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is manifestly established as the father of life. For as the life of Adam according to pleasure became the mother of death and corruption; so also the death of the Lord for Adam's sake, 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 over nature, delivered it as prey to the death that came through it; and how, on the other hand, the birth in the flesh of the Lord through philanthropy brought about the abolition of both; I mean, of the pleasure from Adam and the death on account of Adam; making the penalty of Adam disappear along with the sin of Adam. For it was not (633) possible for the generation that in no way partook of the beginning, through which death existed in the end, to be taken by corruption through death in the end; since the argument, as I said, has distinguished these things from each other, until [Fr. when] only the things of Adam, both in the beginning and in the end—I mean the marks of generation and corruption—tyrannically held sway over nature, it was not the time for the judgment to begin for the complete condemnation of sin. But when the Word of God appeared to us in the flesh and became a perfect man, apart from sin alone, having in the flesh only the penalty of Adam by nature, according to his will; and condemned sin in the flesh, the just one suffering blamelessly for the unjust; and he overturned the use of death, making it [marg. that is, death] a condemnation of sin, but not of nature, it became the time for the judgment to begin, according to the reversal of death for the condemnation of sin.
This is what I mean: sin, having lured Adam in the beginning, persuaded him to come to the transgression of the divine commandment; according to which, having established pleasure, and having nailed itself through pleasure to the foundation of his nature, it condemned the whole of nature to death, thrusting the nature of created things toward extinction according to death through man. For this was contrived by the sower of sin and father of wickedness, the evil devil; who, on the one hand, exiled himself from the divine glory out of pride; and, on the other hand, through envy toward both us and God, exiled Adam from paradise, to destroy the works of God, and to dissolve the things that were established for generation. For the most defiled one envies not only us the glory that is in God on account of virtue, but also God the all-praised power that is over us for salvation.
Therefore, death on account of the transgression held sway, ruling over all of nature, having as the basis of its power the pleasure that began from disobedience of the whole of generation according to nature; on account of which death itself was a condemnation of nature. But the Lord, having become man, and not having taken the unjust pleasure that precedes his birth according to the flesh, on account of which the just condemnation against nature through death was pronounced; but having willingly accepted death itself according to nature in the passible part of nature; that is, by suffering, he reversed the use of death, it being no longer in him a condemnation of nature, but manifestly of sin. For it was not possible for death to be, in him who did not have his generation from pleasure, a condemnation of nature, but the abolition of the forefather's sin; on account of which the fear of death held sway over all of nature.
For if in Adam death was a condemnation of nature, which has pleasure as the beginning of its own generation; it is fitting that death in Christ became a condemnation (636) of sin, nature having again in Christ received a generation pure of pleasure; so that just as sin through death condemned nature to corruption in Adam according to pleasure, and it became the time for nature to be condemned by 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 by death, on account of the righteousness of nature, which has completely put off in Christ the
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ζωῆς προδήλως καθίσταται πατήρ. Ὡς γάρ τοῦ Ἀδάμ ἡ καθ᾿ ἡδονήν ζωή, θανάτου καί φθορᾶς γέγονε μήτηρ· οὕτω καί ὁ διά τόν Ἀδάμ τοῦ Κυρίου θάνατος, ὑπάρχων τῆς ἐκ τοῦ Ἀδάμ ἐλεύθερος ἡδονῆς, ἀϊδίου γεννήτωρ γίνεται ζωῆς.
Οὐκοῦν ἐπειδή, καθώς οἶμαι καλῶς διεῖλεν ὁ λόγος, πῶς μέν ἡ καθ᾿ ἡδονήν ἐκ τοῦ Ἀδάμ γένεσις τυραννοῦσα τήν φύσιν, βοράν τῷ δι᾿ αὐτήν θανάτῳ παρέπεμπε· πῶς δέ πάλιν ἡ διά φιλανθρωπίαν τοῦ Κυρίου κατά σάρκα γέννησις ἀμφοτέρων ἀναίρεσιν ἐποιήσατο· ἡδονῆς λέγω τῆς ἐκ τοῦ Ἀδάμ, καί θανάτου τοῦ διά τόν Ἀδάμ· συνεξαφανίζουσα τῇ τοῦ Ἀδάμ ἁμαρτίᾳ τό τοῦ Ἀδάμ ἐπιτίμιον. Οὐ γάρ ἦν (633) δυνατόν πρός φθοράν ἁλῶναι διά τοῦ θανάτου κατά τό τέλος, τήν μηδαμῶς τῆς ἀρχῆς ἁψαμένην γένεσιν, δι᾿ ἧς ὑπέστη κατά τό τέλος ὁ θάνατος· ἐπειδή ταῦτα διεῖλεν, ὡς ἔφην, ἀλλήλων ὁ λόγος, ἕως ὅτου [Fr. ὅτε] μόνα τά τοῦ Ἀδάμ κατά τε τήν ἀρχήν καί τό τέλος· φημί δέ τά κατα γένεσιν καί τήν φθοράν γνωρίσματα· τυραννικῶς ἐκράτει τῆς φύσεως, οὐκ ἦν καιρός τοῦ ἄρξασθαι τό κρῖμα πρός τελείαν τῆς ἁμαρτίας κατάκρισιν. Ὅ τε δέ διά σαρκός ἡμῖν ἐπεφάνη, καί γέγονε τέλειος ἄνθρωπος χωρίς μόνης ἁμαρτίας ὁ τοῦ Θεοῦ Λόγος, μόνον ἔχων ἐν τῇ σαρκί τοῦ Ἀδάμ φύσει κατά θέλησιν τό ἐπιτίμιον· καί κατέκρινε τήν ἁμαρτίαν ἐν τῇ σαρκί, ἀνευθύνως πάσχων ὑπέρ ἀδίκων ὁ δίκαιος· καί ἀνέτρεψε τήν χρῆσιν τοῦ θανάτου, κατάκριμα τῆς ἁμαρτίας αὐτόν [marg. τόν θάνατον δηλονότι] ἀπεργασάμενος, ἀλλ᾿ οὐ τῆς φύσεως, γέγονε καιρός τοῦ ἄρξασθαι τό κρῖμα κατά τήν ἀντιστροφήν τοῦ θανάτου πρός τήν τῆς ἁμαρτίας κατάκρισιν.
