Peter's Money Must Be Returned
…justly done, there is no harm in some who are under suspicion being absent from the tribunal.
2. On the bishop's having authority over everything that belongs to the church.
As for the money unjustly taken from him, it is right that it be given back, for two reasons. First, because nothing of the kind ought to have happened at all; and because it deeply grieves the most God-fearing bishops everywhere on earth, and casts them into the utmost dejection, to be required to give account of how they managed the expenses that fall to them, whether these come from the church's revenues or from the offerings of certain people. For each of us will give account of his own time to the Judge of all (Romans 14:12). For treasures and immovable estates, inalienable for the…
Greek
δίκῃ πεποιῆσθαι δοκεῖν, οὐδὲν ἐστὶ τὸ λυποῦν ἀπεῖναι τοῦ συνεδρίου τῶν ἐν ὑποψίᾳ τινάς. Β Περὶ τοῦ πάντων τῶν ἐκκλησιαστικῶν ἔχειν τὴν ἐξουσίαν τὸν ἐπίσκοπον. Τὰ δὲ ἀδίκως ληφθέντα παρ' αὐτοῦ χρήματα ἀναδοθῆναι δίκαιον κατὰ δύο τρόπους. Πρῶτον μέν, ὅτι οὐδὲ ἐχρῆν ὅλως γενέσθαι τι τοιοῦτον, καὶ ὅτι λυπεῖ σφόδρα καὶ εἰς ἐσχάτην ἀκηδίαν καταφέρει τοὺς ἁπαν 280 ταχόσε γῆς ὄντας θεοσεβεστάτους ἐπισκόπους, τὸ ἀπαιτεῖσθαι λόγους τῆς οἰκονομίας τῶν παραπιπτόντων αὐτοῖς ἀναλωμάτων, εἴτε ἐκ προσόδων ἐκκλησιαστικῶν, εἴτε οὖν καὶ ἀπὸ τῆς τινων καρποφορίας· ἕκαστος γὰρ ἡμῶν τῶν ἰδίων καιρῶν δώσει λόγον τῷ πάντων κριτῇ· κειμήλια μὲν γὰρ καὶ κτήσεις ἀκινήτους ἀνεκποιήτως ταῖς