Milton

¶1Providentia Dei lapsum hominis respiciens cum in peccato ejus et miseria inde consecuta cernitur, tum in ejus restitutione.

¶2PECCATUM, uti ab ipso apostolo definitur, est ἀνομία, seu legis transgressio, 1 Joan. iii. 4.

¶3Legis nomine primario hic intelligitur, illa hominis menti insita et innata: deinde illa ore Dei prolata, Gen. ii. 17. de isto ne comedito: nam lex per Mosen scripta longe posterior fuit: de qua Rom. ii. 12. quicunque sine lege peccaverunt, sine lege quoque peribunt.

¶4PECCATUM est vel OMNIUM HOMINUM COMMUNE vel CUJUSQUE PROPRIUM.

¶5OMNIUM COMMUNE, QUOD ABJECTA PRORSUS OBEDIENTIA, FRUCTUQUE VETITÆ ARBORIS DEGUSTATO, PRIMI PARENTES ATQUE IN IIS OMNES EORUM POSTERI COMMISERUNT.

¶6PRIMI PARENTES. Gen. iii. 6. accepit mulier de fructu, et comedit, et dedit viro, qui comedit. hinc 1 Tim. ii. 14. Adam non fuit seductus, sed mulier seducta causa transgressionis fuit. Peccatum hoc primum ab instigatione diaboli fuit, ut ex gesta re constat Gen. iii. et 1 Joan. iii. 8. qui facit peccatum, ex diabolo est; quoniam a principio diabolus peccat. deinde a natura ipsa hominis non immutabili profectum, ex qua ille, sicut antea diabolus, in veritate non perstitit, Joan. viii. 44. neque suam originem servavit, sed domicilium reliquit, Judæ 6. Et si quis attentius p. 181 paulo animadvertat, atrocissimum, et totius legis transgressionem haud injuria dixerit. Sub hoc enim quid non perpetravit homo, credulitate in Satanam, incredulitate in Deum juxta damnandus, infidelis, ingratus, inobsequens, gulosus, uxorius hic, mariti illa inobservantior, uterque suæ prolis, totius generis humani, parricida, fur, et alieni raptor, sacrilegus, fallax, divinitatis insidiosus et indignus affectator, superbus, arrogans. Unde Eccl. vii. 29. Deus fecit hominem rectum, ipsi autem quæsiverunt ratiocinia plurima. et illud Jacob. ii. 10. quisquis totam legem servaverit, in uno autem impegerit, damnas factus est omnium.

¶7ATQUE IN IIS OMNES EORUM POSTERI: judicantur enim in iis et condemnantur, etiam nondum nati, Gen. iii. 16. &c. ergo in iis quidem certe etiam tum peccarunt. Rom. v. 12. per unum hominem peccatum in mundum introiit. v. 15. illius unius offensa multi mortui sunt. et v. 16. judicium est ex una offensa ad condemnationem. et v. 17. per unam offensam mors regnavit per unum. et v. 18. per unam offensam in omnes. et v. 19. per inobedientiam unius, peccatores multi. 1 Cor. xv. 22. in Adamo omnes moriuntur; ergo certe in Adamo peccarunt.

¶8Adamus enim communis omnium parens et caput, sicut in fœdere, sive mandata accipiendo, ita etiam in defectione pro universa gente humana stetit aut lapsus est; quemadmodum in Abrahamo decimatus est etiam ipse Levi—, dum is adhuc in lumbis proavi erat, Heb. vii. 9, 10. fecit autem Deus ex uno Adami sanguine totam gentem hominum, Act. xvii. 26. Certe si non omnes in Adamo peccarunt, cur omnium ab ejus lapsu conditio facta deterior est? Respondent moderni quidam, physica illa imminutio, non moralis fuit. At, inquam, insontes non minus^la8 justum fuit perfectione sua physica quam morali multare; præsertim cum in hanc, id est, in mores tam potenter agat.

¶9Hæc autem non solum perpetua divinæ justitiæ ratio est, verum etiam jus vetustissimum apud omnes gentes deorumque religiones, ut p. 182 qui rem sacram violasset, (sacra autem erat arbor ista) non ipse solum, sed omnis etiam progenies ejus piacularis et devota fieret.

