12. I know, my dear Benjamin, that this is an humbling mortifying description of human nature, yet it is not the less true. The sacred Scriptures declare it, the miseries in the world confirm it, and the conduct of men establishes it beyond a reasonable dispute. Yea, the half has not been told. Let us first attend to the testimony of the sacred Scriptures. Our inspired historian, Moses, tells us that even before the flood it was declared by a voice from heaven, not only that "the wickedness of man was great upon the earth, but that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually" (Gen 6:5). Saith the pious Mr. Charnock:
"How came it to pass that man's wickedness should swell so high? whence did it spring? from the imagination?—Though there might be sinful imaginations, might not the superior faculty preserve itself untainted? Alas! that was defiled; the imagination of the thoughts was evil. But though running thoughts might wheel about in his mind, yet they might leave no stamp or impression upon the will and affections. Yes, they did; the imagination of the thoughts of his heart was evil. Surely all could not be under such a blemish: were there not now and then some pure flashes of the mind? No, not one. Every imagination. But granting that they were evil, might there not be some fleeting good mixed with them; as a poisonous toad hath something useful? No, only evil. Well, but there might be some intervals of thinking, and though there was no good thought, yet evil ones were not always rolling there. Yes, they were continually; not a moment of time that man was free from them."
One would scarcely imagine such an inward nest of wickedness; but God has affirmed it; and if any man should deny it, his own heart would give him the lie. Again saith the Lord, "The imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth." In the days of Job human nature was no better. "Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean? not one" (Job 14:4). Eliphaz was of the same sentiment. "What is man, that he should be clean? and he which is born of a woman, that he should be righteous?" (Job 15:14). David saith, "The wicked are estranged from the womb: they go astray as soon as they be born, speaking lies" (Psa 58:3). Solomon testifieth that "foolishness is bound up in the heart of a child" (Pro 22:15); and that "there is not a just man upon earth that does good and sinneth not" (Eccl 7:20). By the prophet Jeremiah, Jehovah declares that "the heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked" (Jer 17:9).
13. Jesus Christ, in his conversation with Nicodemus, asserts that human nature is corrupt, and all that proceeds from it is corrupt; "that which is born of flesh is flesh" (John 3:6); and hence proves the absolute necessity of regeneration; that old things may pass away, and all things be made new (2 Cor 5:17). This change is set forth by such phrases as these: being born again, having a new heart given us, and a new spirit put within us; being quickened, or brought to life when dead; and being created after God, in allusion to the first creation of man in the likeness of his Maker. All which strong modes of expression evidently imply that man, by the fall, is become totally depraved.
14. From scripture proofs we proceed to establish the truth by facts. We notice first the conduct of children. Who has marked their conduct, and is not constrained to acknowledge that the most early acts of their reason and the first instances of their apprehension are sin? The vicious inclinations which appear in the cradle, the violent motions of anger which disturb sucklings, their endeavor to exercise a weak revenge on those that displease them, must convince us that the corruption is natural, and proceeds from an infected original. This corruption grows with their growth, and strengthens with their strength. They can no sooner speak, but falsehood and lies drop from their tongues. They are stubborn and rebellious, prone to evil and averse to good; and if it be manifestly thus with some, it is the undoubted state of all, for their hearts and natures are fashioned alike; all men are of one blood and of one original; the fountain of their nature is one and the same: however, then, there appearrs to be a difference in the natural dispositions and propensities of children to evil, it cannot be that any of them can be naturally disposed to good; for "a bitter fountain cannot send forth sweet waters," although in some of its streams it may be less perceptible than in others. "How can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit?"
