And he said: I heard thy voice in paradise; and I was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid myself.
Augustine of Hippo
When Adam heard God's voice, he answered that he hid because he was naked. His answer was a wretched error, as if a man naked, as God had made him, could be displeasing to him. It is a distinguishing mark of error that whatever anyone finds personally displeasing he imagines is displeasing to God as well. We should understand in a lofty sense the words of the Lord, "Who told you that you were naked, unless because you have eaten from that tree about which I told you that from it alone you should not eat?" Before he was naked of any dissimulation and clothed with the divine light. From this light he turned away and turned toward himself. This is the meaning of his having eaten from that tree. He saw his nakedness, and it was displeasing to himself because he did not have anything of his own.
Imported from an open dataset — not yet checked against the printed edition.