his credulous temeritie in beleeuing the Serpents promise Irridens vtique Deus non approbans hoc dixit quod putabas te similem fore nostri ergo quia voluisti esse quod non eras desijsti esse quod eras S. Ambr. de Elia ieiun For God speakes it by derision not by allowance Thou haddest a conceit to become like vnto vs therefore in affecting to be more then thou wast indeede thou hast lost euen that excellencie which thou didst receiue When S. Paul writ to Timothie that Adam was not deceiued but the woman he meant not to extenuate the mans offence or to exempt him from the fraude or imposture of the Deuill but to shew whether sexe was more credulous infirme and like to be seduced Herein he concludeth the woman to be the weaker vessell and forbiddeth her to teach in the Church because that when she was yet perfect and sound the Serpent began with her as the easier to be deceiued Saint Paul did thinke that the Serpent would resort to his former instrument and so hold the ministrie in lesse regard for the weakenesse of their sexe Behold S. Pauls proiect in the words to Timothy Here in this Text another matter is in hand No question here whether the man or woman was first in preuarication were that the point the Deuill in his pride would haue the start of both Hee was a sinner from the beginning The propagation of sinne is the thing now considerable and what person it was that brought a succession of sinne throughout all mankinde And as well here as in all other places the Scripture attributeth the matter of propagation not to women but to men Therefore we will dismisse Eue if you please as our Sauiour Christ dismissed the woman taken in adultery not for an innocent but because she is not here impleaded Adam is the man which the Apostle now chargeth Wherewith is it For gluttonie or intemperance of his throate No there was affluence of all other delicacies in Paradise to satisfie such desires Is it for his curiositie and vaine loue of knowledge Neyther For although that be a fault to be wise beyond sobrietie yet could it not haue brought so heauie a sequele What was it then He affected that fruite Non vescendi libidine sed animositate exultandi not in any lingering desire to the meate but in a kind of lustinesse to breake out What greater lustinesse then that this childe of the earth was not content to be like vnto God vnlesse he might also be equall with him Quid huic deerat quem misericordia custodiebat docebat veritas regebat iustitia pax fouebat Sed heu ad multam insipientiam perniciem sibi ac posteris suis descendit de Hierusalem in Hiericho Siquidem incidit in latrones à quibus legitur despoliatus Annon despoliatus qui domino veniente nudum se esse conqueritur nec vero poterat revestiri vel ablata sibi recipere vestimenta nisi Christus amitteret sua O venenum quod non curatur nisi veneno Saint Paul heere frameth two inditements against him the one for disobedience the other for transmitting his sinne By one mans disobedience many were made sinners Obserue the right valuation and true qualitie of Adam his trespasse that it was not any light errour but an absolute prevarication of both Tables a disobedience to God and a grieuance vnto men Primordialis lex est data in paradiso quasi matrix omnium praeceptorum That first Law saith Tertullian giuen in Paradise was the summe and comprehension of the whole diuine Law that was published afterwards Therefore in the breach thereof all manner of offences are conteyned But if the fruite were good why should it not be tasted if it were euill what did it in paradise The fruit certainely was good but obedience better because the whole law is performed with obedience Indeed nothing is more expedient for the soule then obedience And if it behooue euery soule to obey the seruant his Lord the childe his father the wife her husband all to obey the Prince how much importeth it man to obey God for rebellion is as execrable as witchcraft which is a manifest reuolt and disauowing of God and he hateth nothing more then the disobeence of his commaundements That now is this one mans case As by the disobedience of one man c. If I should here discusse where his disobedience began first whether in his minde or in his body some happily would say as S. Augustine writeth That it were more worth our labour to seeke remedie to get out then to argue how or by what part we came first into the pit of sinne And that God willing shall not bee omitted in the fit place but reserued to another time In the meane while Quod si quisquam dicat If any man thinke saith S. Augustine that the bodie is the first cause of all sinnes certainely he hath not well considered the whole nature of mankind Indeed the bodie that is corruptible aggrauateth the soule and the earthy mansion keepeth downe the minde Vt vidi vt perij vt me malus abstulit error Oftentimes our right eyes offend vs because they