Chapter XI.—Concerning Paradise.

Now when God was about to fashion man out of the visible and invisible creation in His own image and likeness to reign as king and ruler over all the earth and all that it contains, He first made for him, so to speak, a kingdom in which he should live a life of happiness and prosperity367    Greg. Nyss., De opif. Hom., ch. 2.. And this is the divine paradise368    See the treatise of Anastas. II. Antiochen., on the Hexaëmeron, bk. vii., planted in Eden by the hands of God, a very storehouse of joy and gladness of heart (for “Eden”369    ᾽Εδεμ, Edem, in the text. Basil, Hom. de Parad. means luxuriousness370    See 2 Kings xix. 12; Isai. xxxvii. 12; Ezek. xxvii. 23.). Its site is higher in the East than all the earth: it is temperate and the air that surrounds it is the rarest and purest: evergreen plants are its pride, sweet fragrances abound, it is flooded with light, and in sensuous freshness and beauty it transcends imagination: in truth the place is divine, a meet home for him who was created in God’s image: no creature lacking reason made its dwelling there but man alone, the work of God’s own hands.

In its midst371    See Chrysost., In Gen. Hom. 16, Theodor., Quæst. 27, &c. God planted the tree of life and the tree of knowledge372    Gen. ii. 9.. The tree of knowledge was for trial, and proof, and exercise of man’s obedience and disobedience: and hence it was named the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, or else it was because to those who partook of it was given power to know their own nature. Now this is a good thing for those who are mature, but an evil thing for the immature and those whose appetites are too strong373    Text, τὴν ἔφεσιν λιχνοτέροις. Variant τὴν αἴσθησιν, &c., being like solid food to tender babes still in need of milk374    Greg. Naz., Orat. 38 and 42: Method., ap Epiph. Hæres. 64.. For our Creator, God, did not intend us to be burdened with care and troubled about many things, nor to take thought about, or make provision for, our own life. But this at length was Adam’s fate: for he tasted and knew that he was naked and made a girdle round about him: for he took fig-leaves and girded himself about. But before they took of the fruit, They were both naked, Adam and Eve, and were not ashamed375    Gen. ii. 25.. For God meant that we should be thus free from passion, and this is indeed the mark of a mind absolutely void of passion. Yea, He meant us further to be free from care and to have but one work to perform, to sing as do the angels, without ceasing or intermission, the praises of the Creator, and to delight in contemplation of Him and to cast all our care on Him. This is what the Prophet David proclaimed to us when He said, Cast thy burden on the Lord, and He will sustain thee376    Ps. lv. 22.. And, again, in the Gospels, Christ taught His disciples saying, Take no thought for your life what ye shall eat, nor for your body what ye shall put on377    St. Matt. vi. 25.. And further, Seek ye first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things shall be added unto you378    Ibid. 33.. And to Martha He said, Martha, Martha, thou art careful and troubled about many things: but one thing is needful: and Mary hath chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her379    St. Luke x. 41, 42., meaning, clearly, sitting at His feet and listening to His words.

The tree of life, on the other hand, was a tree having the energy that is the cause of life, or to be eaten only by those who deserve to live and are not subject to death. Some, indeed, have pictured Paradise as a realm of sense380    Nemes., de Nat. Hom., ch. 1., and others as a realm of mind. But it seems to me, that, just as man is a creature, in whom we find both sense and mind blended together, in like manner also man’s most holy temple combines the properties of sense and mind, and has this twofold expression: for, as we said, the life in the body is spent in the most divine and lovely region, while the life in the soul is passed in a place far more sublime and of more surpassing beauty, where God makes His home, and where He wraps man about as with a glorious garment, and robes him in His grace, and delights and sustains him like an angel with the sweetest of all fruits, the contemplation of Himself. Verily it has been fitly named the tree of life. For since the life is not cut short by death, the sweetness of the divine participation is imparted to those who share it. And this is, in truth, what God meant by every tree, saying, Of every tree in Paradise thou mayest freely eat381    Gen. ii. 16.. For the ‘every’ is just Himself in Whom and through Whom the universe is maintained. But the tree of the knowledge of good and evil was for the distinguishing between the many divisions of contemplation, and this is just the knowledge of one’s own nature, which, indeed, is a good thing for those who are mature and advanced in divine contemplation (being of itself a proclamation of the magnificence of God), and have no fear of falling382    Greg. Naz., Orat. 38 and 42., because they have through time come to have the habit of such contemplation, but it is an evil thing to those still young and with stronger appetites, who by reason of their insecure hold on the better part, and because as yet they are not firmly established in the seat of the one and only good, are apt to be torn and dragged away from this to the care of their own body.

