Catholique divinity: or, The most solid and sententious expressions of the primitive doctors of the Church. With other ecclesiastical, and civil authors: dilated upon, and fitted to the explication of the most doctrinal texts of Scripture, in a choice way both for the matter, and the language; and very useful for the pulpit, and these times. / By Dr. Stuart, dean of St. Pauls, afterwards dean of Westminster, and clerk of the closet to the late K. Charles.

Prima quae vitam dedit h••ra carpsit.

Seneca.

VVHen Adam fell, then hee be∣gan to dye; the same day (so said God) and that must needs hee true; and so it must mean that upon that very day hee fell into an

evill and dangerous condition, a state of change and affliction; then death began, i. e. the man began to dye by a natural diminution and ap••ness to disease and misery; his first state was, and should have been so long as it lasted a happy duration; his se∣cond was a daily and miserable change, and this was the dying pro∣perly: This appears in the great in∣stance of damnation, which in the stile of Scripture is called eternal death, not because it kills of ends the duration, it hath not so much good in it, but because it is a perpetual in∣felicity, change or separation of soul and body, is but accidental to death. Death may bee with, or without either; but the formality, the curse and sting of death, i. e. misery, sorrow, anguish, disho∣nour, and whatsoever is miser∣able, and afflictive in nature, that is death: Death is not an acti∣on, but a whole state and condition, and this was first brought in upon us by the offence of one man. But now though this death entred first upon us by Adams fault, yet it came

nearer unto us, and increased upon us by the sins of more of our fore∣fathers. For Adams sin left us in strength enough to contend with humane calamities, for almost a thousand years together: but the sins of his children, our forefathers, took off from us half the strength about the time of the flood; and then fell off from five hundred to two hun∣dred and fifty, and from thence to an hundred and twenty, and from thence to threescore and ten so often halfing it, till it is almost come to no∣thing; so that wee have not now time enough to get the perfection of a single manufacture, but ten or twelve Generations of the world must go to the making up of one wise man, or one excellent art; and in that succession of those ages, there happens so many changes and interruptions, so many wars and violencies▪ that seven years fighting, sets a whole Kingdome back in learning and vertue, to which they were creeping, it may bee a whole 〈◊〉〈◊〉.