The Wise Man And Adam

Οὗτός ἑστιν ὁ κατ' εἰκόνα καὶ ὁμοίωσιν ὁ γνωστικὸς, ὁ μιμούμενος τὸν Θεὸν καθόσον οἵόν τε, μηδὲν παραλιπὼν τῶν εἰς τὴν ἐνδεχομένην ὁμοίωσιν· ἐγκρατευόμενος, ὑπομένων, δικαίως βιοὺς, βασιλεύων τῶν παθῶν, μεταδιδοὺς ὦν ἔχει ὡς οἷός τε ἐστὶν εὐεργετῶν καὶ λόγῳ καὶ ἔργῳ. Οὗτος μέγιστος, φησὶν, ἐν τῇ βασιλείᾳ, ὃς ἂν ποιῇ καὶ διδάσκῃ, μιμούμενος τὸν Θεὸν τῷ παραπλήσια χαρίζεσθαι· κοινωφελεῖς γὰρ αἱ τοῦ Θεοῦ δωρεαί. Ὅς δ' ἂν ἐγχειρῇ τι πράσσειν μεθ' ὑπερηφανίας, τὸν Θεὸν παροξύνει, φησίν· ἀλαζονεία γὰρ ψυχῆς ἐστι κακία· ἀφ' ἧς καὶ τῶν ἄλλων κακιῶν μετανοεῖνκελεύει, ἁρμοζομένοις τὸν βίον ἐξ ἀναρμοστίας πρὸς τὴν ἀμείνω μεταβολὴν διὰ τῶν τριῶν τούτων, στόματος, καρδίας, χειρῶν, Σύμβολον δ' ἂν εἴη ταῦτα, πράξεως μὲν αἱ χεῖρες, βουλῆς δὲ ἡ καρδία, καὶ λόγου στόμα. Καλῶς οὖν ἐπὶ τῶν μετανοούντων εἴρηται τὸ λόγοιν ἐκεῖνο· Τὸν Θεὸν εἴλου σήμερον, εἰναί Θεόν· καὶ Κύριος εἴλετό σε σήμερον, γενέσθαι λαὸν αὐτῷ. Τὸν γὰρ σπεύδοντα θεραπεύειν τὸ ὄν οἰκέτην ὄντα, ἐξοικειοῦται ὁ Θεός· κἂν εἶς ᾗ τὸν ἀριθμὸν, ἐπίσης τῷ λαῷ τετίμηται· μέρος γὰρ ὦν τοῦ λαοῦ, συμπληρωτικὸς αὐτοῦ γίνεται, ἀποκατασταθεὶς, ἐξ οὖ ἧν· καλεῖται δὲ καὶ ἐκ μέρους τὸ πᾶν. Αὕτη δὲ ἡ εὐγένεια ἐν τῷ ἐλέσθαι καὶ συνασκῆσαι τὰ κάλλιστα διαδείκνυται· ἐπεὶ τί τὸν Ἀδὰμ ὠφέλησεν ἡ τοιαύτη αὐτοῦ εὐγένεια; πατὴρ Αὕτη δὲ ἡ εὐγένεια ἐν τῷ ἐλέσθαι καὶ συνασκῆσαι τὰ κάλλιστα διαδείκνυται· ἐπεὶ τί τὸν Ἀδὰμ ὠφέλησεν ἡ τοιαύτη αὐτοῦ εὐγένεια; πατὴρ δὲ αὐτοῦ θνητὸς οὐδείς· αὐτὸς γὰρ ἀνθρώπων τῶν ἐν γενέσει πατήρ. Τὰ μὲν αἰσχρὰ οὗτος προθύμως εἴλετο, ἑπόμενος τῇ γυναικὶ, τῶν δὲ ἀληθῶν καὶ καλῶν ἠμέλησεν, ἐφ; οἷς θνητὸν ἀθανάτου βίον, ἀλλ' οὐκ εἰς τέλος, ἀνθυπηλλάξατο. Κλήμης ὁ Ἀλεξανδρεύς, Στρωματεων, Λόγος Δεύτερος, Κεφ ΙΘ' Migne PG 9 1040-1041

As he is according to the image and likeness of God, this is the wise man, one who imitates God as far as possible, lacking in none of the things which contribute to the likeness, in self control enduring, righteously living, reigning over the passions, giving of what he has as far as possible and doing good both by word and deed. 'He is the greatest,' it is said, 'in the kingdom who shall do and teach;' 1 imitating God in showing similar kindness, for the gifts of God are for the common good. 'Whoever performs an undertaking in an arrogant manner, provokes God,' 2 it is said. For boastfulness is an evil of the soul, of which, as with other evils, He calls us to repent, by setting  life in order from a state of discord to a change for the better in these three things: mouth, heart, hands. And these are signs, the hands of action, the heart of volition, the mouth of speech. Well, therefore, has that saying been spoken concerning penitents: 'You have chosen God today to be your God, and the Lord has chosen you today to be His people.' 3  For him who is eager to serve the One, being a servant of the house, God adopts, and though he be just one in number, he is honoured equally with the people. For being a part of the people, he becomes an essential component of it, being restored from what he was, and the whole is named from a part. But nobility is itself shown in choosing and doing what is best. For what benefit to Adam was such a nobility as he had? No mortal was his father; for he himself was father of men that are born. And what is base he readily chose, joining with the woman, neglecting the true and good, by which he exchanged immortality for mortal life, but not forever. Clement of Alexandria, Stromata, Book 2, Ch 19.  1 Mt 5.19 2 Num 15.30  3 Deut 26.17-18

Man And Cattle

Τὰ κτήην γήινα καὶ πρὸς γῆν νενευκότα· ἀλλὰ τὸ οὐράνιον φυτὸν ὁ ἄνθρωπος ὅσον τῷ σχήματι τῆς σωματικῆς διαπλάσεως, τοσοῦτον καὶ τῷ ἀξιώματι τῆς ψυχῆς διενήνοχε. Τῶν τετραπόδων τὸ σχῆμα ποταπόν; Ἡ κεφαλὴ αὐτῶν ἐπὶ γῆν προσνένευκεν· ἐπὶ γαστέρα βλέπει, καὶ τὸ ταύτης ἡδὺ ἐκ παντὸς τρόπου διώκει. Ἡ σὴ κεφαλή πρὸς οὐρανὸν διανεστηκεν· οἱ ὀφθαλμοί σου τὰ ἄνω βλέπουσιν· ὡς, ἐάν ποτε καὶ σὺ τοῖς πάθεσι τῆς σαρκὸς ἑαυτὸν ἀτιμάσῃς, γαστὶ δουλεύων καὶ τοῖς ὑπὸ γαστέρα, Παρασυνεβλήθης τοῖς κτήνεσι τοῖς ἀνοήτοις, καὶ ὡμοιώθης αὐτοῖς. Ἄλλη σοι μέριμνα πρέπουσα, τὰ ἄνω ζητεῖν, οὖ ὁ Χριστός ἐστιν, ὑπὲρ τὰ γήινα εἶναι τῇ διανοίᾳ. Ὡς διεσχηματίσθης, οὕτω διάθου σεαυτοῦ καὶ τὸν βίον. Τὸ πολίτευμα ἔχε ἐν οὐρανοῖς. Ἀληθινή σου πατρὶς ἡ ἄνω Ἰερουσαλὴμ, πολῖται καὶ συμφυλέται οἱ πρωτότοκοι, Οἱ ἀπογεγραμμένοι ἐν οὐρανοῖς. Ἅγιος  Βασίλειος Καισαρείας, Εἰς Την ῾Εξαήμερον, Ὁμιλία Θ' Source: Migne PG 29 192

Cattle are terrestrial and bent towards the earth, but man having celestial growth rises superior to them as much as by the form of his bodily shape as by the worthiness of the soul. What is the form of quadrupeds? The head is bent towards the earth and looks to the belly, and everywhere it pursues it's pleasure. Your head is turned to heaven, your eyes look up. Therefore if you dishonour yourself by the passions of the flesh, enslaved to the belly, and the things below it, you approach to irrational animals and become like them. For you there are  more fitting cares, to seek those things above, where Christ is, 1 raising the mind above earthly things. Thus as you are fashioned so model your life. Have your citizenship in heaven. Your true fatherland is the Jerusalem above, your fellow citizens and your compatriots are 'the first-born who are written in heaven.' 2 Saint Basil of Caesarea, Hexameron, from Homily 9 1 Col 3.1 2 Heb 12.23

