Life without doubt was to consist in the Union of his Soul with the chief Good the infinite and eternal Being for it is this alone which constitutes the Happiness of Man His Mind being of a spiritual Nature could find no satisfaction but in an Object that was of that kind for a spiritual and intellectual Being must be entertain'd by its like But the chief happiness ought to be something that is above us and far exceeds us in excellency for the Capacities of the Mind cannot be happy in any thing that is of an inferior nature to them And the chief Good must be of infinite perfection otherwise the vast and capacious Faculties of the Soul cannot be satisfied Hence it follows that God alone was his supreme Blessedness which he was entirely to possess and enjoy by such a knowledg as was perfective of his Understanding and by such vehement and ardent Acts of Love whereby he might be intimately united to the eternal Good and live in perpetual â—ruition of it and that without Satiety for there is no excess in the chief Good it cannot be known desired loved or enjoy'd too much This was the designed Felicity of our first Parents Neither they nor their whole Race were to be liable to sorrow or misery of any kind but to be possessed of a constant and never-failing Happiness and after innumerable Ages and Successions they were in their courses to be taken up to a heavenly Paradise In this Oeconomy Adam had two sorts of Laws to conduct him viz. 1. The natural Law of Goodness and Righteousness in his own Breast The Light of Reason was his Guide and this shone very bright at that time He had true conceptions of things he had clear apprehensions of what was Good and Right Just and Holy He had a perfect knowledg of his Duty from this Law which God had implanted in his Nature 2. Besides this natural or moral Law Adam receiv'd positive Laws from God in this state of his Innocence and they were these three 1. There was the Law of Matrimony That this State of Life was instituted and appointed by God in Paradise is clear from what we read in Gen. 2. 24. God having made the Woman and brought her to the Man he pronounced the Law of Marriage in these words A Man shall leave his Father and his Mother and shall cleave unto his Wife and they shall be one Flesh. Here is the indissoluble Knot of Wedlock But yet this must be said that tho the first instituting and appointing of this State was from God yet the Law of Nature dictated something of it For this teacheth that two and no more agreeing to join in the Fellowship of Marriage should become one Flesh the Light of Reason discovers that a conjugal Union cannot consist of a Plurality Thus far Matrimony as 't is the joining of one Man to one Woman is a branch of the natural Law But as I have shew'd in another place a Law may be partly natural and partly positive and so is this It was positive because God himself directed our first Parents to this State of Matrimony But then Reason approving of the natural Equity of it it may be said to be a Law of Nature 2. The Hebrew Masters reckon that an absolute Precept Gen. 1. 28. Be fruitful and multiply and they look upon it as the first and the chiefest of all as out of several of their own Writers and out of Buxtorf is evident But others esteem it rather a Benediction wherein God approves of the propagation of Mankind as he doth also of other Creatures ver 22. Yet this we may grant that those words had the force of a Precept or Law as well as a Benediction with respect to our first Parents they had the full force of a Command to those two individual Persons Adam and Eve and indispensably obliged them because it was intended by God that Mankind should be increas'd and propagated by those two particular Persons But they are words of Approbation to all others afterwards that is they signify the lawfulness tho not the necessity of Matrimony and Generation 3. There was a positive Law given to Adam in his Integrity concerning the keeping of the Sabbath or observing the Seventh Day God blessed the Seventh Day and sanctified it Gen. 2. 3. i. e. he assign'd it for some special purpose he separated it from the other Days he dedicated it more especially to Divine Worship he set it apart to be the Feast of the World's Nativity to call to mind the Works of the Creation to magnify the Power Wisdom and Goodness of God in the framing of the Universe to extol his Providence in the World In short this Day was devoted to holy Uses and the more solemn Service of God This is blessing and sanctifying of that Day Indeed we read not that Adam kept this Day after this manner nor is it said that any of the old Patriarchs did But we know that many things were done which are not recorded Moses omits several Matters of Fact and he intending brevity in his History must needs do so but we may supply them by our own collective Reason Thus in the present case we find it expresly recorded that God blessed and sanctified the Seventh Day here he instituted the celebration of it We need not then question whether Adam and the righteous Men that succeeded him practis'd according to this divine Institution But if any shall question it I prove it thus First There was no imaginable reason why this Day should not be celebrated presently after it was instituted What was it sanctified and set apart for if not for this to be observ'd And can you conceive any thing that hindred this No certainly Therefore seeing it was instituted we may conclude it was kept that is that it was so from the Creation of the World If it be objected that Adam in Innocency lived free from Toil and Labour and therfore the cessation on the Seventh Day was not necessary or proper for him I answer It is true he was not subject to hard and uneasy labour and such as was accompanied with fatigue but it is as true that he was bid to dress and keep the Garden and consequently he was not unimploy'd he had ordinarily some bodily Work to do and to think of But there was a certain time set him by God's particular appointment on which he was to cease from this or any other worldly and corporeal Business that he might devote himself wholly to the Worship of God This was the Sabbath Day which he was to keep and there is no reason to think he did not keep it Secondly This appears from the reason of God's appointing and setting apart this Day His ceasing from his Works of the Creation on this Day was the ground of it And what did that infer but Man's cessation from working on that Day Gen. 2. 2 3. And can we think that God would
permitted to eat the Flesh before it was quite dead or they were not to eat any Limb or Member torn off from an Animal alive The Reason given in another place why they must not â—at Blood is because it is the Soul or Life of all Flesh that is it is the chief Instrument of Life and therefore is properly and significantly used in making Atonement for Souls Therefore it was designed wholly for Expiation it was appointed and appropriated to that sacred Use on the Altar And for this reason it ought not to be used in a common way Again God forbad eating of Blood and that even before the Law to teach abstaining from Man's Blood They must eat no Beast's Blood that they might not thereby learn to delight in Human Blood as we see saith an Expositor upon the place Butchers who kill Beasts are generally cruel and bloody to Men and for that reason the Law suffers them not to be on the Jury of Life and Death The Athâ—nians order'd one to be flead alive because he had serv'd a Ram so The Areopagite Judges condemn'd a Boy to death because he put out the eyes of Quails and this is given as the reason because it shew'd that the Boy was of a cruel disposition and would prove very hurtful if he lived So here it was thought that Blood-eating was a sign of and preparative to inhuman Actions and accordingly was not allow'd of Therefore this Precept of not eating the Flesh of Beasts with the Blood running about it was to restrain this Cruelty The old Giants of the World before the Flood generally liv'd on the Blood of Beasts and so learn'd to be cruel and savage to Men and thence as Maimonides and Mr. Selden from him conjecture this Law had its rise God therefore commanded those of Noah's Posterity to reâ—rain wholly from Blood that they might not proceed from cruelty to Beasts to killing of Men. Besides this may seem partly to be a natural Law Blood being a gross Meat and not fit for nourishment A Third Law given to Noah was that in Gen. 9. 5 6. Surely the blood of your lives will I require at the hand of every beast will I require it and at the hand of man at the hand of every mans brother will I require thâ— lifâ— of man Whoso â—â—eddeth mans blood by man shall his blood be shed for in the Image of God made 〈◊〉 maâ— There is indeed a Treble Law comprised in these words 1. They are forbid to shed mans blood Noaâ— and his sons are commanded not to be guilty of Homicidâ— Taking away a mans life was unlawful before as in C ain but here it is solemnly denounced to be such and moreover the Punishment of it is set down If shedding of mans blood were not here forbidden as unlawful it would not be followed with a Pâ—nalty as you see it is Which is the second Sanction here the blood of your lives I will require at the hand of every beast and at the hand of every man Whether man or beast procure the death of a man their blood shall be required for it Death is here made the Penalty of Murder Yea the very Beasts that kill'd a man should themselves be kill'd There was no Law before this for the punishing of Bloodshed And thirdly here is also signified the Autâ—ority of thâ— Magistrate whose particular and peculiar work it is to require the life of man at the hand of every mans brâ—thâ—r Whoso sheddeth mans blood by man shall his blood be shed Here the manner of punishing bloodshed is set down and appointed it must be done by the Magistrate A publick Minister of Justice is here ordered and appointed to punish the guilty Here is the first Institution of that Political Order Here is the first injunction for erecting Courts of Judicature Some of the Socinian party will allow this to be a Commination but not a Precept given to Magistrates But herein they separate what they ought to have united for these words are both a threatning of Punishment and also an Order or Warrant given to the Magistrate to execute that Punishment It is to be done by Man Adam which word sometimes is appropriated to one of Eminency and Power and therefore here not unfitly denotes the Magistrate the Ruler him that hath Authority and Power above others This is the person that is commission'd here not to suffer Bloodshed to go unpunish'd but to return blood for blood which is a practice grounded on the Law of Reason and Equity which in such a case as this requires a just and equal Retribution But this and other places those of the Racâ—vian way distort to serve their own end viz. to patronize their opinions concerning Magistrates who according to them are not to use any Capital Punishment not to 〈◊〉 War c. But any unprejudic'd and considerate person cannot but see that the power of the Sword is here given to the Civil Magistrate Upon this one Charter depends the Execution of Justice against all Crimes upon this is founded the power of executing judgment upon Offenders and of cutting off of Malefactors So that you see in this forecited place are contain'd two of those Precepts which were said to be given to Adam the Titles whereof were of Iudgments and of not Shedding of Blood which both were Laws of Nature imprinted in mens breasts but when after the flood the World began anew God thought fit to revive the remembrance of these Laws and made them Positivâ— and not before that we know of Some think that under this Dispensation was introduced Slavery that men were all free before the Flood and that not long after Servitudâ— began viz. in Canaan the Son of Cham for which they alledg that Text Gen. 9. 25. A servant of servantâ— shall he bâ— Here is the first servant mention'd and because we read of none before they conclude that Bondage which is a great Curse began in this Cursed Person the Offspring of cursed Câ—am But I cannot so easily assert that Servitudâ— had its first rise here for though Canaan be the first servant mention'd yet it doth not follow thence that Thraldom had its beginning in him for silence is no Argument that there was none before But the main thing which I have to say is this that if Bondage commenc'd in Canaan it is to be understood not of himself but of his posterity So that we may truly say it did not begin in this Dispâ—nsatiâ—n but afterwards And this is plain from the place it self and the following verses where 't is said Canaan shall be the servant of Shâ—m and he was so when his posterity the Canaanitâ—s were overcome and subdued by those of the race of Shâ—m viz. the Israâ—lites Then it was that this Curse on Canaan was fulfill'd and not before But as to common Servitude we read of it long before that time Aâ—raâ—am had mâ—n-servants and maid-sâ—rvants who 〈◊〉 boâ—ght with
