Книга 6

“And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living being” (Genesis 2:7). First of all, we need to decide whether we are dealing here with a brief repetition (of what was said before), so that we are talking about how man was created, created, as stated above, on the sixth day of creation; or then, when God created everything at once, He also created man in a hidden way, just as He (created) the grass of the field before it came out of the ground, so that although man was already created in some form unknown to us, along with everything else created at once, over time he came into the world in the form in which, good or bad, he spends his real life. Let us first try to take (these words) in the sense of a brief repetition. After all, it may be that man was created on the sixth day of creation, just as the day itself, and the firmament, and the earth, and the sea were created. It cannot be said that all this, being like a fundamental principle from creation, was first hidden, and then, over time, as if emerging again, it appeared in the form in which the world is structured. But the world arose from the beginning of the century in all its elements, and only then, over time, everything began to happen in it according to its kind, both in the plant and animal kingdoms. It is also impossible to assume that the luminaries themselves were initially created only as a combination of their elements, and only later, in time, they appeared and shone in those forms in which they shine from the heavens. No, all this was created into a sixfold perfect number at once, on “one day.” So, was man created in the same way, i.e. initially in the very form in which he lives to this day, or he was first created in secret, so that then, like the grass of the field, he would appear already visible, which is what is spoken of as being created from the dust of the earth. Let us assume that man was created from the earth in his present, visible form on the sixth day, as Scripture repeatedly says, and let us see whether Scripture itself agrees with this assumption. When talking about the affairs of the sixth day, it was said like this: “And God said: Let us make man in our image, after our likeness, and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that moves on the earth. And God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female he created them. And God blessed them, and God said to them: Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth” (Gen. 1.26–28). So, man was formed from the earth and a wife was created from his rib already on the sixth day, but then the details that are mentioned now were not reported about this. But at the creation on the sixth day, man was not created in such a way that first God created man, and then, in the course of time, created woman, since the Scripture says: “And God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female he created them. And God blessed them." How, then, was woman created at a time when man had already been introduced into paradise? Was Scripture, in speaking of all this, simply making up for what had been missed earlier? Was it really on the sixth day that paradise was planted, and man was brought into it, and was put to sleep there, so that Eve could be created, and awakened, and named the woman? But all this is connected with certain moments in time, which means that it could not have happened when everything was created at once. After all, it is one thing to think sublimely about God, that He can easily accomplish everything at once, and quite another thing to think about man in the same way. Don't we know that a person can only pronounce words in time? Therefore, when we read that he gave names to animals, then to his wife, and then he said: “For this reason a man will leave his father and his mother and cleave to his wife; and they will be one flesh” (Gen. 2.24), we cannot help but understand that since even the utterance of two syllables requires a certain period of time, then all these naming and speech could not possibly have occurred outside of time, when everything was created at once. It turns out that either (the creation) did not occur at once, but over time, or that day, originally created not by a spiritual, but by a corporeal substance, produced morning and evening, I don’t know what, either by some special rotation, or by expansion and contraction, or, if all our above arguments are able to convince us, that by day we mean the intelligent light originally created in the highest region, i.e. spiritual day, the presence of which took place during the creation of things into a sixfold number in the form of ordered knowledge, then there is no doubt that what was said about the creation of man from the dust of the ground and about the formation of his wife from a rib does not refer to that creative act by which everything was created at once and after the completion of which God rested, but to that which takes place over the course of centuries and which God is still doing. Moreover, the very words that tell how God planted paradise, how he placed man in it, how he brought animals to him so that he would give them names, how, when there was no worthy helper among the creatures, he formed a wife for him from a rib taken out of him, sufficiently convince us that all this cannot in any way relate to the action from which God rested on the seventh day, but rather refers to what God is doing to this day. In fact, the planting of paradise is said this way: “And the Lord God planted paradise in Eden in the east, and there he placed the man whom he had created. And the Lord God made from the ground every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food, and the tree of life in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil” (Genesis 2:8–9). So, since it is said: “And the Lord God made from the earth every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food,” it is clear that this did not happen the same way as when God said on the third day: “Let the earth bring forth green plants, grass that yields seed, and fruitful trees” (Gen. 1:11), for on the third day all this was created potentially and causally, but here - in a visible way, actually, that is, in the time in which God and still does. But perhaps someone will say that not all types of trees were created on the third day, but the creation of some was postponed until the sixth day, when man was