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