CHAPTER I.
Contents. Various Sentiments about the Primæval Serpent: Some say, ’twas a real Serpent; others say, the Passage is allegorical. Some make the Serpent to be Pleasure; others the Devil in the Natural Serpent. Reasons why Adam was not made beyond a Capacity of Sinning. Our first Parents arm’d with sufficient Power to stand: They knew no Enemy. Satan a compleat Orator. The Fatal Surrender. Satan’s triumphant Return from Eden. Serpent’s Head and Subtility. Intercourse between the Angelick and Human World. A Plea for our first Mother. Why Moses introduces a speaking Serpent. Method of Divine Government. Satan’s View. Reasons why Adam was created in a State of Trial. A strong Negative, sufficient to put the Tempter to flight. The Paradisaical Law guarded by the most powerful Sanction. The Opinion of Pagans and Mahometans about the Fall of Adam, &c. Why Satan punish’d under a visible Figure, viz. Serpent. Christ’s Death publish’d, before Sentence of Death past upon Adam. The Earth, a secondary Paradise. Moral Reflection.
The Manner of Sin’s first Entrance into our World, is inscrutable: The Subject is an Article of Lamentation, an Article that conducts us to Paradise indeed, but ’tis to Paradise lost; whence date the fatal Æra of all human Calamities. There, there in a blissful Field; Sin, the Plague of Hell, made its first Appearance on Earth: but as to the Mode of its Introduction, there is a Spread of impenetrable Darkness over the Face of that great Deep; after the most critical Disquisitions about it, the Difficulty remains unsolvable.
Men of Letters may give their Conjectures, but it seems to be one of those secret Things which belongs to him who is unsearchable, and whose ways are past finding out; therefore we should rather think, how to get Sin out of the World, than how it came in at first: The one would only prove what our Understandings could do, but the other would declare our Hearts, what they ought to be.
What this Serpent was, that triumph’d in Paradise, has been a Subject of long Debate, and the Learned are not yet agreed in their Verdict about it. I shall first lay down their various Opinions, and then give my own Conjectures.
Among the Jews, some took it for a real, natural Serpent, and did believe, it was endued with the Gift of Speaking; but because it deceived the Woman, was condemn’d to lose its vocal Tongue, to go upon its Belly, and feed upon Dust[[336]].
[336]. Joseph. Antiq. cap. i.
Others, who, not allowing the Privilege of Speech to a Brute, have turn’d the Mosaic History of Paradise into an Allegory, an Assemblage of Metaphors, or figurative Documents. Thus a certain learned Jew says, the Serpent, that seduced the Woman, was Pleasure; and forbidden Pleasure, when tasted, brought forth Death[[337]].
[337]. Philo Jud. de Mundi Opif.
But if this was the Case, could she be so properly said to be tempted by another, as to tempt herself? He adds, the Curse of the Serpent is not only to go upon its Breast, but, and thou shalt go upon thy Belly. q. d. “Since Pleasure was thy Desire, let the Pleasure of the Earth enter into it. The Belly, says the Allegorizer, is the Receptacle of most Pleasures of the Animal Kind.” Creatures that go upon four Feet, or more, are deem’d impure; and such is he, who is a Lover of terrene Pleasures; such a Person may be said, always to go upon his Belly, because he studies nothing more than its Gratification. Pleasure indeed, is attended with a Train of Allurements and Charms. Tarquin’s violent Pursuit of forbidden Pleasure, terminated, not only in the Ruin of his House, but Extirpation of Monarchy: Crœsus King of Lydia being conquer’d by Cyrus King of Persia, gave the Conqueror this Advice, If you would have the Lydians be your obedient Slaves, make them Slaves to Pleasure.
Nor is Philo alone in making the Serpent a Symbol of Pleasure, for Maimonides and others expound those historical Passages in the same manner; asking, Why should that Serpent be call’d a subtle Beast, if it were not in a figurative Sense? In favour of this Exposition, he quotes several Passages out of the Prophets, that are allow’d to be intirely allegorical[[338]]; and then adds, that in Moses’s Journal of the Creation, all things therein are not to be understood literally[[339]]. One of the most learned Fathers seems inclined to this Philonick Interpretation of Moses[[340]]. It is observable, that in reality, ’twas not the Pleasure of Eating which tempted the Woman, but an anxious Desire of greater Wisdom; which shews a more refined Taste in Eve, and overthrows the Hypothesis of Philo and Clemens.
[338]. More Nevochim, cap. xxix.
[339]. Ibid. p. 265, & 273.
[340]. Clem. Alexandrinus, who flourish’d in the second Age. Οφις αλληγορειται—ηδονη. Edit. col. p. 69. A. B. A. D. 1688.
