no contemptible arguments for it For first Jerem. 2. 18. Sihor is a River of Aegypt which is not questioned to be any other then Nilus and its Etymon seems to bewray the truth of it from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 denigrari from the muddy blacknesse of the River And Nilus is notorious for this quality and therefore has its denomination thence in the Greek quasi 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 acording to which is that of Dionysius 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 That is For there 's no River can compare with Nile For casting mud and fattening the soile But now to recite the very words of the Prophet What hast thou to do with the way of Egypt to drink the waters of Sihor the Latine has it ut bibas aquam turbidam This is Nilu◠But the Seventy translate it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 To drink the water of Gihon which is the name of this very River of Paradise And the Abyssines also even to this day call Nilus by the name of Guion Adde unto this that Gihon runs in Aethiopia so does Nilus and is Siris as it runs through Aethiopia which is from Sihor it is likely and then the Greek termination makes it Sioris after by contraction Siris 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 That is The Aethiopian him Siris calls Syene Nilus when by her he crawls As the same Author writes in his Geographical Poems And that Pison is Ganges has also its probabilities Ganges being in India a Countrey famous for Gold and precious Stones Besides the notation of the name agrees with the nature of the River Pison being from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 multiplicare And there is no lesse a number then Ten and those great Rivers that exonerate themselves into Ganges as there must be a conflux of multifarious experience to fill up and compleat that virtue of Wisdome or Prudence So that we shall see that the four Rivers of Paradise have got such names as are most advantageous and favourable to the mysterious sense of the story Wherefore regardlesse here of all Geographical scrupulosities we will say that Gihon is Nilus or Siris the River of the Aethiopians that is of the Just and the virtue is here determinately set off from the subject wherein it doth reside For by the fame of the Justice and Innocency of the Aethiopians we are assured which of the Cardinal Virtues is meant by Gihon And the ancient fame of their honesty and uprightnesse was such that Homer has made it their Epithet calling them 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The blamelesse Aethiopians adding further that Jupiter used to banquet with them he being so much taken with the integrity of their conversation And Dionysius calls them 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The divine or Deiforme Aethiopians and they were so styled 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 by reason of their Justice as Eustathius comments upon the place Herodotus also speaking of them says they are very goodly men and much civilized and of a very long life which is the reward of Righteousnesse So that by the place where Gihon runs it is plainly signified to us what Cardinal Virtue is to be understood thereby Notation of the name thereof The name Gihon as you have seen fairly incites us to acknowledge it a River of Aethiopia The notation thereof does very sutably agree with the nature of Justice for it is from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 erumpere And Justice is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Bonum alienum as the Philosopher notes not confined within a mans self but breaks out rather upon others bestowing upon every one what is their due Ver. 14. Is Hiddekell The word is compounded says Vatablus from two words that signifie velox rapidum and this virtue like a swift and rapid stream bears down all before it as you have it in the Cabbala And stoutly resists Philo uses here the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to resist which he takes occasion from the Seventies 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which he interprets against the Assyrians The Hebrew has it Eastward of Assyria and therefore Assyria is situated Westward of it Now the West is that quarter of the world where the Sun bidding us adieu leaves us to darkness whence 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the West wind in Eustathius has its name from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the wind that blows from the dark Quarter Assyria therefore is that false state of seeming happiness and power of wickednesse which is called the kingdome of darknesse And this is the most noble object of Fortitude to destroy the power of this kingdome within our selves Perath From 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Fructificavit Ver. 17. In processe of time c. This is according to the minde of the Pythagoreans and Origen And that Pythagoras had the favour of having the Mosaical Cabbala communicated to him by some knowing Priest of the Jewes or some holy man or other I think I have continuedly in the former Chapter made it exceeding probable The Region of mortality and death Nothing is more frequent with the Platonists then the calling of the body a Sepulchre and this life we live here upon Earth either sleep or death Which expressions are so sutable