¶10Sic in diluvio, sic in Sodomorum conflagratione, Chorachi interitu, Num. xvi. 27, 32. Acanis supplicio, Jos. vii. 24, 25. Hiericuntis excidio, infantes peccata patrum luerunt; jumenta etiam cum dominis internecioni devovebantur, Jos. vi. 21. Sic Eli sacerdotis posteri, 1 Sam. ii. 31, 33, 36. et factæ cædis Gibeonitarum a Saule ejus quoque filii pœnas pependerunt, 2 Sam. xxi. 1. &c.

¶11Hanc suam justitiam declarat Deus Exod. xx. 5. visitans iniquitatem patrum in filios, in nepotes et abnepotes, in eos qui odio prosequuntur me. Num. xiv. 33. filii vestri pascentes in deserto quadraginta annos, pœnam scortationum vestrarum; nempe ipsi non insontes: quam hujus justitiæ rationem ipse explicat Deus Levit. xxvi. 39. tabescentes propter iniquitatem suam, etiamque propter iniquitatem patrum suorum. 2 Reg. xvii. 14. obduraverant cervices suas ut majores cervices suas. et Ezech. xviii. 4. en, omnes animæ meæ sunt, æque anima patris atque anima filii mea sunt: anima quæ peccat, ipsa morietur, de infantibus solvit, quod omnes animæ Dei sunt, ex parentibus tamen peccatoribus, quosque vidit Deus parentum similes fuisse evasuros; de cæteris, quod nemo perit, nisi qui ipse peccat. Itaque Agag populusque ejus peccata patrum luerunt annis post quadringentis quam illi Israelitas fugientes ex Ægypto in itinere vexaverant, 1 Sam. xv. 2, 3; ipsi tamen haud insontes, v. 33. et Hosea rex Israel patribus melior, idololatriæ tamen gentilitiæ reus, cum patrum causa tum sua dat pœnas regno exutus, 2 Reg. xvii. 2, 3, 4. Sic Manassis peccata in posteros redundarunt, ipsos tamen haud innocentes, cap. xxiii. 26. propter omnia irritamenta, quibus irritaverat eum Manasses, cum Jer. xxv. 3, 4. &c. a decimo tertio anno Josiæ regis Jehudæ usque in diem hunc fuit verbum Jehovæ ad me: quod elocutus sum vobis inde a diluculo indesinenter, nec tamen auscultastis. et 2 Reg. xxiv. 5. propter peccata similia omnino iis quæ fecerat Manasses. Itaque Josias rex bonus ejusque similes pœnarum magna parte exempti sunt. Pharisæi autem non exempti; Matt. xxiii. 34, 35. ex ipsis nonp. 183nullos trucidabitis, &c. ut veniat super vos omnis sanguis justus a sanguine Abel justi, &c.

¶12Hinc resipiscentes et sua et patrum peccata confiteri jubentur. Levit. xxvi. 40. si confitebuntur iniquitatem suam et iniquitatem patrum suorum. et Nehem. ix. 2. confessi sunt peccata sua et iniquitates majorum suorum. et alibi sæpe.

¶13Sic etiam familia tota patrisfamiliæ noxa obstringitur. Gen. xii. 14. affecit Jehova plagis magnis Pharaonem et familiam ejus. et xx. 7. quod si non restitueris, scito te omnino moriturum, te et eos omnes qui sunt tui.

¶14Etiam regis peccata cives luunt; ut tota Ægyptus Pharaonis. Ipse rex David quamquam cives pro rege, non tamen filios pro patre et cum patre plecti iniquum judicabat. 2 Sam. xxiv. 17. ecce ego peccavi, et ego inique feci: hi autem, hæ oves quid fecerunt? sit quæso manus tua contra me, et contra domum paternam meam.

¶15Immo unius nonnunquam civis ob noxam tota natio plectitur, Jos. vii. et commissum unius omnibus imputatur, v. 1, 11.

¶16Quid, quod homines etiam justissimi commissum in se scelus non solum auctoris, verum ejus etiam posterorum pœnis expiari æquum censuerunt? sic Noachus Chami flagitium etiam in Chenaano filio vindicandum censuit, Gen. ix. 25.

