{"collection":"scripture-revelation","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_48193/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_48193","id":"gutenberg_48193","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/48193","summary":null,"tags":["Bible. Genesis -- Commentaries","Category: Religion/Spirituality"],"text":"THE PRECIOUS AND SACRED WRITINGS OF MARTIN LUTHER\n\n_The Hero of the Reformation, the Greatest of the Teuton Church\nFathers, and the Father of Protestant Church Literature_\n\nBASED ON THE KAISER CHRONOLOGICAL EDITION WITH REFERENCE TO THE\nERLANGEN AND WALCH EDITIONS\n\nEDITED BY JOHN NICHOLAS LENKER, D.D. IN CONNECTION WITH LEADING\nSCHOLARS OF ALL PARTS OF THE CHURCH\n\nLUTHERANS IN ALL LANDS CO.,\nMINNEAPOLIS, MINN., U.S.A.\n1904\n\n\n\n\nLUTHER ON THE CREATION\n\nA CRITICAL AND DEVOTIONAL COMMENTARY ON GENESIS\n\nBASED ON DR. HENRY COLE'S TRANSLATION FROM THE ORIGINAL LATIN.\nREVISED, ENLARGED, PARTS RETRANSLATED AND EDITED IN COMPLETE FORM\n\nBY\n\nJOHN NICHOLAS LENKER, D.D.\n\nPROFESSOR OF OLD TESTAMENT EXEGESIS, AUTHOR OF \"LUTHERANS IN ALL\nLANDS\" AND PRESIDENT OF THE NATIONAL LUTHERAN LIBRARY ASSOCIATION\n\n\n\n\nVOL. I.\n\n\n\n\nLUTHERANS IN ALL LANDS CO.,\nMINNEAPOLIS, MINN., U.S.A.\n1904\n\n\n\n\nCOPYRIGHT, 1904,\nBY PROF. J. N. LENKER, D.D.\n\n\n\n\nSECOND INTRODUCTION\n\n--to--\n\nLUTHER'S WORKS IN ENGLISH.\n\n\nThis introduction or prospectus is supplementary to that in the first\nvolume on the Psalms, in that it likewise emphasizes, though from\ndifferent view-points, the history and fruits, as well as the present\nneed and future mission of the Protestant Classics of the greatest of\nall reformers in their relation to the development of the human race.\n\nLet us in this introduction briefly notice the following: The progress\nof the movement to translate and circulate Luther's works in English,\nand then emphasize the need of developing an interest to read them;\nfirst, because of the relation of Luther and his writings to the\npublic library; and secondly, because as the chief of the Teuton\nProtestant Church Fathers, we need to understand Luther in his\nrelation to the Greek and Latin Church Fathers, and our true historic\nrelations to them all.\n\n\nTHE PROGRESS OF THE MOVEMENT.\n\nWith profound gratitude to Almighty God for his rich blessing bestowed\nupon the publication and quick sale of the first volume, Luther's\nCommentary on the Psalms, a book \"the mourning soul cannot well be\nwithout,\" we now send forth the first volume of his Commentary on\nGenesis, with the confidence that those, who think with Melanchthon\nthat \"a single page of Luther contains more sound divinity than many\nwhole volumes,\" will not change their opinion by studying this volume.\nHaving purchased all the copies of Luther on Galatians and his Notes\non the Gospels by Dr. P. Anstadt, and the right to reprint them, with\ntwo other volumes about ready for the press, one by Prof. E. F.\nBartholomew, D.D., and another by Dr. Bernhard Pick, our progress is\nencouraging, especially since the movement has taken an intersynodical\ncharacter with colaborers from every branch of our polyglot communion.\n\n\nLUTHER ON THE OLD TESTAMENT NEEDED FIRST.\n\nThis volume on Genesis follows the first volume on the Psalms because\nthe volumes ought to be published first that are needed most and will\ndo the most good. As Professor of Old Testament Exegesis I found that\nlike \"Luther on the Psalms\" so \"Luther on Genesis\" was not accessible\nto the English, Swedish, Norwegian and Danish students of theology,\nProf. Bugge's Norwegian translation of extracts from it being out of\nprint. Therefore we believe this volume also will be welcomed by all\nOld Testament professors and students. While both these volumes will\nbe a healthy corrective to the Old Testament critics, their\ncontribution to the biblical knowledge and the devotional life of\nProtestantism cannot be exaggerated. Though first delivered to\ncritical students they have also been extensively read in family\nworship. Luther began and closed his blessed ministry in the church of\nGod not by fighting the Pope, but by expounding the Word of God. He\nbegan by explaining the whole Psalter from 1513 to 1516 (before 1517)\nforming volumes III and IV of the Kaiser Chronological Edition and\nclosed his life's labors by expounding the first book of the Bible,\nGenesis, which composes volumes I and II of the St. Louis Walch\nedition. He commenced with the penitential Psalms of David and ended\nwith Moses, the earliest writings of the Old Testament. The reason so\nmany preachers and congregations neglect the Old Testament is because\nit is neglected in the seminaries. God willing a volume of Luther on\nthe Prophetical Books will be issued and then in all three years at\nthe seminary the students may have something of Luther on the\nPentateuch, Psalms and Prophets.\n\n\nLUTHER'S WORDS ON PUBLIC LIBRARIES.\n\nIn the recent marvelous development of public libraries it is held if\nit is the duty of the state to teach the child to read for the welfare\nof the child and of the state, it is also the duty of the state to\noffer the child something to read. Hence the library is being\nsupported by taxation like the public school, and the library\nbuildings are being erected near the high schools. It is as President\nRoosevelt said while west recently, our civilization rests on the\nchurch, the school and the library. The library is the child of the\nchurch and school and will in turn greatly influence both. Luther, the\nfounder of the Protestant Church, and the founder of the Public\nSchool, is also the founder of the Protestant Library. Yea, more,\nnearly four hundred years ago he united the school and the library as\nis proved by the following:\n\nIt is noteworthy that Luther closes his \"Address to the Mayors and\nAldermen of all the Cities of Germany in behalf of Christian Schools,\"\nwhich is considered by educators for its pioneer character and\nstatements of principles \"the most important educational treatise ever\nwritten,\" by a powerful appeal in behalf of public libraries which I\ngive in full from Luther on Education by Prof. Painter.\n\nLuther concludes that great educational treatise thus:\n\n\"Finally, this must be taken into consideration by all who earnestly\ndesire to see such schools established and the study of the languages\npreserved in the German states; that no cost nor pains should be\nspared to procure good libraries in suitable buildings, especially in\nthe large cities that are able to afford it. For if a knowledge of the\nGospel and of every kind of learning is to be preserved, it must be\nembodied in books, as the prophets and apostles did, as I have already\nshown. This should be done, not only that our spiritual and civil\nleaders may have something to read and study, but also that good books\nmay not be lost, and that the arts and languages may be preserved,\nwith which God has graciously favored us. St. Paul was diligent in\nthis matter, since he lays the injunction upon Timothy, 'Give heed to\nreading,' I Tim. 4:13, and directs him to bring the books, but\nespecially the parchments left at Troas, 2 Tim. 4:13.\n\n\"All the kingdoms that have been distinguished in the world have\nbestowed care upon this matter, and particularly the Israelites, among\nwhom Moses was the first to begin the work, who commanded them to\npreserve the book of the law in the ark of God, and put it under the\ncare of Levites, that any one might procure copies from them. He even\ncommanded the king to make a copy of this book in the hands of the\nLevites. Among other duties, God directed the Levitical priesthood to\npreserve and attend to the books. Afterwards Joshua increased and\nimproved this library, as did subsequently Samuel, David, Solomon,\nIsaiah, and many kings and prophets. Hence have come to us the Holy\nScriptures of the Old Testament, which would not otherwise have been\ncollected and preserved, if God had not required such diligence in\nregard to it.\n\n\"After this example collegiate churches and convents formerly founded\nlibraries, although with few good books. And the injury from the\nneglect to procure books and good libraries, when there were men and\nbooks enough for that purpose, was afterwards perceived in the decline\nof every kind of knowledge; and instead of good books, the senseless,\nuseless, and hurtful books of the monks, the Catholicon, Florista,\nGraecista, Labyrinthus, Dormi Secure (names of Latin grammars and\ncollections of sermons), and the like, were introduced by Satan, so\nthat the Latin language was corrupted, and neither good schools, good\ninstruction, nor good methods of study remained. And as we see, the\nlanguage and arts are, in an imperfect manner, recovered from\nfragments of old books rescued from the worms and dust; and every day\nmen are seeking these literary remains, as people dig in the ashes of\na ruined city after treasures and jewels.\n\n\"Therein we have received our just due, and God has well recompensed\nour ingratitude, in that we did not consider his benefits, and lay up\na supply of good literature when we had time and opportunity, but\nneglected it, as if we were not concerned. He in turn, instead of the\nHoly Scriptures and good books, suffered Aristotle and numberless\npernicious books to come into use, which only lead us further from the\nBible. To these were added the progeny of Satan, the monks and the\nphantoms of the universities, which we founded at incredible cost, and\nmany doctors, preachers, teachers, priests and monks, that is to say,\ngreat, coarse, fat fellows, adorned with red and brown caps, like\nswine led with a golden chain and decorated with pearls; and we have\nburdened ourselves with them, who have taught us nothing useful, but\nhave made us more and more blind and stupid, and as a reward have\nconsumed all our property, and filled all the cloisters, and indeed\nevery corner with dregs and filth of their unclean and noxious books,\nof which we cannot think without horror.\n\n\"Has it not been a grievous misfortune that a boy has hitherto been\nobliged to study twenty years or longer, in order to learn enough\nmiserable Latin to become a priest and to read the mass? And whosoever\nhas succeeded in this has been called blessed, and blessed the mother\nthat has borne such a child! And yet he has remained a poor ignorant\nman all through life, and has been of no real service whatever.\nEverywhere we have had such teachers and masters, who have known\nnothing themselves, who have been able to teach nothing useful, and\nwho have been ignorant even of the right methods of learning and\nteaching. How has it come about? No books have been accessible but the\nsenseless trash of the monks and sophists. How could the pupils and\nteacher differ from the books they studied? A crow does not hatch a\ndove, nor a fool make a man wise. That is the recompense of our\ningratitude, in that we did not use diligence in the formation of\nlibraries, but allowed good books to perish, and bad ones to survive.\n\n\"But my advice is not to collect all sorts of books indiscriminately\nthinking only of getting a vast number together. I would have\ndiscrimination used, because it is not necessary to collect the\ncommentaries of the jurists, the productions of all the theologians,\nthe discussions of all the philosophers, and the sermons of all the\nmonks. Such trash I would reject altogether, and provide my library\nonly with useful books; and in making the selection I would advise\nwith learned men.\n\n\"In the first place, a library should contain the Holy Scriptures in\nLatin, Greek, Hebrew, German and other languages. Then the best and\nmost ancient commentators in Greek, Hebrew and Latin.\n\n\"Secondly, such books as are useful in acquiring the languages, as the\npoets and orators, without considering whether they are heathen or\nChristian, Greek or Latin. For it is from such works that grammar must\nbe learned.\n\n\"Thirdly, books treating of all the arts and sciences.\n\n\"Lastly, books on jurisprudence and medicine, though here\ndiscrimination is necessary.\n\n\"A prominent place should be given to chronicles and histories, in\nwhatever language they may be obtained; for they are wonderfully\nuseful in understanding and regulating the course of the world, and in\ndisclosing the marvelous works of God. O, how many noble deeds and\nwise maxims produced on German soil have been forgotten and lost,\nbecause no one at the time wrote them down; or if they were written,\nno one preserved the books; hence we Germans are unknown in other\nlands, and are called brutes that know only how to fight, eat and\ndrink. But the Greeks and Romans, and even the Hebrews have recorded\ntheir history with such particularity, that even if a woman or child\ndid anything noteworthy, all the world was obliged to read and know\nit; but we Germans are always Germans and will remain Germans.\n\n\"Since God has so graciously and abundantly provided us with art,\nscholars and books, it is time for us to reap the harvest and gather\nfor future use the treasures of these golden years. For it is to be\nfeared (and even now it is beginning to take place) that new and\ndifferent books will be produced, until at last, through the agency of\nthe devil, the good books which are being printed will be crowded out\nby the multitude of ill-considered, senseless and noxious works. For\nSatan certainly designs that we should torture ourselves again with\nCatholicons, Florists, Modernists and other trash of the accursed\nmonks and sophists, always learning, yet never acquiring knowledge.\n\n\"Therefore, my dear sirs, I beg you to let my labor bear fruit with\nyou. And though there be some who think me too insignificant to follow\nmy advice, or who look down upon me as one condemned by tyrants; still\nlet them consider that I am not seeking my own interest, but that of\nall Germany. And even if I were a fool, and yet should hit upon\nsomething good, no wise man should think it a disgrace to follow me.\nAnd if I were a Turk and heathen, and it should yet appear that my\nadvice was advantageous, not for myself, but for Christianity, no\nreasonable person would despise my counsel. Sometimes a fool has given\nbetter advice than a whole company of wise men. Moses received\ninstruction from Jethro.\n\n\"Herewith I commend you all to the grace of God. May he soften your\nhearts, and kindle therein a deep interest in behalf of the poor,\nwretched and neglected youth; and through the blessing of God may you\nso counsel and aid them as to attain to a happy Christian social order\nin respect to both body and soul, with all fullness and abounding\nplenty, to the praise and honor of God the Father, through Jesus\nChrist our Saviour. Amen.\"\n\nWittenberg, 1524.\n\nIn his \"Table Talk\" Luther continues thus:\n\n\"The multitude of books is a great evil. There is no measure or limit\nto this fever for writing; every one must be an author; some out of\nvanity, to acquire celebrity and make a name; others for the sake of\nlucre and gain. The Bible is now buried under so many commentaries,\nthat the text is not regarded. I could wish that all my books were\nburied nine ells deep in the ground, by reason of the ill example they\nwill give, every one seeking to imitate me in writing many books, with\nthe hope of procuring fame. But Christ died not to favor our ambition\nand vain-glory, but that his name might be glorified.\n\n\"The aggregation of large libraries tends to direct men's thoughts\nfrom the one great book, the Bible, which ought, day and night, to be\nin every man's hand. My object, my hope, in translating the\nScriptures, was to check the so prevalent production of new works, and\nso to direct men's study and thoughts more closely to the divine Word.\nNever will the writings of mortal man in any respect equal the\nsentences inspired by God. We must yield the place of honor to the\nprophets and apostles, keeping ourselves prostrate at their feet as we\nlisten to their teaching. I would not have those who read my books, in\nthese stormy times, devote one moment to them which they would\notherwise have consecrated to the Bible.\"\n\n\nLUTHER THE FATHER OF MODERN LIBRARIES.\n\nThe foregoing literal quotations on the library; its divine origin and\nits biblical and ecclesiastical development from the time of Moses;\nits interlingual and international importance; its satanic and\nanti-Christ-like dangers; its true mission and relation to the church,\nschool, family and state; the comprehensive sample catalogue of a\nmodel library; and the words that when libraries tend to direct men's\nthoughts from or against the one great Book they are complete\nfailures; these and other like thoughts of Luther, who was born only\n15 years after the death of Guthenburg, his countryman, the inventor\nof printing; these words so warm, clear and wise of the hero of the\nReformation, uttered nearly 400 years ago, prove that Luther and not\nFranklin was the father or founder of modern libraries of printed\nbooks and documents.\n\nIn W. T. Fletcher's \"Public Libraries In America,\" of the Columbian\nKnowledge Series, published in Boston, 1899, we read on page 10, \"But\nwhen did the public library movement begin? Not even the Reformation,\nwith its tremendous assertion of the right of man to spiritual\nfreedom, brought about the change so designated. Franklin more than\nany other originated this movement.\" It is strange that in all the\nrecent and growing bibliography on the library there is little or no\ntendency to trace the origin of the Protestant library to the\nProtestant Reformation. Yet Mr. Fletcher says on p. 37, \"It is a\nsignificant fact that everywhere the clergy are found foremost in\nadvancing the library movement.\" He certainly does not mean the\nCatholic clergy.\n\nIf you examine the libraries of our day and judge from their contents\nand spirit, the conclusion irresistibly comes to one that they do not\nknow their own father or founder. Their walls often are decorated with\nfine pictures of illustrious men, Carnegie and other liberal donors;\nbut in no public library, not even in districts of our country where\nthe German and Scandinavian taxpayers are in the majority do we find a\npicture on their walls, \"Martin Luther, the Founder of the Library\nAmong the Protestant Teutonic Nations.\" Though Carnegie should expend\nall his fortune on libraries alone, his donation to the library idea\nwould be unworthy to be compared with that of Luther. Besides what\nLuther wrote urging the Teutonic nations accepting his teachings to\nerect libraries or \"book houses\" as he called them, and besides what\nhe did in other ways to encourage the collection of the writings of\nthe Germanic nations, this Teuton of the Teutons, their child and\nfather, born, as I said, only fifteen years after the inventor of\nprinting died, wrote a library of 113 volumes in the infancy of\nprinting, which is still today the leading classic library of\nProtestantism, which has been translated and retranslated in part into\nevery language of the globe and influenced every Protestant and many\nCatholic authors, and is or should be the foundation and center of\nevery library that is not anti-Protestant. Alas! Alas! It is not so in\nour own Protestant land, the United States. He seems to be feared more\nas a leader of a sect, which he never was, than loved and honored as\nthe hero of the Reformation and the very soul of the Protestant\nTeutonic literary activity and its treasures. However I am not so\ngreatly concerned to have Luther honored as the father of the modern\nlibrary by hanging his picture on their walls. There is a better way\nfor the Protestant library to honor their father and that is to\npurchase his writings complete in the German, Scandinavian and English\nlanguages and then interest their German, Scandinavian and English\ncitizens to read them. True some libraries have a dozen or more books\nwritten about Luther, his life, etc., but not a single book written by\nhim. All the books that others have or may write about him are as\nnothing compared to what he himself wrote in explaining the Holy\nScriptures and the fundamental principles of our modern aggressive\nProtestant civilization. If they are the happy possessors of a few\nbooks translated from our great Teuton church father, the books are\noften in such poor and antiquated English that no one can nor will\nread them with any comfort. Librarians and pastors and Protestant\nlaymen, what have you up-to-date in your library from the heart and\npen of the father of Protestant literature? Look now and see, and make\na note of what you find and write us, and we may be of some help to\nyou in completing your collection.\n\nBut what is the use for libraries to purchase Luther's works in\nGerman, Scandinavian or English when the people do not call for the\nbooks and read them. Therefore we have given emphasis to their cry\nthat is going abroad in the land.\n\nREAD LUTHER! READ LUTHER!! READ LUTHER!!!\n\nWhy? Because as a true intelligent Protestant you cannot read any\nthing better. Millions of people have said and millions more will say\nnext to the Bible they received more from Luther's writings than from\nall other books combined. And if you take the Protestant professors of\nour land, and for that matter of all lands, they all together would\ncome far short of making a Luther. He was not only ahead of his times,\nbut on many subjects he is far ahead of our age. Yes, when we keep\ncompany with Luther we feel we are behind the times, on subjects like\nRomanism, Protestantism, Christian schools, Christian libraries, the\nChristian family, the Christian state, and many Christian social\nproblems. It is possible to go backwards as well as forwards.\n\nHow can I read Luther when I have not his books and I cannot afford to\npurchase them? Our cry is not Buy Luther! Buy Luther!! Buy Luther!!!\nBut Read Luther! Read Luther!! Read Luther!!! Many buy Luther's works\nand do not read them. They can afford to purchase them all and as they\nhave a beautiful book-case with glass doors, perhaps the finest piece\nof furniture in their homes, as the style now is (for what is a home\nwithout an up-to-date book-case?), they subscribe for all Luther's\nworks for a show in their book-case, and we ask can you name a set of\nbooks that makes a better show in any public or private library than\nLuther's works, especially in a Protestant library? They are also\nreally a far better investment than these large, thick, cheap but\ndear, subscription books, which are nice only while they are new and\nthen they fade and the outside becomes as bad as the inside. When you\nlook at the libraries of many Protestant homes, you pity them, first\nbecause of what they have not and then because of what they have.\n\nBut Luther's writings should go into the home library not for a show\nnor for an investment, but to be read. Perhaps there is no passage of\nScripture that our homes should take to heart just now more than the\nadvice of Father Paul to his spiritual son, Timothy: \"Give heed to\nreading, to exhortation, to teaching. Neglect not the gift that is in\nthee.\" 1 Tim. 4:13-14. Give heed that you read something, that you\nread the best, and give heed how you read, that the gifts in you may\nnot be neglected. Then the right, sound exhortation and pure teaching\nwill follow. Notice the order is first, give heed to reading. Many\nhave never read any writings of Luther except perhaps his small\ncatechism. They have not built very well on the foundation laid. When\none thinks of the solid Christian books our German and Scandinavian\nparents read and what the children read now-a-days, you must sigh.\n\nAgain many say I have now more books than I can read and if I buy more\nI will not read them. Well, you will not lose much if you do not read\nmany books you have, but if you would sell these and buy a few of the\nclassic writings of Protestantism and read and read them again and\nagain, you would be blessed, and just such a work is Luther on\nGenesis.\n\n\nNO ONE IS TOO POOR TO BE A LUTHER READER.\n\nI have spoken of those who can afford to buy Luther's works and do buy\nthem, and yet they do not read them. There is another class much\nsmaller but much better; namely, those who enjoyed the study of their\ncatechism and the little they have read here and there in extracts\nfrom Luther and they long to read more, but do not know where to get\nthe books or have not the money to buy them. To all such let our\npastors, parochial and Sunday school teachers and all others say on\nevery occasion possible that such works can be had in the public\nlibrary. If you do not find them there make application on the little\nblank slips the library furnishes for the public to request the\nlibrary to secure the books desired. If they do not do so at once have\nyour neighbors repeat and repeat the same request. This is the way the\nlatest trashy novels are introduced in public libraries, for they buy\nonly what the public asks for. These libraries are supported as a rule\nby taxation and the Germans and Scandinavians are heavy taxpayers and\ntheir requests for good standard books in their own language or in\nEnglish will be favorably considered. We ourselves are to blame if\npublic libraries have not the standard classics of their Protestant\nfather and founder.\n\nIt if therefore in harmony with historic development and with the\nspirit of Luther that in Chicago, June 29, 1903, an adjourned meeting\nof the convention, which assembled in the same city in September of\nthe previous year, was held and effected an organization known as the\n\nNATIONAL LUTHERAN LIBRARY ASSOCIATION\n\none aim of which as specified in its constitution, is \"To aid in\nduplicating as far as practicable the 'Luther' literature in the\nBritish Museum Library in all the larger American Public Libraries.\"\n(See the constitution for further details.) The public libraries of\nGreat Britain are far ahead of the American public libraries in their\nLuther literature, and we as free loyal Americans cannot afford to let\nit continue so.\n\nThe question arises, what nations, what culture should characterize\nthe libraries of the world? Shall the Greeks, or the Latins or the\nTeutons? To aid in answering this question I will add another heading\n\nTHE GREEK, LATIN AND TEUTON CHURCH FATHERS.\n\nIn the Introduction of Vol. I in the Psalms, to which the reader is\nreferred, it was stated that the key-note of all of the \"sacred books\"\nof the East is \"Salvation by Works.\" And yet in the face of this\nProtestants are asked to believe that they are \"sacred books,\" when\ntheir main teachings are directly contrary to what we have been taught\nto esteem as most sacred, namely, our Christian faith in the grace of\nChrist for salvation. To Protestants they are not sacred books but the\nvery opposite. I would far rather call the writings of Luther sacred,\nwhich teach and defend the doctrine of salvation by grace as taught by\nthe one great Book, although it stands alone and protests against the\nfalse teachings of the so-called sacred books of the east.\n\nHowever let us now look more closely at the west. Here we find that\nProtestants have shown commendable zeal and enterprise in translating,\npublishing and circulating the large libraries of the Greek and Latin\nchurch fathers. Every pastor continuously receives circulars with the\nalmost irresistible temptation to purchase the patristic writings of\nboth Catholic churches. This is all well, but we should not forget\nthat the Anglo-Saxon people are neither Greeks nor Latins, but\nTeutons, and that our Teuton church fathers are Protestants and they\nalso should be translated, published, circulated and read and taught.\nLittle Wittenberg dare not fall behind Constantinople and Rome. It\nought not.\n\n_For \"Saxon and Norman and Dane are We.\"_\n\nTrue the Teutons can and do learn from the Greek and Latin church\nfathers, but we also believe that the children of the old Greeks and\nLatins can learn much from our Teuton fathers, and that they have as\ngood reasons to welcome our classic church literature as we have\ntheirs; and we hope the day may soon come when they will translate and\nread ours as faithfully and impartially as we do theirs. What a\nblessing that would bring to Christendom!\n\nIn some quarters however English Protestants have been in danger of\nappreciating the fathers of the Greeks and Latins to the extent of\nneglecting to give due honor to their own. Many Protestant ministers'\nlibraries contain all classics except the Protestant classics. Let the\nwhole world have the Greek and the Latin fathers as it has, but let\nProtestants awake and give the world theirs. Is it not a shame and a\npity that while all the writings of the Greek and Latin fathers have\nbeen translated into many languages, yet the complete works of Luther,\nthe first and chief of the Protestant fathers, have never been\ntranslated into any language, though his loyal disciples are numbered\nby the hundreds of thousands in different tongues, as the fruits of\nthose writings? For of the 70,169,000 Lutherans in the world,\n43,731,000 speak German, 7,300,000 Swedish, 3,500,000 Norwegian,\n3,200,000 Danish, 3,000,000 Finnish, 1,100,000 Esthnish, 400,000\nHungarian (or 4,500,000 of the Finnish or Magyarian race), 4,000,000\nEnglish, 2,000,000 Lettish, 500,000 Slovakian, 300,000 Polish, 200,000\nFrench, 100,000 Dutch, 100,000 Russian, 82,000 Icelandic, 50,000\nBohemian, 63,000 Wendish, 113,000 Lithuanian, 250,000 the heathen\ndialects of Asia and 280,000 the heathen dialects of Africa. And\nfurther as all German speaking Reformed churches use Luther's version\nof the Scriptures, so they welcome his writings also.\n\nTrue in all these 17 or more languages some of Luther's writings have\nappeared. But it is distressing to learn how few they are, and how out\nof date and imperfect some of these are. Luther is the common property\nof all Protestants, and so are his writings. They would be helpful in\nall time to the 21,000,000 Episcopalians, the 17,000,000 Methodists,\nthe 11,000,000 Baptists, the 9,000,000 Presbyterians, the 4,500,000\nCongregationalists, and all other Protestants; and not only to the\n140,000,000 Protestants, but also to the 80,000,000 Greek Catholics\nand 200,000,000 Latin Catholics and to the heathen, to the infidel, to\nthe state as well as to the church. The first thing for Protestants to\ndo is to give all nations the Bible; and the second, to give them the\nbest Protestant classics. We can. Will we?\n\nNo nation or race is greater than its greatest men, and those greatest\nmen are not greater than their best writings. Hence little is of more\nvalue in literature than the honest critique by these greatest men of\nthe best writings of the most civilized and cultured nations before\ntheir time. Therefore of the greatest interest are the following\n\nCRITICISMS OF THE GREATEST TEUTON CHURCH FATHER ON THE GREEK AND LATIN\nCHURCH FATHERS.\n\nThey are taken literally from his Table Talk and read thus: I will not\npresume to criticise too closely the writings of the fathers, seeing\nthey are received of the church, and have great applause, for then I\nshould be held an apostate; but whoever reads Chrysostom, will find he\ndigresses from the chief points, and proceeds to other matters, saying\nnothing, or very little, of that which pertains to the subject. When I\nwas expounding the Epistle to the Hebrews, and turned to what\nChrysostom had written upon it, I found nothing to the purpose; yet I\nbelieve that he at that time, being the chief rhetorician, had many\nhearers, though he taught without profit; for the chief office of a\npreacher is to teach uprightly, and diligently to look to the main\npoints and foundation on which he stands, and so instruct and teach\nthe hearers that they understand aright and may be able to say: This\nis well taught. When this is done, he may avail himself of rhetoric to\nadorn his subject and admonish the people.\n\nBehold what great darkness is in the books of the fathers concerning\nfaith; yet if the article of justification be darkened, it is\nimpossible to smother the grossest errors of mankind. St. Jerome,\nindeed, wrote upon Matthew, upon the Epistles to the Galatians and to\nTitus; but, alas, very coldly. Ambrose wrote six books on Genesis, but\nthey are very poor. Augustine wrote nothing to the purpose concerning\nfaith; for he was first roused up and made a man by the Pelagians, in\nstriving against them. I can find no exposition upon the Epistles to\nthe Romans and Galatians, in which anything is taught pure and right.\nWhat a happy time have we now as to the purity of the doctrine; but\nalas, we little esteem it.\n\nWe must read the fathers cautiously, and lay them in the gold balance,\nfor they often stumbled and went astray, and introduced into their\nbooks many monkish things. Augustine had more work and labor to wind\nhimself out of the writings of the fathers, than he had with the\nheretics. Gregory expounds the five pounds mentioned in the Gospel,\nwhich the husbandman gave to his servants to put to use, to be the\nfive senses, which the beasts also possess. The two pounds he\nconstrues to be the reason and understanding.\n\nThe more I read the books of the fathers, the more I find myself\noffended; for they were but men, and, to speak the truth with all\ntheir repute and authority, undervalued the books and writings of the\nsacred apostles of Christ. The Papists were not ashamed to say, What\nare the Scriptures? We must read the holy fathers and teachers, for\nthey drew and sucked the honey out of the Scriptures. As if God's Word\nwere to be understood and conceived by none but themselves, whereas\nthe heavenly Father says: \"Him shall ye hear,\" who in the Gospel\ntaught most plainly in parables and similitudes.\n\nAugustine was the ablest and purest of all the doctors, but he could\nnot of himself bring things back to their original condition, and he\noften complains that the bishops, with their traditions and\nordinances, trouble the church more than did the Jews with their laws.\n\nI am persuaded that if at this time, St. Peter, in person, should\npreach all the articles of the Holy Scriptures, and only deny the\npope's authority, power and primacy, and say that the pope is not the\nhead of all Christendom, they would cause him to be hanged.\n\nJerome should not be numbered among the teachers of the church, for he\nwas a heretic; yet I believe he was saved through faith in Christ. He\nspeaks not of Christ, but merely carries his name in his mouth.\n\nAgain he says, Jerome may be consulted for the purpose of historical\nstudy. As to faith, and good true religion and doctrine, there is not\na word about them in his writings. He writes only respecting fasts,\nsorts of food, virginity, etc. I have already proscribed Origin.\nChrysostom possesses no authority in my estimation. Basil is but a\nmonk, for whom I would not give the value of a hair. The Apology of\nPhilip Melanchthon is worth all the writings of all the doctors of the\nchurch put together, not excepting those of St. Augustine.\n\nTertullian is a thorough Carlstad; Cyprian the martyr is a feeble\ntheologian.\n\nThe fathers said nothing decisive during their lives, respecting\njustification by grace; but at their death they believed in it. This\nwas the more prudent course for them to follow, in order neither to\nencourage mysticism, nor discourage good works. These worthy fathers\nlived better than they wrote.\n\nSince I became, by the grace of God, capable of understanding St.\nPaul, I have been unable to esteem any of these doctors; they have\nshrunk into insignificance in my estimation.\n\n\n\n\nPREFACES AND DEDICATIONS\n\n--of--\n\nLUTHER'S \"DEAR GENESIS.\"\n\n\nHIS \"SWAN SONG\" AND HIS \"IT IS FINISHED.\"\n\nWe certainly will be pardoned for issuing here and at this time the\nPrefaces: of Veit Dietrich, who published the first of these lectures\nin Latin; of Basil Faber, who was the first to translate parts from\nLatin into German; of Dr. Walch, who issued one of the best editions\nof Luther's complete works; and of Dr. Cole, who was the first to\ntranslate a small part from Latin into English. The words of these\nfour men are a stronger appeal than we can write for the extensive\ncirculation among English Protestants of this the last and the\ngreatest of Luther's writings.\n\nIt is as Mathesius says: \"Surely the last thoughts are the best when\nthey at the time refer to the Word of God and spring from it. The\nsermons and books of aged men are worthy of consideration and\npreservation.\" Hence, Jerome Weller called this commentary Luther's\nSwan Song, and Morlin calls it the \"Consummatum Est,\" \"It Is\nFinished,\" of Luther.\n\nA new interest will be taken in the lines of this book when it is\nremembered how dear they were to the Reformer himself. He frequently\nexpresses his love for his \"dear Genesis,\" and had the prophetic\nimpression that his labors in Genesis and his earthly life would\nterminate together. And so they did. This was the last public work of\nLuther's forty years of professorial, ministerial and reformatory\nlabors. This saint of God, who was \"a lion before men, but a lamb\nbefore God,\" concludes his commentary thus: \"This is now the dear Book\nof Genesis. May our Lord grant that others may do it better than I\nhave done. I can no more; I am so weak. Pray to God for me, that he\nmay grant me a good holy hour at death!\"\n\nA friend, one of the collectors of these comments, records these\nremarkable coincidences at the foot of the Commentary: \"The man of\nGod, Doctor Martin Luther, finished his Commentaries on the Book of\nGenesis in the year of our Lord 1545, on the 17th day of November;\nhaving commenced them in the year 1535. In his opening remarks he had\nsaid, 'This exposition I shall pore over and die over (_immorabor et\nimmoriar_).' According to this prophecy concerning himself he died at\nEisleben, Feb. 18th, 1546, piously and continually calling upon the\nSon of God.\"\n\n\n\n\nDEDICATION OF VEIT DIETRICH.\n\n\n_To the Most Illustrious, High-Born Prince and Lord, John Ernest, Duke\nof Saxony, Landgrave of Thuringia, Margrave of Misnia._\n\nIt is this glorious and beautiful architectural building, the world;\nthat is, the heavens and earth with all that in them is, as the stars,\nthe elements, the trees, the plants, and all kinds of animals, etc.,\ncreated so admirably for it and wisely ordered by God in their\nrelations to one another, that teaches us to know God as the one\neternal and almighty Creator and the right Master-builder, and to\nunderstand that he created us for this life, body and soul, and gave\nus reason and a spirit in order that he might thereby be worshipped.\nAnd such knowledge would have remained pure and beautiful in the\nhearts of all men without doubt and error of any kind had human nature\nnot fallen through disobedience into such miserable darkness and other\ninnumerable calamities.\n\nFor what blindness and ignorance of God, his nature and will, his\nprovidence and government, there is in the hearts of all men in their\ncorrupt and infirm nature, is evident from the doubts which stick in\nthe hearts of everyone, concerning which Plato was right when he\nwisely said, \"That the minds of men are so overpowered with conviction\nby the laws of the motion of the heavenly bodies and other testimonies\nof nature, that they are compelled to confess that the world had for\nits Creator an eternal and almighty divine Mind.\" And yet we find that\nthis knowledge and this conviction are darkened and deranged when we\nconsider how enormous and confused all things are in the world and in\nthis life, and when we find ourselves so often plunged into such great\nmisery and need without help or rescue as if there were no God left to\nhis creatures.\n\nFrom such doubts all those mad-brained opinions of philosophers have\narisen. Some, as the Epicureans, denied the existence of God\naltogether; others, as Aristotle and the Stoics, believed God was an\neternal mind, yet bound and confined him to second causes; just in the\nsame way as the poets fable that Saturn was bound by Jupiter. Thus\nthey ascribe to him no action, but that which the general concurrence\nof second causes produces. Hence having their minds infatuated with\nthis delirium, they can neither ask any good thing of God, nor expect\nany good thing from him, because, with them events are necessarily\nonly consequents which responsively follow upon their natural first\ncauses.\n\nTherefore, while these men thus reasoned, they did not bring forth\ntheir own private and personal opinions only, but the common errors\nwhich lie concealed naturally in the minds of the whole human race.\nThe greatest part of mankind fix their eyes upon second causes; but\nthese never raise them so high as the great Over-ruler of all; so as\nto wait for the government or pressing forth of second causes from and\nby him, as Elijah did, when he prayed for rain in the midst of a\ndrought, and as Isaiah did, when he drove back an army of the enemy by\nprayer.\n\nWhen this darkness in the mind of man had followed upon the fall of\nour first parents, God came forth anew out of his secret habitation,\nand immediately made himself known again, with a distinct _voice_ and\nwith fresh testimonies; that the human race might not appear to be\ncreated in vain nor without a mighty purpose, nor for destruction\nonly. The creation indeed was a great benefit and blessing from God.\nBut much more so was his revelation of himself to the human race from\nthe very \"beginning,\" by certain testimonies and evidences; delivering\nwith a distinct voice the _promise_ of eternal life and salvation, and\nmaking a declaration concerning a judgment to come, in which after\nthis life he would separate the righteous from the wicked. The Law\nalso, though known to nature at first, he renewed, and showed what was\nhis true worship. He caused it moreover to be attended with signs,\nwhich could be wrought by no power less than infinite. He recalled the\ndead to life, he stopped the motions of the heavens and the course of\nthe sun, and he even turned the sun back in his course to refute a\nhuman delirium, which pretended to suspend God by second causes as by\nthe golden chain of Homer.\n\nAnd lastly, the Son of God himself assumed human nature and lived\nopenly with us, taught us and became a sacrifice and offering for our\nsins; and after having overcome death rose and lived again, and\ndiscoursed with many in an open and familiar manner; and moreover\npreached to a great multitude of hearers. And although these things,\non account of their greatness, seem to human judgment to be mere\nfictions, yet they are attested and sealed by sure and certain\nevidences and miracles; so that they are as surely true as that it is\nmid-day when the sun has mounted in his course to the mid-heaven.\n\nTo these blessings we are also to add this, that God was pleased that\nthere should be a history of the human race from the very \"beginning,\"\nand a record of all those testimonies, by which he revealed himself,\ncommitted to writing and engraven on biblical monuments, which should\nremain forever. Nor will God be known in any other way than by these\ntestimonies; nor will he consider any assembly of men, who are\nignorant of these testimonies, to be his Church, nor will he receive\nthe prayer of those, who do not call upon him as the same God, who\ndoes thus make himself known by these his testimonies.\n\nThe Mohammedans and Turks call upon God as the Creator of universal\nnature, but they set themselves against his Son and his Son's\ndoctrine. They say, that he who can approve such doctrine cannot be\nGod. And as to his Son, in whom God more especially reveals himself,\nand concerning whom he says himself, \"This is my beloved Son in whom I\nam well pleased, hear ye him,\" on him they spit with infuriated\nmadness!\n\nAnd what says Plato here? Although Plato does raise his mind above the\ncommon opinions of the vulgar, and does not ascribe divinity to\nstatues of wood and stone, but really does inquire after God with very\nwise reasoning; and although he defines him to be \"an eternal mind\"\nand the great Cause of all good in nature, yet he still errs very\nwidely from the true God. But how is that, some one may say? What\ndescription of God will you find more appropriate than Plato's? I\nacknowledge that he thought most learnedly and wisely concerning the\nnature of God; but concerning his will, he hangs in doubt himself and\nleaves all his readers and disciples in doubt also; and to use his own\nexpression \"bestormed and shipwrecked in their reasoning.\" Neither\nPlato nor Mohammed knew whether God heard and received the unworthy;\nnor how, nor why, he received them.\n\nPlato ought however to have inquired not only how God manifested\nhimself in the creation of things, and what traces of himself he\nimpressed upon the face of nature, but also whether or not he had\nuttered any voice by any certain signs or testimonies, and how that\nvoice was spread abroad and made known. He might have heard these\nthings when studying mathematics in Egypt, and might easily have\nlearned all particulars from their neighbors the Jews. But the greater\npart of men always despise the voice and the Church of God.\n\nBut to what purpose is all this far-fetched Introduction? It is for\nthis end, that we may know the true Church of God is nowhere but among\nthose, who have and who embrace the writings of the prophets and the\napostles; that God is nowhere rightly called upon, but where the\ndoctrine contained in these books truly shines forth. And here again\nwe have to consider another singular blessing of God: That he was\npleased to cause a whole connected history of all ages, from \"the\nbeginning,\" to be recorded in these books, and has preserved them by\nhis own peculiar care. Nay, the whole Mosaic Economy was ordained for\nthis very preservation of them. For what was the whole of that\nEconomy, but a school and library of these books?\n\nAnd the fountain of all is the _first book_ of Moses, called Genesis,\nwhich profane men may perhaps laugh at and consider that it does not\ndiffer from the \"Timon\" of Plato, in which also the creation of the\nworld is described. But the godly reader knows that there is a wide\ndifference between profane descriptions and this description given us\nfrom above. For the latter not only informs us of the beginnings and\nnature of created bodies, but gives us a description of God himself.\nAnd it contains also an account of the beginnings of _the Church_; for\nthe sake of which all other things were created and made, all which\nthings we must know before we can understand whence the doctrine of\nthe church proceeded and how the knowledge of it was spread abroad in\nthe world.\n\nAll heathen superstitions crept into the assemblies of men without any\ncertain authors, and were afterwards accumulated by fanatical persons\non various occasions. But from \"the book of Genesis\" we learn that the\ndoctrine of the church was delivered to our first parents by the voice\nof God, and that thence the knowledge of it was preserved and spread\nabroad in the world by a continued series of persons and events, and\nnot without manifest evidences and testimonies. Enoch was taken up\ninto heaven; Noah truly preached of the Flood and was afterwards\npreserved in the Flood; Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, etc., for there\nare many signs and evidences that they were teachers and priests,\ntruly called of God, were most certain witnesses, that the doctrine\nwhich they embraced and preached was from heaven.\n\nSymmachus objects against Christians, that all agree that the oldest\ndoctrine must be the true one; but that the apostolic doctrine is a\nrecent fiction. But Symmachus is here in a very great error; for it\ncan be most manifestly proved that the doctrine now held by the Church\nis the first doctrine that was ever delivered to the world. And that\nis plainly shown in this \"Book of Genesis,\" where both the doctrine is\nrecorded as having been delivered of God; and also the increasing\nnations are described, which departed from the purity of that doctrine\nand formed for themselves new opinions concerning God and set up\nidols, instead of worshipping him. Therefore, we must come to this\nBook for a description of the beginnings of the Church, and for\ntestimonies of its propagation; and it is to this Book that all\ndoctrines must be referred in order to discover their origin or\nantiquity.\n\nPhilosophers knew nothing of the cause of sin, of the cause of death,\nnor of the cause of the great calamities to which the human race are\nsubject; nor did they know anything of the restitution of all things,\nnor of eternal life. They were continually inquiring, how there is so\nmuch misery in the nature of the human race, which is so exalted and\nexcellent. How often do they exclaim against and lament man's violent\nand impetuous inclinations to vice! They see that his virtues are weak\nand that they are only faint attempts which soon vanish and end in\nnothing; as we see in Pausanius, who was the great general of the\nGreeks against Mardonius; and in Alexander; also in Themistocles and\nmany others. Aristotle seeks for the cause of the death of the human\nrace and of all other living creatures in their material nature; and\nto make good his hypotheses, he enumerates privation among the\nprinciples of natural things; that he might in some way or other make\nout a continual lapse of matter, decaying and perishing, in order to\nassume other forms.\n\nBut the Book now under consideration sets before us a far different\ncause of the death of the human race and of the corruptions which\ndefile it; it shows that the cause was a turning away from God in our\nhuman nature at \"the beginning;\" which human nature, casting away the\nlight and knowledge of God and of life, procured to itself a confusion\nin its powers and a subjection to the tyranny of the devil and of\ndeath. The greatness and enormity of these evils appeared in our first\nparents, in the murder of Cain and in other horrible wickednesses,\nseen in those first flowers of the human race, which excelled all\nothers in purity and excellence.\n\nThen again we have a beautiful view and proof of this in the\npropagation and continual renewing of the Church; where it appears\nthat the Church is not a kingdom or body politic, belonging to this\nworld, enclosed and guarded by armed garrisons; but a body formed of\nwidely dispersed assemblies, though not hidden and obscure; bearing\nabout with them the divine voice and the Word, and dispensing it in\npublic congregations of honest men, to kings, rulers and cities; and\ncalling and drawing many everywhere to prayer and to the true worship\nof God; though they are all the while derided, cast out, and driven\naway by tyrants and by the great part of mankind.\n\nMelchizedek, whom the old divines supposed was Shem, the son of Noah,\nsurpassed all the men of that time in wisdom, righteousness and age;\nand he preached for a long time to the people of Sodom and the\nneighboring places, for his dwelling was not more than eight English\nmiles from Sodom. Therefore no doubt he had a congregation, by no\nmeans insignificant, which contained the families of Abraham, Lot and\nmany others. For although the Church was small, yet there was always\nsome Church existing; and that no obscure nor inconsiderable\nassemblage. And these little schools or congregations of hearers were\nprotected and defended from on high. For all the neighboring cities,\nSodom the chief in power, with infuriated madness despised the\nheavenly doctrine, and railed at and hated its preachers.\n\nIn meditating on this book of Genesis the picture Moses gives us of\nthe Church at that time is to be continually and diligently\nconsidered. And indeed in reading these histories, the following six\nparticulars are to be carefully borne in mind.\n\n_First, the doctrine of our primitive fathers is to be considered,_\nand that the prophets and apostles drew many things from these\nfountains. For our forefathers and the prophets learned the benefits\nof Christ, both out of the promise given to Abraham and from other\nparts of those histories. How eruditely and learnedly does Paul draw\nup the article of righteousness by faith out of that word of Genesis,\n\"Abraham believed in God, and it was counted unto him for\nrighteousness.\" And David ascribes unto Christ a priesthood like that\nof Melchizedek; marking particularly his office of blessing; when he\nblessed Abraham and promised him in the sweetest words, the favor and\nhelp of God; which was different from the office of the Levitical\npriesthood.\n\nThis is a most rich part of the Scripture of Genesis as the following\ncommentary frequently points out, and as the godly reader at once\nperceives in this very history itself; for he knows that these\nhistories are to be read in a far different spirit and with a widely\ndifferent intent, than all profane and heathen histories. Heathen\nhistories merely set before us examples of civil manners, and show\nthat the events attending honest designs are for the most part good,\nand pleasant, and successful; but that the most fatal calamities await\natrocious wickedness. And this is nearly all that we learn from\nprofane and heathen histories. But these prophetic writings contain\nthings of much higher moment; the doctrine of God, the divine\ntestimonies concerning eternal things and the government of the\nChurch.\n\n_Secondly. We must observe and consider these miracles._ Not merely to\nfeast our wondering curiosity on their singularity or novelty, but\nhold them fast as testimonies and evidences; intended to show what\nkind of doctrine and what kind of teachers God approves. All those\nmarvelous and signal acts of God are above nature, and wrought as\n\"seals\" of the doctrine. For we are not to imagine that God was in\njest, when he forewarned the antediluvian world of the Flood, and when\nhe saved the family of Noah alone from that mighty Deluge. All these\nhis mighty acts were testimonials of his providence and of his\ndoctrine, which the aged Noah preached.\n\n_Thirdly. Let the government, defense and protection of the Church be\ndiligently observed;_ which, although it seems to be neglected of God,\nyet exhibits most illustrious proofs of the presence of God and of his\nprovidence.\n\nThe Emperor Augustus ruled the world by sure and established laws; he\nhad his armies, to whose care he entrusted the safety of his\nprovinces, and he had also his wealth and other resources, wherewith\nto support his armies. Thus a political government is fortified and\nprotected by human laws, counsels and power. But the government of the\nChurch is far different from this.\n\nAbraham, Isaac and Jacob wander about like private men and strangers\nin the land without any human resources for protection; and they\ncollect together a Church by the Word or Voice of God, and by the Holy\nGhost. And though they are unceasingly exercised with various sorrows\nand distresses, they still find themselves delivered from all evils,\nprotected and defended from above!\n\nSo also Jacob, when about to take his journey with all his family\nthrough the territories of his angry and embittered brother, is filled\nwith fears and hesitations, and the difficulties seem insurmountable\nby all human counsel, but in the night he wrestles with the Lord and\nis encouraged, confirmed and protected.\n\nAnd many like examples are contained in this little but momentous book\nof Record, which shows us that God is ever with his Church. It\ncommands and encourages us also to seek and hope for help and defense\nfrom him. For these things were recorded and handed down to posterity\nthat we might be encouraged by such examples and might know that God\nin the same manner is ever willing to protect and defend us.\n\n_Fourthly. We must bear in mind the continual succession of the\nChurch._ Men magnify the ordinary succession of all human things; the\ntitles and honors and decorations of parents and the magnificence of\nhouses and places. Cain, Ishmael and Esau arrogated to themselves\ndominion and superiority in the Church, because they had the advantage\nof their brethren in age. The ancient Babylonians maintained that\ntheir opinions concerning God were the most true, because that was the\nmost ancient dwelling place of our fathers, and because it was the\ncapital and citadel of their empire; just as bishops and colleges now\non account of an ordinary succession assume to themselves this\npeculiar honor, that they cannot err; and that they are the habitation\nand the pillars of the truth.\n\nBut Paul shows us in Romans 9:6, etc., that all such judgments and\nopinions are refuted in Genesis, where the apostle shows in the most\nforcible manner that the Church is not propagated and continued by any\nprerogatives or privileges of birth or place, but by the calling and\nWord of God. The family of Jacob was the Church; because it retained\nthe doctrine of the Word from heaven; but Esau did not retain it.\n\nThus the Church which fell away and declined in Palestine was restored\nby the calling of the great teacher Abraham, and by the renewal of the\npromise to him with additional evidences and testimonies, and this\nhistory shows that the Church is the care of God, and is regenerated\nand revived by him; as Paul says, \"And he gave gifts unto men,\nprophets and apostles, and pastors, and teachers.\"\n\nLet us not then be moved by honors of dignity, or places, or an\norderly succession, so as to be made to believe that the church is\nthat assembly of men who oppose the Gospel and who would kill and\nexterminate all honest men on account of their profession of the\ndoctrine of godliness, as Cain did.\n\n_Fifthly. We must bear in mind while reading this Book of Genesis, the\nlives, manners and actions of the persons recorded in it._ We have\nbefore been speaking of the doctrine and government of the Church, and\nthey who despise these will never truly value or prize this book. For\nsuch men seek in these histories as in all others, and are interested\nonly in the various commotions and changes of states and kingdoms, and\nthe examples and lives of the leaders of armies and the wonderful\nevents of wars. But here they read also the conversations and lives of\nshepherds; which are like real pastorals, better than Virgil's\nBucolica. And they here read also the marriages and quarrels of women,\nwhich they despise as altogether without interest. All such readers\nand proud men err, and do not understand that it is the Church which\nis here portrayed by Moses, which is poor and humble in external\nappearance and unlike mighty empires; yet, as the members of that\nChurch lived a civil life, its history consists in domestic and\npolitical actions; according to the vocation of those members of the\nChurch of God and the various occurrences which took place in their\nlives.\n\nThus Abraham taught his guests concerning God, and with such effect\nthat they themselves said, that he was an angel from God; for it is\nindeed a great work, verily the greatest of all works to teach rightly\nconcerning God. This same man carries on war when circumstances\nrequire it and defeats a huge army of the Chaldeans with a very small\nnumber, showing thereby that true courage is a divine motion in the\nsoul from God. This same man is also a master of a family, is full of\npure affection, and loves his wives and his children. He is also a\ndiligent man in all his domestic affairs. He defends his fountains and\nhis cattle. In buying he evinces peculiar care, justice and equity;\nthings which he knows God requires in all the dealings of men with\neach other. And in all this tenor of domestic and political life\nAbraham's great aim is this, that thereby his confession and\nprofession might be made manifest by his actions. In all the common\ncalamities moreover which attend this life of trouble, he exercises\nthe fear of God, patience and calling upon God in prayer; and he\nexperiences at the hand of God many and great deliverances.\n\nAll these things in the lives of the holy patriarchs are committed to\n_letters_ and recorded in this Holy Book; to the end that\nsuperstitions of every kind might be refuted. For in all ages\nsuperstitious men have imagined and sought out various ceremonies and\nmodes of religious action, which are not consistent even with common\nsense, and these superstitious ceremonies they have pompously\ncommended to the people under the title of great acts of religion. All\nthe laws of celibacy, of particular meats and drinks, of afflicting\nand torturing the body, to make a feigned outside show of religion,\nare as ancient as the world itself. But let us oppose to all these mad\ninventions the domestic and political lives and conversations of the\npatriarchal fathers, which were full of examples of faith, full of the\nmost honorable and kind duties toward their fellow men, and full of\nthe tenderest affection. Nevertheless, these holy characters were not\nwithout ceremonies. There were sacrifices; there were certain\nexplanations of the Word and will of God; there were certain holy\nexercises. The possession of letters and of learning also rested with\nthese men especially. From them it is that we received theology,\nhistory and medicine. Therefore they must doubtless have been engaged\nin various domestic duties and exercises; that those of the less\nexperienced ages might be instructed by them and trained to virtue.\n\n_Sixthly. Even the faults and falls of the great men, recorded in this\nBook must be particularly considered._ They took the greatest care not\nto rush into anything against their consciences. But some offenses\nwill arise in the best of men even against their wills. And sometimes\noffenses occur of which men are wholly ignorant and unconscious before\nthey take place. Lot, when in the great grief of his mind he had drunk\nto excess, was defiled by an incestuous commerce with his own\ndaughters.\n\nBut in these slips and falls we are to observe a distinctive\ndifference. These holy men who feared God, as I said, were on their\nguard not to rush into anything against their consciences; and when\nthey happened to fall they deplored the weakness of human nature and\nlearned to see the value of the promise of deliverance through the\nSaviour, who was to come. And they at length knew that God had\nreceived them again in mere mercy, for the sake of the great Deliverer\npromised; and by that confidence and trust in the promised mercy they\nreturned to God; and therefore they obtained pardon and were delivered\nfrom their sins and the punishment of them. Hence Jacob preaches and\nproclaims the angel, the Son of God, by whom he said he was \"delivered\nfrom all evil\"; namely, from sin and eternal punishment. But the\nwicked, as Cain, the \"giants,\" and the people of Sodom, defiled\nthemselves with various sins and iniquities in an open contempt of\nGod, and rushed into eternal destruction. Therefore the wide\ndifference between the falls and punishments of these two characters\nis to be diligently observed in reading this book of Genesis.\n\nThese observations I have made by way of Introduction for the benefit\nof the inexperienced, that being thus forewarned they might know that\nthe doctrine contained in these sacred histories is concerning the\nmost momentous things, and is most copious and extensive, which indeed\nthe following commentary will most learnedly and blessedly open up and\nexplain. Let those therefore who read it bear in mind that the six\nparticular admonitions which I have here mentioned; and let their aim\nin reading be this, that by meditating on the lives of the holy men\nhere recorded, they may become accustomed to the fear of God and to\nfaith in him; and to call upon him in prayer and supplication.\n\nAnd as there is no old commentary of the book of Genesis existing, and\nas it is well known to all that this book is calculated to be of the\nutmost benefit and profit, thanks are due to the Reverend Doctor\nLuther, our teacher, both from myself and from all who fear God, for\nhaving undertaken this exposition, by doing which he has rendered a\nmost essential service; not only to us, but to all posterity; because\nhe has here opened up and explained the most important things; and has\nalso so commented upon those most excellent men and lights of the\nChurch, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and Joseph, that their virtues because\nof this commentary shine forth with much renewed brightness.\n\nBefore this, when the people heard the names of these luminaries of\nthe Church, they had no particular thoughts upon their spiritual\nexcellencies or their heroism; nor did they consider them to be above\nthe common rank of shepherds; but now, they learn to acknowledge the\npeculiar presence of God with them, and to render thanks unto God that\nthey were called of him and that they so wonderfully governed and\nrevived the Church. From these also they have borrowed eminent\nexamples of the fear of God, of faith, of confession, of patience, and\nof many other holy virtues. On these they fix their eyes as on leaders\nand lights of the Church, and inquire of their doctrine for the\nconfirmation of their faith. In a word they venerate them as their\nfathers; that is, as teachers of all who call upon Jesus Christ; and\nthey understand also that these same patriarchs are the fathers in the\nflesh of those murderers, the Jews, and of others who, like the Jews\nof old, hold up Christ for a laughing-stock and \"crucify him afresh\"\nday by day.\n\nIndeed, it is no small step toward godliness to know the doctrines of\nAbraham, Isaac, Jacob and Joseph; and to exalt these eminent men in\nour esteem.\n\nAnd that this commentary might be a benefit to more, and might be\nhanded down to posterity, as Doctor Luther had not leisure enough to\ncommit it to writing, with the help of my friends, Caspar Cruciger and\nGeorge Rorary, I collected it with the greatest diligence and speed,\nas we received it from the mouth of our venerable teacher Luther; and\nfaithfully committed it to paper; and I hope our services will be\nacceptable to all our readers who fear the Lord.\n\nThis useful and valuable monument of divine knowledge and experience\ntherefore I dedicate to you, most Illustrious Prince, John Ernest;\nwhich, I doubt not, you will prize more than any monuments of marble\nor of brass. For I know it is your desire that this noble work of\nMartin Luther should be preserved for the Church's sake; and I am\nequally assured that you love and cherish it with a pious regard, and\nafter the example of your father; and I am also persuaded that you\nlove the author of it; which also you do after the example of your\nreverend father, that most upright prince, Elector John, Duke of\nSaxony, whose worth we thus deservedly record; who, although he was\nfar inferior to our most eminent leaders, whom I have before\nmentioned, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and Joseph; yet I may justly rank him\nwith that Pharaoh, King of Egypt, whom Joseph instructed in the true\nknowledge of God; and who gave a quiet dwelling to the family of\nJacob. For thus your father also learned the Gospel with a holy desire\nthat he might worship God. And he cherished and adorned the churches,\nand devoted all his counsels with the greatest moderation, to the\ncommon peace and tranquility of Germany.\n\nReceive therefore, Illustrious Prince, this great work, which is now\ndedicated to you; that by reading these wonderful histories of the\ngovernment, the perils, and the defense of the Church of God, you may\nlearn to govern and strengthen your own exalted mind.\n\nThe reason why this commentary did not appear all at once, but in\nseparate volumes, was because the labor of collecting and committing\nit to paper was very great; and we have not much idle time at our\ndisposal, from the duties of our calling, as many dream we have; nor\nas those have, who only vaunt and talk of their great and numerous\ngood works. I hope however that this my candid confession will be\naccepted by the reader, if I shall put into his hands a part of our\nlabors first; though it is not a small part; and I promise that the\nremainder shall be added to it in a short time. For as one of old\nsays, \"A godly mind surmounts the hardest toil.\"\n\nWe who are engaged in church work have not only the labor of\ncommenting and teaching, but we have also to endure many other\nburdens; and that, too, with much courage and firm determination of\nmind.\n\nNor am I deterred from my purpose even by the opinions of those, who\nsay that nothing which our adversaries advance, who reproach this kind\nof doctrine (which, through the goodness and mercy of God, sounds\nforth in our Church), ought to be published to the world. For God's\nwill is that he should be proclaimed aloud, both by the living voice\nand by the writings of his Church. Hence it is said concerning the\nChurch's living voice, \"Out of the mouths of babes and sucklings hast\nthou perfected praise.\" And concerning her writings, \"These things\nshall be written for the generation to come.\" God's will is, that the\ndoctrine revealed by him should be delivered faithfully and purely to\nposterity. And his will also is that we should inculcate it by\nspeaking, by discoursing, by commenting, and by writing; that it might\nbecome familiarly known to us. And this continual meditation and\napplication of the pen are of essential service to the promotion of\ngodliness.\n\nIn a word, on what subjects can we meditate and what things can we\ncommit to paper more useful and important than these? I approve of the\nlabors of all, who devote themselves to the useful arts. I praise\nthose who describe the nature and properties of plants and adorn any\nof the arts given us from above. But it is not more the duty of men to\nphilosophize upon plants or upon the anatomy of the human body, than\nto collect with a godly intent those things which were delivered to us\nof God, attended with sure and certain testimonies.\n\nAnd as to our adversaries, who reproach the doctrine of our Church,\nall such are refuted in this very book of Genesis by those sure\nwitnesses, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and Joseph. Since, therefore, we have\nsuch eminent men as these, as witnesses on our side; nay, as our\nteachers, too; let us not be moved by the calumnies and reproaches of\nthe wicked. Reader, farewell. To God I commend you.\n\nChristmas, 1544.\n\n\n\n\nDEDICATION OF BASIL FABER.\n\n\n_To the Worthy, Honorable and Illustrious Christopher von Steinberg,\nmy Gracious Lord:_\n\nHow one should read the books of Moses and what one should chiefly\nlearn from them are fully set forth by our beloved and highly honored\nfather, Doctor Luther, in many places of his writings; namely, one\nshould first of all and above all concentrate his attention upon the\nvery loving and comforting promises concerning our Lord and Saviour,\nsome of which are very clear and plain in the sacred writings of\nMoses, as Gen. 3:15, \"And I will put enmity between thee and the\nwoman, and between thy seed and her seed; he shall bruise thy head,\nand thou shalt bruise his heel.\" Also, Gen. 22:18, \"And in thy seed\nshall all the nations of the earth be blessed.\" Likewise Deut. 18:15,\n\"Jehovah thy God will raise up unto thee a prophet from the midst of\nthee, of thy brethren, like unto me; unto him shall ye hearken.\" In\nthe second place attention should be given to the glorious and\nbeautiful examples of faith, of love, of suffering, of patience, of\nprayer and other spiritual characteristics and traits in the saints,\nas in Adam, Abel, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and others. How God was\ndisposed toward them, governed, protected and heard them. And thirdly,\nstudy the examples of unbelief among the ungodly and of the divine\nwrath and judgment, in Cain, Ishmael, Esau, in the Flood and in the\ndestruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. For all these are nowhere described\nmore truly and fully than in the writings of Moses; and such examples\nillustrate, if they are rightly studied, how the entire Old Testament\nis to be used with profit; namely, that we learn to trust and believe\nin God from the examples of the saints set before us, how God received\nthem, ruled and led them and wonderfully protected them. But from the\nexamples of the wrath and judgment of God learn to fear him.\n\nSuch passages are not only here and there in all the books of Moses,\nbut in his first book he treats also the following important themes:\nWhence all creatures, especially man, have their origin; also what sin\nand death are and how man may be delivered from them and become truly\npious, which every man seeks and desires; for these are the most\nimportant subjects of all the sacred Scriptures. Likewise, how the\nChurch originated and grew, often came in need and danger, and was\nwonderfully preserved by God.\n\nThe foregoing one should know, if he would read Moses, and especially\nhis first book, Genesis. But so much is in these sound and useful\nlessons and explanations of Genesis by our honored father, Doctor\nMartin Luther, of blessed memory, that I will give a short account of\nit. And first it is true that this dear and great man, our beloved\nfather and prophet, Doctor Martin Luther, served the Church to his\nlast days in many and various labors. In his exposition of the\nprophetical and apostolical writings, he has most faithfully\nexplained, enforced and defended the doctrines concerning the\nforgiveness of sins, righteousness before God, and eternal salvation.\nHowever his expositions of his \"beloved Genesis,\" as he delighted to\ncall it, are a key or paragon to all his other writings and books, and\na very rich treasure in which an excellent theology is gathered and\nformulated, as every diligent reader will find for himself. For what\nis now and then treated in many writings of Doctor Luther, flow\ntogether here in one work, which might rightly be called Dr. Luther's\nTheology. Further you find here for the first time many useful reports\nof all kinds of spiritual and theological discussions, as they spring\nup continuously, and especially critical and special instruction\nalmost on every article of Christian doctrine, of God, of the three\nPersons in the divine Essence, of the creation, of sin, of faith and\nthe forgiveness of sin; of the Law and the Gospel, and how both\ndoctrines are to be distinguished from one another, which have never\nbeen treated better and more fully than in this book. Also, of the\ntrue Church, of the papacy of Rome, against which you will find here\nvery powerful storms, almost on every page. Against the Jews and all\ntheir lies, dreams and phantasies; also some powerful discussions and\nstrong refutations of their prejudices, comments, corruptions and\nmisunderstandings. In addition also the correct exegesis or\nexplanations of many difficult passages of the Scriptures, and strong\nconsolation in all kinds of spiritual need and temptations, as against\ndoubt and unbelief, the fear and the crisis of death, and the like.\nAlso, the refutation of many false teachings and heresies both old and\nnew. In addition some fine and useful histories illustrating the\ncourse of the Gospel in our day. Likewise prophecies concerning\nGermany as to its sad future because it lightly esteems the Word and\nis so very unthankful, some of which have already been realized and\nothers are about to be. Finally you find at times, according to the\ndrift and occasion of the expositions, good counsels and reports also\nabout external and worldly affairs, to know which fully is necessary,\nuseful and pleasant.\n\nTherefore then, as I considered it a sin that such a treasure should\nremain only in the Latin language and that others, who were\nunacquainted with it, should be robbed of it, especially since Dr.\nMartin Luther was the teacher and prophet of Germany; and in order\nthat everybody, especially the fathers of homes and the people at\nlarge, might enjoy this treasure to their profit, advancement and\nconsolation, have I in my weak ability translated the first two parts\nof the Exposition into German in the plainest and most faithful\nmanner, and dedicated the same to your high honor and to other\nChristians of the nobility, who have been admonished to love and\nfurther such Christian works, for a testimony and praise that your\nhighness was disposed in a Christian and praiseworthy manner to\nfurther such useful church works, and heartily inclined to do them.\nMay our beloved God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ grant that it\nmay be helpful to many pious Christians! Herewith I commend your\nhighness and the benevolent Christians of the worthy nobility to the\ncare and protection of Almighty God.\n\nYour humble, willing servant,\n  BASIL FABER.\n\nDated Magdeburg, St. Michael, A.D. 1557.\n\n\n\n\nPREFACE OF DR. JOHN GEORGE WALCH.\n\n\nAmong the illustrious gifts of grace with which God endowed our\nbeloved and blessed Dr. Martin Luther, as the chosen agent for the\nreformation of the Church, one of the greatest was that he did not\nonly love the divine Word from his heart and held it indeed, dearer\nthan thousands of gold and silver; but also that he possessed a deep\ninsight into and was mighty in explaining the Scriptures of the Old\nand New Testaments. Both were united in a high degree in him by the\nwisdom and goodness of God. He was indeed a great lover of the divine\nWord and found in it his greatest pleasure, when he studied it to be\nestablished in his faith by learning from it the way he should walk.\nIn the many and various trials he had to experience he could draw from\nit the one consolation, of which he gave many proofs and at the same\ntime left behind him a testimony that can not be gainsaid, which\nconfirms that for which he is in this respect honored. For his love\nand high appreciation of the sacred Scriptures he makes apparent upon\nevery occasion. From the beginning of his academic career to its close\nhe lectured constantly and untiringly on the Scriptures and sought to\nmake his hearers acquainted with them. He founded his teachings on\nthem and was therefore firm and unmovable in the same. He used them\nagainst his opponents as the sword of the spirit, put them to flight\nand refuted all their errors, so that they could not do anything\nagainst him, especially the Papists. He praised the Scriptures most\nhighly and admonished all to read them and pray to God for true light\nif they desired the true knowledge and wished to further their\nsalvation. As great as was his love to the divine Books so well was he\nexperienced in them and God gave him great talents to understand and\nexplain them. He did not hang to the outward shell nor did he seek to\napply in his expositions an extensive human knowledge; but he came to\nthe right foundation and the true and real purpose of the Spirit of\nGod, whether he had before him the legal or the evangelical Word, and\nknew a clear and impressive way to give the true meaning and will of\nGod in the respective passages, especially concerning the universal\nsinful and deep ruin of mankind, the grace and merciful love of God,\nChrist the kernel of all the holy Scriptures, righteousness by faith,\nthe active and working character of faith, as also other points of\nlife and doctrine, which he did not do the least in the historical\nparts of the Scriptures.\n\nSuch gifts Luther received from God because he was chosen as the agent\nof the Reformation, and they were by all means necessary to that end.\nFor by means of the Scriptures the light penetrated the darkness\ncovering the world, and revealed the abominations of the papacy. Hence\nhe translated the Scriptures into German from the original texts. He\nplaced the Bible in the hands of the people. Then in his sermons,\nacademic lectures and everywhere he diligently explained in many\nexcellent expositions the divine Books, where he showed how one is to\nunderstand the Word of God and apply it fruitfully to his edification.\n\nThese expository and exegetical writings of the sainted Luther are\nwritten with a talent especially adapted for the work, and they have\nalso at all times brought special blessings, although we deny not that\nsome are to be preferred to others. And among Luther's very best\nwritings all agree, and rightly so, is his Commentary on Genesis, a\nshort historical account of which I will now give.\n\nLuther began this work at Wittenberg in his lectures to the university\nstudents in 1536, and ended it after ten years of labor, Nov. 17,\n1545, only a few months before his death. So John Mathesius reports in\nhis \"Sermons on the Life of Luther,\" and then adds, Luther because of\nworry left Wittenberg for a time to visit the Prince of Anhalt, at\nMerseburg, and wrote, \"Upon his return home, he finished his Genesis,\nNov. 17, 1545, on which he had labored ten years.\" Ludwig von\nSeckendorf's \"History of Lutheranism\" is the authority that he began\nthis work in 1536, while in the margin of the Latin edition is printed\nthat he entered upon the exposition of the twenty-second chapter, Oct.\n27, 1539.\n\nIn the meantime the wisdom of God directed that this glorious treasure\nshould not lie buried, but should be brought to light for the\nquickening of many souls, and issued periodically in parts. The\nbeginning was made while Luther was still living, and the first part,\nthe Creation and the Flood, appeared in 1545, containing his lectures\non the first eleven chapters of Genesis, edited by Veit Dietrich, who\nheard Luther deliver the lectures while a student at Wittenberg, to\nwhich he wrote a dedication, and Luther added a short but precious\n\"Address to the Christian Reader\" [both of which we print in full].\nLuther died in 1546, and Veit Dietrich in 1549, but Jerome Besoldus,\npastor at Nuremberg, continued the work and issued the three other\nparts or volumes at Nuremberg. The second volume, The History of\nAbraham, with a preface by Michael Roting, professor at Nuremberg,\nfrom the twelfth chapter to verse 10 of the twenty-fifth chapter, was\npublished in 1550. The third volume, to the thirty-sixth chapter,\nappeared in 1552, with a preface by Philip Melanchthon, and the fourth\nvolume to the end of Genesis, in 1554, prefaced by Besoldus himself.\nJerome Baumgartner, a councilman of Nuremberg, and a great lover of\nLuther's writings, appointed Besoldus to this work upon the death of\nVeit Dietrich, Melanchthon and Rorary approving. Jerome Besoldus\nstudied at Wittenberg, heard these lectures from Luther's mouth, and\ndiligently wrote a large part of them as they were delivered. He\nstayed in the home of Luther and ate at his table. He made use, also,\nof what Dietrich, Cruciger, Rorary and Stoltz had written from\nLuther's mouth. He says when Veit Dietrich died while preparing the\nsecond volume, the enemies of the Gospel sought to prevent its\npublication, and there was little hope that it should appear in print\ncomplete. But God graciously heard the prayers of the godly in these\ndark and distressing days, who longed for the last and best writings\nof their beloved Luther, when Councilman Baumgartner resolved that at\nleast what Veit Dietrich had prepared for the second volume should\nappear, and the result was the work complete was printed.\n\nThis commentary was delivered to the students in Latin and first\npublished in that language. But soon arrangements were perfected to\nissue it in German. Basil Faber, who died while rector in Erfurt, a\ncelebrated educator, translated the first two volumes, whose\ndedication we give in full; and John Guden, senior pastor at\nBrunswick, translated volumes three and four, and his dedication was\nto the same person and written on Epiphany of the same year, 1557, a\nlittle before Faber's dedication.\n\nOther editions of the commentary, both in Latin and German, followed,\nand then it was incorporated in the editions of the complete works of\nLuther; in the Wittenberg edition, in Latin and German, and in the\nAltenburg and the Leipsic collections in German, and all subsequent\neditions.\n\nThat Luther himself did not make much of this work is a proof of his\nhumility and that he ascribed nothing to himself, but all to the grace\nof God. Nevertheless the commentary is worthy of all the praise it has\nreceived. In the Formula of Concord our forefathers referred to it as\na _\"Commentarius praeclarus,\"_ or an excellent commentary and the\nLeipsic and Wittenberg theologians in their final report and\nexplanation, especially against Flacius, mention \"The Augsburg\nConfession,\" the Postils, and other sermons of Luther which are full\nof the precious teachings and strong consolation of the Holy Ghost,\nand all his other books on doctrine, especially those written after\nthe Diet of Augsburg, in 1530, among the best of which are his\nexplanations of certain Prophets and the Psalms, the Epistle to the\nGalatians; and in this select list is classified the \"Commentary on\nGenesis.\" They designate it as a \"rich exposition, with which he\nclosed his calling, his ministerial office and his life in a blessed\nway. Because of this we justly esteem it highly. For in the same\ncommentary he gave full and free expression to his last convictions\nand confession on most of the articles of the Christian faith and\nbequeathed them to the world.\"\n\nIn like manner have other divines of our Church judged of this\ncommentary and held that we should esteem it highly and that it proves\nLuther was truly a great expounder of the Scriptures. (Basil Faber's\ndedication is quoted at length here, also Veit Dietrich at other\nplaces, but we refer the reader to their documents, which we give in\nfull.)\n\nJohn Guden says: \"Luther has left us in this Commentary a rich\ntreasury as a legacy, and what a valuable treasure it is, they will\ntruly learn, who diligently read it. As a summary, one finds here the\ntrue kernel of the doctrine our God has revealed to us through Dr.\nLuther, as Melanchthon, Jonas and other spiritual men have also\nrightly judged.\"\n\nMathesius with good spiritual taste says: \"He who learns to know\nChrist in Genesis has instruction in the power of the divine Word and\nknows what sin and righteousness are, which avail before God. My\ntestimony concerning this blessed Commentary I wish to leave behind me\nthat my natural and spiritual children may not forget it, but esteem\nit highly all their lives. My Genesis, for the sake of instruction and\nconsolation, I have frequently read through, underscored and\ndescribed. Remember this commentary explained to me the Word and will\nof Christ, and from it God gave comfort, rest and life to my troubled\nsoul. For when our case is like the suffering of the patriarchs and\nthe exposition suits one's heart as if the Doctor really speaks with\nus, then the Commentary is incorporated in us and lives in us, and\nrefreshes and quickens one's heart.\" Joachim Morlin, in \"How to Read\nWith Profit the Writings and Books of the Beloved and Blessed Man of\nGod, Dr. Martin Luther,\" praises above all others this Commentary and\nsays: \"Read the following 'Consummatum Est,' 'It Is Finished,' of this\nholy man, 'The Beloved Genesis,' in which as in a new world he brings\nforth and opens up not only certain parts but all the treasures and\nriches of the wisdom of the divine Word, so that there is not another\nbook like it on earth since the times of the apostles. Luther's\nGenesis makes all theologians scholars.\" Jerome Weller says: \"Luther's\nCommentary on Genesis is his Swan Song. For although all Luther's\nwritings are full of manifold doctrines and consolations, yet his\nCommentary on Genesis excels all others. There is hardly a temptation\nfor which he has not given in this Commentary a sure remedy; yes,\nLuther has excelled himself in this Commentary. Therefore I\ncontinually admonish all theological students again and again that\nthey read this commentary diligently and assiduously and never lay it\nout of their hands, but seek to be wedded to it. For I can assure you\nI received more benefit from this commentary than from almost all the\nother writings of Luther. Therefore I will never be satisfied nor\ntired of reading it. If all that has been written since the apostles\nwere gathered in one heap, they would not be worthy to be compared\nwith this Commentary. I know that I speak the truth, and all who have\nexperienced the truth and learned theologians share my convictions.\"\n\nNot that the work does not praise itself but that we may better know\nthat not only a few but that the teachers of our Church generally,\nhave at all times justly emphasized its praise, I add a few more\ntestimonies. Timothy Kirchner, in the preface to his _\"Thesaurus Dr.\nLutheri\"_ (1565), says: \"In this book all theologians must go to\nschool, and no one will graduate in it. Luther, the man of God, has so\nclearly and richly treated in it nearly all the greatest and most\nimportant articles of our Christian faith, that the like, the holy\nBible alone excepted, has not appeared in the world and indeed will\nnot. It will be and remain indeed a _'Thesaurus thesaurorum,'_ a\ntreasury of treasuries, and a perennial fountain of all consolation,\nalong with the Bible.\" David Chytraeus (1557) also does not know how\nto praise this work enough, he says: \"It is a Swan Song and at the\nsame time a complete work in every respect. Not only is it a rich\ntreasure of spiritual wisdom and learning, clothed in fine, rich\nlanguage, and an accurate explanation of all the difficult passages\nand questions, but it has also developed in its language a special and\ncharacteristic power, which moves the soul of the reader and inspires\nhim to true piety, fear of God, faith and other virtues.\" He\nadmonishes all the godly attentively and diligently to read this last\nwork of Luther, and advertise it in preference to other writings,\nwhich are indeed learned, but are not as awakening as this one. Daniel\nCramer agrees with Chytraeus and says in his \"Isagogics,\" in 1630:\n\"Whoever has not read this Commentary is not worthy of the name of a\ntheologian.\" Abraham Calov in his preface to his \"Commentary on\nGenesis\" (1671), calls this \"A golden book,\" and Thomas Crenius\n(1704), \"A work that can not be praised enough.\" Christian Gerber\nexpresses his conviction thus: \"The writings of Luther are worthy to\nbe esteemed more highly and used more diligently. His Commentary on\nGenesis is a remarkable book, not only awakening but useful and\nedifying to read. He has so beautifully described the virtues and\npiety of the holy patriarchs that one can hardly read them enough when\nhe once begins. One could draw from this Commentary an excellent\npatriarchal and Christian system of ethics, and it is to be hoped that\nsome theologian will do it, which would indeed be a useful and\nexcellent book.\" Again John Heinreich von Seelen writes: \"It is a\ntreasure more precious that gold, containing inestimable riches of\nholy thoughts, so that some have rightly judged that this is the best\nof all Luther's books.\" Von Seckendorf writes: \"One is really amazed\nat the almost incredible gifts of Luther to explain the holy\nScriptures so critically and clearly without any great effort. He\nstudied the greatest expounders of the Bible. He was little concerned\nabout his words and style and dictated nothing, and the same thoughts\nhe uttered on other occasions in different words, for he was never in\nwant of words.\" Many more like testimonies could be quoted.\n\nThe foregoing words of praise are well grounded, as every one who has\nthoughtfully and diligently read this book must confess. What Richard\nSimon, the Jewish critic, and Pallavicinus, Maimburg and other enemies\nof the Protestant faith have said against it only prove their own\nignorance and darkness in spiritual knowledge and makes Luther shine\nforth all the brighter. When von Seckendorf wished to make extracts\nfrom this Commentary, so many important subjects and passages were\nfound that he did not know which to select.\n\nThere is a glorious work for this book of the sainted Luther to\naccomplish. From it the learned and the unlearned may be taught the\ntrue meaning of Genesis, gain a critical insight into many theological\nsubjects and reap much for their private devotions. Therefore it is\nwell that new editions of it are constantly being issued and an\nopportunity is given to a larger number to read it. This edition will\nbe found more correct and accurate than the others, and also more\nserviceable and convenient. This is due to the publisher, Mr. John\nGottgetreu Mueller, who has chosen not only good paper and print, but\nalso a convenient form (a quarto instead of a folio form). May the\nLord of lords make this labor of the sainted Luther to be a greater\nblessing, so that his most holy name may further be glorified and many\nsouls be established in the saving knowledge of the Gospel, or\nencouraged to that end, for the sake of his merciful love. Amen.\n\nJOHN GEORGE WALCH.\n\nJena, April 6th, 1739.\n\n\n\n\nFROM THE PREFACE BY DR. HENRY COLE.\n\n\nA TRIBUTE OF A THEOLOGIAN OF ENGLAND.\n\n\"This invaluable and last production of the loved and revered reformer\nis a rich and precious mine of sacred wisdom; a vast treasury of deep\nresearch, of varied scriptural knowledge and of extensive Christian\nexperience; in a word, it is a profound and comprehensive body of\nbiblical, sacred-historical, doctrinal, spiritual and experimental\ndivinity. So that a Christian who procures 'Luther on Galatians' and\n'Luther on Genesis' possesses a complete treasury of rich, solid and\nsaving theology.\n\n\"Indeed it is impossible to convey by any command of description an\nidea of the extent, depth and richness of the mine of Christian\nknowledge and experience, which Luther's long hidden and unknown\nexposition of Genesis contains. The sins, trials, afflictions, faith,\nhope, deliverances, joys and duties of kings, princes, magistrates,\nhusbands, wives, parents, children, masters and servants, rich and\npoor, are treated, as they occur in the lives of the patriarchs and\nprominent characters of the divine Record.\n\n\"I hesitate not a moment to express my fullest persuasion that the\nChurch of Christ will consider Luther's commentary on Genesis the\ndeepest and most spiritual exposition of any book or portion of the\nholy Scriptures in existence; entering the most deeply and clearly\ninto God's mind, and furnishing the most profound, varied and blessed\nedification for the family of heaven; and also the most useful,\ntruthful, valuable and divine instruction for the world at large.\n\n\"As an expositor of the holy Scriptures Luther's comments contain a\ndepth of investigation unpenetrated, a width of meditation unspanned,\nan extent of research unoccupied, a scriptural knowledge unpossessed,\na variety of reflections unevinced, a multitude of wonders unrevealed,\na number of beauties undiscovered, a value of instruction\nuncommunicated, a spirit of holiness unbreathed, a height of praise\nunascended, a depth of worship unfathomed, and a magnification of the\nScriptures as the Word of God, unsurpassed and unequalled by any\ncommentator, before or since his day.\"\n\nThis divine and educator of the Church of England says Luther's\nCommentary on Genesis is \"Doubtless the masterpiece of the greatest of\nthe extra Bible saints and servants of the Most High.\" \"What an\nox-like labor, or as the reformer expresses it, 'what a ministerial\nsweat!'\" \"This greatest of all commentaries.\"\n\nSpace will not permit more. In the second volume on Genesis we hope to\nsay more on the place this commentary has held and ought to hold in\nEnglish Protestantism.\n\n\nA TRIBUTE OF A CHRISTIAN LADY IN SCOTLAND.\n\nDr. Cole in his preface, dated London, Feb. 2nd, 1857, records to the\npraise of God that, \"It came in a most remarkable and wholly\nunexpected way to the knowledge of a noble lady of Scotland, Lady\nM----, that the 'Creation,' the first part of Luther's great\ncommentary on Genesis, was translated; and that the translator was at\na loss for ways and means whereby to print and publish it; and, after\ntwo letters of favored communication and explanation between the\ntranslator and her ladyship, this 'noble' disciple of the Redeemer,\n1 Cor. 1:26, in her second letter at once with divine nobleness of\nmind purchased the manuscript at its full fixed price, without one\nword about abatement; and she also as nobly undertook to print and\npublish it at her own expense. From her ladyship's communications it\nappeared that she herself was 'brought to the knowledge of the truth'\nby reading translations of Luther's writings. Her present holy acts of\nservice to the cause of truth were therefore those of gratitude to\nGod, of love and honor to the name of Luther, and of encouragement to\nhis humble translators.\"\n\nYears before, this lady read of Dr. Cole's intention to translate\nLuther on Genesis, but it did not appear. Thinking that the translator\nhad no doubt \"gone the way of all the earth,\" she made an effort to\nhave it translated and published, in order to be benefited still more\nby reading Luther in English. Hence her great surprise after many\nyears to receive a letter from Dr. Cole, stating the manuscript was\nfinally ready. She replied thus: \"My Dear Sir:-- Your letter was the\ncause of much interest and surprise to me; for about the time that you\ncompleted your translation of 'The Creation' by Luther, I was\nanxiously inquiring from every one I could think of, to know if there\nwas any one who could and would translate it; and I bought the work on\nGenesis in the original in hope to find some one to translate it; but\nupon inquiring of Messrs. ---- and others, I found that the\ntranslation and publication would be so expensive that I was obliged\nto abandon the thought of it.\"\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nIt thus pleased all-wise God to choose not a rich son of his, but a\ndaughter to execute his blessed work. May God grant that this interest\nso general and promising in England and Scotland half a century ago in\ntranslating Luther may be revived by all the sons and daughters who\nhave been benefited by his writings!\n\nMinneapolis, Minn., Nov. 28th, 1903.\n\nJ. N. LENKER.\n\n\n\n\nDR. MARTIN LUTHER TO THE CHRISTIAN READER.\n\n\nMy lectures on Genesis I did not undertake with the intention that\nthey be published and advertised; but in order that I might serve for\na time our University as it is at present, and that I might exercise\nmy audience and myself in the Word of God; lest I should finish the\ndeath of this body in an old age indolent and entirely useless. To\nthis end Ps. 146:2 awakened and encouraged me: \"While I live will I\npraise Jehovah; I will sing praises unto my God while I have any\nbeing.\"\n\nMoreover, I undertook the work in order that I might be found at death\namong that \"little flock\" and of those \"babes,\" out of whose mouth\n\"God perfects praise\" or establishes strength, by which he destroys\nthe enemy and the avenger, Ps. 8:2. For the world always has enough\nmonsters and devils, who blaspheme, corrupt and pervert the Word of\nGod, so that God be not adorned with his glory, but Satan instead is\nadored.\n\nIt however so happened that these lectures fell into the hands of two\ngood and pious men who collected them. Dr. Casper Cruciger, whose\nbooks sufficiently testify how he was led by the spirit of God and by\nthe study of his Word; and Mr. George Rorary, the ministers of our\nchurch here at Wittenberg. Their work was followed by that of Master\nVeit Dietrich, the pastor at Nuremberg, who contributed his share. All\nof these men are truly faithful, scholarly and zealous ministers of\nthe Word of God, and their judgment is that these lectures should by\nall means be published. For my part I leave them to act according to\ntheir own conviction, as St. Paul says, \"Let each man be fully assured\nin his own mind,\" Rom. 14:5, and as I see that they are moved by a\nholy zeal to serve the congregations of the Church of Christ, I\ntherefore strongly approve of their intention and I pray that the\nbenediction of God may rest upon them!\n\nHowever I would prefer that their Christian labors and valuable time\nwere spent on a better book and a better author. For I am not one of\nwhom it can be said, \"He did a good work\"; neither one of whom you can\nsay, \"He tried to do a good work\"; I belong to the last order of\nauthors, who dare scarcely say, \"I desired to do a good work.\" Oh,\nthat I might be worthy of being the last in this last order. For all\nthese lectures were delivered in an extemporaneous and popular form,\njust as the expressions came into my mouth, following in quick\nsuccession and also mixed with German, and surely more verbose than I\nwished.\n\nNot however that I am conscious of having spoken anything contrary to\nthe truth. My chief aim has been, as far as possible, to avoid\nobscurity and present as perspicuous as my talent and ability could\nthe things which I wished to have understood. For I feel keenly that\nthese weighty matters of which Moses wrote have been treated by me in\na manner far beneath their dignity and importance. But I console\nmyself with the old proverb, \"Let him fail who attempts to do a thing\nbetter than he is able\"; and with this Scripture, \"God requires\nnothing of a man beyond the ability he has given him.\" 2 Cor. 8:12.\n\nBut why multiply words? That of which we treat are the Scriptures; the\nScriptures, I say, of the Holy Spirit, and for these things, as St.\nPaul says, who is sufficient? 2 Cor. 3:5. They are a river, says\nGregory, in which a lamb may walk or touch bottom and an elephant must\nswim. They are the wisdom of God which makes the wise of this world\nand \"the prince\" of it fools; which makes babes eloquent, and the\neloquent men babes.\n\nIn a word he is not the best, who comprehends all things and never\nfails, for such a one never has been, is not now and never will be;\nbut he is the best here who loves the most, as Ps. 1:2 says, \"Blessed\nis the man that loveth the law of Jehovah and meditateth on it.\"\nAbundantly sufficient is it for us, if we delight in this divine\nwisdom, love it and meditate on it day and night.\n\nWe examine the commentaries of the fathers and find that the good will\nwas certainly not lacking among them, but to do it they were not able.\nAnd how ridiculous are all of our day, who attempt to explain the\ngreat things, the Scriptures by a beautiful, as they term it, by a\npure Latinity or by paraphrases, being themselves utterly destitute of\nthe spirit and of understanding, and no more competent to treat such\nholy things than, as the proverb runs, \"Asses are to play upon a\nharp.\" Jerome correctly said, Every one brings the offering to the\ntabernacle he can afford. One brings gold, another silver, another\nprecious stones and the skins or the hair of goats. For the Lord has\nneed of all these things. The wills of all were equally pleasing to\nhim, though their offerings were not equal.\n\nTherefore I permit these few goat hairs of mine to be published, as my\noffering and sacrifice unto God, whom I beseech in Christ Jesus, our\nLord, that he would, through my labors, give occasion to others to do\nbetter or at least to exert themselves to explain these things better\nthan I have done. As to my adversaries and their god, the devil, I\nbelieve with holy pride and exultation in the Lord, that I have given\noccasions enough to them to cavil and calumniate, for this I have\ncontinually and liberally done from the beginning of my ministry. This\nis the only service they are worthy to perform, for they neither can\ndo nor desire to do anything that is good; being, as Paul says, \"men\nof corrupt minds; and unto every good work reprobate,\" Tit. 1:15, 16.\n\nMay our Lord Jesus Christ perfect his work, which he hath begun in us\nand hasten that day of our redemption, for which we long with uplifted\nheads, and for which we sigh and wait in pure faith and a good\nconscience, in which we have also served an ungrateful world, a world\nthat is the incorrigible enemy even of its own, to say nothing of our,\nsalvation. \"Come, Lord Jesus!\" and let every one that loves thee, say,\n\"Come, Lord Jesus!\" Amen.\n\n\n\n\nCOMMENTARY ON GENESIS.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER I.\n\n\nI. INTRODUCTION.\n\n\nThis first chapter of our Holy Bible is written in the simplest and\nplainest language, and yet it contains the greatest and at the same\ntime the most difficult themes. Therefore the Jews, as Jerome\ntestifies, were forbidden to read it or hear it read before they were\nthirty years of age. The Jews required that all the other Scriptures\nbe well known by every one before they were permitted to approach this\nchapter. Their Rabbins however accomplished little good by this, for\neven many of the Rabbins themselves, whose years were more than twice\nthirty, give in their commentaries and Talmuds the most childish and\nfoolish explanations of these, the greatest of all subjects.\n\nNor has any one yet in the church to the present day explained all\nthese momentous things correctly and satisfactorily in every respect.\nFor interpreters have confused and entangled every thing with such a\nvariety, diversity and infinity of questions that it is very clear\nthat God reserved to himself the majesty of this wisdom, and the\ncorrect understanding of this chapter, leaving to us only the general\nideas that the world had a beginning and was created by God out of\nnothing. This general knowledge may clearly be taken from the text.\nBut with respect to the particulars, there is so much that one cannot\nbe clear about and hence innumerable questions have continually been\nraised in commentaries.\n\nFrom Moses however we know that 6000 years ago the world did not\nexist. But of this no philosopher can in any way be persuaded;\nbecause, according to Aristotle the first and the last man cannot in\nany way be determined, although however Aristotle leaves the problem\nin doubt whether or not the world is eternal, yet he is inclined to\nthe opinion that it is eternal. For human reason cannot ascend higher\nthan to declare that the world is eternal, and an infinite generation\npreceded us and will follow us. Here human reason is forced to stand\nstill. However from this belief follows as a consequence the perilous\nopinion that the soul is mortal, because philosophy knows no plurality\nof infinities. For it cannot be, but that human reason must be\noverwhelmed and shipwrecked in the sea of the majesty of these themes.\n\nPlato collected, perhaps in Egypt, some traditional sparks as it were\nfrom the sermons of the fathers and prophets, and therefore he came\nnearer the truth than others. He holds that matter and mind are\neternal; but he says that the world had a beginning and that it was\nmade out of matter. But I cease to mention the opinions of\nphilosophers, for Lyra cites these although he does not explain them.\n\nThus neither among the Hebrews, Greeks nor Latins is there a leading\nteacher whom we can follow here with safety. Therefore I shall be\npardoned if I shall see what I can say on the subject. For except the\none general opinion that the world was created out of nothing there is\nscarcely another thing connected with the subject on which there is\nentire agreement among all theologians.\n\nHilary and Augustine, two great lights in the church, believed that\nthe world was made on a sudden and all at once, not successively\nduring the space of six days. Augustine plays upon these six days in a\nmarvelous manner in explaining them. He considers them to be mystical\ndays of knowledge in the angels, and not natural days. Hence have\narisen those continual discussions in the schools and in churches\nconcerning the evening and morning knowledge, which Augustine was the\ncause of being introduced. These are all diligently collected and\nparticularly mentioned by Lyra. Let those therefore who wish to know\nmore about them consult Lyra.\n\nBut all these disputations, though subtle and clever, are not to the\npoint in question. For what need is there to make a two-fold\nknowledge. Equally useless is it to consider Moses in the beginning of\nhis history as speaking mystically or allegorically. For as he is not\ninstructing us concerning allegorical creatures and an allegorical\nworld, but concerning essential creatures and a world visible and\napprehensive by the senses, he calls, as we say in our trite proverb,\n\"a post, a post;\" that is, when he says morning or day or evening, his\nmeaning is the same as ours when we use those terms, without any\nallegory whatever. Thus the Evangelist Matthew, in his last chapter,\nuses the same manner of expression when he says that Christ arose on\nthe evening of the Sabbath; that is, at that time of one of the\nSabbath days which was formed by the evening light. But if we cannot\nfully comprehend the days here mentioned nor understand why God chose\nto use these intervals of time, let us rather confess our ignorance in\nthe matter than wrest the words of Moses from the circumstances which\nhe is recording to a meaning, which has nothing to do with those\ncircumstances.\n\nWith respect therefore to this opinion of Augustine, we conclude that\nMoses spoke literally and plainly and neither allegorically nor\nfiguratively; that is, he means that the world with all creatures was\ncreated in six days as he himself expresses it. If we cannot attain\nunto a comprehension of the reason why it was so, let us still remain\nscholars and leave all the preceptorship to the Holy Spirit!\n\nThese days were distinguished thus. On the first day the unformed mass\nof heaven and earth was created to which light was then added. On the\nsecond day the firmament. On the third day the earth was produced out\nof the waters and its fruits created. On the fourth day the heavens\nwere adorned by the creation of the sun, moon and stars. On the fifth\nday the fishes of the sea and the fowls of the air. On the sixth day\nthe beasts of the earth were created, and Man was made. I say nothing\nof the other views which divide these sacred matters into the work of\ncreation, of distinction, and of ornation, because I do not think such\ndivisions of the subject can be made to harmonize in all respects with\neach other. If any one admire such views let him consult Lyra.\n\nAs to Lyra thinking that a knowledge of the opinion of philosophers\nconcerning matter is necessary, and that on such knowledge must depend\na man's understanding the six days' work of creation, I question\nwhether Lyra himself really understood what Aristotle calls matter.\nFor Aristotle does not, like Ovid, call the original unformed chaotic\nmass matter. Wherefore omitting these unnecessary subjects altogether,\nlet us come at once to Moses as a far better teacher, whom we may more\nsafely follow than we may philosophers, who dispute without the Word\nabout things they do not understand.\n\n\nII. GOD'S WORK ON THE SIX DAYS IN PARTICULAR.\n\n\nPART I. GOD'S WORK ON THE FIRST DAY.\n\nI. V. 1. _In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth._\n\nA necessary and a very difficult question arises here, in that Moses\nspeaks of the creation of the heavens and the earth, and yet does not\nmention the day on which nor the Word by which they were created. For\none naturally inquires why Moses did not rather use the same form of\nwords here, as he did subsequently, where mention is made of the Word\nthus: _\"In the beginning, God said, Let there be the heavens and the\nearth?\"_ For Moses mentions \"the heavens and the earth\" before God had\nspoken anything, whereas both the Decalogue and the whole Scripture\ntestify that God made the heavens and the earth, and all that in them\nis, \"in six days.\" But as I said before, we enter on this path without\na guide. We leave therefore to others to follow their own judgment\nhere, while we will expound it according to our views.\n\nNot those elements which now are, but the original rude and unformed\nsubstances Moses calls \"the heavens and earth.\" The water was dark,\nand because it was by nature the lighter element it surrounded the\nearth, itself also as yet unformed was a kind of mud. God formed this\nfirst material, if I may so call it, of his future work, not before or\napart from the six days, but, according to the express words of the\nDecalogue, in the \"beginning\" of the first day.\n\nAs I view the matter therefore Moses does not mention here the first\nday, because these confused substances of the hitherto rude heavens\nand earth were afterwards formed, and as it were fully adorned and\ndistinguished. For what he immediately calls the \"deep\" and the\n\"waters;\" that is, the rude and unformed water which was not yet\ndistributed nor adorned with its proper form, he here calls \"the\nheavens;\" whereas, had Moses spoken otherwise and had said, \"In the\nbeginning God said, Let there be the heavens and the earth;\" there\nwould have been no need of afterwards saying, \"God said;\" seeing that\nthese unformed waters would have been already illuminated and the\nlight would have been already created.\n\nThe meaning of Moses therefore in all simplicity is that all things\nwhich now exist were created by God and that \"in the beginning\" of the\nfirst day were created the mass of mud or of earth, and of dark mist\nor of water; on which afterwards, in the after part of the first day,\nGod shed the light and caused the day to appear, which might discover\nthis rude mass of \"the heavens and the earth;\" which was in all\nrespects like undeveloped seed, and yet adapted to produce whatever\nGod should require.\n\nV. 2a. _And the earth was waste and void._\n\nIn the Hebrew words TOHU and BOHU there is no more meaning than can be\nexpressed in any other language, yet these terms are frequently used\nin the sacred Scriptures. TOHU means \"nothing,\" so that a TOHU earth\nmeans, in its simple reality, that which is in itself \"empty\" or\n\"waste;\" where there is no way, no distinction of places, no hill, no\nvale, no grass, no herbs, no animals, no men. And such was the first\nappearance of the waste and untilled earth, for while the water was\nmixed with the earth no distinctions of those various objects could be\ndiscerned, which are clearly seen since the earth's formation and\ncultivation.\n\nThus Isaiah, 34:11, when threatening destruction to the whole earth\nsays \"There shall be stretched upon it the line of TOHU, confusion;\nand the plummet of BOHU, emptiness;\" that is, it shall be made so\ndesolate that neither men nor beasts shall be left upon it; all houses\nshall he devastated and all things hurled into chaos and confusion.\nJust as Jerusalem was afterwards laid waste by the Romans and Rome by\nthe Goths, so that no vestige of the ancient city as it once was could\nbe pointed out. You now behold the earth standing out of the waters,\nthe heavens adorned with stars, the fields with trees, and cities with\nhouses; but should all these things be taken away and hurled into\nconfusion and into one chaotic heap, the state of things thus produced\nwould be what Moses calls TOHU and BOHU.\n\nAs the earth was surrounded with darkness or with waters over which\ndarkness brooded, so also the heaven was unformed. It was not only\nTOHU because it was destitute of the garnishing of the stars, and BOHU\nbecause it was not yet separated and distinguished from the earth, but\nbecause it was as yet altogether destitute of light and a dark and\ndeep abyss which like a dense cloud enveloped the earth, or that mass\nof mud; for the division of the waters from the waters follows later.\n\nHere then we have the first thing which Moses teaches: that the\nheavens and the earth were created on the first day; but, that the\nheaven was as yet unformed, not separated from the waters, destitute\nof its luminaries, and not elevated to its position; and the earth in\nlike manner was as yet without its animals, its rivers and its\nmountains.\n\nAs to Lyra's argument that this original matter was mere power and was\nafterward rendered substance by its own power, or as to what Augustine\nsays in his book of \"Confessions,\" that matter is as it were nothing,\nand that no medium matter can be thought of between the Creator and\nthe thing created; such subtle disquisitions I by no means approve.\nFor how could that be a mere nothing which was already of such\nmaterial and substance that Moses calls it \"the heavens and the\nearth\"? Unless indeed you would call it artificially the same kind of\nmatter which you call wood, which is not yet wrought into a chest or a\nbench. But this latter substance is what true philosophers would call\nmatter in a secondary state.\n\nWe should rather consider the whole subject, as Peter considers it,\n2 Pet. 3:5, where speaking of the wicked, he says \"For this they\nwilfully forget, that there were heavens from of old, and an earth\ncompacted out of water and amidst water, by the word of God; by which\nmeans the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished.\"\nFor Peter seems to intimate that the earth consists of water, and was\nmade out of water, and that after it was produced out of water and\nplaced as it were in the light, it swam as it now seems to do in the\nwater. This, says he, the wicked knew, and therefore being confident\nof this condition of things, they feared no peril from water, which\nthey knew to be the fundamental substance of the earth. Yet the water\ndestroyed that earth which it preserved, buoyed up and bore; just as\nat the last it shall be destroyed by fire. From this intimation of\nPeter, it would appear, that the earth was made to stand in the water,\nand out of the water. But let this suffice concerning the original\nmatter or material. If any one should discuss the subject with greater\nsubtlety of argument, I do not think he would do so, with any profit.\n\nV. 2b. _And darkness was upon the face of the deep._\n\nThe \"water,\" the \"deep,\" and the \"heavens,\" are here put for the same\nthing; namely, for that dark unformed substance which afterwards was\ndivided by the Word. For it was the office of the second Person of the\nTrinity, namely Christ, the Son of God, to divide and adorn that\nchaotic mass produced from nothing. And this may have been the very\ndesign of Moses in not mentioning the Word in the first place; that\nis, in not saying at first, _\"And God said.\"_ For some maintain that\nthis was done by Moses purposely.\n\nV. 2c. _And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters._\n\nSome consider \"the Spirit of God\" here to mean merely the wind. But if\nanything material is here to be understood by \"Spirit,\" I should\nrather refer it to the first moving of the original unformed mass of\nheaven and earth, which is called \"the deep,\" which is always in\nmotion to this day; for water is never still, its surface is always in\nmotion. But I prefer here to understand the Holy Spirit. For the wind\nis a creature which did not exist, while as yet the heavens and the\nearth lay in that confused chaotic mass.\n\nThere is moreover an universal agreement of the Christian Church\nconcerning a revelation of the mystery of the Holy Trinity in this\nfirst creative work. The Father through the Son, whom Moses here calls\nthe Word, creates \"the heavens and the earth\" out of nothing. Over\nthese the Holy Spirit broods. And as a hen sits upon her eggs that she\nmay hatch her young, thus warming her eggs and as it were infusing\ninto them animation, so the Scriptures say the Holy Ghost brooded as\nit were on the waters; that He might infuse life into these elementary\nsubstances which were afterwards to be animated and garnished. For the\noffice of the Holy Spirit is to give life.\n\nThese explanations, as far as I see, are sufficient for our present\npurpose. Wherefore casting away all other diverse opinions, let us set\ndown this as the truth, that God created \"the heavens and the earth,\"\nas yet a rude mass, out of nothing; so that the earth, as an unformed\nchaotic mass, enveloped the heaven as yet also an unformed mass, like\na dark, circumfluent, nebulous cloud.\n\nIt is necessary however that we discuss the terms here used. At the\nvery beginning of this discussion we are met by the expression \"In the\nbeginning.\" Some have expounded the words \"In the beginning\" as\nmeaning \"In the Son,\" from John 1:1; seeing that Christ also gives to\nthe Jews when they inquired \"who He was?\" this answer, \"The beginning,\nwho also speak unto you,\" John 8:25. This same exposition is given\nalso from Ps. 110:3, \"With thee is the Beginning, in the day of thy\npower;\" which passage nearly all commentators expound as meaning,\n\"With thee is thy Son in divine power.\" But it is well known to those\nacquainted with the Greek language that the expression _tan Archan_\nshould be rendered by an adverbial phraseology \"at first\" or \"in the\nbeginning,\" etc. It is a figure of speech which we frequently meet in\nGreek. Wherefore let those who will, amuse themselves by thus\ninterpreting the expression \"In the beginning.\" I prefer the simplest\nexplanation which can be at once understood by the less learned.\n\nMy belief is therefore that the design of Moses was to signify the\nbeginning of time; so that \"In the beginning\" has the same meaning as\nif he had said, \"At that time before which there was no time.