The First Confession

Ἤμαρτεν δ' Ἀδὰμ τὴν ἀμαρτίαν τὴν πρώτην, καὶ μετὰ τὴν ἀμαρτίαν εὐθέως ἐκρύπτετο· εἰ δὲ μὴ ᾔδει κακόν τι ἐργασάμενος, τίνος ἤνεκεν ἐκρύπτετο; Οὑδε γὰρ γράμματα ἦν, οὐ νόμος, οὐ Μωσῆς· πόθεν οὖν ἔγνω τὴν ἁμαρτίαν καὶ κρύπτεται; Καὶ οὐ κρύπτεται μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἐγκαλοὺμενος, ἐφ᾽ ἕτερον πειρᾶται μετατιθέναι τὴν αἰτίαν, λὲγων· Ἡ γυνὴ ἢν ἔδωκας μοι, αὔτη ἔδωκέ μοι ἐκ τοῦ ξύλου, καὶ ἔφαγον· κὰκείνη πάλιν ἐφ᾽ ἔτερον μετάγει τὸ ἔγκλημα, τὸν ὄφιν. Και ὅρα Θεοῦ σοφίαν· ειπόντος γὰρ τοῦ Ἀδὰμ, ὅτι Ἤκουσα τῆς φωνῆς σου καὶ ἐφοβήθην, ὁτι γυμνός εἰμι καὶ ἐκρυβην, οὐκ ἤλεγξεν εὐθέως ὁ θεος τὸ γεγονὸς, οὐδε εἶπε· Διὰ τὶ γὰρ ἒφαγες ἀπὸ τοῦ ξύλου; ἀλλὰ πῶς; Τίς σοι ἀνήγγειλε, φησὶν, ὅτι γυμνος εἶ, εἰ μὴ ἀπὸ τοῦ ξύλον οὖ ἐνετειλάμην σοι τούτου μόνου μὴ φαγεῖν, ἀπ᾽ αὐτοῦ ἔφαγες; Οὔτε ἐσίγησεν, οὔτε φανερῶς αὐτὸν ἤλεγξεν· οὐκ ἐσίγησε μὲν, ἴνα αὐτὸν ἐκκαλέσηται πρὸς ὁμολογίαν τῆς ἁμαρτίας· οὐκ ἤλεγχε δὲ φανερῶς, ἵνα μὴ αὐτοῦ τὸ πᾶν γένεται, κὰκεῖνος ἓρημος εἴη τῆς ἀπὸ τῆς ἐξομολογήσεως γινομένος συγγνώμης ἡμιν.  Ἅγιος Ἰωάννης ὁ Χρυσόστομος, Εἰς Τους Ἀνδριαντας Ὁμῖλία,

Adam sinned the first sin, and after the sin immediately he hid; but if he had not known he had been doing some wrong, why did he hide? For then there were neither letters, nor law, nor Moses; whence then does he recognise the sin and hide? And not only does he hide, but when called to account, he tries to attribute the cause to another, saying, 'The woman You gave me, she gave me of the tree, and I ate.'1 And again the woman transfers the accusation to another, the serpent. And see the wisdom of God; for when Adam said, ' Hearing Your voice I was afraid, for I am naked, and I hid,'2 God does not at once convict him of that done, nor say, 'Why did you eat of the tree?' But how? 'Who told you," He asks, 'that you are naked, unless of that Tree of which alone I commanded you not to eat you have eaten?'3 He did not keep silence, nor did He openly convict him. He did not keep silence, that He might call him forth to the confession of his crime. He did not convict him openly, lest all might come from Himself, and the man should be deprived of that pardon which is given to us from confession. Saint John Chrysostom, On the Statues 1 Gen 3.12 2 Gen 3.10  3 Gen 3.11