with this Cabbala and the Cabbala with the Text of Moses that mentions the death and sleep of Adam that it is a shrewd presumption that these Phrases and Notions came first from thence And Philo acknowledges that Heraclitus that mysterious and abstruse Philosopher whom Porphyrius also has cited to the same purpose in his De antro Nympharum has even hit upon the very meaning that Moses intends in this death of Adam in that famous saying of his 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 We live their death to wit of the souls out of the body but we are dead to their life And Euripides that friend of Socrates and fellow-traveller of Plato's in his Tragedies speaks much to the same purpose 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Who knows whether to live be not to die and to die to live So that the Philosophick sense concerning Adams death must be this that he shall be dead to the Aethereal life he lived before while he is restrained to the Terrestrial and that when as he might have lived for ever in the Aethereal Life he shall in a shorter time assuredly die to the Terrestrial That the sons of men cannot escape either the certainty or speed of death Ver. 18. Both good for himself c. For the words of the Text doe not confine it to Adams conveniency alone but speaks at large without any restraint in this present verse Wherefore there being a double convenience it was more explicite to mention both in the Cabbala Ver. 19. Fallen and unfallen Angels The fallen Angels are here assimilated to the Beasts of the Field the unfallen to the Fowls of the Air. How fitly the fallen Spirits are reckoned amongst the Beasts
nakedness came into the world but the toil and drudgery of Tillage and Husbandry the grievous pangs of Childe-bearing and lastly what is most terrible of all Death it self Of all which as of some other things also I shall give you such plain and intelligible reasons that your own hearts could not wish more plain and more intelligible To what an happy condition Adam was created you have already heard How he was placed by God in a Garden of delight where all his senses were gratified with the most pleasing objects imaginable his eyes with the beautie of trees and flowers and various delightsome forms of living creatures his ears with the sweet musical accents of the canorous birds his smell with the fragrant odours of Aromatick herbs his taste with variety of delicious fruit and his touch with the soft breathings of the air in the flowry alleys of this ever-springing Paradise Adde unto all this that pleasure of pleasures the delectable conversation of his beautiful Bride the enjoyments of whose love neither created care to himself nor pangs of childe-bearing to her for all the functions of life were performed with ease and delight and there had been no need for man to sweat for the provision of his family for in this Garden of Eden there was a perpetual Spring and the vigour of the soil prevented mans industry and youth and jollity had never left the bodies of Adam and his posterity because old age and death were perpetually to be kept off by that soveraign virtue of the Tree of Life And I know as you heartily could wish this state might have ever continued to Adam and his seed so you eagerly expect to hear the reason why he was depriv'd of it and in short it is this His disobedience to a commandement which God had given him the circumstances whereof I shall declare unto you as followeth Amongst those several living creatures which were in Paradise there was the Serpent also whom you know to this very day to be full of subtilty therefore you will lesse wonder if when he was in his perfection he had not onely the use of Reason but the power of Speech It was therefore this Serpent that was the first occasion of all this mischief to Adam and his posterity for he cunningly came unto the woman and said unto her Is it so indeed that God has commanded you that you shall not eat of any of the trees of the Garden 2 And the woman answered unto the Serpent You are mistaken God hath not forbid us to eat of all the fruit of the trees of the Garden 3 But indeed of the fruit of the Tree in the midst of the Garden God hath strictly charged us Ye shall not eat of it neither shall ye touch it lest ye die 4 But the Serpent said unto the woman Tush I warrant you this is only but to terrifie you and abridge you of that liberty and happinesse you are capable of you shall not so certainly die 5 But God knows the virtue of that tree full well that so soon as you eat thereof your eyes shall be opened and you shall become as Gods knowing good and evil 6 And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food and that it was pleasant to the eye and a tree to be desired to make one wise she took of the fruit and did eat and gave also to her husband with her and he did eat 7 And the eyes of them both were opened and they knew they were naked and were ashamed and therefore they sewed fig-leaves together and made themselves aprons to cover their parts of shame 8 And the Lord God came into the Garden toward the cool of the evening and walking in the Garden call'd for Adam But Adam had no sooner heard his voice but he and his wife ran away into the thickest of the trees of the Garden to hide themselves from his presence 9 But the Lord God called unto Adam the second time and said unto him Adam