Two Sorts Of Listeners

Exiit, qui seminat... Est igitur auditorum verb quadripartita differentia. Alii cor habentes conculcatum ac induratum, praedicationem aure foris audiunt, sed hanc in corde non recipiunt: quibus secus viam, non in via credulitatis vel obedientiae verba cadunt. Non enim omnium fides, nec omnes obediunt Evangelio. Inter aurem enim et cor daemon volitans, quod per unam aurem intrat, per alteram extrahit, ne ad cor descendat. Cum enim praedicator assurgit, ut foris loquatur, assurgit diabolus, ut intus obloquatur, aut falsum esse suggerens, aut pervertens quod dicitur, aut dimicans a quo dicitur, aut somno, aut aliis cogitationibus aggravans illum, cui dicitur. Alii facilitatem obedientiae habentes, sed virtute carentes constantiae, ut filii Ephream intendentes arcum, convertuntur in die belli, cito compuncti, citius arefacti, temporales et leves, non habentes altam radicem charitatis: tempore pacis credunt, tempore tentationis recedunt, dum nil intus prurit, coelibs: dum nil foris saevit, fortes: si nemo molescat, mansueti: si cuncta succedunt, devoti: quibus illud convenit: Confitebitur tibi, cum benefeceris ei. Vere filii Adam, ut qualis pater, tales illi: qui coneousque stetit, donec leviter pulsatus ruit. Sicut primi nimis duri, sic hi nimis molles: illi obstinati, hi pusillanimes; illi non recipiunt verbum, hi non retinent. Isaac, Cisterciensis Abbas, Sermo XVIII In Festum Omnium Sanctorum II Source: Migne PL 194.1751b-c

A sower went out to sow... 1 There are four types among those who hear. There are those with hearts which have been trodden down and made hard, and preaching reaches their outer ear but it is not received into the heart. The seed has fallen beside the path, because the words do not fall onto the way of belief and obedience. The faith is not for everyone, nor do all obey the Gospel. 2 A demon flits about between their ears and hearts, and what enters through one ear it drives out through the the other. When a preacher rises to speak exteriorly, the devil rises up within to speak against him, suggesting what is false, or perverting what is said, or disputing the preacher's good character, or distracting with sleep or other thoughts. Others are able to obey, but they lack the virtue of perseverance, so that they are like the sons of Ephraim bending the bow who are overturned on the day of battle. 3 They are quick to compunction and quicker to relapse. Transient and light, they do not have the taproot of love. 4 In times of peace they are faithful, but in trials they fall. When desire does not trouble them, they are chaste, when no one challenges them they are brave, and if no one irritates them they are peaceable. If all goes well, they are devout, and it was well said of them, 'He will confess you when you bless him.' 5 They are the true sons of Adam, for they are just like that father who stood firm until a light blow toppled him. As the first kind of hearer is too hard, the latter is too soft. As the first kind is obstinate, the latter is weak. The first kind do not receive the Word and the second kind do not keep hold of it. Isaac of Stella, from Sermon Eighteen, A Second on the Feast of All Saints  1 Lk 8.5 2 2 Thes 3.2, Rom 10.16 3 Ps 77.9 4 1 Cor 13.7 5 Ps 48.19

The Fall And Forgiveness

Kαὶ ἄφες ἡμῖν τὰ ὀφειλήματα ἡμῶν... Ὡς γὰρ ζῶντος ἐν ἡμιν τοῦ Ἀδὰμ πάντες οἱ καθ᾽ ἔχαστον ἄνθρωποι ἕως τοὺς δερματίνους τούτους χιτῶνας περὶ τὴν ἑαυτῶν βλέπωμεν φύσιν, καὶ τὰ πρόσκαιρα φύλλα τῆς ὑλικῆς ταύτης ζωῆς, ἄπερ τῶν ἰδίων τε καὶ λαμπρῶν ἐνδυμάτων γυμνωθέντες, κακῶς ἑαυτοῖς συνεῤῥάψαμεν, τρυφὰς καὶ δόξας, καὶ τὰς ἐφημέρους τιμὰς, καὶ τὰς ὠκυμόρους τῆς σαρκὸς πληροφορίας, ἀντὶ τῶν θείων περιθολῶν μετενδυσάμενοι· καὶ μέχρις ἂν τὸν τῆς σαρκώσεως βλέπωμεν τόπον, ἐν ᾧ κατεδιχάσθημεν παροικεῖν· ἐπειδὰν πρὸς ἀνατολὴν ἑαυτοὺς τρέψωμεν· οὐχ ὡς μόνον· ἐχεῖ τοῦ Θεοῦ θεωρουμένον· ὁ γὰρ πανταχοῦ ὧν κατ᾽οὐδὲν μέρος ἰδιαζόντως καταλαμδάνεται· ἐπίσης γὰρ περιέχει τὸ πᾶν· ἀλλ᾽ ὡς ἐν ἀνατολαῖς τῆς πρώτης ἡμῖν πατρίδος οὔσης· λέγω δὲ τῆς ἐν παραδείσῳ διαγωγῆς, ἧς ἐκπεπτώχαμεν' Ἐφύτευσεν ὃ Θεὸς παράδεισον ἐν ᾿Εδὲμ κατὰ ἀνατολάς· ὅταν τοίνυν πρὸς τὰς ἀνατολὰς βλέπωμεν, καὶ τῆς ἐκπτώσεως τῶν φωτεινῶν τε καὶ ἀνατολικῶν τῆς μακαριότητος τόπων, τῇ διανοίᾳ τὴν μνήμην λάδωμεν, εἰκότως τὴν τοιαύτην φωνὴν προσβαλλόμεθα, οἱ ὑπὸ τῆς πονηρᾶς τοῦ βίου συκῇς σχιαζόμενοι, οἱ ἐξ ὀφθαλμῶν τοῦ Θεοῦ ῥιφέντες, οἱ πρὸς τὸν ὄφιν αὐτομολήσαντες, ἐσθίοντα καὶ εἰς γῆν ἱλυσπώμενον, καὶ ἐπὶ τὸ στῇθος καὶ τὴν κοιλίαν ἑαυτοῦ πορευόμενον, καὶ ἡμῖν τὰ ἴσα ποιεῖν συμθουλεύοντα, περὶ τὴν γηΐνην ἀπὸλαυσιν ἔχειν, καὶ τοῖς χαμαιζήλοις καὶ χαμερπέσι τὴν καρδίαν ἑαυτῶν ἐπισύρειν νοήμασι, καὶ ἐπὶ κοιλίαν πορεύεσθαι, τουτέστι, περὶ τὸν ἀπολαυστιχὸν ἀσχολεῖσθαι βίον· ἐν τούτοις οὖν ὄντες κατὰ τὸν ἄσωτον ἐχεῖνον, μετὰ τὴν μαχρὰν ταλαιπωρίαν ἣν τοὺς χοίρους ποιμαίνων ὑπέμεινεν, ἐπειδὰν εἰς ἑαυτοὺς ἐπανέλθωμεν ὥσπερ κἀκεῖνος, καὶ τοῦ οὐρανίου Πατρὸς ἔννοιαν λάβωμεν, καλῶς κεχρήμεθα ταῖς τοιαύταις φωναῖς, ὅτι Ἂφες ἡμῖν τὰ ὀφειλήματα ἡμῶν. Ἅγιος Γρηγόριος Νύσσης, Εἰς Τὴν Προσευχήν, Ὀμιλιὰ Ε' Source: Migne PG 44.1184b-d

