A treatise of original sin ... proving that it is, by pregnant texts of Scripture vindicated from false glosses / by Anthony Burgess.

SECT. III.

WE are declaring the Naturality of this Original sinne, not as if it were ingredient into, or constitutive of our nature, but an universal and in∣separable pollution adhering to it, as they say of death, as though it be praeter Na∣turam, or contra; yet if we do regard the principles of mortality, which are in every man, so death is natural.

[ 2] Come we therefore to a second demonstration of the Naturality of this evil, and that is seen, In that it is the inward principle of all the sinfull motions of the soul, and that per••se, not per accidens. This is a great part of that definition, which Aristotle giveth of Nature, now we may in a moral sense apply it to our purpose.

First, I say, It's the inward principle of all the sinfull motions, and workings of the Soul. For as the nature of the stone is the cause of its motion downward, as the nature of the fire is the cause of the fires motions and operations: Thus is original sinne the intrinsecal cause, and root of all the actual evil we are guilty of. It is farre from me to justifie Flacius his discourse or opinion of original sin, making it the natural substance of a man, and not an accident, though he so

expresseth himself, that some think its his Logical and Metaphysical errour, ra∣ther than Theological: Only that which I aim at, is to shew, That this birth∣sinne, is naturally ours, because from it doth flow all the sinnefull and evil operations of the whole man; So that we may say, as it is natural to the stone to descend, to the sparks to flie upwards, so it is natural to man to think evil, to speak evil, and to do evil. Aristotle observeth (Lib. 2. Ethic. cap. 1.) this, as one property of things by nature, that there the principles are before the actions; A man hath the power to see, or hear before he can actually do either, but in moral things, the actions are before the habits. As it is natural to the Toad to vent poison, and not honey; so when a man sinneth, it's from his own, it's natural to him, but when inabled to do any thing that is good, this is wholly of grace: Now, I say, It's an inward principle of all sinne within us, to distin∣guish it from external cause, viz. the devil or wicked men, who sometimes may tempt and cause to sinne; Therefore the devil is called The tempter, Mat. 4. 3. Insomuch that it is made a Question, Whether there be any sinne a man commits, that the Devil hath not tempted unto, but that I attend not to at this time: This is enough, that the Devil is but an outward cause of sinne, and therefore were there not that original filth in us, his sparks could never kindle a fire, he cannot compell or force to sinne; In somuch that whatsoever sinne we do commit, we are not to lay the fault principally upon the Devil, but our own corrupt hearts: Though Ananias lied against the holy Ghost, because the Devil had filled his heart; And Judas betrayed Christ, because Satan had entred into his heart, yet the devil could not have come into their hearts, had they not been of uncleane and corrupt Constitutions: before it was an evil heart, and therefore the devil took possession of it. The Apostle James, cap. 1. 14. doth notably discover the true cause, and natural fountain of all the evil committed by us, and that is, The lust and concupiscence, that is within us, he saith, We must not charge God with our sinnes, as if he were to be blamed, because we are not kept from wicked∣ness; neither doth he bid us, Charge it upon the Devil, though he doth tempt us, but upon our own corrupt lust within. Thus then you see, that as Paul saith of those, who are in Christ, They no longer live, but Christ within them, Gal. 2. 20. So we may on the contrary affirm of every man by nature, that he doth not so much live, as sinne within him; for when our physical nature causeth us to think, or speak, or do, then also sinne like our moral nature, doth make us think, and speak sinfully: Even as the lame horse can never move himself to go, but he halteth in that motion. Surely, this consideration should make all man∣kind mourn in sackcloth, and roll it self in ashes: What should a man do in his whole life, but as Anselm said, to deplore his whole life, in totâ vitâ totam vitam deplorare, for he cannot move, or stirre, or do any thing, but he sinneth; If he cateth, if he drinketh, if he worketh, yea, if he prayeth, in all these he sinneth, as is more to be shewed. We see then, that because this original sinne is by way of a principle within us of all our irregular motions; Therefore though there were no Devil to tempt, no examples for men to imi∣tate, yet their corrupt nature within would carry them to it; Did not Cain murder Abel, when there had been no such sinne in the world before? We many times wonder how children, yea and sometimes grown men should commit such sinnes, that they could not see practised before their eyes; but we need not wonder, when we consider what a shop of all impieties every mans heart by nature is. Hence Solomon speaking of the uprightness God made man in, Eccles. 7. 29. he instanceth in the effects of original sin, as opposite to that uprightness, that it makes a man seek out many sinfull inventions, he doth not only sin by imi∣tation, but invention.

Secondly, It is added in the definition, That nature is the principle of moti∣on perse, and not per accidens: If a man move a Bowl, and make it runne, it's

not a natural motion, because the principle is from without, and it's by accident; yea those automata, those artificial instruments, which some have made, that move themselves, yet that is not a natural motion, because the principle is not in them perse, but by accident. Now this property is very applicable to man; for when he sinneth, it's not by accident, or from unexpected occasion, but of him∣self, and from himself; Therefore to do as a man, to walk as a man, denoteth sinfulness, in the Scripture phrase, 1 Cor. 3. 1. When there are envyings, strifes amongst you, Do ye not walk as men? Observe that, To walk as a man, is to do a thing sinfully, so Rom. 3. 5. when the Apostle in his reasoning made a supposi∣tion of God being unrighteous, if he took vengeance, addeth [I speak as a man] These instances declare, that to do a thing as a man, is to do it sinfully, as he said, Humanum est errare. Thus when Christ would express the naturality of the Devils wickedness, he saith, He sinneth of his own (John 8. 44) when he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: So when thou art proud, worldly, un∣believing, thou doest this of thy own; You wonder that some have lies so ready at hand to excuse iniquity, even young children, they are like the Devil in this, they do it of their own, so that sinne only we can call our own; our wealth is not our own, our lives are not our own, these we have from God, but that propensity to sinne is our own, it ariseth from our selves, as from the rotten tree come those worms that consume it: Oh what deep humiliation should this cause in thee! Thou hast nothing thou canst call thy own but sinne; That which God only hateth and loatheth, that is only thine; he looketh on thee, and seeth thy soul, that he gave thee; he seeth thy body, that is his workmanship also, but then he beholdeth the pravity and sinfull disposition in thee, and this is none of his. It was not of God, but it came through Adam's disobedience; so that when we sinne, we then doing it of our own, it is no wonder that when there is no Devil to tempt, no example to imitate, yet men can readily commit any sinne.