FALL OF MAN God, having provided man with all possibilities of life as the master of earth with all its resources, He granted him the greatest of gifts - human freedom, as a sign of God’s appreciation for the most perfect creature on earth. Yet, man soon fell through his own will, under the deceit of the devil, his enemy, disregarding God’s love for him: 1- The deceitful serpent 1-6. 2- Opening of their eyes 7. 3- God’s care for man 8-13. 4- Cursing the serpent 14. 5- Promise of salvation 15. 6- Chastening man 16-19. 7- Coats of skin 20-21. 8- God sent man forth out of the Garden of Eden 23-24. 1- THE DECEITFUL SERPENT God, having presented man with everything, He set him in Paradise, and gave him the commandment to render obedience in return for love. It was, likely, God’s intention to grant man greater gifts, as a reward for keeping the commandment continuously. But the devil envied man, and desired to make him fall into death, using the serpent to enter with man into a dooming debate. The Scripture says: “The serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman, ‘Has God indeed said: You shall not eat of every tree of the garden? And the woman said to the serpent: We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden; but the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said: You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die” (Gen 3:1-3) The enemy used the good creation made by God, as a tool to destroy man. The problem was not in the means, but in man who agreed to enter into a vain dispute with the serpent, especially that the woman started to distort the words of God, claiming that He commanded them not to touch the fruit; this was an exaggeration! For this reason, Saint Paul the Apostle advises us to avoid such disputes, corruptive to the mind and soul. He said: “Avoid foolish and ignorant disputes” (2 Timothy 2:23). St. John Chrysostom often confirms, that the devil could not have been able to infiltrate into us, and to overcome us, if we did not give him the chance through negligence or entering with him into a vain dispute. Of his words: [Somebody may say: Did not the devil harm Adam, corrupting him and causing him to loose the Paradise? No! The responsibility for that was the negligence of him who was harmed, his lack of self-control, and of strife. The devil with his diversified tricks could not overcome Job; so how could he, by a lesser way, overcome Adam, if the latter had not overcome himself by himself?1] [Negligence and laziness, and not the devil, are the means to overcome the non-alert... through both the devil is given the opportunity to go far with his evil ways2.] . 1 من يقدر أن يؤذيك؟ ١٩٦٥ ، ص ١٢ 2 هل للشيطان سلطان عليك؟ (مقال ٢: لماذا لم ينزع الشيطان عن العالم؟). 4 [I do not say this to claim the innocence of the devil, but in order to warn you against laziness. The devil wants us to put the blame upon him when we do wrong... By that, we drown ourselves in all kinds of evil, increase our punishment, and deprive ourselves of forgiveness; through throwing the responsibility upon him, (without presenting repentance1.)] Concerning the vain dispute that Eve entered with the serpent, St. John Chrysostom says: [She should have kept silent, and should not have conversed with it. She foolishly revealed God’s commandment, so giving the devil a great break... Consider the extent of evil, when we deliver ourselves in the hands of our enemies, and those who plot against us! That is why the Lord Christ says: “Do not give what is holy to the dogs, nor cast your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you in pieces” (Matthew 7:6). That is what happened with Eve; She gave what is holy to dogs and swine; so they trampled them under their feet, turned, and tore the woman2.] I wish that we do not fear the devil, as he is not capable of violently forcing his way into our hearts; but we should fear ourselves, as we accept his tricks and vanities; as we allow him to infiltrate into our depths, to take over the leadership of our will, and the control over our heart, thought, and senses; thus falling under his bitter servitude. In that dispute between Eve and the serpent, the devil did not present to man anything but promises, saying: “You will not surely die. For God knows that in the day you eat of it, your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil” (Gen. 3:4-5). A mere promise, that they would be like God (pride!), and get knowledge; but he did not present them with anything for their own good. And as St. John Chrysostom says: [The devil did not offer any good deed - few or much - but deceived the woman with mere words, and provided her with vain hope. Despite that, she considered the devil more trust worthy than God, although God had proved His good will through His deeds3.] And as he says: [As the devil was not capable of presenting anything practical, he presented words of promise; that is how deceivers are4.] Indeed, it was possible for Eve to recognize the deceit of the devil, and to realize his opposition to God and resistance to His words. While God says to Adam: “You shall surely die,” the devil says: “You will not surely die.” And as St. John Chrysostom says: [How is it fitting for man to recognize an enemy and opponent, except by such answer that contradicts the words of God?! It was more fitting for Eve to escape right away from the bait and retreat from the snare5.] In other words, I wish we receive God as the leader of our life, and reject the devil as a deceiver and a destroyer of our souls. And as St. Augustine says: [God is our leader and the devil is our destroyer; a leader presents a commandment while the destroyer would suggest a trick. Shall we then listen to the commandment or to the deceit6.] The Fathers of the Church told us about the devil’s deceit to Adam (and to . 