where art thou 10 Then Adam was forc't to make answer and said I heard thy voice in the Garden and I was afraid because I was naked and so I hid my self 11 Then God said unto him Who hath made thee so wise that thou shouldst know that thou art naked or wantest any covering Hast thou eaten of the forbidden fruit 12 And Adam excus'd himself saying The woman whom thou recommendedst to me for a meet help she gave me of the fruit and I did eat 13 And the Lord God said unto the woman What is this that thou hast done And the woman excus'd her self saying The Serpent beguiled me and I did eat 14 Then the Lord God gave sentence upon all three and to the Serpent he said Because thou hast done this thou art cursed above all cattel and above every beast of the field and whereas hitherto thou hast been able to bear thy body aloft and go upright thou shalt henceforth creep upon thy belly like a worm and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life 15 And there shall be a perpetual antipathy betwixt not only the woman and thee but betwixt her seed and thy seed For universal mankind shall abhorre thee and hate all the cursed generations that come of thee They indeed shall busily lie in wait to sting mens feet which their skill in herbs however shall be able to cure but they shall knock all Serpents on the head and kill them without pity or remorse deservedly using thy seed as their deadly enemy 16 And the doom of the woman was Her sorrow and pangs in childe-bearing and her subjection to her husband Which law of subjection is generally observed in the Nations of the world unto this very day 17 And the doom of Adam was The toil of Husbandry upon barren ground 18 For the earth was cursed for his sake which is the reason that it brings forth thorns and thistles and other weeds that Husbandmen could wish would not cumber the ground upon which they bestow their toilsome labor 19 Thus in the sweat of his face was Adam to eat his bread till he return to the dust out of which he was taken 20 And Adam called his wife Eve because she was the mother of all men that ever were born into the world and lived upon the face of the earth 21 And the generations of men were clothed at first with the skins of wilde beasts the use of which God taught Adam and Eve in Paradise 22 And when they were thus accoutred for their journey and armed for greater hardship God turns them both out and the Lord God said concerning Adam deriding him for his disobedience Behold Adam is become as one of us to know good and evil Let us look to him now lest he put his hand to the Tree of Life and so make himself immortal 23 Therefore the Lord God sent him forth from the Garden of Eden to till the ground from whence
had joyes multiplyed upon the whole man beyond all expression and imagination for ever he now sunk more and more towards a mortal and terrestrial estate himself not being unsensible thereof as you shall hear when I have told you the doom of the Eternal God concerning the Serpent and him 14 Things therefore having been carried on in this wise the Eternal Lord God decreed thus with himself concerning the Serpent and Adam That this old Serpent the Prince of the rebellious Angels should be more accursed then all the rest and whereas he lorded it aloft in the higher parts of the Air and could glide in the very Ethereal Region amongst the innocent and unflan souls of men and the good Angels before that he should now sweep the dust with his belly being cast lower towards the surface of the Earth 15 And that there should be a general enmity and abhorrency betwixt this old Serpent as also all of his fellow-rebels and betwixt Mankinde And that in processe of time the ever faithful and obedient Soul of the Messias should take a Body and should trample over the power of the Devil very notoriously here upon Earth and after his death should be constituted Prince of all the Angelical Orders whatever in Heaven 16 And concerning Adam the Eternal Lord God decreed that he should descend down to be an Inhabitant of the Earth and that he should not there indulge to himself the pleasures of the body without the concomitants of pain and sorrow and that his Feminine part his Affections should be under the chastisement and correction of his Reason 17 That he should have a wearisome and toilsome travail in this world 18 The Earth bringing forth thorns and thistles though he must subsist by the Corn of the field 19 Wherefore in the sweat of his browes he should eat his bread till he returned unto the ground of which his terrestrial body is made This was the Counsel of God concerning Adam and the Serpent 20 Now as I was a telling you Adam though he was sinking apace into those lower functions of life yet his minde was not as yet grown so fully stupid but he had the knowledge of his own condition and added to all his former Apologies that the Feminine part in him though it had seduced him yet there was some use of this mis-carriage for the Earth would hence be inhabited by Intellectual Animals wherefore he call'd the Life of his Vehicle EVE because she is indeed the Mother of all the generations of men that live upon the Earth 21 At last the Plastick Power being fully awakened Adams Soul descended into the prepared matter of the Earth and in due processe of time Adam appear'd cloth'd in the skin of beasts that is he became a down-right terrestrial Animal and