credit in the world hindered that delight which they tooke in admiration of their own imaginarie excellencie which was a meere shaddow or rather a detestable idoll 6 But the Christian at least the true Christian is more moved vvith sin than with the punishment of sinne and apprehends sin not only as a politicall or morall evill but as a spirituall evill that is to say as it defileth the soule and makes it odious vnto God and defaceth his image in vs after the which we were first made traÌ„sforming vs into the image likenes of Satan his and our sworne enemie in a word as it dayly worketh in vs in gratitude disobedience and rebellion against the most high in whome wee liue moue and haue our being Our sinnes then are the evils of evils and it is an vncontroulable principle in Divinity that the least evill of faulte is worse then the greatest evil of pain and that wee are bound rather to endure the greatest evill of paine then to commit the least evill of faulte For as long as we bee meerely passiue and suffer only although the things bee not only grievous but also infamous they cannot hurt vs nor endanger vs but that rule will ever hold that no man is hurt but by himselfe Wherefore e August de Civit. Dei lib â— cap. 19 S. Augustine saies of the ravishing of Lucretia by Tarquinius that Tarquiniê° Lucretia were two yet it was but one of theÌ„ that coÌ„mitted adultery 7 Sinne then I say is that vvhich principallie makes a man miserable sin is the very leprosie of the soule sinne transformes a man into a monster and makes him a base degenerate creature yea the worst of all sensitiue creatures This hath so altered man that as f Idem Ibid. lib 1 c. 2â— S. Augustin elegantly expresseth it he that should haue beene spirituall in his flesh is now fleshly in his spirite his meaning is that whereas if man had continued in his innocencie his flesh should haue beene in a manner spirituall because all the senses and motions of the flesh shoulde haue beene comely regular and holy nowe his very spirit is become fleshly because all the operations and motions of the very minde and soule are inordinate and vitious And how fowly sin hath deformed vs and distempered nature and what confusion it hath vvrought in vs appeareth by this that whereas the soule in man whom some haue sitly tearmed a little world is the principle agent the body the instrument reason the Soveraigne and appetite and sense the subiects sin hath turned this little world quite vpside downe The body is become the master and the soule the servant or rather the body a Lord and the soule a slaue appetite and sense command and sway reason is brought into subiection vnto them and must do as they wil haue it Thus as the common saying is the cart drawes the horse The soule should lift vp the body but the body pulles downe the soule and forceth her to suspend her proper operations that appetite and sense may act all Wee place cur happines not in things proper to vs as the right vse of reason contemplation of heavenly things vnion with God and the like which indeed are the life of the soule but in things common to vs and beastes in the satisfying or rather glutting of appetite sense although g Sen. ep 93 the very Gentill could say that pleasure is the chiefe good of beastes Nay sinne makes vs worse then beastes For although beasts are guided in all their actions with sense and appetite only yet are sense and appetite in them so regular and vniforme that they hold one coÌ„stant course only seeking to satisfie nature not to oppresse it and therefore neither surfe it with eating nor are drunken with drinking nor in copulation betweene male and female exceede the necessitie of generation for multiplication and continuance of their like which being accomplished they afterwardes liue most temperately and in all these things as we vse to say doe but their kinde And all this they doe being destitute of reason and discourse herein more happy then man h Bernard in Cantic serm 8. as S. Bernard well saith that they are not iudged because they themselues cannot iudge But man on whom God hath bestowed reason to coÌ„duct and direct him in his doings disdaineth to be governed by reason yea purposely rebelleth against it thinkes it his glory to bee vnresonable he despiseth even pleasure it selfe if it be naturall and such as God alloweth him vsing artificiall enforcements as it were to disguise Gods ordinances and to forge newe delights of his own although sometimes they be rather torments then delights Of all materiall and visible creatures he onely knowes order and yet onelie breaks order herein inferior not only to beasts but to senslesse and lifelesse creatures The sea in ebbing flowing the sun and moone in rising and setting the starres in moving and turning the very earth in springing and withering keepe a certaine order whereas man must needes be exorbitant and out of course as if his reason had been given him to