created and entered into paradise. But Scripture unambiguously says what exactly was created on the sixth day: it is “a living soul according to its kind” (Gen. 1:24), that is, the souls of cattle, reptiles and beasts of the earth, as well as man himself in the image of God, male and female. And if so, then Scripture could not ignore the question of the creation of man (on the sixth day), even if it was repeated later in order to insert previously omitted details. (This can still be assumed), but (Scripture) could not omit mention of any created thing, for otherwise all this careful distribution of events by day would lose all meaning. Therefore, since the creation of plants is spoken of on the third day, but this is not mentioned on the sixth (this means that this is exactly what happened). And what do we answer to the question about the animals of the field and the birds of the air, which God brought to Adam to see what he would call them? It is written about this: “And the Lord God said: It is not good for man to be alone; Let us make him a helper suitable for him. The Lord God formed from the ground every animal of the field and every bird of the air, and brought it to man to see what he would call them, and that whatever man called every living soul, that would be its name. And the man gave names to all the livestock, and to the birds of the air, and to every beast of the field; but for man there was no helper like him. And the Lord God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep; and when he fell asleep, he took one of his ribs and covered that place with flesh. And the Lord God made a woman from the rib he had taken from the man, and brought her to the man” (Gen. 2.18–22). So, if God, among the cattle of the field and the animals and birds of the air, did not find a helper like him for man and therefore created one from his rib, and this happened when He “formed from the earth all the beasts of the field and all the birds of the air, and brought them to man to see what he would call them,” then how can one think that this happened on the sixth day, when, according to the word of God, the earth gave birth to a living soul, and as for the birds of the air, then the water in general produced them in day five? But now it is said this way: “The Lord God formed from the earth all the animals of the field and all the birds of the air,” that is, it is made clear that the earth and water already produced in one way what was commanded to them by the word of God, but now the formation took place differently: then - potentially and causally, as befitted the action by which God created everything at once and from which He rested on the seventh day, but now - as He creates in time, doing this and hitherto. Therefore, Eve was created from the rib of her husband already in the known days of material light, which comes from the revolution of the sun. After all, it was then that God “formed from the earth all the animals of the field and all the birds of the air,” and when there was no worthy helper for Adam among them, he created Eve. In these same days, therefore, He created Adam himself from the dust of the earth. For it cannot be said that on the sixth day one man was created, and the woman only after, since about the sixth day it is very clearly said: “Male and female He created them. And God blessed them” (Gen. 1:27–28), etc., that is, it speaks of both of them. It follows from this that then they were created in one way, and now in another: then - in the potency of the universe, as if in a seed according to the word of God, from which, in the order of centuries, everything arises at its appointed time; now it is actual, in the action that God is still doing, so that when the proper time came, Adam was created from the dust of the ground, and Eve from his rib. Although it seems to me that in this division of the works of God, relating, on the one hand, to those invisible days in which God created everything at once, on the other hand, to our ordinary days, in which He daily does everything that from what was originally created, as from its first principle, develops in time, I invariably followed the words of Scripture, which led me to such a distinction; nevertheless, one should be wary that, in view of the difficulty in comprehending these subjects for people who are not very intelligent, they might think of me that I am trying to investigate something about which man is not given the power to either think or speak. For, although in my previous speech, as far as I could, I anticipated the reader, however, it seems to me that very many in the field of such subjects remained wandering in the dark and believing that in the action by which God created everything at once, man appeared in such a form that he already had some life, so that he could fully understand the speech of the Lord addressed to him: “Behold, I have given you every plant that yields seed” (Gen. 1:29), etc. d. Let anyone who thinks so know that I neither thought nor said anything of the kind. But, on the other hand, if I say that in the first creation of things, in which God created everything at once, man was not only unlike an adult man, but even like a child, even like a baby in the womb, nay, even like a visible Human seed, then there will always be those who will decide that I am saying that man did not exist then at all. Let them turn to the Scriptures, where it is clearly stated that on the sixth day man was created in the image of God, and both husband and wife were created. But if they ask when the woman was created, then let them read that - after six days, after “God formed from the earth every living creature of the field and every bird of the air” (Gen. 2:19), and not when the waters gave birth to birds, and the earth - every living soul according to its kind. It turns out that husband and wife were created both then and now, and not only then or only now, for even now it was not others who were created, but the same ones, but only then in one way, and now in a different way. If they ask me how this could happen, I will answer: then - invisibly, potentially, causally, as a future that has not yet been realized exists, but now - apparently, in the form in which the composition of man is known to us to this day, with the only difference that they did not come from parents, and the husband - from the dust of the earth, and the wife - from his rib. But perhaps not everyone