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1. For the good of the mind is the passionless disposition towards the spirit; but evil, the passionate relation. And the good of sensation is the passionate movement towards the body according to pleasure; but evil, the disposition which supervenes upon it according to virtue.

QUESTION 44.

To whom does God say, "Behold, Adam has become as one of us?" If to the Son, how is Adam compared to God, not being of his substance? But if to angels, how does he again compare the angel to himself, as if speaking to an equal in substance, saying, "As one of us?"

Answer. I have already said in the chapter on the building of the tower, that according to the underlying disposition in the

soul for those for whom providence is made, Scripture portrays God as speaking; hinting at the divine will through the modes that are by nature innate to us. And here, therefore, Scripture does not show God saying, (416) "Behold, Adam has become as one of us," simply, but clearly after the transgression; adding also the reason for the saying, which you omitted to include in the chapter, which clarifies the whole meaning. For the account, having said, "Behold, Adam has become as one of us," added, "to know good and evil;" "and now, lest he stretch out his hand, and take from the tree of life and eat, and live forever." For since the devil, along with his counsel, taught him polytheism, saying, "On whatever day you eat from the tree, your eyes will be opened, and you will be as gods, knowing good and evil;" for this reason, with dissimulation, and, so to speak, ironically and reproachfully, for the refutation of the man who was persuaded by the devil, God speaks in the plural, saying, "He has become as one of you," with reference to the notion of divinity instilled in Adam by the serpent through deceit.

And let no one think the manner of ironic speech is foreign to the composition of Scripture, hearing Scripture speaking on behalf of God to Israel: "If you walk crookedly with me, I too will walk crookedly with you." Knowing that crookedness differs in no way from irony; and again, finding how he contrived Ahab’s deception, a[s]sailing him with falsehood as truth, through which he sinned, justly bringing punishment upon him. For if Scripture had not introduced God as saying, "As one of us," with reference to Adam’s error, how could it have added, "to know good and evil," as having a composite knowledge, and one composed of opposites? which is impossible even to conceive of in God’s case, let alone dare to say it of him who alone is simple in substance, power, and knowledge, and possesses the knowledge of the good alone; or rather, who is substance-itself and power-itself and knowledge-itself. But not even any of the rational substances from God and after God has, at one and the same time in the simple void of the intellect, the knowledge that subsists by composition from opposites; because the knowledge of one of two mutually opposed things is by nature constituted as ignorance of the other knowledge. For the knowledge of opposites is unmixed and altogether non-coexistent; since the knowledge of the one constitutes ignorance of the other of the opposites, just as the eye cannot perceive what is above and what is below and what is on either side at the same time, without a particular turning towards one and a complete separation from the others.

Scripture, therefore, shows God appropriating the passion of Adam; or it refutes Adam for the counsel of the serpent, leading him to an awareness of the nonsensical tales about polytheism inflicted upon him by the deceit. And if this is correct, enough of the questions; but if you yourself, finding from yourself something greater, share it

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α΄. Νοῦ μέν γάρ καλόν ἐστιν, ἡ ἀπαθής πρός τό πνεῦμα διάθεσις· κακόν δέ, ἡ ἐμπαθής σχέσις. Αἰσθήσεως δέ καλόν ἐστιν, ἡ καθ᾿ ἡδονήν ἐμπαθής πρός τό σῶμα κίνησις· κακόν δέ, ἡ κατ᾿ ἀρετήν ταύτῃ ἐπιγινομένη διάθεσις.

ΕΡΩΤΗΣΙΣ Μ∆΄.

Πρός τίνα λέγει ὁ Θεός· "Ἰδού Ἀδάμ γέγονεν ὡς εἷς ἐξ ἡμῶν;" Εἰ μέν πρός τόν Υἱόν, καί πῶς συγκρίνεται Ἀδάμ Θεῷ, μή ὤν τῆς οὐσίας αὐτοῦ; Εἰ δέ πρός ἀγγέλους, πῶς τόν ἄγγελον πάλιν ἑαυτῷ συγκρίνει, ὡς πρός ἴσον κατά τήν οὐσίαν λέγων τό, " Ὡς εἷς ἐξ ἡμῶν;"

Ἀπόκρισις. Ἤδη μέν εἶπον ἐν τῷ περί πυργοποιίας κεφαλαίῳ, ὅτι κατά τήν ὑποκειμένην τῇ