Thus, to my thinking, the divine Paradise is twofold, and the God-inspired Fathers handed down a true message, whether they taught this doctrine or that. Indeed, it is possible to understand by every tree the knowledge of the divine power derived from created things. In the words of the divine Apostle, For the invisible things of Him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made383    Rom. i. 20.. But of all these thoughts and speculations the sublimest is that dealing with ourselves, that is, with our own composition. As the divine David says, The knowledge of Thee from me384    Ps. cxxxix. 6., that is from my constitution, was made a wonder385    εθαυμαστώθη ἡ γνῶσίς σου ἐξ εμοῦ, τουτέστιν, ἐκ τῆς ἐμῆς κατασκευῆς. Basil, Gregory Naz., Anastasius II., Antiochenus and others render it so, following the LXX. version, and not the Hebrew text.. But for the reasons we have already mentioned, such knowledge was dangerous for Adam who had been so lately created386    Maxim., in Script. p. 10..

The tree of life too may be understood as that more divine thought that has its origin in the world of sense, and the ascent through that to the originating and constructive cause of all. And this was the name He gave to every tree, implying fulness and indivisibility, and conveying only participation in what is good. But by the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, we are to understand that sensible and pleasurable food which, sweet though it seems, in reality brings him who partakes of it into communion with evil. For God says, Of every tree in Paradise thou mayest freely eat387    Gen. ii. 16.. It is, me-thinks, as if God said, Through all My creations thou art to ascend to Me thy creator, and of all the fruits thou mayest pluck one, that is, Myself who art the true life: let every thing bear for thee the fruit of life, and let participation in Me be the support of your own being. For in this way thou wilt be immortal. But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die388    Ibid. 17.. For sensible food is by nature for the replenishing of that which gradually wastes away and it passes into the drought and perisheth: and he cannot remain incorruptible who partakes of sensible food.

Περὶ παραδείσου

Ἐπειδὴ δὲ ἔμελλεν ὁ θεὸς ἐξ ὁρατῆς τε καὶ ἀοράτου κτίσεως πλαστουργεῖν τὸν ἄνθρωπον κατ' οἰκείαν εἰκόνα τε καὶ ὁμοίωσιν ὥσπερ τινὰ βασιλέα καὶ ἄρχοντα πάσης τῆς γῆς καὶ τῶν ἐν αὐτῇ προκαθίστησιν αὐτῷ οἷόν τι βασίλειον, ἐν ᾧ διαιτώμενος μακαρίαν καὶ πανολβίαν ἕξει ζωήν. Οὗτός ἐστιν ὁ θεῖος παράδεισος θεοῦ χερσὶν ἐν Ἐδὲμ πεφυτευμένος, εὐφροσύνης καὶ θυμηδίας ἁπάσης ταμιεῖον. Ἐδὲμ γὰρ τρυφὴ ἑρμηνεύεται. Ἐν τῇ ἀνατολῇ μὲν πάσης τῆς γῆς ὑψηλότερος κείμενος, εὐκραὴς δὲ καὶ ἀέρι λεπτῷ καὶ καθαρωτάτῳ περιλαμπόμενος, φυτοῖς ἀειθαλέσι κομῶν, εὐωδίας πλήρης, φωτὸς ἔμπλεως, ὥρας ἁπάσης αἰσθητῆς καὶ κάλλους ὑπερβαίνων ἐπίνοιαν, θεῖον ὄντως χωρίον καὶ ἄξιον τοῦ κατ' εἰκόνα θεοῦ ἐνδιαίτημα, ἐν ᾧ οὐδὲν τῶν ἀλόγων ηὐλίζετο, μόνος δὲ ὁ ἄνθρωπος, τῶν θείων χειρῶν τὸ πλαστούργημα.