peculiar People and taken into Grace and Favour There was a Distinction made between God's Servants and others under the Abrahamick Period but now it is more Visible and Remarkable now the Iewish State properly commenceth now these People are molded into a new Commonwealth and God is their peculiar Governour The Church of God was first united into One Politick Body or Society and grew to be National in Moses's time Now the Church in the Wilderness as 't is call'd by St. Stephen Acts 7. 38. became a Distinct Body of men known by the name of Israelites This Oeconomy is famous for the Delivering of a Threefold Law Moral Ceremonial Iudicial Tho Moral Ecclesiastical Civil may be a better Division of those Laws for some that are reckon'd among the Ceremonial and Typical Laws as Tithes and First-fruits are not such and some of those call'd Iudicial deserve not that name But the Usual Partition shall serve and by the Moral Law we understand those Precepts and Commands by the observance of which men are madereally Good and Virtuous The Ceremonial Law is the Iews Canon Law and directs them in their external Behaviour in Religious Worship and tells them what Rites and Usages they must observe By the Iudicial Law we understand the Civil Law of the Iewish Nation as Ius Civile is taken for the Particular Law of every single State This contains those Constitutions and Orders which respect Publick Justice and acquaints men what is Right and Equitable in their Dealings and Commerce with one another The first of these are such Precepts and Prohibitions as are good in themselves The Second are indifferent in their own Nature but are so far good as they are commanded by a Positive Law of God The third sort are of a mixt Nature being partly in their own nature good and partly indifferent This Triple Law is thought by the Iewish Writers to be comprised in those three words Commandments Statutes Iudgments Deut. 6. 1. Mitzoth Praecepta are said to be the Ten Commandments the Moral Law Chukkim Statuta are thought to be those Rites and Ceremonies that respect God's Worship as Circumcision c. Mishaphattim Iudicia are suppos'd to be all those Politick Constitutions that concern humane Society But it is not certain that by these three words are meant those three distinct kinds of Laws for these are mention'd in Gen. 26. 5. before there was this formal Distinction of Laws And in Deut. 11. 1. you will find these words transposed which intimates that those are too nice who understand them in the former manner for 't is not likely that the Commandments i. e. the Moral Law would be set in the last place Wherefore I think it more probable that this diversity of words is used only to signifie the whole body of Precepts of what nature soever that was given to the Iews But this is unquestionable that the Decâ—logue is the chief and most eminent part of these Laws and the rest are bâ—t Appendages and Supplements to it The Ceromâ—â—ial Injunctions are annex'd to the Precepts of the first Table and those that are Iudicial to them of the Second The former are Particular Instances of the Duty which was required of the Iewish people towardâ— God the lattâ—r of their Duty towards their Neighbours The Hebrew Doctors divide all the Commandments of the Law into 248 〈◊〉 and 365 Negative and both 〈◊〉 into Twelve Houses as they call them and under each House more or less Commandments The â—â—mplete Sum is 613 which they say is according to the number of the â—etterâ— in the 〈◊〉 in which all the Law is virtually and reductively comprised These Ten Words as they are called in the Hebrew and those other Iudicial and Ceremonial Laws which you may find set down from the 20 th Chap. of Exodus to the end of the Pentateuch began to be deliver'd on Mount Sinai three months after the Israelites came out of Egypt Exod. 19. 1. Moses was forty days or six weeks in the Mount or rather if you conâ—ult the â—â—â—tory you will find that he was twice or thrice on the Mount so long a time or a very considerable time and then it was that he receiv'd these Divine Laws First I will speak concerning the Moral Law comprised in the Ten Commandments I call the whâ—lâ— Decalogue the Moral Law although the Observation of the Seventh Day appâ—inted in the Fourth Commandment be not strictly Moral but because the Devoting some Certain Time to God's Service is Moral and is contain'd in that Commâ—ndment therefore I reckon it part of the Moral Law You meet with several particular Laws relating to Moral Duties scatter'd up and down in the four last Books of Moses but these Ten Words as they are call'd are a Summary Account of all those Laws and Rules which are more spâ—cially and particularly set down This Law of Morality and Natural Reason was in all the former Dispensations but that which makes it Peculiar in is this that this Law which before was Written in mens Hearts is now Ingraven on Stone If I should say that there were no Lettâ—rs at all before these which God used on Mount Sinai If I should aâ—sert that they had no Books or Writings before the 〈◊〉 but that the Characters of the Law were the first that ever were in the World and consequently that now God taught men to write I do not see how why man can disprove me But this we are sure of that from Adam to Moses which is above 2000 years there was no Written Word of God to direct the World The Church was without Scriptures God's Will which was communicated to them by Revelation was continued and kept up by Tradition If it be demanded why God suffer'd the World to live so long without a written Law and what was the Reason of the writing of the Law at last I answer 1. The long Lives of the Patriarchs as hath been intimated before were one main Reason why there was no Written Law for so long a time There was a College and Society of many Seniors living many hundred years together with one another Adam lived with Seth 800 years with Enes 695 with Cainan 605 with Mahalaleel 535 with Iared 470 with Methuselah 243 with Lamech 56. Or we may instance in Pious Shem who was both before and after the Flood he lived with Methuselah 97 years with Lamâ—ch 92 with Noah 447 with Arphaxad Sala and Heber about 430 with Peleg and Regu about 239 with Serug 230 with Nabor 149 with Terah 205 with Abraham 150 with Isaac 50. These therefore could conâ—er Notes with great ease they could inform themselves truly concerning the Faith and Religion and Practice of the First Man they could instruct one another concerning theiâ— Duty and the indispensible necessity of it Or take it more briefly thuâ— Adam lived to converse with Methuselah Methuselah lived to see and know Shem Shem lived till Iacob was born so that these
three Patriarchs who could give an Account of all that time wherein they lived which was above 2000 years were able to keep their Families and all other People that were near them in the knowledg of the true Religion and where they err'd and offended to correct them Thus Religion and Divine Worship might be faithfully transmitted from the beginning of the World to above twenty Centuries by three persons only The Church was then sufficiently taught by Tradition from Father to Son vivâ— vâ—câ— because of the Longevity of the Patriarchs some of whom lived 700 years others 800 or 900. For this reason the Church was without Scripturâ— almost five and twenty hundred years But afterwards when the years of mans Life were shortned God used another Method he taught men by a Written Law 2. The Degeneracy of the World was another Reason why the Law was committed to Writing The World at first had many Pious as well as Antient Patriarchs who were as Philo notes Living and Rational Laws and so stood in need of no Written ones for these are but Commentaries on those Old Fathers Lives But the Vices of men grew proportionable to their Numbers and when Mankind was spread wide up and down the Earth Immorality and Sin were dispersed likewise and the World became notoriously wicked The Deluge did not wash away the Contagion but in a considerable time after men were as bad as ever and the very Dictates of their Reasonable nature were discarded by them When they had thus obliterated the Law written on their minds God thence ingraved it on Tables of Stone If men had not been wonderfully corrupted there had been no need of this So faith the Apostle speaking of this Law It was not made for the Righteous but for the lawless and disobedient for the ungodly and for sinners I Tim. 1. 9. The same he had intimated before in Gal. 3. 19. The Law was added because of transgression it was given to be a Check to their notorious Sins and that they might not offend uncontroul'd And this may be the meaning of the Apostle's words in Rom. 5. 