502 STRENGTH AND WÿAKNESS OF HUMAN REASON. partic'.ilar vicious inclinations, as well as 'particular distempers, aré conve)ed from parents to children sometimesthrough several generations. Thebest of us are not free from irregular propen- sities and passions even in the younger parts of life, and as our years advance, our sins break out, and continue more or less through all our lives. Our whole race then are plainly degene- rate, sinful, and guilty before God, and under some tokens of his anger. Though I own that I borrow this set of thoughtsfrom the bible, iswell as from reason and observation, yet I would say as little as possible to awaken your opposition and therefore Í say not now, whether God made one päir of human creatures, or more ; I do not here determine, whether mankind sinned at once and fell. from God, and their duty and their happiness, in one single family, or in One generation ; or whether it came by a more slow and gradual degeneracy, by increasing habits of vice, by the evil influence of vicious examples, or by a complicated con- sent of multitudes rebelling against their Maker. In my pre- sent discourse, as far as possible, I would avoid every thing that might give you any uneasiness ; and therefore I confine myself here to suppose only those things which may be very probably supposed by the exercise of our reasoning powers, upon the past and present condition of mankind throughout the world. You know, Logisto, that I take it for granted, according to our scripture, that God made but one pair of first parents; Adam and Eve, and that they'havingbroken the law of their God, have exposed themselves and their posterity to such a forfeiture of their privileges, to suëh a disorder in their rational and animal powers, to disease and sorrow, misery, and death. But I pro- pose toyou nothing else at present but an hypothesis. Fifthly, suppose that our good .and gracious God, in com- passion to this sinful and miserable race of creatures, has conti- nued to them many of the forfeited comforts of this life, has maintained their animal nature in some degrees of ease, and". health, and vigour, and given them sun and rain, and food and gladness, that they might trace out the goodness of their Maker: Suppose he has also preserved their reasoningpowers in such a measure of strength, as that theyhave a natural ability to search out the knowledge of their Maker, and thc'most important rules of their duty to him, and to their fellow-creatures, though with much more pains and difficulty, and uncertainty, than in their primitive state. Suppose also, that they arenot only able to find out themain originalpoints of religion and virtue, which God re- quires of an innocent creature, by the due exercise of their ma. ion, but that their reasoning powers are also naturally sufficient fc, inform them what an offending creature must do, in order to obtain any hopes of pardon and acceptance with an offended God,
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