The anatomie of a Christian man VVherein is plainelie shewed out of the VVord of God, what manner of man a true Christian is in all his conuersation, both inward, and outward. ... By M. William Covvper, minister of Gods Word.

THE OBSERVATIONS.

AS by nature mans heart is emptied of all* 1.1 holy Loue, so it is filled with a sinfull ha∣tred, a monstrous euill, offensiue to God, to our neighbour, yea, and to our selues.

Naturally Man hates the Lord, according* 1.2 to that which our Sauiour saith hee that doth euill hateth the light: the euill Conscience of the wicked abhorreth the Lord, who is that first, and great light, from whom all others haue that light which they haue; wishing that eyther there were not a God at all, or else that he were like them.

He hates in like manner good men, euen for

that good which is in them, and that with such* 1.3 a raging malice that no band of Nature can restraine it: thus Caine hated his brother A∣bel, and why? onely because his works were good: Rahel hated her Sister Leah; and why? onely because shee was fruitfull, her selfe be∣ing barren: and Ioseph also was hated of his owne brethren, for no other cause, but for that his earthly Father loued him, and his heauenly Father had blessed him with the gift of Reuelation or Prophecie aboue them.

O cursed roote of bitternesse which doth* 1.4 cause man to hate his owne, and that onely for the good that is in them! O greatest euill so directly contrary to the greatest good! God is so good, that of euery euill hee worketh good to his owne: and hatred is so euill that the good things of God become vnto it a matter of grea∣ter euill.* 1.5

Thus is man who was made to the simi∣litude of God, become an incarnate diuell, or as Augustine cals him, Secundus Diabolus, infe∣rior* 1.6 onely to Sathan in two respects.

For whereas Sathan being now very neere* 1.7 sixe thousand yeares olde, hath the subtiltie of his Nature (wherein also he doth exceed man,) helped by long experience to doe wickedly, Man being of shorter continuance, cannot e∣quall him.

Againe, man is clogged with a body, which* 1.8 is a great impediment to the perfection and ac∣complishment of that which his Spirit concei∣ueth; it being farre otherwise with the actions of the bodie, which require the circumstances of place, and persons, then with the concepti∣ons of the minde, which without any such thing are perfected.

Otherwayes, if the wickednesse of mans* 1.9 heart brake out as it is conceiued; if euery hate∣full thought brake out into murther; and euery vncleane lust into a carnall act, O what a world of wickednesse should then be discouered in man? then should it be manifest, that Man for similitude of Natures, were but an incarnate Di∣uell, as I haue said.

As the graces of the Spirit keepe one fellow∣ship,* 1.10 so disordered affections, which vnder their proper name, in effect are but vices, goe toge∣ther like the linkes of one chaine.

For Hatred comes of euill parents: Pride* 1.11 begets Anger; Anger breeds Enuy; and Enuy brings out Hatred. If any man loue not the daughter, suffoca matrem, & non erit filia: let him suffocate and slay the mother, & the daugh∣ter shall not be.

Anger is festuca in occulo, but if it benourish∣ed,* 1.12 fit grandis trabes, ira enim inveterata fit odi∣um: of a mote in the eye of our Conscience it

becomes a beame: for inveterate anger tur∣neth into Hatred. Against this euill wee are to embrace the wholesome counsell of the holy Ghost: Let not the Sunne goe downe vpon your* 1.13 wrath.

Hatred againe strengthened by time brings* 1.14 out as abhominable Children; to wit, Lying, Detraction, and Murther. By Lying the hatefull man layes that euill vpon another which is not his: and by Detraction taketh from him the praise of that good which appertaines to him: therefore the Apostle ioynes these as twinnes together 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 and 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, Euny and Murther:* 1.15 for Enuy hauing begotten Hatred, Hatred brin∣geth out Lying and backbiting, and afterward actuall Murther; if God doe not stay.

Yea, as the Basiliske slayes the man, and it* 1.16 is not perceiued how, so the hatefull man mur∣thers his brother, though no man can see how hee stroke him.

The Apostle cals Auarice the root of all euill,* 1.17 and so it is; yet Hatred exceeds it in euill. The auaritious man will giue nothing of his owne, yet hee cares not how much be giuen by ano∣ther: but the hatefull man can neither giue himselfe, nor be content another should giue to him whom hee hates: yea, his eye is euill because God is good.

In a word, among all wicked men a hatefull

man is the worst: other wicked men delight in* 1.18 their owne good, at least in appearance, but the hatefull man is tormented with the good of o∣thers: ille diligit mala, hic odit bona, vt prope to∣lerabilior* 1.19 sit, qui sibi vult bona (saltem apparen∣ter) quam qui mala omnibus.

But of all this the euill returnes to himselfe,* 1.20 for the malice of the wicked slayes themselues: therefore Basil compareth Enuie to the Viper, that rends the bowels wherein it was conceiued: and Augustine to the rust that consumeth the yron wherein it was bred: among the Ethnicks Socrates called it Serram animae, a Saw that cuts and diuides the soule in two. Thus in Enuy (said Basil) are many euils, and one onely good thing, to wit, that it is a plague to him that hath it.

The Censure.

But now the great number of them who nou∣rish in their hearts this poyson of the Serpent, pro∣ueth that all haue not the Christian disposition, who now vsurpe the Christian name.

Notes

• * 1.1

  1 Man by nature is filled with a sinfull hatred.
• * 1.2

  2 For naturally man hates the Lord.
• * 1.3

  3 And he hateth also good men for the good that is in them.
• * 1.4

  4 It is a diuellish thing to hate a man for good.
• * 1.5

  5 Man a second Sa∣than, inferior to him in tvvo things onely.
• * 1.6

  Ad frat. in Erem. Serm. 28.
• * 1.7

  6 First, that being of shorter continu∣ance then Sathan, he is not of so great experience.
• * 1.8

  7 Secondly, that he is clad vvith a bodie, vvhich is a great im∣pediment to his vvicked concepti∣ons in their execu∣tion.
• * 1.9

  8 What a vvorld of vvickednesse should be in man if his thoughts vvere exe∣cuted as they are conceiued?
• * 1.10

  9 Vices goe together linked in one Chaine.
• * 1.11

  10 Hatred is bred of very euill Parents.
• * 1.12

  11 Anger continued turnes into hatred.
• * 1.13

  Math. 5. 22.
• * 1.14

  12 Hatred brings out most abhominable Children.
• * 1.15

  Galath. 5. 21.
• * 1.16

  13 The hatefull man slayes like the Basi∣liske.
• * 1.17

  14 Hatred exceeds Auarice in euill.
• * 1.18

  15 Of all vvicked men a hateful man is the vvorst.
• * 1.19

  Ambros. off. lib. 2. cap. 30.
• * 1.20

  16 All the euill of ha∣tred returns to him that hath it.