Forgive us our trespasses... 1 Since Adam is living in us, we may see each and every man with these garments of skin around our nature, and also the transitory fig leaves of this material life that we have poorly sewn together for ourselves after being stripped of our own resplendent garments, luxuries and reputation, transitory honours and the brief satisfactions of the flesh, at least when we look at this place of affliction in which we have been condemned to dwell, but when we turn to the East, and that not as if God can only be contemplated there, since He who is everywhere is not especially discernable in any part, for He contains all things equally, but because our first homeland is in the East, and here I speak of our time in Paradise from which we were cast, for 'God planted a paradise in Eden to the East,' 2 when, therefore, we look to the eastern regions and recall how it was that we were thrown out from the bright place of blessedness there, we shall have reason to speak in such a way, for we are shadowed by the evil fig tree of material life, and have been removed from the sight of God, we have taken ourselves off to the serpent that eats earth and drags himself across it, and which sliding on its chest and its belly, 3 counsels us to do the same, that is, to seek and be occupied with earthly delights, and to give our hearts to thoughts thrown down into base things, and to crawl on our belly, and so to seek and exert ourselves in the life of pleasure. Thus having been wrapped up in these things, let us imitate the Prodigal Son after he had endured the long affliction of feeding the swine. When, like him, we return to ourselves and begin to remember the Heavenly Father, we may rightly use these words, 'Forgive us our trespasses.' Saint Gregory of Nyssa, On The Lord's Prayer, from the Fifth Homily 1 Mt 6.12 2 Gen 2.8 3 Gen 3.14

The Son of Man

'Et interrogabat discipulos suos, dicens: 'Quem dicunt homines esse Filium hominis?'  Non dixit, quem me dicunt esse homines, sed Filium hominis: ne jacanter de se quaerere videretur. Et quod ubicumque scriptum est in veteri Testamento, filius hominis in Hebraeo positum sit, filius Adam. Ut est illud, quod in psalmo legimus: Filii hominum usquequo gravi corde , quod in Hebraei dicitur, filii Adam. Pulchre autem interrogat: Quem dicunt homines esse Filium hominis? quia qui de Filio hominis loquntur, homines sunt: qui vero divinitatem ejus intelligunt, non homines, sed dii appellantur. Sanctus Hieronymus, Commentaria in Matthaeum, Liber III, Caput XVI Source: Migne PL 25.115a

And He asked His disciples saying, 'Who do men say the Son of Man is?' 1 He did not ask who do men say I am, but 'the Son of Man,' lest He seem to be boasting about Himself with His question. And the name which is everywhere written in the Old Testament 'Son of Man' in Hebrew is 'Son of Adam.' As when in the Psalm it reads 'Sons of men, how long will your hearts be heavy?' 2 which in Hebrew reads 'Sons of Adam'. The question, 'Who do men say that the Son of Man is?' is put beautifully, for they who speak of the Son of Man, are men, but they who understand His Divine nature are called not men but Gods. 3 Saint Jerome, Commentary on Matthew, Book 3, Chapter 16 1 Mt 16.13 2 Ps 4.3 3 Ps 81.6

Bringing Forth A Son

Et pariet filium, vocabis nomen ejus Jesum. Non dixit, Pariet tibi filium, sicut ad Zachariam: Ecce Elizabeth uxor tua concipiet et pariet tibi filium: quia mulier, quae ex viro concipit, marito suo filium parit: quia magis illo est, quam de ipsa. Haec autem, quae non de viro conceperat, non filium illi peperit, sed sibi tantummodo. Vide quomodo similitudinem ipsius rei per omnia sequitur, qua facta est in Adam. Sicut enim tunc mulier gustans de ligno, sola seducta est, et peperit mortem; Adam autem non fuit particeps in seductione illius; non enim a diabolo seductus peccavit, sed quia consensit mulieri: sic et modo accipiens Maria de Spiritu sancto, sola credidit, dicens, Ecce jam nunc beatam me dicent omnes generationes. Joseph autem tunc in fide conceptionis illius nihil habuit commune, sed postea tacendo et consentidendo tantum salvatus est. Ideo et in somniis adstitit ei, non palam: ut quemadmodum dormiente Adam creavit mulierem, sic et isti dormienti divintus consignaret uxorem. Opus Imperfectum in Matthaeum, Homilia I Source: Migne PG 56.634

And she shall bring forth a son, and you shall call His name Jesus. 1 The angel did not say to Joseph, 'She shall bear you a son,' as was said to Zachariah, 'Behold Elizabeth your wife shall conceive and bring forth a son for you,' 2 because that woman conceived from a man, and brought forth a son for her husband, but Mary, who did not conceive from a man, did not bring forth a son for Joseph, but for herself alone. See how a likeness in this follows through everything that was done in Adam. As then the woman tasted from the tree, and was alone seduced and brought forth death, and Adam did not participate in her seduction, for he did not sin by the devil's persuasion but consented to the the woman, so Mary receiving the Holy Spirit, alone believed, saying, 'Behold, now all generations shall call me blessed.' 3 And Joseph then in the faith of conception had no share, but later by his silence and consent he was saved. Therefore the angel came to him in his dreams and not openly, so that as from the sleeping Adam woman was created, so even with him asleep the Divine bore witness to his wife. Opus Imperfectum on Matthew, from Homily 1 1 Mt 1.21 2 Lk 1.13 3 Lk 1.48

The First And Second Man

Ὁ πρῶτος ἄνθρωπος ἐκ γῆς χοϊκός, ὁ δεύτερος ἄνθρωπος ἐξ οὐρανοῦ. Ὁ πρῶτος, φησὶν, ἄνθρωπος, τουτέστιν Ἀδὰμ, εἰς ψυχὴν πεποίητο ζῶσαν, τουτέστιν γεώδης καὶ σαρκικός· ὃ γε μὴν δεύτερος ἐξ οὐρανοῦ. Εἰ γὰρ καὶ γέγονε σὰρξ ὁ τοῦ Θεοῦ Λόγος, κατὰ τὰς Γραφὰς ἀλλ' ἡ ... καὶ ὁ ἐξ οὐρανοῦ καὶ ἐπαάνω πάντων, κατὰ τὴν Ἰωάννου φωνήν. Οὐκ οῦν ἄμφω μὲν ἤστην, ὡς ἔφην, ἐν γηῖνοις σώμασιν, οὐ μήν καὶ ἐν ἴσοις ἔτι κατὰ γε τὴν γνώμην ἤτοι τὸν τῆς ζωῆς τρόπον· ἤν μὲν γὰρ ὁ πρῶτος ἐν φρονήματι σαρκικῷ, πνεῦμα δὲ ζωοποιοῦν ὁ δεύτερος καὶ ἐξ οὐρανοῦ. Καὶ ὥσπερ ἐφορέσαμεν τὴν εἰκόνα τοῦ χοῖμοῦ, τουτέστι τὴν πρὸς Ἀδὰμ ὁμοίωσιν, καὶ παθῶν ἠττώμενοι καὶ ἀσθηνοῦντες εἰς ἁμαρτίας, καίτοι τῆς φθορᾶς ὑπενηνεγμένοι ζυγοῖς, οὔτω φορέσομεν καὶ τὴν εἰκόνα τοῦ ἐπουρανίου, τουτέστι Χριστοῦ· καὶ φιλοσαρκίας ἀμείνους καὶ τοῦ πλημμελεῖν ἐθέλειν ἔτι γεγενημένοι, καὶ αὐτὸν ἤδη νενικηκότες τὸν πάλαι δεινὸν καὶ δυσάντητον καὶ ἀγρίως καθ' ἡμῶν τυραννήσαντα θάνατον. Ἅγιος Κύριλλος Ἀλεξανδρείας, Εἰς Τὴν Πρωτάν Ἐπιστολήν Παύλου Πρὸς Κορινθίους, Ἐκλογαι Source: Migne PG 74.909d-912a