\" Or he\nmeans that when the world began it so began that the heavens and the\nearth were created by God out of nothing; but created in a rude\nshapeless mass, not formed and beautified as they now are. Though they\nlay not long thus, but began immediately on the first day to be\ngarnished with the light.\n\nThe Arians imagined that angels and the Son of God were made before\n\"the beginning.\" But let us pass by this blasphemy. We will omit also\nanother question, \"What was God doing before the beginning of the\nworld;\" was he in a state of entire inaction or not? To this question\nAugustine introduced in his Confession the reply, \"He was making a\nhell for all searchers into his secrets.\" This reply says Augustine\nwas made to ridicule the violent and audacious blasphemy of the\nquestion.\n\nThe modesty therefore of Augustine pleases one, who elsewhere candidly\nsays that in all such cases he draws in the sails of his thoughts. For\nif we speculate and dispute to infinity, these things still remain\nincomprehensible. Even those things which we see we can understand but\nlittle. How much less then shall we grasp in our knowledge such things\nas these. For what will you determine concerning things that were\nbefore and beyond time? Or what can be your thoughts of things God did\nbefore time was? Wherefore let us away with all such thoughts and\nbelieve that God before the creation of the world was incomprehensible\nin his essential rest, but that now since the creation he is within\nand without and above all creatures; that is, he is still\nincomprehensible. This is all that can be said, because that which was\noutside of time our intellect can not comprehend.\n\nWherefore God does not manifest himself in anything but in his works\nand in his Word; because these can in some measure be comprehended,\nall other things which properly belong to his divinity, cannot be\ncomprehended or understood, as they really are; such as those things\nwhich were beyond time and before the world's creation, etc. Perhaps\nGod appeared to Adam unveiled; but after his sin he may have shown\nhimself to him in \"a noise,\" Gen. 3:8, under which he was covered as\nwith a veil. So also later in the tabernacle God was veiled by the\nsanctuary; and in the desert by the pillar of a cloud and by the\npillar of fire. Wherefore Moses also calls these things \"appearances\"\nor \"shadowings\" of God, by which he then manifested himself. And Cain\ncalls that the \"face\" and the \"presence\" of God where he had before\noffered his sacrifices, Gen. 4:14. For our nature is so deformed by\nsin, yea corrupted and lost, that it cannot understand God naked and\nunveiled nor comprehend what he really is. Therefore it is that these\ncovering veils are absolutely necessary.\n\nIt is moreover insanity to dispute much concerning God as to what he\nwas beyond and before time, for that is to desire to comprehend naked\ndivinity or the naked divine essence. And it is for this very reason\nthat God has wrapt himself in the veils of his works and under certain\nvisible appearances, just as at this day he veils himself under\nbaptism, absolution, etc. If you depart from these veiling signs, you\nat once run away beyond measure, beyond place and beyond time into the\nmost absolute nothing; concerning which, as philosophers say, there\ncan be no knowledge. Therefore it is that we with solemn propriety\nenter not into this question; but rest content with this simple\nmeaning of the expression, \"In the beginning.\"\n\nII. But it is more worthy of observation that Moses does not say \"In\nthe beginning, ADONI, the Lord created the heavens and the earth;\" but\nhe uses a noun of the plural number ELOHIM; by which name, in the\nBooks of Moses, and in other parts of the Scriptures both angels and\nmagistrates are sometimes called. As in Ps. 82:6, \"I have said ye are\ngods.\" It is certain however that here it signifies the one true God,\nby whom all things were made. Why therefore does Moses here use a\nplural noun or name?\n\nThe Jews cavil at Moses in various ways. To us however it is clear\nthat the intent of Moses is to set forth directly the Trinity; or the\nplurality of persons in the one divine nature. For as he is speaking\nof the work of the creation it manifestly follows that he excludes\nangels, who are creatures, from the creative work. There remains\ntherefore this sacred conclusion of the whole matter; that God is One,\nand that this most perfect Unity is also a most perfect Trinity. For\nhow otherwise does Moses use the plural number, \"In the beginning\nELOHIM _created_.\"\n\nThe cold and wicked cavilling of the Jews therefore is to be\naltogether exploded, when they say that Moses used the plural number\nfor the sake of reverence. For what place is there here for the\nexercise of reverence? Especially since that which is an idiom among\nus Germans is not common to all languages; namely, that it should be\nconsidered a point of reverence to use the plural number when speaking\nof one person.\n\nAlthough the Jews make so much noise about this term ELOHIM being\napplied to angels and to men, be it remembered that it is in the\nplural number in this place where it cannot possibly be applied to any\nbut the one true God, because Moses is treating of the Creation. There\nwere moreover many other singular nouns which Moses might have used\nhad he not purposely intended to show to the spiritually minded, that\nin the divine nature there is before and independently of all creation\nand all creatures, a plurality of persons. He does not indeed say in\nplain terms, there is the Father, there is the Son, and there is the\nHoly Ghost; and they are the one true God; because that was reserved\nfor the doctrine of the Gospel. It was enough for him by the use of a\nplural noun though afterwards applied to men also, to set forth this\nplurality of the divine persons.\n\nNor ought it to offend us that this same term is afterwards applied to\ncreatures. For why should not God communicate his name unto us, seeing\nthat he communicates to us his power, and his office? For us to remit\nsins, to retain sins, to quicken to spiritual life, etc., are the\nworks of the divine Majesty alone; and yet these same works are a sign\nto men and they are wrought by the Word which men teach. Thus Paul\nsaid, \"That I may save some of them that are my flesh,\" Rom. 11:14.\nAnd again, \"I am become all things to all men, that I may by all means\nsave some,\" 1 Cor. 9:22. As therefore these works are truly the works\nof God, although they are assigned also unto men and are wrought by\nmeans of men; so the name of God truly represents God though it is\napplied also to men.\n\nArius could not deny that Christ existed before the world was created,\nbecause Christ himself says, \"Before Abraham was, I am,\" John 8:58. It\nis written in the Proverbs, 8:22, also, \"Before the heavens were, I\nam.\" Arius is obliged therefore to confess that Christ or the Word was\ncreated before all things, and that he afterwards created all things,\nand that he was the most perfect of all creatures though he did not\nexist from everlasting. But to this fanatical and impious opinion we\nought to oppose that which Moses so briefly expresses by the term \"In\nthe beginning.\" Nor does Moses place anything before \"the beginning\"\nbut God himself; and him he here represents by a plural noun.\n\nInto these absurd opinions do minds fall when they speculate on such\nmighty things without the Word. We know not ourselves; as Lucretius\nsays, \"Man knows not the nature of his own soul.\" We feel that we can\njudge, enumerate, distinguish quantities, and, if I may so call them,\nspiritual creatures, such as truth and falsehood, and yet we cannot to\nthis day define what the soul is. How much less then shall we be able\nto understand the divine nature! We know not for instance what is the\nmotion of our will; for it is not a motion of quality or of quantity;\nand yet it is some motion. What then can we know of things divine?\n\nIt is fanatical therefore to dispute concerning God and the divine\nnature without the Word and without some veiling representation. Yet\nthus do all heretics; and they think and dispute respecting God with\nthe same security as they would respecting a hog or a cow. Therefore\nthey receive a reward worthy their temerity; for by these means they\nare dashed on the rocks of every peril. Hence he who would contemplate\nsuch mighty things in safety and without danger must confine himself\nwith all simplicity within those representations, signs and veils of\nthe divine Majesty, his word and his works. For it is in his word and\nhis works that he reveals himself unto us; and such as attain unto the\nknowledge of these are like the woman laboring under the issue of\nblood, healed by touching these hems of his garment.\n\nThose on the other hand who strive to reach God without these veils\nand coverings, attempt to scale heaven without a ladder, that is,\nwithout the Word; and in so doing are overwhelmed by the majesty of\nGod, which they vainly endeavor to comprehend, and they fall and\nperish. And so it befell Arius. He conceived the imagination that\nthere was some medium between the Creator and the creature; and that\nby that medium all things were created. Into this error he necessarily\nfell the moment he denied contrary to the Scriptures a plurality of\npersons in the divine nature. But as he discussed these things without\nthe Word of God and depended solely on his own cogitations, he could\nnot but be thus dashed to pieces.\n\nThus the monk of the Papists, because he follows not the Word,\nimagines such a God to be sitting in heaven as will save any one who\nis covered with a cowl and observes a certain strict rule of life.\nSuch a one also attempts to ascend into heaven by his own cogitations\nwithout God as revealed in his Word, or without the revealed face of\nGod for his guide. Thus also the Jews had their idols and their\ngroves. The fall and the destruction of all are alike. They are\nprecipitated and dashed to pieces; because every one leaving the Word\nfollows his own imaginations.\n\nIf therefore we would walk safely we must embrace those things which\nthe Word teaches, and which God himself has willed us to know; and all\nother things which are not revealed in the Word we must leave. For\nwhat are those things to me, which God did before the world was made,\nor how can I comprehend them? This is indulging thoughts upon the\nnaked Divinity. And these are the thoughts by which the Jews suffer\nthemselves to be led away from this text; and which thus prevent them\nfrom believing in a plurality of persons in the deity; whereas it is\nevident that Moses employs a plural noun.\n\nThe papal decree condemned the Anthropomorphists (manlikeners),\nbecause they spoke of God as they would of a man, and attributed to\nhim eyes, ears, arms, etc. An unjust condemnation truly! For how\notherwise can man talk with man concerning God? If to think thus of\nGod be heresy; then for a certainty is the salvation of all children,\nwho can only think and speak thus as children concerning God, at an\nend for ever. But to say nothing about children, give me the most\nlearned doctor in all the world; how otherwise will even he speak and\nteach concerning God?\n\nAn injury therefore was thereby done to good men; who, though they\nbelieved God to be omnipotent and the only Saviour, yet were condemned\nmerely because they said God has eyes by which he looks upon the poor\nand needy, and ears by which he listens to their prayers. For how\notherwise can this our nature understand the spiritual reality of God.\nMoreover the Scriptures use this form of speech. Wherefore such were\nundeservedly condemned. They should rather have been lauded for the\nsimplicity which they studied; which is so requisite in all teaching.\nIt is absolutely necessary that when God reveals himself unto us, he\nshould do so under some veil of representation, some shadowing\nmanifestation, and should say, \"Behold under this veil thou shalt\nsurely discover me.\" And when we embrace God under this veil or\nshadow, when we thus adore him, call upon him, and offer to him our\nsacrifices, we are said rightly to offer our sacrifices unto God!\n\nIt was thus doubtless that our first parents worshipped God. In the\nmorning when the sun rose they adored the Creator in the creature; or\nto speak more plainly they were by the creature reminded of the\nCreator. Their posterity retained the custom, but without the\nknowledge; and hence the custom lapsed into idolatry. The cause of\nthis idolatry was not the sun; for he is a good creature of God; but\nthe knowledge and the doctrine became by degrees extinct; for Satan\ncannot endure true doctrine. Thus when Satan had drawn Eve from the\nWord, she fell immediately into sin.\n\nTo return then to the Anthropomorphists. I consider that they were\ncondemned unjustly and without cause. For the prophets represent God\nas sitting on a throne. When foolish persons hear this their thoughts\nare immediately picturing a golden throne, marvellously decorated,\netc., though they must all the while know that there can be no such\nmaterial throne in heaven. Hence Isaiah says \"that he saw God sitting\non a throne; and his train filled the temple,\" Is. 6:1. Whereas God\ncannot absolutely or by real vision appear to be thus represented or\nseen. But such figures and representations are well-pleasing to the\nHoly Spirit; and such works of God are set before us by the means of\nwhich we may apprehend God by our understanding. Such also are those\nfigures when it is said that \"He made the heavens and the earth\"; that\nhe sent his Son; that he speaks by his Son; that he baptizes; that he\nremits sins by the Word. He that does not understand these things will\nnever understand God. But I say no more here; since these things have\nbeen frequently and abundantly discussed by me elsewhere; yet it was\nnecessary to touch upon them on the present occasion for Moses' sake,\nwhom the Jews here so severely attack, in the exposition of which we\nare proving the plurality of the divine persons in the deity. Now let\nus proceed with the text.\n\nIII. V. 3. _And God said, Let there be light: and there was light._\n\nMoses has already said that the rude mass of heaven and earth which he\nalso calls \"darkness\" and \"the deep,\" was made by the Word; and that\nwork ought to be considered the work of the \"first day.\" Yet, it is\nnow for the first time that Moses uses the expression \"God said, Let\nthere be light,\" etc. A marvelous phraseology this indeed; unknown to\nany writer of any other language under heaven, that God by speaking\ncauses that to exist, which had no existence before. Here therefore\nMoses sets before us the medium and instrument which God used in\nperforming his works, namely the Word.\n\nBut we must here carefully mark the distinction in the Hebrew language\nbetween the words AMAR and DABAR. We render each by the terms to say\nor to speak. But, in the Hebrew there is this difference: AMAR only\nand properly signifies the word uttered. But DABAR means also the\nthing or substance uttered. As when the prophets say \"This is the Word\nof the Lord,\" they use the term DABAR not AMAR. Even at this day the\nnew Arians blind the eyes of those unacquainted with the Hebrew\nlanguage by saying that the term in question implies, and is, \"a thing\ncreated;\" and that in this way it is that Christ is called the Word.\nAgainst this impious, and at the same time ignorant, corruption of the\nterm Word, the reader is duly warned, and exhorted to remember that\nMoses here uses the word AMAR which simply and properly signifies the\nword uttered; so that the word uttered is something distinct from him\nwho utters it; as here is also a distinction between the person\nspeaking and the thing spoken.\n\nTherefore we have before proved from this text a plurality of persons;\nso here is also an evident distinction of persons; for it affirms that\nit is God the speaker, if I may so express myself, who creates; and\nyet he uses no material; but creates the heavens and the earth out of\nnothing by the sole word he utters.\n\nCompare here the Gospel of St. John \"In the beginning was the Word.\"\nHe exactly agrees with Moses. He says that there was no creature\nwhatever before the world was made. Yet God possessed the Word. And\nwhat is this Word and what does it do? Hear Moses. The light, says he,\nas yet was not; but the darkness out of its nothing-state is changed\ninto that most excellent creature, light. By what? By the Word.\nTherefore, \"in the beginning\" and before every creature is the Word;\nand it is so powerful that out of nothing it makes all things. Hence\nthat irrefragably follows, which John eloquently adds, that the Word\nwas and is God! And yet, that the Word is a person different from God\nthe Father; even as the Word, and he who utters the Word, are things\nabsolutely distinct from each other. But at the same time this\ndistinction is of the nature that the most perfect oneness, if I may\nso speak, of unity remains.\n\nThese are lofty mysteries, nor is it safe to go further into them than\nthe Holy Spirit is pleased to lead us. Wherefore here let us stop;\ncontent with the knowledge that when the unformed heaven and unformed\nearth, each enveloped in mist and darkness, had stood forth created\nout of nothing by the Word, the light also shone forth out of nothing;\nand even out of darkness itself by the Word. The first work of the\nCreator Paul speaks of as a marvellous work; \"God that commanded the\nlight to shine out of darkness,\" etc. The command of God, says he,\nmade that light. This therefore is enough for us and sufficient to\nconfirm our faith, that Christ is truly God, who existed with the\nFather from all eternity before the world was made; and that by him,\nwho is the wisdom and word of the Father, the Father made all things.\nIt is remarkable also that Paul in his passage makes the conversion of\nthe wicked the work of a new creation, and a work wrought also by the\nWord.\n\nBut here reason impiously busies itself with foolish questions. It\nargues, if the Word ever existed, why did not God create the heavens\nand the earth before by that Word? And again, Since the heavens and\nthe earth were first made, when God began to speak, it seems to follow\nthat the Word then first had existence, when the creatures began to\nexist, etc. But these impious cogitations are to be cast from us for\nconcerning these things we can determine nothing nor think aright. For\nbeyond that \"beginning\" of the creation is nothing but naked and\ndivine essence; naked deity! And since God is incomprehensible that\nalso is incomprehensible which was before the world; because it is\nnothing less than naked God!\n\nWe believe it right therefore to speak only of \"the beginning,\"\nbecause we cannot advance beyond the beginning. But since John and\nMoses affirm that the Word was \"in the beginning,\" and before every\ncreature, it of necessity follows that the Word was ever in the\nCreator and in the naked essence of God. Therefore he is the true God;\nyet so, that the Father begets and the Son is begotten. For Moses\nestablishes this difference when he names God, who spoke and the word\nwhich was spoken. And this was enough for Moses to do; for the clearer\nexplanation of this mystery properly belongs to the New Testament and\nto the Son, who is in the bosom of the Father. In the New Testament\ntherefore we hear the literal names of the sacred persons, the Father,\nthe Son and the Holy Ghost. These indeed are indicated in certain\npsalms, and in the prophets but not so distinctly expressed.\n\nAugustine explains the word somewhat otherwise. For he interprets the\nexpression \"said\" in this manner. \"Said;\" that is, it was so defined\nfrom all eternity by the word of the Father; it was so appointed of\nGod. Because the Son is the mind, the image and the wisdom of God. But\nthe true and simple meaning is to be retained. \"God said;\" that is,\nGod by the Word made and created all things. This meaning the apostle\nalso confirms when he says, \"By whom also he made the worlds,\" Heb.\n1:2. And again, \"All things were made by Him and for Him,\" Col. 1:16.\nAnd within these limits ought to be confined every thought of the\ncreation; our duty is to proceed no further; if we do, we fall\nheadlong into certain darkness and destruction.\n\nLet these facts therefore be sufficient for us in any question\nconcerning the world and its creation. With respect to the material of\nthe world that it was made out of nothing; as the light was made out\nof that which was not light, so the whole heavens and the whole earth\nwere made out of nothing; as the Apostle says, \"He calleth those\nthings that are not, as though they were,\" Rom. 4:17.\n\nWith respect to the instrument or medium which God used, it was his\nomnipotent word which was with God from the beginning, and as Paul\nspeaks, \"before the foundation of the world,\" Eph. 1:4. Therefore when\nPaul says in Col. 1:16, \"All things were made by him,\" for he uses the\npreposition, after the Hebrew manner, for per; the Hebrews thus use\ntheir letter BETH; this and all similar passages are taken from this\nverse of Moses, who is here speaking of the Word uttered, by which\nanything is commanded or demanded.\n\nThis Word was God, and was an omnipotent Word, spoken in the divine\nessence. No one heard this Word uttered but God himself; that is, God\nthe Father, God the Son and God the Holy Ghost. While it was uttered\nthe light was generated; not out of the material of the Word nor out\nof the material of the speaker, but out of darkness itself. The Father\nspoke within, the work was immediately wrought without, and the light\nexisted. In the same manner also were all things afterwards created.\nThese facts, I say, concerning the manner of the creation are amply\nsufficient for us.\n\nIV. But here again a well known question is perpetually agitated,\nnamely, of what kind was that light by which the original unformed\nmass of heaven and earth was illumined, seeing that neither the sun,\nnor the stars, were then created; and yet the text shows that this\nlight was real and material. This fact has given occasion to some to\nhave recourse to an allegory, who would explain the matter thus: \"Let\nthere be light;\" that is, the angelic nature. And again, \"God divided\nthe light from the darkness;\" that is, he separated the holy angels\nfrom the wicked angels. But this is to trifle with allegories, utterly\nout of place and not to interpret Scripture. Moses is here\nhistorically recording facts. He is moreover writing and penning a\nrecord for unlettered men; that they may have the plainest possible\ntestimonies concerning the great creation. Such absurdities therefore\nare not here to be tolerated.\n\nA second question is here also agitated, namely, whether this light\nmoved itself with a circular motion. I confess that I for my part know\nnot the truth of the matter. But if any one desires to know what I\nconsider the nearest to the truth my opinion is, that this light was\nmovable, so that its motion from east to west, or from its rising to\nits setting formed the natural day. Although it is difficult to\ndescribe the kind of light it was, yet I am by no means inclined to\nthink that we should depart, without cause, from the plain grammar of\nthe subject; or that we should use any violence by wresting from their\ncommon meaning the plainest terms. For Moses distinctly affirms that\n\"there was light;\" and he reckons this as the \"first day\" of the\ncreation.\n\nMy opinion is therefore that this was true and real light; and that it\nrevolved with a circular motion as the light of the sun revolves. I\nbelieve however that this light was not so clear and splendent as it\nafterwards was, when augmented, ornamented and beautified by the light\nof the sun. Even as the sacred Scriptures testify that in the last day\nGod will make the present light of the sun, now unclean, in comparison\nwith its future brightness, far more splendid and glorious; as\ntherefore the present light is as it were a thick and imperfect mass\nof light, when compared with that light which shall be, so that\noriginal light was imperfect when compared with the light that now\nshines. Such are my sentiments concerning these two questions. Moses\nthen proceeds to say:\n\nV. 5. _And there was evening and there was morning one day._\n\nWe must here first observe that the Jews begin their day differently\nfrom us. With them the day commences from the evening and the setting\nsun and terminates on the evening following. We begin our day with the\nrising sun. And it is very remarkable that the Jews derive their term\nevening, which they call AEREF, from ARAF which signifies \"to mingle\nor confound.\" In the same manner from the term AREF they form their\nexpression AROF, which our countryman renders by Cynomia, \"dogfly,\"\nwhich may signify \"a confused fly.\" Because in the evening, the\nappearances of things are confused and indistinct, and when the light\nis removed cannot be clearly discerned.\n\nV. Moses has taught us concerning the first day. We shall see however\nthat Moses retains this same expression \"God said\" in the creation of\nall the other creatures. \"And God said let there be a firmament,\" etc.\nThe very repetition of this same expression ought to be most\ndelightful to us, because as I said, it brings to us a mighty\ntestimony for the confirmation of our faith; that the Son, in these\neternal things, is very God; and that in the unity of the divinity\nthere is a plurality of Persons; because the speaker is one Person and\nthe Word spoken another Person.\n\nIn this manner also the Psalmist speaks, \"By the Word of Jehovah were\nthe heavens made,\" etc., Ps. 33:6. And Solomon implies the force of\nthis wonderful phrase of Moses, when he writes that the divine wisdom\nwas as it were the handmaid of the Creation. \"I was set up from\neverlasting, from the beginning, before the earth was, etc.; when he\nestablished the heavens, I was there; when he set a circle upon the\nface of the deep,\" Prov. 8:23, 27. Here Solomon shows that he fully\nunderstood this doctrine of our religion, so plainly set forth by\nMoses; and that he understood it in a manner beyond the knowledge of\nthe ignorant multitude, who heard these things, and read them, but\nunderstood them not. For had not Solomon fully understood this\nmystery, he could not have spoken thus. But he drew all these things\nfrom this verse of Moses, as from a deep and holy fountain. Another\nproof of this his divine knowledge is Prov. 30:3, \"What is his name,\nand what is his Son's name, if thou knowest?\"\n\nI believe also that there were similar writings of other holy men,\nsuch as of Enoch, Elijah, etc., in which there existed many\ntestimonies of the same kind. But as even at the present day, these\nthings though plainly revealed in the New Testament remain hidden, and\nare by many not only not received, but fiercely opposed, so to a much\ngreater extent did it happen among the Jewish people, while the holy\nfathers set these mysteries before the wise in divine things, with the\ngreatest skill and wisdom.\n\nTo us it is great consolation to know that these divine mysteries were\nthus shadowed forth by Moses from the beginning of the world; that in\nthese divine beings there is a plurality of persons and yet a unity of\nthe divine essence. And if there are some who do not believe, but\nfiercely oppose this doctrine, what is that to us? Abraham saw three,\nand adored one! And the Holy Spirit says, Gen. 19:24, \"Then Jehovah\nrained fire from Jehovah out of heaven.\" Although fanatics understand\nnot nor regard these words, yet we know that they are the words not of\na drunken man, but of God.\n\nMany such testimonies as these exist throughout the Old Testament,\nwhich that excellent man, Hilary, has diligently collected. If these\ntestimonies are obscure, and to the wicked and unbelieving seem to be\nunfounded, yet to the godly all things which are revealed and handed\ndown to us in the Holy Scriptures are firmly founded and sufficiently\nclear. They know that the Person speaking is one Person and that the\nWord spoken is another Person; not in nature but in Person; and is\nthat Word by which all things were made \"in the beginning;\" and by\nwhich they are all upheld to this day; as Paul says in his Epistle to\nthe Hebrews, \"Upholding all things by the Word of his power,\" Heb.\n1:3.\n\nBut here we are to be admonished that the words, \"Let there be light,\"\nare the words of God and not of Moses; that is, that they are\nrealities, facts, works! For God \"calleth those things that be not as\nthough they were;\" and God speaks not grammatical words but very and\nsubstantial things. So that what with us is sounding voice, is with\nGod a substantial thing, a reality! Thus, the sun, the moon, the\nheaven, the earth, Peter, Paul, you, and I, are all and each, words of\nGod! Yea, we are single syllables or single letters as it were of and\nin comparison to the whole creation.\n\nWe also speak, but we can only speak grammatically, or in letters.\nThat is we give names to created things, etc. But divine grammar is\nquite another thing! When God says, \"Shine thou sun,\" the sun\nimmediately exists and shines forth. Thus the words of God are things,\nnot mere words!\n\nHere therefore there has been rightly made a distinction between the\nword created and the word uncreated. The word created is a thing, or\nfact, or work done, by means of the word uncreated. For what is the\nwhole creation but the word of God spoken forth or uttered? But the\nword uncreated is the divine mind or thought, the internal command of\nGod, flowing from God, and the same as God, and yet it is a distinct\nPerson. And thus God reveals himself unto us as the speaker, having\nwith or in himself, the word increate, by which he created the world\nand all things with the utmost facility of operation, namely by merely\nspeaking! So that there was no more difficulty with God in creating\nthan with us in speaking. It was in such meditations as these that the\npious fathers Augustine and Hilary found their delight.\n\n\nPART II. GOD'S WORK ON THE SECOND DAY.\n\nI. V. 6. _And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the\nwaters, and let it divide the waters from the waters._\n\nMoses may here seem to have forgotten himself in that he treats not at\nall of two most important themes: the creation and the fall of the\nangels, but confines his sacred narrative to the creation of corporeal\nthings. Though there is no doubt that angels were created, yet not one\nword is found in all the Scriptures concerning their creation, their\nbattle, or their fall; except that which Christ briefly utters, John\n8:44, in reference to the devil, that he \"abode not in the truth;\"\nexcept also that woful account of the Serpent, which the sacred\nhistorian hereafter gives us in the third chapter of Genesis. It is\nwonderful therefore that Moses is wholly silent on things of such\ngreat interest.\n\nHence it is that men having nothing certain recorded upon the subject,\nnaturally fell into various fictions and fabrications, that there were\nnine legions of angels, and that so vast was their multitude that they\nwere nine whole days falling from heaven. Others have indulged\nimaginations concerning the mighty battle between these superior\nbeings, in what manner the good resisted the evil angels. My belief is\nthat these ideas of the particulars of this battle were taken from the\nfight which exists in the church, where godly ministers are ever\ncontending against evil and fanatical teachers, and that on this\nground they have formed their ideas of the battle of the good angels\nagainst the evil ones who wished to usurp Deity. But so it ever is.\nWhere no plain testimonies exist rash men consider themselves at\nliberty to imagine and invent what they please.\n\nIn the same manner men form their various opinions concerning the\ndanger and the fear of angels and of the evils they work, all which\nopinions are founded on Is. 14:12, 13, where Lucifer is represented as\nhaving said in his heart, \"I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my\nthrone above the stars of God.\" But the prophet is there predicting\nthe greatness of the pride of the King of the Babylonians. Bernard\nagain has the idea that Lucifer foresaw in God that his purpose was to\nexalt man above the nature of angels, that his proud spirit envied man\nthis felicity and that he fell in consequence. But let the Christian\nman take these things at their own value and at no more. For myself I\nwould by no means urge any one to give his assent to any such\nopinions. The things that are certain are, that the angels fell, and\nthat the devil from having been an angel of light was made an angel of\ndarkness. Perhaps there was also a conflict between the good angels\nand the evil.\n\nAs Moses however was writing to a new and uninformed people his object\nwas to write those things only which were useful and necessary to be\nknown. The nature of angels therefore and other kindred subjects which\nwere not necessary to be known he passed by. Wherefore nothing on the\nwhole of this obscure subject, beyond what Moses has plainly recorded,\nought to be expected from me. The more especially so, as the New\nTestament itself treats very sparingly of this deep theme. It says\nnothing more concerning the angels than that they were condemned and\nthat they are still held as it were in prison and in chains until the\njudgment of the last day. Let it suffice us therefore to know that\nthere are good angels and bad angels, but that God created them all\nalike good. Whence it follows of necessity, that the evil angels fell\nand stood not in the truth. But how they fell and stood not in the\ntruth is unknown. It is nevertheless probable that they fell by pride;\nbecause they despised the Word or Son of God, and wished to exalt\nthemselves before him. This is all I have to say. Now let us return to\nMoses.\n\nII. We have heard that the work of the First Day was the rude unformed\n\"heavens and earth,\" both of which God illumined with a certain impure\nand imperfect light. We now come to the work of the second day, where\nwe shall see in what manner God produced out of this original rough\nundigested mist or nebulosity, which he called \"heavens,\" that\nglorious and beauteous \"heaven\" which now is, and as it now is; if you\nexcept the stars and the greater luminaries. The Hebrews very\nappropriately derive the term SCHAMAIM the name of the heavens from\nthe word MAIM, which signifies \"waters.\" For the letter SCHIN is often\nused in composition for a relative, so that SCHAMAIM signifies\n\"watery,\" or \"that which has a watery nature.\" This indeed appears so\nfrom the color of the \"heavens.\" And experience teaches that the air\nis humid by nature. Philosophers also say that if there were no sun\nthe air would be a perpetual humidity. But they assert that the air is\nboth humid and warm, but that it is humid from its own nature, because\nthe heaven was made out of waters, and that therefore it is, that it\nrains and contains a fructifying moisture; but because the light and\nheat of the sun are added to it, the humid nature of the air is so\ntempered that it is also warm.\n\nThis thick and rude mass of mist or nebulosity, created out of nothing\non the first day, God grasps by his Word and commands it to extend\nitself into the form and with the motion of a sphere. For in the\nHebrew the word RAKIA signifies \"a something extended;\" from the verb\nRAKA, which means \"to unfold or expand.\" And the heaven was formed by\nan extension of that original rude body of mist, just as the bladder\nof a hog is extended into a circular form when it is inflated. I use\nthus a rustic similitude that the sacred matter may be the more\nplainly understood.\n\nWhen therefore Job 37:18 says \"that the heavens are strengthened with\niron,\" \"that the sky is strong as a molten mirror,\" his mind is not\ndealing with the material but with the Word of God, which can make a\nthing the softest by nature the hardest and the firmest. For what is\nsofter than water? What is thinner or more subtile than air? Yet these\nthings, which were the most subtile and the softest by nature, from\nbeing created by the Word preserve their form and motion with the\ngreatest perfection and the greatest firmness. Whereas, had the heaven\nbeen formed of adamant or of any material infinitely harder still, it\nwould by its rapid, long and continuous motion, have soon been broken\nin pieces or melted. In the same manner the sun, by his rapid motion,\nwould melt in one day even if formed of the hardest material, were it\nnot for the Word of God by which it was created. For motion is of\nitself very creative of heat. Hence Aristotle asserts that the lead of\nthe arrow is sometimes melted by the velocity of its motion.\n\nThese facts of nature therefore are miracles of God, in which the\nomnipotence of his Word is clearly discerned, exhibiting the wonder\nthat the heaven, though softer and more subtile than water, and\nperforming continuously the most rapid revolution, and that too with\nso vast a variety of bodies and their motions, should have existed and\nrevolved so many thousands of years uninjured and unweakened! It was\nthis that caused Job to say, \"that the heavens were molten, as it\nwere, of brass,\" Job 37:18; that they are by nature the softest of\nsubstances. How great the subtility of the air is in which we live, we\nourselves know perfectly well; for it is not only not tangible, but\nnot discernible. And the heaven, or ether, is still more subtile and\nthinner than the air or atmosphere. For its blue or sea-color or\nwater-color appearance is not a proof of its density, but rather of\nits distance and its thinness; to which its rarified state, if you\ncompare the thicker substances of the clouds, the latter will appear\nin comparison, like the smoke of wet wood when first ignited. It is to\nthis extreme subtility, yet unaltered durability, that Job alludes as\nabove mentioned. So philosophers have among them this celebrated\nmaxim, \"That which is humid is limited by no boundary of its own.\"\n\nWherefore the heaven which cannot consist by any boundary of its own,\nbeing aqueous, consists by the Word of God; as it is taught in the\npresent divine record of Moses, \"Let there be a firmament!\" Gen. 1:6.\nHence philosophers who were more diligent in their inquiries formed\ntheir conclusion, and that by no means a light one for nature to form,\nthat all things were ruled and governed, not by chance nor at random,\nbut by a divine providence; seeing that the motions of the heavens and\nof the superior bodies are so certain and so peculiar to themselves.\nWho indeed could possibly say that all these things proceeded by\nchance, or by their own mere undirected nature, when even the\nworkmanship of men proceeds not from chance, but from skillful art and\ncertain design, such as pillars formed round, triangular, hexagonal,\netc.?\n\nAll these things therefore are the works of the divine Majesty! By him\nthe sun holds his course so accurately and with so fixed a law, that\nhe deviates not a hair's breadth from his all-certain path in any one\npart of heaven. This course he holds in the most subtile ether,\nsupported by no substances or bodies whatsoever, but is borne along as\na leaf in the air. Though this comparison is neither strictly correct\nnor appropriate, because the motion of a leaf is irregular and\nuncertain; but the course of the sun is ever certain, and that too in\nan ether far more subtile than this atmosphere in which we move and\nlive.\n\nThis marvelous extension of the original rule and dense nebulosity or\ncloud or mist is here called by Moses \"a firmament,\" in which the sun\nwith all the planets have their motion round the earth, in that most\nsubtile material. But who is it that gives such firmness to this most\nvolatile and fluctuating substance? Most certainly it is not nature\nthat gives it, which in far less important things than these can exert\nno such power. It follows therefore that it is the work of him, who\n\"in the beginning\" said unto the heavens and unto this volatile\nsubstance, \"Let there be a firmament,\" or \"Be thou a firmament,\" and\nwho establishes and preserves all these things by his omnipotent\npower, put forth through his Word. This Word makes the air with all\nits thinness and lightness to be harder and firmer than adamant, and\nto preserve its own boundary; and this Word could on the contrary make\nadamant to be softer than water, in order that from such works as\nthese we might know what kind of a God our God is; namely, the God\nomnipotent, who made out of the rude mass of unformed heavens the\npresent all-beauteous, all-glorious heaven; and who did all these\nthings according to his will as well as according to his power.\n\nBut I have said that with the Hebrews the \"firmament\" derives its name\nfrom a verb in their language signifying \"to extend.\" It is to this\nsignification of the Hebrew verb that David beautifully alludes, in\nhis similitude of military hide-coverings and tents which he uses in\nPs. 104:2, when he says of God \"Who stretcheth out the heavens like a\ncurtain.\" For as the rolled-up hide-covering of the military tent is\nunrolled and then stretched out as a canopy to the stakes which are\nfixed in the earth, so Thou, O God, says David, unrolledst as it were\nand stretchedst out the first formed, but as yet unformed, rude\nheaven, into the present glorious \"firmament,\" where Thou sittest\ninvisibly as on a sphere over the whole creation, in the midst of all\nthings and yet out of and above all things.\n\nIt is a circumstance naturally exciting our particular wonder that\nMoses evidently makes three distinct parts or divisions of this\nportion of the creation. He describes \"a firmament in the midst of the\nwaters,\" which \"divides the waters from the waters.\" For myself I am\ninclined to think that the firmament here mentioned is the highest\nbody of all; and that the waters, not those \"above\" the firmament, but\nthose which hang and fly about \"under\" the firmament, are the clouds,\nwhich we behold with our natural eyes; so that by the waters which are\n\"divided from the waters,\" we may understand the clouds which are\ndivided from our waters which are in the earth. Moses however speaks\nin the plainest possible terms, both of waters \"above\" and of waters\n\"under\" the firmament. Wherefore I here hold my own mind and judgment\nin captivity and bow to the Word, although I cannot comprehend it.\n\nBut a question here arises, what those waters are and how those bodies\nof water which are \"above\" the firmament are distinguished from those\nwhich are \"under\" the firmament. The division and distinction here\nmade by philosophers is well known. They make the elements to be four;\nand they distinguish and place them according to their qualities. They\nassign the lowest place to the earth; a second place to the water; a\nthird to the air; and the last and highest place to the fire. Other\nphilosophers add to these four elements ether as a fifth essence.\nAfter this division and number of the elements, there are numerated\nseven spheres or orbs of the planets, and an eighth sphere of the\nfixed stars. And on these subjects it is agreed among all philosophers\nthat there are four spheres of generating and corruptible principles;\nand also eight others of non-generating and incorruptible principles.\n\nAnd Aristotle disputes concerning the nature of the heaven; that it is\nnot composed of the elements, but has its own peculiar nature, because\nif it were composed of the elements it would be corruptible, in that\nthese substances would mingle together and mutually produce and suffer\ncorruption. Therefore he will not attribute to heaven and the heavenly\nbodies the primary qualities, _primas qualitates_, that is, the\nattributes of the elements, and says that they are simply creatures\npossessing a co-eternal light, and qualities and attributes peculiarly\ntheir own, and created with them.\n\nNow these things, although they are not certain, yet since they\ncontain principles of a most beautiful theory, gathered from a course\nof reasoning approaching the truth, are useful for instruction, and it\nwould be barbarous if one should determine to neglect or despise them,\nsince in some respects they harmonize with experience. For we\nexperience it to be the truth that fire by its very nature travels\nbeyond itself, as is seen in the phenomena of the lightning and the\nfiery meteors in the air. By these principles, learned from\nexperience, they are led to give fire the highest place, next to it\nthe air, after it water comes third, and last the earth in the lowest\nplace, since in weight it surpasses all the others.\n\nThese things have their place and use as rudiments or primary\nprinciples, which if any one contend that they are not universally\ntrue, yet they are true in general and serve to the end that we may\nlearn and hand down to others the true theories. For though fire can\nbe struck from flint, yet it cannot therefore be denied that in the\nhighest regions there is fire. Therefore theology gives these\ntheorists this rule, which philosophy does not know sufficiently, that\nalthough God ordained and created all these things by his Word, yet he\nis not therefore bound to these rules so that he can not change them\naccording to his good pleasure. For we see that neither grammar nor\nthe other sciences are so perfectly set forth in rules that there are\nno exceptions; thus the laws of public and secular affairs step in and\ntemper all things with reason. How much more can this be done in\ndivine things, so that, although we indeed experience that the four\nelements are ordained and disposed by God, yet they can, contrary to\nthis order, also have and maintain fire in the middle of the ocean,\njust as we saw that it was hidden in flint.\n\nLikewise the mathematicians have concluded that there were a definite\nnumber of spheres, not that it is necessary to be so, but because one\ncan not teach anything definitely about such things unless one\ndistinguishes the spheres thus, on account of the variety of their\nmotions, about which one can teach nothing without such imagination,\nif I may so name it. For teachers and professors of these sciences or\ntheories say: We give examples, not because they are in every detail\ncorrect, but in order that no one may teach differently concerning\nthose subjects. Therefore it would be the height of folly to despise\nand ridicule such things as some do, because it is not so sure that it\ncould not be different, for they serve to the end that good arts and\nsciences may be taught, and that is sufficient.\n\nThe philosophers in general teach such things, to which the more\nmodern theologians agree and add to these eight spheres two more,--the\ncrystalline, glacial or aqueous heaven, and then the empyreal or fiery\nheaven. The Greeks however have discussed these themes much more\nelegantly and prudently than our scholars. For Ambrose and Augustine\nhave had very childish thoughts. Therefore I praise Jerome because he\nsimply passed over them in silence.\n\nThere are some who hold that the crystalline heaven is watery, because\nthey think it is the waters of which Moses here speaks, and there the\nfirmament or eighth sphere is added so that they be not consumed by\ntheir rapid and constant motion. But these are puerile thoughts, and I\nwill rather confess that I do not understand Moses in this passage\nthan that I should approve such illiterate thoughts.\n\nThe seventh heaven they call empyreal; not because it is fiery or\nburning, but from the light which is lucid and splendid. This heaven\nin the home of God and of the blessed, because it was filled\nimmediately after creation with angels, and Lucifer, as they affirm,\nfell from this heaven. These are about all the ideas that theologians\nhave added to the opinions of philosophers.\n\nHowever, our scientists, who have studied astronomy, teach that there\nare still more spheres; namely, twelve, and three motions in the eight\nspheres; as, the _motum raptum_, _motum proprium_, _motum\ntrepidationis_, a rending motion, a characteristic motion, and a\ntrembling motion. For of such things indeed one cannot speak, unless\nhe give each motion its own sphere.\n\nAverrois had other thoughts, more absurd and far more in agreeable to\nreason. For he advocated that each sphere was an intellect, or an\nintelligent nature. The occasion or cause of these foolish thoughts\nwas that he saw the infallibly perfect and most regular motion of the\nheavenly bodies. Therefore he thought these spheres were intelligent\nsubstances, each setting itself in motion in a sure and continuous\nmanner. But from this follows the greatest and worst ignorance of God;\nwherefore we repudiate the thoughts of Averrois. But the others, which\nwe have mentioned, we approve in so far as they are useful to be\ntaught. For indeed this knowledge of the motion of the heavenly bodies\nis most worthy of all praise, however little that knowledge may be.\n\nMoses however proceeds with his narrative of the creation in all\nsimplicity and plainness, as they say; making here three divisions:\nwaters \"above\" the firmament, waters \"under\" the firmament, and \"the\nfirmament\" in the middle. In the term heaven, Moses comprehends all\nthat body which philosophers represent by their eight spheres, by fire\nand by air. For the sacred historian makes no mention of the flowing\nof the waters until the third day. And it is manifest that the air in\nwhich we live is called in the holy Scriptures the heaven; because the\nScriptures speak of the \"fowls of heaven,\" Job 28:21; Ps. 8:8. It also\nspeaks of the heavens being shut when it does not rain, 1 Kings 8:35.\nAnd again it speaks of the heavens giving their dew, Zech. 8:12; all\nthese things take place in the air, not in the spheres of the moon or\nof the other planets. This distinction of the spheres therefore is not\nMosaic nor scriptural but is an invention of men as an aid to\ninstruction on these astronomical subjects; and which ought not to be\ndespised as such an assistance.\n\nAnd although they say that the elements are corruptible, yet I doubt\nit, for I see indeed that they remain. And although a part at times is\nchanged, yet it follows that the whole will be changed; but these\nchanges of the elements are only in part. Thus the air remains\nunchanged in which the birds live and fly; also the earth upon which\nthe trees and other things grow, though certain parts of the same are\nchanged.\n\nNow Aristotle makes the cause of all these things the first mover,\n_primum motorem_. Averrois however says the cause of these motions are\n_\"formae assistentes a foris;\"_ that is, intelligent natures which\nmove from without. Following Moses we say that all these things are\nbrought forth and governed simply by the Word of God. He spake and it\nwas done. He never commanded that the angels should govern these\nbodies; just as we ourselves are not governed by the angels, although\nwe are guarded and kept by the angels.\n\nThus also that the motion of the planets retrogrades is the work of\nGod created by his Word, which work belongs to God himself, which is\ngreater and higher than can be attributed to angels, but God, who thus\ndistinguished these things, governs and preserves them. And it is the\nsame God who commanded the sun to start in its course but the\nfirmament to stand still, said also to the planets and the stars, thou\nshaft move so and so. The Word does even this; namely, it makes the\nmost uncertain motion the most certain, even though these heavenly\nmaterial bodies move in the fluctuating atmosphere, and not in any\nplace or along any material line. For as a fish in the middle of the\nsea, a bird in the open heavens, so the stars move in their appointed\ncourse, but in a motion most secure and very wonderful indeed. Thus\nalso this is clearly the cause why the Elbe river here at Wittenberg\nand in this district has its fixed and continuous course and dare not\nbecome weary. All such works are the works of the Word, which Moses\nhere honors and praises: \"He said,\" etc.\n\nBut we Christians ought to meditate and think on these things and\ntheir causes differently from philosophers. Although there are some\nthings which are beyond our comprehension, as for instance these\nwaters that are \"above\" the firmament, all such things are rather to\nbe believed with a confession of our ignorance than profanely denied,\nor arrogantly interpreted according to our shallow comprehension. It\nbehooves us ever to adhere to the phraseology of the holy Scriptures,\nand to stand by the very words of the Holy Spirit, whom it pleased in\nthis sacred narrative by his servant Moses, so to arrange the\ndifferent parts of the great work of creation, as to place in the\nmidst \"the firmament;\" formed out of the original mass of the unshapen\nheaven and earth, and stretched out and expanded by the Word; and then\nto represent some waters as being \"above\" that firmament and other\nwaters \"under\" that firmament, both waters being also formed out of\nthe same original rude undigested matter. And the whole of this part\nof the creation is called by the Holy Spirit the heaven; together also\nwith its seven spheres and the whole region of the air; in which are\nmeteors and signs of fire and in which the wandering fowls make their\nhomes.\n\nTherefore these common principles we will not oppose nor deny, when\nthey say everything by nature sinks under itself, and everything light\nrises above itself, although we also see that dense heavy vapors arise\nbut by reason of the influence and motion of heat. We say also that\nall these things were thus created and maintained by the Word, and\nthey can also by virtue of the power in the same Word be changed yet\ntoday; as all nature will finally be altogether transformed. Thus also\nit is contrary to the rule given that waters should be above the\nheaven or firmament, and yet the text affirms it.\n\nTo return therefore unto the principal matter before us; when any\ninquiry is instituted as to the nature of these waters, it cannot be\ndenied that Moses here affirms that waters are \"above\" the heaven; but\nof what kind or nature these waters are, I freely confess for myself\nthat I know not; for the Scriptures make no other mention of them than\nin this verse, and in the Song of the three children, in the\nApocrypha, Dan. 3:61; and I can attempt to declare nothing certain on\nthese and similar subjects. Hence I can say nothing whatever as known\nand understood concerning the heaven where the angels are and where\nGod dwells with the blessed; nor concerning other kindred things,\nwhich shall be revealed unto us in the last day, when we shall have\nbeen clothed with another body.\n\nBut I add, for the sake of those who do not understand this, that in\nthe Scriptures the word heaven often signifies what we call the\nhorizon. Hence the whole firmament is called the heaven of heavens, in\nwhich are gathered the heaven of all human beings; that is, the\nhorizon. In this respect we have a different heaven here in Germany\nthan the people in France or Italy. But this name helps nothing at all\nin the explanation of our text. Therefore the greater number of\ntheologians interpret here waters, as also indicated above, the\nglacial heaven, the cold heaven, which is located where it is that it\nmay moisten and refresh the lower sphere in their great and swift\nmotion, lest they be consumed by their excessive heat. But whether\nthey have thus concluded correctly, I will leave unanswered.\n\nI freely confess that I do not know what kind of waters these are. For\nthe old teachers of the church did not specially worry about this, as\nwe see Augustine condemned all astrology. Although it contains much\nsuperstition, yet it should not be entirely despised, for it is wholly\ngiven up to the observation and consideration of divine themes, a zeal\nand diligence most worthy of human beings. Therefore we find that many\nmost highly talented and excellent persons have exercised themselves\nin astrology and obtained pleasure from it.\n\nSufficient has been said on this subject to show that on the second\nday the heaven was separated and located so that it stood in the\nmiddle between the waters.\n\nIII. But here another question presents itself. To the works of all\nthe other days there is added the divine sentence of approbation, \"And\nGod saw that it was good.\" How is it then that the same sentence is\nnot added to the second day's work, when the greatest and most\nbeautiful part of the whole creation was made? To this question it may\nbe replied, that this same divine sentence is added at the end of the\ncreation of all things on the sixth day and more fully expressed thus,\n\"And God saw everything that he had made, and, behold, it was very\ngood.\" And these words apply to the heaven also.\n\nLyra is inclined to think with Rabbi Solomon, that as this divine\nexpression, \"And God saw that it was good,\" is uttered twice during\nthe third day's work, one of the divine sentences refers to the second\nday's work; which was perfected on the third day, when the waters\nwhich are \"under\" the heaven were more distinctly divided from the\nwaters which were \"above\" the heaven. But it is by far the safest way\nnot to be too curious and inquiring on these subjects; because they\nexceed our human capacity.\n\nOthers speculate here and give reasons they understand not, that the\nsecond number is of an evil omen, because it is the first number that\ndeparts from the unity of God, but God was displeased with this\ndigression and approved of the unity, and therefore he did not add the\nclause \"it was good\" on the second day. Lyra is however right in\ncalling this a misleading and dangerous explanation. For in this\nmanner all the numbers depart from the Unity.\n\nTherefore it is far the safest not to be too curious and inquiring in\nthese subjects, because they are placed above our human capacity. For\nhow can we understand that order which God himself establishes and\napproves. Yes, reason must here be put to shame, for what is order in\nthe eyes of God we judge to be the confusion of order. Thus the stars\nseem to us to be arranged thoughtlessly in wild disorder in that the\nbright ones are scattered among those more obscure, and the lesser\namong the greater. Who would judge this to be order? And yet it is the\nmost perfect harmony, so constituted by the all-wise mind itself. In\nlike manner we judge of other matters. It seems confusing that our\nElbe and all rivers flow to the sea in an irregular winding course.\nSuch disorder there seems to be also among trees, yes, between man and\nwife, where it appears there is no order. But all this only proves\nthat God is a God of order and that his judgment as to order is quite\ndifferent than ours.\n\nWe therefore cease to follow more curiously the question why God added\ntwice to the third day, \"And God saw,\" etc., and omitted it on the\nsecond day. Nor will we conclude rashly whether the work of the second\nday was finished in the third day or not. Philosophers have handed\ndown the rudiments of the arts and of the science of astronomy, and in\ndoing so they divided the heaven into various spheres. We have a much\nsimpler theory or science, in that we at once make God the immediate\nCreator of all things by his Word, _Dixit_, \"And God said.\"\n\nFor how can we understand that order which God approves as such? Nay,\nour natural reason must here of necessity be confounded; for that\nwhich is order with God is in our judgment confusion. Hence the stars\nappear to us to be in a state of wild disorder; the bright being\nmingled with the more obscure, and the lesser with the greater. Who\nwould judge this to be order? And yet it is consummate harmony; and so\nconstituted by the all-wise Mind. And so we judge of other things. Our\nriver Elbe seems a confusion; as do all other rivers also; because\ntheir streams empty themselves into the sea by winding courses. In the\nsame manner trees seem to present a confusion. Nor do males and\nfemales in the world and their unions and combinations appear to be a\nstate of order. All here also as to the appearance of things is\ndisorder and confusion. All these things therefore unitedly prove that\nGod possesses an order, and judges of it, differently from ourselves.\n\nCease we therefore to penetrate into these things with too much\ncuriosity, why it is that God repeats the divine sentence in question\ntwice during the work of the third day and omits it altogether in the\nwork of the second day? Nor determine we rashly whether the work of\nthe second day was finished on the third day or not. Philosophers laid\ndown the rudiments of the arts and of the science of astronomy; and in\nso doing they divided the heaven into its various spheres. But we\nadopt a simpler and more true method of procedure and judgment; for we\nat once make God the immediate Creator of all things by his Word, \"And\nGod said.\"\n\n\nPART III. GOD'S WORK ON THE THIRD DAY.\n\nI. V. 9a. _And God said, Let the waters under the heavens be gathered\ntogether unto one place._\n\nIn the foregoing I observed that we do not understand the order of the\nworks of God. Had he therefore asked us our opinion here we should\nhave advised him to use such an order as to add the sentence now in\nquestion to the work of the second day. But God will ever be master of\nhis own order and the ruler of the world. Wherefore we ought not to be\nover curious here. The text plainly declares that God commanded the\nwaters \"under the heavens to be gathered together unto one place.\" It\ndoes not say as before, V. 7, \"under the firmament,\" where it is said,\nand God divided the waters which were \"under the firmament\" from the\nwaters which were \"above the firmament.\"\n\nThe heavens therefore, according to the phraseology and definition of\nthe Scriptures, are the whole of the higher region and its machinery,\ntogether with the entire body of the air and all its spheres. The\nHebrew name is derived from the material of which it is composed;\nnamely, from that confused body of water, by the extension or\nexpansion or multiplication of which it was formed. For that first\nbody of unformed water was not so extensive in itself, but was so\nexpanded or spread out by the Word. Just as Christ, according to the\nrecord of the Gospel, so multiplied a few loaves by his blessing as to\nmake them suffice for a great multitude of men.\n\nWhat therefore we philosophically call the air, with all its spheres,\nMoses here calls the heavens.\n\nBut by waters he means the waters of our seas and rivers, which were\nalso formed out of that original unformed mass of water; or out of the\ndregs or lees of it, as it were, after the heavens had been formed or\nexpanded out of it by the Word. I believe however that the nature and\npower of our water are far inferior to those of the heavenly waters.\nFor our waters are, as I have said, the dregs, as it were, of the\nhigher waters. So that they may be said to have been gathered together\nnot only as to their place or position, but as to their body or\nsubstance, because these latter waters are heavier than those of the\nair or heaven. For we can breathe in the air, but we cannot breathe in\nthe water.\n\nAnd when Moses says that these waters were \"gathered together unto one\nplace\" collectively, he is rather to be understood as speaking in a\nplural or distributive sense. As if he had said, that they were\ngathered unto various places; and not that the whole body of the\nwaters was gathered unto one place, as one ocean, but that they were\ndistributed into various seas and rivers; some higher up, and some\nlower down, some greater, and some less, etc.\n\nV. 9b. _And let the dry (land) appear._\n\nThese words claim particular attention, because Moses had just before\nsaid, that the earth was TOHU and BOHU; that is unformed, rude and\nuncultivated, mixed with waters and washed by the waters on every\nside. Here therefore Moses also means that this original mass of earth\nwas sunk under the waters and covered by them. Otherwise, why should\nhe represent God as saying \"And let the dry land appear,\" if it had\nnot been surrounded by the abyss of water and almost covered with\nthese original nebulous mists or waters? For we have here a\nconfirmation of that which I have repeatedly set forth; that the\nworld, at its first formation, was nothing but a rude chaotic mass of\nwater and earth; and now on the third day the earth is brought out and\nmade to appear. As therefore at first the light was brought in upon\nthe waters; so now, the beauty of that light is made to shine upon the\nearth. For both these qualities were necessary to render the earth\nhabitable; that it should be \"dry\" and that it should be in the light\nor illuminated.\n\nII. Moses now calls the earth \"dry\" on account of the removal of the\noriginal waters from it. Thus we behold the waters of the ocean rage\nand boil as if they would swallow up the whole earth. For the ocean\nstands higher than the earth. But it cannot pass its appointed bounds,\nfor this spot of dry land circumscribes the earth of the first\ncreation; and even opposes an insuperable barrier to original\nocean-waters. Hence Job, 38th chapter, and the 104th Psalm bear\nwitness that, although the sea is higher than the earth and is limited\nby no boundaries of its own, yet it cannot pass its boundaries\nappointed of God. For the earth, being the center of the world, would\nnaturally be submerged and covered with the sea. But God keeps back\nthe sea by his Word and thus makes the plane of the earth stand forth\nout of the waters, as far as is necessary for the habitation and life\nof man.\n\nHence it is by the power of God that the waters are prevented from\nrushing in upon us. God therefore performs for us to this day and will\ndo so to the end of the world, the same miracle which he wrought for\nthe children of Israel in the Red Sea, Ex. 14:21-22. But he made a\nspecial manifestation of his power by working the mighty miracle on\nthat occasion, to the intent that he might bind that people, who were\nfew in number, the more devotedly to his worship. And what else is\nthis our life upon earth, but a passage through the Red Sea, where the\nhigh and threatening walls of water stand up on each side of us? For\nit is most certainly true that the sea is much higher than the earth.\nGod therefore to this day commands the waters to hang suspended and\nholds them up by his Word that they may not break in upon us, as they\nburst in upon the world at the deluge. Sometimes however signs of\nGod's power are still manifested, whole islands perish under the\nwaters, whereby God shows that the mighty water is still in his hands,\nand that it is with Him either to hold it fast or to let it rush in\nupon the wicked and the ungrateful.\n\nPhilosophers have their disputes also concerning the center of the\nworld and the circumfluent water. Indeed it is wonderful that they go\nso far as to determine the earth to be the center of the whole\ncreation. And it is from this argument, that they conclude that the\nearth cannot fall; because it is supported from within by the other\nspheres surrounding it on every side. Hence according to these\nphilosophers the heaven and all other spheres rest upon this center,\nby which support they themselves also derive their durability. It is\nwell becoming us to know these arguments. But these philosophers know\nnot that the whole of this stability rests on the power of the Word of\nGod. Although therefore the water of the mighty ocean is higher than\nthe earth, yet it cannot pass its appointed bounds nor cover the\nearth. But we live and breathe as the Children of Israel existed in\nthe midst of the Red Sea.\n\nV. 10. _And God saw that it was good._\n\nMoses here adds this divine commendation although nothing was wrought\nbeside the division of the waters and the bringing out of waters a\nsmall particle of the earth. Now above, at the most beautiful part of\nGod's creation, this short divine commendatory sentence was not added.\nPerhaps it was omitted as an intimation from God that he is more\nconcerned about our habitation than about his own; and that he might\nby such intimation animate us to higher feelings of gratitude and\npraise. For we were not destined to exist in the air or in the heaven,\nbut on the earth where we were appointed to support our life by meat\nand drink.\n\nTherefore after God adorned the roof of man's habitation, namely, the\nheaven, and added the light, he now spreads its floor and makes the\nearth suitable for the dwelling service of men. This part of his work,\nGod twice declares to be \"good\" on our account, by which he would\nintimate that we men form so great a part of his care, that he is\ndesirous to assure us by such a twofold approbation of this portion of\nhis creation-work wrought with so much care that he would ever hold it\nunder his peculiar protection; that he would grant it his perpetual\npresence, and would prevent our great enemy and our most certain\ndeath, the mighty water, from rushing in upon us. Beautifully\ntherefore did God form in \"the beginning\" the foundation and roof of\nthis house. Now let us see how he furnished and garnished it.\n\nIII. V. 11. _And God said, Let the earth put forth grass, herbs\nyielding seed, and fruit trees bearing fruit after its kind, etc._\n\nGod, as we have seen, has now constructed the first and the principal\nparts of man's house. Its roof, the heaven, is most beautiful, but it\nis not yet fully adorned. Its foundation is the earth. Its walls are\nthe mighty waters on every side. God next makes provision for our\nfood. He commands the earth to bring forth herbs and trees to bear\nfruit of every kind. Here you may again see why the earth was before\ncalled TOHU and BOHU; because it was as yet not only dark, but\naltogether barren of fruit.\n\nBut mark what kind of food God prepares for us; namely, herbs and\nfruits of trees. I believe therefore that our bodies would have been\nmuch stronger and healthier if this surfeiting and especially the\neating of flesh of all kinds since the flood had not been introduced.\nFor although the earth after the sin of Adam was cursed, and because\nstill more corrupt after the flood, yet our food of herbs would have\nbeen much more refining, thin and pure, had we still lived on them,\nthan our gross feeding on flesh is now. It is quite evident that in\nthe beginning of the world the food of man was herbs, and it is\nequally evident that the herbs were created for the very end that they\nmight be food for man.\n\nThat the earth produces grain, trees and herbs of every kind is the\nwork of this day. Now indeed, all things spring forth from the seed of\ntheir kind. But the original creation was wrought without any seed, by\nthe simple power of the Word. Indeed that seeds now put forth their\nplants is still the effect of the work of the original creation by the\nWord, and it is a work full of wonder and admiration. For it is a\nsingular act of God's power that the grain, falling on the earth,\nsprings forth in its time and brings forth fruit after its kind. And\nthat like plants should be put forth from like seeds in an unceasing\nand unchanging order, is sure proof that it is not the consequence of\na chance creation, but the especial operation of divine providence.\nHence from wheat grows nothing but wheat; from barley nothing but\nbarley; from the bean nothing but beans; for the same continuous and\nunaltered nature, order and condition of each plant are constantly\npreserved.\n\nPhilosophy knows nothing of the cause of all this and attributes the\nwhole to nature. We however well understand that nature was so created\nat the first by the power of the Word, that the seeds and forms of all\nplants might be exactly and perfectly preserved. Wherefore not only\nare the first-day waters of heaven multiplied, as there is need; but\nthe first seeds are also multiplied, as God sees fit, and they all\npreserve their original form and nature with the utmost perfection.\n\nHere again a question is frequently raised as to the time or season of\nthe year, in which the world was created; whether the creation was\nwrought in the spring or autumn. And although the opinions of men\ndiffer on this point, yet each one has his own reasons and\nconjectures. Those who prefer making autumn the season of creation,\nconsider that they prove their judgment to be correct from the fact\nthat the trees when first created produced their fruit. For Adam and\nEve ate of their fruit. They prove their opinion moreover to be the\nright one, as they think, by the argument that the works of God are\nperfect! Others will have it, that the spring was the time of the\ncreation, because the spring is the most beautiful season of the year\nand is, as it were, the infancy and childhood of nature. Hence it is\nthat the ancient poet Ovid describes the spring as being the\noriginating cradle-time of the world.\n\nNeither party however has sufficient ground for concluding their\narguments to be exclusively right; for the sacred text supports both\nopinions, because it declares, that the earth \"brought or budded\nforth,\" which certainly is not the time of autumn, but of spring. It\nalso declares that fruits then existed; which it is equally certain is\nnot the time of spring. Wherefore, my opinion is that such was the\nmiracle wrought of God at the first creation of the world that all\nthese things existed at the one time; the earth budded forth, the\ntrees blossomed, and the fruits, in their perfection, immediately and\nsuddenly followed; and then the miracle ceased; and nature gradually\nfell into her regular order. Thus, all these herbs and trees are\npropagated by means of their seeds in the same kinds and forms as\nthose in which they were first created. Hence men reason wrongly, when\nthey argue from the natural to the supernatural effect. For the whole\nis to be attributed to the Creator and to his first creation-work, in\nwhich he at the same time perfected the infant buddings of spring and\nthe mature fruits of autumn, as far as the herbs and the fruits of the\ntrees were concerned.\n\nMoreover this state of things at the creation induced Hilary and\nothers to conclude that the world stood forth suddenly at the Word of\nGod in all its full perfection; and that God did not employ six whole\nnatural days in the work of creation. For the text compels us to\nconfess that the trees together with their fruits existed on the same\nday Adam was created. But although all this was indeed wrought of God\nvery much more quickly than it is now for this same work of God in our\nage generally occupies six months of time, yet the text does not use\nthe verb \"to fructify\" only but also the verb \"to germinate.\"\n\nWith reference therefore to this question, concerning the time of the\ncreation, it is most probable that the spring was the season in which\nthe world was first created. Hence the Jews begin their year at this\nseason, making the first month of spring the first of their year, that\nbeing the time of the year when the earth begins to open its bosom and\nall things in nature bud forth.\n\nConcerning this part of the creation another question is also raised\nas to the time when the unfruitful or barren trees and herbs were\ncreated. For myself I would not attempt to settle anything as to this\npoint, but I will offer my opinion. I believe that all trees were in\nthe beginning good and fruitful; and that the beasts of the field and\nAdam had as it were one and the same table; and that they all fed on\nwheat, pulse and the other nobler fruits; for there was then the\ngreatest possible abundance of all these creatures.\n\nAfter the sin of Adam however God said for the first time to the earth\n\"that it should bring forth thorns and briars.\" Wherefore there can be\nno doubt that we have so many trees and herbs which are of no use\nwhatever for food as the divine punishment of that first sin of Adam.\nHence it is that many have considered the whole original state of\nearth paradise, on account of the blessing and the abundance which\nattended the first creation. Those who held this opinion affirmed that\nthe expulsion of Adam from Paradise was his being deprived of this\nhappy state of the earth and placed among thorns, where frequently\nafter the greatest labor scarcely any benefit is derived. On this\nmatter however we shall speak hereafter. But with respect to the\npresent question, I am quite inclined to think that all the trees were\nfruitful when first created.\n\nThe curious reasoning of the men of our day is detestable; when they\ninquire in their arguments, why it was that God adorned the earth with\nfruits on the third day before he had garnished the heaven with stars?\nThey affirm that such a part of the creation-work belonged rather to\nthe work of the sixth day; and that it would have been more\nappropriate as the heaven was first expanded before the earth was\nbrought forth, had the heaven been adorned before the earth. For they\nsay that the adorning of the earth belonged more properly to the sixth\nday. Lyra would make here the subtle distinction that this was not the\nornament of the earth but the form of it. However I doubt whether any\nsuch distinction can be admitted, as satisfactory. My opinion is that,\nas I have before said, the order adopted by God in all these things is\nnot to be submitted to the exercise of any judgment of ours. Indeed\nwas not the heaven adorned with that light, which was created on the\nfirst day? That light was assuredly the most beautiful ornament of the\nwhole creation.\n\nIn this sacred matter I therefore much prefer that we consider the\ndivine care and goodness exercised in our especial behalf, in that God\nprepared a habitation so beautiful for the man, whom he was about to\ncreate, before he created him, in order that when created he might\nfind a habitation already prepared and furnished for him, into which\nthus ready and garnished God led him when created, and commanded him\nto enjoy all the fruits and provisions of his ample abode. Thus on the\nthird day were prepared the food and the store-room. On the fourth day\nthe sun and the moon were given for the service of man. On the fifth\nday \"dominion\" was committed to him over the fishes and the birds. On\nthe sixth day the same \"dominion\" was intrusted to him over all the\nbeasts, that he might use all the rich blessings of these creatures\nfreely, according to his necessities; and as a return God only\nrequired that man should acknowledge the goodness of his Creator and\nlive in his fear and worship. This peculiar care of God over us and\nfor us even before we were created, may be contemplated rightly and\nwith great benefit to our souls, but all conjectures, reasonings and\narguments upon the great subject of the creation are uncertain and\nfruitless.\n\nThe same care for us is manifest in his spiritual gifts. For long\nbefore we are converted to faith Christ, our Redeemer, rose and\nascended above, and is now in the house of his Father preparing\nmansions for us; that when we arrive there we may find heaven\nfurnished with everything that can complete our joy. Adam therefore\nnot yet created was much less able to think of his future good than\neven we are, for he as yet had no existence at all. Whereas we\ncontinually hear all these things from the Word of God, as promised to\nus. Let us look at this first creation of the world therefore as a\ntype and figure of the world to come, and thereby let us learn the\nexceeding goodness of God, who thus benefits, blesses and enriches us,\neven before we are capable of thinking for ourselves. This solicitude,\ncare, liberality and beneficence of God, both for our present and\nfuture life, are matters more becoming us to contemplate and admire\nthan it is to enter upon speculations and conjectures as to the reason\nwhy God began to ornament the earth on the third day. Let these\nobservations suffice concerning the work of the third day in which a\nhouse was built and furnished for man. Now follow the remaining days\nin which we were appointed rulers, to \"have dominion over\" the whole\ncreation.\n\n\nPART IV. GOD'S WORK ON THE FOURTH DAY.\n\nI. V. 14a. _And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of\nheaven to divide the day from the night._\n\nThis is the work of the fourth day in which those all-beautiful\ncreatures, the sun and the moon, together with all the stars, were\ncreated by the Word. Nor were they created as to their substances and\ntheir bodies only, but as to the blessing of God upon them and through\nthem; that is, as to their powers, effects and influence.\n\nYou heard above that on the first day the \"light\" was created. This\nlight continued to illumine all things instead of the sun, the moon\nand the stars until the fourth day. And on the fourth day those\nauthors and rulers of the day and the night were themselves created.\n\nHence there has here arisen a question with reference to this first\n\"light;\" whether after the sun and the moon were created it\ndisappeared altogether or remained, embodied in the sun. And on this\npoint a great diversity of sentiments and opinions has existed. My\nsimple belief is that the nature of all these works of God is the\nsame. As on the first day the rude unformed heaven and earth were\ncreated and afterward completely formed and perfected, as the\noriginally imperfect heaven was afterward stretched out and adorned\nwith light, and as the earth was first called forth from the waters\nand then clothed with trees and herbs, so the first formed light of\nthe first day, which was then only begun, as it were, and imperfect,\nwas afterwards perfected and completed by the addition of those new\ncreatures, the sun, the moon and the stars. Others say that this\noriginal \"light\" still remains, but is obscured by the brightness of\nthe sun. Both opinions may be true. For it may be that the original\nlight still remains and was as it were the seed-light of the sun and\nthe moon.\n\nMoses however makes a difference here, calling the sun and the moon\nthe \"greater lights.\" What philosophers say therefore concerning the\nmagnitude of these bodies has properly nothing to do with the text\nbefore us. What we have here to do is to observe that the Scriptures\ndo not speak of these bodies with reference to the magnitude of the\nbodies themselves but with reference to the magnitude of their light!\nFor if you would compare the sun with the stars and collect all the\nstars into one body, you would have a body perhaps greater than the\nsun, but that whole body of stars together would not form a light\nequal to the light of the sun. On the contrary if you could divide the\nsun into minute particles, the most minute particles would surpass in\nbrightness the brightest star. For all these bodies were created with\nan essential difference as Paul affirms. \"There is one glory of the\nsun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars,\"\netc., 1 Cor. 15:41. And this difference does not consist in the nature\nor magnitude of their bodies, but in the nature and essentiality of\ntheir creation itself; so that in this the work of God's creation is\nmore wonderful. Hence marvellous beyond expression or thought is the\nfact that the rays of the sun should be dispersed through such length\nand breadth, with such wonderful properties of nourishment and heat to\nall bodies under their influence; and that, too, while the sun itself\nrevolves with such amazing velocity.\n\nAstronomers say also that the stars are lighted as it were by the sun\nso that they shine. Likewise they say that the moon borrows its light\nfrom the sun. And this is beautifully proved in an eclipse of the\nmoon, when the earth comes between the sun and moon and the light of\nthe sun is not transmitted to the moon. I do not deny nor reject this,\nbut I do hold however that it is of divine power that this efficacy is\nadded to the sun to light and illumine even the distant moon and stars\nwith its own light; and likewise that the moon and stars are so\ncreated that they have the capacity to receive the light that is\nprojected from the sun so far away.\n\nAugustine sets forth two opinions about the moon in the beginning of\nthe 12th Psalm, and in his discussions he forces an allegory upon the\nchurch, while he himself defines nothing. But I leave this; for from\nastronomers as from master artists we most readily learn what points\nare possible to be disputed in this science. I am satisfied that in\nthese bodies so glorious and useful for our life we discern the\ngoodness and power of God, who created such things by his Word and\nconserved them to the present day for our use. These are matters\nbelonging to our calling or profession; that is, they are theological\nthemes, and they have the efficacy to comfort and strengthen our\nhearts.\n\nWhat is further discussed concerning the nature and attributes of\nthese creatures, although for the most part approaching the truth and\nstudied with profit, yet I see that the reason is by far too weak to\nunderstand these things perfectly. Therefore the greatest men of\ngenius and learning, overwhelmed by the worthiness of these creatures,\ncould not conclude otherwise than that they are eternal, and, as it\nwere, gods.\n\nSince, therefore, philosophers define a star to be a denser point\nwithin its own orbit, we come much nearer the truth when we define it\nto be light created by God through his Word. And it is indeed more\nlikely that the stars are bodies round like the sun, little globes\nfixed to the firmament, so that each gives light by night, according\nto its gift and its creative functions.\n\nV. 14b. _And let them be for signs and for seasons, and for days and\nyears._\n\nWhen Moses adds above, \"And let them divide the day from the night,\"\nhe intimates that difference between the natural and the artificial\nday, so universally made by astronomers. For he had before said, \"And\nthere was evening and there was morning one day;\" \"were the second\nday,\" etc., where he is speaking of the natural day which consists of\n24 hours, during which the first great movable body, the sun, performs\nhis revolution from east to west. But here, when the sacred historian\nsays, \"And let them divide the day from the night\" he is speaking of\nthe artificial day, the space of time during which the sun is above\nthe horizon.\n\nII. These therefore are the primary offices of the sun and the moon:\nto be the rulers and directors of the night and the day; whereas the\nstars perform not these offices nor are so appointed of God. But the\nsun, when he rises, brings in the day without the rising or aid of the\nother stars. So the moon, even independently of the stars, is the\nruler of the night and makes the night; for she is created by God for\nthat very office. As to these changes of the day and the night, they\nare ordained for the refreshment of our bodies by sleep and rest. The\nsun shows his brighter light for man's work. The moon has her paler\nlight as more adapted for repose than for work.\n\nBut what is the meaning of Moses when he says, \"And let them be for\nsigns,\" etc.? Lyra explains it as signifying signs of rains and\nstorms, etc. This in an interpretation which I would not strongly\noppose; though I have great doubts whether these \"Lights in the\nfirmament of heaven\" do, or can, pre-signify rains, tempests, etc.,\nwith any certainty, as the poet Virgil and others represent in their\nwritings. The gospel does indeed make a \"reddened\" evening a sign of\n\"fair weather,\" and on the contrary a \"lowering\" morning a sign of\n\"foul weather,\" Math. 16:2-3. With respect therefore to the common\nsaying that the rising of the constellation of the Pleiades indicates\nrain and other proverbs of a similar description, I will not with\ngreat concern tear them to pieces, nor will I at once admit and\nconfirm them, because I cannot see that they are all uniformly sure\nand certain.\n\nI hold the simplest meaning of the text is that he does not speak of\nsuch inferior signs, but greater signs, such as eclipses and\ncollisions of heavenly bodies, so that a sign is a wonder, a prophecy\nor miracle, by which he reveals his wrath or the misfortune of the\nworld. If any think this explanation is too coarse, let us remember\nthat Moses wrote for a rude people.\n\nHere belong meteors and the rare phenomena which take place in the\nair, when stars are seen to fall, when halos surround the sun and\nmoon, when the rainbow appears and similar things happen in the sky.\nFor Moses calls the heaven the whole aqueous mass in which the stars\nand planets move, also the highest sphere. We speak of spheres and\ncircles to make the explanation plainer. For the Scriptures know\nnothing of these and say that the moon with the sun and stars are not\neach in its sphere, but in the firmament of heaven, below and above\nare the waters. That they are signs of future events, experience\nteaches concerning planet collisions and meteors.\n\nThe expression \"For seasons\" claims particular attention. The term in\nthe Hebrew is LEMOEDIM; and MOED signifies \"a stated, fixed, certain\ntime.\" Hence it is a term commonly used in the Scriptures to signify\n\"a tabernacle of covenant;\" because there certain feasts were\naccustomed to be held in a certain place and time according to certain\nrites. Therefore it is that Moses describes the sun and the moon as\nbeing created \"For seasons;\" not only because the seasons are ruled\nand evidently changed by the course of the sun; for we see that most\ninferior bodies are changed by the access and recess of the sun; and\nthe quality of the air according to which our own bodies are also\nchanged is of one kind in the winter, of another in the summer, of\nanother in the autumn and of another in the spring; but because we\nobserve other differences and distinctions of times and seasons in\ncivil life, all which are derived from the motions and revolutions of\nthese heavenly bodies. Hence at a certain time of the year men make\ntheir contracts for building houses, hire their servants and their\nservices, and collect taxes, debts and rents, etc. All these are\nservices rendered us and blessings bestowed upon us by the sun and the\nmoon, that we may by their laws and revolutions divide the times and\nseasons for the various labors of man and enjoy many other blessings\nwhich they confer. It is by them that we divide and number our weeks,\nmonths, quarters, etc., etc.\n\nThe next expression, \"For days,\" refers to the natural day, during\nwhich the sun performs his revolution round the earth. Our being\nenabled therefore to number days and also years, are blessings of the\ncreation and are thus ordained of God. Wherefore philosophers define\ntime to be \"an enumeration of motions,\" which numbering could have no\nexistence if the heavenly bodies did not move by a sure and fixed law.\nIf they all stood fixed in a certain place without motion, numbering\ncould have neither commencement nor regulation. And where there is no\nnumbering of days, months, years, etc., there is no time. Hence a man\nin a sound sleep, being destitute of all sense of number and of all\nfaculty of enumeration, knows not how long he sleeps.\n\nIn a like manner, though we can in a measure recollect our infancy,\nyet we are not conscious of the fact of having sucked the breasts of\nour mothers; and yet we then had natural life. The reason is that we\nwere deficient in the sense of number and the power of annumeration.\nFor this same reason beasts know nothing of time; just as infants have\nno such knowledge. The sense and faculty of number therefore prove man\nto be a peculiar and superior creature of God on which account we find\nAugustine declaring the faculty of annumeration to be an especial gift\nof our nature, and proving from this very gift the immortality of the\nsoul; because man alone can calculate and understand time.\n\nWith reference to the future life, some here inquire whether the\noffices of these heavenly bodies are designed of God to cease. But the\nlife to come will be without time. For the godly will enjoy an eternal\nday and the ungodly will have an endless night and eternal darkness.\n\nThe sun therefore makes the day, not only by his light and brightness,\nbut by his motion, which he makes from east to west until he rises\nagain at the end of 24 hours and thus makes another day. Wherefore\nastronomers make three great benefits to proceed from the sun: his\nmotion, his light and his influence.\n\nConcerning his influence however I shall enter upon no subtle inquiry.\nIt is enough for me to know that these heavenly bodies were created\nfor our use; that they may be unto us \"For signs of wrath or of grace\nand for seasons,\" that we might observe certain distinctions of time,\netc. These things, because they are taught us in the Holy Scriptures\nare sure. All things else, such as the doctrines and predictions of\nastrologers, are not thus certain.\n\nOne is wont to inquire here concerning the astrological predictions\nwhich some confirm and prove from this text. If they are not defended\nperseveringly and pertinaciously, I will not combat them strongly. For\none ought to concede to the ingenious and learned brains their\nplayground. Therefore when one reads of the misuse and unbelief of\ntheir superstitions, I would not be greatly offended if one exercise\nhimself in these predictions for the sake of pleasure.\n\nAs to that which pertains to the practice of astrology I could never\nhe persuaded to count astrology among the sciences, for the reasons\nthat it has no clear demonstration or visible proof. That they cite\nexperiences does not influence me. For all astrological experiences\nare merely particular. For those, skilled in the practice only, have\nobserved and committed to writing the things that have not failed; the\nother experiences, however, in which they failed or were not followed\nby the results they predicted would certainly follow were not\ncommitted to writing nor remembered. But just as Aristotle says that\none swallow alone does not make summer, so I think one cannot form a\ntrue and complete science from such single and particular\nobservations. For just as it is said of hunters, they may hunt every\nday, but they do not find game every day. The same may be said of\nastrologers and their predictions, because they fail very often.\n\nBut now since they indeed contain some truth, what folly it is at the\nsame time that one should be so anxious about the future. For grant\nthat it is possible to know the future through the predictions of\nastrologers, were it not in many respects far better, if they are\nevil, to be entirely ignorant of them than to know them, as Cicero\ncontends? Instead it is much better to stand in the fear of God always\nand to pray than to be tormented and tortured by the fear of future\nevents. But more of this at another time.\n\nWherefore my judgment is that astrological predictions cannot safely\nand satisfactorily be founded upon this passage of Scripture; for they\nare, as I have said, signs observed and collected by reason. But the\nnext and proper meaning, if we understand Moses concerning the signs,\nwhich God knows and shows, is to the end that men in general may be\nadmonished and terrified by them. Let these observations on the fourth\nday suffice.\n\nNow here begins to open upon us and to present itself to our\nmeditation that great subject, the immortality of the soul. For no\ncreature besides man can understand the motion of the heaven or\nestimate the celestial bodies and their revolutions. The pig, the cow,\nthe dog cannot measure the water they drink. But man can measure even\nthe heaven and form his calculations of all the heavenly bodies.\n\nWherefore a spark of eternal life glitters forth here from the fact\nthat man is naturally exercised in this knowledge of all nature. For\nthis anxious inquiry indicates that men were not created with the\ndesign that they should live forever in this small weak portion of\nGod's universe; but that they should occupy the heaven, which in this\nlife they so admire and in the study and contemplation of which they\nare continually engaged.\n\nIf heaven were not the destination of man what aim or need was there\nfor his being endowed with this wide capacity for rich knowledge and\nthought. Indeed the stature and form of the body of man also argues\nthat he was designed for heavenly things, even though his origin was\nso very mean and humble. For God made the first man from the common\nearth. After this the human race began to be propagated from the seed\nof the male and female, in which the embryo is formed in the womb in\nall its particular members, and there it grows until by its birth it\nis ushered forth into the light of heaven. From this birth comes the\nlife of sensation, the life of motion and the life of operation.\n\nWhen at length the body has grown and the man has a sound reason and\nsoul in a sound body, then first shines forth in all its brightness\nthat life of intelligence found in no other earthly creature. By this\nfaculty, leaning on the aid of the mathematical sciences, which no one\ncan deny were indicated and taught from above, man mounts in his mind\nfrom earth to heaven, and leaving behind him the things below concerns\nhimself about and inquires into heavenly things. Hogs do not do this,\nnor cows nor any other beasts of the earth, it is the employment of\nman alone. Man therefore is a being created of God with the design\nthat at an appointed time he should leave the earth, dwell in heavenly\nmansions and live a life eternal. These great principles of man's\ncreation form the reasons why he is able not only to speak and to\njudge, which are things pertaining to language and argument, but is\ncapable also of acquiring any science whatever.\n\nFrom this fourth day therefore begins to be manifested the peculiar\nglory of our race. Because God here forms his mind and purpose to\ncreate such a being as should be capable of understanding the motions\nof those heavenly bodies, which are created on this fourth day; and a\nbeing who should delight himself in their knowledge, as peculiarly and\nexclusively adapted to his nature. All these things therefore ought to\ncall forth our thanksgiving and praise; while we reflect that we are\nthe citizens of that heavenly country which we now behold, understand\nand wonder at, yet understand only as strangers and exiles, but which\nafter this life we shall behold nearer and understand perfectly.\n\nHitherto therefore we have heard the divine historian speak of those\ncreatures only, which are endowed with neither life nor sense;\nalthough some philosophers have spoken of the stars and the greater\nheavenly bodes, as if they were animate and rational. This I think has\narisen from the motion of these bodies, which is rational and so\ncertain that there is nothing like it in any other creatures. Hence\nsome philosophers have affirmed that the heavenly creatures were\ncomposed of body and intellect, though their bodies were not material.\nPlato reasons thus in his \"Timoeus.\"\n\nAll such opinions however are to be utterly exploded and our whole\nintellect is to be subjected to the Word of God and to what is there\nwritten. The Holy Scriptures plainly teach that God made all these\nthings, that he might by them prepare for the man, whom he was about\nto create, a home and a hospitable reception; and that all these\nthings are governed and preserved by the power of the same Word, by\nwhich they were originally created. Wherefore all things being at\nlength prepared pertaining to the furniture of his home, the\nScriptures next show us the manner in which man was \"formed\" and\nintroduced into his possession to the end that we might be taught that\nthe providence of God over us and for us is greater than all our own\ncare and concern for ourselves can possibly be. These things are\nplainly taught us in the Scriptures. All other things not supported by\nthe authority of the Scriptures are to be repudiated and rejected.\n\nI have therefore thought it especially becoming and necessary to\nrepeat here that admonition which I have frequently given, that we\nought constantly to acquaint and familiarize ourselves with the\nphraseology of the Holy Spirit. For no one can successfully study any\nof the human arts unless he first correctly understands the idiom of\nthe language in which its principles are described. For lawyers have\ntheir peculiar terms, unknown to the physician and the philosopher. In\nlike manner, the latter have each a phraseology peculiar to themselves\nwith which the professors of other arts have little or no\nacquaintance. Now one art ought not to perplex another. But every art\nought to maintain its own course in its own way and to adopt its own\npeculiar terms.\n\nAccordingly we find the Holy Spirit, to use a language and a\nphraseology peculiar to his own divine self, declaring that God\ncreated all things by his Word or by speaking them into being; \"He\nspake and it was done\"; that he wrought all things by his Word; and\nthat all the works of God are certain words of God, certain things\ncreated by the uncreated word. As therefore the philosopher uses his\nown terms, so the Holy Ghost uses his. Hence when the astronomer\nspeaks of his spheres, his cycles and his epicycles, he does so\nrightly, for it is lawful for him in the profession of his art to use\nsuch terms as may enable him the better to instruct his disciples. On\nthe other hand the Holy Ghost will know nothing of such terms in the\nsacred Scriptures. Hence those Scriptures call the whole of that part\nof the creation which is above us, \"The heaven,\" nor ought that term\nto be disapproved by the astronomer; for the astronomer and the\nScripture both adopt, as I have said, terms peculiar to themselves.\n\nIt is in this manner that we are to understand the term \"seasons\" in\nthe sacred text before us. For the term \"season\" with the philosopher\nand with the Hebrew has not the same signification. With the Jews the\nterm \"season\" signifies, theologically, an appointed feast or\nfestival; and also the intervals of days, which concur and conjoin to\nform the year, wherefore this term is everywhere rendered by the word\n\"feast\" or \"festival\" or \"festivity\"; except where it is used to\nsignify a \"tabernacle\" or \"tent.\"\n\nI deemed it best to offer these admonitions concerning language and\nphraseology before we advance further, and I hope they will not be\nfound useless or out of place, as showing the importance that every\nart should confine itself to its own language and terms; that no one\nart should condemn or deride another, but that each should rather aid\nthe other and render mutual services. And this indeed the professors\nof all arts do, in order that the unity of the whole state may be\npreserved; which, as Aristotle says, \"cannot be constituted of a\nphysician and a physician; but must be formed of a physician and a\nhusbandman.\"\n\n\nPART V. GOD'S WORK ON THE FIFTH DAY.\n\nI. V. 20. _And God said, Let the waters swarm with swarms of living\ncreatures, and let birds fly above the earth,_ etc., etc.\n\nWe see Moses retains invariably the same sacred phraseology, \"And God\nsaid,\" etc. Hitherto he has been speaking of the superior creatures;\nthe heaven with all its host of planets and stars, which God created\nout of water by the Word, and gave light unto it, just as we now see\nthe air around us lucid, with a natural illumination.\n\nMoses now proceeds to speak of new creatures also produced out of the\nwaters; namely, of birds and fishes. He connects these two creatures\nin his narrative on account of their similarity of nature. For as the\nfish swims in the water, so does the bird swim as it were in the air.\nThough their flesh differs, yet they have the same origin. For the\nsacred text is here quite plain, that the birds when created out of\nthe waters immediately flew into the air where they now live. Moses\nhere retains moreover his uniform term in calling the whole region\nabove us, \"heaven.\"\n\nAnd first it is worthy of admiration that, although the fishes and the\nbirds were both created out of the same matter, the waters, yet as the\nbird cannot live in the water, neither can the fish exist, if brought\ninto the air. Physicians rightly argue, when they affirm that the\nflesh of birds is more wholesome than that of fishes, even though the\nnature of birds is also aqueous; because they live in a more rarified\nelement; for air is a purer element than water; the latter, in which\nthe fish are generated and live, being constituted of the dregs as it\nwere of the former. Philosophers however do not believe this identity\nof the nature of birds and of fishes. But the faith of the sacred\nScriptures which is far above philosophy and far more certain, assures\nus that the nature of the fish and of the bird had the same origin.\n\nHere again is a further proof of the divine authority and majesty of\nthis book, in that it sets before us under such various forms that\npower of God by which he created all things, beyond the conception of\nall reason and understanding. Who for instance could ever have\nthought, that out of water a nature could be produced, which should by\nno means endure water? But the Word of God speaks, and in a moment out\nof water are created birds. If therefore the Word of God but sound,\nall things are immediately possible; and out of the same water shall\nbe formed either fishes or birds. Every bird therefore and every fish\nis nothing more or less than a word of divine grammar or language; by\nwhich grammar all things, otherwise impossible, immediately become\npossible and easy; by which also things contrary and conflicting\nbecome similar and harmonious; and vice versa.\n\nBut these divine things are thus written and ought to be diligently\nobserved, studied and known by us, that we might learn to admire and\nadore the power of the Divine Majesty; and that we might edify and\nstrengthen our faith from all these marvellous creation works of God!\nFor if one could raise the dead it would be nothing in comparison to\nthis wonderful work; that a bird was created in a moment out of water!\nBut the reason we do not day by day and continually wonder at these\nthings, is because by our having seen them always before us, they have\nlost their wonder in our eyes. If however one does but believe these\nthings, he is compelled at once to wonder at them. And that wonder\ngradually confirms his faith. For if God can form a mass of water,\ncall forth and create the heaven and its stars, each one of which\nequals or exceeds the earth itself in magnitude; if God can, from a\nsmall drop of water, create the sun and the moon, can he not defend my\npoor body against all enemies and against Satan himself? Can he not\nafter that poor body is laid in the tomb raise it again to another and\na new life? Wherefore we are to learn from this book of Genesis the\npower of God; that we may accustom ourselves to doubt nothing that God\npromises in his Word! For, in this glorious and marvellous creation\nwork is laid a confirmation of our faith in all the promises of God;\nthat there is nothing so difficult, nothing so impossible, which God\ncannot do and perfect by his Word. For all this is here proved by\nGod's creation of the heaven, earth, sea and all that is in them.\n\nBut we must here touch upon that which has arrested the attention of\nthe holy fathers, and especially of Augustine; that Moses in this\nsacred narrative uses these three expressions in reference to God,\n\"God said;\" \"God made;\" and \"God saw;\" as if God designed by these\nthree expressions, used by His servant Moses, to set forth the three\npersons of the divine majesty! Thus by the expression \"said\" is\nsignified the Father. The Father begat the Word from all eternity; and\nby this same Word he made in time this world. And these holy fathers\napplied the expression, \"God made\" to the person of the Son; for the\nSon has in himself the \"express image\" of the person of the Father;\nnot only of his majesty, but of his power by which he created all\nthings. Hence the Son gives to all things their existence. And as by\nthe Father things are spoken into being, so are they also by the Son\nor the Word of the Father, by whom \"all things subsist.\" And to these\ntwo persons is also added a third; the person of the Holy Spirit, who\n\"sees\" and approves all things which are created.\n\nThese three expressions therefore, \"said,\" \"made,\" \"saw,\" are spoken\nby Moses in a beautiful and appropriate manner as attributive of the\nthree divine persons; that we might by these three expressions the\nmore distinctly understand that great article of faith, the Holy\nTrinity. For the sole reason these props of our faith were religiously\nsought by the holy fathers was, that the profound subject, the\ndoctrine of the Holy Trinity, so incomprehensible in itself, might in\nsome measure receive aid to its comprehension. Wherefore I by no means\ncondemn these pious attempts, because they are perfectly in harmony\nwith the analogy of faith and most useful also for the instruction and\nconfirmation of faith.\n\nIn this manner Hilary also distinguishes other attributes. \"Eternity\nis in the Father; form, in the image; and use, in the gift.\" He says\nthat the Holy Spirit is the gift for use, because he gives the use of\nall things; in that he governs and preserves all things that they\nperish not. The same fathers hold and affirm also, \"The Father is the\nmind; the Son the understanding; the Holy Ghost the will.\" Not that\nthe Father is without understanding or the Son without will. But these\nare attributes; that is terms or expressions, which are not applicable\nto three divine persons collectively, but to the one or the other\ndivine person, separately or differently. Not, as we have said, that\nthe Father is without wisdom, etc. But we thus portray and present\nthese divine things to our minds that we may better hold and explain\nthe article of faith on the Holy Trinity.\n\nWhen therefore the sacred text says \"And God saw that it was good,\"\nthe divine expression implies God's intended preservation also of the\nthing which he had in each case just created. For the creature itself,\nthus newly created, could not stand unless the Holy Spirit should love\nit, and unless this complacency of God in his own work should preserve\nthat work. For God did not thus create these things, designing to\nforsake them when created, but he approves them and loves them still.\nThe great Creator by his divine agency still simultaneously stirs,\nmoves and preserves, after his own God-like method all things which he\nhath made. I deemed it right thus briefly to touch upon these sacred\nmatters; for the godly thoughts of those, who have preceded us in this\nholy study and whose course we are ourselves pursuing, are well worthy\nour knowledge.\n\nThe expression in the above text, which Jerome renders \"the creeping\ncreature that hath life,\" is in the original Hebrew NEPHESCH, and\nsignifies a \"soul\" or \"life\" or \"something living.\" Moses calls fishes\nby this name. With reference to birds, it is well known that they are\nAMPHIBIOUS; that is they live either on land or in the air.\n\nII. V. 21a. _And God created the great sea-monsters (whales)._\n\nAn inquiry may naturally here be made, why Moses mentions by name,\n\"whales\" only. But it is so, that the Scriptures in general make\nmention only of the greater fishes. The mention of \"leviathan\" and of\n\"dragons\" in the Book of Job, and in other places of the Scriptures is\nwell known. It is certain however that all the large sea-monsters are\ncalled by the name, \"whales;\" some of which have wings as the dolphin,\nthe king of fishes. Not however because it exceeds all other fishes in\nsize. For the eagle, the king of birds, does not surpass all birds,\nnor is the lion, the king, larger than all other beasts.\n\nI believe however the reason of this is that we might know that these\nhuge bodies are really the glorious works of God, and that we might\nnot through any terror at such awe-striking bulks, imagine that these\nstupendous animals were not works of God, but unreal monsters. These\ngreat facts of creation being thus established in our minds, it is\neasy to conclude, that as these enormous bodies were created by God,\nthe lesser fishes, such as herrings, sprats, minnows, etc., were\ncreated also by him. Let him who would contemplate this more deeply\nread Job, Chap. 41. He will there plainly see in what lofty language\nthe Holy Spirit, by means of the poet-author of that book, lauds that\nmarvellous monster \"leviathan,\" whose strength and confidence is such\nthat he contemns even the force of arrows. Such descriptions open our\neyes and encourage our faith to believe the more easily and firmly\nthat God is able to preserve us also, who are so indescribably less in\nmagnitude and strength.\n\nA question here also raised concerning mice and doormice; whence and\nhow they originate and are generated. For we find by experience that\nnot even ships, which are perpetually swimming on the ocean, are free\nfrom mice, and no house can be thoroughly cleared of mice but that\nthey will still be generated. The same inquiry may be instituted\nconcerning flies. And also whither birds go in the time of autumn.\n\nIf you ask Aristotle concerning mice, his argument is that some\nanimals are _homoigena_, \"generated from a like kind,\" and others,\n_heterogena_, \"generated from a different kind,\" and that mice are\n\"heterogena,\" because mice, he says, are not generated from mice only,\nbut from putrid matter; the putridity of which is consumed and\ngradually becomes a mouse.\n\nIf you ask by what power this generation is effected, Aristotle\nanswers that the putrid humidity of this matter is cherished,\ngeneratively, by the heat of the sun; and that by this process a\nliving animal is produced; just as we see the bluebottle fly generated\nfrom horse-manure. But this reasoning is far from satisfying me, for\nthe sun warms all things, but generates nothing, unless God speak it\ninto being by his divine power. Even supposing therefore that the\nmouse were generated from putrid matter, yet the mouse would be a\ncreature of divine power.\n\nThe mouse is therefore a creature of the divine Word and power; and it\nis, as I believe of an aqueous nature. Were it not a creature of the\ndivine Word and power, it would have no natural form nor would its\nspecies be preserved. Whereas it has a form the most beautiful, in its\nkind; legs of such exquisite symmetry, hair so smooth, as to make it\nevident that it was created for a certain order of creatures by the\nWord of God. In the mouse therefore we admire also the creature and\nthe workmanship of God. And the same may as certainly be said of\nflies.\n\nConcerning the disappearing of birds I have no certain knowledge. For\nit is not very likely that they retire into regions farther south.\nIndeed the miracle concerning swallows is known by experience, that\nthey lie as dead in the waters during the winter, and revive at the\napproach of summer; which fact is indeed a great similitude and proof\nof our resurrection. For these are operations of the divine Majesty\ntruly wonderful. Hence we see them, but we understand them not. And my\nbelief is that although a single swallow may appear unseasonably, now\nand then, I doubt however whether it ever can be the case, such\nswallow is restored from its death-like state by God himself.\n\nUnto the creation work of the fifth day therefore belong all crawling,\ncreeping and flying creatures; and all other creatures which move in\nany way in the air or the water.\n\nIII. V. 21b and 22. _And God saw that it was good. And God blessed\nthem._\n\nWhy did not God pronounce the Word of blessing upon the above\ninanimate bodies of his creation also? In those cases he only said,\nthat the bodies which he had created pleased him, but he did not bless\nthem. But when he comes to the generation and propagation of living\nbodies, then he institutes a new mode of their increase and\nmultiplication. Hence the sun and the stars, as we see, do not\ngenerate from themselves bodies like unto themselves. But herbs and\ntrees have this blessing upon them, that they grow and bring forth\nfruit. Still there is nothing in them like unto this present blessing,\npronounced by God upon the living bodies.\n\nMoses therefore by this Word of the divine blessing makes a glorious\ndistinction between the bodies before created, and these living bodies\nwhich were created on the fifth day, because here a new method of\ngeneration is instituted. For in this case from living bodies are\ngenerated separate kinds of offspring which also live. But this\ncertainly is not the case with trees nor herbs; for unless they be\nsown anew they bear no fruit, nor does a seed grow simply from a seed,\nbut from a plant. But in the present instance a living body is\ngenerated from a living body. This latter operation therefore, that\nanimal bodies should increase and be multiplied from bodies of their\nown kind, is entirely another and a new work of God. Because a\npear-tree does not produce a pear-tree but a pear. But in the latter\ncase, that which a bird produces is a bird. That which a fish\ngenerates is a fish. Marvellous indeed and numberless is the\nmultiplication of each species and infinite the fecundity, but it is\ngreatest in marine and aquatic animals.\n\nWhat then is the cause of this wonderful and admirable generation or\npropagation? The hen lays an egg; she cherishes it until a living body\nis formed in the egg, which at length the hen hatches. Philosophers\nallege the cause of all this to be the operation of the sun and the\nheat of the hen's body. I fully grant all this. But divines speak much\nnearer the truth, when they affirm that the whole generative process\ntakes place by the effective operation of the Word, here spoken by\nGod, \"And God blessed them; and said, be fruitful and multiply.\" This\nWord of God's blessing is present in the very body of the hen and of\nall living creatures; and the heat by which the hen cherishes the egg\nis essentially and effectively the heat of the Word of God; for\nwithout this Word the heat of the sun or of the body would be utterly\nineffectual and useless.\n\nWherefore to this admirable part of his creation work God adds his\npeculiar blessing in order that these living bodies now created on the\nfifth day might be fruitful. From these circumstances may be seen what\nthis divine blessing is, namely, multiplication. Now when we bless we\ncan effect nothing. All we can do is to pray. But this prayer is\ninoperative. We cannot effect the things for which we pray. But the\nblessing of God carries with it actual fruitfulness and\nmultiplication. It is at once effectual. On the contrary the divine\ncurse is non-multiplication and diminution. And the curse is also at\nonce effectual.\n\nHere again, the phraseology of Moses is to be carefully observed. What\nMoses calls the blessing of God, philosophers call fecundity; that is,\nwhen certain living and sound bodies are produced from other living\nand sound bodies. Nothing resembles this in trees, for a tree does not\ngenerate the like unto itself; it is the seed that produces the like\nof the tree. This is a great and marvellous miracle, but like all\nthings else in the wonderful works of God, it loses its wonder from\nour being always accustomed to behold it without reflection or\nconsideration.\n\nAnother question here arises concerning worms and various hurtful\ncreeping things; reptiles as toads; and venomous flies and also\nbutterflies. In all these living creatures there is a wonderful\nfecundity. And it is singular that the more hurtful the creatures the\nmore prolific generally is their generation and the greater their\nmultiplication. But we will leave this question to our subsequent\ncomments on the third chapter of this book. For my belief is that at\nthe time of creation, now under consideration, none of these venomous,\nhurtful or annoying creatures as yet existed. I believe that they\nafterwards sprang from the earth, when cursed by God as the punishment\nof sin, that they might afflict us and compel us to flee unto God in\nprayer. But more on this subject, as I have just intimated, hereafter.\n\nThus have we then a sight of the living bodies created on the fifth\nday. And we have seen that the Word of God, spoken on this day, is\nstill effectual; for fishes are still generated from mere and very\nwater. Hence fish-ponds and lakes still generate fishes. Minnows are\ngenerated in fish-ponds, in which there were none before. For I see no\nlikelihood of truth in the trifling arguments of some, who will have\nit that fishes caught by birds, drop their seed into fish-ponds and\nlakes, while they are being borne along in the air by their feathered\ncaptors; and that such dropped fish-seed afterwards increases and\nfurnishes the ponds. I believe therefore the true and sole cause of\nall this generation and multiplication of fishes, to be God's\ncommanding Word to the water on the fifth day of his creation work to\nbring forth fishes. I believe that this divine Word is still\neffectual; and that it still works all these things!\n\n\nPART VI. GOD'S WORK ON THE SIXTH DAY.