¶17Verum in piaculis vindicandis eadem divinæ justitiæ ratio nec ignota aliis gentibus, nec iniqua unquam visa est. Sic Thucydid. l. 1. ρκςʹ. ἀπὸ τούτου ἐναγεῖς καὶ ἀλιτήριοι τῆς Θεοῦ ἐκεῖνοί τε ἐκαλοῦντο, καὶ τὸ γενὸς τὸ ἀπ᾽ ἐκεινῶν. Et Virgil. Æneid. l. 1. 39. ——Pallasne exurere classem / Argivum, atque ipsos potuit submergere ponto, / Unius ob noxam——? p. 184 Idem permultis aliis Ethnicorum testimoniis atque exemplis facile demonstratu est.

¶18Immo vel læsæ majestatis humanæ reus non sibi tantum, sed et posteris omnibus fundum aut civitatem amittit; aliaque haud absimilia decernunt etiam jurisconsulti: et quid sit jus belli non in auctores tantum, verum etiam in eos omnes qui modo in ditione hostium sunt, fœminas puta atque etiam infantes, quique nihil neque opis neque voluntatis ad bellum contulerunt, quis ignorat?

¶19PECCATUM CUJUSQUE PROPRIUM est QUOD QUISQUE PER SE, PRÆTER COMMUNE ILLUD PECCATUM, PECCAT: quod omnes homines faciunt. Job. ix. 20. si justum me assererem, os meum condemnaret me—. et x. 15. si justus sim, non possum attollere caput. Psal. cxliii. 2. non est justus coram te ullus vivens. Prov. xx. 9. quis dicere possit, mundus sum a peccato meo? Eccl. vii. 20. nemo justus qui faciat bonum ac non peccet. Rom. iii. 23. omnes peccaverunt.

¶20In utroque genere peccati, tam communi quam proprio, hæc duo sunt, sive gradus aut partes aut modi sunt dicendi, sive causæ et effecti rationem inter se habent; concupiscentia mala seu male faciendi libido, et malefactum ipsum. Jacob. i. 14, 15. unusquisque tentatur dum a propria cupiditate abstrahitur et inescatur: deinde cupiditas posteaquam concepit parit peccatum. Nec inscite sane poeta ille hoc idem expressit:^la9 Mars videt hanc, visamque cupit, potiturque cupita.

¶21Concupiscentia mala est, quam primi parentes et in se primum admiserunt, et omnibus deinceps posteris, utpote et ipsis primi peccati reis, quasi habitum quendam sive fomitem deinceps peccati ingenerarunt.

¶22Nominatur in scriptura sacra vetus homo, et corpus peccati. Rom. vi. 6. Eph. iv. 22. Col. iii. 9. absolute peccatum, Rom. vii. 8. pecp. 185catum occasione per illud præceptum sumpta. peccatum inhabitans, v. 17, 20. malum adjacens, v. 21. lex membrorum, v. 23. corpus mortis, v. 24. et lex peccati et mortis, cap. viii. 2.

¶23Qui primus ORIGINALE hoc peccatum in ecclesia nominavit, Augustinus esse fertur contra Pelagium scribens: quod in origine, opinor, id est, in generatione hominis, a primis parentibus in posteros traductum fuit; nimis angusto nomine, siquidem id sibi voluit. Nam illa mala concupiscentia, illa lex peccati, non solum in nobis ingenita est, sed in Adamo etiam post lapsum inhabitavit, in quo dici originalis non potuit.

¶24Describitur autem communis hæc mentis humanæ pravitas, et ad peccandum propensio, Gen. vi. 5. omnes cogitationes cordis ejus tantummodo malas esse omni tempore. et viii. 21. figmentum cordis hominis malum a pueritia. Jer. xvii. 9. fraudulentum cor ipsum supra omnia. Matt. xv. 19. ex corde egrediuntur cogitationes malæ, cædes—. Rom. vii. 14. lex Spiritualis, ego carnalis. et viii. 7. quod sapit caro inimicitia est adversus Deum. Gal. v. 17. caro concupiscit adversus Spiritum. Eph. iv. 22. veterem hominem qui cupiditatibus fallacibus corrumpitur.

