his onely begotten sonne to take our nature vppon him to vvashe vs from our sinnes vvith his precious blood and to redeeme and deliuer vs from Satan For this inestimable benefite let vs continually vppon our knees geue moste hartie and earnest thankes vnto oure God euer and euer And although this great vvorke of God with many other things spirituall seeme ridiculous to the carnall man and humaine sence and prophane Nations accompt it but a deuise of phanaticall persons yet all those that are vnder the Insigne of Christ ought thākfully to acknowledge highly to esteme this holsome worke benefite of God This doctrine issueth out of the places of Repentance of Iustification and of Baptisme For Regeneration conioyneth and lynketh all these thinges together Regeneratiō signifieth not in this place to returne corporally into our mothērs womb to be borne againe as Nicodemus supposed but a spiritual renewing and the similitude is taken frō the corporall natiuitie For as man is conceiued borne of his natural mother in sinne euen so in this spiritual natiuitie by the efficacie of gods worde and sacramentes externall instrumentes he is regenerate and spiritually made cleane from sinne that is to say he receyueth remission of sinnes he is made the sonne of God the temple of the holy ghost and an heire of eternall life albeit the spottes of Originall sinne doo yet remayne in this body of his And vnder this generall worde Regeneration mans conuersion vnto God his iustification and the effectes thereof are comprehended and conteyned Regeneration of Christians in Gods inuisible accion plainly expressed by his holy worde and sacramentes annexed vnto the same whereby our mercifull God doth spiritually forme and fashion of a carnall man a newe iust and holy manne ingraffing him into his kingdome remouing from hym his sinnes cōmitted his wrath indignation and imparteth vnto him his iustice grace deliuereth him also from the power and kingdome of the Diuell and giueth him the holye ghost the earnest pledge of eternall lyfe and fynallye kindleth in him newe strength to begin newnes of life acceptable and pleasaunt vnto God in this world The groundes this definition are the words of the holy scripture Go teach all nations baptising thē in the name of the father the sonne and the holy ghost and he that beleeueth and is baptised shall bee saued This Renouation as I sayde before is a matter of the greatest moment and an especiall signe of Gods loue and mercy toward man For when godlesse man put vpon him the image of the diuell and was therby more then oppressed with many miseries and had cast away al hope of releefe the louing Lord vsed a wonderfull temperature of iustice and mercy and ministred medicines to man his sonne euen then beeing a Solliciter and intercessor for vs. This sonne of the eternall father our Lorde Iesus Christ was from the beginning appoynted to descend take mans nature vpon him and was subiect to all humaine infirmities sinne excepted He appeared to destroy the works of the diuell to seeke the lost grote wherin Gods image vvas stamped to bring home the lost sheepe to the folde of eternall life to th ende that he might florishe for euer there vvith al heauenly companies beeing here regenerated and there according to Gods image perfectly renevved For when man kinde had receiued most greeuous vvoundes and vvas bounde in strong chaynes not able to be brokē by mans strength this bruser of the Serpentes head came professed him selfe when the fulnesse of time should come to be our tender and faythfull Phisition to geue his flesh for the life of the world and that he woulde suffer suche punishements that by his stripes and vvoundes we should be healed and that through death he shoulde be destroyed that had povver of death to vvit the diuell that craftie serpent cruell dragen the enemie of man from the beginning This regeneration of mankinde vvas then done by none other but by Iesus Christ our Priest and euerlasting king who collecteth preserueth his church by the sound of his Gospell vvherein is written the decree of our recōciliation Which Gospell he beeing the eternall worde of the eternall father reueleth vnto vs Shevving the chearefull countenance of his father and powring the holy ghost into our harts that with perfect loue and heauenly ioy we might in obedience be vnited to our god Which propertie of his office speciall priuileges he hath made most manifest by his resurrection by the sending downe of the holy ghost vpon the Apostles that thereby vve might the better consider the inestimable price of that benefite The sonne of God together with the Prophets Apostles do exhort vs to repentance that we might be renued and clothed with that newe image and regenerate to a celestiall wisdome iustice And to th ende that we