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Much more, before that, having produced the whole earth, this very one which we inhabit, and all things in the earth, and not only that but also heaven and the things in it in five days, on the sixth day He formed Adam and established him as lord and king of all visible creation. And neither was Eve brought forth then, nor paradise, but this world became like one paradise by God, produced incorruptible indeed, but material and sensible; this, as has been said, He has given to Adam and those from him for enjoyment. But let this not seem strange to you, but await the argument and it will prove this most clearly from holy Scripture itself. For it is written: "In the beginning God made the heaven and the earth; but the earth was invisible and unformed". Then, accurately explaining in order all the remaining works of God's creation, after saying: "And there was evening and there was morning, the fifth day," he added: "And God said: let us make man in our image and likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and the cattle and all the earth and all the creeping things that creep upon the earth. And God made man, in the image of God he made him, male and female he made them." And He says "male and female" not as if Eve had already come into being, but as being in Adam's side and being with him; and this you will know more clearly hereafter. "And God blessed them, saying: be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it and rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and all the cattle and all the earth and all the creeping things that creep upon the earth."

(52) Do you see how God gave this whole world, as one paradise, to man from the beginning? For what other earth does He mean, if not this one in which we also now dwell, as has been said, and no other at all? Therefore He adds, saying: "And God said: Behold I have given you every seed-bearing herb sowing seed which is upon the earth; and every tree which has in itself the fruit of a seed-sowing seed shall be to you for food and to all the beasts of the earth and to all the birds of the air and to every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth." Did you see how He gave all visible things, both those on the earth and those in the sea, to Adam and to us who are from him for enjoyment and did not bestow only paradise upon him? For whatever He said to Adam, He said these things as to all of us, just as the same One later said to the apostles through the living Word: "And what I say to you, I say to all," as knowing that our race was to be multiplied into infinite and innumerable multitudes upon the earth. For if, even after transgressing his commandment and being condemned to live and to die, we men became such a great multitude, consider how many those born from the creation of the world would have been, if they had not died, and what sort of life and conduct they would have had in an incorruptible world, being preserved incorruptible and immortal, clearly living a sinless and painless, carefree and toil-free life, and how, according to the progress of keeping the commandments of God and the working of good thoughts, they were to be led up in time to a more perfect glory and transformation, drawing near to God and the gushing rays of divinity, so that the soul of each became more radiant, and the sensible and material body was to be refashioned and changed into something immaterial and spiritual beyond all sensation; and how much joy (53) and exultation was to be added to us from our life with one another, truly in every way inexpressible and beyond conception.

But let us return to the subject at hand. As, therefore, one country or one field, that I may say the same things again, so He bestowed the whole world on Adam, as has been said. And God completed these things in the six days; and hear the divine Scripture declaring this most clearly. For after saying: "And God made man, according to

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πολλῷ μᾶλλον πρό ἐκείνου τήν ἅπασαν γῆν, ταύτην δή ἥν ἡμεῖς κατοικοῦμεν, καί τά ἐν τῇ γῇ ἅπαντα, οὐ μήν ἀλλά καί τόν οὐρανόν καί τά ἐν αὐτῷ ἐν πέντε ἡμέραις παραγαγών, τῇ ἕκτῃ ἡμέρα ἔπλασε τόν Ἀδάμ καί πάσης τῆς ὁρωμένης κτίσεως κύριον αὐτόν καί βασιλέα κατέστησε. Καί οὔτε ἡ Εὔα παραχθεῖσα ἦν τότε οὔτε μήν ὁ παράδεισος, ἀλλ᾿ οὕτος ὁ κόσμος ὥσπερ τις παράδεισος ὑπό τοῦ Θεοῦ γέγονεν εἷς, ἄφθαροτος μέν, ὑλικός δέ καί αἰσθητός παραχθείς· τοῦτον, ὡς εἴρηται, τῷ Ἀδάμ καί τοῖς ἐξ αὐτοῦ εἰς ἀπόλαυσιν δέδωκεν. Ἀλλά μή φανῇ σοι τοῦτο παράδοξον, ἀνάμεινον δέ τόν λόγον καί ἐξ αὐτῆς τῆς θείας Γραφῆς ἀποδείξει τοῦτο σαφέστατα. Γέγραπται γάρ· "Ἐν ἀρχῇ ἐποίησεν ὁ Θεός τόν οὐρανόν καί τήν γῆν· ἡ δέ γῆ ἦν ἀόρατος καί ἀκατασκεύαστος". Καθεξῆς δέ τά λοιπά ἅπαντα ἔργα τῆς τοῦ Θεοῦ δημιουργίας ἀκριβῶς ἐξηγούμενος, μετά τό εἰπεῖν· "Καί ἐγένετο ἑσπέρα καί ἐγένετο πρωΐ, ἡμέρα πέμπτη", ἐπήγαγε· "Καί εἶπεν ὁ Θεός· ποιήσωμεν ἄνθρωπον κατ᾿ εἰκόνα ἡμετέραν καί καθ᾿ ὁμοίωσιν καί ἀρχέτωσαν τῶν ἰχθύων τῆς θαλάσσης καί τῶν πετεινῶν τοῦ οὐρανοῦ καί τῶν κτηνῶν καί πάσης τῆς γῆς καί πάντων τῶν ἑρπετῶν τῶν ἑρπόντων ἐπί τῆς γῆς. Καί ἐποίησεν ὁ Θεός τόν ἄνθρωπον, κατ᾿ εἰκόνα Θεοῦ ἐποίησεν αὐτόν, ἄρσεν καί θῆλυ ἐποίησεν αὐτους". Ἄρσεν δέ καί θῆλυ λέγει οὐχ ὡς τῆς Εὔας ἤδη γενομένης, ἀλλ᾿ ὡς ἐν τῇ τοῦ Ἀδάμ πλευρᾷ οὔσης καί αὐτῷ συνούσης· καί τοῦτο μετά ταῦτα σαφέστερον γνώσεσθε. "Καί εὐλόγησεν αὐτούς ὁ Θεός λέγων· αὐξάνεσθε καί πληθύνεσθε καί πληρώσατε τήν γῆν καί κατακυριεύσατε αὐτῆς καί ἄρχετε τῶν ἰχθύων τῆς θαλάσσης καί τῶν πετεινῶν τοῦ οὐρανοῦ καί πάντων τῶν κτηνῶν καί πάσης τῆς γῆς καί πάντων τῶν ἑρπετῶν τῶν ἑρπόντων ἐπί τῆς γῆς".