Some Rabbinical Writers say, the Devil that deluded the Woman, came mounted upon a Serpent, in Bulk equal to a Camel, and known by the Name Sammael, an Evil Angel; called also by them, the Angel of the Dead, Prince of the aerial Region, and Chief of the Demons. Other Rabbies look upon him as the Prince of Angels; and believe, he is to preside at the last Judgment; for which Reason, they make him Offerings on the Day of solemn Expiation, to appease his Indignation[[341]]. ’Tis said, this Serpent eat the forbidden Fruit and did not die for it; the Woman inferred she might also eat, and not die.
[341]. Calmet in Verbum. Rab. Benach in Genes. iii.
Others there are, who will not allow the seducing Serpent to be an Animal, but the Devil himself in that Shape, who therefore in the sacred Writings is called the great Dragon, old Serpent, and Murderer from the Beginning. And some are of Opinion, he borrowed the Body of a real Serpent, which he made use of, as a Vehicle, thro’ which he instilled Poison into the Woman’s Mind: And if so, what occasion to say the Serpent was more subtle than any Beast?——Since the grand Enemy in tempting Eve, did not use the Craft of the Serpent, but his own Cunning, in the Management of that cruel Stratagem.
Those who are not pleased with such Ratiocinations, satisfy themselves with this, viz. That our first Parents, in whose Loins we were, transgrest, and made a Forfeiture of Paradise for themselves and Descendants; but the manner how they fell is not obvious, nor to be accounted for, in a State of Imperfection.
If it be ask’d, Why did not the divine Goodness put our first Parents beyond a Capacity of sinning? ’tis answer’d,
That Mutability is essential to all Creatures, as such, in all their Kinds: In this mutable State our first Parents were created, holy and happy: Life and Death were set before them; they had freedom of Choice, a free-will to use the Powers of Nature as they pleased; that is, they were made in a State of Liberty, with a Power to determine for themselves, whether to abide or not in that glorious Situation. So that if there be a Difficulty in accounting for the Fall, there is as great a one in supposing a reasonable moral Creature uncapable of Choice: for where there is no Choice, there can be no Virtue; and where there is no Virtue, there can be no Happiness.
Again, Adam and Eve were arm’d with a sufficient Power to stand, being created after the divine Image pure and upright, without Error in their intellectual Powers; therefore if they mistook the Object, or were imposed upon, ’twas not for want of Light in the Mind, but want of Application of that Light, which was in their power.... Which Light told them, the Tree of Life planted in Paradise, was to perpetuate their Lives; and that the Tree that had the Marks of Death upon it, would do them no harm, but by doing their own Will, or the Will of any other in opposition to his sovereign Will who had said, Eat not.
They were created pure, and capable of Perseverance; and when they fell, God did not withdraw any Gift he had conferred upon them: He did all that was necessary on his Part for their Preservation, and they had remain’d safe, if their Liberty had but conducted itself aright: Their Liberty was not tied to any particular Object, as their other Faculties were, but respected every thing that could be done, or left undone, and it might have imploy’d them after another manner.
It’s said, Out of the Ground made the Lord God to grow every Tree that is pleasant to the Sight, and good for Food; and the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, of which thou shalt not eat. Gen. ii. 9, 17. Now, where lay the Difficulty of not eating, when they were in no want of Food? And if in want, were not all the Fruits of Paradise prepared for them? Why would none serve but what was prohibited? And nothing prohibited but what was deadly Poison, and what Adam knew to be so, by immediate Revelation from Heaven.
Thus furnish’d with divine Armour, and all the agreeable Entertainments of Life, ’tis most surprizing how they should indulge an irregular Turn in the animal Passions, and give way to such Inadvertency. One thing that might lead them to this Oversight, probably was, that they knew of no Enemy, therefore dreaded no Danger. But this Plea is of no force; for their Business was strictly to regard the Voice of their Creator (who said, Eat not) and not to give heed to any contrary Insinuations, tho’ proposed by a known Friend, much less by a Stranger, one of another Kingdom, and of another Species, without sufficient Attestation.
Here Lucifer play’d the Orator: He gave his Argument all the Rhetorick it would bear, by removing their fear of Death, and gratifying in them a certain Hope of being Gods. The Woman had the Threatning of Death in her Thoughts, and therefore durst not eat till she was made to believe, she should not die; (by which it appears, she had dreadful Ideas of dying.) And thus she was tempted to Unbelief. Then Satan proposes the glorious Advantages of Eating, viz. Ye shall be as Gods ... be independent Beings, not subject to the Controul of a superior Power; and thus they were tempted to Pride. Unbelief and Pride were the two fatal Rocks, on which their Innocence was wreck’d. Thus our first Parents fell, not for want of Light, but for extinguishing it; not for want of Power, but for not using it in the Hour of Danger.
The Enemy having made his Conquest, might probably continue for some time in Eden, to assist the Woman in seducing her Husband, and then confirm them in their Apostacy, directing them, upon the Approach of an Enemy, to hide themselves among the Trees of the Garden, where he left them; upon which he return’d to his Kingdom in the Air, to publish his successful Atchievements in Paradise, and was no more heard of, till he was summon’d to the Bar.