will understand this. For here it is necessary to abstract from everything that we know, even from bodily seeds, since man in the first creation was nothing of the kind. It is true that seeds have some similarity to what is being discussed, since they contain some potency of the future, but before all visible seeds there are those (creative) causes; but not everyone can understand this. What should I do with these? Unless we try to convince, as far as possible, to believe in the Divine Scripture that man was created, on the one hand, when God in “one day” (Gen. 1:5) created heaven, earth and everything in general, and on the other hand, when he created not everything at once, but each type of being in its own time, and created man from the earth, and his wife from his rib; for Scripture does not give us any reason to think that either husband and wife were created in exactly this form on the sixth day of creation, or were not created then at all. But perhaps on the sixth day their souls were created, in the spiritual mind of which the very image of God is rightly conceived, and their bodies were created after? Scripture, however, does not allow us to think in this way, because, firstly, (we are talking there) about the completion of creative works, which is difficult to understand in any other way than the completion of the causal creation of what is then created in a visible way, and, secondly, because the very division of man into man and woman can only occur bodily. If someone thinks that both sexes should be understood in the sense of understanding and action in one soul, then how will he explain what is said on this day about eating from the fruits of trees (Gen. 1.29), which, of course, only befits those who have a body? But if he wants to understand this eating allegorically, then in this case he will completely deviate from the proper meaning of the events that took place, which in such stories must be observed with all care. It may be objected: how then did the Lord speak to those who could not yet hear or understand, for they were not yet able to perceive words? I will answer: God spoke to them in the same way as Christ spoke to us who were not yet born, and not only to us, but also to everyone who is yet to be born in the future; for to all whom He foresaw would be His followers, He said: “I am with you always, even to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:20); how the Lord knew the prophet to whom He said: “Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you” (Jer. 1:5); how Levi was a “receiver of tithes” while still in Abraham’s loins (Heb. 7:9). Why couldn’t the same have happened with Abraham himself in Adam, and with Adam himself in the first works of the world, which God created all at once? But (in one case) the words of God were spoken by His lips, (in the other) transmitted through the prophets, and here they required certain periods of time for their utterance; meanwhile, when God said: “Let us make man in our image, according to our likeness, and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the air, and over the livestock, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that moves on the earth... be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the air, and over every animal that moves on the earth... Behold, I have given you every herb yielding seed that is in all the earth, and every tree that has fruit yielding seed: this shall be food for you” (Gen. 1.26-29), then this speech of Him, before any airy sound, before any fleshly voice, seemed to have already sounded in His highest Wisdom, by which all things were created - sounded not for human hearing, but in already created things posited the causes of what was yet to appear, with omnipotent power produced the future and, as if in the seed or root of time, created man, created when the beginning of the ages was still due, created by Him Who is Who is before the world. For some creatures precede others: some in time, others causally; He, who created everything, precedes everything not only by His perfection, by which He produced the causes themselves, but also by eternity. However, we will talk about this in more detail elsewhere. Now let us continue the conversation we started earlier about man, maintaining due restraint and preferring the thoroughness of research into the deep meaning of Scripture over the impudence of statements. So, there can be no doubt that God knew Jeremiah before he formed him in the womb (mother); He speaks about this very clearly: “Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you” (Jer. 1:5). Where did He know him before He formed him in the womb (although understanding this for our weakness is either difficult or impossible) - in some immediate causes, just as Levi in the loins of Abraham was “receiver of tithes” (Heb. 7:9); or in Adam himself, in whom, as at the root, the entire human race was contained, and, moreover, in that Adam who was created from the dust of the ground, or in that which was caused by the works which God accomplished all at once; or, rather, before all creation, just as God chose and predestined His saints before the foundation of the world (Eph. 1:4); Be that as it may, whether it was one of the reasons I have enumerated, or perhaps those which are unknown to me, God knew him before he was formed in his mother's womb; I believe that there is no need to look for this with greater care, as long as it is clear that Jeremiah only from the moment he was born from his parents received life in the proper sense of the word and, growing up, could live good or bad, but (this happened) in no case before he was formed in the womb, and not even then, but when he was born into the world. For there is not the slightest doubt about the apostolic saying about the twins in the womb of Rebekah, who have not yet done anything good or bad (Rom 9.11). However, it is not in vain that it is written: “Who will be born clean from an unclean thing? Not one” (Job 14:4), and the psalm says: “Behold, I was conceived in iniquity, and in sin did my mother bear me” (Ps. 50:7), and (the apostle said) that in Adam all die, in whom all have sinned (Rom. 5:12). On the other hand, no matter what merits of parents are passed on to their offspring and no matter what grace of God sanctifies everyone before he is born, let us firmly adhere to the opinion that there is no respect of persons with God and no one, not