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not having knowledge of good or evil, is found a transgressor, and is cast out of paradise, and is condemned to death. And likewise the one who formed him, since he does not see everywhere, says concerning the destruction of Sodom, "I will go down and see if they are acting according to their cry which has come to me; but if not, that I may know," and shows himself to be ignorant. And to say about Adam, "Let us cast him out, lest he stretch out his hand and touch the tree of 1.365 life, and having eaten live forever," is a symbol of one who is ignorant and envious. Just as "God considered that he had made man" is proof of repentance and ignorance of things to come. And "the Lord smelled a sweet savor" is a sign of one in need, just as tempting Abraham and others is not a proof of a good being and of one who foreknew the end of their endurance." But Peter said to Simon, "If Adam was created blind, as you say, how did God, commanding him, say, showing, 'but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat'?" And Simon says, "His mind was blind." And Peter said, "How was he blind in mind, who before tasting of the plant fittingly gave names to all the animals? For that both Adam and Eve had the eyes of their soul and body opened and were seeing is clear from this: for it says, "the woman saw that the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eyes to see and beautiful to contemplate, and taking of its fruit she ate, and she also gave to her husband." If, then, having seen that the tree and the fruit were good, they ate, it is very clear that even before the eating of the fruit they had knowledge of both good and evil, and a most keen sight capable of seeing each thing. Therefore, the statement "their eyes were opened" was not said as if they gained sight after the eating and the transgression (for they are shown to have been seeing even before the eating, as I said); but it was said that their eyes were opened as if they had put off their inexperience of evil through the transgression, which also provided 1.366 an indifferent knowledge. For the eye is naturally roused by reason towards what it sees, because it does not have understanding in and of itself, and hence, when the mind is occupied with other things, we often pass by even a very familiar person as if we were blind, and when we are blamed, we make our excuse by placing the cause on the preoccupation of our reason. Thus also Adam and Eve were roused by the perception of their mind towards sight. For "their eyes were opened" and "they knew that they were naked" indicates