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will guard the mind, your hearts. But as I was saying, two ways of defense have been found for now: one, that God did not cast us out, but we destroyed ourselves; a second, that the good things given to us are more and greater than those that were lost. But I wish to state a third also. What then is the third? That even if He did not give greater things than what was lost afterwards, but only took away what was given to us—we ourselves providing the cause, for let this be added—this is also sufficient in itself to show His care for us. For not only to give, but also to take away what has been given, is a mark of the greatest loving-kindness; and, if you wish, let us test the argument with paradise. He gave paradise; this was of His care. We were found unworthy of the gift; this was of our ingratitude. He took away the gift when we became unworthy; this came of His goodness. And what goodness, he says, is it to take away the gift? Wait, and you will certainly hear. For consider what Cain would have become, living in paradise after the murder. For if even after being cast out from that way of life, if after being condemned to toil and labor and seeing the threat of death hanging over him, if seeing his father's calamity before his eyes and still having in his hands the traces of God's wrath, and being surrounded by so many terrible things, he kicked out into such wickedness as to be ignorant of nature, and to forget the fellowship of birth-pangs, and to slaughter one who had done no wrong, and to touch a brother's body and bloody his right hand, and not to endure it when God advised him to be quiet, but to insult his Maker and dishonor his parents—if this man had lived in paradise, consider to what great evil he would have driven. For if with so many bridles laid upon him, he leapt deadly leaps, the 49.249 and these walls had been removed, where would he not have hurled himself down? Do you wish to learn also from his mother how great a good it was to be cast out from the life of paradise? Examine who Eve was before this, and who she became after this. Before this she considered the deceiver, the devil, that wicked demon, more trustworthy than the commandments of God, and from the mere sight of the tree she trampled on the law laid down by Him; but when she fell out of paradise, consider how she became better and more temperate; for having borne a son, she says: I have gotten a man through God. She who before this had despised the Master immediately fled for refuge to the Master, and