yet born, does either bad or good that would apply directly to him. And the judgments of those who believe that once upon a time other souls sinned in one way or another and, according to their sins, are sent down into different bodies, do not agree with the saying of the Apostle, who unequivocally says that those who are not born into the world do neither good nor bad. In its place we will return again to the question of how the sin of our first parents affected the entire human race; but regarding the fact that man, before he was created from the earth, that is, before he was formed into life at the appointed time, could not inherit any such guilt, there can be no doubt. For as about Esau and Jacob, who, according to the apostle, while not yet born, did neither good nor bad, we could not say that they inherited any merit of their parents, if the parents themselves had not done anything good or bad, just as about the entire human race, that it sinned in Adam, if Adam himself had not sinned, and he could not have sinned otherwise than having already come to life, when only could have done something good or bad: it is also in vain to raise the question of Adam’s sin, when he, being created along with other things at once, did not live either his own life or in his parents. For in that first creation of the world, when God created everything at once, man was created as he should have come into existence, i.e. the idea of ​​creation, and not in the act of creation itself. But in one way (ideas) exist in the Word of God, in which they are uncreated and eternal, in another way - in the elements of the world, where everything that had to come into being was created at once, in another way - in things that, being causally created at once, are then produced separately, each in its own time, including Adam, formed from the dust of the ground and animated by the breath of God, as well as the grain of the field, emerging to the surface of the earth, and, finally, something else - in seeds, in which the original causes are, as it were, reproduced again, but they follow from those things that exist in accordance with the originally created causes, for example: grass - from the earth, seed - from the grass. In all these (cases), that created thing receives its temporary manifestations and actions, which, from the hidden and invisible principles causally contained in the creature, appears in already visible forms and natures in both the plant and animal kingdoms, relating to the action that God is still doing. But these forms and natures, as it were, again contain themselves in some hidden productive force, which they borrow from those primary causes in which they were contained during the creation of the world on “one day,” before they were revealed in their visible forms. If those works that God did all at once were imperfect in their way, then those that were lacking for their perfection would have to be added to them subsequently; so that the perfection of the universe would have to consist of both, taken together as parts of one whole, from the combination of which the whole would emerge. On the other hand, if they were perfect, as they are perfect when each of them appears in due time in its visible forms and actions, then, obviously, either nothing would happen from them later, or something would happen that God does not cease to produce from things that have already happened in due time. Meanwhile, since (the works), which at the creation of the world were done by God all at once and were to be revealed in subsequent times, on the one hand, are in some way already completed, and on the other - in some way just beginning - finished in the sense that those natures in which (things) exist in the corresponding periods of time do not contain anything that was not in them at the (first) creation, but begin - in the fact that (the works of the first creation) were as if they were a kind of seeds of future things, which over time should have been revealed from their hidden state in appropriate places - then this is quite clearly stated in Scripture, you just need to carefully delve into its words. After all, Scripture unambiguously calls them (works) both finished and beginning. If they had not been completed, then it would not have been written: “And God finished His work that He had done on the seventh day, and rested on the seventh day from all His work that He had done. And God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, for on it He rested from all His works, which God had created and created” (Gen. 2:2-3). But, on the other hand, if they had not begun, then there would be no subsequent words, since on that day He “rested from all His works, which God had created and created.” If anyone now asks how God both finished them and began them (for He did not finish some and begin others, but He began those very ones from whom He rested on the seventh day), then this question is resolved from what I said above. Namely: He finished them, in my understanding, when He created everything at once and with such perfection that there was no longer a need to create anything else from what was then created causally; but it begins in such a way that what is contained in these causes produces action. For “the Lord God formed man from the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living soul” (Gen. 2:7). And now, after this, man became not only destined for existence, for he was such even before the age, in the foreknowledge of the Creator, and was not created causally, or initially completed, for in this form he existed from eternity in the primary principles, when everything was created at once, but he had already arisen in time: visibly - physically, invisibly - in the soul, since he was made up of soul and body. Now let’s begin to consider how God created the human body, but we’ll talk about the soul, as far as possible, later. It would be naive to think that the Lord formed man from the dust of the earth with his bodily hands; Even if Scripture expressed itself in this way, it would be expressed allegorically, as (in some places of Scripture) we can read: “Thou hast destroyed the nations with Thy hand, and planted them” (Ps. 43:3), or: “And He brought Israel out from among them, for His mercy endures forever; with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, for His mercy endures forever” (Ps. 135:11-12), but who would be so stupid as not to