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and he honored and glorified, and those who do so until now and who will do so from now on, whether they be worldly or monastics; "Amen, said the true God, I will never abandon them, but I will show them forth as my brothers and friends, fathers and mothers and kinsmen and my co-heirs, and I have glorified and will glorify them both in heaven above and on earth below, and of their life and gladness and glory there will never be an end".

What then, tell me, brother, did the painless and carefree life in paradise benefit the first-formed, when they grew lax and in their disbelief toward God became contemptuous and transgressed His commandment? (100) For if they had believed Him, Eve would not have considered the serpent more trustworthy, nor Adam Eve more trustworthy than Him, but they would have kept from eating of the plant; but having eaten and not repented, they were cast out. But again, they were not harmed by the exile, but were even benefited in the greatest ways and this came about for the salvation of us all. For our Master, having descended from on high, by His own death loosed the death that was against us, completely abolishing the condemnation from the forefather's transgression and regenerating and reshaping and completely freeing us from this through holy baptism, He places us in this world completely free and not tyrannically energized by the enemy, but honoring us with the free will we had from the beginning, He rather gives strength against him, so that those who wish may conquer him easily, more than all the saints before the coming of Christ, and when they die they are not brought down to Hades like those others, but to heaven and to the delight and enjoyment there, for now moderately, but after the resurrection from the dead they are deemed worthy to enjoy completely the whole of eternal joy.

Therefore let those who wish not make excuses, nor say that we are wholly energized by the transgression of Adam and are dragged down to sin. For those who think and say this consider the coming of our Master and God to have happened unprofitably and in vain, which is a saying of heretics and not of the faithful. For why did He descend or for what reason did He taste death, if not entirely to loose the condemnation from sin and to free our race from the slavery and energy of the opposing enemy? (101) For this is truly free will, not to be dominated by another in any way whatsoever. For we were sinners from the one who sinned, transgressors from the one who transgressed, from the slave of sin we ourselves also became slaves of sin, from the one who was cursed and dead we became cursed and dead, from the one energized by the counsel of the evil one and enslaved to him and who lost free will, as his children we were energized and tyrannically overpowered and dominated. But God, having descended, was incarnate and was born a man just as we are, without sin, and He loosed sin, having sanctified both conception and birth, and being raised little by little, He blessed every age; and having become a perfect man, He then began His preaching, teaching us not to rush ahead in anything and to anticipate those of gray hairs in understanding and virtue, especially the young who are not yet men in their prudence. He undertook things on your behalf and, having kept all the commandments of His own God and Father, He loosed the transgression and freed the transgressors from condemnation. He became a slave, taking the form of a slave, and led us slaves back to the rank of masters, having established us as masters over the former tyrant - and the saints bear witness, who even after death drive him and his ministers away as though he were weak. He became a curse by being crucified - "For cursed, it says,

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καί ἐτίμησε καί ἐδόξασε, καί τούς οὕτω ποιοῦντας ἕως τοῦ νῦν καί ἀπό τοῦ νῦν ποιήσοντας, εἴτε κοσμικοί εἶεν εἴτε μονάζοντες· "Ἀμήν, εἶπεν ὁ ἀληθής Θεός, οὐκ ἐγκαταλείψω αὐτούς ποτε, ἀλλ᾿ ὡς ἀδελφούς μου καί φίλους, πατέρας τε καί μητέρας καί συγγενεῖς καί συγκληρονόμους μου ἀναδείξω αὐτούς, καί ἐδόξασα καί δοξάσω καί ἐν τῷ οὐρανῷ ἄνω καί ἐπί τῆς γῆς κάτω, καί τῆς ζωῆς αὐτῶν καί εὐφροσύνης καί δόξης οὐκ ἔσται τέλος ποτέ".

Τί οὖν, εἰπέ μοι, τούς πρωτοπλάστους ὠφέλησεν ἡ ἐν τῷ παραδείσῳ ἄπονος διαγωγή καί ἀμέριμνος, ἀδελφέ, ῥαθυμήσαντας καί τῇ πρός Θεόν ἀπιστίᾳ καταφρονήσαντας καί τήν ἐντολήν παραβάντας αὐτοῦ; (100) Εἰ γάρ ἐπίστευσαν αὐτῷ, οὐκ ἄν τόν ὄφιν ἡ Εὔα πιστότερον, τήν δέ Εὔαν ὁ Ἀδάμ πιστοτέραν ἐκείνου ἡγήσατο, ἀλλά φυλάξαι εἶχον τοῦ μή φαγεῖν τοῦ φυτοῦ· φαγόντες δέ καί ή μετανοήσαντες, ἐξεβλήθησαν. Οὐδέν δέ πάλιν ἐκ τῆς ἐξορίας ἐβλάβησαν, ἀλλά καί τά μέγιστα ὠφελήθησαν καί εἰς σωτηρίαν ἡμῶν πάντων τοῦτο ἐγένετο. Κατελθών γάρ ἄνωθεν ὁ ∆εσπότης ἡμῶν τῷ ἰδίῳ θανάτῳ τόν καθ᾿ ἡμῶν ἔλυσε θάνατον, τό ἐκ τῆς τοῦ προπάτορος παραβάσεως κατάκριμα παντελῶς ἀνελών καί διά τοῦ ἁγίου βαπτίσματος ἀναγεννῶν καί ἀναπλάττων καί ἀπαλλάττων ταύτης τελείως ἡμᾶς, τίθησιν ἐν τῷδε τῷ κόσμῳ ἐλευθέρους πάντῃ καί μή ἐνεργουμένους τυραννικῶς ὑπό τοῦ ἐχθροῦ, ἀλλά τῷ ἐξ ἀρχῆς αὐτεξουσίῳ τιμῶν ἡμᾶς, ἰσχύν μᾶλλον δίδωσι κατ᾿ αὐτοῦ, ἵνα οἱ βουλόμενοι νικῶσιν αὐτόν εὐχερῶς ὑπέρ πάντας τούς πρό τῆς Χριστοῦ παρουσίας ἁγίους, ἀποθνῄσκοντες δέ μή καθάπερ ἐκεῖνοι καί οὗτοι εἰς τόν ᾅδην καταβιβάζωνται, ἀλλ᾿ εἰς τόν οὐρανόν καί εἰς τήν ἐκεῖσε τρυφήν καί ἀπόλαυσιν, νῦν μέν μετρίως, μετά δέ τήν ἐκ νεκρῶν ἐξανάστασιν ὅλης ὅλως ἐπαπολαύειν καταξιῶνται τῆς αἰωνίου χαρᾶς.