\n\nI. V. 24. _And God said, Let the earth bring forth living creatures\nafter their kind,_ etc.\n\nWe have now seen created the heaven with all its hosts, the sun, the\nmoon and the stars. We have seen the sea created, with its fishes and\nbirds. For as the fishes swim in the water so do the birds swim as it\nwere in the air. To the earth also we have seen added its ornaments of\nherbs, trees and fruits. And now, before man is introduced into this\nhis dwelling place, as it were, beasts of the earth are added; and\nbeasts of labor and burden; and also reptiles. After all these things\nman himself is also created!\n\nMan however is not created that he might fly with the bird nor that he\nmight swim with the fish. But man has a nature common to all other\nanimals in this respect, that he is designed to live upon the earth.\nFor the use of ships is artificial, in the construction and use of\nwhich man attempts to imitate the fishes and the birds. For the ship\nperforms both movements. It flies in the air and swims on the water.\nWe are not however here speaking of things artificial, but of things\nnatural.\n\nThe Hebrews here make a distinction of names and appellations. They\ncall BEHAMAH, those animals which we denominate \"beasts of burden;\"\nand they distinguish by the same appellation the lesser beasts of the\nwood; such as stags, goats, hares and whatever animals feed on food\ncommon to us, and live on herbs and the fruits of trees. But they term\ncarnivorous beasts, such as wolves, lions and bears, etc., HAIESO\nEREZ; which is generally and correctly rendered, \"beasts of the\nearth.\" But whether this distinction is uniformly observed I know not.\nIt does not appear to me that the observance of it is uniform. One\nthing however is quite certain, that Moses here intended to comprehend\nall terrestrial animals, whether they feed on flesh or on herbs. Of\nall these he affirms that the earth is the mother, which brought them\nall forth from herself by the Word, as the sea also brought forth all\nfishes from herself by the same Word.\n\nWe have heard above however that God said to the water, \"Let the water\nbe moved,\" etc., in order that by this its motion the sea might be\nfilled with fishes and the air with birds. And we have seen also that\nafterwards the blessing of generation was first added. But here in the\ncreation of terrestrial animals, another word is used; and God says,\n\"Let the earth bring forth.\" He does not say, \"Let the earth be\nmoved.\" For the earth is a quiescent body. Therefore in the creation\nwork of the fourth day, God also says, \"And let the earth bring forth\ngrass,\" verse 11. For God wills that the earth should send forth both\nanimals and herbs without any motion.\n\nBut whether these animals were formed after the similitude of the\nformation of man out of the \"ground,\" or whether they burst forth on a\nsudden, the Scriptures define nothing on the subject; yet as Moses is\nhere celebrating the formation of man as having been wrought by a\npeculiar design and contrivance of the mind of God; my own opinion is\nthat all the other animals of the earth stood forth created in a\nmoment, as the fishes were made on a sudden in the sea. The reason God\ndid not here, Vs. 24 and 25, add his blessing is quite plain; because\nit embraces all the creatures mentioned in these verses, when it is\nafterwards pronounced on man, V. 28. It was sufficient therefore for\nMoses to say in this place, \"And God saw that it was good,\" V. 25. But\nlet us now approach the last and most glorious work of God: the\ncreation of man!\n\nII. V. 26a. _And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our\nlikeness._\n\nHere again Moses adopts a new phraseology. The divine expression is\nnot in this place, \"Let the sea be moved,\" or \"Let the earth bring\nforth grass\" or \"fruits.\" But the remarkable Word of God here is, \"Let\nus make, or form, or fashion, or fabricate man.\" Wherefore this\nexpression implies manifest deliberation and counsel; the like of\nwhich is found not in the creation of any former creatures. In those\ncases God says simply without any deliberation, counsel or particular\ndesign of mind, \"Let the sea be moved;\" \"Let the earth bring forth,\"\netc. But here where God wills to create man, he turns himself as it\nwere to deep thought and enters into profound counsel and\ndeliberation.\n\nFirst of all then we have here indicated the signal difference between\nman and every other creature of God and his high exaltation above them\nall. Beasts do indeed greatly resemble man in many particulars. They\nlive with him; they eat with him; they are brought up with him; they\nfeed on many of the same things with him; they rest with him; they\nsleep with him, etc. If therefore you consider their food, their\nbringing up, their housing, their conservation, etc., there is a great\nsimilarity between man and beast.\n\nMoses however here sets before us the striking difference between man\nand all the animals mentioned; when he affirms that man was created by\nthe peculiar counsel and providence of God; whereby he signifies that\nman is a creature far excelling all other animals, which live a\ncorporeal life; which excellence was more especially prominent while\nnature was as yet unfallen and uncorrupted. The opinion of Epicurus\nwas that man was created only to eat and to drink. This was not\nseparating man from beasts; for beasts have also their pleasures, and\nthey pursue them with delight. Whereas the sacred text before us\nforcibly expresses the distinction and separation of man from beast,\nwhen it affirms that God took deep thought and certain counsel in\nforming man; which counsel was taken, not only to form man, but to\nform him \"in the image and after the likeness of God.\" This image of\nGod is a far different thing from the care of the belly and the\nindulgence of the appetite; for these things beasts well understand\nand eagerly crave.\n\nMoses therefore in this place signifies to the spiritually minded that\nwe were created unto a life far more excellent than, and high above,\nanything which this corporeal life could ever have been, even if\nnature had remained perfect and uncorrupted by sin. For godly teachers\nwell affirm that if Adam had not fallen God would have translated him\nfrom an animal life to spiritual life after a certain number of saints\nhad been perfected. For Adam was not designed by his creation to live\nwithout food, drink and procreation. But all these corporeal things\nwould have ceased at an appointed time; after a number of saints had\nbeen completed; and Adam, together with his posterity, would have been\ntranslated to a life spiritual and eternal. These natural works of our\ncorporeal life, eating, drinking, procreation, etc., would still have\nexisted and would have been a service of gratitude to God; which\nservice we should have performed without any of that corrupt\nconcupiscence which cleaves to us since the sin of the fall and\nwithout any sin of our own or any fear of death. This would indeed\nhave been a life of pleasure and of sweetness. Of such a life it is\nlawful for us to think; but such a life is not now possible for us to\nlive. This however we have still left to us: We can believe and with\nall assurance look for a spiritual life after this present life; an\nend of this life in paradise; thought for us and destined for us by\nGod through the merits of Christ.\n\nWherefore the portion of the sacred text before us claims our especial\nmeditation in which the Holy Spirit so magnificently extols the human\nnature and so distinctly separates it from all the other creatures of\nGod. For the mere corporeal or animal life of man was designed to\nresemble in a great measure the life of the beasts of the earth.\nBecause as beasts require food, drink and sleep for the refreshment\nand restoration of their bodies, so Adam was designed also to use\nthese even in his state of innocence. But that which Moses moreover\naffirms, that man was so created unto this animal life that he was\nalso \"made\" in the \"image\" and \"after the likeness\" of God, this is a\nmanifest indication of a life different from and far above a mere\nanimal life.\n\nAdam was endowed therefore with a twofold life: an animal and an\nimmortal life. The latter however was not as yet plainly revealed, but\nheld in hope. Had he not fallen by sin therefore, he would have eaten\nand drunk, worked and generated in all innocence, sinlessness and\nhappiness. I have thought proper to make these admonitory observations\nupon that difference which God made by his deep counsel between us men\nand all other animals among which he permits us to live. I shall\nreturn to this subject hereafter and shall dilate upon it to a greater\nextent.\n\nSecondly, I would remark upon this divine Word \"Let us make,\" that it\npertains to the mystery and confirmation of our faith; by which we\nbelieve that there is one God from all eternity and three distinct\nPersons in one divinity or divine essence, the Father, the Son and the\nHoly Ghost. The Jews indeed attempt in various ways to elude this\npassage; but they can bring nothing solidly or effectually against it.\nFor this passage plagues them to death, to use the expression of Occa.\nThat author so describes all trying and tormenting questions, which he\nfinds he cannot solve.\n\nThe Jews assert that God uses the same expression elsewhere, when he\nincludes the angels with himself; and also where he includes with\nhimself the earth and other creatures. But I would here ask in the\nfirst place, why God did not use this same expression before in the\ncreation of the previous creatures? I would demand secondly what the\ncreation of man had to do with angels or angels with it? And I would\nthirdly call attention to the fact, that God makes here no mention of\nangels whatever but simply says, \"Let us.\" Wherefore God speaks here\nof makers or creators. This expression therefore could not design or\nimply angels. In the fourth place, it is quite certain that it was\nnot, could not, and cannot, be said that we were created \"in the\nimage\" of angels. And fifthly and lastly, we have the divine Word in\nboth forms of expression in the plural and also in the singular\nnumber, \"Let us make\" and \"God made.\" Moses therefore here most\nclearly and most forcibly indicates to us, that there is internally in\nthe very divinity itself and in the very creative essence, an\ninseparable and eternal plurality. Suffer we not the gates of hell\nthemselves to wrest this truth from the grasp of our faith!\n\nAnd as to what the Jews say about God's joining the earth with himself\nwhen he speaks by the pronoun we or us, that is frivolous and absurd.\nFor surely the earth is not our maker or creator. Why did not the\nadorable God rather join the sun with himself, when he spoke. For\nAristotle affirms that man and the sun generate man. But neither would\nthis invention succeed; because we are not made in the image of the\nearth but we are made \"in the image\" and \"after the likeness\" of those\nglorious makers and creators who here speak and say, \"Let us make,\"\netc. These makers are three distinct persons in one divine essence. It\nis in the image of these three divine and glorious Persons that we are\ncreated, as we shall hereafter further hear.\n\nAnd again, it is extremely absurd for the Jews to assert with\nreference to this passage that God adopts, in the words he here uses,\nthe custom of princes; who, for the sake of reverence and dignity, use\nthe plural number when they speak. But the Holy Spirit does not\nimitate this distancing pomp of terms, if I may so term it; nor do the\nScriptures know anything of such a manner of speech.\n\nWherefore most assuredly the Holy Trinity is here intended of God;\nthat in the one divine essence there are three divine Persons, the\nFather, the Son and the Holy Spirit; so that the Deity is not\nseparated here, even in this case of action or agency. For all three\nPersons here concur and speak unitedly when they say, \"Let us make.\"\nFor neither does the Father make any other man than the Son makes; nor\ndoes the Son make any other man than the Holy Ghost makes. But the\nFather, the Son and the Holy Ghost, the one same God, are the one same\nauthor of the one same work and are the one same creator.\n\nWherefore according to this scriptural argument and this holy\nstatement of the truth, the Deity or Godhead cannot be separated\nobjectively, as the object of divine worship, nor actively as the\ncreative agent. For the Father is not known, but in the Son through\nthe Holy Ghost. Hence as actively, so objectively, there is but one\nadorable God; who nevertheless is in and within himself, substantially\nor essentially Father, Son and Holy Spirit; three distinct persons in\none Godhead or Deity.\n\nThese divine testimonies of this book of Genesis ought to be dear and\ndelightful to us. For although both Jews and Turks deride us, because\nwe believe that there is one God, but three Persons in the Godhead,\nyet unless they are prepared impudently to deny the authority of the\nScriptures, they must be compelled by the present text as well as by\nthe passages above cited to fall in with our doctrine. They may indeed\nattempt to elude and avoid these testimonies, nevertheless the sting\nof this passage still sticks fast in their hearts; they cannot get rid\nof the divine expression \"Let us make.\" They can assign no other\nreason for it than we have here given. Nor can they otherwise explain\nwhy Moses uses the plural noun ELOHIM. The reflections and natural\nconvictions arising from these divine expressions they cannot shut out\nfrom their hearts and consciences, notwithstanding all the various\nmeans which they adopt in order to do so. And if they deem it the\nheight of their wisdom to elude and get rid of these testimonies, do\nthey think that we are destitute of ability, and cannot find wisdom\nenough to defend them? But the authority of the Scriptures on our side\nis far mightier than all wisdom on theirs; especially since the New\nTestament reveals the whole divine matter more clearly still. For\nthere the Son which is in the bosom of the Father teaches us all these\nthings with a clearness far surpassing all other testimony; whom not\nto believe is the highest blasphemy and eternal death. Wherefore, bid\nwe farewell to all these blind corrupters of divine doctrines until we\nmeet them at the day of judgment!\n\nBut you will say perhaps that these testimonies are too obscure to be\nappealed to as proofs of so important an article of faith. I reply,\nthese divine things were spoken at this time, thus obscurely,\naccording to the counsel and purpose of God; and for this very reason,\nbecause they were all left to that Great Lord and Teacher, who was to\ncome; until whose advent the restitution of all things was reserved;\neven the restitution of all knowledge and of all revelations. Those\nmysteries therefore which \"in the beginning\" were set before us thus\nobscurely, Christ when he came revealed, made known and commanded to\nbe preached. Nevertheless the holy fathers were in possession of this\nknowledge by the Holy Spirit; though not so clearly as we possess it\nnow, who hear in the New Testament the names of the Father, and of the\nSon and of the Holy Ghost plainly declared. For when Christ came it\nwas necessary that all those seals should be unloosed, and all those\nthings openly preached, which \"in the beginning\" had been purposely\ndelivered to us in obscure words in reverence to the Great Teacher who\nwas to come. And had not the Holy Spirit deferred this clear knowledge\nto the time of the New Testament, Arians would have existed long\nbefore the birth of Christ. Wherefore the Holy Spirit willed that this\nsun of knowledge should be opposed to the devil in these \"last times,\"\nthat his eyes might be the more intolerably dazzled, that he might the\nmore virulently envy men such a brightness of knowledge, and be thus\nthe more terribly tormented.\n\nThirdly. A whole sea of questions is here agitated as to what that\n\"image\" of God was in which Moses here says man was formed. Augustine\nhas dwelt largely on the explanation of this passage in his book \"On\nthe Trinity.\" Those divines in general, who retain the division and\ndefinition of Aristotle, follow Augustine. They consider the image of\nGod to be those powers of soul, memory, mind or intellect and will.\nThey affirm that the image of God consists in these three qualities;\nwhich image, they say, is found in all men. And their argument is,\nthat as in divine things the Word is begotten of the substance of the\nFather, and as the Holy Spirit is the complacency or good pleasure of\nthe Father, so in man from the memory proceeds the word of the heart,\nwhich is the mind of the man; which word being uttered there is\ndeveloped the will, which will the mind beholds and with which it is\ndelighted.\n\nThese divines affirm moreover that \"the similitude,\" after which man\nwas formed, stands in gratuitous gifts. For as a similitude is a\ncertain perfectness of an image, so, they say, the created nature of\nman is perfected by grace. According to their views therefore the\n\"similitude\" of God in man consists in his memory being adorned with\nhope, his intellect with faith and his will with love. It is in this\nmanner, they assert, that man is created in the image of God; that man\nhas a mind, a memory and a will. Again they state the sacred matter\nthus: Man is created after the \"similitude\" of God; that is, his\nintellect is illuminated by faith, his memory is confirmed by hope and\nconstancy, and his will is adorned with love.\n\nFourthly. Divines give other divisions and definitions of the\nqualities of this \"image\" of God, in which man was originally created.\nThey hold that memory is the image of the power of God, mind the image\nof his wisdom and will the image of his justice. It was after this\nmanner that Augustine, and after him others, bent their minds on the\ndiscovery of certain trinities of natural qualities or endowments in\nman. For they thought that by this mode of explanation, the image of\nGod in man would be the more clearly seen. These not unpleasing\nspeculations do indeed argue faithful employment and great acuteness\nof mental ability, but they by no means aid the right explanation of\nthis \"image\" of God.\n\nWherefore though I do not altogether condemn and reprobate this\ndiligence and these deep thoughts, by which divines desire to reduce\nall things to a kind of sacred trinity, yet I doubt whether such\nattempts are very useful, especially seeing that others may push them\ntoo far. For it is on these grounds that some rest their disputes in\nfavor of free-will; which, they say, naturally follows from this\n\"image of God.\" They argue thus: God is free. Since therefore man is\ncreated in the image of God, man also has a free memory, a free mind\nand a free will. Out of this kind of reasoning therefore many things\nfall, which are either spoken untruly at first, or are afterwards\nwrongly understood or wickedly perverted. It is from this source that\nthe dangerous doctrine has arisen, according to which men affirm, that\nGod so rules and governs men that he permits them to use their own\nmind and movement. By this sentiment and teaching many most\nobjectionable opinions have been generated. From this same source has\noriginated that pernicious saying, \"God who made thee without thyself\nwill not save thee without thyself.\" Such men conclude that free-will\nconcurs with the grace and work of God, as a preceding and efficient\ncause of salvation. Not unlike this is the saying of Dionysius, which\nis more pernicious still: \"Although devils and man fell, yet all their\nnatural faculties remained whole and entire; their mind, their memory,\ntheir will,\" etc. If this be true therefore it will follow, that man\nby his own natural powers can save himself.\n\nThese perilous opinions of some of the fathers are agitated in all\nchurches and schools, and I do not really see what the fathers wished\nto effect by them. Therefore I advise that they be read with caution\nand judgment. They were often spoken in a mood and with a peculiar\nfeeling, which we have not and cannot have, since we have not similar\noccasions. Inexperienced persons therefore seize them all, without any\njudgment, in their own sense, and not in the meaning the fathers had\nat the time they were uttered. But I leave this and return to our\ntheme.\n\nI fear however that since this \"image of God\" has been lost by sin, we\ncan never fully attain to the knowledge of what it was. Memory, mind\nand will we do most certainly possess, but wholly corrupted, most\nmiserably weakened; nay, that I may speak with greater plainness,\nutterly leprous and unclean. If these natural endowments therefore\nconstitute the image of God it will inevitably follow that Satan also\nwas created in the image of God; for he possesses all these natural\nqualities, and to an extent and strength far beyond our own. For he\nhas a memory and an intellect the most powerful and a will the most\nobstinate.\n\nThe image of God therefore is something far different from all this.\nIt is a peculiar work of God. If there be those however who are yet\ndisposed to contend that the above natural endowments and powers do\nconstitute the image of God, they must of necessity confess that they\nare all leprous and unclean. Even as we still call a leprous man a\nman, though all the parts of his leprous flesh be stupefied and dead,\nas it were, with disease, except that his whole nature is vehemently\nexcited to lust.\n\nWherefore that image of God created in Adam was a workmanship the most\nbeautiful, the most excellent and the most noble, while as yet no\nleprosy of sin adhered either to his reason or to his will. Then all\nhis senses, both internal and external, were the most perfect and\npure. His intellect was most clear, his memory most complete and his\nwill the most sincere, accompanied with the most charming security,\nwithout any fear of death and without any care or anxiety whatever. To\nthese internal perfections of Adam was added a power of body and of\nall his limbs, so beautiful and so excellent that he surpassed all\nother animate natural creatures. For I fully believe that before his\nsin the eyes of Adam were so clear and their sight so acute that his\npowers of vision exceeded those of the lynx. Adam, I believe, being\nstronger than they, handled lions and bears, whose strength is so\ngreat, as we handle the young of any animal. I believe also that to\nAdam the sweetness and the virtue of the fruits which he ate were far\nbeyond our enjoyment of them now.\n\nAfter the fall however death crept in like leprosy over all the\nsenses. So that now we cannot comprehend this image of God by our\nintellect. Adam moreover in his innocency could not have known his\nwife Eve, but with the most pure and confident mind towards God; with\na will the most obedient to God and a soul the most free from all\nimpurity of thought. But now since the sin of the fall all know how\ngreat is the excitement of the flesh, which is not only furious in\nconcupiscence, but also in disgust after it has satisfied its desire.\nIn neither case therefore is the reason or the will sound or whole.\nBoth are fallen and corrupt. And the fury of the desire is more\nbrutish than human. Is not this our leprosy then grievous and\ndestructive? But of all this Adam knew nothing before the sin of his\nfall. His only peculiarity then was that he had greater powers and\nmore acute and exquisite senses than any other living creature. But\nnow how far does the wild boar exceed man in the sense of hearing, the\neagle in sight, and the lion in strength? No one therefore can now\nconceive, even in thought, how far the excellency of man when first\ncreated surpasses what he is now.\n\nWherefore I for my part understand the image of God to be this: that\nAdam possessed it in its moral substance or nature; that he not only\nknew God and believed him to be good, but that he lived also a life\ntruly divine; that is, free from the fear of death and of all dangers\nand happy in the favor of God. This is apparent in Eve, who we find\ntalks with the serpent, devoid of all fear; just as we do with a lamb\nor a dog. Therefore God sets before Adam and Eve this, as a\npunishment, if they should transgress his command: \"In the day that\nthou eatest of this tree thou shalt surely die the death.\" As if he\nhad said, \"Adam and Eve, ye now live in all security. Ye neither see\nnor fear death. This is my image in which ye now live. Ye live as God\nlives. But if ye sin ye shall lose this image; ye shall die.\"\n\nHence we see and feel the mighty perils in which we now live; how many\nforms and threatenings of death this miserable nature of ours is\ndoomed to experience and endure, in addition to that unclean\nconcupiscence and those other ragings of sin and those inordinate\nemotions and affections, which are engendered in the minds of all men.\nWe are never confident and happy in God, fear and dread in the highest\nare perpetually trying us. These and like evils are the image of the\ndevil, who has impressed that image upon us. But Adam lived in the\nhighest pleasure and in the most peaceful security. He feared not fire\nnor water, nor dreaded any of those other evils with which this life\nis filled and which we dread too much continually.\n\nLet those who are disposed to do so therefore extenuate original sin.\nIt plainly appears, and with awful certainty, both in sins and in the\npunishment of them that original sin is great and terrible indeed.\nLook only at lust. Is it not most mighty, both in concupiscence and in\ndisgust? And what shall we further say of hatred toward God and\nblasphemies of all kinds? These are sad evidences of the fall, which\ndo indeed prove that the image of God in us is lost.\n\nWherefore when we now attempt to speak of that image we speak of a\nthing unknown, an image which we not only have never experienced, but\nthe contrary to which we have experienced all our lives and experience\nstill. Of this image therefore all we now possess are the mere terms,\n\"the image of God!\" These naked words are all we now hear and all we\nknow. But there was in Adam an illumined reason, a true knowledge of\nGod, and a will the most upright to love both God and his neighbor.\nHence Adam embraced his Eve, and immediately knew his own flesh. To\nall these endowments were added others of less excellency, but\nsurpassingly excellent if compared with our present weakness. Adam had\na perfect knowledge of all nature, of animals, of herbs, of trees, of\nfruits and of all other creatures.\n\nWhen all these endowments are put together they do not compose a man\nin whom you can at once behold the image of God shining forth, and\nmore especially so when to all these endowments you add \"dominion\"\nover the whole creation. For as Adam and Eve acknowledged God to be\nLord, so afterwards they themselves held dominion over all creatures\nin the air, on the earth and in the sea. Who can express in words the\nexcellency and majesty of this \"dominion?\" For my belief is that Adam\ncould by one word command the lion as we command a favorite dog. He\npossessed a freedom of will and pleasure to cultivate the earth, that\nit might bring forth whatever he wished. For the following chapters of\nthis book prove that there were at the time of which we are now\nspeaking neither thorns nor thistles, Chap. 3:18. Neither do I believe\nthat wild beasts were so savage and fierce as they are now.\n\nBut all these thorns and thistles, and this ferocity of beasts, are\nthe consequences of original sin, by which all the rest of the\ncreation contracted a corruption and a loss of its original\nexcellency. Hence it is my belief also that before the sin of Adam,\nthe sun was more bright, the water more pure, the trees more fruitful\nand the earth more productive than since he fell. But through that\ndreadful sin and that horrible fall, not only are the soul and the\nbody deformed by the leprosy of sin, but all things we use in this\nlife are corrupted; as we shall more plainly show hereafter.\n\nNow the very intent of the gospel is to restore this image of God.\nMan's intellect and will have indeed remained, but wholly corrupted.\nThe divine object of the gospel is that we might be restored to that\noriginal and indeed better and higher image; an image, in which we are\nborn again unto eternal life, or rather unto the hope of eternal life\nby faith, in order that we might live in God and with God and might be\n\"one\" with him, as Christ so beautifully and largely sets it forth in\nthe seventeenth chapter of St. John.\n\nNor are we born again unto life only, but unto righteousness also,\nbecause faith lays hold of the merit of Christ and sets us free\nthrough the death of Christ. Hence arises another righteousness in us;\nnamely, that \"newness of life,\" in which we study to obey God as\ntaught by the Word and helped by the Holy Spirit. This righteousness\nhowever begins only in this life and can never be perfected in the\nflesh. Nevertheless this newness of righteousness pleases God, not as\nbeing perfect in itself nor as being any price for our sins, but\nbecause it proceedeth from the heart and rests on a confidence in the\nmercy of God through Christ. And further, through the Gospel comes\nunto us this other blessing also conferred upon us through the Holy\nSpirit, who resists in us unbelief, envy and other sins and\ncorruptions, to the intent that we may solemnly desire to adorn the\nname of the Lord and his holy Word.\n\nIn this manner does the image of God begin to be restored in us\nthrough the Gospel by this new creation in this life. But in this life\nit is not perfected. When however it is perfected in the kingdom of\nthe Father, then will our will be truly free and good, our mind truly\nilluminated and our memory constant and perfect. Then will it come to\npass also that all creatures shall be more subject unto us than ever\nthey were unto Adam in paradise.\n\nUntil all this shall be fulfilled in us, we shall never be able fully\nto understand what that image of God was, which was lost by Adam in\nparadise. This however which we now utter concerning it, faith and the\nWord teach us, which discover unto us at a distance as it were the\nglory of this image of God. But as the heaven and the earth \"in the\nbeginning,\" were of rude unformed bodies, as we have shown before the\ncreated light was added to them; so the godly possess within\nthemselves that unformed and imperfect image of God, which God will\nperfect at the last day in those who believe his Word.\n\nIn conclusion therefore that image of God, in which Adam was created,\nwas excellent above all things, in which was included eternal life,\neternal security and all good. That image however is so marred and\nobscured by sin that we cannot even in thought reach the comprehension\nof it. For though we utter the words \"the image of God,\" who is there\nthat can possibly understand what it is for a man to live a life of\nsecurity without fears and without perils, and to be wise, righteous,\ngood and free from all calamities or distresses either of soul or of\nbody? What was more than all this Adam was made capable of life\neternal. For he was so created that as long as he lived in this\ncorporeal life he might cultivate the earth not as doing a work of\ntrouble, nor as wearying his body with labor, but as enjoying an\nemployment of the highest pleasure; not as \"deceiving or killing\ntime,\" as we say, but as performing a service to God and yielding an\nobedience to his will.\n\nThis corporeal life was intended to be succeeded by a spiritual life,\nin which man was not designed to use corporeal food and aliments nor\nto perform any of those other things which he must necessarily do in\nthis natural life. But he was designed to live a life spiritual and\nangelic. For such is the life eternal to come, described to us in the\nholy Scriptures, a life in which we shall neither eat nor drink, nor\nexercise any other corporeal functions. Hence Paul says, \"The first\nman Adam became a living soul,\" that is, he lives an animal life which\nrequires meat, drink, sleep, etc. But the apostle adds, \"The last Adam\nbecame a live-giving spirit,\" 1 Cor. 15:45. That is, he shall be a\nspiritual man, in which state he shall return to the image of God; for\nhe shall be like unto God in life, righteousness, holiness, wisdom,\netc. It now follows in the sacred text:\n\nV. 26b. _And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea,_ etc.\n\nTo man, the most beautiful of God's creatures, who possesses the\nknowledge of God and is the image of God, in which image shines forth\nthe similitude of the divine nature in an enlightened reason, in\nrighteousness and in wisdom, is now assigned _\"dominion.\"_ Adam and\nEve are made rulers of the earth, of the sea and of the air. This\ndominion is not only committed to them by the design and counsel of\nGod, but by his expressed command. We must in the first place consider\nthis great matter in a negative and exclusive sense, that it is not\nsaid to any beast that it should have any dominion. And in the next\nplace we must view the matter in an absolute sense, that all animals,\nnay, the earth itself with all created living things and all generated\nfrom them, are subjected to the dominion of Adam, whom God by his\nvocal and expressed command constituted king over the whole animal\ncreation. For these are the words which both Adam and Eve heard when\nGod said, \"And let them have dominion.\" Here therefore a naked man\nwithout arms, without walls, nay, without any vestiture of his own\nbody, but standing alone in his own naked flesh, finds himself lord\nover all birds, all wild beasts and all fishes, etc.\n\nThis portion of the divine image also we have utterly lost, so that\nnow we cannot even conceive in thought that fulness of joy and\npleasure which Adam must have felt at the sight of the whole animal\ncreation before him and at the sense he was lord of them all! For now\nall things are full of leprosy and full of stupidity, and, as it were,\nof death. For who can now reach even in thought a conception of that\nportion of the divine image, which Adam and Eve possessed, by which\nthey understood all the affections, the senses, the feelings and the\npowers of all the animals of the creation. And yet, what would have\nbeen their dominion over all created animals without this knowledge?\nThere is indeed in this life a certain knowledge of God in the saints,\nderived from the Word and the Holy Spirit. But that knowledge of all\nnature, that understanding of the qualities of all trees and the\nproperties of all herbs, that clear discernment of the natures of all\nbeasts, these are endowments of our nature now utterly lost and\nirreparable.\n\nIf therefore we would talk about a philosopher, let us talk about\nAdam! Let us speak of our first parents, while they were as yet pure\nand unfallen through sin! For Adam and Eve had the most perfect\nknowledge of God. And how indeed could they be ignorant of him, whose\nvery image they possessed and felt in themselves! Moreover of the\nstars also and of the whole science and system of astronomy they had\nthe most certain knowledge.\n\nMoreover that all these endowments were enjoyed by Eve, as well as by\nAdam, is quite manifest from the speech of Eve to the serpent, when\nshe answered him concerning the tree in the midst of paradise. From\nthis speech it appears evident that she knew the end for which she was\ncreated, and she shows also the author from whom she had received that\nknowledge, for her reply to the serpent was, \"God hath said,\" Gen.\n3:3. Eve therefore did not hear these things from Adam only, but she\nwas by nature so pure from sin and so full of the knowledge of God\nthat she saw and understood the Word of God for herself. As to us in\nour present state we still possess indeed some certain dull and as it\nwere dead remnants of this knowledge. But all animals besides are\naltogether void of such understanding. They know not their Creator nor\ntheir origin nor their end; nor whence nor why they were created. No\nother animals therefore possess anything whatever of this similitude\nof God. Hence it is that the psalm contains this exhortation, \"Be ye\nnot as the horse or as the mule which have no understanding,\" Ps.\n32:9.\n\nAlthough therefore this image of God be almost wholly lost, there is\nnevertheless still remaining a mighty difference between man and all\nother animals of God's creation. But originally, before the sin of the\nfall, the difference was far greater and far more illustrious; while\nas yet Adam and Eve fully knew God and all his creatures, and were\nwholly absorbed in the goodness, righteousness and worship of God.\nHence also there was between Adam and Eve themselves a singular unity\nof minds and of wills. Nor was there in the whole world an object\nsweeter to Adam or more beautiful in his eyes than his Eve! Nor is a\nwife, as the heathen say, a necessary evil. And why call they a wife\nan evil? The reason is manifest. They know nothing of the cause of\nevil. It was Satan. He it was who thus marred and corrupted woman's\noriginal nature.\n\nThe influence however which we now have over beasts in this life, the\nuse which we make of them, and the things we cause them to do are not\neffected by that dominion which Adam possessed, but by industry and\nart. Thus birds and fishes, as we see, are taken by deception and\nstratagem; and beasts are tamed in various degrees by art. For those\nanimals which are the most domesticated as geese, fowls, etc., were of\nthemselves and by their own particular nature wild. This leprous\nnature of ours therefore still retains, through the goodness of God,\nsome appearance of dominion over the other creatures. This dominion\nhowever is very trifling indeed, and far, very far, beneath the\noriginal dominion. For under that there was no need of art or\nstratagem, to give man influence over the beast. Every creature was\nput absolutely under a state of obedience to the voice of God when\nAdam and Eve were commanded by that voice to have dominion over them.\n\nWe do retain therefore the name and the semblance and as it were the\nnaked title of the original dominion, but the reality itself is almost\nwholly lost. Still it is good for us to know and to think upon this\nstate of things, that we may sigh after that day which shall come, in\nwhich shall be restored unto us all things we lost by the sin of Adam\nin paradise. For we look for that life which Adam also ever held in\nexpectation. And well indeed may we wonder and render thanks unto God,\nas indeed we do, that we, so deformed by sin, so dull, so stupefied,\nand so dead by it, should be enabled through the merits and benefits\nof Christ to look with assurance for that same glory of a spiritual\nlife, which Adam might also have looked for with all assurance,\nwithout the dying merits of Christ if he had remained unfallen in that\nanimal life which possessed the image of God.\n\nV. 27a. _And God created man in his own image, in the image of God\ncreated he him._\n\nObserve that the term likeness is not here used by Moses, but \"image\"\nonly. Perhaps the sacred historian wished to avoid amphibology, too\nextensive circumlocution, and therefore he merely repeated the term\nimage. I see no other cause for the repetition, unless we receive it\nas intended for emphasis, and as designed to signify the joy and\ntriumph of the Creator in this most beautiful work of his hands. The\npurpose of Moses was probably to represent God as not so much\ndelighted with any of, or with all, his other creatures as with man,\nwhom he created in his own likeness. For other animals are termed\ntraces of God, man alone is said to be the image of God. For in all\nthe other creatures God is known as by his footsteps only, but in man,\nespecially in Adam, he is known truly and fully; for in Adam is seen\nthat wisdom, righteousness and knowledge of all things, that he may\nrightly be called a microcosm or little world in himself; for he\nunderstands the heaven, the earth and the whole creation. God\ntherefore, as Moses would here represent, is delighted in his having\nmade so beautiful a creature.\n\nWithout doubt therefore, as God was so delighted with this his counsel\nand workmanship in the creation of man, so he is now delighted in the\nrestoration of that his original glorious work, through his Son our\nDeliverer, Jesus Christ. It is always profitable to consider that God\nis always thinking thoughts of good, yea the best thoughts towards us,\nJer. 29:11, and that he is ever delighted with these his thoughts and\nthis his counsel in our restoration to a spiritual life, by the\nresurrection from the dead of those who have believed in Christ.\n\nV. 27b. _Male and female created he them._\n\nMoses here mentions both sexes together. That woman might not appear\nto be excluded from all the glory of the life to come. For woman seems\nto be a creature somewhat different from man, in that she has\ndissimilar members, a varied form and a mind weaker than man. Although\nEve was a most excellent and beautiful creature, like unto Adam in\nreference to the image of God, that is with respect to righteousness,\nwisdom and salvation, yet she was a woman. For as the sun is more\nglorious than the moon, though the moon is a most glorious body, so\nwoman, though she was a most beautiful work of God, yet she did not\nequal the glory of the male creature.\n\nHowever Moses here joins the two sexes together and says that God\ncreated them male and female for a further reason that he might\nthereby signify that Eve also being alike created of God, alike with\nAdam became thereby a partaker of the divine image and similitude, and\nalso of the dominion over all things. Hence woman is still a partaker\nof the life divine to come, as Peter says, \"As being heirs together of\nthe grace of life,\" 1 Pet. 3:7. In all domestic life also the wife is\na partaker in ruling the house and enjoys, in common with her husband,\nthe possession of the offspring of the property. There is nevertheless\na great difference between the sexes. The male is as the sun in the\nheaven, the female as the moon, while the other animals are the stars,\nover which the sun and the moon have influence and rule. The principal\nthing to be remarked therefore in the text before us, that it is thus\nwritten to show that the female sex is not excluded from all the glory\nof the human nature, although inferior to the male sex. Of marriage we\nshall speak hereafter.\n\nIn the second place this same text furnishes us with an argument\nagainst Hilary and others, who wished to establish the doctrine that\nGod created all things at once. For by the present passage of holy\nwrit our interpretation is confirmed that the six days mentioned by\nMoses were truly six natural days, because the divine historian here\naffirms that Adam and Eve were created on the sixth day. This text\ncannot be gainsaid. But concerning the order and manner of the\ncreation of man, Moses speaks in the following chapter, in which he\ninforms us that Eve was created a little after Adam, and that she was\nnot made from the dust of the ground, as Adam was, but from one of the\nribs of Adam, which God took from his side while asleep. These\ntherefore are temporal works; that is, works done at a certain time\nand not all wrought at one moment, as were also the sacred facts \"that\nGod brought every animal to Adam,\" and \"that for Adam there was not\nfound an helpmeet for him,\" Chap. 2:19-20.\n\nMany divines think also that it was on the sixth day that Adam sinned.\nAnd therefore they hold the sixth day sacred on a twofold account,\nbecause, as Adam sinned on the sixth day, so Christ also suffered for\nsin on the sixth day. Whether these things really be so, I leave it to\nthem to settle as matters not fully known. Moses does affirm as a\ncertainty that man was created, and his wife also on the sixth day. My\nthoughts on the matter, as I will hereafter show, are that it is much\nmore likely that Adam sinned on the seventh day, that is on the\nSabbath; just as on the Sabbath also Satan the most bitterly annoys\nand torments the church while the Word of God is being preached. But\nneither can Adam's sin having been on the Sabbath be clearly shown\nfrom Moses. There are therefore, respecting both ways, \"reasons\nagainst reasons,\" as C\u00e6sar Maximilian used to say. I leave these\ndoubtful things therefore to be settled by each one according to his\nown judgment.\n\nLyra relates a Jewish fable, to which there is a reference in Plato,\nthat God originally created man in both sexes so that man and wife\nwere together in one body, but were divided or cut apart by the divine\npower as the form of the back and spine seems to indicate. Others have\nadded more obscene trifles. But the second chapter overthrows and\nrefutes such lies. For should that be true how could it be written\nthat God took from Adam one of his ribs and built a woman out of it?\nSuch lies are found in the Talmud of the Jews and reference must be\nmade to them in order that we may see the maliciousness of Satan, who\nsuggests to men such absurd things.\n\nLike this is the fable of Aristotle who calls woman a ............\nman, _virum occasionatum_, and others call her a monster. But they\nthemselves are monsters and children of monsters, who calumniate and\nridicule such a creature of God, in whom God himself had delight, as\nin the noblest of his works, and who as we saw was created by a\nspecial counsel of God. We cite such heathenish and unbecoming things\nto show that the human mind is unable to establish anything sure about\nGod or the works of God, but advances reasons against reasons,\n\"rationes contra rationes,\" neither does it teach anything perfectly\nor fundamentally on these themes.\n\nV. 28a. _And God blessed them; and God said unto them, Be fruitful,\nand multiply,_ etc.\n\nGod did not utter this command to the other animals but to man and\nwoman only. Doubtless however all other animals are included in the\nblessing: \"Be fruitful.\"\n\nThis is the command of God to the creature added to his creation. But\nO! good God! What have we here also lost by sin! How happy was that\nstate of man in which the generating of offspring was attended with\nthe highest reverence of God, with the highest wisdom and with the\npurest knowledge of God! But the flesh is now so swallowed up with the\nleprosy of lust that the body in the commerce of generation becomes\nactually brute-like, and can by no means generate in the knowledge and\nworship of God!\n\nThe progress of generation does indeed remain with human nature, but\nit is lowered and weakened beyond description; and it is so absorbed\nin lust that it differs little from the generation of the beast. To\nall this are added the perils of gestation and parturition, the\ndifficulty of rearing children when born, and an infinity of other\nevils; all which tend to impress us with the awfulness and magnitude\nof original sin. The blessing of God on generation therefore which\nstill remains with human nature is a humbled and an accursed blessing,\nif you compare it with that original blessing; and yet it is the\nblessing of God, instituted of God himself, which he still preserves.\nWherefore let us acknowledge with gratitude and praise this blessing\nof God which still remains, though thus deformed by sin. Let us feel\nand confess that this inevitable leprosy of our flesh, which is all\nmere disobedience to the will of God is the punishment of sin,\nrighteously inflicted of God. Let us wait however in hope for the\ndeath of this leprous flesh, that we may be delivered from all this\nfilthiness and be restored to a perfection and glory, even far\nexceeding the original creation of Adam!\n\nV. 28b. _And have dominion over the fish of the sea,_ etc.\n\nWhat use there was of beasts-of-burden, of fishes and of many other\nanimals in the primitive state of creation and of innocency, is\nimpossible for us clearly to determine, sunk as we are in ignorance of\nGod and of his creatures. What we now see is that we feed on various\nkinds of flesh, on pulse, etc. Unless therefore these same things were\nin the same use then, we know not why they should have been created,\nbut because we neither have nor see any other use for all these\ncreatures now. But Adam seems to have had no use, as we have now, for\nthose creatures, in addition to all that food which he had in\nabundance from all the trees around him and from their fruits, which\nwere far nobler and richer than any we now possess or know. Nor could\nhe need raiment or money, who had all things under his immediate\ndominion and power. Nor did he need to regard any avarice or\nexpectation in his posterity. Adam and Eve therefore being thus amply\nprovided with food, needed only to use these creatures to excite their\nadmiration and wonder of God, and to create in them that holiness of\npleasure, which we never can know in this state of the corruption of\nour nature. But all things are quite the contrary now. For at the\npresent time, all the creatures together scarcely suffice for the\nnourishment and gratification of man. And the case has been just the\nsame in all ages. Wherefore what this \"dominion\" of Adam \"over the\nfish of the sea\" was, we cannot now conceive by any stretch of our\nthought.\n\nV. 29. _And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb yielding\nseed,_ etc.\n\nHere behold what anxious care God took of the man whom he had created.\nHe first created the earth or his dwelling-place in which he was to\nlive. He then ordained other things he judged to be necessary for his\nlife and subsistence. And when at length he had created man, for whom\nhe had made all these glorious preparations, he blesses him with the\ngift and power of generation. And now he gives him food, that nothing\nmight be wanting for him to live most easily and most happily. But my\nbelief is that if Adam had continued in his original state of\ninnocency, children from their very birth would have rushed forth to\nthe enjoyment of those pleasures which the primitive creation\nfurnished in infinite abundance. But it is perhaps vain in us to\nattempt to enumerate these utterly innumerable blessings, which are\nall irretrievably lost to us in our present state of life, and of\nwhich we cannot with all our thought form the least conception.\n\nV. 30. _And every green herb,_ etc.\n\nMoses here seems to make a difference between \"seeds\" and the \"green\nherb.\" Perhaps it is because the herb is the food of beasts, and the\nseeds were designed to serve as food for man. For my belief is that\nwithout doubt the seeds we now use for food were far more excellent in\nparadise than they are at present. I have no doubt also that Adam\nwould have refused to taste those various kinds of flesh, than which\nwe have no food which we deem more sweet and delicious, in comparison\nwith the sweetness of the fruits of those trees, which grew naturally\nin paradise, from the eating of which there did not proceed that\nleprous fatness, which is the consequence of such food now, but a\nhealthfulness and beauty of body and a wholesome temperature of all\nits humors.\n\nNow all varieties of flesh do not satisfy man, nor all kinds of pulse\nnor all kinds of grain. We continually endanger the health of our\nbodies by a surfeit of food. I say nothing now of those worse than\nbeast-like sins, which are daily committed among us by an excessive\nuse of meat and drink. All this is evidently the curse of God, which\nhas followed upon original sin and has continued until now. And I\nbelieve also that venomous and noxious beasts and reptiles first came\nout of the earth as accursed for the sin of man.\n\nBut here a question may arise, how we are to reconcile the apparent\ndiscrepancy that all the trees in the field are given to Adam to\nenjoy, and yet that afterwards a signal part of the earth, which the\nScriptures call paradise, is assigned to him to till? Another question\nmay be, whether the whole original earth may be called paradise? etc.,\netc. But these things we will leave to our meditations upon the second\nchapter.\n\nIII. V. 31. _And God saw everything that he had made, and behold it\nwas very good. And there was evening and there was morning the sixth\nday._\n\nAfter God had thus finished all his works, he here speaks after the\nmanner of one fatigued, as if he had said, \"Behold I have now prepared\nall things for man with all perfectness. I have prepared for him the\nheaven as his canopy and the earth as his floor. His possessions and\nhis wealth are the animals with all the productions of the earth, the\nsea and the air. The seeds, the roots and the herbs of the garden are\nhis food. Moreover I have made man the lord of all these things. And\nhe possesses the knowledge of me his God, and the use of all the\nanimals which I have created, all of which he can use as he will with\nthe greatest security, righteousness and wisdom. Nothing is wanting.\nAll things are created in the greatest abundance for the sustaining of\nanimal life. Now therefore I will rest! I will enjoy a Sabbath!\"\n\nBut these things are almost wholly lost by sin, and we are at this day\nlike a carcass as it were of the first created man Adam; and we retain\nbut a shadow of the dominion which he possessed. Shall we not say then\nthat he has lost all things, who out of an immortal is become a\nmortal, and out of a righteous man, a sinner? Out of one accepted of\nGod and grateful to God, cast off and condemned of God? For now man is\na sinner and mortal. If therefore these things do not, under divine\nteaching, stir us up to the hope and expectation of a better day and a\nbetter life to come, there is nothing that can stir us up to such hope\nand expectation. Let these comments suffice for an explanation of this\nfirst chapter of the book of Genesis. In the following chapter Moses\nteaches us the nature of the work of this sixth day; how man was\ncreated.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER II.\n\n\nPART I. GOD'S REST, SANCTIFICATION OF THE SABBATH AND CREATION OF\nADAM.\n\nI. V. 1. _And the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the\nhost of them._\n\nOur Latin rendering of the text before us is \"and all the adornment of\nthem.\" In the original Hebrew the expression is ZEBAAM, the \"host\" or\n\"army\" of them. The prophets have retained this same form of speaking\nand of calling the stars and the planets, \"the host or army of\nheaven,\" as Jer. 19:13, where the Jews are represented as having\nadored \"all the host of heaven.\" And God says by the prophet\nZephaniah, \"I will cut off them that worship the host of heaven upon\nthe housetops.\" In the same manner also Stephen testifies concerning\nthe children of Israel in the wilderness that God \"gave them up to\nworship the host of heaven,\" Acts 7:42.\n\nThe prophets borrowed these forms of speech from Moses, who in this\npassage calls the stars and other luminaries of heaven by a military\nterm, calling them the host or the warning army of heaven. After a\nsimilar mode of expression he calls men beasts and trees the host or\narmy of the earth. Perhaps this is in anticipation of the solemn\nrealities that were to come. For God afterwards calls himself also the\nGod of hosts or of armies; that is, not of angels and of spirits only,\nbut of the whole creation also, which was for him and serves him. For\never since Satan was cast off by God for sin he has been filled with\nsuch desperate hatred of God and of men that he would, if he could, in\none moment empty the sea of all its fishes and the air of all its\nbirds, strip the earth of all its fruits and utterly destroy all\nthings. But God has created all these creatures that they may be a\nstanding army as it were; that they might fight for us and our\nsubsistence against the devil and against men also, and thus serve us\nand be to us an unceasing benefit.\n\nV. 2. _And on the seventh day God finished his work which he had made;\nand he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made._\n\nHere cavillers raise a question of this nature: Moses says that God\n\"rested on the seventh day from the work he had made;\" that is, that\nhe ceased on the seventh day to work: while Christ says on the other\nhand, John 5:17, \"My Father worketh hitherto, or until now, and I\nwork.\" The passage contained in Heb. 4:3, helps to explain the present\ntext, where it is written, \"If they shall enter into My rest,\" not\nindeed into the land of promise, but into \"My rest.\"\n\nMy simple and plain reply to the above question is, that a solution of\nany difficulty that may be raised is furnished by the present text\nitself, when it says, \"Thus the heavens and the earth were finished.\"\nThe Sabbath or rest of the Sabbath here signifies that God so rested,\nas not to have any further design of creating any other heaven and\nearth. It does not signify that God ceased to preserve and govern the\nheaven and the earth, which he had now created and finished.\n\nConcerning the manner of the creation Moses gives us the fullest\ninformation in the preceding chapter, that God created all things by\nthe Word! \"Let the sea bring forth fishes;\" \"Let the earth bring forth\nthe green herb, the beast,\" etc., etc. And by the same Word, God also\nsaid, \"Be fruitful and multiply and replenish the earth.\" Now all\nthese words of God remain unto this present day. And therefore it is\nthat we see the multiplication of all these creatures go on without\ncessation or end. Wherefore if the world were to last for a number of\nyears endless and infinite, the power and efficacy of these words\nwould never cease, but there would still be continued a multiplication\nof all these creatures perpetual and endless by the mere infinite\npower of this Word of God; this Word of the first creation and\nfoundation of all things, if I may so express the original and\noriginating Word.\n\nThe solution of the question now under consideration therefore is easy\nand plain. \"God rested on the seventh day from the work which he had\nmade;\" that is, God was content with the earth and the heaven which he\nhad created by the Word. He created not nor intended to create new\nheavens or new earths, nor new stars nor new trees. God nevertheless\nstill works. He \"worketh hitherto,\" as Christ says above. He forsakes\nnot nature, which he once made \"in the beginning;\" but he preserves\nand governs it to this day, by the power of his Word. He has ceased\nfrom his creation-work, but he has not ceased from his\ngovernment-work. The human race began in Adam. In the earth began by\nthe Word the animal race, if I may so speak; in the sea, the race of\nfishes; and in the air, the race of birds. But the human race did not\ncease in Adam, nor did all other races cease in the first created\nanimals of their kind. The Word originally spoken upon the human race\nstill remains in all its power and efficiency. The word, \"Be fruitful\nand multiply,\" ceases not nor ever will cease, nor the words, \"Let the\nsea bring forth fishes,\" nor \"Let the earth bring forth beasts and the\nair birds.\" The omnipotent power and efficacy of the original Word\nstill preserves and governs the whole creation.\n\nMost clearly therefore has Moses established the great truth, that \"In\nthe beginning was the Word,\" John 1:1. And as all creatures still\nincrease and multiply, and are preserved and governed, still in the\nsame way as they were \"in the beginning,\" it manifestly follows that\nthe Word still continues and lives, and that it is not dead! When\nMoses says therefore, \"And God rested on the seventh day from the work\nwhich he had made,\" his words are not to be considered as having\nreference to the general course and laws of nature nor to their\ncontinuous preservation and government, but simply to the \"beginning;\"\nthat God ceased from creating, ordering and ordaining all things, as\nwe generally speak, and from creating any new creatures or new kinds\nof animals, etc., etc.\n\nWith respect to Martin Luther before you. If you look at my individual\nperson I am a certain kind of new creature; because sixty years ago I\nhad no existence. This is the common thought and judgment of the\nworld. But the thought and judgment of God are far different. For in\nGod's sight I was begotten and commenced, being multiplied immediately\n\"from the beginning of the world.\" When God said, \"Let us make man,\"\nhe then created me also. For whatever God willed to create that he did\ncreate when he spoke the word. All things did not then appear indeed\non a sudden before our existing eyes. For as the arrow or the ball\nfrom the cannon, in which is the greatest velocity attached to the\nworks of men is in one moment directed to its mark, and yet does not\nreach that mark without a certain interval and space between, so God\nrushes, as it were by his Word, from \"the beginning\" to the end of the\nworld. For with God there is no before nor afterwards; no swift nor\nslow; but all things to his eyes are at once present. For God is\nsimply absolutely independent of and alone, and separate from all\ntime!\n\nThese words of God therefore, and God said, \"Let there be,\" \"increase\nand multiply,\" etc., create, constitute and ordain all creatures, as\nthey were, as they now are, and as they will be unto the end of the\nworld. God has indeed ceased from creating new creatures. For he has\ncreated no new heaven, no new earth. But as he originally willed the\nsun and the moon to perform their courses, so have they continued to\nperform them to this day. As God then filled the sea with fishes, the\nheaven with fowls, and the earth with beasts and cattle, so have all\nthese parts of his will been fulfilled to this day; and so have they\nall been preserved to this moment, as Christ said, \"My Father worketh\nhitherto and I work.\" For the Word, which God spoke in the beginning,\nremaineth unto this day; as it is said with great majesty in Ps. 33:9,\n\"He spake and they were made.\"\n\nBut here sceptics and objectors will present a further question for\nreply. How can it be true, say they, that God made no new thing, when\nit is evident that the bow of heaven or the rainbow was created in the\ntime of Noah? And when also the Lord threatened after the fall of\nAdam, that it should come to pass that the earth should bring forth\nthorns and thistles? Which thorns and thistles the earth would not\nhave brought forth had Adam not sinned. Also concerning the serpent,\nthe same cavillers say, that reptile ought to creep along almost\nupright with its head bending toward the earth; for when first created\nthey say it was doubtless upright, as crows and peacocks move now. We\nreadily acknowledge that this is indeed a new state of things, wrought\nalso by the Word.\n\nIt is moreover true that if Adam had not fallen by sin, there would\nnot have been that ferocity in wolves, lions and bears, which now\ncharacterizes them. And most certainly also there would have been\nnothing in the whole creation noxious or annoying to man. For the text\nbefore us plainly declares that all things God had created were \"very\ngood.\" Whereas now, how numberless are the annoyances by which we are\nsurrounded? To how many and how great distresses, especially of\ndiseases, is the body itself subject? I will say nothing about fleas,\nflies, gnats, spiders, mosquitoes, etc. What a host of dangers\nthreaten us continually from the greater ferocious and venomous\nbeasts?\n\nAlthough there had been none of these new or altered things after the\ncreation, our sceptic objectors can surely believe that there was one\nglorious and marvellous \"new thing,\" Is. 7:14, \"that a virgin should\nbring forth a Son, the Son of God!\" God therefore did not in the\nseventh day cease to work in every sense, but he works still, not only\nin preserving his whole creation, but also in altering and new-forming\nthe creature; wherefore that which we said above, that God ceased on\nthe seventh day from creating new orders of things is not to be\nunderstood as true absolutely and in every sense.\n\nBut we further reply to our cavillers that Moses is here speaking of\nnature in its yet uncorrupted state. If therefore man had stood\nunfallen in the innocency in which he was first created, no thorns nor\nthistles would have existed, no disease would have been known nor any\nviolence of beasts feared. This is manifest from the case of Eve; she\ntalks with the serpent without any fear whatever, and as we should do\nwith an innocent little bird or with a favorite little dog. Nor have I\nany doubt that the serpent was an exquisitely beautiful creature and\ngifted with the peculiar excellency of having the highest praise for\nmarvellous cunning, though then innocent cunning, even as foxes and\nweazels have that name among us now.\n\nWherefore when Adam was as yet holy and innocent, all the animals of\nthe creation dwelt and associated with him in the highest pleasure,\nbeing prepared to render him every kind of service gladly. Nor would\nthere have ever been known, if Adam had thus continued sinless, any\nfear of a flood, nor would there consequently have ever existed a\nrainbow in the heavens. But sin caused God to alter many things and\notherwise order them. And at the last day there will be an alteration\nand a renewal far greater still of that whole creation, which as Paul\nsays is now by reason of sin, \"subject to vanity,\" Rom. 8:20.\n\nFinally therefore, when Moses here says that \"God rested on the\nseventh day,\" he is speaking with reference to the condition of the\nworld, as originally created; meaning that while as yet there was no\nsin nothing new was created, that there were no thorns nor thistles,\nno serpents nor toads, and if there were such they possessed no\nvenomous properties nor any inclination to harm. Moses speaks in this\nmanner concerning the creation of the world, while yet in its state of\nperfection, unpolluted and unmarred by sin. It was then a world\ninnocent and pure, because man was innocent and pure. But now, as man\nis no longer the same being, so the world is no longer the same world.\nUpon the fall of man followed corruption and upon this corruption the\ncurse of the now corrupt creation. \"Cursed is the ground,\" said God to\nAdam, \"for thy sake! Thorns and thistles shall it bring forth unto\nthee!\" Gen. 3:17, 18. Thus on account of one accursed Cain--sin, is\nthe whole earth accursed! So that now even when tilled it does not put\nforth its original virtue. After this upon the sins of the whole world\nis poured the flood over the whole earth, and the human race\nthroughout the whole world is destroyed, a few righteous persons only\nbeing saved lest the promise concerning Christ should fail of being\nfulfilled. And as it is manifest to us all that the earth is thus\ndeformed by sin, so my belief is, as I have before said, that the\nlight of the sun, when first created, and before the sin of Adam, was\nfar more pure and more bright than it is now.\n\nIt is a common saying of divines in all theological schools, \"Clearly\ndistinguish times and you will harmonize all the Scriptures.\"\nWherefore we must speak far otherwise concerning the world, under its\npresent wretched corruption, by which it has been marred through the\nsin of Adam, than concerning the world when as yet it was in its state\nof original purity and perfection. Let us take an example still in our\nsight and knowledge. Those who have visited the \"land of promise\" in\nour day affirm, that there is nothing in it like unto that\ncommendation of it which we have in the holy Scriptures. In\nconfirmation of these statements a citizen of Stolberg, after having\nvisited Palestine and surveyed with all possible diligence of\nobservation, declared that he considered his own field in Germany a\nfar more delightful spot. For on account of the sin, wickedness and\nungodliness of men it is reduced to a positive pickle-tub, to \"a salt\nland not inhabited;\" so actually is the very essence of the curse of\nGod upon it fulfilled, as it is said, Gen. 3:17, 18; Ps. 107:34. Thus\nSodom also before it was destroyed by fire from heaven was a certain\nparadise, a garden of the Lord, Gen. 13:10. Thus does the curse of God\ngenerally follow sin, and that curse so changes things, that from the\nbest they become the worst. Moses therefore, we repeat, is here\nspeaking concerning the state of all creatures in their original\nperfection; as they were before the sin of man. For if man had not\nsinned, all beasts and every other creature would have remained in\nobedience to him until God should have translated him from paradise,\nor from earth to heaven. But after his sin, all things were changed\nfor the worse.\n\nAccording to these expressions therefore the solution given by us\nabove to all sceptics, cavillers and objectors stands good, that God\nin six days finished his work, and that on the \"seventh day\" he rested\nfrom all his work which he had made; that is, that he ceased from\nordaining the certain orders of things, and that then, whatsoever he\nwilled afterwards to work, he did work. But God did not say\nafterwards, \"Let there be a new earth;\" \"Let there be a new sea,\" etc.\nWith respect to that wonderful \"new thing;\" that, after the creation\nwas finished, the virgin Mary brought forth the Son of God, it is\nindeed manifest that God made our calamity, into which we had fallen\nby sin, the cause of this marvellous blessing. But God so wrought even\nthis mighty work that he showed beforehand that he would, by his Word,\ndo this glorious work also; even as he has also signified in his Word,\nthat he will by the same Word do other marvelous things.\n\nThus have we replied then to these questions of all cavilling\nobjectors concerning God's having finished the heavens and the earth\nand concerning his having made other things new afterwards. We must\ncontinue this explanation to learn what this Sabbath or rest of God\nis, and also in what manner God sanctified the Sabbath, as the sacred\ntext declares.\n\nII. V. 3. _And God blessed the seventh day, and hallowed it, because\nthat in it he rested from all his work which God had created and\nmade._\n\nChrist says, Mark 2:27, that \"the Sabbath was made for man, and not\nman for the Sabbath.\" But Moses says nothing here about man. He does\nnot even say positively that any commandment concerning the Sabbath\nwas given to man. But what Moses here says is that God blessed the\nSabbath and sanctified it to himself. It is moreover to be remarked\nthat God did this to no other creature. God did not sanctify to\nhimself the heaven nor the earth nor any other creature. But God did\nsanctify to himself the seventh day. This was especially designed of\nGod, to cause us to understand that the \"seventh day\" is to be\nespecially devoted to divine worship. For that which is appropriated\nto God and exclusively separated from all profane uses is sanctified\nor holy. Hence the expression \"to sanctify,\" \"to choose for divine\nuses or for the worship of God,\" is often applied by Moses to the\nsacred vessels of the sanctuary.\n\nIt follows therefore from this passage, that if Adam had stood in his\ninnocence and had not fallen he would yet have observed the \"seventh\nday\" as sanctified, holy and sacred; that is, he would have taught his\nchildren and posterity on that day concerning the will and worship of\nGod; he would have praised God, he would have given him thanks, and\nwould have brought to him his offerings, etc., etc. On the other days\nhe would have tilled his land and attended to his cattle. Nay, even\nafter the fall he held the \"seventh day\" sacred; that is, he taught on\nthat day his own family. This is testified by the offerings made by\nhis two sons, Cain and Abel. The Sabbath therefore has, from the\nbeginning of the world, been set apart for the worship of God. In this\nmanner nature in its innocency, had it continued unfallen, would have\nproclaimed the glory and blessings of God. Men would have talked\ntogether on the Sabbath day concerning the goodness of their Creator,\nwould have prayed to him, and would have brought to him their\nofferings, etc. For all these things are implied and signified in the\nexpression \"sanctified.\"\n\nMoreover in this same sanctification of the Sabbath is included and\nimplied the immortality of the human race. Hence the Epistle to the\nHebrews speaks most beautifully concerning the rest of God, from the\n95th Ps.: \"If they shall enter into my rest.\" For the rest of God is\nan eternal rest. Adam therefore, had he not fallen, would have lived a\ncertain time in paradise, according to the length of time which God\npleased; and afterwards he would have been carried away into that rest\nof God, which rest God willed not only to intimate unto man, but\nhighly to commend unto him by this sanctification of the Sabbath. Thus\nhad Adam not fallen his life would have been both animal and happy,\nand spiritual and eternal. But now we miserable men have lost all this\nfelicity of the animal life by sin; and while we do live, we live in\nthe midst of death. Yet since this command of God concerning the\nSabbath is left to the Church, God signifies thereby that even that\nspiritual life shall be restored to us through Christ. Hence the\nprophets have all diligently searched into these passages, in which\nMoses obscurely indicates also the resurrection of the flesh and the\nlife immortal.\n\nFurther by this sanctification of the Sabbath it is also plainly shown\nthat man was especially created for the knowledge and worship of God.\nFor the Sabbath was not instituted on account of sheep or oxen, but\nfor the sake of men, that the knowledge of God might be exercised and\nincreased by them on that sacred day. Although therefore man lost the\nknowledge of God by sin, yet God willed that his command concerning\nthe sanctifying of the Sabbath should remain. He willed that on the\nseventh day both the Word should be preached, and also those other\nparts of his worship performed, which he himself instituted; to the\nend that by these appointed means we should first of all think\nsolemnly on our condition in the world as men; that this nature of\nours was created at first expressly for the knowledge and the\nglorifying of God; and also that by these same sacred means we might\nhold fast in our minds the sure hope of a future and eternal life.\n\nIndeed all things which God willed to be done on the Sabbath are\nevident signs of another life after this present life. For what need\nwould there be of God's speaking to us by his Word, if we were not\ndesigned to live another and eternal life after this life? And if no\nfuture life is to be hoped for by us, why do we not live as those\nother creatures with whom God talketh not and who have no knowledge of\nGod? But as the divine Majesty talketh with man alone, and he alone\nacknowledges and apprehends God, it necessarily follows that there is\nfor us another life after this life, to which it is our great business\nto attain by the Word and the knowledge of God. For as to this\ntemporal and present life it is a mere animal life as all the beasts\nlive, which know not God nor the Word.\n\nThis then is the meaning of the Sabbath or the \"rest\" of God. It is a\nsanctified day of rest, on which God speaks to or talks with us, and\nwe in turn speak to and talk with him in prayer and by faith. The\nbeasts indeed learn to hear and also to understand the voice of man,\nas dogs, horses, sheep, oxen; and they are also preserved and fed by\nman. But our condition as men is far better and higher; for we both\nhear God and know his will, and are called to a sure hope of\nimmortality. This is testified by those most manifest promises\nconcerning the life eternal, which God has plainly revealed to us by\nhis Word, since he gave to the world the obscure significations\ncontained in this divine Book; such as this rest of God and this\nsanctification of the Sabbath. However these indications concerning\nthe Sabbath are not obscure but evident and plain. For only suppose\nfor a moment that there were no eternal life after this. Would it not\nimmediately follow that we should have no need either of God or his\nWord? For that which we merely require or do in this life we can have\nand do without the Word of God. Even as beasts feed, live and grow fat\nwithout the Word. For what need is there of the Word to procure meat\nand drink, thus created for us beforehand?\n\nAs God therefore thus giveth us the Word, as he thus commands the\npreaching and exercising of the Word, as he thus commands the\nsanctifying of the Sabbath in the worship of himself, all these things\nprove that there remaineth another life after this life, and that man\nis created not to a corporeal life only, as the beasts are, but to a\nlife eternal, even as God, who commands and institutes these things,\nis himself eternal.\n\nBut here another inquiry may arise concerning the fall of Adam itself,\nupon which indeed we have already touched: On what day Adam fell,\nwhether on the seventh or on some other day? Although nothing indeed\ncan be said as certain on this matter, my free and full opinion is\nthat his fall was on the seventh day. It was on the sixth day that he\nwas created. And Eve was created about the evening or close of the\nsixth day, while Adam was asleep. On the seventh day, which by the\nLord had been sanctified, God talks with Adam, gives him commandment\nconcerning his worship, and forbids him to eat the fruit of the tree\nof knowledge of good and evil. For this indeed was the appropriate\nwork or duty of the seventh day: the preaching and the hearing of the\nWord of God. Hence both from the Scriptures and from universal\npractice, hath remained the custom of appointing the morning as the\ntime for prayer and sermons; as we have it also in the Psalms: \"In the\nmorning will I stand before Thee, and will look up,\" Ps. 5:3.\n\nOn the seventh day therefore, in the morning, Adam appears to have\nheard the Lord giving commandment concerning his domestic and national\nduty, the private and public worship of God, together with the\nprohibition concerning the fruit of the tree. Satan therefore unable\nto endure this most beautiful creation of man and this holy\nappointment of the Sabbath, and envying him so much felicity, and\nmoreover seeing all things so abundantly provided for him on earth,\nand finding him in the possession of the hope of enjoying, after so\nhappy a corporeal life, an eternal life, which he himself had lost,\nSatan seeing all this about the twelfth hour, perhaps after God's\nsermon to Adam and Eve, himself preaches to Eve. Just as he has always\ndone to this day. Wherever the Word of God is, there he attempts also\nto sow lies and heresies. For it agonizes him that we by the Word\nbecome as Adam did in paradise, citizens of heaven. So Satan on this\noccasion tempts Eve to sin, and gains the victory over her. The sacred\ntext before us moreover declares that when the heat of the day had\nsubsided, the Lord came into the garden and condemned Adam with all\nhis posterity to death. I am myself quite persuaded that all these\nthings took place on the very day of the Sabbath, which one day only,\nand that not for the whole day, Adam lived in paradise, and enjoyed\nhimself in eating its fruits.\n\nBy sin therefore did man lose all this felicity. Nor would Adam, had\nhe remained in paradise in all his original innocence, have lived a\nlife of idleness. He would have taught his children on the Sabbath\nday, he would have magnified God with worthy high-praises by public\npreaching, and he would have stirred up himself and others to\nofferings of thanks, by a contemplation of God's great and glorious\nworks. On all other days he would have worked by tilling his ground\nand attending to his beasts, etc. But in a manner and from motives now\nwholly unknown to man. For all our labor is annoyance, but all Adam's\nlabor was the highest pleasure, a pleasure far exceeding all the ease\nthat is now known. Hence as all the other calamities of life remind us\nof sin and the wrath of God, so our labor and all our difficulty in\nprocuring food ought to remind us of sin also and to drive us to\nrepentance.\n\nMoses now proceeds to describe man more particularly, repeating first\nof all what he had said concerning his creation in the first chapter.\nAnd though the recapitulations may seem superfluous, yet as the divine\nhistorian wishes to maintain a continuation of his history, with all\ndue convenience and order, the repetition is by no means useless.\n\nV. 4, 5a. _These are the generations of the heavens and of the earth\nwhen they were created, in the day that Jehovah God made earth and\nheaven. And no plant of the field was yet in the earth, and no herb of\nthe field had yet sprung up._\n\n\"In the day\" is here to be taken for an indefinite time, as if Moses\nhad said, At that time the state of all things was most beautiful; but\nnow I must describe a condition of things far different. We need not\nhere inquire however in a superstitious manner, why Moses chose to use\nthese rustic forms of expression concerning \"the plants of the field\"\nand \"herbs of the field.\" For his object now is to describe the\ncreation of man in its more circumstantial particulars.\n\nV. 5b, 6. _For Jehovah God had not caused it to rain upon the earth:\nand there was not a man to till the ground; but there went up a mist\nfrom the earth, and watered the whole face of the ground._\n\nThere was not as yet any rain, Moses says, to water the earth; but a\ncertain mist went up and watered the whole face of the earth, to cause\nit to bring forth more abundantly afterwards. Now these things belong\nproperly to the third day.\n\nIII. V. 7. _And Jehovah God formed man of the dust of the ground, and\nbreathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living\nsoul._\n\nMoses here returns to the work of the sixth day and shows whence this\ncultivator of the earth came; namely, that God formed him out of the\nground, as the potter forms in his hand the vessel out of clay. Hence\nMoses does not represent Jehovah God as saying in this case as in that\nof all the other creatures, \"Let the earth bring forth man;\" but \"Let\nUs make man.\" He describes God as thus speaking in this case in order\nthat he might set forth the excellency of the human race, and that he\nmight make manifest that peculiar counsel to which God had recourse in\ncreating or making man. However after his creation man grew and\nmultiplied as all the other animals and beasts of the earth multiply.\nFor the seed of all animals coagulates in the womb and is formed in\nthe same manner in them all. In this case of generation there is no\ndifference between the foetus formed in the cow and that formed in the\nwoman. But with reference to their first creation Moses testifies that\nthere was the greatest possible difference. For he shows in this\ndivine record that the human nature was created by a peculiarity of\ndivine counsel and wisdom, and formed by the very finger of God.\n\nThis difference, which God made in the original creation of man and of\ncattle, likewise manifests forth the immortality of the soul, of which\nwe spoke above. And though all the other works of God are full of\nwonder and admiration and truly magnificent, yet that man is the most\nexcellent and glorious creature of all is evident from the fact that\nGod in creating him had recourse to deep counsel and to a mode\nentirely different from that which he adopted in creating all the\nother creatures. For God does not leave it to the earth, to form or\nbring forth man, as it brought forth beasts and trees. But God forms\nman himself, \"in the image\" of himself, as a participator of the\ndivine nature and as one designed to enjoy the rest of God. Hence Adam\nbefore he is formed by Jehovah, is a mere lifeless lump of earth,\nlying on the ground. God takes that lump of earth into his hand and\nforms out of it a most beautiful creature, a partaker of immortality.\n\nNow if Aristotle were to hear these things he would burst out into a\nloud laugh and would say, that the whole matter was a fable; a very\npleasant one indeed but a very absurd one; that man, who was a lump of\nearth as to his original, is so formed by divine wisdom to be capable\nof immortality. For those ancient philosophers, as Socrates and\nothers, who taught the immortality of the soul, were laughed at and\nalmost cast out by all their fellows. But is it not the very extremity\nof folly for reason to take this great offense, when it beholds the\ngeneration of man to this very day full of greatest wonder! For who\nwould not judge it an absurdity to suppose that man, who is designed\nto live eternally, should be born from one single drop as it were of\nseed from the loins of the father? There is even a greater apparent\nabsurdity in this than in Moses saying, that man was formed from a\nlump of earth by the finger of God. But by all this folly reason\nplainly shows that she understands nothing of God, who, by the\nefficacy of a single thought, thus makes out of a lump of earth not\nonly the seed of man, but man himself; and makes also, as Moses\nafterwards says, the woman out of a single rib of the man. This then\nis the origin of man!\n\nMan therefore having been thus created, male and female, from their\nblood under the divine blessing is generated the whole human race. And\nalthough this generation is common to man and beasts, that similarity\nby no means detracts from the glory of our original formation; that we\nare vessels of God, fashioned by his own hand; that he is our potter\nand we his clay; as Isaiah speaks in his 64th chapter. Nor does this\nsolemn state of things pertain to our original only, but pervades our\nwhole life, and even unto death and in the tomb we are still the clay\nof this Potter!\n\nFrom this same creation of man also we may learn, what the real power\nof free will is, of which our adversaries boast so much. We have\nindeed in a certain sense a free will, in those things which are put\nunder us. For we are by the command of God appointed lords of the\nfishes of the sea, of the fowls of heaven and of the beasts of the\nfield. These we kill when we please. We enjoy the food, and other\nblessings they supply. But in the things pertaining unto God, which\nare above us and not put under us, man has no free-will at all. But he\nis in reality as clay in the hand of the potter. He is placed under\nthe mere power of God, passively and not actively. In this our real\nposition we choose nothing, we do nothing. On the contrary we are\nchosen, we are prepared, we are regenerated; we receive only; as the\nprophet Isaiah saith, \"Thou art our potter; we are thy clay,\" Is.\n64:8.\n\nBut here a lawful and holy inquiry of a new description may be made.\nAs Moses speaks of the creation of man here in a new phraseology, \"And\nJehovah God formed man of the dust of the ground;\" and as he did not\nuse the same form of expression above, when the other living creatures\nwere created, so he here mentions a further distinction in man which\nis not said of any other animate creature: \"And God breathed into his\nnostrils the breath of life.\" This Moses does not say in reference to\nany of the beasts, though all beasts, as well as man, have the breath\nof life in their nostrils. We may here therefore sacredly inquire\nfirst, why it is that Moses is here led to speak thus. And secondly,\nwhy it is recorded in this place concerning man only, that God\n\"breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a\nliving soul,\" when all animals throughout the whole Scripture are\ncalled \"living creatures.\" The divine expressions recorded by Moses\nabove are, \"Let the earth bring forth every living creature after his\nkind.\" But here the phraseology is altogether changed, \"And man became\na living soul.\"\n\nThese were the things that, doubtless, moved the patriarchs, the holy\nfathers and prophets of old, to examine diligently passages of this\ndescription in order to discover what these singular forms of speech\nmight signify, being assured that the sacred historian intended by\nthem something peculiar and great and especially worthy of knowledge.\n\nFor if you look at the mere animal life of which Moses is here\nspeaking, there is no difference between the man and the ass. For the\nanimal life in both stands in need of meat and drink. It needs sleep\nand rest. The bodies of both grow and are fattened alike by meat and\ndrink. And from the want of meat and drink both waste and perish\nalike. In both the stomach receives the food and transmits it when\ndigested to the belly, which generates the blood, by which all the\nmembers are refreshed and restored. When we consider these things in\nthemselves, I say, there is no difference between the man and the\nbeast. But Moses in this place so exalts the life of man that he says\nof him alone of all animals, that he \"became a living soul;\" not a\nliving creature or a living thing like all the beasts of the earth,\nbut in a more exalted sense \"a living soul;\" and that, because he was\ncreated \"in the image of God,\" which image there can be no doubt\nwhatever, shone with a peculiar brightness in the countenances of Adam\nand Eve, while yet in their state of innocence. Hence it is that even\nafter the sin and fall, the heathen poets, etc., concluded from the\nposition of his body, from his upright carriage and from the elevation\nof his eyes to heaven, that man was a creature far more excellent than\nany other creature in existence.\n\nIt is to this surpassing excellency that St. Paul refers when he\nrecites the passage before us in 1 Cor. 15:45. It is there written,\n\"The first man Adam became a living soul. The last Adam became a\nlife-giving spirit.\" By a living soul in this passage the apostle\nmeans the animal life, which consists in eating, drinking, growing,\nsleeping, generating, etc.; all which are found also in brutes. But by\nan antithesis he says that \"the last Adam was made a life-giving\nspirit.\" This is a life which needs not, and knows not, the conditions\nof the animal life. Paul moreover here teaches us that Adam, even if\nhe had not sinned, would yet have lived a corporeal life; a life which\nwould have needed meat, drink and rest; a life which would have grown,\nincreased and generated, etc., until God should have translated him to\nthat spiritual life, in which he would have lived without natural\nanimality, if I may so express it; namely, a life from within, derived\nfrom God alone; and not a life from without as before, sustained by\nherbs and fruits. And yet he would have been a man with body and\nbones, etc., and not a pure spirit, as angels are.\n\nMy reply therefore to the new inquiry, above admitted, is this: God by\nthe mouth of Moses speaking in the passage before us designed to set\nforth the hope of that future and eternal life which Adam, if he had\ncontinued in his innocency, would have enjoyed after this present\nanimal life. As if Moses had said, Man became a living soul; not\nmerely in the sense of that life which beasts live, but in the sense\nof that life which God afterwards designed Adam to live, even without\nany animal life at all. And this same hope of immortality or an\nimmortal life, we now have through Christ. Although on account of sin\nwe are subject to death and all kinds of calamity. But Adam's natural\nlife, when he became a living soul, was designed to be far exalted\nabove that which we now live since the fall. He would have lived on\nearth sweetly, happily and with the highest pleasure; and then would\nhave been translated at the time determined in the mind of God, out of\nthe animal life into the spiritual and eternal life; and that\ntranslation would have been attended with no pain or trouble whatever.\nWhereas we are not translated out of this animal life into the life\nspiritual and eternal, but by death; and that, after an infinity of\nevils, perils and crosses.\n\nIt was after this manner that we ought, like the holy prophets,\ndiligently to look into all these expressions of Moses, and to inquire\nwhy it is that, with such depth of purpose and design, he speaks\nconcerning man in terms so different from those he used when speaking\nof all other living creatures. The design evidently was that our faith\nand hope of immortality might be confirmed, and that we might be\nassured that although the life of man as to his animal life is like\nthat of all other living creatures, even of brutes, yet that he\npossesses a hope of immortality unpossessed by, and wholly unknown to,\nany other living creature; that he possesses and bears the image and\nsimilitude of God, with no particle of which any other animal is\ndignified or favored.\n\nAnd thus by a most beautiful allegory, or rather by a most excellent\nfigure, Moses here intimates, though obscurely, that God would become\nincarnate. For with reference to man's differing in no respect from a\nsheep, as to his animal life, though created in the image and after\nthe similitude of God; that assertion is in fact, a kind of statement\nby contraries, as they term it in the schools; or, according to\nanother term of theirs, an addition by opposition. And yet as man was\ncreated in the image of the invisible God, by this sublime fact is\nsignified in obscure figure, as we shall hereafter hear from Moses,\nthat God would reveal himself in this world in the _Man_, _Christ_.\nThese seeds as it were of the greatest and most marvelous things, did\nthe prophets diligently search out and gather from the divine\nhistorian Moses.\n\n\nPART II. PARADISE.\n\nI. V. 8. _And Jehovah God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there\nhe put the man whom he had formed._\n\nHere rises before us a whole sea of questions concerning paradise. In\nthe first place, the word itself, whether it be Hebrew, Chaldean or\nPersian, for I do not think it is Greek, though Suidas endeavors to\ndiscover a Greek origin, is rendered by the Latins _hortus_, \"a\ngarden.\" This garden, Moses says, was planted BE EDEN, in Eden. For\nthis name of the place is not appellative or descriptive, as our\ntranslation renders it, \"paradise of pleasure.\" EDEN does, indeed,\nsignify pleasure or delight, and from this name of the garden is\ndoubtless formed the Greek word adona, but the preposition being here\nadded to it plainly proves that Eden is in this place to be taken for\nthe proper name of a place; which is further proved by the particular\ndescription of the place, for the garden is said to have been to the\neastward of it. Our translation renders it _a principio_, \"from the\nbeginning,\" which is also a bad version of the expression. For the\noriginal term is MIKKEDEM, which does not properly signify \"from the\nbeginning,\" but \"in front,\" that is according to our mode of\nexpression and meaning, \"toward the East.\" For the original word is an\nadverb of place, not of time.\n\nHence there arises here another matter of dispute, as to where\nparadise is. Commentators puzzle and rack themselves on this point in\nan extraordinary manner. Some will have its situation to be under the\nequator between the two tropics. Others say it must have been a more\ntemperate atmosphere, to cause a place to be so richly and abundantly\nproductive. But why should I proceed? Opinions upon the subject are\nbeyond number. My short and simple reply to them all is, that every\nquestion upon a place or thing which no longer exists, is idle and\nuseless. For Moses is here describing things which occurred before the\nFlood and even before sin was in the world. Whereas, we have to deal\nwith things as they were and are since the sin of Adam and since the\nDeluge.\n\nMy belief is therefore that this spot of earth was called Eden, either\nby Adam or in the time of Adam, on account of that astonishing\nproductiveness and that delightful pleasurableness, which Adam\nexperienced in it, and that the name of a place so delightful,\nremained with posterity long after the place itself was lost and gone.\nJust as the names of Rome, Athens and Carthage exist among us at this\nday, though scarcely any traces of those mighty states and kingdoms\ncan now be discovered.\n\nFor time and the curse which sins merit consume all things. When\ntherefore the world with all the men and beasts upon it was destroyed\nby the Flood, this noble and beautiful garden perished also, and all\ntraces of it were washed away from the face of the earth. In vain\ntherefore do Origen and others enter upon their absurd disputations.\nThe text moreover says that this garden was guarded by an angel, lest\nany one should enter it. Even if this garden therefore had not\nperished by the curse which followed, as doubtless it did, yet man's\nentrance into it is thus absolutely and forever prevented, as is\nindicated by the guardian angel's flaming sword. Its place can nowhere\nbe found. This latter answer concerning the curse might be given to\nall questioners and disputers, though the former argument concerning\nthe inevitable consequences of the Deluge, I deem less imaginative and\nmore conclusive.\n\nBut what shall we say to that text of the New Testament, \"Today shalt\nthou be with me in paradise,\" Luke 23:43? And to that passage also,\n\"He was caught up into paradise,\" 2 Cor. 12:4? I have no hesitation\nwhatever in affirming that Christ did not go with the thief into any\ncorporeal place. For that point is made quite plain from the case of\nPaul, who says, \"that he knew not whether he was in the body, or out\nof the body,\" verses 2 and 3. Wherefore my opinion is that in each\ncase by paradise is meant that condition or state in which Adam was,\nwhen in paradise, full of peace and rest and safety, and full of all\nthose gifts of blessedness, which are enjoyed where there is no sin\nand no death. As if Christ had said, today shalt thou be with me in\nparadise, free from sin, and safe from death. Just as Adam in Paradise\nwas free from sin and from all death and from all curse. Thus I\nbelieve paradise to be a paradise state. Just as the Scriptures, when\nspeaking of the bosom of Abraham, does not mean the very fold of the\nrobe which covered the bosom of Abraham, but descriptively that life\nor state of life in which the souls of the departed enjoy the heavenly\nlife, and the peace and rest which \"remain for the people of God,\"\nHeb. 4:9.\n\nWherefore my testimony concerning this text is, that Moses is here\ngiving us an historical description and informing us that there was a\ncertain place toward the East, in which there was a most beautiful and\nfruitful garden. For, as I have before said, the Hebrew expression\nMIKKEDEM properly signifies a place, not a time, as our version\nimproperly renders it. Hence it is usual with the Hebrews to call the\nEast wind KADIM, a dry cold wind which parches the fields. In that\nregion of the world therefore was paradise or a garden, in which there\nwere no teil-trees, nor oaks, nor scarlet-oaks, nor any other trees\nthat were barren, but the richest and noblest fruits of every kind and\ntrees of the noblest description; such as we now deem those to be\nwhich bear cinnamon and the richest spices. And although all the rest\nof the earth was cultivated, for there were as yet no thistles nor\nthorns, yet this place had its far higher cultivation. This Eden was a\ndelightful garden, exceeding in cultivation and fecundity the whole\nearth besides. Though all the rest of the earth, if compared with its\npresent miserable condition, was itself a paradise.\n\nIt was in this garden, which he himself had planted with such peculiar\ncare, that the Lord placed man. All these things, I say, are\nhistorical. It is idle for us therefore to inquire at the present day,\nwhere or what that garden was. The rivers, of which Moses afterwards\nspeaks, prove that the region of its situation comprehended Syria,\nMesopotamia, Damascus and Egypt, and it is in the midst of these as it\nwere that Jerusalem is situated. And as this garden was destined for\nAdam with his posterity, it is in vain for us to imagine it to have\nbeen a confined garden of a few miles extent. It was doubtless the\ngreater and better part of the earth. And my judgment is, that this\ngarden continued until the Deluge; and that before the Flood it was\nprotected by God himself, according to the description of Moses, by a\nguard of angels. So that I believe it to have been a place well known\nto the posterity of Adam, though inaccessible to them. And my opinion\nis, that it continued thus known until the Flood utterly destroyed it\nand left no traces of it remaining. Such is my mind on this subject.\nAnd such is my reply to all questions which over curious men would\nmove concerning a place, which after the sin and the Deluge had no\nlonger any existence or trace of former existence.\n\nOrigen however is dissatisfied with any view of the extent of the\ngarden of Eden, corresponding to that which I have taken. His opinion\nis that the distance of the rivers ought by no means to determine the\ndimensions of the garden. But he is thinking all the time about such\ngardens as we now generally cultivate. Hence he has recourse in his\nusual way to an allegory. He makes paradise to represent heaven; the\ntrees, angels; and the streams of rivers, wisdom. But these triflings\nare unworthy a divine. They may perhaps not be unbecoming an\nimaginative poet; but they are out of place in a theologian. Origen\nbears not in mind that Moses is here writing a history; and that, too,\na record of things, now long ago passed away.\n\nAfter this same fashion do our adversaries absurdly dispute at the\npresent day holding that the image and similitude of God still remain,\neven in a wicked man. They would, in my judgment speak much nearer the\ntruth, if they were to say that the image of God in man has perished\nand disappeared; just as the original world and paradise have done.\nMan in the beginning was righteous; the world in the beginning was\nmost beautiful. Eden was in truth a garden of delight and of pleasure.\nBut all these things were deformed by sin and remain deformed still.\nAll creatures, yea even the sun and the moon, have as it were put on\nsackcloth. They were all originally \"good,\" but by sin and the curse\nthey became defiled and noxious. At length came the greater curse of\nthe Flood, which destroyed paradise and the whole human race, and\nswept them from the face of the earth. For if at this day rivers,\nbursting their banks, inflict by their floods such mighty calamities\non men, beasts and fields, what must we suppose to have been the\nawfulness and horror of the calamities brought upon the earth by the\nuniversal Deluge! Whenever therefore we would speak of paradise, since\nthe Flood, let us speak of that now historical paradise, which was\nonce, but now has no longer existence in any trace. Let us speak of it\njust as we are compelled to speak of the original innocence of man. In\ndoing so our utmost effort can effect no more than to reflect with a\nsigh that it is lost, and that we never can repair or regain it in\nthis life.\n\nBut further, as Moses had before distinguished man in various ways\nfrom the brutes, which nevertheless have the same origin as we have,\nbrutes being formed like us from the earth; so the divine historian in\nthis place distinguishes man from every other creature by giving a\ndescription of that peculiarly delightful garden, and that superb\ndwelling-place, which God had planted with great care and culture, and\nprepared with magnificent splendor, far beyond anything of the kind\nwhich he had bestowed on any other spot upon the face of the earth at\nthat time.\n\nFor the principal object of Moses in his sacred record of the creation\nof man was to cause it to be clearly understood that man was by far\nthe noblest and most excellent creature, which God had made. The brute\nanimals had the earth, on the grass of which they might feed. But for\nman, God himself prepared a more noble dwelling-place, in the\ncultivation and adorning of which he might labor with extreme\npleasure, and in which he might find his food, separated from the\nbeasts indeed, but nevertheless holding all of them throughout the\nwhole earth under his dominion.\n\nTherefore Origen, Jerome and all the other allegorists are alike\ninvolved in the greatest folly, who because they can no longer find a\nparadise on the face of the earth think that some other sense than the\nnatural one is to be given in its interpretation. But that there was a\nparadise and that there is a paradise are two very different subjects\nfor consideration. Moses, as is the general nature of all such\nnarrations, merely records that there was a paradise. The case is the\nsame in reference to Adam's dominion over all the beasts. He could\ncall the lion, and command and manage him, according to his will and\npleasure; but it is not so now. All these glorious things are no more.\nThey are simply and merely, though sacredly, recorded by Moses as\nhaving been in the beginning.\n\nAnother question is here agitated, as to the spot of the earth where\nGod created man. There are some who maintain with great warmth that he\nwas created in or near Damascus; because they find it recorded that\nthe soil of Damascus is red and fertile. But I pass by all idle and\nvain inquiries of this description. It is enough for us to know that\nman was formed out of the earth on the sixth day after all the other\nanimals had been created, and that he was placed by God himself in the\ngarden of Eden. But as to the very spot on which he was created, what\nnecessity is there for our knowing that? It is certain that he was\ncreated out of paradise. For the text before us declares that he was\nremoved to or placed in paradise, before Eve was created who, as Moses\nhere shows, was created in paradise.\n\nNow let us proceed to that which follows:\n\nV. 9a. _And out of the ground made Jehovah God to grow every tree that\nis pleasant to the sight and good for food._\n\nThe contents of this verse properly belong to the description of\nparadise. For although the whole earth had been so created as\nnaturally to bring forth trees and herbs, with their fruits and seeds,\nyet this garden of Eden had its peculiar cultivation. A similitude\nillustrative of the case before us may be derived from things as they\nnow are among us. Woods and fields bring forth their trees. But when\nwe select a place as a garden for special cultivation, the fruits of\nthe garden are always more excellent than those of the field. So\nparadise, having been created for and devoted to peculiar cultivation,\nbeyond that which was bestowed on any other part of the earth, was\nadorned with trees delightful to the sight, whose fruits were sweet to\nthe taste and for use. When therefore God said, in the first chapter,\nverse 29, \"Behold I have given you every herb and every tree for\nfood:\" by that meat was meant necessary food. But paradise supplied\nfood for pleasure and delight; fruits better, sweeter and more\ndelicious than those which the trees of any other part of the earth\nproduced. On these the beasts also fed.\n\nII. V. 9b. _The tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the\ntree of the knowledge (scientiae) of good and evil._\n\nMoses so describes paradise that he makes God himself as it were the\ncultivator of it; as a cultivator, who after he has planted a garden\nwith the greatest care according to his pleasure, selects this and\nthat tree from the rest, which he tills and loves as particular\nfavorites. One of these trees was \"the tree of life,\" a tree created\nto the end that man by feeding on it might be preserved with a sound\nbody, free from diseases, and not subject to fatigue.\n\nHere again we find the man, whom God first created, highly\ndistinguished from the brutes; not only by the delightful spot in\nwhich God placed him, but also by the exalted privilege of a longer\nlife, a life always continuing in the same state. Whereas the bodies\nof all other living creatures grow in youth and increase in strength,\nbut in old age decay and perish. But the original condition of man was\nintended to be far different. Had he continued in his innocence he\nwould have enjoyed his meat and his drink; a change of his meat and\ndrink and a conversion of them into blood would have taken place in\nhis body, but that commutation would not have been impure and foul as\nit is now. This tree of life moreover would have preserved him in\nperpetual youth, nor would he have experienced any of the afflictions\nor inconveniences of old age. His brow would have contracted no\nwrinkles, nor would his foot nor his hand nor any other part of his\nbody have known weakness or languor. By the blessing of the fruit of\nthis tree man's powers would have remained perfect for generation and\nfor labor of every kind; until at length he should have been\ntranslated from this corporeal to his spiritual life. The other trees\nwould have supplied him with food the most excellent and the most\ndelicious; but this \"tree of life\" would have been as it were a\ngeneral medicine which would have preserved his natural life and\npowers in perpetual and complete vigor.\n\nSome may here interpose the question, How could this corporeal food or\nnatural fruit effect such a conservation of the body as to prevent it\nfrom being weakened or debilitated by time? The reply is easy and\ndivine. \"He spake, and it was done!\" Ps. 33:9. For if God can make\nbread of a stone, why should he not be able to preserve the natural\npowers of man by a fruit? Even since the sin of the fall we see what\npowerful properties the smallest herbs and seeds possess.\n\nLook for a moment at our own bodies. Whence comes that peculiar\nproperty of their nature that bread, eaten by them, is by their\nnatural heat digested and converted into blood, by the circulation of\nwhich the whole body is strengthened and confirmed? Now bring together\nall the fires and all the furnaces of the universe, you cannot produce\nby them all this one single effect, the conversion of bread into\nblood. But this mighty effect is produced by that small degree of\nheat, which our natural bodies contain. There is no room for wonder\ntherefore that this tree should have become by the will of the Lord,\nits Planter and Maker, \"The tree of life!\"\n\nAdam possessed a natural and movable body, a body which generated, ate\nand labored. These exertions are considered to produce decay or at\nleast some kind of change, by which at length man is naturally worn\nout and destroyed. But by this appointment of nature, \"the tree of\nlife,\" God provided a remedy, by the use of which man might have a\nlong and sound life, without any diminution of his powers and in\nperpetual youth.\n\nThus all these things are historical facts. This is a point which I am\nrepeatedly admonishing every hearer and reader to bear in mind, lest\nhe should be stumbled by the authority of some of the fathers, who\nleaving pure and positive history turn aside to hunt allegories. It is\non this ground that I am so partial to Lyra and so willingly rank him\nwith the best of commentators. He always carefully abides by and\nfollows history. And although he sometimes permits himself to be\nswayed by the authority of the fathers, yet he never suffers himself\nto be turned aside by their authority from the plain and real sense of\nany portion of the Scriptures to allegories.\n\nBut much more wonderful is that which Moses here speaks concerning\n\"the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.\" For here we have to\ninquire, what this tree was, why it was so called and what would have\nbeen the consequence, or result, if there had not been this tree in\nparadise. Augustine and those who follow him rightly consider the\nmatter, when they observe that the tree was so called from that which\nwas shortly to take place and to be ordained concerning it; and from\nthe solemn consequences which followed. For Adam had been so created\nand the garden of Eden so planted and constituted that if any\ninconvenience had occurred to his natural body and life, he had a\nprotection against it and remedy for it in \"the tree of life,\" which\ncould preserve his powers and the perfection of his health at all\ntimes. Wherefore if Adam had thus remained in his innocency, wholly\nswallowed up in the goodness of his Creator and in the bountiful\nprovision which that goodness had made for him on every side and in\nevery way, he might have acknowledged God his Creator throughout that\nlife of innocence and might have governed all the beasts according to\nhis will, not only without the least painful toil or trouble, but also\nwith the highest pleasure. For all things had been so created as to\nafford man the extreme of pleasure and delight without the least\ndegree of evil or harm.\n\nAfter Adam therefore had been so created and so surrounded with every\nblessing that he was intoxicated as it were with joy in God and with\ndelight in all the other creatures around him, God then creates a new\ntree, a tree of knowledge and of distinction between good and evil, in\norder that Adam by means of that tree might have a certain sign of\nworship and reverence of God. For after all things had been delivered\ninto the hand of Adam that he might enjoy them according to his will\nor according to his pleasure, God next requires of him that by means\nof this \"tree of the knowledge of good and evil\" he should show his\nreverence and obedience towards God as his Creator; and that he should\nhold fast, as a sign of this exercise of his obedient worship of God,\nthat he would not taste any of the fruit of this tree; thus\nrefraining, as in obedience to God's prohibition.\n\nAll therefore that Moses has hitherto said have been things natural or\ndomestic, or political, or judicial, or medicinal. The present however\nis theological. For here the Word of God concerning this \"tree of the\nknowledge of good and evil\" is set before Adam, in order that by means\nof this tree he might have a certain outward sign of the worship of\nGod and of obedience to God, to be performed by him in his nature, as\nman, by the duty and service of an external work. Even as the Sabbath,\nof which we have spoken above, pertains more especially to the\nperformance of the internal and spiritual worship of God; such as\nfaith, love, calling upon God in prayer, etc.\n\nBut alas! alas! the true institution of this external worship and\nobedience toward God has been attended with the most disgraceful\nresults. For we find at the present day that the Word of God, than\nwhich nothing is more holy, nothing more blessed, is an offense unto\nthe wicked. Baptism also was instituted of Christ, as the washing of\nregeneration. But has not this divine institution become a great\nscandal and excitement of offense by means of various sects? Has not\nthe whole doctrine of baptism been distressingly corrupted? And yet,\nwhat was more necessary to us than this very institution of baptism?\nIt was most necessary in order that the animal man should have some\ncorrespondingly animal or outward worship; that is, some outward sign\nof worship and reverence of God, by which he might exercise an\nobedience towards God even in his body.\n\nThe present text therefore truly belongs to the church and to\ntheology. After God had given to man a polity or national government,\nand also an economy or the principles of domestic government, and had\nconstituted him king over all creatures, and had moreover appointed\nfor him as a protective remedy the tree of life, for the conservation\nof his corporeal or natural life, God now erects for him a temple as\nit were, that he might worship his Creator, and give thanks unto that\nGod who had bestowed upon him all these rich and bountiful blessings.\nSo at this day we have churches and an altar in them for the\ncelebration of the holy communion or supper of our Lord; we have\npulpits also, or elevated chairs, for teaching the people. And all\nthese things are thus prepared, not on account of necessity only, for\nthe sake of solemnity also. But this tree of the knowledge of good and\nevil was itself to Adam his church, his altar, his pulpit; near or\nunder which, as the place appointed of God, he might perform his acts\nof obedience to God, might acknowledge the Word and the Will of God,\nmight offer his thanks to God, and in which spot he might also call\nupon God in prayer against temptations.\n\nReason indeed vents its rage that this tree was ever created at all,\nbecause by means of it we have sinned and fallen under the wrath of\nGod and into death. But why does not reason on the same ground betray\nits rage that the Law was ever revealed by God at all, that the Gospel\nwas ever revealed afterwards by the Son of God? For have not offenses\nof errors and heresies, infinite, arisen on account both of the Law\nand of the Gospel?\n\nLet us therefore learn from this passage of Scripture that it was\nnecessary for man, being so created and constituted as to have all the\nrest of the living creatures in his hand and under his dominion, that\nhe should not only privately, but publicly also, acknowledge his\nCreator, should give thanks unto him, should offer him some public and\nexternal worship, and have a certain form and work of obedience. If\ntherefore Adam had not fallen, this tree would have been a common\ntemple or church, a sure palace to which all might have flocked. Thus\nit was afterwards, when nature was in her fallen and corrupt state,\nthe tabernacle in the wilderness and the temple at Jerusalem were\nplaces appointed for divine worship. As therefore this \"tree\"\neventually proved to be the cause of so awful a fall, it was rightly\ncalled by Moses \"the tree of the knowledge of good and evil,\" on\naccount of the horrible and miserable event which followed.\n\nTwo questions may here be raised as to whether this tree of life was\none only or whether there were more; and whether the Scripture which\nhere speaks in the singular number should be considered as speaking in\nthe plural; just as we, speaking collectively, use the expression \"the\npear,\" \"the apple,\" whereby we mean pears and apples generally; either\nof those fruits as kinds; not individual species or specimens of them.\nTo me it appears by no means absurd or out of the way that we should\nunderstand \"the tree of life,\" as a certain space in the middle of\nparadise, or a certain grove, in which many \"trees of life\" of the\nsame genus or kind grew, and were called by the same name, \"trees of\nlife.\" Hence it is probable that a certain grove was called\ncollectively \"the tree of life,\" which was a kind of sacred retreat,\nin which grew a number of trees of the same kind; namely, \"trees of\nthe knowledge of good and evil,\" concerning which God pronounced his\nprohibition, that Adam should not eat of any of them, and if he did he\nshould surely die the death. Not that there was anything in the nature\nof this tree, or of any one of these trees, to cause death; but such\nwas the Word of God pronounced concerning it or them, which Word of\nGod was ever attended with its efficacy to all creatures; and the\nefficacy of which Word still preserves all creatures, that they\ndegenerate not nor alter nor fail of their original form and intent;\nthat all creatures may be preserved in their original form and nature\nby an infinite propagation!\n\nHence it was that by the Word the rock in the desert gave forth its\nwaters in all their abundance, Ex. 17:6, and that by the same Word the\nbrazen serpent healed all those that looked unto it, Num. 21:9. By\nthis same efficacy of the Word of God's prohibition, this one tree or\nthis certain species of many trees in the middle of paradise killed\nAdam by his disobedience to that Word of God; not that the tree itself\nwas deadly in its own nature but because it was appointed by the Word\nof God to be so in its effects. In the same way also are we to\nunderstand the nature of the tree of life, of which God commanded Adam\nto eat as often as he needed to restore his powers. It was by the Word\nof God that the tree of life produced that restoration.\n\nTo reason indeed it seems absurd, that one apple could have such\ndeadly properties or produce such deadly effects as to destroy the\nwhole human race throughout its almost infinite succession; and that\ntoo with a death eternal. But this was not the nature or the effect of\nthe apple in itself. Adam did indeed force his teeth into the apple,\nbut his teeth struck in reality upon the sting in the apple, which\nsting was the prohibition of God, which made his bite to be\ndisobedience to God. This was the real cause of the mighty evil. Adam\nthus sinned against God, disregarded his commandment and obeyed Satan.\nThe tree of the knowledge of good and evil was in itself \"good,\" the\ntree which bore the most noble fruits. But as the prohibition of God\nwas attached to it and man disregarded that prohibition, the tree\nbecame the deadliest of all poisons.\n\nJust in the same manner as God has said, \"Thou shalt not steal,\" Ex.