15. From the conduct of children, we proceed to notice the sin and misery in the world. An eminent writer saith,
"That man is a fallen creature is evident, if we consider his misery as an inhabitant of the natural world; the disorders of the globe we inhabit, and the dreadful scourges with which it is visited ; the deplorable and shocking circumstances of our birth; the painful and dangerous travails of women; our natural uncleanliness, helplessness, ignorance and nakedness; the gross darkness in which we naturally are, both with respect to God and a future state; the general rebellion of the brute creation against us ; the farious poisons that lurk in the animal, vegetable, and jpneral world, ready to destroy us; the various poisons that lurk in the animal, vegetable, and mineral world, ready to destroy us; the heavy curse of toil and sweat to which we are liable; the innumerable calamities of life, and the pangs of death. Again, it is evident, if we consider him as a citizen of the moral world; his commission of sin; his omission of duty; the triumphs of sensual appetites over his intellectual faculties; the corruption of the powers that constitute a good head—the understanding, imagination, memory, and reason; the depravity of the powers which form a good heart—the will, conscience, and affections; his manifest alienation from God; his amazing disregard even of his nearest relatives; his unaccountable unconcern about himself; his detestable tempers; the general out-breaking of human corruption in all individuals; the universal overflowing of it in all nations. Some striking proof of this depravity may be seen in the general propensity of mankind to vain, irrational, or cruel diversions; in the universality of the most ridiculous, impious, inhuman, and diabolical sins; in the aggravating circumstances attending the display of this corruption; in the many ineffectual endeavors to stem its torrent; in the obstinate resistance it makes to divine grace in the unconverted; the amazing struggles of good men with it; the testimony of the heathens concerning it; and the preposterous conceit which the unconverted have of their own goodness."
Now, my dear Benjamin, I have given you a plain, and, I trust, a true statement of the origin of all the sin and misery in our world.
16. I shall now close this letter with the following observations, taken from one of the lectures of my dear tutor, the late Dr. Bogue.
"I. When God made Adam, there were in him two kinds of principles—natural and supernatural. The former includes all the powers of the mind, appetites, passions, which are essential to human nature; and principles too, reason, conscience, self-love, desire of approbation. The latter consisted of original righteousness, the moral image of God, and true holiness, which flowed immediately from the Holy Spirit. This bore sway over inferior natural principles, and while things continued in this situation he was holy and happy.
II. By the fall, this beautiful order was destroyed. The natural principles remained; the supernatural principles were in God's righteous displeasure taken away; and from constitution man became a creature of this present world, and seeks his happiness from it.
III. From this view of things we may account for the depravity of human nature.
1. There is no taint, nor stain, or positive malignity infused into the soul from above; nor is there any thing in the mere matter of the body that is vicious. God cannot, consistently with his nature and perfections, be active in infusing any bad quality, disposition, or inclination, into human soul or body.
2. God creates the soul with its mere faculties and principles, but without original righteousness, and forms the body of mere matter, with the necessary organs.
3. From the want of supernatural principles and original rectitude, man has no relish for spiritual things, nor love to God, nor spiritual life.
4. The natural principles mentioned above, having the entire government of the human heart, lead men to consider the present world as the great and only sphere of their employment, and worldly objects as their chief good.
5. From the natural workings of these principles in the heart all our depravity flows, and may thus be accounted for:
1. The appetites, and passions, and external senses are excited early in life; reason grows more slowly.
2. Reason, conscience, self-love, sometimes allow the appetites and passions to bear boundless sway, without any regard to the commands and threatenings of God.
3. When reason, conscience, and self-love have influence, and restrain appetites and passions, outward wickedness is repressed, and the character is much fairer in the eyes of the world; but no spiritual life, and still under the power of selfish and depraved principles.
4. When men see that God denounces his righteous indignation and wrath against those who go on in the way of iniquity, and love him not with their whole heart, they are displeased with his government and constitution, and resolve to go on in their wickedness. Hence arises an enmity against God in their hearts.
5. This depravity is always increased by actual transgression, and a course of sinning against God.
6. Perhaps this depravity is heightened or lessened by the passions of the soul, and humors of the body, of the immediate parents."
17. To inquire how this corruption is propagated from Adam to his posterity, is a question more curious than profitable, and has been well taxed by the story of Augustine: A man having fallen into a pit, one spies him, and asks carelessly, "How came you there?" "Oh," cries the man from the miry pit to him, "hasten to get me out, rather than trouble yourself to inquire how I fell in."
This is the gordian knot in theology. We cannot account for it, but from the will of God. That the Almighty could have prevented this awful state of things, none will call in question. Why he hath permitted it, forms one of those deep things of God, of which we can know but little in the present state; only this we are assured of, that he is a God of truth, and that whatever he does, or permits, will ultimately tend to promote his glory. Now, my brother, farewell, and "may the God of Peace sanctify us wholly in body, soul, and spirit."
