Paradise: Material, Spiritual, or Both

What was the nature of paradise? How should we understand the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil? St. John of Damascus explains this and more.

A reading from Chapter 2, Book 11 of the Exact Exposition of the Orthodox Faith 📖 Exact Exposition of the Orthodox Faith by St. John of Damascushttps://stanthonysmonastery.org/products/exact-exposition-of-the-orthodox-faith?srsltid=AfmBOooIh2HMkYAbPmSR-vRxp3-t7gnDMG-wE35u0kLCM3RfpbB0cVyi

🎧 Against Those Who Attack the Divine Images (First Apology) - St. John of Damascushttps://youtu.be/bm2eV_anejw

🎧 The Divine Bait - Sts. Gregory of Nyssa, Maximus the Confessor, & John of Damascus

https://youtu.be/8olZ4qkUrJE🎧 Adam's Lament - St. Silouan the Athonitehttps://youtu.be/n0e2bb0lTa0

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🎁Support my work here:https://buymeacoffee.com/orthodoxwisdom_______St. John teaches:

Since God intended to fashion man after His own image and likeness from the visible and invisible creation to be a sort of king and ruler over the whole earth and the things in it, He prepared a sort of kingdom for him, in which he might dwell and lead a blessed and blissful life. And this divine Paradise prepared in Eden by the hands of God was a treasure house of every joy and pleasure. For "Eden" is interpreted as meaning "delight." It was situated in the east and was higher than all the rest of the earth. It was temperate in climate and bright with the softest and purest of air. It was luxuriant with ever-blooming plants, filled with fragrance, flooded with light, and surpassing all conception of sensible fairness and beauty. In truth, it was a divine place and a worthy habitation for God in His image. And in it no brute beasts dwelt, but only man, the handiwork of God.

The tree of life was either a tree possessing a life-giving force or a tree that was to be eaten of only by such as were worthy of life and not subject to death. Some have imagined Paradise to have been material, while others have imagined it to have been spiritual. However, it seems to me that, just as man was created both physical and noetic, so did this most sacred domain of his have the twofold aspect of being perceptible both to the senses and to the nous. For, while in his body he dwelt in this most sacred and superbly beautiful place, as we have related, spiritually, that is, noetically he resided in a loftier and far more beautiful place. There he had the indwelling God as a dwelling place and wore Him as a glorious garment. He was wrapped about with His grace, and, like some one of the angels, he rejoiced in the enjoyment of that one sweetest fruit which is the theoria of God, and by this he was nourished. Now, this is indeed what is fittingly called the tree of life, for the sweetness of divine theoria communicates a life uninterrupted by death to them that partake of it. It is just this that God meant by "every tree" when He said: "Of every tree of Paradise thou shalt eat." For He is the all, in Whom and by Whom the universe endures._______Orthodox Wisdom is dedicated to sharing the writings and lives of the Saints of the Orthodox Church. Glory to Jesus Christ!