The first man from earth, earthly, the second man from heaven. 1 The first man, he says, that is, Adam, was made with a living soul, that is, with one earthly and carnal, and the second was from heaven. For even if the Word of God was made flesh, according to the Scriptures, yet He was from heaven, and superior to everything, as John says. 2 Thus both were, as I say, in earthly bodies, but they were not equal in mind or in way of life, for the first was amid carnal affections, and the second was a living spirit and from heaven. And as we have borne the image of earth, that is the likeness of Adam, bound up in the infirmity of passions and sins and subject to the yoke of corruption, so we should bear the image of heaven, that is, Christ, being made superior in will to lusts and sinning, and finally conquerors of that old and terrible and oppressive and cruel tyrant death. Saint Cyril of Alexandria, Commentary on the First Letter to the Corinthians, Fragment 1 1 Cor 15.47 2 Jn 3.31

Free Will And Making

Ipse fecit nos, et non ipsi nos. Quare enim addidit: Et non ipsi nos, cum sufficeret dicere: ipse fecit nos? nisi quia illam facturam voluit admonere, ubi dicunt homines: Ipsi fecimus nos, id est, "ut iusti essemus, iustos nos libera voluntate fecimus". Quando conditi sumus, arbitrium liberum accepimus. Ut ergo iusti simus, libero id arbitrio agimus. Quid adhuc Deum invocamus ut iustos nos faciat, quod habemus in potestate ut nos iustos ipsi faciamus? Audite, audite: Et iustos ipse fecit nos, et non ipsi nos. Creatus est primus homo in natura sine culpa, in natura sine vitio. Creatus est rectus, non se fecit rectum. Quid se autem ipse fecerit, notum est: cadens a manu figuli fractum est. Regebat enim eum ipse qui fecerat. Voluit deserere a quo factus erat. Permisit Deus, tamquam dicens: Deserat me et inveniat se, et miseria sua probet quia nihil potest sine me. Hoc modo ergo ostendere voluit Deus homini quid valeat liberum arbitrium sine Deo. O malum liberum arbitrium sine Deo! Experti sumus quid valet sine Deo. Ideo miseri facti sumus, quia sine Deo quid valeat experti sumus. Experti ergo tandem aliquando, noverimus, et venite adoremus eum, et prosternamur ei. Venite adoremus, et prosternamur illi, et fleamus coram Domino qui nos fecit. Ut perditos nos per nos, reficiat nos qui fecit nos. Ecce bonus factus est homo, et per liberum arbitrium factus est malus homo. Quando facturus est bonum hominem malus homo per liberum arbitrium deserens Deum? Servare se non potuit bonus bonum, et facturus est se malus bonum? Cum esset bonus, non se servavit bonum, et cum sit malus dicit: "Facio me bonum"! Quid facis malus, qui peristi bonus, nisi te reficiat qui permanet bonus? Ipse ergo fecit nos, et non ipsi nos. Nos autem populus eius et oves pascuae eius. Ecce fecit nos homines populum suum qui nos fecit. Non enim creati homines iam populus eius eramus. Videte Fratres mei, et de ipsis psalmi verbis attendite unde dixerit: Ipse fecit nos, et non ipsi nos. Hinc dixit: Fecit nos, et non ipsi nos, ut simus populus eius et oves pascuae eius. Ipse fecit nos. Nam et pagani nascuntur et omnes impii, omnes adversarii Ecclesiae eius. Ut nascerentur, ipse fecit eos. Non enim alius deus creavit eos. Qui de paganis nascuntur, ab ipso facti sunt, ab ipso creati sunt. Et non sunt populus eius nec oves pascuae eius. Communis est omnibus natura, non gratia. Sanctus Augustinus Hipponensi, Sermo XXVI, De Verbis Psalmi XCIV, Venite adoremus, et prosternamur illi, et fleamus coram Domino qui nos fecit. Source: Migne PL 38.172

'He made us and not we ourselves.' 1 But why should he add 'and not we ourselves,' when it would have been enough to say, 'He made us?' Why indeed, but because he wanted to warn against that fiction when men say 'We made ourselves,' that is, 'we are righteous, we have made ourselves righteous by our free will. When we were created we received free will, therefore we may be righteous by the work of our free will. Why should we go on calling on God to make us righteous when we have it in our power to make ourselves righteous?' Listen, listen: even He made us righteous and not we ourselves. The first man was created with a blameless nature, in a nature without fault. He was created upright, he did not make himself upright. What he did make himself is known, for falling from the potter's hand he was broken. He who made him was guiding him, and the man chose to forsake the one by whom he was made. God permitted it, as though saying, 'Let him forsake me and find himself, and let his wretchedness prove to him that he can do nothing without me.' 2 Therefore in this way God wished to show man the worth of free will without God. O what an evil free will is without God! We have experienced what it is worth without God. Therefore we have been made wretched, because we have experienced what it is worth without God. Therefore, having experienced it, let us at last, at some time, know it, and, come, let us adore Him and bow down before Him. 'Come, let us adore and down before Him, and weep before the Lord who made us.' 3 Thus we who have ruined ourselves may be remade by Him who made us. Behold, man was made good and then by free will he was made evil. When shall the wicked man make the good man, he who with his free will forsakes God? When he was good he could not keep himself good, and becoming evil shall he make himself good? 'I shall make myself good!' What can you, the evil man make, who when he was good made a ruin, unless He remakes you who remains good? Therefore He made us and we did not make ourselves. But we are His people and the sheep of His pasture. Behold, He who made us men is He who made us His own people. We were not already His people when created as men. See, my brothers and look to the very words of the Psalm, why he said. 'He made us and not we ourselves.' He says, 'He made us and not we ourselves,' so that we might be His people and the sheep of His pasture. 'He made us.' For even pagans are born, and all the godless, and all the enemies of His Church. That they might be born He made them. No other god created them. Those who are born of pagans were made by Him, by Him they were created. And they are not His people, nor the sheep of His pasture. Nature is common to all, but grace is not. Saint Augustine of Hippo, from Sermon 26 On The Scriptures, On the words of Psalm 94, 'Come let us adore and bow down before Him, and let us weep before the Lord who made us' 1 Ps 99.3 2 cf Jn 15.5 3 Ps 94.6 4 Ps 94.7

Paradise Lost And Gained

ΕΡΩΤ ΚΔ’ Τι δήποτε τὸν παράδεισον ἐφύτευσεν ὁ Θεὸς μέλλων ἐκεῖθεν τὸν Ἀδαμ διὰ τὴν ἁμαρτίαν εὐθὺς ἐξορίζειν; Πρῶτον οὐκ ἀνέχεται ἐκ προγνώσεως κατακρῖναι ὁ δεσπότης Θεός. Διὸ καὶ τὴν παράβασιν προορῶν, τῶν ἀγαθῶν αὐτῷ μεταδέδωκεν. Ἔπειτα καὶ γνῶναι αὐτὸν τὰς θείας δωρεὰς ἠβουλήθη· ἵνα τούτων στερηθεὶς μισήσῃ τὴν ἁμαρτίαν, ὡς τοσούτων αὐτὸν γυμνώσασαν ἀγαθῶν. Πρὸς δὲ τούτοις, ἔδει τὸν δίκαιον ἀγωνοθέτην τοῖς τῆς ἀρετῆς ἀθληταῖς προθεῖναι τῆς νίκης τὰ ἆθλα. Οὗ δὴ χάριν καὶ περὶ τῆς βασιλείας ἔφη· Δεῦτε, οἱ εὐλογημένοι τοῦ Πατρός μου, κληρονομήσατε τὴν ἠτοιμασμένην ὑμῖν βασιλείαν ἀπὸ καταβολῆς κόσμου. Θεοδώρητος Ἐπίσκοπος Κύρρος, Εἰς Τὴν Γένεσιν Source: Migne PG 80.121c

Question 24 Why did God plant the paradise from which he was soon going to expel Adam because of sin? 1 Firstly God is not accustomed to condemn from foreknowledge, whence foreseeing the transgression of Adam, He yet gave good things to him. He wished the man to know of the Divine benefactions so that being stripped of them he would deplore sin as that which had deprived him of such goods. Besides it befits the righteous athlete that he should exert himself in the virtues so that he might come to the rewards of victory. 2 Regarding which it is said of the kingdom, 'Come, blessed of my Father, and possess the kingdom which was prepared for you from the beginning of the world.' 3 Theodoret of Cyrrhus, Questions On Genesis 1 Gen 2.8 2 1 Cor 9.24-25 3 Mt 25.34

