Saviour Christ by whose superabundant grace his faithfull children are cleansed from all sins original and actuall and rendred far more exceeding gratious and glorious then otherwisâ— they should have been Both which effects S. Paul teacheth Rom. 8. v. 12 13 14. concluding this first polâ— with an Appendix that Adaâ— waâ— a figure of Christ to come signifying that as by the sin of Adam we all dyed so by the grace of Christ all his children doe live Touching the other effect viz. abundance of grace by Christ he addeth the great difference saying But not as the offence so also the gifâ— For if by the one mâ—nâ— died much more the grace of God and the gift in the grace of one man Jesus Christ hath abounded upon many v. 15. And not as by one sin sâ— also the gift for judgement 〈…〉 of one â—â—condemnation but grace 〈◊〉 of mâ—â—y offeâ—cesâ—â— justification v. 〈◊〉 For if 〈◊〉 the â—â—â—ence of one death reigned by one much more they that receive the abundance of grace and of the donation of justice 〈◊〉 shall reign in life by one Jesus vers. 17. Thus by S. Pauls Doctrine in that place and ver. 18 19. is verified that which the â—ue Church so solemnly singeth in the great Festivity of our redemption O certe necessarium Adae peccacatum quod Christs mirtâ— deletum est And O 〈…〉 culpa 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 â—autum meritum habâ—re â—reâ—demptâ—rem Whereto agree many other passages in the rest of S. Paulâ— Doctrine and the same is brieâ—ly comprised in that which S. John Baptist denounc'd of our blessed Saviour saying Behold the Lamb of God behold him that taketh away the sin of the world That is principally Christ came to take away the general sin which being actual in Adam is original in the whole world and therefore is call'd the sin of the world And the same is the general doctrine of S. John Apost. Evangelist saying If wee walk in the light as God also is in the light and the blood of Jesus his son cleanseth us from all sin first from original then also from actual You may find moreover in S. Luke 10. v. 30. all mankinde devested of grace and wounded in natural faculties by Adams fall for our Saviour in a Parable saith How a certain man went down from Jerusalem unto Jericho and fell among the 〈◊〉 who spoiled him and giving him wounds went away leaving him halfe dead Of no particular man can this Parable be so properly expounded as of all mankinde in general contained in Adam our first Parent who being indued with all necessary gifts narural and supernatural going from Gods commandement yeelded to false imaginations of bettering his state as it were descending from Jerusalem the Vision of peace to Jericho signifying the Moon which is unconstant and mutable fell among theeves the Devils who spoyled and wounded him and left him halfe dead for Adam by sinning and all men in him were spoyled of original justice and all supernatural graces and wounded in natural powers of understanding and fâ—eâ—willâ— not wholly deprived of all but spoyled of the best part and wounded in the rest spiritually dead and subâ—ect both to temporal and eternal death 〈…〉 relicto leâ—t halfe dead and halfe alive though left without help by the Priest and Leviâ—e the Sacrifices and other Ministeries The result of all is this Original sin is no inherent substantial thing in man but a privation of original justice and after the laver of Regeneration and Justification by Baptism sin properly so called is no longer remaining in the regenerate yet still there remaines an inclination unto sin called concupiscence out of which sin notwithstanding cannot be produced but by our negligence and free consent All this is affirmed by many Saints and especially by S. Basil in oratione quod Deus non sit Author malorum S. Epiphanius S. Ambrose Cyprian S. Hierom S. Hilarius S. John Chrysostom c. This Doctrine was decreed in severall general Councels as hereafter shall appear But that Infants were holy from their mothers wombe and may be saved without Baptism and that therefore there is no necessity of the Laver of Regeneraon to wash away original sin was the exprest heresie of Pelagiâ—s this day held forth boldly though covertly by Dr. Tayler which perverse Doctrine was condemned by several Councels First in the East at the first Palestine Councel it was solemnly condemn'd After in the West in Efrick in the Milevitâ—â— Councel it was decreed Can. 2 That whosoever deny Baptism to new-borne Infants or aver that they contract not Original staine and sin from Adam which needeth a Regeneration Anatheâ—ia sit In the 〈◊〉 Councel turned out of Greec◠〈…〉 Pisanus and in the first Constantinople Councel in Simbolo This was decreed in the fourth Councel of Carthage where there met 217. Prelates and most learned Doctors And in the fifth Constantinople Councel Zoara Sâ—us Monachus Severus Anâ—icher Petrus Antichenus and Antymus were as Parabaptists condemned You may read in the sixth Tolletan Councel Can. 2. of the three Divine persons onely the Son of God became man for the Redemption of mankind from the debt of sin