Great God! renew our ruined frame;
Our broken powers restore;
Inspire us with an heavenly flame,
And flesh shall reign no more.
"How came it to pass that man's wickedness should swell so high? whence did it spring? from the imagination?—Though there might be sinful imaginations, might not the superior faculty preserve itself untainted? Alas! that was defiled; the imagination of the thoughts was evil. But though running thoughts might wheel about in his mind, yet they might leave no stamp or impression upon the will and affections. Yes, they did; the imagination of the thoughts of his heart was evil. Surely all could not be under such a blemish: were there not now and then some pure flashes of the mind? No, not one. Every imagination. But granting that they were evil, might there not be some fleeting good mixed with them; as a poisonous toad hath something useful? No, only evil. Well, but there might be some intervals of thinking, and though there was no good thought, yet evil ones were not always rolling there. Yes, they were continually; not a moment of time that man was free from them."
One would scarcely imagine such an inward nest of wickedness; but God has affirmed it; and if any man should deny it, his own heart would give him the lie. Again saith the Lord, "The imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth." In the days of Job human nature was no better. "Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean? not one" (Job 14:4). Eliphaz was of the same sentiment. "What is man, that he should be clean? and he which is born of a woman, that he should be righteous?" (Job 15:14). David saith, "The wicked are estranged from the womb: they go astray as soon as they be born, speaking lies" (Psa 58:3). Solomon testifieth that "foolishness is bound up in the heart of a child" (Pro 22:15); and that "there is not a just man upon earth that does good and sinneth not" (Eccl 7:20). By the prophet Jeremiah, Jehovah declares that "the heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked" (Jer 17:9).
13. Jesus Christ, in his conversation with Nicodemus, asserts that human nature is corrupt, and all that proceeds from it is corrupt; "that which is born of flesh is flesh" (John 3:6); and hence proves the absolute necessity of regeneration; that old things may pass away, and all things be made new (2 Cor 5:17). This change is set forth by such phrases as these: being born again, having a new heart given us, and a new spirit put within us; being quickened, or brought to life when dead; and being created after God, in allusion to the first creation of man in the likeness of his Maker. All which strong modes of expression evidently imply that man, by the fall, is become totally depraved.
14. From scripture proofs we proceed to establish the truth by facts. We notice first the conduct of children. Who has marked their conduct, and is not constrained to acknowledge that the most early acts of their reason and the first instances of their apprehension are sin? The vicious inclinations which appear in the cradle, the violent motions of anger which disturb sucklings, their endeavor to exercise a weak revenge on those that displease them, must convince us that the corruption is natural, and proceeds from an infected original. This corruption grows with their growth, and strengthens with their strength. They can no sooner speak, but falsehood and lies drop from their tongues. They are stubborn and rebellious, prone to evil and averse to good; and if it be manifestly thus with some, it is the undoubted state of all, for their hearts and natures are fashioned alike; all men are of one blood and of one original; the fountain of their nature is one and the same: however, then, there appearrs to be a difference in the natural dispositions and propensities of children to evil, it cannot be that any of them can be naturally disposed to good; for "a bitter fountain cannot send forth sweet waters," although in some of its streams it may be less perceptible than in others. "How can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit?"
15. From the conduct of children, we proceed to notice the sin and misery in the world. An eminent writer saith,
"That man is a fallen creature is evident, if we consider his misery as an inhabitant of the natural world; the disorders of the globe we inhabit, and the dreadful scourges with which it is visited ; the deplorable and shocking circumstances of our birth; the painful and dangerous travails of women; our natural uncleanliness, helplessness, ignorance and nakedness; the gross darkness in which we naturally are, both with respect to God and a future state; the general rebellion of the brute creation against us ; the farious poisons that lurk in the animal, vegetable, and jpneral world, ready to destroy us; the various poisons that lurk in the animal, vegetable, and mineral world, ready to destroy us; the heavy curse of toil and sweat to which we are liable; the innumerable calamities of life, and the pangs of death. Again, it is evident, if we consider him as a citizen of the moral world; his commission of sin; his omission of duty; the triumphs of sensual appetites over his intellectual faculties; the corruption of the powers that constitute a good head—the understanding, imagination, memory, and reason; the depravity of the powers which form a good heart—the will, conscience, and affections; his manifest alienation from God; his amazing disregard even of his nearest relatives; his unaccountable unconcern about himself; his detestable tempers; the general out-breaking of human corruption in all individuals; the universal overflowing of it in all nations. Some striking proof of this depravity may be seen in the general propensity of mankind to vain, irrational, or cruel diversions; in the universality of the most ridiculous, impious, inhuman, and diabolical sins; in the aggravating circumstances attending the display of this corruption; in the many ineffectual endeavors to stem its torrent; in the obstinate resistance it makes to divine grace in the unconverted; the amazing struggles of good men with it; the testimony of the heathens concerning it; and the preposterous conceit which the unconverted have of their own goodness."
