,

(14Β_278> Therefore, great is the difference between the two trees, both in their natural distinction and in the inherent signification in each, a designation of good and evil uttered homonymously without differentiation, and it can cause great error for those who do not encounter the Oracles of the Spirit wisely and circumspectly. But you, being wise through grace, know that what is simply called evil is not in every respect evil, but is evil in relation to something, and not evil in relation to something else; likewise, what is simply called good is not in every respect good, but is good in relation to something, and not good in relation to something else; and guard against the harm that comes from homonymy.

SCHOLIA 1. For the good of the mind is the passionless disposition toward the spirit; and the evil, the

passible relation toward sensation. But the good of sensation is the passible movement toward the body in accordance with pleasure; and the evil, the disposition that comes to it in accordance with virtue.

44. CONCERNING “BEHOLD, ADAM HAS BECOME LIKE ONE OF US.” 44. QUESTION 44 To whom does God say, “Behold, Adam has become like one of us?” If to the

Son, then how is Adam compared to God, since he is not of His essence? But if to angels, how does He again compare the angel to Himself, as if speaking to an equal in essence, by saying, “like one of us”?

Response. I have already said in the chapter on the building of the tower that according to the

disposition underlying the soul of those for whom providence is exercised, Scripture fashions God as speaking, through modes that are by nature (14B_280> connatural to us, intimating the divine will. And so here too Scripture does not show God simply saying, “Behold, Adam has become like one of us,” but, clearly after the transgression, having added also the cause of the saying, which you neglected to include in the chapter, which is what clarifies the whole meaning. For having said, “Behold, Adam has become like one of us,” the account added, “in knowing good and evil,” “and now, lest he stretch out his hand and take from the tree of life and live forever.” For since, along with the counsel, the devil taught him polytheism, saying, “On the day you eat from the tree, your eyes will be opened, and you will be like gods, knowing good and evil,” for this reason with dissimulation and, so to speak, ironically and reproachfully, for the refutation of the man persuaded by the devil, God utters the phrase “has become like one of us” in the plural, in relation to the notion concerning divinity implanted in Adam by the serpent through deceit.

And let no one think that the mode of ironic speech is foreign to scriptural custom, hearing Scripture speaking in the person of God to Israel, “If you walk crookedly toward me, I too will walk crookedly toward you,” knowing that crookedness differs in no way from irony, and again, finding how he contrived the deception of Ahab, by presenting falsehood to him as truth, justly bringing punishment upon him for the things in which he sinned. If Scripture had not introduced God saying “like one of us” in relation to Adam’s error, how could it have added “in knowing good and evil,” as having a composite knowledge, and one composed of opposites? a thing which it is impossible even to conceive of in God, let alone dare to say, since He alone is simple in essence and power and knowledge, and has knowledge only (14B_282> of the good, or rather, is Himself essence and power and knowledge. But neither does any of the rational essences from God and after God have, at one and the same time, in the simple movement of the intellect, a knowledge that subsists by composition from opposites. Because the knowledge of one of the things opposed to each other is naturally constituted from the knowledge of the other

(14Β_278> Πολλὴ τοιγαροῦν ἐστιν ἡ διαφορὰ τῶν δύο ξύλων, καὶ τῆς αὐτῶν φυσικῆς διακρίσεως, καὶ τῆς ἐν ἑκάστῳ προσφυοῦς ἐμφάσεως, ὁμωνύμως ἐκφωνηθείσης ἄνευ διαστολῆς προσηγορίας τοῦ καλοῦ τε καὶ τοῦ κακοῦ, καὶ πολλὴν δύναται ποιῆσαι τοῖς μὴ σοφῶς τε καὶ ἐπεσκεμμένως ἐντυγχάνουσι τοῖς Λογίοις τοῦ Πνεύματος τὴν πλάνην. Ἀλλ᾽ ὑμεῖς σοφοὶ διὰ τῆς χάριτος ὄντες, γνῶτε ὅτι τὸ ἁπλῶς λεγόμενον κακὸν οὐ πάντως κακόν, ἀλλὰ πρός τι μὲν κακόν, πρός τι δὲ οὐ κακόν· ὡσαύτως καὶ τὸ ἁπλῶς λεγόμενον καλὸν οὐ πάντως καλόν, ἀλλὰ πρός τι μὲν καλόν, πρός τι δὲ οὐ καλόν· καὶ τὴν ἐκ τῆς ὁμωνυμίας βλάβην φυλάξασθε.

ΣΧΟΛΙΑ 1. Νοῦ μέν γάρ καλόν ἐστιν, ἡ ἀπαθής πρός τό πνεῦμα διάθεσις· κακόν δέ, ἡ

ἐμπαθής πρός τήν αἴσθησιν σχέσις. Αἰσθήσεως δέ καλόν ἐστιν, ἡ καθ᾿ ἡδονήν ἐμπαθής πρός τό σῶμα κίνησις· κακόν δέ, ἡ κατ᾿ ἀρετήν ταύτῃ ἐπιγινομένη διάθεσις.