originally contracted from Adams inobedience In the second Arausâ—câ—n Councel in France Can. 2. you have what doth follow If any man shall hold that Adams sin hurted him alone and not his Posterity or that only it brought corporal 〈◊〉 not eternal death which is 〈◊〉 the cause of temporal death upon all mankind this man doth great in justice to God and downright contradicts the Apostle S Paul who teacheth that by one man sin came into the world and by sin death and so death was derived to all men Iâ— the Maguntine Councel in Germany Can. 5. we read thus The sin of our first Parent has been conveyed to all men by seminal propagation and draweth along with it punishment so as all men are guilty of Gods enmity and eternal damnation and all are become prone to sin All which Decrees were renewed in the two last general Councels Florentinum Tridentinum which in literis vniouis teacheth thus The soules of those that departed in actual or original sin only doth descend into hell there to be punished though not all alike Therefore neither our Dr. Tayler nor the Anabaptists can without impudent temerity renew or maintain this most pernicious venom of Heresie so often and so solemnly condemned From this uniform ancient Doctrine of the Primitive Fathers Saints and holy Doctors is discover'd that manifest grosse error of Doctor Tayler who doth acknowledge no inlâ—â—â—ent sin but that which is comâ—â—tted by a real proper consent of the will which is such another pitiful mistake as that this word original sin was not used or mentioned in Scripture or Fathers before by S. Augustine invented which is notoriously false whereas this is such another meer illusion as the same of the Arians who denied absolutely the word homusion to be found in
Original sin transmitted to Adams posterity is but the privation or want of original justice and grace ingraffed in Adams nature to be conveyed to his children Si Adam non posuissem demeritum â—bicem We may further consider to our purpose that a thing which in its proper nature is evill in Gods eternal counsel is respectively good being ordered as the occasion meanes or way to manâ—fest Gods glory his justice goodnesse and mercy For God perâ—iâ—teth evill by a certaine voluntary permission in that he forsaketh the second cause in working evil either by withholding or detracting the grace it had or not bestowing that which is wanting neither in this must we imagine God unjust who is indebted to none And that which is thus evill by Gods permission may be deemâ—d good in order to his glory First in that its a punishment for sin and punishment is accounted a moral good it being the part or office of a just Judge to punish sin and transgressions Or secondly as a meer action which if so considered God is not only a bare â—eâ—missive Agent in producing an evill work but also a powerful effecter of the same yet so as neither instilleth an aberration curbity or obliquity in the act neither yet supporteth or intendeth the same but most freely suffereth evill disposing it best to his owne greater glory and so he doth not assist man with new grace for to stand but for just causes forsaketh him and so leaves him quite to fall from God Thus we may consider Adam created perfect yet changeable for so it pleased God to prepare a way to the execution of the decrees of his divine providence CHAP. IV. Where Original Sin is clearly proved to be formally and properly a sin not figuratively as Dr. Tayler doth dream with Pelagius his curs'd Symmist ORiginal Sin is attributed to Adams posterity as relating to nature common to all mankind not to any singular person for whatever is attributed in respect of nature is attributed to all men as if they were all one single man for Porphirus hath in praedic de specie that Participatione speciei plures homines sunt uâ—us homo As for example To be rational is not attributed to any particular or singular person as distinct from all others but generally to all as they are one man because it is attributed to man in respect of all nature for this and that man nay all men as they are rational they differ not one from another but are counted specifice one rational man So that even as actual sin is attributed to some man in respect of his individual person to whom it 's proper to act and sin according to Aristotle in 1. Metaph. Suppoâ—â—rorum sunt actiones Even so original sin viz. the sin conveyed by origine or generation is attributed to man in respect of nature for whereas generation was ordained for the conservation thereof which nature is together with sin communicated to all individually for even as the hand that committed a murther as is already said is not culpable for that it was not moved to the act precisely from it selfe but by the command of the will yet in as much as it is a member of that man that wilfully committed the murther it s really and truly counted culpable and is justly mutilated even so though every individual relative descendâ—nt of Adam be not in respect of the person culpable yet every man having received his nature from