she does not reckon the matter to nature, nor does she attribute the birth to the law of marriage; but she knows the Master of nature, and to Him she professes thanks for the birth of the child. And she who before this deceived her husband, later also educated the child, and gives him a name that can bring him to remembrance of God's gift; and again, having borne another, she says: God has raised up for me seed in place of Abel, whom Cain killed. She remembers the calamity, and the woman does not despair, but gives thanks to God again, and names the child from the gift, providing for him a continual basis for instruction. Thus even in the taking away itself God bestowed greater goods; the woman fell from paradise, but she was led by the hand to the knowledge of God through the expulsion, so that she found something greater than what she lost. And if it was useful, he says, to fall from paradise, for what reason did God give paradise in the beginning? This became useful, O man, on account of our indolence; for if they had paid attention to themselves and recognized the Master, and known how to be temperate and moderate, they would have remained in honor; but since they acted insolently towards the gift that was given, it then became useful to be cast out. For what reason, then, did God give it in the beginning? In order that He might display His own loving-kindness, and that He for His part was prepared to lead to greater honor

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νοῦν φρουρήσει τὰς καρδίας ὑμῶν. Ἀλλ' ὅπερ ἔλεγον, δύο μὲν οὗτοι τέως ἀπολογίας εὕρηνται τρόποι, εἷς μὲν, ὅτι οὐχ ὁ Θεὸς ἐξέβαλεν, ἀλλ' ἡμεῖς ἀπωλέσαμεν· δεύτερος δὲ, ὅτι πλείω τῶν ἀπολωλότων καὶ μείζονα τὰ δοθέντα ἡμῖν ἀγαθά. Βούλομαι δὲ καὶ τρίτον εἰπεῖν. Τίς οὖν ἐστιν ὁ τρίτος; Ὅτι εἰ καὶ μὴ ἔδωκε μείζω τῶν ἀπολωλότων τὰ μετὰ ταῦτα, ἀλλ' ἀφείλετο μόνον τὰ δοθέντα ἡμῖν, ἡμῶν παρεχόντων τὴν αἰτίαν τοῦτο γὰρ προσκείσθω· καὶ τοῦτο ἱκανὸν καθ' ἑαυτὸ δεῖξαι τὴν κηδεμονίαν αὐτοῦ τὴν εἰς ἡμᾶς. Οὐ γὰρ τὸ δοῦναι μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ τὸ ἀφελέσθαι τὰ δοθέντα, μεγίστης φιλανθρωπίας ἐστί· καὶ, εἰ βούλεσθε, ἐπὶ τοῦ παραδείσου τὸν λόγον γυμνάσωμεν. Ἔδωκε τὸν παράδεισον· τοῦτο τῆς αὐτοῦ κηδεμονίας· ἀνάξιοι τῆς δωρεᾶς ὤφθημεν· τοῦτο τῆς ἡμετέρας ἀγνωμοσύνης· ἀφείλετο τὴν δωρεὰν ἀναξίοις γενομένοις· τοῦτο τῆς αὐτοῦ γέγονεν ἀγαθότητος. Καὶ ποία ἀγαθότης, φησὶ, τὸ ἀφελέσθαι τὴν δωρεάν; Ἀνάμεινον, καὶ ἀκούσῃ πάντως. Ἐννόησον γὰρ τίς ἔμελλεν ὁ Κάϊν ἔσεσθαι, ἐν παραδείσῳ διατρίβων μετὰ τὴν μιαιφονίαν. Εἰ γὰρ καὶ ἐκπεσὼν ἐκείνης τῆς διαίτης, εἰ μόχθῳ καὶ πόνῳ καταδικασθεὶς καὶ τοῦ θανάτου τὴν ἀπειλὴν ἐπηρτημένην ὁρῶν, εἰ τοῦ πατρὸς πρὸ τῶν ὀφθαλμῶν βλέπων τὴν συμφορὰν καὶ ἐν χερσὶν ἔχων ἔτι τῆς ὀργῆς τοῦ Θεοῦ τὰ ἴχνη, καὶ τοσούτοις περιεστοιχισμένος δεινοῖς, εἰς τοσοῦτον ἐξελάκτισε πονηρίας, ὥστ' ἀγνοῆσαι τὴν φύσιν, καὶ ἐπιλαθέσθαι τῆς κοινωνίας τῶν ὠδίνων, καὶ τὸν οὐδὲν ἠδικηκότα σφάξαι, καὶ ἀδελφικοῦ σώματος ἅψασθαι καὶ αἱμάξαι τὴν δεξιὰν, καὶ τοῦ Θεοῦ παραινοῦντος ἡσυχάζειν μὴ ἀνέχεσθαι, ἀλλ' ὑβρίσαι τὸν πεποιηκότα, ἀτιμάσαι τοὺς γεγεννηκότας, εἰ ἐν παραδείσῳ διέτριβεν οὗτος, σκόπει πρὸς ὅσην ἂν ἤλασε κακίαν. Εἰ γὰρ τοσούτων ἐπικειμένων τῶν χαλινῶν, θανάσιμα ἐσκίρτησε σκιρτήματα, οἱ 49.249 καὶ τὰ τειχία ταῦτα ἀνῄρητο, ποῦ οὐκ ἂν ἑαυτὸν κατεκρήμνισε; Βούλει καὶ ἀπὸ τῆς τούτου μητρὸς μαθεῖν, ὅσον ἀγαθὸν γέγονε τὸ τῆς τοῦ παραδείσου διαίτης ἐκπεσεῖν; Ἐξέτασον τίς ἦν ἡ Εὔα πρὸ τούτου, καὶ τίς ἐγένετο μετὰ ταῦτα. Πρὸ τούτου μὲν τὸν ἀπατεῶνα διάβολον, τὸν πονηρὸν δαίμονα ἐκεῖνον ἀξιοπιστότερον εἶναι ἐνόμισε τῶν τοῦ Θεοῦ προσταγμάτων, καὶ ἀπὸ ψιλῆς ὄψεως τοῦ δένδρου κατεπάτησε τὸν παρ' αὐτοῦ τεθέντα νόμον· ἐπειδὴ δὲ ἐξέπεσε τοῦ παραδείσου, σκόπει πῶς βελτίων ἐγένετο καὶ σωφρονεστέρα· τεκοῦσα γὰρ υἱὸν, φησίν· Ἐκτησάμην ἄνθρωπον διὰ τοῦ Θεοῦ. Ἐπὶ τὸν ∆εσπότην εὐθέως κατέφυγεν ἡ τοῦ ∆εσπότου πρὸ τούτου καταφρονήσασα, καὶ οὐχὶ τῇ φύσει τὸ πρᾶγμα λογίζεται, οὐδὲ νόμῳ γάμου τὸν τόκον ἀνατίθησιν· ἀλλ' οἶδε τὸν τῆς φύσεως ∆εσπότην, κἀκείνῳ χάριτας ὑπὲρ τῆς τοῦ παιδίου γεννήσεως ὁμολογεῖ. Καὶ ἡ πρὸ τούτου τὸν ἄνδρα ἀπατήσασα, ὕστερον καὶ τὸ παιδίον ἐπαίδευσε, καὶ ὄνομα ἐπιτίθησιν αὐτῷ τὸ δυνάμενον αὐτὸ εἰς ὑπόμνησιν ἄγειν τῆς τοῦ Θεοῦ δωρεᾶς· καὶ πάλιν ἕτερον τεκοῦσα, φησίν· Ἐξανέστησέ μοι ὁ Θεὸς σπέρμα ἀντὶ Ἄβελ, ὃν ἀπέκτεινε Κάϊν. Μέμνηται τῆς συμφορᾶς, καὶ οὐκ ἀποδυσπετεῖ τὸ γύναιον, ἀλλ' εὐχαριστεῖ τῷ Θεῷ πάλιν, καὶ τὸ παιδίον ἀπὸ τῆς δωρεᾶς καλεῖ, διηνεκῆ παρέχουσα αὐτῷ διδασκαλίας ὑπόθεσιν. Οὕτω καὶ ἐν αὐτῷ τῷ ἀφελέσθαι μείζονα ἐχαρίσατο ὁ Θεὸς ἀγαθά· ἐξέπεσε τοῦ παραδείσου ἡ γυνὴ, ἀλλὰ πρὸς θεογνωσίαν ἐχειραγωγήθη διὰ τῆς ἐκβολῆς, ὥστε μεῖζον εὗρεν, ἢ ἀπώλεσε. Καὶ εἰ χρήσιμον ἦν, φησὶ, τὸ ἐκπεσεῖν τοῦ παραδείσου, τίνος ἕνεκεν ἐδίδου παρὰ τὴν ἀρχὴν τὸν παράδεισον ὁ Θεός; Χρησίμως τοῦτο διὰ τὴν ῥᾳθυμίαν, ἄνθρωπε, ἐγένετο τὴν ἡμετέραν· ὡς εἴ γε προσεῖχον ἑαυτοῖς ἐκεῖνοι καὶ τὸν ∆εσπότην ἐπεγίνωσκον, καὶ σωφρονεῖν ἠπίσταντο καὶ μετριάζειν, ἔμειναν ἂν ἐπὶ τῆς τιμῆς· ἐπειδὴ δὲ ἐξύβρισαν εἰς τὴν δοθεῖσαν δωρεὰν, τηνικαῦτα χρήσιμον ἐγένετο τὸ ἐκβληθῆναι. Τίνος οὖν ἕνεκεν παρὰ τὴν ἀρχὴν ἔδωκεν ὁ Θεός; Ἵνα τὴν οἰκείαν ἐπιδείξηται φιλανθρωπίαν, καὶ ὅτι αὐτὸς μὲν παρεσκεύαστο πρὸς μείζονα τιμὴν ἄγειν