Μ∆ (44). ΠΕΡΙ ΤΟΥ "Ι∆ΟΥ Α∆ΑΜ ΓΕΓΟΝΕΝ ΩΣ ΕΙΣ ΕΞ ΗΜΩΝ". 44. ΕΡΩΤΗΣΙΣ Μ∆' Πρὸς τίνα λέγει ὁ Θεὸς ἰδοὺ Ἀδὰμ γέγονεν ὡς εἷς ἐξ ἡμῶν; Εἰ μὲν πρὸς τὸν

Υἱόν, καὶ πῶς συγκρίνεται Ἀδὰμ Θεῷ, μὴ ὢν τῆς οὐσίας αὐτοῦ; Εἰ δὲ πρὸς ἀγγέλους, πῶς τὸν ἄγγελον πάλιν ἑαυτῷ συγκρίνει, ὡς πρὸς ἴσον κατὰ τὴν οὐσίαν λέγων τὸ ὡς εἷς ἐξ ἡμῶν;

Ἀπόκρισις. Ἤδη μὲν εἶπον ἐν τῷ περὶ τῆς πυργοποιΐας κεφαλαίῳ ὅτι κατὰ τὴν

ὑποκειμένην τῇ ψυχῇ τῶν προνοουμένων διάθεσιν ἡ Γραφὴ λαλοῦντα τὸν Θεὸν διαπλάττεται, διὰ τῶν κατὰ φύσιν (14Β_280> ἡμῖν συμφυῶν τρόπων τὴν θείαν αἰνιττομένη βουλήν. Καὶ ἐνταῦθα τοίνυν οὐχ ἁπλῶς λέγοντα τὸν Θεὸν ἡ Γραφὴ δείκνυσι τὸ ἰδοὺ γέγονεν Ἀδὰμ ὡς εἷς ἐξ ἡμῶν, ἀλλά, δηλονότι μετὰ τὴν παράβασιν, προσθεῖσα καὶ τὴν αἰτίαν τῆς λέξεως, ἣν ὑμεῖς ἐντάξαι τῷ κεφαλαίῳ παρελίπετε, τῆς ὅλης σαφηνιστικὴν ὑπάρχουσαν ἐννοίας. Εἰπὼν γὰρ ὁ λόγος ἰδοὺ Ἀδὰμ γέγονεν ὡς εἷς ἐξ ἡμῶν, προσέθηκε τοῦ γινώσκειν καλὸν καὶ πονηρόν, καὶ νῦν μήποτε ἐκτείνῃ τὴν χεῖρα αὐτοῦ καὶ λάβῃ τοῦ ξύλου τῆς ζωῆς καὶ ζήσεται εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα. Ἐπειδὴ γὰρ ἅμα τῇ συμβουλῇ πολυθεΐαν αὐτὸν ἐδίδαξεν ὁ διάβολος εἰπὼν ᾗ δ᾽ ἂν ἡμέρᾳ φάγησθε ἀπὸ τοῦ ξύλου, διανοιχθήσονται ὑμῶν οἱ ὀφθαλμοί, καὶ ἔσεσθε ὡς θεοὶ γινώσκοντες καλὸν καὶ πονηρόν, διὰ τοῦτο μεθ᾽ ὑποκρίσεως καὶ οἷον εἰπεῖν εἰρωνευτικήν τε καὶ ὀνειδιστικήν, εἰς ἔλεγχον τοῦ πεισθέντος ἀνθρώπου τῷ διαβόλῳ, τὴν τὸ γέγονεν ὡς εἷς ἐξ ἡμῶν πρὸς τὴν ἐντεθεῖσαν διὰ τῆς ἀπάτης παρὰ τοῦ ὄφεως τῷ Ἀδὰμ περὶ θεότητος ἔννοιαν πληθυντικῶς ποιεῖται φωνὴν ὁ Θεός.

Καὶ μή τις δόξῃ τῆς γραφικῆς εἶναι συνηθείας ἀλλότριον τὸ εἶδος τῆς κατ᾽ εἰρωνείαν λέξεως, ἀκούων τῆς Γραφῆς ἐκ προσώπου τοῦ Θεοῦ λεγούσης πρὸς τὸν Ἰσραὴλ ἐὰν πορευθῆτε πρός με πλάγιοι, κἀγὼ πορεύσομαι πρὸς ὑμᾶς πλάγιος, εἰδὼς μηδὲν διαφέρειν εἰρωνείας πλαγιασμόν, καὶ πάλιν εὑρίσκων πῶς τὴν τοῦ Ἀχαὰβ συνεσκεύασεν ἀπάτην, ὡς ἀλήθειαν αὐτῷ προβαλλόμενος τὸ ψεῦδος δι᾽ ὧν ἥμαρτεν φέρων αὐτῷ δικαίως τὴν κόλασιν. Εἰ γὰρ μὴ πρὸς τὴν πλάνην τοῦ Ἀδὰμ ἡ Γραφὴ τὸν Θεὸν λέγοντα τὸ ὡς εἷς ἐξ ἡμῶν εἰσήγαγεν, πῶς ἐπέφερε τοῦ γινώσκειν καλὸν καὶ πονηρόν, ὡς σύνθετον ἔχοντα γνῶσιν καὶ ἐξ ἐναντίων συγκειμένην· ὅπερ ἀμήχανον ἐπὶ Θεοῦ κἂν ἐννοῆσαι, μήτι γε εἰπεῖν τολμῆσαι, τοῦ μόνου ἁπλοῦ τὴν οὐσίαν καὶ τὴν δύναμιν καὶ τὴν γνῶσιν, καὶ μόνην (14Β_282> τὴν τοῦ καλοῦ γνῶσιν ἔχοντος, μᾶλλον δὲ αὐτοουσία καὶ δύναμις καὶ γνῶσις ὄντος. Ἀλλ᾽ οὐδέ τι τῶν ἐκ Θεοῦ καὶ μετὰ Θεὸν λογικῶν οὐσιῶν ἔχει ὁμοῦ τε καὶ κατὰ ταὐτὸν ἐν τῷ τῆς διανοίας ἁπλῷ κινήματι κατὰ σύνθεσιν ἐκ τῶν ἐναντίων ὑφισταμένην τὴν γνῶσιν. ∆ιότι πέφυκεν ἡ θατέρου τῶν ἀλλήλοις ἀντικειμένων γνῶσις τῆς τοῦ ἑτέρου ποιεῖσθαι γνώσεως