The Devil’s principal Residence is in the Air, where he keeps his Court, from whence he sends out his Angels to secure and enlarge his Conquests. Perhaps, he may think it not consistent with the Dignity of so great a Prince to traverse the Earth in Person, unless it be upon some extraordinary Occasions, as that of tempting the first and second Adam, &c.
The next Thing that offers itself, is an Attempt to illustrate the Case between the Woman and Serpent: It seems most apparent to me, that under the Name of the Serpent, we are to understand the Devil, who made use of a real Serpent in his Descent upon Paradise, where he decoy’d the first Woman into the fatal Snare.
In the Curse upon the Serpent, ’tis said, the Seed of the Woman should break the Serpent’s Head; intimating, the Serpent having its Heart under the Throat, and very near the Head, the readiest way to kill it, is to squeeze the Head. Some of the Fathers bring four Proofs of the Serpent’s Wisdom; trite and common.
1. When ’tis old, it has the Secret of growing young again, by stripping off its old Skin, which is succeeded by a new Coat; but if it parts with its outward Garments, it retains its Poison. Herein it is resembled by those, who leave the outward Acts of Sin, but not their secret Regards for it.
2. The Serpent assaults a Man if he sees him naked, but flies if it finds him cloathed. But there is a Fault in this Passage of Epiphanius, who intends to say the contrary; for ’tis generally affirm’d, that the Serpent is afraid of a naked Man, but attacks him if he has Clothes on.
3. When the Serpent is assaulted, its chief Care is to secure its Head: ’Tis attested by many Writers, that to save the Head, it will expose the whole Body to Danger[[342]].
[342]. Ὁ οφις φυλαττει κεφαλην. Isiodor. Pelusiot. lib. i. p. 126.
4. When it goes to drink, it vomits up all its Poison, for fear of poisoning itself. Some have defended this, but without any Colour of Reason[[343]].
[343]. Calmet’s Diction. of the H. Bible, vol. iii. out of Epiphanius.
They relate other Instances of the Serpent’s Wisdom, as stopping its Ears, that it may not hear the Voice of the Charmer or Inchanter; of which the Psalmist takes notice. ’Tis said, it applies one of its Ears hard to the Ground, and stops up the other with the end of its Tail, Psal. lviii. 4. Others say, its Wisdom consists in Acuteness of Sight; therefore among the Greeks, a Serpent’s Eye was a proverbial Speech for one of a quick Understanding[[344]]. These are some of the common Reasons assigned for the Wisdom of the Serpent.
[344]. Οφεως ομμα.
I Now proceed to an Illustration of the Debate between the Woman and Serpent in Paradise, under three Heads.
I. WHY may not we suppose, that in the Infancy of Mankind there was an open Intercourse between the angelick and human World, and that Angels might appear to our first Parents in some visible Form, as afterwards they did to the Patriarchs? If this be not granted, I would ask how a fallen Angel came to know there was a Paradise, and a certain Tree whose Fruit was forbidden, and where that Tree was situated in the Garden?
When a certain Province of Angels rebelled, they were doom’d to the wide Space contiguous to our Globe, and by their daily Rovings from Place to Place, they might indeed discover that little Spot of Earth, called Paradise; but how came they to be acquainted with the Laws of that Country, and that there was a forbidden Tree, and where it grew? How, I say, could they know all this without Revelation, or previous Conversation with the Inhabitants of the Place?
II. IF there had been no former Acquaintance between Angels and our first Parents, how came the Woman to converse so freely with a Stranger she had never seen before, one of another Country, and of a different Species? ’Tis therefore probable, that when the Devil addrest the Woman, and that in her own Language, he might assume the Form of a good Angel, that Form in which Angels had discoursed with our first Parents before the Fall.
And perhaps when Angels, the Messengers of Heaven, conversed with Adam and Eve, it might be in the Shape of flying speaking Serpents. Without allowing this mutual Intercourse, and former Familiarity, we can’t well suppose that our first Parents, tho’ not furnish’d with so much Knowledge as is usually ascribed to them, would be conquer’d by a Demon in the Shape of a Serpent, which naturally is a Beast of the Field, and known to be so by Adam, who, but a little before, had enrolled it among his Subjects, and given it a significant Name.
Can we imagine our first Parents so stupid, as to hold a Conversation with a Beast, without Surprize, Jealousy, and Suspicion? Adam, who knew the Properties of inferior Animals, (to whom he had given proper Names a little before) could not but know, that the Serpent was a Beast, and had no Organs fitted for the Formation of articulate Sounds, much less a Power to fix proper Ideas to them, and support an Argument by arguing the Case in a rational manner. Could Adam, who was the Image of God upon Earth, hear a Brute speak and dispute in the Language of Paradise, without a Suspicion of Imposture or something ominous?
