And being but one, she can do all things: and remaining in herself, she maketh all things new: and in all ages entering into holy souls, she maketh them friends of God, and prophets.
All Commentaries on Wisdom of Solomon 7:27 Go To Wisdom of Solomon 7
Augustine of Hippo
AD 430
If Adam had been capable of understanding the word that God communicates to angelic spirits through his own essence, it cannot be doubted that God, without being moved himself through time, would have moved Adam"s spirit in a mysterious and ineffable way. He would have taught him a useful and salutary precept of truth and, by the same Truth, what punishment awaited its transgressor. This is how all the salutary precepts of unchanging Wisdom that are communicated to holy souls at particular moments, at this or that time, should be seen and understood. If, however, Adam was righteous only to the extent that he still needed another holier and wiser creature through whom he would come to know the will and command of God (as we have had need of the prophets, and they of the angels), why should we doubt that God would have spoken to him through such a creature, using a language that Adam could understand?
