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for the Virgin was spotless and undefiled; and such was also the rib taken from Adam. But the rest of men, even if they were his brothers and kinsmen according to the flesh, being earthy, remained as such and did not immediately become holy and sons of God. But pay close attention to the Spirit who says these things: God became man, and was named kinsman and brother of all men. Therefore, the only Son of God, being God and man, alone was and is holy, as he will be for all ages, alone righteous, alone true, alone immortal, alone the lover of mankind, alone merciful and compassionate, alone ruler, alone the light of the world and being the unapproachable light.

Since he was such, while we lay in death and corruption and had no communion at all with him, except only, as we said, kinship according to the flesh, faith in him mediated between both, I mean of God and men, so that since we are poor and have absolutely nothing to contribute to our salvation, having accepted faith in him in place of all things, (361) God, having had mercy on us, might grant us the forgiveness of sins and deliverance from death and corruption and freedom; which he grants even to this day to those who believe in him with their whole soul, and not only these things, but also the rest that he has promised us and promises us daily through the holy gospels. What are these things? To regenerate and refashion us through water and the Spirit and to number us among his holy servants, to provide us with the grace of his Holy Spirit and to give us to share through him in the good things of the land which the meek inherit in gladness and exultation of heart, for him to be united and numbered with us and for both to become one in God the Father himself, bound together with him through the Spirit.

Therefore, we come into participation and enjoyment of all these things when we keep precisely all that we have covenanted with him and flee all that we have in turn renounced, not returning to our own vomit like dogs. Therefore, if we keep all that God himself has said and says to us, we are truly faithful, showing our faith by our works, and we become like him holy and perfect, wholly celestial, children of the celestial God, like him in all things by adoption and grace, since he too was named like us, similar to us in all respects except sin; but if, despising his holy and life-giving commandments, we fall away through negligence and do something contrary to his decrees, having done what he commanded us not to do, we immediately fall away from all those good things given to us by God through baptism. (362) And just as Adam after the transgression is cast out of paradise and its delight and the company of angels, and is stripped naked and removed from the sight of God, so also we, by sinning, are separated from the Church of his holy servants and are stripped of the divine garment which we who are baptized have put on, that is, Christ himself, as we believe, whom we put off through sin; and not only that, but we are also deprived of eternal life itself and of the inaccessible light, of the eternal good things, of sanctification and of adoption as sons. And so we become again earthy, like that first and earthy man, instead of being heavenly and in all respects like the second man and Lord Jesus Christ himself; and in addition to this we become subject to death and darkness, and are sent to the unquenchable fire, to be tormented with great weeping and gnashing of teeth. For we are not now cast out from a sensible paradise, as Adam was then, nor are we condemned to work the earth as he was, but from the kingdom of heaven and from those good things about which it is written: “What eye has not seen, and ear has not heard, and has not entered into the heart of man,” we

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γάρ ἦν ἡ Παρθένος, ἄσπιλος καί ἀμίαντος· τοιαύτη δέ ἦν καί ἡ ἐκ τοῦ Ἀδάμ ἀφαιρεθεῖσα πλευρά. Οἱ δέ γε λοιποί τῶν ἀνθρώπων, εἰ καί ἀδελφοί καί συγγενεῖς αὐτοῦ τό κατά σάρκα ὑπῆρξαν, ἀλλά χοϊκοί ὄντες τοιοῦτοι ἔμειναν καί οὐχί εὐθύς ἐγένοντο ἅγιοι καί υἱοί Θεοῦ. Αλλά προσέχετε ἀκριβῶς τῷ ταῦτα λέγοντι Πνεύματι· ἐγένετο ἄνθρωπος ὁ Θεός, ἁπάντων δέ ἀνθρώπων συγγενής καί ἀδελφός ἐχρημάτισε. Μόνος οὖν Υἱός Θεοῦ καί Θεός καί ἄνθρωπος ὤν, μόνος ἦν καί ἔστιν ἅγιος, ὡς ἔσται εἰς τούς αἰῶνας, μόνος δίκαιος, μόνος ἀληθινός, μόνος ἀθάνατος, μόνος φιλάνθρωπος, μόνος ἐλεήμων καί εὔσπλαγχνος, μόνος δυνάστης, μόνος φῶς τοῦ κόσμου καί φῶς ὤν τό ἀπρόσιτον.

Τοιούτου τοίνυν ὄντος αὐτοῦ, ἡμῶν δέ κειμένων ἐν τῷ θανάτῳ καί τῇ φθορᾷ καί μηδεμίαν κοινωνίαν ὅλως ἐχόντων μετ᾿ αὐτοῦ, εἰ μή μόνην, ὡς ἔφαμεν, τήν κατά σάρκα συγγένειαν, ἐμεσίτευσεν ἀνά μέσον τῶν ἀμφοτέρων, Θεοῦ φημί καί ἀνθρώπων, ἡ πίστις ἡ εἰς αὐτόν, ἵνα ἐπείπερ πτωχοί ὄντες καί μηδέν ὅλως ἔχοντες εἰσενεγκεῖν τῇ σωτηρίᾳ ἡμῶν, ἀντί πάντων τήν εἰς αὐτόν πίστιν δεξάμενος, (361) ἐλεήσας ἡμᾶς ὁ Θεός τήν τῶν ἁμαρτημάτων ἄφεσιν καί τήν ἀπαλλαγήν τοῦ θανάτου καί τῆς φθορᾶς καί τήν ἐλευθερίαν ἡμῖν χαρίσηται· ἅς καί μέχρι τοῦ νῦν χαρίζεται τοῖς ὁλοψύχως πιστεύουσιν εἰς αὐτόν, καί οὐ μόνον ταῦτα, ἀλλά καί τά λοιπά ἅ ἡμῖν ἐπηγγείλατο καί διά τῶν ἁγίων εὐαγγελίων καθ᾿ ἑκάστην ἡμῖν ἐπαγγέλεται. Τίνα εἰσι ταῦτα; Τοῦ δι᾿ ὕδατος καί Πνεύματος ἀναγεννᾶν καί ἀναπλάττειν ἡμᾶς καί συναριθμεῖν τοῖς δούλοις αὐτοῦ τοῖς ἁγίοις, τοῦ παρέχειν ἡμῖν τήν χάριν τοῦ Πνεύματος αὐτοῦ τοῦ Ἁγίου καί διδόναι ἡμῖν μετασχεῖν δι᾿ αὐτοῦ τά ἀγαθά τῆς γῆς ἥν οἱ πραεῖς κληρονομοῦσιν ἐν εὐφροσύνῃ καί ἀγαλλιάσει καρδίας, τοῦ ἑνωθῆναι αὐτόν καί συναριθμῆναι ἡμῖν καί ἕν ἀμφοτέρους γενέσθαι ἐν αὐτῷ τῷ Θεῷ καί Πατρί δι᾿ αὐτοῦ συνεδεμένους τῷ Πνεύματι.

