The Soul's Conflict with Itself

It is an indignity for men to be led with surmises and probabilities, and so to pass a rash judgement upon persons and things: Oftentimes falsehood hath a fairer gloss of probability then truth, •d vices go masked under the appearance ⟨p. 206⟩of virtue, whereupon seeming likeness breeds a mistake of one thing ¹for another; and Satan oftentimes casts a mist before our imagination, that so we might have a misshapen conceit of things; by a spirit of elusion he makes worldly things appear bigger to us, and spiritual things lesser then indeed they are; and so by sophisticating of things our affections come to be missed. Imagination is the womb, and Satan the father of all monstrous conceptions and disordered lusts, which are well called deceitful lusts, and lusts of ignorance, foolish ²and noisome lusts, because they both spring from error and folly, and lead unto it.

It is an indignity for men to be led with •urmizes and probabilities, and so to passe a rash judgement upon persons and things: Oftentimes falshood hath a fairer glosse of probability then truth, •d vices goe masqued under the appearance ⟨p. 206⟩of vertue, whereupon seeming likenesse breeds a mistake of one thing ¹for another; and Sathan oftentimes casts a mist before our imagination, that so wee might have a mishapen conceit of things; by a spirit of elusion he makes worldly things appeare bigger to us, and spirituall things lesser then indeed they are; and so by sophisticating of things our affections come to be missed. Imagination is the wombe, and Sathan the father of all monstrous conceptions and disordered lusts, which are well called deceitfull lusts, and lusts of ignorance, foolish ²and noysome lusts, because they both spring from errour and folly, and lead unto it.