a mortal creature upon earth 22 For the Eternal God had so decreed and his Wisdome Mercy and Justice did but if I may so speak play and sport together in the businesse And the rather because Adam had but precipitated himself into that condition which in due time might have faln to his share by course for it is fitting there should be some such head among the living creatures of the earth as a terrestrial Adam but to live always here were his disadvantage 23 Wherefore when God remov'd him from that higher condition 24 He made sure he should not be Immortal nor is he in any capacity of reaching unto the Tree of Life without passing through his fiery Vehicle and becoming a pure and defecate Ethereal Spirit Then he may be admitted to taste the fruit of the Tree of Life and Immortality and so live for ever THE MORAL CABBALA CHAP. I. 1 Man a Microcosme or Little World in whom there are two Principles Spirit and Flesh 2 The Earthly or Fleshly Nature appears first 4 The Light of Conscience unlistned to 6 The Spirit of Savory and Affectionate discernment betwixt good and evil 10 The inordinate desires of the flesh driven aside and limited 11 Hereupon the plants of Righteousnesse bear fruit and flourish 16 The hearty and sincere Love of God and a mans neighbour is as the Sun in the Soul of man Notionality and Opinions the weak and faint Light of the dispersed Stars 18 Those that walk in sincere Love walk in the Day They that are guided by Notionality travel in the Night 22 The Natural Concupiscible brings forth by the command of God and is corrected by devotion 24 The Irascible also brings forth 26 Christ the Image of God is created being a perfect Ruler over all the motions of the Irascible and Concupiscible 29 The food of the divine Life 30 The food of the Animal Life 31 The divine Wisdome approves of whatsoever is simply natural as good 1 WEE shall set before you in this History of Genesis several eminent examples of good and perfect men such as Abel Seth Enoch Abraham and the like Wherefore we thought fit though Aenigmatically and in a dark Parable to shadow out in general the manner of progresse to this divine Perfection Looking upon Man as a Microcosm or a Little World who if he hold out the whole progresse of the Spiritual Creation the processe thereof will be figuratively understood as follows Wherefore first of all I say that by the will of God every man living on the face of the Earth hath these two Principles in him Heaven and Earth Divinity and Animality Spirit and Flesh 2 But that which is Animal or Natural operates first the Spiritual or heavenly Life lying for a while closed up at rest in its own Principle During which time and indeed some while afterwards too the Animal or Fleshly Life domineers in darknesse and deformity the mighty tempestuous Passions of the flesh contending and strugling over that Abysse of unsatiable Desire which has no bottome and which in this case carries the minde to nothing but emptinesse and unprofitablenesse 3 But by the will of God it is that afterwards the Day-light appears though not in so vigorous measure out of the Heavenly or Spiritual Principle 4 And Conscience being thus enlightned offers her self a guide to a better condition and God has fram'd the nature of man so that he cannot but say that this Light is good and distinguish betwixt the dark tumultuous motions of the Flesh and it 5 And say that there is as true a difference as betwixt the natural Day and Night And thus Ignorance and Enquiry was the first days progresse 6 But though there be this principle of Light set up in the Conscience of Man and he cannot say any thing against it but that it is good and true yet has he not presently so lively and savoury a relish in his distinction betwixt the evil and the good For the evil as yet wholly holds his Affections though his Fancy and Reason be toucht a little with the Theoretical apprehensions of what is good wherefore by the will of God the heavenly Principle in due
of the Field you shall understand more fully in the following Chapter In the mean time you may take notice that the Platonists indeed Plato himself in his Phaedrus makes the Soul of Man before it falls into this Terrestrial Region a winged Creature And that such phrases as these 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and the like are proper expressions of that School And Plato does very plainly define what he means by these wings of the soul and there is the same reason of all other spirits whatsoever after this manner 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 That the nature of the wing of the soul is such as to be able to carry upward that which otherwise would slugge downwards and to bear it aloft and place it there where we may have more sensible communion with God and his holy Angels For so 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the plural number is most sutably translated in such passages as these and most congruously to the thing it self and the truth of Christianity And it may well seem the lesse strange that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 should signifie Angels in the Greek Philosophers especially such as have been acquainted with Moses when as with him 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 signifies so too viz. Angels as well as God Wherefore to conclude the losse of that Principle that keeps us in