Beveridge on Article IX: Of Original or Birth-sin

found in the scripture, yet that there is such a thing as original sin to be found in our own hearts, we have all too woful experience of it. And therefore supposing the thing so sadly experienced by us all, here we have it described, and that both negatively and positively, both what it is not, and what itis. First, *it is here shewed what it is not, or wherein it doth not consist ; viz. it doth not consist in the following

• it here sheweth MS,

266 Of Original or Birth Sin. Arr.

of Adam, as the Pelagians? of old held. But, secondly and positively, it is here said to be both the fault and corruption of man’s nature: it is the fault, and therefore we are guilty of it; it is the corruption also, and therefore we are defiled with it. Neither is it the fault and corruption of some, but > all; all that naturally, or according to the common course of nature, proceed from Adam; all have this fountain of sin in their hearts, and all issue forth the streams of sin in their lives ; whereby man is very far gone from original righteousness, and is of his own nature inclined to evil. He was made full of righteousness, but that he lost; he was made empty of sin, but that he found: so that he is not only emptied of the righteousness he was before filled with, but also filled with the sin he was before empty of. So that he that before did not only not hate God but love him, now doth not only not love him but hate him; and he that before did not only not love sin but hate it, now doth not only not hate sin but love it; his nature being now ayerse from good and inclined to evil, as it was before averse to evil and inclined to good ;

@ So called from one Pelagius, a Welshman; and therefore termed Pelagius Brito. So St. Augustine, Pelagium quem credimus (ut ab alio distingueretur qui Pelagius Tarenti dicitur) Britonem suisse cognomi- natum. Aug. Epist. [186. vol. II.] ad Paulinum. This person lived an. Dom. 410. and was the broacher and abettor of many dangerous opinions. Amongst the rest, he held that we are not born sinners, and that Adam’s sin was not imputed to us, nor did it hurt any one but himself. But in the Diospolitan synod in Palestina, for fear of the sentence that should have been passed upon him, he renounced that opinion, and acknowledged that Adam’s sin was prejudicial to his posterity also, and anathematized all such as thought otherwise. But the synod being dissolved, though he would still seem to hold what he there acknowledged, even that Adam by his sin did his posterity hurt, as well as himself, yet then he explained more fully what he meant, viz. that

he did hurt his posterity indeed by his sin, but not by propagation of his sin to them, but by giving them so bad an example; as if his sin was not propagated *to them, but they imitated his sin. Hence St. Austin; Quid enjm ad rem de qua nunc agimus pertinet, quod disci- pulis suis respondet? Ideo se ob- jecta damnasse, quia et ipse dicit non tantum primo homini, sed etiam humano generi primum illud ob- fuisse peccatum non propagine sed exemplo; id est, non quod ex illo traxerint aliquod vitium qui ex illo propagati sunt, sed quod eum pri- mum peccantem imitati sunt omnes qui postea peccaverunt. Aug. contra Pelag. et Celest. de peccato origi- nali. [1. ii. 16. vol. X.]

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1S. Of Original or Birth Sin. 267 so that the flesh lusteth contrary to the Spirit, and therefore in every person born into this world it deserveth wrath and damna- tion. For in that it is a fault, it must needs transgress God’s precepts ; and in that it transgresseth his precepts, it must. needs incense his person, and so deserve wrath and damna- tion, and therefore damnation because wrath. For it is the wrath of God that is the damnation and torment of a soul in hell; as his love is the salvation and glory of a saint in heaven. And this infection of nature doth remain, yea in them that are regenerated. So that though grace in this life may take away the strength, it cannot take away the life of sin. But though a saint may not live in sin, still sin will live in him. His strong sins may every day grow weaker and weaker, and his weak graces may every day grow stronger and stronger; but his weak graces will never be perfectly strengthened ¢, nor his strong sins perfectly weakened, so long as he is in this life. So that though there shall be no con- demnation to them hereafter, yet there are corruptions in them here; the apostle himself confessing lust and concu- piscence to be a sin, which no saint but will himself confess to be in him. The sum of all which is this: Adam’s sin is imputed to us, and we are infected with it, and that not only before, but after we are born again, even so long as in this life. All which I shall briefly prove from scripture, reason, and Fathers.