make him mad and void of reason 8 And which not a little aggravates this part of his miserie hee is so intangled in the snares of sinne that of himselfe hee cannot possibly vntvvine himselfe nay to speake properly hee truelie desires not to vntwine himselfe but whereas all other prisoners loath and hate their fetters the sinner loues his he is in bondage and yet is well pleased with his bondage One would thinke that necessity and vvillingnesse vvere incomparible and coulde not stande togither yet sinne hath ioined them in one men cannot chuse but sinne and yet are willing to sin Thus i Bernar in Cant. serm 81. as a divine author complaineth after a strange maner neither necessitie can excuse the will be cause it is willing nor yet the will shake of necessitie because it is content to bee allured to evill and to be over-ruled by such necessity So that this is after a sort a willing necessity a favorable or gentle violence flattering vs while it forceth vs and forcing vs while it flattereth vs. 9 And hence it is that men often relapse into the verie same sinnes which they had formerly renounced and abiured The verie Gentiles perceived and condemned this vanity or rather madnesse of men so farre forth as it was a morall evill the extent whereof we haue seene before k See Barth Keckerman System Eth. lib. 3. cap. 3. Polybius was wont to say that others thought a maÌ„ to be the wisest creature that was but for his part hee thought him to bee the most foolish because other creatures woulde beware of those things by whom they had bin once hurt wheras maÌ„ oftentimes fals backe againe into the same vices And l Sen. ep 20 de vita beata ca. 28 as Seneca expresses it returneth to the thinges which he
that afterwards many great persons in the very Church also greatly liked it and set it abroach Touching the Gentils d Cicero in Hortensio apud Aug. contra Iuliâ— an l. 4. c. 12. 15. Tully himselfe professed his approbation of this opinion namely that we were borne into this wretched worlde for some fowle matters coÌ„mitted before in a former world to suffer punishmeÌ„t here for the same Who also compares mans case herein to that of those which fel into the hands of theeues of Tuscany meÌ„tioned by Aristotle who were dealt with after this lamentable manner The one halfe of them were left aliue the other halfe murthered then the living were bound backe to backe to the dead and so rotted with them and that even so our soules were coupled with our bodies as the living with the dead for the greater torment And as for Divines in the Church that they also applauded to this invention and vaine imagination appeareth by the testimonie of S. e Hieronim epist 8 ad Demetriad Ierem who warneth a religious woman of his time to take heed of the Origenists who vsed to buzze into the eares of the simpler that very reason coÌ„strained them to beleeue that mens soules had lived in heaven first and that for some old faults committed there they were punished here adiudged to be put into bodies as into prisons and to doe penance in this vale of teares And the reason that constrained them to bee of this minde was forsooth that yong children many times were borne deformed and monstrous were subiect to sicknesse and greevous pangs often times were punished with death it selfe before they had actually offended which could notstaÌ„d with Gods iustice vnlesse they had sinned before their comming into the world The vanitie of which imagination shall God willing appeare hereafter Thus they seeling this part of mans misery and not knowing the cause thereof runne into many sottish errors f August â—bi supta hac sâ—â—ct lit margin d. as S. Augustine saith of Tullie Hee sawe the thing but knew not the cause of it 4 And as for the cause of the other and greater evill namely sinne the generall opinion and conceit was that it proceeded only either from il education or at the least from mans bad husbanding of his owne free will which was equally inclinable to good or evill Which if they had vnderstood of the first man Adara when he fell had beene true and sound but of this they never dreamed They thought that man considered in the state of corrupt nature or as hee is now of himselfe was without sinne by birth and had equall power to do good or evill to be vertuous or vitious and as I said that it was only bad education and imitation of the bad or bad imploiment of his freewill naturall faculties of his soule that made him naught in which errour wee finde the very best and wisest to haue been g Cie Aead quae 〈◊〉 lib. â—woudâ— Tusculan lib. 4. The Stoicks the best of all Philosophers for moralitie were so blinded herein that they thought even good and lawfull affections to be meerely of ill custome not of nature much more that corrupt and evill affections were so And h Seneca epist 22. Seneca brings in nature complaining of her children as degenerate and telling them that she brought the forth