Look from Adam and Behold the Protestants Faith Proved, Chapter 1 – Chapter 2
CHAP. I.
I SVPPOSE plainly that many ſimple Chriſtian men will not a little wonder at this mine enterpriſe, they are ſo perſwaded,The Chriſtian faith is elder than 1600. yeeres. and thinke, the Chriſtian faith did firſt beginne under Tiberius the Emperour: for as much as out of the Goſpell of Luke it is certaine, that in the fifteenth yeere of Tiberius, Iohn Baptiſt beganne to preach the Goſpell, and all hiſtories ſay with one accord, that in the xviij. yeare of Tiberius Ieſus Chriſt did ſuffer.
Now it is true that all the Prophecies were then firſt fulfilled, and the true ſalvation performed; yea from that time forth were all the glorious treaſures of Chriſt ſo richly declared and powred out among all people, as they never were afore. Notwithſtanding the ſame ſalvation in Chriſt Ieſus was promiſed long afore, and ſo opened to the holy old Fathers, that they have no leſſe ſight of Chriſt Ieſus in the ſpirit than we, and put their truſt in him as well as we: though among us it be cleere and open, or performed and fulfilled, that among them was ſomewhat darker, and therefore looked for with hearts deſire, as a thing for to come. Moreover it is not I that firſt bring forth this meaning concerning the antiquitie or oldneſſe of our Chriſtian faith: for the holy Biſhop Euſebius Ceſarienſ. which lived above eleven hundred yeeres agoe, (and likewiſe many other Chriſtian Doctors) hath alſo taught and written the ſame more cleerely before me.Euſebius. For Euſebius in the firſt booke De Eccleſiaſtica hiſtoria, ſaith plainly: All they that in their eſtate are noted according to their generations, to reckon backward from Abraham unto the firſt man, though they had not the name of Chriſtian men, (for at Antioch certaine yeeres after the aſcenſion of Chriſt, was that name given to the faithfull,Acts 11.26. Acts 11.) yet as pertaining to the religion and ſubſtance, they were all Chriſtians.
For if this word Chriſtian, be as much to ſay, as one that putteth his truſt in Chriſt, and through his doctrine faſtned unto faith, unto the grace and righteouſneſſe of God, doth cleave with all diligence to Gods doctrine, and exerciſeth himſelfe in every thing that is vertuous; then verily thoſe holy men whom we ſpake of firſt, were even the ſame that Chriſtian men boaſt themſelves now to be. All theſe are the words of the foreſaid old Chriſtian Doctors. But to the intent that no man ſhall thinke that we build upon men, and upon a ſtrange foundation, therefore wee will firſt declare our minds out of the Scriptures, and alleage ſomewhat more for the better underſtanding of the matter.
CHAP. II. Of the goodneſſe of God, and wickedneſſe of man.
GOd which hath ever beene ſufficient to all perfection, and needeth nothing of the creatures to his perfectneſſe, onelyonly of his owne kinde and nature, which is good, (that is to ſay, of his owne grace and mercy, yea even becauſe he would doe good) created man for himſelfe: But before he created him,The firſt creation of heaven and earth. he provided firſt for him wonderfully, and furniſhed him with unſpeakable riches of his goodneſſe. For when he deviſed the creation of man, and the time was now come, which his godly wiſdome and providence had ordained, he firſt of all appointed a wonderfull lodging for man, and garniſhed the ſame yet much more wonderfully. At the beginning (when the goodly and cleere light was made) the Lord prepared the inſtruments, which he afterward ſundred one from another, and ordained every one to ſome purpoſe. Over the deepe, that is, over the water and earth (which yet was in the water) made he a firmament, and ſpread out the heaven above as a pavilion. Afterward out of the water he called and brought forth the earth, (as much as ſerved for the habitation of men) and appointed the water his bounds and markes, which it may not overpaſſe. And theſe three things, the water, the earth, and the firmament, (that is to ſay, the aire and cleareneſſe above us unto the height of heaven) are the eſſentiall and ſubſtantiall parcels of the world, and ſerve as an houſe for the habitation of men: Nevertheleſſe as yet all this was but rough and unfiniſhed, and nothing garniſhed at all: Therefore did the wiſe and faithfull maſter put forth his hand wider,The garniſhing of heaven and earth. to performe and pleaſantly to garniſh that wonderfull worke; yea not onelyonly to garniſh it, but alſo to make it fruitfull and profitable for man, which was the gueſt and inhabiter for to come.
And firſt, in as much as man ſhould inhabit the earth, he garniſhed it aforehand, and cloathed it with a goodly greene garment, that is, with a ſubſtance, which hee deckt firſt with flowers and all manner of herbes, which not onelyonly are pleaſant to looke upon, and wonderfully beautified, of a pleaſant taſte and goodly colour, but alſo profitable for food and all manner of medicine. To the ſame alſo did he firſt adde ſundry trees and plants. Then watered hee the earth with faire ſprings, rivers and running waters. And the ground made he not like on every ſide, but in many places ſet it up pleaſantly: And hereof have wee the vallies, plaines, mountains and hills: which things all have their due operation, fruit, and pleaſantneſſe.
