St. Gregory of Nyssa: “What is it then which we understand concerning these matters? In saying that “God created man” the text indicates, by the indefinite character of the term, all mankind; for was not Adam here named together with the creation, as the history tells us in what follows? Yet the name given to the man created is not the particular, but the general name: thus we are led by the employment of the general name of our nature to some such view as this-that in the Divine foreknowledge and power all humanity is included in the first creation; for it is fitting for God not to regard any of the things made by Him as indeterminate, but that each existing thing should have some limit and measure prescribed by the wisdom of its Maker. Now just as any particular man is limited by his bodily dimensions, and the peculiar size which is conjoined with the superficies of his body is the measure of his separate existence, so I think that the entire plenitude of humanity was included by the God of all, by His power of foreknowledge, as it were in one body, and that this is what the text teaches us which says, “God created man, in the image of God created He him.” For the image is not in part of our nature, nor is the grace in any one of the things found in that nature, but this power extends equally to all the race: and a sign of this is that mind is implanted alike in all: for all have the power of understanding and deliberating, and of all else whereby the Divine nature finds its image in that which was made according to it: the man that was manifested at the first creation of the world, and he that shall be after the consummation of all, are alike: they equally bear in themselves the Divine image.” – On the Making of Man 16:16-18.
St. Macarius the Great: Take the example of a king who has goods and servants under him ministering to him. However, it happens that he is taken captive by enemies. When he is captured and led out of his country, his servants and ministers must want to follow after him. So also Adam was created pure by God for his service. All these creatures were given to him to serve him. He was destined to be the lord and king of all creatures. But when the evil word came to him and conversed with him, he first received it through an external hearing, Then it penetrated into his heart and took charge of his whole being. When he was thus captured, creation, which ministered and served him, was captured with him. Through him death gained power oyer every soul and completely destroyed the image of Adam because of his disobedience so that as a result men were sidetracked and fell to worshipping demons.” Eleventh Homily
St. Basil: “For since we fell away from the true delight that was in paradise, we invented adulterated delicacies for ourselves. And since we no longer see the tree of life, nor do we pride ourselves in that beauty, there have been given to us for our enjoyment cooks and bakers, and various pastries and aromas, and such things console us in our banishment from there.” – On the Human Condition.
“Yet, one may also ask, for what reason was the tree in paradise, through which the devil’s attack on us was about to take place? For if he had not had the bait for his deceit, how would he have led us on through the disobedience into death? Because there needed to be a commandment to test our obedience.” – On the Human Condition.
St. Cyril: “We have been condemned to death by the transgression of Adam, since the entire nature of humanity experienced this in him. Indeed, he was the firstfruits of our race. In Christ, however, we blossomed once more into life.” – Cyril of Alexandria, Commentaries on Romans, 1-2 Corinthians, and Hebrews.
“For in Adam, as I said, we have fallen away from grace. The statement ‘increase and multiply’ and ‘subdue the earth’ was addressed to the first man representing human nature as a whole.” – Commentaries on Romans, 1-2 Corinthians, and Hebrews.
St. Athanasius: Turn not Your face from Your child, for God the Father put away humankind because of Adam’s transgression. For the sake of this, he is asking Him to turn His face to us once again. – (Tafseer Sifr Al-Mazameer Al-Joz’ Al-Thalith (Exegesis on the Book of Psalms Vol. 3], G.M. Andrawis, trans. (Egypt: St. Anthony Press-The Orthodox Center for Patristic Studies in Cairo, 2021), 160).
Nor does repentance recall human beings from what is natural, but merely halts sins. If then there were only offence and not the consequence of corruption, repentance would have been fine. But if, once the transgression had taken off, human beings were now held fast in natural corruption and were deprived of the grace of being in the image. – On the Incarnation.
For these reasons, then, with death holding greater sway and corruption remaining fast against human beings, the race of humans was perishing. – Four Discourses Against the Arians,2.19.55.
Thus too has the race made after God’s image come to be, namely men; for though Adam only was formed out of earth,yet in him was involved the succession of the whole race. – Four Discourses Against the Arians 2.19.48 (NPNF 4:374-375).
Second Council of Carthage: If any man says that new-born children need not be baptized, or that they should indeed be baptized for the remission of sins, but that they have in them no original sin inherited from Adam which must be washed away in the bath of regeneration, so that in their case the formula of baptism “for the remission of sins” must not be taken literally, but figuratively, let him be anathema; because, according to Rom. v. 12,249 the sin of Adam has passed upon all. (AD 418, Canon 110).
The Council of Ephesus: “Moreover, the minutes of the actions on the depositions of the unholy Pelagians and Celestians, Celestius, Pelagius, Julian, Presidius, Florus, Marcellinus, Orentius, and those who hold the same opinions with them, were read in the Holy Synod, and we also have deemed it right that those things which have been decreed against them by your God-reveringness shall remain strong and firm. And we are all voters on the same side with you, and hold them deposed.”
“If any Metropolitan of a Province, forsaking the holy and Ecumenical Synod, has joined the assembly of the apostates, or shall join the same hereafter; or, if he has adopted, or shall hereafter adopt, the doctrines of Celestius, he has no power in any way to do anything in opposition to the bishops of the province, since he is already cast forth from all ecclesiastical communion and made incapable of exercising his ministry; but he shall himself be subject in all things to those very bishops of the province and to the neighboring orthodox metropolitans…” – (St. Cyril of Alexandria, The Council’s Letter to Celestine the First, Pope of Rome, AD 431).
Faith Unto Ages 