During the Woman’s Parley with the Serpent, Adam is supposed to be absent, perhaps thro’ Satan’s Management, and upon her representing to him at their next meeting, the Conversation she had with the Serpent, he must conclude that Serpent to be a grand Cheat, or a good Angel, that spoke to his Wife: and that he took it in the latter Sense, is plain from the Event; that is, his taking the forbidden Fruit, and eating thereof upon the Serpent’s Recommendation of it to his Wife, who found no ill Effect from her Compliance. Now, the Tempter having assur’d the Woman that her eating that Fruit would not bring Death, and Adam finding it to be true in Fact, that is, that she did eat and live after it, concluded he might eat with equal Safety.
Upon this Supposition, we may charitably infer, that since our first Mother might converse with Angels in that serpentine, or some other bright Form, she now converses with the Serpent without Scruple or Dread of Imposture. And as she apprehended the Serpent to be a good and kind Spirit, so Adam did, upon her Representation of the Matter, and took the forbidden Fruit, and eat it: And perhaps the Serpent was present, giving Attestation to the Report made by the Woman to her Husband.
This being granted, ’tis conceivable how the Woman might freely converse with a Creature that assum’d an Image so glorious, especially if we consider she was in her infantile State, and without any experimental Knowledge, or any Apprehension of Danger, from an Enemy, of which she had no Idea; being no Sinner, she was without Fear.
In the Sentence past upon Adam, there is one Clause that seems to corroborate this Hypothesis; for, upon the Expulsion of our first Parents ... the Gates of Eden were guarded by a Cherub (to prevent their re-entrance) which, by the Jews, was esteem’d a second Angel, and may be aptly imagin’d to be a Seraph, or an Angel in the Form of a flying Serpent, whose Body vibrated in the Air, with a peculiar Resplendency, and may be fitly describ’d by the Image of such a Sword. ’Tis said, God drove out the Man, and placed at the East-end of the Garden of Eden, Cherubims and a flaming Sword, which turned every way, to keep the Way of the Tree of Life, Gen. iii. ult. God made Angels Guardians of Paradise, and a sparkling Fire, like a flaming Sword; says the Arabick Version.
But why may not this Text bear an Interpretation pregnant with good Tidings, as an Explication of the Promise made to the Woman, that is, an Instruction to our first Parents how to worship God after the Fall, namely by Sacrifice, which was to be offer’d by them before the Cherubims (erected over the Gates of Paradise) as Sacrifices afterwards were before the Cherubims in the Tabernacle and Temple, or, as the Hebrew, before the Faces of Jehovah?
The flaming Sword and the Cherubims, might be Emblems or Figures of some things to be observed in the Form of Worship design’d for that new Dispensation. The fiery Sword being a killing Weapon, might represent irritated Justice; and Cherubims being the Inhabitation of the Deity in the Tabernacle and Temple, might be an Emblem of Mercy, to which the Sacrifices were offer’d: and may not Cherubims be so construed here? N. B. May we not date the first Institution of Sacrifice here, which soon appear’d in the History of Cain and Abel?
God might address our first Parents after this manner; View these wonderful Sights over the Gate, behold in them the Scheme of Salvation! The Text thus interpreted, gives the Tempter a fresh Mortification, to see his bloody Design defeated, and our first Parents restored to Favour at the Gate of Eden, in which he had triumph’d over them; and that which encreased his Vexation was, to see this done by Christ, the promised Seed, one of the human Race.
In the Tabernacle and Temple there were no Representations of God, but only emblematical Figures erected over the Mercy-Seat, called the Cherubims; in, or between them, the Deity is said to dwell; and the Law obliged the Jews to bring the Blood of the Sacrifice before the Face of God in the Cherubims, that is, within the Vail, on the Day of Expiation: and here God might direct our first Parents to bring their Sacrifices to him, who was in a special manner present in the Cherubims over the Gate.
But supposing Adam and Eve had, after their Expulsion, enter’d Paradise; I don’t see what valuable End it would have answered, for the special Promises made to the first Inhabitants of Paradise were now null and void. All the Blessings peculiar to that glorious Situation, were irrecoverably lost. It was not in the power of that once sacred Seat to reinstate them in their pristine Happiness.
Obj. Could not the Tree of Life restore their forfeited Comforts? I presume not; because the Tree of Life, in the Design of it, was to perpetuate the happy Life of innocent Man, and not to restore the Life and Comforts of Criminals under a Sentence of Death; a Sentence irrepealable, which even the Death of our Blessed Redeemer does not exempt us from.
Upon the whole, I can scarcely think that these strange and awful Sights or Figures, over the East Gate of Eden, were only to frighten our first Parents, whose distressed State stood in need of Divine Supports. To be cast out of Paradise was a Mortification that needed not a super-added Terror; therefore to make those Figures Spectacles of Horror, seems not so well suited to Persons under Circumstances so inexpressibly dolorous, tho’ restored to Favour; but might rather be design’d to conduct them to God by Christ, the Tree of Life.