¶25Quam primi parentes ingenerarunt. Job. xiv. 4. quis edat mundum ex immundo? et xv. 14. quid est mortalis ut mundus sit? et ut justus, quid natus muliere? Psal. li. 7. in iniquitate formatus sum, et in peccato fovit me mater mea. et lviii. 4. inde ab utero. Isa. xlviii. 8. defectorem ab utero. Joan. iii. 6. genitum ex carne, caro est. Eph. ii. 3. eramus natura filii iræ, ut etiam reliqui; parentibus etiam regenitis nati: fides enim reatum tollit cujusque proprium; vitium autem inhabitans non totum penitus. Non igitur qua regeneratus, generat homo hominem, sed qua animalis: quemadmodum semen, palea licet et stipula purgatum, non spicam solum aut granum, sed culmum etiam et glumam progignit. Solus Christus hujus expers contagionis, utpote Adamo quidem, sed generatione supernaturali ortus. Heb. vii. 26. sanctus sine labe.

¶26p. 186 Sunt qui peccatum hoc, quod vocant Originale, reatum esse potissimum volunt: verum reatus non peccatum, sed imputatio peccati est, quod et jus Dei vocatur, Rom. i. 32. Dei jure agnito; quo scilicet peccantes morte digni censentur, et ὑπόδικοι, id est, judicio et pœnæ obnoxii redduntur, Rom. iii. 19. et sub peccatum sunt, v. 9. itaque reatu primi quoque parentes ab ipso statim lapsu tenebantur, quibus peccatum originale inesse non potuit: eodem reatu omnes etiam in Adamo posteri obstricti sunt, cum nondum originale peccatum ingenitum esset: reatus denique tollitur in regenitis, originale peccatum non item.

¶27Alii amissionem originalis justitiæ totiusque animi depravationem originale peccatum definiunt. Verum et primis parentibus, quibus, ut supra posuimus, originale peccatum accidere non potuit, prius attribuenda est hæc amissio quam nobis; unde etiam actuale, quod vocant. peccatum fuit, quod ipsi ab originali ex hypothesi distinguunt: certe consequentia peccati potius quam peccatum fuit; aut id si fuit, ignorantiæ duntaxat fuit: nihil enim minus existimarunt, quam se fructum illum comedendo quicquam boni amissuros, aut ulla ex parte deteriores futuros: hanc itaque in pœna potius capite sequenti pono quam hic in peccatis numero.

¶28Secundum in peccato est post concupiscentiam ipsa mala actio, seu malefactum ipsum, quod actuale peccatum vulgo nominant; nec solum factis, verum etiam dictis et cogitationibus, ipsa denique bonæ actionis omissione committitur.

¶29Actuale dicitur, non quo peccatum proprie sit actio, cum privatio revera sit; sed propterea quod in actione fere versatur. Actio enim omnis per se est bona; sola ejus obliquitas sive anomalia a legis norma proprie mala est. Unde ipsa actio non est materia ex qua peccatum, sed tantummodo subjectum et ὑποκείμενον in quo.

¶30Dictis. Matt. xii. 36. quodcunque verbum otiosum, de eo reddituros rationem. et xv. 11. quod egreditur, hoc polluit hominem.

¶31p. 187 Cogitationibus. Exod. xx. 17. ne concupiscito domum proximi tui—. Psal. vii. 14. ecce parturiet vanitatem; ut concepit laborem, ita mendacium pariet. Prov. xxiv. 8. cogitans male facere—. Jer. xvii. 9. cor dolosum supra omnia &c. Matt. v. 28. jam adulteravit eam in corde suo. et xv. 19. ex corde— cogitationes malæ. 1 Joan. iii. 15. quisquis odit fratrem suum homicida est.

¶32Omissione. Matt. xii. 30. qui non est mecum, adversum me est; et qui non cogit mecum, spargit. Luc. xi. 23. idem. et vi. 9. ubi hominem non servare, idem existimatur quod perdere. Matt. xxv. 42. esurivi et non dedistis. Jacob. iv. 17. qui noverit recte facere, nec faciet, is peccato tenetur.