Adam And Idolatry

In eos qui peccaverunt in similitudinem praevaricationis Adae, qui est forma futuri. Qui Adama forma furturi est, quod in subiectis monstrabimus. Itaque non in omnes regnasse mortem manifestum est, quia non omnes peccaverunt in similitudinem praevaricationis Adae, id est, non omnes contempto Deo peccaverunt. Qui autem sunt, qui contempto Deo peccaverunt, nisi qui neglecto creatore servierunt creaturae deos sibi constituentes, quos colerent ad iniuriam Dei? Idcirco laetabatur in istis diabolus, quia videbat illos imitatores suos effectos.  In similitudinem praevaricationis Adae et Thara, pater Abrahae, et Nachor et Laban proprios deos habebant. Et peccatum Adae non longe est ab idolatria. Praeuaricauit enim putans se hominem futurum Deum. Aestimauit enim hoc magis profuturum, quod diabolus suasit, quam quod Deus iussit, in loco Dei diabolum statuens. Unde et subditus factus est diabolo. Ambrosiaster, Commantarius in Epistulas Paulinas, In Epistula Pauli ad Romanos Source: Ambrosiastri qui dicitur Commentarius in Epistulas Paulinas, Volume 81, Part 1

In those who sinned in a likeness of the sinner Adam, who is the type of the one to come. 1 Who Adam is a type of we shall show is he who is subjected. It is obvious that  death has not reigned in everyone  because not everyone sinned in a likeness of the sinner Adam, that is, not everyone sinned in contempt of God. And who are those who sinned in contempt of God unless those who neglected the Creator and served the creature, setting up as gods who they wished, as an insult to God? Therefore the devil rejoiced in these because he saw them as imitators of his own deeds. And in the likeness of the sinner Adam is Thara, father of Abraham, and Nachor and Laban who had their own gods. For the sin of Adam is not far from idolatry. He erred thinking that man would become God. He judged to be more profitable what the devil counseled than what God commanded, putting then the devil in the place of God. Whence he was made subject to the devil. Ambrosiaster, Commentary On The Epistles of Paul, Epistle to the Romans 1 Rom 5.14

The Perils Of Affection

Neque enim frustra et illud quod Apostolus ait: Adam enim primus formatus est, deinde Eva: et Adam non est seductus, mulier autem seducta in praevaricatione facta est; id est, ut per illam etiam vir praevaricaretur. Nam et ipsum dicit praevaricatorem, ubi ait: In similitudinem praevaricationis Adae, qui est forma futuri. Seductum tamen negat. Nam et interrogatus non ait: Mulier quam dedisti mecum, seduxit me, et manducavi; sed, ipsa mihi, inquit, dedit a ligno, et manducavi. Illa vero: Serpens, inquit, seduxit me. Ita Salomon vir tantae sapientiae, numquidnam credendum est quod in simulacrorum cultu credidit esse aliquid utilitatis? Sed mulierum amori ad hoc malum trahenti resistere non valuit, faciens quod sciebat non esse faciendum, ne suas, quibus deperibat atque defluebat, mortiferas delicias contristaret. Ita et Adam, posteaquam de ligno prohibito seducta mulier manducavit, eique dedit ut simul ederent, noluit eam contristare, quam credebat posse sine suo solatio contabescere, si ab eius alienaretur animo, et omnino illa interire discordia. Non quidem carnis victus concupiscentia, quam nondum senserat in resistente lege membrorum legi mentis suae; sed amicali quadam benevolentia, qua plerumque fit ut offendatur Deus, ne homo ex amico fiat inimicus: quod eum facere non debuisse, divinae sententiae iustus exitus indicavit. Sanctus Augustinus Hipponensi, De Genesi Ad Litteram, Liber XI, Cap XLII Migne PL 34 453-454

It is not in vain that the Apostle said, 'Adam was fashioned first, then Eve, and Adam was not seduced but the woman seduced sinned,' 1 that is, by her the man was a sinner. For he calls him a sinner, when he says, 'a likeness of the sinner Adam, who is the type of the one to come.' 2 He does not say seduced. For being asked Adam does not say, 'The woman which you gave me, she seduced me, and I ate,' but 'She gave to me from the tree and I ate.' She, however, does say, 'The serpent seduced me.' 3 Thus Solomon who was a man of such wisdom that surely no one believes that he thought there to be any benefit in the cult of idols, but for love of women he could not resist being drawn into this evil, doing what he knew he should not do, thus he fell into ruin and diminished, lest he grieve them in their death bearing pleasures. 4 So even Adam, after the seduced woman ate from the forbidden tree and gave to him that he likewise eat, was unwilling to grieve her, which he thought he would be able to do without the result of the distress if from his soul she were alienated and utterly she enter into disharmony. For certainly he was not overthrown by the lust of the flesh, since he did not yet feel in the law of his members resistance to the law of his mind, 5 but on account of a certain friendly benevolence, that makes many offend God lest they make a man who was friend an enemy, which he should not have done, the just expulsion of the the Divine judgement was imposed. Saint Augustine of Hippo, On Genesis to the Letter, Book 11, Chap 42 1 1 Tim 2 13-14 2 Rom 5.14 3 Gen 3.12-13  4 cf 3 Kings 11.4  5 Rom 7.23

Mercy And Expulsion

Καὶ ἐξέβαλε Κύριος ὁ Θεὸς τὸν Ἀδὰμ, καὶ κατῴκισεν αὐτὸν ἀπέναντι τοῦ παραδείσου τῆς τρυφῆς.  Σκόπει πῶς ἕκαστον τῶν γινομένων ὑπὸ τοῦ κοινοῦ Δεσπότου φιλανθρωπίας ὑπόθεις ἧν, καὶ ἕκαστον τιμωρίας εἶδος ἀγαθότητος γέμει πολλῆς. Οὐ γὰρ τὸ ἐκβαλεῖν μόνον φιλανθρωπίας καὶ ἀγαθότητος ἧν· ἀλλὰ καὶ τὸ ἀπέναντι τοῦ παραδείσου ἐγκατοικίσαι αὐτὸν, ἵνα ἀδιάλειπτον ὀδύνην ἔχῃ, καθ' ἑκάστην ἡμέραν ἀναλογιζόμενος, οἵων ἐκπεπτωκώς εἰς οἵαν ἑαυτὸν κατάστασιν ἤγαγεν. Ἀλλ' ὅμως εἰ καὶ ὀδύνην ἀφόρητον ἡ θέα εἴχεν, ἀλλ' οὐ μικρᾶς ὠρελείας ὑπόθεσίς ἐστι, καὶ πρὸς τὸ ἐξης ἀσφάλεια τῷ ὀδυνωμένῳ ἡ συνεχὴς θέα ἐγίνετο, πρὸς τὸ μὴ τοῖς αὐτοῖς πάλιν αὐτὸν περιπεσεῖν. Καὶ γὰρ ὡς ἐπὶ τὸ πλεῖστον τῆς ἀνθρωπίνης φύσεως τοιοῦτον τὸ ἔθος· ἐπειδὰν γὰρ ἐν ἀπολαύσει τῶν ἀγαθῶν ὄντες μὴ εἰδῶμεν αὐτοῖς κεχρῆσθαι δεόντως, τῇ στερήσει τούτων σωφρονιζόμεθα, καὶ τότε διὰ τῆς πείρας μαθόντες αἴσθησιν λαμβάνομεν τῆς οἰκείας ῤᾳθυμίας, καὶ οὔτω διὰ τῆς τῶν πραγμάτων μεταβολῆς διδασκόμεθα τίνων μὲν ἐξεπέσαμεν, τίσι δὲ κακοῖς ἑαυτοὺς περιεπείραμεν. Ὥστε καὶ τὸ πλησίον καὶ ἀπέναντι τοῦ παραδείσου προστάξαι κατοικεῖν τὸν ἐκεῖωεν ἐκπεπτωκότα μεγίστης κηδεμονίας σημεῖον ἧν, ἵνα καὶ τὴν ἐκ τῆς θέας ὑπόμνησιν ἔχῃ, καὶ τοῦ ἐντεῦθεν κέρδους ἀπολαύῃ, καὶ μηδὲ ἐπιθυμίαν τῆς φιλοζωϊας ἔξω τυγχάνων, κατατολμήσῃ τῆς τοῦ ξύλου βρώσεως. Ὡς γὰρ πρὸς τὴν ἀνθρωπίνην ἀσθένειαν συγκαταβαίνουσα ἄπαντα διαλέγεται ἡμῖν ἡ θεία Γραφή. Ἅγιος Ἰωάννης ὁ Χρυσόστομος, Ὁμῖλία ΙΗ', Εἰς Την Γενεσιν Migne PG 53.152

'And God cast out Adam and made him dwell facing against the paradise of pleasure.' 1 Observe how our common Lord in each of his acts exhibits kindness and each of His chastisements are full of goodness. For not only was the casting out of Adam a matter of goodness and kindness, but He placed him facing against paradise, that the man would continually grieve every day thinking of his exile and into what state he had thrown himself. And although extremely grave this sorrow would be on account of what he saw, however it would be an occasion of great profit, that grieving with such continual sight, he be secured against falling into the same sins again. For as is the way of the nature of most men, that while we delight in goods we do not know how we should benefit from them, and the privation of them emends us, so by the experience we begin to be taught to know our state of thoughtlessness, and thus by such a change we are taught to be wary of the evils which now surround us. Thus He who expelled Adam ordered him to dwell near and facing paradise, which is a sign of great regard, that seeing the man be mindful how he had sought gain, and that he not live outside ruled by immoderate desires, which drove him to venture to eat from the tree. For the Divine Scripture tells everything to us, insofar as it touches on our weakness.   Saint John Chrysostom, On Genesis, from Homily 18  1 Gen 3.24 LXX