The Medicine Of Death

ΕΡΩΤ Μ’ Τι ἐστι τὸ Ἰδου γέγονεν Ἀδὰμ ὡς εἰς ἐξ ἡμῶν; Ἐπειδὴ διάβολος εἶπεν, Ἔσεσθε ὡς θεοὶ, γινωσκοντες καλὸν καὶ πονηρὸν, ἐδεξατο δὲ τοῦ θανάτου τὸν ὄρον τὴν ἐντολὴν παραβὰς, εἰρωνικῶς τοῠτο εἴρηκεν ὁ τῶν ὅλων Θεὸς, δεικνὺς τῆς διαβολικῆς ἐπαγγελίας τὸ ψεῦδος. Μεταλαβεῖν δὲ αὐτὸν τοῦ καρποῦ τοῦ ξύλου τῆς ζωῆς διεκώλυεν· οὐ φθονῶν αὐτῷ τῆς ἀθανάτου ζωῆς, ἀλλὰ τῆς ἁμαρτίας ἐπέχων τὸν δρόμον. Ἰατρεία τοίνυν ὁ θάνατος, οὐ τιμωρία ἐστιν. Ἐπέχει γὰρ τῆς ἁμαρτίας τὴν ὁρμήν. Ὁ γαρ ἀποθανὼν, φησὶ, δεδικαίωται ἀπὸ τῆς ἁμαρτίας. Καταντικρὺ δὲ τοῦ παραδείσου διάγειν αὐτὸν προσέταξεν· ἵνα τῆς ἀλύπου βιοτῆς εἰς μνήμην ἐρχόμενος, μισῇ τὴν ἁμαρτίαν, ὡς πρόξενον τῆς ἐπιπόνου ζωῆς. Θεοδώρητος Ἐπίσκοπος Κύρρος, Εἰς Τὴν Γένεσιν Source: Migne PG 80.137b

Question 40 Why was it said, 'Behold, Adam has become one like us'? 1 Since the devil said, 'You shall be like gods, knowing good and evil,' 2 and Adam received the sentence of death because he transgressed the commandment, the God of all things spoke ironically, exposing the lie of the diabolic promise. God did not prohibit him from taking from the tree of life because He begrudged man eternal life, but that He might restrain him from the way of sin. Therefore death is a medicine and not a punishment, for it curbs the drive to sin. 'For he that is dead is justified from sin.' 3 Then God commanded Adam to go out from the region of paradise, so that in sorrow he might recall to his memory the loss of his former life, and in hatred of it drive out sin, which is the author of his toil and his wretched life. Theodoret of Cyrrhus, Questions On Genesis 1 Gen 3.22 2 Gen 3.5 3 Rom 6.7

Sin And Death

Ἐπειδὴ τοίνυν ἀποστὰς τῆς τῶν ἀγαθῶν παγκαρπίας ὁ ἄνθρωπος τοῦ φθοροποιοῦ καρποῦ διὰ τῆς παρακοῆς ἐνεπλήσθη, ὄνομα δὲ τοῦ καρποῦ τούτου ἡ θανατοποιὸς ἁμαρτία, εὐθὺς ἐνεκρώθη τῷ κρείττονι βίῳ τὴν ἄλογον καὶ κτηνώδη ζωὴν τῆς θειοτέρας ἀνταλλαξάμενος. Kαὶ καταμιχθέντος ἅπαξ τοῦ θανάτου τῇ φύσει συνδιεξῆλθε ταῖς τῶν τικτομένων διαδοχαῖς ἡ νεκρότης. Ὅθεν νεκρὸς ἡμᾶς διεδέξατο βίος αὐτῆς τρόπον τινὰ τῆς ζωῆς ἡμῶν ἀποθανούσης· νεκρὰ γὰρ ἄντικρύς ἐστιν ἡμῶν ἡ ζωὴ τῆς ἀθανασίας ἐστερημένη. Διὰ τοῦτο ταῖς δύο ταύταις ζωαῖς μεσιτεύει ὁ Ἐν μέσῳ τῶν δύο ζωῶν γινωσκόμενος, ἵνα τῇ ἀναιρέσει τῆς χείρονος δῷ τῇ ἀκηράτῳ τὰ νικητήρια. ὥσπερ τοίνυν τῷ ἀποθανεῖν τῇ ἀληθινῇ ζωῇ ὁ ἄνθρωπος εἰς τὸν νεκρὸν τοῦτον μετέπεσε βίον, οὕτως ὅταν ἀποθάνῃ τῇ νεκρᾷ ταύτῃ καὶ κτηνώδει ζωῇ, πρὸς τὴν ἀεὶ ζῶσαν ἀντιμεθίσταται, ὡς ἀναμφίβολον εἶναι ὅτι οὐκ ἔστιν ἐν τῇ μακαρίᾳ γενέσθαι ζωῇ μὴ νεκρὸν τῇ ἁμαρτίᾳ γενόμενον. Ἅγιος Γρηγόριος Νύσσης, Ἐξηγησις Του Αἰσματος Των Ἀσμάτων Ὁμιλία ΙΒ' Source: Migne PG 44.1021c-1024a

Now Adam, who turned away from the rich assortment of the fruits that are good, because of this disobedience, was filled with the fruit that works corruption, and the name of this fruit is sin the death-dealer, and immediately he died to the better life, exchanging the more Divine life for an irrational and brutish one. And once death had been mixed with human nature, deadness spread through the successions of offspring. Thus there was a reception of a dead form of existence, since, in a certain manner, life itself was dying, for as soon as our life is stripped of immortality it is a dead thing. Because of this, there is one set in the midst of these two kinds of life, he who in the midst of the two is known, 1 so that by the removal of what is worse He may award the spoils of victory to the one who is undefiled. Therefore just as by dying to the true life man fell into this dead form of existence, and that when he dies to this dead and animal life he is directed toward the eternal life, so it is certain that the blessed life is not possible without being dead to sin. Saint Gregory of Nyssa, Commentary on The Song of Songs, from Homily 12 1 Hab 3.2

The Serpent And The Woman

Non autem inimicitiae ponuntur inter ipsum et virum, sed inter ipsum et mulierem. Numquid quia viros non decipit et tentat? Sed manifestum est quod decipit. An quia ipsum Adam non decepit, sed mulierem eius? Sed numquid propterea non est inimicus eius, ad quem pervenit per mulierem suam illa deceptio, maxime quia de futuro iam dicitur: Inimicitias ponam inter te et mulierem? Si autem quod non deinceps decepit Adam, nec ipsam Evam deinceps decepit. Quare ergo ita dicitur, nisi quia hic manifeste ostenditur non posse nos a diabolo tentari, nisi per illam animalem partem, quae quasi mulieris imaginem vel exemplum in uno ipso homine ostendit, de qua superius iam multa diximus? Quod autem etiam inter semen diaboli, et semen mulieris ponuntur inimicitiae, significatur semine diaboli perversa suggestio; semine autem mulieris, fructus boni operis, quo perversae suggestioni resistit. Et ideo observat ipse plantam mulieris, ut si quando in illicita labitur delectatio, tunc illam capiat: et illa observat caput eius, ut eum in ipso initio malae suasionis excludat. Sanctus Augustinus Hipponensi, De Genesi Contra Manichaeos, Liber Secundus, Caput XVIII Source: Migne PL 34.210

