Breviloquium

But concerning the human body in the state of first condition, these things are to be held according to the doctrine of orthodox faith, namely, that the body of the first man was so founded and formed from the slime of the earth¹ that nevertheless it was subject to the soul and proportioned to it in its mode—proportioned, I say, as regards equal complexion, most beautiful and multiform organization, and rectitude of stature; subject, moreover, so that it would be obedient without rebellion, also propagating and capable of being propagated without lust, vegetative without defect, and also unchangeable² unto complete incorruption, with no death intervening; and accordingly the place of terrestrial paradise was given to him as a tranquil dwelling. — The woman was formed from the man's side for companionship and aid toward immaculate propagation; the tree of life was also given³ for continuous vegetation, and finally for perfect transformation through perpetual immortality.

The reason for understanding the aforesaid is this: because, since the first principle is most powerful, most wise and best in producing, and manifests this in some way in all its effects; it had especially to manifest this in the last and noblest effect, of which sort is man, whom it produced last among the other creatures, so that in him above all the consummation of divine works might appear and shine forth.

Therefore, that the power of God might be manifested in man, it made him from natures most distant, joined into one person and nature; of this sort are body and soul, one of which is corporeal substance, but the other, namely the soul, is spiritual and incorporeal substance; which are most distant in the genus of substance⁴.

But that the wisdom of God might be manifested there, it made such a body that it would have proportion to the soul in its mode. Since therefore the body is united to the soul as to that which perfects and moves it and tends upward toward blessedness⁵, therefore, that it might be conformed to the vivifying soul, it had equal complexion, not from weight or mass, but from equality of natural justice, which disposes to the noblest mode of life. — But that it might be conformed to the mover through the multiformity of powers, it had a multiformity of organs with the highest beauty, artistry and ductility; as is clear in the face and in the hand, which is the “organ of organs”⁶. — But that it might be conformed to the soul tending upward toward heaven, it had rectitude of stature and its head raised upward, so that corporeal rectitude might thus bear witness to mental rectitude.

Lastly, that the goodness and benevolence of God might be manifested in man, it therefore made man without any stain or fault and without any punishment or misery. For since the first principle is at once best and most just; because it is best, it had to make man nothing but good, and thereby innocent and upright⁷; because it is most just, it had to inflict no punishment on one who had absolutely no sin: and thereby it constituted for that rational soul such a body that it would be so obedient to it that there would be in it no struggle of rebellion, no proneness to lust, no diminution of vigor, no corruption through death; and it would also be conformed to the soul, so that, just as the soul was innocent and yet could fall into fault, so the body would be impassible and yet could fall into punishment; and therefore “it could not die, and it could die”⁸; it could have sufficiency, and it could have indigence; it could obey the soul, and it could also have rebellion and struggle against it.

And therefore in that state the body was such that from it there would be seminal emission for the propagation of offspring, through the aid of the female sex, likewise co-originating; there would also be consumption of nutritive humor through the action of heat; nevertheless there would also be restoration through the food of the trees of paradise, restored through the tree of life, or through the radical humor being preserved; and that tree indeed possessed this virtue, on account of which, as Augustine says⁹, it was not only for food, but also for a Sacrament. — The incorruption and immortality, therefore, of Adam's body came principally from the soul as containing and inflowing, from the body's good and equal complexion as disposing and receiving, from the tree of life as vegetating and assisting, and from the governance of divine providence as preserving inwardly and protecting outwardly.