might know the deformitie of the olde Adam and be excited to seeke gods image in Christ who is the newe and heauenly Adam we must vse both the lavve and the Gospell The Lavve I saye that vvee stricken vvith feare and dread in respect of our sinnes might be enforced to seke after the true and perfect Phisition who is Christ whō the Gospell affyrmeth to be made vnto vs vvisedome redemption iustice and sanctification But wee muste also vnderstande that not onely that iustice which was gotten by Christes blood is transferred vnto vs through gods wōderfull grace mercy but in this regeneration there is a redeliuerie or restitution of certen powers or strengthes in mā out of the which certen accions issue flowe And yet this restitution is not so perfect as that vve are able eyther to fulfill the Lawe or to be accompted iust before God but it is the fruite of Iustice Imputatiue as they call it albeit in some places other respect it haue the name of Iustice as That I may be founde in him not hauing mine owne iustice which is of the lawe but that whiche is of fayth in Christ. I vvill therfore write somvvhat particularly of the powers restored to the godly in regeneration and aftervvarde I will speake of their accions and vvorkes And first of al mans mind hath certen powers or habilities restored by the holy ghost and a kinde of light kindled in thinges spirituall and diuine Be yee renewed sayth the Apostle in the spirite of your mindes And Renewe the newe man in the knowledge of God. And agayne We all vvith face reueled beholding the glory of the Lodre are transformed into the same image from brightnes to brightnes as it were by the spirite of the Lorde There is then restored some power abilitie vnto mans mind somewhat to vnderstand the diuine and heauenly mysteries and a certayne light to discerne the doctrine of God according to the rule of his worde from false doctrine and heresie For it hath vsually come
pleasure vvas to be read and knowen in the consideration and contemplation of man vvhom he made of suche excellencie that he vvas capable of his Image that in his soule and body and in all his interior and exterior povvers and accions he might shevve foorth some likenesse of God but fynyte and suche as vvas conuenient for a creature This Image of God in man gratuite or create had before his fall many excellent qualities First in respect of the Minde Will and Harte vvherein vvas a maruellous diuine Harmonie and consente Sainct Augustine vvente about too shevve the difference of the three persons in Trinitie by the consideration of this Image of god in man Jn manne sayth he there bee three principall thinges The Minde begetting or breeding the Cogitation And the cogitation vvhich is the Jmage of the thing cogitated And the Will vvherein there is both ioy and loue These three things he applieth after this maner The eternall Father signifieth the Minde begetting in Cogitation the eternall word the second person in Trinitie The Jmage formed in cogitation signifieth the sonne of God And the Will shadoweth the holye Ghoste This collation muste needes bee pleasaunt to humble Mindes For therein vvee see that man is appoynted to bee a testimonie of God namely that hee is an Essence intelligible and mouing him selfe And although sainct Augustine doo vnderstande the image of God in manne of the substaunce of the Soule Minde and Will yet all the learned menne almoste doo comprehende the gyftes together vvith the substaunce or as they vsually speake the vertues of perfect Nature in eche parte of the Soule agreeing vvith the diuine Mynde For so sainct Paule in the vvorde Image vnderstoode not onely mans substaunce but the gyftes or povvers vvherein suche vertues doo shine as are consonante vvith the minde diuine whiche giftes were distinct and separable from the substaunce it selfe as it is manyfest by mans fall vvherein these excellent proprieties vvere loste the substaunce of the Minde Wyll and Harte vnto thys day abyding and remayning But to returne to these excellent properties of the soule before mans fall There shyned a cleare light in mannes Minde to vvitte a perfecte knovvledge of God and a communication of his diuine wisdome whereby he knewe both Gods substance and will And also that man was to this ende created that not only this knowlege might shine in him but also that he shoulde with a grateful willing mind shew obedieÌ„ce to his creator Besides this knowledge of all diuine things which were nedeful to man in the seruice of God and toward the attaynement of eternal life the Lorde endewed him with a right excellent knowlege of matters Morall and Natural that he was able to conceiue the qualities and inclinations of all liuing thinges So that as soone as he sawe Eua he sayd by and by This is bone of my bone and flesh