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

Considering Commands

Iterum quaestio: Sciebat praevaricaturum Deus Adam mandata sua, an nesciebat? Si nesciebat, non est ista divinae potestatis assertio: si autem sciebat, et nihilominus sciens negligenda mandavit, non est Dei aliquid superfluum praecipere. Superfluum autem praecepit protoplasto illi Adae, quod cum noverat minime servaturum: nihil autem Deus superfluum facit; ergo non est Scriptura ex Deo. Hoc enim objiciunt, qui Vetus non recipiunt Testamentum, et has interserunt quaestiones. Verum hi sua sententia et opinione vincendi sunt. Cum enim novi Testamenti non refutant fidem, exemplo sunt arguendi, ut vetus credant: quoniam cum sibi divina praecepta et facta conveniant, unius auctoris Testamentum utrumque liquet esse credendum. Discant igitur non superfluum, non injustum etiam praevaricaturo praescriptum esse mandatum. Nam et ipse Dominus Jesus elegit Judam, quem proditorem sciebat. Quem si per imprudentiam electum putant, divinae derogant potestati. Sed hoc aestimare non possunt, cum Scriptura dicat: Quia sciebat Jesus quis eum proditurus esset. Conticescant igitur repugnatores isti veteris Testamenti. Sed quoniam etiam gentilibus, si forte istud objecerint, respondendum videtur, qui exemplum non recipiunt, rationem exigunt; accipiant etiam ipsi qua ratione Dei Filius vel praevaricaturo mandaverit, vel elegerit proditurum. Venerat Dominus Jesus omnes salvos facere peccatores, etiam circa impios ostendere suam debuit voluntatem. Et ideo nec proditurum debuit praeterire; ut adverterent omnes, quod in electione etiam proditoris sui servandorum omnium insigne praetendit, nec in eo laesus est vel Adam, quia mandatum accepit, vel Judas, quia electus est. Non enim necessitatem Deus vel illi praevaricationis, vel huic proditionis imposuit, quia uterque si quod acceperat, custodisset, a peccato abstinere potuisset. Denique nec Judaeos omnes credituros sciebat, et tamen ait: Non veni nisi ad oves perditas domus Israel. Ergo non in mandante culpa est, sed in praevaricante peccatum est. Et quod in Deo fuit, ostendit omnibus quod omnes voluit liberare. Nec tamen dico quia praevaricationem nesciebat futuram, immo quia sciebat assero: sed non ideo pereuntis proditoris invidiam in se debuit derivare, ut ascriberetur Deo, quod uterque sit lapsus. Nunc autem uterque redarguitur, atque reconvincitur; quia et ille mandatum ne laberetur accepit, et hic etiam in apostolatus munus adscitus est, ut vel beneficio Dei revocaretur a proditionis affectu; simul ut dum alii revincuntur, prodesset omnibus. Non enim consisteret peccatum, si interdictio non fuisset. Non consistente autem peccato, non solum malitia, sed etiam virtus fortasse non esset: quae nisi aliqua malitiae fuissent semina, vel subsistere vel eminere non posset. Quid est enim peccatum, nisi praevaricatio legis divinae, et coelestium inobedientia praeceptorum? Non enim auribus corporis de mandatis coelestibus judicamus: sed cum esset Dei verbum, opiniones quaedam nobis boni et mali pullularunt; dum id quod malum est, naturaliter intelligimus esse vitandum, et id quod bonum est naturaliter nobis intelligimus esse praeceptum. In eo igitur vocem Domini videmur audire, quod alia interdicat, alia praecipiat. Et ideo si quis non obedierit illis quae semel a Deo praecepta credimus, poenae obnoxius aestimatur. Dei autem praeceptum non quasi in tabulis lapideis atramento legimus inscriptum, sed cordibus nostris tenemus impressum spiritu Dei vivi. Ergo opinio nostra ipsa sibi legem facit. Si enim gentes quae legem non habent, naturaliter ea quae legis sunt, faciunt; ejusmodi legem non habentes ipsi sibi sunt lex, qui ostendunt opus legis scriptum in cordibus suis. Opinio igitur humana sibi tamquam Dei lex est. Sanctus Ambrosius Mediolanensis, De Paradiso, Caput VIII Source: Migne PL 14.291d-293a