Beasts And Paradise

Sed quia plerosque movet qui diligentius intuentur, quomodo si vel primo magnum munus Dei fuit circa homines, ut in paradiso homines collocarentur, vel postea magnorum remuneratio videretur esse meritorum, ut ad paradisum justus unusquisque rapiatur, dicuntur etiam bestiae et pecora agri, et volatilia coeli in paradiso fuisse. Unde plerique paradisum animam hominis esse voluerunt, in qua virtutum quaedam germina pullulaverint: hominem autem et ad operandum, et ad custodiendum paradisum esse positum, hoc est, mentem hominis cujus virtus animam videtur excolere, nec solum excolere, sed etiam cum excoluerit, custodire. Bestiae autem agri, et volatilia coeli quae adducuntur ad Adam, nostri irrationabiles motus sunt, eo quod bestiae vel pecora, quaedam diversae sint corporis passiones, vel turbulentiores, vel etiam languidiores. Volatilia autem coeli quid aliud aestimamus, nisi inanes cogitationes quae velut volatilium more nostram circumvolant animam, et huc atque illuc vario motu saepe traducunt? Propterea nullus inventus est menti nostrae similis adjutor, nisi sensus, hoc est, αἴσθησις. Similem sibi solam νοῦς noster potuit invenire. Sed forte arguas, quia haec quoque Deus in tali paradiso locavit, hoc est, passiones corporis, et vanitatem quamdam fluctuantium vel inanium cogitationum, quod ipse nostri fuerit auctor erroris. Considera quid dicat: Habete, inquit, potestatem piscium maris, et volatilium coeli, et omnium repentium quae repunt super terram. Vides quod ille tibi tribuerit potestatem; ut de omnibus judicare tu debeas, singulorum genera judicii tui sobria definitione discernere. Vocavit ad te omnia Deus; ut supra omnia mentem tuam cognosceres. Cur quae tibi similia minime reperisti, adsciscere tibi et copulare voluisti? Dedit tibi certe sensum quo universa cognosceres, et de cognitis judicares, meritoque de illo fecundo paradisi agro ejectus es, quia non potuisti servare mandatum. Sciebat enim Deus esse te fragilem, sciebat judicare non posse; ideo dixit quasi fragilioribus: Nolite judicare ut non judicemini. Ergo quia scivit infirmum te esse ad judicandum, voluit obedientem esse mandato; ideo praeceptum posuit. Quod si non praevaricatus esses, periculum incerti judicii incidere nequivisses. Itaque quoniam judicare voluisti, ideo addidit: Ecce Adam factus est tamquam unus ex nobis, ut sciat bonum et malum. Voluisti tibi arrogare judicium, ideo poenam pravi judicii refutare non debes. Posuit tamen te contra paradisum, ne memoriam ejus possis abolere. Sanctus Ambrosius Mediolanensis, De Paradiso, Caput XI Migne PL 14 299-300

But because there is more to concern those who look more diligently into this, how do we explain the fact that, if in the beginning the great gift of God to men was that in paradise men be gathered, or afterward, as reward for their merits, those who are righteous would be brought to paradise, it is said that wild animals and beasts of the field and birds of the air were in Paradise? Hence, many would have it that by Paradise is meant the soul of man in which certain seeds of virtue sprouted  and that this is the work of man, along with the guarding of paradise, that is, that the mind of man has the cultivation of the soul as its virtue, and not only to cultivate it, but when it has been cultivated to guard it. The beasts of the field and the birds of the air which were brought to Adam are our irrational movements, because beasts and animals represent the diverse passions of the body, whether of the more turbulent or of the more moderate type. And what else are we to consider the birds of the air if not as representations of our idle thoughts which, like winged creatures, flit around our souls and frequently lead us by their varied motions now in one direction, now in another? Whence nothing is found to be a helper to our minds as the sense, which which in Greeks name 'aithesis'. Except for our intellect, the 'nous', it has been unable to find another so like itself. But perhaps you may argue that because God placed these things in paradise, that is, the passions of the body and the vanity of fleeting and empty thoughts, God is Himself the Author of error. Consider what He says: 'Have dominion over the fish of the sea, the birds of the air and all the animals that crawl upon the earth.' 1 You see that He given to you the power of being able to judge everything, with sober discernment of judgement distinguishing every kind. God has called them all to your attention, so that you might know that your mind is superior to all of them. Why finding something so unlike, have you wished to to draw them to yourself and bind them to you? Certainly God has given you a sense by which you can know things in general and from knowledge judge, and thus rightly you were cast from that fertile place of paradise because you were unable to observe God's command. God knew that you were weak, He knew that you could not judge, therefore, He spoke to men as weak things, 'Do not judge that you be not judged.' 2 Thus because He knew you to be infirm in judgement, He wished you to be obedient to His command. If you had not ignored this order, you would have been unable to fall into the peril of flawed judgement. And because you wished to judge, for that reason He added: 'Indeed Adam has become like one of us, knowing good and evil.' 3 You desired to arrogate judgement to yourself, thus you should not decry the punishment for depraved judgment. Nevertheless, He placed you facing against paradise 4 that the memory of it may never leave you.  Saint Ambrose, On Paradise, from Chap 11 1 Gen 1.25  2 Mt 7.1  3 Gen 3.22  4 Gen 3.24 Vetus Latina, LXX

Questions And Answers

Μηδὲ προσέχειν μύθοις καὶ γενεαλογίαις ἀπεράντοις. Μύθους οὐ τὸν νόμον φησὶν, ἄπαγε· ἀλλὰ τὰς παραποιήσεις καὶ τὰ παραχαράγματα καὶ τὰ παράσημα δόγματα. Εἰκὸς γὰρ τοὺς ἐξ Ἰουδαίων ἐν τοῖς ἀνονήτοις τὸν πάντα λόγον ἀναλίσκειν, πάππους καὶ προπάππους ἀριθμοῦντας, ἵνα δῆθεν ἐμπειρῖας πολλὴς καὶ ἱστορίας δόξαν ἔχωσιν. Ἵνα παραγείλης τισὶ, φησὶ, μὴ ἑτεροδιδασκαλεῖν, μηδὲ προσέχειν μύθοις καὶ γενεαλογίαις ἀπεράντοις. Τί ἐστιν, Ἀπεράντοις; Ἤτοι πέρας οὐδὲν ἐχούσαις, ἤ οὐδεν χρήσιμον, ἢ δυσκατάληπτον ἡμῖν. Εἶδες πῶς διαβάλλει τὴν ζήτησιν. Ἔνθα γὰρ πίστις, οὐ χρεία ζητήσεως· ἔνθα μηδὲν δεῖ περιεργάζεσθαι, τί δεῖ ζητὴσεως; ἡ ζήτησις τῆς πίστεώς ἐστιν ἀναιρετική. Ὁ γὰρ ζητῶν, οὐδέπω εὗρεν· ὁ ζητῶν, πιστεῦσαι οὐ δύναται. Διὰ τοῦτο φησι, Μὴ ἀσχολώμεθα περὶ τὰς ζητήσεις· ἐπεὶ εἰ ζητοῦμεν, οὐκ ἔστι τοῦτο πίστις· ἡ γὰρ πίστις ἀναπαύει τὸν λογισμόν. Πῶς οὖν φησιν ὁ Χριστὸς, Ζητεῖτε, καὶ εὑρήσετε, κρούετε, καὶ ἀνοιγήσεται ὑμῖν· καὶ, Ἐρευνᾶτε τὰς Γραφὰς, ὅτι ὑμεῖς ἐν ταύταις δοκεῖτε ζωὴν αἰώνιον ἔχειν; Ἐκεῖ μὲν τὸ, Ζητεῖτε, περὶ αἰτήσεως λέγει καὶ σφοδροῦ πόθου· ἐνταῦθα δὲ τὸ, Ἐρευνᾶτε τὰς Γραφὰς, οὐ τοὺς ζητητικούς ἐστιν εἰσάγοντος πόνους, ἀλλ' ἐκβάλλοντος. Εἶπε γὰρ, Ἐρευνᾶτε τὰς Γραφὰς, τουτέστιν; ὥστε τὴν ἀκρίβειαν αὐτῶν καταμαθεῖν καὶ εἰδέναι, οὐχ ἵνα ἀεὶ ζητῶμεν, ἀλλ' ἵνα παυώμεθα ζητοῦντες. Καὶ καλῶς εἶπε, Παράγγελλέ τισι Μὴ ἑτεροδιδασκαλεῖν, μηδὲ προσέχειν μύθοις καὶ γενεαλογίαις ἀπεράντοις, αἴτινες ζητήσεις παρέχουσι μᾶλλον, ἢ οἰκονομίαν Θεοῦ τὴν ἐν πίστει. Καλῶς εἴπεν Οἰκονομίαν Θεοῦ· μεγάλα γὰρ ἡμῖν δοῦναι ἡθέλησεν ὁ Θεὸς, ἀλλ' οὐ δέχεται ὁ λογισμὸς τὸ μέγεθος αὐτοῦ τῶν οἰκονομιῶν. Διὰ πίστεως οὖν τοῦτο γενέσθαι δεῖ, ὅπερ ἐστὶ φάρμακον ψυχῶν μέγιστον. Ἡ τοίνυν ζήτησις ἐναντία ἐστὶ τῇ οἰκονομίᾳ τοῦ Θεοῦ. Τί γὰρ ἀπὸ πίστεως οἰκονομεῖται; Δέξασθαι τὰς εὐεργεσίας αὐτοῦ, καὶ γενέσθαι βελτίους, καὶ περὶ μηδενὸς ἀμφισβητεῖν καὶ ἀμφιβάλεειν, ἀλλ' ἀναπαύεσθαι. Ἅπερ γὰρ ἡ πίστις ἤνυσε καὶ ᾠκοδόμησε, ταυτᾶ αὕτη καταστρέφει, ζητήσεις παρέχουσα, καὶ τὴν πίστιν ἐκβάλλουσα. Μηδὲ προσέχειν, φησὶ, μύθοις καὶ γενεαλογίαις ἀπεράντοις. Καὶ αἱ γενεαλογίαι, φησὶ τί ἔβλαπτον; Ἔλεγεν ὁ Χριστὸς, ὅτι διὰ πίστεως δεῖ σωθῆναι· ἐκεῖνοι ἐζήτουν, καὶ ἔλεγον ὅτι οὐκ ἔνι τοῦτο.  Ἐπειδ γὰρ ἡ μὲν ἀπόφασις κατὰ τὸ παρὸν ἧν, ἡ δὲ ἔκβασις τῆς ἀποφάσεως ἐν τῷ μέλλοντι, πίστεως ἔδει. Ἐκεῖνοι δὲ προκατειλημένοι τοῖς νομικοῖς πατατηρήμασιν, ἐνεπόδιζον τῇ πίστει. Οἷμαι δὲ καὶ Ἕλληνας αὐτὸν ἐνταῦθα αἰνίττεσθαι, ὅταν λέγῃ, Μύθοις καὶ γενεαλογία, ὡς τοὺς θεοὺς αὐτῶν καταλεγόντων. Ἅγιος Ἰωάννης ὁ Χρυσόστομος,Ὑμομηνμα Εἰς Την Προς Τιμοθεον Ἐπιστολη Πρωτην, Ὁμιλὶα Ἀ Migne PG 62 506-507