¶33Peccata vero non sunt æqualia, ut Stoici volebant. Ezech. v. 6. in improbitatem plus quam gentes ipsæ. et viii. 15. abominationes majores istis. Joan. xix. 11. majus peccatum habet. Oritur hæc inæqualitas ex multis atque variis personæ, loci, temporis, et similibus circumstantiis. Isa. xxvi. 10. in terra æquitatum inique aget.

¶34De peccato mortali et veniali rectius alio loco tractabitur. Hoc interim certum est, peccatum vel minimum condemnationi esse obnoxium. Luc. xvi. 10. qui in pauco injustus est, etiam in multo injustus est.

¶1The Providence of God as regards the fall of man, is observable in the sin of man, and the misery consequent upon it, as well as in his restoration.

¶2SIN, as defined by the apostle, is ἀνομία, or the transgression of the law, 1 John iii. 4.

¶3By the law is here meant, in the first place, that rule of conscience which is innate, and engraven upon the mind of man;⁵ secondly, the special command which proceeded out of the mouth of God, (for the law written by Moses was long subsequent) Gen. ii. 17. thou shalt not eat of it. Hence it is said, Rom. ii. 12. as many as have sinned without law, shall also perish without law.

¶4Sin is distinguished into THAT WHICH IS COMMON TO ALL MEN, and THE PERSONAL SIN OF EACH INDIVIDUAL.

¶5p. 261 THE SIN WHICH IS COMMON TO ALL MEN is THAT WHICH OUR FIRST PARENTS, AND IN THEM ALL THEIR POSTERITY COMMITTED,⁶ WHEN, CASTING OFF THEIR OBEDIENCE TO GOD, THEY TASTED THE FRUIT OF THE FORBIDDEN TREE.

¶6OUR FIRST PARENTS. Gen. iii. 6. the woman took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her, and he did eat. Hence 1 Tim. ii. 14. Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived, was in the transgression. This sin originated, first, in the instigation of the devil, as is clear from the narrative in Gen. iii. and from 1 John iii. 8. he that committeth sin is of the devil, for the devil sinneth from the beginning. Secondly, in the liability to fall with which man was created,⁷ whereby he, as the devil had done before him, abode not in the truth, John viii. 44. nor kept his first estate, but left his own habitation, Jude 6. If the circumstances of this crime are duly considered, it will be acknowledged to have been a most heinous offence, and a transgression of the whole law. For what sin can be named, which was not included in this one act? It comprehended at once distrust in the divine veracity, and a proportionate credulity in the assurances of Satan; unbelief; ingratitude; disobedience; gluttony;⁸ p. 262 in the man excessive uxoriousness, in the woman a want of proper regard for her husband, in both an insensibility to the welfare of their offspring, and that offspring the whole human race; parricide, theft, invasion of the rights of others, sacrilege, deceit, presumption in aspiring to divine attributes, fraud in the means employed to attain the object, pride, and arrogance.⁹ Whence it is said, Eccles. vii. 29. God hath made man upright, but they have sought out many inventions. James ii. 10. whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all.

¶7–8AND IN THEM ALL THEIR POSTERITY; for even such as were not then born are judged and condemned in them, Gen. iii. 16, &c. so that without doubt they also sinned in them, and at the same time with them. Rom. v. 12. by one man sin entered into the world. v. 15. through the offence of one many be dead; and v. 16. the judgement was by one to condemnation; v. 17. by one man's offence death reigned by one; and v. 18. by the offence of one man judgement came upon all men to condemnation; and v. 19. by one man's disobedience many were made sinners. 1 Cor. xv. 22. in Adam all die; undoubtedly therefore all sinned in Adam. For Adam being the common parent and head of all, it follows that, as in the covenant, that is, in receiving the commandment of God, so also in the defection from God, he either stood p. 263 or fell for the whole human race; in the same manner as Levi also payed tithes in Abraham, whilst he was yet in the loins of his father, Heb. vii. 9, 10. he hath made of one blood all nations of men, Acts xvii. 26. For if all did not sin in Adam, why has the condition of all become worse since his fall? Some of the modern commentators reply, that the deterioration was not moral, but physical.¹ To which I answer, that it was as unjust to deprive the innocent of their physical, as of their moral perfection; especially since the former has so much influence on the latter, that is, on the practical conduct of mankind.

