11 Or doings, from thy ungodly ^ays.
50. Look well to it, stop not thy mind and
understanding; when thy mind saith Turn, do
8 the evil. 2 it not, then know that thou art so called by
the dear virgin ; and turn instantly, and consider
where thou art lodged, in how hard a house of
bondage thy soul lieth imprisoned ; seek thy
native country, from whence thy soul is wandered,
and whither it ought to return again.
8 the counsel 51. And then if thou wilt follow3 it, thou wilt
of God. find in thyself, not only after this life, but in
this life also in thy regeneration, that she will
very worthily meet thee, and out of what kind of
spirit this author hath written.
THE SEVENTEENTH CHAPTER
Of the horrible, lamentable, and miserable Fall
of Adam and Eve in Paradise.
Man's Looking-Glass.
1. ~f~F the gate of the deep were not opened to
me in my mind (so that I can see the
strife that is against the kingdom of God) then
I should also suppose, that the matter [of the
fall] was merely a disobedience about the biting
of an apple, as the text in Moses barely passeth it
over, though Moses hath written wholly rightly.
22. For [the matter] was about the earthly eating
and drinking, wherewith the paradisical man was
captivated by the spirit of this world, which now
must qualify [or mix] with all men. This the
Holy Scripture witnesseth, and also reason, that
man is not at home in the elementary kingdom of
this world. For Christ said, My kingdom is not
of this world : And to his Apostles he said, /
have called you out from this world : Also, Flesh
and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God.
3. Also we see that the kingdom of this world
dieth to man, and [passeth away or] breaketh.
369 24
370
THE THREE PRINCIPLES [Ch. 17
1 Before the
fall.
2 Or fragile.
* Or stirring
property of
the four
elements.
Seeing then, that Adam did bear the image of
the kingdom of God (which was eternal and
incorruptible, and stood in paradise) therefore
we can with no ground say, that he *did bear
the image of the kingdom of this world. For
this world is transitory and 2 corruptible : But the
image in Adam was not transitory, or corruptible.
Also if we will say, that Adam (before his fall)
lived in the source [or property] of the four
elements, then we can no way maintain that
Adam was not a corruptible image. For at the
end, the four elements must pass away, and go into
the eternal element.
34. Besides, he would have been subject to the
3 source, for heat and cold would have ruled over
him ; which we may see plainly in Moses, that God
first after the fall (by the spirit or angel of the
counsel of this world) made clothes of skins, and
put them [then first] upon them ; as the veil of
Moses doth cover it, that men cannot see his face,
as is to be seen by [the people of] Israel. Besides,
if he had been merely of earth, and of the four
elements, then he might have been burnt in the
fire, or drowned in the water, and be stifled in the
air ; also wood and stone could have bruised him
and destroyed him, and yet it is written, that he
[the Adamical man] at the day of the restitution
shall pass through the fire, and be approved, and
the fire shall not hurt him.
5. Now no other man shall rise [again] but that
Ch. 17] OF THE FALL OF ADAM AND EVE 371
which God created in the beginning; for he is
created out of the eternal will, as to his soul, which
was breathed into him ; and his body is created
out of the eternal element, which was and is
paradise ; and the four issues (of the four elements)
out of the one [eternal] element, l are this world, 1 Or constiwherein Adam was not created.
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.