'Nor give heed to fables and endless genealogies.' 1 Fables are not the law, far from it, but falsehoods and forgeries and counterfeit doctrines. For, it seems, the Jews wasted their whole discourse on these unprofitable things, numbering their fathers and grandfathers, that, I must suppose, they gain glory for their studies and historical enquiries. 'That you might instruct some,' he says, 'that they do not give any other teaching, nor give heed to fables and endless genealogies.' 1 Why does he call them endless? Why, because they had no end, or none of any use, or none easy for us to understand. Note how he accuses questioning. For where there is faith, there is no need for questioning. Where there is no need for prying, what need for questions? Questioning is the ruin of faith. For he that seeks has yet to find. He who seeks is not able to believe. Because of this he says that we should not be busy with questions, since if we question, it is not faith, for faith gives reasoning rest. Why then, does Christ say, 'Seek and you shall find, knock and it shall be opened unto you' 2 and, 'You search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life'? 3 There the seeking means prayer and vehement wish, and the searching of the Scriptures is not to introduce the toils of questioning, but to banish them, that we may accurately learn and know them, not that we may always be questioning, but that we may have rest from questioning. And well then he said, 'That you might instruct some that they do not give any other teaching, nor give heed to fables and endless genealogies,' which bring forth questions rather than the 'dispensation of God in faith.' And well indeed he said next, 'the dispensation of God.' 1 For God is willing to give great blessings to you, but reason cannot conceive the greatness of the dispensation. This must then be of faith, which is the greatest balm for souls. And questioning therefore is opposed to the dispensation of God. For what is dispensed by faith? To receive His mercies and be improved, in nothing to dispute and be in doubt but to be at rest. For as faith swiftly builds up, what it has accomplished is overthrown by that which brings forth questions, and faith is cast out.'Nor give heed,' he says, 'to fables and endless genealogies' And why does he denounce genealogies? Christ has said that we must be saved by faith; they questioned and even denied it. For since the announcement was present but the satisfaction of the announcement in the future, faith was needed. But they being occupied by legal observances obstructed the faith. And I think He seems also here to speak indirectly of the Greeks, where he speaks of 'fables and genealogies,' for so is the recounting of their gods. Saint John Chrysostom, Commentary On The First Epistle To Timothy, from the First Homily 1Tim 1.4 2 Mt 7.7 3 Jn 5.39

The Averted Face

Ἀπέστρεψας δὲ τὸ πρόσωπόν σου, καὶ ἐγενήθην τετραγμένος. Ἔως μὲν ὅτε, φησὶν, αἱ ἀκτῖνες τῆς ἐπισκοπῆς σου ἐπέλαμπόν μοι, ἐν εὐσταθεὶ καταστάσει καὶ ἀταράχῳ διῆγον· ἐπειδὴ δὲ ἀπέστρεψάς σου τὸ πρόσωπον, τὸ ἐμπαθὲς καὶ τεθορυβημένον τῆς ψυχῆς ἀπηλέγχθη. Ἀποστρέφειν δὲ λέγεται τὸ ἑαυτοῦ πρόσωπον ὁ Θεὸς, ὅταν ἐν τοὶς τῶν περιστάσεων καιροὶς ἐκδότους ἀφίῃ τοὶς περισμοῖς, ἐπὶ τὸ γνωσθῆναι τὸ εὔτονον τοῦ ἀγωνιζομένου. Ἐὰν οὖν ἡ εἰρήνη ἡ ὑπερέχουσα πάντα νοῦν φρουρήσῃ τὰς καρδίας ἡμῶν, δυνάμεθα τὴν ταραχὴν καὶ τὴν σύγχυσιν τῶν παθῶν διαφυγεῖν. Ἐπεὶ οὖν ἀντίκειται τῷ μὲν θελήματι τοῦ Θεοῦ ἡ ἀποστροφὴ, τῷ δὲ κάλλει καὶ τῇ ὡραιότητι καὶ τῇ δυνάμει ἡ ταραχή· εἴη ἂν ἡ ταραχὴ αἶσχος καὶ ἀσθένεια ψυχῆς, ἐκ τῆς ἀπὸ Θεοῦ ἀλλοτριώσεως ἐγινομένη. Εὐχώνεθα οὖν ἀεὶ επιλάμπειν ὑμῖν τὸ πρόσωπον τοῦ Θεοῦ, ἵνα ἐν καταστήματι ὦμεν ἱεροπρεπεῖ καὶ πρᾶοι, καὶ παντὶ τρόπῳ ἀτάραχοι ἐκ τῆς πρὸς τὰ καλὰ ἑτοιμότητος. Ἡτοιμάσθην γὰρ, φησὶ, καὶ οὐκ ἐταράχθην. Ἅγιος Βασίλειος ὁ Μέγας, Ὁμιλία Ἐις Τους Ψαλμούς, Εἰς Τον ΚΘ' Ψαλμον  Source: Migne PG 29 492

'You averted your face and I was troubled.' 1   For while, he says, the rays of your sight illuminate me, I am established in a stable and peaceful state, but after you have averted your face trouble and tumult seizes my soul. Thus it is said that God averts his face when one is abandoned and exposed in the time of trials, and so he would know strength for the struggle. If, then, that peace which surpasses all understanding 2 guards our soul, we are able to avoid the confusion of the tumults of passion. Since when we are opposed to the will of God there is the confusion of the beauty and glory of virtue, which confusion is the deformity and weakness of the soul coming from alienation of God. Let us pray then that the face of God shall always shine upon us, that in holy and religious state we be, meek and in all things peaceful, with a soul prepared for good things, for 'Prepared I am, he says, 'and I am not troubled.' 3 Saint Basil of Caesarea, Homilies on the Psalms, from Psalm 29 1 Ps 29.6 2 Philipp 4.7 3 Ps 118.60