Οἷόν τι λέγω· τόν Ἀδάμ ἡ ἁμαρτία κατ᾿ ἀρχάς δελεάσασα, πρός παράβασιν ἐλθεῖν τῆς θείας παρέπεισεν ἐντολῆς· καθ᾿ ἥν τήν ἡδονήν ὑποστήσασα, καί ἑαυτήν διά τῆς ἡδονῆς ἐν αὐτῶ καθηλώσασα τῷ πυθμένι τῆς φύσεως, τόν θάνατον τῆς ὅλης κατέκρινε φύσεως, ὠθοῦσα πρός ἀπογένεσιν κατά τόν θάνατον διά τοῦ ἀνθρώπου, τήν φύσιν τῶν γεγονότων. Τοῦτο γάρ καί μεμηχάνηται τῷ σπορεῖ τῆς ἁμαρτίας, καί πατρί τῆς κακίας πονηρῷ διαβόλῳ· τῷ ἑαυτόν μέν ἐξ ὑπερηφανίας τῆς θείας ἐξοικίσαντι δόξης· διά φθόνον δέ τόν τε πρός ἡμᾶς καί τόν Θεόν, τοῦ παραδείσου τόν Ἀδάμ ἐξοικίσαντι, ἀφανίσαι τά ἔργα τοῦ Θεοῦ, καί διαλῦσαι τά συνεστῶτα πρός γένεσιν. Φθονεῖ γάρ οὐ μόνον ἡμῖν ὁ μιαρώτατος τῆς ἐπί τῷ Θεῷ διά τήν ἀρετήν δόξης· ἀλλά καί τῷ Θεῷ τῆς ἐφ᾿ ἡμῖν διά τήν σωτηρίαν πανυμνήτου δυνάμεως.
Πάσης οὖν ἐκράτει δυναστεύων τῆς φύσεως ὁ διά τήν παράβασιν θάνατος, τοῦ κράτους ἔχων ὑπόθεσιν, τήν ἐκ τῆς παρακοῆς ἄρξασαν τῆς κατά τήν φύσιν ὅλης γενέσεως ἡδονήν· δι᾿ ἥν αὐτός ὁ θάνατος κατεκρίθη τῆς φύσεως. Ὁ δέ Κύριος γενόμενος ἄνθρωπος, καί μή λαβών προκαθηγουμένην αὐτοῦ τῆς κατά σάρκα γεννήσεως τήν ἄδικον ἡδονήν, δι᾿ ἥν ἡ διά τοῦ θανάτου κατά τῆς φύσεως ἐξηνέχθη δικαία κατάκρισις· αὐτόν δέ κατά φύσιν θέλων ἐν τῷ παθητῷ τῆς φύσεως καταδεξάμενος θάνατον· δηλονότι πάσχων, τήν τοῦ θανάτου χρῆσιν ἀνέστρεψεν, οὐκ ὄντα λοιπόν ἐν αὐτῷ τῆς φύσεως, ἀλλά τῆς ἁμαρτίας προδήλως κατάκρισιν. Οὐ γάρ ἦν δυνατόν εἶναι τόν θάνατον ἐν τῷ μή τήν γένεσιν ἐξ ἡδονῆς ἐσχηκότι, κατάκρισιν φύσεως, ἀλλά τῆς τοῦ προπάτορος ἁμαρτίας ἀναίρεσιν· δι᾿ ἥν ὁ τοῦ θανάτου φόβος ὅλης ἐκράτει τῆς φύσεως.
Εἰ γάρ ἐν τῷ Ἀδάμ ὁ θάνατος τῆς φύσεως ὑπῆρχε κατάκρισις, ἀρχήν ἐχούσης τήν ἡδονήν τῆς ἰδίας γενέσεως· εἰκότως ὁ θάνατος ἐν Χριστῷ τῆς ἁμαρτίας (636) κατάκρισις γέγονεν, ἡδονῆς καθαράν ἐν Χριστῷ πάλιν τῆς φύσεως ἀπολαβούσης τήν γένεσιν· ἵν᾿ ὥσπερ κατέκρινεν εἰς φθοράν ἐν τῷ Ἀδάμ κατά τήν ἡδονήν ἡ ἁμαρτία διά τοῦ θανάτου τήν φύσιν, καί γέγονε καιρός τοῦ κατακρίνεσθαι θανάτῳ τήν φύσιν διά τήν ἁμαρτίαν· οὕτως ἐν Χριστῷ κατά τήν δικαιοσύνην ἡ φύσις διά τοῦ θανάτου κατακρίνῃ τήν ἁμαρτίαν, καί γένηται καιρός τοῦ κατακρίνεσθαι θανάτῳ τήν ἁμαρτίαν, διά τήν δικαιοσύνην τῆς φύσεως, ἐκδυσαμένης ἐν Χριστῶ παντελῶς τήν