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in these things knowledge is to be understood from Scripture, but I find a certain difference from scriptural usage, of both knowledge and of discernment. For to discern scientifically the good from the evil, the Apostle says is of a more perfect state, and of trained senses; wherefore also he makes a command to test all things, and says that to discern is a property of the spiritual man. But knowledge does not everywhere in its meaning suggest science and information, but the disposition towards that which is pleasing; as, “The Lord knew those who are his;” and to Moses he says, that “I have known you above all;” but concerning those condemned in wickedness, he who knows all things says, “I never knew you.” Therefore the tree, from which 200 the mixed knowledge is brought forth as fruit, is of the forbidden things. But that fruit is mixed from opposites, having the serpent as its advocate, perhaps for this reason, that evil itself is not set forth naked, appearing by itself according to its own nature. For wickedness would be ineffectual, not being colored with any good to draw the deceived to the desire of it. But now the nature of evil is somehow mixed, having destruction in its depth, like some hidden bait, but in the apparent deceit showing a certain fantasy of good. The fine color of material things seems good to the avaricious; but avarice becomes the root of all evils. Who would have slipped into the foul mire of intemperance, if he who is dragged down to the passion by this bait did not think pleasure something good and desirable?

Thus also the rest of sins, having corruption hidden within, seem at first desirable, being pursued by the uncircumspect instead of the good, through some deceit. Since, therefore, many judge the good to be in that which delights the senses, and there is a certain homonymy between what is and what seems to be good; for this reason the desire for evil as if for good has been named by Scripture the knowledge of good and evil, with knowledge interpreting a certain shared disposition and mixture. Neither absolutely evil, because it is adorned with good, nor purely good, because evil is hidden underneath; but he says the fruit of the forbidden tree is a mixture of both, the taste of which he said brings death to those who touch it, all but openly proclaiming the doctrine that what is truly good is simple and uniform in nature, alien to all duplicity and pairing with its opposite. But evil is manifold and disguised, being thought one thing, and being examined as another through experience, not for the knowledge, that is, the apprehension through experience, to become the beginning and foundation of death and corruption. For this reason the serpent displays the wicked fruit of sin, not showing evil openly as it was by nature; for man would not have been deceived by manifest evil; but having beautified its appearance with a certain bloom, and having enchanted the taste with some sensual pleasure, he appeared plausible to the woman, as the Scripture says: “And the woman saw,” it says, “that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes to see, and beautiful to contemplate;” and taking of its fruit, she ate. And that food became the mother of death for humankind. This then is the mixed fruit-bearing, with the account clearly interpreting the meaning, according to which that tree was named knowledgeable of good and evil, because according to the wickedness of poisons that are seasoned with honey, insofar as it sweetens the sense, it seems to be good, but insofar as it destroys the one who partakes, it becomes the last of all evil. When therefore the wicked poison worked against the life of man; then man, 201 the great reality and name, the image of the divine nature, was likened to vanity, as the Prophet says. Therefore the

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ἐν ταῦθα παρὰ τῆς Γραφῆς νοεῖσθαι τὴν γνῶσιν, ἀλλά τινα διαφορὰν ἐκ τῆς γραφικῆς συνηθείας εὑρίσκω, γνώσεώς τε καὶ διακρίσεως. Τὸ μὲν γὰρ διακρίνειν ἐπιστημόνως τὸ καλὸν ἐκ τοῦ κακοῦ, τελειοτέρας ἕξεως εἶναί φησιν ὁ Ἀπόστολος, καὶ γεγυμνασμένων αἰσθητηρίων· διὸ καὶ πρόσταγμα ποιεῖται πάντα δοκιμάζειν, καὶ τοῦ πνευματικοῦ τὸ διακρίνειν ἴδιον εἶναί φησιν. Ἡ δὲ γνῶσις οὐ πανταχοῦ τὴν ἐπιστήμην τε καὶ τὴν εἴδησιν ὑφηγεῖται κατὰ τὸ σημαινόμενον, ἀλλὰ τὴν πρὸς τὸ κεχαρισμένον διάθεσιν· ὡς, «Ἔγνω Κύριος τοὺς ὄντας αὐτοῦ·» καὶ πρὸς τὸν Μωϋσέα φησὶν, ὅτι «Ἔγνων σε παρὰ πάντας·» περὶ δὲ τῶν ἐν κακίᾳ κατεγνωσμένων λέγει ὁ τὰ πάντα εἰδὼς, ὅτι «Οὐδέποτε ἔγνων ὑμᾶς.» Οὐκοῦν τὸ ξύλον, ἀφ' οὗ 200 ἡ σύμμικτος γνῶσις καρποφορεῖται, τῶν ἀπηγορευ μένων ἐστί. Μέμικται δὲ διὰ τῶν ἐναντίων ὁ καρπὸς ἐκεῖνος, ὁ συνήγορον ἔχων ἑαυτοῦ τὸν ὄφιν, τάχα κατὰ τὸν λόγον τοῦτον, ὅτι οὐ γυμνὸν πρόκειται τὸ κακὸν αὐτὸ ἐφ' ἑαυτοῦ κατὰ τὴν ἰδίαν φύσιν φαινόμενον. Ἦ γὰρ ἂν ἄπρακτος ἦν ἡ κακία, μηδενὶ προσκεχρω σμένη καλῷ τῷ πρὸς ἐπιθυμίαν αὐτῆς ἐφελκομένῳ τὸν ἀπατώμενον. Νυνὶ δὲ σύμμικτός πώς ἐστιν ἡ τοῦ κακοῦ φύσις, ἐν μὲν τῷ βάθει τὸν ὄλεθρον, οἷόν τινα δόλον ἐγκεκρυμμένον ἔχουσα, ἐν δὲ τῇ κατὰ τὸ φαι νόμενον ἀπάτῃ καλοῦ τινα φαντασίαν παραδεικνύουσα. Καλὸν δοκεῖ τοῖς φιλαργύροις ἡ τῆς ὕλης εὔχροια· ἀλλὰ ῥίζα πάντων τῶν κακῶν ἡ φιλαργυρία γίνεται. Τίς δ' ἂν ἐπὶ τὸν δυσώδη βόρβορον τῆς ἀκολασίας κατώλισθεν, εἰ μὴ τὴν ἡδονὴν καλόν τι καὶ αἱρετὸν ᾤετο ὁ τῷ δελέατι τούτῳ πρὸς τὸ πάθος κατασυρό μενος;