him that depraved and voluntarily maculated the same is in a manner voluntarily become culpable in just and a sinner so as that the original inordination or natural sin in every natural person is not voluntary by the will of that singular person but by the will of the first man who as the first origine moved communicated and conveyed by way of generation nature so infected and vitiated to posterity For example Adam after the losse of original righteousnesse begat children and consequently after he felt and had a rebellion in his flesh against his spirit and an inordinate motion in his members and so the act of generation in him became mixt with lust and concupiscence and this ever since the losse of original righteousnesse by which he was to be ruled And for this reason nature traduced or conveyed from him is still found with sin and corruption and if you look for the narrow way through which original sin is conveyed it is the infected slesh transmitted by concupiscence whereby the soule created without any stain is maculated This is manifest from Saint Augustins answer to Julian the Apostates question Quid querâ—â— tiâ—am cum habens apertam â—anuam As if the Saint had said Look for no other conveyance or cause but Adams sin and the natural propagation of his infected flesh which by a moral efficiency corrupted and stain'd the soule neither this propagation can absolutely be the cause whereas this would have been in the state of innocency but its lust yet not lust absolutely but the inordinate ardor of lust so that the soule contracts original sin because the same is produced in the corrupt flesh not Physically but only Morally by natural propagation Original sin is no stain or spot in the flesh neither a privation of any such quality in the same by which it should become subject or rebellious to the spirit or the infeâ—iour faculties to the superiour This is manifest because sin is injustice but the flesh is incapable of justice or in justice neither is original sin essentially concupiscence whether it be taken for the natural inclination to evil or for the voluntary or involuntary motion of concupiscence because habitual concupiscence is a sensitive appetite which is nâ—tural to man and therefore no sin neither can it be the inclination of the will for that is natural and a real positive entity neither is it a privation of any natural rectitude but of a supernatural neither is it only punishment of sin but hath in it the nature of sin essentially and formally and is called the sin of nature because it s derived by natural or seminal generation It 's therefore most certain that original sin is no vitious habit no pronesse or concupiscence of the flesh neither any infectious disease positive stain or rust in mans soule but it is a privation of original justice which ought to be in our nature as due to it because received and lost in our first Father Adam But concupiscence by many Saints held to be original sin may be two wayâ—s considered either as it is an act habit or a pronenesse in the sensitive appetite and neither of these is formally a sin for sin is never in the sensitive part or else this concupiscence is the pronesse in the rational appetite viz. the will exciting to the desire of things pleasing and immoderately convenient to the sensitive appetite to which it is conjoyned And thus concupiscence considered is the material part in original
men that godliness is great gain It cannot be expected that those men who are eneâ—iâ—s to Learning should be friends to Antiquitie lest by iâ—â—heâ— folly should be made manifest For I assure my self there is no stronger argument to demonstrate the truth of Christianity their Tradition hence the Prophet knew the good way from the old paths our Saviour shewing the good seed to be soâ—eâ— before the â—ares and even in nature truth is before falshood It 's no marvel I say that men no deeper rooted should be carried away with every wind of Doctrine but that Doctor Tay-ler a man of that universal and profound reading ingenuity and grace in writing such a pillar of the Church of England should so unseasonably contrary to the grave advice of very Learned and Reverend Admonishers not only fall into a grosse and damnable error but endeavour by rak'd and false interpretationâ— to make the Church his Patron is to be look'd upon with pitie and indignation I think the enemy of mankind that he might in cur dayes compleat his malice hath not only by delusion made the vulgar unlearned his instruments but under pretence of piety hath imployed one of the best parts to undermine the chiefest foundations of Religion his male sarra argumentâ— and dangerous inferences which from this his Opinion may be drawn I shall leave the intelligent Reader to consider wondring much that an Opinion maintained in Gods Church in all Ages and confirm'd by several General Councils should at last be stil'd by Dr. Taylor a Vulgar Error but I am well satisfied with his zeale to maintain one Error that hath writ in defence of all The God of Truth and Order enlighten this Nation