Chapter II.—Reason of Simon’s Power.

“God, who created the heavens and the whole universe, does not want occasion for the salvation of those who would be saved.  Wherefore let no one, in seeming evils, rashly charge Him with unkindness to man.  For men do not know the issue of those things which happen to them, nay, suspect that the result will be evil; but God knows that they will turn out well.  So is it in the case of Simon.  He is a power of the left hand of God, and has authority to do harm to those who know not God, so that he has been able to involve you in diseases; but by these very diseases, which have been permitted to come upon you by the good providence of God, you, seeking and finding him who is able to cure, have been compelled to submit to the will of God on the occasion of the cure of the body, and to think of believing, in order that in this way you may have your souls as well as your bodies in a healthy state.