20. The Law entred that the Offence might abound i. e. that men might see how their Sins abounded God gave his Law in Writing to shew them their Guilt to convince them of their gross Miscarriages and to reduce them to the way of Virtue and Obedience that when God himself had writ down their Duty with his own hand they might be inexcusable 3. The Law was committed to Writing that it might not be forgot One reputed to be a Judicious Writer is of opinion that the Patriarchs were happier without the Written Law than with it it was a mark of God's love and favour that they had no books and writings I suppose he means because they did not need them But afterwards there was occasion for them for the Impressions of the Law of Nature were almost defaced and obliterated the Instructions and Traditions of their Fathers were neglected and the knowledg of God and their Duty could not be kept pure by Oral Tradition when not only their Lives were short but corrupted and miserably depraved Therefore an exact Written Law was wanting to set before their eyes and to remind them of what they were to do to put them constantly in remembrance of what God required of them Hereupon the Moral Precepts were written by God himself and delivered to Mâ—sâ—s that the might communicate them to the People and they to the rest of the World This was out of kindness to them it was design'd to be a Remedy against their forgetfulness and negligence Lastly which comprehends all the Law was written that it might not be corrupted Tradition was unsafe when the numbers of men were increased and the World was dispersed and arrived to a great height of Impiety Therefore God thought it necessary to preserve and perpetuate the Law by Ingraving it on Tables of Stone which are Solid and Duâ—able and by lodging it in the Aâ—k as in a safe Treasury by ordering it to be Transcribed and to be Read to all the People and that they themselves should read it continually This was the best way to prevent all Error and Imposture all Fraud and Corruption about the Law This made it a thing impossible to deprave and pervert the Letter and plain Sense of it For these Reasons that Word which for near 25 Centuries of Years was delivered and promulged by Tradition was committed to Writing in Moses's time and not before For these Reasons the Common Law of Nature was turn'd into this Statutâ— Law of the Commandments I will not here speak particularly of the Ten Commandments because in the Body of the Work which I intend I am obliged to insist upon every one of them distinctly and largely and also because it is the Writing of the Moral Law of which I have given you an Account not the Law it self that is part of this Mosaick Dispensation as it is different from those which went before The Ten Commandâ—ents were given now not that they were of no force before this time but now they were Written on Tables and more Solemnly Promulg'd This was it which we were to take notice of as New and proper to this Iudaical Period If any man thinketh that these Ten Commandments because they were deliver'â— to the Iews were drawn up for that Body of People only and are not of universal Concernment I could silence that surmise by shewing that these Commandments were in force before the Law given by Moses to the Iews and that every one of them was a Law before the Mosaick Oeconomy and that those who lived in all the former Dispensations observed these Commandments Nay they are all of them excepting only the Determination of the Sabbath day the very Law of Nature written on the heart of man at his Creation They are Dictates of Natural Reason and therefore they ought to be done though they were not commanded For this Reason likewise it is not proper to insist upon them in this place for they are no special part of this Oeconomy But the Ceremâ—nial and Iudicial Laws are the grand things which make this a distinct and peculiar Administration Of those therefore I will hasten to speak The Ceremonial or Ecclesiastical Law is no other than the Precepts given by God to the Iews concerning External Rites belonging to Religion and the Worship of God Of these Ceremonial Usages several were in use before Moses's time viz. Priests Altars Sacrifices Oblations Tithes Distinction of Clean and Unclean Animals Not Eating Blood Circumcision But now all the former Rites and Ceremonies are digested into One Body and are become more Fixed and Certain The Ceremonial Service of the Iâ—ws was now precisely determin'd and there was no varying from it Agaiâ— whereas in some Agâ—s one Ceremony was used in another another Now they are all together and are observed at the same Time and by the same Persons
Persons and Times he hath to do with Thus our Saviour was pleas'd to fulfil all Rightâ—ousness to comport with the present State and Oeconomy to allow of any thing or Dispensation which God will have to be in the World tho it may seem to some not to be so fitting and decorous This is sufficient that God acteth congruously to the nature of things and that all along he administers every thing for the greatest Good of Mankind altho in various Ways and Manners This is one Reason why the Evangâ—lical Dispensation was not introduced till other Dispensations were past The Indisposition of the former and first Times made Christ delay his Coming he knew they were not prepared to receive his Doctrine and Miracles This Reason is given by St. Augustin and Eusâ—bius agrees with him for treating of this very Question why Christ came so late he renders this Account of it The generality of the World was become like Beasts and so were not fit to receive Christ and his Doctrine It was necessary therefore that the Way should be prepared by Moses's Law by the Doctrine and Example of Prophets and good Men. Before this the World was uncapable of Christ and the Gospel 4. Christ came not till four thousand Years were expired that Mankind might see their Misery and be â—ensible of it and desire a Remedy and in the mean time more strenuously exercise their Faith and Hope Especially with respect to the Iewish People so many Ages had pass'd before the Messiâ—â— came because hereby God would let them see their want of a Messias that they might heartily breathe after and long for a Redâ—â—mâ—r and Saviour that they might earnesâ—ly expect and pray for a Delivâ—râ—r to rescue them from that intolerable Yoke which they were under This seems to be one Reason why God deferred the sending of his Son Which is implied in those words of the Apostle Rom. 5. 20. The Law entred i. e. the Mosaick Dispensation interposed between Abraham and Christ's time and thereby the Evangelical State was deâ—er'd a long time that the Offence might abound that the heinous Transgression of the Law might be the better discern'd to be Sin and that Men might be throughly apprehensive of it Then the Apostle adds where Sin abounded Grace did mucâ— more abound i. e. by this means the Grace of God in â—ending his Son and his pardoning of Sinners through his Blood are the more fully display'd and taken notice of Which leads me to another Account of this matter 5. So far as we can apprehend the wise Designs and Purposes of God we may render this Reason why this Benefit was so long delay'd viz. that it might thereby be Commâ—ndâ—d to us and that we might set the greatâ—r Value on it God suffer'd the Darkness for so many hundred years that he might bring forth a more Glorious Light at last From the opposition of these two the Divine Wisdom is more manifest and the Victory of the one over the other is more eminent Hence Mankind is more eager in embracing the Light of the Gospel and all the Advantages of it become more welcome and grateful 6. It was not fit so Great a Prince and Saviour as the Messias should arrive without Harbingers and Forerunners of his Coming So that Pious Doctor of the Church speaks Christ was to be foretold many Ages before he came because it was no little and mean thing that was to come The greater this Judg was it was fitting the greater should be his Equipage and a longer Train of Messengers and Heralds should go before him Observe therefore after the Types and Shadows were vanished after the Legal Services were expired after all the Predictions of the Patriarchs and Aposâ—les were accomplished after the so often repeated Promises concerning Christ were fulfilled after the appearances of Angels and Visions and Revelations and extraordinary Declarations from Heaven had made way for the arrival of the Messias after he was generally expected by the Iewish Nation after all these Preparatives and Forerunners of his Coming were fully past then he actually enâ—â—ed on the stage of the World and manifested himself in the Flesh. The Time appointed by the Father for the sending his only begotten Son or as the Apostle calls it â—â—e Fulness of Time happily brought along with it the Fulness of Christ as the same Apostle speaks It was Reasonable Decorous and Congruous that so great a Person and so great a Blessing should not come on a sudden but that the World should be a long time prepared for so Glorious a Dispensation 7. The necessities of Mankind seem'd to call for him at that very Time when he came This is the Reason which Gregory Nazianzen gives why Christ came not before but then because the World was more than â—ver corrupted and the Degeneracy was greater the Disease was at its heighth and then the Remedy was most proper So Theodoret compares Christ to those Physicians who reserve their strongest Medicines till the last for having used Lenitives first they choose to administer more powerful Medicines afterwards The corruption by Adam having miserably infected the World God used fit means to stop the growth of it and to curb Sin and Wickedness Besides the Law of Nature implanted in Mens minds which was a constant check to immoral and vicious Actions the Works of the Creation which were continually before their eyes wâ—re servicâ—able to instruct them in the Wisdom and Power of God and to bring them to reverential Thoughts of him and to induce them to serve and obey the 〈◊〉 and Preserver of all things God swept away the Old World with an universal Dâ—luge to make the poor remainder better by reflecting on his Severity againâ—â— Sinners And when the World increas'd again and â—ultitudes of People were spread on the face of the Earth the Almighty God shew'd his Displeasure against Sin in confounding the Language of the Babel-Builders in consuming Sodom and Gomorrâ—â— with Flames from Hâ—â—ven and in several other Instances he let Men understand that he was highly incens'd against Sinners which should have been a Warning to them and was so designed by God that they might tremble at his Judgments and abandon their evil ways When God beheld the obstinacy of Mankind he was pleased to make â—uller Discoveries of himself than before he chose out a peculiar People to impart his Will to that they whatever others did might serve and worship him in a more solemn and pure manner and that their exemplary Lives might have influence on the rest of the World He writ Laws with his own hand to deliver to them he rais'd up Seers and Prophets among them who daily admonish'd them of their Duty and by frequent dispensing of Mercies and Judgments he strove to make them sensible of it and to keep them firm to it When for their crying Sins they were sent into Captivity God restored them again and placed
