44 jir DISPLAY Of alp, ure creatures- of Gód, holy and undefiled with any fin, to be invefted with the fàme, ,etchednefs and perverfenefs ofnature, with our (elves. It is not my intention, to enter into any curious difèourfe, concerning the fiate and graceof Adam before his fall ; but only to give a faithful affent, to what God himfelf affirmed of all theworks of his hands, they were exceeding good : no evil, no defor- mity, or any thing tending thereunto, did immediately iffùe from that fountain of goodnefs and wifdom, and therefore doubtlefs man,themofì excellent workofhis hands, the reateft glory ofhis creator, was them without fpot or blemifb, endued with all thole perfe£tions his nature, and flate of obedience, was capableof and careful we muttbe ofcaning any afperfions ofdefeft on him, that we will not with equal boldnefs afcribe to the image of God. Nothing doth more mauifeft thedeviation of our nature from its firft inflitution, and declare thecorruption wherewith we arepolluted, than that propenfrty which is in usto every thing that is evil, that inclination of the flefh, which lufteth always agairft the fpirir, that luft and concupifcence, which fomenteth, conceiveth, hatcheth, bringeth forth, and nourifheth fin; that perpetual pronnels that is inunregenerate nature, toeve- ry thing, that is contrary to thepure andholy law of God. Now becaufe neither fcri- pture nor experience will fuffer clirilbans quite todeny this pravityof our nature ; this averfenefs from all good, and propenfrty to fin, the Arminian; extenuate as much as they are able, affirming that it is no great matter, no more than Adamwas fubje£t unto in theRate of innocency. But what, did God create in Adam a prennefs unto evil ? Was that a part ofhis glorious image, in whole likeneOhe was framed? Yea, faith Corvinur, (a) By reefer' of hiscreation man had an afilion to what was forbidden by the lam : but yet this Items injuftice, that God lhould give a man a law to keep, (b) and put upon his nature a repugnancy to that law, as oneof them affirmed atthe fynodof Dart.. No, faith the formerauthor : (c) Man had not been fir to have hada law given unto him, had he not beenendued with a proppenfion, and natural inclination to that which is forbidden by the lam ; but whyis this fo neceffary in men, rather thanangels? Nodoubt there was a law, a rule, for their obedience, given unto them at their fait creation, which feme tranfgreffed, when others kept it inviolate. Had they alfo a propenfrty to fin,con-created with their nature ? Had they anatural affe£tionputupon them by God, to that whichwas forbid- den by the law? Let them only who will be wife beyond the wordof God, affix filch injuftice on the righteous judge of all the earth : but fo it feems it manbe : (d) There was an inclination in man to fin before the fall, though not altogetherfo vehement and inordinate as it is now, faith Arminira s hithertowe have thought, that theoriginal righteoufüefs, wherein Adam was created, had comprehended the integrity and perfe£tion of the wholeman ; not only that whereby thebody wasobedient unto the foul, and all the áffe£tionsfubfervient to the ruleof reafon for theperformance of all naturalaftions : but alfo a light, uprightnefs, and holinefs of grace, in the mind and will, whereby he was enabled to yieldobedience unto God, for the attaining of that fupernatural end, whereunto hewas created. No; but (e) original righteoufnefs, fay our new doctors, was nothingbut a bridleto help to keep man's inordinate concupifcencewithin bounds r fo that the fa- cultiesofour fouls werenever indued with any proper innateholinefs of their own: (f) In thefpiritual death offm there are nofpirieualg'ftsproperly wanting in mill, becaufe they were never there, fay the fix collocutors at theHague. The filar is, manwascreated with a nature,- not only weak, and imperfe£t, unable by its native ftrength and endowments to attain that fupernatural end, for which he was made, and which he was commanded to feek, but depraved alfo with a love and defire ofthings repugnant to the will of God, bymuffinof an imbred inclination to fin- ning. It doth not properly belong to this place, to Phew, how they extenuate rhofe gifts al fo, with which they cannot deny but that he was mdued, and alfo deny thole which he had ; as a power to believe inChrill, or to affent unto any truth, that God fhould reveal uh:to him :. and yet they grant this privilegeunto every one ofhis pofleri- ty, in that depravedcondition ofnature, whereintoby fin he callhimfelf andus. We (e) Ex redone creations homo habebat affeflum ad ea qua vetabantur, Cor. ad Mot. ap.& f (b) Dens homini repugnantiam indidit adverfus legem, Yob. G ll. infoes. aenfef(. (r) Homo nonell tioneu, cui lex feratuy ,uando in eo, ad idgod lege vetatur, noneft propenlo,ac inclinatio naturally Cor. ad :nlin. cap. ro. fef}. rg. ( d) Inclinatio ad peceandumante lapfum in trominefuir, Hoot non ita veham^ns or inordinate no turn,eft, Armin. adArtir. ßefpon (e) 30ßfä0osiginalis inflar fce,ifuir, quad rafteliat internsconcnpifcenrra ordinationem, Cor. ad Mel. a. 8. ¡. (f) lo fpiritoali moms, on feparantur proprie dona fpiritualiaavoluntate, quia ilia nunquam fueriut eiinGta, lie.. mû. Hag. fol. ago. have
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