Now, my dear Benjamin, I have given you a plain, and, I trust, a true statement of the origin of all the sin and misery in our world.
16. I shall now close this letter with the following observations, taken from one of the lectures of my dear tutor, the late Dr. Bogue.
"I. When God made Adam, there were in him two kinds of principles—natural and supernatural. The former includes all the powers of the mind, appetites, passions, which are essential to human nature; and principles too, reason, conscience, self-love, desire of approbation. The latter consisted of original righteousness, the moral image of God, and true holiness, which flowed immediately from the Holy Spirit. This bore sway over inferior natural principles, and while things continued in this situation he was holy and happy.
II. By the fall, this beautiful order was destroyed. The natural principles remained; the supernatural principles were in God's righteous displeasure taken away; and from constitution man became a creature of this present world, and seeks his happiness from it.
III. From this view of things we may account for the depravity of human nature.
1. There is no taint, nor stain, or positive malignity infused into the soul from above; nor is there any thing in the mere matter of the body that is vicious. God cannot, consistently with his nature and perfections, be active in infusing any bad quality, disposition, or inclination, into human soul or body.
2. God creates the soul with its mere faculties and principles, but without original righteousness, and forms the body of mere matter, with the necessary organs.
3. From the want of supernatural principles and original rectitude, man has no relish for spiritual things, nor love to God, nor spiritual life.
4. The natural principles mentioned above, having the entire government of the human heart, lead men to consider the present world as the great and only sphere of their employment, and worldly objects as their chief good.
5. From the natural workings of these principles in the heart all our depravity flows, and may thus be accounted for:
1. The appetites, and passions, and external senses are excited early in life; reason grows more slowly.
2. Reason, conscience, self-love, sometimes allow the appetites and passions to bear boundless sway, without any regard to the commands and threatenings of God.
3. When reason, conscience, and self-love have influence, and restrain appetites and passions, outward wickedness is repressed, and the character is much fairer in the eyes of the world; but no spiritual life, and still under the power of selfish and depraved principles.
4. When men see that God denounces his righteous indignation and wrath against those who go on in the way of iniquity, and love him not with their whole heart, they are displeased with his government and constitution, and resolve to go on in their wickedness. Hence arises an enmity against God in their hearts.
5. This depravity is always increased by actual transgression, and a course of sinning against God.
6. Perhaps this depravity is heightened or lessened by the passions of the soul, and humors of the body, of the immediate parents."
17. To inquire how this corruption is propagated from Adam to his posterity, is a question more curious than profitable, and has been well taxed by the story of Augustine: A man having fallen into a pit, one spies him, and asks carelessly, "How came you there?" "Oh," cries the man from the miry pit to him, "hasten to get me out, rather than trouble yourself to inquire how I fell in."
This is the gordian knot in theology. We cannot account for it, but from the will of God. That the Almighty could have prevented this awful state of things, none will call in question. Why he hath permitted it, forms one of those deep things of God, of which we can know but little in the present state; only this we are assured of, that he is a God of truth, and that whatever he does, or permits, will ultimately tend to promote his glory. Now, my brother, farewell, and "may the God of Peace sanctify us wholly in body, soul, and spirit."
Great God! renew our ruined frame;
Our broken powers restore;
Inspire us with an heavenly flame,
And flesh shall reign no more.
JCR - The Controversy Between Jews and Christians, Part 1 Letters 9-15, Joseph Samuel C. F. Frey
JCR: The Controversy Between Jews and Christians
juchre.org