Again a question: 'Did God know that Adam would disobey His commands, or did He not know? If He did not know, it is a detraction from Divine power; if He knew, and nevertheless commanded which He knew would be disregarded, it is not Godlike to give an unnecessary order. It was superfluous to issue a command to the first created Adam which He knew would not be observed. But God does nothing superfluous, therefore, this Scripture is not from God.' Now they who do not accept the Old Testament give this as an objection and so they propose these questions. Truly these are to be condemned from their own thought and opinion. When they do not withold trust in the New Testament, they must be convinced by example that they should believe the Old, because when they see His commands and His deeds harmonise, it is clear that they must believe that both Testaments are the work of one Author. Let them learn, then, that a command to one who will disobey is not something unjust or superfluous. The Lord Himself chose Judas, whom He knew would betray Him. Which if they think that he was chosen unwisely, they diminish the power of God. But they cannot judge so, since Scripture says: 'For Jesus knew who it was who would betray Him.' 1 Those who are hostile to the Old Testament should therefore be silent. But because it apears that the Gentiles, if they should object to this also must have their reply, they who will not admit example but demand reason, let them understand for what reason the Son of God either commanded one who would disobey or chose a betrayer. The Lord Jesus came to save all sinners; 2 even for the impious He had to show care, and therefore it was not that he should have passed over a traitor, that all might see that in the choice of traitor was a sign of His service of all; no injury was done to Adam because he received a command, nor Judas, because he was chosen. God did not impose it as a necessity that one disobey him and the other become a traitor, because both, if they had guarded what they received, were able to avoid sin. Then He knew that not all the Jews would believe, yet He still said: 'I have not come but to the lost sheep of Israel.' 3  Therefore there is no fault in commanding, but the sin is in the one who disobeys. God's intent was this: He showed to everyone that He wished everyone to be free. I do not say, however, that He did not know of the future disobedience to come. Rather, I assert that He did know, but that He should not therefore be reproved for the envy of a betrayer going to destruction, so that the cause of the fall of both is ascribed to God. For now both are convicted, and condemned, because the former received a command not to fall, and the latter was enrolled among the Apostles, that he, by the kindness of God, might be recalled from his intention to betray, and that at that time when the others were overthrown he might be a help to all. There would not be any sin if there were no prohibition. Without the existence of sin there would not only be no wickedness but, perhaps, not even virtue, which unless their were seeds of wickedness, there would be no falling short or preeminence. What indeed is sin, if not disregard of Divine law and disobedience to heavenly commands? Not by the ear of the body do we judge heavenly commands, but only with the Word of God can we bring forth opinions on good and evil, so that naturally we understand what should be avoided is evil and what is naturally good for us to be a command. In this, then, we seem to hear the voice of the Lord, that some things are forbidden and other things commanded. And therefore if someone does not obey those things which are believed to have been once commanded by God, he is considered to be liable to punishment. The commands of God we do not read as if they were recorded in ink on a tablet of stone, but they are impressed in our hearts by the Spirit of the living God. 4 Thus in our own thought we conceive a law. 'If the Gentiles who have no law do by nature what the law prescribes, those having no law of this kind are a law to themselves. They show the work of the law written in their hearts.' 5 Therefore human opinion to itself is as the Law of God. Saint Ambrose, On Paradise, Chapter 8 1 Jn 6.65 2 Lk 19.10 3 Prov 5.15 4 2 Cor 3.3 5 Rom 2.14-15