Ἐν μέσῳ τούτου ξύλον ζωῆς ὁ θεὸς ἐφύτευσεν καὶ ξύλον τῆς γνώσεως. Τὸ μὲν ξύλον τῆς γνώσεως ἀπόπειράν τινα καὶ δοκιμὴν καὶ γυμνάσιον τῆς τοῦ ἀνθρώπου ὑπακοῆς καὶ παρακοῆς. Διὸ καὶ ξύλον τοῦ γινώσκειν καλὸν καὶ πονηρὸν κέκληται, ἢ ὅτι δύναμιν ἐδίδου γνωστικὴν τοῖς μεταλαμβάνουσι τῆς οἰκείας φύσεως, ὅπερ καλὸν μὲν τοῖς τελείοις, κακὸν δὲ τοῖς ἀτελεστέροις, ἔτι καὶ τὴν αἴσθησιν λιχνοτέροις, ὥσπερ στερεὰ τροφὴ τοῖς ἔτι δεομένοις γάλακτος: οὐκ ἐβούλετο γὰρ ὁ κτίσας ἡμᾶς θεὸς μεριμνᾶν καὶ περὶ πολλὰ τυρβάζεσθαι οὐδὲ φροντιστὰς καὶ προνοητὰς τῆς ἰδίας ζωῆς γενέσθαι. Ὅπερ δὴ καὶ πέπονθεν ὁ Ἀδάμ: γευσάμενος γὰρ ἔγνω, ὅτι γυμνὸς ἦν, καὶ περίζωμα ἑαυτῷ περιεποιεῖτο: φύλλα γὰρ συκῆς λαβὼν περιεζώσατο. Πρὸ δὲ τῆς γεύσεως «γυμνοὶ ἦσαν ἀμφότεροι, ὅ τε Ἀδὰμ καὶ ἡ Εὔα, καὶ οὐκ ᾐσχύνοντο». Τοιούτους δὲ ἀπαθεῖς ἐβούλετο εἶναι ἡμᾶς ὁ θεός (ἀπαθείας γὰρ ἄκρας τοῦτό ἐστιν), ἔτι δὲ καὶ ἀμερίμνους, ἓν ἔργον ἔχοντας τὸ τῶν ἀγγέλων, ὑμνεῖν ἀλήκτως καὶ ἀδιαλείπτως τὸν κτίσαντα, καὶ τῆς αὐτοῦ κατατρυφᾶν θεωρίας καὶ αὐτῷ ἐπιρρίπτειν τὴν ἑαυτῶν μέριμναν. Ὅπερ καὶ διὰ τοῦ προφήτου Δαυὶδ πρὸς ἡμᾶς ἀπεφθέγξατο: «Ἐπίρριψον ἐπὶ κύριον τὴν μέριμνάν σου», λέγων, «καὶ αὐτός σε διαθρέψει», καὶ ἐν τοῖς ἱεροῖς εὐαγγελίοις τοὺς οἰκείους μαθητὰς διδάσκων φησί: «Μὴ μεριμνήσητε τῇ ψυχῇ ὑμῶν, τί φάγητε, καὶ τῷ σώματι ὑμῶν, τί ἐνδύσησθε», καὶ πάλιν: «Αἰτεῖτε τὴν βασιλείαν τοῦ θεοῦ καὶ τὴν δικαιοσύνην αὐτοῦ, καὶ ταῦτα πάντα προστεθήσεται ὑμῖν», καὶ πρὸς τὴν Μάρθαν: «Μάρθα, Μάρθα, μεριμνᾷς καὶ τυρβάζῃ περὶ πολλά, ἑνὸς δέ ἐστι χρεία: Μαρία γὰρ τὴν ἀγαθὴν μερίδα ἐξελέξατο, ἥτις οὐκ ἀφαιρεθήσεται ἀπ' αὐτῆς», τὸ καθῆσθαι δηλονότι παρὰ τοὺς πόδας αὐτοῦ καὶ ἀκούειν τῶν λόγων αὐτοῦ.

