CHAPTER XII
another. Nevertheless, just as any man or woman who exists from the union of a man and a woman is truly man--so Adam, who existed from no other man, is truly man, and Jesus, who existed from a woman alone, is truly man, and Eve, who existed from a man alone, is truly man. Moreover, every man is either
Adam or from Adam; hut Eve is from Adam alone, and all others are from Adam and Eve. Now since Mary, from whom alone Jesus exists, is from Adam and Eve, it follows that He himself must he from the same pair. For it was expedient that He who was going to redeem the human race should exist and he horn from the father and mother of all men.
CHAPTER XII
That There Is No Good Reason for Adam's Evils To Be Passed to That Man It is also easy to understand why the Son of the Virgin could not he sub ject to the sin, or debt, of Adam. For Adam was created just: he was free from sin, its debt, and its penalty. And Adam was created happy and with the ability to keep forever the justice he had received; and through his keeping justice, he was able to keep the freedom and happiness I have just mentioned.
Since he did not keep these goods for himself (although he was always able to do so without any difficulty), ho removed them from himself and subjected him self to their opposite. And Adam was made the servant of sin, or injustice, and the servant of a debt which he was unable to repay, and the servant of that wretchedness which is characterized by the inability to recover the goods which he had lost. Just as he was unable to remove from himself the goods which he had (or to bring upon himself the evils which he did not have) in any other way than by not keeping those goods for himself when he could have, so he was only able to remove those goods from others (and only able to bring those evils upon others) by not keeping those goods for the persons for whom he was able