this divine condition is the losing of our wings which fallen Angels have done and therefore they may be very well assimilated to Terrestrial Beasts Ver. 20. A faculty of being united c. This vital aptitude in the soul of being united with corporeal Matter being so essential to her and proper the invigorating the exercise of that faculty cannot but be very grateful and acceptable to her and a very considerable share of her happinesse Else what means the Resurrection of the dead or Bodies in the other world which yet is an Article of the Christian Faith Ver. 22. This new sense of his Vehicle There be three Principles in Man according to the Platonists 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The first is Intellect Spirit or divine Light the second the Soul her self which is Adam the Man Animus cujusque is est quisque the Soul of every man that is the Man the third is the image of the Soul which is her vital Energie upon the Body wherewith she does enliven it and if that life be in good tune and due vigour it is a very grateful sense to the soul whether in this Body or in a more thin Vehicle This Ficinus makes our Eve This is the Feminine Faculty in the Soul of Man which awakes then easiliest into act when the Soul to Intellectuals falls asleep Ver. 24. Over-tedious aspires 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is a solemn monition of Aristotle somewhere in his Ethicks And it is a great point of wisdome indeed and mainly necessary to know the true laws and bounds of humane happinesse that the heat of melancholy drive not men up beyond what is competible to humane nature and the reach of all the faculties thereof Nor the too savoury relish of the pleasures of the flesh or Animal Life keep them down many thousand degrees below what they are capable of But the man that truly fears God will be delivered from them both What I have spoken is directed more properly to the soul in the flesh but may Analogically be understood of a soul in any Vehicle for they are peccable in them all Ver. 25. Stood naked before God Adam was as truly clothed in Corporeity now as ever after for the Aether is as true a body as the Earth But the meaning is Adam had a sense of the divine Presence very feelingly assured in his own minde that his whole Beeing lay naked and bare before God and that nothing could be hid from his sight which pierced also to the very thoughts and inward frame of his spirit But yet though Adam stood thus naked before him notwithstanding he found no want of any covering to hide himself from that presentifick sense of him nor indeed felt himself as naked in that notion of nakednesse For that sense of nakednesse and want of further covering and sheltring from the divine Presence arose from his disobedience and rebellion against the commands of God which as yet he had not faln into Not at all ashamed Shame is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the fear of just reprehension as Gellius out of the Philosophers defines it But Adam having not acted any thing yet at randome after the swing of his own will he had done nothing that the divine Light would reprehend him for He had not yet become obnoxious to any sentence from his own condemning Conscience for he kept himself hitherto within the bounds of that divine Law written in his soul and had attempted nothing against the Will of God So that there being no sin there could not as yet be any shame in Adam CHAP. III. 1 The Serpent 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in Pherecydes Syrus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 names of Spirits haunting Fields and desolate places The right Notation of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 13 That Satan upon his tempting Adam was cast down lower towards the Earth with all his Accomplices 15 Plato's Prophecie of Christ The reasonablenesse of divine Providence in exalting Christ above the highest Angels 20 That Adams descension into his Terrestrial Body was a kind of death 22 How incongruous it is to the divine Goodnesse Sarcastically to insult over frait Man fallen into Tragical misery 24 That it is a great mercy of God that we are not immortal upon Earth That 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 are all one A Summary representation of the strength of the whole Philosophick Cabbala Pythagoras deemed the son of Apollo That he was acquainted with the Cabbala of Moses That he did miracles as also Abaris Empedocles and Epimenides being instructed by him Plato also deemed the son of Apollo Socrates his dream concerning him That he was learned in the Mosaical Cabbala The miraculous power of Plotinus his Soul Cartesius compared with Bezaliel and Aholiab and whether he was inspired or no. The Cabbalists Apology THE first verse This old Serpent therefore In Pherecydes Syrus Pythagoras his Master there is mention of one 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Princeps mali as Grotius cites him on this place which is a further argument of Pythagoras his being acquainted with this Mosaical Philosophy And that according to the Philosophick Cabbala it was an evil spirit not a natural Serpent that supplanted Adam and brought such mischief upon mankind The Beasts of the Field But now that these evil spirits should be reckoned as beasts of the field besides what reason is given in the Cabbala it self we may adde further that the haunt of these unclean spirits is in solitudes and waste fields and desolate places as is evident in the Prophet Esay his description of the