\n20:15, the man who touches the property of another as his own sins\nagainst God. So in Egypt when the Jews were commanded of God to ask\nsilver from their neighbors and to carry it away with them; that was\nno sin; they were justified by the command of God, to whom obedience\nis due, whatever be the issue or result. So also the suitor when he\nloves a virgin and has a strong desire of nature to possess her as his\nwife and marries her, committeth no adultery; though the Law of God\nforbids coveting and concupiscence. And the great reason is this,\nmatrimony is a divine institution and is a command of God to them who\ncannot live chastely without marriage. Just the same also is the\nnature of these two trees. The tree of life gives life, by virtue of\nthe Word which promises and ordains that life. \"The tree of the\nknowledge of good and evil\" produces death by virtue of the efficacy\nof the Word which prohibits the eating of it on the penalty of death\nin case of disobedience.\n\nThis latter tree however is called \"the tree of the knowledge of good\nand evil,\" Augustine says, because after Adam had sinned by eating of\nit he not only saw and experienced what good he had lost, but also\ninto what evil and misery he had been hurled by his disobedience. The\ntree therefore was in itself \"good,\" even as the divine commandment\nattached to it was \"good;\" that it should be to Adam a tree of divine\nworship, by which he should prove his obedience to God, even by an\nexternal act of service to him. But by reason of the sin which\nfollowed, the same tree became the tree of the curse. Moses now by\ndigressing a little proceeds to give a more extensive description of\nthe original \"garden!\"\n\nV. 10. _And a river went out of Eden to water the garden; and from\nthence it was parted, and became four heads._\n\nHere again the Latin version is in error, when it makes the proper\nname, Eden, an appellative. And here Origen and his followers are to\nbe condemned who have recourse in their usual way to allegories. For\nthe things here recorded by Moses as history, are facts. There\nactually was a great river in Eden, by which the whole garden was\nwatered. That river rising from the east of the garden divided itself\ninto four streams, that no part of the garden might remain unwatered.\nFor, as I have before observed, we are here to have in mind a large\nspace or portion of the earth; because this garden was so constituted\nthat it might be, as to its original design, an appropriate and\nperpetual habitation for Adam and his whole posterity, which was\nequally designed to be most extensive.\n\nVs. 11, 12. _The name of one is Pishon; that is it which compasseth\nthe whole land of Havilah, where there is gold; and the gold of that\nland is good; there is bdellium and the onyx stone._\n\nThis is one of the most difficult passages in the writings of Moses,\nand one which has given rise to the greatest offense in unholy minds.\nFor the real state of the facts recorded, as they are now before our\neyes, cannot be denied. The description here given by the sacred\nhistorian applies properly to India, which he here calls \"Havilah,\"\nthrough which the river Pishon, or the Ganges, flows. The other three\nrivers Gihon, Hiddekel and Phrath; that is, the Nile, the Tigris and\nthe Euphrates are also well known; and it is equally well known that\nthe Nile and the last two rivers have their sources very distant from\neach other. The great question therefore that naturally arises is,\nsince the whole world well knows how far distant these rivers are from\neach other, how can the account of Moses be reconciled with the facts,\nwhen he says that all these rivers issued from one fountain; that is,\nthat they flowed from one source in the garden of Eden toward the\neast? For with respect to the Nile, although its source is unknown,\nyet the arguments and proofs are plain that it flows from a region in\nthe south. Whereas it is quite certain that the Ganges and the Tigris\nand the Euphrates flow from the north; sources in the entirely\nopposite direction.\n\nThe account of Moses therefore militates against sense and fact as\nthey now are. This state of things has given occasion to many to form\nconjectures that Eden was the whole world. Though such conjectures are\ncertainly false, yet they would not of themselves, even if true,\nreconcile the statements of Moses, nor make all plain when he here\nsays that the source of all these rivers was one and the same. And\nalthough it is very probable that if Adam had remained in his\ninnocence and his posterity had greatly multiplied in that state of\ninnocency, God would have enlarged this garden correspondently; yet\neven that consideration would not justify the supposition that Eden\nwas the whole earth originally; for the sacred text most plainly\nseparates Eden from all the rest of the earth. What shall we say\ntherefore concerning this passage of Moses, contrary as it is to sense\nand experience, as things now are, and on that account so liable to\ncause offense being taken; especially since Origen and others have\nbuilt upon it so many marvelous and absurd fables? Some commentators\npretend that there is no difficulty at all nor any liability to\noffense being taken; and therefore they walk dryshod as it were over\nthis deep sea. Such lack of candor however is also highly unbecoming a\ncommentator.\n\nMy opinion on the matter, which indeed I have already given, is that\nparadise, which was very soon closed against man on account of sin,\nand afterwards totally destroyed and swept from the earth by the\nFlood, left not one trace or vestige of its original state remaining,\nwhich can now be discovered. I fully believe, as I have before stated,\nthat paradise did exist after the fall of Adam, and that it was known\nto his posterity; but that it was inaccessible to them on account of\nthe protection of the angel, who as the text informs us guarded Eden\nwith a flaming sword. The awful Deluge however destroyed all things.\nBy which also, as it is written, \"All the fountains of the great deep\nwere broken up,\" Gen. 7:11.\n\nWho can doubt therefore that the fountains of these rivers were also\nbroken up and confounded? As therefore since the Flood mountains exist\nwhere fields and fruitful plains before flourished, so there can be no\ndoubt that fountains and sources of rivers are now found where none\nexisted before and where the state of nature had been quite the\ncontrary. For the whole face of nature was changed by that mighty\nconvulsion. Nor do I entertain the least doubt that all those wonders\nof nature which are from time to time discovered, are the effects and\nrelics of that same awful visitation, the Deluge. In the metallic\nmines which are now explored are found large logs of wood, hardened\ninto stone; and in masses of stone themselves are perceived various\nforms of fishes and other animals. With the same confidence I also\nbelieve that the Mediterranean sea before the Deluge was not within\nthe land. My persuasion is that the position which it now occupies was\nformed by the effects of the terrible Flood. So also the space now\noccupied by the Red Sea was doubtless before a fruitful field, and\nmost probably some portion of this very garden. In like manner, those\nother large bays, the Gulf of Persia, the gulf of Arabia, etc., as\nthey now exist, are relic effects of the Deluge.\n\nWherefore we are by no means to suppose that the original source of\nthe rivers, of which we are now speaking, was the same as it is today.\nBut as the earth still exists and brings forth trees and their fruits,\netc., and yet these, if compared with those in their original and\nincorrupt state, are but miserable remnants as it were of those former\nriches which the earth produced when first created, so these rivers\nremain as relics only of those former noble streams; but certainly not\nin their primitive position; much less flowing from their original\nsources. In the same manner, how much excellency has perished from our\nbodies by sin! Wherefore the sum of the matter under discussion is\nthat we must speak of the whole nature since its corruption, as an\nentirely altered face of things; a face which nature has assumed,\nfirst by means of sin, and secondly by the awful effects of the\nuniversal Deluge.\n\nNor has God ceased to act still in the same way. When he punishes sins\nhe still curses at the same time the earth also. Thus in the prophet\nZephaniah, God threatens that he will consume the fowls of the air and\nthe fishes of the sea, Zeph. 1:3. Hence the fact is that many of our\nrivers have in this age a far less number of fishes than in the memory\nof our forefathers. The birds also are much fewer in number than they\nonce were, etc. God threatens also, Is. 13, that He will punish in\nthis same way the sins of Babylon. For when men are taken away by\nGod's judgments the beasts of the earth also disappear and monsters\nand destroying wild beasts alone remain, Is. 13:21, 22. For example\nCanaan was one of the most fruitful lands; but now it is said to be as\nit were a mere pickle-tub of unfruitful saltness, according to the\ndivine threatening in the 107th Psalm. If then such calamities are\ninflicted of God as the punishments of the particular sins of nations,\nwhat destructions and desolations must we consider the universal\npunishment of the Flood to have wrought?\n\nLet no one be offended therefore at Moses saying that four rivers,\nwhich are at this day widely distant from each other and have now\ndifferent fountains, flowed from one source in the garden of Eden. For\nas I have here repeatedly observed we are not to think that the form\nof the world now is the same as it was before the sin of Adam. Origen\nwas indeed of this opinion himself, and yet he turned aside to the\nvainest allegories.\n\nThe Nile indeed exists to this day, so does the Ganges. But as Virgil\nsays concerning the destruction of Troy, \"A cornfield now flourishes\nwhere Troy once stood,\" so if any one had seen the Nile and the other\ngreat rivers mentioned by Moses in their primitive beauty and glory he\nwould have beheld them to be far different from what they are now. For\nnot only are their sources altered, but their qualities and their\ncourses are also changed; just as all other creatures are also\ndeformed and corrupted. Hence it is that Peter affirms \"That the\nheaven must receive Christ until the times of the restitution of all\nthings,\" Acts 3:21. For Peter here intimates, that which Paul also\ntestifies, that the whole creation was subjected to vanity, Rom. 8:20,\nand that the restitution of all things is to be hoped for; the\nrestitution not of man only, but of the heaven and the earth, of the\nsun and of the moon, etc.\n\nMy answer therefore to all questioners upon the passage before us is:\nThere is the Nile, there is the Ganges and there are other rivers\nstill in existence; but they are not now such as they once were; they\nare not only confounded with respect to their sources, but altered as\nto their qualities also. In the same manner also man has indeed feet,\neyes and ears, just as they were created and formed in paradise; but\nall these same members are miserably corrupted and marred by sin. Adam\nbefore his sin had eyes the most bright, a smell of body the most\npure, refined, delicate and grateful; a body the most perfectly\nadapted to generation and to every purpose intended of God without the\nleast let, hindrance or obstruction in the performance of those\npurposes as services in obedience to God. But how far removed from all\nthis aptitude, this service and this natural vigor are all our members\nnow! Just the same is the present nature of these rivers and of the\nwhole creation if compared with its original state and condition.\n\nLet us look therefore in hope and faith for the \"restitution of all\nthings;\" not of the soul only, but of the body also; believing that we\nshall have in that day a body better and more noble even than it was\nwhen first created in paradise. For we shall not then be placed in a\nstate of animal life, subject by its nature to alteration and change;\nbut in the state and enjoyment of a spiritual life; that life, into\nwhich Adam would have been translated, if he had lived without sin.\nInto the hope of this life Christ brings us by the remission of sins;\nand thereby makes our condition better and higher than Adam enjoyed,\nbut lost in paradise.\n\nThe Hebrew verb SAB, which Moses here uses, has a very extensive\nmeaning; it signifies \"to go round,\" as watchmen go their round in a\ncity. Pishon, therefore, or the Ganges is still in existence, if you\nspeak of its mere name and stream; but if you consider its fertilizing\nand fructifying qualities, its various other properties and the course\nof its waters, even the remnants of the original noble river are not\nto be found.\n\nThe land of Havilah is India, situated towards the east. This country\nis celebrated both in the present passage and in other places in the\nScripture as most rich and abundant in every respect. So that at this\nday the gems and the gold of India are considered the most precious\nand most noble. I believe however, according to the phraseology here\nadopted by Moses, that in \"the land of Havilah\" is included Arabia\nFelix and other adjacent regions.\n\nWhen Moses speaks of bdellium and the onyx stone, I take these\nspecimens of gems for gems in general. For we find India to abound\neven at the present day, not only in jewels of the description\nmentioned, but in emeralds, sapphires, rubies, garnets, diamonds,\netc.; for I retain their appellations as they are now used among us.\nBut here again I would bring back your attention to that which I have\nbefore stated. Seeing that this region is endowed from above with such\na rich abundance of all things useful and precious; how much more\nrich, abundant, opulent and divinely favored must we conclude it to\nhave been in its original state before the sin of the fall! Its\npresent productions and contents can scarcely be called even remnants\nof its former excellency.\n\nVs. 13, 14. _And the name of the second river is Gihon; the same is it\nwhich compasseth the whole land of Cush. And the name of the third\nriver is Hiddekel; that is it which goeth toward the east of Assyria.\nAnd the fourth river is the Euphrates._\n\nMoses mentions the three remaining rivers by name only, giving no\nparticular descriptions in reference to them. Gihon is the Nile. This\nriver, as it runs through all Egypt, takes in its course, Cush or\nEthiopia also, as well as Egypt. Hiddekel is the Tigris (in Armenia),\nthe most rapid river of all. \"The fourth is the river Euphrates.\" As\nif he had added, the river near to us.\n\nIn this passage therefore we have a description of paradise with its\nfour rivers. But now it is utterly lost and unknown; and no traces of\nit exist except these four rivers. And even these, first rendered\nleprous as it were and corrupted and marred by sin; and then changed,\naltered and confounded in their sources and in their courses by the\nmighty Deluge.\n\nMoses now proceeds to describe how a law was given to Adam before Eve\nwas created, so that he might have a mode or form of external worship,\nby which to show his obedience and express his gratitude to God.\n\n\nPART III. THE INTRODUCTION OF MAN INTO THE GARDEN, THE COMMAND GOD\nGAVE HIM AND THE THREATENING GOD ATTACHED TO IT.\n\nI. V. 15. _And Jehovah God took the man, and put him into the garden\nof Eden to dress it and keep it._\n\nAfter God had created and variously adorned the universe of heaven and\nearth, he next prepared the garden of Eden, which he willed to be the\nhabitation and royal seat of man, to whom he had committed the\ngovernment over all other living creatures of the earth, the heaven\nand the sea. And now God places man in that garden as in a citadel and\na temple, from which he had liberty to go out and to walk abroad in\nany other part of the earth, which also was most fruitful and most\ndelightful; and there to amuse and delight himself with the beasts and\nother animals when and as he wished.\n\nAnd God gives to Adam a two-fold charge that he should work or till\nthis garden, and also that he should guard and defend it. Some faint\nvestiges of this original command yet remain in these miserable\nremnants of primitive things, which we still possess. For even to this\nday these two things must ever be joined together: not only that the\nearth should be tilled but also that the productions of that\ncultivation should be defended. But both these great principles are\ncorrupted and marred in an infinite number of forms. For not the\ntillage of the earth itself only but the defense of it also are filled\nwith every kind of misery and trouble. And what the cause of all this\nsorrow is will be fully clear to us shortly in the following chapter\nof this book. For we shall there see that this working or tillage of\nthe earth is defiled and embarrassed by thorns, by thistles, by the\nsweat of the brow and by various and unending misery. For, to say\nnothing about the labor and sorrow of procuring necessary food, what\ndifficulty, what labor attend even the bringing up a child from its\nbirth!\n\nIf Adam therefore had remained in his innocency he would have\ncultivated the earth and planted his beds of spices, not only without\ntoil or trouble but as an amusement, attended with exquisite pleasure.\nHis children when born would not long have needed the breast of their\nmother, but in all probability would have started on their feet, as we\nnow see chickens do by nature, and would have sought their own food\nfrom the fruits of the earth, without the helplessness or weakness and\nwithout any labor or sorrow of their parents! But now how great do we\nbehold to be the pain and misery of our birth, our infancy and our\ngrowth!\n\nIf we speak of food and the misery attending it, not only have beasts\nthe same general produce of the earth, now no longer an Eden, which we\nhave; but men defraud men of the same and rob them of it by theft and\nplunder. Hence hedges and walls and other strong defences are found\nnecessary for the protection of property; and even by these the\nproduce, we have obtained by the labor and sweat of cultivation, can\nscarcely be preserved in safety. Thus we have indeed a remnant of the\nlabor of cultivation, but very far different from the employ of the\noriginal tillage. Not merely because it is attended with the greatest\ntoil and distress, but because the ground itself, being as it were\nunwilling, yields sparingly; whereas to Adam it yielded as it were\nwith the greatest joy and with the richest abundance, whether he sowed\nhis seed within Eden itself or in any other part of the earth. There\nwas then no danger from plunderers and murderers. All was in perfect\npeace and safety.\n\nIn all these respects therefore we can form an idea of the mighty evil\nof sin; when we behold the thorns, the briers, the sweat of the brow,\netc., which are before us. Whichever way we turn the magnitude of that\nevil is ever present. Hence man did not fall by sin in soul only, but\nin body also; and both participate in the punishment. For labor is a\npunishment, which in the state of innocence was an amusement and a\npleasure. Even as now, in the present state of the misery of nature,\nif any one has a productive garden, neither digging nor sowing nor\nplanting is a labor, but a certain devoted employment and a delight.\nWhat then must have been this employment and delight in the garden of\nEden in the state of original innocence! How much more pleasurable and\nperfect!\n\nAnd here also we may reflect with profit that man was not created to\nidleness, but to labor; no, not even in the state of primitive\ninnocence. Wherefore every state of an idle or indolent life is\ncondemnable; such for instance as the life of monks and nuns.\n\nAs the original labor and employment of man were unattended with\nsorrow or distress, as we have shown, so also this guarding and\nprotecting of that which he possessed was full of pleasure and\ndelight; whereas now all such protection is full of labor and peril.\nAdam could have stopped or driven away even bears and lions by one\nsingle word. We have now indeed our means of defense, but they are\ntruly horrible; for we cannot do without swords and spears, and\ncannon, and walls, and ramparts, and castle-fosses, etc.; and even\nwith all these we and our loved ones scarcely abide in safety. Hence\nwe have scarcely the feeblest traces remaining either of the original\nwork or the original protection.\n\nOthers expound this passage differently, making it to mean, \"that God\nmight till and keep it.\" But the text speaks of human \"tilling\" and\nhuman \"keeping\" absolutely. So Cain just below, Gen. 4:2, is said to\nhave been \"a tiller of the ground.\" And in Job and Ecclesiastes kings\nare called tillers of the earth or husbandmen; not merely on account\nof their labor itself in tillage, but on account of their guardianship\nand protection. But as I have all along said, labor and protection are\nnow hard and difficult terms? But originally they were terms denoting\na certain delightful employment and exquisite pleasure.\n\nII. Ver. 16, 17a. _And Jehovah God commanded the man, saying, Of every\ntree of the garden thou mayest freely eat; but of the tree of the\nknowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it._\n\nHere we have the institution of the church before there was any\ndomestic government (_oeconomia_) or civil government (_politia_). For\nEve was not yet created. And the church is here instituted without any\nwalls or any pomp; in a place all open and most delightful. After the\nchurch was instituted domestic government (_oeconomia_) is\nestablished, when Eve is brought to Adam as his life-companion. Thus\nwe have at God's hand a church before a private house; the former of\nwhich indeed is greater and better than the latter.\n\nAnd as to civil government (_politia_); before sin there was none; nor\nwas it needed. For civil government is a necessary remedy for corrupt\nnature. Because the lust of men must be curbed by the chains and\npenalties of the laws, that it transgress not all bounds. Wherefore we\nmay properly term polity, or civil government, the established\n\"kingdom over sin,\" just as Paul also calls Moses the minister and the\nlaw the \"ministration of sin and of death,\" 2 Cor. 3:7, 8; Rom. 8:2.\nFor the one and special object of civil government is to prevent sin.\nHence Paul says, \"that the power beareth the sword\" and is \"the\navenger of evil doings,\" Rom. 13:4. If therefore, men had not become\nevil by sin there would have been no need of civil government; but\nAdam would have lived with his posterity in the greatest joy, peace\nand safety, and would have done more by the motion of one of his\nfingers than can now be effected by all the magistrates, all the\nswords and all the gallows of a kingdom. There would then have been no\nravisher, no murderer, no thief, no slanderer, no liar. And therefore\nwhat need would there have been of civil government, which is as it\nwere the sword, the caustic and the terrible medicine, which are\nnecessary to cut off and burn out noxious members of the state, that\nits other members may be saved and preserved.\n\nAfter the establishment of the church therefore in paradise is\ncommitted unto Adam the government of his family. The church is thus\nfirst instituted by God, that he might show by this as a sign that man\nwas created to another and a higher end than any of the other living\ncreatures. And as the church is thus instituted by the Word of God, it\nis certain that Adam was created by an immortal and spiritual life to\nwhich he would assuredly have been translated and conveyed without\ndeath after he had lived in Eden and the other parts of the earth to\nhis full satiety of life, yet without trouble or distress. And in that\nlife there would have been none of that impure lust which now\nprevails. The love of sex for sex would have been uncontaminated and\npure. Generation would have proceeded without any sin or impurity, in\na holy obedience unto God. Mothers would have brought forth children\nwithout pain, and children themselves would have been brought up\nwithout any of that misery and labor and distress with which they are\nnow always reared.\n\nBut who can find language capable of describing the glory of that\nstate of innocency, which we have lost? There certainly still remains\nin nature a desire of the male for the female. There also proceed the\nfruits of generation. But the whole is attended with a horrible\nimpurity of lust, and with overwhelming pains of parturition. To all\nthis are added turpitude, shame and confusion even between man and\nwife when they would enjoy their lawful embrace. In a word, even here\nand in all things else, is present the unspeakable awfulness of\noriginal sin. Creation indeed is \"good.\" The blessing of fruitfulness\nupon creation is \"good.\" But all these things are corrupted and\nspoiled, by sin. So that even man and wife cannot enjoy them without\nshame and confusion of face. Whereas none of these things would have\nhad existence if the innocency of Adam had continued. But as husbands\nand wives eat and drink together without any shame; so there would\nhave been a singular and heavenly purity without any shame or\nconfusion of feeling, either in generation or in parturition. But I\nreturn to Moses.\n\nThe church was originally instituted, as I have observed, before there\nwas any house or family or domestic government. For the Lord, we here\nfind, preaches to Adam and sets before him the Word. On that Word,\nthough so short, it highly becomes us here to pause awhile and dwell.\nFor this sermon of God to Adam would have been to him and to us all,\nhis posterity, had we continued in the original innocence, a whole\nBible as it were. And did we, or could we, possess that sermon now we\nshould have no need of paper, ink and pens, nor of that infinite\nmultitude of books, which we now require to teach us knowledge and\nwisdom. The whole contents of these books put together, could we grasp\nthem in our minds, would not put us in possession of one-thousandth\npart of that wisdom, which Adam possessed in paradise. Could we attain\nto the sum of all the wisdom in all the world, this short sermon would\nswallow up and overflow the whole. It would show us in all plainness\nand fullness, as if painted on a tablet, that infinite goodness of God\nwhich created this nature of ours pure, holy and perfect; and it would\nshow us with equal plainness all those impurities, calamities and\nsorrows, which have since overwhelmed us by the inbursting of sin.\n\nSince therefore, as the text shows, Adam alone heard this sermon from\nGod, it must have been preached to him on the sixth day, and Adam must\nhave afterwards communicated it to Eve on the same day. And if they\nhad not sinned Adam would have set this remarkable sermon or precept\nbefore his whole posterity also; and by it they would have become the\nmost profound divines, the most learned lawyers and the most\nexperienced physicians. Now there exists an infinite number of books\nby which men are trained to be theologians, lawyers and physicians.\nBut all the knowledge we can obtain by the help of all these books\ntogether can scarcely be called the dregs of science, if compared with\nthat fund of wisdom which Adam drew from this one sermon of God. So\nutterly corrupted are all things by original sin.\n\nThis \"tree of the knowledge of good and evil,\" therefore, or this\nplace in which a number of trees like unto it were planted, would have\nbeen, as we have said, a church, where Adam and his posterity, had he\nand they continued in their innocency, would have assembled on the\nSabbath day; and Adam, after refreshment derived from the \"tree of\nlife,\" would have preached God to those assembled, and would have\npraised him for the dominion which he had given them over all other\ncreatures he had made. The 148th and 149th Psalms set forth a certain\nform of such praise and thanksgiving, where the sun, the moon, the\nstars, the fishes and the dragons are called upon to praise the Lord.\nBut there is no one psalm so beautiful, but that any one of us might\ncompose one far more excellent and more perfect, if we had been born\nof the seed of Adam in his state of original innocence. Adam would\nhave preached that highest of all blessings, that he had been created\nin and that his posterity bore the image and the similitude of God. He\nwould have exhorted them all to live a holy life without sin, to till\nthe garden in which God had placed them with all industry, to keep it\nwith all diligence, and to guard with all caution against tasting the\nfruit of the \"tree of the knowledge of good and evil.\" This external\nplace, form, worship and preaching of the Word, man would most\ncertainly have observed on the Sabbath. Afterwards he would have\nreturned to his duties of laboring and guarding until the time\nappointed of God had been fulfilled, in which he should be translated\nwithout any death and with all sweetness to heaven.\n\nWe must now speak of all these blessings however as a lost treasure,\nand we are deservedly left to sigh for that day, when all these things\nshall be restored. It is nevertheless most profitable to remember the\nblessings we have lost, and to feel the evils we suffer and in the\nmidst of which we live, in so much wretchedness that we may be thereby\nstirred to look for that redemption of our bodies, of which the\napostle speaks, Rom. 8:23. For as to our souls we are already freed\nand delivered by Christ; and we hold that deliverance in faith until\nthe \"end of our faith\" shall be revealed, 1 Pet. 1:19.\n\nIt is moreover very profitable to consider from this text that God\ngave unto Adam a Word, a worship and a religion, the most simple, most\npure and most disencumbered of all laborious forms and sumptuous\nappearance. For God did not command the sacrificing of oxen, nor the\nburning of incense, nor long and loud prayers, nor any other\nafflictions or wearyings of the body. All that he willed was, that\nAdam should praise him, should give him thanks, and should rejoice in\nhim as the Lord his God; obeying him in this one great thing that he\nate not the fruit of the forbidden tree.\n\nOf this worship we have indeed some remnants restored to us in a\ncertain measure by Christ, even amidst all this infirmity of our\nflesh. We also are enabled to praise God and to give him thanks for\nevery blessing of the soul and of the body. But too true it is, that\nthese are but very remnants of the original worship of Eden. But when,\nafter this miserable life, we shall come among the company of angels,\nwe shall then offer unto God a purer and holier worship. And there are\nalso other remnants of this original felicity still vouchsafed unto\nus; that by the blessing of marriage we avoid and prevent adulteries;\nthat this corporeal life has not only food, though procured with\ninfinite labor, but a protection and a defense of that which we\npossess, secured unto us against all the evils and dangers which\nsurround us on every side. These are indeed merciful remnants, still\nthey are but miserable remnants if compared with the original\nblessedness and security.\n\nMoreover, brethren, ye are here to be admonished against false\nprophets, through whom Satan endeavors by various means to corrupt\nsound doctrine. I will give you an example of this in my own case, and\njust show you how I was tormented by a fanatical spirit when I first\nbegan to preach this doctrine, which I am now setting forth in my\nComments on the passage before us. The text indeed uses a Hebrew verb\nsignifying \"to command;\" \"And Jehovah God commanded the man.\" Yet this\nagent of Satan argued, and drew his conclusion thus:--\"The Law is not\nmade for a righteous man.\" Adam was a righteous man; therefore, the\nLaw was not made for Adam; because, he was a righteous man. Upon this\nargument he immediately pinned another; that this sermon of God\ntherefore was not a law but an admonition only; and that,\nconsequently, \"where there was no law there was, as Paul affirms, no\ntransgression.\" And from this argument, that \"where there is no law\nthere is no transgression,\" he crept on to the conclusion, therefore,\nthere was no original sin; the truth of which doctrine he consequently\ndenied. By thus connecting together these two passages of Scripture he\ngained, as he considered, a marvelous victory, and he publicly\ndisplayed his triumph as if he had discovered a treasure hitherto\nunknown to the world. Now it is profitable thus to mark the mighty\nattempts of Satan, that we may learn to meet them with wisdom and\nskill.\n\nBoth the above passages, that the \"Law is not made for a righteous\nman;\" and that \"where there is no law there is no transgression\" are\nfound in the Epistles of Paul, 1 Tim. 1:9, and Rom. 4:15. And it is\nthe business of a sound and skillful logician in divine things, to\nmark carefully the aims and the devices of the devil; because our\nsophistical reasoners, his miserable slaves, use them after him. They\npretend indeed to found their arguments on Scripture. For they know\nthat it would appear perfectly ridiculous to thrust upon men's minds\nnothing but their own dreams. But they do not cite Scripture wholly\nand honestly; they seize upon those parts of it only which seem at\nfirst to make for them; but those portions which stand against them,\nthey either craftily pass over or corrupt by cunningly devised\ninterpretations.\n\nThus when Satan found that Christ trusted in the mercy of God under\nhis great hunger, he attempted to draw him into a forbidden\nconfidence, Math. 4:3, 4. And again, in the matter of his standing on\nthe pinnacle of the Temple, the devil tried to make him tempt God; by\nquoting to him a passage seemingly adopted for his purpose, Ps.\n91:11-12, \"He shall give his angels charge concerning thee; and in\ntheir hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy\nfoot against a stone.\"\n\nNow that portion of the passage in the psalm, which was contrary to\nhis purpose, Satan craftily passed over, \"to keep thee, in all thy\nways.\" Here lies the whole force of this Scripture, that this\nguardianship of angels is promised to us \"in all our ways\" or \"in our\nlawful calling\" only. Christ in all divine wisdom sets before Satan\nthis as the true meaning of the sacred text, when he replies to his\nface in this precept, \"Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.\" By this\nChrist signifies that the \"way\" of man is not in the air, but that was\nthe \"way\" of the flying fowls; but that the \"way\" of man was the steps\nwhich led from the roof of the temple to the ground; and which were\nmade for the end that there might be a descent from the top of the\ntemple to the bottom, easy and without peril. When therefore we are in\nour lawful calling and duty, whether that duty be commanded of God or\nof men, which latter have a right to prescribe the duty of our\ncalling, while we are thus \"in our ways,\" then we may assuredly\nbelieve the guardianship of angels will not fail us.\n\nThe above example therefore will furnish a very useful rule to be\nobserved in our disputations with these fanatical tools of Satan. For\nthose who are not on their guard are often deceived when crafty men\ntransfer their arguments, after their own manner, from connected to\nunconnected portions of the Scripture; or adopt dishonest connections\nor divisions of the sacred text; but adduce not passages in their\nintegral state as they stand in the Word. Now this is the very method\nadopted in the present case by my adversary, when he argues as above\nfrom these two detached portions, \"That law is not made for a\nrighteous man,\" and \"Where there is no law, there is no\ntransgression.\" He who is not on the watch-tower of wisdom and caution\nhere is entangled before he is aware of it, and drawn into the\nhorrible conclusion, that there was no real sin in eating the first\napple; because, as our crafty opponents would argue, there was no law;\nand, as they further argue, which is indeed true in itself, because\n\"where there is no law there is no transgression.\"\n\nAnd I am by no means certain that some even in our day have not been\ndeceived by this very argument of the devil. For they so speak of\noriginal sin as to make it not a sin itself, but a punishment of sin\nonly. Hence Erasmus, discussing this point with his famous eloquence,\nobserves, \"Original sin is a punishment, inflicted on our first\nparents, which we their posterity are compelled to bear for another's\nfault, without any desert of our own. Just as the son of an harlot is\nforced to endure the infamy, not by his own fault but by that of his\nmother. For what sin could any man commit who had as yet no\nexistence?\" These sentiments flatter human reason, but they are full\nof impiety and blasphemy.\n\nWherein then is the syllogism of our crafty adversary unsound? It is\nbecause, according to Satan's common artifice, the text on which it is\nfounded is not quoted entirely, but most perfidiously mutilated. For\nthe whole text stands thus, \"The law is not made for a righteous man,\nbut for murderers, for adulterers,\" etc., etc. Wherefore nothing can\nbe more evident, nothing else can be concluded than that the apostle\nPaul is here speaking of that Law which God revealed unto man after\nsin was in the world; not of that law, which the Lord gave unto Adam\nin paradise, while he was yet righteous and innocent. The Law, says\nPaul, \"was not made for a righteous man;\" wherefore it insubvertibly\nfollows, that the Law of which Paul speaks was given to nature, when\nnot innocent, but sinning and liable to sin.\n\nIs it not then the height of wickedness thus to confound passages of\nScripture in causes of such solemn moment? Adam after his sin was not\nthe same as he was before, when in his state of innocency. And yet\nthese men make no difference between the law delivered to man before\nsin and the Law delivered to man after sin. But what the apostle says\nconcerning the Law, which was delivered to the world after it was\nfilled with sin, these instruments of Satan, lyingly and with the\ngreatest blasphemy, transfer and apply to the law, delivered to Adam\nin paradise. Whereas, if no sin had existed the law prohibiting sin\nwould not have existed. For as I have said above, civil government and\nlaws, or cauteries, and the sword, and the \"schoolmaster,\" as Paul\nterms \"the Law,\" would not have been needed in a state of innocent\nnature. But the boy because he is now bad needs the \"schoolmaster\" and\nthe rod. So the prince, because he has disobedient citizens, equally\nneeds the crown-officer and the executioner. It is of this law that\nPaul is really speaking; the law which nature when corrupted by sin\nneeded.\n\nWith respect to the need which Adam had of this commandment of God\nconcerning the \"tree of the knowledge of good and evil,\" I have shown\nthat need above. It was that Adam might have a settled external\nworship of God and a work of external obedience towards him to perform\nstatedly. Thus the angel Gabriel is without sin, a creature most pure\nand innocent, and yet he received a commandment from God to inform\nDaniel concerning things of the utmost importance, and to announce to\nthe virgin Mary that she was to be the mother of Christ promised to\nthe fathers. These are positive commandments, given to a creature\nperfectly innocent.\n\nIn the same manner there is here a commandment given of the Lord to\nAdam before his sin that he should not eat of the \"tree of the\nknowledge of good and evil,\" which commandment Adam would have\nfulfilled willingly and with the highest pleasure, had he not been\ndeceived by the craft of Satan. But Paul is referring to quite another\nlaw; for he is plainly speaking of a law which was given, not to the\nrighteous, but to the unrighteous. Who is there, then, so stupid or so\ninsane, who will after all conclude that a law was not given to Adam\nbecause he hears us affirm that Adam was a righteous man? For no other\nconclusion can follow than that the law, which was made for the\nunrighteous, was not the law that was given to the righteous Adam; and\non the converse it must follow that as a law was given to righteous\nAdam, that law was not the same as the law which was afterwards made\nfor the unrighteous.\n\nThere is therefore in this syllogism or argument of our adversary, the\ntwo-fold unsoundness of unjust connection and unjust division. There\nis in it moreover a double equivocation. The first is in not making it\nplain that the law before sin is one thing, and the law after sin\nanother. And in the second place, the equivocation lies in not making\nit equally plain, that the righteous man before sin and the righteous\nman after sin are each righteous, but in a different sense; that the\none is righteous by nature the other by new-creation and\njustification.\n\nIt is most useful to examine thus the arguments and reasonings of our\nadversaries, and in this manner to apply the science of sound logic to\ngood purpose in these momentous discussions. For the arts of logic\nwere not seriously intended to be used in the dead disputation of the\nschool only; but that the gravest and most sacred subjects might by\nthem be soundly explained and taught. And it is by the very false\nreasoning now in question, that Satan does a great deal of business in\ndenying original sin. Whereas to deny original sin, is to deny\nvirtually the passion and resurrection of Christ.\n\nLet the passage of the apostle Paul therefore, 1 Tim. 1:9, hinder us\nnot from determining with Moses in the text now before us, that a law\nwas here commanded of God to Adam though a righteous man, \"That he\nshould not eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil,\" in the\nsame way as commandments were also given to angels. And because Adam\ntransgressed this commandment he sinned, and begat and propagated his\nchildren after him also sinners.\n\nIII. V. 17b. _For in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt\nsurely die._\n\nThis penal threat also thus expressly added proves that it was a law,\nnot an admonition, that was given to Adam. And it moreover shows that\nAdam was created in a state of innocence and righteousness. For as yet\nthere was no sin in existence because God did not create sin. If Adam\ntherefore had obeyed this command he would never have died, for death\nentered into the world by sin. All the rest of the trees of paradise\ntherefore were created to the end that they might aid and preserve\nunto man his animal life, sound and whole, and without the least evil\nor inconvenience.\n\nNow it naturally appears wonderful to us at this day, that there\nshould have been an animal life without any death and without any\nevils or accidental causes of death, which now abound, such as\ndiseases, boils and fetid redundancies, in bodies, etc., etc. The\nreason is that no part of the body in the state of innocency was foul\nor impure. There was no unpleasantness in the evacuations or\nsecretions. There were no impurities whatever. Everything was most\nbeautiful and delightful. There was no offense to any of the organs or\nsenses. And yet the life was an animal life. Adam ate, digested,\nperformed the functions of, and managed and regulated, his body. And\nhad he continued in his innocence he would have done all these and\nother things the animal life does and requires, until he had been\ntranslated to the spiritual and eternal life.\n\nFor this deathless translation also we have lost by sin. And now,\nbetween this present and a future life, there exists that awful medium\npassage, death. That passage, in the state of innocence, would have\nbeen most delightful; and by it Adam would have been translated to the\nspiritual life, or as Christ calls it in the Gospel, the life \"as the\nangels in heaven,\" Math. 12:25; in which state all animal actions\ncease. For in the resurrection we shall neither eat nor drink nor are\ngiven in marriage. So with respect to Adam, all animality would have\nceased and a spiritual life in glory would have followed; even as we\nalso believe it will be with us \"in the resurrection\" through Christ.\nSo also Adam would have put off his childhood glory of innocence, if I\nmay so term his natural life of innocency, and would have put on his\nheavenly glory. He would have done with all inferior actions, which\nhowever, in that childhood glory of innocency, would have been pure\nand unattended with that sorrow which mars all things since the fall;\nand would have been translated from his infantine glory of created\ninnocence, to that manhood of glorious innocence, which angels enjoy;\nand which we also who believe shall enjoy in the life to come.\n\nI call Adam's primitive, creative innocence the childhood of glorious\ninnocency, because Adam, if I may so speak, was in a middle state, or\na state of neutrality or liability; in a state where he could be\ndeceived by Satan; and could fall into that awful calamity into which\nhe did fall. But such a peril of falling will not exist in that state\nof perfect manhood of glorified innocency, which we shall enjoy in the\nfuture and spiritual life. And this indeed is that which is signified\nin this threat of punishment. \"For in the day that thou eatest thereof\nthou shalt surely die.\" As if the Lord had said, thou mayest remain\nindeed, if thou obey me, in this life, in which I have created thee;\nyet thou wilt not even then, be immortal, as the angels are. It is a\nlife placed as it were in a middle, neutral or liable, state. Thou\nmayest remain in it by obedience, and afterwards be translated into an\nimmortality, which cannot be lost. On the other hand if thou shalt not\nobey me, thou shalt fall into death and shalt lose that immortality.\n\nThere is a great difference therefore between the created spiritual\nstate of angels and the created natural innocency of Adam. Angels as\nthey now are cannot fall, but Adam could fall; for Adam was created in\na state in which he might become immortal, that is, in which he might\ncontinue in his original innocency without death, for he was free from\nall sin and stood in a condition from which he might be translated out\nof the childhood glory of original innocency into the manhood glory of\nimmortality, in which he could never sin afterwards. On the other\nhand, Adam could fall out of this childhood glory of natural innocence\ninto sin, the curse and death, as indeed it sadly happened. Adam was\nin a state of natural immortality, or which might have been a natural\nimmortality, because he had recourse to certain created trees, the\nvirtue of whose fruits produced preservation of life. But this natural\nimmortality was not so secured to him, as to render it impossible for\nhim to fall into mortality.\n\nWhy God willed to create man in this middle, neutral or liable state\nis not for us to explain or curiously to inquire. Equally impossible\nis it for us to say and unlawful to ask, why man was so created that\nall mankind should be propagated from one man by generation, while\nangels were not so created. For angels generate not nor are\npropagated, because they live a spiritual life; but the counsel of God\nin the creation of man is worthy the highest admiration, in that he\ncreated him to an animal life and to corporeal actions, which also the\nother animals have, and gave him also a power of intellect, which\nindeed the angels also possess. So that man is a compound being, in\nwhom are united the brute and the angelic natures.\n\nMoreover, as we have here come to consider the nature of angels, we\nmust not keep back the written opinions of some of the fathers, that\nthere is a certain similarity between the creation of man and that of\nangels. This similarity however cannot be extended to the properties\nof generation, which in the spiritual nature has no existence, but to\nthe imperfection that subsisted in each nature as to liability to\nfall. For since man, as I have shown, was created in a kind of a\nmiddle, or liable or pendent state, so also angels when first created\nwere not so confirmed in their natural standing that they could not\nfall. Hence it is that Christ says concerning the devil, that he\n\"abode not in the truth,\" John 8:44. On these grounds the holy fathers\nsupposed that a battle or sedition arose between the angels, some of\nthose beings taking the part of some very beautiful angel, who exalted\nhimself above all the rest on account of certain superior gifts\nbestowed upon him. These things are very probable nor are they at\nvariance with that which Christ here affirms by the Evangelist John,\nthat the devil \"abode not in the truth;\" nor are they inconsistent\nwith that which Jude also affirms in his epistle, that the angels\n\"kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation,\" Jude 6.\n\nIn confirmation of these sentiments, the fathers adduce the passage,\nIs. 14:12, 13. But with reference to Isaiah, he is evidently speaking\nof the king of Babylon, who wished to sit in the throne of God, that\nis, to rule over his holy people and his temple.\n\nWhether, therefore, there really was this dissension and war among the\nangels, or whether, which is more agreeable to my views, certain proud\nangels, filled with envy and taking offense at the humility of the Son\nof God, wished to exalt themselves above him, it is quite certain that\nthe angels also like man were in such a state of innocence as could be\naltered. After the evil angels however had been judged and condemned,\nthe good angels were so confirmed in their standing that they could\nnot sin after that confirmation, for they were all elect angels, but\nthe reprobate angels were cast out.\n\nSo also, if the great dragon, or the evil angels, mentioned in\nRevelations, had continued in their innocence, they also would\nafterwards have been confirmed therein and could never have fallen.\nThe fathers, speaking on this subject, hold that the elect angels were\ncreated in righteousness and were afterwards confirmed therein; but\nthat those who fell, \"abode not in the truth,\" John 8:44. But we are\nnot to think that the angels are few in number, for Christ affirms,\nLuke 11:18, that Satan has a kingdom, and that he is as the chief one\namong robbers and governs all things in his kingdom by his authority\nand counsels; and it is also said, in the same chapter that the devils\nor evil angels have their prince Beelzebub, who was at the head of\nthis sedition in heaven.\n\nBut there has arisen a question here, in the discussion of which the\nbooks of all the sophists are idly employed, and after all they\nexplain nothing. The question to which I allude is, \"What was original\nrighteousness?\" Some make it a certain quality, others give different\ndefinitions. We however following Moses, will define original\nrighteousness to be so termed, because man was originally created\nrighteous, true and upright; not in body only, but especially in soul,\nand because he acknowledged God; because he obeyed him with the utmost\npleasure; because he understood the works of God without any\ninstruction concerning them. This last faculty of Adam is wonderfully\nexemplified by the fact, that when he had been in a profound sleep and\nGod had formed Eve out of one of his ribs, the moment he awoke he\nrecognized Eve as the work of God, saying \"This is now bone of my\nbones.\" Was not this a marvelous proof of intellect, thus at the first\nsight to know and comprehend the work of God?\n\nFrom this same original righteousness also it arose that Adam loved\nGod and his works with all purity of affection; that he lived among\nthe creatures of God in peace without any fear of death or any dread\nof disease, and that he enjoyed a body also the most obedient to the\nwill of God, without any evil desires and utterly free from that\nimpure lust, which we continually feel. So that a most beautiful and\nmost certain picture of original righteousness may be portrayed from\nits entire contrast to that deep corruption, which we now feel\nthroughout our whole nature.\n\nWhen human reasoners speak of original sin, they consider only its\nwretched and unclean lust or concupiscence. But original sin is in\ntruth the entire fall of the whole human nature. The intellect is so\ndarkened that we can no longer understand God and his will, nor\nperceive nor acknowledge the works of God. Moreover the will is so\nwonderfully depraved that we cannot trust in the mercy of God nor fear\nGod, but living in security and unconcern, we disregard the Word of\nGod and his will and follow the concupiscence and violent lusts of the\nflesh. The conscience also is no longer at peace and in quiet, and\nwhen it thinks of the judgments of God it sinks into despair, and\nseeks and follows after unlawful supports and remedies. And all these\nsins are so deeply rooted in our nature that they cannot be entirely\neradicated through our whole life. And yet these miserable sophistical\nreasoners do not touch upon these deep corruptions even in word. But\nby taking this true view of original sin, it clearly demonstrates,\naccording to the nature of correlative proofs, what original sin\nreally was by its awful contrariety to that original righteousness.\nThus it is evident that original sin is the essential and entire loss\nand deprivation and absence of original righteousness; just as\nblindness is the privation or absence of sight.\n\nYes! the divine matters of original sin and original righteousness\nextend much more widely and deeply than is imagined by the monks, who\nunderstand original righteousness only as it refers to sexual\nchastity. Whereas they ought first to look at the soul of man as the\nseat of all sin and corruption and then turn to the body, and view it\nas deriving all its defilement and pollution from the soul. With\nreference to the soul the great proof of its fallen state under\noriginal sin is, that we have lost the knowledge of God; that we do\nnot always and everywhere give thanks unto him; that we do not rejoice\nin the works of his hands and all his doings; that we do not wholly\ntrust in him; that we begin to hate and blaspheme him whenever he\nvisits our sins with deserved punishments; that in our dealings with\nour neighbor we follow our own interests, desires and objects, and are\nplunderers, thieves, adulterers, murderers, cruel, unkind, unmerciful.\nThe ragings of lust are indeed a certain part of original sin, but\nthose sins and corruptions of the soul, unbelief, ignorance of God,\ndespair, hatred, blasphemy, of which calamities of the soul Adam knew\nnothing in his state of innocence.\n\nAnd in addition to these reflections, the numberless punishments of\noriginal sin are to be contemplated. For whatever is now lost of those\nendowments with which Adam was created and gifted, while his nature\nwas yet unfallen, is rightly considered the consequence of original\nsin. Adam for instance was of a most perfect and sagacious intellect.\nFor the moment that Eve was presented to him he understood that she\nwas his own flesh. He had also the most minute knowledge of all the\nother creatures. He was not only just and upright, but of a most\nperfect and wonderful understanding in all things. He had moreover a\nmost upright will, yet not a perfect will; for perfection itself was\ndeferred from the state of the animal life to that of the spiritual\nand eternal life. Let these comments suffice upon the sacred text\nbefore us, Vs. 16 and 17, in which the church is constituted. Moses\nnow proceeds to marriage and domestic government (_oeconomia_).\n\n\nPART IV. THE CREATION OF EVE.\n\nV. 18. _And Jehovah God said, It is not good that the man should be\nalone; I will make him an helpmeet for him (which may be before him)._\n\nWe have just seen how the church was constituted by the Word and by\nthe establishment of a certain day, place and order of worship. For\ncivil government (_politia_) there was as yet no need, while nature\nwas innocent and without sin. Now domestic government (_oeconomia_) is\ninstituted. For God now makes the solitary Adam a husband by giving\nhim a wife and uniting her to him of whom Adam had need also for the\ngeneration and multiplication of the human race. And as we have\nobserved above with reference to the creation of Adam that God created\nhim with deep purpose of mind and counsel, some here see that Eve also\nwas created with profound counsel and wisdom of design. By all this\nMoses would show that man was a singularly excellent creature and that\nhe partook both of the human and the divine natures, of divinity and\nimmortality. Man therefore is a more excellent creature than the\nheaven or the earth or any other creature which God made.\n\nAnd Moses would also impress us with reference to the other part of\nhuman nature, namely, woman, that she also was created with a peculiar\ncounsel and design of God. And the object of Moses in this particular\npoint of his divine instruction is, to show that this sex also had\ngreat concernment, in that state of animal but innocent life, in which\nAdam was created, and in that state of a spiritual and eternal life\nalso, which he expected. For the female sex was necessary for the\ngeneration and multiplication of the human race. Hence it follows that\nif the woman had not been deceived by the serpent and had not sinned,\nshe would have been in all respects equal to Adam. For her now being\nsubject to her husband is the punishment laid upon her of God since\nsin and on account of sin; as are also all her other troubles and\nperils, her labor and pain in bringing forth children, with an\ninfinite number of other sorrows. Woman therefore is not now what Eve\nwas at her creation. The condition of woman then was inconceivably\nbetter and more excellent than now; she was then in no respect\nwhatever inferior to Adam, whether you consider the endowments of her\nbody or those of her mind.\n\nBut we may here inquire when God says, \"It is not good that the man\nshould be alone,\" what is that \"good\" of which God is speaking, seeing\nthat Adam was righteous and had no need of the woman as we have, who\nbear about with us our flesh all leprous with sin? My reply is, that\nGod is speaking of a common \"good,\" or the good of the species; not of\npersonal good. All personal good Adam already possessed. He enjoyed\nperfect innocency. But the common good of which all other animals\npartook, he possessed not. He could not propagate his species by\ngeneration. Adam was alone. Nor had he as yet a companion for that\nwonderful work of generation and the preservation of his species. The\n\"good\" therefore here divinely expressed, signifies the multiplying of\nthe human race. In the same manner also Adam, although innocent and\nrighteous, did not as yet possess that high good to which he was\ncreated; namely, a spiritual and glorious immortality, to which he\nwould have been translated of God in his appointed time, if he had\ncontinued in his innocency. The meaning of \"good\" therefore in the\ntext is, that Adam being himself a most beautiful creature possessed,\nas far as his own person was concerned, everything he could require.\nBut there was yet wanting to him one thing, the \"good\" of God's\n\"blessing;\" the generating and multiplying of his species; for he was\nalone.\n\nNow, as nature is corrupted by sin, woman is necessary, not only for\nthe multiplying of the human race but also for the companionship, help\nand protection of life. For domestic government needs the ministration\nof women. Nay, such is our wretchedness by the fall of Adam, that, to\nour shame and sorrow be it confessed, we have need of woman as a\nremedy against sin. Wherefore, in contemplating woman, we must\nconsider not only the place in domestic government which she fills,\nbut the remedy for sin, which God has made her to supply; as the\napostle Paul says, \"To avoid fornication, let every man have his own\nwife,\" 1 Cor. 7:2. And a certain master of divine sentiments also\neloquently observes, \"Marriage was instituted in paradise as a duty\nand an obedience to God; but since the fall it is a remedy also for\nsin.\" Wherefore we are obliged to adopt a union with this sex to avoid\nsin. This is indeed a sad and disgraceful confession to make; but it\nis the truth. For there are very few now who take unto themselves\nwives, purely as a duty of obedience to God; according to his original\nwill in the creation of man as male and female!\n\nOther animals however have no necessity of this kind. Therefore they\nas a rule come together once in the year only, and are contented with\nthat intercourse, as if by this fact they said, \"We come together as a\nduty to God!\" But it is far different with men. They are compelled to\nhave recourse to their union with wives in matrimony to avoid sin.\nHence we generate and are born in the midst of sins on both sides. For\nour parents do not come together as a pure duty to God, but as a\nremedy also, for the sake of avoiding sin.\n\nAnd yet it is by means of this very remedy and by this very miserable\nstate of things, that God fulfils his original blessing pronounced\nupon male and female when he created them. And thus men, though in sin\nand with sin, generate and are generated. But this would not have been\nthe case in paradise, had man continued in the innocency of his\noriginal creation. Generation in that state would have been a most\nholy yielding of obedience to God, utterly free from that impure lust\nwhich now exists. And children would have been born in original\nrighteousness and rectitude. They would have known God immediately at\ntheir birth, without any instruction or admonition. They would have\nspoken of his holy name, praised him and given him thanks.\n\nBut all these glorious things are now lost. Yet it is profitable to us\nto think upon them deeply, that we may hold fast some sense of the\nreal state in which we now are; namely, under all the effects of\noriginal sin; and that we may rightly contemplate also the original\ncondition of Adam, a state of perfect righteousness, which state we\nhope again to enjoy in all its blessedness at the \"restitution of all\nthings,\" Acts 3:21.\n\nWith respect to the divine expression, \"Let us make,\" I have already\nobserved that Eve was created, as well as Adam, by a peculiar counsel\nof God, in order that it might be manifest that she was a partaker\nwith him of a better and an immortal life; a hope not possessed by any\nof the other living creatures, who live a natural life only without\nany hope of an eternal life.\n\nThat which the Latin renders \"like him\" in this passage, is in the\nHebrew, \"which may be before him.\" God, by this expression also,\ndistinguishes the human female from the females of all other living\ncreatures, which are not always \"before\" their mates. But woman was\nexpressly created that she might be \"before\" her husband always and\neverywhere. Even as the emperor also calls the life of married persons\n\"an individual life.\" Whereas the brute female requires her mate only\nonce in the whole year, and after she has conceived she returns to her\nown kind and takes care of herself. Of her young, which were brought\nforth at any previous time, she takes no care whatever. She does not\ncohabit with her mate always.\n\nThe nature of marriage among mankind however is utterly different.\nThere the woman is married by the man that she may be \"before him\"\nalways and may cohabit with him as one flesh. And if Adam had remained\nin his state of innocency, this individual life or cohabitation of man\nand wife would have been most sweet and delightful. The embrace itself\nalso would have been most holy and reverential, and worshipful of God.\nThere would have existed none of that impurity and shame arising from\nsin, which now exists.\n\nIs not this fallen state of man most awful to contemplate! For in its\nholy reality there was nothing more excellent, nothing more admirable\nin all nature, than the fulfilment of the divine law of generation. It\nwas an act of obedience to God, the highest which man could perform\nnext to praising and lauding his glorious name, which obedience Adam\nand Eve rendered unto God in as much holiness and freedom from all sin\nas when they were engaged in acts of praise and adoration. The\nfulfilment of this law of nature and of God indeed still continues.\nBut how wretched are these present remnants of the original innocency!\nHow horribly deformed by sin, pollution and baseness of every\ndescription. All these things are deplorable evidences of nature's\noriginal sin.\n\nFor the great and glorious ends of creation there was need of the\nwoman as a helpmeet for man. For man alone could not generate; nor\ncould the woman generate alone. As the apostle says, neither the man\nnor the woman \"had power over their own bodies\" for that high end.\nHence the loftiest praises of each sex are, that the male is the\nfather and the woman the mother of the generation of mankind. The wife\nin this high sense also is that helpmeet of the husband. But, as we\nhave repeatedly said, if we look at the state of originally-created\ninnocency, the generation of man has lost all its excellency, its pure\ndelight, its holiness and its worshipful obedience to God.\n\nMoreover in this age and at this day, you may find many who wish that\nthey had no children at all born to them. And this far more than\nbarbarous inhumanity and enormity is found more particularly among\nprinces and nobles, who frequently abstain from marriage for the sole\nreason that they may have no posterity. Still more base is the\npractice found in those princes, who suffer themselves to be\ncounselled and persuaded not to marry, lest their families should\nbecome too large for civil purposes. Such men are indeed worthy of\nhaving their names blotted out from the land of the living, as the\npunishment of their contempt of the laws and intents of God. Who is\nthere that would not execrate such swine-like monsters as these? These\ninhuman beings however still further manifest in many base particulars\nthe nature and depth of original sin. Were it not for the consequences\nof this mighty sin, we should all admire the fulfilment of the law of\nGod in generation, as one of the highest acts of the obedience and\nworship of God. And we should extol it as one of the greatest gifts of\nGod with its due praise and admiration.\n\nFrom the above inhuman abuse and contempt of marriage have arisen\nthose numerous reproaches of the female sex, which celibacy has\ngreatly augmented. Whereas it is one of the greatest of his blessings\nthat God has preserved for us women, even against the wishes and the\nwills of such inhuman beings, both as a divine means of generation and\nas a remedy also against the sin of fornication. In paradise woman\nwould have been indeed a helper in our duty and obedience to God, and\nin our fulfilment of his command \"to be fruitful and to multiply and\nreplenish the earth,\" Gen. 1:28. But now woman is in a very great\nmeasure a medicine and remedy for sin. So that in truth we can now\nscarcely mention the name of woman without shame; most certainly we\ncannot unite ourselves to her without some sense and blush of that\nshame. The mighty cause of all this is original sin. For in paradise\nthe union of man and woman would have been wholly free from the\nthought of shame or impurity. The whole union would have been looked\nupon and felt, as a duty of obedience to God, ordained by himself and\nsanctified by the blessings he pronounced upon it.\n\nThe same calamitous state on account of sin rests upon us also, even\nin the midst of all our spiritual gifts. For although we may have\nfaith and live in faith, yet we cannot be free from doubt, fear and\nthe sensible awe of death. These just punishments of original sin, our\nholy fathers in the faith deeply saw and felt. That which now follows\nis as it were a repetition of what has preceded, concerning the\ncreation of Adam, by which repetition Moses would more conveniently\narrive at his intended description of the manner in which woman was\ncreated. In reading what follows, therefore, we must consider Adam to\nhave been already created.\n\nV. 19a. _And out of the ground Jehovah God formed every beast of the\nfield, and every bird of the heavens; and brought them unto the man to\nsee what he would call them._\n\nAs if Moses had said, \"God now willed by a certain deep and deliberate\ncounsel to create woman. For he saw that every other living creature\nhad a helpmeet for generation. Adam alone had none. God therefore now\nbrought all the living creatures of the earth and of the air to Adam,\nto see what he would call them. And when Adam had given to each one\nits appropriate name, he found no living creature like unto himself as\nan helpmeet for him.\"\n\nAnd here we are again struck with the wonderful knowledge and wisdom\nwhich Adam possessed. Created as he was in innocency, righteousness\nand knowledge, he beholds all living creatures stand before him; and\nwithout any new illumination for the purpose, but by the pure\nproperties and excellency of his nature alone, he so discerns in a\nmoment the characteristic nature of each creature, that he gives it a\nname exactly descriptive of its created peculiarities. Well indeed\nmight the \"dominion\" over all living creatures have been added of God\nto man, to whom he had given such intellectual light as this! And this\n\"dominion\" which God had conferred on Adam, he now ratifies anew by\nbringing to him all creatures to be named according to his judgment.\nBy all this it is further manifest that Adam could by one single word\ncompel lions, bears, boars, tigers and any other of the noble animals\nto do any thing he wishes, according to their natural properties and\npowers; all which properties he thoroughly understood at a moment's\nglance when he gave them their names. But all these original\nendowments of man are utterly lost by sin.\n\nNo wonder therefore that we have no knowledge of the adorable God,\nwhen we know nothing as Adam did of the natures, powers and properties\neven of the beasts of the earth. There exist indeed very many books,\nwhich describe the natures of the beasts and of plants. But what a\nlength of time, what an extent of observation and of experience were\nnecessary to collect the contents of all these volumes! In Adam\nhowever there was a marvelously different illumination and intellect.\nHe discovered by a moment's glance at each living creature its whole\nnature and all its separate faculties and created endowments; and that\ntoo with a perfection far above that to which we can ever attain by a\nwhole life of devoted study and research in natural history. And as\nthis knowledge in Adam was a peculiar and eminent gift of God, so was\nit greatly pleasing and delightful to God. And on account of this\npleasure God brought the living creatures to Adam and commanded him to\nuse the knowledge he had thus given him in assigning to each living\ncreature its appropriate name.\n\nVs. 19b, 20. _And whatsoever the man called every living creature,\nthat was the name thereof. And the man gave names to all cattle, and\nto the birds of the heavens, and to every beast of the field; but for\nman there was not found a helpmeet for him (to be before him)._\n\nWhat an ocean of knowledge and wisdom there was in this one man! And\nalthough Adam lost much of this knowledge by sin, yet my full belief\nis that the whole contents of the books of all the wise, which have\never been written throughout all ages since letters first had birth,\nhave not to this day equalled that wisdom which Adam possessed, even\nafter his sin and fall. But all has become obscured by degrees in his\nposterity and is well nigh extinct altogether.\n\nBut we must here again note that Moses is still engaged describing the\ncreation-work and the divine transactions of the sixth day. For that\nwhich he had briefly said in the divine expression, \"_Let us_ make\nman,\" Gen. 1:26, he now more fully explains in this second chapter, in\norder that he might distinguish man from all other living creatures by\nmore than one recorded testimony. Wherefore he devotes this whole\nsecond chapter to a more particular explanation of the creation of\nman.\n\nWith reference to the man Moses has already said that he was made of\nthe dust of the ground, and that the breath of life was breathed of\nGod into his nostrils. He has also stated that the whole multitude of\nliving creatures was brought before Adam. When Adam had seen among\nthem all no helpmeet for him, woman was made to be his companion in\nthe generation and preservation of the human species. For God did not\nwill that the posterity of Adam should be made out of the ground, as\nhe himself was, but that it should be propagated as the other animals.\nAs to our bodily life we eat and drink, generate and are generated\njust like all animals. However Moses is greatly concerned in his\nthought to separate and distinguish man from all the animal creatures,\nbecause in this way the end is reached that after this earthly life\nman should become a partaker of the spiritual and eternal life. Now\nall these things pertain, as we have just observed, unto the creation\nwork of the sixth day. For as God had said, \"Be fruitful and\nmultiply,\" the explanation of the manner in which the woman was\ncreated and brought to Adam became a necessary part of the sacred\nnarrative.\n\nAll this is moreover intended to lead us into the firm belief and\nsatisfaction of mind that six days were really occupied by God in his\ncreation of all things, contrary to the opinion of Augustine and\nHilary, who think that all things were created in a moment. To such an\nextent do they depart from the history of facts and follow allegories\nand indulge in I know not what kind of dreamy speculations. Nor do I\nspeak these things by way of reproach to the holy fathers, whose\nlabors we ought to venerate. I make these statements for the\nconfirmation of the truth and for our own consolation. The fathers\nwere great men. Yet they were men; men who had fallen and still liable\nto fall. So that we have no ground for exalting ourselves like the\nmonks, who worship all things belonging to themselves as if they were\nnot liable to fall. Whereas for my part, it is rather a great\nconsolation to me than otherwise, that the fathers are discovered to\nhave erred and fallen at times also. Because my thoughts run thus: If\nGod pardoned sins and errors in them why should I despair of pardon\nfrom him? On the other hand, despair immediately comes on if you begin\nto think that the fathers did not experience the same things which you\nfeel and suffer. It is at the same time quite certain that there was a\nmighty difference between the call of the apostles and the call of the\nfathers. On what grounds therefore can we esteem the writings of the\nfathers equal to the writings of the apostles?\n\nBut with special reference to the sacred passage of Moses before us,\nhow, I pray you, is it possible that six days should be either a\nmoment or an hour? Neither faith, which rests wholly in the Word, nor\nreason itself, can admit this. Wherefore let us be assured, that there\nwere between the divine acts of the creation certain intervals. Thus,\nAdam is first created alone. Then there are brought unto him all the\nanimals, not only that he might name them, but that he might be tried,\nby seeing whether he could find in all this collection of creatures a\nmeet companion. After this, Eve is created. Lastly, these words are\nspoken by the Lord, \"Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely\neat,\" etc., which words struck the ears of Adam. All these things\ncarry with them a proof that they occurred at certain intervals of\ntime, unless indeed you would turn away like Origen from such plain\nand positive historical facts to the most absurd allegories. For Moses\nis not here giving us a record of God himself, in whose sight all\nthings past, present, and future are ever present in the same moment;\nbut he is recording a history of Adam, a creature of time, who was\nmade and who lived; and with whom as a creature there is a difference\nbetween the present and the future. I have deemed it right to bring\nthese things to your recollection by this repetition. Now let us\nproceed with Moses.\n\nV. 21. _And Jehovah God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and\nhe slept; and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead\nthereof._\n\nHere again not faith only, but reason and fact also, prove that the\ntime of Adam's being awake was one space of time and the time of his\nbeing asleep another. These spaces have evidently their intervals. As\ntherefore Adam was created in the sixth day, and all the animals were\nbrought to him on that day; as he heard the command of God concerning\nthe tree of the knowledge of good and evil; as God sent upon him\nsleep, it is manifest beyond dispute; that all these facts have\nreference to time and to this animal life. And it is equally evident\nthat the days mentioned in the sacred record must be understood to\nhave been true and real days, contrary to the opinion of the holy\nfathers. Whenever therefore we find the opinions of the fathers to\ndisagree with the Scriptures, we tolerate them with reverence and\nacknowledge them to be our elders in the Church; but we do not for\ntheir sakes depart from the authority of the Scriptures.\n\nElegant and true is that sentiment of Aristotle, in the First Book of\nhis \"Ethics,\" \"Where both friends and truth are near to us, it is our\nsacred duty to give the higher honor to the truth.\" The philosopher of\nold here plainly affirms that it is better to stand by the truth than\nto show too much favor to those who may be our friends or even our\nrelations. Such a sentiment is nobly becoming a philosopher. If,\ntherefore, a natural man and a heathen holds that such a principle\nshould be maintained in moral, human and civil disputations, with how\nmuch greater firmness should it be held in the discussion of those\nthings which stand on the manifest testimony of the Scriptures! How\njealous should we be of setting the authority of men above that of the\nWord! Men may be deceived, but the Word of God itself is the wisdom of\nGod and infallible truth.\n\nBut with respect to this portion, namely, the divine history itself,\nwhat I pray you, could be recorded more fabulous in the estimation of\nhuman reason, if you wish to follow that? For could any one be found\nwho would believe this fact concerning the creation of Eve, if it were\nnot thus openly declared? For here all the other creatures stand as\nplain examples to the contrary. Every other living creature is\ngenerated from male and female, and is so generated that it is the\nfemale that brings it into the light. But here the female herself is\ncreated from the male; and that too with a no less wonderful creation\nthan that by which Adam himself was made a living soul, from the dust\nof the ground. These facts are mere monstrosities and outrageous\nabsurdities, if you set aside the authority of the Holy Scriptures and\nfollow the judgment of reason. Hence it is that Aristotle affirms that\nneither the first man nor the last man can be given as the foundation\nof an argument. And reason would force us to affirm the same of her\nnaked self, without this text before us. For if it be received as a\ntruth, a truth which the uniform law of the whole creation testifies,\nthat nothing is born alive but from male and female, it is a true\nconclusion that the first man cannot be accounted for in that way.\n\nThe same conclusion may also be declared to be correct by human reason\nconcerning the creation of the world, which the philosophers of old\ntherefore concluded to be eternal. For although reasons are put\ntogether by reason, by which is proved that the world is not eternal;\nyet reason herself, all the while, settles down with all her powers\nupon this basis of conclusion. For what beginning will reason find in\nnothing? And again, if you say that the world had a beginning and that\nthere was a time in which the world had no existence it will\nimmediately follow close upon your heels that, before the world there\nwas nothing at all. Other absurdities will follow in an infinite\nseries; by the multitude of which philosophers being struck plunged at\nonce into the conclusion that the world was eternal.\n\nBut again if you affirm that the world was infinite, there immediately\nsprings up before you another new infinity in the successive\ngeneration of mankind. But then philosophy will not admit a plurality\nof infinities; and yet it is compelled to admit them upon its own\nconclusions, because it knows neither the beginning of the world nor\nthe beginning of mankind. This hostile contrariety and utter obscurity\nbrought the Epicureans into a state which compelled them to assert,\nthat both the world and mankind existed without any reason at all; and\nthat without any reason at all they would both perish; just as beasts,\nwhich after they are dead, are just as if they never had been. From\npremises like these other terrible conclusions naturally follow;\neither that there is positively no God at all, or that he cares not at\nall for human things. These are the labyrinths into which reason is\nbrought, when without the word of God it follows its own judgment.\n\nTherefore it is very profitable thus to behold how impossible it is\nthat reason or our own wisdom should go beyond the above stated\nlimits, in its judgments concerning the creature. For what, I pray\nyou, does the philosopher with all his reasoning know of the heavens\nor the earth or the world; seeing that he understands not whence\neither of them came or in what end they all or either of them, are\nappointed to terminate. Nay, what do we ourselves know concerning\nourselves? We all see that we are men. But ought we not to believe\nalso and know that we have this man for our father and that woman for\nour mother? But how or why this is so can never be learned from human\nreason. Hence all our knowledge and our wisdom lie only in the\ncomprehension of the material or formal cause; and even in these we\noften make the most wretched mistakes. But as to the efficient and\nfinal cause, we know nothing, nor can explain anything whatsoever. And\nthe saddest part of our ignorance is, that our deficiency is at its\nworst when we come to dispute or to speculate concerning the world\ninto which we are born and in which we live. Is not this, I pray you,\na poor and miserable pretension to wisdom?\n\nHence Aristotle affirms, that man and the sun beget man. A noble\ndoctrine of human philosophy, truly! Follow this highest effort of\nnatural reason and it will bring you at length to the inevitable\nconclusion, that both man and the sun are eternal and infinite, as the\nsame philosopher concluded the world itself was. For you will never\nfind a man who was or is in himself either the beginning or the end of\nhimself or of his race. Wherefore I myself am not able to discover by\nmy own reason, either the beginning or the end of my Martin Luther, if\nI wish to understand either my beginning or my end, and not to believe\nit. For as to our possessing a formal knowledge or a knowledge of the\nforms of things, a cow possesses the same, which knows her own home,\nor, as the German proverb has it, \"The cow sees and knows the gate.\"\nHere again the awfulness of the original fall and sin is revealed. For\nwe are thereby rendered so destitute of true knowledge that we cannot\nof ourselves discover either our beginning or our end.\n\nAfter all the disputations therefore of Aristotle, Plato, Cicero and\nother philosophers of note, who have concluded from man's walking\nupright, while all other animals have their heads inclined downwards,\nlooking towards the earth, and from his possessing the powers of\nintellect, that man is a singular animal and created to immortality\naccording to all this argument and conclusion, what a poor, meagre and\nalmost futile wisdom is this! The whole of it after all is derived\nfrom a contemplation of the form. And if you should still go on to\nargue upon the material of man, would not the same human reason compel\nyou to conclude that this nature of ours is perishable, must be\ndissolved and cannot be immortal?\n\nWhat then is the conclusion of the whole matter? Let us learn it. It\nis, that the only true wisdom is found in the Holy Scriptures and in\nthe Word of God. For the Word teaches us not only concerning the\nmaterial, not only concerning the form of the whole creation, but also\nconcerning the efficient and the final cause of all things; and\nconcerning the beginning and the end of all things; WHO created them,\n_what_ he created and for what end he created that which he did\ncreate. Without the knowledge of the two causes, the efficient and the\nfinal, all our highest wisdom differs but little from that of the\nbeasts, which use their eyes and their ears, but know nothing of the\nbeginning or the end of what they see.\n\nThe text before us therefore is very remarkable. And the more it seems\nto be contrary to all our experience and to reason, the more\ndiligently should we ponder it and the more firmly should we believe\nit. By this text therefore we are taught the beginning of man, that\nthe first man did not exist by generation, as Aristotle and the other\nphilosophers, deceiving themselves by human reasonings, have dreamed;\nthat the propagation of the posterity of the first man is indeed\neffected by generation; but that the first man himself was created\nfrom the dust of the field and that the first woman was formed and\nfashioned out of a rib of the man, extracted from him while he was\nasleep. Here therefore we have the true beginning of man which all the\nreason and philosophy of Aristotle could not discover.\n\nThe beginning then of man, as wrought of God, being thus established\nby the testimony of Moses, there follows the propagation of man by\nmeans of the union of male and female; in no degree less wonderful\nthan the original creation of each. The whole human race are\nprocreated by a single drop of human blood. On this propagation of\nmankind it is that the apostle Paul eloquently displays his\nphilosophy, derived from this sacred portion of the Scripture, before\nthe philosophers of Athens, \"The God that made the world and all\nthings therein,\" etc., \"seeing he himself giveth to all life, and\nbreath, and all things; and he made of one blood every nation of men\nto dwell on all the face of the earth; that they should seek God, if\nhaply they might feel after him and find him, though he is not far\nfrom each one of us: for in him we live, and move, and have our\nbeing,\" Acts 17:24-28. Here Paul speaks before all the Athenian\nphilosophers of the propagation of mankind \"by the blood of one,\" as\nhe expresses it. If therefore the whole race of mankind have been\ngenerated from one small drop of blood of one man, and are still so\ngenerated, as the experience of all men throughout the whole world\ntestifies, most certainly this miracle is no less wonderful and\nadmirable than were those original wonders, namely, the creation of\nthe first man from the dust of the ground, and that of the first woman\nfrom the rib of the man.\n\nBut how is it that the original miracles of the creation of Adam and\nEve seem to us so wonderful and so incredible; while the still\nstanding miracle of the continuous propagation of man, which we all\nknow and daily see, excites no wonder or admiration at all? It is\nbecause, as Augustine says, \"Miracles become no miracles at all, by\nfamiliarity.\" Hence we wonder not at the admirable light of the sun,\nbecause we see it every day. For the same reason we admire not other\ngifts and blessings of God's creation, but are blind and deaf to them\nall. On the same ground Pythagoras well said, that a most sweet and\nmarvelous concert of sounds was effected by the harmony and velocity\nof the motions and revolutions of the heavenly bodies, but that men\nbecame deaf to this celestial concert by hearing it continually; just\nas those who are accustomed to the roarings of the Nile are not at all\naffected by the thunders of the water, while to others, who are not\naccustomed to them, they are awful and intolerable. There is no doubt\nthat Pythagoras received this idea from the fathers by tradition. Not\nhowever that they really believed in any actual harmony of sounds,\nmade by the motions of the heavenly bodies. Their meaning was that the\ncreation of these celestial bodies was truly delightful and marvelous;\nbut that their beauty and their glory were not duly observed by us\nungrateful and insensate beings; and that we did not render unto God\nthe praises due to him, as the Creator of such wonderful and admirable\ncreatures.\n\nThus also it is a great miracle that a small seed placed in the ground\nshould cause to spring forth a lofty and magnificent oak. But as this\nis so familiar as an everyday occurrence, it makes no impression upon\nus; just so little do we appreciate the nature and manner of our own\npropagation. For why is it not worthy of the highest admiration that a\nwoman should receive human seed, which then grows, and as Job 10:11 so\nbeautifully says, \"Thou hast clothed me with skin and flesh, and knit\nme together with bones and sinews;\" that is, formed me and nourished\nme in my mother until I was matured to live in the air, separated from\nher. In this new state of existence I received no new nourishment, but\nit came from the same mother in a new way and manner, in that from\nboth breasts of my mother as from fountains, her milk went forth by\nwhich her infant was nourished. All this is most wonderful and utterly\nincomprehensible, but lightly esteemed by us because we have truly\nbecome deaf to this most pleasant and lovely music of nature.\n\nWhereas could all these marvelous realities be seen and estimated by\nthe vision of true faith, they would be no more common things to the\nbeholder, nor less miracles, than that which Moses here records, when\nhe testifies that one of Adam's ribs was taken from his side while he\nwas asleep, and that the woman Eve was formed out of it by the hand of\nGod. For if it had pleased the Lord to form us as he did Adam, from\nthe dust of the ground, by this time that manner of forming man might\nhave ceased also to be a miracle in our sight; and we might now\nperhaps be rather admiring the existing law of the generation of\nmankind by male and female. So true is that barbarously-composed\nperhaps, but by no means random-shot poetical line,\n\n  _Omne rarum carum: vilescit quotidianum._\n  \"Rare things will e'er delight our eyes,\n   But common things are no surprise.\"\n\nThus if the stars did not rise every night and in all places, what\ncrowds would gather where the light of one night's starry heaven might\nbe witnessed! But now not one of us opens a single window to behold\nthe sight.\n\nMost justly condemnable, therefore, is our ingratitude. For if we\nbelieve God to be the efficient and final _cause_ of all things, ought\nwe not to wonder at his works, to be delighted with them, and to\nproclaim them always and everywhere? But how few are there who do this\nin truth and from the heart?\n\nIn vain therefore and absurd is the doctrine of Aristotle, that man\nand the sun beget man. We learn from this book a far different cause\nof propagation, the commanding Word of God which says to this and to\nthat husband, Thy drop of blood shall on this occasion become a male,\nand on that occasion a female. But of this word reason knows nothing.\nTherefore reason can do nothing but invent trifles and absurdities\nconcerning the causes of such mighty things. Medical professors,\nfollowing the philosophers, have given us their various opinions\nconcerning the propagation of mankind; and though reason may not be\nable to deny the justness of many of them, yet all of them put\ntogether cannot reach the _great first cause_. The Holy Spirit leads\nus far deeper than all the opinions of men, when it sets before us the\nWord of God, by which all things are created and conserved.\n\nHence the mighty reason why a man, and not an ox nor an ass, is\ngenerated by a drop of human blood, is the effectual power of the Word\nwhich was spoken by God at the creation of all things, \"in the\nbeginning.\" It is in divine truth therefore that Christ teaches us in\nthe Lord's Prayer to call upon God as our _Father_, and that the Creed\nteaches us to confess God as our _Creator_. When we look back\ntherefore to this first cause, then can we speak of all these things\nwith pureness, with holiness and with joy. But if we leave out the\nfirst cause, we cannot even think of them without baseness and\nobscenity.\n\nFrom this part of our sacred discussion we further behold the horrible\nnature of the fall and of original sin, in that the whole human race\nis sunk in ignorance of its very origin. We see male and female come\ntogether in marriage union. We see the female at her appointed time\nbring forth from a drop of masculine blood her infant into the light\nof heaven. These things, we repeat, are familiar to the sight and to\nthe knowledge of all; and yet, if the Word teach and instruct thee\nnot, thou knowest nothing of the marvelous work which is wrought and\nwhich thine eyes behold. This ignorance is abundantly proved by the\nvain disputations of philosophers, which we have just been\ncontemplating. Is not this then a miserable ignorance and a horrible\nblindness?\n\nWhereas, had Adam continued in his innocency, he would have found no\nneed of instructing his posterity in their origin, even as there was\nno need of being himself instructed in the creation of his wife Eve,\nfor the moment he saw her he knew that she was \"bone of his bones, and\nflesh of his flesh.\" And had the original innocence continued, the\nsame knowledge of themselves would have existed in all the posterity\nof Adam. They would all have understood the great final and efficient\nCause of which things we now know little or nothing more than the\nbeasts of the field themselves.\n\nTherefore to the ears of reason this is a most beautiful and pleasing\nfable which philosophers have with pleasure greatly misused, if they\nheard it and just as they heard it, especially those versed in the\narts and wisdom of the Egyptians. But for us it is an inexpressibly\nprecious wisdom that makes known to us the fable the world judges\nridiculous; namely, that the genesis of the generation of man was\nconstituted by the Word of God. For God takes the dust of the earth\nand says, \"Let us make man!\" Likewise afterwards he takes the rib of\nAdam and says, \"Let us make a helpmeet for man.\" We will now consider\nthe words themselves since we have referred sufficiently to the\ndoctrine as it was necessary to do so.\n\nHaving thus discussed, as was necessary, the divine facts themselves,\ncontained in the text before us, let us now consider the expressions\nused by the sacred historian in recording them.\n\nJehovah God, says Moses, caused to glide or fall upon Adam THARDEMAH,\n\"a slumber\" or a \"deep sleep;\" for the verb RADAM signifies \"to fall\nasleep as those do who become drowsy unaware and nod the head.\" For\nthere are various kinds and degrees of sleep. Some are heavy and\nprofound, which are so deep as to be disturbed by no dreams. These are\nhealthful, because they moisten the body, are beneficial to promote\ndigestion, and are attended with no distress to the head. Others again\nare light, mingled as it were with wakefulness. In these latter,\ndreams are more frequent. They also, more or less, distress the head\nand are proofs of a weakness of body.\n\nMoses says therefore that Adam was sunk into a profound sleep; so that\nstretched on the grassy earth, he breathed deeply, as those do who\nsleep well and sweetly. It was such a sleep that God, as Moses informs\nus, caused to fall upon Adam. And this is indeed a sleep truly divine,\na most delightful gift of God, which comes down upon us like a dew\nfrom above, and softly pervades and irrorates the whole body.\n\nWhen Adam therefore was thus fallen asleep, the Lord took out one of\nhis ribs. The Hebrew word ZELA signifies, \"the rib with the side.\"\nWherefore my view of the passage is, that the Lord did not take the\nbare rib of Adam, but the rib clothed with the flesh, according to\nthat very expression of Adam below, verse 23, \"this is now bone of my\nbones, and flesh of my flesh.\" And God, be it observed, did this by\nhis Word. So that we are not to suppose that God used any cutting,\nafter the manner of a surgeon. God said, out of this bone thus clothed\nwith flesh, \"Let there be woman!\" and it was so. And God afterwards\nfilled up the aperture in his side with flesh.\n\nHere a discussion is raised by some marvelous triflers of\ncommentators. They will have it that the male has more ribs on one\nside of the body than on the other. But surgeons, who are anatomists,\nknow better than this. Lyra disputes the point thus: \"Are we to\nconsider that the extracted rib was a superfluous one in the body of\nAdam? If it was so, it was a monstrosity. If it were not so, it must\nfollow that Adam after- ...\"[text not printed] At length, Lyra arrives\nat the conclusion that the extracted rib was superfluous in Adam, as a\nsolitary instance; and that therefore when it had been extracted, the\nbody of Adam was perfect. And yet, that the body of Adam was deficient\nin this extracted superfluous rib, because of the creation of the\nwoman out of it.\n\nBut to all these things we give an answer by the words, \"God said!\"\nThis divine Word settles all arguments of this description. What need\nis there then of disputation as to whence God took any particular\nportion of created material, who by one word of his mouth can create\nand did create all things? All these idle questions however are used\nby philosophers and professors of medicine, who dispute about the\nworks of God without the Word of God; whereas by so doing, they sink\nout of sight both the glory of the Holy Scriptures and the glorious\nmajesty of the Creator.\n\nWherefore leaving all such questions as these, we will abide simply by\nthe history of the facts, as they are recorded by Moses; that Eve was\nformed out of the rib of Adam, and that the aperture made in that part\nof his body was closed up with flesh. Thus Adam was made out of the\ndust of the ground. I was made out of a drop of my father's blood. But\nhow my mother conceived me, how I was formed in the womb, how my bones\ngrew there, Eccles. 11:5, all this I leave to the glory of my Creator.\nIt is indeed incredible that a man should be born from a drop of\nblood; yet it is a truth. If therefore this Almighty power can produce\na human being from a drop of blood, why not from a lump of earth also,\nwhy not from a rib!\n\nAnd as to Adam's sleeping so profoundly, as not to feel what was done\nunto him; this soundness of sleep is as it were a sweet picture of\nthat change which Adam would have witnessed had he continued in his\nstate of innocency. For a righteous nature could have experienced no\npains of death. Adam would have lived in the highest possible\npleasure, in obedience to God and in admiration of his works until the\ntime of his change, appointed of God, had come; and then he would have\nexperienced a removal something like this sleep, which fell upon him\nso sweetly as he lay down amid the roses and beneath the richest\nfoliage of trees. And in such a departing sleep would he have been\nchanged and translated into the glorified spiritual life, feeling no\nmore in death than he felt of his body being opened and of the\nextraction of the rib, with its flesh, from his side.\n\nBut now this nature of ours must experience the pangs of death. That\ndissolution of the body however is followed in the saints by the\nsweetest of all sleep, until the day when we shall awake unto a\nnewness of life and a life eternal. And as Adam here in all the\nfulness of wonder exclaims this is now bone of my bones and flesh of\nmy flesh, and yet was so sweetly and deeply sunk in sleep, that he\nknew not that his rib had been extracted from his side; so shall we in\nthat day exclaim, Behold, into what sudden glory does this body,\nlately gnawed by worms, arise, etc.\n\nThus far have we spoken with sufficient copiousness upon the creation\nof Eve, which creation, although it seems to human reason perfectly\nfabulous, is yet most sure and true, because it is recorded in the\nWord of God, which alone teacheth the truth concerning the two\nprincipal causes of philosophers, the efficient and the final; and\nconcerning the great first cause of all causes. The knowledge of which\ntwo causes, where it can be obtained, is of the utmost moment even in\nnatural things. For what doth it profit to know how beautiful a\ncreature man is, if you know not the end for which he was created;\nnamely, that he was created for the worship of God, and that he might\nlive to all eternity with God.\n\nAristotle does indeed say something of note when he makes the end of\nman to be happiness, a happiness consisting in the action of virtue.\nBut in all this weakness of our nature, who is there that ever yet\nattained unto that end, when even the very best of men are exposed to\na multitude of evils, which the common trials of life or the depravity\nand malice of men are sure to bring upon them? That happiness of which\nAristotle speaks, requires tranquility of mind to make it perfect; but\nwho can always hold fast that peace of mind, amid such tossings to and\nfro of human life? In vain therefore is such an end proposed by the\nphilosopher, which no man can attain.\n\nThe principal end of man's creation therefore, which the Holy\nScriptures set before us is, that man was created in the likeness of\nGod, with the divine intent that he should live forever with God, and\nthat while here on earth he should praise and extol God, give him\nthanks and obey his Word in all patience. And this end we do attain by\nsome means or other, through grace, though with all infirmity in this\nlife, and in the life to come we shall attain unto it perfectly. Of\nthese things philosophers know nothing. And therefore the world, in\nthe height of all its wisdom, is yet sunk in the deepest ignorance,\nwherever it is found destitute of the Word or of theology. For men\nwithout the Word know nothing of their beginning or their end. I\nmention not any of the other living creatures, who are not created, as\nwe have abundantly shown, to know any of these things, nor to partake\nof these high blessings.\n\n\nPART V. THE INSTITUTION OF MARRIAGE AND THE FAMILY.\n\nV. 22. _And the rib, which Jehovah God had taken from the man, made\n(built) he a woman, and brought her unto the man._\n\nA new expression is this again, unheard before. Moses does not use the\nverb \"to create,\" or \"to make,\" as in Gen. 1:26; but the verb \"to\nbuild.\" This has caused all commentators to conclude that some great\nmystery lies under so singular a phraseology. Lyra thinks, with his\nRabbi Solomon, that the new form of the female body is intended to be\nintimated. For, as the form of buildings is broader at the base, but\nnarrower at the upper part, so, he says, the bodies of women are\nbroader in the middle, and more contracted in the upper parts, while\nmen have wider chests and broader shoulders. But these are mere\npeculiarities of certain parts of the body; whereas the Scripture is\nspeaking of the body as a whole, and calling it a building; just as\nChrist himself calls the body the house of a man, Math. 12:29.\n\nOthers have recourse to an allegory, and say, that the woman is here\ncalled \"a building,\" on account of her being spoken of in the\nScriptures as a similitude of the Church. And as in a house there are\nvarious parts, walls, beams, rafters, roof, etc.; so in the Church,\nwhich is represented by the Holy Spirit under the similitude of a\nbody, on account of the diversity of its members, there are various\noffices and administrators. As to myself I am by no means displeased\nat anything that is appropriately advanced by those who would transfer\nwhat is here said respecting the building of the woman, to Christ and\nhis Church. But as all these opinions amount only to an allegory after\nall, the historical and proper meaning of this passage must be\ndiligently searched into and retained. For a woman, especially a\nmarried woman, is here sacredly termed \"a building,\" not\nallegorically, but historically and really. And the Scriptures\nuniversally use this form of expression.\n\nHence Rachel says to Jacob, \"Take my maid Bilhah, that I may also be\nbuilt up by her,\" Gen. 30:3. The Scriptures speak in the same manner\nalso concerning Sarah, Gen. 16:2. And in Exodus, it is said concerning\nthe midwives, \"that the Lord built them a house,\" Exod. 1:21; that is,\nthat the Lord repaid them for all the services which they had rendered\nunto his people Israel, contrary to the command of the king, by\nblessing them with a household and family. So again, in the history of\nDavid, when he had it in his heart to build a house for the Lord, he\nreceives this answer from God by Nathan, \"Furthermore, I tell thee,\nthat the Lord will build thee an house,\" 1 Chron. 17:10.\n\nIt is a form of expression therefore quite general in the Scripture,\nto term a woman a domestic \"building,\" on account of the fruits of\ngeneration and the bringing up of the offspring. But the real nature\nof this building up, which would have existed had Adam not fallen, we\nhave now lost by his sin; so that we cannot now reach it, as we have\nall along observed, even in thought. Our present fallen condition in\nthis life retains certain small miserable remnants of the original\ndomestic life, cultivation of the earth, and defense of property; and\nalso of dominion over the beasts. We have the rule over sheep, oxen,\ngeese, fowls, etc.; though boars, bears, lions, etc., regard not this\nour dominion. So also there remains a certain hardly visible remnant\nof this female building. Whoso taketh to himself a wife, hath as it\nwere in her a certain nest and home. He dwells with her in a certain\nplace, as birds nestle with their young in their little nest. But this\ndwelling together in the one nest they know not, who live unmarried\nlike the impure Papists.\n\nThis living together of male and female, as man and wife, in the state\nof matrimony, their keeping house together, their being blessed\ntogether with offspring, their bringing up their children, is a faint\npicture and remnant of that blessed original married life, on account\nof the nature of which, Moses here terms the woman a \"building.\" The\nposterity of Adam, had he continued in his innocency, would have taken\nto themselves wives, would have parted from Adam their father, and\nwould have chosen for themselves certain little garden spots of their\nown, and would have there dwelt with their wives, tilled the ground,\nand brought up their children. There would have been no need of\nsplendid mansions built of hewn stone, nor of rich kitchens, nor\ncellars of wine, which now make up the luxuries of life. But as birds\nin their little nests, the married pairs would have dwelt together\nhere and there, diligently laboring and calling upon God. And the\nwomen would have been the principal cause of their husbands living in\ncertain dwelling places in paradise. Whereas now, under our present\nfallen and calamitous state by sin, we absolutely need houses of wood\nand stone, to defend us from the injuries of the weather. And though\nwe cannot form even a conception, as we have said, of the original\nfelicity of man and woman in their marriage happiness, yet even these\nmiserable remnants, we repeat, are excellent gifts of God; to live in\nthe possession of which, without continual thanks, is wickedness in\nthe extreme.\n\nWith reference to the \"dominion\" which man received from the hand of\nGod, we feel how much of that dominion is lost since our fall and\ndefilement by sin. Yet, what an infinite mercy still remains to us,\nthat this \"dominion\" was given to man and not to the devil! For how\nshould we possibly have been able to stand in this matter, against\nsuch an invisible enemy, especially if power to harm had been\npossessed by him equal to his will? We might all have been in danger\nof annihilation in an hour, yea, in a moment, if Satan had determined\nto infuriate the wild beasts against us. Although well nigh all the\noriginal \"dominion\" is lost, it is an infinite blessing that our\npresent remnants of it are not possessed by the devil!\n\nIt is an infinite mercy also that we possess our present remnants of\ngeneration. Although, in the state of original innocency women, as we\nknow, would have brought forth without pain; yet there would have been\na much more extensive fruitfulness. Whereas now the blessing of\ngeneration is impeded by numberless diseases. It often happens that\nthe fruit of the womb does not arrive at maturity and birth and\nsometimes the woman is barren altogether. All these defects are the\npunishments of the horrible fall of Adam and of original sin. Just in\nthe same manner, to this present day, is the woman the \"building,\" and\nhouse, and home of the husband. To the woman the man devotes himself.\nWith her he lives; and together with her, he undertakes the labor and\ncare of bringing up the family; as it is written below, verse 24,\n\"Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall\ncleave unto his wife,\" etc.\n\nBut this living together as man and wife is not only attended with\nthose other trials, which afflict the marriage state in great number\nand variety on account of sin, but is also astonishingly deformed and\nmarred by perverse nature; seeing that there are not only those who\nconsider it to be very wise and great to reproach the female sex and\nto despise marriage, but who even forsake the wives whom they have\nmarried, and cast off all paternal care of their children. Such men\ndestroy the building of God by their perverseness and wickedness. Men\nof this description are a kind of monsters in nature. Wherefore let us\nshow our obedience to the Word of God by acknowledging our wives to be\nthe building of the Lord; through whom not only our house is built up\nby generation, and by whom other necessary domestic duties are\nperformed; but through whom we the husbands themselves are also built\nup, by our rising offspring around us. For wives are, as we have said,\na certain nest and center of habitation to which the husbands resort,\nwhere they dwell and live in pleasure and happiness.\n\nWhen Moses adds, \"And he brought her unto the man,\" this is a certain\ndivine description of espousals especially worthy our observation. For\nAdam does not take hold of Eve when created and draw her to himself,\naccording to his own purpose and will, but he waits till God brings\nher to him; just according to the saying of Christ, \"What therefore\nGod hath joined together, let not man put asunder,\" Math. 19:6, for\nthe joining of male and female is a lawful joining and ordinance, and\nan institution divine.\n\nWherefore Moses here adopts his peculiar and appropriate phraseology,\n\"And he brought her to the man.\" Who brought her to the man? He, God,\nJehovah, Elohim, the Jehovah God, the Whole Divinity, the Father, the\nSon, and the Holy Ghost. These all unitedly say to Adam, Behold, this\nis thy bride with whom thou art to dwell and with whom thou art to\ngenerate and bring up children. And there is no doubt whatever that\nAdam received Eve with the utmost pleasure; for even now, in this\ncorrupt state of nature, the mutual love between bride and bridegroom\nis peculiar, great and excellent.\n\nBut apart from the epileptic and apoplectic lust in the marriage state\ntoday, it was a chaste and most pleasing love, and union itself was\nmost honorable and most holy. Now however sin pours itself in and\nexpresses itself from the eyes and ears everywhere, and then in all\nthe senses.\n\nThis passage demands particular notice. For it stands as the revealed\nwill of God, not only against all abuses of the sex and lusts of every\nkind, but also as a confirmation of marriage, and all those impious\nrevilings and refusings by which the papacy has deformed and marred\nmatrimony. Is it not worthy of admiration that God instituted and\nordained marriage even in the state of innocency? Much more need then\nhave we of this divine institution and ordination in our present\nstate, wherein our flesh is weak and so corrupt through sin. This\ndivine consolation therefore stands proof and invincible against all\ndoctrines of devils, 1 Tim. 4:1. By the Scripture before us, we see\nthat marriage is a state of life divine; that is, ordained of God\nhimself.\n\nWhat was it therefore that came into the minds of those tools of Satan\nand enemies of Christ, who deny that there could be any holiness or\nchastity in marriage, and who affirmed that those only were adapted\nfor ministers of churches who lived in celibacy, because the\nScriptures, they argued, said, Be ye clean that bear the vessels of\nthe Lord, Is. 52:11. Are then those who are married unclean? If so,\nGod himself is the author and institutor of uncleanness, who himself\nbrought Eve to Adam. Adam himself also did evil in suffering himself\nto be persuaded to enter into a state of uncleanness, when his nature\nin his state of innocency needed not marriage. But have not the\nimpious Papists suffered the righteous punishments of such\nblasphemies? They have not only polluted themselves with harlots in\nmultitudes, but have indulged in other unmentionable wickednesses,\neven unto abomination, and are at this day just ripe for the\npunishments of Sodom and Gomorrah.\n\nWhen I was a boy, marriage was positively considered so infamous on\naccount of all this impure and impious celibacy, that I used to\nbelieve I could not even think of the married life without sin. For\nthe minds of men generally were filled with the persuasion that if any\none wished to live a holy life, and a life acceptable to God, a man\nmust never become a husband nor a woman a wife, but must take upon\nthem the vow of celibacy; and hence many men who had married became on\nthe death of their wives either monks or contemptible priests. All\nthose worthy men therefore who have labored and endeavored to cause\nmarriage to be honored as aforetime, according to the Word of God, and\nto be held in all its due praise, have taken upon themselves a highly\nuseful and necessary service to the Church of Christ. So that now,\nblessed be God, all men consider it to be good and holy to live in\nunanimity and tranquility with a wife, even though it should be the\nlot of any one, Prov. 16:33, to have a wife that is barren, or\nlaboring under any other affliction.\n\nI do not however deny that there are some men who can live chastely\nwithout marriage; but let these who have thus a gift greater than the\nmost of mankind, sail in their own ship. But as for that chastity\nwhich the Pope so highly lauds in his monks and nuns, and contemptible\npriests, it is in the first place polluted and contaminated by\nnumberless horrible sins; and in addition to all this, celibacy is an\ninstitution of man without any warrant from the Word of God. O, what\ntriumphs would the Papists celebrate could they but prove by the Word\nof God their celibacy to be a divine institution, as we can abundantly\nprove marriage to be. With what mighty weight of the Pope's authority\nwould they compel all men to adopt their life of celibacy. Whereas now\nthe only commendation of celibacy, which they can discover, is a\ntradition of men, or rather as Paul hath it, a doctrine of devils,\nCol. 2:8; 1 Tim. 4:1.\n\nV. 23a. _And the man said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of\nmy flesh._\n\nThe sentence which immediately follows, \"Therefore shall a man leave\nhis father and his mother,\" etc., is cited by our Lord, Math. 19:5, as\nthe words of God himself, and not of Adam. But in that particular\npoint there is no difficulty whatever, because as Adam was pure and\nholy the words of Adam may rightly be said to be divine words or the\nvoice of God, for God spoke through him. All the words and the works\nof Adam in that state of innocency are divine, and therefore may truly\nbe said to be the words and works of God.\n\nEve is presented to Adam by God himself. And just in the same manner\nas the will of God is prepared to institute marriage, so Adam is\nprepared to receive Eve with all pleasure and holiness when brought\nunto him. So even now also the affection of the intended husband\ntoward his betrothed spouse, is of a particular and elevated kind. It\nis, nevertheless, deeply contaminated with that leprous lust of the\nflesh which, in righteous Adam, had no existence.\n\nIt is worthy of our greatest wonder and admiration, that Adam, the\nmoment he glanced his eye on Eve, knew her to be a building formed out\nof himself. He immediately said, \"This is now bone of my bones, and\nflesh of my flesh.\" These are not the words of an ignorant one, nor of\none who was a sinner; nor of one who was ignorant of the works and of\nthe creation of God. They are the words of one righteous and wise, and\nfull of the Holy Spirit; of that Holy Spirit who reveals to the world,\nbefore ignorant of such high and holy wisdom, that God is the\nefficient cause of marriage and of man's taking to himself a wife, and\nthat the final cause of marriage is that the wife might be unto her\nhusband a civil, moral and domestic habitation, and cohabitation. This\nknowledge comes not from the five senses and reason merely. It is a\nrevelation, as we here see, of the Holy Spirit.\n\nThe expression HAPAAM, \"now,\" \"in this instance,\" or \"at length,\" is\nby no means useless or superfluous as it may at first seem. That very\nword in this sentence, uttered by Adam, most beautifully expresses the\nglad surprise and exulting joy of a noble spirit which had been\nseeking this delightful meet companion of life and of bed; a\ncompanionship full, not only of love, but of holiness. As if Adam had\nsaid, I have seen all beasts; I have considered all the females among\nthem given to them of God for the multiplication and preservation of\ntheir kind, but all these are nothing to me! This female however is\nbone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh. She is at length what and all\nI want. With her I desire to live, and with her to obey the will of\nGod in the propagation of a posterity. This is the kind of overflowing\nfeeling of joy and love which this particular word \"HAPAAM,\" used by\nAdam, is intended to express.\n\nNow however this true purity, innocence and holiness are lost. There\nstill remains indeed a feeling of joy and affection in the intended\nhusband toward his spouse; but it is impure and corrupt, on account of\nsin. The affection of Adam however was most pure, most holy and most\ngrateful to God, when under the excess of it, he said, \"This is now\nbone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh.\" She is not made of stone,\nnor of wood, nor of a lump of earth, as I was. She is nearer to me\nthan all this, for she is made of my own very bones and very flesh.\n\nV. 23b. _She shall be called Woman (man-formed), because she was taken\nout of Man._\n\nAs Adam knew by the Holy Spirit the things just mentioned, which he\nsaw not before, and as he praises God and extols him for his having\ncreated for him a meet life-companion out of his own body; so now, by\nthe same Spirit, he prophesies of his Eve's future, when he says that\nshe ought to be called a man-formed or man-like female (_virago_). The\ntruth is, that it is utterly impossible for any interpreter to convey\nthrough any other language the peculiar strength and beauty of the\noriginal Hebrew expression. ISCH signifies a man,--and Adam says\nconcerning Eve, \"She shall be called ISCHA,\" as if we should say, She\nshall be called _vira_, from _vir_, a man. Because a wife is an heroic\nor man-like woman; for she does man-like things, and performs man-like\nduties.\n\nThis name Adam gives to the woman contains in it a wonderful and sweet\ndescription of marriage, in which, as the lawyers express it, \"The\nwoman shines in the rays of her husband.\" For whatever the husband\npossesses, is possessed and held by the wife also. And not only is all\ntheir wealth possessed by them in common, but their children also,\ntheir food, their bed, and their habitation. Their wishes are also\nequal. So that the husband differs from the wife in no other thing\nthan in sex. In every other respect, the woman is really a man. For\nwhatsoever the man possesses in their house, the woman possesses also;\nand what the man is, that also is the woman; she differs from the man\nin sex only. In a word the woman, as Paul remarks in his instructions\nto Timothy, is man-formed and man-like by her very origin; for, as the\napostle says to Timothy, Adam was first formed, then Eve from the man,\nand not the man from the woman, 1 Tim. 2:13.\n\nOf this communion of all things in marriage, we still possess some\nfeeble remnants, though miserable indeed they be when compared with\nwhat they were in their original state. For even now the wife, if she\nbe but an honorable, modest and godly woman, participates in all the\ncares, wishes, desires, pursuits, duties and actions of her husband.\nAnd it was for this end indeed that she was created \"in the\nbeginning;\" and for this end was called _virago_, that she might\ndiffer in sex only from the father of the family, since she was taken\nfrom man.