It is not necessary that there should be a Formal Abrogation of the Ceremonial Law because when the Reason of a Law ceases the Law it self ceaseth But yet it is shew'd from sundry Places in the New Testament that the Ceremonial Law is formally and expresly abrogated We are assured of the Truth of the Christian Religion from Humane Testimony The Testimony of the Outward and Bodily Senses is made use of and appealed to in the New Testament as an Argument of the truth of Christianity St. John's Words 1 Ep. 1 Chap. 1 2 3. ver commented upon There is no Certainty in Religion espâ—cially in the Christian if the Testimony of Sense be not allow'd of The Apostles and those who heard and saw the things done by our Saviour were Credible Persons The four Evangelists and other Writers of the New Testament were Competent Witnesses of what they relate Their Personal Qualities which are particularly reckon'd up render their Testimony worthy of all acceptation The Christians that succeeded them faithfully deliver'd things to us Their Lives are a proof of their Integrity Their Sufferings and Death are an undeniable Argument of their testifying the Truth to us An Heap of Evidences that we are not imposed upon by them The very Jews bear witness to the Truth of Christianity The manner of their Congratulating our Saviour at his riding into Jerusalem particularly consider'd Heathens attest the Truth of the Christian Religion So do Infernal Spirits 111. I Am to shew the Truth and Certainty of the Christian Oeconomy and therein of the Christian Religion And here first we must grapple with the tenacious and stubborn Iew for his Dispensation being so Antient and Authentick he is loth to quit it I must prove therefore before I go any further that it is nulled abrogated and superannuated We need not say much of the Iudicial Law It is the Ceremonial one which makes Iudaism properly and is the most opposite to the Christian Administration The Iudicial Laws so far as they make for Peace and good Order in the Government and so far as they are sutable to the present State of Affairs may be observed still but then they oblige not as part of the Mosaick Law but as they are good Rules of Government in themselves But the main Part of the Iudicial Law is not at this Day practicable amongst the Iews themselves they being dispersed and no longer in a Body that Law cannot be made use of and consequently doth not oblige them And any one may see plainly that that Polity and Government was not to last for ever as they foolishly dream For it was not fitted for the Tempers of all People not proper for all Countries but was in most things calculated for the Iewish Meridian only and for the present Circumstances that People were in at that time and therefore it is evident that it was to be changed afterwards I do not lay any stress on what may be observed of the different Manner of delivering the three Laws Moral Ceremonial and Iudicial but only let it be an occasion to suggest to us a right Notion concerning the different Nature of them The Ten Commandments or Moral Law was delivered on the top of the Mount in the face of the World as it were to signify that it was of universal Influence and obliged all Mankind But the Ceremonial Lâ—w was received by Moses in private in the Tabernacle which may hint to us that it was of a peculiar Concern it belong'd to the Iews only it was to cease when the Tabernacle was down when the Veil of the Temple was rent And as for the Iudicial Law it was neither so publickly and audibly given as the Moral Law nor so privately as the Ceremonial which may intimate to us the Nature of that sort of Law it is of an indifferent kind and may be kept up or not according as its Rules sute with the Place and Government It is then the Ceremonial Law wherein the Religion of the Iews as distinct from other People chiefly consisted which I am ingaged more especially to speak of at present The first thing that I will undertake is this to shew that the Mosaick Oeconomy was not designed to be perpetuated but that it was to be changed and to give way to the Evangelical one If this be proved it is a good step towards the main Point viz. the Truth of the Evangelical Oeconomy 1. That the Mosaick Dispensation was not to last always is clear from the many Promises in the Old Testament of inlarging Religion and of extending the Church to the uttermost parts of the World Which is no ways consistent with the Mosaick Oeconomy for according to the Law all the Males were to assemble at Ierusalem and to worship there thrice a Year But when upon the Messias's coming all Nations were to imbrace the true Religion how was it possible for the remotest Nations of the World to come and sacrifice at Ierusalem and constantly to meet there at solemn Feasts Ierusalem could not hold them the Temple would be too little for the Worshippers This is a Sign that God intended not to confine his Church to Iudea but that he designed a Religion which should be Universal and oblige the whole World According to the Law Sacrifices were to be no where but at Ierusalem But it is said in Isa. 19. 19 23. There shall be Altars and Sacrifices to the Lord in Egypt and Assyria and in Mal. 1. 11. From the rising of the Sun even unto the going down of the same my Name shall be great among the Gentiles and in every place Incense shall be offer'd unto my Name and a pure Offering Therefore the City of Ierusalem was not to be the only Seat of solemn Worship and Sacrifice but upon the coming of the Messias Oblations were to be all the World over God saith of his Church which is his House that it shall be called a House of Prayer to all Nations Isa. 56. 7. Mark 11. 17. That is the Church shall be open to all without respect of Persons or Countries which must needs be and was always acknowledged a Prophesy concerning the spreading of Christianity and its being imbraced by some of all Nations under Heaven Therefore it is said by the same Evangelical Prophet in the last Days all Nations shall flow unto it Isa. 2. 2. So in Isa. 56. 3 4 5. we find that Strangers and Eunuchs Persons uncapable by the Mosaick Law of being of the Communion of the Iewish Church shall be admitted into it And that is yet more remarkable which you read in the same Prophet Chap. 66. where after it was plainly foretold that the Gentiles should have a Holy Church and that there should be an Offering to the Lord out of all Nations ver 20. this is added in the next Verse I will also take of them for Priests and for Levites saith the Lord. Observe it there shall be Priests and Levites taken from the
our extraction from him and consequently are descended from the Earth And here before we go any further we may observe that the â—olly of the Praeadamitick Opinion is detected The Sacred History of Moses assures us that Adam and Eve were the â—irst Persons that were created on the Earth and lest any should question it our Saviour hath confirmed it From the beginning of the Creation God made them Male and Female Mark 10. 6. For it is undeniable that he speaks this of Adam and Eve because in the next Verse he alledgeth what was said by God presently after the production of this latter Therefore shall a Man leave his Father and his Mother and cleave unto his Wife Gen. 2. 24. Whence it evidently appears that the Male and Female here spoken of are Adam and Eve and that these were made from the beginning of the Creation therefore there were no Men and Women before them This is clear from Gen. 3. 20. Adam called his Wife's name Eve because she was the Mother of all living This reason of her Name is assigned by Moses for when Adam gave her this Name she was not a Mother she was so call'd â—aith he because she was the Mother of all living she was the Person that was the Root and Source of all Men and Women that ever are in the World which plainly intimates that there was no other Woman that was such â— Mother She was constituted by God's appointment the only Mother of the living yea of all living of human kind that have been or shall be upon Earth And consequently there was no Race of Men or Women before her If there were no other Text to be alledged but this one it were sufficient to consute the vain Opinion of the Author of the Praeadamites who with a great deal of straining and forcing of Texts endeavours to prove that there was another Generation besides that of Adam and Eve He tells us there is a Creation of Man and Woman spoken of in the latter end of the first Chapter of Genesis and another Creation of the Holy Race of Mankind of which the first Man and Woman were Adam and Eve spoken of Chap. 2. v. 2 22. Whereas the plain obvious and true Account is that the first Narrative is general but the second is particular that is it gives a distinct and particular account of the formation of Man and Woman Notwithstanding this a late Writer hath revived the Notion of a double Creation and attempts to prove it as Dyrerius doth The most considerable Objection that this latter makeâ— is founded on those Passages which imply a great number of People in the World at that time whereas we read saith he of none descended from Adam and Eve but Cain and Abel and Seth about that time But who knows not that the Mosaick History is silent as to several things of the like nature yea of an higher iâ—portance It is not to be doubted that Adam and Eve had more Children than are expresly mention'd by Moses yea that they had a great many Children and Grand children If we consider this we shall discover the vanity of the Praeadamitical Conceit and answer the Cavils that are rais'd about it by the first Author of it Dyrerius who indeed at last was sensible of the folly of his Opinion and as we are told recanted it Besides to think there was any Man before Adam is groundless because he is expresly call'd twice by the Apostle the first Man 1 Cor. 15. 45 47. It is ridiculous then to imagine that he was not the first of his kind but that there were Men in the World long before him even some thousands of years before him This Text and the others before-mention'd must be removed out of the Bible before we can believe such a thing or that there are others of human Race besides those that descend from Adam as some Inhabitants in the Moon or other Orbs of Heaven as a late Writer and some others fancy The fond Conceit of the Praeadamites being justly rejected let us proceed As the forming of this most excellent Creature Man was the close of the Creation so it may be observed that this was peculiar to him to have a solemn Consultation and Decree about his making which was not about any other Creature God said Let us make Man Gen. 1. 26. Philo the Jew is of the opinion that Angels were Cooperators in framing Adam's Body and to them God spake when he said Let us make Man This Platonist derived this Notion from his Master who held that lesser and created Gods made Men and all other Animals by the command of the greatest and supreme Deity But others deservedly explode this Opinion and think that these words denote God the Father's conâ—erring with the two other Persons of the Sacred Trinity concerning the making of Man This is the general Sentiment of the antient Writers of the Church who usually alledg this place to prove the Doctrin of the Trinity And certainly it is a considerable place for that purpose But however abstracting from this this way of speaking may signify to us that the making of Man was an exâ—ellent and noble Work if it were said only after the manner of Men who hold a Conference and seriously consult and call in Assistance about a Matter which is of great moment and worth Thus God is represented speaking after the same guiâ—e to acquaint us what a worthy excellent and transcendent Work this was I take Seneca's words to be a good Comment on that place Be it known to you saiâ—h he that Man is not a Work huddled over in haste and done without forethinking and great consideration for Man is the greatest and most stupendous Work of God Man hath not only a Body in common with all inferior Animals but into his Body was inâ—used a Soul of a far more noble Nature and Make a rational Principle worthy of the name of a Soul Hereby he is enabled to act according to the designs of his Creation that is to contemplate the Works of God to admire his Perfections and to worship him to live as becomes one who received his excellent Being from him to converse with his fellow Creatures that are of his own Order to maintain mutual Love and Society and to serve God in Consort Man is a wonderful Creature and not undeservedly said to be a little World a World within himself and containing whatever is found in the greater In him is the spiritual and immaterial Nature of God the Reasonableness of Angels the sensitive Power of Brutes the vegetative Life of Plants and the Virtues of all the Elements In brief he is a compound of all And hence it is that the Life of Man is difficulter than that of others for other Creatures are ruled by one single Nature but Man is made up of divers Qualities But as it is more difficult so it is more excellent to be a
