De politia judaica, tam civili quam ecclesiastica, jam inde a suis primordiis, hoc est ab orbe condito, repetita

it must be admitted that these laws began, inscribed, namely, upon the soul of man created in the image of the Maker himself. For since neither was the light of intelligence obscured by any darkness, nor had any ἀταξία disorder/lack of order invaded the will, and indeed there was a certain admirable harmony between man and God himself, it is concluded that man had obtained, by this very benefit of creation, the ability to see of his own accord both what he owed to the Maker and what the duty of any man was toward another, and that the whole will was carried to where the intellect led. Yet, even then, it is apparent that there was a need besides for an external declaration of the divine will, from the fact that the Lord, even before the sin, established a law concerning the forbidden use of that tree, applying also a most grave and by no means vain threat; this Law, to be sure, was an external testimony of that observance which man owed to God. Nor do we read that any other Law was given at that time. Later, however, with darkness brought into the mind of man, and with the will of man turned completely away from God, there nevertheless remained in man συντήρησις preservation (conscience) and συνείδησις conscience; it was necessary for man to be ruled by these, of which the former is a certain storehouse of κοινῶν ἐννοιῶν common notions, and by the latter, thoughts (as the Apostle says) Rom. 2.15 excusing or accusing. But that [former] was so—