Q.UES'1'ION VIIL 317 by God himself declared and, pronounced more expressly and emphatically at the restoration of the world by Noah and his sons, and for the most part in the same words. Gen. ix. 1. God blessed Noah and his sons, and said to them, befruitful and mul- tiply, and replenish the earth. Verse 2. The fear of you, and the dread of you shall be upon ever' beast, and fowl, and Jish, 8jc. They aredelivered into your hand ; every moving thing that liveth shall bemeat for you, that is, you have licence to kill and eat them. And again it is said ; Gen. ix. 6. Whoso sheddeth man's blood, by man shall his blood be shed: For in the imageof God made he man. Now say the objectors, this is a clear and undoubted demonstration that thejudgment which came on all men to condemnation, and the expulsion of man out of paradise, did no way alter the primary relation in which God stood to man, and man to God. The lote, regard and providence of God towards mankind in general, were still the same as they ivere to man at his first formation ; and our nature as derived from Noah, is attended with the same blessings, endowments and pre-eminence, both natural and moral, which were pronounced or conferred on Adam, our first natural head as soon as he was created : And we no more derived a corrupt nature from our second natural head, than we should have done from the first, if he had never sinned: And whatsoever cam; upon us in conse- quence of the judgment' to condemnation, viz. death, hard toil or labour, and sorrow, came upon us no farther, nor in any sense or degree, than what is perfectly consistent with the original blessing pronounced on Adam at his first creation. Answer. This objection as formidable as it seems, may have complete and effectual answers given to it in this manner : It is readily granted that all that is, contained in the blessing given to Noah is very consistent with that curse of God which came upon all men by the first sin ; but that curse is not consistent with the original blessing that was given to Adam : And though the words are in the main much the same, yet if we review the history and context, we shall find the blessing of Adatn and Noah differ greatly from eachother in all the three particulars mentioned. 1. It is evident that the blessing first mentioned relates chiefly to propagation, and the continuance and support of man on the earth ; but Adam's blessing was without those multiplied pains and sorrows, which after the first sin, fell upon women in child-birth.: It was a blessing of sustentation, or nourishment of man on the earth, without hard toil and sweat of the brows: It was a blessing without a curse on the ground to hinder or destroy the fruitfulness thereof: It was a blessing `without death" and returning to our dust, which hinders the replenishing -of the earth: Whereas the blessing of Noah did not take away the Mains of child - bearing fromwomen, nor the hard toil and sweat
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