Page:Complete Works of Count Tolstoy - 13.djvu/229

 Consequently it is the same.

“(3) Finally, the destination of man, in relation to the whole Nature which surrounds him, is clearly determined in the words of the tri-personal Creator himself: Let us make man in our image and after our likeness; and let him have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the beasts, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.”

The third is evidently not a destination, but a convenience; but here it is included as a destination. There turns out to be one destination: to remain true to the union with God.

84. The ability of the first-born man for his destination, or perfection. “In predestining man for such a high purpose, the Lord God created him fully capable of attaining this aim, that is, perfect.”

85. The special cooperation of God with the first-born man in the attainment of his destination.

In order to attain this high purpose, the preservation of the union with God, God considered it necessary to coöperate with the man. The first cooperation consisted in this:

“God himself planted a garden eastward in Eden as a habitation for man; and there he put the man whom he had formed (Gen. ii. 8). This was, according to the words of St. John Damascene, as it were, a royal house, where man, living, might have passed a happy and blissful life—it was the abiding-place of all joys and pleasures: for Eden denotes enjoyment. The air in it was perfectly pure. It was surrounded by bright air, the thinnest and the purest; it was adorned with blooming plants, filled with perfume and light, and surpassed every representation of sensual beauty and goodness. It was truly a divine country, a worthy habitation, created in the image of God.” (p. 467.)