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being sent. But because they had their existence from non-being, it was not possible for them to remain unchanged in the state in which they had been placed; for only the uncreated is unchangeable. From this, one among them became haughty and wished to be made equal in honor to the Master, and he falls a pitiful fall, one that admits no return. For the demonic race is by nature disposed to receive alteration to its depths, and its form is wholly transmuted and changed; it is not, therefore, possible for it to sober up from what it has received. And with him other powers also fall away and slip into evil, powers that voluntarily closed their own eyes. Such, then, are the affairs of the first and intelligible world.

13 Again, then, another world was contemplated by the Creator. And this is heaven and earth and the things in them or that have taken their existence from them, the nature of irrational animals—on land, in water, and in the air—and the genus of diverse plants, with which the whole body of the earth is adorned, and all other things whatsoever that did not lack sensation. Therefore, the sensible and the intelligible world were distinct from each other in both position and nature, since those above had no sensation of the things below, nor were these able to conceive of anything of the things beyond. For these reasons, God conceives a more wonderful mixture, and He brings intellect together with sensation and fashions man, taking the body from matter, but creating the rational soul by a divine in-breathing. And He places him on earth as a twofold creature, mortal and immortal, lofty and lowly, consorting with God and divine things yet not standing apart from sensible things, a spectator of the things above and an examiner of the things below, a mean between the irrational and the purely rational nature. And He plants for him a paradise in the east, an exceptional place and one befitting the first man fashioned by the hands of the Better One, and a calling is given to him that comprises the ends of the earth, and all things are subjected to him, and their natures are known to him through the purity of his intellect. And since it was necessary for a helper to be made for him who was not of a different substance, God casts a sleep upon him and takes a rib and forms the woman; and the man awakens from his sleep and marvels at her likeness and accepts his spouse and embraces the female in unanimity.

14 But the envy of him who fell through pride puts the thought of divinity into them; for by the same means he knows he was caught, by these he resolved to hunt the first man also. Why should I detail the tragedy of this misfortune, which has been lamented by many, many times, and by us not a few times? Both touch the forbidden plant, they are immediately cast out both from paradise and from God and are shamefully naked, and they cover themselves with the leaves of a fig tree, one later cursed as fruitless by the Master. And the condemnation, you all know what kind it is even if I were silent, the most burdensome and grievous suffering throughout this life, and in the end to return to the earth, from which we were first taken; for since we did not remain in the state in which we were also fashioned, we have been condemned, as is fitting, to dissolution. And the purpose is both divine and beneficial, leading to a second life, more honorable and better. But it was not yet so easy for the curse of our race to be undone, nor for our nature to be altered in a short time toward the better, since it had received the stain of the curse deep within, nor to be led up more easily, having stooped into the great depth of sin. Therefore, it was not in the nature of the matter; for how could it bring about the cure for itself? But neither was it possible for angels, for whom it is desirable, unless they too were to change, who have the uninterrupted task of looking up to the splendor, from which they receive their radiance and boast of an immovable stability. It remains, therefore, for this to be an work of God, which, well done, has also come to pass; for neither an angel nor indeed a man, but the Creator Himself has saved me, the sinner.

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ἀποστελλόμενα. ὅτι δὲ ἐξ οὐκ ὄντων ἔσχον τὴν ὕπαρξιν, οὐκ ἦν αὐτοὺς ἀμεταπτώτους μένειν ἐν οἷς καὶ τετάχαται· μόνον γὰρ τὸ ἄκτιστον ἄτρεπ τον. ἐντεῦθεν ἐν τούτοις ὑπεραίρεταί τις μετάρσιος καὶ τῷ δεσπότῃ παρισωθῆναι τῇ ἀξίᾳ βεβούληται καὶ πτῶμα πίπτει ἐλεεινὸν καὶ τὴν ὑποστροφὴν μὴ δεχόμενον. εἰς γὰρ βάθος τὸ δαιμόνιον φῦλον προσλαμβάνειν πέφυκε τὴν ἀλλοίωσιν καὶ δι' ὅλου τὸ εἶδος μεταστοιχειοῦται καὶ μεταβάλλεται· οὔκ ἐστι γοῦν ἐξὸν ὅπερ προσείληφεν ἀπονήψασθαι. σὺν αὐτῷ δὲ καὶ ἑτέραι δυνάμεις ἐκπίπτουσι καὶ πρὸς κακίαν ἐξολισθαίνουσι, ἐθελον ταὶ ἐπιμύσασαι δυνάμεις τούτων τὰς ὀπτικάς. οὕτω μὲν δὴ τὰ τοῦ πρώτου κόσμου καὶ νοητοῦ. 13 Πάλιν οὖν ἕτερος κόσμος τῷ δημιουργῷ τεθεώρηται. ὁ δέ ἐστιν οὐρανὸς καὶ γῆ καὶ τὰ ἐν τούτοις ἢ καὶ ἐκ τού των λαβόντα τὴν ὕπαρξιν, ἥ τε τῶν ἀλόγων ζώων φύσις πεζή τε καὶ ἔνυδρος καὶ πτηνὴ καὶ φυτῶν γένος πολυει δῶν, οἷς ἐναγλαΐζεται τὸ κύτος ἅπαν τῆς γῆς, τἆλλα τε πάντα ὁπόσα τὴν αἴσθησιν οὐκ ἠγνόησεν. αἰσθητὸς μὲν οὖν καὶ νοητὸς κόσμος καὶ θέσει καὶ φύσει ἀπ' ἀλλήλων διίστατο, οὔτ' ἐκείνων αἴσθησιν ἐχόντων τῶν κάτωθεν οὔτε τούτων νοεῖν τι δυναμένων τῶν ὑπερέκεινα. διὰ ταῦτα μῖξιν ἐννοεῖ θαυμασιωτέραν θεός, καὶ συνάγει νοῦν πρὸς τὴν αἴσθησιν καὶ διαπλάττει τὸν ἄνθρωπον, ἐξ ὕλης μὲν τὸ σῶμα λαβών, ἐμφυ σήματι δὲ θείῳ τὴν νοερὰν δημιουργήσας ψυχήν. καὶ ζῶον διπλοῦν ἐπὶ γῆς αὐτὸν τίθησιν θνητὸν καὶ ἀθάνατον, ὑψηλὸν καὶ χαμαίζηλον, θεῷ καὶ θείοις συνόντα καὶ τῶν αἰσθητῶν γε μὴ ἀφιστάμενον, θεω ρὸν τῶν ἄνω καὶ τῶν κάτω ἐξεταστήν, μέσον τῆς ἀλόγου καὶ τῆς καθαρᾶς λογικῆς φύσεως. καὶ παράδεισον αὐτῷ φυτεύει κατὰ ἀνατολάς, χωρίον ἐξαίρετον καὶ τῷ πρώτῳ ἀνθρώπῳ ἐμπρέποντα χερσὶ διαπεπλασμένῳ τοῦ κρείττονος, καὶ τίθεται τούτῳ κλῆσις τῶν τῆς γῆς περάτων συνεκτική, καὶ ὑποτάσσεται τούτῳ τὰ πάντα, καί οἱ γινώσκονται φύσεις τῷ καθαρῷ τῆς νοήσεως. ἐπεὶ δὲ ἔδει καὶ βοηθὸν αὐτῷ γενέσθαι μὴ ἑτεροούσιον, ἐμβάλλει θεὸς ὕπνον αὐτῷ καὶ τέμνει πλευρὰν καὶ ἐκπληροῖ τὴν γυναῖκα· καὶ τοῦ ὕ πνου ἐγείρεται ὁ ἀνὴρ καὶ θαυμάζει τὸ ὅμοιον καὶ ἀποδέχεται τὸ ὁμόζυγον καὶ τὸ θῆλυ εἰς ὁμοφροσύνην ἀσπάζεται.