with out passions and evill desires lusts without feares without superstition without trechery the like i Seneca c. pist 116. in an other place makes this the only cause that we are naught because wee vvill not vse the streÌ„gth which nature hath giveÌ„ vs to shake of our vices which is abundantly sufficient to doe it Not to bee willing saith hee is the cause hereof but not to be able is made the pretence and colour Chap 5. Sect. 8. We shal haue occasion * hereafter to speake more of this blindnes and madnesse of the Gentils touching the cause of this part of mans miserie namely sinne when wee shal come to handle the remedies which they prescribed for the same And as for the falshoode thereof it shall bee shewed * in place convenient Chap. 6. Sect 4. CHAP. 4. That as the Gentiles knewe not the true cause of maÌ„s misery so nether did they know the vtmost height of it 1 AS wee haue seene in the former Chapter that the blinde heatheÌ„s knew not the cause of mans misery so it resteth to bee here declared that they knew not the true measure and greatnes thereof nay were meerly ignorant of many principall branches of it 2 One speciall point of our miserie is that by sinne we incurre the displeasure of God and become liable to his wrath and vengeance who by nature is an adversary to all sinne and sinners Chap. 3. sect 1. as hath beene * before shewed at large But this the heathens apprehended not For not only a Ovid. Amor lib 3. eleg 3. de arte amandi lib. 1. the profane Poet imagined that God did wincke at mens sins yea allow them nay laugh at them but also the chiefe Philosophers thought taught that God was not offended with any thing that meÌ„ did much lesse would punish it b Sen. ep 31. Seneca the most morall of them and the wonder of wit tels vs that no man knowes God and that many thinke ill of him and that without any danger In c Idem de bene ficiâ—s lib. 7. c. 1. another place hee thinkes hee hath spoken wisely when he speakes most beastly saying that one principall point for the attainement of perfect happinesse is to shake of all feare of God and man and to resolue that we are not to feare much from man but froÌ„ God nothing at all d Idem de ira l. 2. c. 27. In another that there are some that haue neither will nor power to hurt as the Gods whose nature is wholy mild and gentle and who are of power only to relieue and cherish but not to annoy or affl ct And e Plutarch tractat de superstit another famous both for his learning and diligence yea for his vertue too so far as heathnish blindnes would permit makes it flat superstition to thinke that God would hurt any being superlatiuely good yea goodnes it selfe both being childishly deceived in this that they thought that for God to punish anie for their wickednes and to do harme were all one * See Tertul cent Marciâ— on lib. 2. c. 14. Lactant de ira Dei cap. 17. whereas it is a maine branch of his goodnes to hate evil take vengeance on evill doers Without the which no earthly Prince deserues the name nor can maintaine the reputation of good 3 Secondly they bewraye most grosse ignorance touching mans misery in this that they thinke it is all ended by death whereas the far greater and more grievous part thereof followeth after death as we haue
placed in Paradise in a most happy and pleasant state of life only restrained from tasting of the fruit of one only tree to vveete the tree of the knowledge of good and evill as a triall of their subiection and loyalty by the Divels suggestion Gods deadly enemy theirs presumed to eate thereof and so lost the loue and favour of God and incurred his displeasure and indignation and consequētly became subiect to al misery calamity not only in this life but also in the life to come 2 It may seeme that this offence was not so hainous nor deserved such severe punishment But we must consider that many and grievous iniquities yea abominations lurked in this fact For first of all God having expresly told thē that whensoever they shoulde taste of this forbidden fruite they should die the death that is they should surely die they harkening to the serpent telling them the contrary make God a lyer yea take the Devils word before his Now how great a wickednes this was the simplest may easily perceiue Secondly here vvas great ingratitude and vnthankfulnes The Devill tels them that God had dealt craftily with them in telling thē there was such daunger in eating of that fruit whereas indeede it had that vertue to make them equall to himselfe and therefore in pollicie he forbade them to taste of it Which necessarily argues that they were malecontent with their present estate as if God had dealt niggardly with them and had not bestowed so much vpon them as hee might haue done and so in effect that the Devill would by his counsell and advise do more for thē then God had done or woulde doe Thirdly principally here was high treason against the most high accompanied with