and sincerity and if the divine Light had wrought it self into a more full and universal possession of all his faculties the regulated joyes of the body which had been the off-spring of the woman had so far exceeded the tumultuous pleasures of inordinate desires that they would like the Sun-beams playing upon a fire extinguish the heat thereof as is already said in this fifteenth verse Ver. 16. So that the kindly Joy of the health of the body shall be much depraved The divine Light in the Conscience of Adam might very well say all this he having had already a good taste of it in all likelihood having found himself after inordinate satiating his furious desires of pleasure in a dull languid nauseating condition though new recruits spurred him up to new follies For the Moral Cabbala does not suppose it was one single mistaken act that brought Adam to this confusion of minde but disobedience at large and leading a life unguided by the Light and Law of God Earthly minded Adam Philo calls him 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the earthly minde pag. 332. Ver. 17 18 19. Adams Conscience was so awakened by the divine Light and Reason and Experience so instructed him for the present that he could easily read his own doom if he persisted in these courses of disobedience that he should be prick'd and vex'd in his wilde rangings after inordinate pleasure all the while the Earthly mind was his light guide But after all this conviction what way Adam would settle in did not God visit him with an higher pitch of superadvenient grace that would conveigh Faith Power and Affection unto him you see in the verse immediately following Ver. 20. Adam was not sufficiently For meer conviction of Light disjoin'd from Faith Power and Affection may indeed disturb the minde and confound it but is not able of it self to compose it and settle it to good in men that have contracted a custome of evil Called her My life So soon as this reproof and castigation of the divine Light manifested in Adams Conscience was over he forthwith falls into the same sense of things and pursues the same resolutions that he had in designe before and very feelingly concludes with himself that be that as true as it will that his Conscience dictated unto him yet nothing can be more true then this That the Joy of his body was a necessary solace of life and therefore he would set up his happiness in the improvement thereof And so adhering in his affection to it counted it his very life and that there was no living at all without it They are almost the words of Philo speaking of the sense of the body in which was this corporeal Joy 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i. e. which corporeal sense the earthly minde in man properly therefore called Adam when he saw efformed though it was really the death of the man yet he called it his life This is Philo's Exposition of this present verse Ver. 21. Put hairy Coats The Philosophick Cabbala and the Text have a marvellous fit and easie congruency in this place And this Moral sense will not seem hard if you consider such phrases as these in Scripture But as for his enemies let them be clothed with shame and elsewhere Let them be clothed with rebuke and dishonour besides other places to that purpose And to clothe men according to their conditions and quality what is more ordinary or more fit and natural As those that are fools they ordinarily clothe them in a fools coat And so Adams will and affection being carried so resolvedly to the brutish life it is not incongruous to conceive that the divine Light judging them very Brutes the reproach she gives them is set out in this passage of clothing them with the skins of beasts The meaning therefore of this verse is that the divine Light in the Conscience of Adam had another bout with him and that Adam was convinced that he should grow a kinde of a Brute by the courses he meant to follow And indeed he was content so to be as a man may well conceive the pleasure of sin having so weakned all the powers of that higher life in him that there was little or nothing especially for the present able to carry him at all upwards towards Heaven and holiness And of a truth vile Epicurisme and Sensuality will make the soul of man so degenerate and blinde that he will not only be content to slide into brutish immorality but please himself in this very opinion that he is a real Brute already an Ape Satyre or Baboon and that the best of men are no better saving that civilizing of them and industrious education has made them appear in a more refined shape and long inculcate Precepts have been mistaken for connate Principles of Honesty and Natural Knowledge otherwise there be no indispensable grounds of Religion and Virtue but what has hapned to be taken up by over-ruling Custome Which things I dare say are as easily confutable as any conclusion in Mathematicks is demonstrable But as many as are thus sottish let them enjoy their own wildeness and ignorance it is sufficient for a good man that he is conscious unto himself that he is more nobly descended better bred and born and more skilfully taught by the purged faculties of his own minde Ver. 22. Design'd the contrary The mercy of the Almighty