The First Incarnation

Et audierunt vocem Domini Dei ambulantis in paradiso ad vesperam. Ea quippe hora tales iam convenerat visitari, qui defecerant a luce veritatis. Fortassis enim aliis intrinsecus vel effabilibus vel ineffabilibus modis Deus cum illis antea loquebatur, sicut etiam cum Angelis loquitur ipsa incommutabili veritate illustrans mentes eorum, ubi est intellectus nosse simul quaecumque etiam per tempora non fiunt simul. Forte, inquam, sic cum eis loquebatur, etsi non tanta participatione divinae sapientiae, quantam capiunt Angeli; tamen pro humano modulo, quantumlibet minus, sed ipso genere visitationis et locutionis; fortassis etiam illo qui fit per creaturam, sive in ecstasi spiritus corporalibus imaginibus, sive ipsis sensibus corporis aliqua specie praesentata vel ad videndum, vel ad audiendum, sicut in Angelis suis solet videri Deus vel sonare per nubem. Nunc tamen quod audierunt vocem Dei ambulantis in paradiso ad vesperam, nonnisi per creaturam visibiliter factum est, ne substantia illa invisibilis et ubique tota, quae Patris et Filii est et Spiritus sancti, corporalibus eorum sensibus locali et temporali motu apparuisse credatur. Et absconderunt se Adam et mulier eius a facie Domini in medio ligno quod est in paradiso  Cum Deus avertit intrinsecus faciem suam, et fit homo conturbatus; non miremur haec fieri, quae similia sunt dementiae, per nimium pudorem ac timorem; illo quoque occulto instinctu non quiescente, ut ea nescientes facerent, quae aliquid significarent, quandoque scituris posteris, propter quos ista conscripta sunt. Sanctus Augustinus Hipponensi, De Genesi Ad Litteram, Liber XI Migne PL 34 447

'And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the Garden in the evening.' 1 And certainly this hour is most fitting for the visitation of those who have fallen from the light of truth. Perhaps in other describable and indescribable ways God had spoken to them before, as He speaks to angels His unchangeable truth with the enlightening of their minds, when the intellect may know at the same time whatever in time does at not once appear. Perhaps he spoke so with them, even if they did not not have such a great participation in the Divine wisdom as angels do; however by human measure, as much as it is less, so is the visitation and the speech. Perhaps then it was through a created thing, either through the ecstasy of the spirit by corporeal images, or in some form of presence to senses of the body, either to sight or hearing, as via his angels God is accustomed to appear, or to speak through a cloud. Now, however, because they heard the sound of God walking in the garden in the evening, it could not be so unless he was made visible as a created thing, so that it should be thought that the invisible substance which is everywhere, The Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, appeared to their corporeal senses in space and time and in motion.  'And Adam and the woman hid themselves from the face of the Lord in the midst of the wood that is in paradise.' 1 When God averts his face man is troubled, and thus we should not be amazed that this happened, which is like the acts of madmen, on account of excessive shame and fear, and that by this instinct to hide they found no peace, since they did these things they did ignorantly. Saint Augustine of Hippo, from On Genesis to the Letter, Book 11 1 Gen 3.8

Satan In Paradise

Itaque neque dubitandum, neque reprehendendum quod in paradiso diabolus erat; quando quidem occludere sanctis non potuit iter, ne quis ascenderet. Neque enim justis habitationem incolatus tamquam possessor eripuit. Esto enim ut aliquos desides atque vitiosos ab incolatu supernae possessionis averterit, illud multo augustius multoque pulchrius quod sanctorum orationibus excludetur, cum completum fuerit illud: Videbam satanam sicut fulgur de coelo cadentem. Ergo non metuamus eum, qui eousque infirmus est, ut et ipse casurus sit in terram. Accepit quidem tentandi licentiam: sed non accepit copiam subruendi, nisi sua sponte labatur infirmus affectus, qui sibi auxilium non norit arcessere. Et ideo qua fraude tentaverit primum hominem, quidve in homine putaverit esse tentandum, quo ordine, qua arte cognoscere opus est, ut cavere possimus. Plerique tamen qui volunt in paradiso diabolum non fuisse, licet in coelo astantem cum angelis legerimus, ne nostro sermone videantur offendi, secundum suam accipiant voluntatem interpretationem istius lectionis. Namque ante nos fuit, qui per voluptatem et sensum praevaricationem ab homine memoraverit esse commissam, in specie serpentis figuram accipiens delectationis, in figura mulieris sensum animi mentisque constituens, quam αἴσθησις vocant Graeci: decepto autem sensu praevaricatricem secundum historiam mentem asseruit, quam Graeci νοῦν vocant. Recte igitur in Graeco νοῦς viri figuram accepit, αἴσθησις mulieris. Unde et quidam Adam νοῦν terrenum interpretati sunt. Dominus autem virgines illas in Evangelio accensis facibus vel exstinctis exspectantes sponsi adventum pro sensibus vel integris sapientium, vel corruptis insipientium posuit. Nam si Eva, hoc est, sensus primae mulieris accensas habuisset faces, numquam praevaricationis suae nos criniculis implicasset, neque ex illa virtutis immortalitate cecidisset. Sanctus Ambrosius Mediolanensis, De Paradiso, Caput II Migne PL 14 278-279

Thus let it not be doubted nor censured  that the Devil was in Paradise, when  certainly he was not able to obstruct the way of the holy that they not ascend. Not as a rightful possessor did he cast the righteous from their habitation. Let it be that he turned away from the possession of that high estate some who were slothful and vicious, that much more majestically and beautifully is he excluded from the prayers of the saints as the result of an event which was to happen: 'I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven.' 1 Therefore let us not fear one who is so weak that he shall fall to earth. He certainly received licence to tempt us but not the power to overthrow us, unless our own selves fall, our weak disposition, which to itself does not know how to summon aid. Thus we need to know with what deceit he tempted the first man, what in man he thought to bring to trial, the method and manner, so that we may be able to take precautions. Many, however, there are who wish that the Devil was not in Paradise, although we have read that he stood with the angels in heaven, 2 who lest by our word they seem to be offended, interpret this passage according to their own will. There was one before us who had it that sin was committed by man because of the pleasure of sense, understanding in figure of the serpent enjoyment and in the figure of the woman the emotions of the mind and heart which is called by the Greeks 'aisthesis'. When according to this theory the senses are deceived, the mind, he says, which the Greeks call 'nous', falls into error. Rightly, therefore, the writer understands 3 the Greek word 'nous' as a figure of a man and 'aisthesis' as that of a woman. Hence, some have interpreted Adam to mean an earthly 'nous'. In the Gospel the Lord sets forth the parable of the virgins who waited for the coming of the bridegroom with either lighted or extinguished lamps which are given as the pure senses of the wise or the corrupted ones of the unwise. 4 For if Eve, that is, the emotions of the first woman, had kept her lamp lighted, she would not have entangled us in the meshes of her sin, nor would she have fallen from the immortality of virtue. Saint Ambrose, On Paradise, from Chap 2 1 Lk 10.18 2 Zech. 3.1 3 Cf. Philo, De Opificio Mundi 59 4 Mt 25.1

The Wives Of Jesus

Ipse autem est qui praefigurabatur in Jacob Dominus Jesus, duorum vir conjugiorum, hoc est, consors quidam legis et gratiae, qui virginem Rachel ante dilexit, et praedestinatam sibi in conjugium pio amabat affectu. Sed quoniam Lia tanquam lex subintravit, et oculis infirmior obrepsit tanquam Synogoga, quae mentis caecitate Christum videre non potuit, superabundavit gratia sanctae Rachel, quae supra primum illud est expetita conjugium, quae Ecclesiae principatum futurum jam tunc nominis sui in interpretatione signabat. Beata Rachel, quae astulit opprobrium suo partu: beata Rachel, quae abscondit cultus, erroresque gentilium, quae simulacra eorum plena esse immunditiae declaravit. Nemo credat paternae pietatis laesam esse reverentiam, quod stante patre sedit; quoniam scriptum est: Qui plus fecerit patrem aut matrem, quam me, non est me dignus. Ubi causa agebatur religionis, fides debuit sedem habere judicii, et quasi rea stare perfidia. Sanctus Ambrosius Mediolanensis, De Jacob et Vita Beata, Lib II, Caput V Migne PL 14 624

In Jacob is prefigured the Lord Jesus, a man of two wives, that is, the consort of the law and grace, who first loved the virgin Rachel, and, being predestined for her in marriage, he loved with pious affection. But Leah as the law was first introduced, and had weaker eyes like the Synagogue, which blindness of mind was not able to recognise Christ, while Rachel abounded with grace of sanctity, 1 she who above the first was the desired marriage, she who the preeminent future of the Church already then signified by her name interpreted. Blessed Rachel, who took away shame with her birthing, blessed Rachel, who took away the religion and the errors of the Gentiles, who declared their idols to be unclean. No one thinks that paternal piety is honourable when it does harm, and so with the father standing she sat; for it is written 'He who cares for father or mother rather than me is not worthy of me.' 2 When the court of religion is held, faith should sit in the seat of judgement, and the guilty traitor stands. 3   Saint Ambrose, On Jacob and the Good Life, Book 2, Chap 5 1.Gen 29.17,30 2 Mt 10.37 3 Gen 31