Man He hath larger Capacities than other Creatures and moveth in a wider Circumference he holdeth converse with both Worlds This and That to come Thus Man is crowned with Glory and Honour he is the most remarkable Workmanship of God Among the greatest things which Nature boasteth of she hath nothing that she can glory in more than in Man Man is a great Miracle a Creature worthy of thâ— highest respect and honour He is that great and admirable Animal which is more precious to God than all other created Beings whatsoever and for which the Heaven the Earth and the Sea and the rest of the World was made Accordingly he was in a more signal eminent manner framed by God and fâ—rmed by the Advice of the Sacred Trinity yea which is yet more wonderful according to the similitude and resemblance of it â—or so we read in Gen. 1. 26. Let us make Man in our Image after our Likeness Some quaintly distinguish between Image and Likeness following herein St. Augustin in his Retractations and after him Peter Lombard and other Schoolmen But waving those Subtilties I will endeavour to shew you wherein the Image or Similitude for I take them to be both one of God in Man consisteth Negatively 1. Origen's Opinion concerning this Image is not to be imbraced for he saith here is meant the Image and Likeness of the Son of God who is the express Image of the Person of the Father Heb. 1. 3. But besides that the words in the Hebrew and this for it is but one in the Greek do not exactly answer it is to be observed first that it is said in the Plural Let us make Man after our Image and consequently it is not restrained to the Image of the Second Person of the Trinity only therefore there is no reason that we should restrain it Again when afterwards 't is spoken in the Singular yet 't is spoken generally of the Godhead as in the Verse following God created Man in his own Image in the Image of God created he him Still here is no restriction and therefore we cannot say it is to be understood only of the Image of the Second Person in the glorious Trinity 2. Philo the Iew and some of the Fathers that were Plaâ—onically dispos'd understood this Image of the Idea according to which God made all things and particularly Man For there were say they Eternal Images and Exemplars of things in God's mind there were Universal Natures of all things certain Archetypes and Patterns by looking on which God framed all things as an Artificer being to build a House first delineateth in his own mind the whole Frame and Scheme of the future Building and by this he afterwards proceeds in erecting the Fabrick God's Idea saith Philo is the Image by which Adam was made and so Man was the fairest Pourtraiture of the fairest Image a Copy of the Divine Original And Iustin the Martyr who had been educated in the Platonick Philosophy followeth this Notion asserting that the Image of God according to which Adam was made was the Exemplar of Man in the mind of God And Clemens Alexandrinus is of the same judgment and interprets the Text in the same manner Now in answer to this I will only say that the Notion of Ideas as it is generally meant by the Platonists is fond and precarious and some of their own Tribe have no great kindness for it But if the Notion of the Divine Idea be soberly understood viz. that from Eternity there were in the Mind of God Images of all things which were afterward to be made and particularly of Man I see nothing amiss in this Assertion yea 〈◊〉 take it to be a very sound and orthodox Notion and such as is of great use in Divinity it being the Foundation of all Truth as I shall shew in another place and it being the Basis on which the Doctrin of the Divine Decrees is establish'd But this then is nothing to our preâ—ent purpose for God's making of Man after his Image is meant in the forecited place of some singular and peculiar thing Neither Beasts nor Fishes nor Birds nor Plants nor any visible Being in the whole Creation mention'd in that Chapter are said to be made after God's Image or Likeness We read that Man alone was created in the Divine Image as much as to say no other Creature whatsoever on Earth resembleth God but Man Therefore it is evident that these words cannot be understood of the Idea according to which God made all things for according to that he made Beasts as well as Men and then we might have expected to read in Genesis not only Let us make Man but let us make Beasts and all other Creatures in our Image after our Likeness 3. The Anthropomorphites held this Image was in the Body of Man because they conceived that God had a Body and so they dreamt that the Shape and Figure of human Bodies answer to the same Lineaments and Proportions in God But I need not stand to conâ—ute so blasphemous and cursed an Opinion I know some would mitigate it by saying that man was made after the Image of Christ who was to come in the Flesh and was to have bodily Parts But this hath no relation to the Anthropomorphites Doctrin and consequently can be no mitigation of it Besides it is contrary to the words themselves which speak not of the Image of Christ either as God or Man but of the Godhead in general Positively then the Image of God wherein Man was created was something in his Soul chiefly something in his outward Man and it also consisted in his Dâ—minion over the Creatures 1. In the Soul of Man is God's Image or Likeness placed For this part of us is of an immaterial and spiritual Nature and such is God he is a Spirit John 4. 24. Again the Soul of Man is immortal and therein is God's Image and Representation This indeed follows upon the former Quality it being immaterial and incorporeal it must needs be in its own Nature incorruptible Herein we signally resemble the Deity and therefore it is rightly asserted by St. Augustin that because of the immortality of the Soul tho not only for that Man is said to be made according to God's Image Moreover the Soul of Man is of a rational and intelligent Nature and therein also is like unto God There was no visible or sublunary Creature before Adam that was of this kind therefore saith God Let us make Man after our Image let us frame a terrestrial Creature with a reasonable Soul with an immortal and immaterial Nature which are Resemblances of the Divinity it self Let us make him capable of conceiving things aright of arguing and discoursing and of making inferences and deductions from things which no Brutes are able to do Let us furnish him with all Divine Knowledg that he may be able to apprehend the things of
God and have an insight into the most sublime and heavenly Truths and by this means also partake of the Divine Nature and Likeness That this Knowledg and Wisdom are part of the Divine Image is clear from the Apostle's words in Col. 3. 10. where he acquaints us that the new Man is renewed in Knowledg after the Image of him that created him Whence it is rationally to be inferr'd that God's Image partly consisted in Knowledg and Vnderstanding Socinus and Smalcius had a very low opinion of the first Man when they asserted that at his being first made he had no more understanding than a stupid Infant yea that Adam was next to a Fool. But may not these Writers be thought to be next to something of that Nature when they assert a thing so unreasonable and absurd so wild and extravagant I do not say that Adam was subtil and scholastical in his Notions that he had any skill in the quirks of Wit and Logick I believe Scotus would have baffled him a knotty Schoolman would have put him to a nonplus and it would quite have puzzl'd and amus'd his Brain to have reduc'd a Syllogism in Bocardo For these Subtilties were not the accomplishments of Innocence and the early attendents of the Spade and Plough No these are the Consequents of Apostacy the Crutches of lame Reason and Supporters of lapsed Understanding the Salvo's of Ignorance and sometimes the greatest increasers of it Therefore I do not think that Adam's intellectual Happiness consisted in these but in that which was solid and useful What Man of sense and sober thoughts can deny that God indued Adam with a quick Understanding upon considering this one thing viz. that he gave Names to every living creature Gen. 2. 19. and it may be tho it is not recorded to the Plants and all Vegetables on Earth yea even to the Stars in Heaven tho the Names of them are now lost yea to all things above and below which were useful and common in the Life of Man And those Names then did express and signify the very Nature and Properties of the things whereas now they are generally ex instituto merely from custom and the arbitrary will of Men. He that was able thus to give Names to all Creatures according to their Natures was no Fool or Sot certainly This was the great Plato's judgment who tells us it was no ordinary and mean thing it was not the work of a vulgar Person to impose Names on things yea he that did it at first was master of more than human wisdom and skill It is reasonable to believe that Adam was a great natural Philosopher had knowledg of all those Creatures which he named else he could not have fitted Names to them And that he did so is evident from comparing the 19th Verse of the forementioned Chapter with the 22 d and 23 d Verses In the former 't is said that the Lord God formed every living Creature out of the ground and brought them to Adam to see what he would call them and whatsoever he call'd them that was the Name thereof In the latter 't is said The Rib which the Lord God had taken from Man made he a Woman and brought her unto the Man And Adam said She shall be called Woman because she was taken out of Man You see the parallel the brute Creatures were brough by God to Adam on purpose that he should bestow Names on them So was Eve brought to him that she should have a Name given her by him Adam gave proper and significant Names to the other Creatures and so he did to the Woman We gather the former from the latter We find that when God brought the Woman to the Man he fastned a Name on her sutable to her Nature and Original therefore 't is reasonably to be concluded that when the other Creatures of an inferior rank were brought by God to Adam he conâ—er'd such Names on them as were most expressive of their different Properties and Qualities As God had given Adam his Name which was significant so Adam gave other Creatures Names which carried significancy with them This argues his Intellectuals to have been very acute and profound otherwise he could not have perceived the several Signatures and Properties of those Animals which were brought before him It is not to be question'd then that he had an insight into the true Nature of all Beings and was one of unspeakable Sagacity In fine whatever some Rabbies extravagantly assert on the one hand concerning the prodigious transcendency of Adam's knowledg and how meanly soever some of Pelagius and Socinus's Followers on the other hand speak of his Endowments it is a sober Truth that our First Parents were very knowing Persons It is not to be doubted that they had especially a perfect knowledg of Divine Truth from whence all Virtue and Holiness spring Which reminds me of another Quality of Man's Soul in the first Creation viz. its Righteousness or Holiness For God endued it not only with Understanding but with a Will which he adorned with Divine Graces and in these also consisteth the Image of God as we are ascertain'd by an inspired and infallible Writer who tells us that the new Man is created after God i. e. after the Image and Likeness of God in Righteousness and true Holiness Ephes. 