is such to poor man that his weak and dark spirit cannot be always so resolvedly wicked as he is contented to be wherefore it is a fond surmise of desperate men that do all the violence they can to the remainders of that Light and Principle of Religion and honesty left in them hoping thereby to come to rest and tranquillity of minde by laying dead or quite obliterating all the rules of godliness morality out of their souls For it is not in their power so to do nor have they any reason to promise themselves they are hereby secure from the pangs of Conscience For some passages of Providence or other may so awaken them that they shall be forced to acknowledg their errour and rebellion with unexpressible bitterness and confusion of spirit And the longer they have run wrong the more tedious journey they have to return back Wherefore it is more safe to close with that life betime that when it is attained to neither deserves nor is obnoxious to any change or death I mean when we have arrived to the due measure of it For this is the natural accomplishment of the soul all else but rust and dirt that lies upon it Ver. 23. Out of this Paradise of Luxury The English Translation takes no notice of any more Paradises then one calling it always the Garden of Eden But the Seventy more favourable to our Moral Cabbala that which they call a Garden in Eden at first they after name 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which may signifie the Garden of Luxury But whether there be any
of Euphrates Pison Phasis or Phasi-tigris That the Madianites are called Aethiopians That Paradise was seated about Mesopotamia argued by six Reasons That it was more particularly seated where now Apamia stands in Ptolemee's Maps 18 The Prudence of Moses in the commendation of Matrimony 19 Why Adam is not recorded to have given names to the Fishes 24 Abraham Ben Ezra's conceit of the names of Adam and Eve as they are called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 25 Moses his wise Anthypophora concerning the natural shame of nakednesse 124 CHAP. III. 1 How much it saves the credit of our first Parents that the Serpent was found the prime Author of the Transgression That according to S. Basil all the living creatures of Paradise could speak undeniable reasons that the Serpent could according to the Literal Cabbala 9 The opinion of the Anthropomorphites true according to the Literal Cabbala 14 That the Serpent went upright before the fall was the opinion of S. Basil 16 A story of the easie delivery of a certain poor woman of Liguria 19 That the general calamities that lie upon mankinde came by the transgression of a positive Law how well accommodate it is to the scope of Moses 23 That Paradise was not the whole Earth 24 The Apparitions in Paradise called by Theodoret 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 130 THE DEFENCE OF THE PHILOSOPHICK CABBALA CHAP. I. 1 Why Heaven and Light are both made Symbols of the same thing viz. The World of Life That 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 intimate a Trinity That 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is a title of the Eternal Wisdome the Son of God who is called also 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as well in Philo as the New Testament That 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is the holy Ghost 2 The fit agreement of Plato's Triad with the Trinity of the present Cabbala 5 The Pythagorick names or nature of a Monad or Unite applyed to the first days work 6 What are the upper waters and that Souls that descend 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 are the Naides or water Nymphes in Porphyrius 8 That Matter of it self is unmoveable R. Bechai his notation of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 very happily explained out of Des Cartes his Philosophy That Vniversal Matter is the second days Creation fully made good by the names and property of the number Two 13 The nature of the third days work set off by the number Three 16 That the most learned do agree that the Creation was perfected at once The notation of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 strangely agreeing with the most notorious conclusions of the Cartesian Philosophy 19 That the Corporeal world was universally erected into Form and Motion on the fourth day is most notably confirmed by the titles and propertie of the number Four The true meanning of the Pythagorick oath wherein they swore by him that taught them the mysterie of the Tetractys That the Tetractys was a Symbole of the whole Philosophick Cabbala that lay couched under the Text of Moses 20 Why Fish and Fowl created in the same day 23 Why living creatures were said to be made in the Fift and Sixt days 31 And why the whole Creation was comprehended within the number Six 135 136 CHAP. II. 3 The number Seven a fit Symbole of the Sabbath or Rest of God 7 Of Adams rising out of the ground as other creatures did 11 That Pison is from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and denotes Prudence The mystical meaning of Havilah 13 That Gihon is the same that Nilus Sihor or Siris and that Pison is Ganges The Justice of the Aethiopians That Gihon is from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and denotes that virtue 14 As Hiddekel Fortitude 17 That those expressions of the Souls sleep and death in the Body