III. IT’s very probable a Conversation had past between the Woman and Serpent before the Narrative publish’d by Moses. She might upon the first Approach of the Serpent ask, How a Beast acquired the Gift of Speaking, which is the Prerogative of Rationals? The Serpent might answer, That it was by Eating the Fruit of that Tree. Eve might urge, That God had forbid her to eat that Fruit upon pain of Death. The Serpent might make this Return, viz. What you say is true; ’tis allow’d to be the Law under the first Form of Government, but I am now come from the supreme Court, to give you Assurance of God’s kind Intentions to advance you to a higher and more noble Station: The Prohibition of this Fruit was only a probationary Restraint, and temporary.
Now the End of the first Institution being answered, ’tis the Will of our Great Sovereign to take off those Restraints, and make you a free People. Upon the Formation of your Being, he brighten’d your Mind with Rays of great Wisdom; but now the happy Moment is come, in which he purposes to inspire you with higher Degrees of Wisdom.... By eating this Fruit, your intellectual Powers will be infinitely enlarged; for, ye shall be as Gods, and then all the Endowments and Accomplishments of Nature will arrive at their full Perfection, which as yet are only in their Embryo. This being only a Supposition, I dismiss it.
The Serpent having ascrib’d its Reason, and Speech to the eating of that Fruit, the Woman might infer, If this Fruit did turn a Serpent into a rational Creature, why may it not transform a rational Creature into a God, and a Woman into a Goddess? The Serpent had no occasion to say more; fir’d with the Prospect of such Preferment, she took the Fruit and did eat. Gen. iii. 6. And when the Woman saw that the Tree was good for Food, pleasant to the Eye, and a Tree to be desired to make one wise, she did eat.
N. B. How divine and delightful a Thing is Knowledge, of which Innocency itself is ambitious! Eve thirsted after the highest Degrees of Knowledge, and made no doubt of obtaining it by the Serpent’s Instructions; not knowing of any Impostor, she believed what the Tempter said. Satan, by the Serpent, as a Bait proposed Improvement in Knowledge.
Thus the first Woman, Head of the human Race, fell a Sacrifice to her own Ambition, fell a Virgin, and in her Infant-State. Icarus, by flying too near the Sun, his waxen Wings melted, and he fell into the Sea, and was drowned. Justly was he punish’d, for not observing his Father’s Will. May I add, in favour of our Mother, that the Law forbidding that Fruit, was not immediately publish’d to Eve, but receiv’d at second-hand from Adam; and that it can’t be well supposed, that she knew the various Capacities and Qualities of Brutes, as her Husband did.
But, why does Moses introduce a Serpent speaking, when naturally it was a speechless Creature?
In answer to this, may we not observe, that the Almighty, who has no material Tongue, yet is often introduced, speaking with human Voice in the Scripture. The Egyptians made the Crocodile a Symbol of the Deity, giving this as a Reason why they worshipped God symbolically in that Creature, because it resembled God, in that it was the only Animal without a Tongue; for the Divine λογος stands in no need of Speech; he governs human Affairs without Words, and without Noise.
Again, this Dialogue with the Serpent, a known Beast, is very agreeable to a Custom among the Oriental Writers, who enchase their Histories with Ornaments taken from familiar Discourses between Beasts; by which they convey moral Instructions to their Readers: Thus, on a Subject of Craft, they made the Fox to speak.
With what View did the Devil tempt our first Parents to sin? I answer, ’twas out of despite to God; i. e. with a design to rob the Creator of the Glory he proposed to himself from the Erection of this new World: He could not attack the Almighty on his Throne, therefore he strikes at the Footstool. Since he could not reach the Person of the Almighty, he wreaks his Malice upon his Image, Man; Man, whose Happiness, and that of his Descendants, he envy’d; and whom, in particular he hated, as his intended Successors to the vacant Seats in the blissful Regions above.
In his Plot against Adam, the Deceiver was deceived; for he made no doubt but the Sentence of Death would be immediately executed upon Adam and Eve, and upon the Extinction of the human Species, God would lose all his Honour upon Earth. Why did not he appear to our first Parents in a human Form? probably because he might apprehend, that there was no other Man or Woman, but themselves.
Having considered Adam in his probationary Capacity, I shall in the next place observe these three Things, by way of Illustration.
I. It was most congruous that Man’s first State should be a State of Trial. II. That his Trial should be by the Laws of his Creator. III. That those Laws should be inforced by a proper Sanction.
I. IT was congruous and fit, our first Parents should begin their Life in a way of Trial, as they were moral Agents: In which Situation I apprehend all the Angels to be at first, to see how they would behave towards the Great Author of their Being and Blessedness, before they were establish’d. No Creature, as such, is capable of Immutability, any more than of Omnipotence. To be naturally, and necessarily immutable, is the sole Prerogative of the Almighty: The perpetual Duration of created Beings, is not from their Nature, but from the Divine Will.
