A Treatise of Original Sin, Part 2 · Chapter 20
CHAP. XX.
A clear and full Knowledge of Original Sinne can be obtained only by Scripture Light.
SECT. I.
A Full and large information concerning the whole Nature of original ſinne, both in the Privative and Poſitive part thereof, hath been delivered, to which this Text hath been very uſefull. There remaineth one thing more in it, which is very conſiderable, and that is the way or means, how Paul cometh to be thus convinced of that ſinfulneſſe, which he did not acknowledge before, and that is ſaid to be by the Law. In what ſenſe Paul ſaid, He knew not luſt to be ſinne, hath already been declared.
There remaineth therefore this Doctrine to be obſerved, viz. That original ſinne in the immediate effect thereof, is truly and fully known onelyonly by the light of Gods word. None are ever clearly, and throughly perſwaded of ſuch an univerſal horrid defilement, but thoſe who look into the pure glaſs of Gods word. This Paul acknowledgeth in himſelf, and yet no Heathen, he lived under the light of the Word, but following traditional expoſitions from his fathers, and wanting the Spirit of God to enlighten him, therefore he was wholly ſtupid and ſenſleſſe in this matter, as therefore the Doctrine of Chriſt, and Evangelical grace is a myſtery, ſo is alſo this Doctrine about original ſinne.
SECT. II.
Whether the wiſeſt Heathens had any Knowledge of this Pollution.
BUt becauſe this matter is under Debate and Queſtion, let us further enquire into it, examining, Whether the wiſeſt Heathens had any knowledge of this natural pollution the Word doth ſo fully inform us in? And
Firſt, As for that original ſinne called originans, viz. Adam's actual tranſgreſſion made ours by Gods will and appointment, through imputation, that is, wholly known by revelation, ſo that no Heathens by the higheſt improvement and cultivage of nature could ever diſcern ſuch things. That God made Adam righteous, giving him a command of tryal in obedience, or diſobedience, whereof all his poſterity ſhould be involved, this they had not the leaſt him of, and the reaſon is, Becauſe the truth of ſuch things lieth not in nature, neither have ſecond cauſes the leaſt demonſtration of this, but it is wholly diſcovered as a matter of fact by the Scripture; So that we Chriſtians ought the more to bleſs God for the ſight of his Word, ſeeing thereby a very Ideot amongſt us may know more, then the wiſeſt Ariſtotle or Plato amongſt the Heathens.
Secondly, As for original inherent ſinne, it muſt neceſſarily be granted, That even the Heathens had ſome general confuſed knowledge about a mans natural defilement: Hence was their cuſtom of a ſolemn waſhing, and luſtration of their Infants in a religious way, implying hereby, that they came into the world polluted, and needed the propitious ſavour of their gods. This ſolemn religious cuſtom of theirs, was ſome general confeſſion of original ſinne; but as for the Philoſophers, who were the wiſeſt and moſt learned of them, ſome do ſpeak more congruouſly to this point than others. That noble and learned Pleſſ…us in his Book of the Truth of the Chriſtian Religion, Pag. 377. which he endeavoureth to prove even from Heathiniſh Authors, eſpecially the Platoniſts, doth alledge ſome things pertinently to our ſubject; For Plato holding, That the ſoul was put into the body, as into a priſon and a dungeon, for former ſinnes committed, through he groſly erred in the foundation, thinking ſouls pre-exiſtent before the body, and for faults committed then adjudged to the body as a place of priſon, which was an abſurd errour, yet there was ſome truth he did take notice of, for obſerving that the ſoul which ſhould rule and command the body, was yet mancipated, and enſlaved to it, he concluded there was ſome fore-going crime deſerving this, though he was wholly ignorant of Adam's fall: Hence he ſaith, That the ſoul hath loſt and broken her wings, which ſhe had at firſt, and thereby doth onelyonly creep and crawl upon the ground. The…phraſtus alſo Ariſtotle's Scholar, was wont to ſay, That the ſoul payeth a very dear rent for the houſe of her body, the body is ſuch a clog and impediment to it. The Platoniſts do ſeem to acknowledge more truth herein, then Ariſtotls, for Ariſtotle doth expreſly deny, That either virtue or vice