Οὕτω καὶ τὰ λοιπὰ τῶν ἁμαρτημάτων ἐγκε κρυμμένην ἔχοντα τὴν διαφθορὰν, αἱρετὰ παρὰ τὴν πρώτην δοκεῖ, διά τινος ἀπάτης τοῖς ἀνεπισκέπτοις ἀντ' ἀγαθοῦ σπουδαζόμενα. Ἐπειδὴ τοίνυν οἱ πολλοὶ τὸ καλὸν ἐν τῷ τὰς αἰσθήσεις εὐφραίνοντι κρίνουσι, καί τίς ἐστιν ὁμωνυμία τοῦ τε ὄντος καὶ τοῦ δοκοῦντος εἶναι καλοῦ· τούτου χάριν ἡ πρὸς τὸ κακὸν ὡς πρὸς τὸ ἀγαθὸν γινομένη ἐπιθυμία, καλοῦ καὶ κακοῦ γνῶ σις ὑπὸ τῆς Γραφῆς ὠνομάσθη, συνδιάθεσίν τινα καὶ ἀνάκρασιν ἑρμηνευούσης τῆς γνώσεως. Οὔτε ἀπολύ τως κακὸν, διότι περιήνθισται τῷ καλῷ, οὔτε καθαρῶς ἀγαθὸν, διότι ὑποκέκρυπται τὸ κακόν· ἀλλὰ σύμμι κτον δι' ἑκατέρων τοῦ ἀπηγορευμένου ξύλου τὸν καρ πὸν εἶναί φησιν, οὗ τὴν γεῦσιν εἰς θάνατον ἄγειν εἶπε τοὺς ἁψαμένους, μονονουχὶ φανερῶς τὸ δόγμα βοῶν, ὅτι τὸ ὄντως ἀγαθὸν ἁπλοῦν καὶ μονοειδές ἐστι τῇ φύσει, πάσης διπλόης καὶ τῆς πρὸς τὸ ἐναντίον συζυγίας ἀλλότριον. Τὸ δὲ κακὸν ποικίλον τε καὶ κατεσχηματισμένον ἐστὶν, ἄλλο τι νομιζόμενον, καὶ ἕτερον διὰ τῆς πείρας ἀνακρινόμενον, οὐ τὴν γνῶσιν, τουτέστι, τὴν διὰ τῆς πείρας ἀνάληψιν, θανάτου καὶ διαφθορᾶς ἀρχήν τε καὶ ὑπόθεσιν γίνεσθαι. ∆ιὰ τοῦτο προδείκνυσιν ὁ ὄφις τὸν πονηρὸν τῆς ἁμαρτίας καρ πὸν, οὐχ ὡς εἶχε φύσεως τὸ κακὸν ἐκ τοῦ προφανοῦς ἐπιδείξας· οὐ γὰρ ἂν ἠπατήθη ὁ ἄνθρωπος τῷ προ δήλῳ κακῷ· ἀλλὰ διά τινος ὥρας τὸ φαινόμενον ἀγλαΐσας, καί τινα κατὰ τὴν αἴσθησιν ἡδονὴν ἐγγοη τεύσας τῇ γεύσει, πιθανὸς ἐφάνη τῇ γυναικὶ, καθώς φησιν ἡ Γραφή· «Καὶ εἶδε γὰρ ἡ γυνή, φησὶν, ὅτι καλὸν τὸ ξύλον εἰς βρῶσιν καὶ ὅτι ἀρεστὸν τοῖς ὀφθαλ μοῖς ἰδεῖν, καὶ ὡραῖόν ἐστι τοῦ κατανοῆσαι·» καὶ λα βοῦσα τοῦ καρποῦ αὐτοῦ ἔφαγεν. Ἡ δὲ βρῶσις ἐκείνη θανάτου μήτηρ τοῖς ἀνθρώποις γέγονεν. Αὕτη τοίνυν ἡ σύμμικτός ἐστι καρποφορία, σαφῶς τοῦ λόγου τὸν νοῦν ἑρμηνεύοντος, καθ' ὃν καλοῦ τε καὶ κακοῦ γνω στὸν ὠνομάσθη τὸ ξύλον ἐκεῖνο, ὅτι κατὰ τὴν τῶν δη λητηρίων κακίαν τῶν παραρτυθέντων τῷ μέλιτι, καθὸ μὲν καταγλυκαίνει τὴν αἴσθησιν, καλὸν εἶναι δοκεῖ, καθὸ δὲ φθείρει τὸν προσαπτόμενον, κακοῦ παντὸς ἔσχατον γίνεται. Ἐπεὶ οὖν ἐνήργησε κατὰ τῆς τοῦ ἀνθρώπου ζωῆς τὸ πονηρὸν δηλητήριον· τότε ὁ ἄν 201 θρωπος, τὸ μέγα καὶ πρᾶγμα καὶ ὄνομα, τὸ τῆς θείας φύσεως ἀπεικόνισμα, τῇ ματαιότητι, καθώς φησιν ὁ Προφήτης, ὡμοιώθη. Οὐκοῦν ἡ