1 هل للشيطان سلطان عليك؟ (مقال ٢: لماذا لم ينزع الشيطان عن العالم؟)، مقال 2 . 2 هل للشيطان سلطان عليك؟ (مقال ٢: لماذا لم ينزع الشيطان عن العالم؟)، مقال 3 . 3 هل للشيطان سلطان عليك؟ (مقال ٢: لماذا لم ينزع الشيطان عن العالم؟)، مقال 3 4 In 2 Tim, hom 8. . 5 هل للشيطان سلطان عليك؟ مقال ٣ 6 On Ps. 71. 5 Eve), and saw in that deceit three main sins, presented by the enemy to destroy the whole humanity. Then he came back to fight the second Adam (Christ the Master) with the same sins, assuming that he is capable of ensnaring Him in his nets; and as said by St. Serapion: [It was necessary for our Lord to get tempted in the same way Adam did, when he was in the image of God before corrupting it, namely by greed, conceit, and pride, that were intermingled and multiplied, after he challenged the commandment, and corrupted the image and likeness of God. Adam had been tempted by greed, as he ate from the forbidden tree; and by conceit, when he was told: “Your eyes will be opened;” and by pride when it was said to him: “You will be like God Knowing good and evil” (Gen. 3:5). Our Savior had been likewise tempted by these three sins: by greed, when the devil said to Him: “Command that these stones become bread” (Matthew 4:3), and by pride when he said to Him: “If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down;” and by conceit, when he showed Him “all the kingdoms of the world and their glory” and said to Him: “All these things I will give You if You will fall down and worship me” (Matthew 4: 9). The Lord gave us Himself as an example on how we could be victorious as He was victorious, when He was tempted. They were both called “Adam,” one was the first in doom and death, while the Other was the First in resurrection and life. Through the first the whole humanity came under judgment, while through the Second it was set free1.] Several Fathers concentrated on the sin of pride, as the top of sins, by which Satan and his hosts were destroyed, and he is using the same way to destroy humanity. St. Augustine said about our first two parents who were deceived by the devil through the sin of pride: [They listened to the voice of the deceiver who told them: “You will be like God;” so they deserted God, who wished to make them gods, not through their isolation from Him, but through their fellowship with Him2.] He also says: [With pride we fail to reach this eternity... If through pride we were wounded, through humility we would be cured. God came in humility to cure man from the dangerous wound of pride3.] So our Fathers revealed to us the deceit of the enemy, the devil, who conned Eve through the serpent, so that she, in turn, would draw her man to fall with her; “She took of its fruit and ate. She also gave her husband with her, and he ate” (Gen. 3:6). By that, Eve lost her original mission as a helper (Gen. 2:18), and became a snare for her man and a destroyer of his life. St. Didymus the Blind, believes that the devil or Satan worked through the serpent that deceived the woman, who, in turn, drew her husband with her. The enemy, in his war, starts through lust, as a serpent that sneaks to us, to deceive the senses (represented by the woman); and those in turn would act on the mind (the man), which would end up losing its balance and wisdom, and would deviate to evil. 2- OPENING OF THEIR EYES “Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked, and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves coverings” (Gen. 3:7) What does “their eyes were opened to know that they were naked” mean, except that man, through sin, would realize that he entered into a state of corruption appearing through uncontrollable sensations and lusts of the body?! By that, man acquires a new knowledge - the experience of evil, that mingled with his life and 1 Cassian: Conf. 5:6. 2 City of God 22:30. 3 On Ps. 36. 