is in us by nature, the very ſame thing which Pelagin afterwards did uſe to ſay: Therefore the Schoolmen, though enſlaved to Ariſtotle, yet when urging this Argument, That there cannot be a ſinne by birth in a man, becauſe no man is to be reproved or beaten, for that which he hath by nature, but rather to be pitied, it is not his ſinne but miſery; Which ſpeech (if true) doth utterly contradict that of the Apoſtle, We are by nature the children of wrath. The Schoolmen (I ſay) though … vaſalized to Ariſtotle, and alledging him oftner than Paul, do anſwer that Argument thus, It is no matter what Ariſtotle ſaith in this caſe, becauſe he knew nothing of original ſinne. Thus you ſee they are forced to leave him in this point, and therefore Ariſtotle is more to be renounced in this point, then any other Philoſopher. Grotius alſo (Comment. in 2d. Luc. v. 21. alledgeth ſeveral Hetheniſh Authors, who lay down this for a Poſition, that foreign, it is implanted and ingraffed into man to ſinne. Tully (lib. 3. Tuſc.) doth ſpeak ſo fully to this purpoſe, as if he had read what Moſes ſpeaketh of man by nature, Simul ac editi ſumus in lucem & ſuſcepti in omni continuè pravitate verſamur, &c. as ſoon as ever we are born, we are preſently exerciſed in all manner of evil, Vt poenè in lacte nutricis errorem ſuxiſſe videamur, as if we ſucked down errour with the nurſes milk; Here you ſee he ſpeaketh ſomething like to Moſes, when he ſaith, Gen. 6. That the imagination of the thoughts of our hearts are only evil and that continually; Although at the ſame time he ſeemeth to attribute this propenſity to evil to wicked manner, and depraved opinions, for there he ſaith, Nature hath given us of honeſty parvulos igniculos, and that there are ingeniis noſtris ſemina innata virtutum. But although ſome of their wiſeſt men have confeſſed ſuch a miſery and infirmity upon us, yet it may be doubted, Whether they looked upon this, as truly and properly ſinne, deſerving puniſhment either from God or man; They rather thought all ſinne muſt be voluntary: Hence Seneca, Erras ſi exiſtimas nobiſcum naſci vitia ſupervenerunt ingeſta ſunt. Indeed in their ſad complaints concerning mans birth, and all miſery accompanying him, as Auſtin ſaid, they did rem ſcire, but cauſam neſcire, they evidently ſaw we were miſerable, but they knew not the cauſe of it, whereas original ſin, according to Scripture light, though not perſonally voluntary, yet is truly a ſinne, and maketh a man in a damnable eſtate; Therefore the word original, when we divide ſinne into original and actual, is not terminus reſtrictivus, or diminuens, as when we did divide ens into ens reale, and rationis, but terminus ſpecificans, as when animal is divided into rationale and irrationale, both properly partaking of the general nature of ſinne; So that whatſoever apprehenſions they had, and complaints they made about man, yet they did not believe he was born in ſinne, though experience told them, he was in miſery. The Perſians (as Pleſſeus in the above-mentioned place ſaith) had every year a ſolemn Feaſt, wherein they did kill all the Serpents and wild beaſts they could get, and this Feaſt they called vi…iorum interitum, the ſlaying of their vices. By which it doth appear, that they had a guiltineſs about their ſinfull wayes, and that none were exempted from being ſinfull. Yea Caſaub. (Ex…rcit. 16. ad Annal. Bar. pag. 391.) ſpeaking of the ſacred myſteries among the Grecians, the diſcharging whereof was called foreign, affirmeth, That therefore they called the ſcope of thoſe holy actions foreign, becauſe it was (as they thought) a perduction of the ſoul to that ſtate in which it was, before it deſcended into the body, which he interpreteth of the ſtate of perfection from which we fell in the old Adam, ſo that even in this errour there was ſome truth, which made Tertullian ſay, Omnia adverſus veritatem de ipsà veritate conſtructa eſſe operantibus aemulationem iſtam ſpiritibus erroris. Thus you ſee how the wiſeſt of the Heathens have been divided in this point, Some making the ſoul of a man to come without vice or virtue, as a blank fit to receive either. Others acknowledging a diſeaſe, and an infirmity upon the ſoul, yet ignorant of the cauſe of it, neither acknowledging it to be a ſinne, and ſo deſerving puniſhment.