4. 24. These give us the perfect resemblance of our Maker and imprint upon us the Divine and heavenly Image For these are principally placed in the Will in the elective Faculty of Man that noblest part of his Soul that Sovereign and Ruling Faculty of the mind Thus I have shew'd how the Soul of Man is justly said to be God's Image and Likeness namely as it is a Spiritual Immortal and Intelligent Being but chiefly as 't is capable of Religion and is indu'd with Divine Virtues and Graces By these it is that Man most of all resembles God and is truly bless'd and happy and is as 't were another God Princes stamp their Image on their Coin That which is choicest and most precious beareth their Effigies And so here the exactest Lineaments of the Divine Image are to be seen impress'd on this choice Part of Man which is the Seat of true Grace and Goodness God who is the chief Pulchritude would draw his own beautiful Image on the Soul that That on Earth might be a kind of Representative of Himself and a Pourtray of his own Divine Perfections 2. Tho the Image of God in which Man was made be seated chiefly in the rational Soul of Man yet it is imprinted also on his Body as Ireneus and some other Fathers have rightly asserted Not that the Body can resemble God as if God were of human Shape This we exploded before as absurd and ridiculous But the Image of God was on the Body of the first Man first as it was extraordinarily fair comely and beautiful It is true Adam's Body was made
of Earth but this Earth was marvelously refined and purified And this is implied if not express'd in Adam's Name and in the word which is used in the Original for the EARTH out of which he was taken For the import of the Hebrew Verb Adam whence is the Noun Adamah is not only rubuit he was red or ruddy and so Adam is as much as Edom rufus which was Esau's Name because he was ruddy when he was born Gen. 25. 25. but it is of a larger signification and is as much as splenduit That it bears this sense may be gathered from the word Adamdameth Levit. 13. 19. where it must be rendred shining or glistering or else the same thing there spoken of must be very white and very red as Bochart hath noted Hieroz P. 2. l. 5. c. 6. Sometimes Adam is as much as formosus fuit Thus of the temperate and healthful Nazarites it is said Lam. 4. 7. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 they were ruddy i. e. they were fair whence Arias Montanus renders it nitidi fuere And so the word Admoni which comes from the Verb Adam is taken in this sense as in 1 Sam. 16. 12. where 't is said of David that he was ruddy i. e. beautiful as is explain'd in the following words Thus Edom of the very same extraction is understood in Cant. 5. 10. where the Spouse saith of her Beloved that he is ruddy i. e. he is comely he is one of a beautiful Aspect And I could here add that the Verb Adam in other Languages bears this meaning thus Bochart acquaints us that in Arabick it is as much as splendere And by Ludolphus we are ascertain'd that in Ethiopick it signifies formosum pulchrum esse In the Latin I could observe something like this for rutilare in its more general signification is splendidum esse So purpureus is the same with splendidus pulcher whence purpureus capillus and purpurei olores I know no Oriental word that comes so near to this as Chur which is both albus fuit and erubuit And the reason I conceive is this both these colours white and red have a great deal of light mixed with them therefore the signification of them is alike and they both of them denote that which is fair and bright And as it is thus with the Hebrew Verb Adam so proportionably the Substantive Adamah doth not only signify red Earth as if it were so called from its red Colour because it is said that that was the native hew of the Earth in the East Country And Iosephus the learned Iew speaking of Adam's Make relates that the natural Mould call'd Virgin-Earth is of a red or yellow Complexion So we have a small County in England that carries Red Earth in its Name because the Soil is generally reddish but the word is of a larger extent and signifies that Earth which is bright and shining and is of the best and purest sort So that when it is said that Adam was form'd out of Adamah there is meant by this word that Earth which was of the purest and finest Composition And to this purpose it may be further observ'd that whereas other Animals are said to be made out of aretz common Earth Gen. 1. 24 25. it is particularly recorded that the first Man was made out of Adamah a peculiar and choice sort of Ground ex meliâ—re luto as the Poet speaking of this very thing fitly expresses it yea out of the dust of this ground Gen. 2. 7. i. e. the finest and most agile part of it All which is an eviction of what I at first asserted concerning the Materials of Adam's Body This was the true Terra Sigillata this was the Earth which God set his Mark and Image on that it might be known whose it was Adam in his Body as well as in his Soul outvied all his Race I attend not to the prodigious Stories which some fanciful Rabbies and Talmudick Doctors tell us of the strange Beauty and Elegancy and of the vast Proportions of Adam's Body Rabbi Solomon Iarchi avers that Adam was so tall that standing on the Earth he could touch the Heavens with his hand And several other such romantick Passages in the Writings of these fond Men I disregard nay those that are sober among themselves give no credit to it but understand it in a mystical manner for some of them tell us that when it is said Adam's Stature reached from one end of the Earth to the other it is to be understood of the Perfection of his Mind that he knew and comprehended the Nature of all things contained in the World but it is certain that as Adam's Soul was made a Transcript of God himself so his Body was framed in a most exquisite manner and the Divine Art and Skill were wonderfully discovered in the shaping of it For as Philo saith We are begot of Men but God himself made Adam The Author being better the Work must be more excellent Yea this must be said that all of us having been in Adam's Loins are part of that excellent Workmanship and have the same Image stamped upon us that Adam had We are all marked and sealed by the Divine Hand his own Impression and Signature are upon us even upon our corporeal part tho 't is true it was much defac'd by the Primitive Aopstacy Secondly The Body of Adam was God's Image as it was made Immortal He was created in full Strength and as a Person of a just Age healthful sound and flourishing For his Body was not like those of Beasts weak and corruptible but was made to be of perpetual Duration obnoxious to no Decays Diseases or Changes If Man had stood entire and kept his Innocence this had been his condition But this Image was restored to him and us who are his Posterity and not only our Souls but Bodies shall everlastingly subsist Thus by their Immortality and eternal Continuance they partake in some measure of the Divine Nature and Likeness Thirdly In the Body of Man as well as in his Soul the Image of God consisteth because the Soul worketh on the Body and by it Hence the Members of the Body are said to be Instruments of Righteousness Rom. 6. 13. As they are instrumental to so excellent a purpose as they are subservient to Grace and Holiness and as the Virtues of the Holy Spirit are exerted by them they are part of the Image of God For it is not to be questioned that the whole Man is God's Image Therefore tho the Divine Likeness doth not equally shine in all Parts yet this corporeal Part of Man in some degree shareth in that Image For which reason the Bodies of good Men are stiled the Temples of the Holy Ghost 1 Cor. 6. 19. Fourthly God's Image is on the Body of Man as it is of that particular erect Figure which no living Creature else partaketh of Aristotle was so much
a Divine as to apprehend and acknowledg this Man only saith he of all the Animals was made upright because his Nature and Substance are Divine For this particular Figure represented the inward Uprightness and Rectitude which he was created in The Frame of the Body was to signify the Quality of the Soul The outward Man was made an Hieroglyphick of the inward Temper and Disposition of the Mind Again this erect Shape represented the Sovereâ—gnty and Power of Man over all other Animals For being not made in that low and groveling posture which these are in it is a sign he was to be distinguish'd from them and to be made a Ruler over them Which brings me to the next thing I propounded 3. God's Image in Man consisteth in his Dominion over the Creatures Observe therefore that when God had said Let us make Man in our Image after our Likeness it immediately follows Let him have dominion over the Fish of the Sea and over the Fowl of the Air c. So God created Man in his own Image Gen. 1. 26 27. Which intimates to us as St. Basil St. Chrysostom and other Fathers agree on that place that Man's Dominion over the Creatures was the Image and Representation of God's Principality and Soveraignty God constituted him Lord of the Earth and Governour over all things in it he made him Prince of the whole Creation Universal Lord and Emperor and there is nothing but is made subject to him Which David sets forth thus in Psal. 8. 6 7 8. Thou madest him to have Dominion over the Works of thy Hands thou hast put all things under his feet All Sheep and Oxen yea and the Beasts of the Field i. e. Beasts which are untamed and wild the Fowl of the Air and the Fish of the Sea and whatsoever passeth through the Paths of the Sea Here is part of God's Image and Likeness And this Power which Adam had over all Animals was exerted and manifested afterwards in a very visible and notable Instance viz. when he callâ—d them all together and gave Names to them The Lord God brought them to him by giving him this Power to summon them and to cause them to appear before him at his pleasure And when they were come Adam strook a terror into the fiercest of them At the sight of him they stood astonished the wildest of them for some may be said in comparison of others to be wild grew tame and gentle and adored him as their Lord and Ruler There is seated in the Nature of Man faith Cornelius Agrippa a certain Power of Dominion from that dread which he is able to strike into other Creatures This remains in Man at this day and he might exert it if he knew how to make use of it There is a certain Terrifick Character impress'd on Man by the Creator by which all Creatures stand in aw of him as the Image of his Creator If a Man could exercise this Power aright he might work Wonders in the World So he But the Power which Adam had over the Creatures was discover'd not only in making them appear and stand submissive before him but also in his giving of Names to them The Imposition of Names saith a learned Father was a Token of his Authority and Dominion over the Creatures as when Men buy Servants they change their Names and give them new ones this shews that they are Lords over them And there is something of this perhaps in Adam's giving the Woman her Name She shall be called Woman saith he which may imply his Primitive Power and Authority over her But tho I propound this only as probable yet the other is past all doubt viz. that Man had and hath an Empire over the inâ—erior Creatures and herein the Image of God partly consisteth Chrysostâ—m as I have said imbraceth this Opinion but therein is mistaken that the Image of God in Man is nothing else but this Dominion And he would prove it from 1 Cor. 11. 