Τὸ δὲ τῆς ζωῆς ξύλον ἢ ξύλον ἔχον ἐνέργειαν ζωῆς παρεκτικὴν ἢ τοῖς τῆς ζωῆς ἀξίοις καὶ τῷ θανάτῳ οὐχ ὑποκειμένοις μόνοις ἐδώδιμον. Τινὲς μὲν οὖν αἰσθητὸν τὸν παράδεισον ἐφαντάσθησαν, ἕτεροι δὲ νοητόν. Πλὴν ἔμοιγε δοκεῖ, ὅτι ὥσπερ ὁ ἄνθρωπος αἰσθητὸς ἅμα καὶ νοητὸς δεδημιούργητο, οὕτω καὶ τὸ τούτου ἱερώτατον τέμενος αἰσθητὸν ἅμα καὶ νοητὸν καὶ διπλῆν ἔχον τὴν ἔμφασιν: τῷ γὰρ σώματι ἐν τῷ θειοτάτῳ χώρῳ καὶ ὑπερκαλλεῖ, καθὼς ἱστορήσαμεν, αὐλιζόμενος, τῇ ψυχῇ ἐν ὑπερτέρῳ καὶ ἀσυγκρίτῳ καὶ περικαλλεστέρῳ τόπῳ διέτριβε θεὸν ἔχων οἶκον τὸν ἔνοικον καὶ αὐτὸν ἔχων εὐκλεὲς περιβόλαιον καὶ τὴν αὐτοῦ περιβεβλημένος χάριν καὶ τοῦ μόνου γλυκυτάτου καρποῦ τῆς αὐτοῦ θεωρίας κατατρυφῶν οἷά τις ἄγγελος ἄλλος καὶ ταύτῃ τρεφόμενος. Ὅπερ δὴ καὶ ξύλον ζωῆς ἀξίως ὠνόμασται: ζωῆς γὰρ θανάτῳ μὴ διακοπτομένης ἡ γλυκύτης τῆς θείας μεθέξεως τοῖς μεταλαμβάνουσι μεταδίδωσιν. Ὃ δὴ καὶ πᾶν ξύλον ὁ θεὸς ἐκάλεσεν: «Ἀπὸ παντὸς ξύλου τοῦ ἐν τῷ παραδείσῳ βρώσει», φησί, «φάγεσθε:» αὐτὸς γάρ ἐστι τὸ πᾶν, ἐν ᾧ καὶ δι' οὗ τὸ πᾶν.

Τὸ δὲ τῆς τοῦ καλοῦ τε καὶ κακοῦ γνώσεως ξύλον ἡ τῆς πολυσχεδοῦς θεωρίας διάγνωσις. Αὕτη δέ ἐστιν ἡ τῆς οἰκείας ἐπίγνωσις φύσεως, ἥτις καλὴ μὲν τοῖς τελείοις καὶ ἐν τῇ θείᾳ θεωρίᾳ βεβιωκόσιν, ἐξ ἑαυτῆς τὴν τοῦ δημιουργοῦ μεγαλουργίαν δημοσιεύουσα, τοῖς μὴ δεδιόσι μετάπτωσιν διὰ τὸ ἐκ τοῦ χρόνου εἰς ἕξιν τινὰ τῆς τοιαύτης ἐληλακέναι θεωρίας, οὐ καλὴ δὲ τοῖς νέοις ἔτι καὶ τὴν ἔφεσιν λιχνοτέροις, οὓς διὰ τὸ ἀβέβαιον τῆς ἐν τῷ κρείττονι διαμονῆς καὶ τὸ μήπω παγίως ἐνεδρασθῆναι τῇ τοῦ μόνου καλοῦ προσεδρείᾳ ἡ τοῦ οἰκείου κηδεμονία σώματος πρὸς ἑαυτὴν ἀνθέλκειν καὶ περισπᾶν πέφυκεν.