of my flesh and she shall be called Virago because she was taken of the Man. He vvas profoundly seene in Philosophie as it appeareth by the Historie of Creation vvherein we reade hovve he gaue names to euery liuing creature according to their natures and qualities In mans will there was a conuersion to god that is to say an vniuersal obedieÌ„ce to his lavve hauing an ardent loue of God and all vertues flagrante bent and directe to that ende that the firste example might be knovven and honoured therwith was annexed a libertie in all accions that he might both shewe vnto god willing obedience and also auoyde all thinges vvith iudgement that were displeasant to his Creator In the hart all affections and appetitions did obey his minde will neither was there dissétion in any thing So that there vvas a Diuine harmonie of the minde will and harte For as the minde did rightly knovve god and his wyll so the hart the wil did thinke one thing he loued god earnestly neither was there any thing in mans nature which was not pure holy sincere And euery orgaine parte and instrument of mans substance had facultie and readinesse infused into them by god that they vvere both vvilling and hable to doo the thinges required by god at their hands which god according to the law of obedience had imprinted and as it were stamped in Reasonable natures There was also in this image of god in man a preheminencie superioritie aboue all other inferior creatures whom he excelled many wayes both in reason and quicknes of senses aswell in forme and stature of body vpright looking towarde heauen as also in agilitie and mobilitie of accions and especially in that soueraigne power and dominion which he had ouer all inferior creatures as it were an Emperour ouer his subiects For as God is the vniuersall Lorde king and gouernour ouerall creatures euen so it pleased him to collate vnto man a certayn dominion particular limited vnto whom they would haue yeelded obedience gladly haue reputed him for gods Lieuetenant if he had reteined the image of god in him sincere and vncorrupted which dominion albeit by our ruine it be exceedingly impaired in maÌ„kind yet it is somwhat restored by faith Thou shalt treade vpon the Adder and Cocatrice Daniell was cast to the Lions The Lord prayeth with the wild beastes in the wildernes Paule was not hurt of the Viper SaÌ„son Dauid ouercame lions and we may daily see litle childreÌ„ with a sticke to rule huge mighty bodied beastes through the maiesty of gods image whiche yet after a sort shineth in man and is very fearfull and terrible vnto them Herevnto vve may adde mans authoritie preheminence in consideration of his beginning coueniencie and ende For as god is the beginning of all things in creation so is Adam the beginning of all men by generation And as god hath a conueniency with all thinges and all thinges ought to looke vpon God So is man microcosmos that is to say a little vvorld and a lord in respecte of inferior creatures that they all should reuerence and honor him And as God is the ende of all thinges So is man the ende of all inferior creatures they beeing made for mans sake that he might be a ruler ouer theÌ„ And according to the wise maÌ„s saying moderate gouerne the round worlde in equity iustice Finally this image had an assured hope of immortality that his life shoulde be blessed eternall not subiect to death For the diuinity it self is immortal after the which as the scripture saith man was created If therfore maÌ„ had not fallen into sin this nature blessed estate in creation had indured for euer it should neuer haue ben weâ—ke or old it shuld not haue ben coÌ„sumed with heauines or diseases But yet liuing in Paradise shoulde haue ben theÌ„ce translated into the celestial spirituall life And vnto this image God added ouer besides the blessings afore mencioned a certen especiall
of creatures whiche was created by him in his sonne in iustice holynes of truth wherin he taught mankinde that sinne and all the effects therof had his origin of the diuell and of man as it is written It irketh me that euer I made man. Agayne He that committeth sinne is of the Diuell For the diuell sinned from the beginning And also By one man sinne entered into the worlde and through sinne death Now albeit man receyued so greeuous a wound in his body and minde vvherevvith not onely the image of god in him vvas defiled and destroyed but also his povvers and ornamentes euerye vvaye vvere maruelously decayed besides the remouing of immortalitie whereof by worde sacrament god assured him before his transgression and in place therof a subiection to sicknesses death it selfe Yet the secoÌ„d death did not out of hand sease vpon Adam but God left him like a Pylgreme or banished man out of Paradise many yeeres in this animall or