The Ancient Witnesses

Chapter 3: The Beginning of Time • 103

“The blessed couple inhabiting the Garden of God enflamed the Devil with envy. For he loathed their favored status and detested the idea that a creature formed from the dirt should be elected to Paradise!” 35 I had never considered the idea that Satan was jealous of Adam and Eve and their special relationship with God. “Why didn’t they just kill that nasty snake?” asked Preacher, loudly enough for everyone to hear. The three witnesses looked at one another. The one we had not met, a Syrian witness—Severian of Gabal— replied, “Please, do not picture the serpent as repulsive, at least not in the beginning. I believe that his ugliness resulted from the curse. After all, why would our mother Eve listen to a repulsive creature? Remember: Adam named every creature and all were created to serve him. Now then, imagine a dog with his master and you are not far from seeing how the serpent might have served Adam prior to the fall. His nearness to humanity, as pets are near to their masters, made the serpent a suitable servant to man but, sadly, a useful tool for the devil.” 36 “Indeed,” added Ephrem, “Scripture says the serpent was ‘craftier than any other beast of the field,’ but that

35 Paraphrase of Ambrose, Liber de Paradiso , XII. PL 14.318. Compare John Savage, Saint Ambrose, Hexameron, Paradies, and Cain and Abel in the Fathers of the Church, vol. 42, pages 332-333. 36 Severian of Gabala, On the Creation of the World 6.2. Severian’s writings are not published in NPNF. The translation is based on Patrologia Graeca 56:485-486. See also Louth, Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture: Genesis 1-11 , 74-75.