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has become the mother of corruption, so also the death of the Lord on account of Adam, being free from the pleasure that comes from Adam, becomes the begetter of eternal life.

Therefore, since, as I think, the argument has well distinguished how on the one hand the generation from Adam according to pleasure, tyrannizing nature, delivered it as fodder to the death that came through it, and how on the other hand the birth of the Lord in the flesh through philanthropy brought about the annulment of both—I mean the pleasure from Adam and the death on account of Adam—making Adam's penalty disappear along with Adam's sin—for it was not possible for the generation that in no way partook of the beginning, through which death came to be in the end, to be captured for corruption through death in the end(12); since, as I said, the argument has distinguished these things from one another, for as long as only the characteristics of Adam, both in the beginning and in the end—I mean those related to generation and corruption—tyrannically held sway over nature, it was not the time for the judgment to begin for the perfect condemnation of sin; but when the Word of God appeared to us in the flesh and became (14Γ_208> a perfect man, apart from sin alone, having only the penalty of Adam in the flesh by nature according to will, and condemned sin in the flesh, the righteous one suffering without blame for the unrighteous, and inverted the use of death, making it a condemnation of sin and not of nature, it has become the time for the judgment to begin according to the inversion of death towards the condemnation of sin.

What I mean is this: sin, having at first enticed Adam, persuaded him to come to the transgression of the divine commandment, by which, having brought forth pleasure and through pleasure having nailed itself to the very foundation of his nature, it condemned all of nature to death, pushing the nature of created things towards extinction through death by means of man(13). For this was also contrived by the sower of sin and father of wickedness, the evil devil, who on the one hand through pride alienated himself from the divine glory, and on the other hand through envy, both towards us and towards God, exiled Adam from paradise, to destroy the works of God and to dissolve the things constituted for generation; for the most defiled one envies not only us the glory that is with God through virtue(14), but also God for his all-hymned power over us for salvation.

Therefore death, which came through the transgression, held sway, dominating all of nature, having as the basis for its power the pleasure that began from disobedience of all generation according to nature, on account of which death itself was condemned upon nature. But the Lord, having become man and not having taken the unjust pleasure preceding his birth according to the flesh, on account of which the just condemnation through death was brought against nature, and having willed to receive death itself according to nature in the passibility of nature, that is, by suffering, inverted the use of death, it being no longer in him a condemnation of nature, but manifestly of sin, (14Γ_210> condemnation; for it was not possible for death to be a condemnation of nature in one who did not have his generation from pleasure, but an annulment of the first father's sin, on account of which the fear of death held sway over all of nature.

For if in Adam death was the condemnation of nature, whose own generation had pleasure as its beginning, it is fitting that in Christ death became the condemnation of sin, nature in Christ again receiving a generation pure of pleasure, so that, just as in Adam sin according to pleasure condemned nature to corruption through death and it became the time for nature to be condemned to death on account of sin, so in Christ according to righteousness nature through death might condemn sin and it might become the time for sin to be condemned to death on account of righteousness, nature in Christ having completely divested itself of generation from pleasure, according to which necessarily for all as a debt the of condemnation

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φθορᾶς γέγονε μήτηρ, οὕτως καὶ ὁ διὰ τὸν Ἀδὰμ τοῦ Κυρίου θάνατος, ὑπάρχων τῆς ἐκ τοῦ Ἀδὰμ ἐλεύθερος ἡδονῆς, ἀϊδίου γεννήτωρ γίνεται ζωῆς.