First, the scriptures do plainly shew that Adam’s sin is our guilt as well as his, and that we did as really sin in him as we proceed from him. For so saith the apostle; Wherefore as 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. Where we see the apostle saying, A// have sinned before all were born, which could not be unless they had before sinned in him from whom they were born, And so many render the words, 4 Jn whom all have sinned; and therefore

¢ Charitas in aliis major, in aliis minor, in aliis nulla est; plenissima, que jam non potest augeri, quam- diu hic homo vivit, est in nemine. August. Epist. [167. 15. vol. II.] ad Hieronym.

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268 Of Original or Birth Sin. Arr.

the same apostle tells us, In Adam all died, 1 Cor. xv. 22. Now how could all die in him, unless all sinned in him? For death is the wages of sin only, as well as the only wages of sin. And that we are not only guilty of this sin, but also defiled with it, the Psalmist is plain, saying, ¢ Behold I was shapen in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me, Psalm li. 5. So that sin was in his heart whilst he was in his mother’s womb ; for seeing he was conceived in sin, sin must needs be conceived in him: and the apostle, that we were by nature the children of wrath, even as others, Eph. ii. 3 ; and how can we be the children of wrath, unless we be first the parents of sin? Certainly there can be no other way that we can be by nature subject to wrath, the wages of sin, but because we are by nature subject to those sins that deserve this wrath. And so our Saviour tells us, that which is born of the flesh is flesh, John iii. 6: that which is born of flesh cor- rupted with sin must needs be itself flesh corrupted with sin. And that this infection remains even after regeneration the apostle asserts in saying, [f we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us, 1 John i. 8. So that for any man to say he hath no sin, he commits sin in saying so, for in plain terms he lies. And therefore David saith, Hunter

ubi ait, per unum hominem peccatum upon all men; Ana: AON:

intravit in mundum, et per peccatum mors, et ita im omnes homines per- transut im quo omnes peccaverunt, frustra sensum alium novum atque distortum et a vero abhorrentem moliris exculpere ; affirmans ea lo- cutione dictum esse in quo omnes peccaverunt, ac si diceretur propter quod omnes peccaverunt; sicut dic- tum est im quo corrigit junior vitam suam ; ut viz. non in uno homine omnes homines peccasse intelligan- tur originaliter, &c. Non ergo huic sensui convenit illa locutio, ita dic- tum esse in quo velut dictum esset propter quod. Aug. contra Julian. Pelag. 1. 6. [75. vol. X.] And the Ethiopic translation gives us the clear exposition of the words, For as by the iniquity of one man sin entered into the world, and by that sin death came

Mar? NAL PAP +: LAG: 4.2 APIL Because

that sin is imputed to every man ; so that this sin of Adam is imputed to us, and therefore it is that death came upon us.

© Suscepit personam generis hu- mani David, et attendit omnium vincula, propaginem mortis consi- deravit, originem iniquitatis advertit, et ait, ecce enim in iniquitatibus con- ceptus sum. Nunquid David de adultero natus erat? De Jesse viro justo et conjuge ipsius. Quid est quod se dicit in iniquitate concep- tum, nisi quia trahitur iniquitas ex Adam? Etiam ipsum vinculum mortis cum ipsa iniquitate concre-~ tum. Aug. in loc. [Ps.1.7. p. 467. vol. IV.]