a revelation that occurred in their reason, not a recovery of sight in their eyes, so that Scripture has thus named the perception after the sin; for immediately after the sin the conscience is struck." And Simon says, "If Adam had foreknowledge, why did he not foreknow the deceit through the serpent and the woman?" And Peter, "If he did not have foreknowledge, how did he give names to his sons, at the time they were born, in relation to their future actions? For he named the firstborn Cain, which is envy; who, being envious, killed his brother Abel, which is interpreted as mourning; for over him, the first to be murdered, his parents mourned. But if Adam, the work and creation of God, had foreknowledge, much more so the God who created him. For that God truly foreknows, he says to Abraham, "Know for certain that your seed will be a sojourner in a foreign land, and they will enslave 1.367 them for 400 years. But the nation whom they shall serve, I will judge. And after these things they will come out from here with great possessions; but you will go to your fathers, having been brought up in peace in a good old age. And in the fourth generation they will return here." And what of it? Did not Moses and the other prophets foretell the sins of Israel and its disobedience towards Christ and its dispersion among the nations? And if Moses and the other prophets through the grace of God foreknew future things, how did the God himself who spoke in them not

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γνῶσιν ἀγαθοῦ ἢ κακοῦ μὴ ἔχων, παραβάτης εὑρίσκεται, καὶ τοῦ παραδείσου ἐκβάλλεται, καὶ θανάτῳ καταδικάζεται. ὁμοίως τε ὁ πλάσας αὐτόν, ἐπειδὴ μὴ πανταχοῦ βλέπει, ἐπὶ τῇ τῶν Σοδόμων κατα στροφῇ λέγει «καταβὰς ὄψομαι εἰ κατὰ τὴν κραυγὴν αὐτῶν τὴν ἐρχομένην πρός με συντελοῦνται· εἰ δὲ μή, ἵνα γνῶ» καὶ ἑαυτὸν ἀγνοοῦντα δείκνυσι. καὶ τὸ εἰπεῖν περὶ τοῦ Ἀδὰμ «ἐκβάλωμεν αὐτόν, μήποτε ἐκτείνας τὴν χεῖρα αὐτοῦ ἅψηται τοῦ ξύλου τῆς 1.365 ζωῆς, καὶ φαγὼν ζήσεται εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα» ἀγνοοῦντος καὶ φθο νοῦντός ἐστι σύμβολον. ὥσπερ καὶ τὸ «ἐνεθυμήθη ὁ θεὸς ὅτι ἐποίησε τὸν ἄνθρωπον» μεταμελείας ἐστὶ καὶ ἀγνοίας τεκμήριον τῶν μελλόντων. καὶ τὸ «ὠσφράνθη κύριος ὀσμὴν εὐωδίας» ἐν δεοῦς ἐστὶ σημεῖον, ὡς καὶ τὸ πειράζειν τὸν Ἀβραὰμ καὶ ἄλλους οὐκ ἀγαθοῦ ἐστὶν ἀπόδειξις καὶ τὸ τέλος τῆς ὑπομονῆς προει δότος." ὁ δὲ Πέτρος ἔφη πρὸς τὸν Σίμωνα "εἰ τυφλὸς ἐπλάσθη ὁ Ἀδάμ, ὡς λέγεις, πῶς ἐντελλόμενος αὐτῷ ὁ θεὸς ἔλεγε δει κνύων, ἀπὸ δὲ τοῦ ξύλου τοῦ γινώσκειν καλὸν καὶ πονηρὸν οὐ φάγεσθε;" καὶ ὁ Σίμων φησί "τυφλὸς ἦν ὁ νοῦς αὐτοῦ." καὶ ὁ Πέτρος εἶπε "πῶς καὶ τὸν νοῦν τυφλὸς ἦν ὁ πρὸ τοῦ γεύσασθαι τοῦ φυτοῦ προσφόρως πᾶσι τοῖς ζῴοις ἐπιθεὶς ὀνόματα; ὅτι γὰρ καὶ τοὺς τῆς ψυχῆς καὶ τοῦ σώματος ὀφθαλμοὺς εἶχον ἀνεῳγμέ νους καὶ βλέποντες ἦσαν ὅ τε Ἀδὰμ καὶ ἡ Εὖα, δῆλον ἐντεῦθεν· «εἶδε» γάρ φησιν «ἡ γυνὴ ὅτι καλὸν τὸ ξύλον εἰς βρῶσιν καὶ ἀρε στὸν τοῖς ὀφθαλμοῖς ἰδεῖν καὶ ὡραῖον τοῦ κατανοῆσαι, καὶ λα βοῦσα τοῦ καρποῦ αὐτοῦ ἔφαγε, καὶ ἔδωκε καὶ τῷ ἀνδρὶ αὐτῆς.» εἰ γοῦν καλὸν θεασάμενοι τὸ δένδρον καὶ τὸν καρπὸν ἔφαγον, εὔ δηλον ὅτι καὶ πρὸ τῆς τοῦ καρποῦ βρώσεως γνῶσιν μὲν εἶχον κα λοῦ τε καὶ κακοῦ, ὄψιν τε ὀξυδερκεστάτην ὁρᾶν ἕκαστα δυναμέ νην. οὐκοῦν οὐχ ὡς μετὰ τὴν βρῶσιν καὶ τὴν παράβασιν ἀνα βλεψάντων εἴρηται τὸ διηνοίχθησαν αὐτῶν οἱ ὀφθαλμοί (δεί κνυνται γὰρ καὶ πρὸ τῆς βρώσεως ὁρῶντες, ὡς ἔφην)· ἀλλ' ὡς τὸ ἀπειρόκακον ἀποθεμένων διὰ τῆς παραβάσεως, ὃ καὶ τὴν 1.366 γνῶσιν ἀδιάφορον παρέσχεν, ἐρρήθη ὅτι διηνοίχθησαν αὐτῶν οἱ ὀφθαλμοί. πέφυκε γὰρ ὁ ὀφθαλμὸς ὑπὸ τοῦ λογισμοῦ διεγεί ρεσθαι πρὸς ἃ βλέπει, διότι σύνεσιν αὐτὸς καθ' ἑαυτὸν οὐκ ἔχει, κἀντεῦθεν πολλάκις πρὸς ἕτερα τῆς διανοίας ἀσχολουμένης τυφλοῦ δίκην ἔσθ' ὅτε παρερχόμεθα καὶ τὸν πάνυ γνώριμον, καὶ ἐπειδὰν ἐγκληθῶμεν, τῇ ἀσχολίᾳ τοῦ λογισμοῦ τὸ αἴτιον ἀνατιθέντες ἀπολογούμεθα. οὕτω καὶ ὁ Ἀδὰμ καὶ ἡ Εὖα τῇ αἰσθήσει τοῦ νοῦ πρὸς τὴν ὄψιν διηγέρθησαν. τὸ γὰρ «διηνοίχθησαν οἱ ὀφθαλ μοί» καὶ «ἔγνωσαν ὅτι γυμνοὶ ἦσαν» ἀποκάλυψιν δηλοῖ τὴν ἐγγε νομένην τῷ λογισμῷ, οὐκ ἀνάβλεψιν ὀφθαλμῶν, ὥστε τὴν μετὰ τὴν ἁμαρτίαν αἴσθησιν οὕτω κέκληκεν ἡ γραφή· παρευθὺ γὰρ μετὰ τὴν ἁμαρτίαν τὸ συνειδὸς πλήττεται." καὶ ὁ Σίμων φησίν "εἰ πρόγνωσιν εἶχεν ὁ Ἀδάμ, διὰ τί οὐ προέγνω τὴν διὰ τοῦ ὄφεως καὶ τῆς γυναικὸς ἀπάτην;" καὶ ὁ Πέτρος "εἰ πρόγνωσιν οὐκ εἶχε, πῶς τοῖς υἱοῖς αὐτοῦ πρὸς τὰς ἐσομένας πράξεις, ἅμα τῷ γεννη θῆναι, ἐπέθηκεν ὀνόματα; τὸν γὰρ πρωτότοκον ὠνόμασε Κάϊν, ὅ ἐστι ζῆλος· ὃς καὶ ζηλώσας ἀνεῖλε τὸν ἀδελφὸν αὐτοῦ Ἄβελ, ὃ ἑρμηνεύεται πένθος· ἐπ' αὐτῷ γὰρ πρώτῳ φονευθέντι ἐπένθη σαν οἱ γονεῖς. εἰ δὲ Ἀδὰμ ἔργον θεοῦ καὶ ποίημα πρόγνωσιν εἶχε, πολλῷ μᾶλλον ὁ δημιουργήσας αὐτὸν θεός. ὅτι γὰρ ὄντως προγινώσκει ὁ θεός, φησὶ πρὸς τὸν Ἀβραάμ «γινώσκων γνώσῃ ὅτι πάροικον ἔσται τὸ σπέρμα σου ἐν γῇ ἀλλοτρίᾳ, καὶ δουλώ 1.367 σουσιν αὐτὸ ἔτη υʹ. τὸ δὲ ἔθνος ᾧ ἐὰν δουλεύσωσι, κρινῶ ἐγώ. μετὰ δὲ ταῦτα ἐξελεύσονται ὧδε μετὰ ἀποσκευῆς πολλῆς· σὺ δὲ ἐπελεύσῃ πρὸς τοὺς πατέρας σου, μετ' εἰρήνης τραφεὶς ἐν γήρει καλῷ. τετάρτῃ δὲ γενεᾷ ἀποστραφήσονται ὧδε.» τί δέ; οὐχὶ Μωϋσῆς καὶ οἱ λοιποὶ προφῆται τὰ ἁμαρτήματα τοῦ Ἰσραὴλ καὶ τὴν ἀπείθειαν αὐτοῦ πρὸς τὸν Χριστὸν καὶ τὴν εἰς τὰ ἔθνη δια σπορὰν αὐτοῦ προεδήλωσαν; εἰ δὲ Μωϋσῆς καὶ οἱ ἄλλοι προφῆ ται ἐκ τῆς τοῦ θεοῦ χάριτος τὰ μέλλοντα προεγίνωσκον, πῶς αὐτὸς ὁ ἐν αὐτοῖς λαλήσας θεὸς οὐ