Τούτων οὖν πάντων ἐν μετοχῇ καί ἀπολαύσει γινόμεθα, ὅταν ἀκριβῶς πάντα ὅσα συνεταξάμεθα αὐτῷ τηρῶμεν καί ὅσα πάλιν ἀπεταξάμεθα φεύγωμεν, μή ἐπιτρέφοντες εἰς τό ἴδιον ἐξέραμα κατά τούς κύνας. Τοιγαροῦν καί εἰ μέν φυλάξομεν πάντα ἅ εἶπε καί λέγει ἡμῖν αὐτός ὁ Θεός, ὄντως πιστοί ἐσμεν, ἐκ τῶν ἔργων δεικνύοντες τήν πίστιν ἡμῶν, καί γινόμεθα ὡς ἐκεῖνος ἅγιοι καί τέλειοι, ὅλοι ὅλως ἐπουράνιοι, ἐπουρανίου Θεοῦ τέκνα, ὅμοιοι αὐτῷ κατά πάντα θέσει καί χάριτι, ἐπειδή καί αὐτός ὡς ἡμεῖς ὅμοιος ἡμῖν ἐχρημάτισε πλήν ἁμαρτίας· εἰ δέ τῶν ἁγίων καί ζωοποιῶν αὐτοῦ ἐντολῶν καταφρονήσαντες, ἀποστῶμεν διά ἀμελείας καί ἐναντίον τι τῶν αὐτοῦ προσταγμάτων ἐνεργήσομεν, πεπραχότες ἅ μή ποιῆσαι ἡμῖν ἐνετείλατο, εὐθύς πάντων ἐκείνων τῶν ἐκ Θεοῦ διά τοῦ βαπτίσματος δοθέντων ἡμῖν ἀγαθῶν ἐκπίπτομεν. (362) Καί ὥσπερ ὁ Ἀδάμ μετά τήν παράβασιν τοῦ παραδείσου καί τῆς τρυφῆς καί τῆς μετ᾿ ἀγγέλων διαγωγῆς ἐκβάλλεται καί γυμνοῦται καί ἀπό ὄψεως γίνεται τοῦ Θεοῦ, οὕτω καί ἡμεῖς τῆς Ἐκκλησίας τῶν ἁγίων δούλων αὐτοῦ χωριζόμεθα ἁμαρτάνοντες καί τῆς θείας καταστολῆς ἥν ἐνεδυσάμεθα οἱ βαπτιζόμενοι, αὐτόν δηλαδή τόν Χριστόν, ὡς πιστεύομεν, τοῦτον διά τῆς ἁμαρτίας ἀποδυόμεθα· οὐ μόνον δέ, ἀλλά καί αὐτῆς τῆς αἰωνίου ζωῆς καί αὐτοῦ τοῦ ἀδύτου φωτός, τῶν αἰωνίων ἀγαθῶν, τοῦ ἁγιασμοῦ καί τῆς υἱοθεσίας στερούμεθα. Καί οὕτως γινόμεθα πάλιν χοϊκοί, ὡς ὁ πρῶτος ἐκεῖνος καί χοϊκός, ἀντί ἐπουρανίων καί αὐτοῦ τοῦ δευτέρου ἀνθρώπου καί Κυρίου Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ κατά πάντων ὁμοίων· καί γινόμεθα ἔτι πρός τούτοις ὑπόδικοι τῷ θανάτῳ καί τῷ σκότει, καί τῷ πυρί τῷ ἀσβέστῳ παραπεμπόμεθα, ἐν μεγάλῳ κλαυθμῷ καί τῷ βρυγμῷ τῶν ὀδόντων βασανιζόμενοι. Οὐ γάρ ἀπό αἰσθητοῦ παραδείσου, ὡς ὁ Ἀδάμ τότε, καί νῦν ἡμεῖς ἐκβαλλόμεθα, οὐδέ τήν γῆν ἐργάζεσθαι καθά κἀκεῖνος κατακρινόμεθα, ἀλλ᾿ ἐκ τῆς τῶν οὐρανῶν βασιλείας καί τῶν ἀγαθῶν ἐκείνων περί ὧν γέγραπται· «Ἅ ὀφθαλμός οὐκ εἶδε καί οὖς οὐκ ἤκουσε καί ἐπί καρδίαν ἀνθρώπου οὐκ ἀνέβη» ἡμᾶς