But hostility was not set between the serpent and the man but between it and the woman. 1 Is it that he does not deceive and tempt men? It is manifest that he does deceive them. But he did not deceive Adam though he did deceive his woman? But is he not his enemy to whom deception came through his woman, especially because concerning the future it is now said: 'I shall place hostility between you and the woman?' But if he did not deceive Adam, then he did not deceive Eve. Why therefore is it said, unless that it manifestly shows that it is not possible for us to be tempted but through our animal parts, which is shown by the image or example of the woman to the one man, concerning which we have spoken much above? Because that hostility which is placed between the seed of the devil and the seed of the woman shows that the seed of the devil is perverse suggestion, but the seed of the woman is the fruit of good works, which resists perverse suggestion. And therefore he observes the heel of the woman, that if there is any time delight falls into forbidden things, then it seizes her, and she observes its head, that she stop him at the beginning of his wicked persuasion. Saint Augustine of Hippo, On Genesis Against the Manichees, Book 2, Chap 18 1 Genes 3.15

Remembering The Past

Quia persecutus est inimicus animam meam; humiliavit in terra vitam meam; collocavit me in obscuris, sicut mortuos saeculi. Et anxiatus est super me spiritus meus; in me turbatum est cor meum. Memor fui dierum antiquorum et meditatus sum in omnibus operibus tuis et in factis manuum tuarum meditabor. Scit Adam a diabolo captum; et idcirco memor est antiquorum dierum. Scit eum per transgressionem legis constitutae et a promissionibus Dei et ab incolatu paradisi excidisse, et ideo memor est operum Dei. Scit non sufficere ex praeterito innocentiam, sed beatum esse qui usque in finem innocens esse permanserit; et ideo in factis Dei manuum meditabitur. Facta manuum Dei homo ipse est: qui postquam peccavit, peccati servus effectus est. Talis igitur esse meditatur, qualis ille, qui a Deo factus est, fuit ante peccatum. Per quod quia non mortuus saeculi, sed tamquam mortuus saeculi in obscuris est collocatus, meditabitur semper; et meditabitur semper, quia antiquorum dierum memor, scit per transgressionem legis mortem introisse peccati. In eo autem quod et memor antiquorum dierum, et in operibus Dei meditatus est, atque meditabitur, quamquam per fidem suam coeperit, tamen non propium suum esse, ne insolens existimetur, sed per auxilium Dei ad quem oravit sibi indultum esse demonstrat, dicens: Expandi manus meas ad te, anima sicut terra sine aqua. Terra sine aqua arida et infecunda est, et irrigari sese semper imbre pluviae coelestis exspectat: ita et sancti anima natutae suae conscia, immadescere se dono divini eloquii desiderat: de quo Moses ait: Exspectetur sicut pluvia dictum meum, et descendant sicut ros verba mea, ut pluvia super gramen, et ut nives super foenum. Arens ergo et sitiens anima, tali propheticae doctrinae imbre perfunditur: ut mortua et jejuna ariditate naturae, in uberes fructus praeceptorum Dei cognitione revirescat. Sanctus Hilarius Pictaviensis, Tractatus super Psalmos, Tractatus in Psalmum CXLII Source: Migne PL 9.839c-840b

'The enemy has chased down my soul, he has crushed down my life into the earth, he has gathered me into darkness, like the dead of long ago. My spirit was anxious within me, my heart was troubled. I was mindful of the days of old, and I meditated on all your works, and on the works of your hands I will meditate.' 1 He knows that Adam was ensnared by the devil, and therefore he is mindful of the days of old. He knows that he was expelled from dwelling in paradise because of the transgression of the established law and the promises of God. He knows he cannot depend on former innocence, but that blessed is he who remains innocent until the end. And therefore on the deeds of the hands of God he will meditate. Man was made by God, who after he sinned was made a servant of sin. On such things he meditates, on what he was like who was made by God before he sinned. Because of which, since he is not the dead of long ago, but like the dead of long ago, gathered into darkness, he shall always meditate, and he shall always meditate because he is mindful of the days of old. He knows that man entered into the death of sin by transgression of the law. In that he is mindful of the days of old and he has meditated on the works of God, and he shall meditate on them, whatever through his faith he shall begin, but it is not only he who does it, lest he be judged proud, but it is by the help of God to whom he prays to show kindness to him, saying: 'I stretched out my hands to you, my soul like a land without water.' 2 Earth without water is dry and fruitless and it always hopes to be watered by the moisture of heaven's rain, so even the soul of the holy man is conscious of his nature, so that he desires to water himself with the gift of Divine speech. Concerning which Moses said: 'Let my speech be like the rain, let my words fall as the dew, as a shower on herbs, and as snow on the grass.' 3 Therefore the burning and thirsting soul is watered with the rain of prophetic teaching, so that the dead and withered aridity of nature might be revived by the knowledge of God's commands to the yielding of fruit. Saint Hilary of Poitiers, Homilies on the Psalms, from Psalm 142 1 Ps 142.3-5 2 Ps 142.6 3 Deut 32.2

The Order Of Temptations

Nota, quod Lucas ponit istam tentationem ultimam, et tentationem de monte secundam, quod videtur magis secundum historiam esse. Natura enim exigit, quod diabolus tentet prius de concupiscentia carnis, deinde de concupiscentia exteriorum, tandem de superbia bonae vitae. Sed Matthaeus refert secundum hoc, quod in Adam factae sunt, et per eas victus est, ut in eodem ordine quo homo prius est victus, secundus Adam vicisse ostendatur. Dicitur enim Adam prius tentatus per gulam, dum dicitur: Et videns lignum, quod esset pulchrum visu, et ad vescendum suave; postea per inanem gloriam, dum dicitur: Eritis sicut dii, Quod superbia erat, transire scilicet ultra se, et velle Domino suo parificari; denique, per avaritiam, dum dicitur: Scientes bonum et malum. Tam bene est enim avaritia cupiditas scientiae, sicut pecuniae, et iste ordo factus est tunc secundum hoc quod diabolo convenientius visum est. Postquam vero corrupta est natura, alius ordo supradictus a natura constitutus est. Prius per concupiscentiam carnis, deinde exteriorum, etc. In Adam enim nullus ordo naturaliter erat, cum nullam concupiscentiam sentiret. Anselmus Laudunensis, Enarrationes In Matthaeum, Caput IV Source: Migne PL 162.1272d-1273b

Note that Luke puts the second temptation in Matthew last, and the temptation on the mountain second, which seems to be more in line with the history. 1 For nature demands that the devil first test us with the desires of the flesh, and then with the desire for exterior things, and finally concerning the pride of the good life. But Matthew refers to it in his way, because so it was done to Adam and in that way he was conquered. So in the same order that the first man was overthrown, it is revealed that the second Adam overthrew. For it is said that Adam was first tempted by greed, when it is said, 'And seeing the tree, which was fair to look at, and sweet for the eating...' Then after by vainglory, when it is said, 'You shall be like Gods,' because it was by pride that he would pass beyond himself and wish to be equal to the Lord. And finally through avarice, when he said, 'Knowing good and evil.' 2 For it is well done that avarice is a desire for knowledge, just as for money. And thus it is set down in such an order so that the devil is more appropriately exhibited. However after nature was corrupted, the other order mentioned is established by that nature. First is the desire of the flesh, then for exterior things, and so on. Anselm of Laon, Commentary On The Gospel of Saint Matthew, Chapter 4 1 Lk 4.3-13, Mt 4.3 2 Genes 3.5-6