understand that these members are mentioned in the sense of the power and strength of God? One should also not attach importance to the idea expressed by others that man is a special creation of God because God “commanded everything else, and it was done,” and He created it Himself; rather, man is such by virtue of the fact that God created him in His image. After all, the words: “He commanded, and it was done” (Ps. 149:5) were spoken because everything was created by the Word of God, but how else could this thought be conveyed to people who are able to perceive words only in time and spoken out loud? And God speaks like this only when he conveys something through a bodily creature, as was the case, for example, with Abraham, Moses, or through a cloud about His Son. But before every creature, so that it could come into being, He spoke with that Word, which “was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through Him, and without Him nothing came into being” (John 1:2–3); and through Him, of course, man was created. Undoubtedly, God created the heavens with the Word, for: “And God said, Let it be,” and “it became” (Gen. 1:3), but, at the same time, we read: “And the heavens are the work of Your hands” (Ps. 101:26). Even about the very, so to speak, lowland of our world it is said: “His is the sea, and He created it, and His hands formed the dry land” (Ps. 94:5). So, it is not that we should honor man that everything else was created by the Word, and he by his hands, but his true superiority lies in the fact that the Lord created him in His image, giving him a mind with which he is superior to cattle, about which enough has already been said above. If, so exalted, a person does not understand that he must live with dignity, then he will become like the very cattle over which he is exalted. So, in fact, it is said: “But man will not remain in honor; he will be like animals that perish” (Ps. 49:13). For God also created animals, but not in His own image. One should not think that God created man, and simply commanded the beasts (to be), and they appeared; but He created both him and them by His Word, through which all things “began to be.” And since this Word is His wisdom and power, It is also called His hand, but not as a visible member, but as a creative power. For the same Scripture that says that God created man from the dust of the ground also says that He “formed out of the ground every beast of the field and every bird of the air, and brought it to man to see what he would call them” (Gen. 2:19). And if both animals and man are formed from the earth, then what other superiority does man have than that he is created in the image of God? But he was created this way not by body, but by mind, which we will talk about below. However, in his body itself he has some peculiarity indicating this, namely: he was created with his body raised upward, which indicates that he, like animals, should not gravitate towards earthly things; After all, all the pleasures of animals come from the earth, which is why they are inclined and spread out on their bellies. Thus, the human body corresponds to his rational soul, but not in the features and forms of the members, but in the fact that it is raised directly to the sky to contemplate those objects that occupy the highest place in the system of the visible world; Likewise, the rational soul must strive for that which is most excellent in nature in the realm of spiritual things, in order to delight not in earthly things, but in heavenly things. But how did God create man from dust, that is, did he create him at an already perfect, adult or youthful age, or the way he now forms (us) in the womb? After all, no one else, namely He, does this, as it is said: “Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you” (Jer. 1.5), so Adam had only the peculiarity that he was not born from parents, but was created from the earth. However, perhaps we should not delve into the study of this subject, for no matter how Adam was created, in any case, God created him as it was fitting for the almighty and wise God to create him. True, He imparted certain temporal laws to the types and qualities of things that should become visible from a hidden state, but He did this in such a way that His will remains above these laws. By His omnipotence He gave the creation numerical dates, but did not connect His omnipotence with these numbers. For if his Spirit hovered over the world at creation (Gen. 1:2), then He rushes over the already created world - rushes not in the sense of spatial movements, but in the sense of superiority in power. Indeed, who does not know that the water created along with the earth, passing through the roots of the grapes, nourishes this tree and receives in it such a quality that it turns into a gradually filling bunch, then becomes juice, when ripe it acquires a sweet taste, when squeezed, it undergoes fermentation and, finally, aged for a certain period, becomes pleasant and useful for drinking? But did the Lord really need earth, water, during all these periods of time, when with amazing speed he transformed water into wine, and into such wine that even a drunken guest praised him? Did the Creator of time need the help of time? And is it not at a certain time that each breed of snake is conceived, formed, born and reaches strength? However, in the blink of an eye, the rod in the hand of Moses and Aaron was turned into a serpent! And since such phenomena occur, they occur contrary to nature only for us, for whom the order of nature is known in a certain form, but not for God, for whom the nature of a thing consists in what He creates. The question now is, in what form were the causal principles themselves created, which God communicated to the world (in the first creation)? Is it so that, depending on their species, they were subject to different periods of time, just as we see everything that arises in the plant and animal kingdoms in its characteristic formation and growth, or so that they were formed at once, just as Adam, as it seems to us, was created already in adulthood, bypassing all degrees of growth? But why don’t we assume that these principles simultaneously contained the possibilities of both, so that whatever the Creator pleases could always come true? For if we say that only the first was established, then it will be obvious that not only the miracle of turning water into wine, but in