2 Corinthians 11:3

But I fear Love is full of these fears; lest by any means By some means or other; as the serpent A most apposite comparison; deceived Eve Simple, ignorant of ill; by his subtlety Which is in the highest degree dangerous to such a disposition; so your minds (We might therefore be tempted, even if there were no sin in us;) should be corrupted Losing their virginal purity; from the simplicity that is in Christ Namely, that simplicity which is lovingly intent on him alone. “That it was the devil who beguiled Eve, our Lord hath intimated, by calling him a murderer from the beginning, and a liar, John 8:44. The same also St. John hath intimated, by giving the name of the old serpent to him who is called the devil and Satan, who deceiveth the whole world, Revelation 12:9; Revelation 20:2. Besides, in the history of the fall, the serpent is said to have been punished, as a rational and accountable agent. Wherefore, what Moses hath written of the fall, is not an apologue, or fable, with a moral meaning, as Middleton and others contend, but a true history of things really done, in which the devil was the chief actor.” Macknight. See note on Genesis 3:1.