Heavenly merchandiseHeavenly merchandize

3. Add to this, and that makes it of the more weight; There is a foolish inclination in mans nature more readily to take up contented with a lie, than with the Truth. It is not to be denied but that Truth is the proper and adequate object of the understanding, which is therefore by its natural inclination carried out in the enquiry after it: Hence it follows, that men do not embrace a lie as such, but it must come to them under ⟨p. 95⟩the notion and consideration of Truth, if ever they give any credit thereunto: But this doth not make the present case any whit better, but if well considered it renders it much worse; because if they who are so seduced could be but persuaded that it is false, it were then an easy thing to beat them off from it; but because they are confidently built on it that it is true, this makes them to hold it tenaciously; and this still makes it the farther perilous, because the fall hath so crazed the mind of man, and confounded his apprehension of things, and so rendered his judgment so perverse, that he naturally calls good evil, and evil good, light darkness, and darkness light. His spiritual Optics are strangely discoloured, the principles of his natural reason are become corrupt, the Rules by which he measures and weighs things are depraved: he hath gotten to him false balances, the balance of deceit. The Psalmist gives the right character of a natural man in respect of his intellectuals, Psal 58. 3. The wicked are estranged from the womb, they go astray as soon as they be born, speaking lies. And […] it follows, that a lie easier finds entertainment with him than the Truth; he is more […] to close in with falsehood than […] understanding, ⟨p. 96⟩proceeding according to its false reasonings, is persuaded to believe that it sees sufficient reason for it: and this plainly speaks that there must needs be the greater reason for us to be exceeding wary to our selves, when we consider that we must in our search after Divine Truth, go against our own natural Bias.

3. Adde to this, and that makes it of the more weight; There is a foolish inclination in mans nature more readily to take up contented with a ly, than with the Truth. It is not to be denied but that Truth is the proper and adequate object of the understanding, which is therefore by its natural inclination carried out in the enquiry after it: Hence it follows, that men do not embrace a ly as such, but it must come to them under