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he adds that there was darkness and light was not yet, "and God said: Let there be light, and there was light"; this light first came to be when darkness had covered all things. "God said," then, "Let there be light, and there was light, and God divided between the light and between the darkness, and God called the light day and the darkness he called night"; you have the first day and the first night. For what? How did he say that "and God divided between the light and 21 between the darkness," which he ordained into night? For "between" makes for two extremes. For since all things that God created, he created within a defined nature, it is fitting that he also produced the first day and night within a defined and equally-portioned boundary; and having completed the measure he saw that it was very good, and then, as I have already said before, he finally allowed the inequality to be worked by motion. If, however, the first state was in equality, then the equinox is the beginning of the first time, as has been demonstrated.

22 Then after the equinox, mark what I say, on the fourth day the sun and moon come to be—the luminaries are outside of the equinox—, on the sixth day he forms man; and then on the seventh he rests from all his works, on the following day, which is also the first, as if the universe were now completed, he allowed it to be carried on in order. Observe; for, with these things being observed and your memory being present, the interpreting account must be well received.

23 Thus God made man, and as a good God he made such a great and noble man. For do not look at his foolishness, but imagine his first state; for he made him "in his own image". And to show his nature rivaling the stars, he reveals that he also placed him naked in paradise, not needing clothing. For shame had not yet come upon his appearance, so that man should need covering, but the scripture testifies that he made man "and placed him in paradise," and that they were naked "and were not ashamed," but just as the sun and moon are adorned by their own nakedness, so indeed these too were permitted to be beautified by their natural comeliness.

24 Having therefore conferred such a great benefit on him, and having established him in a life of luxury in paradise, and having richly shared with him his own graces, God also justly seeks an awareness from him and judged that the grace should be honored with obedience; and since he saw that it was impossible for the gift to be kept safe for him <if> he did not take refuge in and honor the God who had given it, he set a law for him as a guardian of his nature, so that by the memory and help of the lawgiver he might be preserved as by some good medicines, and he promised him immortality if the law were kept, but death if he transgressed it.

25 But these things being so, what happened, happened, and persuaded by the envy of the devil to transgress the law, man becomes corruptible and is put outside of paradise, and henceforth multiplying he lived a bestial life and became a receptacle of impiety and licentiousness; and because of this prophets cried out both concerning his first worthiness and his subsequent unworthiness: "Man, being in honor, did not understand; he was compared to the mindless cattle and was made like them."

26 With things being thus and nature being destroyed, the only-begotten Son of God, wishing with the Father's will to lead man back and to snatch him from the impending judgment, devises both a time and a manner of help, a time so that he might opportunely attend to the healing, and a manner so that he himself might be suitable for the restoration of purification, and so having become man while remaining God he endured the universal passion. I have spoken often about this victim, I said many things before, making the proofs from the Jews themselves to the Jews and from the Greeks themselves to the Greeks, and an averter of evil

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ἐπάγει ὅτι σκότος ἦν καὶ φῶς οὐδέπω ἦν, "καὶ εἶπεν ὁ θεός· γενηθήτω φῶς, καὶ ἐγένετο φῶς"· τοῦτο τὸ φῶς πρῶτον ἐγένετο σκότους τὰ πάντα κατειληφότος. "Εἶπεν" οὖν "ὁ θεός· γενηθήτω φῶς, καὶ ἐγένετο φῶς, καὶ διεχώρισεν ὁ θεὸς ἀνὰ μέσον τοῦ φωτὸς καὶ ἀνὰ μέσον τοῦ σκότους, καὶ ἐκάλεσεν ὁ θεὸς τὸ φῶς ἡμέραν καὶ τὸ σκότος ἐκάλεσε νύκτα"· ἔχεις πρώτην ἡμέραν καὶ πρώτην νύκτα. Τί γάρ; πῶς εἶπεν ὅτι "καὶ διεχώρισεν ὁ θεὸς ἀνὰ μέσον τοῦ φωτὸς καὶ 21 ἀνὰ μέσον τοῦ σκότους", ὃ διέταξεν εἰς νύκτα; Τὸ γὰρ ἀνὰ μέσον εἰς τὰ δύο ἄκρα ποιεῖ. Ἐπειδὴ γὰρ πάντα ὅσα ἐδημιούργει ὁ θεὸς ἐν ὡρισμένῃ ἐδημιούργει φύσει, εἰκότως καὶ ἡμέραν καὶ νύκτα τὰς πρώτας ἐν ὡρισμένῃ καὶ ἴσως ἐχούσῃ παρῆγε περιγραφῇ· καὶ ἀπαρτίσας τὸ μέτρον ἑώρα κάλλιστα ἔχειν, εἶθ' οὕτω, καθὰ ἤδη φθάσας εἶπον, τῇ κινήσει λοιπὸν ἀφῆκε τὴν ἀνωμαλίαν ἐργάζεσθαι. Εἰ μέντοι πρώτη στάσις ἐν ἴσῳ γέγονεν, τοίνυν ἡ ἰσημερία ἀρχὴ τοῦ πρώτου χρόνου, ὡς ἀποδέδεικται.

22 Εἶτα μετὰ ἰσημερίαν, σκόπει ὃ λέγω, τετάρτῃ ἡμέρᾳ γίνεται ἥλιος καὶ σελήνη-ἔξω τῆς ἰσημερίας εἰσὶν οἱ φωστῆρες-, ἕκτῃ ἡμέρᾳ πλάττει τὸν ἄνθρωπον· καὶ ἔπειτα τῇ ἑβδόμῃ καταπαύει ἀπὸ πάντων τῶν ἔργων, τῇ ἐπιούσῃ, ἥτις ἐστὶ καὶ πρώτη, οἷα τελειωθὲν λοιπὸν τὸ σύμπαν ἀφῆκεν ἐν τάξει φέρεσθαι. Τήρει· δεῖ γὰρ, τούτων τηρουμένων καὶ τῆς σῆς μνήμης παραστάσης, εὐδοκιμῆσαι τὸν ἑρμηνεύοντα λόγον.