roll they wander they are regenerate but in part and death entreth into the soule 〈◊〉 that window Si oculus tuus fuerit nequam totum corpus est tenebrosum If thine eye be euill thy whole body is full of darkenesse Shut that window in the name of God make a couenant with it turne it away that it behold not vanitie Giue not your members as weapons of vnrighteousnesse vnto sinne Surgit ira noli dare irae linguam ad maledicendum noli dare manum aut pedem ad feriendum non surgeret ista ira irration abilis nisi peccatum esset interius sed tolle illi regnū non habeat arma vnde contra te pugnet discet etiam non surgere cum arma non coeperit inuenire S. Aug. Tract in Ioh. 41. The bodily members are the instruments they are not the originall of sinne Will you haue a proofe thereof in the matter we handle It is not to be doubted but this one man and the woman too had seene the Tree of the knowledge of good and euill formerly without any lust or desire to taste the fruite the faith that he then bare to God was a guardian to his heart and that to all his senses But after his heart had once reuolted from faith and loyaltie all the outward senses were corrupted with it instantly Euerie man is tempted when hee is drawne away by his owne Concupiscence and is entised Then when lust hath conceiued it bringeth forth the act of sinne but the beginning is from the mind within Out of the heart come euill thoughts murthers adulteries fornications thefts false testimonies slanders Non potest fieri saith S. Augustine vt habeat mala facta qui habet cogitationes bonas
glorified why should it be vnworthie to beate some portion of Gods image The image of God in my vnderstanding is that high perfection of whole Adam and the integritie of all the powers both of his bodie and of his soule and that conformitie or congruitie that he had with God his founder and Architypus In that which followeth you doe expect and I will endeuour to shew what things they be that this image doth comprehend Some say that man was made to the image of God in that dominion and power which was giuen him The words following our Text doe fauour that opinion Let vs make man in our image and let him rule ouer the fish of the Sea and ouer the fowle of the heauen and ouer the beasts and ouer all the earth and ouer euery thing that creepeth and moueth vnder the earth S. Basil Mox atque creatus es princeps creatus es Assoone as thou wast created thou wast made a Prince again Illud Faciamus et Dominetur declarat ibi esse imaginem Dei vbi potentia est dominandi Those termes Let vs make and Let him haue rule declareth the image of Cod to be where the power of gouernement is And who can doubt of this in Adam that reades how the beasts came to doe their homage and fealtie to him as to the Lord and great maister of all the world The Apostle would haue the man to pray bare headed for as much as he is the image and glorie of God but the woman is the glorie of the man and not the image of God This may not be vnderstood of the integritie and rightnesse of the inner man thereof the woman was partaker as well as the man in the Lord there is neyther male nor female Therefore it must be vnderstood of the glorie of dominion that ecclesiasticall and oeconomicall power was giuen to the man and denyed to the woman So then to be created to the image of God is to be placed in authoritie and gouernement Hereupon the Magistrates in Scripture are called gods Psal 82. because of their power Behold one portion not the whole image of God whereunto vnlesse inward rightnesse be added that power may soone degenerate into crueltie and then it is so much the more dangerous in man then in any other creature because his iniustice is armed with reason Therefore in the image of God we do ioine with that power which I haue spoken of knowledge righteousnesse as guardians and moderators of his power S. Paul Ephes 4. placeth the image of God in righteousnesse and holinesse figuratiuely by Synecdoche For albeit these be principall and speciall partes of the image of God yet more is requisite they are not all but such as we ought chiefly to seeke because the rest doe follow them And now if you please to make triall you may finde them both very plentifull in Adam First of his knowledge if it may be esteemed by the obiects it will bee plaine that hee knew God the creatures and himselfe Was it possible that he carrying the image of God receiuing rules of his life immediatly from God hauing most sweete and familiar conference and conuersation with God should be ignorant of any thing that pertayned to God and meet for him to know Againe knowing God truely and rightly what could he want in the knowledge of the creatures He that gaue names to euery beast according to their disposition and nature and hee that receiued charge from God to dresse the Garden needed no Gesner no Plinie no Aristotle to instruct