=

IX. Of Original or Birth Sin. 269

not into judgment with thy servant, for in thy sight shall no man living be justified, Psalm exliii. 2. And certainly there is none perfectly freed from sin, when St. Paul himself saith, Sin dwelleth in me, Rom. vii. 17: and, I delight in the law of God after the inward man: but I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into cap- tivity to the law of sin which is in my members, ver. 23. And hence it is that the lust of the flesh is not subject to the law of God, Rom. viii. 7; and this very lust of the flesh, or concupi- scence, as not of the Father, but of the world, 1 John ii. 16; nay, and it is expressly forbidden in the tenth commandment,

Thou shalt not covet, or lust, which the apostle takes notice of, 7), ¢..-/ fo. saying, I had not known lust, wnless the law had said, Thou ge Ue lick, shalt not covet, Rom. vii.‘7. And therefore this lust being (”°

itself a f sin, and the saints themselves being subject to it, sin must needs remain in them even after they are converted from it.

And if we proceed to reason for its determination of these things, we may briefly argue thus: first, that Adam’s sin is our guilt is plain, in that we were in his loins when he com- mitted it. As Levi paid tithes in Abraham’s loins to Mel- chisedeck, Heb. vii. 9, 10, so did we commit sin in Adam’s loins against God. Though himself was a particular person, yet was the §whole human nature not only represented by him, but contained in him; and therefore was he called not by any particular or proper name, but Adam, that is, man in

f And so some of the Fathers themselves called the lust of the flesh, or concupiscence, a sin. Bonus ergo rector malos equos re- stringit, et revocat, bonos incitat. Boni equi sunt quatuor, prudentia, temperantia, fortitude, justitia: mali equi iracundia, concupiscentia, timor, iniquitas. Ambros. apud August. contra Julian. Pelag. 1. 2. [12. vol. X.] To which St. Augustine him- self saith, Catholice istos equos in- telligimus vitia nostra que legi mentis ex lege peccati resistunt. Ibid. Istam vero legem peccati,

cujus manentis reatus in sacro fonte remissus est, propterea vocavit ini- quitatem, quia iniquum est ut caro concupiscat adversum spiritum. Ib. Ita concupiscentia adversus quam concupiscit spiritus et peccatum est. Ibid. [lib. 5. 8.]

& Adam et Eva natura humani generis erant, quare in illis unis omnes eramus. Aug. contra Pela- gian. Hyp. 1. 2. [p. 10. App. vol. X.] Adam factus est absque pec- cato natura; cum vero peccavit homo natura peccavit, et facta est jam natura peccatrix. Ibid.

ArT.

270 Of Original or Birth Sin.

general. And all mankind thus being in him, whatsoever he did all mankind could not but do with him. If he had stood, all mankind had stood with him; and so he falling, all man- kind fell in him. And, secondly, that it is our corruption or infection as well as guilt is plain upon the same ground too. For as we being in him, he sinning we could not but sin in him ; so he becoming a sinner, we could not but become sin- ners in him too: especially considering that this Adam begat Seth, and so all his posterity, in his own likeness, Gen. v. 3 ; and if in his own likeness, then “sinners like himself. As a wolf begets wolves, not lambs; so he a sinner begat sinners, not saints. If he had begotten his posterity when a saint, he had begotten saints; but begetting them when a sinner, he could not but beget sinners. And hence ‘a child is a sinner as soon as born, yea as soon as conceived, before it hath any sin committed by it, it hath sin conceived in it. And there- fore it was that under the law children were commanded to be circumcised the eighth day, and under the Gospel to be baptized ‘whilst infants, to shew that even whilst infants they contracted a natural guilt by coming through their parents’ loins, which cannot be washed away but by the blood of Christ. And lastly, that this infection remains, even when

h Homo peccator genuit hominem sine dubio peccatorem: quia de na- tura vitiata non nisi natura nascitur vitiosa, id est peccatrix. Ibid.

i Quis mihi commemoret peccata

infantiz mez? Quia nemo mundus a peccato coram te, nec infans cujus unius diei vita super terram. … Quid ergo tune peccabam ? an quia uberius inhiabam plorans? 4… An pro tempore etiam illa bona erant, flendo petere etiam quod noxie daretur, indignari acriter his a quibus genitus est, … feriendo niti nocere quantum potest ? Illa imbecillitas membrorum infan- tilium innocens est, non animus in- fantium. Aug. Confes. 1. 1. [11. vol. I.]