14 Ἀλλ' ὁ τοῦ πεσόντος ἐξ ἐπάρσεως φθόνος εἰς ἔννοιαν ἐμβάλλει τούτους θεότητος· οἷς γὰρ οἶδεν οὗτος ἁλούς, τούτοις θηρεῦσαι καὶ τὸν πρῶτον ἔγνωκεν ἄνθρωπον. τί δὴ πρὸς λεπτὸν ἐκτραγῳδοίην τὴν συμφορὰν πολλοῖς τε καὶ πολλάκις καὶ ἡμῖν οὐκ ὀλιγάκις ἐκθρηνηθεῖσαν; ἅπτονται καὶ ἄμφω τοῦ ἀπαγορευομένου φυτοῦ, ἐκβάλλονται παρευθὺ καὶ τοῦ παραδείσου καὶ τοῦ θεοῦ καὶ ἀσχημονοῦσι γυμνοί, φύλλοις συκῆς δὲ τῆς καὶ ἐς ὕστερον ὡς ἀκάρπου παρὰ τοῦ δεσπό του κεκατηραμένης καλύπτονται. καὶ τὸ κατάκριμα οἷον πάντες οἴδατε κἂν ἐγὼ σιωπήσαιμι, ἡ κατὰ τὸν βίον τοῦτον πολυαχθεστάτη καὶ βαρυτάτη τληπάθεια καὶ τέλος εἰς γῆν ἀποστρέψαι, ἐξ ἧς τὸ πρῶτον ἐλήφθημεν· ἐπειδὴ γὰρ οὐ μεμενήκαμεν ἐν οἷς καὶ πεπλάσμεθα, τὴν συντριβὴν ὡς εἰκὸς καταδεδικάσμεθα. καὶ ὁ σκοπὸς θεῖός τε καὶ ὀνήσι μος, εἰς δευτέραν ἄγων ζωὴν τιμιωτέραν καὶ κρείττονα. ἀλλ' οὔπω ἦν οὕτως εὐχερῶς τὴν τοῦ γένους λυθῆναι κατάραν οὐδὲ διὰ μικροῦ τὴν φύσιν ἀλλοιωθῆναι πρὸς τὸ χρηστότερον, διὰ βάθους δεξαμένην τὴν τῆς κατάρας χρω μάτισιν, οὐδ' ἀναχθῆναι ῥᾷον, εἰς βάθος μέγα τῆς ἁμαρ τίας ἐγκύψασαν. οὔτε οὖν πρὸς τῆς φύσεως τοῦ πράγματος ἦν· πῶς γὰρ αὐτὸς ἑαυτῷ τὴν θεραπείαν εἶχεν ἐπενεγκεῖν; ἀλλ' οὔτ' ἀγγέλοις ἦν δυνατὸν οἷς ἀγαπητόν, ἂν μὴ καὶ αὐτοὶ μετατρέποιντο, ἔργον ἀδιάκοπον ἔχουσιν ἀνανεύειν εἰς τὴν λαμπρότητα, ἐξ ἧς τὴν φαῦσιν λαμ βάνουσι καὶ τὴν στάσιν αὐχοῦσιν ἀμετακίνητον. λείπεται γοῦν θεοῦ τυγχά νειν τοῦτο ἐνέργημα, ὃ δὴ καλῶς ποιοῦν καὶ γεγένη ται· οὔτε γὰρ ἄγγελος οὔτε μὴν ἄνθρωπος ἀλλ' αὐτὸς ὁ δημιουργὸς ἐμὲ τὸν ἁμαρτήσαντα σέσωκε.