A Treatise of Paradise, Chapter 1
CHAP. I.
Whether there was euer any ſuch place as Paradiſe, or rather the deſcription of Moſes is to be vnderſtood Allegoricallie, and ſo to be referred vntounto the minde onelyonly.
AS there is nothing in nature ſo plain which may not be contradicted, neyther any thing ſo pure which may not be defiled, ſo nothing ſo euident in Gods Worde, which hath not beene oppoſed. Such is our nature after our fall, and ſuch our daily moſt lamentable lapſes, after our firſt lapſe, and originall Fall. Inſomuch, that ignoring the cauſe of our infinite miſery, we become deſperately ſicke, and of our ſelues and nature, without remedy. Wherfore my intent beeing chiefly to ſhew vsus our end, and eternall felicity, I will firſt ſhew the place, and demonſtrate the grace from which we fell; that thereby knowing the infelicity of our fall, and place from which we fel, we may be more thankfull vntounto God for that felicity, place, and grace, vntounto which we are exalted after our fall; and ſo come to a more perfect bleſſednes after our fall, then that which wee poſſeſſed before we fell, or ſhould hauehave poſſeſſed in Paradiſe if wee had not falne. Now therefore as touching this place of our firſt happineſſe, and from whence our miſery was firſt deriued, I will begin with a worthy Prelate, who though hee was one of the chiefeſt Doctors of the Church of God, yet being to explicate theſe very difficulties of Paradiſe,Ambroſius de Paradyſo, in principio capitis primi. was not aſhamed to acknowledge his ignorance. De Paradiſo adoriendus ſermo, non mediocrem nobis oestum videtur incutere, quid nam ſit Paradyſus, et vbi ſit, qualiſue ſit inueſtigare & explanare cupientibus: maxime Apoſtolus ſiue in corpore, ſiue extra corpus neſciat, raptū ſe tamen dicat vſus que ad tertiū coelū; 2 Cor. 12.idemque teſtetur ſe ibi audiuiſſe arcana verba, quae non licet homini loqui. Being to ſpeake (ſaith this Father) of Paradiſe, it doth not a litle trouble me to ſearch out and explane what Paradiſe is; where it is; & what manner of place it is; eſpecially ſeeing the Apoſtle ſaith, that he was rapt thither into the third heauen, where hee heard ſuch things as bee not lawfull for any mortall man to vtter.
By which words he ſignifieth two things; the firſt, that, that place was Paradiſe, vntounto which S. Paul was carried (the which opinion in what ſenſe it may bee verified, it ſhall afterward be explicated) the ſecond thing there to be noted is, that it is impoſſible for man to declare, what kinde of place that was, vntounto which the Apoſtle was carried, vnleſſe peraduenture it might hauehave been by him, who had that ſpeciall priuiledge, to be carried thither.
Hence peraduenture it is that Origenes, Philo, the Hermetians and Seleucians were of opinion, that there was neuer any ſuch place as Paradiſe, but rather that the ſcripture where it maketh mention of Paradiſe, is to be vnderſtood Metaphorically, Spiritually, or Allegorically.
Firſt, becauſe in other places of Scripture, where there is mention of Paradiſe, that word cannot be vnderſtood of any terrene place: therefore if one place of Scripture muſt bee the interpreter of the other, according to the common conſent of the Fathers, it may not ſeem improbable, but that the like may be admitted in this hiſtory of Paradiſe.
Secondly, becauſe thoſe things which are ſaid to hauehave beene in Paradiſe, cannot be vnderſtood literally: as that in the midſt of Paradiſe there was a tree of knowledge of good and euill (a property not due vntounto nature, much leſſe agreeable or conſequent to the nature of a tree). Secondly, that Adam heard the voyce of GOD, where as ſpirits of their owne nature hauehave no voyce, or ſound, much leſſe the pureſt of ſpirits. Thirdly, that hee heard God walking towards the South, whereas indeed God neither walketh, nor moueth, but is alwaies repleniſhing, working, and filling eueryevery place, yea in eueryevery place equally preſent, in eſſence equall, in power equall, in all his other infinit attributes equall.
Againe, how can it be vnderſtood literally, that after the tranſgreſſion, and expulſion of Adam out of Paradiſe, there was placed a Cherub or Angell with a fiery ſword, as neceſſary for the cuſtody of the ſaid place: as though eyther the commaundement of God had not beene ſufficient, or his will reſiſtible without the aſſiſtance of the Angelicall power; or the Angell not ſufficiently powerfull for the reſtraining of Adam, without the vſe of a fiery ſword; as though againe God in power were not omnipotent, neyther the Angell ſpirituall, but either that the creator had neede of his creature, or that which is a pure ſpirit had need in his operation of an impure, imperfect and corruptible bodie.
Moſes Barſephas tractatu de Paradyſo.Moſes Barſephas in his Treatiſe of Paradiſe ſaith, that there be two parts of Paradiſe, one corporall, another ſpirituall, one created for the pleaſure of the body, another for to delight the ſoule: ſo that, as man is compoſed of two parts, the one ſpirituall, the other corporall, and yet but one onelyonly man: ſo (ſaith hee) was Paradiſe partly corporall, and partly ſpirituall, yet one onelyonly Paradiſe: his arguments bee theſe.
