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Hexaemeron

St Ambrose of Milan, tr. Savage, 1961

14. Paradise, Chapter 14

‘And they heard the voice of the Lord walking in the garden towards evening.’¹ What does ‘walking’ mean in reference to God, who is everywhere? In my opinion God may be said to walk wherever throughout Scripture the presence of God is implied, when we hear that He sees all things and ‘the eyes of the Lord are upon the just.’² We read, too, that Jesus knew their thoughts and we read: ‘Why do you harbor evil thoughts in your hearts?’³ When we reflect, therefore, on these statements, we have a knowledge of God in the act of walking. The sinner, in fact, had tried to hide away from the sight of God. He wished to conceal himself in his thoughts and was unwilling that his works appear in the light of day.’⁴ The just man saw Him face to face,⁵ because the mind of the just man is in the presence of God and even converses with Him, as it is written: ‘Judge for the fatherless and defend the widow, said the Lord.’⁶ When a sinner, therefore, reads these passages from Scripture, he hears the voice of God walking towards evening, so to speak. What does the phrase ‘towards evening’ mean? Does it not mean that the sinner realizes his sin too late and that the shame which should have forestalled the fault before it occurred was itself too late? While the sinner is physically overcome by passions that affect the soul, he in his errant fashion does not heed, that is to say, does not hear, God, as He in holy Scripture walks in the hearts and minds of each and every one of us. God says: ‘For I will dwell in their midst and I will walk among them and will be their God.’⁷ Therefore, the dread of divine power returns to the soul when we are eager to hide ourselves. Then, placed as we are by the thought of our sins in the midst of the trees of Paradise where we committed sin, we are discovered to be desirous of concealing ourselves and to be thinking of hidden things which God does not demand of us. But He who is ‘the discerner of our thoughts and intentions of our hearts, extending to the division of soul and spirit,’ says: ‘Adam, where are you?’⁸

How does God speak? Is it with the voice of the body? Not at all. He utters oracular words with a voice that is far more significant than is the voice of the body. The prophets heard this voice. It is heard by the faithful, but the wicked do not comprehend it. Wherefore we find the Evangelist in the Gospel listening to the voice of the Father speaking: ‘I have glorified it and will glorify it again.’ But the Jews did not listen. Hence they said: ‘I had thundered.’⁹ We have given an instance above wherein God was thought to be walking when He was not. Here is an occasion when He was heard speaking, whereas to some people He spoke not.

But let us take note of what He speaks: ‘Adam, where are you?’ Even now these words have the healing power of salvation for those who hear the Word of God. Hence it is that the Jews who closed their eyes lest they hear do not deserve to hear even today. It follows that those who conceal themselves have a remedy, for he who hides himself is ashamed and he who is ashamed is converted, as it is written: ‘Let them be much troubled and let them all be turned back speedily.’¹⁰ The very fact of His calling a person is a testimony of salvation to him who comes, because the Lord calls those for whom He feels pity. When He says, therefore, ‘where are you?’ it is not a question of a locality to one who knows what is hidden. God did not have His eyes closed, so that a man in hiding was able to escape His notice. For that reason He said: ‘Adam has become like one of us,’¹¹ because his eyes were opened. He, in fact, opened his eyes, so that he saw his own sin which he was unable to avoid. It happens that after we have sinned, we become, somehow or other, more aware of our crimes. We are then aware of the sin which we did not consider to be such before we actually fell into sin. Certainly we did not then believe that a sin was subject to our disapproval, for, if we had felt guilty, we would not have committed it. God sees the faults of all men and knows their offenses. His eyes penetrate into the secrets of the souls of each and every one of us. What, then, does He mean by ‘Adam, where are you?’ Does He not mean ‘in what circumstances’ are you; not, ‘in what place’? It is, therefore, not a question, but a reproof. From what condition of goodness, beatitude, and grace, He means to say, have you fallen into this state of misery? You have forsaken eternal life. You have entombed yourself in the ways of sin and death. Where is that noble confidence and trust of yours? That fear that you show is evidence of your wrongdoing and that hiding place of yours betrays your dereliction. ‘Where are you?’ does not mean ‘in what place,’ but ‘in what condition.’ Where have your sins led you, so that you fled the God whom before you sought after? Perhaps you are disturbed by the fact that Adam is the first to be rebuked, although the woman was the first to eat the fruit. But the weaker sex begins by an act of disobedience, whereas the stronger sex is more liable to feelings of shame and forgiveness. The female furnished the occasion for wrongdoing; the male, the opportunity to feel ashamed.