\n\nAnd though this name can apply in its strictest and fullest sense to\nEve only, who, alone of all women, was created thus out of man, yet\nour Lord applies the whole sentence of Adam to all wives when he says\nthat man and wife are one flesh, Math. 19:5, 6. Although therefore thy\nwife be not made of thy flesh and thy bones; yet, because she is thy\nwife, she is as much the mistress of thy house, as thou art the master\nthereof, except that by the law of God, which was brought in after the\nfall the woman is made subject to the man. That is the woman's\npunishment, as are many other troubles also which come short of the\nglories of paradise, concerning which glories the sacred text before\nus gives us so much information. For Moses is not here speaking of the\nmiserable life which all married people now live; but concerning the\nlife of innocency, in which, had that innocency continued, the\ngovernment of the man and of the woman would have been equal and the\nsame.\n\nHence it is that Adam gave the name, \"woman,\" ISCHA, or \"man-formed\nfemale,\" _virago_ or _vira_, to Eve, prophetically on account of the\nequal administration of all things with her husband in the house. But\nnow the sweat of the brow rests upon the man. And to the wife it is\ncommanded that she be in subjection to the man. There still remain\nhowever certain remnants or dregs as it were of the woman's dominion.\nSo that the wife may still be called man-like female, on account of\nher common possession of all things with her husband.\n\nV. 24. _Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and\nshall cleave unto his wife._\n\nChrist in Math. 19:5 and Paul in 1 Cor. 6:16, apply these words of\nAdam, as a common rule or law for our marriages since the loss of\noriginal innocence. If therefore Adam had remained in his original\nstate of innocency, the children born unto him would have married; and\nleaving the table and dwelling place of their parents, and living no\nlonger with them, would have had their own trees under which they\nwould have lived separate from their parents. They would have come\nfrom time to time to their father Adam, sung a hymn, spoken gloriously\nof God, called upon him, and then returned to their own houses.\n\nAnd even now, though all other things are changed, yet this close bond\nbetween married persons still remains firm. So that a man would leave\nhis father and his mother much sooner than he would leave his wife.\nAnd where we find the contrary to this, for married persons are now\nsometimes found to leave and forsake each other, all this is not only\ncontrary to the present divine command by the mouth of Adam, but such\nthings are awful signs of that horrible corruption, which has come\nupon man through sin; and such corruption and unfaithfulness are\ngreatly increased by Satan, the father of all dissensions.\n\nHeathen nations also have discovered that there is nothing more\nappropriate for man nor beneficial for kingdoms than this oneness of\nthe life of married persons. Hence they affirm, that it is a\nconclusion drawn from the law of nature that a wife, who shall retain\nher individuality or oneness of life with her husband, even unto\ndeath, is necessary for man. Hence also Christ himself says, that\nMoses suffered the Jews to give their wives a bill of divorcement,\nbecause of the hardness of their hearts; but that in the beginning it\nwas not so, Mark 10:4, Math. 19:8. These evils of divorcements have\nall arisen since the fall through sin; as have also adulteries,\npoisonings and such like, which are sometimes found among married\npersons. Scarce a thousandth part of that primitive innocent, holy\nmarriage is now left to us. And even to this day the husband and the\nwife have their home-nest, for the sake of mutual help and generation,\naccording to the command of God, issued by the mouth of our first\nparent Adam; by which this state of married life and this leaving\nfather and mother is exaltedly and gloriously commended, as well as\ncommanded of God himself; as Christ also affirms in his reference to\nthe words of Adam, on which we are now dwelling.\n\nThis \"leaving father and mother\" however is not to be understood as a\ncommand that the children of Adam, when married, should have nothing\nmore to do with their parents. The command reaches only to dwelling\nany longer with their father and mother. It enjoins the children when\nmarried to have their own home-nest. In the present state of sin, and\nall its various evils, we often find that children are compelled to\nsupport their parents, when worn down with age and necessities. But\nhad paradise and all its innocency continued, the state of life would\nhave been inconceivably more exalted and blessed than our present\nfallen and sinful condition. Yet even then this same command of Adam,\nor rather of God himself, would have been obeyed. The husband, through\nlove of his wife, would have chosen his homestead and made his\nhome-nest with her, as the little birds do, and would have left his\nfather and his mother for that purpose.\n\nThis sentence of Adam is also prophetic. For as yet there was no\nfather or mother; nor consequently were there any children. Adam\nnevertheless through the Holy Spirit prophesies of that married life,\nwhich should be in the world, and predictively describes the separate\ndwelling of man and wife, and the separate domestic authorities and\ngovernments of the several families in all ages; that each family\nshould have their own nest habitation, authority and rule.\n\nV. 25. _And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not\nashamed._\n\nThis short closing sentence of the present chapter might have been\nomitted without any loss, seeing that it mentions a circumstance for\nrecording which there seems no great need. For what does it concern us\nto know whether those in paradise walked about naked or clothed in\nraiment? This little clause of the concluding sentence however is very\nstriking and very necessary. It shows us in a matter apparently quite\ninsignificant, how dreadful an amount of evil this nature of ours has\nsuffered through original sin.\n\nAll nations, more especially those of the north, hold nakedness of the\nbody in great abhorrence. In like manner the more grave and modest\ncharacters among us, not only condemn short military jackets, as they\nare called, which are worn by our youth, but avoid public baths. And\nour uncomely parts, 1 Cor. 12:23, are always most studiously covered.\nThis among us is wisdom and a moral discipline worthy of all praise.\nBut Adam and Eve, Moses informs us, went about naked, and were not\nashamed. For them therefore to go about naked was not only not\ndisgraceful, but even laudable, delightful and glorious to God.\n\nBut all this delight and glory we have now lost by sin. We alone, of\nall creatures, are born naked; and with an uncovered skin we enter\ninto this world. Whereas all the other animals bring into the world\nwith them, as coverings of their own, skins, hairs, bristles, feathers\nor scales. We, on the other hand, continually need the shadow of\nbuildings to protect us from the heat of the sun, and a multitude of\ngarments to defend us from the rain, the hail, the frost and the snow.\nAdam however, had he continued innocent, would have felt none of these\ninjuries or inconveniences. But as the human eyes retain still that\npeculiarity of nature, that they are not evilly affected or distressed\neither by cold or by heat; so would the whole body of Adam have been\nentirely free from the distresses of cold or heat, had he never\nfallen. Had Eve, our mother, sat among us naked the mere form of her\nbreast and other members of her body would not have offended us. But\nnow because of sin they awaken in us shame and inflame us with evil\nlust and passion.\n\nThis brief clause therefore shows us the awfulness of the evil which\nhas come upon us, as the consequence of the sin of ... [text not\nprinted] ... would be considered a proof of utter insanity. That very\nstate of body therefore which was in Adam and Eve their highest glory,\nwould be in us, should we be seen in that state, our deepest shame. It\nwas the very glory of man and would have continued to be so, had he\nremained in his original innocency, that while all the other animals\nhad need of hairs, feathers, scales, etc., to cover their\nunsightliness, man alone was created with that dignity and beauty of\nbody, that he could appear uncovered, in the glory of his created\nnakedness. But all this glory is lost. We are now compelled not only\nfor necessary protection, but for the sake of avoiding the deepest\nturpitude, to cover our bodies with more study and care than any other\nanimals of God's creation. For they all come into the world covered by\nnature.\n\nAfter this manner therefore does this second chapter of the book of\nGenesis more clearly and fully describe the creative work of the sixth\nday. In what manner man was created by the wonderful counsel of God.\nIn what manner the garden of Eden was formed, in which man might have\nlived in the highest possible pleasure. In what manner, by means of\nthe prohibition of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, the\nexternal worship of the future church was instituted by divine\nauthority. By what external worship and in which place, had the\nprohibition of the tree of knowledge not been violated by Adam and\nEve, they would have testified their obedience to God, had they not\nbeen deceived and drawn aside by the snares of Satan.\n\nSome suppose that Adam with his Eve passed the night of the sixth day\nin paradise until the following seventh day, the Sabbath. And what\noccurred on the Sabbath day, the following chapter will inform us.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER III.\n\n\nPART I. THE TEMPTATION TO FALL.\n\nV. 1a. _Now the serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field\nwhich Jehovah God had made._\n\nIn the preceding chapter, we were taught the manner in which man was\ncreated on the sixth day; that he was created in the image and after\nthe likeness of God, that his will was good and perfect, and that his\nreason or intellect was also perfect, so that whatsoever God willed or\nsaid, that man also willed, believed and understood. And this\nknowledge was necessarily accompanied by the knowledge of all other\ncreatures, etc. For wherever the perfect knowledge of God is, there\nmust also be, of necessity, the perfect knowledge of other things,\nwhich are inferior to God.\n\nThis original state of things shows how horrible the fall of Adam and\nEve was, by which we have lost all that most beautifully and\ngloriously illumined reason, and all that will which was wholly\nconformed to the Word and will of God. For by the same sin and ruin we\nhave lost also all the original dignity of our bodies, so that now, it\nis the extreme of baseness to be seen \"naked,\" whereas originally that\nnudity was the especial and most beautiful and dignified privilege of\nthe human race, with which they were endowed of God above all the\nbeasts of the creation. And the greatest loss of all these losses is,\nthat not only is the will lost, but there has followed in its place a\ncertain absolute aversion to the will of God. So that man neither\nwills nor does any one of those things which God wills and commands.\nNay, we know not what God is, what grace is, what righteousness is;\nnor in fact what sin itself is which has caused the loss of all.\n\nThese are indeed horrible defects in our fallen nature, to which they,\nwho see not and understand not, are more blind than moles. Universal\nexperience indeed shows us all these calamities; but we never feel the\nreal magnitude of them until we look back to that unintelligible but\nreal state of innocency, in which there existed the perfection of\nwill, the perfection of reason and that glorious dignity of the\nnakedness of the human body. When we truly contemplate our loss of all\nthese gifts and contrast that privation with the original possession\nof them, then do we, in some measure, estimate the mighty evil of\noriginal sin.\n\nGreat causes of gross error therefore are created by those who\nextenuate this mighty evil of original sin, who speak of our corrupt\nnature after the manner of philosophers, who would represent human\nnature as not thus corrupted. For such men maintain that there remain,\nnot only in the nature of man, but in the nature of the devil also,\ncertain natural qualities which are sound and whole. But this is\nutterly false. What and how little remains in us that is good and\nwhole, we do indeed in some measure see and feel. But what and how\nmuch we have lost, they most certainly see not who dispute about\ncertain remnants of good being still left in human nature. For most\ncertainly a good and upright and perfect will, well-pleasing to God,\nobedient to God, confiding in the Creator, and righteously using all\nhis creatures with thanksgiving, is wholly lost. So that our fallen\nwill makes out of God a devil and dreads the very mention of his name;\nespecially when hard pressed under his judgments. Are these things, I\npray you, proofs that human nature is whole and uncorrupted?\n\nBut consider the state of those inferior things to these that pertain\nunto God himself. The marriage union of male and female is an\ninstitution appointed of God. How is that union polluted by the fall\nand by sin! With what fury of lust is the flesh inflamed! By means of\nsin therefore this divinely appointed union has lost all its beauty\nand glory as a work of God, and is defiled with pollutions,\ncorruptions and sins innumerable. In like manner also we have a body;\nbut how miserable, how variously deformed by sin. It no longer retains\nthe dignity of nakedness, but requires careful and perpetual coverings\nof its shame.\n\nSo also we possess a will and a power of reason. But with what\nmultiplied corruptions are they vitiated! For as our reason is\nbeclouded with great and varied ignorance, so our will also is not\nonly greatly warped by self-will, and not only averse to God, but the\nenemy of God! It rushes with pleasure into evil, when it ought to be\ndoing quite the contrary.\n\nThis multiform corruption of nature therefore ought not only not to be\nextenuated, but to be as much as possible magnified. It ought to be\nshown that man is not only fallen from the image of God, from the\nknowledge of God, from the knowledge of all other creatures, and from\nall the dignity and glory of his nakedness, into ignorance of God,\ninto blasphemies against God, and into hatred and contempt of God; but\nthat he is fallen even into enmity against God; to say nothing at the\npresent time of that tyranny of Satan to which our nature has by sin\nmade itself the basest slave. These things, I say, are not to be\nextenuated, but to be magnified by every possible description of them;\nbecause if the magnitude of our disease be not fully known, we shall\nnever know nor desire the remedy. Moreover the more you extenuate sin,\nthe less you make grace to be valued.\n\nAnd there is nothing which can tend to amplify and magnify the nature\nand extent of original sin more fully and appropriately than the words\nof Moses himself, when he says, that Adam and Eve were both naked, and\nwere not ashamed. No polluted lust was excited by the sight of each\nother's nakedness. But the one looking on the other saw and\nacknowledged the goodness of God. They both rejoiced in God, and both\nfelt secure in the goodness of God. Whereas now, we not only cannot\nfeel ourselves free from sin; not only do not feel ourselves secure in\nthe goodness of God, but labor under hatred of God and despair of his\ngoodness and mercy. Such a horrible state of the fall as this clearly\nproves how far nature is from being in any degree sound and whole.\n\nBut with how much greater impudence still do our human reasoners make\nthis their affirmation of there being still left something sound and\nwhole, in the nature of the devil! For in the devil there is a greater\nenmity, hatred and rage against God than in man. But the devil was not\ncreated thus evil. He had a will conformed to the will of God. This\nwill however he lost, and he lost also that most beautiful and most\nlucid intellect with which he was endowed, and he was converted into a\nhorrible spirit, filled with rage against his Creator. Must not that\nhave been then a most awful corruption, which transformed a friend of\nGod into the most bitter and determined enemy of God?\n\nBut here human reasoners bring forward that sentence of Aristotle,\n\"Reason prays for the best.\" And they attempt to confirm it by\npassages from the Scriptures and by the opinions of philosophers, who\nhold that right reason is the cause of all virtues. Now I deny not\nthat these sentiments are true, when they are applied to things\nsubject to reason; such as the management of cattle, the building of a\nhouse, and the sowing of a field. But in the higher and divine things,\nthey are not true. For how can that reason be said to be right, which\nhates God? How can that will be said to be good, which resists the\nwill of God and refuses to obey God?\n\nWhen therefore men say with Aristotle, \"Reason prays for the best,\"\nreply thou to them, Yes! Reason prays for the best, humanly; that is,\nin things in which reason has a judgment. In such things, reason\ndictates and leads to what is good and useful in a human, bodily or\ncarnal sense. But since reason is filled with ignorance of God and\naversion to the will of God, how can reason be called good in this\nsense? For it is a well known fact, that when the knowledge of God is\npreached with the intent that reason may be restored, then those who\nare the best men, if I may so speak, and men of the best kind of\nreason and will, are those who the most bitterly hate the gospel.\n\nIn the sacred matter of divinity therefore let our sentiments be, that\nreason in all men stands as the greatest enemy against God; and also\nthat the best will in men is most adverse to the will of God; seeing\nthat from this very source arise hatred of the Word and persecution of\nall godly ministers. Wherefore, as I said, let us never extenuate, but\nrather magnify that mighty evil, which human nature has derived from\nthe sin of our first parents; then will the effect be that we shall\ndeplore this our fallen state and cry and sigh unto Christ our great\nPhysician, who was sent unto us by the Father for the very end that\nthose evils, which Satan has inflicted on us through sin, might by him\nbe healed, and that we might be restored unto that eternal glory,\nwhich by sin we had lost.\n\nBut with reference to the part of sacred history which Moses describes\nin this chapter, I have already expressed my mind; namely, that this\ntemptation took place on the Sabbath day. For Adam and Eve were\ncreated on the sixth day; Adam earlier in the day and Eve in the\nevening. On the following day, the Sabbath day, Adam spoke to his wife\nEve concerning the will of God; informing her that the most gracious\nLord had created all paradise for the use and pleasure of men; that he\nhad also created by his especial goodness the tree of life, by the use\nof which the powers of their bodies might be restored, and continued\nin perpetual youth; but that one tree, the tree of the knowledge of\ngood and evil, was prohibited; of which it was not lawful for them to\neat; and that this obedience to their merciful Creator they were\nsolemnly bound to render. After Adam had communicated this information\nto Eve, he perhaps led her about in paradise and showed her the\nprohibited tree. Thus did Adam and Eve in their original innocence and\nrighteousness, full of safety and security through their confidence in\ntheir God so good and so merciful, walk about together in paradise;\nconsidering together the word and the command of God; and blessing\ntheir God on the Sabbath day as they ought to do. But in the midst of\nall this happiness, Oh! the grief! Satan enters, and within a few\nhours destroys all, as we shall in this chapter hear.\n\nHere again is poured forth a whole sea of questions. For curious men\ninquire, why God permitted so much to Satan as to tempt Eve? They ask\nalso, why Satan employed the serpent in his temptation of Eve, rather\nthan any other beast of the creation. But who shall render a reason\nfor those things, which he sees the Divine Majesty to have permitted\nto be done? Why do we not rather say with Job, that God cannot be\ncalled to an account, and that none can compel him to render unto us\nhis own reasons for all those things which he does or permits to be\ndone. Why do we not on the same ground expostulate with God, because\nthe grass is not green and the trees are not in leaf all the year\nround now as in the beginning. For I fully believe, that in paradise,\nhad the state of original innocency continued, there would have been a\nperpetual spring without any winter or frost or snow, as they now\nexist since the fall and its sin. All these things depend wholly on\nthe will and power of God. This is enough for us to know. To inquire\ninto these things farther than this is impious curiosity. Wherefore\nlet us, the clay of his hands, cease to inquire into and dispute about\nsuch things as these, which belong alone to the will of our Potter!\nLet us not judge our God, but rather leave ourselves to be judged by\nhim.\n\nThe answer therefore to all such questions and arguments ought to be\nthis: It pleased God that Adam should be put under peril and trial,\nthat he might exercise his powers. Just as now, when we are baptized\nand translated into the kingdom of Christ, God will not have us to be\nat ease. He will have his Word and his gifts to be exercised by us.\nTherefore he permits us, weak creatures, to be put into the sieve of\nSatan. Hence it is that we see the church, when made clean by the\nWord, to be put under perpetual peril and trial. The Sacramentarians,\nthe Anabaptists and other fanatical teachers, who harass the church\nwith various trials, are stirred up against her, to which great trials\nare also added internal vexations. All these things are permitted of\nGod to take place, not however because it is his intention to forsake\nhis church or to suffer her to perish. But as wisdom says, all these\nconflicts are brought upon the church and upon the godly, that they\nmight overcome them; and thus learn by actual sight and experience\nthat wisdom is more powerful than all things.\n\nAnother question is here raised, on which we may dispute perhaps with\nless peril and with greater profit: Why the Scripture speaks of this\nmatter thus obscurely and does not openly say, that one of the fallen\nangels entered into the serpent and through the serpent spoke to Eve\nand deceived her? But to this I reply, that all these things were\ninvolved in obscurity, that they might be reserved for Christ and for\nhis Spirit, whose glory it is to shine throughout the whole world, as\nthe mid-day sun, and to open all the mysteries of the Scriptures. As\nthis Spirit of Christ dwelt in the prophets, those holy prophets\nunderstood all such mysteries of the Word. We have said above however\nthat as the beasts of the creation had each different gifts, so the\nserpent excelled all other creatures in the gift of guile, and\ntherefore it was the best adapted for this stratagem of Satan.\n\nOf this peculiarity in the serpent the present text of Moses is an\nevident proof; for he says at the opening of this chapter, \"Now the\nserpent was more subtle than any beast of the field which Jehovah God\nhad made.\" We marvel even now at the gift of insidious cunning in the\nfox, and also at its astonishing ingenuity in escaping danger. For\nsometimes when closely pursued by the dogs and quite worn out and\nready to drop with exhaustion, it will hold up its tail; and while the\ndogs stop their course with the intent of rushing with all their force\nto seize it, the fox with marvelous celerity secures a little\nadvantage ground and thus escapes their capture. There are also other\nbeasts whose remarkable sagacity and industry surprise us; but\nsubtilty was the peculiar natural property of the serpent, and\ntherefore it seemed to Satan to be the instrument best adapted for his\ndeception of Eve.\n\nV. 1b. _And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not\neat of any tree of the garden?_\n\nHuman reasoners dispute also concerning the nature of this temptation,\nas to what it really was; whether our first parents sinned by idolatry\nor by pride or by self-security or simply by eating the fruit. But if\nwe consider these things a little more carefully, as we ought to do,\nwe shall find that this temptation was the most awful and the most\nbitter of all temptations. Because the serpent attacked the good will\nof God itself, and endeavored to prove by this very prohibition from\nthe tree of life that the will of God toward man was not good. The\nserpent therefore attacks the image of God itself. He assails those\nhighest and most perfect powers, which in the newly-created nature of\nAdam and Eve were as yet uncorrupted. He aims at overturning that\nhighest worship of God, which God himself had just ordained. In vain\ntherefore do we dispute about this sin or that. For Eve is enticed\nunto all sins at once, when she is thus enticed to act contrary to the\nWord and the will of God.\n\nMoses therefore speaks here most considerately, when he uses the\nexpression, \"And the serpent said.\" Here, WORD attacks _word_. The\nWORD which the Lord had spoken to Adam was, \"Of the tree of the\nknowledge of good and evil thou shalt not eat.\" This Word was to Adam\nthe Gospel, and the law thus given was his worship. It was a service\nand an obedience which in this state of innocence Adam was able to\nrender unto God. These are the Divine things Satan attacks. These are\nthe things he aims at overturning. Nor does he merely intend, as those\nthink who know nothing of the matter, to point out the tree to Eve and\nto invite her to pluck the fruit. He does indeed point to the tree,\nbut he does something far worse than this. He adds another and a new\nword, as it is his practice to do at the present day in the Church.\n\nFor wherever the Gospel is purely preached, there men have a sure rule\nfor their faith, and by that they are able to guard against idolatry.\nBut there Satan plies temptations of every kind, and he tries by what\nmeans he can the most effectually to draw men away from the Word, or\nhow he can most completely corrupt the Word itself. Thus in the Greek\nChurch also, in the time of the apostles, heresies of every kind were\nstirred up. One heretic denies that Christ is the Son of God. Another\ndenies that he is the Son of Mary, just as the anabaptists of our day\nimpiously deny that Christ assumed anything of the flesh of Mary. So\nagain in the times of Basil more particularly, men attempted to deny\nthat the Holy Ghost is God.\n\nOur own age in like manner has witnessed the same examples of\nheresies. For no sooner had a purer doctrine of the Gospel shone upon\nus, than assailants of the works and Word of God of every kind rose up\non every side. Not however that temptations of other kinds cease. For\nSatan still tempts to whoredom, to adultery and to other like great\nsins. But this temptation, when Satan attacks the Word and the works\nof God, is by far the heaviest and most dangerous; and that temptation\nthe most intimately concerns the Church and the saints.\n\nIt was in this manner therefore that Satan attacked Adam and Eve on\nthis solemn occasion. His aim was to tear away from them the Word, in\norder that giving up the Word and their confidence in God, they might\nbelieve a lie. When this takes place what wonder is it if a man\nafterwards becomes proud, a despiser of God, an adulterer or anything\nelse? This temptation therefore is the head and chief of all\ntemptations. It brings with it the breach and the violation of the\nwhole ten commandments. For unbelief is the fountain-source of all\nsins. When Satan has brought a man under this temptation and has\nwrested from him or corrupted in his heart the Word, he may do\nanything with him.\n\nThus when Eve had suffered the Word to be beaten out of her heart by a\nlie, she found no difficulty whatever in approaching the tree and\nplucking from it the fruit. It is foolish therefore to think of this\ntemptation, as the sophists and the monks think of it; that Eve, when\nshe had looked upon the tree, began to be inflamed by degrees with the\ndesire of plucking the fruit; until at last, overcome with the longing\nfor it, she plucked the fruit and put it to her mouth. The sum of the\nwhole temptation and her fall by it was that she listened to another\n_word_ and departed from that WORD which God had spoken to her, which\nwas that if she did eat of the tree she should surely die. But let us\nnow contemplate the words of Moses in the order in which we find them.\n\nIn the first place Satan here imitates God. For as God had preached to\nAdam, so Satan now also preaches to Eve. For perfectly true is that\nsaying of the proverb, \"All evil begins in the name of God.\" Just\ntherefore as salvation comes from the pure Word of God, so perdition\ncomes from the corrupted Word of God. What I term the corrupted Word\nof God is not that only which is corrupted by the vocal ministry, but\nthat which is corrupted by the internal persuasions of the heart or by\nopinions of the mind, disagreeing with the Word.\n\nMoses implies all this in his expression, \"He said.\" For the object of\nSatan was to draw away Eve by his word or saying, from that which God\nhad said; and thus by taking the Word of God out of sight, he\ncorrupted that perfection of will which man had before; so that man\nbecame a rebel. He corrupted also his understanding so that he doubted\nconcerning the will of God. Upon this immediately followed a\nrebellious hand, stretched forth to pluck the fruit contrary to the\ncommand of God. Then followed a rebellious mouth and rebellious teeth;\nin a word all evils follow soon upon unbelief or doubt concerning the\nWord and God. For what can be worse than for a man to disobey God, and\nobey Satan!\n\nThis very same craft and malice all heretics imitate. Under the show\nof doing good, they wrest from men God and his Word. They take the\nWord away from before their eyes and set before them another, and a\nnew word and a new god; a god which is nowhere, and no god at all. For\nif you examine the words of these men, nothing can be more holy,\nnothing more religious. They call God to witness that they seek with\ntheir whole heart the salvation of the Church. They express their\nutter detestation of all who teach wicked things. They profess their\ngreat desire to spread the name and the glory of God. But why should I\nenlarge? They wish to appear to be anything but the devil's teachers\nor heretics. And yet, their one whole aim is to suppress the true\ndoctrine and to obscure the knowledge of God. And when they have done\nthis, the fall of their listeners is easily enough effected.\n\nFor unwary men suffer themselves to be drawn away from the Word to\ndangerous disputations, Rom. 14:1. Not content with the Word, they\nbegin to inquire why and for what reason these and those things were\ndone. And just as Eve, when she listened to the devil, calling the\ncommand of God into doubt fell; so it continually happens that we, by\nlistening to him, are brought to doubt whether God is willing that we,\nwhen heavily oppressed with sin and death, should be saved by Christ;\nand thus, being misled and deceived, we suffer ourselves to be induced\nto put on cowls and cloaks in order that we may be crowned of God with\nsalvation on account of our works of perfection.\n\nThus before men are aware, another and a new god is set before them by\nSatan; for he also sets a word before us; but not that Word which is\nset before us of God, who declareth that repentance and remission of\nsins should be preached unto all men in the name of Christ, Luke\n24:47. When the Word of God is in this manner altered and corrupted,\nthen, as Moses says, in his song, \"there are brought in among us new\ngods, newly come up whom our fathers knew not, and feared not,\" Deut.\n32:17.\n\nIt is profitable to be well acquainted with these snares of Satan. For\nif he were to teach men that they might commit murder and fornication,\nand might resist their parents, etc., who is there who would not\nimmediately see that he was persuading them to do things forbidden by\nthe Lord? And thus it would be easy to guard against him. But in the\ncase of which we are speaking, when he sets before us another word,\nwhen he disputes with us concerning the will and willingness of God,\nwhen he brings before our eyes the name of God, and of the church, and\nof the people of God, then we cannot so easily be on our guard against\nhim. On the contrary there is need of the firmest judgment of the\nspirit to enable us to distinguish between the true God and the new\ngod.\n\nIt is such judgment as this that Christ exercises, when Satan attempts\nto persuade him to command that the stones be made bread, and to cast\nhimself down from the pinnacle of the Temple. For Satan's aim was to\npersuade Christ to attempt something without the Word. But the Tempter\ncould not deceive Christ as he had deceived Eve. For Christ holds fast\nthe Word and does not suffer himself to be drawn away from the true\nGod to the new and false god. Hence unbelief and doubting, which\nfollow a departure from the Word, are the fountain and source of all\nsin. And it is because the world is full of these that it remains in\nidolatry, denies the truth of God and forms to itself new gods.\n\nThe monk is an idolator. For his imaginations are that if he lives\naccording to the rule of Francis or Dominic, he shall be in the way to\nthe kingdom of God. But this is making a new god, and becoming an\nidolator. Because the true God declares that the way to the kingdom of\nheaven is believing in Christ. When this faith is lost therefore\nunbelief and idolatry immediately enter in, which transfer the glory\nof God to works. Thus the Anabaptists, the Sacramentarians and the\nPapists are all idolators! Not because they worship stocks and stones,\nbut because, leaving the Word of God, they worship their own thoughts.\n\nThe portion of the Scripture therefore now before us is designed to\nteach us that the beginning of original sin was this effectual\ntemptation of the devil, when he had drawn Eve away from the Word to\nidolatry, contrary to the first and second and third commandments.\nTherefore the words stand here, \"Yea, hath God said?\" It is horrible\naudacity for the devil to represent a new god and deny the former true\nand eternal God with the utmost self-confidence. It is as if the devil\nhad said, \"Ye must be fools indeed if ye believe that God really gave\nyou such a commandment. For God is by no means such a God as to be so\ngreatly concerned whether ye eat the fruit or eat it not. For as the\ntree is 'the tree of the knowledge of good and evil;' how, think ye,\nhe can be so filled with envy as to be unwilling that ye should be\nwise!\"\n\nMoreover this inexpressible malice fully proves that, although Moses\nmakes mention of the serpent only and not of Satan, Satan was the real\ncontriver of the whole transaction. And although these things had been\nthus involved in obscurity in this sacred history of them, yet the\nholy fathers and prophets, under the illumination of the Holy Spirit,\nat once saw that this temptation was not the work of the serpent, but\nthat there was in the serpent that spirit, which was the enemy of\nAdam's innocent nature; even the spirit, concerning whom Christ\nplainly declares in the Gospel, \"that he abode not in the truth; and\nthat he was a murderer and a liar from the beginning,\" Luke 8:44. It\nwas left however, as we have said, for the Gospel to explain these\nthings more clearly and to make manifest this enemy of God and of men.\nBut the fathers saw all this by the following mode of reasoning: It is\ncertain that at the time of the temptation all creatures stood in\nperfect obedience, according to the sentence of Moses, \"And God saw\neverything that he had made and, behold, it was very good.\" But here\nin the serpent, such a spirit manifests himself who proves to be the\nenemy of God and who corrupts the Word of God, that he might draw away\nman into sin and death.\n\nIt is manifest therefore that there was something, some spirit in the\nserpent, far worse than the serpent itself by nature; a spirit which\nmight properly be called the enemy of God; a spirit that was a liar\nand a murderer; a spirit in whom there was the greatest and the most\nhorrible and reckless unconcern; a spirit which trembled not to\ncorrupt the commandment of God and to tempt man to idolatry; though he\nknew by that act of idolatry the whole human race must perish. These\nthings are truly horrible when they are viewed by us aright. And we\nsee even now examples of the same security and unconcern in Papists\nand other sects; an unconcern by which they corrupt the Word of God\nand seduce men.\n\nEve at first nobly resisted the Tempter. For as yet she was guided by\nthe illumination of that Holy Spirit, of whom we have spoken, and by\nwhom she knew that man was created perfect and in the likeness of God.\nAt length however she suffered herself to be persuaded and overcome.\n\nWith respect to the fall of the angels, it is uncertain on which day\nthe fall took place; whether on the second or on the third day. This\nonly can be proved, and that is known from the Gospel, namely, that\nSatan fell from Heaven, for Christ himself testifies of the manner of\nthe fall, where he says, \"I beheld Satan as lightning fall from\nheaven,\" Luke 10:18. But whether the heavens were then \"finished\" or\nyet in their rude unformed state, we know not. The discussion of this\npoint however belongs not to our present exposition of the passage\nbefore us. Our present duty is to contemplate the extreme malice here\ndisclosed, joined with the most horrible unconcern. For this spirit\ntrembles not to call the commandment of the divine majesty into doubt;\nthough he fully knew all the time, what an awful calamity must thereby\nfall upon the whole human race.\n\nIn the second place the wonderful subtlety here exercised is\nespecially to be considered, which is discovered first in this: that\nSatan attacks the highest powers of man and assails the very image of\nGod in him; namely, his will, which as yet thought and judged aright\nconcerning God. \"Now the serpent was more subtle,\" says our text,\n\"than any beast of the field, which Jehovah God had made.\" But the\nsubtlety manifested in this instance far exceeded all the natural\nsubtlety of the serpent. For Satan here disputes with man concerning\nthe Word and the will of God. This the serpent in his natural state\nand condition could not do; for in that, he was subject to the\n\"dominion\" of man. But the spirit which spoke in the serpent is so\nsubtle that he overcomes man and persuades him to eat of the fruit of\nthe forbidden tree. It is not therefore a creature of God, in his\ncreated good state, that here speaks; but it is a spirit, who is the\nbitterest enemy of God and of men; a spirit, who is indeed a creature\nof God, but not created thus evil by God. It is a creature, who abode\nnot in the truth; as Christ says, John 8:44. These facts are\nconsequences, plainly resulting from the Gospel and from the text of\nMoses before us.\n\nThe subtlety which we are contemplating is seen also from the\nstratagem of Satan in attacking the weak part of human nature; namely\nEve, the woman; and not Adam, the man. For although both of them were\ncreated equally righteous, yet Adam excelled Eve. For as in all the\nendowments of nature, the male strength exceeds that of the female\nsex, so in the state of the innocency and perfection of human nature,\nthe male in some degree excelled the female. Hence Satan, seeing that\nAdam was the more excellent creature, dared not attack him; for he had\nfears lest his attempts should fail. And my belief is that if he had\nattempted Adam first, Adam would have had the victory. He would more\nlikely have crushed the serpent with his foot, and would have said to\nhim, \"Hold your tongue. The Lord hath commanded otherwise.\" Satan\ntherefore attacks Eve as the weaker part, and tries her strength. For\nhe sees that she has so much trust in, and dependence on, her husband,\nthat she will not think it possible that she should be persuaded to do\nwrong after what her husband had told her.\n\nBy this portion of the sacred record we are also instructed concerning\nthe divine permission; that God sometimes permits the devil to enter\ninto beasts, as he here entered into the serpent. For there can be no\ndoubt that the serpent, in the assumption of whose form Satan talked\nwith Eve was a real and natural serpent. But when men enter into\ndiscussions whether this serpent assumed on that occasion a human\ncountenance, etc., all such discussions are absurd. The creature was\ndoubtless a most beautiful serpent in its natural state; otherwise Eve\nwould not have conversed with it so securely. After the sin of the\nfall however that beauty of the serpent was changed. For God's rebuke\nto him declares that hereafter \"he should go upon his belly on the\nground.\" Whereas before, he walked upright, as the male fowl. God also\ndeclares \"that he should eat dust,\" whereas before, he fed upon better\nfood, even upon the productions of the earth. Nay, even the original\nsecurity of man with the serpent is lost. We flee from serpents at the\nsight of them, as they also flee from us.\n\nThese are all wounds, which have been inflicted on nature on account\nof sin; just in the same way we have lost the glory of our nakedness,\nthe rectitude of our will and the soundness of our intellect and\nunderstanding. I believe also, that the serpent lost much of his\nsubtlety, which Moses here lauds, as a distinguishing gift of God.\nMoreover, I believe that in the same proportion as the serpent is now\nan evil creature amidst the beasts, so it was then a good creature;\nand a blessed and lovely creature; a creature with which not man only,\nbut all the other beasts also, lived in perfect freedom and with great\npleasure. The serpent therefore was a creature, the best adapted of\nall the other living creatures for the purpose of Satan. By it he\ncould secure the most easy access to Eve, and could the most\neffectually converse with her so as to draw her into sin.\n\nSuch is my opinion concerning the natural serpent, the beautiful\nnature of which Satan planned thus to abuse. I believe it was\noriginally a most beautiful creature, without any poison in its tail\nand without those filthy scales with which it is now covered. For\nthese grew upon it after the sin of the fall. Hence we find it a\nprecept given by Moses that any beast, which should kill any person,\nshould itself immediately be killed, Exod. 21:28; and for no other\nreason than because Satan sinned by using a beast when he murdered\nman. Hence also a serpent is killed wherever found, as a lasting\nmemorial of this diabolical malice and this fall of man, wrought by\nhis means.\n\nWith reference to the grammatical expression here used, the Latin\ninterpreter renders the Hebrew APHKI by cur. Though this rendering is\nnot very wide of the real sense of the passage, yet it does not convey\nthe true and proper meaning. For it is the highest and greatest of all\ntemptations, when a dispute is entered upon, concerning the counsel of\nGod, why God did this or that. But my judgment is, that the weight of\nthe matter does not rest on this particle of expression why? or\nwherefore? But rather on the name God, ELOHIM. It is this that\nconstitutes the greatness and awfulness of the temptation.\n\nIt is as if Satan had said, \"Ye must be foolish indeed if ye suppose\nthat God could possibly be unwilling that ye should eat of this tree\nwhen he had himself given you 'dominion' over all the trees of\nparadise; nay, when he had positively created all the trees for your\nsakes. How can he, who bestowed as a free favor all things upon you,\npossibly envy you these particular fruits, which are so sweet and so\npleasant!\" For Satan's whole aim is to devise a means of drawing them\naway from the Word and from the knowledge of God, and to bring them to\nconclude that what they had stated was not really the will of God, and\nthat such was not really what God had commanded them. That this is the\ntrue sense of the whole divine passage, that which follows tends to\nprove; when Satan says, \"Ye shall not surely die.\" For all the\nstratagems of Satan centre in this one:--to draw men away from the\nWord, and from faith unto a new and false god.\n\nAnd this same plan of Satan all fanatical spirits follow. Hence, Arius\nreasons and inquires, Do you really think that Christ is God, when he\nhimself says, \"My Father is greater than I?\" In the same manner also\nthe Sacramentarians ask, Do you really think that the bread is the\nbody and the wine the blood of Christ? Christ most certainly had no\nthoughts so absurd. When men begin thus to indulge their own\ncogitations, they by degrees depart from the Word and fall into error.\n\nSince therefore, the whole force of the temptation was in leading Eve\nto doubt whether God really did say so; it is a more correct rendering\nto leave the emphasis resting on the name of God. The leaving it to\nrest on the interrogative particle, why? takes away from the peculiar\nforce of the meaning. In my judgment therefore the passage will be\nbest rendered by making the emphasis to rest on the _not_. Hath God\nsaid that ye shall _not_ eat of every tree of the garden? For Satan's\nreal aim is, not to set up an inquiry why God said this. His object is\nto bring Eve to conclude that God had positively not so commanded, in\norder that by bringing her to this conclusion he might wrest from her\nthe Word. Satan saw that the reasoning power of Eve might in this way\nbe the most effectually deceived, if he drew away from her sight and\njudgment the Word of God, under the very name of God. And he thinks\nthe same still.\n\nThis question of Satan is full of insidious deception. He does not\nspeak particularly, but generally; he includes in his interrogation,\nall the trees of the garden together. As if he had said, \"You have\ncommitted unto you an universal 'dominion' over all the beasts of the\nearth; and do you really suppose that God, who has thus given you\n'dominion' over all the beasts of the earth, has not given you the\nsame dominion over all the trees of the earth? Why, you ought rather\nto think that as God has put under you the whole earth and all the\nbeasts of the earth; so he has also granted you the use of all things\nwhich grow upon the earth.\" This is indeed the very height and depth\nof temptation. Satan here endeavors to gain over the mind of Eve to\nhis purpose, by artfully drawing her into the conclusion that God is\nnever unlike himself; and that therefore if God had given them\nuniversal dominion over all the other creatures, he had given them\nuniversal dominion over all the trees also. From this therefore it\nwould naturally follow that the commandment not to eat of the tree of\nlife, was not the commandment of God; or that if it were his\ncommandment, it was not so to be understood that he really wished them\nnot to eat of that tree.\n\nWherefore this temptation was a double temptation, by which as a\ntwofold means Satan aimed at the same end. The one part of the\ntemptation is, \"God hath not said this, therefore ye may eat of this\ntree.\" The second branch of this awful temptation is, \"God hath given\nunto you all things; therefore all things are yours; and therefore\nthis tree is not forbidden you, etc., etc.\" Now, both branches of this\ntemptation are directed to the same object; to draw Eve away from the\nWord and from faith. For this commandment concerning not eating of\nthis tree of knowledge, which God gave to Adam and to Eve, proves that\nAdam with his posterity, had they continued in their original\ninnocency, would have lived in that perfection of nature by faith,\nuntil he and they had been translated from this corporeal life unto\nthe life spiritual and eternal. For wherever the Word is, there of\nnecessity is faith also. For the Word was this, \"Of the tree of the\nknowledge, etc., thou shalt not eat, for in the day that thou eatest\nthereof thou shalt surely die.\" Adam and Eve must therefore have\nbelieved that this tree involved in it something perilous to their\nsalvation. Therefore in this very Word of commandment, faith also is\nincluded.\n\nWe, who are designed to be transferred from this state of sin to a\nstate of eternal righteousness, also live by faith. But we have a\nWord, different from that which Adam had in his state of nature's\ninnocence and perfection. For he was designed to be transferred simply\nfrom a state of animal life to that of a spiritual and eternal life.\nWherefore this tree, as I have before observed, was intended of God to\nbe a temple as it were in the midst of paradise, in which the Word God\nspoke to Adam might be preached. The substance of this Word was, that\nall the other trees of paradise were healthful and to be eaten; but\nthat this tree of knowledge, involved in it the danger of destruction;\nand that therefore they should learn to obey God and his Word, and to\nrender unto God his worship, by not eating of this tree, seeing that\nGod had forbidden them to eat of this particular tree.\n\nIn this manner therefore nature, in its uncorrupt and perfect state,\neven while it possessed the knowledge of God, had yet a Word or\nprecept of God, above the comprehension of Adam, which he was called\nupon to believe. And this Word or precept was delivered to man in his\nstate of innocency, that Adam might have a sign or form of worshipping\nGod, of giving him thanks, and of instructing his children in this\nknowledge of God. Now the devil, beholding this and knowing that this\nWord or precept of God was above the understanding of man, plies Eve\nwith his temptation and draws her into thinking, whether this really\nwas the commandment and will of God. And this is the very origin of\nall temptation; when the reason of man attempts to judge concerning\nthe Word and God without the Word.\n\nNow the will of God was that this his precept should be unto man an\noccasion of his obedience and of his external worship of God; and that\nthis tree should be a sign, by means of which man should testify that\nhe did obey God. But Satan by setting on foot the doubtful\ndisputation, whether God really did give such a commandment, endeavors\nto draw man away from this obedience into sin. Here the salvation of\nEve consisted solely in her determinately urging the commandment of\nGod, and not suffering herself to be drawn aside into other\ndisputations, whether God really had given such a commandment. And\nwhether as God had created all things for man's sake, it could be\npossible that this one tree only was created, containing something\nincomprehensible and dangerous to man's salvation. It seems indeed\nunto men, to be a show of wisdom, to inquire into these things more\ncuriously than is lawful. But as soon as the mind begins to indulge in\nsuch disputations, man is lost. But now let us hear the answer Eve\nmakes to Satan:\n\nVs. 2, 3. _And the woman said unto the serpent: Of the fruit of the\ntrees of the garden we may eat; but of the fruit of the tree which is\nin the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it,\nneither shall ye touch it, lest perchance ye die._\n\nEve's beginnings are successful enough. She makes a distinction\nbetween all the other trees of the garden and this tree. She rehearses\nthe commandment of God. But when she comes to relate also the\npunishment, she fails. She does not relate the punishment, as it had\nbeen declared by the Lord. The Lord had said, absolutely, \"For in the\nday that thou eatest thereof, thou shalt surely die,\" Gen. 2:17. Out\nof this absolute declaration, Eve makes an expression, not absolute,\n\"Lest perchance ye should die.\"\n\nThis defect in the statement of Eve is very remarkable, and demands\nparticular observation; for it proves that she had turned aside from\nfaith to unbelief. For as the promise of God demands faith, so the\nthreatening of God demands faith also. Eve ought to have made her\nstatement as a fact, and a certainty. \"If I eat, I shall surely die.\"\nThis faith however Satan so assails, with his insidious speech, as to\ninduce Eve to add the expression, \"perchance.\" For the devil had\neffectually persuaded her to think that God surely was not so cruel as\nto kill her for merely tasting a fruit. Hence the heart of Eve was now\nfilled with the poison of Satan.\n\nThis text therefore is also by no means properly translated in our\nversion. The meaning of the original Hebrew is that Eve speaks her own\nwords; whereas she is ostensibly reciting the Word of God; and that\nshe adds to the Word of God her own expression, \"perchance.\" Wherefore\nthe artifice of the lying spirit has completely succeeded. For the\nobject which he especially had in view; namely, to draw Eve away from\nthe Word and from faith; he has now so far accomplished, as to cause\nEve to corrupt the Word of God; or, to use the expression of Paul, \"he\nhas turned her aside from the will of God, and caused her to go after\nSatan\", 1 Tim. 5:15. And the beginning of certain ruin is to be turned\naside from God, and to be turned after Satan; that is, not to stand\nfirmly in the Word and in faith. When Satan therefore sees this\nbeginning in Eve, he plies against her his whole power as against a\nbowing wall, until she falls prostrate on the ground.\n\nVs. 4, 5. _And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely\ndie: for God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes\nshall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil._\n\nThis is the satanic rhetoric adopted by the tempter to prostrate\nutterly a poor weak woman; when he sees her turning away from God and\ninclined to listen to another teacher. Before, when he said in his\nsatanic insidiousness, \"Hath God, indeed, thus commanded you?\" he did\nnot positively deny the Word. He only attempted by speaking in the\nform of a question to draw Eve aside into doubting. But now, having\nfully accomplished his first point, he begins with daring presumption\nto deny the Word of God altogether, and to charge God himself with\nfalsehood and cruelty. He is not now content with having caused Eve to\nadd her expression, \"perchance.\" Out of the \"perchance,\" he now makes\na plain and positive denial: \"Ye shall not surely die.\"\n\nWe here witness therefore what a horrible thing it is when Satan once\nbegins to tempt a man. For then ruin causes ruin and that which was at\nfirst apparently a trifling offense against God, ends eventually in a\nmighty destruction. It was an awful step into sin for Eve to turn from\nGod and his Word and to lend her ears to Satan. But this her next step\nis more awful; for she now agrees with Satan, while he charges God\nwith falsehood, and as it were smites him in the face. Eve therefore\nnow is no longer the woman merely turned away from God, as in the\nfirst stage of her temptation. She now begins to join Satan in his\ncontempt of God and in his denial of the truth of his Word. She now\nbelieves the father of lies, directly contrary to the Word of God.\n\nLet these things therefore be to us a solemn lesson and a terrible\nproof, to teach us what man is! For if these things occurred in\nnature, while it was yet in its state of perfection, what shall we\nthink may become of us! We have proofs, even now, before our eyes.\nMany, who at the commencement of our course gave thanks with us unto\nGod for his revealed Word, are not only fallen away from it, but are\nbecome our bitterest adversaries!\n\nThus it was also with the Arians. No sooner had they begun to fall\naway from faith in the divinity of the Son, than they quickly grew\ninto a violent enmity against him. So that they became the bitter\nenemies of the true Church and persecuted her with the greatest\ncruelty. Precisely the same examples of ultimate rage against the\ntruth have we witnessed also in the Anabaptists. They were all led\naway from the Word, and tempted to use the doubtful expression,\n\"perchance.\" Shortly after Satan drove them to turn the doubting\n\"perchance\" into a positive \"not,\" \"God hath not said,\" etc. Then from\nforsakers of God, they became the open persecutors of God, imitating\nin this their father, Satan; who after he had fallen from heaven by\nsin became the most bitter enemy of Christ and his church. Nor are\nexamples of the very same description few in our day. For we have no\nenemies more bitter against us than those who have fallen away from\nthe doctrine they once professed with us. And from this very sin that\nawful description which David has given us of the \"fool\" arose, Ps.\n14:1: \"The fool hath said in his heart there is no God.\" For those\nthus fallen are not satisfied with having turned away from God, unless\nthey have become the assailants also of God himself and of his Word.\n\nWherefore there is absolutely need that we abide by this rule, and\nmoor ourselves to this sacred anchor as it were through life. Since it\nis agreed for a certainty that the Word, which we possess and confess,\nis the Word of God, we should assent and cleave to it with all\nsimplicity of faith and not dispute concerning it with curious\ninquiry. For all inquiring and curious disputation bring with them\nmost certain ruin.\n\nThus for instance we have the plain and manifest Word of Christ\nconcerning the Lord's Supper, when he says concerning the bread, \"This\nis my body, which is given for you,\" Luke 22:19. And concerning the\ncup, \"This cup is the New Covenant in my blood\", 1 Cor. 11:25. When\ntherefore fanatics depart from faith in these plain words, and fall\ninto disputing how these things can be, they by degrees stray so far,\nas positively to deny that these are the words of Christ, and at\nlength they fiercely fight against them. Just as it befell Eve, as\nrecorded in the passage of Moses now before us.\n\nExactly after the same manner, when Arius began to think about God and\nto conclude by his own reason that God was a most positive and\nabsolute unity, he at first fell upon this proposition, \"Perhaps\nChrist is not God.\" Then he carried the accumulation of his\nabsurdities so far, as plainly to conclude, and to defend his\nconclusion, that \"Christ is not God.\" It moved him not at all, that\nJohn plainly declares, \"The Word was God,\" John 1:1; that Christ\ncommands men to be baptized \"in the name of the Father and of the Son\nand of the Holy Ghost,\" Math. 28:19; and that we are called upon to\nbelieve in Christ, to worship him and to pray unto him, Acts 13:39;\nPs. 97:7. And yet, what absurdity can be greater than that we should\ntake upon ourselves to judge God, since our condition is to be judged\nby him and by him alone?\n\nWherefore our duty is to stand by and persevere in this principle:\nthat, when we hear God say anything, we believe it, and not dispute\nabout it; but that on the contrary we bring our intellect and every\nthought into captivity unto Christ.\n\nWe may therefore appropriately cite the words of the prophet Isaiah,\n\"If ye will not believe, surely ye shall not be established,\" Is. 7:9.\nFor if we should inquire and inquire until we burst with curiosity,\nyet we shall never understand how the eye sees, nor how the ear hears,\nnor what the soul is, etc. And yet, all these things are a part of us,\nand we use them every day and every moment in all our actions. How\nthen shall we understand those things which exceed all our faculties\nand senses, and are found in the Word of God alone? Hence it is found\nin the Word alone, that the ordained bread is the body of Christ, and\nthat the ordained wine is the blood of Christ. These things it is our\nduty to believe, not to understand; for understand them we cannot.\n\nIn like manner too the words of God in the present passage of Moses\nwere most simple and plain, \"Of the fruit of the tree which is in the\nmidst of the garden ye shall not eat.\" But in those words reason did\nnot understand the mind of God, why he willed these things so to be.\nWhen therefore Eve, not content with the command of the Lord which she\nhad heard, began curiously to inquire into it, she perished. This\ntemptation therefore is a true example of all those temptations, in\nwhich Satan assaults the Word and faith. Before the desire of eating\nthe fruit came to Eve, she had let go the word which God spoke to\nAdam. Had she held fast this Word, she would have stood in the\nreverence of God and in faith. On the other hand, no sooner had she\nlet go the Word, than contempt of God entered; and then followed\nobedience to the devil.\n\nIt is profitable for us to learn these things and to know them. Hence\nit is that Peter admonishes us to stand fast under temptation, and to\nresist the Tempter, keeping fast hold of the Word by a firm faith, and\nkeeping our ears shut, so as not to listen to anything contrary to the\nWord, 1 Pet. 5:9. For such \"sufferings\" and temptations of Eve are\nmost truly \"lessons\" to us; that we suffer not the same things, by\nbeing drawn aside from the Word and faith, as she was.\n\nThat which follows in our text, \"For God doth know that your eyes\nshall be opened,\" may be taken in a twofold sense. We may either\nunderstand Satan to have thus spoken, for the purpose of exciting an\nill-will against God, for having forbidden man to eat of a fruit so\ngood and useful by which means Satan would create in Eve the beginning\nof a hatred towards God for not being sufficiently indulgent. Or\nagain, I would rather understand the passage, Satan speaks this, as in\npraise of God; that he may thereby the more easily entrap Eve in his\ndeception. As if he had said to her, \"Be assured that God is not such\nan one as to wish you and Adam to live in darkness as it were without\nthe knowledge of good and evil. He is good. He envies you nothing\nwhich can in any way conduce to your benefit or pleasure. He will be\nquite satisfied and content that you should be like himself, as to the\nknowledge of good and evil.\"\n\nWhen Satan thus praises God he has the razor fairly in his hands, so\nthat he can cut the throat of a man in a moment. For the fall of a man\nis thus rendered by Satan the most easy, when the pretext of the Word\nand the will of God is brought in upon the back of that which the lust\nof the heart desires. This is why I would rather understand the words\nnow in question to be spoken by Satan, as intended to persuade Eve,\nrather than to excite in her any hatred toward God. I leave it however\nquite free to you, my hearers, to adopt the sense of the passage which\npleases you best. The sum of the whole or the one aim of Satan, is\nthis: to draw Eve away by all possible means from the Word, and to\npersuade her to do that, which had been forbidden by the Word. For\nSatan is the most bitter enemy of the Word of God; because he knows\nthat our whole salvation lies in our obedience to that Word.\n\nBut here an inquiry by no means absurd is raised. How was it that Eve\ndid not yet feel her sin? For, although she had not yet swallowed the\nfruit, yet she had sinned against the Word and against faith. She had\nturned away from the Word unto a lie and from faith to disbelief; from\nGod to Satan and from the worship of God to idolatry. As this was the\nsum and substance of her sin, for plucking the apple was not the sum\nof her sin, how was it that death did not immediately follow? How was\nit that she did not feel so mighty a sin? Nay further how was it, that\nafter she had eaten the fruit, she did not feel the death which was\nthe decreed punishment of it, before she persuaded Adam to eat of it\nalso?\n\nThe schools dispute much and variously about the superior power, and\nthe inferior power of reason. They hold, that Adam possessed the\nsuperior power of reason, and Eve the inferior. We will cast aside all\nsuch half-learned and scholastic arguments and seek the true meaning\nof the passage, which is as follows:\n\nIn the first place the long-suffering of God is great. Therefore he\ndoes not punish sin immediately. If he did we should soon perish. This\nlong-suffering of God Satan ever abuses. And it just suits his purpose\nthat man should not immediately feel his sin. For because punishment\nis thus deferred, Satan fills the mind with security and unconcern. So\nthat a man is not only kept blind to the fact that he has sinned, but\nis caused to take delight and to glory in his sins.\n\nAll this we behold in the popes and the Papists. If they could see\nwith their eyes and hearts the slaughter-house of conscience, yea, the\nperdition into which they bring men by their impious doctrine, they\nwould without doubt change their doctrine. But now, Satan so dazzles\ntheir eyes as it were with his delusions, that they cannot perceive\ntheir own judgment and the wrath of God which hangs over them.\nTherefore in the very midst of these mighty sins, they live with the\ngreatest security, even with gladness and rejoicing, displaying their\nmagnificent triumphs as if they had performed the most noble\nachievements.\n\nThis was exactly the case with Eve. By her disbelief she rushed from\nthe Word into a lie. Therefore in the eyes of God, she was now dead.\nBut as Satan still held under his power her heart and eyes, she not\nonly did not see her death, but was gradually more and more inflamed\nwith a longing for the fruit; and was positively delighted with this\nher idolatry and with her sin.\n\nNow if Eve had not departed from the Word, thus to look upon the fruit\nwith a desire to taste it, it would have been to her an abhorrence.\nBut having thus departed, she turns over the sin in her mind with\ngratification. Whereas had she before seen any other stretch forth the\nhand to touch this tree, she would have recoiled with horror. But now,\nshe is impatient of delay. Sin has burst forth from her heart, and has\ndescended to the lower members of her body, her mouth and tongue. This\ndesire and delightful longing therefore to eat the fruit are as it\nwere the diseases gendered by the sin of her heart from which death\nfollows; though Eve, while sinning, feels it not. This is plain from\nthe next portion of the context.\n\n\nPART II. THE AWFUL FALL BY SINNING.\n\nV. 6. _And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and\nthat it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired\nto make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat; and she\ngave also unto her husband with her, and he did eat._\n\nMark here the manner in which sin diffuses itself through all the five\nsenses. For what did Eve neglect that could be used in the service of\nsin when once she had believed Satan contrary to the Word of God, and\nhad listened to his lies in telling her that she would not surely die,\nbut that her eyes would be opened and that she would know both good\nand evil. Her eyes could not be satisfied with seeing. It was nothing\nto her now that she possessed the knowledge of God, and that she had a\nsound and perfect mind. She was not content without the addition of\nthe knowledge of evil also. And this was the very essence of Satan's\npoison; her desire to be wise above that which God had spoken to her\nas his command. For such wisdom was death and the very enemy of that\nwisdom of God, which had been delivered to her in his Word. For this\nwisdom caused her to consider that to be righteousness, which was\nreally sin, and to look upon that as most desirable wisdom which was\nutter madness.\n\nThe whole point therefore lies in this which the Latin version has\nomitted to express: that the tree was a tree to be desired, because it\nmade the eaters thereof wise. And this is the very aim of the devil,\nto cause a man to think his knowledge and wisdom the greater, the\nfurther he departs from the Word.\n\nHence the Sacramentarians think it the sum of all wisdom to assert\nthat bread is bread, and that wine is wine; but that bread is not the\nbody, nor wine the blood of Christ. So Arius considers that he has\ncarried off the palm of all wisdom, when he asserts, from certain\nScriptures evilly distorted from their manifest sense, that the Logos\nwas indeed before all creatures; but that still he was created. In\nlike manner the Anabaptists imagine that they trumpet forth the very\nheight of wisdom, when they declare aloud with full-swollen cheeks\nthat water cannot reach the soul or the spirit, but that it washes the\nnaked skin only, and that therefore baptism avails nothing to the\nremission of sins. Hence we have known fanatical spirits to baptize\nhere and there without any water at all, who nevertheless continued to\nboast that they never dissented from us or our doctrine. And truly,\nthis is wisdom. But it is the wisdom of the devil; and directly\ncontrary to the Word and wisdom of God. And it is the peculiar and\nproper temptation of the devil thus to render us wise in our own\nconceits contrary to and above the Word of God. Just as he himself was\nonce in heaven, and then fell. And this high wisdom is a temptation of\nhis, far exceeding in destructive efficacy all the grosser temptations\nof lust, avarice, pride, etc.\n\nThe verb HISKIL signifies \"to be prudent\" or \"wise.\" Hence, MASKIL is\n\"wise\" or \"prudent,\" as in Psalm 14:2, \"Jehovah looked down from\nheaven upon the children of men, to see if there were any that did\nunderstand, that did seek after God.\" And again, Is. 53:11, \"By the\nknowledge of himself, JASKIL, shall my righteous servant justify\nmany.\" The word signifies properly that wisdom by which God is known\nand acknowledged. And Eve had this light or rather this sun of\nknowledge in her heart before she fell; because she had the Word. And\nshe had moreover the knowledge of all the creatures. But not content\nwith this wisdom, she wished to mount higher and to know God otherwise\nthan he had revealed himself to her in his Word. This was her fall.\nShe let go the true wisdom, and that being lost, she rushed into utter\nblindness.\n\nJust as Satan acted in the garden of Eden, so he acts now. God\ncommands us to believe the Gospel of his Son, that we may thus be\nsaved. This is true wisdom, as Christ himself also affirms: \"This is\nlife eternal, that they should know thee, the only true God, and him\nwhom thou didst send, even Jesus Christ,\" John 17:3. This wisdom the\nmonk utterly disregards, and turns aside to other things. He puts on a\ncowl, girds himself with a rope and takes upon him the vow of\ncelibacy; and he thinks that by such means he shall please God and be\nsaved. And all this is that sublime wisdom which is exercised in the\nworship of God, and in a great religious observance toward him; all of\nwhich is the implantation of Satan, engrafted on the original sin of\nour fallen nature; causing men to turn away from the Word of God,\nwhich he has himself \"set forth\" as the way of salvation, and to turn\naside to following their own cogitations. Just like Eve. She was\ncreated the wisest of all women that ever existed; but she longed for\nanother wisdom contrary to and above the Word; and on account of this\nnewly desired wisdom she fell and sinned, in a multiplicity of forms,\nwith all her senses, with her thoughts, with her sight, with her\ndesire, with her touch, with her taste, with her whole act.\n\nThey are not to be listened to, therefore, who argue it was cruelty\nthat this nature of ours should be thus miserably corrupted, sunk\nunder death, and involved in all the other calamities to which it is\nsubject for the simple act of tasting a certain fruit. The Epicureans,\nindeed, when they hear these things, laugh at them as a mere fable.\nBut to a careful reader, who duly ponders these recorded facts, it\nwill at once be manifest that the simple bite of the fruit was not the\ncause of these awful consequences. Such an one will see that the sin\ncommitted was the cause of the whole calamity which followed, even the\nsin of Eve, which she committed against both tables of the law,\nagainst God himself and against his Word. For her sin was of that\ndescription that she cast aside the Word of God and gave herself up\nwholly to Satan, and to his teaching as his disciple.\n\nThe greatness and awfulness of the sin of Eve therefore can neither be\nlessened nor made too great. This greatness and awfulness of the sin\nof Eve are the pregnant causes of all the calamitous punishments which\nwe endure. So awful was the sin, and so awful the turning away from\nGod! And this horrible turning away from God is the great solemn fact\nwhich our minds ought to contemplate. They ought not to dwell upon the\nmere plucking or swallowing the fruit; for those who look upon the act\nonly, and not upon the sin of the heart, from which the act proceeded,\nmust naturally be led to accuse God of cruelty for having inflicted\nupon the whole human race such terrible punishments for so small and\ninsignificant a sin. Such reasoners on the matter, therefore, hate God\nand despair; or like the Epicureans they laugh at the whole matter as\na fable.\n\nWhat we have to consider therefore is the Word. For that, against\nwhich Eve sinned, was the Word of God. As great therefore as was the\nWord, so great was the sin which Eve committed against the Word. It\nwas under this sin that all nature fell, and under which it still\nlies. For, how can nature overcome that sin! It is of a magnitude\ninfinite and inexhaustible. Consequently, to overcome this sin there\nis need of him who brings with him an inexhaustible righteousness,\neven the Son of God.\n\nThat Satan knew all this, his subtlety proves. For he does not\nimmediately entice Eve with the sweetness of the fruit; he attacks at\nonce the chief strength of man, faith in the Word! The root and source\nof all sin therefore is disbelief, and turning aside from God. Even\nas, on the contrary, the root and source of all righteousness is\nfaith. Satan therefore first of all draws Eve aside from faith to\nunbelief. When he had accomplished this and had brought Eve not to\nbelieve the Word of God's commandment spoken unto her, he had no\ntrouble in accomplishing the rest, in causing her to rush up to the\ntree, to pluck the fruit and eat it. For when sin is ripened in the\nheart by unbelief, the external act of disobedience soon follows. This\nis the manner in which the nature of sin is to be considered, namely,\naccording to its true magnitude, under which magnitude we are all\nruined. Next follows the description of sin, with its punishments.\n\nV. 7. _And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they\nwere naked; and they sewed fig-leaves together, and made themselves\naprons_ (girdles).\n\nI have remarked above that the form of all Satan's temptations is the\nsame. He first plies his temptation upon a man's faith, and then draws\nhim away from the Word. Upon this follow various sins against the\nsecond table. This procedure of Satan we may see plainly manifested in\nour own experience. That which follows therefore in the present\nchapter, is a particular description of sin, what it is in the act,\nand what it is afterwards, when the act is performed. For, while sin\nis in the act, it is not felt. If it were truly felt, we should return\nto the right way, warned by the sorrows which sin ever brings upon the\nsinner. But because these sorrows lie hidden, after we have departed\nfrom integrity of soul and from faith, we go on without concern into\nthe act itself. Just as Eve sinned in eating the fruit, after she had\nbeen persuaded by Satan, contrary to the Word of God, \"that she should\nnot die\" but that the only effects would be, \"that her eyes would be\nopened,\" and that she would become wiser. After she had drunk in this\npoison of Satan through her ears, she stretched forth her hand to the\nforbidden fruit, plucked it and ate it with her mouth; and thus she\nsinned with all the senses of her mind and of her body. And yet she\ndid not even then feel her sin. She ate the fruit with pleasure and\nentreated her husband also to do the same.\n\nThe essential principles are the same in all temptations and in all\nsins, whether of lust, of anger, or avarice, etc. While the sin is in\nthe act, it is not felt; it terrifies not, it stings not, but it\nrather flatters the passions and delights. And no marvel that the case\nshould be so with us when we are infected with this poison of original\nsin, from the sole of the foot to the crown of the head, and\nespecially when we reflect that the sins of paradise took place in\nnature while it was yet sound and perfect. Hence it is that we see in\nthe cases of profane men, of fanatical spirits and of those who have\nno faith, or who have fallen from the faith, how secure and\nunconcerned they are, how vehement and pertinacious in defending their\nerrors; so much so that they will not hesitate even to die in the\ndefence of them. Such is the nature of sin, while it remains unfelt.\nBut afterwards when the sin is made manifest by the law, then it comes\ndown upon the man with all its intolerable weight.\n\nSo before this discovery of her sin, while it was inwardly preparing\nfor the act, the eyes of Eve were not opened. Had they been she must\nhave died before she could have touched the fruit; but because her\neyes were not yet opened, and because her unbelief yet remained, there\nremained also the longing for the fruit prohibited, and there remained\nalso the purpose and the desire to obtain the Satan-promised\nknowledge, which was also forbidden. Poor miserable Eve, she is so\nwrapped up in disbelief, both in soul and in body, that she sees not\nthe mighty evil she is committing! Similar examples of the insensible\nsecurity and unconcern of sin are furnished by our ecclesiastical\nhistories. Arius securely blesses himself, as long as he can find\nmeans of eluding the Scripture testimonies concerning the Divinity of\nthe Son.\n\nBut this security lasts not very long. As soon as the eyes of Eve were\nopened, she remembered the law of her God spoken to her, which before\nshe had forgotten, \"that she and Adam should not eat of the forbidden\ntree.\" Before she had this knowledge of God's law she was \"without\nsin,\" as Paul expresses it, Rom. 7:9, \"And I was alive apart from the\nlaw once.\" Not because the law really did not exist, but because the\napostle did not feel the threatenings and punishments of it; and hence\nhe seemed to himself to be \"without the law.\" \"For through the law\ncometh the knowledge of sin,\" Rom. 3:20. When therefore the law\nrevived in his knowledge of it, his sin revived also with that\nknowledge, Rom. 7:9.\n\nAll this Moses would indicate in his history of our first parents,\nwhen he says, \"And the eyes of them both were opened,\" as if he had\nsaid, Satan had closed, not the eyes only of Eve, but her heart also\nby unbelief and by the disobedience of all the members of her body and\nof her soul without and within. But after her sin was committed and\n\"finished,\" he willingly suffers the eyes of them both to be opened,\nthat they might see what they had done. For this is Satan's manner of\ncutting short the ruin of those who sin under his temptations; when\nthey have sinned, he leaves them to perish in despair.\n\nThis portion of sacred history therefore is like a complete exposition\nof the sentence of Paul's words, \"For through the law cometh the\nknowledge of sin,\" Rom. 3:20. For the law does nothing but make known\nand cause to revive that sin, which before the knowledge of the law\nlay asleep as it were and dead. Just as in the following chapter it is\nsaid to Cain, \"If thou doest evil, thy sin sleepeth until it be made\nknown to thee,\" Gen. 4:7. For it lieth asleep, while it is in the act.\nBut when the law comes then the eyes are opened, so that the man then\nsees what God had commanded, and what punishment he had decreed for\nthe transgressors of his command. When this takes place, so that the\nlaw fully rules in the conscience; then a man arrives at the true\nknowledge of his sin, which knowledge no human hearts can endure\nunless consolation be given them from above.\n\nWhat Moses next adds, therefore, that after they had eaten the fruit,\n\"they saw that they were naked,\" are words by no means superfluous nor\nwithout special import. For if duly considered, they contain a\nbeautiful description of original righteousness.\n\nThe schoolmen indeed argue that original righteousness was not\nconnatural; that is, not a part of human nature as originally created;\nbut a certain ornament, only additionally bestowed on man as a\nseparate gift. Just as if one should place a garland on the head of a\nbeautiful maiden. A garland is certainly no part of the nature of a\nvirgin, but something separate from her nature as such; something\nadded from without, which might be taken away again without any\nviolation of her nature. These schoolmen therefore argue, both\nconcerning man and concerning devils, that, although they lost their\noriginal righteousness, yet their natural properties remained pure as\nthey were originally created. This doctrine however detracts from the\nmagnitude of original sin and is to be shunned as a deadly poison.\n\nWe conclude therefore that original righteousness was not a superadded\ngift, which was bestowed from without, separate from the very nature\nof man; but a truly natural righteousness; so that it was the very\nnature of Adam to know God, to love God, to believe in God, to\nacknowledge God and to worship God, etc. These things were as natural\nin Adam, as it is natural to the eyes to see the light. When the eye\nis injured by the infliction of a wound, you may rightly affirm that\nnature is violated; so after man fell from his original righteousness,\nit is correctly maintained, that the properties of nature were no\nlonger sound and whole, but defiled and corrupted by sin. For as it is\nthe nature of the eye to see, so it was the original nature of the\nreason and of the will of Adam to know God, to trust in God, and to\nfear God.\n\nSince therefore it is evident that all these natural powers are lost,\nwho is so mad as to assert that the faculties and properties of nature\nare still sound and whole? And yet, there was nothing more common nor\nmore fully received in the schools than this doctrine. How much\ngreater then must be the absurdity and the madness, to affirm this\ndoctrine concerning devils to be true, especially since Christ himself\ndeclares \"that they abode not in the truth,\" and when we ourselves\nknow them to be the most bitter enemies of Christ and of his Church!\n\nThe natural faculties in man therefore created originally sound and\nwhole, were the knowledge of God, faith in God, the fear of God, etc.\nAll these Satan corrupted by sin in the same manner as leprosy defiles\nthe whole flesh. The will and reason of man therefore are so corrupted\nby sin, that he not only does no longer naturally love God, but flees\nfrom him and hates him and wishes to live without him, and to be\nwithout him altogether.\n\nTherefore Moses has exactly described in this portion of his sacred\nhistory that corruption which succeeded original righteousness and its\nglory. For it was the peculiar glory of Adam and Eve not to know that\nthey were naked. What corruption then can be greater than that the\nnakedness, which was originally the glory of our first parents, should\nnow be changed into the basest turpitude. Thus no one blushes on\naccount of his eyes, when sound and perfect. But when the eyes are\ndistorted or partially blind, they cover us with a certain cloud of\ndefect and with a feeling of shame. In like manner in their state of\noriginal innocency, it was entirely a matter of glory for Adam and Eve\nto walk in nakedness. But when, after their sin, \"they saw that they\nwere naked,\" they were overwhelmed with shame and looked about them\nfor \"girdles\" wherewith to hide their turpitude. How much greater\nturpitude then is disclosed by the fact, that the slaughtered will,\nthe corrupted understanding and the wholly defiled reason have changed\nman into an utterly altered being. Are all these woeful things proofs,\nI pray you, that the qualities and faculties of man's original nature\nstill remain sound and whole?\n\nBut consider for a moment what will necessarily follow from the\ndoctrine of making original righteousness, not to have been an\nessential part of created nature, but only a certain superfluous and\nsuperadded gift or ornament. If you lay it down as a fact, that\noriginal righteousness was not an essential quality of the nature of\nman, it must inevitably follow that the sin, which followed original\nrighteousness, was also not an essential quality of the nature of man.\nAnd if so, was it not an utterly vain thing that Christ should be sent\ninto the world as the Redeemer of man, if it was man's original\nrighteousness only, which was merely a foreign and separate addition\nto his nature, that was lost; and if that loss still left the\nfaculties and qualities of his original nature sound and perfect? But\nwhat doctrine can be worse than this? What doctrine more unworthy a\ndivine to utter?\n\nFlee therefore from such mad dreams as from a real pestilence and from\ncorruption of the Holy Scriptures; and let us instead follow actual\nexperience which teaches us that we are born of corrupt seed and that\nwe derive from the very nature of that seed, ignorance of God,\nself-security, unbelief, hatred of God, disobedience, impatience and\nnumberless other kindred evils; all which are so engendered and\nimplanted in our very nature, and are a poison so wholly diffused\nthroughout our flesh, body, soul, nerves and blood, yea, through all\nour bones and their very marrow; and so wholly poisoning our will, our\nunderstanding and our reason, that the poison not only can never be\nextracted, but that we cannot even acknowledge, or feel, or see that\nthis is our state of sin!\n\nIt is a well known sentiment of the old Greek comedian, Aristophanes,\n\"that to visit harlots is no disgrace to a youth.\" Pardon however may\nbe extended to such a sentiment in a heathen poet. But it is most\nawful in such as call themselves Christian men, and men professing a\nknowledge of the Holy Scriptures, to incline toward such a sentiment\nthat whoredom is not positive sin. And yet, whole colleges of our\ncanonicals actually approve the sentiment, with one consent by their\nlives and manners. When this is the case therefore with respect to\nactual outward sins, what must we conclude to be the state of men's\nminds, with respect to the uncleanness of the heart and the motions of\nsin in our very nature? These motions of nature, wicked men cannot of\ncourse understand to be sins.\n\nThus a wicked man cannot understand that the glory of nakedness was\nlost by sin. For the fact of Adam and Eve walking abroad naked was\ntheir highest adornment in the sight of God and before the whole\ncreation. But now since the entrance of sin we not only recoil at the\nthought of walking naked before men for their sakes, but we are filled\nwith shame for our own sakes; as Moses here testifies, concerning the\nfeelings of Adam and Eve. And this very shame witnesses that our\nconfidence in God as well as in man is lost, whereas this confidence\nin both existed before sin entered by the fall. But after the entrance\nof sin, Adam even though blinded would yet have been abashed to\npresent himself naked before the eyes of God or of men; because by his\ndisobedience, his former confidence in God, his glorious Creator, was\nlost.\n\nAll these things therefore abundantly testify that original\nrighteousness was an essential quality of the nature of man, when\nfirst created; and as that original righteousness was lost by sin, it\nis manifest that no qualities or properties or powers of nature remain\nperfect and sound, as the schoolmen madly dream. For, as it was the\noriginal nature of man to go forth naked, full of innocent confidence\nand security toward God and with the knowledge that such nakedness\npleased both God and men, so now since the entrance of sin man feels\nthat this same nakedness of nature, originally so glorious, is\ndispleasing to God, to man himself and to all rational creatures. And\naccordingly man prepares himself girdles, and carefully covers his\n\"uncomely parts,\" 1 Cor. 12:23. Is this not an awful change in nature?\nNature does indeed remain, but corrupted in numerous forms. For all\ninnocent confidence in God is lost, and the heart is full of distrust,\nfear and shame. So, also the members of nature all remain the same.\nBut those members which were once beheld in all their nakedness with\nglory are now cautiously covered, as dishonorable and base, lest they\nshould be seen, because of the great internal defects of nature;\nbecause nature has lost all confidence in God by sin. For if we\npossessed that confidence in innocency, as Adam enjoyed it, we should\nknow no shame, no blush in our nakedness.\n\nFrom this corruption, which immediately followed sin, arose another\nevil. Adam and Eve were not only ashamed on account of their\nnakedness, which before their sin was most honorable, and a most\nglorious adornment; but they even make for themselves coverings to\nhide from sight those parts of their body which, in their original\nnature, were thus so honorable and so glorious. For what in all nature\nis so wonderful, so noble and so glorious, as the fact of generation!\nAnd this fact, so noble, so glorious, is not assigned of God to the\neyes or to the face, which we consider to be the more honorable and\ndignified parts of our body, but to those parts which thus, taught by\nour awful state of sin, we cover from sight with all possible\ncarefulness lest they should be seen. And thus as the fact of\ngeneration in the innocent state of nature, had it continued, would\nhave been most pure and most holy; so since the entrance of sin, even\nthis fact is filled with the leprosy of lust, as are also all the\nparts of the body connected with it. Those therefore who live without\nmarriage, \"burn\" in lust, most impurely. And those also who live in\nmarriage, unless they rightly moderate their feelings and affections,\nand carefully guard their \"due benevolence,\" 1 Cor. 7:3, are variously\ntempted and afflicted.\n\nDo we not then, from all these considerations, feel how foul and\nhorrible a thing sin is? For lust is the only thing that cannot be\ncured by any remedy! Not even by marriage, which was expressly\nordained from above to be a remedy for this infirmity of our nature.\nFor the greater part of married persons still live in adultery, and\nthus sing practically the well-known song of the heathen poet of\nold:--\n\n  _\"Nec tecum possum vivere sine te.\"_ (OVID)\n\nNeither with thee, nor yet without thee, wife, can I by nature, live.\nSuch is the horrible turpitude which arises out of this most honorable\nand most excellent part of our natural body! I call it most excellent,\non account of the noble and marvelous work of generation, which is\nindeed most excellent, and wonderful and glorious; because it\npreserves the continuation of the race of mankind! By reason of sin\ntherefore the most excellent and effectual members of our body have\nbecome the most vile and base.\n\nBut this would not have been the case with Adam and Eve, had they\ncontinued in their innocency. They were full of innocent confidence in\ntheir God. Therefore whenever they wished to devote themselves to the\nprocreation of children, they would have come together, not maddened\nwith that lust which now reigns in our leprous flesh, but with an\nadmiration of the ordinance of God, in obedience to God and in the\nworship of God; and also with the same holy quietness and solemnity of\nmind, as that in which we go to hear the Word of God and to worship\nGod. But all these things we have lost by sin, so that we can now only\nconceive of them and understand them negatively, not positively. For\nfrom the awful state of evil in which we now stand, we can only gather\nnegatively an idea of the greatness of that good and that glory which\nwe have lost. But we owe a deep debt of gratitude to God, even for the\nremnants of the original glory still left us, however corrupt the\nnoble, wonderful and glorious work of generation now may be; of which\nboth the Church and the State have need for the perpetuation of saints\nand of citizens.\n\nAnd it is a marvelous fact that in all the writers, of all tongues not\none iota is found which sets forth the glory of that original\nnakedness, which is now through sin so filled with turpitude and\nshame; but which before sin entered into the world was so honorable\nand glorious. Here we have Moses alone as our great teacher, who\nhowever sets forth the whole matter in but very few, and those very\nsimple words, teaching us that man, having fallen from faith, was\nfilled with confusion, and that the glory of his organs of generation\nwas changed into utter turpitude and ignominy, so that he was\ncompelled to make coverings to hide them from sight.\n\nThe Hebrew term HEGORAH, of which we here have the plural, properly\nsignifies a girdle or apron-girt, so that we are to understand that\nthese fig leaves covered the upper parts of the thighs all round in\nevery part, in order that the part of the body which before sin was\nthe most honorable, 1 Cor. 12:23, might now be covered as being the\nmost uncomely and base, and utterly unworthy the sight of men. O how\nhorrible was the fall by sin! For after it the eyes of man were so\nopened that what was before the most honorable and glorious, he now\nlooks upon as most dishonorable and base.\n\nAnd so it is to this day. As soon as the law has come, we then first\ndiscover what we have done. And sin thus made known seems to have in\nit such awful baseness that the enlightened minds of men cannot endure\nthe sight, and therefore they endeavor to cover their turpitude. For\nno one ever, though he be a thief, an adulterer or a murderer, etc.,\nis willing to appear to be such. So also heretics are never found to\nacknowledge their error in any degree, but defend it most\npertinaciously and wish to appear to hold the catholic truth. And that\nthey may secure this appearance, they sew together fig leaves as broad\nas possible; that is, they try all things which seem likely to color\nover and cloak their heresy.\n\nThis same nature of sin is seen even in children, who frequently,\nthough caught in the very fact of doing evil, yet busy themselves in\ndiscovering means whereby they can persuade their parents to the\ncontrary; thus excusing themselves, speaking lies, Ps. 58:3. In\nprecisely the same manner do men also act. Even when caught and held\nfast, they yet endeavor to slip away that they may not be confounded,\nbut may still appear good and just. This portion of poison also has\nbeen infused into our very nature, as the present passage of Moses\nlikewise testifies.\n\n\nPART III. THE JUDGMENT GOD HELD WITH OUR FIRST PARENTS AFTER THEIR\nFALL AND THE ACCOUNT OF THEIR STEWARDSHIP HE REQUIRED FROM THEM.\n\nV. 8. _And they heard the voice of Jehovah God walking in the garden\nin the cool (breeze) of the day: and the man and his wife hid\nthemselves from the presence of Jehovah God amongst the trees of the\ngarden._\n\nThis is now the third evil of original sin, bearing its additional\nproof, that original righteousness was lost. But here again Lyra is\nentangled in the opinions of Rabbins, some of whom interpret the\nexpression in the breeze of the day, _ad auram diei_, as referring to\nplace, or to the climate between the south and the west, while others\nexplain the expression as referring to time, holding that this sacred\ncircumstance occurred in the evening. When the heat begins to subside,\nthe winds commence their breathing.\n\nMy mind is however that we should receive breathing (_spiritum_) here,\nas simply signifying \"the Word,\" and understand the passage as meaning\nthat after the conscience of Adam and Eve were convinced by the divine\nlaw, they were terrified at the sound of a leaf. Just as we see to be\nthe case with all fearstricken men, when they hear the creak of a\nbeam, they dread the fall of the whole house. When they hear a mouse\nmoving they are terrified lest Satan should be at hand with an intent\nto destroy them. For by nature we are so wholly filled with alarm,\nthat we really fear even those things which are perfectly safe.\n\nAdam and Eve therefore, as soon as their consciences are convinced by\nthe law and they are brought to feel their turpitude in the sight of\nGod, and of themselves having lost their faith and confidence in God,\nare so filled with fear and alarm that when they hear a breeze or\nbreath of wind, immediately imagine that God is at hand as an avenger,\nand hide themselves from him. I believe therefore that by the voice of\nthe Lord walking in the garden, Moses really means a breath or sound\nof wind which preceded the appearance of God before them. Hence Christ\nsays in the gospel, when speaking of the wind, \"Thou hearest the sound\nor voice thereof,\" John 3:8. For when Adam and Eve heard the rustling\nof the leaves as if shaken by the wind, they thought on a sudden\nwithin themselves, Hark! there is the Lord coming to take vengeance\nupon us!\n\nWhen therefore Moses adds \"in the breeze of the day\" to the words \"the\nvoice of the Lord God walking in the garden,\" he seems to me to do so\nby way of particular explanation of the meaning he intended to convey.\nAs if he had said by way of comment, This voice was like a breezy\nblast of the day; and as if he wished the emphasis of his expression\nto rest on the word day. For he does not speak concerning a wind in\nthe night, in order to exaggerate the greatness of the terror which\nfollows upon sin; as if he had said in further explanation they were\nso stricken with fear that they were alarmed at the sound of a leaf,\neven in the clear light of day. What therefore, he seems to intend to\nintimate, would have been the result if God had come to them in the\nnight and in the solemn darkness? Then the terror must have been more\ndreadful still. For as the light gives animation, so the darkness\nincreases dread. This terror therefore, with which Adam and Eve after\ntheir sin were struck in the very broad light of day, is indeed a\nmanifest proof that they had fallen utterly from the confidence of\nfaith.\n\nThis I believe to be the true sense of the present passage, and it\nfully agrees with that threatening of Moses, Lev. 26, where he is\nspeaking of the punishments which should assuredly follow the\ncommission of sin, that the sinners should be chased by the sound of a\nshaking leaf and that they should flee from it as from a sword, Lev.\n26:36. For when the conscience is truly alarmed on account of sin, the\nman is so oppressed by it that he not only cannot do anything, but\ncannot even direct his thought to any purpose. And just as they say is\nsometimes the case in an army when the soldiers, overpowered by fear,\ncannot move a hand, but give themselves up in entire helplessness to\nbe slaughtered by the enemy; in the same manner so horrible is the\npunishment which follows sin that the conscience of the sinner is\nstruck with alarm at the sound of a leaf. Nay, that he cannot endure\nthat all-beautiful creature, the light of day, by which all nature\nbesides is enlivened and refreshed.\n\nHere therefore you have another sight of the magnitude of that\noriginal sin which is born in us at our birth, and implanted in us by\nthe sin of our first parents. And this sight, as I have said, enables\nus to understand negatively or by a comparison of contraries, what\noriginal righteousness was. It contained in it such a beautiful\nconfidence in man toward his God, that he could not have feared even\nthough he had seen the heavens falling in ruins upon his head!\n\nWith what complete confidence did Eve listen to the serpent? We do not\ntalk to a little house-dog brought up in our family circle and to whom\nwe have been accustomed for years, nor with a favorite chicken, more\nfamiliarly than Eve did with that then beautiful creature. Before\ntheir sin therefore Adam and Eve sought no hiding-places; but stood\nupright in all their created wisdom and righteousness, praising God\nwith uplifted eyes. But now they are terrified at the sound of a\nshaking leaf. O! how awful a fall! To fall from the safest security\nand delight in God into fear and dread so horrible, that man can no\nlonger endure the sight of his God, but flees from his presence as\nfrom the presence of the devil! For it is not the devil from whom Adam\nand Eve are now fleeing. They are rushing from the sight of God their\nCreator, whose presence is now more dreadful and intolerable to them\nthan that of Satan; Satan is now more congenial to their feelings than\nthe adorable God; for from Satan they flee not, nor are filled with\nhis dread. This dread therefore, is actually a flight from and a\nhatred of God himself.\n\nIt is instructive here to mark the gradual increase and progressive\nsteps of sin, which goes on until it becomes, as Paul is wont to\nexpress it, \"exceeding sinful,\" Rom. 7:13. For man first falls from\nhis faith into unbelief and disobedience. Upon unbelief follow the\ndread and hatred of God and fleeing from him; and these are soon\nsucceeded by despair and impenitence. For whither shall the heart flee\nwhen thus dreading the presence of God? Shall it flee unto the devil?\nThat of course is vain, and is never expected to be the case; and yet\nto this it all comes. For this history shows that God created man and\nmade him lord over all created things. And yet that same man now flees\nfrom him and considers nothing more hateful or intolerable than the\npresence of this same Creator. Were it not so he would not now thus\nturn away from his God nor flee from him in instant dread of the voice\nof his approach. For all this is not during the night, not under\nthunderings and lightnings as at the mount of Sinai, but in the bright\nlight of \"day\" while a gentle breeze is breathing and the leaves of\nthe trees softly rustling by its touch! There is nothing therefore\nmore intolerable to endure, nothing filled with greater misery than a\nconscience alarmed by the law of God and by the sight of sins\ncommitted.\n\nThis it was that made Adam and Eve do the worst of all things they\ncould do, namely, to shun their Creator and their God, and to flee to\nthe truly vain refuge of fig leaves, in order to cover themselves from\nhis sight and to hide themselves among the trees! And what could be\nmore indescribably horrible, than thus to flee from God and to hide\nthemselves from his sight?\n\nWherefore this affords a further view of alterations of the rectitude\nof the will and of the understanding after the sin of the fall. The\nvery facts show that the will was corrupted and depraved. For Adam and\nEve long for those very things which God had prohibited, and they so\nlong for them as to become disobedient to God and obedient to Satan.\nNor can we entertain any doubt of the corruption of the understanding\nalso, when we see the counsel of covering themselves which Adam and\nEve adopted, and by which they thought they were safe. Was it not, I\npray you, the very extreme of folly, first to attempt impossibilities\nin trying to flee from God, whom no one can escape or avoid? And was\nit not in the next place greater folly still, to attempt that escape\nfrom the presence of God in so absurd a manner, as to believe\nthemselves safe when hidden among the trees of the garden, when they\nmust otherwise have known that no walls of iron nor mighty mountains\nof brass can save from the presence or the grasp of God?\n\nAll confidence in God being thus lost by sin, there now follows a\nhorrible dread upon the will. And all wisdom and understanding being\nlost, those most beautiful gifts of God, there follows in their place\nthe extremity of folly; such folly that men attempt impossibilities by\nmeans the most absurd. So inexhaustibly deep is the evil of original\nsin! And even all these calamities are but the prelude to that which\nis yet to come. For we are not yet brought to the judgment of God.\nThen follows:\n\nV. 9. _And Jehovah God called unto the man, and said unto him, Where\nart thou?_\n\nHere we have a description of the judgment of God. When Adam,\nterrified by the consciousness of his sin, fled from the presence and\nsight of God he found not only paradise, but the whole world too\nnarrow in which to find a corner where to hide himself from God in\nsafety. But all his anxiety makes manifest the folly of his mind in\nseeking a remedy for his sin by fleeing from his God. But he had fled\nfrom him much too far already. For his very sin was, that he,\ndeparting from God at the first, needed not therefore to flee farther\nfrom him still. But so it is. That is the very nature of sin, the\nfarther a man departs from God, the farther he wants to depart. And\nthus the man who has once departed and apostatized from God, goes on\ndeparting and departing to all eternity. Hence it is truly said\nconcerning the punishments of hell, that its greatest punishment is\nthat the wicked there are always wishing to flee from God, but feel\nthat flee they cannot. Just in the same manner Adam, though found out\nand apprehended of God, yet ceases not to attempt to flee out of his\nhands.\n\nWhen therefore Moses here says, \"Jehovah God called unto Adam,\" we are\nto understand that the Lord called him to judgment. But a question is\nraised here concerning the person by means of whom Adam was called of\nGod, and it is by no means out of the way to suppose that all these\nthings were carried on by the ministration of angels, and that an\nangel here acted in the place of God, as God spoke all these things to\nAdam. Just as magistrates when they say or do anything, say and do it\nnot in their own person, but in the person of God, as his\nrepresentatives. Hence it is that the Scriptures call those judgments,\nwhich are exercised and administered by appointed men, the judgment of\nGod. It by no means displeases me therefore that it should be\nconsidered that Adam was here called by an angel, and that it was\nshown him by that same angel that all flight was impossible.\n\nIt is here especially to be noticed moreover that Moses expressly\ntells us that it was Adam who was called; seeing that it was to Adam\nalone that the Word of God was spoken on the sixth day, concerning\nthat tree of which they were both forbidden to eat. As therefore Adam\nalone heard the command, so he alone is first called to judgment. But\nas Eve herself also had sinned and departed from God, she also hears\nthe judgment at the same time and becomes a partaker of the\npunishment.\n\nThe words, \"Where art thou?\" are the words of the law, spoken by God\nand reaching unto the conscience of Adam. For although all things are\nnaked and open unto the eyes of God, as it is written, Heb. 4:13, yet\nhe speaks unto our sense, feeling and understanding; for he sees us\naiming at the one thing of fleeing away from him and attempting our\nescape from his sight and presence. When therefore God says, \"Where\nart thou?\" it is as if he had said, \"Thinkest thou that I see thee\nnot?\" For he will have Adam to see and feel that though hidden he is\nnot hidden from God! And that though he flees from God, from God he\ncannot flee. For this is the very nature of all sin; it causes us to\nattempt to flee from the wrath of God, from which wrath we find it\nimpossible to flee. It is indeed the utmost folly to think that we\nshall find a remedy in fleeing from God, rather than in returning to\nhim; yet it is the very nature of sin that the sinner cannot return to\nGod. What then can we possibly conceive to have been the exceeding\nfolly and state of mind in Adam? He had heard the voice of Jehovah,\nand yet he hoped that he could conceal himself from his presence; when\nlo! he was now standing before the tribunal of God and was demanded of\nGod for punishment!\n\nV. 10. _And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was\nafraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself._\n\nAs it was the utmost folly that Adam fled from God, so in the utmost\nfolly he answers him, so utterly deprived by sin is he of all wisdom\nand counsel. He now really wishes to teach God that he is naked, who\nhad himself created him naked. Thus does he wholly confound himself,\nand betray and condemn himself out of his mouth. He confesses that he\nheard the voice of Jehovah and was afraid. And had he not also heard\nthe voice of Jehovah before, when Jehovah forbade him to eat the fruit\nof that tree? Why did he not then fear also? Why did he not then also\nhide himself? How was it that then he stood with uplifted countenance\nand with joy before him, rejoicing in his presence and delighting to\nhear him speak? Now he trembles at the sound of a shaking leaf! It is\nat least evident that he is no longer the same Adam he then was; he is\ntotally changed, and become quite another man; he now looks about for\na lie and a false cause for his defense. For how can it be true, that\n\"the voice of Jehovah is the real cause of his fear,\" when before he\nfeared not that divine voice, but heard it as the voice of his God\nwith happiness and joy?\n\nLearn then from this solemn history that perverseness and folly ever\naccompany sin, that transgressors by all their excuses only accuse\nthemselves, and that the more they defend the more they betray\nthemselves, especially before God! Thus Adam here attempts to conceal\nhis sin and to adorn himself as innocent, in that he alleges, as the\ncause of his fleeing, not his having sinned, but his having heard the\nvoice of the Lord; and he makes that to be the cause of his alarm and\nof his being ashamed because he was naked. Poor wretched man! He never\nthinks that he had no such fear as this when he heard the same voice\nof God at first. He never recollects that he was not then ashamed\nbecause he was naked. For as that nakedness was the creation of God,\nwhy should he the creature be ashamed of that which God had made! He\nthen walked in all his nakedness in the sight of God and of the whole\ncreation in paradise, perfectly secure and happy that such was the\nwill of God and delighting in God on that very account. But now he is\ncovered with shame, because he is naked and flees from God and hides\nfrom him on that account. Every one of these things is an argument by\nwhich Adam condemns himself, and betrays his present state of sin. And\njust in the same manner will the wicked condemn themselves in the\nfinal judgment, when all the darkness shall be driven away from all\nthe hearts of men and the sins of all men shall be read in the \"book\"\nwhen \"opened\"!\n\nGod knew perfectly well that Adam had sinned and was guilty of death.\nYet he calls him that he might be condemned by the testimony of his\nown mouth, as having sinned. For he flees from God when he calls him,\nwhich fact was itself the very essence of sin, even as it is the very\nessence of righteousness to flee unto God as a refuge. This fleeing\nfrom God therefore is the strongest possible testimony of Adam against\nhimself. Yet even still he vainly hopes that his sin can be covered by\na lie, for he alleges as the real causes of his flight the voice of\nGod and his own nakedness.\n\nFrom this we learn therefore that such is the nature of sin, that\nunless God bring the medicine immediately after it is committed and\ncall back the sinner to himself, he will flee from his God farther and\nfarther, and by mendaciously excusing his sin he will add sin to sin\nuntil he runs at length into blasphemy and despair. Thus sin draws\nafter it by its own weight as it were sin upon sin, and causes eternal\nruin, until the sinner finally will rather accuse God himself than\nacknowledge his own sin.\n\nAdam ought to have said, Lord, I have sinned! But this Adam does not.\nHe rather actually accuses God of sin; and in reality he says, thou,\nLord, hast sinned. For I should have remained wholly in paradise after\nmy eating the fruit, if thou hadst remained perfectly quiet. For the\nwords of Adam bear all this import in truth, when he says in\nsubstance, I should not have fled if thy voice had not terrified me\nfrom thy presence. Thus man, when accused of sin by his God, instead\nof acknowledging his sin, rather accuses God as being the cause of it\nand transfers his sin from himself and lays the blame of it on his\nCreator. Hence sin increases to infinity, unless God by his mercy come\nto succor the sinner. And yet Adam all the while considers this\nexcusing himself and blaming his Creator, the highest wisdom. For he\nis so confounded by the terror of his conscience, that he knows not\nwhat he says nor what he does. Although by thus excusing himself, he\nonly accuses himself the more grievously and increases his sin to the\nutmost extent.\n\nLet us however by no means think that all this happened to Adam only.\nEvery one of us does the very same thing; nor will nature of herself\never permit us to do otherwise. For after having sinned we all rather\naccuse God than acknowledge our sin before him; just as Adam here did,\nwho asserted that the voice of God was the cause of his fleeing from\nhim; thus actually making God himself to be the cause of his flight.\nAnd next, upon the back of this sin quickly follows another and\nfurther sin. For he that spares not his Creator himself, how shall he\nbe likely to spare the creature? Therefore Adam next charges God with\nhis nakedness, thus making him the Creator of a thing that was vile\nand base. For by his sin Adam is so deprived of his senses that he\nturns the glory of his nakedness into a reproach to his Creator.\n\nV. 11. _And he said, Who told thee that thou wast naked? Hast thou\neaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldst not\neat?_\n\nHere the conscience of Adam is pierced with the true sting of the law.\nIt is as if God had said, Thou knowest that thou art naked, then and\ntherefore thou hidest thyself from me. But nakedness is my creature.\nDost thou condemn that creature then as vile and base. It is not thy\nnakedness therefore that hath confounded thee, nor is it my voice that\nhath terrified thee. It is thy conscience that accuseth thee of sin,\nbecause thou hast eaten the fruit of the forbidden tree. This is the\ncause of thy flight from my presence. Here Adam being thus pressed by\nthe law and by his conscience is in the midst of death; yea, in the\nmidst of hell. For he is compelled to confess that there was no evil\nin his nakedness, because it was so created of God. But he was forced\nto acknowledge that the mighty evil was that he now had a guilty\nconscience concerning his nakedness, in which before he had gloried as\nin a beautiful adornment; and that he now dreaded that same voice of\nGod, which before he had heard with supreme delight.\n\nIt is to this state of mind, which the Lord now perceives in Adam,\nthat the words of this passage expressly speak. As if Jehovah had\nsaid, Since thou hast an evil conscience and art filled with dread,\nmost assuredly thou hast eaten of the forbidden tree. For thou\nreceivedst no command from me that thou shouldst not commit murder nor\nthat thou shouldst not commit adultery, but that thou shouldst not eat\nof the fruit of this tree. As therefore thou art filled with terror,\nthou thereby makest it manifest that thou hast sinned against that\ncommandment.\n\nThus those very things which were Adam's thoughts, those same things\nhe now hears from the mouth of the Lord. Adam was thinking thus: I\nhave eaten the fruit, but I will not say that I have fled from God on\nthat account. I will say nothing about my sin. I will say that I was\nafraid, because I was naked, and that I was terrified into flight by\nhis voice. But while he is saying these things to himself he is\ncompelled to condemn himself, and he hears his conscience within\nconvicting him of a lie and condemning his sin. In addition to this\naccusation of his own conscience, the Lord himself now accuses him of\nhis sin openly, and in the plainest words. But not even now can Adam\nbe brought to the honest acknowledgment of his sin. For now follows,\n\nV. 12. _And the man said, The woman whom thou gavest to be with me,\nshe gave me of the tree, and I did eat._\n\nOnly mark the true colors, the essential evil and real nature of sin.\nIt is depicted in this excuse of Adam. It shows that a man can in no\nway be brought to an open confession of his sin, but that he will deny\nhis sin or excuse it as long as he can find that there is any hope or\nany probable ground of excuse left him. For it was not so wonderful\nthat Adam should at first hope that his sin could be covered, and that\nhe should rather accuse God than acknowledge the sin he had committed.\nThe great wonder was that after he was convicted in his own\nconscience, and after he had heard his sin declared from the mouth of\nGod himself, he should still persist in excusing that sin. For he does\nnot say, \"Lord, I have sinned; forgive me the debt of my sin; be\nmerciful unto me;\" for the very nature of sin is, that it will not\nsuffer the mind to flee unto God, but instead compels it to flee from\nGod. But he transfers all the fault from himself to the woman.\n\nIt is a well known rule, taught in the schools of legal and civil\norators, that when a charge of crime is brought against the defendant,\nthe act should either be denied totally or defended as having been\ndone rightly. Adam here does both. He first of all denies his sin\naltogether and asserts that his terror arose, not from his sin, but\nfrom the voice of the Lord. And then when so far convinced of his sin\nin what he has done he attempts to defend the act, as having been done\nrightly and unavoidably. \"If,\" says he to the Lord, \"thou hadst not\ngiven me this woman, I should not have eaten the fruit.\" Thus he\nfurther lays all the blame of what he had done on God himself, and\npositively accuses him as being after all the real cause of his sin.\n\nWherefore there is no end to a man's sinning, when he has once turned\naside from the Word. Adam at first sinned by unbelief and\ndisobedience, and now he heaps upon that sin reproaches of God and\npositive blasphemy, saying in effect, It was not I who listened to the\nserpent; it was not I who was captivated by looking on the fruit of\nthat tree; it was not I who stretched forth my hand to pluck the\nforbidden fruit. The woman whom _thou_ gavest me did all this. In a\nword Adam has no desire to acknowledge his sin. On the contrary he\nwishes to be considered pure and clean.\n\nThis portion of the divine record contains a further description of\nsin and of the real nature of sin. For whenever the promise of the\nremission of sins or faith in that promise is not immediately at hand,\nthe sinner cannot do otherwise than Adam did. If God had said, Adam,\nthou hast sinned, but I will pardon thy sin, then Adam would have\nacknowledged his sin with all humility and candor and with the utmost\ndetestation of what he had done. But because the hope of the remission\nof sin was not present to his mind on account of his having\ntransgressed the commandment of God, he can see nothing, he can feel\nnothing but death, the certain punishment of such transgression. And\nbecause human nature cannot but be shocked at the sight of that\ncertain death, therefore Adam cannot be brought to the confession of\nhis sin, but he tries all possible means by which he has the least\nhope of warding off the blame of his sin. And thus does every sinner\nhate the punishment of his transgressions; and because he hates that\npunishment, he also hates the justice of God, and God himself, and\nendeavors by all means in his power to persuade both God and men that\nhe suffers innocently.\n\nJust in this manner does Adam here endeavor to lessen his sin by\nsaying that it was not he who listened to the serpent, nor he who\nplucked the fruit. \"The woman whom thou gavest me,\" says he, \"offered\nme the fruit of this tree.\" In the same state of mind as Adam are\nthose who, when they have come to a knowledge of the sins they have\ncommitted, filled with despair, either cut short their life with a\nhalter or curse God as the cause of their transgressions. The words of\nJob are familiarly known: \"Let the day perish wherein I was born; why\ndied I not from the womb?\" Job 3:3, 11. For such lay all the fault of\ntheir sin on God, and complain against God that they were ever created\nto destruction and damnation. Nor can any sinner do otherwise, when\nthe hope of pardon and the promise of grace are not present to his\nsoul. Because death is intolerable to human nature, therefore it\nproduces desperation and blasphemies.\n\nIt is an utterance full of pain and of wrath against God, when Adam\nsays, \"The woman whom _thou_ gavest me.\" It is as if he had said, thou\nthyself has laid upon me the burden of this evil; if thou hadst given\nto the woman some separate garden to herself and hadst not burdened me\nwith thy command that I should live with her, I might have continued\nwithout sin. As therefore I have sinned, the fault is thine in adding\nto me a wife. In the case of Adam therefore is set before us an exact\nexample of all those who sin and who despair under their sin. They\ncannot do otherwise than accuse God and excuse themselves, for seeing\nas they do that God is omnipotent they consider that he could have\nprevented these their sins. So horrible is sin, whenever the minds of\nsinners are not soon relieved and lifted up with the promise of the\nforgiveness of sins. And this is the true effect of the law, whenever\nthe law is alone, without the gospel and the knowledge of its grace,\nit always leads to despair and to final impenitence.