A Treatise of Paradise, Chapter 30
CHAP. XXX.
Why God commanded Adam that he ſhould not eate of the tree of knowledge of good and euill.
TErtullian, in the beginning of his booke againſt the Iewes, ſaith, that this commandement was giuen to Adam, as the firſt principall foundation and ground from whence all other lawes were deriued, and in which all the ten Commandments be virtually included: ſo that as Adam was the firſt beginning of mankinde, ſo this was the firſt ground of all other lawes. But though this cannot be reiected, as an improbable ſpeculation, yet certainely it is not ſo firmely grounded in the ſacred text, as Tertullian imagined.
The reaſons therefore in my opinion why God ſo ſtrictly prohibited the eating of the aforeſaid fruit, was, firſt, that thereby, as God had declared vntounto vsus, his power ouer vsus: ſo wee ſhould ſhew our obedience towards him: not that (as S. Auſtine noteth) God hath neede of our ſeruice;Auguſtin. l. 8. de Gen. ad literam cap. 11. but that wee hauehave neede of his power, protection, rule, and dominion ouer vsus; according to that of the Pſalmiſt, who ſpeaking in the perſon of God, ſaith, conſtitue ſuper eos legiſlatorem, vt ſciant gentes quoniam homines ſunt, Conſtitute a ruler ouer them, (as the vulgare tranſlateth) that the heathen may know that they are but men: ſo that as it is a token of vaſſalage, and ſubiection to receiue lawes, ſo is it of power, dominion, and authority to command, conſtitute, ordaine, and ſet downe lawes to bee obſerued. Yea ſecondly, God gaue this law vntounto man, that thereby he might exerciſe his obedience towards God, a vertue as neceſſary to man, as acceptable in the ſight of God,Aug. lib. 8. de Gen ad literā cap. 8. and therefore (as S. Auſtine well noteth) God gaue not this law in any obiect of it ſelfe otherwiſe euill, or of its owne nature good: to the end that the vertue of his obedience might be the more illuſtrious; becauſe it deriueth not his excellencie, from the materiall obiect, but from the formall, the ſole ſubiection to Almighty God.
It may ſeeme peraduenture not improbable to ſome, that the law of nature, which God had infuſed into the nature of man, might hauehave ſufficed to lay open, try, and manifeſt mans obedience towards God: to what end then ſhould the ſecond law of abſtayning from the tree of the knowledge of good and euill be added, as a ſecond tryall of that which otherwiſe might ſufficiently bee manifeſt by the law of nature, and obedience therevnto? I anſwer, that the law of nature would not hauehave beene a ſufficient tryall of Adams obedience: becauſe it is not altogether manifeſt by the law of nature, that God is ſole and ſupreme Lord ouer all mankinde: for ſome doe imagine that the law of nature is a propertie onelyonly due vntounto a reaſonable creature, as eueryevery ſpecies, or kinde of liuing creatures hath their particular propertie agreeing to their nature.
Againe ſome are of opinion, that thoſe things which are contained in the law of nature, are to be imbraced, or reiected in as much as they agree, or diſagree with naturall reaſon: not as they are commanded, or forbidden by God, as ſupernaturall agent. So that although it be preſcribed by God vntounto all men, yet doth it not ſufficiently manifeſt his moſt ample & abſolute power ouer all mankinde: ſeeing that by this law there is not any thing commanded, or forbidden, but onelyonly that which is according to humane reaſon, either good, or euill, of its owne nature.
Wherefore Gods abſolute dominion, and extent of his diuine power, were not ſufficiently knowne onelyonly by this law of nature, but onelyonly as it is agreeable to the inſtinct of nature: the which as it was but onelyonly in things within the ſpheare of nature, could not poſſible ſhew the extent of the abſolute power of God in things both with in the compaſſe of nature, and aboue nature.
Hence Gregorie well noteth,Lib. 33 moralium cap. 10. that the forbidden fruit was not euill of its owne nature, but was forbidden, to the end, that man being created vpright by nature, might increaſe in righteouſnes by the ſubiection of his nature, and perfection of his obedience to the author of nature.