After this alſo began he to garniſh the heaven and firmament, and ſet therein the Sunne and the Moone, the Planets and Starres: which things all are goodlier and more wonderfull than mans tongue can expreſſe. As for their office,The office of t…e creatures in t… firmament. and the cauſe why they are ſet in the heaven, it is to give us light, and (with their up and downe going, or motion) to declare the times, yeares, moneths, and daies, dividing the daies and nights aſunder.
Thirdly, he laid his hand likewiſe in the water,Fiſhes. in the which hee had wrought no leſſe wonders, than in heaven and upon earth. For in the water (and eſpecially in the ſea) doe the wonderfull workes of God appeare in the fiſhes and marvels of the ſea, if a man conſider the nature and diſpoſition of them.Fowles. And in the aire alſo hath hee created and ordained great tokens of his goodneſſe, power, and wiſdome, even the fowles that pleaſantly (according to divers commodities) doe ſing unto man, and refreſh him.
At the laſt endued he the earth yet more richly,Beaſts. and filled it with all kinde of profitable and goodly beaſts, and ſundred one from another pleaſantly.
When the Lord now had prepared this goodly and rich pleaſure, then firſt after theſe hee made man, that he might bee Lord of all theſe things. Him alſo endued he above all other creatures,The creation of man. and created him after his owne image. He made him of body and ſoule, which ſhould have endured for ever, if he had not fallen into ſinne. Now hath he a fraile bodie, and an immortall everlaſting ſoule. But the firſt man made he altogether perfect and without blemiſh, ſo that verily he was called the image of God not without cauſe. The Lord alſo was not ſufficed in garniſhing the earth goodly, but firſt alſo builded upon the earth a ſpeciall garden of pleaſure, even a Paradiſe: and therein ſet he man his deare beloved creature.The creation of the woman. And for as much as he being ſolitary and alone, could not conveniently dwell without a mate, he appointed him firſt to plant and keepe the Garden of pleaſure, and provided for him a wife, even out of the bones of his owne body, that ſhe might bee the mans helpe. Thus would the goodneſſe of God finiſh and make man perfect, to the intent that he ſhould lacke nothing which ſerved to a right, wholeſome, and perfect life.
Therefore was it equall, that man, which was endued with reaſon and high underſtanding, ſhould ſhew thankfulneſſe and obedience unto God, for ſuch high gifts. Yea, God himſelfe (which is not onelyonly good, but alſo righteous) requireth the ſame of him, and that by the meanes of the commandement, That he might eat of all the trees of the Garden of pleaſure: Only he ſhould eſchew the fruit of knowing good and evill.The requeſt of the commandement. And this commandement was not grievous nor unreaſonable: OnelyOnly it required obedience and love of God the maker, unto whom only the creature (even man) ſhould have reſpect, and looke for all good at his hand, and not to take the forme of good and evill out of himſelfe, but onelyonly to hold that for evill and forbidden, which God inhibiteth as evill; and to account that as good and righteous, which God alloweth or forbiddeth not. For a repreſentation, viſible token, and ſacrament, God ſhewed him a right viſible and fruitfull tree in the Garden of pleaſure, and forbade him with earneſt threatning, that in what houre ſoever he did eat of the ſame tree, he ſhould die an everlaſting death.The unthankefulneſſe …nd w…ckedneſſe of man. But untruly dealt man with his faithfull God, tranſgreſſed his commandement, and gave more credit to the perſwaſion of the woman and of the ſerpent, than to the true word of God: which was nothing elſe, but even as much as to take the forme of good and evill out of themſelves, or elſewhere, rather than of God, and not to cleave and be obedient onelyonly unto him, as to ſuch an one as wiſheth good unto every man. For man being deceived through the woman and the Serpent, did beleeve that God was not indifferent, and that hee had withdrawne from him ſome of his godly wiſdome. And for as much as the minde now was departed from God through infidelity▪ and looked not for all good at his hand, therefore tooke the hand the noiſome apple, and the mouth did eat the forbidden meat. And thus thought hee to helpe himſelfe to Gods Majeſty, by another meanes, rather than by God, and ſo to repaire his neceſſitie which he thought hee had. And ſo with infidelity, unfaithfulneſſe, diſobedience and unthankfulneſſe, he wrought life, and died the death; that is, he offended againſt God, and fell into the puniſhment of everlaſting damnation: Yea he made himſelfe bound unto the devill, whom he was ſo diligent, to beleeve, to follow, and to ſerve: Contrariwiſe he forſooke God, and ſo came he utterly into the bondage of the devill and darkneſſe. And thus have we now the goodneſſe and faithfulneſſe of God. Againe, the wickedneſſe and great unfaithfulneſſe of man.