detestable blasphemie For they eating of the forbiddē fruit because as the Devill informed them therby they should be equall to God manifestly shewed that they disdained to be Gods vnderlings and to hold a happines from him by inferiority and dependancie and would be happy absolutely and of themselues without being any way beholding to God for the same Now when the subiect denieth homage and fealty to the Soveraigne the Creature to the Creator man to God what can it bee but high treason yea highest treason as committed against the highest Besides it could bee no lesse than abhominable blasphemy that a mortal man should so much as admit a thought to make himselfe equal to the immortal God much more to desire it yea to attempt it 3 And yet further this doth not a little aggravat their sin that they thē had absolute power not to sinne To expresse this pointe I had rather vse Saint Augustines wordes then mine own If saith b Aug. de eivitat Dei li. 14. c. 15. he any man thinke that Adams condemnation was either too heavy or vniust surely hee knowes not howe to weigh the matter namely how great the iniquity of sinning was vvhen there was so great easines not to sin And a little after Where there is great punishment threatned for disobedience and the matter commāded by the creatour to be obeyed so easie who can sufficiently declare how great a wickednesse it is not to obey in a matter so easie where there is so great power to obey and so greate danger for not obeying 4 I omit many other considerations which might farther aggravat the greatnesse of our first parents sin But that which hath beene alreadie saide may suffice Only this I thought good not to omit that it may be replied by some that howe great soever their personall offence were yet what reason is it that their posterity shoulde beare the smart thereof and that in so hard measure as wee see and feele by common experience that they doe The answere is easie that Adam had either happinesse or miserie in his owne hands not onely for himselfe but for all his and therefore by making himselfe miserable willinglie I meane at least willingly doing the thing that iustly made him miserable hee also iustly drewe miserie vpon all his We see that even humane iustice punisheth the children for the offense of the fathers He that commits treason not only dyeth himselfe for it but brings miserie vpon all his children who by his offense loose all their goods and lands that otherwise should haue descended vnto them as also if the parties so offending bee of such quality and ranke their nobility and advantages of birth and parentage Again we as commonly kill the yong foxes wolues and such like ravenous and noisome beasts as the old although as yet they haue done no actuall harme because we knowe they are of the same nature that the olde are and lacke not malice but time to hurt and destroy Much more therfore may God that more hates malignitie of nature in man than man doeth in beastes manifest his wrath against mankinde even in their infancie knovving that the roote and seede of all evill lurkes in them from the wombe yea in the wombe and that the poison of sinne and wickednesse is even incorporated into their essence And this is the cause of all those miseries and extremities which many times wee see yong children to endure The ignoraunce of which point drewe the Gentiles out of the Church and hereticks in the Church into that ridiculous errour * before specified Chap. 3. Sect. 3. that mens soules had committed some foule fault in heaven for the which they were sent into bodies here on earth to doe penance for the same Now man having thus vvillingly seperated himselfe from God his Creator and the onely author of his happinesse it is no marvaile if he became subiect to all kinde of miserie This was saith c Aug. de civit Dei lib. 6 cap. 13. S. Augustine a perverse haughtinesse to forsake that originall cause wherevnto only the soule ought to cleaue after a sort to become his owne originall that is to leaue God and goe about to be his owne God and to be happy without being beholding to God for it And a little after Man by affecting to be more then he was is now lesse then hee was and while he made choice to be sufficient of himselfe forsook him that only coulde be sufficient for him And d Ambro. de Elia ieinmio cap 4. S. Ambrose brings in God expostulating reasonning the matter with man after his fall thus Didst thou thinke to bee like vnto vs therefore sith thou wouldst be what thou wast not thou hast ceased to be what thou wast And c Bernard tractat de gratia libero arbit S. Bernard verie sweetly expresseth this point saith he they to wit our first parents which woulde needes be their owne became not only their owne but the Devils also that is the Divels slaues held in bondage by him at his pleasure as f 2. Tim. 2.36 the Apostle speakes This was a wofull alteration that mā who was the sonne of God while hee would