k Addi his etiam illud potest, ut requiratur quid causz sit cum bap-

tisma ecclesiz in remissionem pecca- torum detur, secundum ecclesize observantiam etiam parvulis baptis- mum dari, cum utique si nihil esset in parvulis quod ad remissionem deberet et indulgentiam pertinere, gratia baptismi superflua videretur. Orig. in Lev. hom. 8. [3. vol. II.] Parvuli baptizantur in remissionem peccatorum ; quorum peccatorum ? Vel quo tempore peccaverunt? Aut quomodo potest illa in parvulis la- vacri ratio subsistere nisi juxta illum sensum de quo paulo ante diximus, Nullus mundus a sorde nec si unius diet quidem fuerit vita ejus super terram ? Et quia per baptismi sa- cramentum nativitatis sordes depo- nuntur, propterea baptizantur et Wy Id. in Luc. hom. 14. [vol.

IX. Of Original or Birth Sin. att

the person is born again, so long as in this life, is plain, in that otherwise heaven would be brought down to earth, and earth turned into heaven. For to have sin perfectly subdued under us, and grace perfectly confirmed in us, is certainly the crown of the crown of glory, the very heaven of heaven, which I can- not see how any one can in reason expect, so long as himself is upon earth. But I need not speak any more to this, which is so sadly experienced by all Christians. None that have any grace will say they have no sin; and he that saith he hath no sin, it is an argument to me that he hath no grace, He that doth not find sin warring against his graces, surely hath no grace to war against his sins. And so to heap up arguments to prove this, would be to spend time to prove that which nobody can deny, nay that which if any one doth deny it, his very denying it is a proof of it.

And this hath been the doctrine of the catholic church in all ages. St. Cyprian tells us’, “ There were before Christ also famous men, prophets and priests; but being conceived and born in sin, they wanted neither original nor personal guilt.” And elsewhere, ™“ But if the forgiveness of sins is granted to the greatest offenders, and such as sinned very much against God, when they have believed, and no one is kept back from baptism and grace, how much more ought an infant not to be forbidden it, who being newly born hath committed no sin, but that it being after a carnal manner born of Adam, it hath contracted the contagion of the old death in its first nativity? Who cometh easier to receive remission of sins, in that not its own but another’s sins are pardoned to it; that is, not the sins committed in its own person, but only that which was committed by Adam.”

1 Fuerant et ante Christum viri insignes, prophetz, et sacerdotes,

Sed in peccatis concepti et nati, nec

originali nec personali caruere de- licto. Cyprian. de jejunio et tentat. Lee autem si etiam gravissi- mis delictoribus et in Deum multum ante peccantibus, cum postea cre- diderint, remissa peccatorum datur, et a baptismo atque gratia nemo

prohibetur, quanto magis prohiberi non debet infans, qui recens natus nil peccavit, nisi quod secundum Adam carnaliter natus contagium mortis antique prima nativitate con- traxit? Qui ad remissam peccato- rum accipiendam hoc ipso facilius accedit, quod illi remittuntur non propria sed aliena peccata. Id. Epist. ad Fidum. [p. 161.]

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And Athanasius saith, “ That as Adam sinning, the sin descended to all men; so the Lord conquering, that his conquest at last comes to us.” And Origen®, “ Every one that cometh into this world is said to be affected with a certain pollution : and therefore the scripture saith, There is none clean from filth, though he be but one day old. Upon this very account therefore, because a man is placed in his mother’s womb, and receiveth the materials of his body from his father’s seed, he may therefore be said to be defiled both in his father and mother.” And hence is that of St. Basil, ?“‘ Here is mercy without judgment, for he did not come to judge the world, but to save the world: but there will not be judgment without mercy, because there cannot be a man found that is clear from filth, though it be his birthday.”