corporall lyfe after the acte and decree was published that god of his immence and infinite mercy woulde repayre his Image blotted defaced and his good pleasure was that man passing his time running his race prefixed here in this vvorld should in his body whiche vvas made so subiect and seruile vnto sinne be resolued into dust and earth but in soule he appoynted him to be immortal because the same was breathed into him by god whiche he also ordeyned to be a daily testimonie remeÌ„brance vnto maÌ„ aswel of his estate before his fall as of his glorification after the day of iudgement Which bodily death al the children of Adam are subiect vnto by meanes of sinne abounding yea and raigning in them beeing nothing but dust poysoned which must returne into dust after which the second death to wit eternall condemnation both of body and soule followeth and is assuredly to be looked for of all those that doo contemne the sonne of God mans mediator and aduocate and doo not seeke to bee deliuered from Gods wrath and indignation by the effusion of hys moste precious blood vvhiche onely is able to purifie and vvashe men cleane from all their sinnes And to th ende that this great ruine and decay of man after hys fall maye bee more euidently perceyued I vvyll put dovvne the lamentable complayntes of diuers Writers concerning this matter vvhereby at the firste vevve the matter will moste playnely appeare and shewe it selfe And first that is a notable memorable saying of Cicero repeted by S. Augu. touching the corruption of mans nature Man is brought foorth and as it vvere expelled into this world by nature beeing rather his stepdame then a louing mother In body naked frayle and infyrme and in minde carefull in sorowes abashed in feare vveake in labors prone to pleasure hauing in him notwithstanding certayne sparkes and seedes of a diuine nature Wherin as sainct Augustine sayth he rightly deplored and bevvayled our miserable and pitifull case and savve the horrible euent Yet vvas he ignoraunt of the cause neither dyd he perceyue that a heauy yoke vvas layde vpon all the children of Adam from the time of their byrth vntill their death by meanes of originall sinne wherwith they are infected and corrupted Sainct Augustine him selfe writeth after this manner I doo omitte howe God created Man righte But touching our discente from our firste Parentes that wee are thereby a generation forlorne and caste awaye this very life of ours if it be to be called a life vvhich is so full of deadly miseries doth moste playneâ—y declare For what other thing can vve gather of that horrible and depe ignoraunce vvhereof all Error proceedeth vvhich possesseth and deteyneth the children of Adam in profounde darknes so violently that a man can not ridde him selfe thereof vvithout great labar sorrowe and feare What other thing doth that loue of vayne and deceitfull things import and therwithall such consuming cares perturbations sorrowes feares disceitfull ioyes discordes adulteries fornications incests rapes and vncleane commixtions agaynst nature vvhich may not bee vvell named and therewithall heresies blasphemies periuries oppressions of Innocentes slaunders false witnesses vniust iudgements and other suche like mischeefes vvhich we see incident to mans nature And to conclude as Viues writing in the same place sayth There vvoulde be founde no beast more sauage and vnbrideled then man if he vvere not chastised and amended vvith discipline and good education for if he might runne his owne race he would conuert all his force and power to satisfie his filthy lustes and appetites neither vvere it possible to finde any brute beastes more fierce and vvylde then manne And sainct Barnarde writeth very pleasantly of this matter in this sorte That blessed and eternall Trinitie the Father the Sonne and the holy Ghost one God of cheefe power wisedome and goodnes did create another trinitie after his image and similitude vvhiche had certayne resemblaâ—nces of that eternall Trinitie I meane the reasonable Soule vvhiche consisteth of Reason memorie vvill And he created the same in such sort that by participation of him he might be blesssed and beeing aâ—erted from him shoulde be most miserable And this created Trinitie did rather bende it selfe to followe the motion of his owne vvill then to stande in that libertie vvhiche vvas giuen vnto it And therfore it sell through suggestion delectation and consent froÌ„ that fayre beautifull trinitie that is to say â–ª froÌ„ power wisdome puritie into a contrarie and filthy trinitie verily into infirmitie bundnesse and vnclennesse For Memorie is become impotent and infirme Reason improuident and darke and the vvill impure Moreâ—â—er Memorie falling as it were vpon harde Rockes was broken and rent into three partes namely into