¶9–10It is, however, a principle uniformly acted upon in the divine proceedings, and recognized by all nations and under all religions from the earliest period, that the penalty incurred by the violation of things sacred (and such was the tree of knowledge of good and evil) attaches not only to the criminal himself, but to the whole of his posterity, who thus become accursed and obnoxious to punishment. It was thus in the deluge, and in the destruction of Sodom; in the swallowing up of Korah, Numb. xvi. 27—32. and in the punishment of Achan, Josh. vii. 24, 25. In the burning of Jericho the children suffered for the sins of their fathers, and even the cattle were devoted to the same slaughter with their masters, Josh. vi. 21. A like fate befel the posterity of Eli the priest, 1 Sam. ii. 31, 33, 36. and the house of Saul, 2 Sam. xxi. 1, &c. because their father had slain the Gibeonites.

¶11p. 264 God declares this to be the method of his justice, Exod. xx. 5. visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me. Numb. xiv. 33. your children shall wander in the wilderness forty years, and bear your whoredoms; they themselves, however, not being guiltless. He himself explains the principle by which this justice is regulated, Lev. xxvi. 39. they that are left of you shall pine away in their iniquity......and also in the iniquities of their fathers shall they pine away with them. 2 Kings xvii. 14. they hardened their necks, like to the necks of their fathers. Ezek. xviii. 4. behold, all souls are mine; as the soul of the father, so also the soul of the son is mine; the soul that sinneth it shall die. The difficulty is solved with respect to infants, by the consideration that all souls belong to God; that these, though guiltless of actual sin, were the offspring of sinful parents, and that God foresaw that, if suffered to live, they would grow up similar to their parents. With respect to others, it is obviated by the consideration, that no one perishes, except he himself sin. Thus Agag and his people were smitten for the crime of their fathers, four hundred years after their ancestors had lain wait for Israel in the way, when he came up out of Egypt, 1 Sam. xv. 2, 3. but at the same time they were themselves justly obnoxious to punishment for sins of their own, v. 33. So too Hoshea king of Israel was better than the kings that were before him, but having fallen into the idolatry of the Gentiles, he was punished at once for his own sins and for those of his fathers, by the loss of his kingdom, 2 Kings xvii. 2—4. Thus too the sins of Manasseh were visited on his children, but they themselves were far from being innocent, xxiii. 26. compared with Jer. xxv. 3, 4. because of all the provocations that Manasseh had provoked him withal. From the thirteenth year of Josiah the son of Amon king of Judah, even unto this day......the word of the Lord hath come unto me; and I have spoken unto you, rising early and speaking; but ye have not hearkened. 2 Kings xxiv. 3. for the sins of Manasseh, according to all that he did. On the same principle the good king Josiah, and those who resembled him, were for the most part exempt from punishment; but the case was otherwise with the Pharisees, Matt. xxiii. 34, 35. p. 265 some of them ye shall kill, &c. that upon you may come all the righteous blood shed upon the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel unto the blood of Zacharias.

¶12Hence the penitent are enjoined to confess not only their own sins, but those of their fathers. Lev. xxvi. 40. if they shall confess their iniquity, and the iniquity of their fathers. Nehem. ix. 2. they confessed their sins and the iniquities of their fathers. Many similar texts occur.

¶13Thus also entire families become obnoxious to punishment for the guilt of their head. Gen. xii. 17. Jehovah plagued Pharaoh and his house with great plagues because of Sarai. xx. 7. if thou restore her not, know thou that thou shalt surely die, thou and all that are thine.

¶14Subjects also are afflicted for the sins of their rulers; thus the whole of Egypt was smitten for the offence of Pharaoh. It is remarkable that David, even while remonstrating against the hardship of punishing the people for the sins of their king, yet thought it not unjust that the sons should suffer for and with their father. 2 Sam. xxiv. 17. lo, I have sinned, and I have done wickedly, but these sheep, what have they done? let thine hand, I pray thee, be against me, and against my father's house.