St. Ambrose expresseth it elegantly ; 9 “‘ Who is he that lends out sin but the devil? from whom Eve having borrowed sin, by the usury of obnoxious succession she lent it out again to all mankind.”

But who can speak fuller to this purpose than St. Augustine, who hath written many books in the defence of this truth ? And he, amongst many other things I might quote, saith expressly, ‘“‘ For as infants do not imitate Christ, because they cannot, and yet may belong to his spiritual [grace]; so without the imitation of the first man, yet they are bound with the infection of being begotten carnally of him.”

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© Omnis qui ingreditur hunc mundum in quadam contaminatione effici dicitur: Propter quod et scrip- tura dicit, Nemo mundus a sorde, nec si unius diet fuerit vita ejus. Hoc ipso ergo quod in vulva matris est positus, et quod materiam corporis ab origine paterni seminis sumit, in patre et matre contaminatus dici pot- est. Origen. in Lev. hom. 12. [4.]

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r Nam sicut non imitantur Chris- tum parvuli quia non possunt, et tamen ad ejus gratiam spiritualem pertinere possunt ; ita sine imitatione primi hominis, contagione tamen ex ipso carnalis generationis obstricti sunt. Aug. contra Jul. Pelag. 1. 6. L79- vol. X.] V. et de Peccat. merit. et remissione, l. I. ¢. 9.

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IX. Of Original or Birth Sin. 273

And that this infection remains also after baptism, the same Father is express: t“Let it not be thought that we should say that (lust or concupiscence) is sanctified, with which the regenerate themselves are forced to conflict, in a certain intestine war as with an enemy, and to desire and pray to be healed from that plague.” And elsewhere, ¥“‘So long as thou livest here, sin will necessarily be in thy members ; but howsoever, let the dominion of it be taken away, let it not be obeyed in what it commands.” And again; *“Is all iniquity blotted out (in baptism)? Doth no infirmity remain ? If no infirmity remain, we might live without sin. But who can say this, unless he be proud? unless unworthy of the mercy of the Redeemer? unless he will deceive himself, and be one in whom there is no truth?” And elsewhere ; ¥“‘ Though in that we are born of God we cannot commit sin; yet there is still that in us that we were born of Adam.” I shall con- dude this with that of Fulgentius2 ; “ For the saints them- selves see that though through grace they are free from the contagion of evil works, yet that they are held captive by the variety of thoughts. For who can glory that he hath a chaste heart? or who can glory that he is quite cleansed from sin? Let us consider who and how just a person it was that said, In many things we offend all.” And thus we see the Fathers too asserting that original sin standeth not in the following of Adam, &e.

t Absit ut dicamus sanctificari (concupiscentiam) cum qua necesse habent regenerati, si non in vacuum Dei gratiam susceperunt, intestino quodam bello tanquam cum hoste confligere, et ab ea peste desiderare atque optare sanari. Aug. contra Jul. Pelag. 1. 6. [51.]

u Quamdiu vivis, peccatum ne- cesse est esse in membris tuis; sal- tem illi regnum auferatur, non fiat

uod jubet. Id. in Joh. Tract. 41. es vol. III. par. ii.]

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qui seipsum vult decipere? et in quo veritas non est? Ibid. [10.]

Y Quamyvis enim in quantum ex Deo nati sumus non peccemus, inest tamen adhuc etiam quod ex Adam nati sumus. Id. contra Epist. Par- men. l. 2. [14. vol. IX.]

z Vident enim (anime justifica- torum) quia licet sint gratie dono ab operum malorum contagione li- bere, teneantur tamen cogitationum varietate captive. Quis enim glo- riabitur castum se habere cor? Quis gloriabitur mundum se esse a pec- catis? Attendamus qualis quantusque justus dixerit, In multis etiam offen- dimus omnes. Fulgent. Epist. 3. [34-] ad Probam de virginit. et humilit.

DD

Notes

• by them MS. to them ed. 1716.