Trials And Relief

Ἀναμνήσθητί μοι ἐνταῦθα, ἀγαπητὲ, τῆς ἀξίας ἦς ἀπήλαυεν ὁ πρωτόπλαστος πρὸ τῆς τῆς παρακοῆς, καὶ λογίζου τοῦ Θεοῦ τὴν ἀγαθότητα. Ἐπειδὴ γὰρ ἡ παράβασις ἐκείνου ἠκρωτηρίασε τὴν δεδομένην ἐξουσίαν, εὗρε δὲ ὁ ἀγαθὸς Δεσπότες ἕτερον ἄνδρα δυνάμενον ἀνακαλέσασθαι τὴν ἀρχαίαν εἰκονα, καὶ διασωζώοντα τῆς ἀρετῆς τοὺς χαρακτῆρας, καὶ πολλὴν περὶ τὰς ἐντολὰς τὴν ὑπακοὴν ἐπιδεικνυμενον, πάλιν εἰς την ἀρχαίαν τιμὴν αὐτὸν ἀνάγει, μονονουχὶ διδάσκων ἡμᾰς δι αὐτῶν τῶν πραγμάτων τῆς ἐξουσίας τοῦ Ἀδὰμ τὸ μέγεθος, ἤν εἶχε πρὸ τῆς παρακοῆς. Ἡ ἀρετὴ τοίνυν τοῦ δικαίου ἐπιλαβομένη της τοῦ Θεοῦ φιλανθρωπίας, ἀνεκαλέσατο τὴν προτέραν ἀρχὴν, καὶ πάλιν τὰ θηρία τὴν ὑποραγὴν ἑπεγίνωσκον. Ἔνθα γὰρ ἂν ἴδῃ θηρία δίκαιον, ἐπιλανθάνεται τῆς οἰκείας φύσεως, μᾶλλον δὲ οὐ τῆς φύσεως, ἀλλὰ τῆς θηριωδίας, καὶ μένεοντα ἐν τῇ φύσει τὴν θηριωδίαν εἰς τὴν ἡμερότητα μεταβάλλει. Καὶ ὅρα τοῦτο ἐπὶ τοῦ Δανιὴλ γινόμενον. Ὑπ γὰρ τῶν λεὸντων κυκλούμενος, ὡσπερ ὑπὸ προβάτων δορυφορούμενος, οὕτως ἁδεως διῆγεν· ἡ γὰρ τοῦ δικαίου παῥῥησία ἐχαλίνου τῶν θηρίων τὴν φύσιν, καὶ οὐκ εἴα τὰ τῶν θηρίων αὐτοὺς ἐπιδείκνυσθαι. Τὸν αὐτὸν δὴ τρόπον ὁ θαυμάσιος οὗτος τὴν μετὰ τῶν θηρίων διαγωγὴν μετ' εὐκολίας ἔφερε, καὶ οὔτε ἡ στενοχωρία, οὕτε ἡ τοῦ χρόνου παράτασις, οὔτε τὸ οὕτως ἐγκεκλεῖσθαι, καὶ μήτε τὸν ἀέρα ἀναπνεῖν ναρκῆσαι αὐτὸν παρεσκεύασεν, ἀλλὰ τῇ πίστει τῇ εἰς τὸν Θεὸν ἂπαντα κοῦφα αὐτῷ ἐφαίνετο, καὶ οὕτω διῆγεν ἐν τῷ χαλεπῷ ἐκείνῳ δεσμωτηρίῳ, ὡσανεὶ ἡμεῖς ἐν λειμῶσι, καὶ δενδρικοῖς τόποις. Τὸ γαρ ἐπιταγμα τοῦ Δεσπότου τὰ δυσχερῆ ῥᾴδια αὐτῷ φαίνεσθαι παρεσκεύατε. Τοιοῦτον γὰρ τῶν δικαίων τὸ ἔθος· ὅταν τι δι' αὐτὸν ὑπομένουσιν, οὐ τῇ ὅψει τῶν γινομένων προσέχουσιν, ἀλλὰ τὴν ὑποθεσιν λογιζόμενοι μετ' εὐκολίας ἄπαντα φέρουσιν. Ἐπεὶ καὶ Παῦλος, ὁ τῶν ἐθνῶν διδάσκαλος, τὰ δεσμωτήρια, τὰς ἀπαγωγὰς, τοὺς καθημερινοὺς κινδύνους, τὰς πολλὰς ἐκείνας καὶ ἀφορήτους θλίψεις ἐλαφρὰς ἐκάλει, οὐκ ἐπειδὴ τῇ φύσει τοιαῦται ἦσαν, ἀλλ' ἐπειδὴ ἡ ὑπόθεσις τῶν γινομένων τοσαύτην αὐτῷ τὴν γνωμην κατεσκεύαζεν, ὡς μηδὲ ἐπιστρέφεσθαι πρὸς τὰ ἐπίοντα δεινά. Ἂκουε γὰρ αὐτοῦ λέγοντος· Τὸ γὰρ παραυτίκα ἐλαφρὸν τῆς θλίψεως ἡμῶν καθ' ὑπερβολὴν αἰώνιον βάρος δόξης ἡμῖν κατεργάζέται. Ἡ προσδοκία, φησὶ, τῆς μελλούσης καταλήψεσθαι δόξης, καὶ τῆς διηβεκοῦς ἐκείνης ἀνέσεως κούφως ἡμᾶς ποιεῖ φέρειν τὰς ἐπαλλήλους ταύτας θλίγεις, καὶ ἐλαφράς αὐτὰκ ἡγεῖσθαι. Εἰδες ὅπως ὑποτέμνεται ὁ πρὸς τὸν Θεὸν πόθος τὴν τῶν δεινῶν ἐπίτασιν, καὶ οὐδὲ αἴσθησιν συγχωρεῖ λαβεῖν τῶν ἐπιόντων; Διά τοι τοῦτο καὶ ὁ μακάριος οὗτος πάντα πράως ἔφερε, τῇ πίστει τῇ εἰς τὸν Θεὸν καὶ τῇ ἐλπίδι τρεφόμενος. Καὶ ἔκελισε, φησὶ, Κύριος ὁ Θεὸς ἔξωθεν αὐτοῦ τὴν κιβωτόν. Ἅγιος Ἰωάννης ὁ Χρυσόστομος, Εἰς Την Γενεσιν, Ὁμιλια ΚΕ’ Source: Migne PG 53.225-226

Remember here, beloved, I beg, how much dignity the first formed had before disobedience, and think on the goodness of God. For after his transgression the virtue given to us diminished, but God then found another man, Noah, whom He was able to restore to the original image, in the guarding of the state of the virtues and manifesting great obedience in the commandments of God, whom again He sends him to the first honour of work, to teach us with works how great was the power of Adam before his disobedience. Thus by the help of the Divine mercy the virtue of the righteous man is restored to its first state, and the beasts are again subject. For when they see the righteous man, they forget their nature, or rather not their nature, but their ferocity, for the innate wildness of their nature is turned into meekness. See how this happened to Daniel, for when he was surrounded by lions, like sheep surrounded, even so he acted fearlessly, 1 and likewise the faith of the righteous man binds the nature of wild creatures, not permitting them to act wildly as they are accustomed to do. In a similar way, this marvellous one who subdues wild creatures with great ease, is not cast down by difficult place, nor long time, nor by such a narrow enclosing that he can hardly breath, but because of faith in God all things seem easy to him, for even if thrown into the darkness of a prison, so we are as in meadows and groves. For when he works the commandments of the Lord difficult things seem easy to him. Such is the way of the righteous man, so that when he suffers on account of God, he does not look to the things that are done, but considering the cause, bears them all easily. Just as Paul, the teacher of the Gentiles, called chains light, and the dragging off before tribunals, and daily dangers, and many difficult afflictions, it was not because they had such a nature, but because of the cause for which they happened, and such was his understanding, that he was not bewildered if such fearful things befell him. Hear what he says: 'For our slight and momentary afflictions are wondrously working a weight of glory in us for eternity.' 2 The hope of glory which we pursue, he says, and the happiness of that eternity, make us endure continual afflictions easily and bear them lightly. You see how love for God diminishes grave troubles, and does not allow us to be afflicted with any sense of them? Certainly, because of this, blessed is he who endures all things meekly, being fed on faith and hope in God. 'And the Lord God closed up,' it is said 'the ark from the outside.' 3 Saint John Chrysostom, On Genesis, from the Twenty Fifth Homily 1 Dan 6.22 2 2 Cor 4.17 3 Gen 7.16

