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of the body I do not know,” and again, “So husbands ought to love their own wives, as their own bodies,” and again, “May the God of peace himself sanctify you completely; and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.” But they, surely not understanding any of these things, supposed the apostle to be carried about in tossing and turmoil, as if the thoughts of his words had no stability and foundation, but were sailing up and down and speaking contradictions, at one time that the flesh rises, at another that it does not rise. 55. Therefore, so that not even one of the things put forth may be omitted, that we may cut out the hydra completely, I will return again to the subject at hand; for in order, as I promised, having set forth the other chapters about which they raise difficulties and having shown what must be said to them, I will demonstrate that he has said these things too as consistent and in agreement with the faith concerning the resurrection of the flesh. Let us see, then, what we were first led to say concerning the apostle. For the statement spoken by him, “For I was alive without the law once,” warrants the life above in paradise, as we supposed from the beginning, before the commandment, not outside the body, but with our body in the first-formed, since before the commandment was given, “God 2.487 taking dust from the earth formed man.” And we lived without desire, not knowing at all the assaults of irrational desire, which forces us toward incontinence with the alluring enticements of pleasures. For that which has no definition according to which it must live, nor the sovereign power of reason to choose what way of life to use, so that it might be justly either honored or blamed, must be said to be not liable to any charge, because it is not able to desire those things from which it has not been forbidden. And even if it does desire, it will not be accused. For desiring does not fall upon things that are present and subject to one's power, but upon things that are present, but are not in one's power. For how can someone desire and long for that from which he is not forbidden and of which he is not in need? Wherefore for this reason, he said, “I would not have known desire if the law had not said, You shall not desire.” For having heard, “but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, you shall not eat from it; for on whatever day you eat from it, you shall surely die,” then they conceived and became pregnant with desire. For the one who desires does not desire the things he has and has power over and uses, but the things from which he is forbidden and deprived and does not have. Therefore it was well said, “I would not have known desire if the law had not said, You shall not desire,” which is, if it had not been said, “you shall not eat from it.” For from here sin acquired a place and an occasion to enter in to deceive me and turn me aside. 