Οὕτω διπλοῦν οἶμαι τὸν θεῖον παράδεισον. Καὶ ἀληθῶς οἱ θεοφόροι πατέρες παρέδωκαν οἵ τε οὕτως, οἵ τε ἐκείνως διδάξαντες. Δυνατὸν δὲ νοῆσαι πᾶν ξύλον τὴν ἐκ πάντων τῶν κτισμάτων τῆς θείας δυνάμεως γινομένην ἐπίγνωσιν, ὥς φησιν ὁ θεῖος ἀπόστολος: «Τὰ γὰρ ἀόρατα αὐτοῦ ἀπὸ κτίσεως κόσμου τοῖς ποιήμασι νοούμενα καθορᾶται». _Πασῶν δὲ τῶν ἐννοιῶν καὶ θεωριῶν τούτων ἡ καθ' ἡμᾶς ὑψηλοτέρα πέφυκεν, ἡ τῆς ἡμετέρας φημὶ συστάσεως, ὥς φησιν ὁ θεῖος Δαυίδ: «Ἐθαυμαστώθη ἡ γνῶσίς σου ἐξ ἐμοῦ», τουτέστιν ἐκ τῆς ἐμῆς κατασκευῆς. Ἐπισφαλὴς δὲ αὕτη τῷ Ἀδὰμ ὑπῆρχε νεοπαγεῖ ὄντι, δι' ἃς εἴπομεν αἰτίας_ἢ ξύλον μὲν ζωῆς τὴν ἐκ πάντων τῶν αἰσθητῶν ἐγγινομένην θειοτέραν ἔννοιαν καὶ τὴν δι' αὐτῶν ἐπὶ τὸν ἁπάντων γενεσιουργόν τε καὶ δημιουργὸν καὶ αἴτιον ἀναγωγήν, ὅπερ καὶ πᾶν ξύλον ὠνόμασε τὸ πλῆρες καὶ ἀδιαίρετον μόνην τε τοῦ καλοῦ φέρων τὴν μέθεξιν, ξύλον δὲ γνώσεως καλοῦ καὶ πονηροῦ τὴν αἰσθητὴν καὶ ἐνήδονον βρῶσιν, τὴν τῷ δοκεῖν μὲν γλυκαίνουσαν, τῷ ὄντι δὲ ἐν μετουσίᾳ κακῶν τὸν μετέχοντα καθιστῶσαν: φησὶ γὰρ ὁ θεός: «Ἀπὸ παντὸς ξύλου τοῦ ἐν τῷ παραδείσῳ βρώσει φαγῇ», διὰ πάντων, οἶμαι, τῶν κτισμάτων ἐπ' ἐμὲ τὸν ποιητὴν ἀναβιβάσθητι, λέγων, καὶ ἕνα καρπὸν ἐκ πάντων κάρπωσαι, ἐμὲ τὴν ὄντως ζωήν. Πάντα σοι ζωὴν καρποφορείτωσαν, καὶ τὴν ἐμὴν μέθεξιν ποιοῦ τῆς οἰκείας ὑπάρξεως σύστασιν: οὕτω γὰρ ἔσῃ ἀθάνατος. «Ἀπὸ δὲ τοῦ ξύλου τοῦ γινώσκειν καλὸν καὶ πονηρόν, οὐ φάγεσθε ἀπ' αὐτοῦ. Ἧι δ' ἂν ἡμέρᾳ φάγητε ἀπ' αὐτοῦ, θανάτῳ ἀποθανεῖσθε»: φυσικῶς γὰρ ἡ αἰσθητὴ βρῶσις τοῦ ὑπεκρεύσαντός ἐστιν ἀναπλήρωσις καὶ εἰς ἀφεδρῶνα χωρεῖ καὶ φθοράν: καὶ ἀμήχανον ἄφθαρτον διαμένειν τὸν αἰσθητῆς βρώσεως ἐν μετουσίᾳ γινόμενον.