6 completely corrupted his body; He is uncovering his body that became inclemently evil without control. St. Augustine says: [They experienced a new sensation in their bodies that became rebellious against them, as a firm repayment for their rebellion against God. The rebellious soul as to the ministry to God, despising that work with its free will, would lose its former authority over the body1.] And he says: [Their eyes were opened, not to see, as they used to see before, but to discern between the good that they lost, and the evil they fell into2.] [They knew that they were naked, of that grace that kept them from the shame of body nakedness; while the law of sin presented them with unsteadiness of their minds3.] St. Ambrose says: [You have knowledge that you are naked, because you lost the cloth of good faith. These are the leaves by which you want to cover your nakedness. You rejected the fruits, and sought to hide behind the leaves of the Law, but you were deceived4.] Thus, when man sees that he became naked from the fruit of divine grace that works in the depths of the inner heart, he hides behind the literality of the Law, and behind apparent formalities, without enjoyment of the inner change. St. Didymus the Blind believes that man resorts to the fig leaves, sewing them together into coverings for himself, that can not do the job, by looking for weak excuses for his deeds, saying: [Sometimes the sinner sews for himself excuses for his sins. Is that not what we see with many people?! The angry person, for instance, invents excuses to justify his anger, to try to prove that he is right, quoting sometimes from the Holy Scripture. That is what is meant by “sewed together fig leaves,” by rejecting the fruits, and resorting to incomplete protection as coverings. The angry person, for instance, mentions Elijah as a role model, when he got angry and destroyed the captain of fifty (2 Kings 1:9- 12)5.] 3- GOD’S CARE FOR MAN If man paid back the love of God by rebellion, God still treats man with love, to draw his heart away from sickness that overcame him, and to raise him up from the death that reigned over him (Romans 5:14). The sound of God came walking in the garden, to encounter the fallen man. The Scripture says: “They heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the cool of the day” (Gen. 3:8). They heard the sound of God walking, although the sound does not walk; Yet it is “the sound of God,” namely, “His Word,” the Only-Begotten Son who came with love, in order to pick up and raise the fallen man. He came as the wind of the day was blowing - according to the Arabic Version - to encounter Him through the Holy Spirit; as the two words: Spirit and wind in Hebrew, are the same. He came in the cool of the day, to recognize Him through His light. And as the Psalmist said: “By Your light O Lord, we see the light,” namely, We will not hear the sound of God walking in us, unless he blows His Holy Spirit on His garden in our depths, and shines His divine light, as though in the middle of the day. God did not wait for man to come to Him to apologize for his sins, but He approached him, so that, by love He would draw him to recognize his sins and to 1 City of God 13:13. 2 City of God 14:17. 3 City of God 14:17. 4 Ep 20:7. 5 In Gen. 85. 7 confess them. With the same spirit, our Lord Jesus commends you “to go yourself to your brother who sinned against you, to tell him his fault between you and him alone,” and not to wait for him to come to you (Matthew 18:15). And as St. John Chrysostom says, the sinner, would refrain from coming because he feels ashamed. So it is proper for us to go to him, alone at first, to gain him back to us by love, while he, himself, gains back his soul. Thus, the Word of God took the initiation in giving love to Adam, so He called him, on saying: “Where are you?” (Gen. 3:9). He was not unaware of his location, but wanted to enter with him into a dialogue, revealing to him that he is no longer worthy of being the subject of God’s knowledge, as though he became invisible to the divine light. St. Augustine says that the wicked, by his wickedness, gets out of the circle of God’s light, and becomes as the one who is out of God’s knowledge; not in the sense that God does not know him, but He does not know him in the sense of friendship and fellowship with Him. That is why the Lord tells the foolish virgins: “Assuredly, I say to you, I do not know you” (Matthew 25:12). St. Jerome says: [We heard that God does not know the sinners. Let us contemplate in how He knows the righteous.] Now, What was the situation of man in response to that divine initiation? (1) “Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden” (Gen. 3:8). This escape is a natural consequence of rebellion and of the separation from the circle of God, as the darkness can not afford to look at the light. And as Adam says: “I heard your voice in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; and I hid myself” (Gen. 3:10). St. Ambrose talks to us about the cause of the sinner’s escape from the presence of the Lord, saying: [The guilty conscience is usually heavily laden, so that it punishes itself by itself without need for a judge; seeking to get covered, but would be naked before God1.] It is as though the sin deprives man from his inner peace, and drives him into a state of terror. St. Didymus the Blind explains why Adam hid himself, saying that man sought knowledge through the experience of evil; so he hid from the presence of God, by distancing himself from the pure knowledge of God. Origen believes that the wicked people disappear from the presence of God; as it was said: “They have turned their back to me, and not their face” (Jeremiah 2:27); while the righteous confidently stand before Him, to be granted the sanctified life (1 John 3:21), with