Our first Parents were under a strong Guard, and not to be disarm’d without their own Consent; tho’ the Devil, as he was a Spirit, excelled in Power, yet he could not by Force subdue the weaker Vessel, therefore conducted the bloody Design by Stratagems. When the Woman was sollicited by the Tempter, one strong Negative would have put him to flight. A resolute Denial, without any other Means, would have made her victorious, tho’ assaulted by all the Legions of Hell; therefore, no room to complain of Deficiency in Divine Goodness.
’Tis beyond all doubt, that the Revelation given to Adam (as that to Christian Churches in After-ages) made it a fundamental part of his Duty, not to attend to any Insinuations contrary to those delivered to him by his Creator, tho’ recommended even by an Angel from Heaven: Temptations to forbidden Fruit, however pleasant, should not be parley’d with, but peremptorily rejected.
II. IT was equally proper, that a Creature should be govern’d by the Laws of his Creator; as it implies a Contradiction for a Creature to be independent, which it must suppose itself to be, when govern’d by its own Laws. The Will of the Creator was surely the fittest, for the Obedience of Creatures; one part of which was, that they must not have an Indulgence of all the Trees in Eden.
It follows hence, that Self-denial was a Duty in Paradise. Adam was not an absolute Sovereign to do what he pleased, but what his Almighty Creator and Patron prescribed; tho’ endowed with Reason, yet was he to govern himself by the Will of another, that is, of him who was the Donor. His Reason was a bright, but borrowed Light, borrowed from the uncreated Sun, therefore ought to move by its Direction.
Thus we see that Restraints on the human Nature, were necessary even in Man’s Paradisaical State: To deny Self, was one of the Precepts of Religion in the Garden of Innocence; nor is this strange, if we consider, that for any rational Creature to live according to his own Will, is to make a God of his Will.
Why did God forbid the Fruit of one Tree? This might be to signify Adam’s Dependance upon his Maker, and that he had no Claim to any thing without his Leave: The sovereign Lord of the Creation made over to Adam large Dominions, and the Mannour of Paradise for the Seat of his Empire, reserving nothing to himself but a small Rent of Acknowledgment, which was only the Fruit of one Tree. The Exemption of this Tree from human Use, notify’d Man’s Subjection, and God’s supreme Dominion. By this Reservation he tried their Obedience, whether they would be content with all the Earth, and Appurtenances thereunto belonging, one Tree only excepted. N. B. This forbidden Tree might have something of a natural Tendency to corrupt the animal Juices, and introduce Diseases and Death into the human Nature. If the Tree of Life could immortalize our Existence in Happiness, is it not equally rational to suppose the Tree of Knowledge ... would destroy it?
III. THE Laws of Paradise were inforced by a very awful Sanction, viz. Life and Death: The one expressing something most terrible, the other implying somewhat vastly delightful. Threatnings were necessary Cautions in Paradise: How surprizing this! The first day of Man’s Life, Man was put in mind of Death, of which the Tree of Life was a Memento. If you eat the Fruit of it, you forfeit your Life, die you must without Remedy. This Menace of Death, in the Design of it, was to guard against Sin, as that which only could be the Cause of Death.
IN the day thou eatest thereof, dying thou shalt die; or, die the Death. Behold here! as in a Cloud, the first Alarm of Mortality, the first Institution of Funerals, and the melancholy Office of Grave-diggers. Bells from the Pinnacle of the Temple, proclaim it aloud to Man, Dust thou art, and unto Dust thou shalt return. In this paradisaical Scheme of Government, we find Death to be a near Neighbour to Life: Both the Trees grew near to one another.
Some have made this Tree of Life a Representation of Christ, and if so, here, as in a Glass, darkly Man saw his Saviour before he stood in need of him: The Tree of Life planted in the midst of Paradise, was to preserve Adam’s Life, and without doubt had done so, if he had not rebelled. According to a Learned Jew, the Tree of Life represents Piety; and that of Knowledge, Prudence[[345]]. Some of his Countrymen tell us ridiculous Stories about the Tree of Life, viz. That it was of prodigious Size, and all the Water of the Earth gush’d out at its Foot, &c.
[345]. Philo Judæus.
It is from the History of Paradise that pagan Poets took their Nectar and Ambrosia, which were said to be the Meat and Drink of the Gods; upon which some put this Construction, viz. Nectar signifies young; Ambrosia, Immortality; intimating, that in a State of Innocency, the Vigor of Youth would have been immortal.