Taking A Wife

Post longam igitur servitutem, quam Jacob apud socerum suum pro uxoribus, velut mercede, sustinuit, praecepit ei Dominus ut reverteretur in patriam suam. Tunc, ignorante socero, eum uxoribus et comitatu properavit. Laban autem consecutus est eum in montem Galad cum furore, atque idola quae Rachel furata erat apud eum requisivit, nec reperit. Quid igitur sibi hoc ipsum figuraliter velit, inspiciendum est. Dum Laban superius aliam gerat personam, nunc tamen diaboli typum figurat. Laban quippe interpretatur dealbatio. Dealbatio autem diabolus non inconvenienter accipitur, qui cum sit ex merito tenebrosus, transfigurat se in angelum lucis. Huic servivit Jacob, id est, ex parte reproborum Judaicus populus, ex cujus carne incarnatus Dominus venit. Potest etiam per Laban mundus hic experimi, qui cum furore Jacob persequitur, quia electos quosque, qui Redemptoris nostri membra sunt, persequendo opprimere conatur. Hujus filiam, id est, seu mundi, seu diaboli, Jacob abstulit, cum sibi Christus Ecclesiam ex gentilitate conjunxit, quam et de domo partis abstrahit, quia ei per prophetam dicit 'Obliviscere populum tuum, et domum patris tui' Quid vero in idolis, nisi avaritia designatur? Unde et per Paulum dicitur: Et avaritia, quae est idolorum servitus. Laban ergo veniens apud Jacob, idola non invenit, quia, ostensis mundi thesauris, diabolus in Redemptore nostro vestigia concupiscentiae terrenae non reperit. Sed quae Jacob non habuit, ea Rachel sedendo cooperuit. Per Rachel quippe, quae ovis dicitur, Ecclesia figuratur. Sedere autem est humilitatem poenitentiae appetere, sicut scriptum est: Surgite, postquam sederitis. Rachel ergo sedendo idola cooperuit, quia sancta Eccleisa Christum sequens, vitia terrenae concupiscentiae per humilitatem poenitetniae cooperuit. De hac coopertione vitiorum per Prophetam dicitur: Beati quorum remissa sunt iniquitates, et quorum tecta sunt peccata. Sanctus Isidorus Hispalensis, Quaestiones in Vetus Testamentum, Caput XXVI

Therefore after long service which Jacob undertook for his uncle for wives, as reward, the Lord commanded that he should return to his fatherland. Then, without the knowledge of his uncle, he hurried away with his wives and company. Laban however pursued him to mount Galaad in anger, and seeking the idols which Rachel hid, he did not find them. 1 What this means figuratively we must investigate. While Laban before bore another persona, now however he is a type of the devil. And the name of Laban is interpreted as whitewashing. And whitewashing is not inconveniently applied to the devil who though he is by his nature darkness may transform himself into an angel of light. Jacob served this one, that is, from a part of the reprobate Hebrew people the Lord came incarnate in the flesh. And by Laban the world is expressed, who with fury pursued Jacob, because those chosen, who are members of the Redeemer, he tried to suppress with persecution. His daughter, that is,a thing of the world, or of the devil, Jacob took away, as Christ joined himself to the Church drawn from the Gentiles, which he drew forth even from the house of her father, and concerning this it is said by the Prophet, 'Forget your people, and the house of your father.' 2 And what is signified by the idols but avarice? Whence by Paul it is said: 'And avarice which is the service of idols.' 3 Laban, then, coming to Jacob did not find the idols, because regarding the ostentatious wealth of the world, the devil does not in our Redeemer find trace of worldly desires. Yet that which Jacob did not have, Rachel sitting covered. And by Rachel, who is named sheep, the Church is signified. To sit is take to the humility of penance, as it is written, 'You rise after sitting.'  4 Rachel therefore sitting covers the idols, and the Church following Christ with the humility of penance covers the vices of worldly desires. Concerning which covering of faults the Prophet says, 'Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered.' 5 Saint Isidore of Seville, Questions on the Old Testament, Chapter 26 1 Gen 29-31 2 Ps 44.11 3 Col 3.5 4 Ps 126.2 5 Ps 31.1

Marriage And The Beginning

Invenimus nos ad initiam dirigi a Christo, sicut in quaestione repudii dicens illud propter duritiam  ipsorum a Moyse esse permissum, ab initio autem non ita fuisse, sine dubio ad initium revocat matrimonii  individuitatem; ideoque quos Deus ab initio coniunxit in unam carnem duos, hodie homo non separabit. Dicit et apostolus scribens ad Ephesios Deum proposuisse in semetipso ad dispensationem  adimpletionis temporum ad caput, id est ad initium, reciprocare universa in Christo, quae sunt super caelos et super terras in ipso.  Sic et duas Graeciae litteras, summam et ultimam, sibi induit dominus, initii et finis concurrentium in se figuras, uti, quemadmodum A ad Ω usque volvitur et rursus Ω ad  A replicatur, ita ostenderet in se esse et initii decursum ad finem et finis reoursum ad initium, ut omnis dispositio in eo desinens, per quem coepta est, per sermonem scilicet dei, quia caro factus est, proinde desinat, quemadmodum et coepit. Et adeo in Christo omnia revocantur ad initium,  ut et fides reversa sit a circumcisione ad integritatem carnis illius, sicut ab initio fuit, et libertas ciborum et sanguinis solius abstinentia, sicut ab initio fuit, et matrimonii individuitas, sicut ab initio fuit, et repudii cohibitio, quod ab initio non fuit; et postremo totus homo in paradisum revocatur, ubi ab initio fuit. Cur ergo vel monogamum illo non debeat Adam  referre, qui non potest tam integrum quam inde dimissus est? Quantum pertinet itaque ad initii restitutionem, id a te exigit et dispositionis et spei tuae ratio, quod ab initio fuit; secundum initium, quod tibi et in Adam censetur et in Noe recensetur, elige, in quo eorum initium tuum deputes: in ambobus te sibi monogamiae censura defendit.  Sed et si initium transmittit  ad finem ut A ad Ω, quomodo finis remittit ad initium ut Ω ad A, atque ita census noster transfertur in Christum, animalis in spiritalem, quia non primo, quod spiritale est, sed quod animale,  dehinc quod spiritale, proinde videamus, an id ipsum debeas huic quoque censui secundo, an in eandem te formam conveniat novissimus quoque Adam in quam et primus, quando novissimus Adam, id est Christus, innuptus in totum, quod etiam primus Adam ante exilium.  Sed donato infirmitati  tuae carnis suae exemplo perfectior Adam, id est Christus, eo quoque nomine perfectior qua integrior, volenti quidem tibi spado occurrit in carne; si vero non sufficis, monogamus incurrit in spiritu, unam habens ecclesiam sponsam secundum figuram, quam apostolus in illud magnum sacramentum  interpretatur, in Christum et ecclesiam, competentes carnali monogamiae per spiritalem. Vides igitur, quemadmodum etiam in Christo novas censum non possis eum sine monogamiae  professione deferre, nisi carne sis, quod spiritu ille est, licet et quod fuit carne, aeque esse debueris.  Tertullianus, De Monogamia, Caput V Migne PL 2 935-6

We find ourselves directed to the beginning by Christ, just as, in the question of divorce, he says that it had been permitted by Moses on account of their hard hearts but that from the beginning it was not so, doubtless recalling to the beginning the indivisibility of marriage, and so those whom God from the beginning joined, two in one flesh, 1 today man shall not separate. And writing to the Ephesians the Apostle says that God 'had proposed in Himself, at the dispensation of the fulfillment of the times, to recall to the head' that is, to the beginning 'everything in Christ, which are above the heavens and above the earth in Him.' 2 So, also, two Greek letters, the first and the last, the Lord takes to Himself, as figures of the beginning and end 3 which join together in Him, so that, just as Alpha rolls on until it reaches Omega, and again Omega until it reaches Alpha, thus He shows in Himself both the downward course of the beginning to the end, and the backward course of the end to the beginning, so that every dispensation ending in Him through whom it began, that is, through the Word of God who was made flesh, may have an end corresponding to its beginning. And so in Christ are all things recalled to the beginning, that even faith returns from circumcision to the integrity of the flesh, as it was from the beginning; and freedom of foods and abstinence from blood alone, as it was from the beginning; and the indivisibility of marriage, as it was from the beginning; and the prohibition of divorce, which was not from the beginning; and finally the whole man is recalled into Paradise, where he was from the beginning. Why, then, should He not restore Adam there as a monogamist, who cannot have him as perfect as when he was dismissed? As much as it pertains to the restitution of the beginning, the reason of the dispensation you live under and of your hope demand this from you: that which was from the beginning in accordance with the beginning, which for you is counted in Adam, and recounted in Noah. Choose in which of the two you would have your beginning; in both the judgement of monogamy is maintained. But again, if the beginning passes on to the end, as Alpha to Omega, as the end passes back to the beginning, as Omega to Alpha, and thus our origin is transferred to Christ, the animal to the spiritual, because what is first is not spiritual, but what is animal, then comes what is spiritual, let us then see whether you owe the same to this second origin, whether the second Adam meet you in the same form as the first, since the second Adam, that is, Christ, was entirely unwedded, as was even the first before his expulsion. But the more perfect Adam, giving to your weakness the gift of the example of His own flesh, that is, Christ, more perfect as He was more entirely pure, comes before you, as a voluntary celibate in the flesh. If, however, you are unable, He stands a monogamist in spirit, having one Church as His spouse, which figure the Apostle interprets of that great sacrament of Christ and the Church, 4  the spiritual corresponding to carnal monogamy. You see, therefore, how, renewing your origin in Christ, you cannot follow it without the profession of monogamy; unless you be in the flesh what He is in spirit, and what He was in flesh, you equally should have been. Tertullian, On  Monogamy, from Chapter 5 1 Gen 2.24 2 Ephes 1.10 3 Apoc 1.8; 22.13 4 Ephes 5.22-33