7. where the Apostle speaking of the behaviour of Christians in the Assemblies saith The Man must be uncovered on his head because he is the Image and Glory of God Uncovering was a sign of Liberty and Dominion so that the Image of God in Man is that Dominion and Superiority which God hath given him over the Woman and all things else This is but poor proof and not worth the refuting Besides that according to this Father the Image of God is peculiar to Man and the other Six is wholly excluded Which sheweth this to be a fanciful and groundless Opinion for Man and Woman are both of the same Nature in the considerations of Religion and with respect to so great and important a thing as the Divine Image is This Opinion that God's Image consists wholly or chiefly in Man's Soveraignty over the Creatures is espoused by the Socinians and strongly maintain'd by them You will find Socinus himself and Volkelius and others asserting in express terms that the Image of God is placed solely or principally in Dominion But tho this be apparently false and asserted by those Men only to uphold a belov'd Doctrin of theirs yet there is reason to believe that that Power over the rest of the Creatures which God invested Man with is part of the Divine Image Man doth eminently resemble God in this Prerogative In his presiding and ruling over them he is a lively representation of him who is the King and Ruler of all Thus you see this Image of God in Man is a complex thing It is not only in the Soul or in the Body or in Power and Dominion but it is in all of them together in opposition to those different Parties who place it in one of them singly as Origen and Theâ—doret in perfect Knowledg and Wisdom Clement of Alexandria in perfect Holines Chrysostom as you have heard and Cyril of Alexandria in Dominion over the Creatures and maugre the wild Opinion of another antient Writer who holds this Image of God is neither in Man's Body nor Soul nor in any thing else that is known to us it is not it cannot be determin'd in what it consisteth Soon after Adam and Eve were made by God and thus adorned with his Image they were placed in the Garden of Eden Gen. 2. 8. i. e. a Garden of Delight or Pleasure for so much the Hebrâ—w word denoteth Paradise is the word used by the Septuagint and is of Hebrew some say of Persian original and signifieth a place inclosed for Pleasure and Delight whether it be a Park where Beasts do range or a spot of Ground stock'd with choice Plants which is properly a Garden or curiously set with Trees yielding all manner of Fruits which is an Orchard And the word is here fitly applied to the pleasant Plantation wherein our first Parents were placed by God This was not only a delightful
follow'd with the perfect enjoyment of Good and the violating of it with the experience of all Evil of Sin and Punishment It was to signify what they should know by eating viz. the difference between the Evil of Disobedience and the God of the contrary Or thus it was the Tree of Knowledg of Good and Evil i. e. of the Good they had before and of the Evil which was to ensue upon eating They should experimentally find what Good they lost and what Evil they fell into So that it is probable this Tree had its name from the Event and Effect of it It taught them by experience what Good and Evil was for after Man had sinn'd in eating that forbidden Fruit he saw and felt what Happiness he had lost and what Misery he had procured Some have been so curious as to enquire and so bold as to determine what particular Tree and Fruit this was It was and Apple-tree say some and they would make it probable from Cant. 8. 5. It was the Vine saith Vossius It was the Indian Fig-tree saith Goropius Becanus Most say it was a Fig-tree with the Leaves of which Adam and Eve covered their nakedness as soon as they had eaten of the Fruit. Theodoret stiffly maintains this Opinion and saith This was the reason why Christ cursed the Fig-tree Athanasius with others incline to this belief but there is no ground for it it must only pass as a Conjecture And so that Father grants in his Answer to that Demand What Tree was it of which Adam eat the Fruit No Man saith he is able exactly to discover that which the Scripture hath wilfully conceal'd The grand thing which we are to mind and which is the principal thing in this first Oeconomy is this that it was God's pleasure that the Fruit of that Tree whatever it was should not be meddled with and therefore straitly charged Adam and his Consort that they should not dare to touch it God might reasonably act after this manner For first as an antient Writer saith on this Subject God dispenseth all things sutably to the particular Time and measureth his Institutions by the Abilities and Powers of Men. Therefore he gave that Command of not eating of this Tree to Adam as it were to a new-born Babe He dealt with our first Parents as with Infants and Children he tried them by mean and low things as most agreeable to their nature But secondly tho he was thus pleased to prohibit them the Fruit of one single Tree yet this was highly accountable if you consider that God gave them the use of all the rest of the Trees in Paradise Of every Tree in the Garden thou mayest freely eat Gen. 2. 16. there was only this one Tree excepted and reserved Here was Liberty and Indulgence sufficient And they might well have contented themselves in the injoyment of it Besides the Creator can lay what Restraints he pleaseth on his Creatures He that made both them and the Garden could justly bar them of any thing which that place afforded Therefore God gave them this Precept to shew his Dominion over them as he was their Maker and Lord. He would let them see by this little Command his absolute Soverainty over them as a pious Father speaks Again God having made them reasonable and indowed them with a power or freedom of choice he might justly exercise that Faculty and put them to an actual trial of it which could not be done but by proposing something to their choice As they had a rational Nature and free Will given them by God they were able to keep that Law of Abstinence and therefore it was not unjust in God yea it was just and fit to impose this upon them as they were free and reasonable Beings This shews the reason of this positive Law which was given them to try their Obedience Likewise it was very reasonable and equitable Command that seeing God had conâ—err'd on them so many Benefits and Blessings they should be limited as to a single one that thereby they might shew their Thankfulness to God for all the rest In the next place consider also that God particularly told them what he expected from them when he gave them a Prohibition about the Tree He assured them that if they ventured to eat of it it should cost them their Lives or more emphatically in the Original they should die the death Here was fair warning and they had time to consider of it and they were sensible how greatly they were obliged to God and how just and reasonable a thing it was to observe his first and original Law that which was matrix omnium praeceptorum as Tertullian calls it yea to obey God in whatsoever he commanded Fifthly To the revealed Laws under the State of Integrity we must refer the Covenant of Works For we may gather from the Sacred Writings that there was a mutual Agreement or federal Compact between God and our first Parents wherein he promis'd to them Eternal Life and Happiness on condition of their perfect Obedience to his Laws and on the contrary Death was threatned if they disobey'd as we have heard already It is true it is not expresly call'd a Covenant in Genesis but it was one for God gave Man a Law and back'd it with Threatnings and Promises and Man agreed and consented to it which is the formal nature of a Covenant Not are we to think that those two Persons and no more were under this Dispensation Altho only Adam and Eve were in actual being at that time yet all Mankind were included in them and represented by them and therefore are to be reckon'd as under that Dispensation For God having created our first Parents without Sin and with knowledg of their Duty and strength to do it he made a Covenant or Agreement with them not only in behalf of themselves but of all their Posterity It was covenanted that if they and their Race continued in Obedience they should never die but be always blessed and happy but if they disobey'd the Divine Command they should be subject to Death and be every way wretched and miserable It is certain they consented and agreed to this for in that State of Integrity what God propounded to them could not but be acceptable God would offer that which was just and equitable as he was God Our first Parents would not disagree to it as they were induâ—d with a perfect understanding and knew that what their Maker propounded was most reasonable They could not but approve of the Condition on their part viz. Obedience and they could not but accept of the Reward promis'd on God's part viz. endless Happiness That they fully consented to the Contract in the name of themselves and their Posterity is demonstrable from many passages in Holy Writ as that Hos. 6. 7. They like Adam for so it is the Hebrew have transgress'd the Covenant which refers to God's Covenant
which the Apostles were falsly accused for viz. that they turned the World upside down may truly be attributed to our first Parents they have by their wilâ—ul disobedience perverted the Order of Nature and disturbed the Course of the World It is by their means become a Place of Disorder and Confusion a Stage of Affliction and Misery a Scene of Sorrows Losses Disappointments Poverty Reproach Diseases Pains Tortures and Plagues of all sorts This is Man's portion till he returns unto the Ground for out of it was he taken and unto it he shall return ver 19. Death is the last of all outward and bodily Evils this was threatned in Gen. 2. 