In the ſecond place, Although the Heathens did not ſee this ſinne, nor could truly bewail it, yet ſo farre many of them were convinced, that if they had any ſinfull deſires or luſting in the ſoul, or any wicked thoughts in their hearts to which they gave conſent, that theſe were ſinnes, and wholly to be abſtained from, though they did not break forth into act. Grotius in his Comment upon the 10th Commandment, ſheweth out of ſeveral Heatheniſh Writers, That all ſecret luſtings of the ſoul with conſent thereunto were were wholly unlawfull; Yea, as one of them is there ſaid to expreſſe it, they are not ſo much as to covet a needle, the leaſt thing. And as for Seneca, he hath high aſſertions about the governing of our thoughts, and ordering the inward affections of our ſouls ſo, as that the gods, as well as men may approve us. Tully ſaith, That an honeſt man would do no evil, or unjuſt thing, though he could have Gyges his ring, which they feigned made a man inviſible; And this is the rather to be obſerved, becauſe herein they ſurpaſſed the Phariſees, who though brought up under the Law, and had conſtantly the word of God to guide them, yet they did not think any covetings or luſtings in the heart to be a tranſgreſſion of the Law, as appeareth by our Saviours information, and expoſition he gave them, Matth. 5. And Joſephus is ſaid to deride Polybius the great Hiſtorian for making the gods to puniſh a King, meerly becauſe he had a purpoſe and an intent to commit ſome enormious iniquity: Yea, This principle of the Heathens may make many Chriſtians aſhamed, and be greatly confounded, who live, as if their thoughts were free, and their hearts were their own, ſo that they might ſuffer any poiſonous evil, and malicious actings of ſoul to be within them, and to put to check or controll upon them: As they matter not original ſinne, ſo neither the immediate effects and working thereof. Though their hearts be a den of theeviſh luſts, and their ſouls like Peter's ſheet, wherein were a company of innumerable unclean creeping luſts, yet ſo as their lives are unblameable, they wholly juſtifie themſelves; but you are to know, that the ſtrength of ſinne lieth in your hearts. The leaſt part of your evil is that which is viſible in your lives.
SECT. III.
THirdly, We ſee that original ſinne is ſo hardly diſcernable, that though men do enjoy the light of Gods Word, yea and read it over and over again, yet for all that they are not convinced of this native pollution. We ſee in all the Heretiques that have been in all ages, who have denied this original ſinne, they were ſummoned to anſwer the Word of God, Scripture upon Scripture was brought to convince them, but a veil was upon their eyes, they would wreſt and pervert the meaning of it, rather than retract their errour, ſo that Scripture-light objectively ſhining therein, is not enough Paul is a clear inſtance in this, he was moſt exact and ſtrict about the Law, yet wholly ignorant of this fundamental truth before he was converted, he knew the Commandment, Thou ſhalt not covet, yet he did not fully and throughly attend thereunto Hence
In the fourth place, To have a full and clear underſtanding of this native defilement, we are to implore the light of Gods Spirit. The light of the Word is not enough, unleſſe the Spirit of God be efficacious to remove all errour, and impediments, as alſo to prepare and fit the ſoul to receive it; Hence it's made the work of Gods Spirit to lead into all truth, if into all, then into this, while the eyes remain blind, the Sunne with all its luſtre can do no good. It is true, Gods Word is compared to a light, and to a lamp, but that is only objective without us, there muſt be ſomething ſubjectively within us, that ſhall make a ſutableneſs between the object and the faculty. To be made then Orthodox, and to have a ſound judgement herein, it muſt be wholly from the Spirit of God; For why is it that when one heareth and readeth thoſe Texts, We are by nature the children of wrath; Who can bring a clean thing out of unclean? He adoreth the fulneſs of theſe Texts, he is convinced of ſuch heart-pollution, and bleſſeth God for the knowledge of this truth: But another he cavilleth at the Texts, he derideth and ſcorneth at ſuch a truth, Is not this becauſe the Spirit of God leadeth one into the truth, and leaveth the other to his pride and blindneſs of mind.
SECT. IV.
FOurthly, It is not enough to know this ſinne in an orthodox ſpeculative manner, to acknowledge it ſo, But we are alſo in a practical, experimental manner to feel and bewail the power and burden of it. And happily this may be part of Paul's meaning, when he ſaith, He did not know luſt to be ſinne, that is, not ſo clearly, ſo fully, ſo experimentally, as now he did ſince the grace of God had both enlightned and ſanctified him; How many have with great orthodoxy maintained this Truth againſt Pelagians, and all the enemies of Gods grace ſhrouding themſelves under the praiſe of nature, but it is rare to ſee thoſe that do not onelyonly theoretically believe it, but practically walk with broken and contrite hearts under it. Examine then thy ſelf, Doeſt thou believe this is Gods Truth, that thou cameſt into the world all over polluted? Doeſt thou think that thou as well as any other, though never ſo civil and unblameable in reſpect of actual ſinnes, art by nature a child of the Devil, prepared fuel for the eternal flames of Hell? And doeſt thou not onelyonly believe this to be thy particular caſe, but withall thou art ſo affected with an holy fear and trembling, thou haſt no quietneſſe or reſt in thy ſoul, becauſe of it, then thou art come to a true and right knowledge of it? For the end of our preaching on this Subject, is not onelyonly to eſtabliſh your minds in this Truth againſt all errours therein, but alſo to mollifie and ſoften your hearts, that you may all your life time loath your ſelf, and advance the fulneſſe of Chriſt: And ſeeing that natural light is dimme and confuſed in this matter, keep cloſe to the Word, and not only ſo, but implore the Spirit of God, that in and through the Word, this Truth may enter like a two-edged ſword into thy bowels, knowing that without this foundation laid, there cannot be any eſteem of Chriſt.