\n\nV. 13. _And Jehovah God said unto the woman, What is this thou hast\ndone? (Why hast thou done this?) And the woman said, The serpent\nbeguiled me and I did eat._\n\nHere the example of Eve is also set before us, who being corrupted by\nsin is seen to be in no degree better than Adam.\n\nAdam wished to appear innocent, and laid the blame on God, because he\nhad given him a wife. Eve also attempts to excuse herself and accuses\nthe serpent, which also was a creature of God. She confesses indeed\nthat she had eaten the fruit, but she says, The serpent, which thou\ncreatedst and which thou permittedst to go about in paradise, imposed\nupon me. Now is not this actually accusing her Creator and removing\nthe fault from herself? Hence we see that sin is always and everywhere\nthe same and works in the same way. It is never willing to be punished\nas sin, but ever wishes to appear to be righteousness. And as it\ncannot accomplish this it turns the blame from itself upon God; so\nthat when God accuses a man of sin the man actually charges God with\nfalsehood in that accusation. So that sin, from being a human sin,\nbecomes positively a devilish sin; and the unbelief of the man is\nturned into blasphemy, and his disobedience into reproach against his\nCreator!\n\nI term this a devilish and not a human sin; because the devil hates\nand accuses and condemns God, and justifies himself to all eternity;\nnor can he possibly from his heart say, \"Lord, I have sinned; pardon\nmy sin.\" Were it not so the devil would not eternally despair of\npardon. But that pardon is impossible, as long as he acknowledges not\nhis sin, but blasphemes God as exercising unjust cruelty against him\nas a creature without just cause.\n\nHence we see Adam and Eve so deeply fallen and sunk under sin, that\nthey could not sink any lower. For upon their unbelief followed the\ndisobedience of all the powers and all the members in man. Upon this\ndisobedience, immediately afterwards, followed the excuse and defense\nof their sin. This defense was next followed by an accusation and\ncondemnation of their God. This is sin's last step, to reproach God\nhimself and to make him the author of sin. This nature of ours can\nascend no higher than this in its sin against God. And these are the\nonward steps of sin, unless the minds of fallen sinners are lifted up\nby a confidence in God's mercy.\n\nWherefore the state of the Church under the pope, was most horrible;\nfor in it was neither seen nor heard anything whatever which could\nlift up the mind of a sinner, laboring under his sin and guilt; except\nthat once a year the history of the passion of our Lord was slightly\ntaught. And the statement of that history showed forth in some slight\nmanner the source from which pardon was to be sought. But everything\nelse on every side led men away from the promise of the remission of\nsins to their own righteousness. Hence it was that we saw in many\nmonasteries men alarmed by their sins through their whole life time,\nwho were filled with despair as they walked about, and at length died\nin agony, worn out with sorrow and pains of spirit. And as to the rest\nof their brethren, this doctrine of pardon being wholly unknown, they\ndid nothing but stand in their places and procure the protection of\ntheir saint by idolatrous prayers. Thus were these miserable creatures\nworn out and consumed with the most terrible pains of soul, without\nhope, without counsel and without any help whatever. Was not this\nthen, I pray you, a horrible state of things?\n\nWherefore if the papacy and all the monasteries together could be\noverturned by the touch of one finger, it ought at once to be done on\naccount of the whole papal church being this most wretched\nslaughter-house of consciences! For there is nothing more horrible\nthan for a man to be under the weight of his sins, and yet never to\nhear or have the remission of sins and the promise of grace. Now the\npope was the very cause of the remission of sins being utterly kept\nout of men's sight. For no sound doctrine nor any true worship\nwhatever was retained in the church. And if any were saved in these\ntimes they were saved by the bare annual recital of the sufferings of\nChrist, apprehended by faith, contrary to the will of the pope and in\ndefiance of his opposition. For through him men in the extreme perils\nof their souls were brought down to the necessity of imploring the\nintercession of Mary and of the saints. For these sayings filled every\nplace: that the mother Mary showed her breasts to her Son, and that\nthe Son showed his wounds to his Father, and that the man was thus\nsaved; not by the intercession of the Son, but by the intercession of\nhis mother.\n\nI earnestly entreat you therefore with all the persuasion in my power,\nto set the highest value possible upon the doctrine of the Gospel. For\nwhat do we see in this history of Moses that Adam and Eve suffered\nwhen their sin was before them, and this knowledge of the promise of\ngrace and of pardon was out of their sight? The very same do we also\nsee in the damnation of Satan; for as he is destitute of the promise\nof grace he is not able to cease from his sins, nor from his hatred of\nGod, nor from his blasphemies against him. Hence it is that the\ncondition of Adam was so different from that of Satan, and so much\nbetter and more blessed. For Adam was called to judgment that he might\nacknowledge his sin, that being terrified by his sins he might\nafterwards be lifted up again and comforted by the promise of the\nremission of his sins; as we shall now further see in this most\nbeautiful part of the sacred history of Moses, in which we shall also\nfind the preaching of Christ.\n\nFor as the issue of this whole transaction sets forth the very great\ngoodness and mercy of God toward man, seeing that God calls him back\nto the remission of sins and to eternal life through the _Seed_ that\nwas to come; so also these very beginnings of this divine mercy, if we\nview them aright, are much better and greater than Adam deserved at\nGod's hand. For we have not here a display of that terrible majesty of\nGod, which was witnessed on Mount Sinai, where there were thunderings\nand lightnings mingled with the loud soundings of trumpets. Here God\napproaches with the soft sound of the gentle breeze, signifying that\nhe came in this case to seize with the tender hand of an affectionate\nFather. He does not drive Adam from him on account of his sin, but\ncalls him away from his sin to himself. This fatherly care however\nAdam, overwhelmed with his sin and its terrors, does not at first\nunderstand or perceive; he does not consider how differently God deals\nwith him than with the serpent. For he did not call the serpent to\nhim. He did not ask the serpent why he had sinned, in order that he\nmight call him from his sin unto repentance. He charges the serpent\nwith his sin, and pronounces his doom. These things show us that\nChrist our deliverer interposed himself even then, between God and man\nas a mediator. For it was the greatest display of grace, that even\nafter the sin of Adam God was not silent, but spoke; and that too in\nmany and plain words, with the intent of showing forth evidences of\nhis fatherly mind toward sinners. His carriage towards the serpent was\naltogether different. Wherefore although the promise concerning Christ\nwas not yet given, it may be plainly discerned in the thoughts and\ncounsel of God on this occasion.\n\nThus far therefore Moses has set before us the judgment which God\nexercised after the sin of the fall of our first parents. He calls\nthem to his tribunal, and convicts them, and interrogates them, and\nhears them. They, poor creatures, desire indeed to escape that\njudgment, but they cannot; nay, while they attempt to excuse\nthemselves they doubly accuse and betray themselves. The woman\nacknowledges what she had done. Adam attempts to conceal the fact,\nalthough according to the very nature of sin he does not wish it to\nappear to be really sin at all. For as long as grace is withheld from\nthe sinner it is impossible for him to do otherwise than excuse\nhimself, and try to make his sin appear to be righteousness. God\ntherefore is always compelled thus to contend with us by his laws,\nuntil he extorts from us the confession of our sins and brings us to\njustify him; as it is written in Ps. 51:4, where this confession is\nfully described. But as long as the law rules alone and galls the\nconscience, the conscience thus terrified cannot bring out this\nconfession, as the examples of Adam and Eve here fully show.\n\nFrom this portion of the sacred record of Moses the holy prophets drew\nmany divine truths; for they studied this book of Moses with far\ngreater diligence and stronger faith than we do. From this source they\nderived the following holy sentences: \"The wicked flee when no man\npursueth,\" Prov. 28:1. \"The wicked are like the troubled sea, for it\ncannot rest; there is no peace, saith my God, to the wicked,\" Is.\n57:20, 21. \"He that believeth shall not be ashamed,\" Is. 28:16. \"The\nrighteous are bold as a lion,\" Prov. 28:1. \"The just shall live by his\nfaith,\" Hab. 2:4. From this same place of Moses Christ also drew that\nmemorable saying of his, which we find in the Evangelist John, \"For\nevery one that doeth evil hateth the light,\" John 3:20. For it is the\nvery nature of sin that whoso committeth sin desires to remain hidden\nin darkness, and not to be brought into the light, just as Adam\ncovered himself with fig-leaves and fled to conceal himself among the\ntrees.\n\nAnd we must also here touch upon that passage of the Apostle Paul,\n1 Tim. 2:13, 14, \"For Adam was first formed, then Eve; and Adam was\nnot beguiled but the woman being beguiled hath fallen into\ntransgression.\" This passage nearly all interpreters understand to\nmean that Adam was not deceived, but that he sinned knowingly; not\nfrom yielding to the persuasion of the devil as Eve had done, but from\nbeing unwilling to distress the delight of his life, that is, his\nwife; and thus preferring the love of his wife to the command of God.\nAnd they attempt to render this interpretation likely and probable by\nsaying, that the serpent reverenced the male as his lord, but that he\nattacked the female, whom, although she was holy as the man, yet as\nbeing the weaker creature, he considered to be the better adapted to\nyield to his persuasion, and that therefore Eve was deceived by the\nserpent, and not Adam. Adam, they maintain, was deceived both by\nhimself and by the woman, but not by the serpent; by the woman when\nshe presented to him the fruit to eat; by himself when, because he did\nnot see Eve die immediately when she had eaten the fruit, he was\ninduced to believe that the punishment which God had threatened would\nnot \"surely\" follow. Just as a thief, when he has found his theft to\nhave succeeded once or twice, goes on stealing in security. Whereas\nhad the law-officer or the gallows been kept before his eyes, he would\nhave ceased to steal.\n\nWherefore I do not altogether condemn the above interpretation, for it\nmakes both views to stand true, that Adam was deceived and that he was\nnot deceived. He was not indeed deceived by the serpent as Eve was,\nbut he was deceived both by his wife and by himself, when he persuaded\nhimself that the punishment which God had said should follow would not\nreally come. Then follows the execution of judgment upon all the\nparties concerned.\n\n\nPART IV. THE SERPENT AND SATAN CURSED. THE FIRST PROMISE.\n\nI. V. 14. _And Jehovah God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast\ndone this, cursed art thou above all cattle, and above every beast of\nthe field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all\nthe days of thy life._\n\nAfter judgment has been pronounced and the whole case completely gone\nthrough, follows the execution of judgment, in which, as we shall now\nhear, there is rendered to each party according to their work, but not\none like the other. Now this passage claims our thoughtful attention\nin the first place, because there is not found throughout the five\nbooks of Moses so long a speech in the person of God. And in the next\nplace, because this divine speech contains no law whatever as to what\nthe serpent or man was required to do. The whole speech is occupied in\npromising that good or threatening that evil, which should come upon\neach party concerned.\n\nAnd it is worthy our particular observation here that, after the sin\nof the fall, no further law whatever was imposed on Adam, though\nnature in its state of perfection had a divine law set before it. The\nreason of this was, because God saw that nature, being now fallen and\ncorrupt, could not only derive no help or relief from any law given to\nit, but that, being thus corrupted and also disorganized and confused\naltogether, it could not bear any syllable of law whatsoever.\nWherefore God did not increasedly oppress nature, already thus\noppressed by sin, with any further law of any kind. But on the\ncontrary God mercifully applied unto sin as a terrible wound, a\nhealing plaster, that is, the promise concerning Christ, still using\nthat caustic, the curse on sin, which the devil had caused to be\ninflicted. For as wholesome plasters, even while they heal, yet\ncorrode and pain the flesh; so the healing promise is so set before\nAdam that the threatened curse on sin should be added, to operate with\nit in curing the lust of the flesh. By the lust of the flesh I mean,\nnot only that foul motion and itching of lust, but also \"all manner of\nconcupiscence\" and uncleanness of soul, as Paul terms them, Rom. 7:8;\nEph. 4:19, through which we are by nature inclined to idolatry,\nunbelief, self-security and all other horrible sins against the first\nand second Table. To curb and cure all this depravity of nature, we\nhave need of the operation of this burning caustic, the curse of God\non sin.\n\nI would that I could handle the text now before us in a manner\nbecoming its depth and dignity, for it embraces all that is glorious\nin the whole Scripture, containing in it the curse of God on Satan and\nthe destruction of the seed of the serpent by the seed of the woman.\nThe former part of the text is wholly figurative. God speaks to the\nserpent, but it is manifest that the serpent alone is not here to be\nunderstood as addressed by God. For these are not the words of God as\na Creator, as were those words above, when he said unto the beasts of\nthe earth, \"Be fruitful and multiply;\" nor when he said to the earth\nitself, \"Let the earth bring forth grass, and herbs, and trees,\nyielding seed after their kind.\" They are words of divine threatening\nand a declaration of mind and will, such words as God never speaks to\nan irrational creature, but to an intelligent creature only.\n\nGod does indeed address the \"serpent\" by name, but he is all the while\nespecially speaking to Satan, who ruled in the serpent, and by the\nserpent deceived the first parents of mankind. Nevertheless as, on\naccount of the sin of man, the lord of the whole creation, all animals\nand all trees perished in the flood, just as the subjects of a nation\nare often punished on account of the misdeeds of their prince, so it\nbefell the serpent. That animal also was punished because of the sin\nof the devil, who had abused the serpent in making use of it to work\nso mighty an evil as the sin of the fall. God however intends,\nfiguratively, to be represented under this punishment of the serpent,\nthe deluging punishment of Satan.\n\nThe obscurity which lies in this figurative representation has been\nthe reason why this text, which ought to be most clearly known and\nunderstood by all, has never to my knowledge been explained by any one\nwith sufficient diligence and clearness. And I have often wondered\nwhat the fathers and the bishops could have been about, who, when\noccupied in the government of churches and in the condemnation of\nheretics, did not feel that they had a still more important duty to\nperform in devoting themselves with greater diligence to the\nexplanation of such passages of the Scriptures as these. Such bishops\nand fathers possess nothing more than the name, for they may with more\ntruth be called destroyers than watchmen or guardians of the churches.\nI am now speaking of those of our fathers and bishops who really\nexcelled in holiness of life and doctrine. Even among these not one is\nfound to have explained the text before us in any manner becoming its\ngreat dignity. Perhaps those various engagements which generally beset\nthe rulers of churches too deeply involve them to leave them time for\nthe purpose.\n\nThe disgrace of our more recent divines is notorious. They have even\nshamefully corrupted this whole passage, and out of the neuter pronoun\n_ipsum_ they have made the feminine, _ipsa_, which, with the most open\nwickedness, they have thus wrested, and have applied it to the Virgin\nMary, \"_She_ shall bruise thy head,\" verse 15. I can pardon Lyra, who\nwas as it appears a good man, but he conceded too much to the\nauthority of the fathers, and hence he suffered himself to be drawn\naside by Augustine, to the most weak and foolish allegorizings, which\nsystem Gregory also follows in his \"Morals,\" maintaining that by the\nwoman in this part of the sacred record ought to be understood the\ninferior power of reason, as by the man, the superior power of reason;\nand by her seed, the operation of good; but by the seed of the devil,\nhis evil suggestions.\n\nBut what need, I pray you, friendly reader, is there of all such\ndarkness of the most absurd allegories in all this clear light of the\ntruth? But grant that we might with any propriety divide reason into\ntwo qualities or powers, the superior and the inferior. With how much\ngreater propriety may we term that the inferior power of reason which\nis adapted to the government of domestic and political affairs, and\nnot that which is concerned in swine-like pleasure and gratification?\ncalling that the superior power of reason by which we contemplate\nthose things which are separate from economy or polity, and which\npertain unto religion, the solemn things of the Word, in which we do\nnothing operatively, but only contemplate and learn? Although we thus\nspeak upon these things what have they to do after all with the sacred\ntext before us? Do they not altogether encumber and keep out of sight\nits real sense, and substitute a spurious sense in its stead, a sense\nwhich is not only useless but pernicious? For what can reason do or\nwhat light can it give in the divine matter of religion?\n\nThere is also a further absurdity in this mode of interpretation, by\nwhich Eve is made to be the inferior power of reason. For it is\nperfectly evident that Eve was not inferior to her husband Adam in any\nsense whatever; that is, neither in body nor in soul. It is from this\nridiculous mode of interpretation that all those profane disputations\nconcerning free-will have arisen, and concerning the doctrine \"that\nreason always prays for the best,\" etc., until all theology is lost in\nphilosophy and sophistical absurdities.\n\nWherefore let us, casting away all such pernicious and absurd follies,\nenter upon a new road of interpretation, caring naught for having\ndisregarded the footsteps of those who have gone before us. For we\nhave the Holy Spirit as our guide, not setting before us in Moses a\nheap of absurd allegories, but teaching us through him the mightiest\ntruths and the mightiest things which took place between God the\nCreator and man the sinner, and Satan the author of sin.\n\nFirst of all then let us settle it as a fact that the serpent here\nspoken of by God was a natural and real serpent, but a serpent\nbesieged and occupied by Satan, who spoke through and by that serpent.\nLet us next consider it to be a truth, that those things which God\nspoke to the serpent are not to be understood as having been spoken to\nthe serpent abstractedly as a brute animal, but that the person\nimmediately spoken to was Satan, to whom God was all the while more\nexpressly speaking. By this manner of interpretation, I am sure that I\nretain the plain and simple historical and literal meaning, and a\nmeaning in accordance with the whole passage; by which meaning, as\ndivinely intended, the serpent remains a serpent though occupied and\npossessed by Satan, the woman remains a woman, and Adam remains Adam,\nall which is proved by what follows in the sacred narrative. For it is\nnot an inferior power of reason and a superior power of reason, who\nbegat Cain and Abel, as recorded in the following chapter, but Adam\nand Eve, that is, the first parents of mankind, who fell by sin into\ndeath and became subject to the dominion of Satan.\n\nWhen therefore God says to the serpent, \"Thou art cursed above all\ncattle and above every beast of the field, upon thy belly shalt thou\ngo,\" the divine meaning is not that which Augustine gives, and which\nhis disciples follow. They understand that by \"belly\" is to be\nallegorically understood pride. But the divine mind in the passage is,\nthat as Satan abused the serpent in effecting the sin of the fall, so\nthe serpent is compelled of God to bear a part of the punishment of\nthat sin and therefore is thus cursed above all cattle, that it might\nbe the most hateful of all the beasts of the field. At the beginning\nof the creation it was not so; but now through the divine curse, such\na nature has been imparted to the serpent, that the creature which\nbefore the curse was the most delightful and the sweetest of all\ncreatures, is now hated and dreaded above every other animal of the\ncreation. Hence we find by experience that we have a natural\nabhorrence of serpents, and that serpents as naturally dread and flee\nfrom us. Thus the serpent is indeed made to bear this curse as part of\nthe punishment of sin.\n\nThese words however are not spoken unto the serpent only, God is\ndealing all the time with Satan in the serpent. It is on Satan that\nthis sentence is pronounced, as his final judgment. It is Satan that\nis here placed before God's tribunal.\n\nFor God here speaks to the serpent in far different language from that\nwhich he used toward Adam and Eve, when he called them back in love\nfrom their sin. His language then was, \"Where art thou?\" \"Who told\nthee that thou wast naked?\" All these particulars indicate the love of\nGod towards the whole human race; showing forth that God will seek\nafter man and will call him back after he has sinned, that he may\nreason with him and hear what he has to say. All this was a sure\nannouncement of grace. For although these words of God, spoken to Adam\nand Eve, were legal and judicial words; yet they set before them a\nhope by no means obscure, that they should not be condemned for ever.\n\nBut with the serpent and Satan God by no means dealt so mercifully. He\ndid not call Satan to him and say, \"Why hast thou done this?\" He\npronounced upon him at once the sentence of judgment; and that too, in\nthe most awful words, \"Because thou hast done this.\" As if he had\nsaid, Thou, Satan, hadst sinned before this and hadst been condemned,\nwhen thou didst fall from heaven; and now to that sin thou hast added\nthis one. Thou hast by the abuse of the serpent hurled man into sin\nalso. Therefore in the first place the serpent shall bear this\npunishment; that whereas before it partook of that blessing which all\nother beasts also enjoyed; now it alone shall remain under my curse.\n\nFrom all these circumstances it must follow as a manifest consequence,\nthat the serpent before the sin of the fall was the most beautiful\ncreature among the beasts which God had made, and most delightful to\nman; as are at this day kids, and lambs, and kittens to us, and also\nthat it moved with its head erect; and moreover that it now creeps\nupon the ground is not a property of its original nature, but the\nconsequence of the divine curse. Just in the same manner as they are\nthe consequences of the curse, that the woman conceives in\nuncleanness, brings forth in sorrow, and nurses and trains her\noffspring with toils and griefs. Were there no curse the whole process\nof creation would be most pure and holy; the giving birth to children\nmost easy and delightful, and the training up of children the highest\npleasure. Sin therefore has not only utterly corrupted nature itself,\nbut most basely defiled it.\n\nAnd yet the human reasoners even of our day dare to affirm that the\noriginal properties of nature have remained essentially sound and\nwhole, even in devils. But if the serpent, which Satan had abused to\neffect the sin of the fall, bore such a punishment on account of that\nsin; that whereas before it was the most beautiful of all creatures,\nit now on a sudden crawled on the ground upon its belly and drew after\nit its viperous tail before the eyes of Adam, and thus all on a sudden\nbecame an object of hatred and of dread; how can we doubt that the\nsame was the utterly changed case with the man, who was the very one\nwho had committed the sin and had imbibed into his very nature the\npoison of Satan? As therefore the Egyptians beheld not without the\ngreatest amazement the rod thrown down by Moses suddenly changed into\na serpent, just so in paradise, immediately upon God's uttering this\nword of the curse, the serpent was changed from a form the most\nbeautiful into an object the most disgusting and revolting.\n\nAnd to this same curse pertains that which God moreover said, \"And\ndust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life.\" The allegorists explain\nthis, as meaning that Satan would render men given up to the love of\nearthly things one with himself by deceiving them. But as I have said,\nGod is here speaking to the serpent as such and cursing the serpent,\ncausing it to bear its punishment of the sin of the fall. For there\nare other beasts which also feed upon the earth, but the serpent eats\nthe earth as its curse; that whereas before it had a certain peculiar\ngift of subtlety and of beauty, and of food also, which it enjoyed in\ncommon with man, it now bore as its punishment that the nature of its\nfood was changed.\n\nIt is the glory of sheep, of oxen and of other beasts, that they feed\non herbs and even on the fruits of trees, and also that they produce\nvarious things useful for the food of man, such as butter, milk, their\nown flesh, etc. The serpent also possessed this glory of his feeding\nin common with the other beasts. But now he is cast out from this\nsociety, and as it were from this common table and common feasting on\naccount of the sin of the fall, so that he is not permitted to feed\nupon even the most useless herb; nor on apples, or pears, or nuts, on\nwhich even the mice feed. These he dare not taste. He eats the crude\nearth only. These are not my words, but the words of Moses; and they\nteach us that the nature of the serpent is entirely changed and wholly\ndifferent from what it originally was.\n\nAnd though I have said, and it is true, that it is to the serpent that\nGod here speaks, and yet so speaks, that his words are directed all\nthe time more expressly against Satan, as the following part of the\nnarrative will still more plainly show; yet I am by no means satisfied\nthat those things spoken, which rightly apply to the nature of the\nserpent, should be transferred allegorically, as intended to be spoken\nto Satan, like Augustine transfers them and is followed by Lyra. For\nthe serpent and Satan were intimately connected in the sin of the\nfall, though Satan was the principal actor and the serpent only the\ninstrument. And therefore it is that they are made alike partakers of\nthe punishment. The serpent however bears a corporal punishment only.\nBut for Satan, the author and agent of the whole, a different judgment\nis prepared, even that judgment concerning which Christ speaks, John\n16:11, when he says, \"Because the prince of this world is judged.\" The\ndescription of this judgment will now shortly follow, as recorded by\nMoses in the succeeding verses.\n\nWherefore when many say that the devil, like the serpent, no longer\nwalks erect and that he has lost his original form and stature, the\nthings they say are true; but they are quite inappropriate here and\nhave nothing to do with the right interpretation of the passage now in\nquestion. And when I said above, that the serpent before the curse of\nGod upon it moved in an erect posture, I do not wish to be understood\nto mean that it moved in an upright position as man, but with its neck\nand head erect, as a stag or a peacock. To crawl on its belly\ntherefore after the curse, was the divine judgment on the serpent.\n\nThat which now follows belongs expressly to Satan only. And the things\nhere recorded of him by Moses paint forth his judgment in far more\ntrue colors than any of those foolish and out-of-place descriptions of\nthe allegorists. They moreover set before us this strong consolation,\nthat the devil is now so situated that he cannot attack and harm us at\nhis liberty, as he wishes to do and would do, if the Seed of the woman\nstood not directly in his way.\n\nII. V. 15a. _And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and\nbetween thy seed and her seed._\n\nThese are the things which are spoken expressly and properly to Satan.\nAnd they contain his judgment. While in these same words of his\njudgment, there is set before the godly their strong consolation. The\nthings above spoken are historical, as I have said, and apply to the\nserpent, which because through the abuse of Satan it aided in\neffecting the sin of Adam and Eve, bears as his part of the punishment\nhis ejection from the common life, as it were, and from the society of\nthe other animals of the creation; being made so different from them\nthat he dares not eat the same food nor live in any way like them.\n\nThe present passage might also be allegorically interpreted. But the\nallegories used would be far less appropriate, and they would not\nstand firm in the defense of the truth. For the facts of the case are\nthese: Satan on account of his sin was cast out of heaven and\ncondemned; and no longer goes about in his original form as an ox or a\nhind does, but creeps on the ground; which may signify that he does\nnot attack the godly by open force, but uses wiles and devices for\ntheir harm and destruction; which devices nevertheless the godly when\nthey look into the Word see and understand; and by them they perceive\nhow vast his deformity is, and hence dread and abhor him. And\ncertainly his creeping on the ground, and not walking upright, may\nwell indicate that his tyrannical power is broken and destroyed, so\nthat he cannot do so much harm to the Church as he otherwise would do.\nThese allegories, we repeat, may be used in the interpretation of the\npresent text; but they do not explain the meaning of Moses, and\ntherefore they are improper.\n\nWherefore, when we speak of Satan, let us ever follow the other\ntestimonies of Scripture upon the subject; for they are proper,\ncertain and sure; such for instance as the following: \"The devil was a\nmurderer from the beginning, and standeth not in the truth, because\nthere is no truth in him;\" and also, \"When he speaketh a lie he\nspeaketh of his own,\" John 8:44; and again, \"Your adversary the devil,\nas a roaring lion, walketh about seeking whom he may devour,\" 1 Pet.\n5:8; and also, where Christ says, \"The prince of this world is\njudged,\" John 16:11.\n\nIn a word, who does not plainly see that the testimony of the present\npassage applies properly to Satan; and that it is to him that the Son\nof God is here opposed, expressly to prevent him from making any\nattack upon us with open violence, as if he had no certain Antagonist!\nThe Church therefore, under this protection, is perfectly safe. And\nnot only is Satan deprived of the power of attacking the Church with\nany open violence, but his power and desire of harming anything or\nperson else are also destroyed. Were it not so, he would not suffer a\nsingle tree to grow to maturity. He would impede and crush all things\nthat spring forth in the earth; and would prevent, not the birth of\nmen only, but the bringing forth of beasts; and would destroy the\nsafety of everything. This insatiable desire to harm and to destroy is\nfully manifest from his inability to attack by open violence, and from\nhis doing whatever he does by the means of craft, guile and snare.\n\nWe should here moreover carefully observe that these things are not\nspoken by God for the devil's sake. For God does not deign to condemn\nSatan on his own account, by these his words; but he deems it\nsufficient to leave Satan to be condemned by his own conscience. All\nthat God speaks to Satan, he speaks for the sake of Adam and Eve; that\nthey may hear this judgment of God upon him and may comfort\nthemselves, by thus hearing and seeing that God is the adversary to\nthe nature of him, who had inflicted such a wound on man. For out of\nthese very words of God to Satan, there begin to shine forth grace and\nmercy; yea, out of the very midst of that anger, which sin and\ndisobedience had so righteously kindled. It is here in the very midst\nof the heaviest threatenings, that the mind of the Father discloses\nitself; of a Father, not so angry as to cast away his Son, but holding\nout salvation, yea, promising victory over that enemy, who had thus\ndeceived and conquered human nature.\n\nFor though both had sinned in the fall, Satan especially, and man\nthrough Satan, yet the judgments now pronounced upon Satan and upon\nman are widely different. God does not join them together in one and\nthe same punishment, as he might righteously have done. He makes the\nwidest distinction between them. For although he is angry with man\nalso, who obeyed the enemy of God, disregarding God himself, yet the\ndivine indignation against Satan is by far the greater. Satan God\nplainly convicts and condemns in the sight of Adam and Eve, so that\nAdam and Eve, from this very condemnation of their enemy, might have a\nlittle time to recover their breath; and might feel how much more\nblessed their condition was than that of Satan. The first part of the\ngreat consolation here graciously given lies in this: that the serpent\nwas accused and cursed and together with the serpent Satan also, for\nAdam and Eve's sake. Not so much for Satan's judgment and damnation,\nas for Adam and Eve's comfort and salvation.\n\nWherefore, by this judgment of Satan that sun of consolation, which\nhad been just before hidden as it were behind the darkness of certain\nheavy clouds, now rises above those clouds and shines with its most\nheavenly light on the affrighted hearts of Adam and Eve. For they not\nonly do not hear themselves cursed, as the serpent was, but they hear\nGod declare, that he has put them into the ranks of a constituted army\nagainst their condemned foe; and that too with the hope of an almighty\nhelp, which the Son of God the Seed of the woman should bring unto\nthem. By this therefore the remission of their sins and their full\nreception into grace were plainly revealed to Adam and Eve; who were\nthus perfectly freed from their sin and guilt, redeemed from death,\nand delivered from hell and from all those terrors under which they\nwere utterly sinking in the sight of God.\n\nSuch is the great consolation which arises from the fact so carefully\nto be observed by the godly, that God did not curse Adam and Eve as he\ndid the serpent. All that God did to Adam and Eve was to put them into\nan army of continual battle with this enemy, that they might not live\na life of ease and indolence. This very thing therefore turned out for\nthe good of man.\n\nBut the chief part of the great consolation here vouchsafed was, that\nalthough this enemy should ever war by subtlety and snares, yet that a\nSeed should be born, which should bruise the serpent's head. For\nhereby is set forth the final destruction of the tyranny of Satan;\nalthough that tyranny will never come to its end without a most\nterrible conflict; a conflict which must be fought out by man. But\nonly reflect how unequal the conflict is; it is the \"heel\" only of the\nman that is in danger; his head is safe and invincible. On the other\nhand, it is not the tail nor the belly, but the \"head\" itself of the\nserpent that is to be bruised and crushed under foot by the Seed of\nthe woman. And this victory is given also to us all; as Christ plainly\ndeclares when he says, that after the strong man armed shall have been\novercome the spoils shall be divided. For the Christian is by faith at\nonce made conqueror over sin, the law and death; so that the very\ngates of hell cannot prevail against him.\n\nThis first great consolation therefore our first parents and their\nposterity searched into and learned with all diligence, as being the\noriginal fountain and the fountain head as it were of all the\npromises. For they saw, that had they been left without this promise\nthe blessing of generation would have indeed remained with men, as\nwith all other animals of the creation, but it would have been only a\nbegetting and a being born unto death. That great blessing bestowed of\nGod upon human nature is here highly increased, yea, consecrated;\nseeing that the hope hereby added to the blessing of generation, is\nsuch that through it the head of Satan shall be utterly crushed; and\nthat not only his tyranny shall be destroyed but that human nature\nitself, thus made subject to death through sin, shall attain unto\neternal life. For Moses is now no longer dealing in his narrative with\nthe natural serpent; he is now speaking of the devil, whose \"head\" is\nformed of death and sin; as Christ describes him when he says, John\n8:44, that he was \"a murderer from the beginning, and a liar, and the\nfather of it.\" Therefore, whenever and wherever his power is\ndestroyed; that is, when sin and death are taken away by Christ, what\nremains but that the children of God shall be saved!\n\nIt was in this manner therefore that Adam and Eve understood this text\nand comforted themselves against sin and despair by the revealed hope\nof this future crushing of the serpent's head, by Christ, the Seed of\nthe woman. And through this, their hope in the promise thus given unto\nthem, they shall also rise again at the last day unto life eternal.\n\nV. 15b. _He shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel._\n\nWho is not filled with wonder, yea, rather with execration, at the\nmalicious design of Satan in having attempted to transfer this divine\ntext, so full and running over with consolation concerning the Son of\nGod, to the Virgin Mary! For in all the Latin Bibles, the pronoun\n_ipse_ is put in the feminine gender _ipsa_, \"_She_ shall bruise.\" And\nLyra, who was by no means unacquainted with the Hebrew language, was\ncarried away by this error as by the violence of an overflowing and\nresistless stream into the same impious interpretation; so that in the\nface of its plain meaning, he interpreted the passage as applying to\nthe blessed Virgin; making her the person, by whom the power of Satan\nshould be broken through the mediation of her Son. And he applies to\nthe Virgin also that passage in the Song, \"Thou art terrible as an\narmy with banners.\" And, although Lyra professes to hold this\ninterpretation of the present passage as received from others, yet his\nsin is great in not refuting it. Many afterwards followed him. And all\nthe more recent interpreters have perverted this most holy passage to\nserve idolatry, finding no one to stop or resist them.\n\nAll this however has arisen either from the ignorance or negligence of\nthe rulers in the Church. Because these did not set themselves against\nidolatry, sound doctrine was by degrees suppressed and became extinct.\nAnd since we have now by the blessing of God restored the sound\ndoctrine, these disgraceful beasts, given to serve the belly, plainly\nshow that they care not for religion, but for their own benefices\nonly. And because such idolatry promotes the interests of these men,\nthey even show their indignation at people being taught the truth. But\nthese blind beings do not see that the Gospel is a doctrine of the\ndivine nature, that those who receive it lose nothing by it but their\nsins and eternal death; and that they gain in their stead deliverance\nfrom all idolatry and from the dominion of Satan.\n\nWherefore let us render thanks to God that we have this passage also\nrestored to its full integrity. Not that thereby any honor due to Mary\nmight be taken from her, but that all idolatry might be shut out. For\nas to men saying that Mary crushed all the power of Satan by giving\nbirth to Christ; if that be the true state of the case does not that\nsame honor belong equally to all the other women who preceded Mary in\nthe same line of genealogy? Nay, a part of this same honor pertains to\nall the husbands also in Mary's line and to all her ancestors. For had\nshe not descended from all these as her forefathers, she herself could\nnot have had existence. For she was born by marriage according to the\ncommon order of nature. If Mary, by the act of giving birth to her\nSon, bruised the head of Satan, all the ancestors of Mary must of\nnecessity be ranked in the same degree of dignity and honor.\n\nThe Scripture however teaches us very differently, when it says that\nChrist \"died for our sins and rose again for our justification,\" Rom.\n4:25; and when it said, \"Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the\nsin of the world!\" John 1:29. Wherefore let the blessed Virgin hold\nher place of due honor, as the woman whom God adorned with that high\nprivilege above all other women, that she as a virgin should bring\nforth the Son of God. This honor however ought by no means so to be\nbestowed upon her, as in any way to take from her Son, our Lord, the\nglory of our redemption and of our deliverance from sin and death.\n\nMoreover, the peculiar expression of the holy Scripture in this\npassage is most carefully to be held and guarded by us, as affording a\ntruly wonderful light which opens unto us the depth of the divine\ngoodness, revealed to us in the present sacred text; where we are\ntaught concerning that enmity which God put between the serpent and\nthe woman; such an enmity that the Seed of the woman should crush the\nserpent with all his powers. This crushing, Satan perfectly understood\nat the time, and therefore it is that to this day he rages with so\nmuch hatred against our human nature. Adam and Eve on the contrary,\nraised up by the promise of this crushing, conceived the hope of their\nrestoration in all its fulness. And being thus filled with faith they\nsaw that their salvation would assuredly be God's peculiar care;\nseeing that God had expressly testified, that the male Seed of the\nwoman should utterly defeat and crush this their enemy. For the words\nare divinely put together with a wonderful emphasis.\n\nIII. The divine expression here is, \"I will put enmity between thy\nseed and her seed.\" As if God had said, Thou, Satan, by means of the\nwoman didst attack and seduce the man that thou mightest by means of\nsin be the head and lord over them. I therefore in like manner will\nexecute my secret purposes against thee by means of the very same\ninstrument. I will take hold of the woman, and by her I will produce a\nSeed; and that Seed shall bruise thy head. Thou by means of sin didst\ncorrupt and make subject to death the flesh of the human nature. I\nwill produce from that same flesh such a man, who shall crush and\nutterly defeat both thee and all thy powers.\n\nBy these divine words therefore both the promise and the threat were\nexpressed with the most perfect plainness. And yet they were most\nobscure. For they left the devil in such a state of doubt and suspense\nthat he held under suspicion all the women which brought forth from\nthat time, fearing lest they should give birth to this Seed; though\none woman only was designed to be the mother of this blessed\noffspring. Therefore as the divine threatening was expressed in a\ngeneral term, \"her Seed,\" Satan was so mocked thereby that he feared\nthis Seed from every woman who brought forth.\n\nIn the same proportion, on the other hand, the faith of all mankind\nwas confirmed. For, from the hour in which the divine promise was\nmade, all men expected that promised Seed, and comforted themselves\nagainst Satan. Hence it was that Eve, when she brought forth her\nfirst-born, Cain, hoped that she had now \"gotten\" that bruiser of the\nhead of Satan. And though she was deceived in that hope, yet she saw\nthat the promised Seed would assuredly at length be born at some time\nor other from her posterity. And thus, with respect to all mankind\nalso, this promise was most clear and at the same time most obscure.\n\nIsaiah threw some additional light upon this glorious promise when he\nsaid, \"Behold, a virgin shall conceive and bear a son,\" Is. 7:14. For\nit was then made certain that this Seed would not be born from the\nunion of a man and a woman. But the prophet added certain other\nparticulars, by which he still involved his prophecy in obscurity. In\nsuch obscurity therefore this most clear promise still remained until\nMary had brought forth her Son. Of this birth then angels themselves\nwere witnesses; and after the angels the shepherds and the wise men;\nuntil this birth was proclaimed abroad by the apostles, throughout the\nwhole world.\n\nThis obscurity therefore tended to increase the concern and suspense\nof Satan to the highest degree. As it had been said, \"I will put\nenmity between thee and the woman;\" so Satan suspected and held as his\nenemy every woman alike, who gave birth to a child from the time that\nword was spoken until Christ was revealed. On the other hand, with\nrespect to man, this same obscurity increased and strengthened his\nfaith. Though each woman saw that she was not the mother who gave\nbirth to this Seed, yet they all believed and were fully assured that\nthis Seed would be born from some other woman.\n\nGod having thus spoken individually or personally, if I may so express\nit, that very manner of expression tended most effectually to mock and\nrack Satan, and to console the godly and to raise them to faith and\nhope. Thus women continued to bring forth until the Flood; and\nafterwards also, until the time of Mary. But the seed of none of those\nwomen could truly be said to be the Seed of the woman, but might\nrather be said to have been the seed of the man. But that which was\nborn from Mary was conceived of the Holy Ghost and was the true Seed\nof Mary, the appointed woman. This the other promises also testify,\nwhich were made to Abraham and to David; according to which promises\nChrist was called \"the Son of Abraham\" and \"the Son of David.\"\n\nThe meaning of the original promise here given Isaiah first revealed,\nwhen he prophesied \"that a virgin should conceive and bear a son,\" Is.\n7:14. Afterwards, a clearer explanation and confirmation of it was\nmade by the angel in the New Testament. Wherefore I doubt not that\nthere were many saints under the Old Testament, who did not understand\nthis mystery, but who nevertheless fully expected that Christ would be\nborn into this world of a woman, and that he would be the deliverer of\nthe human race; though they knew not what would be the particular\nmanner and circumstances of his birth. With this general knowledge\nthey were content and by this knowledge they were saved; even though\nthey knew not the manner in which Christ would be conceived and born.\nFor this knowledge was reserved for the New Testament to reveal, as by\nthe clearer and brighter light. And it was set forth in the first age\nof the Church with a greater obscurity, purposely on account of Satan,\nwhom God willed to be mocked and racked in this manner that he might\nthereby have less rest and be more filled with fear on every side.\n\nWherefore after this great original promise had been thus set forth\ngenerally in the beginning and had by degrees been more\ncircumstantially particularized, and then confined to the seed of\nAbraham; and further restricted by means of the patriarch Jacob to a\ncertain tribe, the tribe of Judah; after this the devil became\nunconcerned about other peoples and tribes, and persecuted this one\nline of generation with marvelous cruelties and stratagems; until\nabout the time of Christ it had been reduced to the extremest poverty\nand had become a hopeless trunk-root, from which no one could hope for\neither fruit or leaves. And hence it is that the Scriptures term that\nline of succession a \"stem\" or bare root as it were of Jesse, Is.\n11:1, signifying thereby a decaying trunk from which nothing whatever\ncould be expected.\n\nThis hatred and this fury of Satan are the effects produced on him,\nwhich the Lord here predicts, when he warns the serpent of the enmity\nwhich he had put between his seed and the Seed of the woman. For Satan\nprimarily sought this Seed of the woman with hostile hatred, through\nall the peoples, families and lines throughout the whole world. When\nthe promise was transferred to Abraham and restricted to his\nposterity, we see from history by what various means Satan attempted\nto hinder its fulfilment. And when this glorious promise was further\ntransferred to the line of Judah and restricted to that tribe, we\nbehold with what horrible calamities it was oppressed and agitated,\nuntil at length it seemed to be wholly subverted and eradicated. So\nthat at the time of the birth of Christ poor Mary was living at a long\ndistance from Jerusalem in the little and insignificant town of\nNazareth, and Jerusalem itself was possessed and governed by wicked\nheathen. Wherefore most correctly and beautifully was this tribe of\nJudah compared to a dead and hopeless \"stem\" of Jesse. But as God\ncannot lie, this \"root,\" so much decayed and despaired of, at length\nblossomed forth.\n\nSatan however did not even then cease from his cruelty, hatred and\nenmity against the Seed of the woman. While he lay in the cradle Satan\nsought him out by the instrumentality of Herod. So that the new-born\nChrist was compelled to live among the Gentiles in Egypt. After this\nalso, Satan adopted and tried all possible means to destroy him, until\nfinding him and seizing him, he threw him into the hands of the Jews\nand nailed him to the cross. No! nor could his inexhaustible hatred be\nsatisfied even then. He feared him even as he lay in the tomb, so\ndesperate was the enmity which was \"put\" between him and the Son of\nGod! Nay, even now, when Satan sees the Seed of the woman sitting at\nthe right hand of God, and, according to the old proverb, \"out of\ngun-shot,\" he vents his fury in every possible way against his Church\nand the poor helpless members of his body. Of all these sufferings and\nperils the clauses of the divine passage now before us were\nprophecies. From these same words nevertheless, in meditating upon\nwhich we ought to employ our whole souls, we derive a confidence in\nthe Son of God, that he will bruise Satan utterly.\n\nBut to return to the text. This promise, as I have already said, is at\nthe same time most clear and yet most obscure. For since God, as I\nhave also observed, here uses the expression, \"The seed of the woman\"\ngenerally, he does it that he might cause all women alike to be\nsuspected by Satan, and that he might thus rack the serpent with\nperpetual suspense and dread. The expression therefore is a wonderful\n_synecdoche_, \"condensation of instruction.\" It bears a general\nreference to all individual women, and yet contains a direct reference\nto one individual woman only, to Mary and to her Seed, who was to\nbecome a mother without any intercourse with the male sex. For God, I\nrepeat, thus willed all women to be suspected by Satan, while on the\nother hand he willed that a most sure hope should be left to the\ngodly, which should lead them to expect this salvation from all\nparents until in the fullness of time the true mother should be\nrevealed. As therefore the first clause of the passage, \"I will put\nenmity between thee and the woman,\" refers to all women in general; so\nthis second clause, \"her Seed\" refers, with a special individually, if\nI may so express myself, to that seed which should be born of Mary, of\nthe tribe of Judah, who was espoused unto Joseph.\n\nThis text therefore contains that glorious promise which revived Adam\nand Eve and raised them again from death unto that life, which they\nhad lost by their sin; though the life to which they were thus raised\nagain was rather a life hoped for than a life possessed; as Paul also\nfrequently speaks when he uses the language, \"We die daily.\" For\nalthough we do not wish to call the life which we live here death, yet\nit is in truth nothing more or less than a continual living on to\ndeath. For as he who is infected with a pestilential and fatal disease\nbegins to die from the moment of his infection; so from the moment\nthis life of ours is infected by sin, it can no longer properly be\ncalled life on account of that sin and death, its sure punishment. For\nwe begin to die even from our mother's womb.\n\nBut by baptism we are restored to the life of hope, or rather to the\nhope of life. For this is the true life, which we live, before God, in\nour renewed state. Before we come unto that life, we are in the midst\nof death. We are ever dying and rotting on the earth like other\ncarcasses are; as if there were no life at all in us. But we who\nbelieve in Christ possess a hope that we shall be raised again at the\nlast day unto the life eternal. It was in this manner also that Adam\nwas raised again from his state of death by sin through this promise,\nthus spoken by the Lord. Not that he was raised to a perfect life; for\nhe did not as yet regain that life which he had lost. But he conceived\nin his soul a hope of that perfect life, when he heard that the\ntyranny of Satan was thus to be bruised and destroyed.\n\nUnder the divine mind and promise, declared in this text therefore, is\nincluded redemption from the law, from sin and from death. And by the\nsame text is set forth the plain and certain hope of resurrection from\nthe dead, and of being called into another life after the present. For\nif the \"head\" of the serpent is to be destroyed, most certainly death\nis to be destroyed also; and if death is to be destroyed, with equal\ncertainty that which deserveth death, namely, sin, is also to be\nabolished. And if sin is to be abolished, so also is the law; and not\nonly so, but that obedience which was lost is to be restored. And as\nall these things are promised through this Seed of the woman, it is\nperfectly manifest, as a natural consequence, that human nature since\nthe fall can neither take away sin by any powers of its own nor escape\ndeath, the just punishment of sin, nor regain the obedience to God,\nwhich it has lost by the sin of the fall. For all these things require\na greater power, a mightier strength than is possessed by man.\n\nHence it was absolutely necessary that the Son of God should become a\nvictim or sacrifice for us, that by the offering of himself he might\naccomplish all these things for us; that he might take away sin,\nswallow up death and restore unto us the obedience which we had lost.\nAll these treasures therefore we do possess in Christ, but in hope.\nThus Adam, and thus Eve, lived and conquered by this hope. And in the\nsame manner all believers live and conquer, by the same hope, and will\nso live and conquer until the last day. Death is indeed a horrible and\ninvincible tyrant; but the divine power thus makes that, which is in\nall things horrible, nothing; just as the same power of God made out\nof that which was nothing all things. For only behold Adam and Eve.\nThey were filled with sins and with death. But as soon as they heard\nthe divine promise concerning the Seed of the woman, which should\nbruise the serpent's \"head,\" they were comforted by the same hope\nwhich comforts us, that death shall be destroyed, and sin shall be\nabolished, and that righteousness and life and peace shall be\nrestored. In this hope did our first parents live and die, and on\naccount of that hope they were truly holy and righteous.\n\nIn the same hope do we also live. And when we come to die, we hold\nfast this hope of eternal life for Christ's sake, which hope the Word\nalways sets before us, while it commands us to trust in the merits of\nChrist. But in vain do we expect to attain unto that perfection in\nthis life, that we should be altogether righteous, that we should love\nGod perfectly and that we should love our neighbor as ourselves. We do\nindeed begin and make progress, but sin which is in our members ever\nwars against us and is ever present; so that it ever mars or\naltogether prevents this our obedience.\n\nAs therefore this life of ours, on account of the death within us and\nbefore us, may truly be called a death; so righteousness is altogether\nburied under our sins. It is in hope therefore alone that we hold fast\nlife and righteousness, as things altogether hidden from our sight,\nbut which will be revealed in their time. Meanwhile our life is a life\nin the midst of death; and yet, in the midst of this death, we hold\nfast the hope of life by the teaching, commanding and promising Spirit\nof God. This consolation is blessedly set forth in, Ps. 68:2, \"He that\nis our God is the God of salvation; and unto God the Lord belong the\nissues from death.\" For we ascribe to our God the great glory that he\nnot only helps us in this temporal life, as the devil sometimes stands\nby his worshippers, as is manifest from numberless examples among the\nheathen; but the glory which belongs to our God, is that \"to the Lord\nour God belong the issues from death;\" that he delivers from death\nthose who are oppressed thereby on account of their sins and\ntranslates them into eternal life, Col. 1:13. And our God does this as\nMoses here teaches us by crushing the \"head\" of the serpent.\n\nIn this part of the divine history of Moses therefore we have Adam and\nEve restored, not indeed perfectly into that life which they had lost,\nbut into the hope of that life, by which hope they have escaped, not\nindeed the first taste of that death, but the whole eternal substance\nof it. That is, although their flesh was sentenced to suffer and was\ncompelled to suffer a temporal or momentary taste of death, yet, on\naccount of the promised Son of God, who should crush the head of the\ndevil, they hoped for a resurrection of the flesh and a life eternal\nafter the temporal death of the flesh, which hope we also have.\n\nNext follows the other part of this divine speech, in which God first\nthreatens her temporal punishment to the woman and then to the man his\ntemporal punishment also.\n\n\nPART V. THE PUNISHMENT INFLICTED ON OUR FIRST PARENTS.\n\nI. V. 16. _Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy pain\nand thy conception; in pain thou shalt bring forth children; and thy\ndesire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee._\n\nThis is the punishment which was inflicted on the woman; but a\npunishment full indeed of joy and gladness, because it varied not in\nthe least from the sentence just before pronounced on Satan. For\nseeing that the glorious promise still remained that the head of the\nserpent should be crushed, there was a sure hope of a resurrection\nfrom death. And whatever is imposed on man as the punishment of his\nsin is possible to be borne, because this hope remains to him firm and\nsure. And this is the reason the Holy Scriptures are so very careful\nnot to say anything in the punishment of the woman, which should be\ncontrary to or at all militate against the sentence just before\npronounced against the serpent. God did indeed impose a punishment on\nthe woman, but he still left her the hope of a resurrection and of a\nlife eternal. The death which she had deserved by her sin God\ntransferred on the other and less honorable part of man, namely, on\nthe flesh; that the spirit might live, because of righteousness\nthrough faith as the apostle says, Rom. 8:10, \"The body is dead\nbecause of sin, but the spirit is life because of righteousness.\"\n\nThe woman therefore is subject to death as to the flesh, but as to the\nhope set before her she is free from death. For that divine word, by\nwhich God threatens the devil with the \"Bruising of his head,\" remains\never sure to her. The animal life therefore hath, as here declared,\nits cross and its death; as Paul also said, \"The natural body dies,\nbut is raised a spiritual body,\" 1 Cor. 15:44. So also in this natural\nor animal life there remains marriage, and the woman experiences those\npunishments on account of her sin, which the Lord here inflicts upon\nher; that from the time of her conception and at the time of giving\nbirth and rearing children, she endures various pains and perils all\nthat part of her life which she lives in a child-bearing state. All\nthese evils and sorrows however pertain to the animal life or to the\nflesh itself only. But there remains to her all the while the hope\nhere given her of a spiritual and eternal life after this present\nlife.\n\nThis punishment of the woman therefore, if we truly and rightly\nconsider the whole matter, is in its holy reality a glad and joyful\npunishment. For although the righteous burdens imposed are painful to\nthe flesh to bear, yet by means of these very burdens and punishment,\nher hope of a better and eternal life is actually strengthened. For\nEve on the present critical occasion hears in the first place that she\nwas not cast off of God for her sin. And in the next place she is not\nby her punishment deprived of that blessing of generation and\nfruitfulness which was promised to her and freely given to her of God\nbefore her sin. She sees that she still retains her sex; that she is\nstill a woman! She sees that she is not separated from her Adam, to\nremain and live alone, separated from her husband. She sees that the\nglory of maternity is still left her; she may still be a mother! And\nall these blessings of this present natural life are left to her, in\naddition to that promised hope of life eternal. This multitude of\nmercies, which was still reserved for her, no doubt wonderfully\nrevived and gladdened the mind of Eve. Nay, a greater and more real\nglory still awaited her; she not only retained the blessing of\nfruitfulness and of continuing in marriage union with her husband, but\nshe possessed also the sure promise that from her should come that\nSeed which should \"bruise the head\" of Satan.\n\nEve therefore, without doubt, in this her most sad experience, for sad\nit must have appeared to her, had yet her bosom filled with joy. And\nit is very likely that she consoled her Adam with words like these: \"I\nhave sinned. But only see how merciful a God we have! What large\nblessings, both temporal and spiritual, has he still left to us\nsinners. Wherefore, we women will cheerfully bear this labor and this\nsorrow of conceiving and bringing forth children, and of obeying you,\nour husbands. This is indeed fatherly anger! for we have still\nremaining also the promise that the 'head' of our enemy shall be\n'crushed;' and promise that we shall be raised again unto another life\nafter the death of our flesh through our Redeemer. The greatness of\nall these blessings and this infinite multitude of benefits far\nsurpass whatever of curse or punishment our Father has been pleased to\nlay upon us.\" These and like conversations Adam and Eve, no doubt,\noften held together to alleviate their temporal sorrows.\n\nIn this same manner also, ought we to contemplate the unspeakable\ntreasures we possess in our hope of the life to come and by such\nmeditations ought we to lessen the troubles of the flesh. This is what\nwe find the Apostle Paul doing, 2 Cor. 4:17, 18, \"For our light\naffliction, which is for the moment, worketh for us more and more\nexceedingly an eternal weight of glory; while we look not at the\nthings which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the\nthings which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen\nare eternal.\"\n\nNow tell me if all the temporal afflictions which may be laid on them,\nwill not be borne resignedly and patiently by those persons who are\nenabled to lay hold of the hope of future glory and to believe in God,\nhere promising the \"crushing of the serpent's head,\" and who can\nmoreover look upon those temporal blessings which remain to us; that\nour Lord hath given us this whole world to enjoy, and that he has\ngiven us wives, homes and children, and has preserved all things to us\nand increases them by his blessing? And will they not say, \"That is\nnot the anger of a judge nor a tyrant, but of a father!\" On the other\nhand however, they will behold the anger of the judge falling upon the\nserpent. In his case there is not only no deliverance promised, but a\ncertain \"crushing of his head\" foretold. And this anger of the judge\nSatan felt at the time, and he feels it still. And it is on this very\naccount that he rages with such great and unceasing fury against the\nChurch and the Son of God, until the last day shall come.\n\nThe divine threatening therefore in this passage where the Lord\nthreatens Eve with the sure punishments of her sin, was indeed a heavy\nthreatening. But out of the midst of those very punishments there\nbeamed forth unspeakable mercy. And this mercy so revived and\nstrengthened Eve that she rejoiced with a heart full of gladness, even\nin the midst of her sorrows. And as to ourselves we feel how necessary\nthese punishments are to crucify and keep under the flesh. For how\ncould we be humbled if our nature were not pressed down to the earth\nwith burdens like these? Eve therefore experienced and every woman of\nher station and duty must experience these sure calamities. These\nsorrows must be multiplied unto all women. They must both conceive in\nsorrow and bring forth in sorrow.\n\nIt is moreover worthy of observation, that the Hebrew expression here\nused is RAB, which signifies both a continuous and distinct quantity;\nconveying to us the thought that these great and many and various\nsorrows, thus righteously inflicted on Eve, were such as she would not\nhave had to endure, if she had not fallen by sin; and the expression\nalso implies the sorrows and punishments inflicted particularly on\nconception and childbirth. This same expression signifies by its\nimplied meaning the whole of that time, \"conception,\" during which the\nchild is borne in the womb, which time is afflicted with great and\nvarious weaknesses, pains and diseases. The head, the stomach, the\ngeneral health and the appetites are variously and greatly affected.\nAnd after the child is matured and the birth is at hand, the greatest\nsorrow of all is endured; and the child is not born without great\nperil even of life.\n\nWhen the heathen and those who have no knowledge of God or of his\nworks see these things, they take such offence at them that they form\nthe conclusion that, on account of these various troubles, it is not\nbecoming a wise man to marry at all. And true it is that the female\nsex is far more deeply humbled and afflicted, and bears a punishment\nfar more heavy and severe than men. For what sufferings of the body,\nequal to those we just described, does man endure? But by marriage the\nhusband does take upon himself as it were a part of these punishments\nof original sin; for the husband cannot see his wife endure all this\npain and sorrow without much distress in himself. So that many wicked\nmen prefer living a life of profligacy to a life of marriage.\n\nAgainst such wicked sentiments as these the godly will arm and console\nthemselves; and by true wisdom will set against these evils the\ncertain and far greater blessings which attend the married life. Hence\nthe ancient heathen poet Pindar, in his Ode to Hiero, King of\nSyracuse, condemns this perverseness in ignorant men. Though God, says\nhe, is ever wont so to dispense his benefits as to leave some evil\nintermingled with them, yet none but the wise and good can carry\nthemselves aright under them. For they adorn their prosperity; and\nunder its bright colors they hide the adversity which they endure,\nsetting their prosperity ever foremost to be seen of men:\n\n  \"To one good thing, two evil things,\n   The gods appoint. Fools\n   Know not how to adorn their ills.\n   But wise men do: making the\n   Worst, to wear the best appearance.\"\n\n               PIND. _Pyth. Ode_ iii. 145-150.\n\nAnd this is what the godly ought ever to do in this their solemn case.\nThe punishments, to which women are subject on account of the sin of\nthe fall, are indeed great. But is there not in marriage a blessing\nwhich infinitely surpasses all the punishments of original sin with\nwhich it is afflicted? Have not those who are married in the midst of\ntheir great troubles that sure hope of immortality and eternal life\nwhich comes to them through the Seed of the woman!\n\nNay, the troubles and trials themselves of marriage are not without\ntheir benefit. They all tend to break down and humble our nature,\nwhich cannot be humbled without the cross.\n\nAnd in the third place there is left to be enjoyed in these great\nbodily afflictions the peculiar glory of motherhood: that high\nblessing of the womb! This was a blessing which even the wise among\nthe heathen so greatly admired and so loudly lauded. And other good\ngifts of marriage also remain to us and are enjoyed by us. We are\nborne in the womb of our mothers, we suck their breasts, we are\nnursed, we are nourished, and by the devoted attention and care of our\nmothers we are preserved in infancy and childhood. To view the great\nand solemn matter of marriage thus, is \"to set our blessings in their\nfairest light.\" This is not to look at our evils only, but to delight\nourselves in the benefits and the great blessing of God in his holy\nordinance of marriage; and under those benefits and that blessing, to\nsink out of sight the various punishments, corruptions, pains and\nafflictions by which it is compassed.\n\nBut the godly alone understand these things and do them. They alone\nview marriage aright. They alone give honor unto women, as unto the\nweaker vessel; because they see them to be their companions of\nimmortality as well as of mortality, and as being heirs together with\nthem of the inheritance in heaven. The godly moreover behold them\nhighly honored of the Lord by the blessing and the glory of\nmotherhood. By them we are conceived, from them we are born, by them\nwe are nursed in infancy.\n\nAnd for myself I have often contemplated with wonder and delight the\npeculiar adaptation of the female body for nursing infants. How aptly,\nbecomingly and gracefully, do even little girls carry infants in their\nbosom? And with what appropriate gestures do mothers dandle their\ninfants, especially when the crying babe is to be pacified or quieted\nso as to be laid in the cradle? Only tell a man to do these same\nthings and he will set about it as an elephant would attempt to dance;\nso awkward are his motions, if he has only to touch a babe with his\nfinger, to say nothing about all those other offices and attentions\nwhich a mother only can perform. Whoever therefore rightly views and\nestimates the sacred matter of marriage will receive all these offices\nand services of the woman as signs and proofs of the blessing of the\nLord, by which God testifies that the female sex, though thus severely\npunished on account of their original sin, are very dear to him and\nhis peculiar care. Wherefore let these meditations suffice concerning\nthe first part of the divine curse on the original sin of Eve.\n\nThe other part of the curse lies in the particulars of the marriage\nunion. If Eve had not sinned, her childbirth would not only have been\nwithout any pain, but even her union with her husband would have been\nmost pure and utterly free from all shame. There would have been no\nmore shame attached to those connubial circumstances than there is in\na man's taking his meal with his wife and conversing with her at the\ndinner-table. The bringing up of children also would have been most\neasy and full of pleasure. But all these blessings were lost by the\nsin of the fall, and in their place are endured by the woman all those\ntoo well-known evils of pain and labor in carrying the child, bringing\nit forth and bringing it up. Wherefore just as a graceful maiden\nweaves a beautiful chaplet from the flowers of the garden and bears it\non her head, not only without any molestation but with the greatest\npleasure and the greatest pride; so, if Eve had not sinned, she would\nhave borne her child in her womb not only free from distress or\ninconvenience, but with the utmost pleasure and pride. Whereas now, in\naddition to all those pains of bearing the child and giving it birth,\nshe has rendered herself subject to the power of her husband; while\nbefore she was wholly free and in no sense inferior to the man, and\nwas an equal partaker of all the endowments bestowed by God on him.\n\nThis then is the punishment of the woman, which righteously fell upon\nher as the consequence of original sin, which she bears quite as\nunwillingly as she does those pains and troubles, righteously imposed\non her flesh in child-bearing. Wherefore the rule and government of\nall things remain in the power of the husband whom the wife according\nto the command of God is bound to obey. The husband rules the house,\ngoverns the state politic, conducts wars, defends his own property,\ncultivates the earth, builds, plants, etc. The woman on the other hand\nas a nail driven into the wall sits at home. Hence it is that the\nApostle Paul calls women OIKOUROUS, \"keepers at home,\" Titus 2:5. For\nthis same reason the ancients represented Venus sitting on a shell;\nbecause as the shell-fish always carries its shell with it, so the\nwoman ought always to be constantly at home attending to her domestic\naffairs; as one deprived of the right of governing outside of her\nhouse and in public, and as one whose duty is never to go beyond her\nown most private and domestic concerns in the matter of government.\n\nHad Eve therefore stood in the truth she would not only have been free\nfrom all subjection to the rule of the man, but she herself also would\nhave been an equal partaker of government, which now belongs to men\nalone. Women however are generally impatient of this burden and by\nnature aim at the assumption of that, which by their sin they have\nlost; and when they can do nothing more they at least show their\nunwillingness to bear the yoke by a murmur of discontent. Whereas they\nare not competent to undertake the management of men's affairs, of\nteaching, ruling, etc. Of bearing children, and of feeding, nursing\nand bringing up their offspring they are capable. In this manner\ntherefore was Eve punished; and all womankind endure the same curse.\nBut, as I have before said, this very punishment is a joyful one, if\nyou look at the hope of eternal life which springs from her Seed, out\nof the midst of her child-bearing pains; and if you consider also the\nglory of maternity or motherhood left to her.\n\nII. V. 17. _And unto Adam he said, \"Because thou hast hearkened unto\nthe voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I\ncommanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground\nfor thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy\nlife.\"_\n\nThe husband was last in the transgression, 1 Tim. 2:14, and therefore\nthe punishment is inflicted on him last. But the Lord threatens no\npunishment to the man here in generation. God makes no mention of the\npains of generation in his case. Therefore the punishment of the\nhusband lies in the fury of lust, inflamed by the poison of Satan\nthroughout his whole body, but without the pains of the woman. His\nduties as husband however are laden with punishment. For, as it\nbelongs to the man to feed, to rule, to guide and to educate his\nfamily, those duties cannot be performed by him without great trouble\nand distress nor without the hardest labors. The duty laid of God upon\nthe woman is to obey her husband; but with what difficulty is this\nvery performance of her duty obtained! I say nothing about the rule of\nthe man over others, who are not of his immediate family and\nhousehold.\n\nHence it was that the philosophers of old were led to wonder from what\ncause in nature it could possibly arise that men could govern any wild\nbeast more easily than rule their fellowmen. This is the ground of\nXenophon's complaint, when he says, \"It is easier to manage any other\nanimal than to rule man.\" The duties of a husband indeed are great and\nnoble, which are to cultivate the earth and to perform any other work\nby which his wife and children may be supported to rule his house and\nfamily; to govern states and kingdoms; and to teach and instruct those\nof his own house and others also unto godliness and moral duties. All\nthese noble duties however are always attended with their punishment\nof original sin. They cannot be performed without the greatest\ndistress, of which we have examples before our eyes daily.\n\nFirst of all on account of the sin of Adam himself the earth is\ncursed. For the expression the Latin translation renders \"in thy\nwork,\" _in opere tuo_, is in the original Hebrew BAABURECHA, \"for thy\nsake,\" _propter te_. The Latin interpreter was deceived by the\nsimilarity of the letters. He read the Hebrew as being BAABUDECHA. For\nABAD signifies \"to cultivate the earth\" or \"to till the ground.\"\n\nFrom this it appears how awful the calamity of sin is, seeing that\neven the earth, which is innocent in itself and committed no sin, is\nnevertheless compelled to bear sin's curse; and as the Apostle Paul\nexpresses it, Rom. 8:20, 21, is \"made subject to vanity,\" from which\nhowever it shall be delivered in the last day and for which also it\nwaits in earnest expectation, verse 19. For Pliny calls the earth \"a\nkind, gentle and indulgent mother and also a perpetual handmaid of\nservice to mankind.\" And yet as the Apostle Paul here shows, this kind\nearth herself is compelled to bear her curse also. In the first place,\nbecause she does not bear those good things for man and beast which\nshe would have borne had man not fallen; and in the next place,\nbecause she does bear many hurtful things, which but for man's sin she\nwould not have borne, such as the destructive weeds, darnel, tares,\nnettles, thorns, thistles, etc., to which may be added, poison,\nnoxious reptiles and other like hurtful things, brought into the\ncreation by sin.\n\nFor my own part I entertain no doubt that before the sin of the fall\nthe air was more pure and healthful, the water more wholesome and\nfructifying, and the light of the sun more bright and beautiful. So\nthat the whole creation as it now is reminds us in every part of the\ncurse inflicted on it, on account of the sin of the fall. Yet some\nremnants of the original blessing of God still rest upon it; in that\nbeing compelled as it were to do so by the hard labor of man, it still\ncontinues to produce things necessary for our use, although those very\nthings are impeded and deformed by briers and thorns; that is, by\nuseless and noxious trees, bushes and weeds, which the divine anger\nceases not to sow among them.\n\nThis original curse moreover was afterwards greatly increased by the\nDeluge, when all the good trees were rooted up and destroyed, barren\nsands accumulated and both noxious herbs and beasts multiplied. In\nthose very places where Adam before his sin used to walk among the\nmost fruitful trees, over most fertile meadows and in the midst of\nroses and flowers of every kind, there nettles and briers, and other\nannoying plants abound; and in such quantities that the good and\nuseful plants are well nigh choked by them. Only look at the field now\njust prepared by the plow for receiving the seed; no sooner is that\nseed sown than immediately there spring up the destructive darnel and\nthe tares, which grow even faster than the fruits which are for the\nuse and nourishment of life. And if the former were not plucked up by\nthe constant care and toil of the husbandman, they would daily grow to\nsuch an extent that these very destructive weeds of the curse would\nchoke the good seed altogether. The earth herself indeed is innocent\nand would of its own free nature bring forth all things which are the\nbest and most excellent. But she is prevented from doing so by the\ncurse inflicted on man for his sin.\n\nAs therefore woman endures the punishment of sin in her body, a\npunishment she is mercifully enabled to bear, with which she is\nafflicted in the bringing forth of children; so the husband has to\nendure his punishment in the government of his household; while, with\nall kinds of difficulty, labor and distress, he rules his house and\nprovides for his family. And justly so; for it was on his own account\nthat the field was cursed. Whereas before he sinned no part of the\nearth was either barren or corrupt, but all places in it were\nmarvelously fertile and productive; but now, on the contrary, not only\nis it in many parts entirely barren, but even those parts, which are\notherwise fruitful, are deformed and defiled with tares, weeds, briers\nand thorns. And this calamity is indeed great, and might well drive\nAdam himself and us all to choose strangling rather than life. But the\nwhole mighty evil is rendered endurable by the promise of the woman's\n\"Seed,\" by which the punishment of eternal death, which is infinitely\ngreater than all this punishment of life, is wholly taken out of the\nway.\n\nThat which next follows, \"In sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days\nof thy life,\" are words quite easy to understand. For who knows not\nhow laborious the life of an husbandman is. It is not enough that he\nprepare the ground for receiving the seed, which is attended with\ngreat and various labor; but even when the corn is yet in the blade,\neach single day almost demands of him its necessary labor and toil;\nnot to mention those almost infinite hindrances of weather, noxious\nvermin, etc., all which greatly augment his pain, labor and suffering.\nWhereas before the sin of the fall, not only were there no such evils\nand hindrances in existence, but the earth, had Adam not sinned, would\nhave brought forth all things quicker than the hope or expectation of\nman, as it were, \"unsown and unplowed.\"\n\nMoreover this calamity, which sin brought into the creation, was in\nmany respects lighter and more tolerable in their state before the\nFlood than in the condition of the world which followed. In the\nantediluvian state of the curse no other mention is made than of\nthorns, and thistles, and labor, and sweat; but now we experience\nnumberless other additional evils. How many diseases and pestilential\ninjuries are inflicted on the standing corn, on the plants of pulse,\non trees, and finally on all the productions of the earth? How many\nevils are wrought by destructive birds and noxious caterpillars? Add\nto these evils, extremes of cold and frost, thunderings, lightnings,\nexcessive wet, winds, rivers bursting their banks, fissures of the\nearth, earthquakes, etc. Of none of these is any mention made in the\nstate of things under the curse before the Deluge. My firm belief is\ntherefore that as the sins of men increased the punishments of those\nsins increased also; and that all such punishments and evils were\nadded to the original curse of the earth.\n\nIf however any one should think that Moses embraced all these latter\nevils, in his expression of the divine curse, \"Cursed is the ground\nfor thy sake,\" I certainly will not contend with him. But no one\nsurely can deny that all these evils and punishments increased as the\nsins of men increased. In the same manner, as in the present day, we\nexperience more frequent calamities befalling the fruits of the earth\nthan in former times. For the world degenerates and grows worse and\nworse every day. Most plainly therefore may we here trace the\nevidences that all these increased calamities were inflicted on Adam\nas an instruction to him in the first age of the world that an\nincreasedly severe discipline was necessary. But by degrees this\ndiscipline, down to the times of Noah, gradually became loosened and\nmen began to live more dissolutely and wickedly, until at length the\nearth was filled with violence, injustice and tyranny. And then it was\nnecessary that either heavier or more frequent punishments should be\ninflicted; just as severer diseases require severer remedies.\n\nWhen therefore in the time of Noah the whole earth had been deluged by\nthe Flood and every living creature except a few souls, had been\nutterly destroyed, the age which immediately succeeded that of Noah\nlived without doubt in the fear of God. But as years rolled on even\nthese men became depraved, being corrupted by Satan. So that an\nexample more terrible in its nature still was necessary to be made; as\nis shown in the awful destruction of Sodom and its neighboring cities,\nGen. 19:24. Hence it is that the Scripture says that it was necessary\nthat the Amorites should \"fill up the measure of their iniquities,\"\nGen. 15:16.\n\nSo also the whole synagogue of the Jews, when it had fallen away into\nheathenism and open ungodliness, was utterly destroyed. In like manner\nalso Rome herself, as long as her ancient discipline stood sound and\nunrelaxed, mightily increased her power on every side; but when the\nstorms of vice pressed hard upon her it became necessary that her\npunishments also should draw upon her more closely.\n\nAbout the time when the Gospel began to be known among us in Germany\nthe age became somewhat moral and tolerable. But now, when the fear of\nGod can scarcely be found, and when vices of every description\nincrease daily, false prophets rising among us, what else can be\nexpected than that, when we have filled up the measure of our\niniquities, either the consummation of all things will overtake us or\nthat Germany will suffer the due punishment of her sins; so\nuniversally true is it that when sins increase, the punishments of\nthem increase also.\n\nAccording to that which I have said concerning the calamities which\nrest upon all the productions of the earth; so my full belief also is\nthat even the bodies of men, in the prim\u00e6val ages of the world, were\nfar more healthful than they are now. This is proved by that\nlongevity, so incredible to us, which was enjoyed by the men of the\nprimitive ages of the world before the Flood. Accordingly we do not\nfind the Lord pronounced in the present passage any threats on Adam\nconcerning apoplexy, or leprosy, or the scrofula, or any other of the\ndestructive diseases.\n\nWhen I was a child the small-pox was unknown in Germany. It was first\nknown among us when I was about fifteen years of age. Now however even\ninfants in the cradle are attacked by it. When this disease first made\nits appearance it filled every one with dread. But now there is so\nlittle concern about it that friends often say to each other in a\npleasant joke, \"The smallpox take you!\" So also, even unto this\npresent age, the sweating disease has been a prevalent malady, or as\nmedical men term it, an epidemic. For it is universally seen that as\neach country of the earth has its peculiar blessings, the countries\nare visited and afflicted with sure and corresponding calamities. But\nthe disease to which I have referred made its first general appearance\nin those midland parts of Germany, which were the farthest distant\nfrom the sea. And what is abhorrent to relate, some persons have\nserpent-like worms in their bowels, and worms even in their brain.\nThese last diseases were utterly unknown, I think, to the physicians\nof old, who nevertheless enumerate nearly four hundred different kinds\nof disease. Now if all these various diseases had existed in the first\nage of the world, how could Adam and his descendants, down to the\ntimes of Noah, have lived to such extremely old ages? Wherefore Moses,\nas I have said, here makes mention only of the barrenness of the earth\nand of the difficulty of man's procuring his bread.\n\nIndeed if any one wishes to assume the orator and to display the\ncopiousness and eloquence of his language, let him in opening the\ncontents of the passages before us, enumerate all the diseases and\nevils of the human race, which are the consequences of sin. Were he to\ncommence that task, he would find a sea of calamities of every kind so\nboundless, that filled with awe and dread, he would be inclined to beg\nof God this one thing, that he might not be permitted to live even one\nhour in the midst of so many and mighty perils!\n\nBut why do we dwell so long on these diseases only? All the creatures\nof God together as one mighty army are against us, and all but armed\nfor our destruction. How many are there, whom the fire and the water\ndestroy? How much peril threatens men from ferocious and venomous\nbeasts and other noxious creatures? Nor do they infest our bodies\nonly, but our food of every kind, intended for our nourishment. Not to\nmention that we ourselves also rush upon each other in hostile\nslaughter and murder. Just as if there were not pestilences and\ndestructions enough besides, which threatened us on every hand.\n\nAnd if you look at the general pursuits and objects of men, what is\nthis life of ours but a daily scene of contention, deception, snare,\nrapine and murder? And all this in addition to those evils and\ncalamities which hang over our heads from the external things we have\nmentioned. My belief is that all these things did not exist before the\nDeluge; or, if they did exist, were not so numerous or so heavy and\nsevere as they now are found to be. But as the sins of men increased,\nso as we have said their punishments have increased also. The\ncalamities inflicted on Adam therefore were light in comparison to\nthose inflicted on us. For the nearer the world approaches its end,\nwith the heavier punishments and calamities is it visited. To all this\nevil is added that greater evil still, that the more the world is\nstricken, the more it hardens its forehead and becomes stupefied as it\nwere and insensible of its punishment altogether, as it is written in\nthe Proverbs, \"They have stricken me, shalt thou say, and I was not\nhurt; they have beaten me, and I felt it not: when shall I awake? I\nwill seek it yet again,\" Prov. 23:35. This blindness and obduracy\nexceed all the above calamities of the body.\n\nIs not our state then, I ask, marvelous and miserable? The traces of\nthe wrath of God, which our sin has deserved, are first of all bound\nup as it were in our bodies; and next the same wrath of God is beheld\nresting on the earth and on all creatures, and yet all these awful\nevils are disregarded by us, and our minds are filled with security\nand indolent unconcern. For what are the thorns, what the thistles,\nwhat the water, what the fire, what the caterpillars, what the flies,\nwhat the fleas, what the bugs, what the lice; what, I say, are all\nthese together and separately, but so many messengers which\ncontinually preach to us of sin and of the wrath of God on its\naccount? For before sin entered into the world those living evils had\nno existence; or if they were in existence, they harmed not nor\nannoyed.\n\nWherefore to our full knowledge and sight we are in, and live in, more\nthan Egyptian darkness. For though all things around us remind us of\nthe wrath of God continually, and are all but so many pricks in our\neyes of admonition, we not only do not regard that wrath, but embrace\nthis life and enjoy it as our only delight. In the same proportion\ntherefore as sins are multiplied, and self-security increases, and men\ngrow callous and insensible under their punishments, so those\npunishments themselves are multiplied, not only in this life but in\nthat which is to come. I am here speaking of the wicked in this world.\nFor if it were possible that men, when in hell, could possibly endure\ntheir punishments and torments in sensation only, without the\nconsciousness at the same time that the punishments which they endured\nwere just, such ignorance would render their torments more easy to be\nendured. Just in the same way as we on earth will not acknowledge our\npunishments, and thus we harden ourselves as it were against grief.\nBut in hell that insensibility which now prevents us from seeing our\nreal misery will be wholly taken away, and all the doors of our senses\nwill be unlocked, so that we shall not only feel the pains of our\npunishment in our body, but our mind itself will be filled with a\nsense of the wrath of God and with the confession that we have\ndeserved the whole of that wrath by our wickedness. These are the\nfeelings that will sharpen, and in an inconceivable degree augment the\nfuture torments of the wicked.\n\nV. 18a. _\"Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee.\"_\n\nHere we are again reminded that the earth of itself brought forth no\nsuch thing; but only on account of the sin of Adam, as Moses had\nbefore expressly said, \"For thy sake.\" Wherefore as often as we see\nthorns and thistles; as often as we behold tares and other noxious\nweeds growing in our fields and in our garden, so often are we\nreminded as by certain signs of sin and the wrath of God. Wherefore it\nis not only in churches that we hear ourselves accused of sin; every\ngarden, every field and almost the whole creation is filled with such\npreachers and such monitors of our sin and of the wrath of God, which\nis brought down upon us on account of that sin.\n\nWherefore all prayer to the Lord is necessary that he would take away\nfrom our eyes and from our hearts this marvelous insensibility; that\nbeing thus perpetually reminded of our sin, we may at length put off\nour self-security and walk in the fear of God. For by these various\nevidences of the curse of God, we are continually met, cast down and\noverwhelmed. This Moses will now still more extensively set before us.\nHe next says:\n\nV. 18b. _And thou shalt eat the herb of the field._\n\nThis is a new calamity. For above God had given unto man the sweetest\nand most delightful gifts; even that he should eat of all the trees of\nparadise except two only. The Lord had also given him dominion over\nall fishes and over all that the whole earth produced, whether of\nfruits or of animals. But now all these blessings are taken from him,\non account of the eaten fruit and nothing is left him but the herb of\nthe field. And from this passage I believe it can be fully proved,\nthat Adam did not feed upon butter, or milk, or eggs, or cheese, or\nflesh, or even on apples or pears, etc., but on pot herbs and the\nseeds of certain herbs and plants only; such as peas, beans, millet,\nrice, wheat, flour, etc. Where then were the splendor and luxury of\nthe banquet at which Adam feasted his friends, when he gave a daughter\nin marriage, or when he himself was present at the marriage of any of\nhis sons; seeing that nothing was granted them of God, on which to\nfeed but \"the herb of the field?\"\n\nSuch then was the frugal fare of the primitive age of the world. It\nconsisted of the most common and simple food with water. Now however a\nhorrible luxury has overrun the whole present generation of men. They\nare not satisfied with collecting together flesh of every kind for the\ngratification of their appetites; but flesh of every kind is mixed\nwith fish of every kind; spices also of every kind are used in\naddition. Nay, the dissatisfied perverseness of nature is indulged to\nsuch an extent, that those things by nature sweet are rendered by\nvarious condiments bitter; and those by nature bitter are by the same\nmeans rendered sweet.\n\nWhat varieties prevail in our drink also! Who would not consider\nhimself made a laughing-stock, if he should see his host set before\nhim water as his drink? Nor are we content with beer, which is brewed\nat our own homes, nor with wines, made on our paternal estates. We\neven fetch them from beyond the sea. If our first father Adam could\nreturn on earth, think you not that he would laugh at, or rather\nwonder at, this madness of appetite in his sons? Why, he would avoid\nas poison those very things which we eat and drink with avidity and\ndelight; and he would prefer to all these our dainties even rapes or\nturnips in their natural undressed state.\n\nIn this passage frugality of living is commended to us. For we are\nhere taught that our first parents, being thus righteously deprived of\nall other kinds of food, had nothing left for food but the herb of the\nfield. These facts therefore ought to lead us not only to frugality,\nbut also to patience; whenever we see others abounding in delicacies\nand dainties of every kind, while we ourselves have nothing but bread,\nsalt and water. For our thoughts ought to be these: this is the\npunishment justly inflicted on Adam. When he might have enjoyed, by\nthe will, and command, and gift of God, the delicious fruits of every\nkind which grew in paradise; he was compelled with all his posterity\nto live on the common pot herbs, because of his disobedience.\n\nV. 19a. _In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread._\n\nWith what variety of expression and repetition does Moses dwell on\nthis labor and trouble, when he is declaring the manner in which the\nhusband must labor and toil in feeding his family, defending his\nproperty and governing his house! And all these toils and troubles are\nfar more difficult in our age on account of the perverseness of men,\nthan they were \"in the beginning.\" For we universally witness, even\nwhere the expectation of food is certain, with what difficulty a\nfamily are kept to their duty. Nor was Adam himself without his\nexperience of this great evil. For even while he was ruling his family\nwith all possible holiness, he witnessed murder committed by his son\nCain. I say nothing now about all other sorrows which a long life\ncompels a man to see and bear in his posterity. This anxiety and toil\ntherefore await the husband. He must endure this labor, which is\nneither pleasant nor successful. Nor ought any one to be found who\ndoes not endure this sweat. Hence, much more perilous is the life of\nthe Papists; all of whom abuse their wealth, obtained by the labor of\nothers, to their own gratifications and indolence.\n\nBut here a question has been raised, whether all men ought not to be\nhusbandmen, or at least whether they ought not to devote themselves to\nmanual labor? Some did indeed thus foolishly contend at the beginning\nof the Gospel among us. For they so abused this and other like\npassages of Scripture, which command the labor of the hands, that the\nyouth throwing aside their literary studies gave themselves up to\nmanual employments; and Carlstadt, the leader of these misguided ones,\nleaving his proper station in life, purchased a farm, and dug and\ncultivated his own land. For myself indeed if I could with a good\nconscience forsake my calling as a minister of the Word, it would be\nfar more easy and pleasant employment for me to be employed in\ncultivating my garden, digging with my spade and breaking the clods\nwith my shovel, than to endure this hard labor, which I now undergo.\nFor the toil of country laborers bears no proportion whatever to this\nour ministerial \"sweat.\"\n\nWherefore their interpretation of this passage, who contend that\nmanual labor only is the sweat here spoken of, is to be altogether\nrejected. The declaration of Christ is perfectly plain upon this point\nwho commands that those who teach in the Word should enjoy the labors\nof others \"And into whatsoever house ye shall enter, first say, Peace\nbe to this house. And in that same house remain, eating and drinking\nsuch things as they give for the laborer is worthy of his hire,\" Luke\n10:5, 7. Here the Lord takes bread from the table of those who hear\nthe Word of God, and gives it to the teachers of the Word. In the same\nway also Paul speaks, when he says, \"Even so hath the Lord ordained\nthat they which preach the Gospel should live of the Gospel,\" 1 Cor.\n9:14. And it is in confirmation of this same mind of God, that the\napostle cites that word of the law, \"Thou shalt not muzzle the mouth\nof the ox that treadeth out the corn,\" verse 9. And indeed why is the\ncommandment concerning the payment of tithes given to the husbandmen,\nwho labors and cultivates his farm, if the ministers of the Word are\nto procure their food by the labor of their own hands?\n\nThese and like passages of Scripture show that the \"sweat of the face\"\nis the common curse on all men. The first \"sweat\" is, that of\nhusbandmen and householders; the second, the \"sweat\" of magistrates;\nthe third, of teachers in the Church. Of all these orders of men the\ncondition of husbandmen is the happiest. This the poet of old affirms:\n\n  _Felices nimium sua si bona norint, Agricolae._\n   Happy their lot; did they but know their good,\n   Who cultivate the earth for all.--Virg. Georg. 2, 458.\n\nFor though they do \"sweat\" under great labor, yet that labor is\nseasoned with a peculiar pleasure, while the new and marvelous faces\nof all creatures directly meet their eyes daily. Whereas in the\npolitical world and in the Church infinite troubles and molestations\npresent themselves, in addition to the daily perils which are\nincurred, if a minister of Christ perform his duty faithfully. For we\nspeak not now concerning those indolent mortals, who know not nor\nacknowledge these punishments of sin, but who are devoted only to the\nconsideration of the manner in which they can best satisfy their\nlusts. Let such Epicureans be left to the indulgence of their own evil\nappetites and inclinations. We are here speaking of those who do\nperform seriously what they undertake to do, whether in the State or\nin the Church. Such men labor and sweat more in one day than a\nhusbandman does in a whole month, if the magnitude and the various\nperils of their works be considered. It is for this very reason also\nthat tributes and revenues, and other dues of the same description,\nare paid unto kings and princes. And who does not see that this is but\na small return or reward after all to our rulers for the immense labor\nthey undergo, where they really do their duty faithfully. And even if\nthere be some who neglect their duty, this legitimate ordinance of God\nis not on their account to be disregarded.\n\nI have somewhere heard it said of the Roman Emperor, Maximilian\nAugustus, that he was so overwhelmed with his public duties that he\nnever gave himself sufficient time for eating his meals. He was\ntherefore sometimes compelled to withdraw from his State labors, and\nseclude himself in the woods to indulge in hunting. Sometimes also he\nwould change his raiment and mingle with private society so that he\nmight enjoy greater freedom in conversation. And though this\noccupation of hunting was sometimes considered a vice in that Emperor,\nyet those who really knew the extent of his labors and the reality of\nhis daily life considered that this amusement was adopted by him of\nnecessity and not for pleasure. What labors of the plow then, what\nlabors of the spade, what other toils of a rustic life, will you bring\ninto comparison with that \"sweat\" which the government of such a\nmighty empire as that of Rome demanded? Wherefore the palaces of kings\nand princes do indeed bear their names as such, while the kings and\nprinces themselves are the hardest worked of all servants. Hence monks\nand the whole confederacy of the Pope are the only beings that really\nlive a royal life, because they leave all labors, all business affairs\nand all the perils of them to others, while they themselves enjoy all\nthe comforts of life in perfect indolence.\n\nThese same observations apply equally to the pastoral charge in the\nChurch which charge is to be considered the heavier since the duties\nare more important which a pastor has to perform. For are we to\nsuppose that Augustine lived at ease and gave himself up to his\npleasures only, surrounded as he was by so great a multitude of\nadversaries, against whom he had daily to contend to prevent them from\nwholly subverting as they would have done the doctrine of Christ? For\nsuch were the Pelagians, the Donatists, the Manicheans and other like\ndisturbers of the churches. Likewise I in this day by the grace of God\nso perform my duties as to leave no one, I believe, to envy such a\nlaborious life of ease as I daily pass. It is the height of folly that\nfanatics urge on all persons the necessity of manual labors, which\nnevertheless are useful for the health of the body. Whereas on the\ncontrary, those great labors of the State and Church, which we have\njust described, wear out the body and exhaust as it were all the\nmoisture of the very bones and their inmost marrow.\n\nLet us therefore duly and rightly distinguish this \"sweat\" as it ought\nto be distinguished. The household \"sweat\" is great, the civil or\npolitical \"sweat\" greater still, but the Church \"sweat\" is the\ngreatest of all. Only look at the Apostle Paul and you will at once\nsee the greatness of his sweat. For seeing that the Church is in all\nages infested with devils and harassed by heresies, scandals and great\nsins, by the unrighteous violence of tyrants and by evils of every\ndescription; will any man say that there are no labors and no sweats\nin the Church? Will any one affirm that those who rule in the Church\nare not well deserving the provision which they receive?\n\nWe may say this of the Pope and the Cardinals, and of all that\ncongregation of the wicked who do no work at all, consult only their\nbelly and their ease, spending the greatest wealth. These are they of\nwhom we may rightly say with Paul, \"If any one will not work, neither\nshall he eat,\" 2 Thess. 3:10. Now the work of the Church is to teach\nthe Word, to administer the Sacraments, to war with fanatics, to\nremove scandals out of the way, to build up the godly in the faith,\netc. Of those who really do this Christ says, \"The laborer is worthy\nof his hire,\" Luke 10:7.\n\nNow the condition of Adam, the first sinner, was if rightly considered\nworse than ours. For while we all sweat separately, each one in his\nown order and station, Adam was compelled to endure at one and the\nsame time the sweat of the household rule, the sweat of the political\nrule and the sweat of the Church rule. He alone performed all these\nduties to his family and posterity as long as he lived. He provided\nfor his family and ruled it. He trained them in piety and was at the\nsame time their father, their king and their priest. And how full of\npain and peril each one of these duties is, universal experience\nteaches.\n\nWherefore we need great consolation to support us against all these\nevils, and we should exercise our minds in much patience, seeing that\nwe find these calamities to be laid even on the elect also, who\npossess the hope of a resurrection and of eternal life. As therefore\nthis hope is thus left to us afflicted men, it becomes us to be of a\ncourageous mind and to overcome our evils by means of this hope,\nbecause we are not destined to live here forever. Just as men, who\nwhen traveling happen to find a miserable lodging and a covetous host,\nconsole themselves with the thought that though their food be bad and\ntheir bed hard, their misery will last for one night only. Such ought\nour thoughts to be in the midst of our calamities on account of the\nsin of the fall. For what are our two or three years of life, almost\nthe half of which we pass in insensible sleep, when compared with\neternity!\n\nLet afflictions and adversities come therefore as the Lord shall be\npleased to appoint them to each of us, whether they be the sweat of\nthe home rule, of the state rule, or of the Church rule; we will not\nsuffer ourselves to be moved by them to impatience. We will not cast\naside our home duty, or our state duty, or our Church duty. Such\nwoman-like weakness as this becometh not brave soldiers. It is\nunworthy them to throw away their arms, and to flee at the first\nonset. And what of pleasures and of ease? We are not appointed unto\nthem, but unto labor and active life. Hence the poet of old says:\n\n  _Tu ne cede malis; sed contra audentior ito._\n   Yield not to ills; but bolder grow, as these\n   Are seen t' increase.--Virg. Aen. 6, 96.\n\nAnd this shall we be able to do, if we set against these temporal\nafflictions the hope of a resurrection and of eternal life. As\ntherefore no one would willingly lose this hope, so let all men\nconsider that they are bound not to forsake that calling and station\nof life where they have been placed by God. Let him who is called to\nteach the churches, do it with a magnanimous spirit, moved neither by\nhis own perils nor by the lazy life of popes, who, when they ought to\nbe preaching the Gospel, ruling the churches, hearing sacred causes\nand judging controversies concerning doctrine and helping the churches\nthat have need of help, cast off all these highest duties and leave\nthem to the useless monks, while they themselves are occupied in\naccumulating monies and making provision for fulfiling their lusts,\nRom. 13:14. As these therefore escape the sweat, they shall not have\nthe cooling refreshment. As they will not suffer with Christ, they\nshall not reign with him, Rom. 8:17.\n\nOn the other hand let all of us who endure this sweat, each one in his\nstation, always think that, although we may have a bitter burden to\nbear, these afflictions will have their certain end. Hence Moses now\nadds the following consolation under any affliction however hard:\n\nV. 19b. _Till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou\ntaken; for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return._\n\nWith respect to wicked men they endure an infinite number of\ncalamities with the hope of enjoying a little morsel of pleasure. What\nperils by land and by sea does the merchant experience with the hope\nof gain? For what a small hire does the soldier sell his life. The\nharlot in the brothel is compelled to endure a thousand-fold greater\nevils than any wife in the honest home. Hence the Germans call them by\na striking proverb, \"the devil's martyrs;\" because they of their own\naccord cast themselves into the greatest calamities, which they might\nnever have experienced, if they had been willing to live a godly life.\nAnd again, what a host of evils do men, given to wine and to gluttony,\nbring upon themselves by their excesses, from all of which they might\nhave lived free had they eaten and drunk more moderately.\n\nWherefore, well may men be lost in considering what remedy can\npossibly be found for the human race. Since they are so hardened by\nSatan that they not only do not feel their evils, but studiously\nfollow after them and pursue them with all eagerness. For if they\nreally did feel the evils of their ways would they not forsake them?\nBut the fact is that such insensibility benumbs the minds of men, so\nthat you may see them glorying in their very evils themselves. As,\ntherefore, such wicked perverseness is found in the greatest part of\nmankind, that for the sake of a light and foolish pleasure they will\ninvolve themselves in sure calamities, it is wonderful that the godly\ndo not consider these things for their good, and say within\nthemselves, Although I must live in the midst of all these various\nevils, yet they must all soon end and be recompensed by another and a\nbetter life.\n\nAnd this is the consolation which this sacred sentence is intended to\nafford. For it gives a promise that all these calamities shall have an\nend, and that, too, by the bruising and crushing of the \"serpent's\nhead,\" _Till_, says Moses, _thou return unto the ground_, ELHAADAMA.\nFor this original word signifies the ground or earth in general. But\nthe Hebrew word APHAR signifies, properly, recently dug or ploughed\nearth, or a lump of newly turned up earth. Our translation renders\nthis original word by \"dust;\" that it may signify loosened or crumbled\nearth. For Adam was made a living man out of a clod or lump of the\nearth. When therefore the bonds of this clod shall be loosened, it\nshall return, the Lord says, to its former mould or dust.\n\nAnd here again we are reminded of the manner in which, as the sins of\nthe world increased, their punishments increased also. The original\nusage of committing the bodies of the dead to the earth to be\ndissolved again to dust was certainly a milder and human-like custom;\nbut afterwards it became the practice of almost all nations to burn\nthe bodies of their dead. How often also does it happen that human\nbeings are devoured alive by wild beasts, and have the bellies of\nthose beasts for their tombs? Hence we find enumerated among the four\npunishments declared by the prophet, \"the teeth of wild beasts,\" Jer.\n15:3, and also by Moses himself the poison of serpents and other\nvenomous animals, Deut. 32:24. For so it is ever that the more\ninsensible we are to the divine punishment of our sins, the heavier\nthe punishments God lays upon us, to break us down and to beat in\npieces our obduracy; as it is written in the Book of Leviticus, \"And\nif ye will not yet for these things hearken unto me, then I will\nchastise you seven times more for your sins. And I will break the\npride of your power,\" Levit. 26:18, 19.\n\nThus the fall of Adam was a fall from life into death, and from\nsoundness of body into diseases of every kind. Still the age of Adam\nwas truly a golden age, if compared with ours. But all things\ndegenerated by degrees, and that the great image of Daniel also\nplainly shows, Dan. 2:31, 35. For the nearer the world approaches its\nend the worse men become, and this is the reason heavier punishments\nare inflicted on us than on those who have lived before us. What a\npertinacious war against the truth is carried on at this day by the\nPapists! What cruelty do they exercise against those who confess the\ntruth! I mention not now their well nigh Satanic covetousness, perfidy\nand acts of violence without end. Can the punishments of such then be\nvery far off?\n\nThus far Moses has been recording the punishments inflicted on Adam\nand his posterity on account of the sin of the fall. And though these\npunishments are great, yet they were milder \"in the beginning\" than\nthey are now. Because those sins which were then of the positive, if I\nmay so speak, are now increased to the superlative degree.\n\nBut before we proceed with the remaining contents of this chapter, let\nus pursue a little further our discussion of that passage, on which we\nhave briefly dwelt in its place before, where it is said to the woman,\n\"I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception or thy\nimpregnation,\" verse 16, above. For the original word there found is\nHERONECHAD, which interpreters generally explain as descriptive of all\nthose troubles and straits of mind and body which women endure from\nthe time of conception to childbirth.\n\nA question is here raised by some whether, as the wife is impregnated\nand gives birth to a child only once in a year, that one impregnation\nand parturition is itself a punishment? And it is also inquired, why\nif such be a punishment God here says, \"I will greatly multiply thy\nsorrow and thy conception?\" With respect to the latter, I believe the\noriginal word to be rightly translated, \"I will greatly multiply thy\nconception,\" that is, thy pains and sorrows consequent upon that\nconception. So that it is a punishment that a woman should conceive\nonly once in the year, and yet that one conception in the year should\nbe laden with such numberless pains and sorrows. For if man had\ncontinued in his innocence, no doubt the fruitfulness of women would\nhave been altogether greater. We do now find certain instances where\noften two, sometimes three, and occasionally four, children are\nbrought forth at a birth.\n\nThere are universal laws of this fecundity in the brute creation. The\nfruitfulness of birds and of fishes is very great. Dogs, cats and sows\nproduce a great number at a parturition. The larger beasts however\nproduce their offspring only once in a year generally. My full belief\nis however that women, had there been no sin, would have been\nproductive of a far more numerous offspring. Whereas now for the most\npart the most fruitful of them give birth to no more than one child in\nthe year, to which diminished fruitfulness there is also added that\nunclean lust of fallen nature. All these things alike impress our\nminds with the magnitude of sin.\n\nBut here again we find brought forward the Jewish cavil concerning the\nserpent. They say if by the seed of the woman is to be understood here\nher natural seed, which is born from her womb, as we have interpreted\nthe important passage, it would seem to be a natural consequence that\nthe seed of the serpent mentioned in this same passage should also be\nthat seed which proceeds from the belly of the serpent. Otherwise,\nthey say that opposition which Moses sets forth cannot consist when he\nsays, \"I will put enmity between thy seed and her seed,\" verse 15.\n\nOut of this cavil many consequences will follow. In the first place it\nwill follow that God is here speaking with the natural serpent only\nand determining his punishment; and in the next place it will\ninevitably follow that Christ has nothing at all to do with this\npassage, nor this passage with him; and it will equally follow that\nthis text furnishes no proof whatever concerning Christ! Wherefore\nthis cavilling objection of the Jews has the appearance of containing\nsomething in it; but in fact it contains nothing at all.\n\nFirst, then, my reply to this cavil is \"He that is ignorant, let him\nbe ignorant still; and he that is filthy, let him be filthy still,\"\nRev. 22:11. For he that will not believe the openly revealed and\nmanifest Gospel is worthy of being left in ignorance of these more\nhidden passages of the Scripture and in disbelief of them altogether.\nNeither is our present object to confirm or illustrate the Gospel by\nthe passage now in question, but to hold up the brighter light of the\nGospel before it in order to illuminate its obscurities. And if any\nwill not believe the shining light of the Gospel, what marvel is it if\nthey are left to disbelieve these more obscure words of the prophets\nand to produce their new and absurd opinions in opposition to them?\nThe promise of the Gospel is revealed from heaven; and moreover it is\npreserved in safety amidst the greatest tyrants and the most horrible\npunishments of our sins from God. If the Jews pertinaciously fight\nagainst this promise and will not believe it, they must be left alone.\nWe meanwhile will deal with those who believe, and who submit to the\nGospel.\n\nChrist says, John 8:44, that Satan is the \"father of lies, and a\nmurderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth.\" This is that\nlight of the Gospel by which the dark places of the Old Testament are\nillumined. Now if Satan was \"a murderer from the beginning\" tell me,\nwhom or what persons did he murder? Were they not Adam and Eve, whom\nhe murdered by sin? Where did he murder them? Was it not in paradise?\nWhen did he murder them? Was it not when he made nothing of the\ncommandment of God and promised Adam and Eve that they would be like\ngods if they would eat of the forbidden tree? Both propositions\ntherefore are true. The natural serpent was in paradise; and by the\nnatural serpent, the old serpent, the devil, deceived man and murdered\nhim.\n\nThe principal meaning of this passage therefore is to cause us to\nunderstand that the devil was the author of all this calamity; just as\nwhen any one commits murder, it may rightly be said of the sword of\nthe murdered, \"This sword killed the man.\" Whereas in truth, it was\nnot the sword alone nor of itself that killed the man, but the\nmurderer who used the sword. Indeed it is quite a common use of the\nfigure synecdoche, the conveyance of two ideas by one expression, to\nunderstand the author of the act under the mention of the instrument\nmade use of. Wherefore we explode this Jewish cavil utterly.\n\nSecondly, it is also true that contraries are not necessarily\nconsistent contrarieties in every respect. For the form of\ncontrarieties is multiplex, as logicians teach. Some things are\nopposed to others relatively, others privatively, and others by\ncontradiction. Thus the natural father by whom we are begotten and the\nfather of lies are opposed to each other. Although we should grant the\nJews their interpretation of this passage that Moses is here speaking\nof the natural serpent, yet the text itself evidently contains a\nsynecdoche when we compare it with the words of Christ. The words of\nMoses are, \"And Jehovah God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast\ndone this, thou art cursed above all cattle.\" What then did the\nserpent do? He deceived Eve and thus murdered her.