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f the Fali o} bur firfl PAREN'T!. 441<br />
-ih 1 'lfm. ii, 14. nat Ad/un was not deceived, it is manifeil: that<br />
the fenfe is, that he was not ftrjl deceive'd by the fetpent;<br />
but it is evident that he had finned. But rather, fame feeirt<br />
to think that he finned more hainoully, becaufe he fell without<br />
feeing the enemy, being deceived with the enticing words o(<br />
his wife; whom, no\:Withfianding, he ought to have governed<br />
by his own 'fuperior wifdom.<br />
Here various~curiousquefiioiis ate raifed, which are briefly<br />
to 'be refolved: Firjl, What was the beginning of the fidf:<br />
fin? To,which We anft-ver, that it perhaps fo happened, thaf<br />
Eve had doubted whether {he had rightly underfiood the<br />
mind of GOD forbidding th~ fruit of the tree; afterwards<br />
when {he ought to have confulted GOD'S will about this<br />
matter, file believed the devil, who faid that they lhould not<br />
die; and at lail: that {he was moved pleafantly by a vain<br />
hope, with which Satan deceived her, of knowing all things;<br />
and of becoming like GOD; and la{}: of all {he firetched forth<br />
her hand to tail:e the fruit. Or it may be [aid, that incon...<br />
iideratenefs, and not taking heed to the divine command, was<br />
the beginning of the firfi fin; for if {he had always applied.<br />
her mind to that, {he would not have given an ear to the<br />
tempter; and that unbelief Rowed from this inadvertency, by'<br />
which man began to doubt about the word of GOD, and<br />
lifiened too much to the words of the devil.<br />
It is inquired what was the caufe of the fall ofAdam?<br />
Anfwer, <strong>The</strong> caufe is not to be fought either in GOD, or in<br />
the devil, or in the tree itfdf. Not'in GOD, for he neither<br />
perfuaded nor commanded -man to eat this fruit, but exprelly'<br />
forbid it, and fir:ctly charged him not to eat this fruit ~<br />
He had created man holy and pure, and had given<br />
him fufficient firength to fulfil his commands,. nor had he<br />
withdrawn any internal grace he had before given man.<br />
Not in the devil, for he only ufed perfuafion with man; nor<br />
was there an invincible force in his reafons, becaufe he<br />
fpoke againfi the exprefs command of GOD. Augtfline, in<br />
VOL. 1. K k k his
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