2.488 56. For when the commandment was given, the devil took an opportunity through the commandment to work desire in me, inciting me and skillfully inviting me to fall into a longing for the things that were forbidden. “For without the law sin was dead”; that is, since the commandment had not been given nor yet existed, sin was inactive; “but I was alive” blamelessly before the commandment, not having a definition and a command according to which I ought to live, by slipping away from which I would sin. “But when the commandment came, sin revived, and I died; and this commandment, which was to bring life, I found to be for death,” because after God had given the law and had distinguished what must be done and what must not be done, the devil worked desire in me. For the exhortation of God and the command given to me for life and incorruption, so that by obeying it and living according to it I might have a life without sorrow and most blessed throughout the ages and ever flourishing toward immortality and joy, resulted in death and condemnation for the one who disregarded it, since the devil, whom he now called sin because he is the creator and inventor of sin, having taken an opportunity through the commandment

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σώματος οὐκ οἶδα» καὶ πάλιν «οὕτως ὀφείλουσιν οἱ ἄνδρες ἀγαπᾶν τὰς ἑαυτῶν γυναῖκας, ὡς τὰ ἑαυτῶν σώματα», καὶ πάλιν «αὐτὸς δὲ ὁ θεὸς τῆς εἰρήνης ἁγιάσαι ὑμᾶς ὁλοτελεῖς, καὶ ὁλόκληρον ὑμῶν τὸ πνεῦμα καὶ ἡ ψυχὴ καὶ τὸ σῶμα ἀμέμπτως ἐν τῇ παρουσίᾳ τοῦ κυρίου ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ τηρηθείη». οἱ δέ, ἀσφαλῶς οὐ νοήσαντες τούτων οὐδέν, ἐν σάλῳ καὶ ταραχῇ φέρεσθαι τὸν ἀπόστολον ὑπέλαβον, ὡς στάσιν αὐτοῦ τὰς διανοήσεις τῶν λόγων καὶ ἕδραν οὐκ ἐχούσας, ἀλλὰ ἀναπλεούσας ἄνω καὶ κάτω καὶ ὁμιλούσας παλίμφημα, ὁτὲ μὲν τὴν σάρκα ἀνίστασθαι, ὁτὲ δὲ οὐκ ἀνίστασθαι. 55. Ὅθεν ἵνα μὴ παραλειφθῇ τῶν προταθέντων μηδὲ ἕν, ὅπως τελείως ἐκτέμνωμεν τὴν ὕδραν, εἰς τὸ προκείμενον πάλιν ἐπανελεύσομαι· ἐφεξῆς γάρ, καθάπερ ὑπεσχόμην, καὶ τὰ ἄλλα ἃ προσαποροῦσι κεφάλαια θεὶς καὶ ἃ χρὴ πρὸς αὐτὰ λέγεσθαι ἀποδείξας, ἀκόλουθα παραστήσω αὐτὸν καὶ σύμφωνα εἰς τὴν περὶ τῆς ἀναστάσεως τῆς σαρκὸς πίστιν καὶ αὐτὰ εἰρηκότα. ἴδωμεν δὴ οὖν ἃ τὸ πρῶτον εἰς τὸν ἀπόστολον προήχθημεν εἰπεῖν. τὸ γάρ «ἐγὼ δὲ ἔζων» λεχθὲν αὐτῷ «χωρὶς νόμου ποτέ» ἄνω τὴν ἐν τῷ παραδείσῳ, καθάπερ ἐξ ἀρχῆς ὑπεθέμεθα, πρὸ τῆς ἐντολῆς, οὐκ ἐκτὸς σώματος, ἀλλὰ μετὰ σώματος ἡμῶν ἐν τοῖς πρωτοπλάστοις διαγωγὴν παρεγγυᾷ, ἐπειδὴ πρὸ τοῦ δοθῆναι τὴν ἐντολὴν «χοῦν ὁ θεὸς 2.487 ἀπὸ τῆς γῆς λαβὼν ἔπλασε τὸν ἄνθρωπον». ἐκτὸς δὲ ἐπιθυμίας διήγομεν, οὐ γινώσκοντες ὅλως ἐπιθυμίας ἀλόγου προσβολάς, βιαζομένης ἡμᾶς ἑλκτικαῖς ἡδονῶν περιαγωγαῖς πρὸς ἀκρασίαν. τὸ γὰρ μὴ ἔχον διορισμὸν καθ' ὃν δεῖ πολιτεύεσθαι μηδὲ ἐξουσίαν αὐτοδέσποτον λογισμοῦ, ποίῳ χρῆσθαι αἱρεῖται πολιτεύματι, ἵνα δικαίως ἢ τιμηθῇ ἢ ψεχθῇ, ἀνυπεύθυνον παντὸς λεκτέον ὑπάρχειν τοῦτο ἐγκλήματος, ὅτι μὴ δύναται τούτων ἐπιθυμῆσαι ὧν μὴ κεκώλυται. κἂν ἐπιθυμήσῃ δέ, οὐκ αἰτιαθήσεται. τὸ γὰρ ἐπιθυμῆσαι οὐκ ἐπὶ τῶν παρόντων καὶ ὑποκειμένων ἐν ἐξουσίᾳ πίπτει, ἀλλ' ἐπὶ τῶν παρόντων μέν, μὴ ὄντων δὲ ἐν ἐξουσίᾳ. πῶς γὰρ οὗ μὴ κεκώλυταί τις μηδὲ ἐνδεής ἐστι, τούτου ἐπιθυμεῖ καὶ ἐρᾷ; ὅθεν διὰ τοῦτο «τὴν ἐπιθυμίαν οὐκ ᾔδειν», ἔφη, «εἰ μὴ ὁ νόμος ἔλεγεν, οὐκ ἐπιθυμήσεις». ἀκούσαντες γάρ «ἀπὸ δὲ τοῦ ξύλου τοῦ γινώσκειν καλὸν καὶ πονηρόν, οὐ φάγεσθε ἀπ' αὐτοῦ· ᾗ δ' ἂν ἡμέρᾳ φάγητε ἀπ' αὐτοῦ, θανάτῳ ἀποθανεῖσθε», τότε τὸ ἐπιθυμῆσαι συνέλαβον καὶ ἐνεκίσσησαν. οὐ γὰρ ὧν ἔχει καὶ ὧν ἐξουσιάζει καὶ κέχρηται αὐτοῖς, ὁ ἐπιθυμῶν ἐπιθυμεῖ, ἀλλὰ ὧν κεκώλυται καὶ ἀφῄρηται καὶ οὐκ ἔχει. διὸ δὴ καλῶς «τὴν ἐπιθυμίαν οὐκ ᾔδειν» ἐλέχθη, «εἰ μὴ ὁ νόμος ἔλεγεν, οὐκ ἐπιθυμήσεις», ὃ δή ἐστιν, εἰ μὴ εἴρητο «οὐ φάγεσθε ἀπ' αὐτοῦ». ἐντεῦθεν γὰρ ἐκτήσατο τόπον καὶ ἀφορμὴν εἰσελθεῖν εἰς τὸ διαπαῖξαί με καὶ παρατρέψασθαι ἡ ἁμαρτία. 2.488 56. ∆οθείσης γὰρ τῆς ἐντολῆς ἔσχε λαβὴν διὰ τῆς ἐντολῆς ὁ διάβολος κατεργάσασθαι ἐν ἐμοὶ τὴν ἐπιθυμίαν, παρορμήσας με καὶ προσκαλεσάμενος ἐντέχνως εἰς ὄρεξιν καταπεσεῖν τῶν κεκωλυμένων. «χωρὶς γὰρ νόμου ἁμαρτία νεκρά»· οἷον οὐ δοθείσης γὰρ οὐδὲ οὔσης οὐδέπω τῆς ἐντολῆς ἄπρακτος ἦν ἡ ἁμαρτία· «ἐγὼ δὲ ἔζων» ἀμέμπτως πρὸ τῆς ἐντολῆς, οὐκ ἔχων διορισμὸν καὶ διαταγήν, καθ' ἣν ἔδει πολιτεύσασθαι, ἧς καὶ διολισθήσας ἁμαρτήσομαι. «ἐλθούσης δὲ τῆς ἐντολῆς ἡ ἁμαρτία ἀνέζησεν, ἐγὼ δὲ ἀπέθανον, καὶ ηὑρέθη μοι ἡ ἐντολὴ ἡ εἰς ζωὴν αὕτη εἰς θάνατον», ὅτι μετὰ τὸ νομοθετῆσαι τὸν θεὸν καὶ διαστείλασθαι ὃ ποιητέον καὶ μὴ ποιητέον, κατειργάσατο ἐν ἐμοὶ τὴν ἐπιθυμίαν ὁ διάβολος. ἡ γὰρ παραίνεσις τοῦ θεοῦ καὶ παραγγελία ἡ δοθεῖσά μοι αὕτη εἰς ζωὴν καὶ ἀφθαρσίαν, ἵνα πειθόμενος αὐτῇ καὶ κατ' αὐτὴν βιοὺς ἀπήμονα καὶ μακαριστότατον δι' αἰῶνος καὶ ἀεὶ θάλλοντα πρὸς ἀθανασίαν βίον ἔχω καὶ χαράν, ἀθετήσαντι αὐτὴν εἰς θάνατον ἀπέβη καὶ καταδίκην, ἐπειδὴ ὁ διάβολος, ὃν ἁμαρτίαν νῦν οὕτως ἐκάλεσε διὰ τὸ δημιουργὸν αὐτὸν ἁμαρτίας ὑπάρχειν καὶ εὑρετήν, διὰ τῆς ἐντολῆς ἀφορμὴν λαβὼν