228 Epistle to Diognetus, 9th. // ?????. 2, 255 (12–13).

229 Severian of Gabala. About the fifth day of creation. Hl. 10: "It is not the blessed who receives the curse, but the earth. One has sinned, and the other is afflicted. It is the same with the "curse of Eve, or rather the punishment (for it was not a curse, but a correction). […] Our deeds are criminal, but the earth is tormented. God cares for creation as for a noble child, and smites the earth as a teacher" (i.e., a mentor, educator). (In some manuscripts, this discourse is attributed to St. John Chrysostom).

230 St. John Chrysostom. Commentaries on the Psalms. 48, 5 // Creations. T. 5. Kn. 1, p. 240.

231 See: ?. ?. ???????????. ? ???????, ??????????? – ????????? – ???????. ??????, 1973. ?. 46.

232 St. Theophilus of Antioch. To Autolycus. II, 26 // Early Fathers of the Church. Brussels, 1988. P. 489.

233 St. Gregory of Nyssa. Pulcheria's funeral sermon // Works of the Holy Fathers. T. 45. Part 8. P. 405: "For this reason, in order that the evil that has settled in us may not be perpetuated, according to the determination of wise Providence, the vessel is destroyed for a time by death, so that, after the expiration of evil, human nature may be transformed and, pure from evil, restored to its original state." A little earlier he wrote that death is nothing but "a means of purifying depravity."

234 St. Basil the Great. On the Fact That God Is Not the Culprit of Evil // Creations. Part 4. P. 155.

235 ?. G.?????. ? ?????????? ??? ?. ?????????. ??????., 1970. ?. 136.

236 See: ?. ?????????. '???????? ??????????? ??? ???????. ??????., 1977. ?. 67.

237 St. Cyril of Alexandria. On the Incarnation of the Lord, 6.

238 St. Gregory the Theologian. Homily 38, 12 // Creations. Part 3. P. 201: a person, having sinned, becomes "an exile, removed at the same time from the tree of life, and from Paradise, and from God." In spite of this, man "acquires something, namely death, for the suppression of sin, so that evil does not become immortal. In this way, the punishment itself is made by love for mankind. For this, as I am persuaded, God punishes."