Marriage And Discipline

Ἐλπίδα οὖν ζωῆς αἰωνίου ἔχοντες, τῶν ἐν τούτῳ τῷ βίῳ καταφρονοῦμεν, μέχρι καὶ τῶν τῆς ψυχῆς ἡδέων. Γυναῖκα μὲν ἔκαστος ἡμῶν, ἣν ἠγάγετο κατὰ τοὺς ὑφ' ἡμῶν τεθειμένους νόμους, νομίζων, καὶ ταύτην μέχρι τοῦ παιδοποιήσθαι. Ὡς γὰρ ὁ γεωργὸς καταβάλλων εἰς γῆν τὰ σπέρματα, ἅμητον περιμένει οὐκ ἐπισπείρων· καὶ ἡμῖν μέτρον ἐπιθυμίας ἡ παιδοποιία. Εὕροις δ' ἂν πολλοὺς τῶν παρ' ἡμῖν,καὶ ἄνδρας καὶ γυναῖκας, καταγηράσκοντας ἀγάμους, ἐλπίδι τοῦ μᾶλλον συνέσεσθαι τῷ Θεῷ. Εἰ δὲ τὸ ἐν παρθενίᾷ καὶ ἐν εὐνουχίᾳ μεῖναι, μᾶλλον παρίστησι τῷ Θεῷ, τὸ δὲ μέχρις ἐννοίας καὶ ἐπιθυμίας ἐλθεῖν ἀπάγει· ὦν τὰς ἐννοίας φεύγομεν, πολὺ πρότερον τὰ ἔργα παραιτούμεθα. Οὐ γὰρ μελέτῃ λόγων, ἀλλ' ἐπιδείξει καὶ διδασκαλίᾳ ἔργων τὰ ἡμέτερα· ἢ οἷός τις ἐτέχθη, μένειν, ἢ ἐφ' ἑνι γάμῳ. Ὁ γὰρ δεύτερος εὐπρεπής ἐστι μοιχεία. Ὃς γὰρ ἂν ἀπολύσῃ, φησὶ, τὴν γυναῖκα αὐτοῦ, καὶ γαμήσῃ ἄλλην, μοιχᾶται· οὔτε ἀπολύειν ἐπιτρέπων ἧς ἔπαυσέ τις τὴν παρθενίαν, οὔτε ἐπιγαμεῖν. Ὁ γὰρ ἀποστερῶν ἑαυτὸν τῆς τῆς προτέρας γυναικὸς, καὶ εἰ τέθνηκε, μοιχός ἐστι παρακεκαλυμμένος, παραβαίνων μὲν τὴν χεῖρα τοῦ Θεοῦ, ὅτι ἐν ἀρχῇ ὁ Θεὸς ἕνα ἄνδρα ἔπλασε καὶ μίαν γυναῖκα· λύων δὲ τὴν σάρκα πρὸς σάρκα κατὰ τὴν ἔνωσιν πρὸς μίξιν εἰς τοῦ γένους κοινωνίαν. Ἀθηναγόρος, Πρεσβεία Περί Χριστιανών Migne PG 6 965-6

Hope, then, having of eternal life, we despise the things of this life, even unto the pleasures of the soul. Each of us reckons her his wife whom he has married according to the laws laid down by us, and this for child bearing. For as the farmer throwing down the seed into the earth awaits the harvest, not sowing more, so to us the measure of desire is the bearing of children. But you may find many among us, both men and women, growing old unmarried, in hope of binding themselves closer to God. But if remaining in maidenhood and as a eunuch brings one nearer to God, and the thought and desire lead away from Him, those thoughts we flee, well before we wish for the deed. For our care is not for words but for the showing and teaching of our deeds, that a man should either remain as born, or marry once. For a second marriage is only a fair seeming adultery. 'For he who divorces his wife,' He says, 'and marries another, is an adulterer,' 1 a man not being permitted to be rid of her whose virginity he has ended, nor to remarry. For he who deprives himself of his first wife, even if she is dead, is a cloaked adulterer, resisting the hand of God, because in the beginning God made one man and one woman, while he severs the bond of flesh and flesh fashioned for the intercourse of the race. Athenogoras, from the Embassy For The Christians 1 Mt 19.9

Anthony's Advice

Ὁ αὐτὸς εἶπε· Πρὸ ὀφθαλμῶν ἔχε πάντοτε τὸν φόβον τοῦ Θεοῦ. Μνημόνευε τοῦ θανατοῦντος καὶ ζωογονοῦντος. Μισήσατε τὸν κόσμον καὶ πάντα τὰ ἐν αὐτῷ. Μισὴσατε πᾶσαν σαρκικὴν ἀνάπαυσιν. Ἀποτάξασθε τῇ ζωῇ ταύτῃ, ἵνα ζήσητε τῷ Θεῷ. Μνημονεύετε τί ἐπηγγείλασθε τῷ Θεῷ· ζητεῖ γὰρ αὐτὸ παρ' ὑμῶν ἐν ἡμέρᾳ κρίσεως. Πεινάσατε, διψήσατε, γυμνητεύσατε, ἀγρυπνήσατε, πανθήσατε, κλαύσατε, στενάξατε τῇ καρδίᾳ ὑμῶν· δοκιμάσατε εἰ ἄξιοί ἐστε τοῦ Θεοῦ· καταφρονήσατε τῆς σαρκὸς, ἵνα σώσητε ὑμῶν τὰς ψυχάς. Ἀποφθέγματα Των Ἁγίων Γερόντων, Παλλαδιος Source: Migne PG 65  85

Father Anthony said, 'Always have the fear of God before your eyes. Be mindful of Him who gives death and life. Hate the world and everything that is in it. Hate all contentment that comes from the flesh. Renounce this life, so that you may live to God. Remember what you have promised God, for it will be asked of you on the day of judgement. Be hungry, thirst, be naked, be vigilant, be sorrowful, weep, and groan in your heart; test yourselves to see if you are worthy  of God; be contemptuous of the flesh, so that you may save your souls.' Sayings of the Desert Fathers, Palladius of Galatia

Old And New

Dic mihi quid est inter Novum et Vetus Testamentum? Respondit: Vetus est peccatum Adae; unde dicit Apostolus: Regnavit mors ab Adam usque ad Moysen,  et reliqua. Novum est Christus de Virgine natus. Unde Propheta dicit: Cantate Domino canticum novum: quia homo novus venit; nova praecepta attulit, id est, Novum Testamentum Sanctus Isidorus Hispalensis, De Veteri et Novo Testamento Quaestiones, Quaestio I Source: Migne PL 83.201

Tell me, why is there an Old and a New Testament? The Old is the sin of Adam, whence the Apostle says, 'Death ruled from Adam to Moses,' 1 and the rest. The New is Christ born from the Virgin, whence the Prophet says, 'Sing to the Lord a new song,' 2 because the new man has come, bringing new commandments, that is, the New Testament. Saint Isidore of Seville, Questions on the Old and New Testaments, Question 1 1 Rom 5.14 2 Ps 149.1

Noah And Respite

Ὁ δίκαιος Νῶε τὸν Χριστὸν χαρακτηρίζει, τὸν λέγοντα ἐν τοῖς Εὐαγγελίοις· Δεῦτε πρός με πάντες οἱ πεφορτισμένοι τοῖς πολλοῖς παραπτώμασιν, κἀγὼ ἀναπαύσω ὑμᾶς ἐν τῇ κιβωτῷ τῆς Ἐκκλησίας, λελυτρωμένους ἐργασίας φαυλοτάτης καὶ ἐπικαταράτου. Τεχθέντος γάρ ποτε τοῦ μακαρίου Νῶε, τυπικῶς καὶ προφητικῶς εἴρηται, ὅτι Οὗτος διαναπαύσει ἡμᾶς ἀπὸ τῶν ἔργων ἡμῶν, καὶ ἀπὸ τῆς γῆς, ἧς κατηράσατο Κύριος ὁ Θεὸς ἡμων.  Ἅγιος Νειλος, Βιβλιον Πρῶτον, Ἐπιστολὴ ΠΔ' Φιλαγριῳ Πρεσβυτερῳ Migne PG 79 120