him de Historia animalium or to informe him of the natures of any of the creatures And was his knowledge like hypocrites eyes that see extramittendo non intromittendo quicke abroad and dull at home able to discerne moates in others and not beames in themselues No Adam was not so he vnderstood as much of himselfe as he did of anie thing else Though hee was in a deepe sleepe when Eue was taken out of him and felt nothing though the rib which she was made of was closed vp again and flesh put into the place thereof that he missed nothing yet assoone as the woman was brought vnto him he cryed out by and by This is flesh of my flesh and bone of my bone which he could neuer haue done without an admirable light and knowledge of himselfe and his owne nature I haue giuen you a taste of his knowledge consider now and looke if it were eclipsed by anie waywardnes or indisposition of his will The fashion of the commaundement proues the contrarie At what day soeuer thou eatest the fruite thou shalt die the death Sure the iustice of God is so vnreproueable that he would neuer haue mentioned much lesse inflicted penaltie had not the will of man bene most free to performe all that was required God made man right and what rightnesse could he haue without a free will Hee was created to the image of God and is any thing more agreeable thereunto then true and perfect libertie Hee was crowned with glorie and honour and what honour can there be where libertie and freedome wanteth To conclude this point then As Adams mind did rightly know God that he would be worshipped with feare and loue so did his heart and will accord to doe it affectionately with all their power Neyther was there any thing at all in the whole nature of man for then he did not so much as thinke of sinne but that his minde might vnderstand all righteousnesse and that which he vnderstood the whole man might desire and that which he desired he might performe also without any interruption or let Marke then the righteousnesse of that blessed man As God was all 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and imbraced man with a fatherly affection so Adam in a kind of interchange of pietie was all 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and interteyned the loue of God with true loue againe Oh that he had beene as firme and constant to the end as he was staight and right in the beginning Improbitas illo fuit admirabilis aeuo He was created to the image of God and therefore also to immortalitie perpetuall societie with God If man had beene mortall by his creation he had not then beene made to the image of God Mortall nature is not the image of God immortall neyther is the immortall God a patterne of a mortall creature Besides death and mortalitie came of sinne and are the rewards of sinne And then Adam was so free from sinne that he thought not of it before his fall therefore no place left for death and where death cannot enter there must be immortalitie You will aske then how he should haue bin preserued from age from infirmitie and from death Well enough if nothing had come to procure them Si enim vestibus Israelitarum praestitit Deus per annos quadraginta sine vllo detrimento proprium statum quanto magis
facta enim de cogitationibus procedunt It is not possible that a man exercised in good thoughts should be much tainted with ill actions for all actions proceed from our thoughts Then keepe thine heart with all diligence for thereout commeth life Therefore I cannot hold with them that make all the sinnes of the soule to proceede from the bodie so the wicked Angels wanting bodies should want sinne too and the spirits of the damned assoone as they bee sequestred from their bodies should cease also from their sinne It is but a Poets opinion concerning soules puritie Igneus est ollis vigor Coelestis origo Seminibus quantum non noxia corpora tardant Terrenique hebetant artus moribundaque membra Virgil is no classicall authour in matters of doctrine the Fathers of the Church are more authenticall S. Bernard speaking of the soule saith otherwise Prior reparanda est quam constat corruisse priorem Anima siquidem corrupta in culpam fecit quoque vt corpus corrumperetur in poenam So S. Augustine resolueth the doubt that the corruption of the flesh which ladeth the soule was not the cause but the punishment of the first sinne and it was not the corruptible flesh that made the soule sinfull but it was the sinne of the soule that made the bodie corruptible Est mens primum veteris hominis membrum primus peccati administer nativa prauitate infecta suggestionum Sathanae capax hinc motus praui mali de malo quamvis nihil accesserit vltra his mens impellit voluntatem quae tunc altera peccati ministra efficitur concupiscentias parit tunc tandem corpus ab animo impulsum totum accenditur huc atque illuc transuersum rapitur omnes sensus adeoque omnia corporis