so frequent amongst the Platonists were borrowed from the Mosaical Cabbala 19 Fallen Angels assimilated to the beasts of the field The meaning of those Platonical phrases 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and the like That 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in Platonisme is the same that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in Moses that signifies Angels as well as God 22 That there are three principles in Man according to Plato's School 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and that this last is Eve CHAP. III. 1 The Serpent 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in Pherecydes Syrus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 names of Spirits haunting Fields and and desolate places The right Notation of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 13 That Satan upon his tempting Adam was cast down lower towards the Earth with all his Accomplices 15 Plato's Prophecie of Christ The reasonablenesse of divine Providence in exalting Christ above the highest Angels 20 That Adams descension into his Terrestrial Body was a kind of death 22 How incongruous it is to the divine Goodnesse Sarcastically to insult over frail Man fallen into Tragical misery 24 That it is a great mercy of God that we are not immortal upon Earth That 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 are all one A Summary representation of the strength of the whole Philosophick Cabbala Pythagoras deemed the son of Apollo That he was acquainted with the Cabbala of Moses That he did miracles As also Abaris Empedocles and Epimenides being instructed by him Plato also deemed the son of Apollo Socrates his dream concerning him That he was learned in the Mosaical Cabbala The miraculous power of Plotinus his Soul Cartesius compared with Bezaliel and Aholiab and whether he was inspired or no. The Cabbalists Apology 172 THE DEFENCE OF THE MORAL CABBALA CHAP. I. What is meant by Moral explained out of Philo. 3 That the Light in the first day improv'd to the height is Adam in the sixt Christ according to the Spirit 4 In what sense we our selves may be said to do what God does in us 5 Why 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 are rendred Ignorance and Inquiry 18 Plato's 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The Pythagoreans 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 applyed to the Fourth days progresse 22 That Virtue is not an extirpation but regulation of the Passions according to the minde of the Pythagoreans 24 Plotinus his 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 applyed to the Sixt days progresse 26 What the Image of God is plainly set down out of S. Paul and Plato The divine Principle in us 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 out of Plotinus 28 The distinction of the Heavenly and Earthly Man out of Philo. 31 The Imposture of still and fixed Melancholy and that it is not the true divine Rest and precious Sabbath of the Soul A compendious rehearsal of the whole Allegory of the Six days Creation p. 194 CHAP. II. The full sense of that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that keeps men from entring into the true Sabbath 4 The great necessity of distinguishing the innocent motions of Nature from the suggestions of Sin 5 That the growth of a true Christian indeed doth not adaequately depend upon the lips of the Priest 7 The meaning of This is he that comes by Water and Blood 8 The meaning of Repent for the Kingdome of Heaven is at hand The seventh thousand years the great Sabbatism of the Church of God That there will be then frequent converse betwixt Men and Angels 9 The Tree of Life how fitly in the Mystical sense said to be in the midst of the Garden 17 A twofold death contracted by Adams disobedience The Masculine and Feminine Faculties in Man what they are Actuating a Body an Essential operation of the Soul and the reason of that so joyful appearance of Eve to the Humane Nature 209 210 CHAP. III. A story of a dispute betwixt a Prelate and a Black-Smith concerning Adams eating of the Apple 1 What is meant by the subtilty or deceit of the Serpent That Religion wrought to its due height is a very chearful state And it is only the halting and hypocrisie of men that generally have put so soure and sad a vizard upon it 5 6 That worldly Wisdome not Philosophy is perstringed in the Mysterie of the Tree of Knowledge of good and evil 10 The meaning of Adams flying after he had found himself naked 20 Adam the Earthly-minded Man according to Philo. 21 What is meant by Gods clothing Adam and Eve with hairy Coats in the Mystical sense 23 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or the Paradise of Luxury That History in Scripture is wrote very concisely and therefore admits of modest and judicious Supplements for clearing the sense 24 What is meant by the Cherubim and flaming Sword Plato's definition of Philosophy 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 A more large description of dying to Sinne and of the life of righteousness That Christian Religion even as it referres to the external Person of Christ is upon no pretence to be annull'd till the Conflagration of the world 224 ERRATA PAg. 39. lin 24. read sacred p. 79 l. 19. r. Sensus p. 87. l. 14. r. wilde p. 126. l. 26. r. goodly p. 204. l. 35. r. run p. 230. l. 34. r. generous FINIS