If Paradiſe were onelyonly corporall (ſaith hee) then the body onelyonly of Adam was delighted there: becauſe no corporall thing can delight the ſoule: wherefore if God had not created another part of Paradiſe ſpirituall, hee might ſeem to hauehave dealt fraudulently with man (which were blaſpheamous) who promiſed a Paradiſe for the whole man; and yet created ſuch a one as could not delight the whole man.
Againe, that Paradiſe is not onelyonly ſpirituall, he proueth with theſe arguments: For then it could not hauehave delighted the body, but onelyonly the ſpirit. Yea all thoſe things which Moſes writeth as touching Paradiſe, might bee deemed falſe; ſeeing that hee ſo euidently inſinuateth, that man was created in Paradiſe, as in ſome materiall place; and that God had planted Paradiſe in Eden from the beginning: that he put man there whom hee had created, that he created for him there all trees, hearbs, beaſts, and all other things neceſſary, both for the delight and vſe of man: That our firſt Fathers fell from Gods grace, by eating of the forbidden fruite; that they hid themſelues amongſt the trees of Paradiſe, after their fall; and many other things which cannot be vnderſtood, but of a reall and corporall place.
Thirdly, if Paradiſe were not a reall and corporall place, how could there flow out of it thoſe foure riuers, which (as the Scripture witneſſeth) compaſſe the whole earth? How ſhould Enoch and Elias be tranſlated thither, and (as many writers affirme) be conſerued there both in body and ſoule? yea otherwiſe how ſhould Adam and Eue hauehave liued there?
Which things, though all of them bee not ſo certaine, yet moſt of them are ſo euidently expreſſed in the ſcripture, that they manifeſtly prooue the Garden of Paradiſe to hauehave beene a reall and corporall place,Chryſoſtom. hom. 13. in geneſi…. Auguſt. in gen. l. 8. c. 1. & ſequenti bus. & lib. 13. de ciuit. dei c. 21. & q. 27. in gen. Baſil. hom. exameron. hom. 11. Hier epiſt. ad Pamachiū. Epiphanius. Damaſcen. Iſiderus. Nicenus Cyrillus. Naz. and therfore S. Chryſoſtome in his 13. Homily vponupon Geneſis ſaith, Ideo Moſen deſcipſiſſe Paradiſum, That Moſes did therefore ſo manifeſtly deſcribe Paradiſe, the riuers, the trees, the fruites, And all other things thereto appertaining, that the ſimple and ignorant ſhould not be deceiued, by the fabulous Allegories, and doting dreames, which ſome would pretend to diuulge for ſole truth, hidden in the figuratiue and materiall deſcription of Paradiſe.
The like alſo may be ſeene in Saint Auguſtine in his eight booke vponupon Geneſis cap. 1. & ſeq. and the 13. booke de ciuitate dei, cap. 21. & queſtione vigeſima ſeptima in Gen. Baſil. Hom. 11. vponupon the Exameron. Likewiſe Hierome in his Epiſtle to Pamachius; Epiphanius epiſt. ad Iohannem Hieroſ. Damaſcenus in his fourth booke, de Orthodoxa fide, cap. 13. Iſodorus libro quarto Etymologiarum cap. 3. Gregorius Nicenus oratione quinta in orationem dominicam. Cyrill, Naz. Ephren, and others.
Laſtly, S. Auguſtine in his 27.Aug. quaeſt. 27. in Gen. queſtion vponupon Geneſis giueth this reaſon as an euident demonſtration, that Paradiſe was a true corporall place; becauſe the land of the Sodomites, and Gomorrhae ans before the deſtruction thereof, was compared in the thirteenth chapter of Geneſis,Geneſ. c. 13. to this pleaſant place of Paradiſe, in theſe words: Before the Lord deſtroyed Sodome, and Gomorrah, it was as the garden of the Lord, like the Land of Aegypt, as thou goeſt vntounto Zoar, Wherefore ſaith Saint Auguſtine in the place aboue alleadged) if by the fruitfull trees deſcribed in Paradiſe, there were nothing elſe to bee vnderstood but onelyonly the vertues of the minde, as ſome do hold, and if there were no true corporal Paradiſe, beautified with all kinde of trees, it would not hauehave beene ſaid of that place, that it was as the Paradiſe of God. Conticeſcant igitur (as Saint Hierome commenteth vponupon Daniel, Hieronimus in Danielem cap. 10cap. 10.) eorum deliramenta qui vmbras & imagines in veritate ſequentes ipſam conantur euertere veritatem: vt Paradyſum & flumina & arbores putent Allegoriae legibus ſe debere ſubruere. Becauſe the aforeſaid Allegories rather ſeeme deliramenta, dottages and dreames (as this Father tearmeth them) then expoſitions of learned Doctors, let them therefore in no wiſe be mentioned or vttered: not that there may not bee good vſe of theſe and other the like Allegoricall expoſitions, but that they are not ſo to be vſed, that they be a meanes to ouerthrow the truth, or that they be taken for the ſole trueth, which were no ſmall iniury vntounto the word of God, which oftentimes admitteth as well the true hiſtoricall, as the litterall ſenſe, together with the ſpirituall interpretation, if it be rightly applied.