general all miracles that do not occur in the established order of nature are performed contrary to them (causal principles). If we say that it is the second, then the conclusion will be even more absurd, namely: that all the forms and types of nature that are common to us go through their characteristic periods of time, contrary to the primary principles of everything that is born. It remains, therefore, to assume that these principles were created capable of both, i.e., both to go through their natural cycle in the sequence of time familiar to us, and to, as this happens extremely rarely and is called a miracle, to be carried out in the way that pleases God. Man was created exactly as the first causes consisted of the creation of the first man, who was to be born not from father and mother, but to be formed from the dust of the earth, in accordance with the causal principle in which he was originally created. For, if things had been different, God would not have created it in a series of works of six days; if we say that he was created precisely in this series, then it is obvious that God created (then) the very reason why man in due time had to arise from the One who by that moment had completed what he had begun in the sense of creating perfect causal principles and rested from creation in eternity. Therefore, if in those primary reasons that the Creator created the world, He decided not only to create man from the dust of the earth, but also how to create it, that is, whether in the womb, or in adolescence, then, undoubtedly, this is exactly how He created him, as he originally intended, for, of course, he did not create him contrary to His intention. If in these reasons God laid down only the possibility of creation, without any restrictions, and everything else was left to the discretion of His will, then even in this case it is clear that in his present form man was not created contrary to the potentialities of the first causes, for there was also the possibility that he would be just like that, although not necessarily like that; necessity no longer lay in reasons, but exclusively in the will of the Creator, which is already a necessity for all things. After all, we, in accordance with the understanding characteristic of human weakness, can even in the field of temporary objects, on the basis of experience, what belongs to the nature of each of them, but whether it will also belong to himself - we do not know. For example, it is in the nature of a young man, undoubtedly, to grow old, but whether the Lord, by His will, intended this or that young man to reach old age is unknown to us. And this would not be characteristic of his nature if it had not previously been ordained by the will of Him by Whom everything was created. Indeed, there is a hidden reason for old age in the body of a youth and youth in the body of a child, but we cannot see this the way we see the child himself, the youth and the old man; we realize this with a special understanding, distinguishing something hidden in nature, from which hidden numbers arise, (determining the transition) from childhood to youth and from youth to old age. Thus, there is a reason hidden from the eye, although not from the mind, why all this can happen; but whether it will actually happen, we certainly do not know. We only know that there is such a reason, that it is contained in the nature of the body (as its possibility), but the reason why it is necessary and should be so is obviously not contained there. But perhaps the reason why man must necessarily reach old age lies in the world; and if not in the world, then in God. For only what God wants will necessarily come true, and the true future is only what He foresaw. Much can be future for lower reasons, but it becomes a true future only if it exists as a future in the foreknowledge of God, and if (for lower reasons) it comes true in some other way, then it rather comes true exactly as it should be, where the Foresighter cannot make mistakes. Thus, we call the old age of a young man future, but this may not happen if the young man dies; this will also happen for other reasons, either laid down in the foundation of the world, or remaining in the foreknowledge of God. Thus, in accordance with some reasons for future (events), Hezekiah had to die, but the Lord added fifteen years to his life (Is. 38:5), doing in this case what he undoubtedly foresaw, but did not include in the reasons, but left in His will. Therefore, in the present case, He did not do what should not have happened, but rather what He foresaw should have come to pass. And these (fifteen) years could not, in essence, be called added, if something were not added that, for other reasons, would never have been added. Hence, for some base reasons, (Hezekiah's) life came to an end, but for reasons that were in the will and foreknowledge of God, who in eternity knew what was going to happen at that time, Hezekiah was to die when he did. True, in this case, Hezekiah’s condescension was made for the sake of his prayer, but the fact that he would pray, and pray in such a way that this prayer would earn condescension, was undoubtedly known by He whose foreknowledge cannot be mistaken; what He foresees is also necessary. Therefore, if the reasons for the entire future were laid down in the foundation of the world on that “one day” (Gen. 1:5), on which God created everything at once, then, during his formation from the dust of the ground, most likely, as it seems to us, in the form of an already mature man, Adam was created not in any other way, but exactly as it was in the very reasons for which God created man in a series of works of six days. These reasons consisted not only in the fact that he could be like this, but also in the fact that he necessarily had to be exactly like this. For, of course, God created it not only not contrary to His will, but also not contrary to the reasons created by His own will. If He did not put all the causes into the originally created creation, but left some in His will, then although the latter do not depend on the necessity of those that He created, they, however, cannot be opposite to those established by His will, for the will of God cannot be opposite to itself. Hence, He created the causes established by Him in such a way that through them it could happen, although not necessarily, that which they serve as the causes; He hid the uncreated ones so