\n\nSo the words of Moses therefore only hold up the light of the Gospel,\n\"The devil was a murderer from the beginning,\" John 8:44. Is it not by\nthis light at once manifest that God so speaks with the natural\nserpent as recorded by Moses, that his words are intended to apply to\nthe devil, concealed under the form of the natural serpent, who having\nassumed that form under it hurled man into sin and death, and laid him\nunder the wrath of God? Wherefore by the seed of the serpent in this\npassage is not to be understood the natural seed of the natural\nserpent, but the seed of the devil; as Christ also represents the same\nin the Gospel, using the same appellation of \"seed,\" where he says,\n\"An enemy came and sowed among the wheat evil seed,\" Math. 13:25. This\nevil seed is contrary to the spiritual seed, even as flesh and spirit\nare wholly contrary to each other.\n\nBut it is not necessary as we have said, that contraries should\ncontain that contrariety to each other throughout in all respects;\njust in the same manner as similarities do not respond to each other\nin every particular. Thus for instance, Adam is a figure of Christ;\nwhich similarity consists in the great truth that as sin hath abounded\ntowards all men by Adam, so the righteousness of Christ also abounds\ntowards all those who believe in him. These particulars of Adam and of\nChrist agree with each other. In all other respects Adam and Christ do\nnot agree. Wherefore let this their error be left to the Jews, to\ncontent themselves with it. We believers in Christ know that the\nserpent, to whom God speaks in this text, is the devil. And this we\nknow from the interpretation of Christ himself.\n\n\nPART VI. NAME ADAM GAVE HIS WIFE. GOD REMINDS MAN OF THE FALL. THE\nCHERUBIM.\n\nI. V. 20. _And the man called his wife's name Eve; because she is the\nmother of all living._\n\nWe have heard above that it was inflicted as a punishment upon the\nwoman, that she should be under the power of the man. That power to\nwhich she is thus made subject is here described anew. It is not God\nwho here gives to Eve her name, but Adam, her lord; just in the same\nmanner as before he gave to all the animals their names, as creatures\nput under his dominion. No animal devised its name for itself. Every\none received its appellation, and the dignity and glory of its name,\nfrom its lord, Adam. So to this day, when a woman marries a man, she\nloses the name of her own family and is called after the name of her\nhusband. On the other hand it would be a thing quite monstrous, if the\nhusband should wish to be called by the name of his wife. This\ntherefore is a sign and further confirmation of that punishment of\nsubjection which the woman procured by her sin. In the same manner\nalso, if the husband changes his place of residence the woman is\ncompelled to follow him as her lord. So various are the traces in\nnature which put us in mind of original sin and of our numerous\ncalamities on its account.\n\nAnd the name which Adam gave to his wife is a name full of joy and\ndelight. For what is better, or more precious, or more delightful,\nthan life? There is a well-known poetic line--\n\n  _Num tu bona cuncta_\n  _Ut redimas vitam recuses?_\n   To save thy life, what wouldst thou not resign?\n   The world, with all its wealth, if they were thine!\n\nFor neither gold, nor gems nor the glory of the whole world can be\ncompared with the preciousness of life. This Christ intimates, Math.\n6:25; 16:26. Hence the Jews generally give their children names taken\nfrom roses, flowers, jewels, etc. The name of Eve however was not\ntaken from the preciousness of anything worldly, but from life itself,\nwhich in value exceeds all things. But Adam adds also his reason for\ngiving this name to his wife. \"Because she is the mother of all\nliving.\" It is evident therefore from this passage that Adam, by\nreceiving the Holy Spirit, was wonderfully enlightened; and that he\nbelieved and understood the word spoken by God concerning the Seed of\nthe woman, which should bruise the head of the serpent; and that he\ntherefore wished to signalize his faith, and to adorn it by the name\nwhich he gave his wife, the name the like of which he had not given to\nany other creature. It is equally evident also that he moreover\nwished, by this name given to his wife, to cherish his own hope of a\nfuture Seed, to confirm his own faith and to comfort himself by the\nbelief of a future and eternal life, even at the very time when all\nnature had been rendered subject to death.\n\nFor if Adam had not apprehended all this by the faith of the life to\ncome, his mind could not have been raised to such an assurance of it,\nas to give his wife a name so full of joy. As therefore he did give\nsuch a name to his wife, it is perfectly evident that his mind was\nlifted up by the Holy Ghost to this confidence in the remission of\nsins by the Seed of Eve, whom he therefore named Eve, in order that\nthe name might be a memorial of that divine promise by which he\nhimself was raised anew unto life and by which he left the hope of an\neternal life to his posterity. This hope and this faith he imprinted\nas it were on the forehead of his wife in the brightest colors by the\nname Eve which he gave her; just in the same manner as those who are\ndelivered from their enemies erect trophies and other glad memorials\nto commemorate the victory which they have gained.\n\nBut perhaps you will inquire, how Adam called Eve the mother of all\nliving, when she was as yet a virgin and had never borne a child.\nAdam, we here again see, did this to testify his faith in the divine\npromise; because he believed that the human race would not be cast\naway nor destroyed, but would be saved. This same name Eve therefore\nembraces also a prophecy of the grace that should come; and it\nindicates that consolation, which is necessary under the perpetual\ntrials of this human life and against all the temptations of Satan. It\nis very possible also that the joyful giving of this name to Eve,\nwhich as we have said is a most beautiful proof of the faith of Adam\nand of the recreation of his spirit unto a new life, formed a reason\nwhy the holy fathers in after ages held that day, on which their\nchildren were circumcised and received their names as a more glad and\njoyful festival than the day they were born; to the intent that such\nfestival might forever commemorate this giving of the first name by\nAdam, when he called his wife Eve. But now follows another kind of\nmemorial quite the contrary to this; a memorial of sorrow, not of joy.\n\nV. 21. _And Jehovah God made for Adam and for his wife coats of skins,\nand clothed them._\n\nThis is by no means so joyful and delightful information as was that\nof Adam giving to his wife the name of Eve. For, although the Lord had\nsaid, \"In the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die;\" yet\nAdam consoled himself by this name which he gave to his wife that the\nlife which he had lost should be restored by the promised Seed of the\nwoman, which should bruise the serpent's head and destroy the\ndestroyer.\n\nII. Here Adam and Eve are clothed with garments by the Lord God\nhimself, in order that, being perpetually reminded by this clothing as\na lasting memorial, they might reflect, as often as they looked at\ntheir garments, upon their awful and miserable fall from the highest\nfelicity into the extremest calamity and wretchedness; to the intent\nthat they might ever afterwards fear to sin and exercise continual\nrepentance; yet looking for the remission of sins by the promised\nSeed. And this is the reason no doubt the Lord God did not cover them\nwith leaves nor with that wool which grows on trees, but clothed them\nwith the skins of slaughtered animals to remind them that they were\nnow mortal and subject to certain death.\n\nAs therefore the name Eve contained in it the joyful hope of life,\neven of eternal life; so these skins were a memorial of sin passed and\nsin to come; but a memorial also of all those calamities present and\nfuture, which that sin deserved. And indeed our nature has need of\nsuch memorials and perpetual admonitions. For we easily forget both\npast evils and past blessings. Hence it is that Peter says, \"For he\nthat lacketh these things is blind, seeing only what is near, having\nforgotten the cleansing from his old sins. Wherefore I shall be ready\nalways to put you in remembrance of these things, though ye know them,\nand are established in the truth which is with you,\" 2 Pet. 1:9, 12.\nFor it is truly an awful expression of the apostle when he here\nintimates that some forget the remission of their sins, and after they\nhave well believed draw back from their faith, and adorn not\nthemselves with the most beautiful chain of Christian virtues which he\nenumerates, but indulge in covetousness, pride, envy, lust, etc. We in\nour day also have great need of this admonition, who experience all\nthese burdens of these calamities under the papacy, lest we become\nungrateful to our merciful God, as, alas! the greater part of the\nworld do.\n\nAs a remedy therefore against this forgetfulness these skins were\nadded as clothings for Adam and Eve, that they might be forever a sure\nsign, or memorial or admonition, whereby both they and all their\nposterity might be reminded of their most wretched condition. But in\nafter ages, marvelous to say, the world began to grow mad in the\nmatter of this very memorial of their calamity! For who can possibly\ndescribe the amount of study and expense men and women give to dress!\nIndeed it is so great that it can no longer be properly termed\npleasure nor luxury, but madness; because, like asses created for\nbearing burdens of gold they seem rather to consider with how much\ngold they can load themselves, than with how much they can best adorn\nthemselves. A superior kind of dress may be justly commended in\ncertain cases; especially in more illustrious persons. But that rage\nfor dress in all classes, which now prevails, cannot but offend the\neyes of all good men. And if Adam himself could rise from his grave\nand behold this madness for raiment in all circles of society, I\nbelieve he would stand petrified with astonishment at the sight. For\nthe clothing of skins, which Adam daily wore, daily reminded him of\nhis sin and his lost felicity. Whereas we, on the contrary, clothe\nourselves with splendid garments and indulge in luxury of dress, that\nwe may testify to all men that we have not only forgotten the evils of\nthe fall, from which we have been saved by the Seed of the woman, but\nthe blessings also which we have received through him. We next find\nthat the admonition which the Lord had given by the sign of the\ngarments, he gave also in word.\n\nV. 22. _And Jehovah God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us,\nto know good and evil; and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take\nalso of the tree of life, and eat, and live forever:_\n\nThese words contain sarcasm and most bitter derision. Some inquire\ntherefore why it is that God here deals so harshly with miserable\nAdam? How it is that, after he had been robbed of all his glory and\nhad fallen into sin and death, he is goaded in addition to all this by\nhis Maker with this most bitter reflection passed upon him. Was it not\nenough, they ask, that he should wear this visible sign which should\nperpetually remind him of his lost glory and his present calamity, but\nhe must hear also in addition this audible word of the Lord God?\n\nTo this I reply, Adam had the promise of mercy given him, and with\nthat he ought to have lived content. But in order that he might more\ndeeply fear, and more carefully guard against all future sin, there is\nspoken to him this bitter memorial word also. For God foresaw what\nkind of men Adam's posterity would be; and therefore he puts this word\ninto his mouth that he might preach it to his posterity, and might\nteach them as a warning that by wishing to become like God, he became\nlike unto the devil; in order that they also, being thus warned, might\nnot add to that sin of their first parents their own sins, and so\ndepart still farther from God.\n\nAs before, by the clothing of skins, so now, by his word itself, God\nreminds our first parents both concerning their past and their future\ncalamities. Not that God is delighted with Adam's sad case, for had it\nbeen so he would have given him no such admonition at all; but would\nhave remained silent. But God willed that man should sigh after the\nrestoration of that \"image of God\" which he had lost; and should\ntherefore the more hate sin, which had been the cause of this awful\ncalamity; and that Adam should admonish his posterity of what had been\nthe consequence of his sin; that when, having been plundered of his\nreason by Satan, he thought he should become like God, he became like\nSatan himself.\n\nOn this passage also that great question is raised, why God, who is\none, here speaks in the plural number? And whether there are more gods\nthan one? And Nicholas of Lyra, with others, considers that these\nwords are either spoken in the person of an angel or addressed to\nangels, \"Is become as one of us;\" that is, \"Is become an angel.\" But\nthis comment is too cold. For God does not here call himself an angel.\nNor does the force of the expression lie in the word \"one;\" but rather\nin the pronoun \"us.\" Wherefore we repudiate altogether this cold\ncomment. For if these words are spoken in the person of an angel, it\nis certain that God did not speak them; but God did speak them. For\nthe assertion of the text is, \"And Jehovah God said.\"\n\nWherefore here again let us have recourse to the light of the Gospel.\nFor this light as I have above observed illumines all these obscure\npassages of the Old Testament. And indeed if you will explain these\nwords as having reference to the angels, such interpretations will not\naccord with that portion of the sacred narrative which precedes. For\nSatan above said, verse 5, \"And ye shall be as gods, knowing good and\nevil.\" From this it is manifest that Adam and Eve really endeavored to\nbecome like God, not like an angel. Wherefore this passage cannot\nrightly be understood in any other way than as meaning equality with\nGod!\n\nThis error of the Jews therefore concerning the reference of the\npresent passage to angels, which Lyra also follows in his\ninterpretation, is exploded; and from this text, according to the\nletter, the doctrine is established that there is a _plurality_ in the\n_Godhead_, which doctrine was also determined above, Gen. 1:26, where\nGod said, \"Let _us_ make man in our image.\" All these passages argue,\nin the first place, for the unity of the divine essence. For the\nuniform expression in them all is, \"And God said.\" And in the next\nplace, they argue also for the plurality, or according to the general\nterm used, a _Trinity_ of persons in the Godhead. All these mysteries\nhowever are more fully revealed in the New Testament. As for instance,\nwhen Christ commands believers to be baptized in the name of the\nFather, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. The Three Divine\nPersons in the Godhead therefore were thus at once shadowed forth at\nthe very beginning of the world, and were afterwards clearly\nunderstood by the prophets, and at length fully revealed in the\nGospel.\n\nThe meaning of this passage therefore stands perfectly plain, that the\nintent of Adam and Eve was to become like God or to secure his image.\nNow the image of the invisible God is the Son, \"by whom all things\nconsist,\" Col. 1:17. Wherefore Adam by his sin dashed against the very\nperson of Christ, who is the true image of God. These great things are\nbut briefly and obscurely set before us in this divine narrative.\nThere is no doubt however that Adam himself drew from them numberless\nsermons for his family and posterity; in the same way as the prophets\nafter him evidently contain various allusions to these mysteries and\nwrap them up in marvelous indications, which the Gospel finally\nreveals in open and bright manifestation.\n\nIt makes also for our interpretation of the present passage that the\nname of God used is Jehovah, which cannot signify any creature, being\na name which is applied absolutely and only to the Creator himself.\nAnd what does the Creator here say? \"Adam is become as one of _us_.\"\nNow here most assuredly neither our profession nor our faith will\ntolerate receiving these words as being spoken or as having reference\nto angels. For who will dare to say that God is one of the angels, or\nthat an angel is one of the _us_, the ELOHIM? The glorious God is\nabove all angels and over all creatures! How therefore can God make\nhimself only equal to the angels!\n\nWe receive this passage therefore as a sure testimony of that article\nof our faith concerning the holy Trinity; that there is One God, and\nThree Divine Persons in the Godhead. Moses indeed seems here\nobscurely, but plainly and purposely, to intimate concerning the sin\nof Adam that his aim was to become like, not unto angels, but unto\nGod. For if he had sinned against angels only, he would not have been\ncondemned to death for such a sin. But because his sin was directly\nagainst the majesty of the Creator, by aiming to become like unto him\nand to do as that divine majesty did, therefore it was that so awful a\npunishment followed so awful a sin.\n\nAnd as when a man is delivered from crucifixion every one will\nnaturally remind him of the danger in which he was placed and will\nexhort him to guard against a like danger ever afterward; so, after\nAdam is restored to the hope of life through the divine promise, God\nadmonishes him by the bitter irony contained in the text, not to\nforget his horrible fall nor ever again to attempt to equal God, in\nwhich he so awfully failed; but to humble himself before the divine\nMajesty and ever afterwards to guard with all his posterity against\nsuch a sin. For these things were not spoken to Adam only; they apply\nto us also, who, after being baptized and renewed by grace, ought to\ntake heed with all watchfulness that we fall not back into our former\nungodliness.\n\nIn like manner there is equally bitter sarcasm in the words, when God\nsays, \"And now, lest he put forth his hand, and take of the tree of\nlife, and eat, and live forever.\" As if God could not by one mere nod\nprohibit Adam from touching the tree and also prevent him ever doing\nso! Moses next adds those terrible and terrifying words,\n\nVs. 23, 24. _Therefore Jehovah God sent him forth from the garden of\nEden, to till the ground from whence he was taken. So he drove out the\nman; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden the Cherubim, and\nthe flame of a sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the\ntree of life._\n\nThe contents of this text are intended also for our rebuke and\nadmonition; as Paul says, Rom. 15:4, \"For whatsoever things were\nwritten aforetime were written for our sakes also.\" For there is great\nperil, lest forgetting our former sins we should be plunged into them\nagain; as Christ also gives us warning, when he says, \"Behold, thou\nart made whole; sin no more, lest a worse thing befall thee,\" John\n5:14. Peter also speaks in the spirit of warning, when he says, \"It\nhas happened unto them according to the true proverb, The dog turning\nto his own vomit again, and the sow that had washed to wallowing in\nthe mire,\" 2 Pet. 2:22. The same admonition and warning are given by\nthe same apostle elsewhere, when he says, \"Having forgotten the\ncleansing from his old sins,\" 2 Pet. 1:9.\n\nThese and other passages of Scripture are all admonitions concerning\nguarding against future sin; because, as in diseases so in sins, the\nrelapse is more difficult of cure than the original. Hence therefore\nAdam and his whole posterity are warned in so many various forms by\nthe present portion of the sacred record of Moses! All is written in\norder that, after they have received the hope of eternal life by means\nof the promise given through the Seed of the woman, they might beware\nthat they lose not that hope by sinning again; according to that\nremarkable parable of the house which was swept and garnished after\nSatan was cast out, which Satan again occupied, taking with him seven\nother spirits more wicked than himself.\n\nIt is to this end that the Lord uses so much bitterness in his address\nto our first parents. It is as if, in explaining himself, he should\nsay, \"I before forbade Adam and Eve to touch the tree of death;\" but\nsuch was their impudent self-will, that they would not abstain from\ndoing so even to their own destruction. Now, therefore, I must take\nall care that they approach not the \"tree of life\" also; for it may be\nthey will not refrain from putting forth their hand on that also.\nTherefore I will so effectually prevent them from eating of this tree,\nthat I will prohibit them from the use of any of the trees of paradise\nwhatsoever. Wherefore I say unto them, \"Go ye forth from the garden\naltogether, and eat the herb of the field, and whatsoever else of the\nkind the earth produceth. Ye shall hereafter not only eat no more of\nthe tree of life, but ye shall not taste any other tree of paradise,\"\netc.\n\nThis passage further shows that the trees of paradise were in no\nmanner like those which the other part of the earth brought forth.\nWherefore, even the food which Adam and Eve ate, after their ejection\nfrom paradise, reminded them, and still reminds their posterity, of\ntheir sin and of their most miserable condition, into which they have\nbeen hurled by their sin. In so many and various ways are our\ncalamities depicted before our very eyes that even our clothing,\nindependently of our destitution by nature of those spiritual gifts,\nthe knowledge and worship of God, etc., perpetually remind us of those\ngreat calamities.\n\nHere a question presents itself, whether, if God had permitted Adam to\neat of the tree of life, Adam would by this food have overcome death\nin the same manner as by eating of the tree of death, he became\nsubject to death; for the reasoning in each case seems to be parallel.\nThe tree of death killed; and that by the Word, which said, \"In the\nday that thou eatest thereof, thou shalt surely die.\" The tree of\nlife, therefore, by the power also of the same Word, gave life and\npreserved from death.\n\nLyra and others in their reply to this question say that this tree of\nlife had indeed the power of preserving life for a length of time, but\nnot forever; and therefore it could not have restored that life which\nwas lost by sin. For Adam was not created with the design of his\nremaining in this corporal life forever; but he was designed to be\ntranslated from this corporal life and from this corporal nourishing\nof it into that spiritual life, for which he was ultimately designed\nand into which he would have been translated, if he had not sinned.\nJust in the same way as when a man is created a consul from his former\nprivate life, no death is taken into consideration in his being\ncreated to that office, but his glory and dignity alone are increased;\nso Adam, had not death intervened by his sin, would have changed his\nmortality for an immortality without any death at all; being\ntranslated from the life corporal to the life spiritual and eternal.\nThis \"tree of life\" however, according to the view of Lyra, served\nonly for the preservation of the corporal life. And therefore he\ninterprets the present text, \"Lest he should live an age;\" that is, a\nlife of long duration. Such is Lyra's opinion.\n\nMy understanding of the text however is different. My belief is, that\nif Adam had been admitted to eat of the tree of life he would have\nbeen restored to that life which he lost; so that he would not have\nafterwards died, but would have been simply translated from the life\ncorporal to the life spiritual and eternal; for the text contains both\nthese statements most clearly; that Adam was prohibited from eating of\n\"the tree of life,\" that he might not be restored to the life which he\nhad lost; and also, that if he had eaten of that tree he would have\nlived LEOLAM; that is, for an age or a length of time.\n\nMy rejection of the opinion of Lyra, however, is especially on the\nground that he attributes the power of giving life to the nature of\nthe tree itself simply; whereas it is quite certain that the tree\npossessed not this property of its own nature, but from the power of\nthe Word absolutely. Just in the same manner as the tree of the\nknowledge of good and evil had its peculiar property from the same\nWord. It did not kill, because its fruits themselves were deadly,\npoisonous or pestiferous; but because the Word, as a certain paper,\nwas added to it; on which paper God had written, \"In the day that thou\neatest of this tree, thou shalt surely die,\" Gen. 2:17.\n\nWherefore, in the first place, to this tree of death there was\nattached spiritual death or the death of the soul; that is,\ndisobedience. For after Adam and Eve had violated this commandment of\nGod by sin, which commandment had continued effectual in them up to\nthat time, they began to think thus, \"Behold, God has forbidden us to\neat of this tree; but what is that to us?\" This contempt of the\ncommandment was that poisoned hook, by which being firmly fixed in\ntheir throats Adam and Eve were utterly destroyed. For since the\ndivine threatening was added to the commandment, therefore after\neating it the fruit wrought in them death on account of their\ndisobedience. The tree of death itself was not poisoned; but, as I\nhave copiously explained before under the second chapter, it was the\ntree of divine worship, where man might testify, by his obedience in\nthat worship, that he acknowledged, reverenced and feared his God. For\nGod saw everything which he had made, and behold it was very good,\nGen. 1:31. Wherefore, I have no doubt that this tree of life in the\npresent passage derived its efficacy, as did the tree of death, from\nthe Word. Therefore, since the Word rested in its power on that tree,\nif Adam had eaten of it, he would have been restored to the life which\nhe possessed before his fall.\n\nIt was just thus also with the serpent, which Moses raised in the\ndesert. It did not give or cause life by its own nature; for it was\nmade of brass, as any other serpent might be made of the same metal to\nthis day. But it was the Word, added to that serpent, which made it\neffectual to give life; because God commanded that serpent to be\nlifted up, and because he added this Word to it when lifted up, \"Every\none that is bitten, when he looketh upon it, shall live,\" Num. 21:8.\nNow, if thou shouldst make a serpent of brass at his day, thou couldst\nnot have this Word to add to it. Moreover, the cause of the healing\ndid not lie in the act of the looking, but that cause was contained in\nthe Word, by which God had commanded that those who were bitten should\nlook to the serpent, to which commandment was also added the promise\nof healing to those who should look. But because the Rabbins\nunderstand not the nature of the Word, therefore they shamefully err\nand fail in their interpretation and declare the meaning to be, that\nthe nature itself of these trees was death-giving or life-giving. For\nthey understand not that all things therefore take place, _because_\nGod by his Word either _promises_ or _threatens_ that they shall so\ntake place.\n\nOur sophistic human reasoners trifle in the same way, when they argue\nupon the manner in which baptism justifies. For Thomas Aquinas and\nBonaventura consider that there is a certain power of effecting\njustification infused by God into the water when the infant is\nbaptized; so that the water of the baptism, by its own virtue thus\ncommunicated, creates justification. We, on the contrary, affirm that\nthe water of baptism is water, nothing else or better than that water\nwhich the cow drinks. But we affirm, that to this water, natural and\nsimple in itself, is added the Word, \"He that believeth, and is\nbaptized, shall be saved,\" Mark 16:16. And again, \"Except a man be\nborn of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of\nGod,\" John 3:5. Now, if any one is inclined to call this Word, or this\nPromise, the power communicated to the water of baptism, I will not\nresist such a view of the sacred matter. But the mind of our sophists\nis quite different from this; for they will not assign this power to\nthe Word; they argue concerning the element only; and they affirm that\nthe water itself contains a peculiar power communicated to it of God.\nScotus has expressed the matter more correctly in his definition of\nit, when he says that baptism is \"a divine compact or covenant,\nresting on the element.\"\n\nThe Word therefore is in every case to be regarded and honored, that\nWord by which God holds and endues his creatures with efficacy; and a\ndifference is ever to be made between the creature and the Word. In\nthe Sacrament of the Lord's Supper there are bread and wine; in\nbaptism there is water. These are the mere creatures. But they are\nheld in God's hand by the Word, and as long as the creature is thus\napprehended by the Word, so long also doth it effect that which the\nWord promises.\n\nAnd yet we would by no means be understood as favoring by these views\nthe Sacramentarians, when we thus join together baptism and the Supper\nof the Lord. Baptism hath annexed to it the promise, that with the\nHoly Spirit it regenerates. In the Supper of the Lord, in addition to\nthe promise of the remission of sins annexed to it, it has also this\nexcellency: that with the bread and the wine there is also truly set\nforth the body and blood of Christ, as Christ himself says, \"This is\nmy body which is given for you;\" and also, \"This cup is the New\nTestament in my blood,\" Luke 22:19, 20. In the same manner it might\nalso be said that the human nature itself in Christ does not redeem\nus. But because the human nature was corporally held fast by the\ndivine nature, and Christ is both God and man in one person, therefore\nhis redemption is all-availing; and therefore Christ is called the\n\"Son of Man\" and the Saviour.\n\nThe Pope has invented the \"blessed water,\" \"extreme unction\" and\nnumberless other like things, to which he has attributed the remission\nof sins. In all these cases ever think thus with thyself: Has God ever\nadded to these things his Word of Command and his Word of Promise? And\nif the promise and the precept of God are not attached to them,\nimmediately judge that they are idolatry and profaning of the name of\nGod. But they will tell you that the prayers of the pious are added to\nthem and that there exist holy examples, in imitation of which these\nthings were constituted. But do thou regard neither the pious prayers,\nnor the holy examples, nor the intentions of those who invented or\nestablished these things. Look only at whether the precept and promise\nof God are attached to them; for the divine command and promise alone\ncan endue creatures with a new power beyond that power which they of\ntheir own mere nature possess.\n\nThus \"the tree of the knowledge of good and evil\" was of its own\nnature good as a creature; but by means of the Word of God, added and\nattached to it, it became to man through his sin the poison not of his\nbody only but of his soul. And in like manner, on the contrary, \"the\ntree of life\" had by means of the Word of God attached to it the power\nof preserving life, and it would have restored and preserved the life\nof Adam had God so permitted. But God being angry with Adam did not\npermit him to return to eat of that tree after his fall. And this\nrepulsion from \"the tree of life\" and from paradise was not only\nintended to keep Adam under the continual memory of the sin which he\nhad committed, but also because Adam had now a better promise given\nhim, that the Seed of the woman should bruise the seed of the serpent;\nso that, although Adam was subjected to corporeal death, he yet\nretained the hope of an immortality through the Son of God. Just as an\nangry father, though he does not deprive his son of the right of his\ninheritance, yet chastises him and turns him out of doors.\n\nIt is thus the will of the Lord God therefore that man should be\ncontent with the hope of a better life than that in which Adam was\nfirst created. For even though Adam had eaten of the tree of life and\nhad been restored thereby to his former life, he would not even then\nhave been safe from Satan nor from the danger of falling again from\nthat life by his temptation. God therefore hath prepared for man that\nstate of hope in which we may live assured that through the blessed\nSeed of the woman we never can die an eternal death, although this\ncorporeal life thus appointed for us may be filled with various\nafflictions. The words of the passage are the words of God, spoken\nironically and in anger to Adam now justified, warning him to be more\ncautious of sin in the future and not to forget his past sins and\ncalamities.\n\nMoses moreover beautifully inverts the order of his words to the\nintent that he might more effectually admonish man of the things he\nhad related before, where he said, \"Jehovah God placed man in the\ngarden of Eden that he might till it and guard it,\" Gen. 2:15. Here on\nthe contrary, he says, \"The Lord God sent man forth from the garden of\nEden to till the ground from which he was taken.\" For God by Moses\nwould have man to reflect that he was formed of the ground and was\nstationed in a most delightful place; but that by means of his sin he\nwas cast out of that most delightful place and carried back to the\nground from which he was first created. By this striking inversion of\nthe facts of his record, Moses indicates the manner in which God not\nonly warned Adam and all his posterity against all future sin, but\nreminded them also of their great sins past. Now therefore Adam, whose\nappointed station before was in paradise, a place separate from all\nthe beasts of the earth and in which peculiar food was prepared for\nhim, is cast out into a place in common with the beasts and also has\nhis general food in common with them.\n\nNor is Adam cast out of paradise only, but a guard also is set at the\nentrance of the place that he might not by any means be able to enter\nit again. Just as watches are set to guard citadels and armies. Moses\ntherefore by the copiousness and variety of speech he here uses would\nshow, that this expulsion of Adam from paradise was in the highest\ndegree necessary unto our salvation; that, being warned thereby\nagainst sin, we might live in the fear of God, ever watching against\ntemptations from Satan, who worked so much evil to our nature by the\nsin of our first parents.\n\nConcerning the original word, MIKKEDEM, we have spoken above and have\nshown that it signifies \"from the east\" or \"in the eastern quarter.\"\nThe meaning of Moses is, that paradise had a way or gate on the\neastern side, by which there was an entrance into this garden. Thus\nalso, in the building of the temple described by Ezekiel, mention is\nmade of a gate of the sanctuary, which looked toward the east, so that\nwe may conclude that this temple was a certain form of paradise; for\nparadise, had nature remained innocent, would have been as it were the\ntemple of the whole world. At this entrance therefore toward the east,\nwhich alone led to paradise, Cherubim were placed or angels which\nmight guard this way, that neither Adam nor any of his posterity might\never enter paradise again. The Lord did these things after the manner\nof men as a terror, in order that there might thus exist a lasting\nmemorial of so awful a fall.\n\nMoreover these Cherubim had not iron wherewith to drive back those who\nshould approach, but LAHAT, that is, \"the blaze,\" or \"the flame\" of a\nturning or brandished sword; a flame like the flash of lightning which\nis uncertain in its motion and dazzles the eyes. This flame or flash\nof fire has the form of a sword, continually waved or brandished.\nJust, for instance, as we have it represented that cloven tongues like\nas of fire appeared resting upon each of the apostles on the day of\nPentecost, Acts 2:3. The same appearance do flying dragons also\nexhibit. In this manner it was also that the angels here spoken of\nunceasingly emitted flames, which flashed in all directions so that no\none might by any possibility approach.\n\nThe absurdities of Origen on this passage we utterly reject, nor are\nwe at all more pleased with the triflings of Lyra, who will have it,\nthat by the \"flaming sword\" we are to understand the sinner, who for a\nsin unto death has ceased to be meritoriously, though not numerically\none of the church militant. And he says, that the \"flaming sword\"\nbeing represented as \"turning every way\" signifies that if true\nrepentance follow such sins a man is deservedly recalled into the\nchurch. For ourselves however, as we have all along maintained that\nparadise was a real and visible garden in a certain spot of the earth,\nso we explain the present text in a simple and historical sense; that\nthis \"sword\" was a real and visible \"flame\" or \"a flash of fire\" in\nthe form of a sword, by the turnings or brandishings of which every\nway the Cherubim or angels terrified and drove away Adam and his\nposterity, so that they dared not approach this garden.\n\nAnd paradise was kept closed by this guard of angels until the Deluge,\nto the end that there might exist a sure memorial of this miserable\nand calamitous fall of Adam to all his posterity; in the same manner\nas in after ages the Lake of Sodom and the pillar of salt remained as\nmemorials throughout the posterity of those generations. And indeed\nour insensibility and unconcern need such monuments of the wrath of\nGod. After the Deluge however paradise, together with its angels and\nthese brandishings of their sword, disappeared. For each rising\ngeneration had its monuments of the divine wrath, which were nearer to\nthem and the better calculated to alarm the self-secure, although even\nthis avails nothing with the wicked.\n\nIII. Thus have we in our Commentary on these first three chapters of\nthe book of Genesis gone through the history of the whole creation. In\nwhat manner the heaven and the earth, and the sea, and all things that\nare in them, were created; in what manner paradise was created of God,\nthat it might be the palace of man, the lord of the whole world, who\nhad dominion over all things therein; in what manner God instituted a\ntemple for man in paradise, which was appointed for acts of divine\nworship; namely, the \"tree of the knowledge of good and evil,\" by his\nconduct concerning which Adam might testify his obedience to his God.\nWe have also heard in these three chapters the history of those things\nwhich were done by man in paradise; how woefully he fell and sinned\nagainst God and lost all this glory of his innocence and natural\nimmortality.\n\nAll these subjects I have treated with plainness and simplicity,\naccording to the measure of my gift; giving them their plain\nhistorical sense, which is the true and genuine meaning. For the\nprincipal thing we have to do in interpreting the holy Scriptures is\nto gather from them, to some degree of certainty, their plain and\nsimple sense; especially, surrounded as we are with such a variety of\ninterpreters, Latin, Greek and Hebrew. For nearly all these not only\npay no regard to the plain historical sense of the Scripture, but even\nconfound it by foolish allegories and bury it under the confusion they\nthemselves cause.\n\nThe absurd system of Origen and Jerome, which these commentators have\nfollowed in these chapters of the book of Genesis, is well known. They\nhave throughout departed from the plain history, which they call \"the\nmere letter that killeth,\" and \"the flesh;\" and have magnificently\ndisplayed the spiritual sense, as they term it, of which they know\nnothing. And Jerome has followed Origen as his great teacher.\nPrecisely the same thing also has taken place in our time. For as men\ngifted and eloquent, have bent their powers to persuade their hearers\nand readers that histories are mere dead facts, which profit nothing\nto the edification of the churches, it has thereby come to pass that\nwe have all run headlong in our common study into allegories. And I\nmyself also, when a youth, found wonderful success in this my attempt\nat allegorizing. For I found a license here to invent the greatest\nabsurdities; seeing as I did that such great doctors of the churches\nas Jerome and Origen sometimes gave open field to their ingenuities.\nIndeed, to such an extent was this indulgence in allegories carried,\nthat he who was the greatest adept at inventing them was accounted the\ngreatest theologian. Augustine also, carried away by this false\nopinion, often disregards the historical sense of the Scriptures,\nespecially in the Psalms, and has recourse to allegory. In fact, all\nwere filled with the false persuasion that the allegorical meaning was\nthe spiritual and true sense; especially with reference to the\nhistories of the Old Testament; but that the historical or literal\nsense was the mere carnal interpretation.\n\nBut is not this, I pray you, the positive profaning of sacred things?\nThus Origen, out of paradise, makes heaven, and out of the trees,\nangels. If this be so, where is the article of the creed concerning\ncreation? It is highly necessary therefore, especially in young\nstudents of the holy Scriptures, that when they come to read the old\ndivines they condemn, with good judgment or rather with fixed\ndetermination, all those things in their writings which they find at\nall improbable or unsound, lest they be led astray by the authority\nthat lies in the name of the fathers and doctors of the Church; for in\nthis way was I deceived, as were all the schools of the professors of\ndivinity. For myself, ever since I thus began to abide by the\nhistorical sense of the Scriptures, I have cautiously shunned all\nallegorizing; nor have I ever adopted allegories unless the text\nitself evidently furnished them or the interpretations derivable from\nthe New Testament justified them.\n\nI found it very difficult however to give up entirely my long\nindulgence in allegorizing, although I saw that these allegories were\nvain speculations and the mere froth, as it were, of the holy\nScriptures. For it is the plain historical sense of Scripture that\ntruly and solidly teaches. After the plain sense of the Word has been\nrightly understood and mastered, then allegories may be used as\ncertain ornaments by which the plain historical sense may be\nillustrated and strikingly depicted. But naked allegories which\nrespond not at all to the historical realities nor tend to paint them\nforth more impressively, are at once to be rejected as idle dreams;\nfor instance, from what part of the Scriptures can it be proved that\nparadise signifies heaven, and the trees of paradise the angels? Are\nnot these pure follies, and mere creatures of the brain without fruit\nor profit?\n\nLet those therefore who would adopt allegories, seek the justification\nof them from the history itself in question; for it is history which,\nlike sound logic, teaches true and indubitable realities. On the other\nhand allegory, like oratory, ought to adorn history only; but to prove\nfacts, it avails nothing. Allegory is useful in this way, as when we\nsay that the heavens represent the Church, and the earth the empires\nand the political government. Thus Christ himself calls the Church\n\"the kingdom of heaven\" and the \"kingdom of God.\" And the earth is\ncalled in the Scriptures the \"land of the living,\" where men live and\nkings and princes rule, Job 28:13. The Apostle Paul uses the same kind\nof allegory, when he represents Adam and Eve, or marriage itself, to\nbe a type of Christ and his Church. This is an allegory full of divine\ninstruction and consolation indeed. For, what could be uttered more\ndeep or sweet than that the Church is the spouse and Christ the\nbridegroom? For, by this figure is signified both that conjugal\nfellowship and that most joyful communication of all those gifts which\nthe bridegroom has to bestow, and by which gifts are buried in\noblivion both all the sins and all the calamities with which the\nspouse is loaded. Wherefore that is a most delightful word where Paul\nsays, \"For I have espoused you to one husband, that I might present\nyou as a pure virgin to Christ,\" 2 Cor. 11:2.\n\nIn like manner the same apostle says, Rom. 5:14, that Adam was \"the\nfigure of him that was to come.\" And how? The apostle himself gives\nthe explanation: \"For if by the trespass of the one the many died,\nmuch more did the grace of God, and the gift by the grace of the one\nman, Jesus Christ, abound unto the many,\" V. 15. Does not this\nallegory, used by the apostle, beautifully refer to the historical\nfacts recorded by Moses as its foundation? Exactly after the same\nmanner does the apostle make out the history of Sarah and Hagar, an\nallegory whereby to represent the two Testaments, Gal. 4:24. Let all\ntherefore, who are inclined to introduce allegories, seek their\nfoundation of them and justifications for them from the divine history\nitself.\n\nMoreover we have heard above the sacred record of \"the seed of the\nwoman\" and \"the seed of the serpent.\" And to this history Christ\nrefers in his parable or allegory concerning the enemy who sowed in\nthe night the evil seed, that is, wicked doctrine and evil inventions,\nMath. 13:28. Who does not at once see that such allegories as these\nare more appropriate, more illustrative, more useful and far superior\nto those allegories which Augustine, Lyra and others have introduced\nconcerning the inferior power and the superior power of reason, on\nwhich we have dwelt in their place?\n\nIn like manner the closing of paradise and the stationing of a guard\nof Cherubim, with brandished swords of fire to prevent any one from\nre-entering, evidently signify nothing more or less than that man\nwhile living in the world \"without,\" and destitute of faith in Christ,\ncan endure neither the light of the law nor the light of the Gospel.\nAnd hence it is that Paul says concerning the Jews, \"that they could\nnot steadfastly behold the face of Moses, and that Moses was obliged\nto put a veil over his face on that account,\" 2 Cor. 3:7, 13.\n\n\"The tree of death\" in paradise represents the law, and \"the tree of\nlife\" the Gospel or Christ. And to neither of these trees can any\napproach who have not faith in Christ. For they are prevented by the\nsword of the angels on guard, who cannot endure hypocrisy or poisonous\nself-righteousness. But who so acknowledges his sin and believes in\nChrist, to him the gate of paradise stands open, because he brings\nwith him, not his own righteousness, but the righteousness of Christ,\nwhich righteousness the Gospel therefore preaches unto all men, in\norder that all might rest upon it and be saved.\n\nBut there is no need that we should pursue this subject of allegories\nfurther. Let it suffice that we have offered these admonitions, that\nwe might thereby direct those who use allegories to adopt those\nallegories alone, which the apostles have indicated and justified, and\nwhich have their sure foundation in the very letter and in the\nhistorical facts of the Scriptures.\n\nBut we must offer a word concerning the cherubim. Frequent mention is\nmade of them throughout the holy Scriptures. In the Latin authors we\nfind nothing stated concerning them. They merely observe that the term\nCHERUB signifies a plentitude of knowledge. Among the Greek authors\nDionysius speaks of the cherubim. There is a boasting report that\nDionysius was a disciple of the Apostle Paul, but that is not true.\nDionysius was a man full of the most vain absurdities, in which he\nabounds in his disputations concerning the heavenly and the\necclesiastical hierarchy. His imaginations make nine choirs, as so\nmany ranks or spheres of heavenly beings. In the supreme hierarchy he\nplaces first the seraphim; next, the cherubim; next, thrones; next,\ndominions; next, powers; and lastly, principalities. And then in the\nlower or inferior hierarchy, he places first potentates; next,\narchangels; and last of all, angels. Now, who does not see that all\nthese representations are nothing more nor less than idle and futile\nhuman inventions?\n\nAfter all this he says there are in the ecclesiastical hierarchy,\nfirst bishops, then deacons, then sub-deacons, then readers, then\nexorcists. In such absurdities as these that great man, the disciple\nof the chief of the apostles, the great teacher of the Gentiles, was\nexercised! And yet, such is the boasted authority of this supposed\ngreat man, that inflated hypocrites set down all these, his foolish\ninventions, as if handed down to them by oracles from heaven. Whereas\nin all these follies there is not one word to be found concerning\nfaith, nor one word of useful instruction in the holy Scriptures. And\nwho after all told him that there were nine choirs of heavenly beings\nand potentates? And why moreover did the Franciscans afterward add a\ntenth sphere, as a sort of palace, in which the holy mother Mary might\ndwell? In a word, these are follies and absurdities adapted only for\nPapists to learn and admire, as a just punishment for their\npertinacious war against all sound doctrine.\n\nWith respect therefore to the _Cherub_ I will offer my opinion as far\nas I have been enabled to form it from reading. The name Cherub\nappears to me to signify that florid countenance which we see in girls\nand young men in the blossom of their age. For this reason angels are\nrepresented in pictures as infants. So that by cherubim you may\nunderstand angels, as heavenly beings, appearing with a blooming\ncountenance, and with brow free from wrinkle or sign of sorrow, and\nsmoothly extended with joy, wearing a face plump and full with\ngladness, whether it be a human face or any other. The name Cherub\ntherefore is a general appellation, a term which does not apply to any\norder of angels in particular, as Dionysius dreams, but has reference\nonly to their general appearance, because they present themselves to\nmen with a juvenile and florid aspect.\n\nAnd this indeed is the opinion of the Jews themselves, who assert that\nKERUB is a Chaldaic term and that the letter _Kappa_ is a servile\nletter, and that RUB signifies a beautiful youth, who has a full and\nflorid face; and they affirm that the angels are called KERUBIM, as\nrepresenting their florid and joyful and delightful countenance or\nappearance; and thus they are generally represented in paintings.\n\nIn like manner the name Seraphim is a general appellation of angels; a\nname derived from fire or burning on account of the quality of their\nform, as is shown in Numbers 21:6, where Moses says, \"And the Lord\nsent HANNECHASCHIM HASSERAPHIM, 'fiery serpents' among the people;\"\nor, \"serpent Seraphim\" (_serpentes Seraphim_); that is, \"serpents\nburning or on fire.\" So that we may here understand _Seraphim_ or\nfiery angels; that is, angels not only beautiful in their full and\nflorid face, as are _Cherubim_, but also fiery or shining as the angel\nis represented in the Gospel to have been, which sat on the stone at\nthe tomb of our Lord, of whom Matthew says, \"His countenance was like\nlightning,\" Math. 28:3; and as angels are also described by the\nPsalmist, when he says, \"Who maketh his angels spirits, and his\nministers a flaming fire,\" Ps. 104:4. And again, it is said, Luke 2:9,\n\"That when the angel of the Lord came to the shepherds, the glory of\nthe Lord shone round about them.\" Of the same description also was the\ncountenance of Christ at his transfiguration on Mount Tabor, of whom\nit is said, \"And his face did shine as the sun,\" Math. 17:2. The same\nalso shall be our countenances, when we shall be raised again at the\nlast day to enter into the glory Christ hath prepared for us.\n\nWith respect to what is written in the Books of Kings concerning \"the\nCherubims overlaid with gold,\" _Cherubici certini_, we are there to\nunderstand these full and blooming countenances of angels, together\nwith their wings, 1 Kings 6:28. Not that angels really have wings, but\nbecause they cannot otherwise be described. Hence it is that we find,\nIs. 6:6, that the angel, who comes flying with a joyous and beautiful\ncountenance, such as angels are described on pictures of tapestry, is\ncalled CHERUB. And if to this full and florid countenance there be\nadded also brightness, such as was the shining countenance of Stephen,\nfull of joy and delight, so that nothing but rays of joy dart from the\neyes, such angels are called _Seraphim_.\n\nSuch as these shall we also be. Our countenances shall shine as bright\nas the mid-day sun. There shall be no wrinkle, no contracted brow, no\nwatery eyes; but as it is written, Rev. 21:4, \"and God shall wipe all\ntears from our eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow,\nnor crying, neither shall there be any more pain.\" Let us therefore\nhold fast this hope and live in the fear of God, until, being\ndelivered from this life of affliction, we shall live that angelic and\neternal life which is to come. Amen! Amen!\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER IV.\n\n\nPART I. GENERATION, MARRIAGE, BIRTH AND EDUCATION OF CAIN AND ABEL.\n\nI. Thus have we at length waded through that mighty sea of matter, in\ndoing which, all who have made the attempt have so greatly sweated and\ntoiled, and this sweat we also have fully experienced. To us however\nthe whole way was much more direct and plain, because, throwing aside\nall allegories, we have followed throughout the historical and proper\nsense of every passage. Whereas, the most commentators have not\nregarded that proper sense, but have made Origen, Dionysius and others\ntheir teachers, rather than Moses himself; and so have deservedly\nwandered out of the way. The things which now follow in the divine\nrecord are plainer than the preceding and admit of less dispute; and\ntherefore they tend more to support my view of the sacred narrative;\nbecause every one must plainly say that the intent of Moses was not to\nput forth a host of allegories, but simply to write a history of the\nprimitive world.\n\nV. 1a. _And the man knew Eve his wife, and she conceived and bare\nCain._\n\nWhen Adam had fallen into death by sin, he had the promise given him,\nas we have heard, that from his flesh, thus made subject to death,\nthere would surely arise unto him a _Branch_ of life. He fully\nunderstood therefore that he must propagate his seed; and especially\nso, since the blessing pronounced on him and his wife, \"Be fruitful\nand multiply,\" was not only not taken away, but afterwards confirmed\nby the divine _promise_ concerning the _Seed_ of the woman, which\nshould bruise the serpent's head. Therefore Adam did not know his wife\nEve from the mere inclination of the flesh, as we generally judge; but\nit was the necessity of that salvation, which was to come unto him\nthrough the blessed Seed of the woman that constrained him to do so.\n\nNo one therefore ought to be offended with the relation of this\ncircumstance by Moses that Adam \"knew his wife.\" For although, on\naccount of original sin, this divine act of generation is considered\nto be one of turpitude, by which we find pure ears to be generally\noffended; yet spiritual men ought always to distinguish between\noriginal sin and the creature or the appointment of God. The act of\ngeneration, as a creation-appointment of God, is good and holy, for it\nis the very blessing pronounced of God upon male and female when they\nwere created. And if man had not fallen this act of generation would\nhave been most pure, most holy and most honorable. For as no one\nblushes to converse, eat and drink with his wife, because all these\nthings are honorable among all men, so, had it not been for the fall\nof Adam, the act of generation would also have been most honorable and\nvoid of all \"shame!\"\n\nGeneration has indeed been left to us, even in this state of fallen\nand corrupted nature. But there has adhered to it that poison of the\ndevil, an impure lust and prurient concupiscence, which is the cause\nof numberless sins and evils; from all of which, nature in its\nunfallen state was perfectly free. Now however we find by experience\nthat the flesh is filled with inordinate and unsatisfied desires; so\nmuch so that even marriage is not for many a sufficient remedy. If it\nwere, there would be no adulteries nor fornications. Whereas these, to\nour shame and pain, everywhere abound. Nay, in how many and various\nways does this infirmity of the flesh discover itself, even in married\npersons? These infinite evils are not the consequences of the creation\nnor of the blessing pronounced on male and female. These latter\nproceeded from God. But they are the consequences of sin and of the\ncurse, which proceeded from the sin of Adam. Therefore, the\ncreation-appointment of God ought to be separated from all these\nevils; for that is a good creature of God, concerning which even the\nholy spirit himself we see is not ashamed to speak.\n\nBut further. Not only is there no idea of impurity to be attached to\nthis mention of the creation-command and \"blessing\" of God made by\nMoses, when he says, \"and Adam knew Eve his wife;\" it was even\nnecessary that Moses should write and teach these things on account of\nthe heresies which were in later times to arise; such as those of\nNicolaus, Tatian, etc.; and, above all, on account of the papacy. For\nwe see the Papists were not the least moved by that which is written\nabove, that the Lord created man \"male and female.\" They so live and\nso bind and fetter themselves by vows, that they seem to be utterly\nignorant that there are any such beings as the male and female sexes.\nThey are not at all moved by what is also above written, that Jehovah\nGod \"Brought Eve unto Adam.\" and that Adam said \"This is now bone of\nmy bones, and flesh of my flesh.\" They are not moved by the promise\nand blessing of God, \"Be fruitful and multiply.\" The Decalogue touches\nthem not, when it commandeth, \"Honor thy father and thy mother!\" Yea,\nthey disregard their very origin; born as they are from the union of\nmale and female, commanded and blessed of God. Passing by, despising\nand casting away all these things, they compel their contemptible\npriests, monks and nuns to devote themselves to perpetual celibacy; as\nif the married life, of which Moses here speaks, were a life reprobate\nand damnable!\n\nThe Holy Ghost however hath a purer mouth and purer eyes than the\nPope! The Holy Spirit himself therefore blushes not to mention the act\nof generation, or the union of husband and wife; though these great\nsaints condemn it as impure and base. Nor does that Holy Spirit\nmention this marriage union in one place only of the sacred record.\nThe whole Scriptures are filled with such histories; so much so, that\non that very account some popes have prohibited young monks and nuns\nfrom reading the holy Bible. But I need not enlarge. Suffice to say,\nthat such has been the rage of the devil against this institution of\nGod, holy matrimony, that the Papists have compelled men to abjure\nmarriage, to the very end that they might institute their orders of a\ncelibate life; and they have condemned the commandment of God, married\nlife, as polluted in comparison with the life of celibacy, which they\nthemselves have set up!\n\nThis wickedness however has not been left without its own just\npunishments. For there are continually before our own eyes examples of\nthe fruits which impure celibacy brings forth, and there are extant in\nbooks, record of most horrible crimes, of which it has been the cause.\nThat holy man Udalric, an Augustan bishop, testifies that after Pope\nGregory had determined on establishing celibacy, and had forbidden\neven those to live with their wives, who had been married before the\ndecree concerning celibacy had gone forth, the Pope had a mind on one\noccasion to fish in a pond which he had in his park at Rome; and that\nwhen he did so it led to the discovery, that the fish-pond contained\nmore than six thousand heads of infants! The same Udalric also writes\nthat Pope Gregory, being struck with awe and consternation at such a\nsight, revoked his sanction of the impious decree concerning celibacy.\nThe successors of Gregory however easily swamped the foulness of this\ndiscovery, and the pious abolition of the decree by Gregory also; for\nthey also, like their predecessors, considered that celibacy was\nadapted not only to increase their wealth, but to support their\ndignity.\n\nA similar example presented itself also in my time, when some nuns at\nNeumburg were compelled to leave the place, on account of their\nflagitious lives, and the monastery was given to the Franciscans; and\nwhen these latter, for their convenience, caused some alterations to\nbe made in the building; in laying these new foundations, there were\ndiscovered twelve pots, each one of which contained the dead body of\nan infant! An infinite number of similar instances have occurred at\nother places in every direction.\n\nRightly therefore did Gregory act in revoking his decree, by which, as\nBishop Udalric remarks, he made a very beautiful application of the\nword of the Apostle Paul, who says, \"It is better to marry than to\nburn,\" to which, I also add, \"It is better to marry, than to incur the\nperil of eternal death by sin.\"\n\nAt Rome itself also on account of the great numbers of infants who are\nexposed monasteries are erected, of whom the Pope is nominated \"the\nfather!\" And the near relatives of the infants, which have been so\nexposed, precede him in the public processions! I forbear to testify\nof an infinite number of other kindred enormities, which are too bad\nto mention.\n\nWherefore, it behooves us all to guard against such doctrines of\ndevils as these, and to learn to hold marriage in all reverence; and\nwith all reverence to speak of that holy life, which we see God\nhimself has instituted; and which we hear is commended of him in the\nDecalogue, where he says, \"Honor thy father and thy mother,\" to which\nholy matrimony, is also added the blessing, \"Be fruitful and\nmultiply.\" And concerning this holy marriage it is, that the Holy\nGhost is here speaking, whose mouth is holy and chaste. But all those\nsins and vices, and all that turpitude which have entered into the\noriginally pure creation of God by sin, we ought not to agitate, or\nderide, or touch, when speaking of holy marriage, but rather carefully\nto cover them; just in the same way as we see that God covered the\noriginally naked Adam and Eve with coats of skin after their sin. For\nmarriage ought to be treated and spoken of by all as honorable, being\nthe holy union from which we all are born; and which is, as it were,\nthe seminary not only of each nation but of the Church and kingdom of\nChrist unto the end of the world.\n\nThis high glory of marriage however the heathen and profane men do not\nunderstand. Therefore, all they can do is to collect the vices which\nexist in the marriage life itself, and in the abandoned female sex.\nAnd thus, separating the unclean things from the clean, they retain\nthe unclean only; and the clean they see not at all. Hence also,\ncertain profane lawyers so irreverently judge and speak of this book\nof Genesis as to affirm that it contains nothing more than the\nmarriage doings of the Jews. Are not then such men as these, I ask\nyou, worthy of living to see marriage despised and unclean celibacy\nintroduced, and themselves, subjected to its crimes and punishments,\nwhich exceed even those of Sodom?\n\nThe Holy Spirit however thought it not enough to say here \"And Adam\nknew Eve;\" but he also adds, \"his wife!\" For the Holy Spirit approves\nnot wandering lusts and promiscuous intercourse! He wills that every\nman should live content with his own wife. And although, alas! even\nthat union of married people itself is very far from being pure, as it\nwould have been had man continued in his state of innocency;\nnevertheless even in the midst of the vices of lust and of all the\nother calamities of the fall of Adam, the \"blessing\" of God on\nmarriage still stands unaltered. For the fact of Adam knowing Eve his\nwife, which Moses records, was not written for Adam and Eve's sake.\nWhen Moses penned these words, Adam and Eve had long been reduced to\ntheir original dust. It was for our sakes therefore that this was\nwritten; \"That those who cannot contain might marry,\" 1 Cor. 7:9,\n\"live content each with his Eve, and not desire strange women.\"\n\nThis expression, \"knew his wife,\" is a phrase peculiar to the Hebrews;\nfor neither the Latins nor the Greeks so expressed themselves. It is a\nform of speech particularly beautiful; not only on account of the\nmodesty and reverence it preserves, but on account of the peculiarity\nof signification it conveys. For the verb YADA has a much more\nextensive meaning than the verb \"to know\" in our language. Thus, when\nJob says, concerning the wicked, \"They shall know what it is to act\nagainst God\" he means that they shall feel and experience the\nconsequences of such actions. So, when David says, \"For I acknowledge\nmy sin,\" Ps. 51:3, his meaning is, I feel and experience what it is to\nsin. Again, when the angel of the Lord says to Abraham, \"For now I\nknow that thou fearest God,\" Gen. 22:12, his meaning is, \"I know by\nsense and experience.\" And again, when the Virgin Mary said unto the\nangel, \"How shall this be, seeing I know not a man,\" Luke 1:34, her\nmeaning is the same as that of Job, David, etc. For, it is evident\nthat Mary knew many men, but she had neither known nor experienced any\nman, as man or the male of God's creation. It was in this manner\ntherefore that Adam \"knew Eve his wife,\" as it is expressed in the\npresent passage. Adam did not know his Eve as an object of sight or of\na speculative knowledge, but he experienced in reality what she was as\nthe \"woman,\" whom God had created such.\n\nThat which follows, \"And Eve conceived, and bare Cain,\" is sure\nevidence that the human nature was more excellent and perfect then\nthan it is now. For there were originally no unfruitful embraces, as\nthere are now in this old age of the world. As soon as Eve was known\nby her Adam, she was immediately impregnated and conceived.\n\nII. Here a question may arise, why Moses says, \"And bare Cain!\" Why he\ndoes not say, And bare a son, Cain; as below, verse 25, where his\nexpression is, \"And she bare a son, and called his name Seth.\" Both\nCain and Seth were sons. Why, then, are they not both called \"sons\"?\nThe answer to this question is, that these different expressions of\nMoses were so ordered on account of the posterities. For, Abel being\nmurdered by his brother, perished corporally; but Cain by his sin\nperished spiritually. And yet the generation or seed-bed of the Church\nwas not propagated from Cain, though he was still alive corporally;\nfor all his posterity perished in the flood. Therefore neither the\nblessed Abel, nor the accursed Cain, has in the Scriptures the name of\n\"son.\" But Seth was the one from whose posterity Christ, that promised\nSeed, was ordained to be born. Seth therefore is the first of the\nchildren of Adam and Eve, who is counted worthy the name of \"son.\"\n\nV. 1b. _And Eve said, I have gotten a man with the help of (from)\nJehovah._\n\nFrom this expression of Eve there may be gathered another reason why\nshe did not call Cain a \"son.\" It was the greatness of her joy and of\nher reverential awe, which prevented her from calling Cain a \"son.\"\nFor she thought something greater concerning Cain than a natural son.\nShe considered Cain would be that man who should bruise the serpent's\nhead. And therefore she does not say simply, \"a man;\" but, \"a man of\nJehovah,\" implying that he would be that man concerning whom the Lord\nGod had promised her that her Seed should bruise the serpent's head.\nAnd although Eve was deceived in this her hope, yet it plainly appears\nthat she was a holy woman, and that she believed in the salvation that\nwas to come by the blessed Seed. And it was because she believed this,\nthat she so greatly rejoiced in the son which she had borne, and that\nshe spoke of him in the exalted terms contained in the text before us.\nIt was as if she had said, \"I have gotten a man of God, who will\nconduct himself more righteously and happily than I and my Adam\nconducted ourselves in paradise. Therefore I call him not my 'son.' He\nis a man of God, promised to me and shown to me of God.\" It might have\nbeen for this latter reason also, as well as for the former, that Eve\ndid not call Cain \"a son.\"\n\nWith respect therefore to Eve's adhering so closely to the divine\npromise and believing so firmly in the deliverance that should surely\ncome through her Seed, in all this she did rightly. For, by the same\nfaith in the \"Seed\" that was to come, all the saints of old were\njustified and sanctified. But with respect to the individual intended\nby the promise, she erred. She believed that it was Cain who should\nput an end to all those calamities into which Satan had hurled man by\nsin. This faith of Eve however rested on a certain opinion of her own,\nwithout any sure sign and without the sure Word. The promise indeed\nwas true, and certain, and sure; but nothing was said or signified\ndefinitely, whether it was Cain or Abel who should be that great\nconqueror of the serpent.\n\nIn the matter therefore of determining the individual, Eve was\ndeceived; and consequently her giving to her son so proud and joyous a\nname was all in vain. For the text shows that Cain was so called from\nthe verb KANAH, which signifies \"to possess,\" or \"to acquire.\" So that\nby this name Eve consoled herself against the evils she had brought\nupon herself, and set against them the acquisition of eternal life and\nsalvation, which she should obtain by her Seed, against that loss of\nlife and salvation which she had incurred by sin and Satan. It was as\nif she had said to her Adam, \"I remember with sorrow what we have lost\nby our sin; but now, let us speak of and hope for nothing but recovery\nand acquisition. I have gotten a man of God, who will acquire and\nrecover for us that glory which we have lost.\" It was this certainty\nof the promise therefore and her sure faith in it, which drew Eve into\nthis haste and caused her to think that this her first son was the\nSeed concerning whom the Lord had made the promise.\n\nBut Eve, poor miserable woman, was deceived in this. She did not yet\nsee the extent of her calamity. She did not yet know that from the\nflesh nothing but flesh can be born, or proceed, John 3:6, that sin\nand death cannot be overcome by flesh and blood. Moreover she knew not\nas yet the point of time in which that blessed Seed, concerning whom\nthe promise spoke, should be conceived of the Holy Ghost and be born\nof a virgin into the world. Just in the same manner the patriarch\nafter Eve knew not this point of time, although the promise of the\nSeed to come was gradually made clearer and clearer by the revelation\nof the Holy Spirit. In the same manner also, we in our day know\nassuredly that there shall be a final judgment, but the day and the\nhour we know not. Just as Christ says, even unto his apostles, Math.\n24:36.\n\nV. 2a. _And again she bare his brother Abel._\n\nIt cannot be known for a certainty whether Cain and Abel were twins or\nnot, although it is very probable indeed that they were twins. But be\nthat as it may, it is certain that our first parents had various\nthoughts concerning these two sons, and that they imagined that their\nredemption was at the door. Cain was doubtless held in the highest\nhonor and made the object of their chief delight; while Abel on the\nother hand was not an object of so much pleasure nor of so much hope,\nas the names themselves of the two sons show. Cain was so called, as\nwe have said, because they considered that it was he who should\nacquire or restore all things. On the contrary Abel signifies \"vanity\"\nor \"that which is nothing or of no value or abject.\" Some interpreters\nhave rendered the name in our Bible \"mourning\" or \"sorrow;\" but the\nHebrew term for sorrow is EBEL not HABEL. Moreover the expression\nHEBEL is of very frequent use in the sacred Scriptures. How often is\nit repeated in Ecclesiastes? \"Vanity of vanities, all is vanity,\"\nEccles. 1:2, and also in the Psalm, \"Therefore their days did he\nconsume in vanity,\" Ps. 78:33; that is, they attained not the\n\"promised land\" of Canaan.\n\nAbel therefore was so called, as being considered one concerning whom\nthere was no hope, or one respecting whom all hope was vain. But Cain\nwas so named, as one of whom all things were hoped. These very names\ngiven to these two sons therefore plainly manifest the thoughts and\nfeelings of the parents concerning them; that, as the promise was made\nconcerning the Seed of the woman, Adam and Eve thought that the divine\npromise thus made was to be fulfilled through Cain, their first son;\nbut that Abel would effect nothing, seeing that everything was to be\nsuccessfully accomplished as they thought through Cain. Therefore they\ncalled him Abel. And this hope which Adam and Eve entertained\nconcerning Cain was undoubtedly the reason why these two brothers were\nnot brought up with the same care and concern. For to Abel was\ncommitted the charge of the cattle; but Cain was trained in the\npursuits of his father, and to the cultivation of the earth, as being\nthe superior and nobler employment. Abel was a shepherd; Cain was a\nking and a priest, being the first-born and destined by his birth to\nfulfil those high hopes and expectations of the recovery of all his\nparents entertained concerning him.\n\nBut here ponder the wonderful counsel of God! From the beginning of\nthe world, primogeniture has always held a very high privilege, not\nonly among the people of God, with whom the right attached to\nprimogeniture was an institution of God himself, and by him highly\ncommended, but among the Gentile nations also. And yet facts and\nexperiences prove, especially among the holy people, that the\nfirst-born have often disappointed the hopes of their parents and that\nthe after-born have often attained to the condition and dignity of the\nfirst-born.\n\nThus were not our first parents miserably deceived in their hopes\nconcerning their first-born, Cain, the murderer? So also Abraham, the\nexalted, was not the first-born, but Haran. So again Esau was the\nfirst-born; but he had to yield his birth-right and its blessing to\nJacob. Again, David was the youngest of all his brethren, and yet he\nwas anointed king. And the same wonderful counsel of God may be seen\nin many other instances in the Scriptures. For although the first-born\nhad by divine right the prerogatives of the kingship and the\npriesthood, yet they frequently lost them, and the after-born were\nappointed to them in their stead.\n\nAnd whence in most instances arose this perversion of things? Both\nfrom the fault of the parents and from the pride of the first-born\nthemselves. The parents gave to their first-born greater liberty and\nindulgence; and then the first-born themselves thus corrupted by the\nindulgence of their parents despised and oppressed, through this pride\nin their birth-right, the rest of their brethren. But God is the God\nof the \"humble.\" He \"giveth grace to the humble, and resisteth the\nproud.\" Those first-born therefore, who exalt themselves in pride God\nputs down from their right and their seat; not because such do not\ninherit the right of their primogeniture, but because they grow proud\nof their gifts and privileges, and carry themselves with insolence and\noppression; and such God cannot endure.\n\nThus when the angels, who had been endowed with gifts the most noble\nand the most bright, above all other beings, began to grow proud in\nheaven and to despise the humility of the son of God, they were cast\ndown into hell and became the most hideous devils. For God cannot\nendure pride and he will have his majesty preserved and held inviolate\neverywhere, as the prophet says, \"And my glory will I not give to\nanother,\" Is. 42:8, 48:11.\n\nThus also, the people of Israel were God's peculiar people, and the\nholy city of Jerusalem was the habitation of God. But when they cast\noff the fear of God and grew proud, through a confidence in their high\ngifts and privileges, the whole people was cut off and their city laid\nwaste by the Gentile nations. And this indeed is the common pestilence\nof our nature. We rest not content with the gifts which God has\nbestowed upon us, but abuse them through pride and insult our\nbountiful Creator and giver. God, for example, bestows empires,\nkingdoms, peace and other large blessings, that kings and princes\nmight acknowledge him, worship him and give him thanks. But kings and\nprinces so abuse these great gifts and favors, as if they were\nbestowed upon them for the very end that they might insult and trample\nunder foot their Creator, who has been to them so bountiful a giver.\n\nThe very same evil of pride also is found in private and domestic\nlife. God gives sound health, wife, children, and personal property;\nnot that through these things we should offend him, but that in all\nsuch things we might acknowledge his mercy and render him continual\nthanks. And for this same end also, that we might always give him\nthanks, he has bestowed upon us the use of and the \"dominion\" over all\nhis creatures. But how few are there who render unto God the thanks\nwhich are thus due to him! Do not almost all of us live in the\ncontinual and most shameful abuse of the gifts of God? God therefore\nis compelled to use in our case the same remedy which the Roman\nEmperor Vespasian adopted. He used to suffer his citizens to grow\nrich. For he was accustomed to say, that such rich ones were like a\nsponge, which when filled with water, if well squeezed, will give back\nthe water in abundance. So when God has enriched certain ones with his\nbountiful gifts, if they grow ungrateful and abuse the bounty of their\nGod, he squeezes them till they are empty again; as the blessed Virgin\nsays, \"And the rich he hath sent empty away.\"\n\nIt was for this reason that God did not spare the first-born, Cain. He\ndid not give the first birth-right to Cain, that he might grow proud\nof it and despise his God; but that he might adorn it, and reverence\nand fear his God; and when he did not this, God cast him off. And in\nthis matter the sin belonged even to the parents also. They fostered\nthis pride in their first-born as the names they gave their two sons\nplainly prove. For Adam and Eve placed all their hope in their\nfirst-born only. They called him \"their treasure,\" as his name\nindicates. But Abel they looked upon as nothing and considered that he\ncould do nothing; while they adorned Cain as a king and held him to be\nthe \"blessed Seed.\" From him therefore they promised to themselves\ngreat things, and of him they speak great things; and he on his part\nbecame filled with pride. But Abel they despised all the time as a man\nof naught.\n\nGod however in due time reverses all things. He casts away Cain and\nmakes Abel an angel, and the \"first of all the saints.\" For Abel, when\nmurdered by his brother, was the \"first\" who was delivered from his\nsin and from all the calamities of this world, and he shines\nthroughout the whole church to the end of the world as a distinguished\nstar, through that illustrious testimony of \"righteousness,\" which the\nwhole Scriptures bear to his honor.\n\nIn this manner therefore was Abel, whom Adam, Eve and Cain despised as\na man of naught, made in the sight of God a lord of heaven and earth.\nFor after death Abel is placed in a higher state and condition than if\nhe possessed a thousand earthly worlds with all their riches.\n\nSuch is the end of pride and presumption against God! Cain trusted in\nhis birth-right and despised his brother in comparison with himself,\nand believed not the promise concerning Christ; Abel on the contrary\ntook fast hold by faith of the promise made unto Adam concerning the\nSeed of the woman. And this faith was also the reason he offered a\nmore excellent sacrifice than Cain, as the Epistle to the Hebrews\nexpresses it, Heb. 11:4.\n\nV. 2b. _And Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the\nground._\n\nAccording therefore to the names given to the two sons by Adam and\nEve, such was the condition of life to which each son was appointed by\nhis parents; and the difference of these appointments manifests that\nexalted hope which the parents entertained concerning Cain above his\nbrother. For although each \"calling\" of life is honorable, yet that of\nAbel is domestic only, while that of Cain is rather political or\npublic in the nation. As Adam was himself a tiller of the ground, he\ntrained Cain, whom he more greatly loved, to his father's higher\ncalling; while to Abel is committed the more leisure care of the\nflock. So that it plainly appears that the one son was looked upon as\nthe lord and the other as a servant by his parents.\n\nV. 3. _And in process of time after the end of days, it came to pass,\nthat Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto\nJehovah._\n\n\"After the end of days,\" that is, after a certain number of years had\nbeen fulfilled or accomplished. It is here that we are first informed\nthat the godly parents, Adam and Eve, preached to their children often\nand much concerning the will and the worship of God. For we here find\nthat both the sons brought unto God their offering. But you will\ninquire perhaps what, and concerning what, did Adam and Eve preach\nunto their children. They certainly had most glorious subjects for all\ntheir sermons and conversations. They remembered well their original\ncondition, and what paradise then was; and without doubt they\nfrequently pointed out to their children the place, now guarded by the\nprohibiting angels, and warned their children to beware of sin, by\nwhich they had been deprived of so many blessings and shut out from\nthem.\n\nOn the other hand there is no doubt that they exhorted their children\nto live in the fear of God, that they might console themselves with\nthe confidence of his goodness toward them; assuring them that if they\ndid so, they would attain to a better state after this present life.\nAnd who could enumerate all the blessings of that former life, which\nthey had originally enjoyed! To all their teaching was added that\nother branch of doctrine concerning the promise of the Seed of the\nwoman, and of the great deliverance from all calamities to come. And\nmost probably these God-fearing parents preached all these things to\ntheir children in a certain place, and especially on the Sabbath days.\nAnd it was doubtless by being stirred to do so by these sermons, that\nthe children came to offer their sacrifices and to render unto God his\nworship.\n\n\nPART II. OFFERINGS IN GENERAL, OF OUR FIRST PARENTS, AND OF CAIN AND\nABEL.\n\nI. Now this is the first passage of the Scripture in which mention is\nmade of MINCHA, _or_ \"an offering,\" from which it plainly appears that\nthe custom of sacrificing and offering victims is no recent thing, but\na practice which has existed from the beginning of the world. It is no\nwonder therefore that the offering of sacrifices, which had been a\ncustom handed down from Adam to Moses, as from hand to hand, should at\nlength have been reduced by Moses into its own peculiar forms and into\na certain order; all those things being rejected and repudiated,\ndoubtless many, which the vain superstition of men had added to the\noriginal manner of sacrificing. Such additions are seen in the\nexamples furnished by the heathen sacrifices, contained in Homer and\nVirgil, which sacrifices the heathen nations no doubt received from\nthe primeval fathers, but which they multiplied and encumbered with\nmany things through their superstition.\n\nAnd while I am dwelling on the present passage, let the reader first\nof all consider with me that Adam and Eve are not parents only, nor is\nit their sole care to feed their children and to rear them for this\npresent life. They hold the offices and perform the duties of priests\nalso. And because they are filled with the Holy Ghost and illuminated\nwith the knowledge of Christ who was to come, they set this great hope\nof their future deliverance before their children also, and exhort\nthem to show forth their gratitude to the God of such infinite mercy.\nFor it is to be received as a sure fact, that the end of all the\nsacrifices which have been handed down to us from the beginning was\nnone other than to set forth this _great hope!_\n\nAnd now consider with me next, what kind of hearers there were to\nlisten to this good and holy doctrine from the lips of Adam and Eve.\nThese hearers and scholars were two. Cain, the first-born who appeared\nas a saint and was believed to be the lord of all, was a wicked man\nand believed not the divine promise. On the other hand, Abel, whose\nauthority was as nothing and was thrust aside to take care of the\ncattle, was a godly man and believed the promise. And yet the ungodly\nCain so concealed his ungodliness, that he heard his parents when\nteaching him and his brother, as if he solemnly reverenced the Word;\nand he also brought his offering, as his godly brother did. Here we\nhave an example of the twofold church; the true Church and the\nhypocritical church, as we shall more fully explain hereafter. For\nalthough, in the passage now before us, mention is made of the\nsacrifice offered only, and not of preaching also, yet we are to rest\nfully assured that Cain and Abel did not bring their offerings without\nthe preaching of the Word. For God is not worshipped with a mere dumb\nwork. Here must also be the Word, sounding both in the hearts of men\nand in the ears of God. And in the same way also calling upon the name\nof the Lord was added to this original sacrifice.\n\nSome may here inquire, whether Cain and Abel had any word or command\nof God for offering their sacrifice. My answer is, as all sacred\nhistories confirm, that the great and merciful God of his\nsuperabounding grace always appointed together with his Word some\ncertain and visible sign of his grace; in order that men being\nadmonished and kept in remembrance by means of the certain signs or\nworks of the sacraments may the more surely believe that God is\nfavorable and merciful unto them.\n\nIn the same manner after the Flood, God set his bow in the heavens,\nthat it might be a sure sign and proof that he would not again visit\nthe world with a like punishment. After the same manner also,\ncircumcision was given unto Abraham, as we shall hear in order that he\nmight hold fast the assurance that God would be to him a God, and that\nhe would give him a Seed in whom all the nations of the earth should\nbe blessed. To us under the New Testament are given Baptism and the\nSupper of our Lord, as ordained visible signs of grace, that we might\nbe the more fully assured that our sins are all taken away by the\nsuffering of Christ for us and that we are redeemed by his death.\nHence the Church was never left so destitute of external signs, that\nmen were suffered to remain in ignorance as to where God might be\nfound without fail.\n\nAnd although the world for the most part follows in the steps of Cain\nand abuses those external signs of the grace of God, turning them into\nhypocrisy, it is nevertheless evidently an unspeakable mercy that God\nrepresents himself unto us in so many ways. And this very great gift\nof God is that which is intended to be lauded by those high\ncommendations contained in Proverbs, \"I was daily his delight,\nrejoicing always before him; rejoicing in his habitable earth,\" Prov.\n8:30, 31. But the Hebrew word SACHAK is not translated into German,\n\"to play;\" for wisdom here declares that her regard was always\ndirected toward men, to the intent that she might reveal herself to\nmen. The meaning is, as if God had said, \"I have always so walked\nbefore the eyes and in the hearing of men, that they may always\nunderstand me to be present in their sacrifices, in circumcision, in\ntheir offering of incense, in the cloud by day, in the Red Sea, in the\nmanna, in the brazen serpent, in the tabernacle of Moses, in the\ntemple of Solomon, and in the cloud over the mercy-seat, and all these\nthings were my delight; that by means of them I might present myself\nbefore the eyes of the sons of men and reveal myself unto them.\"\n\nAnd it was also a great consolation to Adam, that after paradise had\nbeen lost and the tree of life also, and those other blessings of\nparadise which had been outward signs of the grace of God, God gave\nunto him another sign of his grace; namely, that of offering\nsacrifices; in order that by this given sign he might understand that\nhe was not cast off by God, but was still the care of his maker, and\nthe concern of his Creator. And this is what God intended to be\nunderstood by Adam, when he had lighted his sacrifices and oblations\nwith the heavenly fire, and when the flame which consumed them\nascended to heaven; as we read concerning the sacrifices of Moses and\nof Elijah. For all these sacrifices were true symbols and\nrepresentations of the divine mercy; of all these signs, miserable men\nhad need, that they might not be without some continual light and\nindication of the grace of God.\n\nIn the same manner also the Word itself Baptism and the Lord's Supper\nare our morning stars, upon which we look as sure indications and\nrepresentations of the Sun of grace. For we can definitely affirm,\nthat where the Lord's Supper, Baptism and the Word are, there is\nChrist, the remission of sins and eternal life. On the contrary, where\nthese signs of grace are not, or where they are despised by men,\nthere, not only is there not grace, but also foul errors abound: so\nmuch so that men make to themselves other signs and appoint other\nmodes of worship. Thus the Greeks worshipped their Apollo, and other\nheathen nations their demons. The Egyptians worshipped their Anubis,\ntheir Serapis, and crocodiles, garlic, onions, etc., etc. The Romans\nadored as their gods Jupiter Quirinus, and the abominable statues of\nPriapus, Venus, etc.\n\nThe very same thing has occurred also in the papacy. For after those\ntrue signs of grace began to sink in men's esteem and to be despised,\nsuperstition could not remain quiet. It sought out for itself other\nsigns, such as vows, orders of monks, pilgrimages to the tombs of the\nsaints, intercessions of the saints, and other superstitions. All\nthese things are full of errors, and joined with ungodliness; and yet\nmiserable mortals embrace them as certain signs of divine grace. And\namidst all this you hear of no bishop who condemns, no school which\nexclaims against such blasphemies as these, nor which teaches sounder\nthings. For where the light of the Word is lost and these signs of\ngrace also, which God has given unto men, people necessarily run after\nthe desires of their own hearts. So also the Jews, when they had\ndespised the tabernacle and the temple, sacrificed under trees and in\ngroves, even until parents became so cruel as to sacrifice their own\nchildren.\n\nAll this idolatry, so various and so widely wandering out of the way,\nplainly shows how great a gift of God it is to possess the Word and\nthose signs of divine grace, which God himself set forth and\ncommanded. And if the Gentiles had been willing to follow in the\nfootsteps of the Jews, they would never have fallen away into those\nmonstrous idolatries under which they were sunk. And so also with\nrespect to ourselves; had we held Baptism and the holy Supper of our\nLord in that esteem in which we ought to have held them, we should\nnever have become monks. Nothing concerning purgatory, nothing\nconcerning the sacrifice of the mass, nothing about those other like\niniquities, would ever have been taught and handed down to us in the\nChurch. But after the light of the Word had been put out by the wicked\nPopes, it was easy enough to thrust upon men all these abominations.\n\nUnspeakable therefore is this gift, that God not only condescended to\nspeak unto men by his Word, but added also to the Word these visible\nsigns of his grace; as in the New Testament, Baptism and the Supper of\nour Lord. Are not those therefore who use these signs in a manner\nbeneath their dignity, or who treat them with contempt, worthy of\nbeing left as they are to purchase the Pope's dung, as the richest\nbalsam, and to worship it, and to pray to it? For why dared they\ndespise such goodness of the divine majesty? They might have had, if\nthey pleased, these sure signs of the grace of God at their own houses\nwithout any expense and without any labor. But despising these, they\ntravel to Rome and to Compostella, etc.; and thus spend their money\nand afflict their bodies, and at length most justly lose their souls.\nGod be blessed forevermore, that he has in this our day recalled us by\nhis Word from these mighty errors and idolatries, and has so enriched\nus with the signs of his divine grace, that we may have them before\nour doors and in our home and even on our beds.\n\nIt was in this manner that God at first and from the very beginning of\nthe world, in order to confirm his promise concerning our salvation,\ntook this care that men might always have signs by which they might\ncomfort themselves under their sins, and might lift up their heads by\na confidence in the divine grace. For it is not the dignity of the\nwork or act itself, but the mercy of God and the efficacy of the\ndivine promise in the sacrifice, which are availing unto the\nworshipper. It is because God hath ordained these acts of worship, and\nbecause he hath promised that they shall be well-pleasing unto him,\nthat Baptism and the Supper of our Lord are to us, what the sacrifice\nand offering after the promise were to Adam. For God in those\nsacrifices revealed his grace; and he approved those same sacrifices\nby himself igniting them and consuming them by fire from heaven.\n\nII. And it was to these acts of worship that the first father brought\nup his sons; that they might in this manner render their thanks unto\nGod, might bless God, and might conceive a sure hope in the mercy of\nGod. But the wicked Cain, inflated with the dignity of his first\nbirth-right, despised all these most blessed preachings of his parent.\nHe brought his offering indeed as his father had commanded him; but,\npuffed up with the high opinion of his own sanctity, he imagined that\nGod would approve the act of the worship itself, because of the\ndignity of the person, the worshipper. And Abel, who, according to the\nname given him, was nothing in his own eyes, also brought his\noffering; but he worships God thereby through faith in the divine\npromise; as it is written in the Epistle to the Hebrews, Heb. 11:4.\n\nV. 4a. _And Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock and\nof the fat thereof._\n\nHere, if you look at the acts of their worship themselves, you can see\nno reason for preferring Abel to Cain. For the Jews expose their\nabsurdity by their dreams when they say that Cain did not offer chosen\nwheat, but chaff only; and that was the reason why he was rejected of\nGod. But the Jews are self-righteous worshippers and cleave unto the\nworks themselves. The judgment of the Epistle to the Hebrews however\nis quite different; the testimony of which is, that it was \"By faith\nthat Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain,\" Heb.\n11:4. The fault of the offering therefore did not lie in the things\nwhich were offered, but in the person who offered them. And it was the\nfaith of the person and its weight, which gave the value to the\noffering made by Abel! But Cain, by the state of his person, rendered\nthe offering which he made of no avail. Abel believed that God was\ngood and merciful, and it was this faith that rendered his offering\nacceptable to God. Cain on the contrary trusted in the dignity of his\nfirst birth-right and despised his brother as a man of naught in\ncomparison with himself. What therefore in the end was proved to be\nthe judgment of God? God made the first-born to be as the after-born,\nand the after-born to be as the first-born. For he had respect unto\nthe offering of Abel, and showed that the offering of this priest was\nacceptable unto himself; and, on the other hand, he declared that Cain\nwas not acceptable to him and that he was not a true priest in his\nsight.\n\nThe Hebrew expression, SCHAAH, has a very wide signification; and I\nhave carefully explained its full meaning in my paper against Latomus;\nand also, its like signification, as found in the prophet Isaiah. \"In\nthat day shall men look to their Maker, and their eyes shall have\nrespect to the Holy One of Israel; and they shall not look to the\naltars, the work of their hands,\" Is. 17:7, 8, and likewise, Is.\n66:12, \"And ye shall suck thereof; ye shall be borne upon the side,\nand shall be dandled upon the knees.\" The full meaning of the original\nexpression therefore and its allusion are, that when a mother\ncherishes her babe in her bosom and looks upon it, she views it with a\nglad and delighted eye. This is the meaning, the allusion and the\nfigure, which the original expression conveys. Its signification\ntherefore is much more extensive than that of the common verb, \"to\nsee,\" or \"to behold.\" For when a mother looks at her babe, she smiles\nupon it with delight and carries in her countenance a peculiar\nexpression of love. The modern expressions of our language do not\ncontain a term by which the full import of this original word can be\nconveyed; nor does the Latin language, as far as I know, contain any\nexpression adequate to its satisfactory translation.\n\nQuite similar is that which Moses says in Exodus 33:15, \"If thy\npresence (_facies tuae_) go not with me, carry us not up hence,\" that\nis, grant that we may ever have thy signs with us in our midst, by\nwhich thou appearest always before us, and makest manifest thy\npresence with us and thy favor unto us. And these signs, as I have\nsaid, were the pillar of fire and the cloud, etc. And though Moses\ndoes not, in this portion of the divine history explain what that sign\nwas, by which God showed that the offerings of Abel were acceptable\nunto him; yet it is very probable that his acceptance and pleasure\nwere manifested by fire sent down from heaven, by which the offering\nand the victim were ignited and consumed before the eyes of all\npresent, by which it was plainly shown that God was delighted with the\nsacrifice Abel offered. For by this divine manifestation God showed\nthat he judgeth the heart and the reins; because, in these two\nofferings, he \"had not respect\" unto the glory of the first\nbirth-right of Cain; but, on the other hand, he \"had respect\" unto the\nmind of the despised Abel.\n\nAnd here the whole Church first begins to be divided into that church,\nwhich is \"the church\" in name only, but which in reality is the church\nof hypocrisy and the church of blood; and into that other church,\nwhich is barren and desolate in appearance, and subject to sufferings\nand to the cross, and which, before the world and in the estimation of\nthat church of hypocrisy, is really the Abel; that is, vanity and\nnothing. But Christ himself, who also makes this division and\ndifference, calls Abel the \"righteous\" one and makes him the beginning\nof the Church of the godly, which shall continue even unto the end of\nthe world. While Cain is the beginning of that church of enmity and\nblood, which also shall continue unto the end of the world; as\nAugustine also setteth forth this history in his book, \"The City of\nGod.\"\n\nA great doctrine therefore and a great consolation are set before us,\nwhile we trace both these churches to these their original fountains,\nas it were, and when we mark that wonderful counsel, with which God\nhas ever ruled and overruled these things; ordaining that the true\nChurch should at one time be greater and at another time less; yet, so\nthat the hypocritical and the bloody church should always have the\nglory before the world and should crucify the true Church, which is\nthe beloved of her God. For even thus at the beginning did commence\nthe practical fulfilment of that divine prediction, that the seed of\nthe serpent should bite the heel of the blessed Seed. And this same\nenmity and biting we experience to this very day. Therefore we ought\nnot to be affrighted by this our appointed lot. It ought rather to be\nunto us a great consolation that we learn by our own experience to\nsuffer those very things at the hands of our enemies, which the bloody\nCain inflicted on the \"righteous\" Abel.\n\nFor it is not now the first time that the name of the Church is torn\nfrom us, and that we are called heretics, and that those who kill us\nglory that they are the only true Church, and maintain that assumed\nname by fire and sword, and by every kind of cruelty. The same thing\nbefell righteous Abel. The same thing befell Christ our Lord, who was\nnot a priest nor a king of Jerusalem before the people; and yet he was\ndragged by the priests and by the kings to the cross! And we all, as\nthe apostle says, must be made conformable to Christ. And thus it is\nthat the true Church is ever hidden and unknown, and is cast out, and\nits members held as heretics, and slain; while Cain alone has the\nglorious name and is held in estimation, and alone possesses the hope\nof doing great things; and therefore it is that he rushes on his\nbrother with hostile enmity of mind and slays him.\n\nNow these things were not political nor domestic, but truly\necclesiastical in the highest degree. Abel was not slain on any\npolitical or domestic account, but alone on account of the worship of\nGod. For it was not enough for Cain that he was the lord of the\nfamily, he wishes to be the son of God; he will be the pope and father\nof the church. And therefore he takes upon himself the judgment of\nsacrifices, and condemns and slays his brother as a heretic.\n\nHence is the prophecy of Christ that the Church should be subject to\nvarious perils and that the time should come when those who should\nslay the godly should think that they were thereby worshipping God and\ndoing him service. Therefore those who will consider themselves the\nmost righteous among us, these are the pestilences and the persecutors\nof the Church. On the other hand, the true Church is that church which\nis never judged to be \"the Church.\" But she is, according to her name,\nthe Abel who was not only a figure of the true Church but the very\nbeginning of it; that is, she is accounted as naught, so that when she\nis slain, her slayers think that God will care nothing about her,\nbecause Cain, they think, as being lord of all and king, may do and is\nable to do anything.\n\nNow this is the offense of the cross, against which we have ever to\nfight by faith. For we are not to think that we are not the Church,\nbecause our adversaries condemn us and persecute us with every kind of\ncruelty thus securely. But, on the contrary, we are ever to consider\nthat this cross and these judgments of the wicked are the sure and\ninfallible signs of the true Church, as the tenth Psalm shows, also\nPsalm 72:14, \"And precious shall their blood be in his sight;\" and\nPsalm 116:15, \"Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his\nsaints.\" In these Psalms therefore you hear that those who are\nslaughtered in this manner by the Cainites are so far from being from\nthe care of God that their death is precious in his sight. Those\ntherefore who are thus the care of God are the true people of God.\n\nWherefore, let us endure the cruelty of our adversaries and let us\njoyfully give thanks unto God that we are not in the number of those\nwho are the slayers; and who, because of their name and title,\npersecute \"the Church,\" seize upon the property of others, and rush\nwith cruelty and violence upon their bodies also. And indeed the\nhistories of all ages and times testify that the true Church was ever\na suffering Church, that the false Church was ever an evil and violent\nChurch; and that the true Church was ever condemned by the church of\nhypocrisy and blood. Hence there can be no doubt among us of the\npresent day that the Church of the Pope is the Cainite Church, and\nthat we are the true, the Abel Church; and as Abel harmed not Cain, so\nwe not only do no harm to the Church of the Pope, but suffer ourselves\nto be harassed, condemned and slaughtered by them.\n\nNor do we record these things falsely. It is well known to the whole\nworld how often we are subjected to anathemas, distressed by\nsubscriptions, and condemned by various denunciations. Nor have there\never ceased to be found men in almost every corner or Europe ready to\noffer themselves as the fierce executors of cruelest decrees. Neither\nSpain, nor France, nor England, nor Belgium, nor Bohemia, nor Poland,\nnor Hungary, nor Austria, nor Bavaria, has been free from witnessing\nthis unjust cruelty and savage rage. And yet, what were they\npersecuting all the while? What, but godly doctrine, a doctrine\nperfectly agreeing with the writings of the apostles and prophets? Can\nthere be any doubt or obscurity then in forming a judgment concerning\nthe true Church? For can you possibly judge that to be the true Church\nwhere nothing sound is taught, where unjust tyranny is practiced, and\nwhere the highest power is joined with the greatest wealth? Is not\nthat rather the true Church where there is sound and holy doctrine,\nhealing to afflicted consciences? And where, for the sake of that\ndoctrine, there are endured the cross, contempt, poverty, ignominy,\nand all those things of the same kind which the poor little helpless\nflock of Christ is recorded ever and everywhere to have suffered?\n\nIt is not only most useful therefore, but also most consoling, to have\never before our eyes this most certain demonstration, which carries\nwith it so plain a distinction between the two Churches, that Church\nwhich is filled with men of enmity and malignity, such as that purple\nharlot, bearing the name of the true Church; and that other Church,\nwhich is accounted as naught, which suffers, which hungers and\nthirsts, and lies prostrate under oppression. For Christ records that\nhe and his disciples both hunger and thirst in this world, Math.\n25:35-46. But the judgment shall one day come which shall judge\nbetween the full and the hungry, between the goats and the sheep,\nbetween Cain and Abel. At this judgment God shall declare that he\napproves this suffering and hungering Church, and condemns the Church\nof hypocrisy and blood. These are our consolations and this is that\nsugar as it were, by which our present calamities must be sweetened\nand overcome. Such then is the theological part of this divine matter.\nNow let us come to the political part of it, and consider the judgment\nof God concerning that.\n\nWe doubtless may justly wonder why it was that God permitted the first\nson of Adam, to whom the honor of the first birth-right was always due\nthroughout the whole human race, to fall so horribly that his whole\nposterity should afterwards be destroyed. But the cause was the very\nsame as that on account of which God spoke with such bitter derision\nto Adam when he said, \"Lest he also become as one of us,\" Gen. 3:22.\nThe reason was the same as that for which the Lord guarded the garden\nby the cherubim. For God will crush all presumption and pride, which\nare implanted as it were in the heart of man by original sin. And such\nis our nature that we can endure anything else better than this\ncrushing of our pride. We see what insolence and pride there are in\nall our nobles of the court, on account of the vain nobility of their\ndescent. For truly vain is that nobility, which real worth and\nillustrious services to his country have not procured for a man.\n\nIt is said of Plato, the philosopher, that he also was accustomed to\ngive thanks to God for three things; first, that he was born a man and\nnot a beast; secondly, that he was born a Greek at Athens, and not a\nbarbarian; and thirdly, that he was born a man and not a woman. The\nfatuity of the Jews is just like this. They glory that they were born\nmen, and not beasts; Jews, and not Gentiles; males, and not females.\nBut to what, I pray you, does all this glory of origin amount? What\nvanity is it to see a certain ass in a palace with his gold chains on,\nnot only thinking himself better than every one of the people, but\nalso growing proud and insolent against God himself. Just so it was\nwith the Romans. They prided themselves in the course of years on the\nglory of their nation's mighty deeds, always carefully thrusting from\nthem the degrading term \"barbarian.\" In a word, the greater any nation\nhas ever grown in its own eyes, the more proud and insolent it has\never become. And the same is the nature of us all by sin.\n\nBut look at the judgment of God in this matter. Cain could truly and\njustly boast in the highest of all nobility, for he was the first-born\nof all mankind. But the greater and more glorious his origin was, by\nso much the more horribly did he fall. Hence general experience has\nalso given place to the well-known proverb, which says, \"The sons of\nthe great are great evils.\"\n\nNor are these evils peculiar to private families only, mighty empires\nsuffer the same. The nation of the Greeks was most glorious. They\nexcelled all other nations in their learning and in the greatness of\ntheir illustrious deeds. But into what extremes of turpitude did they\nfall? And how miserably was their nation destroyed at last? And you\nmay see the very same things fulfilled in all nations. Good therefore\nwas God in permitting Cain thus to fall, that he might be an example\nto the whole world, that no one might ever glory in the nobleness of\nhis blood, as the Jews boasted of their father Abraham and as the\nGreeks boasted of their wisdom. For God will have himself to be feared\nand us to be humbled. But this his will, though known to us, is for\nthe most part known to us in vain. For we are not moved by all these\nterrible instances of his wrath nor by the perditions and destructions\nof the first men and the first nations.\n\nUniversal experience therefore testifies, that the sentiment of the\nVirgin Mary is true, \"He hath put down the mighty from their seats,\"\nLuke 1:52. For those things which are the first and the best become\nthe most damnable, not from anything in themselves that is evil, but\non account of the diabolical presumption and pride of men. This sad\nresult the Gentiles also saw, as the well-known saying of one of their\nphilosophers testifies, who being asked what God was doing replied,\n\"Exalting the humble, and humbling the exalted.\" But the heathen\nphilosophers saw not the cause of all these things.\n\nThus also the flesh judges it to be great glory to be born a male, and\nnot a female. We see however that God has taken especial care that\nman, so great, should not be born of man, and so also Christ would\nhave himself to be called \"the Seed of the woman,\" not the \"Seed of\nthe man.\" O what would have been the pride of men had God willed\nChrist to be born of a man! No! all this glory is transferred from the\nmen to the women, subject to the rule of the men. And all this was\ndone that men might not glory in themselves, but be humbled. Nay,\nsince the woman cannot bring forth without the man, God has therefore\nespecially ordained that the men also should not bring forth of\nthemselves without the woman. For such is human nature, that man\ncannot rightly use his glory, but ever abuses it with pride and rises\nup against him from whom he receives such gifts. It was for this\nreason therefore that Cain so awfully fell and lost the right of his\nfirst birthship, that we might be thereby taught to fear God and to\ngive him thanks, and might be warned against abusing his gifts in\narrogance and pride.\n\nVs. 4b, 5a. _And Jehovah had respect unto Abel and to his offering;\nbut unto Cain and his offering he had not respect._\n\nThis is an important portion of Scripture, and therefore it is to be\nmost carefully observed and most strongly enforced. For it would be\nsufficient for all doctrine if under the New Testament trust in the\nmercy of God were set before men against all trust in works with so\nclear a testimony and in such plain words as it was thus set forth at\nthe very beginning of the world. For when Moses says that the Lord had\nrespect unto Abel and to his offering, but unto Cain and his offering\nhe had not respect, does he not clearly show that God ever respects\nthe person before the work, and that he first looks at the person who\nperforms the work? And does not the sacred historian make it perfectly\nplain, that if the person be good, his work also pleaseth God; but\nthat, if the person be evil, the work also of such an one does not\nplease God?\n\nNow this is the sum of our doctrine, which we profess and teach, that\nthe person is accepted of God before the work! And that the person is\nnot made righteous by the righteous work, but on the contrary that the\nwork is rendered righteous and good by the good and righteous person,\nas the text now before us clearly proves. For because God, as here\nshown, had respect unto the person of Abel, he had respect also unto\nhis offering. But on the other hand, because God had not respect unto\nthe person of Cain, therefore unto his offering also he had not\nrespect. This doctrine the text before us plainly proves, nor can our\nadversaries deny it. From the words of that text therefore follows\nthis most clear and most evident consequence: that Abel was\n\"righteous\" before the work of his \"offering,\" and that his work\npleased God, because of his person; not his person, because of his\nwork. Yet it is for the latter doctrine that our adversaries contend,\nwho teach that the man is justified by his works, and not by his faith\nalone.\n\nAnd it is in this manner that the author of the Epistle to the Hebrews\nlooks at this text with clear and pure eyes, when he says, \"By faith\nAbel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which\nhe obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his\ngifts; and by it, he being dead, yet speaketh,\" Heb. 11:4. Cain also\noffered, and also before Abel brought his offering; but the former\noffered, inflated with the glory of his birth, expecting that his gift\nwould please God, because it was offered by the first-born. Cain\ntherefore comes to offer without faith, without the confession of sin,\nwithout imploring the grace of God, without trust in the mercy of God,\nand without prayer for the remission of sins, having no other ground\nfor his hope that he shall please God, than because he was the\nfirst-born; and this is what all self-justifiers do at this day. They\nlook intently on their works alone and hope that they shall please God\non account of their works. They trust not in the mercy of God only,\nnor hope in God that he will pardon their sins for Christ's sake. And\nsuch was Cain. But it would have been impossible for him to have\ndispleased God, if he had possessed faith.\n\nAbel, on the contrary, acknowledged himself to be an unworthy and\nmiserable sinner; and therefore he fled unto the mercy of God and\nbelieved that God was favorable unto him, and that he was willing to\nhave mercy upon him. God therefore who looks into the heart judged\nbetween the two brothers, who alike brought their offering. He\ncondemned Cain, not on account of the offerings themselves, as if they\nwere less good than those of Abel, for if he had offered even a\nnutshell in faith, it would have been accepted of God, but because his\nperson was evil, without faith and filled with pride and arrogance.\nWhile, on the contrary, God had respect unto the offering of Abel,\nbecause his person pleased him. Hence it is that the text so clearly\nand particularly expresses it, that the Lord had respect first to\nAbel, and afterwards to his offering. For, when the person first\npleases you, then also the things which that person does please you.\nBut, on the contrary, all things are unpleasing to you, which that\nperson does whom you hate.\n\nThe passage before us therefore is remarkable and important; for it is\nthereby clearly proved that God regards neither the magnitude, nor the\nmultitude, nor even the price of the works done; but simply and only\nthe faith of the person who does them. And that God despises neither\nthe fewness, nor the meanness, nor the worthlessness of the works\ndone, but the absence of faith only, in the person who does them.\n\nOf what avail is it therefore that the Jews glory and exclaim, \"The\nTemple of the Lord! The Temple of the Lord!\" Jer. 7:4. What avails it\nthat the Papists boast of their masses, their sackcloth, their\nhorse-hair blankets, their hard labors, their sweats, and the\nmagnitude, the multitude and even the price of their works? For God\nregardeth not works, not even those commanded by himself, when they\nare not done as the passage of Jeremiah just mentioned shows. Much\nless does God regard those works which are invented of men without his\nWord. He regards faith alone; that is, a trust in his mercy through\nChrist. It is by this faith and this trust that the persons begin to\nplease God; then after this their works also please him. Hence it was\nthat the offering of Cain did not please God, because Cain having no\nfaith did not please him. On the contrary, the offering of Abel did\nplease God and that because of his faith; because he trusted neither\nin his dignity, nor in his sacrifices themselves, nor in the work\nwhich he performed; but trusted alone in the promise given of God\nconcerning the Seed of the woman.\n\nThe text before us therefore exactly applies to our doctrine\nconcerning justification, that a man must be righteous before all\nworks and be accepted of God without any works, through that grace\nalone which his faith believes and apprehends. Nor does even faith\njustify, as a work, but because it apprehends the mercy shown forth in\nChrist. It is in this trust in the mercy of God that the true Church\nwalks, with a humble confession of her sins and unworthiness, while\nshe believes that God will pardon her through Christ.\n\nAnd now the works which follow upon this trust in God's mercy are as\nit were evidences and testimonies of the man's faith; and they please\nGod, not on account of themselves, but on account of the faith of the\nperson who offers them; or because he believes in the mercy of God\ntoward him. This faith the other church, the Cainite church, not only\nhas not, but ever persecutes it where she finds it. For she on the\ncontrary, like Cain, sets it down for a certainty that she shall\nplease God on account of her works. But God hates this pride; for he\ncan not endure such contempt of his grace and mercy, etc. This passage\nof Scripture therefore is worthy our most careful consideration.\n\n\nPART III. CAIN'S CONDUCT UPON THE REJECTION OF HIS OFFERING AND HIS\nPUNISHMENT.\n\nI. V. 5b. _And Cain was very wroth, and his countenance fell._\n\nThis and the few following clauses will give us a little grammatical\ntrouble. But I hope we shall make our way out of the difficulty\nsuccessfully. We have heard that Cain was disappointed in his hope. He\nhad despised his brother in comparison with himself, and had judged\nthat on account of the right of his primogeniture he should hold the\nfirst place with God as he had done with his parents. The judgment of\nGod however was quite different from that of men. He showed that he\napproved Abel, but rejected Cain.\n\nThe result was therefore that Cain was violently enraged against his\nbrother. For he could not endure with any patience that he should be\nthus rejected and excommunicated, and deprived also at the same time\nof his rule and priesthood. Just in the same manner also we see kings\nand princes to be utterly impatient of the judgment of the Church. For\nthey are not satisfied with being kings and princes, they want to be\naccounted also righteous and saints before God; and they will take to\nthemselves the name of \"the Church.\" Exactly like these, Cain was\nfilled with indignation when he saw that the honor of righteousness\nand grace before God was taken from him. For what else was this than\nbeing cast out of the Church and excommunicated? And his indignation\nat this dishonor was the greater in proportion to the measure in which\nhe judged himself degraded beneath his brother. For his thoughts were\nthese: \"My brother will assuredly aspire to the headship and rule,\nsince he sees me thus despised and disregarded of God.\" And hence it\nis that Moses uses the adverb \"very wroth,\" by which form of\nexpression he would signify that Cain was vehemently offended because\nhe was thus ignominiously confounded in public before his whole\nfamily; whereas he had always wished to appear the first among them.\n\nThis Cain-like wrath is just that rage which we see also in the\nCain-like Church of the pope. For what is there which gives the pope,\nthe cardinals, the kings and the princes greater offense than that I,\na poor beggar, set the authority of God above the authority of them\nall, and that I condemn in the name of the Lord all those things which\nare worthy such condemnation. They themselves also acknowledge that\nthere are many things which need rigid reformation. But that I, a\npoor, obscure person, coming into public out of some obscure corner,\nshould presume to do this, is a thing which they consider to be beyond\nall endurance. And therefore they put forth all their authority\nagainst me and by the weight of that authority they attempt to crush\nus.