that the scales of ignorance and misguided zeal may fall from their eies and bring into the way of salvation all such as have erred and are deceived THE DOCTRINE OF Original Sin CHAP. I. Of the happy state of man before his Fall ALmighty God who is independent of all Beings Immense in his extent Eternal in his duration infinite in all his perfections immutable and absolute over all creatures and he who was without doubt the mystery hidden under the veile of that ancient Statute which bore for device I am what is what shall be and what has been whose cover no man hath taken off seeing no object out of himselfe which could deserve his love besides this love being incited by a holy desire of coÌ„municating it self it was requisite to frame a copy of the Intellectual Original which was in his Idea and in his heavenly mind and the world being but a lively vacuum but an universal privation of forms and qualities was chosen as the blank Table whereon he resolved to draw the first strokes of his goodnesse and so all nature as heavens earth sea light stars trees fishes flashes furnaces of fire and flames vast extent of airâ— clouds abysses peecipices all engendred out of it by the sole power of the Divinity by the command of the Word and Love What I pray doth remain after all these prodigies of power and rare works of love The Angels are lost without Redemption and the punishment their insolence hath merited will pursue them without relaxation term or pity It must therefore be concerning mans creation and redemption that a decree is past it 's on man the great God reflected it's man who must be substitute in the place of Angels without man all created works seem not sufficiently perfect Now God the fountaine cause and origin of the Universe the wise and all-knowing Workman to whom all things possible drew â—ut of dirt morter and dust man his master-piece and object of his favour the Image of his divine Eâ—â—ence the Accomplisher of his commands and his Lieutenant upon earth It was only man that well deserved the last touches of his omnipotent hands as the most glorious term of his power the faâ—rest peece of the Universe a work so admirable that it may rather beget admiration then expressive words whereas Plato cryes oâ—t that man is the miracle of all visible miracles the Horison of all creatures the all of all and as it were the soule of the World Finally Pythâ—goraâ— looks upon man as the measure of all things in whom are found the longitudes latitudes altitudes and proâ—â—ndities of all beings for it s known he hath a being common with 〈◊〉 a life common with plantâ— a sense common with beasts and an understanding which equals him with Angels but he excells them all in that he was created from Gods Idea as the most lively â—â—â—resentation of his great Maker what ever learned Authoâ—s did in general speak in the praise 〈…〉 it 's certain that of all the Encomions given to him the most noble most august and most transcendent is that man is created to the Image of God as a character of his Substance and Divinity O great God who hath incited thee to heap together in one vessell wrought so admirably out of clay and dust all the treasures of wisedom greatnesse and sanctity why so many sciences so many knowledges so many splendors in one mansâ— soul and why in one single man so many superexcellent graces perfections and vertues the primitive justice original righteousnesse a rare rectitude of the inner man a just subordination of the inferiour faculties to the superiour 〈◊〉 cleare light and the Empire 〈◊〉 â—e Universe Herehence Gods nature requireth homages his Majestie servitudes his glory aâ—â—iration his goodness all acknowledgments and affections of hearts and though God is good and liberal yet is he dread just and all foreseeing If then he foreseeth some danger and evill let him providently dissolve the occasion and obstruct the wayes which lead man unto a precipice let him not unite so many millions of members unto a head which is able to corrupt them all in an instant and leave unto the heart of man in dependency on created things and cause efficaciously his affections to be still fastned unto his Creator that so he alone may be the source of his motions and effects No no the old Adam our first Parent must be created perfect God saw every thing that he made and behold it was very good but mutable for so it pleased God to prepare a way to the execution of his hidden decree Adam must be the cause of our good and evill and on his good or bad fortune ours must wholly depend It was very convenient that God as absolute Lord and Master should leave Adam some commandement and it was likewise very reasonable that Adam as his servant and creature should be pliable and obsequious to so just a command and decree as that of God reserving the use of tree of the knowledge of good and evill of which he expresly and upon pain of death forbids Adam to taste or gather any fruit amongst all the trees which God hath planted in Paradise Notwithstanding Adam swallowed down that fatall bit which hath since