that through them the possible could happen necessarily. It is often asked whether a spiritual body was first formed from the earth for man, that is, the kind we have now, or the spiritual one that we will have after the resurrection? Although the soulful body will change into a spiritual one, since the soulful body decays and the spiritual one increases, the question of what kind of body man was originally created in deserves careful consideration, for if he was created with a soulful body, then after the resurrection, when we become like the angels of God (Matthew 22:30), we will receive not the body that we lost in Adam, but as much better as the spiritual is better than the spiritual. But can angels be placed above the Lord by justice and other (properties)? Meanwhile, it is said about (Jesus): “You have made him a little lower than the angels” (Ps. 8:6). By what (is He diminished) if not by the weakness of the flesh, which he received from the Virgin, taking the form of a slave, and, having died in it, redeemed us from slavery? But is it worth discussing this for a long time if we have the clear testimony of the Apostle, who, speaking about the spiritual body, did not give as an example his own body or the body of anyone else (from his contemporaries), but referred to Scripture itself, saying: “There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body. So it is written: the first man Adam became a living soul; and the last Adam is a life-giving spirit. But not the spiritual first, but the spiritual, then the spiritual. The first man is from the earth, earthy; the second person is the Lord from heaven. As is the earthy, so are the earthy; and as is he that is in heaven, so are also those that are in heaven” (1 Cor. 15:44–48). What can we add to this? We bear the image of the heavenly man by faith, hoping to put on him after the resurrection, which we expect, and we put on the image of the earthly man from the very beginning of human birth. Here we are faced with a new difficulty, namely, how can we be renewed unless we are called through Christ to what we were before in Adam? For although many things are renewed not into what they were before, but into something better, they are nevertheless renewed from a state lower than what they were before. Why “we should have rejoiced and be glad because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again, he was lost and is found” (Luke 15:32), why was he offered new clothes, since he did not gain the immortality that he lost in Adam? And how did Adam himself lose immortality, since he had a spiritual body? For the body will not be natural, but spiritual, when “this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality” (1 Cor. 15:53). So, we are faced with a difficult decision: how, on the one hand, to comply with the saying: “Thus it is written: The first man Adam became a living soul; and the last Adam is the life-giving spirit” (1 Cor. 15:45); and how, on the other hand, can we show that the aforementioned renewal and acquisition of immortality is a renewal to the previous state, that is, to the one that Adam lost? Others believe that man was, indeed, initially created with a soul body, but when placed in heaven he was changed, just as we will be changed at the resurrection. True, they say, the book of Genesis is silent about this, but how else can this, and not only this, evidence that we find in Scripture be reconciled with each other? But if so, then all our efforts to understand heaven, and not only heaven, literally are in vain; It turns out that everything said was said allegorically! Indeed, who will think that food from tree fruits could be needed for immortal and spiritual bodies? However, if no other explanation can be found, then it would be better to understand heaven in a spiritual sense than to doubt that a person is renewed, since Scripture speaks about this so many times, or to think that what he did not lose is returned to him. In addition, the very death of a person, which, as many divine testimonies say, he brought upon himself by his sin, seems to indicate that he was initially free from death. How then was a mortal free from death, and how was he immortal if he had a soul body? Based on the foregoing, some believe that by his sin Adam brought upon himself not physical death, but spiritual death, which is depravity. In their opinion, Adam had to move from the spiritual body to the peace that the departed saints now have, and at the end of the centuries again acquire a body, but this time immortal; so that bodily death did not appear as a result of sin, but naturally, like the death of animals. But here the apostle objects to them, saying: “The body is dead because of sin, but the spirit is alive because of righteousness. If the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, then He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you” (Rom. 8:10–11). Thus, bodily death is from sin. This means that if Adam had not sinned, he would not have died in body, and therefore would have had an immortal body. How can something be immortal if it is spiritual? But, on the other hand, those who believe that Adam’s body in paradise was changed, becoming spiritual from a spiritual one, lose sight of the fact that if he had not sinned, then nothing would have prevented him, after a paradise life spent righteously and obediently, from receiving the required change in the body in eternal life, where it would no longer need bodily food. Why then understand heaven figuratively, and not literally, if the body could die only as a result of sin? Indeed, Adam would not have died in body if he had not sinned, for the apostle clearly says that “the body is dead because of sin” (Rom. 8:10); but before sin it could well have been spiritual, so that after some time, after a righteous life, it could become spiritual by the will of God. How then, we are told, are we renewed if we do not receive what the first man lost, in whom all sin? In some ways, of course, we get it, and in some ways we don’t. Namely: we do not receive the immortality of the spiritual body, which the first man did not yet have, but we receive the righteousness from which he fell as a result of sin. Therefore, from the oldness of sin we will be renewed not into the previous spiritual body in which Adam was, but into a better, spiritual one, in which we will be like the angels of God, finding ourselves in heaven and