the subot : his aa:::.l government, his sin must have instantly had the effect of (1.) displeasing and alienating God, and (2.) de- pravin his wn souL
2:1 In ta; i:oa;at relatiin whith Adam sustained :: - 1 the penalty : the covenant of works was incurred, i. e., death inclulm. 1 mirtality ■:: b: ay. 2 lOTuytiiu ::s:ul. 3 sen- tence >f eternal death.
11. In what sense did he become totally depraved, and how
' " - ' " _•'
Bv the aihrmatiin that tetai lepraviry was the immolate
result :f Allan's nest sin. it is ait meant that he botme es bad
le i:al:l be. :r wen as cerrurt as the best A his unregenerate
ts i at it is meant— 1st. His ar :sta?y nam God was
238 sin.
complete. God demands perfect obedience. Adam was now a rebel in arms.
2d. That the favor and communion of God, the sole condition of his spiritual life, was withdrawn.
3d. A schism was introduced into the soul itself. The pain- ful reproaches of conscience were excited, and could never be allayed without an atonement. This led to fear of God, distrust, prevarication, and, by necessary consequence, to innumerable other sins.
4th. Thus the whole nature became depraved. The will being at war with the conscience, the understanding became darkened ; the conscience, in consequence of constant outrage and neglect, became seared ; the appetites of the body inordinate, and its members instruments of unrighteousness.
5th. There remained in man's nature no recuperative princi- ple ; he must go on from worse to worse, unless God interpose.
Thus the soul of man being essentially active, although one sin did not establish a confirmed habit, it did alienate God and work confusion in the soul, and thus lead to an endless course of sin.
12. What is the Pelagian doctrine as to the effect of Adam's sin upon his posterity ?
Pelagians hold, 1st, with regard to sin, that it is an act of voluntary transgression of known law, and nothing else. 2d. With regard to free will, " that is of its essence that a man should have it in his power as much to cease from sinning as to deviate from the path of rectitude ; therefore, a man's natural state is not changed (rendered corrupt) by sinning, but he only becomes guilty, i. e.., liable to punishment."
They consequently deny, 1st, that Adam's sin could corrupt by natural generation the natures of his descendants. 2d. That the guilt (legal responsibility) of his sin is imputed to them. 3d. That death and the physical evils of this life, common to in- fants and adults, good and bad men alike, are penal. They hold these evils to be incident naturally to man's present life, and that infants being born as innocent and perfect, though as fallible, as Adam, fall into sin through the force of example. — Princeton Theo. Essays, pp. 102 and 103.
IMPUTATION OF ADAM'S SIN. 239
13. What is the Arminian view on this point ?
The Arminian system denies, 1st, that the guilt of Adam's sin is judicially imputed to his descendants. 2d. That the corruption of nature, which they inherit from him by ordinary generation, and as natural heirs, is properly of the nature of sin, and deserv- ing of the wrath of God, since it is involuntary. It maintains, however, that all men inherit from Adam a natural infirmity, characterized as a destitution of original righteousness, making it certain that every individual uniformly sins as soon as he com- mences voluntary agency. — Apol. Conf. Kemonstr., p. 84 ; Lim- borch Theol. Christ, iii., 4, 4.
Death and the physical evils of this life are not properly the penal, but merely the natural consequences of Adam's sin.
14. What is the orthodox doctrine on this subject ?
As Adam was the federal representative, as well as the natu- ral head and root, of all his descendants, the guilt, i. e., legal re- sponsibility of his public sin, which closed his probation and theirs, is righteously imputed to them, and its penal consequences, the wrath of God, divorcement from his Spirit, spiritual, natural, and eternal death, is inflicted upon them, in the line, and in part through the agency of natural generation. — Conf. Faith, chap. 6, sec. 3 ; L. Cat., Q. 25 ; S. Cat., Q. 18.
15. What is the usage of the Hebrew and Gh~eek words trans- lated "to impute" a**, Xoyi^o\iai ?
The radical sense of these words in both languages is to think, to reason ; then to judge or conclude ; then to esteem or regard ; then to impute or attribute, in which latter sense they occur in Ps. xxxii., 2 ; 2 Sam. xix., 19 ; Eom. iv., 6-24 ; 2 Cor. v., 19 ; Gal. iii., 6 ; James ii., 23.
The English word "impute" means, 1st, to ascribe to persons or things qualities which inhere in them ; 2d, to ascribe to per- sons responsibilities or rights which attach to them according to some recognized rule of right.
16. In what sense ivas Adam's sin imputed to all his pos- terity ?
240 sin.