Put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge, after the image of him that created him ;' Col. iii. 10.

Q. 2. Should our first parents have died, had they not sinned, or were they obnoxious to death in the state of innocency?

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A. And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat:

But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it, for in the day that thou eatest thereof, thou shalt surely die ;' Gen. ii. 16, 17.

By one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin, and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned;' Rom. v. 12.

For the wages of sin is death;' Rom. vi. 23.

Q. 3. Are we now since the fall, born with the image of God so instamped on us, as at our first creation in Adam? A. All have sinned and come short of the glory of God;' Rom. iii. 23.

Lo! this only have I found, that God hath made man upright, but he hath found out many inventions;' Eccles. vii. 29.

'So then, they that are in the flesh cannot please God;' Rom. viii. 8.

And you who were dead in trespasses and sins;' Eph. ii. 1.

For we ourselves also were sometimes foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving divers lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful, and hating one another;' Titus iii. 3.

The old man is corrupt according to deceitful lusts ;' Eph. iv. 22.

Q. 4. Are we now born approved of God and accepted with him, as when we were first created, or what is our condition now by nature, what say the Scriptures hereunto?

A. We were by nature the children of wrath as well as others;' Eph. ii. 3.

'Except a man be born again he cannot see the kingdom of God;' John iii. 3.

He that believeth not the Son, the wrath of God abideth on him ;' ver.. 36.

"That which is born of the flesh is flesh;' John iv. 6. Q. 4. Are our understandings by nature able to discern the things of God, or are they darkened and blind?

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A. The natural man receiveth not the things that are of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness unto him, neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned; 1 Cor. ii. 14.

The light shineth in darkness, and the darkness comprehended it not ;' John i. 5.

-To preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind.' Luke iv. 18.

Having their understandings darkened, being alienated from the life of God, through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart;' Eph. iv. 18.

'Ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord;' Eph. v. 8.

For God who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ;' 2 Cor. iv. 6.

' And we know that the Son of God is come, and hath given us an understanding, that we may know him that is true;' 1 John v. 20.

Q. 5. Are we able to do those things now in the state of nature, which are spiritually good, and acceptable to God? A. The carnal mind is enmity against God, for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be;' Rom. viii. 7.

'You were dead in trespasses and sins;' Eph. ii. 1.

The imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth;' Gen. viii. 21.,

'Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots? then may ye also do good, that are accustomed to do evil;' Jer. xiii. 23.

For without me ye can do nothing;' John xv. 5.

'Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think any thing as of ourselves; our sufficiency is of God;' 2 Cor. iii. 5. For I know that in me, that is, in my flesh, dwelleth no good thing; Rom. vii. 18.

Q. 6. How came we into this miserable state and condition?

A. Behold I was shapen in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me ;' Psal. li. 5.

Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean? Not one;' Job. xiv. 4.

That which is born of the flesh is flesh;' John iii. 6.

Wherefore as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned;' Rom. v. 12.

Q. 7. Is then the guilt of the first sin of our first parents reckoned unto us?

A. But not as the offence, so also is the free gift. For if through the offence of one many be dead;' ver. 15.

And not as it was by one that sinned, so is the gift for the judgment was by one to condemnation;' ver. 16. For by one man's offence death reigned;' ver. 17. Therefore by the offence of one, judgment came upon all men to condemnation;' ver. 18.

By one man's disobedience many were made sinners;'

ver. 20.

Thus, and much more fully, doth the Scripture set out, and declare the condition of man, both before and after the fall; concerning which, although the most evident demonstration of the latter, lies in the revelation made of the exceeding efficacy of that power and grace, which God in Christ puts forth for our conversion and delivery from that state and condition before described, yet so much is spoken of this dark side of it, as will render vain the attempts of any, who shall endeavour to plead the cause of corrupted nature, or alleviate the guilt of the first sin.

It may not be amiss in the winding up of the whole, to give the reader a brief account, of what slight thoughts this gentleman and his companions have concerning this whole matter, of the state and condition of the first man, his fall or sin, and the interest of all his posterity therein, which confessedly lie at the bottom of that whole dispensation of grace in Jesus Christ, which is revealed in the gospel.

First, For Adam himself, they are so remote from assigning to him any eminency of knowledge, righteousness, or holiness, in the state wherein he was created; that,

1. For his knowledge, they say,' he "was a mere great » Adamus instar infantis vel pueri se nudum esse ignoravit. Smalc. de ver. Dei fil. cap. 7. p. 2.

baby, that knew not that he was naked.' So also, taking away the difference between the simple knowledge of nakedness in innocency, and the knowledge joined with shame, that followed sin. Of his wife he knew no more but what occurred to his senses.' Though the expression which he used at first view and sight of her, do plainly argue another manner of apprehension; Gen. ii. 23, 24. For the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, he knew not the virtue of it.' Which yet I know not how well it agrees with another place of the same author, where he concludes, that in the state of innocency, there was in Adam a real predominancy of the natural appetite, which conquered or prevailed to the eating of the fruit of that tree; also that 'being mortal, he knew not himself to be so. The sum is, he was even a very beast, that knew neither himself, his duty, nor the will of God concerning him.