17. In the day thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die Which place alone is sufficient to refute the Socinian Conceit that Man was mortal in his first state of Innocence and that thâ— he had not fallen yet he should have died We find here Mortality pronounc'd the Effect of Adam's Transgression In the day that thou eatest of the foâ—bidden Fruit and thereby â—innest against thy Maker thou shalt surely die i. e. thou shalt immediately become subject to Death and afterwards it shall actually be inflicted on thee So we are to understand these words according to that of Theodoret God here callâ—th the Sentence of Mortality Death And so Chrysostâ—m on the place Man is said saith he to die in that the Sentence of Death is pronounc'd against him It was God's Mercy to reprieve him that he might have time to repent But he was a dead Man at first as a condemned Malefactor is reckon'd a dead Man tho his Execution be respiâ—ed for a time So is it with the whole Race of Adam they are obnoxious to Death they have the Sentence of it upon them and they daily incur that Penalty by their Sins The Great Judg is pleas'd to spare them for a time but at last the Sentence is executed on them Their Nature being corrupted and poison'd by the Fall at length the Venom and Virulency of it break forth the contrary Qualities which have been long fighting within them destroy them in the close or in some other manner their Bodies sink into the Grave and stench and rottenness are their Portion The Inward and Spiritual Evils which are the Consequences of the Fall are yet more grievous and direful Not only the Bodies but the Souls of all Adam's Race feel the cursed Effects of his Apostacy from God Hereby the Rational and Divine Moiety of Man which was the chief and noblest part of his Constitution was corrupted its original Rectitude and primitive Righteousness were defaced and all the Powers and Faculties of his Mind miserably depraved First His intellectual Powers are impaired by Ignorance and Error the Notions of Good and Evil are much obliterated Reason is weakned and can hardly do its office Man understanding not must needs be like the Beasts for it is this Faculty which differenceth him from that rank of Beings It was said of old that Man is a wise Creature And he was so questionless in the state of his first Creation and Primitive Innocency but since his vile Defection he is sunk into folly and sottishness He confutes all his Pretences and baffles all his Boastings of Knowledg and Wisdom for when he should give experiment of them he discovers plainly that he is possessor of no such thing but that his rational part is much enfeebled and that he hath very â—alse and erroneous conceptions of things especially of those which relate to the Kingdom of God Thus Man's Head is hurt by the Fall His Heart likewise his Will and Affections are exceedingly endamag'd by it There is a strange Impotency in our elective Faculty we are not only disabled in a great measure from chusing Good but we have an aversion in us to God and Goodness and an inclination on the contrary to comply with Satan and to do whatever is displeasing to our Marker We are taken captive by Satan at his will for we have lost our Liberty and we have not so much sense as to bemoan our loss This is our condition by Nature abstracted from the blessed Remedy which we have by Christ Iesus and the powerful Influences of the Holy Spirit As for our Affections and Passions they are miserably disâ—orted and dislocated they continually sally forth to undue Objects they are unruly and extravagant and put us into great disorder and disâ—raction And indeed we cannot wonder that they are very refractory and headstrong when they have slipt off that Bridle which right Reason had put upon them Our Love and Hatred our Desires our Fears our Hopes our Joys our Anger our Sorrows are all unbridled and ungovern'd they hurry us into mischief they fill us with perturbation they make us uneasy restless and unquiet and they end in vanity and vexation of Spirit These disorders in the Understanding Will and Affections make way for more visible ones in the actions of mens Lives Hence proceed Idolatry Prophaneness Blasphemy Perjury Injustice Theft Rapine Violence Slaughter Murder Drunkenness Luxury Whoredom and all kind of Lasciviousness in short Sins of all degrees Vices of all dimensions Thus it was rightly said by the Royal Prophet that Man in his lapsed condition is become like the Beasts he is sunk below his own Species He that listned to a Brute the Serpent is become like one Man the Flower and Glory of the Creation resembleth the Beasts He is as sly and crafty as a Fox as lustful and salacious as a Goat as fierce as a Lion as savage as a Bear as ravenous as a Wolf as gluttonous as a Swine as angry and barking as a Dog and sometimes as stupid and dull as an Ass. Thus Man is become like the Beasts which this Psalmist takes notice of in other places likewise where you find him representing wicked Men as fat Bulls devouring Dragons roaring Lions ravenous Dogs And this good King acknowledgeth even concerning himself that so far as he had acted sinfully against God he was not only foolish and ignorant but even as a Beast before him So Agur i. e. as some think Solomon who had been a notorious Offender confesseth that he was more brutish than any one Prov. 30. 2. The New Testament also speaks after this manner Christ calls false Prophets ravenous Wolves and Herod a Fox And Iohn Baptist stiles the wicked Jews Vipers St. Paul calls his Adversaries whom he grappled with at Ephesus Beasts he stiles false Teachers grievous Wolves and Dogs and he thanks God that he was delivered out of the Mouth of the Lion meaning Nero. And the Apocalyptick Beast is to be understood of the vilest and wickedest Body of Men under Heaven This too was the Notion and Phrase of the best Moralist among the Platonists and Stoicks They held that wicked men are a kind of Brutes that Vice transforms them into mere sensitive Animals
a brighter Day and the Industry of a farther Age shall bring to light those things that now lie hid in darkness The time will come when our Posterity shall wonder that we were ignorant of things which were so plain and intelligible This Prediction is now fulfill'd we have a clear Discovery of many Secrets which were kept from former Ages we have fresh Experiments by which the Stock of Notions is greatly improved and advanced Diligent Researches at home and Travels into remote Countries have produced new Observations and Remarks unheard-of Discoveries and Inventions Thus we surpass all the times that have been before us and it is highly probable that those that succeed will far surpass these in all manner of human Literature And why a proportionable Improvement in Divine Knowledg and in Moral and Christian Endowments may not be expected I confess I don't understand Can there be any Reason given why God should not prosper Religion as well as Arts Why we may not look for increase of knowledge in the Church as well as in matteâ—s that relate only to Nature Why there may not be a Perfection of Understanding in the one as well as in the other I am sensible that it will be said here and that with Truth that the daily decay of the World as to intellectual and moral qualities is believ'd and held by some very great Men yea they tell us that the natural Frame and Constitution of it wax old It is certain that the Iews had this apprehension The World hath lost its Youth and the times begin to wax old And again The World shall be weaker through Age. The Hebrew Doctors and Rabbins cry out that the Generations grow worse every Day and Knowledg is more and more decreased And what a vast difference they make between the Antients and Moderns may be seen in another Proverbial Saying One mail of our Forefather's Fingers is better than the main Body of them that come after them And we may learn from another Adage of theirs how exceedingly they prefer the former days before the latter The Heart of our Predecessors say they was like the Gate of the Outward Court in amplitude but the Heart of their Successors is like the Gate of the Temple which was far less but ours is like the eye of a Needle least of all And several other Sayings they have to this purpose that the World is impair'd and grows worse and worse and that the further we are removed from the beginning the more we decline But who knows not that hath convers'd with these Gentlemen that they are very fanciful and capricious and that they either out of prejudice or discontent pronounce what they please of any thing so that their approbation or dislike is not to be a Standard to any Man's thoughts and sentiments And as to the Texts before cited they refer to the Iweish State which is foretold to be mean and low and running to decay and therefore no general Judgment can be made thence Among some of the Pagans likewise there was this Notion that the World was decaying as to Men and Manners Damnosa quid non imminuit dies AEtas parentum pejor avis tulit Nos nequiores mox daturos Progeniem vitiosiorem And they particularly alledg the Stature of Men to confirm their Opinion thus Lucretius Iamque adeâ— fracta est â—tas effâ—tque tellus Vix animalia parvacreat quâ— cuncta creavâ—t Sâ—cla deditque fâ—r arum ingentia corpora partu According to him all Animals as well as Man himself were at first formed out of their Mother Earth but since that time the procreative Virtue of the Earth is worn out and the kindly heat and moisture are gone and Nature is grown feeble and therefore Men and other Creatures have not that bulk and size which they were famed for in the days of yore So Pliny the Naturalist had a Conceit of the Senescency of the World and the declension of Nature and he instances in the Stature of Men. The same doth Aulus Gellius and complains of the Decrescency and Wearing away of Things and Men. This was founded on what they had heard or read concerning Giants heretofore the notice of whom might be derived to them not only from their own Authors but from the Sacred Writings which mention Og King of Bashan and Goliah of Gath and the Zummim Zanzummim Anakim Emim who were of a vast Procerity Whence they gather that the World is decay'd because we see no such People now adays But such consequences are easily silenc'd if we consider first that some of their own Authors are of little Credit or Repute and many reports of Giants are Poetical Inventions So if you will believe Geoffery of Monmouth and some other fabulous Writers Albion now call'd Britain the Isle which we inhabit was kept only by a Remnant of Giants Secondly those Writers that we can depend upon especially the Sacred Penmen tho they assure us that there were such big and tall Men yet they represent it as a very rare and uncommon thing they give us to understand that the number of those huge Persons was very small whence we gather that tho there were none such now in being it doth not alter the case of the World considerably But thirdly it appears that since those times spoken of by antient Historians there have been and even at this time are some of that large â—ize Modern Travellers of good esteem and credit ascertain us that there are Giants in some particular Countries which overthrows the vain Conceit of those that found the Decay of the World on a supposal that none but the former Ages afforded Gigantick Folks But the truth of the matter is this that tho Countries differ as to their size of Men nay tho some are in the same Country of a large others of a lesser Proportion yet the Stature of Men was not generally higher and bigger heretofore than it is now All People are for the most part of the same heighth and breadth that they were three thousand Years ago and upwards as is demonstrated by Doctor Hackwill and others from the Vrns and Rings and several other Antiquities which have been derived to after-Ages There is no Decay then as to this I might observe further that some of the Christian Perswasion as well as Iews and Pagans have asserted and defended Nature's universal Decay Some of the Antient Writers of the Church have inclin'd this way but Cyprian is very positive You must know this in the first place saith he that the World is now arrived to its old Age it hath not that force and virtue that strength and vigour which it was endued with heretofore And he goes on to instance both in natuâ—â—â— aâ—d moral things wherein he thinks this Defâ—ction and Failure may be seen Among some of the Moderns this Sentiment hath prevail'd and I will mention only two of them and they are of