the laws of God as eternal truths. (76) We conclude, therefore, that God is
described as a lawgiver or prince, and styled just, merciful, &c., merely in
concession to popular understanding, and the imperfection of popular
knowledge; that in reality God acts and directs all things simply by the
necessity of His nature and perfection, and that His decrees and volitions
are eternal truths, and always involve necessity. (77) So much for the first
point which I wished to explain and demonstrate.

(78) Passing on to the second point, let us search the sacred pages for
their teaching concerning the light of nature and this Divine law. (79) The
first doctrine we find in the history of the first man, where it is narrated
that God commanded Adam not to eat of the fruit of the tree of the
knowledge of good and evil; this seems to mean that God commanded Adam to do
and to seek after righteousness because it was good, not because the
contrary was evil: that is, to seek the good for its own sake, not from fear
of evil. (80) We have seen that he who acts rightly from the true knowledge
and love of right, acts with freedom and constancy, whereas he who acts from
fear of evil, is under the constraint of evil, and acts in bondage under
external control. (81) So that this commandment of God to Adam comprehends
the whole Divine natural law, and absolutely agrees with the dictates of the
light of nature; nay, it would be easy to explain on this basis the whole
history or allegory of the first man. (82) But I prefer to pass over the
subject in silence, because, in the first place, I cannot be absolutely
certain that my explanation would be in accordance with the intention of the
sacred writer; and, secondly, because many do not admit that this history is
an allegory, maintaining it to be a simple narrative of facts. (83) It will
be better, therefore, to adduce other passages of Scripture, especially such
as were written by him, who speaks with all the strength of his natural
understanding, in which he surpassed all his contemporaries, and whose
sayings are accepted by the people as of equal weight with