2. For his righteousness and holiness, which, as was said before, because he was made upright, in the image of God, we ascribe unto him, "Socinus contends in one whole chapter in his prelections, That he was neither just nor holy, nor ought to be so esteemed or called.'

And Smalcius, in his confutation of Franzius's 'Theses de peccato Originali,' all along derides and laughs to scorn the apprehension or persuasion, that Adam was created in righteousness and holiness, or that ever he lost any thing of the image of God, or that ever he had any thing of the

De conjuge propria, non nisi sensibus obvia cognovit. Soci. de stat. prim. Hom. cap. 4. p. 119.

P Vim arboris scientiæ boni et mali perspectam non habuerit. Idem ibid. p. 197. 4 Socin. prælect. cap. 3. p. 8.

Cum ipse mortalis esset, se tamen mortalem esse nesciverit. Socin. de stat. prim. Hom. cap. 4. p. 118.

• Utrum primos homo ante peccatum justitiam aliquam originalem habuerit? Plerique omnes eum illam habuisse affirmant. Sed ego scire velim --- concludamus igitur, Adamum, etiam antequam mandatum illud Dei transgrederetur, revera justum non fuisse. Cum nec impeccabilis esset, nec ullum peccandi occasionem habuisset; vel certe justum eum fuisse affirmari non posse, cum nullo modo constet, eum ulla ratione a peccando abstinuisse. Socin. Prælect. cap. 3. p. 8. vid. cap. 4. 11.

Fit mentio destitutionis vel carentiæ divina gloriæ, ergo privationis imaginis Dei et justitiæ et sanctitatis, ejusque originalis; fit mentio carentiæ divinæ gloriæ, ergo in creatione cum homine fuit communicata: o ineptias! Smal. Refut. Thes. de peccat. Origi. Disput. 2. p. 42. Porro ait Franzius, Paulum mox e vestigio imaginem Dei, seu novum hominem ita explicare, quod fuerit conditus primus homo ad justitiam et sanctimoniam veram. Hic cum erroribus fallaciæ, etiam et fortassis voluntariæ, sunt commixtæ Videat lector benevolus quanti sit facienda illatio. Franzii, dum ait: ergo imago Dei in homine ante lapsum consistebat in concreata justitia et vera sanctimonia primorum parentum. Si hæc non sunt scope dissoluta, equidem nescio quid eas tandem nominabimur. Smalcius. ubi sup. pp. 50, 51.

image of God, beyond or besides that dominion over the creatures which God gave him.

"Most of the residue of the herd, describing the estate and condition of man in his creation, do wholly omit any mention of any moral uprightness in him.

And this is the account these gentlemen give us, concerning the condition and state wherein the first man was of God created. A heavy burden of the earth, it seems he was, that had neither righteousness, nor holiness, whereby he might be enabled to walk before God, in reference to that great end, whereunto he was created; nor any knowledge of God, himself, or his duty.

Secondly, For his'sin, the great master of their family disputes, that it was a bare transgression of that precept, of 'not eating the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil;' and that his nature was not vitiated or corrupted thereby. Wherein he is punctually followed by the Racovian catechism; which also giveth this reason, why his nature was not depraved by it, namely, because it was but one act; so light are their thoughts and expressions of that great transgression.

Thirdly, For his state and condition," they all, with open mouth, cry out, that he was mortal and obnoxious to death, which should in a natural way have come upon him, though he had not sinned. But of this before.

Fourthly, Farther, that the

posterity of Adam were no

u Volkel. de Vera. Relig. lib. 2. cap. 6. p. 9. edit. cum lib. Crell. de Deo. Socin. Prælect. cap. 3. p. 8.

y Etenim unum illud peccatum per se, non modo universos posteros, sed ne ipsum quidem Adamum, corrumpendi vim habere potuit. Dei vero consilio, in peccati illius pænam id factum fuisse, nec usquam legitur, et plane incredibile est, imo impium id cogitare. Socin. Prælect. cap. 4. sect. 4. p. 13. Lapsus Adami, cum unus actus fuerit, vim eam, quæ depravare ipsam naturam Adami, multo minus posterorum ipsius posset, habere non potuit. Ipsi vero in pænam irrogatum fuisse, nec Scriptura docet, ut superius exposuimus, et Deum illum, qui omnis æquitatis fons est, incredibile prorsus est id facere voluisse: Catech. Racov. de Cogniti. Christ. cap. 10. quest. 2.

De Adamo eum immortalem creatum non fuisse, res apertissima est. Nam ex terra creatus, cibis usus, liberis gignendis destinatus, et animalis ante lapsum fuit. Smalcius de Divin. Jes. Christ. cap. 7. de Promisso Vitæ Æternæ.

a Concludimus igitur, nullum, improprie etiam loquendo, peccatum originale esse; id est, ex peccato illo primi parentis nullam labem aut pravitatem universo humano generi necessario ingenitam esse, sive inflictam quodammodo fuisse. Socin. Prælect. cap. 4, sect. 4. pp. 13, 14. Peccatum originis nullum prorsus est, quare nec liberum arbitrium vitiare potuit. Nec enim e Scriptura id peccatum originis doceri potest. Catech. Racov. de Cognit. Christ. cap. 10. de lib. Arbit. quædam ex falsissimis principiis de ducuntur. In illo genere illud potissimum est,