The righteous Noah is a type of Christ, He who said in the Gospels, 'Come to me all of you who are weighed down with burdens and I shall give you rest,' 1 that is, in the ark of the Church, being liberated from the most wretched and execrable troubles. For when Noah was born, in a figure and as a prophecy it was said, 'He shall console us from our labours, and from the land which the Lord our God has cursed.' 2 Saint Nilus of Sinai, Book 1, Letter 84 To Philargius the Presbyter 1 Mt 11.28 2 Gen 5.29

The Flesh And Rest

Oportet autem cognosci quidem quomodo in requiem, quam impii non adibunt, pii et Deo subjecti poterunt introire: necesse est enim spem, quae malis negata est, bonis relinqui. Sed si Christus Dei requies est, ergo hi qui in Christo erunt, erunt in Dei requie. In Christo autem velle esse se Apostlous clamat, dicens, Sequor autem si apprehendam, in quo et apprehensus sum: et rursum, Omnia autem detrimenta esse duxi, et arbitror stercora, ut Christum lucrifaciam: et rursum, Benedictus Pater Domini nostri Jesu Christi, qui benedixit nos in omni benedictione spiritali in coelestibus in Christo, in quo elegit nos ante mundi constitutione in ipso, ut simus sancti et immaculati in consepectu ejus in charitate: qui ante praedestinavit nos in adoptionem per christum in ipso; quia Verbum caro factum est; quia cum aliquando essemus alienati et inimici sensus ejus in factis malis, nunc autem reconciliati sumus corpore carnis ejus. Ergo per conjunctionem carnis assumptae sumus in Christo: et hoc est sacramentum Dei absconditum a saeculis et generationibus in Deo, quod nunc revelatum est sanctis ejus, esse nos cohaeredes et concorporales et comparticipes pollicitationis ejus in Christo. Patet ergo universis aditus in Christo per conjunctionem carnis, si exuant veteram hominem, et cruci ejus affigant, et ab his, quae ante gesserunt, in baptismo ejus consepeliantur ad vitam; et ut in consortium Christi carnis introeant, carnem cum vitiis et concupiscentiis affigant. Istius modi enim corpora configurabit in transformatione corporis sui, et horum humilitatem in gloriam carnis suae transferet, qui contundentes omnes cupiditatum aculeos, et voluptatum sordes abluentes per novae nativitatis sacramentum, meminerinsse non suam carnem habere, sed Christi. Sanctus Hilarius Pictaviensis,Tractatus super Psalmos, Tractatus in Psalmum XCI Migne PL 9.499

It should be known how into rest, into which the impious does not enter, the pious, subject to God, can enter. Hope is necessary, by which evils have been refused, goods left behind. But if the Divine Christ is rest, then they shall go into Christ who go into the rest of God. In Christ indeed the Apostle wished to be who cries out, saying, 'I follow that I might understand in the way that I have been understood.' 1 and again, 'I have lost everything, and I judge it trash, that I might profit Christ.' 2 and again, 'Blessed the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavens in Christ, by which He chose us before the establishment of the world in Himself, that we be holy and immaculate in His sight in love, He who has predestined us for adoption through Christ in Himself; 3 whence the Word was made flesh because we were alienated and enemies of His understanding by evil deeds, and are now reconciled in his flesh. Therefore by the joining of flesh we are taken up in Christ, and this is the mystery of God hidden from the ages and generations in God, which has now been revealed to His holy ones, we who are coheirs and the fellow-bodied and fellow participants of His promise in Christ. The way is open, therefore, to everyone who has come into Christ through the conjunction of flesh, if they slough off the old man, 4 and are fixed to His cross, 5 and from those things which before they bore, in His baptism are buried with Him to life; even that into the fellowship of the flesh of Christ they may enter, the vices and the desires of flesh transfixed. In this manner the body is configured into the transformation into His body, all the dirt of pleasures washed away by the sacrament of new birth, mindful that he does not have his own flesh, but Christ's. Saint Hilary of Poitiers, Homilies on the Psalms, from Psalm 91 1 Phil 3.12 2 Phil 3.8 3 Ephes 1.3-5 4 Ephes 4.22, Col 3.9 5 Galat 2.20

A Beloved Son

Οὐκ αὐτὸ τὸ βάπτισμα τῷ βαπτιστῇ τὸ κρεῖττον προσμαρτυρεῖ; Οὐκ ὁ μὲν ἐβαπτισεν, ὡς ὑπερέχων, ὁ δὲ βεβάπτισται, ὡς ἐλάττων; Τοιαῦτα θρυλλούντων τῶν ἀγνοούτων τὸ τῆς οἰκονομίας μυστήριον, ὁ μόνος Κύτιος καὶ φύσεν Πατὴρ τοῦ Μονογενοῦς, ὁ μόνος εἰδὼς ἀκριβῶς ὄν μόνος ἐγέννησεν ἀπαθῶς, διορθούμενος τὴν ἐσφαλμένην τῶν Ἰουδαίων ὑπόνοιαν ἀνέῳξε τὰς πύλας τῶν οὐρανῶν, καὶ κατέπεμψε τὸ Πνεῦμα τὸ ἅγιον ἐν εἴδει περιστερᾶς, ἐπὶ τὴν κεφαλὴν τοῦ Ἰησου, δακτυλοδεικτῶν τὸν νέον Νῶε, καὶ δημιουργὸν τοῦ Νῶε, καὶ τῆς ναυαγούσης φύσεως ἀγαθὸν κυβερνήτην. Καὶ αὐτὸς οὐρανόθεν ἐπιβοᾷ φαιδρῶς λέγων· Οὕτός ἐστιν ὁ Υἱος μου ὁ ἀγαπητός. Ἐκεῖνος ὁ Ἰησοῦς, οὐχ ὁ Ἰωάννης· ὁ βαπτισθεὶς, οὐχ ὁ βαπτίσας· ὁ ἐξ ἐμοῦ γεννηθεὶς, πρὸ πάντος χρονικοῦ διαστήματος, οὐχ ὁ ἐκ Ζαχαρίου· ὁ ἐκ τῆς Μαρίας γεννηθεὶς κατὰ σάρκα, οὐχ ὁ ἐκ τῆς Ἐλισάβετ φανεὶς παρ' ἐλπίδα· ὁ τῆς μὴ λυθείσης παρθενίας ἀγεώργητος καρπὸς, οὐχ ὁ τῆς μὴ λυθείσης στειρώσεως κλάδος· ὁ μεθ' ὑμῶν ἀναστραφεὶς, οὐχ ὁ ἐν τῇ ἐρήμῳ τραφείς. Οὗτός ἐστιν ὁ Υἱος μου ὁ αγαπητὸς, ἐν ᾦ ηὑδόκησα· Υἱος ὁμούσιος, οὐχ ἑτεροούσιος· ὁμοούσιος ἐμοὶ κατὰ τὸ ἀόρατον, καὶ ὁμοούσιος ὑμῖν κατὰ τὸ ὁρώμενον, χωρὶς ἁμαρτίας. Οὗτός ἐστιν, ὁ συν ἐμοὶ πλάσας τὸν ἄνθρωπον. Οὗτός ἐστιν ὁ Υἱος μου ὁ αγαπητὸς, ἐν ᾦ ηὑδόκησα·. Οὐκ ἄλλος ἐστὶν οὗτος ὁ ἐμὸς Υἱος, καὶ ἄλλος ὁ Μαρίας υἱός· ἀλλ' οὗτός ἐστιν ὁ Υἱος μου ὁ ἀγαπητὸς, ὁ βλεπόμενος καὶ νοούμενος. Ἅγιος Γρηγόριος ὁ θαυματουργός, Λόγος Εἰς Τὰ  Ἅγια Θεοφάνια Migne PG 10 1188

'Is not the baptizer presented as greater than the baptized? Is not he who baptised superior and he who was baptised inferior?' But while they babbled such things in ignorance of the mystery of the dispensation, He who alone is Lord and by nature the Father of the Only-begotten, He who alone knows exactly Him whom He alone begot without passion, that He correct the mental stumblings of the Jews, He opened the gates of the heavens, and sent down the Holy Spirit in the form of a dove, upon the head of Jesus, pointing out the new Noah, and the maker of Noah, and the good pilot of shipwrecked nature. And He Himself calls out clearly from heaven, and says: 'This is my beloved Son.' 1 Jesus, not John; He who was baptized, not he who baptized; He who was begotten of me before all periods of time and not he who was begotten of Zacharias; He who was born of Mary according to the flesh, and not he who was brought forth by Elisabeth beyond all hope; He who was the fruit brought forth from virginity preserved, and not he who was a shoot brought forth from sterility; He who has had His conversation with you, and not he who was brought up in the wilderness. 'This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased' 1 my Son, of the same substance with myself and not of a different substance; of one substance with me according to what is unseen, and of one substance with you according to what is seen, without sin. This is He who with me made man. This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. This Son of mine and this son of Mary are not different; but this is my beloved Son, this one who is seen and apprehended with the mind. Saint Gregory Thaumaturgus, from a Homily on the Theophania 1 Mt 3.17