Elisha, “As the Lord Lives, before whom I stand” (2 kings 5:16). Thus Adam hid himself after his fall, and could not face God, not because God is fearful and causes horror, but because man in his evil has lost the inner image of God, which draws him with love toward his Creator, the Lover of mankind. So, God became for him a means of terror and his Judge. The fault is in man who lost the purity of nature, and the enlightenment of his insight. Therefore, St. Didymus the Blind comments on Adam’s action of hiding himself as follows: [Adam gives his nakedness as an excuse for his fear, that nakedness resulting from his loss of virtue that used to cover him. Virtue, assuredly is a divine garment; as preached by the apostle: “Put on the Lord Jesus Christ” (Romans 13:14); “Put on tender mercies” (Colossians 3:12), namely, adorn yourselves with practicing mercy according to Christ; or “Let us put on the armor of light” (Romans 13:12), to be able to fight the (spiritual) enemies2.] (2) When God encountered man through His making the first step towards him 1 Conc. Repentance 2:103. 2 In Gen. 92. 8 in love, despite his fear and hiding, man did not deny his sin, yet justified it by throwing the blame on others. Adam said: “The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I ate” (Gen. 3:12), and the woman said: “The serpent deceived me, and I ate” (Gen. 3:3). And so Adam threw the blame upon Eve, and even upon God who gave her to him; and the woman threw it upon the serpent. None of them apologized for what he or she has done. St. Didymus the Blind comments on Adam’s answer by saying: [It was fitting for him, first to think that he got her from the Lord for his own good, and that he did not get her to give him lessons, but to follow his example1.] And he comments on the answer of Eve, saying, [Now, she admits that she had been deceived... This is how those deceived behave, they do not realize evil except after it is done. Lust conceals truth from them, and deprives them of knowledge2.] 4- CURSING THE SERPENT “So the Lord said to the serpent: ‘Because you have done this, you are cursed more than all cattle, and more than every beast of the field. On your belly you shall go, and you shall eat dust all the days of your life” (Gen. 3:14) Carrying on the deceits of the devil for man, the serpent got the curse. So will be every man who accepts to be an instrument in the hands of the evil one and surrenders to his seduction. As for the curse, it is as follows: “On your belly you shall go and you shall eat dust all the days of your life.” He will resemble the serpent in going on its belly and loving the earthly. He will have no feet to lift him over the dust, nor wings to take him forth above the worldly. He will love to fill up his stomach with dust, will crawl on his belly, to get his guts full with what he craves. Besides, on the other hand, whoever accepts the counsel of the serpent, will lust for the earthly, to become, himself, earth and dust; namely, he will be food for the serpent to devour. While whoever has the wings of the Holy Spirit, will rise above the dust, setting forth toward heaven, where the serpent, crawling on the earth, cannot approach or devour him. St. Augustine says: [The wicked get attached to the earthly; and being created from earth, they think of it; and being earth, they become food for the serpent3.] He also says [As the enemy tramples on my life he turns to be earth and subsequently is the suitable food for him4.] [If you do not want to become food for the serpent, do not be dust! And how could that be? If you do not enjoy feeding on the earthly5.] 5- PROMISE OF SALVATION Having cursed the serpent that deceived man, to make us reject it and its features in us, God presented to us the first promise of salvation, addressing the serpent, saying: “I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed. He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel” (Gen. 3:15) The serpent became a representative of the devil himself, who was called, “serpent of the old” (Revelation 20:2). God put enmity between the devil and the woman, until the Lord Christ comes from the seed of the woman - without human 1 In Gen. 93. 2 In Gen. 95. 3 On Ps. 62. 4 On Ps. 7. 5 On Ps. 104. 9 intervention - to bruise the head of the serpent that bruised the heel of humanity. Christ - the seed of woman - bruised the head of the serpent with His cross, according to the words of the apostle: “Having disarmed principalities and powers, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in (the cross)” (Colossians 2:15); But the serpent will bruise every man who falls down from the exalted life in the Lord, to become a (heel) attached to dust. St. Augustine believes that the head of the serpent is pride, that lower man’s life to turn it into a heel, to be bruised by the serpent, as he says: [The serpent has his eyes on you, as you fall down with pride; you should watch his head, namely the pride, being the head of all sins1.] He also believes that the serpent’s head is the start of sin in us, through the wicked thought, therefore we should (bruise) it in its beginning, before it gets us down to the heel and kills us. He says: [What is this head? It is the beginning of every evil suggestion. When the enemy suggests to you an evil thought, cast it away before the lust gets hold of you leading you to accept it. Avoid its head, so that it would not bruise your heel2.] 