A Commentator Reports, a Translator Vouches

You say, somewhat evasively, that you have translated from the Greek what I had earlier translated into Latin. But I do not clearly understand what you are alluding to, unless you are still bringing up my commentary on Ephesians against me, and hardening yourself in your brazenness as if you had received no answer on that point. You stop your ears and will not listen to the voice of the charmer. What I have done in that commentary and in others is to set out both my own opinion and the opinions of others, stating clearly which are catholic and which are heretical. This is the common rule and custom of those who undertake to explain books in commentaries. In their explanation they give the various opinions at length, and set out what they themselves think and what others think. This is done not only by those who explain the holy Scriptures but also by those who explain secular books, whether in Greek or in Latin. You, however, cannot shelter behind this fact where On First Principles is concerned. You will be convicted by your own preface, in which you assure us that the evil parts, and those added by heretics, have been cut out, but that all the best remains. So everything you have written, good or bad, must be held to be the work, not of the author you are translating, but of yourself, who made the translation. Perhaps, indeed, you ought to have corrected the errors of the heretics and set out publicly what is wrong in Origen. But on this point, since you refer me to the document itself, I gave you my answer before I read your letter. [a]