Ἢ ξύλον μὲν ζωῆς ἡ μετοχὴ τοῦ θεοῦ, δι' ἧς καὶ οἱ ἄγγελοι τρέφονται, δι' ἧς τὴν ἀφθαρσίαν λαμβάνειν ἠμέλλομεν: ἔδει γὰρ ἡμᾶς πρῶτον ἀδιακρίτως ὑποταγῆναι τῷ νόμῳ τοῦ θεοῦ, ἕως εἰς τελείαν ἕξιν τῆς ἀρετῆς ἤλθομεν, καὶ οὕτως δῶρον παρὰ θεοῦ λαβεῖν τὴν διάκρισιν καλοῦ τε καὶ κακοῦ, ὅπερ ἐστὶ ξύλον τοῦ γινώσκειν καλὸν καὶ κακόν. Οὐκ ἀσφαλὴς γὰρ τῷ ἀρτιπαγεῖ ἡ διάκρισις τῶν λογισμῶν καὶ τὸ ἀντιρρητικὸν διὰ τὸ ἐμπαθῆ ἔτι καὶ ἡδυπαθῆ ἔχειν τὸν λογισμόν. Ξύλον μὲν οὖν ζωῆς φημι τὴν ἐκ θεοῦ δεδομένην ἐντολήν_ξύλον γὰρ ζωῆς ἐστιν ἡ δικαιοσύνη πᾶσι τοῖς ἀντεχομένοις αὐτῆς. Καὶ ηὐλόγηται ξύλον, δι' οὗ δικαιοσύνη πεφύτευται, φησὶ Σολομών_ξύλον δὲ γνώσεως τὴν διάκρισιν καλοῦ τε καὶ κακοῦ. Ἔδει οὖν τὸν Ἀδὰμ διὰ τῆς ἀδιακρίτου ὑπακοῆς ἑνωθῆναι θεῷ καὶ πλουτῆσαι τῇ ἑνώσει τὴν θέωσιν ἐν καιρῷ, ὅτε ὁ φύσει θεὸς ηὐδόκει, καὶ πάντων τὴν ἀληθῆ γνῶσίν τε καὶ διάκρισιν καὶ τὴν ἀπέραντον ζωήν. Ἔδει δὲ ἀπόπειραν γενέσθαι τῆς ἀδιακρίτου ὑπακοῆς. Δίδωσι τοίνυν ἐντολὴν ὁ θεός, μὴ γεύσασθαι τοῦ ξύλου τῆς γνώσεως, μὴ πιστεῦσαι τῇ ἰδίᾳ διακρίσει μηδὲ φαγεῖν ἀπὸ ξύλου τινὸς ἔχοντος φυσικὴν ἐνέργειαν ἐμποιητικὴν τῆς ἐπιγνώσεως ἑαυτοῦ ἤτοι τῆς ἰδίας φύσεως. Προσβαλόντος οὖν τοῦ πονηροῦ διὰ τοῦ ὄφεως καὶ εἰπόντος: «ἔσεσθε ὡς θεοὶ γινώσκοντες καλὸν καὶ πονηρόν», ἐὰν φάγητε, ἐπίστευσε τῇ ἰδίᾳ διακρίσει, καὶ ἔδοξεν αὐτῷ καλὸν ἡ θέωσις καὶ ἡ γνῶσις. Καὶ οὐκ ἐλογίσατο, ὅτι πάντα καλὰ ἐν καιρῷ αὐτῶν καὶ οὐ καλὸν τὸ καλόν, εἰ μὴ καλῶς γένηται, καὶ ὡς οὐ χρὴ προαρπάζειν τὸ δοθησόμενον παρὰ γνώμην τοῦ διδόντος τὸ εἶναι καὶ τὸ εὖ εἶναι. Καὶ εἶδεν, ὡς καλόν, καὶ ἔφαγεν καὶ ἐγυμνώθη τῆς πρὸς θεὸν ἐκστάσεως, καὶ διηνοίχθησαν οἱ ὀφθαλμοὶ οἱ σωματικοί, καὶ τὰ πάθη ἐκινήθησαν, καὶ ἔγνωσαν, ὅτι γυμνοί εἰσι, καὶ ᾐσχύνθησαν. Καὶ περιεσπάσθησαν ἀπὸ θεοῦ καὶ ὡς νήπιοι ἐλιχνεύθησαν πρὸς τὴν ἡδονὴν καὶ ἐξωρίσθησαν ἐκ τοῦ ξύλου τῆς ζωῆς καὶ θνητοὶ γεγόνασιν. Ἤιδει δὲ ὁ ἐχθρὸς ἐκ τῆς πείρας, ὅτι τὸ προσεδρεύειν θεῷ θεώσεως καὶ ζωῆς αἰωνίου γίνεται πρόξενον.