Homilies on Genesis, 1–17

Homily 16

HOMILY 16 On the Fall of the first human beings. "They were both naked, Adam and his wife, without feeling shame." I WOULD LIKE TODAY, dearly beloved, to open up for you spiritual treasure, which though distributed is never fully exhausted, (126a) which though bringing riches to everyone is in no way diminished but even increased. You see, just as in the case of material treasure people able to collect even a tiny nugget acquire for themselves great wealth, so too in the case of Sacred Scripture you can find in even a brief phrase great power of thought and wealth beyond telling . Such, after all, is the nature of this treasure: it enriches those receiving it without itself ever failing, rising as it does from the source which is the Holy Spirit. It remains for you, however, to keep careful guard on what is entrusted to you and preserve the memory of it untarnished so that you may with ease follow what is said, provided we make our contribution zealously. Grace, you see, is ready at hand and looks only for people welcoming it with generosity. (126b) Let us listen today also to what is read so that we may come to know of God's unspeakable love for humanity and the extent of the considerateness he employs with our salvation in mind. (2) "They were both naked, Adam and his wife, without feeling shame." Consider, I ask you, the transcendence of their blessed condition, how they were superior to all bodily concerns, how they lived on earth as if they were in heaven, and though in fact possessing a body they did not feel the limitations of their bodies. After all, they had no need of shelter or habitation, clothing or anything of that kind. It was not idly 1. Gn 2.25. 208 ST.JOHN CHRYSOSTOM or to no purpose that Sacred Scripture indicated this to us; it was that we might learn of this carefree condition of theirs, their trouble-free life and angelic condition, as you might say, and that (126c) we might attribute it completely to their indifference when later we see them bereft of all these advantages and, as it were, reduced to the utmost indigence after the great abundance of their wealth. (3) We must, however, listen to the words that have been read. Blessed Moses, remember, told us that they were naked without feeling shame (for they did not know, after all, that they were naked, clad as they were in ineffable glory, which adorned them better than any clothing), and added: "But the serpent was the wiliest of all the beasts upon the earth made by the Lord. The serpent said to the woman: 'Why is it that God said, Do not eat of any tree of the garden?'" 2 See the evil spirit's envy and devious scheming. I mean, he saw that the human being, creature though he was, had the good fortune to enjoy the highest esteem and was scarcely inferior in any respect to the angels, as blessed David also says, "You have placed him on a level scarcely lower than (126d) the angels,"3 and even this "scarcely lower" was the result of disobedience, the inspired author, after all, uttering this after the disobedience . The author of evil, accordingly, seeing an angel who happened to live on earth, was consumed by envy, since he himself had once enjoyed a place among the powers above but had been cast down from that pinnacle on account of his depravity of will and excess of wickedness. So he employed considerable skill so as to pluck the human being from God's favor, render him ungrateful and divest him of all those goods provided for him through God's loving kindness. What did he do? He discovered this wild animal, namely, the serpent, overcoming the other animals by his cunning, as blessed Moses also testified in the words, "The serpent was the wiliest of all the beasts on the earth (127a) made by the Lord God." He made use of this creature like some instrument and through it inveigled that naive and weaker vessel, namely, woman, into 2. Gn 3.1. 3. Ps 8·5· HOMILY 16 his deception by means of conversation. "The serpent spoke to the woman," the text says. (4) Consider from this, dearly beloved, how in the beginning none of the wild beasts...