ψυχῇ τῶν προνοουμένων διάθεσιν, ἡ Γραφή λαλοῦντα τόν Θεόν διαπλάττεται· διά τῶν κατά φύσιν ἡμῖν συμφύτων τρόπων, τήν θείαν αἰνιττομένη βουλήν. Καί ἐνταῦθα τοίνυν οὐχ ἁπλῶς λέγοντα τόν Θεόν ἡ Γραφή δείκνυσι, τό, (416) Ἰδού γέγονεν Ἀδάμ ὡς εἷς ἐξ ἡμῶν, ἀλλά δηλονότι μετά τήν παράβασιν· προσθεῖσα καί τήν αἰτίαν τῆς λέξεως, ἥν ὑμεῖς ἐντάξαι τῷ κεφαλαίῳ παρελίπατε, τῆς ὅλης σαφηνιστικήν ὑπάρχουσαν ἐννοίας. Εἰπών γάρ ὁ λόγος· Ἰδού Ἀδάμ γέγονεν ὡς εἷς ἐξ ἡμῶν, προσέθηκε· Τοῦ γινώσκειν καλόν καί πονηρόν· καί νῦν μήποτε ἐκτείνῃ τήν χεῖρα αὐτοῦ, καί λάβῃ τοῦ ξύλου τῆς ζωῆς καί φάγῃ, καί ζήσεται εἰς τόν αἰῶνα. Ἐπειδή γάρ ἅμα τῇ συμβουλῇ πολυθεΐαν αὐτόν ἐδίδαξεν ὁ διάβολος, εἰπών· ᾟ δ᾿ ἄν ἡμέρα φάγητε ἀπό τοῦ ξύλου, διανοιχθήσονται ὑμῶν οἱ ὀφθαλμοί, καί ἔσεσθε ὡς θεοί, γινώσκοντες καλόν καί πονηρόν· διά τοῦτο μεθ᾿ ὑποκρίσεως, καί οἷον εἰπεῖν εἰρωνευτικήν καί ὀνειδιστικήν εἰς ἔλεγχον τοῦ πεισθέντος ἀνθρώπου τῷ διαβόλῳ, τήν τό, Γέγονεν ὡς εἷς ἐξ ὑμῶν, πρός τήν ἐντεθεῖσαν διά τῆς ἀπάτης παρά τοῦ ὄφεως τῷ Ἀδάμ περί θεότητος ἔννοιαν, πληθυντικῶς ποιεῖται φωνήν ὁ Θεός.

Καί μή τις δόξῃ τῆς Γραφικῆς συνθήκης ἀλλότριον τό εἶδος τῆς κατ᾿ εἰρωνείαν λέξεως, ἀκούων τῆς Γραφῆς ἐκ προσώπου τοῦ Θεοῦ λεγούσης πρός τόν Ἰσραήλ· Ἐάν πορευθῆτε πρός με πλάγιοι, κἀγώ πορεύσομαι πρός ὑμᾶς πλάγιος. Εἰδώς μηδέν διαφέρειν εἰρωνείας πλαγιασμόν· καί πάλιν εὑρίσκων πῶς τήν τοῦ Ἀχάβ συνεσκεύασεν ἀπάτην, ὡς ἀλήθειαν αὐτῷ προ[σ]βαλλόμενος τό ψεῦδος, δι᾿ ὧν ἥμαρτε, φέρων αὐτῷ δικαίως τήν κόλασιν. Εἰ γάρ μή πρός τήν πλάνην τοῦ Ἀδάμ ἡ Γραφή τόν Θεόν λέγοντα τό, Ὡς εἷς ἐξ ἡμῶν, εἰσήγαγε, πῶς ἐπέφερε, Τοῦ γινώσκειν καλόν καί πονηρόν, ὡς σύνθετον ἔχοντα γνῶσιν, καί ἐξ ἐναντίων συγκειμένην; ὅπερ ἀμήχανον ἐπί Θεοῦ κἄν ἐννοῆσαι, μή ὅτι γε τοῦ εἰπεῖν τολμῆσαι τοῦ μόνου ἁπλοῦ τήν οὐσίαν καί τήν δύναμιν καί τήν γνῶσιν, καί μόνην τήν τοῦ καλοῦ γνῶσιν ἔχνοντος· μᾶλλον δέ, αὐτοουσία καί δύναμις καί γνῶσις ὄντος. Ἀλλ᾿ οὐδέ τις τῶν ἐκ Θεοῦ καί μετά Θεόν λογικῶν οὐσιῶν ἔχει ὁμοῦ τε καί κατά ταυτόν ἐν τῷ τῆς διανοίας ἁπλῷ κενήματι, κατά τήν σύνθεσιν ἐκ τῶν ἐναντίων ὑφισταμένην τήν γνῶσιν· διότι πέφυκεν ἡ θατέρα τῶν ἀλλήλοις ἀντικειμένων γνῶσις, τήν τοῦ ἑτέρου ποιεῖσθαι γνώσεως ἄγνοιαν. Ἀμιγής γάρ τῶν ἀντικειμένων ἡ γνῶσις καί παντάπασιν ἀσυνύπαρκτος· ἐπείπερ ἡ τοῦδε γνῶσις τήν θατέρου τῶν ἀντικειμένων συνίστησιν ἄγνοιαν, ὥσπερ οὔτε ὀφθαλμός τοῦ ἄνω τε καί τοῦ κάτω, καί τοῦ ἐφ᾿ ἑκάτερα κατά ταυτόν, χωρίς τῆς πρός θάτερον ἰδιαζούσης ἐπιστροφῆς, καί τῶν ἄλλων πάντη κεχωρισμένης, ἀντιλαμβάνεσθαι.

Τό τοίνυν πάθος τοῦ Ἀδάμ οἰκειούμενον ἡ Γραφή τόν Θεόν παραδείκνυσιν· ἤ τόν Ἀδάμ ἐπί τῇ συμβουλῇ τοῦ ὄφεως διαλέγχει, πρός συναίσθησιν ἄγουσα τῶν ἐκ τῆς ἀπάτης ἐπιτριβέντων αὐτῷ περί πολυθεΐας ὕθλων. Καί εἰ μέν οὕτως ἔχει καλῶς, ἅλις τῶν ζητημάτων· ἐπείτοι γε αὐτός παρ᾿ ἑαυτοῦ τό μεῖζον εὑρίσκων, μετάδος