Death And Revival And Judgement

Sicut enim in Adam omnes moriuntur, ita in Christo omnes vivificabuntur. Hoc dicit, quia sicut Adam peccans mortem invenit et omnes ex ejus origine tenuit, ut dissolvantur: ita et Christus non peccans, et per hoc vincens mortem, quia qui non peccat, vincit mortem, quia mors ex peccato, omnibus qui sunt ex ejus corpore, acquisivit vitam, id est, resurrectionem. Quamvis ergo generalem tribuerit resurrectionem, ut sicut in Adam omnes sive justi sive injusti moriuntur; ita et in Christo omnes tam credentes, quam diffidentes resurgant, licet ad poenam increduli; tamen vivificari videntur; quia corpora sua recipient, jam non morituri, sed passuri poenam in eis sine fine: quod credere noluerunt. Ambrosiaster, In Epistolam Beati Pauli Ad Corinthios Primam, Caput XV Source: Migne PL 17.263d-264a

For as all die in Adam, so all shall be revived in Christ. 1 He says this because Adam found death in sin and so all who are bound to his beginning perish, and thus Christ who does not sin, by this conquers death, because He who does not sin, conquers death because death comes from sin. So for all who are part of his body, He has acquired life, that is, the resurrection. Although, then, He shall give the general resurrection to all, since as all die in Adam, whether they are just or unjust, so all who believe in Christ and all who do not shall rise, yet the disbelievers will rise to punishment, though they appear to be restored to life. For they will receive their bodies and die no more, but they will suffer punishment without end, because they would not believe. Ambrosiaster, Commentary On The First Letter of Saint Paul To The Corinthians, Chapter 15 1 1 Cor 15.22

The Fathers Of Men

Sunt itaque filiorum Adam patres: Deus, homo, diabolus. Deus propter naturam, homo propter speciem, daibolus propter malitiam. In his ergo quae hominis sunt, esse habent necessitate; in his quae Dei, bona voluntate; in his quae diaboli, malignitate. Si naturam, in qua bonus a bono bene, et ad bonum creatus es, diligis, custodis, et ad id ad quod facta est, dirigis, in his quae Dei patris tui sunt manes, nec a Jerusalem recedis; et super prudentia ac responsis, quibus mille tentationibus carnis, mundi, diaboli, respondes, quae te argute et valde cavillose, dum tentant, interrogant, mirari facis ipsos spiritus nequam, qui tentatores tui sunt. Quod si honorem conditionis tuae naturae non intelligis, quae facta es pulchra inter mulieres, et abis post vestigia gregum, incipiens assimilari jumentis insipientibus; si etiam ipsum bonum, quod in te est, malitia a maligno concepta infeceris, ut sis superbia tumidis, invidia tabidus, ira turbulentus, tristia dejectus, anxius avartitia, gula avidus, luxuria immundus: in his quae patris tui sunt diaboli, manifeste esse convinceris. In his autem, quae hominis patris sunt, propter animale adhuc corpus, necessitatem essendi, vel potius transeundi habentes, victum et vestitum quaeramus: nec nos tentatio apprehendat, nisi humana, quominus his velimus esse contenti. Isaac, Cisterciensis Abbas, Sermo VIII Source: Migne PL 194.1717d-1718b

Those who are the children of Adam have three fathers, God, man and the devil. God for their nature, man for their kind, the devil for their wickedness. The things which are of man are theirs by necessity, the things which are of God by a good will, the things of the devil by wickedness. If you guard the nature in which good from good is created for the good and you direct it to that for which it was made, you will remain in God the Father, you will not leave Jerusalem, and because of your wisdom and replies to those thousand temptations of the flesh, the world, the devil, who dispute with you extremely captiously, you shall astonish the spirits of iniquity who test you while they put you to trial. 1 But if you do not understand the value of your nature given by the Creator, which makes you beautiful among women, and you go after the tracks of the herd, 2 becoming like mindless beasts, 3 and if you defile that good which is in you with wickedness begotten by the wicked one, so that you become swollen with pride, and rotten with envy, and vexed with wrath, and cast down by sorrow, and anxious because of avarice, and greedy with desire, and filthy with lust, then you are manifestly convicted of being in those things which belong to your father the devil. As for those things in which man is our father, while yet in the animal body, let us seek only that food and clothing which our present, or rather passing, needs require, 4 so that content in these things 'No trial shall seize us unless human.' 5 Isaac of Stella, from Sermon 8 1 Lk 2.47 2 Song 1.7 3 Ps 48.13 4 1 Tim 6.8 5 1 Cor 10.13

The Tree Of Life And Righteousness

Ἐκ καρποῦ δικαιοσύνης φύεται δένδρον ζωῆς ἀφαιροῦνται δὲ ἄωροι ψυχαὶ παρανόμων... Τοῦτο τό δένδρον τῆς ζωῆς ἐστι τὸ φυτευθὲν ἐν μέσῳ τοῦ παραδείσου, οὗ ἂψασθαι μετὰ τὴν ἁμαρτίαν ἐκωλύθη ὁ Ἀδὰμ, τὰ σπέρματα τῆς δικαιοσύνη, ἀποβαλὼν, ἀφ' ὧν φύεται τὸ δένδρον τῆς ζωῆς. Ὠριγένης, Ἐκλογαὶ Εἰς Παροιμίας, Κεφ ΙΑ´ Source: Migne PG 17.192c

From the fruit of righteousness the tree of life grows and the unripe souls of trespassers are borne away... 1 This is the tree of life planted in the midst of paradise, 2 which Adam was not permitted to touch after sin, 3 having thrown away the seeds of righteousness from which the tree of of life grows. Origen, On Proverbs, Chap 11 1 Prov 11.30 2 Gen 2.9 3 Gen 3.22

Strict Judgements

Οὐκ ἀπονοίας ἐστιν, ὦ φιλολογώτατε, ὁ κατὰ τῶν πταισάντων φόνος τοῦ σοφωτάτου Πέτρου, ἀλλὰ διδασκαλίας προγνωστικῆς, τὰ πολλὰ τῶν ἀνθρώπων προϊωμένης ἁμαρτήματα. Τότε γὰρ ἀρξάμενοι τὰ τοῦ Εὐαγγελίου καταβάλλεσθαι σπέρματα· καὶ εὐθὺς παρανατείλαντα ἐωρακότες ζιζάνια, σοφῶς αὐτὰ παραχρῆμα ἐξέτιλαν, ἵνα μὴ τῷ σιωῷ συναυξνθέντα, τῷ μέλλοντι πρὸς καῦσιν πυρὶ φυλαχθῇ. Οὔτω καὶ Μωσῆς ὁ θεσπέσιος τὰ τοῦ νόμου ἐκ προοιμίων παραβαθέντα θεώμενος, εἰ καὶ ἐπὶ βραχεῖ ἁμαρτὴματι καταλευσθῆναι ἐν σαββάτῳ ξυλολογοῦντα ἐκέλευσε, τοῦτο Θεὸν γεγραφὼς ἀποφήνασθαι. Ἐπὶ μικρῷ γὰρ καὶ μείζονι ἡ παραβασις κρίνεται. Ὡς καὶ οἱ πρῶτοι τοῦ γένους προπάτοες ξύλου γεύσει τὸν πολυώδυνον κατεδικάσθησαν καὶ βίον καὶ θάνατον Ἅγιος Ἰσίδωρος Του Πηλουσιώτου, Βιβλιον Πρῶτον, Ἐπιστολή ΡΠΑ´ Ὠριονι Μονακῳ Source: Migne PG 78.300c