Οὐκοῦν, ἐπειδή, καθὼς οἶμαι, καλῶς διεῖλεν ὁ λόγος πῶς μὲν ἡ καθ᾽ ἡδονὴν ἐκ τοῦ Ἀδὰμ γένεσις, τυραννοῦσα τὴν φύσιν, βορὰν τῷ δι᾽ αὐτὴν θανάτῳ παρέπεμπεν, πῶς δὲ πάλιν ἡ διὰ φιλανθρωπίαν κατὰ σάρκα τοῦ Κυρίου γέννησις ἀμφοτέρων ἀναίρεσιν ἐποιήσατο, ἡδονῆς λέγω τῆς ἐκ τοῦ Ἀδὰμ καὶ θανάτου τοῦ διὰ τὸν Ἀδάμ, συνεξαφανίσασα τῇ τοῦ Ἀδὰμ ἁμαρτίᾳ τὸ τοῦ Ἀδὰμ ἐπιτίμιονοὐ γὰρ ἦν δυνατὸν πρὸς φθορὰν ἁλῶναι διὰ θανάτου κατὰ τὸ τέλος(12) τὴν μηδαμῶς τῆς ἀρχῆς ἁψαμένην γένεσιν, δι᾽ ἧς ὑπέστη κατὰ τὸ τέλος ὁ θάνατος· ἐπειδὴ ταῦτα διεῖλεν, ὡς ἔφην, ἀλλήλων ὁ λόγος, ἕως ὅτε μόνα τὰ τοῦ Ἀδὰμ κατά τε τὴν ἀρχὴν καὶ τὸ τέλος, φημὶ δὲ τὰ κατὰ τὴν γένεσιν καὶ τὴν φθοράν, γνωρίσματα τυραννικῶς ἐκράτει τῆς φύσεως, οὐκ ἦν καιρὸς τοῦ ἄρξασθαι τὸ κρίμα πρὸς τελείαν τῆς ἁμαρτίας κατάκρισιν· ὅτε δὲ διὰ σαρκὸς ἡμῖν ἐπεφάνη καὶ γέγονε (14Γ_208> τέλειος ἄνθρωπος χωρὶς μόνης ἁμαρτίας ὁ τοῦ Θεοῦ Λόγος, μόνον ἔχων ἐν τῇ σαρκὶ τοῦ Ἀδὰμ φύσει κατὰ θέλησιν τὸ ἐπιτίμιον, καὶ κατέκρινε τὴν ἁμαρτίαν ἐν τῇ σαρκί, ἀνευθύνως πάσχων ὑπὲρ ἀδίκων ὁ δίκαιος, καὶ ἀντέστρεψε τὴν χρῆσιν τοῦ θανάτου, κατάκριμα τῆς ἁμαρτίας αὐτὸν ἀπεργασάμενος ἀλλ᾽ οὐ τῆς φύσεως, γέγονε καιρὸς τοῦ ἄρξασθαι τὸ κρίμα κατὰ τὴν ἀντιστροφὴν τοῦ θανάτου πρὸς τὴν τῆς ἁμαρτίας κατάκρισιν.

Οἷόν τι λέγω· τὸν Ἀδὰμ ἡ ἁμαρτία κατ᾽ ἀρχὰς δελεάσασα πρὸς παράβασιν ἐλθεῖν τῆς θείας παρέπεισεν ἐντολῆς, καθ᾽ ἥν, τὴν ἡδονὴν ὑποστήσασα καὶ ἑαυτὴν διὰ τῆς ἡδονῆς ἐν αὐτῷ καθηλώσασα τῷ πυθμένι τῆς φύσεως, τὸν θάνατον τῆς ὅλης κατέκρινε φύσεως, ὠθοῦσα πρὸς ἀπογένεσιν κατὰ τὸν θάνατον διὰ τοῦ ἀνθρώπου(13) τὴν φύσιν τῶν γεγονότων. Τοῦτο γὰρ καὶ μεμηχάνητο τῷ σπορεῖ τῆς ἁμαρτίας καὶ πατρὶ τῆς κακίας πονηρῷ διαβόλῳ, τῷ ἑαυτὸν μὲν ἐξ ὑπερηφανίας τῆς θείας ἐξοικίσαντι δόξης, διὰ φθόνον δέ, τόν τε πρὸς ἡμᾶς καὶ τὸν Θεόν, τοῦ παραδείσου τὸν Ἀδὰμ ἐξορίσαντι, ἀφανίσαι τὰ ἔργα τοῦ Θεοῦ καὶ διαλῦσαι τὰ συνεστῶτα πρὸς γένεσιν· φθονεῖ γὰρ οὐ μόνον ἡμῖν ὁ μιαρώτατος τῆς ἐπὶ τῷ Θεῷ διὰ τὴν ἀρετὴν δόξης(14), ἀλλὰ καὶ τῷ Θεῷ τῆς ἐφ᾽ ἡμῖν διὰ τὴν σωτηρίαν πανυμνήτου δυνάμεως.

