Concerning the Three Principles of the Divine Essence
2. Indeed Moses writeth, That God made man of the dust of the earth. And that is the opinion of very many : And I should also not have known how that was to be understood, and I should not have learned it out of Moses, nor out of the
1 expositions, * glosses which are made upon it ; and the veil or interpreta- .
tions of it. would have continued still before my eyes, yet in great trouble. But when I found the Pearl, then I looked Moses in the face, and found that Moses had written very rightly, and that I had not rightly understood it.
3. For after the fall God said also to Adam and Eve, Earth thou art, and to earth thou shall return again : And if I had not considered the
2 the power, 2 limbus (out of which the earth was), 1 should or the eternal , . ... mi _.. _ n .
substantiality. nave been so blind still: inat \_hmous] shewed me the ground of what Adam was before and after the fall.
4. For no such earth or flesh as we carry aboutOh. 10] THE CREATION OF MAN, AND HIS SOUL 153 us can subsist in the light of God : Therefore also
Christ said, None goeth to heaven, but the Son of
Man who is come from heaven, and who is in heaven. Thus our flesh before the fall was heavenly, out of the heavenly limbus. But when disobedience came, in the lust of this world, to generate itself in another centre, then it [the flesh] became earthly ; for by the biting of the earthly apple in the Garden of Eden, the earthly dominion [or kingdom] took its beginning : And the mother of the great world instantly took the
1 little world into its power [or virtue], and made l man.
it to be of a bestial 2kind, both in 3form and 2 Or property.
in substance. 'shape.
5. And if the soul had not been * within it, then 4 Or in the Adam would have continued to be an unreasonable centre of it. beast ; but being the soul out of the limbus had been breathed into Adam by the Holy Ghost, therefore now the 5 mercifulness (viz. the Heart of 5 Bannhcrtn j\ 1-1 • ii« • i zigkcit.
broct) must do its nest again, and bring again the centre out of the heavenly limbus, and himself become flesh, and by the Fiat generate the new man in the soul, which is hidden in the old. For the old belongeth only to the corruptibility, and goeth into its ether, and the new remaineth for ever. But how this came to pass, you have the following fundamental information of it, wherein, if you be regenerated from God, you may see the old and new man into the very heart, because you have the Pearl ; but if not, then you shall scarce seep. 154 here the old Adam, and you shall not so much as look upon the new.
6. The veil of Moses must be done away, and you must look Moses in the face, if you will behold the new man ; and without the Pearl, you shall not be able to take away the veil, nor know [what] Adam [was] before his fall. For Adam himself after the fall did no more know the first man ; and therefore he was ashamed of his monstrous form [or shape], and hid himself behind the trees in the garden ; for he looked on himself, and saw that he had a bestial form, and thereupon he gat instantly bestial members for propagation, which the Fiat in the third Principle created on him, through the spirit of the great world.
7. Men must not think, that man before his fall had bestial members to propagate with, but
1 Or guts. heavenly [members], nor any Entrails ; for such a stink, and [filthy] source [or property], as man hath in his body, doth not belong to the Holy Trinity in paradise, but to the earth ; it must go again into its ether. But man was created immortal, and also holy, like the angels ; and being he was created out of the limbus, therefore he was pure. Now in what manner he is, and out of what he was made, it followeth further :
8. Behold, when God had created the third Principle, after the fall of the devils, when they fell from their glory (for they had been angels, standing in the place of this world) yet neverthelessCh. 10] THE CREATION OF MAN, AND HIS SOUL 155 he would that his will and purpose should stand ;
2. Indeed Moses writes, That God made man of the dust of the earth. And that is the opinion of very many : And I should also not have known how that was to be understood, and I should not have learned it out of Moses, nor out of the
1 expositions, * glosses which are made upon it ; and the veil or interpreta- .
tions of it. would have continued still before my eyes, yet in great trouble. But when I found the Pearl, then I looked Moses in the face, and found that Moses had written very rightly, and that I had not rightly understood it.
3. For after the fall God said also to Adam and Eve, Earth you are, and to earth you shall return again : And if I had not considered the
2 the power, 2 limbus (out of which the earth was), 1 should or the eternal , . ... mi _.. _ n .
substantiality. nave been so blind still: inat \_hmous] showed me the ground of what Adam was before and after the fall.
4. For no such earth or flesh as we carry about
Oh. 10] THE CREATION OF MAN, AND HIS SOUL 153 us can subsist in the light of God : Therefore also
Christ said, None goes to heaven, but the Son of
Man who is come from heaven, and who is in heaven. Thus our flesh before the fall was heavenly, out of the heavenly limbus. But when disobedience came, in the lust of this world, to generate itself in another centre, then it [the flesh] became earthly ; for by the biting of the earthly apple in the Garden of Eden, the earthly dominion [or kingdom] took its beginning : And the mother of the great world instantly took the
1 little world into its power [or virtue], and made l man.
it to be of a bestial 2kind, both in 3form and 2 Or property.
in substance. 'shape.
5. And if the soul had not been * within it, then 4 Or in the Adam would have continued to be an unreasonable centre of it. beast ; but being the soul out of the limbus had been breathed into Adam by the Holy Ghost, therefore now the 5 mercifulness (viz. the Heart of 5 Bannhcrtn j\ 1-1 • ii« • i zigkcit.
broct) must do its nest again, and bring again the centre out of the heavenly limbus, and himself become flesh, and by the Fiat generate the new man in the soul, which is hidden in the old. For the old belongs only to the corruptibility, and goes into its ether, and the new remains for ever. But how this came to pass, you have the following fundamental information of it, wherein, if you be regenerated from God, you may see the old and new man into the very heart, because you have the Pearl ; but if not, then you shall scarce see
154 THE THREE PRINCIPLES [Ch. 10 here the old Adam, and you shall not so much as look upon the new.
6. The veil of Moses must be done away, and you must look Moses in the face, if you will behold the new man ; and without the Pearl, you shall not be able to take away the veil, nor know [what] Adam [was] before his fall. For Adam himself after the fall did no more know the first man ; and therefore he was ashamed of his monstrous form [or shape], and hid himself behind the trees in the garden ; for he looked on himself, and saw that he had a bestial form, and thereupon he gat instantly bestial members for propagation, which the Fiat in the third Principle created on him, through the spirit of the great world.
7. Men must not think, that man before his fall had bestial members to propagate with, but
1 Or guts. heavenly [members], nor any Entrails ; for such a stink, and [filthy] source [or property], as man has in his body, does not belong to the Holy Trinity in paradise, but to the earth ; it must go again into its ether. But man was created immortal, and also holy, like the angels ; and being he was created out of the limbus, therefore he was pure. Now in what manner he is, and out of what he was made, it follows further :
8. Behold, when God had created the third Principle, after the fall of the devils, when they fell from their glory (for they had been angels, standing in the place of this world) yet nevertheless
Ch. 10] THE CREATION OF MAN, AND HIS SOUL 155 he would that his will and purpose should stand ;