Not without sense, most learned man, against those who erred came death from the most wise Peter, 1 but it is a prescient teaching, foreseeing the many sins of men. For then when they began to throw forth the seed of the Gospel, instantly perceiving the weeds born, with wise counsel they swiftly tore them up, lest one of them growing with the wheat be protected against future fire. 2 In the same way the saintly Moses, considering violations of the law, even for a small error, such as the gathering of sticks on the Sabbath, nevertheless commanded stoning, and in this revealed God, that transgressions in both little things and great are judged. So even the first of our race, tasting the fruit of the tree, were condemned to a most bitter life and death. Saint Isidore of Pelusium, Book 1, Letter 181, To the Monk Orion 1 Acts 5.5-10 2 Mt 13.25

Farmers And Workers Of The Earth

Et coepit Noe homo agricola esse terrae. Videtur quidem prima specie Adae illi qui de terra factus est, comparari Noe vir justus; quia et de illo scriptum est quod de paradiso ejectus coeperit operari terram: de isto quoque quoniam egressus ex arca factus sit agricola. Et propemodum in utroque praecesserat quaedam forma diluvii, quia et Noe post diluvium, et Adam post mundi constitutionem secundum figmentum corporis. Nam ut mundus fieret, congregata est aqua in unam congregationem, ut videretur terra quae ante non poterat per aquarum confusionem videri. Ergo sicut ille primigenes magister terram videtur operatus, ita etiam egressus ex arca Noe seminationis et culturae auctor est factus. Haec putantur similia: sed si verba consideres quae jam vim sensus altioris exprimunt, aliud est operatorem terrae esse, aliud agricolam. Alius enim tamquam mercenarii, alius tamquam patrisfamilias loco fungitur. Denique Cain qui fratrem occidit, erat operarius terrae. Et ut scias quia operari terram magis servile quam liberum sit, maledicto parricidalis ejus operatio comprehenditur. Denique scriptum est: Quoniam operaberis terram, et non augebit virtutem suam dare tibi: gemens et tremens eris super terram. Terra autem caro nostra est quam improbus operatur, bonus autem excolit. Ille quasi mercedem quaerat e terra; iste quasi bonae fructus capiat et gratiam disciplinae; ut magis fructiferum faciat agrum suum, et qui Domini possit respondere culturis, et indulgentiam cultoris ostendat. Operator autem quid aliud nisi escam tantummodo corporis sui quaerit, ventris magis usui studens, atque id solum explicare contentus, quod sibi prodesse possit ad victum? Ille vero alius fructuum utilitate pascitur. Quos fructus habeat justus agnoscis. Fructus autem spiritus, charitas, gaudium, pax, patientia, bonitas. Bonus ergo agricola habet continentiam, castitatem, ut si quae arbores cito curvantur in terram, et effusius germinant, eas velut quadam temperantiae suae falce succidat, ut abjiciant quod infirmum est, germinent quod decorum. Sanctus Ambrosius Mediolanensis, De Noe et Arca, Caput XXIX Source: Migne PL 14.409b-410c

And Noah became a farmer of the earth. 1 It seems at first that this is a likness of that Adam who was made from earth, to whom the righteous man Noah is compared, because concerning the first it is written that being cast out of paradise he began to work the earth, 2 and also this man coming out of the ark was made a farmer. And near enough both were preceded by a certain type of deluge, Noah after his flood, and Adam after the establishment of the world according to the body, because so that the world might be, the waters were gathered into one place, that the earth appear, which was not able to before amid the confusion of the waters. Therefore as that first born teacher seems to have worked, so indeed coming out of the ark Noah was an author of the sowing of seed and farming. These things are thought to be similar, but if you consider the words, they will express a higher meaning, for a worker of the earth is one thing, and a farmer another. One is as a hireling, the other is as one who performs his duty as father of a family. Then Cain, who murdered his brother, was a worker of the earth. And that you know that to work the earth is more servile than to be a free man, his work is bound up in the the curse of the kin slayer. Then it is written: 'Because you will work the earth and it will not give its strength to you, but in groaning and in fear you shall be on the earth. 3 The earth is our flesh which as one wicked works, but he who is good cultivates. The former as a hireling seeks from the earth, the latter would gain the good fruits and the grace of discipline, so that he might make his field more fruitful, and he who is able to answer to the Lord for farming, he shall show the cares of the farmer. For what is a hireling but he who seeks food for his body alone, desiring the employment of his stomach more than all, and is not happy unless it is full; how would restraint profit such a fellow? The latter pastures for the utility of another. And what fruits the just man shall have, you know. The fruits of the spirit, charity, joy, peace, patience, and benevolence. The good farmer thus has continence, chastity, that if some trees sudddenly bend down to earth to pour out their seed, he with a certain sickle of temperance cuts them back, that he cut off what is weak, and they germinate what is fitting. Saint Ambrose, Noah and the Ark, Chapter 29 1 Gen 9.20 2 Gen 3.23 3 Gen 4.12

The First Death

Ερώτησις ΜϚ' Τί δὴ τοῦ Ἀδὰμ ἡμαρτηκότος Ἄβελ ὁ δίκαιος ἐτελεύτησε πρῶτος; Σαθρὸν ἠβουλήθη ὁ Θεὸς γενέσθαι τὸν τοῦ θανάτου θεμέλιον. Εἰ γὰρ Ἀδὰμ πρότερος ἐτελεύτησεν, ἔσθεν ἂν ἐκεῐνος ἰσχυρὰν τὴν κρηπῖδα, πρῶτον νεκρὸν τὸν ἡμαρτηκότα δεξάμενος. Ἐπειδὴ δὲ τὸν ἀδικως ἀνῃρημένον ἐδέξατο πρῶτον, σφαλερὸν τὸ θεμέλιον ἔχει. Θεοδώρητος Ἐπίσκοπος Κύρρος, Εἰς Τὴν Γένεσιν Source: Migne PG 80.145d-148a

Question 46 Why, when Adam was a sinner, was the righteous Abel the first to die? God wished death to have a weak foundation. For if Adam had perished first, death would have rested on a firmer foundation, since it would have received a sinner as the first dead man. Because, however, it first received him who was unjustly slain, it has a doubtful foundation. Theodoret of Cyrrhus, Questions On Genesis

David And Adam

Τὴν αἰτίαν τῆς παραβάσεως τοῦ προπάτορος ὁ μέγας Δαβὶδ ἐν ψαλτηρίῳ ἀνακρουόμενος, καὶ πρὸς συγχώρησιν αὐτῆς τὸν Δεσπότην ἐξιλεούμενος, καὶ τὴν ἄφυκτον τοῦ Θεοῦ γνῶσιν ἐσήμανε, καὶ τὴ μετὰ τὸ πταῖσμα τοῦ Ἀδὰμ εὐγνωμοσύνην ἐδήλωσεν, Οὐκ ἐκρύβη, λέγων, τὸ ὀστοῦν μου ἀπὸ σοῦ, ὃ ἐποίησας ἐν κρυφῇ. Οὐκ ἔλαθέ σε, φησὶ, τῆς γυναικός μου ὁ ὅλισθος, ἤν ἐκ τοῦ ὀστέου μου λεληθότως ἐποίησας, ὕπνῳ, βαρεῖ εὐνάσας με. Ἀλλ' ἔγνως τὰ ἡμέτερα κρύφια, ὁ ἐκείνην κρυφίως ὑποστησάμενος. Ἅγιος Ἰσίδωρος Του Πηλουσιώτου, Βιβλίον Πρῶτον, Ἐπιστολὴ ΤΑ' Διδυμῳ Source: Migne PG 78.372d-373a

The great David singing in the Psalter of the matter of the trespass of our forefather, entreating the Lord for forgiveness of it, and touching on the inescapable knowledge of God, tells of the honesty of Adam after the fall, when he says: 'My bone is not hidden from you, which you made in darkness.' 1 which is as if he says: 'The fall of my wife did not escape you, she who you made from my bone, when you made me sleep deeply. For you know our secrets, who in secret fashioned her. 2 Saint Isidore of Pelusium, Book 1, Letter 330, to Didymus 1 Ps 138.15 2 Gen 2.21-23