23 Ἐποίησεν οὕτω τὸν ἄνθρωπον ὁ θεός, καὶ ὡς θεὸς ἀγαθὸς τοσοῦτον καὶ τηλικοῦτον ἐποίησεν ἄνθρωπον. Μὴ γὰρ ὅρα αὐτοῦ τὴν ἀβελτερίαν, ἀλλὰ τὴν πρώτην φαντάζου κατά στασιν· καὶ γὰρ "κατ' εἰκόνα" αὐτὸν ἑαυτοῦ ἐποίησεν. Καὶ ἵνα δείξῃ αὐτοῦ τὴν φύσιν τοῖς ἄστροις ἁμιλλωμένην, ἐμφαίνει ὅτι καὶ γυμνὸν ἔθηκεν ἐν τῷ παραδείσῳ στολῆς οὐ χρῄζοντα. Οὐδέπω γὰρ ὕβρις συνεληλύθει τῇ ὄψει, ἵνα καὶ σκέπης δέηται ἄνθρωπος, ἀλλ' ἡ γραφὴ μαρτυρεῖ ὅτι ἐποίησε τὸν ἄνθρωπον "καὶ ἔθετο αὐτὸν ἐν τῷ παραδείσῳ", καὶ ὅτι γυμνοὶ ἦσαν "καὶ οὐκ ᾐσχύ νοντο", ἀλλ' ὥσπερ ἥλιος καὶ σελήνη τῇ ἑαυτῶν γυμνώσει ἐγκαλλωπίζονται, οὕτω δὴ καὶ οὗτοι ἠφείθησαν τῇ φυσικῇ εὐπρεπείᾳ ἐνωραΐζεσθαι.

24 Τοσαύτην οὖν εὐεργεσίαν εἰς τοῦτον εἰσενεγκάμενος ὁ θεὸς καὶ ἁβροδίαιτον αὐτὸν ἐν παραδείσῳ καταστησάμενος τῶν τε παρ' ἑαυτοῦ χαρίτων πλουσίως αὐτῷ μεταδοὺς καὶ τὴν αὐτοῦ αἴσθησιν κατὰ τὸ δίκαιον ἐπιζητεῖ καὶ ὑπακοῇ τιμᾶσθαι τὴν χάριν ἐδίκαζεν· καὶ ἐπειδὴ εἶδεν ὅτι ἀδύνατον αὐτῷ συμφυλαχθῆναι τὴν δωρεὰν <εἰ> μὴ καταφυγῇ καὶ τιμῇ τῇ πρὸς τὸν δεδωκότα θεόν, νόμον αὐτῷ φρουρὸν ὁρίζει τῆς φύσεως, ἵνα μνήμῃ καὶ βοηθείᾳ τοῦ νομοθέτου οἷα ἀγαθοῖς τισι φαρμάκοις φυλάττηται, καὶ ἀθανασίαν μὲν αὐτῷ τηρουμένου νόμου κατεπαγγέλλεται, θάνατον δὲ παραβάντι.

25 Ἀλλὰ τούτων οὕτως ἐχόντων, γέγονε τὰ γενόμενα, καὶ φθόνῳ τοῦ διαβόλου πεισθεὶς παραβῆναι τὸν νόμον ὁ ἄνθρωπος φθαρτὸς γίνεται καὶ ἔξω τίθεται τοῦ παραδείσου, καὶ λοιπὸν εἰς πλῆθος δοὺς βίον τε κτηνώδη ἔζη καὶ ἀθείας τε καὶ ἀκολασίας δοχεῖον ἐγίνετο· καὶ διὰ τοῦτο προφῆται ἐβόων καὶ περὶ τῆς πρώτης αὐτοῦ ἀξίας καὶ μετὰ ταῦτα ἀναξιό τητος· "Ἄνθρωπος ἐν τιμῇ ὢν οὐ συνῆκεν, παρα συνεβλήθη τοῖς κτήνεσι τοῖς ἀνοήτοις καὶ ὡμοιώθη αὐτοῖς".

26 Τούτων δὴ οὕτως ἐχόντων καὶ ἀπολλυμένης τῆς φύσεως, βουληθεὶς ὁ μονογενὴς υἱὸς τοῦ θεοῦ σὺν πατρικῇ γνώμῃ ἐπαναγαγεῖν τὸν ἄνθρωπον καὶ τῆς ἐπηρτημένης δίκης ἐξαρπάζειν αὐτόν, καὶ καιρὸν τῆς βοηθείας καὶ τρόπον ἐπινοεῖ, καιρὸν μὲν ἵν' εὐκαίρως ἐπιστῇ πρὸς τὴν ἴασιν, τρόπον δὲ ἵνα κατάλληλος αὐτὸς πρὸς τὴν ἐκκαθάρσεως ἀποκατάστασιν γένηται, καὶ δὴ γενόμενος ἄνθρωπος μετὰ τοῦ μεῖναι θεὸς τὸ παγκόσμιον πάθος ὑπέμεινεν. Εἶπον πολλάκις περὶ τούτου τοῦ θύματος, πολλὰ ἔλεγον πρῴην, ἐξ αὐτῶν τῶν Ἰουδαίων πρὸς Ἰουδαίους καὶ ἐξ αὐτῶν τῶν Ἑλλήνων πρὸς Ἑλλήνας τὰς ἀποδείξεις ποιούμενος, καὶ ἀποτρόπαιον