ife, a simpleness and narrowness of mind, and a
superstitious, slavish fear. Not to know sin by experience brings upon a
man the laughter and jests of his companions: nor is it wonderful this
should be the case in the descendants of that guilty pair to whom Satan
in the beginning held out admittance into a strange world of knowledge
and enjoyment, as the reward of disobedience to God's commandment. "When
the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant
to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the
fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her, and
he did eat[1]." A discontent with the abundance of blessings which were
given, because something was withheld, was the sin of our first parents:
in like manner, a wanton roving after things forbidden, a curiosity to
know what it was to be as the heathen, was one chief source of the
idolatries of the Jews; and we at this day inherit with them a like
nature from Adam.

I say, curiosity strangely moves us to disobedience, in order that we may
have experience of the pleasure of disobedience. Thus we "rejoice in our
youth, and let our heart cheer us in the days of our youth, and walk in
the ways of our heart, and in the sight of our eyes[2]." And we thus
intrude into things forbidden, in various ways; in reading what we should
not read, in hearing what we should not hear, in seeing what we should
not see, in going into company whither we should not go, in presumptuous
reasonings and arguings when we should have faith, in acting as if we
were our own masters where we should obey. We indulge our reason, we
indulge our passions, we indulge our ambition, our vanity, our love of
power; we throw ourselves into the society of bad, worldly, or careless
men; and all the while we think that, after having acquired this
miserable knowledge of good and evil, we can return to our duty, and
continue where we left off; merely going aside a moment to shake
ourselves, as Samson did, and with an ignorance like his, that our true
heavenly strength is departed from us.

Now this delusion arises from Satan's craft, the father of lies, who
knows well that if he can get us once to sin, he can easily make us sin
twice and thrice, till at length we are taken captive at his will[3]. He
sees that curiosity is man's great and first snare, as it was in
paradise; and he knows that, if he can but force a way into his heart by
this chief