(52) Ὁρᾷς πῶς τοῦτον ὅλον τόν κόσμον, ὡς ἕνα παράδεισον, τῷ ἀνθρώπῳ ἐξ ἀρχῆς δέδωκεν ὁ Θεός; Ποίαν γάρ ἄλλην γῆν λέγει, εἰ μή ταύτην ἐν ᾗ καί νῦν, ὡς εἴρηται κατοικοῦμεν ἡμεῖς, ἑτέραν δέ οὐδαμῶς; ∆ιό καί ἐπιφέρων φησί· "Καί εἶπεν ὁ Θεός· Ἰδού δέδωκα ὑμῖν πάντα χόρτον σπόριμον σπεῖρον σπέρμα ὅ ἐστιν ἐπάνω τῆς γῆς· καί πᾶν ξύλον ὅ ἔχει ἐν ἑαυτῷ καρπόν σπέρματος σπορίμου ὑμῖν ἔσται εἰς βρῶσιν καί πᾶσι τοῖς θηρίοις τῆς γῆς καί πᾶσι τοῖς πετεινοῖς τοῦ οὐρανοῦ καί παντί ἑρπετῷ ἕρποντι ἐπι τῆς γῆς". Εἶδες πῶς τά ὁρώμενα ἅπαντα, τά τε ἐν τῇ καί τά ἐν τῇ θαλάσσῃ, τῷ Ἀδάμ καί ἡμῖν τοῖς ἐξ αὐτοῦ δέδωκεν εἰς ἀπόλαυσιν καί οὐχί τόν παράδεισον μόνον αὐτῷ ἐχαρίσατο; Ὅσα γάρ τῷ Ἀδάμ εἶπεν, ὡς πρός πάντας ἡμᾶς ταῦτα ἔλεγε, καθώς καί πρός τούς ἀποστόλους ὕστερον ὁ αὐτός διά τοῦ ζῶντος Λόγου ἔφη· "Ἅ δέ λέγω ὑμῖν, πᾶσι λέγω", ὡς εἰδώς ὅτι εἰς ἄπειρα πλήθη καί ἀναρίθμητα ἔμελλε τό γένος ἡμῖν πληθυνθῆναι ἐπί τῆς γῆς. Εἰ γάρ καί παραβάντες τήν ἐντολήν αὐτοῦ καί βιοῦν καί ἀποθνῄσκειν κατακριθέντες εἰς τοσοῦτον πλῆθος οἱ ἄνθρωποι ἐγενόμεθα, ἐννόει μοι ὅσοι ἔμελλον εἶναι οἱ ἀπό κτίσεως κόσμου γεννηθέντες, εἰ μή ἀπέθανον, ὁποίαν δέ ζωήν καί διαγωγήν ἔχειν ἐν ἀφθάρτῳ κόσμῳ ἄφθαρτοι διατηρούμενοι καί ἀθάνατοι, ἀναμάρτητον δηλονότι καί ἄλυπον, ἀμέριμνόν τε καί ἄμοχθον διανύοντες βίον, ὅπως τε κατά προκοπήν τῆς φυλακῆς τῶν ἐντολῶν τοῦ Θεοῦ καί τῆς ἐργασίας τῶν ἀγαθῶν ἐννοιῶν εἰς τελειοτέραν ἔμελλον ἀνάγεσθαι κατά καιρόν δόξαν τε καί ἀλλοίωσιν, πλησιάζοντες τῷ Θεῷ καί τάς πηγαζούσαις αὐγαῖς τῆς θεότητος, τήν μέν ψυχήν λαμπροτέραν ἑκάστου γίνεσθαι, τό δέ αἰσθητόν καί ὑλῶδς σῶμα εἰς ἄυλον καί πνευματικόν ὑπέρ αἴσθησιν πᾶσαν μεταποιεῖσθαί τε καί μεταβάλλεσθαι· ὁπόση δέ καί ἡ ἐκ τῆς μετ᾿ ἀλλήλων διαγωγῆς (53) εὐφροσύνη καί ἀγαλλίασις ἡμῖν προσγίνεσθαι ἔμελλεν, ἄρρητος πάντως τῷ ὄντι καί λογισμοῖς ἀνεπίβατος.

Ἀλλ᾿ ἐπί τό προκείμενον ἐπανέλθωμεν. Ὥσπερ οὖν χώραν μίαν ἤ ἀγρόν ἕνα, ἵνα τά αὐτά πάλιν εἴπω, οὕτω τόν κόσμον ἅπαντα τῷ Ἀδάμ, ὡς εἴρηται, ἐχαρίσατο. Ταῦτα δέ ἐν ταῖς ἕξ ἡμέραις συνετέλεσεν ὁ Θεός· καί ἄκουε τῆς θείας Γραφῆς τοῦτο δηλούσης σαφέστατα. Μετά γάρ τό εἰπεῖν· "Καί ἐποίησεν ὁ Θεός τόν ἄνθρωπον, κατ᾿