A Compendium of the Chief Doctrines of the True Christian Religion/Chapter 5
V. The State of Man before the Fall.
THEY who understand the Word only in it's literal sense, are led to believe, that the creation, which is described in the first and second chapters of Genesis, denotes the creation of the universe, and that God was employed six days in making the heaven, the earth, the sea, with all things which are in them, and at length man in his own image and likeness. But who cannot see, if he ponders deeply on the subject, that the creation of the visible universe is not there meant? For such things and circumstances are there described, as any person of sound judgment, or even of common understanding, may know were not brought into existence in the manner related. For example, it is said, that there were light and darkness, day and night, morning and evening, also grass, herbs, and trees, yielding seed and fruit, before the creation of the sun, moon, or stars; and yet it is not possible to conceive how these effects could be produced, without the existence and influence of the sun.
Again, it is written in the first chapter, that God made man male and female; but in the second chapter, even after the conclusion of the six days of creation, that there was not a man to till the ground; whereupon one was formed of the dust of the ground, and the breath of life breathed into his nostrils. Being then placed in the garden of Eden, wherein were trees of every kind, pleasant to the sight, and good for food, particularly one in the midst of the garden, called the tree of life, and another called the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, he is severely prohibited from eating of this latter tree, yet allowed freely to eat of all the rest: which circumstance, if taken literally, is liable to be considered by some readers as a snare laid for him, under the most tempting appearances, either to entangle him in a direct act of disobedience, or to excite in him an appetite to forbidden fruit. But there being as yet no help meet for the man, the history proceeds to inform us, that Jehovah God caused a deep sleep to fall upon him; and while he was in this state, it is added, that he took one of his ribs from him, (although it does not appear, that he had been previously furnished with more than were necessary for his own use,) and formed it into a woman. Then in the third chapter we are further informed, that a serpent, more subtle than any other beast, and withal miraculously endued with the faculty of speech, discoursed with the woman in her own language, and with artful reasonings persuaded her to eat of the tree of knowledge, and finally involved Adam in the same transgression; although it is reasonable to suppose, that, coming out of the hands of his Creator, he was the most perfect and the wisest of mankind. But the calamity, into which the first pair thus plunged themselves, according to the generally-received doctrine, was not confined to their own persons, but extended itself to the whole of their posterity, who are therefore supposed to have been sentenced to eternal damnation, not for their own fault, but for that of their first parents committed long before they had any offspring.
Such are the difficulties and paradoxes attending the mere literal interpretation of this part of the Word, which, it is to be feared, have had the effect, with too many, of inducing upon their minds first of all a doubt concerning it's sanctity, and at length a disposition flatly to deny it's divine inspiration, and to rate the whole volume of revelation as a downright imposition on the credulity of mankind. Yet how different will it's character be found, when it is understood and admitted, that there is in every part of the Sacred History an internal spiritual sense perfectly distinct from the letter; and that in that sense heavenly and divine things are exhibited to view under natural and external representations! For it is now well known, that the method of writing here alluded to was practised by the wisest among the ancients; and that they were held in the highest esteem, who shewed the most skill in describing spiritual and moral subjects in historical forms. Of a still higher character, because of divine origin both as to matter and as to expression, are the first chapters of Genesis, which are to be interpreted in the following manner.
By the creation of heaven and earth is spiritually understood the new creation or regeneration of man in general, particularly of the man of the Most Ancient Church, which was called Adam, or Man, because it was a truly celestial church, and a model of every human virtue. By heaven is meant it's internal, and by earth it's external. By the six days of labour, and the seventh day of rest, into which Jehovah entered, after he had finished his work, are understood the various stages of man's regeneration, and the heavenly peace which then succeeds. The most perfect state of this church is described in the second chapter, from the 7th to the 17th verse, where man, being formed into the image and likeness of his Creator, is pronounced to be a living soul, and placed in the garden of Eden, which was well watered, and enriched with the choicest fruits of the earth. The garden itself, called also paradise, denotes the wisdom and intelligence of the man or men thus created anew, and made celestial: the trees pleasant to the sight, and good for food, denote their interior perceptions of truth and good: the tree of lives in the midst of the garden, denotes their love and wisdom derived solely from the Lord their Creator: and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, denotes faith or science capable of being derived from themselves, or from their own sensual principle, in an external way, contrary to divine order; on which account they were prohibited from eating of the fruit of this latter tree, but allowed to eat freely of the other trees.
The state of man, prior to the fall, widely differed from his present state. Before that period his will and understanding were perfectly united, and formed only one mind; insomuch that, as soon as ever any love or affection was in motion, it instantly produced it's proper science or thought, the one being inseparable from the other. In that happy age, called by way of eminence the golden age, men needed no external instruction, but obtained all necessary knowledge by an internal influx, like a dictate from heaven. Hence they had no written revelation, because divine truths were inscribed on their hearts: neither did they exercise any external worship, like that of succeeding times, because they needed no stimulus, no formal excitation, to the performance of duties, which to them were the constant and sweetest employment of their lives. They were born also into the science of all things conducive to their well-being and happiness, whether natural or spiritual. The whole theatre of nature was to them only a picture of heaven. Every object that met their eye, from the sun in the firmament to the smallest particle of dust on the earth, furnished them with an opportunity of contemplating it's true and proper archetype in that eternal world, of which they were in a manner already inhabitants, even while dwelling in the body. They had no external respiration, no sonorous, articulate language, such as took place afterwards; but communicated their ideas one to another by numberless changes of the countenance, especially by the varied motions of the lips, and by the lively expressions of the eye. Moreover there was no deceit, no such thing as hypocrisy; but the countenance was the ready and faithful index of the mind: the consequence of which was, that, enjoying a mutual perception of each other's states, they both communicated and received more certain, distinct, and rapid successions of thought and affection, than any sonorous and articulate language can now possibly convey.
How long man remained in this his primeval state of integrity and perfection, into which he was successively introduced after his birth as a natural man; or how many generations of men continued to enjoy the heavenly life above-described; cannot at present be known. But it is probable, that symptoms of a tendency to decline might have appeared soon after this primitive church had arrived at it's fulness of maturity, and long before any gross corruptions had entered among them, so as to cause their entire expulsion from the garden of Eden, and at length their total destruction by a flood, or inundation of lusts and false persuasions.