Chapter 186 — On man’s perfection in the first state

We saw above that man was originally constituted by God in such a condition that his body was completely subject to his soul. Further, among the faculties of the soul, the lower powers were subject to reason without any rebelliousness, and man’s reason itself was subject to God. In consequence of the perfect subjection of the body to the soul, no emotion could arise in the body that would in any way conflict with the soul’s dominion over the body. Therefore, neither death nor illness had any place in man. And from the subjection of the lower powers to reason there resulted in man complete peace of mind, for the human reason was troubled by no inordinate emotions. Finally, owing to the submission of man’s will to God, man referred all things to God as to his last end, and in this his justice and innocence consisted.

Of these three subordinations, the last was the cause of the other two. For man’s freedom from dissolution, or from any suffering that would be a threat to his life, did not come from the nature of his body, as we see if we regard its component parts; for the body was made up of contrary elements. Similarly, the fact that man’s sense faculties were subservient to reason without any rebelliousness did not come from the nature of the soul, since the sense powers naturally tend toward things that cause pleasure in the senses, which things are often at odds with right reason.

This harmony came from the power of something higher, namely God. Just as God united to the body the rational soul that so immeasurably surpasses the body and the bodily faculties, such as the sense powers, so he gave to the rational soul power to control the body and the sensible powers in a manner that exceeded the body’s natural condition, in a way befitting a rational soul. In order, therefore, that reason might firmly hold the lower faculties under its sway, reason itself had to be firmly kept under the dominion of God, from whom it received this power surpassing the condition of nature.

Therefore, man was so constituted that, unless his reason was subservient to God, his body could not be made subject to the life of the soul, nor his sense powers be brought under the rule of reason. Hence in that state life was in a certain way immortal and impassible: that is, man could neither die nor suffer, so long as he did not sin. Nevertheless, since his will was not yet confirmed in good by the attainment of the last end, he retained the power to sin; should this happen, man could suffer and die.

It is precisely in this respect that the impassibility and immortality possessed by the first man differ from the impassibility and immortality to be enjoyed after the resurrection by the saints, who will never be subject to suffering and death, since their wills will be wholly fixed upon God, as we said above. There was also another difference: after the resurrection men will have no use for food or the reproductive functions; but the first man was so constituted that he had to sustain his life with food, and he had a mandate to perform the work of generation; for the human race was to be multiplied from this one parent. Hence he received two commands, in keeping with his condition. The first is that mentioned in Genesis 2:16: You may eat of every tree of the garden. The other is reported in Genesis 1:28: Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth.