Of the corruption of human nature
John Gill
Having proved the imputation
of the guilt of Adam's sin to his posterity, what follows upon this is, the corruption
of nature derived unto them from him; by which is meant, the general depravity
of mankind, of all the individuals of human nature, and of
all the powers and faculties of the soul, and members of the body.
1. First, I shall prove that there
is such a depravity and corruption of mankind.
1a. The heathens themselves
have acknowledged and lamented it; they assert, that no man
is born without sin {1}; that every man is naturally vicious {2}; that there is
an evil disposition, or vicious affection, that is implanted and grows up in
men {3}; and that there is a fatal portion of evil in all when born, from
whence are the depravity of the soul, diseases, &c. {4} and that the cause
of viciosity is rather from our parents, and from first principles, than from
ourselves {5}: and Cicero {6} particularly laments that men
should be brought into life by nature as a stepmother, with a naked, frail, and
infirm body, and with a mind or soul prone to lusts.
1b. Revelation asserts it; the
Scriptures abound with testimonies of it, affirming that no man can be born
pure and clean; that whatever is born of the flesh, or comes into the world by ordinary generation, is flesh, carnal and corrupt;
that all men, Jews and Gentiles, are under sin, under the guilt, pollution and
dominion of sin; that the imagination of the thoughts of man's heart is only
evil, and that continually; that the heart is deceitful and desperately wicked;
and that out of it proceeds all that is vile and sinful, #Job 14:4 Joh 3:6 Ro
3:9 Ge 6:5 Jer 17:9 #Mt 15:19.
1c. Reason confirms it, that
so it must be; that if a tree is corrupt, it can bring forth no other than
corrupt fruit; that if the root of mankind is unholy, the branches must be so
too; if the fountain is impure, the streams must be so likewise; if immediate
parents are unclean, their posterity must be unclean, since a clean thing
cannot be brought out of an unclean; and if God has made of
one man's blood all nations that are upon the face of the earth, and that blood
is tainted with sin, all that proceed from him by ordinary generation must have
the same taint.
1d. All experience testifies
the truth of this; no man was ever born into the world without
sin; no one has ever been exempt from this contagion and defilement of nature,
"there is none that doeth good, no not one", #Ro 3:10 that does good
naturally and of himself; the reason is, because there is none by nature good;
of all the millions of men that have proceeded from Adam by ordinary
generation, not one has been found without sin; there is but one individual of
human nature that can be mentioned as an exception to this,
and that is the human nature of Christ; and that is excepted because of its
wonderful production, and did not descend from Adam by ordinary generation.
1e. The necessity of
redemption by Christ, and of regeneration by the Spirit of Christ,
shows that men must be in a corrupt state, or there would have been no need of
these. The redemption of men from sin, and from a vain conversation, supposes
them to be under the power of sin, and the influence of it, to lead a vain
sinful life; and if men were free from the pollution of sin, the blood of
Christ to cleanse from all sin would have been unnecessary; his being made
wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption to
them, implies that they were foolish and unwise, that they were unrighteous and
unholy, and slaves to sin and Satan: regeneration and sanctification are
absolutely necessary to a man's enjoyment of eternal happiness; "except a
man is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God"; and "without
holiness no man shall see the Lord", #Joh 3:3 Heb 12:14 but what occasion would there have been for man's being born again, or having a
new or supernatural birth, if he was not defiled by his first and natural
birth; or of being sanctified, if he was not unholy and unclean? see #1Co
6:9-11.
2. Secondly, The names by
which this corruption of nature is expressed in scripture deserve
notice, since they not only serve to give more light into the nature of it, but
also to confirm it; it is often called "sin" itself, being a want of
conformity to the law of God, and contrary to it; it is represented as very
active, working all manner of concupiscence, and death itself; deceiving,
slaying, killing, and as exceeding sinful, even to an hyperbole, being big with
all sin, and the source of all, #Ro 7:8,11,13. It has the
name of "indwelling sin"; the apostle speaks of it as such with
respect to himself, "it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in
me", #Ro 7:17,20 it is not what comes and goes, or is only a visitor now
and then, but an inhabitant, and a very troublesome one; it hinders all the
good, and does all the evil it can; and it abides, and will abide, as long as
men are in this tabernacle, the body, and even in the
saints, until the earthly house of this tabernacle is dissolved; it is like the
spreading leprosy in the house, which was not to be cured until the house was
pulled down, and the stones and timber carried into an unclean place: so the
tabernacle of the body will not be rid of the corruption of nature, until it is
unpinned and taken down, and carried to the grave. It is said to be the
"law of sin", and a "law in the members";
which has force, power, and authority with it; it reigns like a king; yea,
rather as a tyrant; for it reigns unto death, unless grace prevents it; it
enacts laws, and requires obedience to them; and obedience is yielded to the
lusts of it; men serve divers lusts and pleasures, #Ro 7:23 8:2 6:12 5:21 #Tit
3:3. Sometimes it is called the
"body of sin", because it consists of various parts and members, as a
body does; it is an aggregate, or an assemblage of sins, and
includes all in it, #Ro 6:6 Col 3:5. Sometimes it goes by the name of the
"old man", because it is the effect of the poison of the old serpent;
it is near as old as the first man; and is as old as every man in whom it is;
it exists as early as man himself does, #Ro 6:6 Eph 4:22. Very often it is
called flesh, because it is propagated by the flesh, and is carnal and corrupt,
and is opposed to the spirit or principle of grace, which is
from the Spirit of God; and in which no good thing, nothing that is spiritual,
dwells, #Joh 3:6 Ga 5:17 #Ro 7:18,25. Once more, it is named, "lust"
or "concupiscence"; which is sin itself, and the mother of all sin;
it consists of various branches, called fleshly lusts, and worldly lusts, the
lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, #Ro 7:7 #Jas
1:15 1Jo 2:15. The Jews commonly call it, the evil figment,
or imagination.
3. Thirdly, This corruption of
nature is universal, -----
3a. With respect to the
individuals of mankind. Our first parents were, and all descending
from them by ordinary generation are tainted with it. This corruption
immediately upon the sin of our first parents, took place in them; as appears
from the shame, confusion, and fear they were at once filled with; from their
gross stupidity and folly, in thinking to hide themselves from God among the
trees of the garden; from their attempts to conceal, palliate, and excuse their
sin, the woman by laying the blame on the serpent, the man
on the woman, and ultimately on God himself. Their immediate offspring took the
contagion from them; the first man born into the world, Cain, the corruption of
nature soon appeared in him, in his wrathful and envious countenance, when his
brother's sacrifice was preferred to his; nor could he be easy until he had
shed his brother's blood, which he did: and though Abel is
called righteous Abel, as he was, through the righteousness of Christ imputed
to him, and on account of the new man created in him unto righteousness and
true holiness; in consequence of which he lived soberly and righteously; yet he
was not without sin, or otherwise why did he offer sacrifice, and by faith
looked to the sacrifice of Christ, which was to be offered up to make atonement
for his sins, and those of others? In the room of Abel,
whom Cain slew, God raised up another seed to Adam, whom he begot in his own
likeness, after his image; not in the likeness and image of God, in which Adam
was created; but in that which he had brought upon himself, through his sin and
fall: the posterity of this man, and of Cain, peopled and filled the whole
world before the flood. And what is the account that is given
of them? It is this, that the earth was corrupt through them; that all flesh
had corrupted his way on the earth; and that only one man found grace in the
sight of God; and that the imagination of the thoughts of man's heart was only
evil continually, #Ge 4:25 #Ge 5:3 6:5,8,11,12. And as for the inhabitants of
the new world, who sprung from Noah and his three sons, who descended in a
right line from Seth, much the same is said of them, #Ge
8:21. In short, all nations of the earth, which may be divided into Jews and
Gentiles, and which include the whole, are all under sin, under the guilt and
pollution of it; not the Gentiles only, whose times of ignorance God winked at,
and whom he suffered to walk in their own ways, which were sinful ones; but
even the people of Israel, whom God chose to be a special
and peculiar people, these were always rebellious, from the time they were a
people; all the while Moses was with them; in the times of the Judges; and when
under the government of Kings; as their several captivities testify; they were
a seed of evil doers, a people laden with iniquity; in every age or period of
time, whenever God took a survey of the state and condition of mankind, this
was the sum of the account; "They are corrupt",
&c. #Ps 14:1-3 Ro 3:9-12. The contentions, quarrels, and wars which have
been in the world, in all ages, are a strong, constant, and continued proof of
the depravity of human nature; "for these come of lusts that war in the
members", #Jas 4:1 which, as it is true of the war between flesh and
spirit in the soul; and of the animosities and contentions among professors of
religion; so of wars among nations, in a civil sense; and
which have been from the beginning, and still continue: a quarrel there was
between the first two men that were born into the world, which issued in
bloodshed; and as soon as kingdoms and states were formed, and kings over them,
we hear of wars between them. Look over the histories of all ages, and of all
nations in them, and you will find them full of accounts of these things; all which have risen from the pride, ambition, and
lusts of men. Yea, this depravity and corruption of nature has appeared, not
only among the men of the world in all ages, but even among the people of God,
and after they have been called by grace: there never was a just man that did
good, and sinned not; in many things, in all things, they sin and offend; in
them, that is, in their flesh, their corrupt part, no good
thing dwells: such that say they have no sin, deceive themselves, and the truth
is not in them.
3b. This corruption of nature
is general, with respect to the parts of man, to all the powers and faculties
of his soul, and to the members of his body.
3b1. To the
powers and faculties of the soul of man, to all that
is within
him; his heart is deceitful and desperately
wicked; his
inward part is wickedness itself; the thoughts
of his heart
are evil, vain, and sinful; yea, the
imagination
of the thoughts of his heart, the very
substratum of
thought, the first motions that are in man
that way; the
mind and conscience, are defiled, and nothing
can remove
the pollution but the blood of Jesus: the
understanding
is darkened through the blindness and
ignorance
that is in it; so that a mere natural man cannot
discern the things
of the Spirit of God; whatever knowledge
men have of
things natural and civil, they have none of
things
spiritual; wise they are to do evil, but to do good
they have no
knowledge; they know not, nor will they
understand:
the will is averse to that which is good; the
carnal mind
is enmity to God, and not subject to the law of
God; nor can
it be, without his grace; it is hard, stiff,
obstinate,
and perverse, until the stony heart is taken
away, and a
heart of flesh is given. The affections are
inordinate,
run in a wrong channel, are fixed on wrong
objects; men
hate what they should love, and love what they
should hate;
they hate the good, and love the evil; they are
lovers of
pleasures, of sinful lusts and pleasures, rather
than lovers
of God, good men, and good things. In short,
there
is no place clean, no part free from the pollution and
influence of
sin.
3b2. All the
members of the body are defiled with it; the tongue
is a little
member, and is a world of iniquity itself, and
defiles
the whole body; the several members of it are used
as
instruments of unrighteousness; several of them are
particularly
mentioned in the general account of man's
depravity,
#Ro 3:1-31 as the throat, lips, mouth, and feet,
all employed
in the service of sin.
4. Fourthly, The time when the
corruption of nature takes place in man; the lowest date of it is his youth;
"The imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth", #Ge 8:21 that
is, as soon as he is capable of exercising his reason, and of committing actual
sin; and which, at this age, chiefly appears in lying and disobedience to parents; and this is said, not of some particular men, or of
some individuals, but of men in general; and not only as in the times of Noah,
but in all succeeding generations to the end of the world. This depravity of
nature is in some passages carried up higher, even to a man's birth; "The
wicked are estranged from the womb"; that is, from God, alienated from the
life of God; being under the power of a moral death, or
being dead in trespasses and sins; "They go astray as soon as they be
born, speaking lies", #Ps 58:3 that is, as soon as they are capable of
speaking; and the sin of lying, children are very early addicted to; and this
is said, not only of such who in the event turn out very wicked, profligate and
abandoned sinners, but even such as are born of religious parents, have a
religious education, and become religious themselves, are
"called transgressors from the womb", #Isa 48:8 that is, as soon as
capable of committing actual transgression. David carries the pollution of his
nature still higher, when he says; "Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and
in sin did my mother conceive me", #Ps 51:5 which he observes, not to
extenuate, but rather to aggravate, his actual transgression he was confessing,
in that he had been so early and so long sinful; and that
whereas he was not ignorant of the corruption of his nature, and how prone he
was to sin, that he should be no more upon his guard against it. He does not
say, "my sin, and my iniquity", though it was his, being in his
nature; but "sin" and "iniquity", being what was common to
him with the rest of mankind; and what had attended him at the formation of him
in the womb, and so before he could commit any actual sin;
and therefore must design the original corruption of his nature; and that as
soon as soul and body were united together he was a sinful creature. To this
sense of the words it is objected, that David speaks only of his mother's sin;
and broad hints are given that her sin was the sin of adultery. This shows how
much the advocates for the purity of human nature are
pinched with this passage, to betake themselves to such an interpretation of
it, at the expense of the character of an innocent person, of whom nothing of
this kind is suggested in the sacred writings; but, on the contrary, that she
was a pious and religious person; David valued himself upon his relation to
her, and pleads to be regarded for her sake, #Ps 86:16 116:16. Besides, if this
had been the case, David would have been illegitimate; and,
by a law in Israel, would have been forbid entering into the congregation of
the Lord, and could not have bore any office in church or state; nor did it
answer the scope and design of David, to expose the sins of others, especially
his own parents, while he is confessing and lamenting his own; nor does the
particle "in" belong to his mother, but to himself; the sense is not,
that his mother being in sin or that she in and
"through sin" conceived him; but that he was conceived being in sin,
or that as soon as the mass of human nature was shaped and formed in him, and
soul and body were united together, he was in sin, and sin in him; or he became
a sinful creature. Some who do not go the above lengths, yet suppose that the
sin of his immediate parents, in begetting and conceiving him, though
in lawful wedlock, is meant; but this cannot be; since the propagation of the
human species by generation, is a principle implanted in nature by God himself,
and so not sinful. It was the first law of nature, "Increase and
multiply"; given in the state of innocence. Marriage was instituted in
Paradise, and has been always esteemed honourable when the bed is undefiled.
Besides, one of the words used, translated
"shapen", is in the passive form, and respects what neither David nor
his parents could be active in; and the whole refers to the amazing work of his
formation, which he so much admires, #Ps 139:14-16. It is objected by others,
that he goes no higher than his mother; and takes no notice of Adam. Nor was
there any need of it; for since the corruption of nature goes in the channel of
generation, he had no occasion, in speaking of that, to
take notice of any other but his immediate parents, through whom it was
conveyed to him: it is further urged, that David speaks not of other men, only
of himself. But that all mankind are corrupted in the same manner, other
passages are full and express for it, #Job 14:4 Joh 3:6 Ps 58:3 Eph 2:3. And if
David, a man so famous for early piety and religion, one after God's own heart, whom he raised up to fulfil his will, was tainted
with sin in his original formation, then surely the same must be true of all
others; who, after him, can rise up and say, it was not so with him? Lastly,
some will have these words to be figurative and hyperbolical, and only mean,
that he had often sinned from his youth: but men, in confessing sin, do not
usually exaggerate it, but declare it plainly, ingenuously,
just as it is; and, indeed, the sinfulness of nature, cannot well be
hyperbolized; and, if such a figure was attempted, it might be allowed of,
without lowering it; see #Ro 7:13.
5. Fifthly, The way and manner
in which the corruption of nature is conveyed to men, as to
become sinful by it.
5a. It cannot be of God, or by
infusion from him; he is of purer eyes than to behold it; he has no pleasure in
it; it is abominable to him, and therefore would never infuse and implant it in
the nature of men. Some of the ancient heretics fancied, there were two first principles, or beings; the one good, and the other
evil; and that all that is good comes from the one; and all that is evil from
the other: but this is to make two first causes, and so two gods; and those
diametrically opposite to each other.
5b. Nor can it be by imitation
of parents, either first or immediate; there are some who
never sinned after the similitude of Adam's transgression, and yet die; which
they would not, were they not guilty and polluted; there are many born into the
world who never knew their immediate parents, and therefore could not imitate
them. Some their fathers die before they are born; and some lose both parents
before capable of imitation; and if the taint is at their formation, and before
their birth, it is impossible to be by imitation.
5c. Nor does this come to pass
through souls being in a pre-existent state. Some of the heathen philosophers,
as Pythagoras and Plato, held a pre-existence of souls before the world was;
and which notion was adopted by Origen, who held, that souls in
this pre-existent state sinned each separately for themselves; and for their
sins were thrust in time into human bodies, or into others, in which they
suffer. Some think this notion was embraced by some of the Jews in Christ's
time, and even by some of his followers; as is urged from #Joh 9:1-3 but then
it is not allowed of by him. And some modern Christians have imbibed the same
heathenish and Jewish notion; who, observing that some
passages of scripture speak of the pre-existence of Christ, in his divine
nature, or as a divine Person, have interpreted them of the pre-existence of
his human soul; and have proceeded to assert the pre-existence of all souls,
but without any colour of reason or scripture authority.
5d. Nor is
this to be accounted for by the traduction of the soul from immediate parents;
or by the generation of it, together with the body, from them. Could this
indeed be established, it would greatly remove the difficulty which attends the
doctrine of the propagation of the corruption of nature by natural generation;
hence Austin was once inclined to it on this account; but it is so big with
absurdities, as has been seen in a preceding chapter, that
it cannot be admitted; as, that spirit is educed out of matter, and generated
from it, and therefore must be material, corruptible, and mortal; for whatever
is generated is corruptible, and consequently the soul is not immortal; a
doctrine never to be given up: and, besides, according to the Scriptures, the
soul is immediately created by God, #Zec 12:1 #Heb 12:9. That this corruption of nature is conveyed by generation, seems certain;
see #Job 14:4 Joh 3:6 Eph 2:3 for since nature is conveyed in that way, the sin
of nature also must come in like manner. But how to account for this,
consistent with the justice, holiness, and goodness of God, is a difficulty,
and is one of the greatest difficulties in the whole scheme of divine truths;
wherefore some have thought it more advisable to sit down and
lament this corruption, and consider how we must be delivered from it, than to
inquire curiously in what way and manner it comes into us; as a man that is
fallen into a pit, does not so much concern himself how he came into it, as how
to get out of it, and to be cleansed from the filth he has contracted in it.
But a sober inquiry into this matter, with a due regard to the perfections of
God, the sacred Scriptures, and the analogy of faith, may
be both lawful and laudable. The difficulty is chiefly occasioned by the manner
in which the case is put; as, that a soul that comes pure and holy out of the
hand of God, should be united to a sinful body, and be defiled by it; blot if
it can be made out, that neither of these is the fact, that the body is not
properly and formally sinful, when the soul is first united to it, nor the soul
pure and holy when created by God; that is, not in such
sense as the soul of Adam was when created; the difficulty will be greatly
lessened, if not entirely removed.
5d1. Let it
be observed, then, that the contagion of sin does not
take place on
the body apart, nor on the soul apart; but
upon
both when united together, and not before: it was not
the body
apart in the substance of Adam's flesh that sinned;
nor was the
soul apart represented by him; but both as in
union, and as
one man, one person; for not bodies and souls
separately,
but men, were considered in Adam, and sinned in
him;
and so as the imputation of the guilt of his sin is not
made to the
body apart, nor to the soul apart, but to both
as united;
when, and not before, it becomes a son of Adam, a
member of
him; so the corruption of nature, derived from
him, takes
place on neither apart, but upon them as united
together,
and constituted man. The body, antecedent to its
union to a
rational soul, is no other than a brute, an
animal, like
other animals; and is not a subject either of
moral good or
moral evil; as it comes from a corrupt body,
and is of a
corruptible seed, it has in it the seeds of many
evils,
as other animals have, according to their nature; but
then these
are natural evils, not moral ones; as the
savageness,
fierceness, and cruelty of lions, bears, wolves,
&c. But
when this body comes to be united to a rational
soul, it
becomes then a part of a rational creature, it
comes
under a law, and its nature not being conformable to
that law, its
nature, and the evils and viciosities of it,
are formally
sinful. It has before a disposition, an
aptitude to
what is sinful; and contains fit fuel for sin,
which its
vicious lusts and appetites kindle, when these
become
formally sinful, through its becoming a part of a
rational
creature; and these increasing, operate upon and
gradually
defile the soul. Should it be said, that matter
cannot operate
on spirit; this may be sooner said than
proved. How
easy is it to observe, that when our bodies are
indisposed
through diseases and pain, what an effect this
has upon our
minds; from the temperament and constitution of
the body many
incommodities and disadvantages arise unto the
soul: persons
that have much of the "atra bilis", or black
choler in
them, a melancholy and bodily disorder, what a
gloominess
does it throw upon the mind! and to what passion,
anger, and
wrath, are men of a sanguine complexion subject?
and to what
is insanity owing, but to a disorder in the
brain? and to
a defect there must it be attributed, that
some are
idiots, and others of very mean capacities, and
very
short memories; and where the bodily organs are not
well
attempered and accommodated, the soul is cramped, and
cannot duly
perform its functions and offices; and a man
must be
inattentive to himself, if he does not observe, that
as by
thoughts in the mind motions are excited in the body,
whether
sinful, civil, or religious; so motions of the body
are often the
means and occasion of exciting thoughts in the
mind.
5d2. It is
not fact that souls are now created by God pure and
holy;
that is, as Adam's soul was created, with original
righteousness
and purity; with a propensity to that which is
good, and
with power to do it. But they are created with a
want of
original righteousness and holiness; without a
propensity to
good, and without power to perform; and a
reason
will be given presently, why it is so; and why it
should be so.
And such a creation may be conceived of
without any
imputation of unrighteousness to God, and
without
making him the author of sin. It may be conceived of
without any
injury to the perfections of God; as, that he
may
create a soul in its pure essence, with all its natural
powers and
properties, without any qualities of moral purity
or impurity,
holiness or unholiness; or that he may create
one with a
want of righteousness, and with an impotence to
good, and without
any propensity to it; since by so doing he
does
not put any fulness into the soul, nor any inclination
to sin. And
that the souls of men should be now so created,
it is but
just and equitable, as will appear by the
following
considerations: Adam's original righteousness was
not personal,
but the righteousness of his nature; he had
it
not as a private single person, but as a public head, as
the root,
origin, and parent of mankind; so that had he
stood in his integrity,
it would have been conveyed to his
posterity by
natural generation; just as he having sinned,
the
corruption of nature is derived to them in the same way;
what
he had, he had not for himself only, but for his
posterity;
and what he lost, he lost not for himself only,
but for his
posterity; and he sinned not as a single private
person, but
as the head, root, origin, and parent of all his
offspring;
they were all in him, and sinned in him as one
man;
so that it was but just that they should be deprived,
as he, of the
glory of God, that is, of the image of God,
which chiefly
lay in original righteousness, in an
inclination
to good, and a power to perform it; and, being
stripped of
this, or being devoid of it, an inclination to
sin
follows upon it, as soon as it offers; and in the room
of it
unrighteousness and unholiness take place; for, as
Austin says,
the loss of good takes the name of evil; and
this being
the case, how easily may it be accounted for,
that a soul
without any fence or guard, wanting original
righteousness,
be gradually mastered and overcome by the
corrupt and
sensual appetites of the body. And to all this
agrees what a
learned author {7} well observes, "God is to
be considered
by us, not as a Creator only, but also as a
Judge; he is
the Creator of the soul, as to its substance;
in
respect to which it is pure when created. Moreover, God
is a Judge,
when he creates a soul, as to this circumstance;
namely, that
not a soul simply is to be created by him; but
a soul of one
of the sons of Adam: in this respect it is
just with him
to desert the soul, as to his own image lost
in
Adam; from which desertion follows a want of original
righteousness;
from which want original sin itself is
propagated.
"
Should it be
said, that though the justice and holiness
of
God are cleared from all imputation, in this way of
considering
things; yet it does not seem so agreeable to the
goodness and
kindness of God to create such a soul, and
unite it to a
body, in the plight and condition before
described;
since the natural consequence of it seems to be
unavoidably
the moral pollution of them both. To which may
be replied,
that God in this proceeds according to the
original law
of nature, fixed by himself; and which,
according to
the invariable course of things, appears to be
this, with
respect to the propagation of mankind: that when
matter
generated is prepared for the reception of the soul;
as soon as
that preparation is finished; that very instant a
soul is
created, and ready at hand to be united to it, and
it is. Now
the law for the propagation of mankind by natural
generation,
was given to Adam in a state of innocence, and
as
soon as created, "Increase and multiply"; he after this
corrupted and
defiled the whole frame of his nature, and
that of all
his posterity. Is it reasonable now, that
because man
has departed from his obedience to the law of
God, that God
should depart from his original law,
respecting
man's generation? It is not reasonable he should,
nor does he,
nor will he depart from it: this appears from
cases, in
which, if in any, he could be thought to do so; as
in the case
of insanity, which infects a man's blood and
family, and
becomes a family disorder; and yet to put a stop
to
this God does not depart from the order of things fixed
by him; and
so in the case of such who are unlawfully
begotten in
adultery or fornication; when what is generated
is fit to
receive the soul, there is one prepared and united
to it. And
sometimes in this way God brings into the world
some
that belong to the election of grace; one of our Lord's
ancestors
came into the world in this way, #Ge 38:29
#Mt 1:3. What
if Adam eats the forbidden fruit, and men
drink water
out of another's cistern, stolen waters, which are
sweet unto
them, and thereby transgress the law of God; must
he
forsake his own stated law and order of things? No;
nature itself
does not do so: a man steals a quantity of
wheat, and
sows it in his field; nature proceeds according
to its own
laws, fixed by the God of nature; the earth
receives the
seed, though stolen, into its bosom, cherishes
it,
and throws it out again, and a plentiful crop is
produced. And
shall nature act its part, and not the God of
nature? He
will; and the rather he will go on in his
constant
course, that the sin of men might be manifest, and
that sin be
his punishment. And in this light, indeed, we
are
to consider the corruption of nature; a moral death,
which is no
other than a deprivation of the image of God, a
loss of
original righteousness, and an incapacity to attain
to it, was
threatened to Adam, and inflicted on him as a
punishment.
And since all his posterity sinned in him, why
should
not the same pass upon them? and,
indeed, it is by
the just
ordination of God that things are as they be, in
consequence
of Adam's sin, who cannot do an unjust thing;
there is no
unrighteousness in him; he is righteous in all
his ways, and
holy in all his works; and so in this. And
here
we should rest the matter; in this we should acquiesce;
and humble
ourselves under the mighty hand of God.
{1} Which Plato calls
kakofuia, and defines it kakia en fusei, an evil in nature, Plato,
Definitiones. "Nam vitiis nemo sine nascitur---",Horat. Satyr, l. 1.
satyr 3. v. 68.
{2}
"Unicuique dedit vitium natura creata", Propert. l. 2. eleg. 22 ver.
17.
{3} Laertius, l. 2. in vita
Aristippi.
{4} Plutarch, de Consol. ad
Apoll. vol. 2. p. 104.
{5} Timaeus Locrus de Natura
Mundi, p. 21.
{6} De Republica, l. 3. apud
August. contr. Julian l. 4. c. 12.
{7}
Sandford or Parker de Descensu Christi ad inferos, I. 3. s. 65. p. 121, 122.