Οἱ οὖν βουλόμενοι προφάσεις μή προφασίζωνται, μηδέ λεγέτωσαν ἐκ τῆς τοῦ Ἀδάμ ἡμᾶς παραβάσεως ὅλως ἐνεργεῖσθαι καί πρός τήν ἁμαρτίαν καθέλκεσθαι. Οἱ γάρ τοῦτο ἐννοοῦντες καί λέγοντες τήν τοῦ ∆εσπότου ἡμῶν καί Θεοῦ παρουσίαν ἀνωφελῶς γεγενῆσθαι καί διακενῶς νομίζουσιν, ὅπερ αἱρετικῶν καί οὐ πιστῶν ἐστι τό λεγόμενον. ∆ιά τί γάρ κατῆλθεν ἤ τίνος ἕνεκα θανάτου ἐγεύσατο, εἰ μή ὅτι πάντως διά τό λῦσαι τό ἐκ τῆς ἁμαρτίας κατάκριμα καί ἐλευθερῶσαι τό γένος ἡμῶν ἀπό τῆς δουλείας καί ἐνεργείας τοῦ ἀντικειμένου ἐχθροῦ; (101) Τοῦτο γάρ ἡ ὄντως αὐτεξουσιότης, τό μή ὑφ᾿ ἑτέρου τινός τῷ οἱῳνδήποτε τρόπῳ δεσπόζεσθαι. Ἡμεῖς μέν γάρ ἀπό τοῦ ἁμαρτήσαντος ἦμεν ἁμαρτωλοί, ἀπό τοῦ παραβάντος παραβάται, ἀπό τοῦ δούλου τῆς ἁμαρτίας δοῦλοι καί αὐτοί γενόμενοι ἁμαρτίας, ἀπό τοῦ κεκατηραμένου καί νεκροῦ κατάρατοι καί νεκροί, ἀπό τοῦ τῇ συμβουλίᾳ ἐνεργηθέντος τοῦ πονηροῦ καί δουλωθέντος αὐτῷ καί τό αὐτεξούσιον ἀπολέσαντος, ὡς τέκνα αὐτοῦ ἐνεργούμενοι καί καταδυναστευόμενοι τυραννικῶς ἐδεσποζόμεθα. Ὁ δέ Θεός κατελθών ἐσαρκώθη καί ἐγεννήθη καθώς καί ἡμεῖς ἄνθρωπος, χωρίς ἁμαρτίας, καί ἔλυσε τήν ἁμαρτίαν, σύλληψίν τε καί γέννησιν ἁγιάσας καί ἀνατραφείς κατά μικρόν πᾶσαν ἡλικίαν εὐλόγησε· τέλειος δέ ἀνήρ γεγονώς τότε ἤρξατο τοῦ κηρύγματος, διδάσκων ἡμᾶς μή ἔν τινι προπηδᾶν καί προλαμβάνειν τούς πολιούς ἐν συνέσει καί ἀρετῇ, οἱ νέοι μάλιστα καί οὐκ ἄνδρες τήν φρόνησιν. Ἀνεδέξατο τά ὑπέρ ὑμῶν καί φυλάξας πάσας τάς ἐντολάς τοῦ ἰδίου Θεοῦ καί Πατρός, τήν παράβασιν ἔλυσε καί τούς παραβάτας τοῦ κατακρίματος ἠλευθέρωσε. ∆οῦλος ἐγένετο, μορφήν ἀναλαβόμενος δούλου, καί τούς δούλους ἡμᾶς εἰς τό δεσποτικόν ἀξίωμα ἐπανήγαγε, τοῦ πρῴην τυράννου δεσπότας ἀποκαταστήσας ἡμᾶς - καί μαρτυροῦσιν οἱ ἅγιοι οἱ καί μετά θάνατον ὡς ἀσθενῆ αὐτόν καί τούς αὐτοῦ ὑπουργούς ἀπελαύνοντες. Κατάρα ἐγένετο σταυρωθείς - "Ἐπικατάρατος γάρ, φησί,