in Contriving Man's Redemption. venge the quarrel of their Creator. The infenC.ble Creation which at firfl: was altogether ~ beneficial to Man, IS become h11rt[ul. The Heavens fomenmes are hardened as Brafs m a Chap. ~ ' long and obll:inate ferenity: Sometimes are diffolved in a Deluge of rain : The Earth is ~ barren, and unfaithful to the Sower, it brmgsforth Thorns and Thrffles inll:ead of Bread, Gen. ~· 17, 18. In Jhort, Man is an enemy to Man. When there were but two Brothers to divide the World, the one ftain'd his hands in the Blood of the other. And fince the Progeny of Adam is increas'd into vafl: Societies, all the difall:ers of the World, as Famine, Pefhlence, Deluges, the fury of Beafls have not been fo defl:ruaive ofMankind, as the foie , malignity of Man againft thofe that .Partake of t~e human. Nature. (m). . . ru~ ij,l ~::~~ To conclude, Who can make a hfl of the evils to which the Body IS hable by the di{~ "'"'"',V,, •ifi agreeing Elements that compofe it ? The fatal Seeds of Corruption are bred 111 it felf. q"d ,g, '"'" 'Tis a prey to all Difeafes, from the torturing Stone to the dying Conjumption. It feels ~!,fo~~:.fu;;! the ftrokes of Death a thoufand times before it can die once. At lafr, Life is fwallowed lt~m ab(rme,r, ~~-,0~u~~:i~\heA~!}!~me:;;;::~~~~ D~;~efi~~eri~~ ~~~f~~:sirt;vtyl~lrl)e:o~~~ i~;t~; ;::::~~~~;~ Body dies by the Soul's forfaking it, fo the Soul, by feparation from God, its true Life, dies de In. to its Well-being and Happinefs for ever. CHAP. Ill. . All Mankind is involv'd in Adam's Guilt, and under the penal Corifequences that J~llow upon it. Adam, the natural and moral Principle if 1Vlankind. An hereditary Corruptiort is trar![mitted to all t~at are propogated from him. The Account the Scripture gives qf the Conveyance if it. 'Tis an innate Habit. 'Tis univer:fal. Corrupt Nature contains the Seeds if all Sins, though they do not jhoot forth together. 'Tis voluntary and culpable. The permijfion rf the Fall is fuitable to the Wifdom, Holinejs, and Goodnifs qf God. . The Imputation if Adam's Sin to his Pqfierity is cotififlent with God's Juflice. TH E Rebellion of the Firft Man againfl: the great Creator was a Sin of univerfal Efficacy, that derives a Guilt and Stain to Mankind in all Ages of the World. The Account the Scripture gives of it, is grounded on the Relation which all Men have to Adam, as their natural and moral Principle. l . Their Natural. God created one Man in the Beginning, from whom all othei> derive their Beings: And that the Vnity might be the more intire, he form'd of him that Aid which was necetfary for the communicating his kind to the World. He made of one Blood all NAtions of Men, to dwell on the Face of the Earth, Aas '7· 26. And as the whole Race of Mankind was virtually in Adam's Loins, fo it was prefumed to give virtual Confent to what he did. When be broke, all fuffer'd Ship- ~rack,. that were contained in him as their natural Original. The Angels were created Jmmcdtately and diftincHy, without dependance upon one another, as to their Original ; the:·efore when a great number revolted from God, the rcfi were not complicated it1 thc1r Sin and Ruin. But when the univerfal Progenitor of Men finn'd there was a Confpiracy of all the Sons of Adam in that Rebellion, a11d not one Subj~a left in his ()bed1ence. . •· He was tl1e moral Principle of Mankind. In the firfl: Treaty between God and Man~ .!ldar~ was confider'_d not as a rinf?le P~rfon, but as Cap11t Geqtis, and contraB:erl for .aJJ Ius Defcendants by ordmary G~Jll'~atJPl). }li~ f~r)O.I) w.as t~1~ F.ounrai)1 of theirs, and !Ji•
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