The good-doer, in practice and in contemplation, having God — Christ — existing as the true light, is far…
The good-doer, in practice and in contemplation, having God — Christ — existing as the true light, is far from darkness and from Beliar. But since doing evil is the opposite of doing good, the evil-doer, by this very activity, being of Beliar and of darkness, has not seen God nor has any knowledge of him: “for everyone who sins has not seen God nor known him” (1 John 3:6). Since seeing a body or not seeing it is recognized by using sight or not using it — the sensible object being seen by the evil-doer too, if he has sight, but not seen by the one deprived of sight, even if he be a good-doer — it is shown indisputably by the same things together: that to the good-doer, because he has a pure heart, he is seen, even if he lacks sight; but he is not seen by the evil-doer, even if he be most sharp-sighted. He presents that doing good and doing evil are opposites and therefore incompatible, both from “turn away from evil and do good” (Psalm 37:27; LXX 36:27) and from the passages written similarly.
Some impious men, having plied the divine teaching with flattery and sorcery, slipped in by feigning it — “written beforehand,” that is, foreknown, for this judgment, which they judged among themselves, having been delivered over to a reprobate mind. These, being licentious through exceeding impiety, turned the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ into lasciviousness, and by the very act of wantonness denying the only Master Jesus Christ, the Lord of those called through the gospel. Then, in order to turn the faithful away from such evil and impious men, he shows how great […].
Greek
Βελίαρ ὁ ἀγαθοποιῶν πρακτικῶς καὶ θεωρητικῶς θεὸν τὸν Χριστὸν ἔχων ὑπάρχοντα φῶς ἀληθινὸν πόρρω τοῦ σκότους καὶ τοῦ Βελίαρ ἐστίν· ἀλλὰ καὶ ἐπεὶ ἐναντίον τῷ ἀγαθοποιεῖν τὸ ποιεῖν τὸ κακόν, ὁ κακοποιὸς δι' αὐτοῦ τοῦ οὕτως ἐνεργεῖν ἐκ τοῦ Βελίαρ καὶ τοῦ σκότους ὢν οὐχ ἑώρακε τὸν θεὸν οὐδὲ κατὰ πόσον γνῶσιν αὐτοῦ ἔχων· “πᾶς γὰρ ὁ ἁμαρτάνων οὐχ ἑώρακε τὸν θεὸν οὐδὲ ἔγνωκεν αὐτόν”· ἐπεὶ δὲ τὸ ὁρᾶν σῶμα ἢ μὴ ὁρᾶν τῷ χρᾶσθαι ὄψει καὶ μὴ χρᾶσθαι γνωρίζεται ὁρωμένου τοῦ αἰσθητοῦ καὶ τῷ κακοποιοῦντι, ἐὰν ὄψιν ἔχῃ, μὴ βλεπομένου δὲ τῷ στερουμένῳ ὄψεως, κἂν ἀγαθοποιὸς ᾖ, ἀναντιρρήτως οἷς ἅμα δείκνυται, εἴγε ἀγαθοποιοῦντι διὰ τὸ καθαρὰν καρδίαν ἔχειν δρᾶται, κἂν ὄψεως 88 λείπηται, οὐχ ὁρώμενος τῷ κακοποιοῦντι, κἂν ὀξυωπέστατος ᾖ. Παρίσταται τὰ ἐναντία εἶναι καὶ διὰ τοῦτο ἀσυνύπαρκτα, τὸ ἀγαθοποιεῖν φημι καὶ κακοποιεῖν, καὶ ἐκ τοῦ· “ἔκκλινον ἀπὸ κακοῦ καὶ ποίησον ἀγαθὸν” καὶ τῶν παραπλησίως γεγραμμένων. (Cr 151, 20-152, 3 Ma 233f) Τῇ θείᾳ διδασκαλίᾳ κολακείᾳ σὺν γοητείᾳ χρησάμενοί τινες ἀσεβεῖς ἄνθρωποι παρεισέδυσαν διὰ τοῦ ὑποκρίνεσθαι αὐτὴν προγεγραμμένοι τουτέστι προεγνωσμένοι εἰς τοῦτο τὸ κρίμα, ὃ παρ' ἑαυτοῖς ἐκρίθησαν παραδοθέντες ἀδοκίμῳ νῷ· οὗτοι δι' ὑπερβάλλουσαν ἀσέβειαν ἀκόλαστοί τινες ὄντες τὴν τοῦ 89 κυρίου ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ χάριν εἰς ἀσέλγειαν μετέθηκαν καὶ δι' αὐτοῦ τοῦ λαγνεύειν ἀρνούμενοι τὸν μόνον δεσπότην Ἰησοῦν Χριστὸν κύριον τῶν κληθέντων διὰ τοῦ εὐαγγελίου· εἶτα ἵνα ἀποστρέψῃ τοὺς πιστοὺς τῶν τοιούτων πονηρῶν καὶ ἀσεβῶν, δείκνυσιν, ὡς οἷόν