affectionate heauie and idle cogitations I call those affections vvherewithall man is encombred about cares of things necessarie as in eating drinking and suche like And those are to be accompted heauy vvhich we spende about the exercise of externall and harde busines And those are vayne and feeble vvherewith mans minde is neyther affected nor greatly molested and yet notwithstanding is drawen from the contemplation of heauenly thinges as to spende his time in beholding how byrdes doo flye or dogges doo runne The light of Reason also hath three manner of vvayes fallen into ruine For vvhereas it vvas his propertie to discerne betweene good and euill truth and falshood profite disprofite It is nowe couered with such darknes that it is caried most coÌ„monly into a peruers iudgement receyuing euill for good falshood for truth incoÌ„moditie for commoditie Wherein it coulde neuer haue erred so miserably if it had not bene depriued of that light which it had in the first creation Whereby it is nowe commen to passe that man hath lefte that vsuall and necessarie instrumeÌ„t to vnderstand wisdome that is to say Ethicke Logike Phisike which we may otherwise call the science Morall Contemplatiue and Naturall For by
of god perfectly restored by Christ in glorification shal much excel the first donatioÌ„ but bicause the curious sifting of these matters passe the coÌ„passe of mans capacitie and smal is the smacke that we haue of these things vvhiles our foules are clogged with earthly vessels let vs besech Christ to hasten his coÌ„ming that we may take possession of that heauenly heritage where we shal beholde all those things euen with these eyes of ours and enioy the same in our bodies and soules This excelleÌ„t restitution of the faythful may not be ascribed to their owne works albeit god in his mercy promiseth to reward crown the same but onely to the mercy of God in his sonne Christ For as the resurrection from the dead is neither the work of man nor of angels but of god alone euen so al those things vvhich apperteine to mans eternall glorification proceede only of the power goodnes of god in exhibiting his sonne to finish this vvorke As the Apostle sayth We are reconciled to god by the death of his sonne Agayne Receyuing abundance of grace and iustice they shall reigne in life by one man Iesus Christ And also He rose agayne for our iustification And hereof it coÌ„meth to passe that our sauiour Christ is ofteÌ„ times in the scripture called our life I am the way the truth and the life And I came that they mighte haue life Euen so is the donation of eternall life ascribed vnto him And the reason is because he is our Mediator Redemer For albeit the father and the sonne are one yet will the father be knowen in his sonne only and it is the sonne only that demeriteth sendeth the holy ghost into the harts of beleeuers The vvordes of Athanasius are worthy the obseruation in this matter It was requisite that the sonne should assume mans nature that by meanes of the essentiall Image of god man being the create image might be restored Wherof Origen also writeth excellently MaÌ„ brought the maligne image throgh sinne therfore Christ came in the likenes of maÌ„ to reforme vs according to his image Novv that vvee all may be partakers of this glorification it behoueth vs to begin new obedience in this life which is acceptable to god through Christ and as the Apostle doth exhort vs Let vs put on the new man which after God is formed in righteousnesse and holynes of truth Let vs alvvayes haue in remeÌ„brance that this life of ours is nothing els but a pilgrimage through the vvhich vvee must trauell into eternall life Let vs forget those things that are behinde our backes and desire those things that are before our faces Let vs ame to the marke euen to the garland of eternal life through Iesus Christ Let vs be certeÌ„ly perswaded as the truth is in dede that there can be no greater plague then to be separate from God by sinne in place of eternal ioy to abide eternal misery for swete life to receiue bitter death Let the consideration of Gods image imparted vnto mankinde moue vs to haue alvvayes in remeÌ„brance gods great loue tovvarde vs our dutie to him againe Wherof S. Augustine writeth excellently after this maner Vnderstand O man by thy honor in thy first estate how much thou are bound to thy creator which dignitiâ— he adâ—aunced thee vnto that thou should so much the more loue him as he hath prefâ—rred thee in honor before all mundaine creatures For by the counsayle of the holy trinitie thou wast not onely excellently created but created after the similitude image of the creator which was not collated to any other creature but to man only By this and such like consideratioÌ„s it shal come to passe by the aide of Gods grace that