The Serpent's Counsel

Germanus: Nos hactenus credebamus causam initiumque ruinae seu praevaricationis diabolicae, qua de angelica statione deiectus est, invidiam specialiter exstitisse, quando Adam et Evam livida calliditate decepit. Serenus: Non esse istud initium praevaricationis illius seu deiectionis, Geneseos lectio manifestat, quae, ante illorum deceptionem, serpentini nominis eum nota credidit inurendum, ita dicens: Serpens autem erat sapientior, sive, ut Hebraici exprimunt libri, callidior cunctis bestiis terrae quas fecit Dominus Deus. Intelligitis ergo quod ante illam circumventionem primi hominis, de angelica discesserat sanctitate; ita ut non solum nominis huius insigniri mereretur infamia, sed etiam in nequitiae tergiversatione caeteris praeferretur bestiis terrae. Non enim tali vocabulo Scriptura bonum angelum designasset, nec de his qui in illa beatitudine perseverant diceret, Serpens autem erat sapientior omnibus bestiis terrae. Nam hoc cognomen non solum Gabrieli, sive Michaeli, nullo modo posset aptari, sed ne bono quidem cuiquam homini conveniret. Apertissime itaque et serpentis vocabulum, et comparatio bestiarum, non sonat angeli dignitatem, sed praevaricatoris infamiam. Denique livoris ac seductionis materia, qua ut hominem deciperet instigatus est, de anterioris ruinae exstitit causa, quod scilicet de limo terrae nuperrime figuratum ad illam eum gloriam cerneret evocandum, unde, cum esset unus de principibus, se meminerat corruisse. Et idcirco priorem eius lapsum, quo superbiendo corruerat, quo etiam serpens meruerat nuncupari, secunda ruina per invidiam subsecuta est: quae inveniens eum adhuc aliquid in sese rectum habentem, ita ut etiam cuiusdam colloquii atque consilii cum homine posset habere consortium, sententia Domini utiliter in ima deiectus est; ut non iam, sicut ante, sublime aliquid intuens excelsus incederet, sed ut solo cohaerens reperet, et humiliatus super ventrem terrenis vitiorum escis et operibus pasceretur, occultum deinceps publicans inimicum, ac ponens inter ipsum et hominem utiles inimicitias salutaremque discordiam; ut dum cavetur tamquam hostis noxius, amicitiis fraudulentis ulterius homini nocere non posset. In quo tamen et illud nos praecipue debet instruere, ut a malis consiliis declinemus; quod licet deceptionis auctor congrua poena et condemnatione plectatur, ne ille quidem qui seducitur, supplicio careat, licet aliquantulo leviore quam ille qui auctor deceptionis exstiterit. Quod hic expressum plenissime cernimus: Adam namque qui seductus est, immo, ut Apostoli verbis eloquar, qui seductus non est, sed seductae acquiescens, in exitialem videtur accessisse consensum, sudore vultus ac labore tantummodo condemnatur, qui tamen illi, non per suam, sed per terrae maledictionem sterilitatemque decernitur. Mulier vero, quae huius rei persuasor exstitit, multiplicationem gemituum ac dolorum atque tristitiae promeretur, perpetuo pariter iugo subiectionis addicta. Serpens autem, qui primus incentor huius offensae est, perenni maledictione mulctatur. Quamobrem summa sollicitudine et circumspectione cavendum est a consiliis pravis, quia sicut auctorem puniunt, ita deceptum nec peccato faciunt carere, nec poena. Sanctus Ioannes Cassianus, Collationes, Collatio Octava, De Principatibus Seu Potestatibus, Caput IX-XI Source: Migne PL 49.736b-739a

Germanus: Until now we believed that the reason and beginning of the ruin and error of the devil, by which he was cast down from the angelic state, was most particularly envy, when in his malicious cleverness he deceived Adam and Eve. Serenus: That this was not the beginning of his fall and ruin, the passage in Genesis shows, as before their deception it deems him to be already branded with the name of serpent, so saying: 'But the serpent was wiser,' or as the Hebrew books express it, 'more clever than all the beasts of the earth, which the Lord God had made.' 1 You understand, then, that before he deceived the first man, he had fallen away from angelic sanctity, so that he not only deserved to be stamped with the infamy of that name, but indeed surpassed all other beasts of the earth in the subterfuges of wickedness. For Scripture would not have designated a good angel in such a way, nor would it say of those who remained in that state of bliss: 'But the serpent was wiser than all the beasts of the earth.' For it is not only that this title could not possibly be applied to Gabriel or Michael, but it would not even befit any good man. And so the title of serpent and the comparison to beasts most clearly declares the wickedness of an apostate not the dignity of an angel. Finally the occasion of envy and seduction which drove him to deceive man, arose from the cause of his previous ruin, that is, he saw that one who had just recently been shaped from the mud of the earth was to be called to that glory from which he remembered that he himself, when he was one of the princes, had fallen. And so that first ruin of his, in which he fell by pride, and which earned for him the name of serpent, was followed by a second because of envy, which finding him still having something upright, so that he could yet have some conversation and counsel with man, the Lord's sentence very rightly cast him down into the depths, that he might no longer, as before, walk erect and look on high, but cleaving to the ground creep along, and being brought low on his belly, feed on earthly food and works of vices, and thereafter announce his secret hostility and set between himself and man a useful enmity and a salutary discord, so that while man is wary of him as a dangerous enemy, he can no longer harm him with fraudulent friendship. In which matter, however, we should especially learn, so that we may shun evil counsels, that though the author of the deception was struck with a fitting punishment and condemnation, nor did the one who was seduced lack a penalty, although it was somewhat lighter than his who was the author of the deception. And this we see was very plainly expressed. For Adam, who was deceived, or rather, to speak in the Apostle's words, 'was not deceived' 2 but, consenting to her who was deceived seems to have given a fatal agreement, is only condemned to labour and the sweat of his face, which, however, is given to him not through a curse on himself, but by a curse upon the earth and its barrenness. But the woman, who persuaded him, receives a multiplication of groans and pains and sorrow, together with the yoke of perpetual subjection. But the serpent, who was the first to incite them to this offense, is punished by an endless curse. For which reason we should beware, with the utmost care and circumspection, evil counsels, for as they punish their authors, so they do not spare the deceived fault, nor punishment. Saint John Cassian, Conferences, from Conference 8, On Principalites And Powers, Chaps 9-11 1 Gen 3.1 2 1 Tim 2.14