¶15Sometimes a whole nation is punished for the iniquity of one of the people, Josh. vii. and the trespass of one is imputed to all, v. 1, 11.

¶16We may add, that even just men have not thought it inconsistent with equity to visit offences against themselves, not only on the offender, but on his posterity. Thus Noah scrupled not to pronounce the condemnation of Canaan for the wickedness of his father Ham, Gen. ix. 25.²

¶17p. 266 This principle of divine justice in the infliction of piacular punishments was not unknown to other nations, nor was it ever by them accounted unjust. So Thucydides, Book I. Sect. 126. ἀπὸ τούτου ἐναγεῖς καὶ ἀλιτήριοι τής Θεοῦ ἐκεῖνοί τε ἐκαλοῦντο, καὶ τὸ γενὸς τὸ ἀπ᾽ ἐκεινῶν. And Virgil, Æn. I. 39. ........Pallasne exurere classem / Argivûm, atque ipsos potuit submergere ponto / Unius ob noxam? The same might be easily shown by a multitude of other Pagan testimonies and examples.

¶18Again, the possessions and right of citizenship of one convicted of high treason, a crime between man and man, are forfeited, not only as respects himself, but all his posterity; and legal authorities decide similarly in other analogous cases. We all know what are the recognized rights of war, not only with regard to the immediate parties themselves, but all who fall into the power of the enemy, such as women and children, and those who have contributed nothing to the progress of the war either in will or deed.

¶19THE PERSONAL SIN OF EACH INDIVIDUAL, is THAT WHICH EACH IN HIS OWN PERSON HAS COMMITTED, INDEPENDENTLY OF THE SIN WHICH IS COMMON TO ALL. Here likewise all men are guilty. Job ix. 20. if I justify myself, mine own mouth shall condemn me. x. 15. if I be righteous, yet will I not lift up my head. Psal. cxliii. 2. in thy sight shall no man living be justified. Prov. xx. 9. who can say, I am pure from my sin? Eccles. vii. 20. there is not a just man upon earth that doeth good, and sinneth not. Rom. iii. 23. all have sinned.

¶20p. 267 Both kinds of sin, as well that which is common to all, as that which is personal to each individual, consist of these two parts, whether we term them gradations, or divisions, or modes of sin, or whether we consider them in the light of cause and effect; namely, evil concupiscence, or the desire of sinning, and the act of sin itself. James i. 14, 15. every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed: then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin. This is not ill expressed by the poet: Mars videt hanc, visamque cupit, potiturque cupita. Ovid. Fast. III. 21.

¶21Evil concupiscence is that of which our original parents were first guilty, and which they transmitted to their posterity, as sharers in the primary transgression, in the shape of an innate propensity to sin.³

¶22This is called in Scripture the old man, and the body of sin, Rom. vi. 6. Eph. iv. 22. Col. iii. 9. or simply sin, Rom. vii. 8. sin taking occasion by the commandment. v. 17, 20. indwelling sin. v. 21. evil present with us. v. 22. the law in our members. v. 24. the body of death. viii. 2. the law of sin and death.

¶23The first who employed the phrase ORIGINAL SIN is said to have been Augustine in his writings against Pelagius;⁴ probably because in the origin, that is, in the generation of man, it was handed down from p. 268 our first parents to their posterity. If however this were his meaning, the term is too limited; for that evil concupiscence, that law of sin, was not only naturally bred in us, but dwelt also in Adam after the fall, in whom it could not properly be called original.

¶24This general depravity of the human mind and its propensity to sin is described Gen. vi. 5. God saw that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. viii. 21. the imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth. Jer. xvii. 9. the heart is deceitful above all things. Matt. xv. 19. out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, &c. Rom. vii. 14. the law is spiritual, but I am carnal. Rom. viii. 7. the carnal mind is enmity against God. Gal. v. 17. the flesh lusteth against the Spirit. Eph. iv. 22. the old man which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts.

¶25This depravity was engendered in us by our first parents. Job xiv. 4. who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean? xv. 14. what is man that he should be clean? and he which is born of a woman, that he should be righteous? Psal. li. 5. behold, I was shapen in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me. lviii. 3. they go astray as soon as they be born. Isai. xlviii. 8. thou wast called a transgressor from the womb. John iii. 6. that which is born of the flesh is flesh. Eph. ii. 3. we were by nature the children of wrath, even as others, those even who are born of regenerate parents; for faith, though it takes away the personal imputation of guilt, does not altogether remove indwelling sin. It is not therefore man as a regenerate being, but man in his animal capacity, that propagates his kind; as seed, though cleared from the chaff and stubble, produces not only the ear or grain, but also the stalk and husk. Christ alone was exempt from this contagion, being born by supernatural generation, although descended from Adam. Heb. vii. 26. holy, undefiled.

¶26Some contend that this original sin is specially guiltiness; but guiltiness is not properly sin, but the imputation of sin, which is also called p. 269 the judgement of God, (Rom. i. 32. who knowing the judgement of God) whereby sinners are accounted worthy of death, and become ὑπόδικοι, that is, guilty before God, Rom. iii. 19. and are under sin, v. 9. Thus our first parents, in whom, as above observed, there could have been no original sin, were involved in guiltiness immediately upon their fall; and their posterity, before original sin was yet engendered, were involved in the same guiltiness in Adam; lastly, guiltiness is taken away in those who are regenerate, while original sin remains.

¶27Others define original sin to be the loss of original righteousness, and the corruption of the whole mind.^5-2 But before this loss can be attributed to us, it must be attributed to our first parents, to whom, as was argued before, original sin could not attach; in them therefore it was what is called actual sin, which these divines themselves distinguish from original sin. At any rate it was the consequence of sin, rather than sin itself; or if it were sin, it was a sin of ignorance; for they expected nothing less than that they should lose any good by eating the fruit, or suffer harm in any way whatever. I shall therefore consider this loss of original righteousness in the following chapter, under the head of punishment, rather than in the present, which relates to sin.

¶28The second thing in sin, after evil concupiscence, is the crime itself, or the act of sinning, which is commonly called Actual Sin. This may be incurred, not only by actions commonly so called, but also by words and thoughts, and even by the omission of good actions.

¶29It is called Actual Sin, not that sin is properly an action, for in reality it implies defect; but because it commonly consists in some act. For every act is in itself good; it is only its irregularity, or p. 270 deviation from the line of right, which, properly speaking, is evil. Wherefore the act itself is not the matter of which sin consists, but only the ὑποκείμενον or subject in which it is committed.

¶30By words. Matt. xii. 36. every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof. xv. 11. that which cometh out of the mouth, this defileth a man.

¶31By thoughts. Exod. xx. 17. thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's house—. Psal. vii. 14. behold, he travaileth with iniquity, and hath conceived mischief, and brought forth falsehood. Prov. xxiv. 8. he that deviseth to do evil—. Jer. xvii. 9. the heart is deceitful above all things, &c. Matt. v. 28. he hath committed adultery with her already in his heart. xv. 19. out of the heart proceed evil thoughts. 1 John iii. 15. whoso hateth his brother is a murderer.

¶32By omission. Matt. xii. 30. he that is not with me is against me, and he that gathereth not with me, scattereth abroad. See also Luke xi. 23. and vi. 9. where to omit saving the life of a man is accounted the same as to destroy it. Matt. xxv. 42. I was an hungred, and ye gave me no meat. James iv. 17. to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin.

¶33All sins however are not, as the Stoics maintained, of equal magnitude.^6-2 Ezek. v. 6. she hath changed my judgements into wickedness more p. 271 than the nations. viii. 15. thou shalt see greater abominations than these. John xix. 11. he that delivered me unto thee hath the greater sin. This inequality arises from the various circumstances of person, place, time, and the like. Isai. xxvi. 10. in the land of uprightness will he deal unjustly.

¶34The distinction between mortal and venial sin will come more properly under consideration in another place. In the mean time it is certain, that even the least sin renders the sinner obnoxious to condemnation. Luke xvi. 10. he that is unjust in the least, is unjust also in much.