we shal defie treade down earthly things couet celestial heauenly things We shal say with the Apostle I desire to be losed to be with Christ So shal we dye blessedly and rest froÌ„ all labors so shall we arise agayne to immortalitie and our bodies shal be conformed vnto the body of christ And so we shal haue perfect felicitie beeing ioyned to god the perfect goodnes in perfect loue and the image of God after the which we be first created shal be more perfectly absolued in vs In the whiche Image there shal shine perfect iustice perfect holynes perfect libertie perfect vvisdom perfect clearnes glory wherof the Prophet speaketh saying I shal be satisfied when I shall awake according to thy similitude Whervnto Salomon also alludeth saying The eye is not satisfied with seeing neither is the eare filled with hearing In whiche sentence the Wiseman signifieth that nothing can suffise man before he come to god rest in him For there is in man such a desire of diuine things that nothing can sufficieÌ„tly coÌ„tent him but that which is the chiefest which when he obteineth then he resteth in the same as in the cheefe felicitie And therfore his perfit estate must nedes be in eternal blessednes which we begin here in this life absolue perfectly in the life to come vvherof Prosper speaketh The life to come is beleeued to be blessed sempiternally sempiternally blessed where there is perfect loue no feare The state of this blessednes was offred to S. Iohn in a vision He sawe the holy citie Ierusalem prepared like a spouse for her husbande Christ in the which there was neither mourning neither clamor nor death but ioye peace quietnes euerlasting life Whose walles were of precious stone And the citie was pure golde like vnto cleare glasse and the foundations of the wall of the citie were garnished with all maner of precious stones The twelue gates were twelue pearles euery gate was of one pearle and the streete of the citie was pure gold as it were shining glasse And I sawe no temple therein for the Lord god almightie the Lambe are the temple of it And the Citie had no neede of the sunne neither of the moone to lighten it for the glory of God the lambe is the light of it And the nacions of them which are saued shal walke in the light of it and the kings of the earth do bring their glorie and honor vnto it And the gates of it shal not be shut at all by day for there shall be no night And they shall bring the glory and honor of the gentiles vnto it And there shall in no wise enter into it any vncleane thing neither what soeuer worketh abhomination or maketh lyes but they onely which are vvritten in the lambes booke of life The image of true felicitie which we couet desire is after a sort represented vnto vs in this descâ—iption which albeit it doth not nor can not liuely perfectly expresse the same yet it is proposed both to stirre vs vp to an earnest desire thereof and to kindle in vs an ardent
money vve saye this is the image of the king or queene But that image hathe not the similitude neither doth it shew the liniaments and proportions In that Moses sayth therfore that man was made after Gods similitude he shevveth that man doth not onely represent god in that he hath reason and vnderstanding but also that he hath suche intelligence and vvill vvhereby he both perfectly knevv god and also had a will to execute gods commaundement Other some there be that saye that gods image resteth in mans substance and the similitude in the accidentes Let euery mā enioy his ovvne cogitations I am of this opiniō that bicause Moses describing this notable vvorke of god somtime vsed one vvord sometime another that both these wordes are vsed for better declaration playnely to expresse one thing This one thing I thinke more conuenient to be considered in the entry of this matter that the image of god in the holy scripture is attributed both to the onely begotten sonne of god Iesus Christ and to godly men his sonnes by adoption But in diuerse consideratiōs It is vvritten of the onely begotten son of god Who is the image of the inuisible god the first begotten before all creatures And in another place Christ is the image of God. In these places Christ is called the image of God in respect of his heauenly father And therfore he sayth Philip he that hath seene me hath seene the father shevving that his father is knovven in and onelye through him Our sauiour Iesus Christ then is the totall and coessentiall image of God his father of lyke maiestie and glory For so he pronounceth of hym selfe saying I and the father am one the Apostle who is the brightnesse of his glory and the image of hys substaunce bearing all thinges vvith the vvorde of his power But vvhen man is named the Image of God it is not ment that he is all one vvith the sonne of God but that