6- CHASTENING MAN Having offered the promise of salvation, He proclaimed His chastisement of man. He opened the door of hope, through declaring salvation, before bringing forth the bitter chastisement, so that man would not fall under the weight of despair. He declared His chastisement, first for the woman, then for the man. (1)“I will greatly multiply your sorrow and your conception. In pain you shall bring forth children. Your desire shall be for your husband, and he shall rule over you”(Gen. 3:16). This chastisement, under which Eve fell because of the sin, was transformed, by mercy, into a blessing, when the Church - the new Eve - accepted to bring forth spiritual children for God, through her pains. St. Augustine says: [The Church – the bride of Christ - conceives and labors with children, so that she, like Eve, is called “the mother of all living” (Gen. 3:20). A member of this Church that labor says: “My children for whom I labor in birth again until Christ is formed in you... “ (Galatians 4:9). But the Church does not labor in vain, and does not deliver in vain, for she will get the holy seeds on the resurrection from the dead, she will get the righteous who are now suffering pain all over the world3.] Whatever pain, the Church - the new Eve - suffers in conceiving her spiritual children, and bringing them forth in the Lord, is also suffered by every soul, as a Church, as she conceives with the fruits of the Spirit, to bring forth children who please God. And as St. Didymus the Blind said, [The Church brings forth children, while in the world, through pain, as virtue necessitates sorrow, that “produces repentance to salvation, not to be regretted” (2 Corinthians 7:10)... “Narrow is the gate, and difficult is the way which leads to life” (Matthew 7:14); but “Wide is the gate, and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it” (Matthew 7:13). As to tears, they are praised4.] And as bringing forth children in pain, has been transformed into a blessing, through the new Eve, accepting pain to bring children forth in the Lord, so the other chastisement: “Your desire shall be for your husband, and he shall rule over you” has been, likewise, transformed into a spiritual blessing, when the incarnated Word of 1 On Ps. 37. 2 On Ps. 49. 3 On Ps. 127. 4 In Gen. 102. 10 God came to the new Eve as her man, ruling and prevailing over her by the exerted love, and she desires Him, to enjoy Him and His characteristics, as the Source of her life, and to enter with Him into His eternal glories. (2) “Cursed is the ground for your sake. In toil you shall eat of it all the days of your life. Both thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you, and you shall eat the herb of the field, In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread, till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; For dust you are, and to dust you shall return” (Gen. 3:17-19). For the sake of man, God created earth, and because of him He blessed it; then, having rebelled against the Lord, it came under curse to bring forth thorns and thistles, comparable to his rebellion or his inner thoughts. What literally happened to the earth was realized in the symbolic earth, namely the body. Because our rebellion against God, caused the body to lose its balance and sanctity, and came to bring forth for us thorns and thistles, that corrupt and destroy the soul, so our earth stayed with no spiritual fruits, until it was the time and Virgin St. Mary came, to be sanctified by the Holy Spirit, through receiving the divine promise, to produce for us the Firstborn Who pleases the heart of the Father, and brings joy to our life. And as St. Jerome says: [What earth lost in the Garden of Eden, it gained in the Son1.] Thus, through the incarnation of the Word of God, our earth could produce fruits instead of thorns and thistles, especially since the Lord has carried these thorns on His forehead in place of our earth (body), in order to give back joy to us. Earth carried the curse because of our sins, making life of man - after his fall - difficult and miserable, as it is said, “In the sweat of your face, you shall eat bread.” Finally, as man lusts for earth or dust instead of for heaven, he is told: “For you are dust, and to dust you shall return;” and through that he became food for the serpent, to which it was said: “You shall eat dust all the days of your life.” For that, the heavenly Word of God came to rid us of our earthly nature, granting us the heavenly features; and St. Jerome said: [As it is said to the sinner, ‘You are dust, and to dust you shall return,’ likewise, to the saint it will be said, ‘You are heaven, and to heaven you shall return2.’] 