88. Cf. en. Ps. 68, exp. 1.9; s. 264.3.
Made to be Godly 67 tive of evil a deifying stamp. The devil is the primus peccator, primus preuaricator.86 He first turned away because he could not be God. This is the same prospect the devil dangled before the first humans. He enticed them to become gods in their own nature as opposed to becoming "created gods" by participating in the one and only God.87 This was the fallen angel's original act of rebellion and this is how he led the first humans astray. He falsely promised them by right what they could have had by grace: divinity.
This is why Augustine describes Satan as the first robber and Adam as the second. For both went after a state in life which was not theirs by right and such perverse deification is explained as a false rapina and is cleverly contrasted with the Son's kenosis. Placing Gen. 3:5 alongside Phil. 2:6–7, Augustine illustrates how both Satan and Adam attempted to seize something for themselves which belonged to another; the Son, on the other hand, let go of that which was rightfully his for the sake of others, "exchanging" his humanity for our divinity (a metaphor we treat in the next chapter).88
Another image employed by Augustine to describe this illicit seizing is the created person's innate desire for and imitation of God. Of course Adam and Eve's craving has been misdirected but we see how even pride reaches out toward union, showing that while the divine image on earth cannot help but seek out perfection and divinity, this can be done in one of two ways: it can be done according to a proper imitation of God or according to one's own self. The first way is the result of obedience and leads to fuller participation in divinity; the second way is the result of pride and leads to the consequent forfeiture of the beatitude willed in the beginning. This sec-
86. s. 153.14; PL 38.832. 87. Cf. ciu. Dei 14.13: "Dii enim creati non sua ueritate, sed Dei ueri participatione sunt dii"; CCL 47.435.
88. Cf. en. Ps. 68, exp. 1.9; s. 264.3.