body can deny, but that the doctrine of the gospel is, that death came on all men by Adam's sin; only they differ about the signification of the word death. For some will have it to be a state of guilt, wherein not only he but all his posterity was so involved, that every one descended of him deserved endless torment in hell-fire. I shall say nothing more here, how far, in the apprehensions of men, this consists with the justice and goodness of God, having mentioned it above: but it seems a strange way of understanding a law which requires the plainest and directest words, that by death should be meant eternal life in misery. Could any one be supposed by a law that says, "for felony thou shalt die," not that he should lose his life, but be kept alive in perpetual exquisite torments? And would any one think himself fairly dealt with, that was so used ? 4. To this they would have it be also a state of necessary sinning, and provoking God in every action that men do: a yet harder sense of the word death than the other. God says, That in the day that thou eatest of the forbidden fruit, thou shalt die;' that is, thou and thy posterity shall be ever after incapable of doing any thing, but what shall be sinful and provoking to me, and shall justly deserve my wrath and indignation. Could a worthy man be supposed to put such terms upon the obedience of his subjects? Much less can the righteous God be supposed, as a punishment of one sin wherewith he is displeased, to put a man under a necessity of sinning continually, and so multiplying the provocation. The reason of this strange interpretation we shall perhaps find in some mistaken places of the New Testament. I must confess, by death here I can understand nothing but a ceasing to be, the losing of all actions of life and sense. Such a death came on Adam and all his posterity, by his first disobedience in paradise; under which death they should have lain for ever, had it not been for the redemption by Jesus Christ. If by death threatened to Adam were meant the corruption of human nature in his posterity, it is strange that the New Testament should not any where take notice of it, and tell us, that corruption seized on all because of Adam's transgression, as well as it tells us so of death. But, as I remember, every one's sin is charged upon himself only. 5. Another part of the sentence was, 'Cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life: in the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: dust thou art, and to dust shalt thou return.' This shows that paradise was a place of bliss as well as immortality, without toil and without sorrow. But when man was turned out, he was exposed to the toil, anxiety, and frailties of this mortal life, which should end in the dust, out of which he was made, and to which he should return; and then have no more life or sense than the dust had, out of which he was made. 6. As Adam was turned out of paradise, so all his posterity was born out of it; out of the reach of the tree of life. All, like their father Adam, in a state of mortality, void of the tranquillity and bliss of paradise. By one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin.' But here will occur the common objection, that so many stumble at:how doth it consist with the justice and goodness of God, that the posterity of Adam should suffer for his sin; the innocent be punished for the guilty? Very well, if keeping one from what he has no right to, be called a punishment. The state of immortality in paradise is not due to the posterity of Adam more than to any other creature. Nay, if God afford them a temporary mortal life, it is his gift, they owe it to his bounty, they could not claim it as their right, nor does he injure them when he takes it from them. Had he taken from mankind any thing that was their right; or did he put men in a state of misery worse than not being, without any fault or demerit of their own; this, indeed, would be hard to reconcile with the notion we have of justice, and much more with the goodness and other attributes of the Supreme Being, which he has declared of himself, and reason as well as revelation must acknowledge to be in him; unless we will confound good and evil, God and Satan. That such a state of extreme irremediable torment is worse than no being at all, if every one's sense did not determine against the vain philosophy, and foolish metaphysics of some men ; yet our Saviour's peremptory decision has put it past doubt, that one may be in such an estate, that it To what metaphysicians he alludes I am ignorant; but though, once born and conscious of existence, we all vehemently abhor to leave "the warm precincts of the cheerful day," and lie for ever in "cold obstruction" and Lethean sleep, we must doubtless humbly acquiesce in the truth and wisdom of our Saviour's decision. Our feelings, however, on the subject, depend had been better for him not to have been born.' But that such a temporary life as we now have, with all its frailties and ordinary miseries, is better than no being, is evident by the high value we put upon it ourselves. And therefore though all die in Adam, yet none are truly punished but for their own deeds. God will render to every one-how? according to his deeds. To those that obey unrighteousness, indignation and wrath, tribulation and anguish upon every soul of man that doth evil.' 'We must appear before the judgment-seat of Christ, that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he has done, greatly on our personal character. Moloch, a fierce and savage spirit, covets annihilation : "What doubt we to incense His utmost ire? which to the height enraged, And cannot cease to be, we are at worst But Belial, finding, even in the midst of torment, some solace from meditation and conjectures at the endless future, entertains other opinions: "We must exasperate Th' Almighty victor to spend all his rage, Though full of pain, this intellectual being, Byron, in one of his gloomy moods, agrees with Moloch: Count o'er thy days from anguish free, And know, whatever thou hast been, 'Tis something better not to be."-Euthanasia.-ED. 6 whether it be good or bad.' And Christ himself, who knew for what he should condemn men at the last day, assures us, in the two places where he describes his proceeding at the great judgment, that the sentence of condemnation passes only on the workers of iniquity, such as neglected to fulfil the law in acts of charity.' And again our Saviour tells the Jews, that all shall come forth of their graves; they that have done good, to the resurrection of life, and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation.' But here is no condemnation of any one, for what his forefather Adam had done, which it is not likely should have been omitted, if that should have been a cause why any one was adjudged to the fire with the devil and his angels. And he tells his disci ples, that when he comes again with his angels in the glory of his Father, that then he will render to every one according to his works.' 7. Adam being thus turned out of paradise, and all his posterity born out of it, the consequence of it was, that all men should die, and remain under death for ever, and so be utterly lost. 8. From this estate of death Jesus Christ restores all mankind to life: 'as in Adam all die, so in Christ shall all be made alive.' How this shall be, the same apostle tells us in the foregoing verse: By man death came, by man also came the resurrection from the dead.' Whereby it appears, that the life which Jesus Christ restores to all men, is that life which they receive again at the 'Matt. vii. 23; Lnke, xiii. 27; Matt. xxv. 42. |