7- COATS OF SKIN “And Adam called his wife’s name Eve, because she was the mother of all living” (Gen. 3:20). If Adam and Eve fell under chastisement, yet, they are our first parents. In Adam we find a father of all humanity, and in Eve a mother of all living. But through this parenthood, sin infiltrated us, and we fell with them under the same chastisement, until the Second Adam came to grant the true life to believers, and His wife - the new Eve - the true mother to all living. St. Didymus the Blind, says: [The Church is the mother of believers, and Christ is their Father, in whom all fatherhood springs, what is in heaven and on earth3.] St. Jerome says: [As there is only one Eve, the mother of all living, there is likewise, only one Church, the mother of all Christians4.] And now, as our first parents fell under divine chastisement, God proclaimed His love for them, before driving them out of the garden, “He made coats of skin, and clothed them” (Gen. 3:21), in place of the fig leaves they sewed together to make 1 On Ps. hom 6. 2 On Ps. hom 46. 3 In Gen. 106. 4 Ep 123:12. 11 themselves coverings. These coats, probably, proclaimed God’s revelation to the first man about the importance of sacrifice as a symbol of that of salvation... It is as though God has given Adam and Eve the rite of the bloody sacrifice. As to the coat of skin, that do not get dry, it symbolizes the slain Lord Christ, Whom we put on as a cover for our sins, and a remover of the disgrace of our old nature. St. Ambrose sees in the coats of skin a symbol for the labor of the works of repentance, saying: [God clothed them with coats of skin, and not of silk1.] 8- SENDING MAN FORTH OUT OF THE GARDEN OF EDEN God, after making coats of skin for man and clothing him, declaring His supreme care for him, through the sacrifice of the Cross, and covering him, not with the skin of dead animals, but with the Lord Christ Himself, the Grantor of life, Who hides and covers him inside Him, He sent him out of the garden of Eden.. Why? (1) If God sent us out of Paradise, we actually took ourselves by ourselves out, as through rebellion, our corrupted nature came to be unfit for the holy paradisiacal life, but fit for earth that brings forth thorns and thistles. That is why St. John Chrysostom says: [God granted us Paradise out of His compassionate care; and as we demonstrated our unworthiness for that gift, because of our negligence, He took it away from the unworthy, out of His goodness. (Because He is All-good He can’t accept any deviation from the perfection.)2] (2) Driving man out of Paradise, does not imply a complete deprivation of what God once granted him, but preparing him for an enjoyment of a greater Paradise, and an unending eternal life. St. Theophilus of Antioch says that driving man out, even if it is a punishment, yet it carried goodness on God’s part; He intended to punish sin, and to get man back after renewing him3. St. Ambrose says: [Death was given as a remedy, as it puts a limit to evils4.] With the same sense St. John Chrysostom says: [Just imagine what would be the situation of Cain if he stayed in Paradise in his condition as a blood-shedder?! Paradise was given to man, and when he proved not worthy of it, he was driven out, for staying out and feeling insulted, he would turn to a better condition (through repentance), to be worthy of returning. That actually happened, as the Lord said to him (the thief): “Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise” (Luke 23:43). Look how, not only giving us the Paradise, but also sending us out of it, is a sign of great care and compassion! If man did not suffer being driven out of Paradise, he would not have been worthy of it again5.] God knew it was alarming for man to eat from the tree of life, while corrupted in his nature, lest he would stay in his evil eternally. The Scripture says: “The man has become like one of Us, to know good and evil. And now, lest he put out his hand and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live forever” (Gen. 3:22). It seems that the speaker here, is the Holy Trinity, as He says: “became like one of Us” concerning knowledge of good and evil. But man has got that knowledge through the fatal experience of evil. Abbot. Chaeremon comments on that experience, saying: [We should not assume that man was totally ignorant of the ‘good,’ or he would be as one of the dumb 1 Conc. Repent. 2:11 (99). . 2 هل للشيطان سلطان عليك؟ ١٩٧٢ ، ص ١٩ 3 To Aytolycus 2:26. 4 On Belief of Resur. 2:38. .٢٣ ¡٢٢ ¡ 5 هل للشيطان سلطان عليك؟ ١٩٧٢ ، ص ١٩ 12 unreasonable creatures; something completely foreign from the faith of the (Catholic) Church. Moreover, the wise Solomon says: “God made man upright” (Ecclesiastes 7:29); namely, he, alone, always enjoyed the knowledge of good. But once acquired, the knowledge of good and evil, “they have sought out many schemes” (Ecclesiastes 7:29). Adam, after his fall, acquired the knowledge of evil that he had never known before, but he did not lose his knowledge of the good that he used to know1.] Finally, as man was driven out of Paradise, God placed a Cherub to guard the way to the tree of life, until the time came when He, Himself, who is sitting on the Cherubim, came to carry us in His pierced side, to take us along with Him, into His heavenly Paradise. 1 Cassian: Conf. 13:12.
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