he is his Image create Gratuite by grace or adoption muche inferior to the naturall image Iesus Christe And yet it is not to be accōpted any smal prerogatiue that man and Angels seuerally aboue all other creatures haue this title and dignitie giuen vnto them that they haue and beare the similitude and image of the liuing God of the which seconde Image I vvill only write at this present What this Image of God is in man there are diuers opinions amongest the auncient vvriters Theodoretus citeth sundry of them in his questions vppon Genesis First some sayd that the Image of God is that vvhich is inuisible in the soule Secondly some sayd that mannes body is that Image whiche opinion he ascribeth to one Milito Thirdly some sayde that whole man vvas the Image of God because he is placed as it were in the middle betvveene all creatures compact of body and soule Fourthly some affirmed the image of God in man to be nothing els but that power authoritie which he hath ouer al worldly creatures And finally he cōcludeth that this image of god is in the reasonable soule vanderstanding iudging and executing things iustly Saint Augustine sometime taketh this Image of God to be the very substance of the soule minde and wil sometime the qualities of the same Caluine acknowlegeth the image of God moste cleerely to shine in mannes soule and yet to shew it selfe in the whole body and in all powers of the same Luther that excellent writer defineth or rather describeth this image after this maner The image of god after the which Adam was created was a matter most noble excellent For as yet no leprosie of sinne had infected either the minde or will. But all the interior and exterior senses were pure and cleane For the vnderstanding was most pure memorie prompt and ready the will sincere resting in a diuine securitie without pensiue thought or dreadfull feare of death Herevnto was annexed a notable beauty and comelinesse of all the externall members of the body wherein man passed and surmounted all other inferior Creatures And albeit hee vvryteth that the Image of God is in the vvhole manne both in bodye and soule yet he vvas farre asvvell from the Arabyan heresie vvhich vvas Anno Dom. 230. as from the Anthropomorphites and other Monkes of Aegypt who affyrmed this image to be onely in the body because the scripture oftentimes maketh mention of the face eyes eares nose handes and feete of god Whiche phrases the Scripture vndoubtedly vseth onely for our capacitie and better vnderstanding for touching Goddes substance our Sauiour Chryste playnely affyrmeth him to bee a spirite And I knovve that some verye learned Writers haue acquited the Anthropomorphites from suche grosse opinions and that they had a farre other sence in those phrases The reason that maketh many men abhorre yea detest this positiō of Luthers that the image of God in man consisteth both in the body soule is this God is not any corporall substance therfore no part of his image cā be in any corporall substance But we must consider that whole man cōsisting of body soule was fashioned after the Image likenes of god Moreouer the perfection of mans corporal substance the proportion or apt cōueniency therof with the soule which was appoynted to expresse his powers to the organical or external instruments of the body and Immortalitie vvhiche vvas also giuen to this corporal matter did clerly expres represēt some portion of gods image Albeit therfore it can not be denied but that the cheefe principall degrees of this diuine Image is in mans soule as in the most noble and excellent part yet the body so diuinely vnited vnto the soule and indued with such notable ornamentes is not to be defrauded of that which of right ought to be yeelded vnto it So that as those doo offende in excesse that ascribe this image of God to mans body onely so doo they also erre in defect that place it only in the mind For that the holy scripture eftsones repeteth that God made not onely mannes Soule but whole man after his owne similitude and likenes It vvas the vvil and pleasure of almightie God that through this his Image tranfused into man he might both represent and expresse his maker and be obedient vnto him appoynting man as I sayde before to be as a glasse wherin he woulde shine and be seene and as a booke vvherein vvith his ovvne finger he would vvrite his vvisdome Teaching vs in this image vvhat God is to vvitte an eternall and euerlasting minde and what maner of God he is namely vvise and true louing chastistie and iustice of a free povver embracing men vvith a fatherly affection he beeing the creator and they his creatures requiring of vs that our minde and vvill should accorde vvith his vvill and commaundement And this is that vvonderfull vvisdome iustice goodnes and povver of his which his