Adam's Body

Quarendum est, si Adam factus, corpus immortale habuit, an mortale? Deus hominem fecit, qui quamdiu non peccaret, immortalitate vigeret, ut ipse sibi auctor esset aut ad vitam aut ad mortem, ut custodians se a peccato labore suo gauderet se immortalem, negligens vero factus ipse sibi imputaret, quod coeperat esse mortalis. Quamdiu enim in creatoris lege durauit, dignus fuit edere de arbore vitae, ut mori non posses. Nec enim corpus tale erat quod dissolui impossibile videretur, sed gustus arboris vitae corruptionem corporis inhibebat. Denique etiam post peccatum potuit indissolubile manere, si modo permissum esset ei edere de arbore vitae. Nam quomodo immortale corpus habebat, quod cibo sustentabatur? Immortalis enim non eget esca neque potu. Cibus enim vires praestabat. Vitae autem arbor medicinae modo corruptionem omnem prohibebat. Sic enim homini erat quasi inexpungnabilis murus Sanctus Augustinus Hipponensi, Quaestiones Veteris Et Novi Testamenti, Cap XIX Source: Migne PL 35.2227-8

It must be asked: was Adam made with a immortal or mortal body? God made man, who while he did not sin, flourished immortally, so that he was his own author of life and death, insofar that guarding himself from sin's fall he rejoiced in immortality, but in neglect he laid charge against himself, by which he became mortal. Since while he perservered in the law of the Creator, he was worthy to eat of the tree of life, that he not die. For it would seem that his was not such a body that it was impossible to destroy, but it was the eating of the tree of life which warded off the corruption of the body. Then even after sin he would have remained in an indissoluble state, if it were permitted that he could still eat of the tree of life. For how had he an immortal body, when it was sustained by food? That which is immortal does not have need of food or drink. Sustenance is for the support of men. The tree of life was a medicine that guarded from all corruption. So it was for man as an unbreakable wall. Saint Augustine of Hippo, Questions on the Old and New Testament, Chap 19

Love And Adherence

Tria sunt, quibus Deo spiritualiter adhaeremus, memoria, scientia et voluntas. Memoria quippe quodammodo cujusdam aeternitatis capax est, Scientia notitiae, Voluntas amoris. In his tribus primus homo Deum in memoria tenebat sine oblivione, scientia cognoscebat sine errore, amore affectabat sine alterius rei cupiditate : quumque in his tribus esset homo beatus, in tertio tamen, id est, in amore creatori suo tanto familiarius adhaerebat, quanto dulcius gustabat quam suavis sit Deus. Quanto nimirum major summi boni dilectio, tanto suavior in ea est delectatio, et tanto plenior beatitudo. Licet enim memoria multa praeterita retineat, licet scientia profundissima percipiat, nulla tamen delectatio ibi est, nisi se dulcedo amoris infundat. In rebus itaque ratione utentibus Deus ordinat memoriam, scientiam, et amorem: ut amor ex memoria et scientia convalescat, et illa duo in amore dulcescant. Ex his formatur et firmatur in hominibus quibusdam affectus in Deum, et in se quaedam blanda et socialis communio voluntatum. Denique in creatione hominis foedus et vinculum sociale specialiter commendatur. Non est, inquit Deus, bonum hominem esse solum: faciamus ei adjutorium simile sibi. Et ad majus et expressius unionis indicium unius substantiam de alterius substantia propagavit. Ideo etiam de latere Adae socia ejus assumpta est, ut qui collaterales erant essentia, essent vita et moribus coaequales. Sic natura primitivos amoris affectus in hominum cordibus exaravit, quos sensus interior postea quodam diligendi usu quasi quodam gustu dulcissimae suavitatis adauxit. Petrus Blenensis, De Caritate Dei et Proximi, Cap. XI Source: Migne PL 207.881c-882a

