrupted him and said, "We learned from someone that Simon, having found him, drove him out, at the urging of the true Faustus, because he did not wish to see his own sons become Jews. And we, hearing these things, came for this reason seeking him. Since he is not here, the one who told us appears to have spoken the truth. So, as we heard from him, we have told you." And I, Clement, perceiving Peter's intention—that he wished to sow suspicion in them, as if he were about to seek the old man among them, so that they might flee in fear—I concurred with his plan and said to Appion, "Listen, my dearest Appion.

We hastened to give to our father what we thought was good for him; but if he himself did not wish to receive it, but on the contrary, loathing us, fled (I will say something rather harsh), we care nothing for him either. When I said this, they departed, displeased as if at cruelty, and (as we learned the next day) set out for Judea in the tracks of Simon, following us. But after ten days had passed, someone came from Antioch from our father, announcing to us how our father, standing in public and accusing his own appearance, blessing Peter, had turned the whole city of the Antiochenes toward longing, and from this they all reported that they desired to see him. And some were even angry with him as Simon because of his excessive affection for Peter, and wanted to lay hands on Faustus as Simon; therefore, fearing that he might be killed, he sent and asked Peter to come immediately, so that he might overtake him alive and appear opportunely to the city, which was flourishing with longing for him. When Peter heard these things, having gathered many for assembly and having appointed a bishop from among his followers, and having baptized and healed, after remaining three days in Laodicea, he hastened to set out for nearby Antioch.