\n\nAnd most certainly there is not in the whole world a wrath more cruel\nthan that of this Church of hypocrisy and blood. For in all political\nor civil rage there is some degree of humanity still left. No assassin\nis led to execution, however savage his nature may be, with pity for\nwhom men are not in some measure touched. But when that false and\nblood-thirsting Church falls upon a poor son of the true Church, she\nis not satisfied with shedding his blood; she loads him also with her\ncurses and execrations, and devotes him to every ignominy and insult,\nand even vents her rage upon his miserable, breathless corpse. Just\nlike the Jews, who were not content with having nailed Christ to the\ncross, with the full purpose of not taking him down till he was dead,\nbut even while he was breathing out the last breath of his soul they\ngave him in his thirst vinegar to drink mingled with gall. Such fury\nas this is never found in political wrath!\n\nThe wrath therefore and the pharasaic fury of the false Church is a\nfury in its very nature diabolical. This wrath began in Cain, and it\ncontinues in all Cainites to this very day. And we can most truly\nglory that we also have to endure with godly Abel, just such wrath as\nthis in our day. For who entertains a doubt, that if our bishops and\ncertain furious princes could do it, they would slaughter us all in\none moment? Who doubts that, if according to the prayers of the\nnotorious Roman emperor, we all together had but one neck, they would\nwith the greatest delight rush upon us sword in hand and cut off our\nhead? Only look at the councils of these later years and their\ndesigns, and you will say that my testimony is true.\n\nThat which Moses adds, \"And his countenance (_vultus_) 'appearances,'\n'looks,' 'whole aspect,' fell,\" is a Hebrew expression; an expression\nwhich not only represents the deed done, or the fact, but also implies\nthat the mind also was in such a state of commotion that it could not\nrest; and that although Cain could do no further harm, yet his\nwrathful will to do so was manifested by his countenance. He did not\nlift up his fallen brow nor speak in a friendly voice to his parents\nas before. And every answer he made them was rather a sullen murmur\nthan a natural utterance. He was struck pale at the first sight of his\nbrother after his offering, which God had accepted. And he showed by\nthe threatening looks of his eyes that his mind was burning with the\ndesire of revenge.\n\nMoses expresses all this, when he says, \"And his countenance fell;\"\nfor he does not mean his countenance or visage only, nor merely one\npart of his countenance; but he intends all his appearances, his whole\nappearance; his every look, gesture and motion; in the same manner as\nthe apostle uses a Hebrew expression, when he says concerning charity\nthat it \"doth not behave itself unseemly;\" that is, doth not carry an\nunseemly countenance, doth not contract its brow, doth not look with\nanger or disdain, doth not wear a threatening aspect; but is of a free\nand open visage, expressing with its eyes kindness and affection. For\nthe latter are becoming, but the former are unbecoming and indicative\nof vice within. This clause therefore, \"And his countenance fell,\"\ncontains a particular description of the anger and hypocrisy of Cain.\nHe could neither look at his brother Abel, nor hear his voice, nor\nspeak to him, nor eat nor drink with him in rest or quietude of mind.\n\nIf any one desires to witness an example of this Cain-like wrath, let\nhim put himself in the presence of some Papist, who is seeking\ndistinguished praise for doctrine or piety in his day and generation;\nand he will find that such an one is the subject of a rage against the\ntruth, perfectly diabolical; to which fury, if you compare the anger\nof a judge, the latter will appear in comparison to be the greatest\nkindness, mercy and open candor. For in the judge anger is merely a\nduty; he is not angry with the person of the prisoner, but with his\ncrime. But the Cainite wrath fires and distorts the eyes, scowls the\nbrow, swells the cheeks with rage, and arms the hands. In a word, it\nis evident in every part of the body and in its every gesture, and\nthat unceasingly. For it does not die away by time, as political or\ndomestic wrath does.\n\nNext follows the fatherly and most grave admonition of Adam, who would\nwillingly have healed and saved his son if he could have done so. But\nthis wrath knows no medicine or cure. Neither Cain nor any Cainite\nwill hear either father or mother, or God Himself!\n\nV. 6. _And Jehovah said unto Cain, Why art thou wroth, and why is thy\ncountenance fallen?_\n\nAll these circumstances plainly prove that the present was not the\nfirst time that Cain had been confounded in this offering of his\nsacrifice; but that from the hour of this sacrifice he had gone in\nperturbation of mind, filled with sadness and gnashing his teeth; and\nlooking neither upon his father nor upon his mother without an evil\neye; affected just as we have already said that pharasaic rage affects\nthe whole man, and changes the whole visage and gesture. For Cain\nconsidered it to be a great indignity that at a public sacrifice, and\nin the midst of divine worship, and before the eyes of his father and\nhis mother, Abel whom he had always despised and whom even his parents\nthemselves had accounted a child of naught, should be preferred of God\nto himself; and thus pronounced of God worthy the glory of the\nkingship and the priesthood.\n\nII. As soon therefore as he had fully shown that he was of a hostile\nmind towards his brother, he receives from his father Adam the\nadmonition in our text. For my belief is, that these words are spoken\nby Adam himself, and that Moses says they were spoken \"by the Lord,\"\nbecause Adam had now been justified and had been gifted with the Holy\nSpirit; and therefore those things which he now spoke by the Holy\nSpirit according to the Word of God are rightly said by Moses to have\nbeen spoken by God himself. Just as at the present day those who\npreach the Gospel are not in reality themselves the preachers and\nteachers, but Christ, who speaks and teaches in them and by them. And\nmost certainly these words are spoken by Adam with peculiar gravity\nand intent; for he saw that his son could not patiently endure the\nindignity put upon him; he saw him grieve over his lost superiority;\nand he felt what havoc the Tempter might make in the corrupt nature of\nhis son, who had done such evil to himself and Eve, when in a state of\ninnocency and perfection. Adam therefore was filled with deep anxiety\nand addressed his son with that solemn gravity of language, which\nMoses records in the text. And although no one of the fathers has\nexplained that speech of Adam to his son Cain in a manner worthy its\ngravity and importance; because perhaps none of them had sufficient\nleisure from their ecclesiastical engagements; yet I will attempt to\nmove this stone of difficulty out of the way; and, as I hope and\nthink, not without some advantage to the truth.\n\nV. 7a. _If thou doest well, shall it not be lifted up, (shall there\nnot be a remission,) and if thou doest not well, sin coucheth (lieth)\nat the door._\n\nI cannot sufficiently wonder how Moses was able to condense so mighty\na subject in so few words. Our translation does not properly express\nthe sense. And although Augustine was not altogether unacquainted with\nthe Hebrew language, yet his knowledge of it was not thorough; for he\nrenders this important text thus, \"If thou offerest aright, and yet\ndost not rightly divide the offering, thou hast sinned. Rest, and be\nquiet.\" What such sins are those well acquainted with the Hebrew know.\nThough the doctrine which Augustine deduces from his rendering of the\npassage is theologically correct and good, the Septuagint translators\nof the Hebrew seem also not to have been duly qualified for the\nmagnitude of the work they undertook. Wherefore, leaving for the\npresent both the translations and the opinions of all other\ncommentators, we will now strictly follow the proper sense of the\nHebrew in the text before us. That sense is the following, \"If thou\ndoest well, there shall be remission, or alleviation; if thou doest\nnot well, sin lieth at the door,\" etc.\n\nMoreover it is ordained by nature, as even the philosopher testifies,\nthat words should be made to serve things, and not things made\nsubservient to words. The sentiment of Hilary is well known, which a\ncertain master of sound opinions also thus cites: \"Words ought ever to\nbe understood according to the matter contained in them, and intended\nto be expressed by them.\" In every exposition or explanation of the\nScriptures therefore the subject-matter is first to be considered;\nthat is, we are first clearly to see the thing spoken of in each case.\nWhen this is strictly done, then the words are to be brought to a due\napplication to the thing, if the grammatical laws of the language will\npermit; but the things are never to be made to bend to the words. And\nit is because the Rabbins and those who follow them do not this, for\nthey have lost the things, and so cleave hard to the words only, that\nthey often fall into the most absurd sentiments and opinions. For, as\nthey possess not thoughts worthy of those spiritual things, of which\nthe sacred Scriptures speak, they err from the subject-matter treated\nin each case by the Word and draw the words after them into vain and\ncarnal cogitations.\n\nBut it is certain that the Jews have lost Christ; how then can they\npossibly understand aright either the things of the Gospel or the\nthings of the Law? They know not what sin is, nor what grace is, nor\nwhat righteousness is. How then should they be able to explain\nsuccessfully such passages of the Scriptures? Just so the Jews are in\ngeneral the \"wise\" or sophists of our day. For what sound knowledge\nhave they of such divine and mighty things as these! Being ignorant\ntherefore of the thing itself, how is it possible that they should\nrightly understand the words of the Scriptures in which it is\nexpressed? And although a knowledge of the words is prior in order;\nyet the knowledge of the things is better and more important. For if\nyou alter the things, the words also will be changed into another\nsense to correspond with the altered things, and a new grammatical\nconstruction altogether is the sure result.\n\nThus the great grammarian of Gerunda possesses an excellent knowledge\nof the words, and indeed there are many in our day who far surpass me\nin a critical knowledge of the Hebrew language, but because he\nunderstands not the divine theme, he miserably corrupts this passage;\nfor he explains it thus: \"If thou doest well thy offering shall be\nmore acceptable than that of thy brother, because thou art the\nfirst-born.\" You here see that Gerundensis understands what the names\nof the things are, but not the things themselves; what the term is,\nbut not what the matter is. For the very design of God in this text is\nto show that he will have no regard to first birthship at all. How\nthen could the offering of Cain ever have been more acceptable to God\nthan that of Abel on account of his primogeniture? The author of the\nEpistle to the Hebrews knew what the thing was, and therefore he gives\na very different statement of the sacred matter, namely, that it was\n\"by faith that Abel offered a more excellent sacrifice than Cain.\" The\nrendering of Jerome is much better than that of Gerundensis. The\nversion of the former is, \"If thou doest well, thou shalt receive; if\nthou doest ill, sin (he adds the pronoun 'thine own sin') will lie at\nthe door.\" Yet, even thus Jerome does not reach the true sense. For\nwhen he explains the verb SEETH as meaning \"to receive,\" which really\nsignifies \"to relieve,\" or \"to alleviate,\" no one I think will approve\nhis rendering. But all this Jerome has from the Jews, who have always\nbeen of the opinion that God would have rewarded Cain if he had\noffered liberally. Now therefore I will simply state what my view of\nthis important passage is.\n\nFirst of all then it is necessary, as I have said, that we hold fast\nthe divine matter in question. The divine matter then involved is that\nwhich cannot deceive, as being the foundation of the whole divine\ncause, that nothing pleases God unless it be done in faith, according\nto that universally applicable and well known sentence of the Apostle\nPaul, \"Whatsoever is not of faith is sin,\" Rom. 14:23. And Solomon\nalso says, \"The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to the\nLord,\" Prov. 15:8. The other great foundation of the cause of God is,\nthat sin is so mighty that it can be put away by no sacrifices, nor by\nany works whatever, but by the mercy of God alone, which mercy must be\napprehended and received by faith. And all this is manifested and\nshown to have been the good pleasure of God by the first promise\nconcerning the Seed of the woman, without which Seed there is no\nredemption. Now these foundations the Rabbins possess not, for this\nknowledge comes by the Spirit of Christ alone, who like the mid-sun\nillumines all the darkness of nature and sin. Whatsoever therefore\nmilitates against, or is contrary to, these foundations, we at once\nreject as false and impious.\n\nAnd although for myself I have no objection whether you understand\n\"sin\" here as referring to the past sin, or to the future sin of Cain,\nyet it seems to me better to understand it as referring to sin in\ngeneral. The force of the whole passage therefore lies in the Hebrew\nverb SEETH from NASA, \"be alleviated,\" or \"lifted up,\" or \"relieved.\"\nAnd in this very case we have a remarkable example of the difference\nbetween the name or term of the thing and the thing itself. For if you\napply the term to \"lift up,\" or to \"lift off,\" to a corporeal or solid\nsubstance, it signifies \"to elevate\" or \"to lift up on high;\" as in\nIsaiah, \"I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted\nup,\" Is. 6:1. But this is a very different signification of the Hebrew\nverb from that which it expresses in the Psalm, \"Blessed is the man\nwhose sins are 'lifted up' or 'lifted out,'\" Ps. 32:1, and yet the\nHebrew verb is the same in each instance. Now, a common grammarian of\nthe Hebrew language understands the former meaning of the original\nverb, but he is ignorant of its latter signification. For, \"to lift up\na throne on high,\" is quite another thing from lifting up or lifting\noff, sin from the conscience; that is, remitting or taking away sin.\n\nWherefore, the meaning is, \"If thou hadst done well or if thou hadst\nbeen good; that is, if thou hadst believed, thou wouldst have had God\nfavorable and merciful toward thee, and there would have been a true\nalleviation to thee; that is, a remission of sin. But since I see that\nGod had not respect unto thee, it evidently follows that thou wert not\ngood in his sight; and that therefore thou wast not relieved from thy\nsin; wherefore, thy sin remaineth.\"\n\nHowever it is a most beautiful and striking similitude to make use of\nthe verb \"to lift up\" or \"to lift off\" in order to compare sin to a\nheavy burden, under which Cain was so oppressed and prostrated, so\nthat unless it were taken off he could not draw his breath. And the\nepistle to the Hebrews shows the manner in which we are released from\nthis burden, when it says, \"By faith Abel offered unto God a more\nexcellent sacrifice than Cain,\" Heb. 11:4.\n\nBy this mode of interpreting this important passage the words or the\ngrammatical construction perfectly agree with the matter contained in\nthem, which is, that God has respect unto faith only, and judges those\nalone to be good who believe. And these words of Adam contain also a\nmost severe rebuke. Their meaning is, as if Adam had said to Cain,\n\"Thy pride has destroyed thee. Thou camest before God inflated with\nthe glory of thy primogeniture, and thoughtest that God would accept\nthee on that account. But I clearly perceive by this judgment and\nreprobation of God that thou art destitute of faith, for God rejects\nnone but the unbelieving.\"\n\nNot one of the Rabbins explains the passage before us in this manner.\nFor they see not that Adam is here inculcating in his son, after the\nmanner of the Apostle Paul, that word of Christ in the Gospel, \"He\nthat believeth shall be saved,\" Mark 16:16; and also that word of the\napostle himself, \"Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by\nfaith without the deeds of the law,\" Rom. 3:28. For what else does\nAdam here say to Cain, than that God is merciful to those who believe\nin the blessed Seed, and who cast away all trust in their own works,\nand all ideas of their own merit? For his meaning is, \"If thou shalt\ndo this, thy sin shall not lie thus as a heavy burden upon thee. Thou\nshalt be relieved of that load, nor shalt thou thus roar with rage;\nfor God has promised that he will not impute sin to any one that\nbelieveth.\"\n\nIf therefore you refer these words to the past sin of Cain, they\ncontain also a most grave fatherly admonition. Their import is, as if\nAdam had said, \"Hitherto thou hast not believed and therefore thou art\nthus rejected; and if thou shalt still go on thus, thou wilt be cast\noff utterly. But if thou shalt do well or become good, that is, if\nthou shalt believe in the promised Seed, I take upon myself to assure\nthee that the result will be that thou shalt be relieved of thy burden\nof sin;\" that is, as the Psalm interprets this expression of Adam,\n\"sin shall not be imputed unto thee,\" Ps. 32:2.\n\nThe clause which follows, thy \"sin lieth at the door,\" is a figurative\ndescription of sin, which for my part I should prefer understanding as\nbeing used as a proverb. For this figure exactly describes the real\nnature of sin, showing that, while in the act, it lies like a beast\ndead asleep; it does not bite, nor terrify, nor torment, but rather\nfawns and pleases. Thus when Eve first and afterwards Adam ate the\nforbidden apple in paradise they did not think that God had seen it,\nmuch less did they think that both should be so bitterly punished for\nwhat they had done. So also ferocious beasts, when they are just\nsatisfied with food, are more tractable and more inclined to sleep\nthan to harm. In the same manner also sin, while it is in the act, is\ndelightful, nor is its poison or pain felt; it rather lies down and\ngoes to sleep. For whoever saw a miser to be racked with pain while an\nopportunity of great gain stood before him? Whoever knew an adulterer\nto grieve at the opportunity given him of gratifying his wishes? If\nthou hadst at that moment torn his skin with a scourge, or beaten his\nhead with a mallet, the temptation would have vanished. But while sin\nis asleep and its punishment unfelt and unseen, it is the height of\npleasure to the miser to rush upon his gain, and to the adulterer to\npossess the object of his sinful desires; nor does there seem to be,\nnor does he wish for, any end or any bound to his pleasure.\n\nAdam is speaking therefore in this passage not only of the sin of\nCain, but of sin in general; showing what the real nature of sin is.\nFor that which was the state of Cain is the state of all men. Before\nhe offered his sacrifice Cain proudly boasted of the privileges of his\nprimogeniture; he despised his brother and assumed to himself the\nfirst place in all things. Sin was then lying still and asleep; but it\nwas \"lying at the door;\" that is, in a place or state in which it was\nlikely to be disturbed. For it is by \"the door\" that we go in and out,\nand therefore a place by no means adapted for a long sleep. And this\nis also the very nature of sin. Although it does lie asleep, yet it\nlies in a place where it is not likely to sleep long, for Christ says,\n\"There is nothing covered that shall not be revealed,\" Math. 10:26.\nThe wicked man thinks indeed that his sin is asleep and hidden; but it\nlieth asleep at \"the door,\" and at length it is awakened by\nconviction, brought to light, and made known: for \"at the door,\" and\nrest and sleep are things directly opposed to each other. For as\ndarkness is opposite to light, so is sleep to an unquiet place; they\nare things contradictory to each other in their very nature. In this\nmanner therefore may the present passage be interpreted in its\nreference to Cain's past sin.\n\nAnd if you explain these same words in their reference to the future\nsin of Cain, their meaning is this, \"If thou shalt harm thy brother,\nand indulge the wrath conceived in thy mind, I tell thee that thy sin\nwill indeed lie asleep; but it will lie asleep at the door; that is,\nin a place where it will surely be disturbed; and therefore, it is\nimpossible but that it must be awoke and roused up, when as a furious\nbeast it will lay hold upon thee.\" And so the event proved. For after\nCain had committed the murder, while he was burying his brother alone,\nhis sin was asleep. But how long? No longer than until the sound of\nthat voice of God reached his ears, \"Where is Abel, thy brother?\" The\npresent words of Adam therefore are a true description of all sin. It\nalways \"lieth at the door.\" For such is the nature of the minds of\nmen, that as long as they escape the eyes of men, they think their sin\nwill lie hidden and unknown. But unless they do well; that is, unless\nthey believe that God will pardon their sin through Christ, it will\nsurely be awakened and revealed to their torment and destruction.\n\nThe figurative proverb therefore which lies in these words of Adam\ncontains the most solemn truth, that nothing remains hidden, but that\nall things are revealed and made known, as the Apostle Paul also says,\n\"Some men's sins are evident, going before unto judgment,\" 1 Tim.\n5:24. Hence we see the judgment of God in an especial manner in the\ncases of criminals. How many persons are murdered in secret and yet\nthe authors of those unnatural and horrible crimes are brought to\nlight by means the most wonderful. The grave admonition therefore of\nAdam to his son Cain is that he would guard against indulging in sin,\nresting fully assured that it would not remain hidden, but that God\nwould certainly bring it to light and punish it. The poets of old did\nnot wander far from this great truth when they represented Cupid, the\ngod of lustful desire, naked but blind also. For as our sin seems to\nus to be hidden, we think that it is hidden from all others also. But\nGod at length brings to light and reveals things the most deeply\nconcealed.\n\nI believe therefore the meaning of these words of Adam, which I have\nthus given, is their true and simple sense. By them the father is\nadmonishing the son to believe in God and in the promised Seed;\nassuring him that if he does so, God will show himself merciful unto\nhim. But, says the father, if thou follow the lusts of thy heart, thy\nsin will indeed lie at rest in thy soul; that is, it will appear to\nthee to be concealed and hidden, but it will be lying all the time \"at\nthe door;\" that is, in a place where it cannot lie long asleep or out\nof sight. For that which \"lieth at the door\" is beheld by all who\nenter in and by all who go out.\n\nLet us not forget however, as I before observed, the grand and\nprincipal truth taught by this portion of the Holy Scriptures, that\nGod from the very beginning of the world is One who judgeth between\nthe flesh and the spirit, and who respecteth not the dignity of the\nperson or his works. For God hath here respect unto Abel, not moved by\nany work which he performed, but simply by his faith in which he\noffered his sacrifice. But unto Cain God had not respect; not because\nthe offering of Cain was less splendid or sumptuous than that of Abel,\nbut because he had not faith, and therefore his primogeniture profited\nhim nothing.\n\nAnd this is a very powerful argument against the Jews, who, as John\ntells us, gloried in their race and descent, boasting that they were\nthe children of Abraham, John 8:33. If therefore the honor and\nprerogative were anything in God's sight, Cain certainly had wherein\nto glory. And what avails also the glorying of the Jews that God spoke\nunto them by Moses? Are we to conclude, think you, that Adam, the\nfirst teacher, was a teacher less than Moses? No! Adam was greater\nthan Moses and superior to him in many respects. He did not teach like\nMoses circumcision, nor the other legal ceremonies, which were\nnecessary to a stiff-necked people to prevent them from superstition,\nbut Adam taught faith in the promised Seed, which should bruise the\nserpent's head. All the primogeniture of Cain therefore and all his\nother privileges and his works profited him nothing; for God had\nrespect only to faith in the promised Seed. Hence it is that Paul\nplainly says to the Jews in the New Testament, \"Know therefore that\nthey that are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham,\" Gal.\n3:7. And Evangelist John says the same things concerning the Jewish\npeople, \"But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become\nthe children of God, even to them that believe on his name: who were\nborn, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of\nman, but of God,\" John 1:12, 13.\n\nI believe therefore that the above interpretation of the words of Adam\nis their original and true meaning. For, first of all, it is in\nperfect accord with the fundamental truth of the holy Scripture and\nwith the sacred matter itself spoken of. And secondly, it does not\nviolate any law of grammar, and it moreover tends to illustrate\nbeautifully and variously by its figures the divine things contained\nin the words used by Adam. But the Rabbins, being ignorant of the\nthings spoken of by Adam, are not at all helped out of the difficulty\nby all their knowledge of the terms employed in the patriarch's\nspeech. How absurd for instance is the opinion of some, who apply the\nexpression, There shall be a \"lifting up\" to the \"fallen countenance\"\nof Cain. As if Adam had said, \"Then thou shalt be able again to lift\nup thy countenance, which is now wholly changed and fallen.\" These\nabsurdities are indeed properly noticed by all our more recent\ncommentators, to whom also our thanks are due, for their faithful\nlabor in translating the original text grammatically. But true\ntheology is indispensable, which alone can rightly judge of and\nrightly teach the things spoken of in the Holy Scripture.\n\nV. 7b. _And unto thee shall be its desire, but do thou rule over it._\n\nSome men have most absurdly wrested this passage to prove by it free\nwill. But it is perfectly evident that Adam does not here really\naffirm that Cain could do what he advised him to do. He is only\nadmonishing or entreating him to do it. For it by no means follows\nthat we can do what we are commanded to do. \"The desire of sin,\" Adam\nhere says to Cain, \"shall be toward thee;\" that is, as Paul expresses\nit, \"Sin is in thy members,\" Rom. 7:5. Again, \"The flesh lusteth\nagainst the spirit,\" Gal. 5:17. \"But thou shalt not be eternally\ncondemned, because thou feelest this motion of sin in thy members. If\nsin entice thee, do thou rule over it by faith. Suffer it not to rule\nover thee, or thou shalt perish for ever.\" Likewise Paul commands in\nRom. 8:13, \"By the Spirit put to death the deeds of the body.\"\n\nThis part of Adam's speech therefore is intended to bring us to\nacknowledge what the life of the godly in the flesh is: namely, that\nit is a perpetual struggle of the spirit against sin. Those therefore\nwho sleep and snore, and prepare themselves not for this fight, are\neasily vanquished. Adam however appears to wish, by this his speech\nnot only to admonish his son to guard against sin in the future, but\nalso to comfort and lift him up from his distress on account of the\npast; for he beholds his son both filled with anguish on account of\nthe divine rejection and now also tempted to revenge. But says Adam to\nhis son, \"Rule over thy sin, and thou shalt find God merciful. Believe\nin him, and he will pardon thy sin.\"\n\nThe Hebrew verb in this passage is MASCHAL; the same as that which the\nLord used above when he said unto the woman, 3:16, \"And thy desire\nshall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee.\" In these words\nthe meaning of the Lord is, that the wife should obey the husband and\nlisten to her husband, and that she should not take upon herself the\njudgment in all things; and that if she did so, the husband in his\nauthority as the man, should rebuke and prevent her. It is in the same\nmanner that Adam here speaks to Cain, saying to him, \"Sin will entice\nthee and prompt thee to revenge.\" This is the father's meaning, when\nhe says, \"And its desire shall be toward thee; but do thou say unto\nsin, I will not obey thee. Refrain thyself and rule over it.\" These\nwords of Adam therefore contain an admonition full of consolation,\nshowing that on account of the blessed Seed we are no longer under\nsin, and that therefore we ought to rule over it. For Adam's speech\nembraces both doctrines; the doctrine of the fear of the Lord and the\ndoctrine of faith. We ought to fear God, because \"sin lieth at the\ndoor,\" and we ought to have faith in God because he is merciful.\n\n\nPART IV. HOW CAIN MURDERED HIS BROTHER AND WAS REQUIRED TO GIVE AN\nACCOUNT, AND HOW HE CONDUCTED HIMSELF.\n\nI. V. 8a. _And Cain told (talked with) Abel his brother._\n\nOur translation has it, \"And Cain said to Abel, his brother,\" adding\nthe words, \"Let us go out doors.\" But this is one of the inventions of\nthe Rabbins, to whom how much credit is to be given, I have fully\nshown. Lyra, following the invention of Eben Ezra, relates that Cain\ntold his brother how severely he had been rebuked of the Lord. But who\nwould believe that for which there is no authority in the Scriptures?\nWe hold therefore to that meaning of the text which the Scriptures\nplainly show to be its true sense, that Cain, being reprobated or\nrejected of God, indulged his wrath, and that he now added to his\nformer sins, contempt of his parents and of the Word, thinking thus\nwithin himself, \"The promised Seed of the woman belongs to me as the\nfirst-born. But my brother, Abel, that contemptible one and that one\nof naught, is evidently preferred to me by the divine authority\nitself, manifested by the fire from heaven consuming his sacrifice.\nWhat shall I do, therefore? I will dissemble my wrath until an\nopportunity of taking vengeance shall occur.\"\n\nThe words therefore, \"And Cain spoke to Abel his brother,\" I\nunderstand as meaning that Cain, dissembling his anger, conducted\nhimself toward Abel as toward a brother, and that he spoke to him and\nconversed with him, as if he bore with a quiet mind the divine\nrejection he had just experienced, and the sentence of God thus\npronounced against him. It was in this manner also that Saul\ndissembled his wrath, who likewise pretended a benevolent mind and\ngood-will toward David. \"I know well,\" said Saul, \"that thou shalt\nsurely be king,\" 1 Sam. 24:20; and yet he was all the while thinking\nof the way in which, having killed David, he might prevent his being\nking. Just in the same way did Cain now converse in dissimulation with\nAbel his brother, saying to him, I see that thou art chosen of the\nLord. I envy thee not this divine blessing, etc., etc. This is the\nvery manner of hypocrites. They pretend friendship until an\nopportunity of doing the harm they intend presents itself.\n\nThat such is the true sense of the passage all the circumstances\nclearly show. For if Adam and Eve could have gathered the least\nsuspicion of the intended murder, think you not that they would either\nhave restrained Cain or removed Abel, and placed the latter out of\ndanger? But as Cain had altered his countenance and his carriage\ntoward his brother, and had talked with him in a brotherly manner they\nthought all was safe, and the son had bowed to and acquiesced in the\nadmonition of his father. This outward appearance and carriage\ndeceived Abel also, who, if he had feared anything like murder from\nhis brother, would doubtless have fled from him, as Jacob fled from\nEsau when he feared his brother's wrath. What therefore could possibly\nhave come into the mind of Jerome, when he believed the Rabbins, who\nsay that Cain was here expostulating with his brother?\n\nWherefore Cain is here the image and the picture of all hypocrites and\nmurderers, who under the show of godliness slaughter the good. For\nCain thus being besieged by Satan covers his wrath, waiting the\nopportunity to slay his brother Abel; meanwhile he converses with him,\nas a brother beloved, that he might the sooner lay his hands upon him\nunawares.\n\nThis passage therefore is intended for our instruction; that we may\nlearn to understand the ways of murderers and hypocrites. For thus it\ntruly always comes to pass that every Cain talks with his brother, as\nCain of old talked brotherly with Abel; and on the other hand also,\nevery Abel trusts in every Cain, as a brother would trust a brother;\nand thus he is murdered, and the pious parents meanwhile are deceived.\n\nJust so the Pope and the bishops of this day talk and consult much\nconcerning the peace and the concord of the Church. But he is most\nassuredly deceived who does not understand all these councils directly\nthe contrary. For true is that word of the Psalm, \"The workers of\niniquity speak peace to their neighbors, but mischief is in their\nhearts,\" Ps. 28:3. For the very nature of all hypocrites is, that they\ncarry an appearance of goodness, speak friendly to you, pretend\nhumility, patience, and charity, and give alms, etc.; and yet, they\nare all the while planning slaughter in their heart.\n\nLet us learn therefore by this history to know a Cain, and to guard\nbest against him when he speaks the most friendly, and as a brother to\na brother. For it is in this way that our adversaries, the bishops and\nthe Pope, talk with us in our day, while they pretend a desire for\nconcord and peace, and seek reconciliation of doctrines; whereas if an\nopportunity of seizing us and executing their rage upon us should\npresent itself, you would soon hear them speak in a very different\ntone. For all the time there is death in the pot, 2 Kings 4:40; and\nunder the best and sweetest words there lies concealed a deadly\npoison.\n\nV. 8b. _And it came to pass, when they were in the field, that Cain\nrose up against Abel his brother, and slew him._\n\nHere then you see the deceptiveness under the above dissembled\nconversation of Cain with his brother. Cain had been admonished by his\nfather with divine authority to guard against sin in the future and to\nexpect pardon for the past through the promised Seed. But Cain\ndespises both admonitions and indulges in his sin, as all the wicked\ndo. For true is the saying of Solomon, \"When the wicked cometh, there\ncometh also contempt, and with ignominy cometh reproach,\" Prov. 18:3.\n\nJust in the same manner our ministry of the Word at the present day\ndeserves no blame. We teach, we exhort, we rebuke, we turn ourselves\nevery way, that we may recall the multitude from the security of sin\nto the fear of God. But the world, like an untamed beast, still goes\non and follows not the Word, but its own lusts, which it strives to\npalliate under the appearance of what is honest and right. The\nprophets and the apostles also stand before us as examples of the same\nlabor in vain, and we also are taught the same by our own experience.\nOur adversaries being so often admonished and convicted know they are\ndoing wrong, and yet they lay not aside their murderous hatred against\nus.\n\nFrom the case of Cain therefore learn what a hypocrite is; namely, one\nwho pretends to the worship of God and charity, and yet at the very\nsame time destroys the worship of God and slaughters his brother. And\nall this semblance of good-will is only intended to create the better\nopportunities of doing the harm designed. For if Abel had foreseen the\nimplacable wrath and the truly diabolical fury of his brother, he\nmight have saved his life by flight. But as Cain betrayed nothing of\nthis kind while he talked with his brother in seeming affection and\nput on the appearance of his usual good-will, Abel perished before he\nfelt the fear of danger.\n\nThere is no doubt that Abel, when he saw his brother rising up against\nhim, entreated and implored him not to pollute himself with this awful\nsin. But a mind thus beset by sin pays no regard to prayers, nor heeds\nuplifted hands. Just as Cain therefore had despised the admonition of\nhis father; so now also he equally despises his brother, fallen on his\nknees before him.\n\nThese things instruct us in that cruel tyranny of Satan, under which\nour nature when involved in sins is bound. Hence Paul calls such, \"The\nchildren of wrath,\" Eph. 2:3; and declares that such are \"taken\ncaptive by Satan at his will,\" 2 Tim. 2:26. For when we are mere men;\nthat is, when we apprehend not the blessed Seed by faith, we are all\nlike Cain, and nothing is wanting but an opportunity to murder our\nbrother. For nature, destitute of the Holy Spirit, is driven by that\nsame evil spirit by which Cain was driven to murder. Whereas if there\nwere in any one those sufficient powers or that free-will of which men\ntalk, by which a man might defend himself against the assaults of\nSatan, these gifts of nature would most assuredly have existed in\nCain, to whom belonged the first birth-right and the promise of the\nblessed Seed. But it was not so. And the condition of all men is the\nsame. Unless nature be helped by the Spirit of God, it cannot uphold\nitself nor stand. Then why do we vainly and absurdly boast of\nfree-will? Now follows another remarkable passage.\n\nII. V. 9. _And Jehovah said unto Cain, Where is Abel thy brother? And\nhe said, I know not: Am I my brother's keeper?_\n\nGood God! into what depth of sin does our miserable nature fall, when\ndriven onward by the devil. At last murder was committed on a brother.\nAnd perhaps murdered Abel lay for days unburied. When therefore Cain\nreturned to his parents at the accustomed time, and Abel returned not\nwith him, the anxious parents said to him, Cain, thou art here, but\nwhere is Abel? Thou art returned home, but Abel is not returned. The\nflock is without their shepherd. Tell us therefore where thy brother\nis? Upon this, Cain, growing indignant, makes answer to his parents,\nby no means with due reverence, \"I know not: Am I my brother's\nkeeper?\"\n\nBut it happened to Cain as to all the wicked, that by _ex_cusing he\n_ac_cused himself. Agreeably also to the words of Christ our Lord,\n\"From thine own mouth will I judge thee, thou wicked servant,\" Math.\n18:32. The heathen had also a striking proverb among them, \"A liar\nought to have a good memory.\" Such was the judgment of heathen men,\nthough they knew nothing of the judgment of God and of conscience, and\nwere capable of judgment and giving admonition concerning natural and\ncivil things only. And true it is that liars expose themselves to many\ndangers of detection, and betray many facts, by which they may be\nconvicted and refuted. Hence the Germans have this proverb, \"A lie is\na very fruitful thing.\" For one lie begets seven other lies, which\nbecome necessary to establish the first lie, and to make it wear the\nface of truth. And yet it is impossible after all to prevent\nconscience from betraying itself at times, if not in words then in\ncountenance and gesture. This will be proved by numberless examples\nhereafter. I will cite one example here.\n\nIn Thuringia there is a small town in the district of Orla, called\nNeustadt. In this town a harlot had murdered her infant, to which she\nhad secretly given birth, and had thrown it, after the murder, into a\nneighboring fish-pond. By a singular occurrence a portion of the linen\nin which she had wrapped the infant brought the horrid deed to light,\nand the case was brought before the magistrate; and as the simple men\nof the place knew no better means of investigating the crime in order\nto discover its author, they called all the young women of the town\ninto the town-hall and closely examined them all, one by one. The\njudgment concerning all the rest was quite manifest, and it was\nevident that they were all innocent. But when they came to her who was\nthe real perpetrator of the deed she did not wait for the questions to\nbe put to her, but immediately declared aloud that she was not the\nguilty person. This declaration at once caused the magistrate to\nsuspect that she really was the author of the deed, because she was\nmore anxious than all the rest to clear herself from any suspicion.\nTherefore she was seized by the constables and forthwith suffered\ndeath.\n\nIndeed examples of the same kind are infinite and occur daily, showing\nthat where persons are most anxious to _ex_cuse themselves, they most\neffectually _ac_cuse and betray themselves. So true is that word which\nwe have just before heard that sin does indeed lie asleep and\nconcealed, but it lies \"at the door.\"\n\nJust so in the present case. Cain thinks that he has made an effectual\nexcuse for himself, by saying that he was not his brother's keeper;\nwhereas, by the very mention of his brother's name, he at once\nconfesses that he ought to have been his younger brother's keeper. And\nthen again does he not, by the same admitted confession, that he ought\nto have been his brother's keeper, accuse himself of being of a\nhostile mind towards his brother? And does he not moreover strike into\nthe mind of his parents a surmise of the murder committed? For Abel\nnowhere appears and is not to be found. Just so also Adam excuses\nhimself in paradise, and lays all the blame on Eve. But this excuse of\nCain is far more idle and absurd; for while he excuses his sin he\ndoubles it. Whereas on the contrary, the free confession of sin finds\nmercy and appeases wrath. It is recorded in the history of St. Martin\nthat when he was pronouncing to some notorious sinners the pardon of\ntheir sins, he was rebuked by Satan, who asked him why he did so; to\nwhom St. Martin is said to have replied, \"Why I would pronounce the\npardon even of thy sins, if thou wouldst say from thy heart, I repent\nthat I have sinned against the Son of God, and I pray to God to pardon\nme for the same.\" But the devil never does this. For he persists in\nand defends his sin.\n\nAll liars and hypocrites imitate Cain their father in his lie, by\neither denying their sin, or excusing it. Hence they cannot find\npardon of their sins from God. And we see the same in domestic life.\nBy the defense of wrong doing, anger is increased. For whenever the\nwife, or the children, or the servants have done wrong, and deny or\nexcuse their wrong doing, the father of the family is the more moved\nto wrath; whereas, on the contrary, plain confession always meets\npardon or a lighter punishment. But it is the very nature of\nhypocrites to excuse and palliate their sin, or to deny it altogether,\nand under the show of religion to slay the innocent.\n\nBut here let us take a view of the manner in which sins follow each\nother and increase more and more. First of all Cain sins by\npresumption and unbelief. When priding himself on the privilege of his\nfirst birth-right, he takes it for granted that he shall be accepted\nof God on the ground of his high merit as the eldest son. Upon this\npride and this glory of self-righteousness immediately follow the envy\nand hatred of his brother, whom he sees preferred before himself by a\ncertain sign from heaven. Upon this envy and hatred follow hypocrisy\nand lying. He talks with his brother in dissembled affection, whom he\nall the while designs to murder, and whom by his affectionate\nconversation he throws the more effectually off his guard. Upon this\nhypocrisy follows murder. Upon this murder follows a lying excuse to\ncover his awful sin. And the last stage of the whole sin is despair\nand desperation; and this last step is the fall from heaven to hell!\n\nAnd although Adam and Eve in paradise did not deny their sin, yet they\nconfessed it quite coldly, and shifted it from the one to the other.\nAdam laid it on Eve, and Eve laid it on the serpent. But Cain went\nfurther than them both, for he not only did not confess the murder he\nhad committed, but declared that he had nothing to do with the care of\nhis brother. And did not this speech at once prove that his mind was\nin a state of hostility against his brother? Though therefore Adam and\nEve confessed their sin with only half their hearts, yet they had some\nclaim to pardon, and they were punished with less severity\naccordingly. But Cain, because he denied his sin determinately, was\nrejected, and fell into despair.\n\nAnd the same judgment awaits all our Cainite popes, cardinals and\nbishops, who although they plan in their minds plots of murder against\nus, yet say like Cain their father, \"I know not: Am I my brother's\nkeeper?\"\n\nThere was a common proverb of old, \"What is it to the Romans that the\nGreeks die?\" So we think that our dangers and calamities only belong\nto ourselves. But how does this principle agree with the commandment\nof God? For his will is, that we should all live together, and be to\neach other as brethren? Cain therefore by this very saying of his\nheavily accuses himself when he makes the excuse that the custody of\nhis brother was no matter of his. Whereas if he had said to his\nfather, \"Alas, my father, I have slain Abel, my brother. I repent of\nthe deed I have done. Return upon me what punishment thou wilt.\" Had\nhe thus spoken, there might have been room for a remedy; but as he\ndenied his sin and contrary to the will of God cast off the charge of\nhis brother altogether, there was no place left for mercy or favor.\n\nMoreover Moses has arranged all this narrative thus particularly and\nremarkably on purpose that it might be a testimony and memorial of all\nhypocrites, that he might, by his peculiar manner of recording the\nsolemn facts, graphically paint forth what hypocrites really are, and\nthat he might show how awfully they are seized upon by Satan as his\ninstruments, and inflamed by him against God and against his Word and\nhis Church. It was not enough for his murderer that he had killed his\nbrother contrary to the command of God, but he adds to that sin the\nfurther sin that, when God inquires of him concerning his brother, he\nbecomes filled with indignation and rage. I say when God inquires of\nhim, because, although it was Adam who spoke these words to his son\nCain, yet he spoke them by the authority of God and by the Holy\nSpirit. In so awful a sin therefore was it not a most kind and gentle\nmanner of expression to inquire, \"Where is Abel thy brother?\" And yet\nto this voice, which contained in it nothing severe, the hypocrite and\nthe murderer grows so ferocious and proud that he replies, \"I know\nnot: Am I my brother's keeper?\" And he is fired with indignation that\nhe should be called to an account concerning the matter at all. For\nthe reply of Cain is the reply of a spirit of resistance and\nindignation against God.\n\nBut to this sin Cain adds a worse sin still. For when he ought to have\nfallen under this accusation of having committed the murder, he\nhimself at once turns round and accuses God and expostulates with him:\n\"Am I my brother's keeper?\" He prefaces his reply with no expression\nof reverence or honor, though due both to God and to his father. He\ndid not say, \"Lord, I know not.\" He did not say, \"My Father, didst\nthou make me the keeper of my brother?\" Such expressions as these\nwould have indicated feeling of reverence towards God or towards his\nparent. But he answers as being Lord himself and plainly manifests\nthat he felt indignant at being called to account even by him who had\nthe high right even to call him to that account.\n\nAnd this is a true picture of all hypocrites. When standing in the\nmost manifest sins they grow full of insolence and pride, and aim all\nthe while at appearing most righteous persons. They will not believe\neven God himself when rebuking them by his Word. Nay, they set\nthemselves against God, contend with him and excuse their sin. Thus\nDavid says, \"that God is judged of men, but that at length he clears\nand justifies himself, and prevails,\" Ps. 51:4. This is that insolence\nof hypocrites which Moses here paints.\n\nBut how does this attempt of Cain succeed. Thus while he uses every\nmeans to _ex_cuse himself, he most powerfully _ac_cuses himself. Thus\nChrist says, \"Out of thine own mouth will I judge thee, thou wicked\nservant,\" Luke 19:22. Now, this servant wished to appear without\nguilt, saying, \"For I feared thee, because thou art an austere man:\nThou takest up that which thou layest not down, and reapest that which\nthou didst not sow: therefore I hid thy talent in a napkin,\" verses 20\nand 21. Now, what _ex_cuses more plausible than these could the wicked\nservant adopt? Yet by what means more effectual could he _ac_cuse\nhimself? For Christ at once uses his own very words against this\nwicked servant, and condemns him out of his own mouth. And this is the\nvery way and wisdom of the Holy Spirit.\n\nSuch examples are profitable to us that we may learn not to contend\nwith God. On the contrary therefore when thou feelest in thine own\nconscience that thou art guilty, take heed with all thy soul that thou\ncontend neither with God nor with men by defending or excusing thy\nsin. Rather do this, When thou seest God points his spear at thee,\nflee not from him; but on the contrary flee to him with humble\nconfession of thy sin, and with prayer for his pardon. Then will God\ndraw back his spear and spare thee. But when by the denial and excuse\nof thy sin thou fleest farther and farther from him, the nearer is God\nto thee as an enemy and the more closely and hotly does he pursue thee\nas such. Nothing therefore is better or safer for thee than to come to\nhim at once with the confession of thy fault. For thus it comes to\npass that, when God conquers us, we also conquer by him.\n\nBut Cain and hypocrites do not this. God points his spear at them, but\nthey do not humble themselves before him nor pray to him for pardon.\nNay, they even point their spear at God, just as Cain did on this\noccasion. Cain does not say, \"Lord, I confess that I have killed my\nbrother; forgive me.\" On the contrary, though being the accused, he\nhimself accuses God by replying, \"Am I my brother's keeper?\" And what\nwas the effect of his pride? By it he openly confessed that he cared\nnaught for the divine laws, which say, \"Thou shalt love thy neighbor\nas thyself,\" Lev. 19:18. And again, \"Do not unto another that which\nyou would not have another do unto you,\" Math. 7:12. These laws were\nnot first written, nor only written, in the Decalogue, but they were\ninscribed in the minds of all men by nature. Yet Cain not only acted\ndirectly against these laws, but showed that he cared naught for them,\nnay, that he absolutely despised them.\n\nIn this way therefore Cain stands the picture, as we have said, not\nonly of a wicked man, but of a man the most wicked, who, though a\nmurderer, is yet a hypocrite wishing to appear a saint; being all the\ntime one more prepared to accuse God than to appear worthy of\naccusation. And this is what all hypocrites do. They blaspheme God and\ncrucify his Son, and yet wish to appear righteous. For after their\nmurders, blasphemies and all other sins their whole aim is to seek\nmeans whereby to excuse and palliate the great sins they have\ncommitted. But the result always is that they only betray themselves\nand are condemned out of their own mouths.\n\nWhile Cain here studies to render himself quite pure in appearance, he\nmost effectually and foully defiles himself. He thinks he has made a\nmost plausible excuse, when he says, \"Am I my brother's keeper?\" But\nthis very excuse becomes his most effectual accusation. And thus\naccording to the saying of Hilary, \"Wickedness is ever closely\naccompanied by folly.\" And so it was in the case of Cain. Had he been\nas wise as he was wicked, he would have excused himself in quite a\ndifferent manner. But since God has ordained that wickedness should\nthus be ever accompanied by folly, Cain's excuse becomes his plain\naccusation. And for this very reason: The defense of truth against her\nadversaries is always easy. For Cain thus testified, both by his words\nand by his gestures, that he cared not for his brother, but hated him;\nso all wicked men by various means ever betray their wickedness. By\nthe example of Cain therefore things the most important and the most\ninstructive are set before us; all of them tending to show that God\nsuffers not hypocrites to remain long undiscovered, but that he\ncompels them to convict themselves by those very means by which they\ncraftily strive to conceal their hypocrisy and their sin.\n\nMoses does not in this description use a multitude of words, according\nto the practice of the world in general; for these in setting forth a\nsubject embellish it with various striking ornaments of figure and\nspeech. But we know by experience, that the real feelings of the mind\ncannot be fully described by the paintings of any human eloquence. And\nindeed an abundance of words only makes the affection of the mind\ndescribed to appear less than it is in reality. Moses therefore acts\nquite differently. By the use of a very few words he discloses a great\nabundance of subject-matter.\n\nThe divine historian above used the expression, \"And when they were in\nthe field.\" Here Moses indicates that the murderer Cain had watched\nhis opportunity; that when alone he might attack his brother, when\nalso alone. And all the connected circumstances plainly show that Abel\nwas not then unemployed, for he was in the field, where he had to do\nthe things his father had given him to do. Here Moses moreover shows\nthat Abel's parents were free from all fear of danger. For although\nfrom the beginning they had feared that the wrath of Cain would\neventually break out into some still greater sin; yet, by his\ncompliance and kindness, and by his pretended affection, he prevented\nall suspicion of evil from remaining in the minds of his parents. For\nhad there been the least apprehension of evil still existing, they\ncertainly would not have permitted Abel to go from their presence with\nCain alone. They would have caused his sisters to go with him as\ncompanions, for some sisters he no doubt had. Or his parents\nthemselves would have prevented by their presence and authority the\nperpetration of so great a wickedness. And as I said, the mind of Abel\nwas perfectly free from all suspicion. For had he suspected evil at\nthe hand of his brother in the least degree, he would doubtless have\nsought safety by flight. But after he had heard and seen, as he\nthought, that Cain bore the judgment of God patiently and did not envy\nhis brother the high honor which God had bestowed upon him, he pursued\nhis work in the field with all security.\n\nWhat orator could describe with eloquence equal to its importance the\nreal nature of that act of Cain, which Moses expresses in these few\nwords? \"And Cain rose up against his brother.\" Many descriptions of\nawful cruelty exist in books on every side, but no description of\ncruelty could paint it in a more atrocious and execrable light than\nthe picture drawn by the few words of Moses, when he simply says, Cain\n\"rose up against\" his brother Abel. As if he had said, Cain rose up\nagainst Abel, the only brother he had, with whom he had been brought\nup and with whom he had lived in the one only family upon earth up to\nthat day; all which family communion he utterly forgot, and not only\nso, but he forgot their common parents also. The greatness of the\ngrief which he would cause his parents by such a grave crime never\nentered his mind. He never thought that Abel was a brother, from whom\nhe had never received any offense whatever. For Cain knew that the\nhonor of the more acceptable sacrifice which Abel had offered,\nproceeded not from any intent or ambition in him, but from the will\nand doing of God himself. In a word Cain did not consider in what\nposition he himself would be; that by this wicked deed, he who had\nhitherto stood in the highest favor with his parents would lose that\nfavor altogether and would fall under their deepest indignation.\n\nIt is recorded in history that when a painter, who was painting the\nstory of Iphigenia, on the point of being sacrificed to Diana by her\nfather, had given to each one of the surrounding spectators his\nappropriate countenance, with a latitude of art which might best\nexpress his pain and sorrow, he at length came to the father himself,\nwho was also a spectator; but feeling convinced that no art of the\npainter could adequately represent his feelings and countenance, he\ncovered his head with a mantle.\n\nMoses I think does the same thing in the present passage, when he uses\nthe verb YAKAM, \"Rose up against.\" What tragical pictures would the\neloquence of Cicero or Livy have here drawn, while they were\nstrikingly portraying the wrath of the one brother, and the dread, the\ncries, the prayers, the tears, the uplifted hands, and all the horrors\nof the other; applying to the description all the power of their mind\nand language? But such feelings cannot be fully described by all these\npowers of eloquence. Moses therefore writes most appropriately, when\nhe sets forth things so inexpressible by mere dots, as it were, in\norder that by his few words the feelings of the reader may be engaged\nto meditate on the facts the more closely and deeply for himself. For\nthe vain attraction of words is like paint applied to natural beauty;\nit only mars and spoils the force of the reality.\n\nOf the same expressive character are the few words which he next adds,\n\"And slew him.\" He does not by those few words represent a common\nmurder, such as we see committed by men in general; for they sometimes\nkindle quarrels from the most trifling causes and commit murders in\nthe end. Such murderers however immediately after the murder is\ncommitted are filled with distress; they grieve for the deed they have\ndone and acknowledge those delusions of the devil by which he blinded\ntheir minds. But Cain felt no distress; he expressed no grief, but\ndenied the deed he had done. This satanic and insatiable hatred in\nhypocrites is described by Christ by saying, \"When they kill you, they\nwill think that they do God service,\" John 16:2. So the priests and\nthe kings filled Jerusalem with the blood of the prophets and gloried\nin what they did, as if their deeds were great and successful\nexploits; for they considered such murders as proofs of their zeal for\nthe law and the house of God.\n\nAnd the furious cruelty of the popes and the bishops in our day is\njust the same. They are not satisfied with having excommunicated us\nagain and again, and with having shed our blood, but they wish to blot\nout our memory from the land of the living; according to the\ndescription of such hatred expressed in the words of the Psalm, \"Rase\nit, rase it, even to the foundation thereof,\" Ps. 137:7. These\ninstances of hatred are satanic, not human; for all forms of human\nhatred grow into mildness by time; and after we have avenged the\noffense and pain given, the hatred at length ceases. But these\ninstances of pharisaic hatred increase in virulence day by day; and\nfor this very reason, because they are justified under the cloak of\nreligion and godly zeal. Cain therefore is the father of all\nmurderers, who slaughter the saints and whose wrath knows no end, as\nlong as there remains one saint for them to kill. All this is proved\nby the example even of the crucified Christ himself. For as to Cain,\nthere is no doubt of his having hoped that by putting Abel to death,\nhe should still hold the high honor of his first birth-right. And in\nthe same way the ungodly always think that their cruelty will profit\nthem in some way. But when they find that their hope is vain they at\nonce fall like Cain into despair.\n\nNow when the fact of this atrocious murder was made known to the\nparents, what do we think must have been the dreadful feelings which\nit excited? What the lamentation? What sighs and groans it caused? But\nI dwell not on these things; they are rather scenes for the eloquent\nand able orator to describe. I will only observe that it was a marvel\nthat both parents were not struck lifeless with pain and grief. For\nthe calamity was rendered the greater by the fact that their\nfirst-born, who had created in them such large hopes concerning\nhimself, was the perpetrator of such a horrible murder. If therefore\nAdam and Eve had not been helped from above, they could never have\nsurmounted this family calamity; for it was a catastrophe exceeding\nall catastrophes the world has ever known. And hence Adam and Eve were\nwithout that consolation which we may have under sudden and unexpected\ncalamities, which consolation is that like evils have befallen others\nand have not come upon us alone. But our first parents had two sons\nonly, though I believe that they had daughters also; and therefore\nthey had not the many examples before them which are always before our\neyes.\n\nWho can doubt however that Satan by this new kind of temptation in\nCain increased greatly the grief and trial of our first parents? For\nthey no doubt thought, Behold this is all our sin. We, when in\nparadise, wished to become like God; but by our sin we are become like\nthe devil. The very same thing has befallen us, in the case of our\nson. We loved this son alone, and made everything of him. Our other\nson Abel was righteous before us, above this son; but of his\nrighteousness we made nothing. This elder son we hoped would be he who\nshould crush the serpent's head; but behold! he himself is crushed by\nthe serpent! Nay, he himself is become like the serpent, for he is now\na murderer. And whence is this? Is it not because he was born of us,\nand because we through our sin are what we are? Therefore it is from\nour flesh, therefore it is from our sin, that this calamity has broken\nforth!\n\nIt is very probable therefore, and the events of the series of years\nwhich followed confirm this probability, that the sorrowing parents,\nstruck with the awfulness of this calamity, abstained for a long time\nfrom connubial intercourse. For it appears that when Cain committed\nthis murder he was about thirty years of age, more or less. During\nthis period some daughters were born unto Adam. For since it is said\nbelow, V. 17, that \"Cain knew his wife,\" there is no doubt that he\nmarried a sister. Moreover since Cain himself says, V. 14, \"And it\nshall come to pass that everyone that findeth me shall slay me;\" and\nas it is further said, V. 15, \"And the Lord set a mark upon Cain, lest\nany finding him should kill him;\" it appears most probable from all\nthese circumstances that Adam had many more children than Cain and\nAbel, but these two only are mentioned on account of the important and\nmemorable history concerning them and because those two were their\nfirst and principal children. For it is my full belief that the\nmarriage of our first parents, during the first thirty years of their\nunion, was most fruitful. In some books the names Calmana and Dibora\nare found as being daughters of Adam; but I know not whether such\nauthors are worthy of any credit. As therefore Seth is recorded as\nhaving been begotten a long time after this awful murder, it seems to\nme very probable that the parents, distressed beyond measure at this\nmonstrous family crime, refrained for a long time from marriage\ncommunion. Moses does not indeed touch upon all these things in his\nnarrative; he intimates them only in order that he might excite, as we\nhave said, the reader to a deep consideration of this memorable\nhistory, the circumstances of which he records in the fewest possible\nwords, as if presenting them to be seen as through a lattice.\n\nBut I return to the text now immediately before us. Cain is an evil\nand a wicked man, and yet in the eyes of his parents he is a divine\npossession and a divine gift. Abel on the contrary is in the eyes of\nhis parents and in their estimation as nothing, according to the\nsignification of his name; but in the eyes of God he is truly a\nrighteous man; hence it is that Christ himself honors him with this\nexalted appellation, when he calls him, \"Righteous Abel!\" Math. 23:35.\nThis was the divine judgment concerning Abel, which Cain could not\nendure, and therefore he thought that the only manner in which his\nhatred of his brother could be satisfied was by murder. And he\nmoreover thought that by this awful means he could still retain the\nhigh honor of his primogeniture. But he was far from thinking that he\ncommitted a great sin by this murder; because as being the first-born\nhe thought he had a right to do this. He killed him therefore as I\nthink, not with a sword, for I conclude that there were, as yet, no\niron weapons, but with a club or with some kind of stone.\n\nAnd after the murder, Cain remained quiet and unconcerned, for he\nthought that the deed would be concealed by hiding the body, which he\nburied, or perhaps he cast it into a river, considering that by such\nmeans he could rest the more sure that the body could not be found by\nhis parents.\n\nWhen Abel therefore had been from home a longer time than he had been\naccustomed to be, the Holy Spirit inspires Adam to utter the words of\nthe text and to inquire of Cain concerning Abel saying, \"Where is Abel\nthy brother?\" Here therefore the sermon and the prophecy of Adam, of\nwhich we have heard before, begins to be fulfilled; where he had said,\n\"If not, sin lieth at the door.\" For Cain thought that he had\nconcealed his sin and had laid it to rest, and that all would thus be\nhidden. And true it was that his sin did lie at rest; but it lay at\nrest \"at the door.\" And who now openeth the door? None other than the\nLord himself. He rouses up and wakens the sleeping sin. He brings the\nhidden sin to light.\n\nAnd the same thing must be fulfilled in all sinners. For unless by\nrepentance thou first come to God, and thyself confess thy sin to God,\nGod will surely come to thee, awake thy sin and discover it to thee.\nFor God cannot endure that any one should deny the sin that he has\ncommitted; as the psalmist also testifies, \"When I kept silence, my\nbones wasted away through my roaring all the day long. For day and\nnight thy hand was heavy upon me; my moisture was changed as with the\ndrought of summer,\" Ps. 32:3, 4. For although sin hath its sleep and\nits security; yet that sleep is \"at the door,\" which cannot long\nremain unawakened or hidden.\n\nWhen Moses here says, \"And the Lord said unto Cain, Where is Abel thy\nbrother?\" I understand Moses to mean, as above, that it was Adam who\nspoke by the Holy Spirit in the person or place of God; and that God\nthere assumed the person of a father speaking to his son. This sacred\nphraseology therefore, \"And the Lord said,\" etc., is intended as thus\nused by the Holy Spirit to commend the high authority of parents; whom\nwhen children dutifully hear and dutifully obey, they hear God and\nobey God. And I believe that Adam knew by the revelation of the Holy\nSpirit, that Abel had been slain by his brother; for he spoke at once\nconcerning the murder, \"What hast thou done? The voice of thy\nbrother's blood crieth unto me from the ground;\" although Cain all the\ntime endeavored to conceal the deed.\n\n\nPART V. HOW CAIN WAS PUNISHED FOR HIS MURDER.\n\nI. And if Eve heard these words spoken to Cain by his father; what do\nwe think must have been the grief and horror of her mind! They must\nindeed have been beyond all description. But the calamity fell still\nnearer and heavier upon Adam himself. For as he was the father, he was\ncompelled as his duty thus to rebuke his son and to excommunicate him\nfrom his family and from the Church of God for his sin. And although\nhe did not slay him, for the law concerning punishing a murderer by\ndeath, which is pronounced hereafter in the ninth chapter, was given\nafter the patriarchs saw murders becoming frequent; and though\ninspired by the Holy Spirit so to do, he even \"set a mark upon his\nson, lest anyone finding him should kill him;\" yet it was an awful\npunishment which was inflicted on Cain and upon all his posterity. For\nin addition to the personal curse of bearing about this mark of a\nmurderer he was excommunicated from his family, driven from the sight\nof his parents and from the society of his brothers and sisters, who\nstill continued with their parents, as in the Church of God.\n\nNow Adam could not have performed all this awful duty without the\ndeepest pain; nor could Eve have heard all that Adam said without the\nsame indescribable anguish. For a father is a father, and a son is a\nson. Adam therefore would willingly have spared his son and would\nwillingly have retained him at home. And we do now sometimes see\nmurderers reconciled to the brothers of those whom they have murdered.\nBut in this terrible case no place was left for reconciliation. Cain\nis bidden at once to be a vagabond upon the face of the earth. The\npain therefore of the parents was doubled. They see one of their sons\nslain by the other; and now they see the slayer excommunicated by the\njudgment of God and cut off forever from the society of the rest of\nhis brethren.\n\nMoreover when we here speak of excommunication from the Church, you\nare not to have in mind our present Churches, magnificent structures\nsuperbly built with carved stones. The temple or Church of Adam was a\ncertain tree, as in paradise; or a certain little hill under the open\nheaven, at which they assembled together to hear the Word of God and\nto offer their sacrifices, for which purpose they had altars erected,\nand God was present with them when they thus offered their sacrifices\nand heard his Word, as is manifest from the divine presence at the\noffering of Abel.\n\nAnd other portions of sacred history testify that altars were erected\nin the open air and that sacrifices were there offered. And indeed the\nsame practice for many reasons would be useful even now; that we might\nassemble together in the open air, pray with bended knees, preach the\nWord, give thanks to God and bless each other, etc. It was from a\ntemple of this kind and from such a Church, not a conspicuous and\nmagnificent Church in a certain place, that Cain was ejected or\nexcommunicated. He was thus doubly punished; first, by a corporal\npunishment, because he was cursed as a vagabond in the earth with the\nmark of a murderer set upon him; and secondly, by a spiritual\npunishment, because he was cast out by excommunication, as from\nanother paradise, and ejected from the temple and Church of God.\n\nLawyers also have made much use of this passage of the holy\nScriptures, and have treated it with becoming dignity, seeing, as they\ndid, that the Lord inquired into the matter before he passed\ncondemnation upon the murderer. The Scripture therefore the framers of\nlaws have so applied, as to determine thereby, that no man should be\ncondemned until his cause had been fully known; nor until he had first\nbeen called to the bar of judgment, had been convicted, and had\nconfessed his guilt. We have seen the same also before in the case of\nAdam. \"And the Lord God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art\nthou?\" Gen. 3:9. And again further on, \"I will go down now, and see\nwhether they have done altogether according to the cry of it, which is\ncome unto me; and if not, I will know,\" Gen. 11:5; 18:21.\n\nLet us however, leaving for the present all civil and political\ndoctrine, look at the all-blessed theological or divine doctrine and\nconsolation, contained in this, when it is recorded that the Lord\ninquired for Abel after his death. For in this fact we have made\nmanifest unto us the resurrection of the dead. Because God by this\ninquiry testified that he was the God of Abel, though now dead; for he\ninquired after him though now slain and no more. From this passage\ntherefore we may frame this most immovable argument; that if there\nwere no one who had the care of us after this life, Abel would not\nhave been inquired for after he was slain. But God does here inquire\nafter Abel, even after he is taken away out of this life, he has not a\nwill to forget him, he still retains the remembrance of him; he asks\n\"Where he is.\" God therefore we see is the God of the dead. My meaning\nis that even the dead, as we here see, still live in the memory of God\nand have a God who cares for them, and saves them in another life\nbeyond and different from this corporal life in which saints are thus\nafflicted.\n\nThis passage therefore we repeat is most worthy our observation, in\nwhich we see that God had great care of Abel, even when dead; and that\non account of Abel though dead he excommunicated Cain, and visited him\nwith destruction even while living, though he was the first-born. This\ntherefore is great and glorious indeed, that Abel though dead was\nstill alive and canonized, as we call it, in another life; a\ncanonization far more blessed and more really divine than is the state\nof any of those whom the Pope has ever canonized! The death of Abel\nwas indeed horrible; for he did not suffer death without excruciating\ntorment nor without many agonies of tears. And yet his death was a\ngoodly death; for now he lives a better and more blessed life than he\ndid before. For this corporal life of ours is lived in sins and is\never in danger of death. But that life which is to come is eternal and\nperfectly free from all trials and troubles, both of the body and of\nthe soul.\n\nNo! God does not inquire after the sheep and the oxen that are slain,\nbut he does inquire after the men who are slain. Men therefore have\nthe hope of a resurrection. They have a God who inquires after them,\neven after their death in the flesh, and who brings them back from\nthat death unto eternal life, a God who inquires after their blood as\nmost \"precious\" to him, as the Psalmist also says, \"Precious in the\nsight of Jehovah is the death of his saints,\" Ps. 116:15.\n\nThis inquiry for the saints after their death and this their\nresurrection, are the glory of the human race, obtained for it by the\nSeed of the woman, which bruised the serpent's head. And the case of\nAbel is the first example of this promise which was made to Adam and\nEve; and by this example God showed that the serpent harmed not Abel,\nalthough he caused him to be thus murdered by his brother. This was\nindeed an instance of the serpent's \"bruising the heel\" of the woman's\nSeed. But when he attempted to bite his head, that is, his life, he\nhimself was crushed. For God, in answer to Abel's faith in the\npromised Seed, required his blood after his death and proved himself\nthereby to be Abel's God still. This is all proved by what follows.\n\nV. 10. _And he said, What hast thou done? The voice of thy brother's\nblood crieth unto me from the ground._\n\nCain's sin hath hitherto lain \"at the door.\" And the preceding\ncircumstances plainly show how hard he struggled to keep his sin\nasleep. For, being interrogated by his father concerning his brother\nAbel, and his father having asked him where he was, he adds to his\nmurder absolute falsehood. And this answer of Cain moreover shows that\nthe words of the inquiry were spoken by Adam in his own person, and\nnot in the person of the divine Majesty. For Cain considers that the\ndeed was hidden from his father, of course as being mere man, but he\ncould not have so thought concerning the divine Majesty. Therefore had\nit been God who had spoken to him in his own proper divine Person, he\nwould have returned a different answer. But as he thought that he was\nspeaking to a man only he denied the deed he had done altogether,\nsaying, \"I know not.\" As if he had added, There are numerous perils by\nwhich a man may perish. He may be destroyed by wild beasts; he may be\ndrowned in some river; or he may lose his life by some other death.\n\nAnd Cain no doubt thought that his father would imagine any other\ndeath of Abel than that his own brother had perpetrated such a deed as\nto murder him. But Cain could not deceive the Holy Spirit in Adam.\nAdam therefore then speaks openly in the person of God and at once\nconvicts him of the murder, saying, \"What hast thou done?\" As if he\nhad said, \"Why dost thou persist in denying the deed; be assured that\nthou canst not deceive God, who hath revealed to me all. Thou thinkest\nthat the blood of thy brother is hidden by the earth with which thou\nhast concealed it. But it is not so absorbed by the earth and\nconcealed by it as to prevent its crying aloud unto God.\" Thus did\nAdam by the Spirit of God indeed wake in Cain his sin lying asleep \"at\nthe door,\" and drag it forth to light.\n\nThe text now before us therefore is full of consolation to the saints\nto support them against the enemies and murderers of the Church; for\nit teaches us that our afflictions and sufferings, and the shedding of\nour blood, fill heaven and earth with their cries. I believe therefore\nthat Cain was so terror-struck in his mind by these words of his\nfather and that he was so confused and astounded that he knew not what\nto say nor what to do. For no doubt his thoughts were, \"If my father\nAdam thus knows all the circumstances of the murder which I have\ncommitted, how can I any longer doubt that the whole is known unto\nGod, unto angels, and unto heaven and earth. Whither therefore can I\nflee? Which way can I turn, wretched man that I am?\"\n\nIt is exactly the same with murderers to this day. They are so\nharassed with the stings of conscience, after the crime of murder has\nbeen committed, that they are always in a state of alarm. It seems to\nthem that heaven and earth have put on a changed aspect toward them\nand they know not whither to flee, so awful a thing is this crying of\nblood that has been shed and so horrible an agony is an accusing\nconscience.\n\nBut it is just the same also under all other atrocious sins. Those who\ncommit them experience the same distresses of mind, when sorrow of\nspirit lays hold of them for what they have done. The whole creation\nseems changed toward them, and even when they speak to persons with\nwhom they have been familiar, and when they hear the answers which\nthey make, the very sound of their voice appears to them altogether\nchanged and their countenances seem to wear an altered aspect.\nWhichever way they turn their eyes, all things are clothed as it were\nwith mourning and horror. So fierce and destroying a monster is a\nguilty conscience. Unless therefore such great sinners are succored\nand upheld from above, they must put an end to their existence from\nanguish and intolerable pain and despair.\n\nIn this place also Moses adopts his usual brevity, which however\nexceeds in force all words. In the first place, he makes use of a very\nstriking figure of speech when he attributes to the shed blood of Abel\nthe cry of a voice which fills heaven and earth. For how can that\nvoice be small or weak which is uttered from earth and fills the ears\nof God in heaven. Abel therefore who when alive was patient under\ninjuries, gentle and placid of spirit, now, when dead and buried in\nthe earth, is utterly unable to endure the injury he has received. He\nwho before dared not utter a syllable of complaint against his\nbrother, now cries aloud and so engages the attention of God by his\ncry that God himself descends from heaven and charges the murderer\nwith his crime. Moses therefore here uses the strongest term. He does\nnot say, \"The voice of thy brother's blood speaketh unto me from the\nground,\" but \"The voice of thy brother's blood crieth unto me\" etc.,\nas heralds proclaim their intelligence aloud, when with exerted voice\nthey call men together to a public assembly.\n\nAnd all these things are thus written, as I have observed, to cause us\nto see that our God is merciful and that he loves his saints, has a\npeculiar care of them, and inquires about them, and searches them out;\nand that on the contrary he is angry with the murderers of his saints,\nhates them and will assuredly punish them. And this consolation is\nmost necessary for us; for, when we are oppressed by our enemies and\nmurderers, we are apt to conclude that our God has forgotten us and\nhas thrown off all care of us. For we think within ourselves that if\nGod did care for us, he would not permit such things to come upon us.\nAnd Abel might also have thought the same, saying to himself, God\nsurely cares nothing for me; for if he did, he would not suffer me\nthus to be murdered by my brother.\n\nBut only look at what follows, and see whether God had not all the\nwhile a greater care of Abel than Abel could possibly have had of\nhimself. For how could Abel, had it been possible for him to have\nsurvived the murder, have inflicted on his brother such vengeance as\nGod here inflicts upon him, after his death, by his brother's hands?\nHow could he, if alive, execute such awful judgment on his brother as\nGod here executes? For now Abel's blood cries aloud unto God, who\nwhile alive was of a spirit the most gentle and meek. Abel, now dead,\naccuses his brother before God of being a murderer; whereas if alive\nhe would bear all the injuries of his brother in silence, and would\neven conceal all his feelings under them. For who was it that betrayed\nCain and accused him of having slain his brother? Does not the text\nhere tell us that the accuser was the blood of the murdered Abel? Yes!\nthat blood still fills the ears of God and of men with its cries which\nhave not yet ceased.\n\nThese things, I say, are all full of consolation; especially unto us\nwho now suffer persecution from the Popes and wicked princes on\naccount of our doctrine. They have exercised toward us the utmost\ncruelty and have vented their rage against godly men, not in Germany\nonly, but in other parts of Europe also. And all this sin is\ndisregarded by the papacy, as if it were nothing but a joke. Nay, the\nPapists really consider it to be the \"service\" of God, John 16:2. All\nthis sin therefore as yet \"lieth at the door.\" But it will be awaked\nand made manifest in its time. For the blood of that best and most\nfaithful of martyrs, Leonard Caizer, which was shed in Bavaria, cries\naloud still. Nor has the cry of the blood of Henry of Zutphan, shed by\nhis own countrymen, ceased; nor the blood of our brother Anthony of\nEngland, poured out by his English enemies. Not to mention a thousand\nothers, who although their names are not so prominent and renowned\nwere yet fellow-sufferers with confessors and martyrs. The blood of\nall these, I say, cries aloud still, and that cry will in its time\ncause God to descend from heaven and execute judgment in the earth, a\njudgment which will be awful and intolerable to the enemies of the\nGospel.\n\nLet us not think therefore that our blood is disregarded of God. Let\nus not imagine for a moment that God regardeth not our afflictions.\nNo! he collects all our tears, and puts them into his bottle, Ps.\n56:8. The cry of the blood of all the godly who have thus been slain\npenetrates the clouds, enters the heavens, and comes even unto the\nthrone of God, and moves him to come forth and vindicate the blood of\nthe righteous that has been shed, Ps. 79:10. And in the same manner as\nthese things are written for our consolation, so are they also written\nfor the terror of our adversaries. For what think you can be more\nawe-striking to our tyrants to hear than that the blood of all they\nhave slain continually cries aloud and accuses them before God? God is\nindeed long-suffering, especially now toward the end of the world; and\ntherefore sin lieth the longer \"at the door.\" Vengeance does not\nimmediately follow. But it is sure and certain that God is most\nrighteously offended with all this sin, and that he will never suffer\nit to pass away unpunished.\n\nSuch is the judgment of God on Cain. But I believe that this judgment\nwas not executed on the first day of the murder, but that some time\nintervened between the murder and this terror on Cain. For God is in\nhis nature long-suffering, because he waits for the returning of\nsinners to himself. But he does not on that account omit or forget to\npunish them. For he is the righteous judge both of the living and of\nthe dead, as we confess in the creed of our faith. God therefore\nexercised this his judgment in the very beginning of the world,\nmemorable in the case of these two brothers. He judged and condemned\nthe living murderer, and justified the slain righteous Abel. And he\nexcommunicated Cain and drove him into those agonies of soul that the\nspace of the whole creation seemed too narrow to contain him. For from\nthe moment he saw that God would be the avenger of his brother's\n\"crying blood,\" he found safety nowhere. While to Abel on the contrary\nthe space both of earth and of heaven gives an unbounded latitude of\nsecurity.\n\nWhy should we ever doubt therefore that God ponders and numbers in his\nheart the afflictions of his people, and that he measures our tears\nand inscribes them all on adamantine tablets? These tears the enemies\nof the Church of Christ can never erase by any device of theirs, but\nby their repentance alone for what they have done to his saints.\nManasses was a terrible tyrant and a most inhuman persecutor of the\ngodly. And his banishment and captivity would never have sufficed to\nhave blotted out these sins. But when he acknowledged his sin and\nrepented in truth, then the Lord showed him mercy.\n\nSo Paul had, and so the Pope and the bishops have now only one way\nleft them, to acknowledge their sin and to supplicate the forgiveness\nof God. But as they do not this God will surely require at their hands\nin his fury the blood of the godly. Let no one be doubtful of this. So\nhere Abel is dead, but Cain is still alive. But O! good God! what a\nlife of misery does he live! For his wishes are that he had never been\nborn. Because he ever hears the voice of his excommunication and\nexpects every moment death and the vengeance of God upon his sin. And\nthe awful case of our adversaries and of the Church's tyrants shall in\nits time be exactly the same.\n\nII. V. 11. _And now cursed art thou from the ground, which hath opened\nits mouth to receive thy brother's blood from thy hand;_\n\nThus far have we heard how the sin of Cain was revealed by the crying\nblood of his brother Abel; and that he was hereby convicted of the\nmurder by his father Adam, and that the judgment of God concerning the\ntwo brothers was, that the one should not only be justified but\ncanonized, as we say, and declared to be a saint, and the first fruits\nas it were of this blessed Seed of the righteous, but that the other\nbrother the first-born should be condemned and excommunicated or cast\nout as the following sacred narrative now shows. For Moses now\nproceeds to record the punishments which were inflicted of God on this\nfratricide.\n\nAnd here in the first place the carefulness and discrimination of the\nHoly Spirit, even \"from the beginning,\" is most worthy of our\nobservation. For above, when the punishment was inflicted on Adam for\nhis sin, the person of Adam was not cursed, but the earth only. And\neven the earth was not cursed absolutely in itself, but a certain\nexcuse, as it were, was made for it. For the curse was pronounced\nthus: \"Cursed is the ground for thy sake,\" Gen. 3:17. Hence it is that\nPaul says, Rom. 8:20, \"For the creature was made subject to vanity,\nnot willingly,\" that is, not of its own will or fault. But because the\nearth instrumentally caused man to become a sinner; therefore also the\nearth was compelled to bear the curse as the instrument, in the same\nmanner as gold, the sword, etc., are cursed, not in themselves, but\nbecause men sin by their means. This is a most beautiful reasoning as\nit were in the Holy Spirit, when he thus distinguishes between the\nearth and Adam. He makes the curse fall on the earth, but preserves\nthe person of Adam.\n\nBut in the instance before us the Holy Spirit speaks of Cain\notherwise. He curses the person of Cain. And why is this? Is it\nbecause the sin of Cain, as a murderer, was greater than the sin of\nAdam and Eve? Not so. But because Adam was that root from whose flesh\nand loins Christ, that blessed Seed, should be born. This Seed\ntherefore is that which was spared. For the sake of this blessed Seed,\nthe fruit of the loins of Adam, the curse is transferred from the\nperson of Adam to the earth, the very instrument. So that Adam bears\nthe curse of the earth, but his person is not cursed; because from his\nposterity Christ was to be born.\n\nBut because Cain by his sin fell from this glory of being the root of\nthe blessed Seed; therefore his person is cursed. And the Holy Spirit\nsays to him, \"Cursed art thou,\" that we might understand that he was\ncut off from the glory of the promised Seed and was condemned never to\nhave in his posterity such a seed as _that Seed_, through which the\nblessing should come. This was Cain's rejection from all that\nstupendous glory of the promised Seed. For Abel was now slain;\ntherefore there could now be no posterity from him. But Adam was\nappointed still to serve God by his generating children. In Adam alone\ntherefore, Abel being slain, and Cain being accursed and rejected, the\nhope of the blessed Seed rested until Seth was born unto him.\n\nThe words of the Holy Spirit here are indeed few, when he says to\nCain, \"Cursed art thou.\" But they are words worthy the deepest and\nmost diligent consideration. The words are in their import, as if the\nHoly Spirit had said to Cain, \"Thou art no longer he from whom the\nblessed Seed can be hoped for.\" By these few words therefore Cain is\nrejected forever and is cut off as a branch from its stem; so that he\ncan no longer hope for that glory which he so much strove to hold\nfast. For Cain's great desire was that the glory of this future\nblessing should be propagated from his loins and proceed from his\nposterity. But the more he strove to secure this glory, the further he\nwas from obtaining it. And just so it is with all the wicked; for the\nmore they labor to accomplish their purposes, the more surely they\nfail and fall.\n\nAnd here begin, as we observed on the offerings of Cain and Abel, the\ntwo churches, which are ever at perfect enmity with each other; the\nChurch of Adam and the godly which possesses the hope and promise of\nthe blessed Seed; and the church of Cain, which lost this hope and\npromise by sin and never could recover it. For in the Deluge the whole\nposterity of Cain was utterly destroyed, so that no prophet nor saint,\nnor any head of a church of the posterity of Cain was left in\nexistence; so utterly were all things denied to Cain and taken from\nhim by this one word, when the Holy Spirit said to him, \"Cursed art\n_thou_.\"\n\nBut the expression \"From the earth\" is added. This is as it were a\ntempering of the awful wrath of God upon Cain. For if the Holy Spirit\nhad said \"From heaven,\" it would have taken away the hope of salvation\nfrom the whole posterity of Cain forever. But since the expression is,\n\"From the earth,\" the fall of Cain's posterity from the promise and\nglory of the blessed Seed is threatened and determined; and yet a door\nwas left open by which it might come to pass that some private persons\nof the generation of Cain might, by the inspiration of the Holy\nSpirit, join themselves to the posterity and Church of Adam, and be\nsaved; as indeed in after ages it came to pass. For although the Jews\nalone retained the glory of giving birth to this blessed Seed and\npossessed the promise which was in him, according to the Psalm, \"He\nhath not dealt so with any nation, and as for his ordinances, they\nhave not known them,\" Ps. 147:20; yet the Gentiles had the right of\nbeggars, if I may so express it; and by begging they obtained the same\nblessing through the divine mercy, which the Jews possessed through\nthe true posterity of Adam or the promise of God.\n\nIn like manner also all rule in the Church was absolutely denied to\nthe Moabites and Amorites, and yet many private individuals among them\nembraced the religion of the Jews. It was thus also that all right in\nthe Church was taken away from Cain and his posterity absolutely. Yet\nso that permission was left them to beg as it were for this grace.\nThis right of being beggars was not taken from them. For Cain, because\nof his sin, was cast out from the right of sitting at the family table\nof Adam. But the right was left him in his posterity to beg and gather\nup as dogs the crumbs that fell from his father's table, Math. 15:26,\n27. This is signified by the Hebrew expression, MIN HAADAMA, \"From the\nearth.\"\n\nI make these observations because there is a great probability that\nmany of the posterity of Cain, in the earliest ages of the world,\njoined themselves to the holy patriarchs. But they abode in the Church\nas private persons only and without any office in it, as those who had\nutterly lost the promise of the blessed Seed being born from their\nbody and posterity. And the loss of this promise was a serious matter\nto them. And yet this great curse was so mitigated toward them, that\nthere was granted to them, as we have said, the right of being beggars\nfor it as it were. Heaven was not absolutely denied them, provided\nthey would join the true Church; as it is written, and particularly\ndescribed in Is. 56:3-8.\n\nBut this joining the true Church among his posterity Cain strove to\nhinder in various ways. For he set up new forms of worship and\ninvented numerous ceremonies; that thereby he also might appear to be\nthe Church. Those however who departed from him and joined the true\nChurch were saved; although they were compelled to despair of the\nglory of Christ being born from their body or posterity. But let us\nnow return to the sacred text.\n\nMoses here uses a very striking personification. He represents the\nearth as being a dreaded beast, when he speaks of her as having opened\nher mouth and swallowed the innocent blood of Abel. But why does he\nspeak of the earth in terms so terrible, when all these horrid things\nwere transacted without her will or knowledge? Nay, since the earth is\na good creature of God and these things were done against her will,\nand her struggle to prevent them? For Paul, as we have just observed,\nsays, \"The creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly,\" etc.,\nRom. 8:20. My reply is, this was done, and the Spirit thus spoke,\naccording to Moses, as a terror to Adam and to all his posterity, that\nthey might live in the fear of God and dread the sin of murder. For\nthe words of Adam mean and are as if he had said, \"Behold the earth\nhath opened her mouth and swallowed the blood of thy brother; but she\nought to have swallowed thee, the murderer. The earth indeed is a good\ncreature, and is good to the good and the godly; but to the wicked she\nis full of yawnings and loud cries.\" It is to this end that Moses\nrecords the Holy Spirit as having used these terrible expressions in\nreference to the earth through the mouth of Adam. It was to strike\nterror and confusion into murderers. Nor is there any doubt that Cain,\nafter he heard these things from the mouth of his angry father, was\nterror-struck in his soul like Judas and overwhelmed with confusion,\nso that he knew not which way to turn. The expressions, \"Which hath\nopened her mouth to receive thy brother's blood from thy hand,\" are\nindeed full of terror; and they point out the awfulness of this\nmurder, in deeper colors than any pictures could represent it.\n\nV. 12a. _When thou tillest the ground, it shall not henceforth yield\nunto thee its strength._\n\nThe Lord above said unto Adam, \"Thorns also and thistles shall it\nbring forth to thee.\" But here the Holy Spirit speaks to Cain\notherwise. His words before us are as if he had said, \"Thou hast\nwatered and manured the earth, not with enriching dung and reviving\nrain, but with thy brother's blood. Therefore the earth shall be to\nthee less productive than to others. For the blood which thou hast\nshed shall hinder the strength and the fruitfulness of the earth to\nthee.\" And this is the second part of the punishment; namely, the\nbodily curse on Cain: that, although the earth should be just alike\ncultivated by Adam and by Cain, yet it should be more fruitful to Adam\nthan to Cain, and should yield its return to the former for his\nlabors; but that to the labors of Cain it should not yield any such\nreturns of fruitfulness on account of the blood shed; which should\nhinder it, though by nature desirous to return her fruitfulness and\nstrength for all labors of men.\n\nBut here also we must offer a remark concerning the grammatical\npeculiarity of the original language. In the present passage, Moses\nterms the earth, HAADAMA. But in the passage which follows, \"A\nfugitive and a wanderer shalt thou be in the earth,\" he uses the term\nAREZ. Now ADAMA signifies, according to grammatical interpreters,\n\"that part of the earth which is cultivated,\" in which trees grow and\nother fruits of the earth which are adapted for food. But AREZ\nsignifies \"the whole earth,\" whether cultivated or uncultivated. This\ncurse of God therefore properly has reference to that part of the\nearth which is cultivated for food. And the curse implies that where\none ear of wheat should bring forth three hundred grains for Adam, it\nshould bring forth scarcely ten grains for Cain the murderer; and for\nthe end, that Cain might behold on every side of him proofs that God\nhates and punishes the shedding of blood.\n\nV. 12b. _A fugitive and a wanderer (vagabond) shalt thou be in the\nearth._\n\nAnd this was a third punishment contained in the divine curse on Cain,\nwhich continues to rest on murderers to this day. For unless they find\nreconciliation they wander about, having no fixed abode or certain\ndwelling-place.\n\nWe have here two original terms, NO VANOD, \"a vagabond,\" and \"a\nfugitive,\" but my manner is to distinguish them thus. I consider NO to\nsignify, \"the uncertainty of the place in which you are or dwell;\"\nthat is, how long you can remain there. In the same manner as the Jews\nat this day are \"vagabonds\" or wanderers; because they have no certain\nor fixed dwelling-place and are in hourly fear lest they should be\ncompelled to go forth from where they may be dwelling. But NOD\nsignifies, the \"uncertainty of the place to which you can go;\" that\nis, the not knowing where to go; so that, while on the one hand you\nhave no certain place in which to dwell, to that misery is added the\nfurther misery, that when you must leave your present uncertain place\nof abode, you know not whither to go. The original NO VANOD therefore\ncontains in it a double punishment: the not being able to remain with\nany certainty in any place, and the not knowing whither to go, when\nyou are driven from your present uncertain place of abode; as we find\nit also in Psalm 109:10, \"Let his children be continually vagabonds.\"\nVENOA IANUU BANAV, that is \"let them, by wandering, wander;\" or, \"let\nthem be wanderers indeed, or utter wanderers;\" that is, let them never\nfind a place in which they can dwell with certainty or safety. If they\nare this year in Greece let them be compelled the next year to wander\ninto Italy; and so on perpetually.\n\nJust such is evidently the miserable state of the Jews at the present\nday. They can fix their dwelling-place nowhere permanently. And to\nthis calamity of the Jews of the present day God adds another misery\nin the case of Cain that, when he is driven from one place of abode,\nhe should not know where to find another, and thus should live\nsuspended as it were between heaven and earth, not knowing where to\nstop nor where to find any continuing place of rest or refuge. And in\nthis manner was the sin of Cain visited with a threefold punishment.\nIn the first place he is deprived of all spiritual or Church glory,\nfor the promise concerning the blessed Seed being born from his\nposterity is taken away from him. In the second place the earth is\ncursed to him in her fruitfulness, which is a domestic punishment\nreaching to all his provision for this life. And thirdly the\npunishment of a political or civil calamity is inflicted on him, in\nhis being made a vagabond and never able to find any certain place of\nabode or rest.\n\nBut still a way of joining the true Church is left him, but without\nthe promise! For as I have said, if any of Cain's posterity did join\nthemselves to the true Church and to the holy fathers they were saved.\nAnd thus there was left them the domestic privilege, but without the\nblessing. And so the political privilege was preserved to them that\nthey might build a city and dwell there, but for how long was still\nleft uncertain. Cain therefore in his posterity is still a beggar as\nit were in the Church, in the domestic household, and in the civil\nstate.\n\nAnd moreover with these punishments of Cain there was joined as an\nalleviation that he should not be slain immediately on account of the\nmurder which he had committed; as also afterwards a like Levitical law\nwas ordained concerning man-slayers. But Cain was preserved alive as\nan example to others that they might fear God and flee from the sins\nof murder. Let these observations suffice therefore concerning the sin\nof Cain and the judgment and vengeance of God on the same.\n\nBut there are some who here reply and indeed the saints themselves\noften so argue to themselves that the godly also sometimes endure\nthese same curses, while the wicked on the contrary are free from\nthem. They look at the Apostle Paul as an instance, where he says that\nhe also \"wandered about and had no certain dwelling-place.\" And verily\nour own condition is precisely the same at the present day. We preach\nto the Churches and have either no certain dwelling-places at all or\nare driven into banishment or are in fear of banishment every hour.\nAnd the same was the condition of Christ, of his apostles and\nprophets, and of the patriarchs of old.\n\nIn the same manner the Scriptures say concerning Jacob, \"The elder\nshall serve the younger,\" Gen. 25:23. But does not Jacob become a\nservant when we see him a most distressed supplicant? Does he not from\nfear of his brother haste away into exile? Does he not on his return\nhome supplicate his brother and fall on his knees before him? Is not\nIsaac also seen to be a most miserable beggar? Gen. 6:1-35. Abraham\nhis father also goes into exile among the nations and possesses not in\nall the world a place to set his foot, as Stephen says, Acts 7:1-5. On\nthe other hand, the mocking and wicked Ishmael is a king and from him\nare born the dukes of the land of Midian, Gen. 25:16, before Israel\nentered into the land of promise. In the same manner it will be seen\nin the 17th verse of the present chapter that Cain first built the\ncity Enoch, and from him were born shepherds, workers in metals, and\ninventors of music. All these things seem to the world to prove that\nthe curses of God are wrongly confined to Cain and his posterity,\nseeing that these same curses frequently rest on the true Church;\nwhile on the contrary it is well with the wicked, and they flourish.\n\nThese things are often a stumbling block, not to the world only, but\nto the saints themselves as the Psalms in many places testify. And the\nprophets also are frequently found to grow indignant, as does\nJeremiah, when they see the wicked possess freedom as it were from the\nevils of life, while they are oppressed and afflicted in various ways.\nMen may therefore naturally inquire, Where is the curse of the wicked?\nWhere is the blessing of the godly? Is not rather the contrary the\ntruth? Cain is a vagabond and settled nowhere; and yet Cain is the\nfirst man that builds a city and has a certain place to dwell in. But\nwe will reply to these inquiries more fully hereafter. We will now\nproceed with the text of Moses.\n\n\nPART VI. CAIN'S CONDUCT UPON BEING PUNISHED.\n\nV. 13. _And Cain said unto Jehovah, My punishment (iniquity) is\ngreater than I can bear (than can be remitted)._\n\nHere Moses seems to have fixed a cross for the grammarians and the\nRabbins. For they crucify this passage in various ways. Lyra recites\nthe opinions of some who explain this passage affirmatively,\nconsidering it to mean that Cain said in his despair that his sin was\ngreater than could be pardoned; and it is thus that we have rendered\nthis expression of Cain. Augustine also retained this view of the\npassage, for he says, \"Thou liest, Cain; for the mercy of God is\ngreater than the misery of all the sinners of the whole world put\ntogether.\"\n\nThe Rabbins however expound the passage as being a negative\ninterrogation, making Cain to say, \"Is my iniquity greater than can be\nremitted?\" But if this rendering be the true one, Cain not only does\nnot acknowledge his sin, but excuses it and moreover insults God for\nlaying upon him a punishment greater than he deserved. But it is just\nin this way that the Rabbins almost everywhere corrupt the sense of\nthe Scriptures. Consequently I begin to hate them and I admonish all\nwho read them, to read them with great caution and judgment. For\nalthough they did possess the knowledge of some things, by tradition\nas it were from the fathers, yet they corrupted them in various ways;\nand therefore they often deceived by those corruptions, even Jerome\nhimself. Nor did the poets of old ever so fill the world with their\nfables as the wicked Jews did the Scriptures with their absurd\nopinions. A great labor therefore is thereby thrown in our way to get\nhold of the pure text and to clear it from their false opinions and\ncomments.\n\nThe cause of all this error is that some are grammarians only, but\nknow nothing of the divine things concerned; that is, they are not\ndivines also; therefore they are compelled to dream and to guess, and\nthereby to crucify both themselves and the Scriptures. For how is it\npossible that such persons should be right judges of things which they\ndo not understand? Now, the divine subject matter in the present\npassage is that Cain is accused in his own conscience. And no one, not\nonly no wicked man, but not even the devil himself can endure this\njudgment of his own conscience; as James also witnesses, \"The devils\nalso believe and tremble before God,\" James 2:19. And Peter also says,\n\"Whereas angels which are greater in power and might cannot endure\nthat judgment which the Lord will exercise upon blasphemers,\" 2 Pet.\n2:11. So also Manasses in his prayer, Vs. 4, 5, confesses that all men\ntremble before the face of the Lord's anger.\n\nAll these things therefore fully prove that there was not in Cain\nunder his judgment enough spirit left to enable him to set himself\nagainst God and to expostulate with him. For God is an almighty\nadversary to contend with, and he always makes his first attack upon\nthe heart and fastens his grip on the conscience. Now of this matter\nthe Rabbins know nothing, nor have any understanding of it whatever;\nand therefore they speak on this judgment of God as if it were a\nmatter transacted before men, in judgment where a fact is either\nfalsely denied or vainly excused before the judge. The judgment of God\nhowever is quite a different matter. For there, as Christ says, \"By\nthy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be\ncondemned,\" Math. 12:37. Cain therefore does acknowledge his sin in\nthe present passage, but he does not grieve so much concerning his sin\nas concerning his punishment for it. Cain's words therefore are here\nto be understood affirmatively, and they show the horribleness of his\ndespair.\n\nA further proof of Cain's entire despair is, that he does not utter\none word of reverence. He never mentions the name of God or of his\nfather. His conscience is so confused and so overwhelmed with terror\nand despondency that he is not able to think of any hope of pardon. So\nthe Epistle to the Hebrews gives the same description of Esau, saying,\n\"Who for one mess of meat sold his own birthright. For ye know that\neven when he afterward desired to inherit the blessing, he was\nrejected; for he found no place for change of mind, though he sought\nit diligently with tears,\" Heb. 12:16, 17. Thus in the present\ninstance Cain feels his punishment, but he grieves more for his\npunishment than for his sin. And all persons in like despair do just\nthe same.\n\nThe two original words of this passage, MINNESO and AVON, again form\ntwo crosses for grammarians. Jerome translates the clause, \"My\niniquity is greater than can be pardoned.\" Sanctes, the grammarian of\nPagnum, a man of no mean erudition and evidently a diligent scholar,\nrenders the passage, \"My punishment is greater than I can bear.\" But\nby such a rendering, we shall make of Cain a martyr and of Abel a\nsinner. And concerning the original word NOSA, I have before observed,\nthat when it is applied to sin, it signifies \"to lift sin up, or off,\non high;\" that is, \"to take it out of the way.\" Just as we by the use\nof a common figure say, \"to remit sin,\" or \"the remission of sins,\" as\nwe have in, Ps. 32, ASCHRE NESU PESCHA, which, when rendered\nliterally, means, \"being made happy by having been relieved from crime\nor sin.\" We render it, \"Blessed is he whose transgression is\nforgiven;\" that is, whose sin is taken away. As we have it also again,\n\"The people that dwell therein shall be forgiven their iniquity,\" NESU\nAVON, that is, \"shall be relieved from their crime or sin,\" Is. 33:24.\n\nThe other original term AVONI, grammarians derive from the verb ANAH,\nwhich signifies \"to be afflicted,\" as in Zacharia, \"Behold thy king\ncometh unto thee poor or afflicted,\" Zach. 9:9. Our translation\nrenders it \"meek,\" etc., as we find it also Ps. 132:10, \"Lord remember\nDavid and all his meekness, or lowliness;\" that is, \"all his\nafflictions.\" From this same original root is derived the expression,\n\"low estate,\" or \"lowliness,\" of his handmaiden, used by the Virgin\nMary in her song, Luke 1:48. It is the meaning of the original word\nAVONI which induced Sanctes to render it, in the present passage,\npunishment.\n\nBut here the original AVONI signifies \"iniquity,\" or \"sin,\" as it does\nalso in many other passages of the Holy Scriptures, which appears more\nplainly from the verb to \"lift up\" or \"to lift off,\" which stands\nconnected with it. Hence it is that grammarians, who are nothing more\nthan grammarians, and who know nothing of divine things, find their\ncrosses in all such passages; and crucify, not only the Scriptures,\nbut themselves and their hearers. But in the interpretation of the\nHoly Scriptures the subject or divine matter and sense are first to be\ndetermined; and when that appears in all respects consistent with\nitself, then the grammatical propriety is to be explained. The Rabbins\nhowever take a directly contrary course. And hence it grieves me much\nthat divines and the holy fathers so frequently follow them.\n\nV. 14. _Behold, thou hast driven me out this day from the face of the\nground; and from thy face shall I be hid; and I shall be a fugitive\nand a wanderer in the earth; and it will come to pass, that whosoever\nfindeth me will slay me._\n\nFrom these words it still more plainly appears that the sentence and\ncurse on Cain were pronounced by Jehovah through the mouth of Adam.\nCain here acknowledges first that he is driven out from the domestic\nand political communion; and secondly that he was excommunicated from\nthe Church.\n\nOf the difference of the meaning of the original words ADAMAH and EREZ\nwe spoke above. We have shown that EREZ signifies the whole earth\ngenerally; but that ADAMAH means the cultivated part of the earth in\nparticular. The meaning therefore of these words of Cain is, \"I am now\ncompelled to flee from thy presence and from that place of the earth\nwhich I have cultivated. The whole world indeed lies before me, but I\nmust be a fugitive and a vagabond upon the earth; that is, I shall\nhave no certain dwelling place.\" In the same way murderers among us\nare punished with exile and become vagabonds in the earth. These words\ntherefore afford a further evidence of the manner in which the words,\nwhich Adam said above are to be understood, \"Cursed art thou upon\nearth.\" They refer to Cain's being driven away into banishment. This\npart of Cain's punishment therefore is a civil or political\npunishment, by which he is shut out from the whole civil community.\n\nBut that which Cain next adds, \"And from thy face shall I be hid,\" is\nan ecclesiastical or Church punishment. It is an excommunication from\nthe true Church of God. For as the priesthood and the kingdom rested\nwith Adam, and Cain on account of his sin was excommunicated from\nAdam, he was thereby also deprived of the glory both of the priesthood\nand of the kingdom. But why Adam adopted this punishment of expelling\nhis son from him and excommunicating him from his presence, is\nexplained by the words which we just before heard from the father's\nmouth, \"When thou tillest the ground it shall not henceforth yield\nunto thee her strength;\" as if he had said, \"Thou art cursed and thy\nlabors are cursed also. Therefore if thou shalt remain with us upon\nearth it cannot be but that both thou and we also must perish with\nhunger. For thou hast stained the earth with thy brother's blood, and\nwherever thou art thou must bear about the blood of thy brother with\nthee, and even the earth herself will exact of thee the punishment of\nthat blood by not yielding to thee her strength.\"\n\nThere is a sentence almost the same as this pronounced on Cain by Adam\nin 1 Kings 2:29-33, where Solomon gives commandment to Benaiah, son of\nJehoiada, saying, \"Slay Joab, and thou shalt take away the innocent\nblood which was shed by Joab from me and my father's house. And the\nLord shall return his blood upon his own head. But unto David, and\nunto his seed, and unto his house, and unto his throne, shall there be\npeace for ever from Jehovah.\" As if he had said, \"If Joab suffer not\nthis punishment of his unjust murder, the whole kingdom must suffer\nthat punishment and be shaken from one end to the other by wars.\" It\nis just thus Adam speaks in the present passage. As if he had said,\n\"If thou shalt remain on the earth here with us God will bring\npunishments upon us for thy sake, so that the earth will not yield to\nus her fruit.\"\n\nBut now let us offer our reply to the question above raised concerning\nCain and his posterity not being the only persons subject to the curse\nof wandering and affliction, seeing that the saints also, it is\nargued, are subject to the same; and that Cain though thus cursed was\nyet the first who built a city, etc. It was said to Cain as his curse,\n\"A fugitive and a vagabond shalt thou be upon earth.\" And yet Cain is\nthe first man who builds a city, and his posterity from that time so\nincreased that they seduced, oppressed, and so utterly overthrew the\nChurch of God, as not to leave more than eight persons from the\nposterity of Seth remaining. The whole of the other multitude of\nmankind, who perished in the Flood, had followed Cain as the sacred\ntext plainly declares, \"And it came to pass, when men began to\nmultiply on the face of the ground, and daughters were born unto them,\nthat the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and\nthey took them wives of all that they chose,\" Gen. 6:1, 2. And it is\nalso said that these sons of God, when they came unto the daughters of\nmen, begat giants and mighty men, which were of old, men of renown,\nverse 4. As therefore Cain had so great and mighty a posterity and as\nhe built the first city, how can it be true, men ask, that he was a\nfugitive and vagabond upon earth, according to the curse pronounced\nupon him?\n\nWe will reply therefore to the literal facts before us. For what we\nhave said above in reference to the New Testament, concerning Paul and\nthe apostles, and Christ himself, and the prophets, that is altogether\na different subject. When Adam here says to Cain, \"A fugitive and a\nwanderer shalt thou be upon earth,\" he speaks these words to him to\nsend him away; designedly joining no precept or direction therewith.\nHe does not say to him, \"Go to the east;\" he does not say, \"Go to the\nsouth;\" he does not mention any one place to which he should go. He\ngives him no direction what to do. He simply sends him away, but as to\nwhither he should go or what he should do, he expresses no concern. As\nto what the will and the way of his son may be hereafter, the father\ntakes no care whatever. He adds no promise of protection. He does not\nsay, \"God will take care of thee;\" nor, \"God will defend thee.\" But as\nthe whole wide heaven lies open to the bird, leaving him the liberty\nto fly where he will, but giving him a sight of no place in that\nheaven, to which he might flee in safety for protection from the\nattack of the other birds, so does Adam dismiss Cain. This Cain fully\nfeels; and therefore it is that he adds the utterance, \"And it shall\ncome to pass that every one that findeth me shall slay me.\"\n\nNow the condition of Adam in paradise was different from that of Cain,\nand better. Adam had sinned, and by his sin he had sunk under death.\nBut when he was driven out of paradise God appointed to him by his\ncommand a certain employment, that he should till the earth in a fixed\nand certain place. God also clothed him with a covering of skins.\nThis, as we have said above, was a sign that God would take care of\nhim and defend him. And that which exceeded all things else, a\nglorious promise was made to the woman concerning her Seed, which\nshould \"bruise the serpent's head.\" But no one thing like these\nmercies was left to Cain. He was sent away absolutely without the\nmention of any certain place or any certain employment. No command was\ngiven him nor any promise made him. He was like a bird set loose in\nthe wide heavens, as we have said, to wander in its flight where it\nmay. Such was the state and meaning of Cain's being truly and properly\n\"a vagabond,\" \"a wanderer\" without any fixed dwelling-place.\n\nAnd thus unsettled and wandering are all who have not the Word and the\ncommand of God, by which a certain place of worship and a certain\nministry are vouchsafed unto them. And just such were we under the\npapacy. There were plenty of ceremonies of worship, and of works and\nexercises. But all these were undertaken and done without any command\nof God. This was truly a Cain-like trial, to have no Word of God; not\nto know what to believe, nor what to hope, nor what to think; but to\ndo all things and to undertake all things without any knowledge or\nhope concerning the event. For what monk ever existed who could affirm\nor know that he did any one thing rightly? For all things were mere\nhuman traditions and the inventions of mere human reason, without the\nWord. And in the midst of these things we all wandered about,\nfluctuating in our minds, like the wandering Cain; not knowing\nanything of what the judgment of God would be concerning us; whether\nhe would look upon us with love or with hatred. And in this\nuncertainty were we all at that time taught and trained.\n\nAnd in this same way were the whole posterity of Cain wanderers and\nunsettled. For they had no promise nor command of God and were without\nany certain rule either to live by or to die by. And if any of these\ndid come to the knowledge of Christ and joined the true Church, this\ndid not come to them through any promise of God, but through his pure\nmercy.\n\nBut Seth, who was born afterwards, had together with his posterity the\ncertain promise, certain dwelling-places, a certain worship of God,\nand certain rites of worship. But Cain on the contrary was always\nessentially \"a vagabond.\" For although Cain did build a city, yet he\nwas ever in uncertainty how long he should retain it as a dwelling\nplace; for he had no promise of God on which to depend. And whatever\nthings we possess without the promise of God, how long we shall\npossess them is always an uncertainty. For Satan can either disturb\nthem or take them away in a moment. On the other hand, when we move,\nfortified on every side by the command and promise of God, Satan's\nstrivings against us are all in vain, for God fortifies and secures by\nhis command all that we possess. Although therefore Cain was the great\nlord as it were of the whole world and possessed all the riches of the\nworld; yet because he was without the promise of the help of God and\nwas thereby deprived of the guardianship of angels, he had nothing\nelse to depend on, but human counsel and human reason. He was\ntherefore truly \"a vagabond\" and unsettled wanderer.","title":"Commentary on Genesis, Vol. 1: Luther on the Creation","tradition":"scripture-revelation","translated_text":null,"word_count":174247}