tyranni arbitrio se sistunt ad perpetranda omnia quae imperat hinc fructus amari qui Gal. 5. recensentur The minde is the first member of the old man and minister of sinne infected certainly with originall prauitie and capable of Sathans suggestions from hence come ill motions which are euill and proceede from euill if there were nothing else but with these the minde stirreth the will which is then made another minister of sinne and bringeth forth concupiscence then the bodie being summoned by the mind is kindled is transported hither and thither so the senses and all parts of the bodie offer themselues at the tyrants pleasure to do all his commands thereout spring those bitter fruits that are rehearsed in the fift of the Galathians Whether it were the one or the other that the bodie were in disobedience before the soule or the soule before the bodie whether the blinde did leade the lame or the lame were guide to the blinde behold now both are fallen into the ditch and ouershadowed not with a cloud but with a verie night of darkenesse In this one mans disobedience we see that verified which Christ saith in the Gospel They that doe euill shun the light because their workes are euill He is no sooner fallen then he becommeth Lucifuga affecteth darknesse and flyeth to the couert to hide himselfe His body and the parts thereof are the same that they were before but then they were seene with glorie and now they are couered with shame his wil is auerse his heart is full of feare and distrust his very minde is darkened which should be the light the watchman the Centinel both of body and soule and if the light thereof be turned into darkenesse O how great must that darkenesse be Greater verily then the darknesse of Egypt which was not so vniuersall but that there was light left in the land of Gosen where the children of Israel were But here after mans disobedience darkenesse preuailed ouer all No power of the minde no part of the bodie free or cleere hee is not absolutely depriued of naturall faculties and endowments of reason iudgement will as if he were become a blocke but they are depraued and decayed he knowes still marie it is but in part and what part his mind doth vnderstand but humane things not diuine earthly not heauenly businesse his will doth affect also and desire what sure bodily pleasures or delights not spirituall ioyes Wist ye not that when the fountaine of all goodnes was forsaken nothing would remaine but sinne when the father of lights was left that darkenesse would couer all Sine tuà luce ô lux beatissima non est veritas adest error adest vanitas non est discretio adest confusio adest ignorantia non est scientia adest caecitas non est visio adest invium non est via adest mors non est vita S. Aug. Solil cap. 3 Without thy light ô blessed light there is no truth all is error all is vanitie there is no distinction all is confusion all is ignorance there is no knowledge all is blindnesse there is no sight all impassible there is no way all is death there is no life When he beleeued that which the Deuill promised was hee not very worthie to finde that which God threatned You haue heard the mans disobedience to God It resteth now to shew how also he offended his neighbor therein namely by transmitting sinne to his posteritie By his disobedience many were made guiltie Here I doe willingly call you to remembrance that Adam did not sinne as an ordinarie person for so his sinne had rested in himselfe and determined there It was Iobs perswasion in his owne particular Though I had indeed erred mine errour remaineth with me Doth it not hold good correspondencie with the rule of Iustice The soule that sinneth that soule shall die Adams case is not so it is extraordinarie As God had beautified the whole nature of mankind with excellent gifts in this one man vpon the condition of his loyaltie and obedience so was he resolute to bereaue it of them all in him againe assoone as he began to be refractorie or disobedient Who can distaste this iustice or finde any harshnes in it when both were propounded vnto the man vpon equall termes Hereby also it may appeare that Adam sinned not as a priuate man but as the common root or stocke of mankind as a publique person and father of vs all When sinne had once got hold of his person must it not needes taint vs all that are partakers of his nature Because we were all enclosed in his loines when he sinned hee branded vs all with the prints and tincture of his rebellion So this disobedience rested not in Adam but became hereditarie it was not personall in him alone but naturall to vs all and a matter of succession It made him a trespasser vs all sinners with him whether Pelagius will or no. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 None is free not a childe of a day olde though Anabaptists be mad for it We doe all die neither doth there liue a man