1concerning the hidden things that were in Adam
190 THE THREE PRINCIPLES [Ch. 11
before his fall, and that yet there are much greater
after his fall, when he was as it were dead, and yet
1 Or continual living ; and here is shewn the l birth of the eternal
essence, and wherefore it still must thus have been,
that Adam must have been tempted, and wherefore
it could not have been otherwise ; though reason
2speaketh continually 2gainsayeth it, and allegeth God's
against it. . . . .' , . ,
omnipotency, that it was in him to hinder, or
suffer the doing of it.
30. Beloved reason, leave off your thoughts, for
with these thoughts and conceits you know not
God, nor the eternity. Then how will you with
such thoughts know the similitude which God
generated out of the eternal mind ? It hath here
been sundry times mentioned to you, that the
mind (which yet is the greatest essence in man)
3 in a working doth not stand 3 in a source.
is fre^. ' 31. If we think of [or consider] the incliner,
2what that was which inclined and drew Adam
to that which was forbidden, that he should lust
contrary to the command of God, whereas he
was yet in great perfection, then we shall find
the eternal mind, out of which Adam was also
created ; and that because he was an extract out
of the eternal mind, out of all essences of all the
three Principles, therefore he must be tempted
[to try] whether he could stand in paradise : For
the Heart of God desired that he should continue
in paradise, but now he could not continue in
paradise, except he did eat paradisical fruit ;
Ch. llj CIRCUMSTANCES OF THE TEMPTATION 191
therefore now his Heart should have been wholly
1 inclined towards God ; and so he should have 1 given up to
lived in the divine centre, and God had wrought
in him.
32. Now what opposed him, or what drew him
from paradise to disobedience, so that he passed
into another image [form or condition] ? Behold,
thou child of man, there was a threefold strife in
Adam, without Adam, and in all whatsoever
Adam beheld. Thou wilt say, What was it ? It
was the three Principles ; first, the kingdom of
hell, the power of the wrath ; and secondly, the
kingdom of this world, with the stars and elements ;
and thirdly, the kingdom of paradise, that desired
to have him.
33. Now these three kingdoms were in Adam,
3and also 2 without him ; and in the 3 essences there 2 extra.
was a mighty strife, all drew as well in Adam as t
without Adam, and would fain have him ; for he
was a great lord [come] out of all the [powers or]
virtues of nature. The Heart of God desired to
have him in paradise, and [would] dwell in him ;
for it said, it is my image and similitude. And
the kingdom of wrath [and of the fierce tartness]
would also have him ; for it said, he is mine, and
he is [proceeded] out of my fountain, out of the
eternal mind of the darkness ; I will be in him,
and he shall live in my might, for he is generated
out of [that which is] mine ; I will, through him,
shew great and strong power. The kingdom of
192 THE THREE PRINCIPLES [Ch. 11
this world said, he is mine ; for he beareth my
image, and he liveth in [that which is] mine, and
I in him ; he must be obedient to me, I will tame
him and compel him, I have all my members in
him, and he in me ; I am greater than he, he must
1 Or steward, be my l householder, I will shew my fair wonders
and virtues in him, he must manifest my wonders
and virtues, he shall keep and manage my herds,
I will clothe him with my fair glory ; as now it is
to be seen.
34. But when the kingdom of the fierceness, of
the wrath, of death, and of hell, saw that it had
lost, and could not keep man, then it said, I am
2 mws. 2 death, and a worm, and my virtue [or power] is in
The source text as printed, transcribed diplomatically. Where the source language uses a non-Latin script that reaches us only through a Victorian romanisation, this layer is labelled transliteration, because that is what we hold.