The Fathers
St. Theophilus of Antioch, To Autolycus 2, 25 (c. 181 AD)
“For the first man, disobedience resulted in his expulsion from Paradise. It
was not as if there were any evil in the tree of knowledge; but from
disobedience man drew labor, pain, grief, and, in the end, he fell prostrate
in death.”
Tertullian, The Testimony of the Soul 3, 2 (inter 197-200 AD)
“Finally, in every instance of vexation, contempt, and abhorrence, you
pronounce the name of Satan. He it is whom we call the angel of
wickedness, the author of every error, the corrupter of the whole world,
through whom man was deceived in the very beginning so that he
transgressed the command of God. On account of his transgression man
was given over to death; and the whole human race, which was infected by
his seed, was made the transmitter of condemnation.”
St. Cyprian of Carthage, The Advantage of Patience 19 (256 AD)
“The Devil bore impatiently the fact that man was made in the image of
God; and that is why he was the first to perish and the first to bring others
to perdition. Adam, contrary to the heavenly command, was impatient in
regard to the deadly food, and fell into death; nor did he preserve, under
the guardianship of patience, the grace received from God.”
St. Ambrose of Milan, Explanation of David the Prophet 1, 11, 56
(inter 383-389 AD)
“No conception is without iniquity, since there are no parents who have not
fallen. And if there is no infant who is even one day without sin, much less
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