And the woman said: ‘The serpent deceived me and I ate.’¹² That fault is pardonable which is followed by an admission of guilt. The woman, therefore, is not to be despaired of, who did not keep silent before God, but who preferred to admit her sin—the woman on whom was passed a sentence that was salutary. It is good to suffer condemnation for our sins and to be scourged for our crimes, provided we are scourged along with other men. Hence, Cain, because he wanted to deny his guilt, was judged unworthy to be punished in his sin. He was forgiven without a prescribed penalty, not, perhaps, for having committed such a serious crime as parricide—he was responsible for his brother’s death—as one of sacrilege, in that he thought he had deceived God when he said: ‘I do not know. Am I my brother’s keeper?’¹³ And so the accusation is reserved for his accuser, the Devil, prescribing that he be scourged along with his angels, since he did not wish to be scourged with men. Of such, therefore, has it been said: ‘There is no regard for their death and they shall not be scourged like other men.’¹⁴ The woman’s case is, accordingly, of a different character. Although she incurred the sin of disobedience, she still possessed in the tree of Paradise food for virtue. And so she admitted her sin and was considered worthy of pardon. ‘The just is first accuser of himself in the beginning of his speech.’¹⁵ No one can be justified from sin unless he has first made confession of his sin. Wherefore the Lord says: ‘Tell if thou hast anything to justify thyself.’¹⁶

Because Eve has admitted her crime, she is given a milder and more salutary sentence, which condemned her wrong-doing and did not refuse pardon.¹⁷ She was to serve under her husband’s power, first, that she might not be inclined to do wrong, and, secondly, that, being in a position subject to a stronger vessel, she might not dishonor her husband, but on the contrary, might be governed by his counsel.¹⁸ I see clearly here the mystery of Christ and His Church. The Church’s turning toward Christ in times to come and a religious servitude submissive to the Word of God—these are conditions far better than the liberty of this world. Hence it is written: ‘Thou shalt fear the Lord thy God and shall serve him only.’¹⁹ Servitude, therefore, of this sort is a gift of God. Wherefore, compliance with this servitude is to be reckoned among blessings. We have the example of Isaac granting it as a blessing to his son Esau that he should serve his brothers. Hence he asked for his father’s blessing. Although he knew that one blessing had been taken from him, he asked for another: ‘Have you only one blessing, father?’²⁰ By this servitude, therefore, Esau, who had before he sold birthright to satisfy his appetite and who in his zeal for hunting in the field had not the benefits derived from a blessing,²¹ had now come to believe that he would fare better in the future if he would pay reverence to his brother as a type of Christ. By this kind of servitude Christian folk grow strong, as we have it expressed in the words of the Lord to His disciples: ‘Whoever wishes to be first among you, let him be the slave of all of you.’²² Hence charity, which is greater than hope and faith, brings this servitude to pass, for it is written: ‘By charity serve one another.’²³ This, then, is the mystery mentioned by the Apostle in reference to Christ and the Church.²⁴ The servitude existed formerly, in fact, but in a condition of disobedience which was to be later made salutary by the generation of children ‘in faith and love and holiness with modesty.’²⁵ What was certainly among the fathers a generation brought into existence in sin shall become salutary in the children, so that what was a stumbling block to the Jews shall in the society of Christians undergo improvement.

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