The Heathen were not without some Idea of the Mosaic Creation, and Fall of Man, and of a Woman that brought Sorrow into the World; envying, that a Fire, which is the Light of Knowledge, was hid from them ... and also of Old-Age, brought in by the Counsel of a Serpent.——
Paradise, in Plato’s Symposium, is Jupiter’s Garden, and also is the Pattern of Alcinous’s Orchards, and the Hesperides: The Golden-Apples kept by a Dragon, were the forbidden Fruit in Paradise: The Fable of Hercules’s killing the Serpent of the Hesperides, is borrowed from the Seed of the Woman, breaking the Serpent’s Head.
What is Ovid’s In nova fert animus? but an imperfect Transcript of Moses’s Journal of the Creation, &c. ’Tis said by Moses, The Spirit of God moved on the Face of the Waters; hence Thales, makes Water to be the first Principle of all natural Bodies: His Reasons are deliver’d by Plutarch. Homer says, All things are made of the Ocean. The Chaos, whereof all things were made, according to Hesiod, was Water. Orpheus says, all things were generated of the Ocean[[346]]. Plato’s Atlanticus, what is it but a Fable? built upon Moses’s History of Noah, and the Flood, and the Causes that brought it upon the World.
[346]. ωκεανος—γενεσις παντευς τετυκται.
What is the Bacchus of the Heathen, but the Noah of Moses? formerly called Boachus, for Noachus, as might easily be, mistaking the Hebrew Letters B and N, which are not very much unlike. By Janus and Saturn, Noah is meant; and some take Jupiter to be Japhet, for tho’ Jovis, and the other oblique Cases are derived from Jehovah, yet Jupiter is another. The Fable of Heaven being stormed by the Giants, arose from what the Builders of the Tower of Babel said, viz. Let us build a City and a Tower, whose Top may reach unto Heaven.... But no Man imitates the Scriptures more than Homer, who was an inquisitive Traveller into all Countries. But to proceed to the Pagan Account of Paradise, and the Fall of Man:
A certain Author relates a Discourse between Midas the Phrygian, and Silenus who was the Son of a Nymph, inferior by Nature to the Gods, superior to Men and Death, thus:
SILENUS told Midas, that Europe, Asia, and Africa were Islands, surrounded by Water: that there was but one Continent only, which was beyond this World, in which, among other Rarities, were two great Rivers, whose Banks were cover’d with Trees, one of them was called the River of Pleasure, and the other the River of Grief....
He who eat the Fruit of the Trees along the River of Pleasure, was eased from all his former Desires, and in a short time became younger, and lived over again his former Years, cast off Old-Age, and became first a Young Man, then a Child, and lastly an Infant, and so died.
On the other hand, he who eat the Fruit from the Trees by the River of Grief, spent all his Days in Tears and Troubles, and after many Years of Vexation, dies.
How romantick soever this Relation may be, it seems to allude to the Trees and Rivers of Paradise, and to give some Hints about the Introduction of Death.
The Indians account for the Fall of Man after this manner:—Brama, one of their subaltern Deities, form’d Man out of the Slime of the Earth that was then just created, and placed him in a certain Situation, which they call Chorcham, which was a Garden of Delights, abounding with all manner of pleasant Fruit, in which was a certain Tree, whose Fruit would confer Immortality upon any Persons that were allow’d to eat it.
The Gods, say the Indians, tried all sorts of Means to obtain the Privilege of this Immortality; and after great Difficulties, did at last succeed according to their Wish, and found out the Way to the Tree of Life, which was in the Chorcham, and by feeding on its Fruit for some time, they commenced immortal.
A famous Serpent called Cheieu, (probably Guardian of that Tree) perceiving the Secret was discover’d by the Gods of the second Rank, was so enraged, that it scatter’d a Flood of Poison over the Plain. All the Earth felt the fatal Effects, and no Man escaped the Infection: But the God Chiven, took pity on the human Nature, appear’d in the Shape of Man, and swallow’d all the mortal Poison, wherewith the malicious Serpent had infected the Universe.... This Fable, as ridiculous as it is, must have some regard to the terrestrial Paradise, and can have no other Original but the Doctrine of Moses[[347]].
[347]. Æliani Sophistæ varia Historia, cum Notis, Curante Gronovio. A. D. 1731. Theopompus is quoted for it, whom my Author calls μυθολογος. Et hæc si cui fide dignus videtur, ea narrans Chius, ille credatur, mihi vero egregius esse fabulator. vol. I. cap. xviii. p. 252.
Nor were the more western Pagans more happy in their Conjectures about the first Entrance of moral Evil. Prometheus, say they, having form’d Men out of the Earth and Water, animated them with Fire, which he stole from Heaven. Jupiter, the Chief of the Pagan Gods, enraged at this, commands Vulcan to make a Woman out of Clay, upon whom all the Gods, out of their high Regard[[348]] to the Fair Sex, bestow’d some of their Perfections. Venus gave her Beauty; Pallas, Wisdom; Mercury, Eloquence; Apollo, Musick; and Juno gave her Riches; therefore called Pandora, who was sent by the Gods in revenge to Prometheus, with a Box full of Evils as a Present from them, but he was too cautious to receive it; upon which she was to present it to his Brother Epimetheus, (supposed by some to be her Husband) which he had no sooner open’d, but immediately there flew out all kinds of Evil, that soon scatter’d themselves over all the Earth; and at the bottom of the Box, nothing was left but poor Hope.
[348]. Travels of several Missionaries into India, p. 7.
Hope, of all Ills that Men endure,
The only cheap and universal Cure.
Hope,
Thou pleasant, honest Flatterer; for none
Flatter unhappy Men, but thou alone.... Cowl.
The Mahometan Account of Man’s Fall, is equally absurd, as appears from Mahomet Rabadan, &c. thus:—God made the Creation ... the earthly Mass became an animate Body ... and was called Adam; God placed him in heavenly Paradise, and lest he should believe that he had no Superior, God gave him only one Command, the Observation of which was very easy. He forbid him, upon pain of Death, to eat of the Fruit of a certain Tree. Adam wanted a Mate; therefore God made him fall into a profound Sleep, and took out of his left Side a Rib, of which he formed a very beautiful Woman, whom he called Eve, ... and order’d Gabriel to go into Paradise, and to celebrate the Wedding of Adam and Eve, being attended with a great many other Angels.
LUCIFER envying the Happiness of Man, used his utmost Endeavours to deprive him of it. Going one day by the door of Paradise, he said to the Angel who kept it, Give me leave to go in, for I have a Matter of Moment to impart to the Servants of thy Lord. The Angel having denied his Request, he desired him to call the Serpent, who was then a very fine Creature. The Serpent came, and Lucifer earnestly desired Leave to get into his Body; the Serpent did so, and placed Lucifer in the Roof of its Mouth, and carried him into Paradise. When he came near the Forbidden Tree, it endeavoured in vain to make Lucifer come out. Lucifer stuck fast, and forced the Serpent to get upon that Tree, under which Adam and Eve used to sit down. Eve was then alone, near the Tree: She saw the Serpent, who spoke to the Woman in these Words, viz.
Charming Creature, if you would taste this Fruit, you would be like God himself in Wisdom and Knowledge: All the Secrets and all the Mysteries you are now ignorant of, will be manifested to you. Adam came during the Discourse, and having told him what the Serpent had said, proposed to him to eat of the forbidden Fruit, which after a Short Pause he comply’d with. The Tree was a large Vine; Eve took twelve Grains of a Bunch of Grapes, gave eight to her Husband, and kept four to herself.
At that very moment, Adam heard a very terrible Voice, Wo to thee! hast thou so soon forgot the only Commandment thou hadst promised to observe? how comes it that thou hast (by thy Greediness) polluted the Purity of my Habitation? Adam being confounded, excused himself by laying the Fault upon Eve, who endeavour’d to justify herself by accusing the Serpent. Upon which God ordered the Angels immediately to drive Adam and Eve from Paradise, to Strip them of their Clothes, and take away the Crowns they had on their Heads[[349]].——But it is high time to return.
[349]. Mahometism fully explained, by Mahomet Rabadan, a Moor of Arragon in Spain, for the Instruction of the Moors in that Kingdom, who were then violently persecuted there. Translated out of Spanish by Mr. Morgan, with a design to give us a better Notion of the Mahometans, and to place it in the rich Library of the late Earl of Oxford. Printed A. D. 1724.
Satan, who imploy’d the Serpent in his Service, is supposed to be punish’d here under the Figure of a Serpent: But why in the Presence of our first Parents? Perhaps for such Reasons as these, viz. 1. To reproach their Inadvertency for suffering themselves to be imposed upon by a lying Spirit, who, if but resisted by a meer Negation, would have fled. 2. To let them see that no Creature, tho’ never so great, can rebel with Impunity; from whence they might conclude, what to expect from new Provocations. 3. They had no other way to see a Spirit punish’d, but under some visible Form. It could not but give them some secret Satisfaction to see their cruel Enemy tremble at the Bar.
It is observable here, that the Promise of the Messiah was made to Adam, before the Almighty past upon him the Sentence of Death. How surprizing this! to find the Death of Christ published, before the Death of Adam was pronounced. The Death of Christ, the Innocent; before the Death of Adam, the Criminal.
The last Remark I shall make here is, that the Earth, tho’ cursed for Man’s Sin, still puts on the Face of a Paradise, abounding with an innumerable Variety of good Things; yea, and those so delicious and pleasant to Mankind, that many wish to live in it for ever. Thus they confine their Hopes and Fears to the present State, and are so far from believing a Life to come, that they can hardly persuade themselves to believe, that they shall leave this present Life.
As the Bounties of Providence gives us no room to murmur at our present Province or Portion, so on the other hand, the Toils and Troubles of this State should cause us to aspire after the heavenly Paradise, where no Curse ever found Access, where none of the Thorns of Affliction, or the Briers of Sorrow grow.