There are three things by which we spiritually adhere to God, memory, knowledge and will. Since in a certain manner memory is capable in itself of eternity, knowledge of awareness, will of love. With these three the first man held to God, by memory without forgetfulness, by knowledge knowing without error, by love desiring without care for any other thing, by which three things the man was blessed, in the third, however, that is, in love, he adhered more closely to his Creator, much more sweetly tasting how sweet is God. As greater is the love of the greatest good, so sweeter is the delight in it, and much more complete the blessedness. For it is given to memory to retain many things which have passed by, it is given to knowledge to grasp things most profound, but there is no love there, unless infused with the sweetness of love. Therefore in things which God has ordained for rational use, memory and knowledge and love, so love gains strength from memory and knowledge, and the other two are sweetened by love. From these things the love of God in man is formed and stengthened, and in itself is a certain pleasant and sociable communion of wills. Finally in the creation of man a social alliance and bond is especially commended. 'It is not good,' God said, 'for man to be alone, let us make a helper for him like him.' 1 And for a better and more expressive sign of union, from the substance of the one the substance of the other was brought forth. Therefore even from the side of Adam his companion was taken, so that they were of the same essence, being equals in life and ways. So the nature of these first ones moved by love was inscribed in the hearts of men, whose interior sense, after the act of loving, in the tasting of sweetness in sweetness grew. Peter of Blois, On Love Of God And One's Neighbour, Chap 11 1 Gen 2.18

The Making Of Man

Formavit Deus hominem... Cavenda est hic paupertas intellectus humani ut cogitemus Deum manibus operatum fuisse hominem et labiis carneis locutum aut tale aliquid, quod nefas est de Deo cogitari. Deus enim spiritus est, et ideo non distinguitur membris nec gravatur mole corporis, ut de illo aliquid carneum cogitemus vel intelligamus. Sed quod dicit: formavit hominem ex limo, id est volendo et jubendo extra produxit. Et inspiravit... Quod dicit: spiritavit, non intelligendum est, quod hunc corpulentum aerem homini sufflaverit vel immiserit sed inspiravit, id est, animavit eum vita rationali, quod in sequentibus spiraculum vitae appelavit. Ad comparationem enim caeterorum animalium quorum animae moriuntur, homo rationalem animam sortitus est. Unde et Graeci differentiam facientes animalium quae tantum sine ratione vivunt zoa, vocant, quia zoe vita dicitur, quae vero rationis participantur psychica, quia pysche anima. In faciem autem hominis spirasse, quia in capite maxime omnes sensus vigent, horum uno, id est tactu, per omne corpus diffuso. Remigius Antissiodorensis, Commentarius In Genesim, Caput II Source: Migne PL 131.60b-c

He formed man....1 The poverty of the human intellect must take care here lest we think that God fashioned man with His hands and spoke with carnal lips, or some such thing, which it is wicked to think of God. For God is a spirit, 2 and therefore He is not distinguished into members, nor is He weighed down with the mass of a body, that concerning Him we might think or understand something corporeal. But when it says, 'He formed man from mud,' it means that He wished and commanded him produced without.' And He breathed in... Because it says 'He breathed' it must not be understood that He blew into man some corporeal air, or sent it into in him, but he inspired, that is, he animated him with rational life, which is then named the breath of life. For in comparison to the other animals, the souls of which perish, rational man is given a soul. Whence the Greeks make a distinction of souls, those which live without reason they name 'zoa', because 'zoe' means life, but 'psychica' that which participates in reason, because 'psyche' is soul. And 'In his face He breathed,' because most of the senses flourish in the head, though one of them, touch, is diffused throughout the whole body. Remigius of Auxerre, Commentary On Genesis, Chapter 2 1 Gen 2.7 2 Jn 4.24