to be no other than apocryphal, and, had they counted it otherwise, all would have reckoned it a burlesque upon scripture; therefore Origen, who, on other occasions, seems to pay too great a deference to it, when Celsus takes notice of it, as containing a banter on the Christian religion, he is, on that occasion, obliged to reply to him, that book was not in great reputation in the church,_ Vid. Orig. contra Celsum, _Lib. V. And Jerom reckons it among the apocryphal writings_, Vid. Hieronym. in Catal. Script. Eccles. _cap. 4. And Augustin calls it not only apocryphal, but, as it deserves, fabulous._ Vid. ejusd. de Civ. Dei. _Lib. XV. cap. 23._ Quest XX. QUEST. XX. _What was the providence of God toward man in the estate wherein he was created?_ ANSW. The providence of God toward man, in the estate wherein he was created, was, the placing him in paradise, appointing him to dress it, giving him liberty to eat of the fruit of the earth, putting the creatures under his dominion, and ordaining marriage for his help, affording him communion with himself, instituting the Sabbath, entering into a covenant of life with him, upon condition of personal, perfect, and perpetual obedience; of which, the tree of life was a pledge; and forbidding to eat of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, upon the pain of death. In this answer, we have an account of the providence of God, as respecting the _outward_, and the _spiritual_, concerns of man. I. As to what respects his outward estate, we have an account, 1. Of God’s fixing the place of his abode, which was to be in paradise, a very large and most delightful garden, of God’s own planting, an _epitome_ of all the beauties of nature, which, as it were, presented to his view the whole world in miniature; so that herein he might, without travelling many miles, behold the most beautiful land-skip which the world afforded, and partake of all the fruits, with which it was stored. The whole world, indeed, was given him for a possession; but this was, as it were, a store-house of its choicest fruits, and the peculiar seat of his residence. We find the word _paradise_ used, in scripture, sometimes to signify a delightful garden, and sometimes it is taken, in a metaphorical sense, to signify _heaven_, Luke xxiii. 43. 2 Cor. xii. 4. Rev. ii. 7. by which application thereof, we may conclude, that this earthly paradise, in which man was placed, was a kind of type of the heavenly blessedness, which, had he retained his integrity, he would have been possessed of, and which they, who are saved by Christ, shall be brought to.