Πάσης οὖν ἐκράτει δυναστεύων τῆς φύσεως ὁ διὰ τὴν παράβασιν θάνατος, τοῦ κράτους ἔχων ὑπόθεσιν τὴν ἐκ τῆς παρακοῆς ἄρξασαν τῆς κατὰ τὴν φύσιν ὅλης γενέσεως ἡδονήν, δι᾽ ἣν αὐτὸς ὁ θάνατος κατεκρίθη τῆς φύσεως. Ὁ δὲ Κύριος, γενόμενος ἄνθρωπος καὶ μὴ λαβὼν προκαθηγουμένην αὐτοῦ τῆς κατὰ σάρκα γεννήσεως τὴν ἄδικον ἡδονήν, δι᾽ ἣν ἡ διὰ τοῦ θανάτου κατὰ τῆς φύσεως ἐξηνέχθη δικαία κατάκρισις, αὐτὸν δὲ κατὰ φύσιν θέλων ἐν τῷ παθητῷ τῆς φύσεως καταδεξάμενος τὸν θάνατον, δηλονότι πάσχων, τὴν τοῦ θανάτου χρῆσιν ἀντέστρεψεν, οὐκ ὄντα λοιπὸν ἐν αὐτῷ τῆς φύσεως, ἀλλὰ τῆς ἁμαρτίας προδήλως, (14Γ_210> κατάκρισιν· οὐ γὰρ ἦν δυνατὸν εἶναι τὸν θάνατον ἐν τῷ μὴ τὴν γένεσιν ἐξ ἡδονῆς ἐσχηκότι κατάκρισιν φύσεως, ἀλλὰ τῆς τοῦ προπάτορος ἁμαρτίας ἀναίρεσιν, δι᾽ ἣν ὁ τοῦ θανάτου φόβος ὅλης ἐκράτει τῆς φύσεως.

Εἰ γὰρ ἐν τῷ Ἀδὰμ ὁ θάνατος τῆς φύσεως ὑπῆρχε κατάκρισις, ἀρχὴν ἐχούσης τὴν ἡδονὴν τῆς ἰδίας γενέσεως, εἰκότως ὁ θάνατος ἐν Χριστῷ τῆς ἁμαρτίας κατάκρισις γέγονεν, ἡδονῆς καθαρὰν ἐν Χριστῷ πάλιν τῆς φύσεως ἀπολαβούσης τὴν γένεσιν, ἵνα, ὥσπερ κατέκρινεν εἰς φθορὰν ἐν τῷ Ἀδὰμ κατὰ τὴν ἡδονὴν ἡ ἁμαρτία διὰ τοῦ θανάτου τὴν φύσιν καὶ γέγονε καιρὸς τοῦ κατακρίνεσθαι θανάτῳ τὴν φύσιν διὰ τὴν ἁμαρτίαν, οὕτως ἐν Χριστῷ κατὰ τὴν δικαιοσύνην ἡ φύσις διὰ τοῦ θανάτου κατακρίνῃ τὴν ἁμαρτίαν καὶ γένηται καιρὸς τοῦ κατακρίνεσθαι θανάτῳ τὴν ἁμαρτίαν διὰ τὴν δικαιοσύνην, τῆς φύσεως ἐκδυσαμένης ἐν Χριστῷ παντελῶς τὴν ἐξ ἡδονῆς γένεσιν, καθ᾽ ἣν ἀναγκαίως τοῖς πᾶσιν ὡς χρέος ὁ τῆς κατακρίσεως