no longer needing perishable food. We will be renewed “by the spirit of our mind” (Eph. 4:23) in the image of Him who created us, the image which Adam, having sinned, lost. But we will also be renewed by the flesh, when “this corruptible must put on incorruptibility” (1 Cor. 15:53), in order to become a spiritual body, into which Adam’s body did not yet exist, although it should have been changed if, as a result of sin, he did not deserve death and a spiritual body. Finally, the apostle does not say “the body is mortal to sin,” but “the body is dead to sin” (Rom. 8:10). This means that before sin the body could be called mortal in one respect, and immortal in another. Mortal because he could die, and immortal because he could not die. For it is one thing to have the opportunity to die, which some immortal natures created by God have, and quite another thing to have the opportunity not to die, which the first man had; his immortality lay not in the structure of his nature, but in the tree of life, from which he was separated after the Fall so that he could die; that is, if he had not sinned, he might not have died. Thus, by the nature of the soul body he was mortal, but by the grace of the Creator he was immortal. But since his body was spiritual, it was certainly mortal, since it could die, but, on the other hand, it was also immortal, since it could not die. Truly, only the spiritual body will be immortal, which, according to the promise, we will put on at the resurrection. Hence, the spiritual, and therefore mortal, body, which according to justice would have become spiritual, that is, immortal, became as a result of sin not mortal, as it was before, but dead, which it might not have been if the person had not sinned. How then does the apostle, speaking about us, the living, call our bodies dead, if (he does not mean) that the very state of mortality from the sin of our first parents passes on to all their offspring? After all, our bodies, like the body of the first man, are spiritual, but, being spiritual, they are still much lower than Adam’s body, for they are subject to the necessity of death, and Adam’s body was freed from such necessity. Although Adam's body was spiritual, and it had to undergo changes in order to become spiritual, thereby acquiring true immortality, this renewal was not necessarily mediated by death. Meanwhile, no matter how righteously we live, our body will be dead; As a result of this necessity arising from the first sin, the apostle calls our body not mortal, but dead, for we all die in Adam. “Since the truth is in Jesus,” he says, “put off your former way of life, the old man, which is corrupted by the deceitful lusts” (and this is what Adam became because of sin). Look what follows: “And be renewed in the spirit of your mind and put on the new man, created according to God in true righteousness and holiness” (Eph. 4:21–24). This is what Adam lost as a result of sin! Hence, we are renewed in what Adam lost, that is, in the spirit of our mind, but in the body, which is sown by the soul and increased by the spiritual, we will be renewed into the best, into what Adam did not yet have. The Apostle also says: “having put off the old man with his deeds and put on the new man, who is being renewed in knowledge after the image of Him who created him” (Col. 3:9–10). It was this image drawn in the mind that Adam lost as a result of sin, and it is this that we find again through the grace of justification, and not the spiritual body, which Adam did not yet have, but which all the saints who rise from the dead will have. This will constitute a reward for the good that Adam lost. Therefore, that new clothing (Luke 15:22) means either that righteousness from which Adam fell, or, if it means the clothing of bodily immortality, then he (Adam) lost immortality in the sense that because of sin he could no longer achieve it. After all, we also say that the person who does not receive what he wants is deprived of his wife or honor by insulting the one from whom he expected (to receive this or that). So, in accordance with this opinion, Adam had a spiritual body not only before being placed in paradise, but also during his life in paradise, although in the inner man he was spiritual, in the image of the Creator; further, as a result of sin, he lost (this image) and deserved bodily death; having not sinned, he would have deserved to be changed into a spiritual body. But if we assume that internally he was spiritual, then we really cannot be called renewed by him. After all, it is said: “Be renewed in the spirit of your mind” (Eph. 4:23), that is, become spiritual; but if in his mind he (Adam) was not like that, then how can we be renewed according to what man has never been? Meanwhile, the apostles and all the righteous saints, having a spiritual body, lived spiritually internally, being renewed in the knowledge of God in the image of the One who created them. However, they were not yet in able not to sin if they could sympathize with unrighteousness. And that spiritual people can fall into the temptation of sin, the apostle clearly testifies to this, saying: “Brothers! Even if a person falls into any sin, you who are spiritual correct him in a spirit of meekness, watching each one of you, lest you be tempted” (Gal. 6:1). I say this so that no one will doubt how Adam could have sinned, since inwardly he was a spiritual man, although physically a spiritual man. But although everything said above seems correct, however, let us not rush to a conclusion, but let us wait to see if such an understanding encounters an obstacle in some subsequent place of Scripture. Next up now is a very difficult question about the soul, a question on which many have worked, leaving, however, enough space for us. Either I did not have the opportunity to re-read everything and everyone who could, without deviating from the truth of our Scripture, achieve a clear and undoubted understanding regarding this subject, or this question itself is such that people like me are not given the opportunity to understand those who talk about it correctly, but, I confess, no one has yet been able to convince me that the question has been resolved and further research is pointless. Whether I will be able to achieve anything true, I don’t know. But what I can, to the extent that the Lord wills to help me in my efforts, I will outline in the next book. You might be interested in: