who held, that God made a covenant with Adam as the representative of the whole human race, that if he had obeyed, his posterity should have been thereby happy, and that by his disobedience they were all esteemed to have sinned in him, his act being imputed to them as their own. He considered mankind as thus lost in Adam, and here he founded the decree of election. From this state, however, all men were recovered by baptism, but those only who were predestinate were finally saved, the rest falling into sin, and consequently perishing. But those who were not baptised, were excluded from all hope; the indispensable necessity of baptism being (according to their interpretation) expressed in our Saviour's words, "Except ye be born again of water and of the Spirit, ye cannot enter the kingdom of heaven." (Jo. iii. 35.)

This opinion is supported, (1) by the phrase "all have sinned." In Rom. v. 12, the Apostle declares, that "by one man sin entered into

Adam's actual sin to his posterity. By the latter is intended, that Adam's sin produced a corruption in his nature, and that this corruption was imputed to his posterity. This is the doctrine of De la Place, which was condemned in the Synod of Charenton in 1644. See Disp. Placi de imp. prim. pec. Ad. and Synodicon in Gallia Reformata, v. 2. p. 473. It may be necessary to observe, that Calvin did not hold the doctrine of the imputation of Adam's actual sin, adopted by his followers of later years. See Inst. 1. 1. c. 1. sec.

"the world, and death by sin, and so death "passed upon all men, for that (or in whom) all If the words be rendered in

"have sinned." "whom," their conclusion is established; if " for that," they consider it equally evident, for since it is declared that death is the conseqence of sin, and since infants die, they must, therefore, have sinned; and since they did not commit any actual sin themselves, they must therefore have sinned in Adam, as their representative. A similar interpretation is given to other passages: By the offence of one many were dead :" " By one man's offence death reigned by one:" "By 66 one man's disobedience many were made sin"ners." These, they say, infer an actual imputation of Adam's sin.

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(2.) They prove it by the analogy between the effects of Adam's sin and of Christ's death. St. Paul declares, "As by the offence of one judg

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ment came upon all men to condemnation, “even so by the righteousness of one, the free gift came upon all to justification of life." Now, it is confessed, that we derive from Christ, not only an inward purity of nature, through the influence of his doctrine and Spirit, but also a direct communication of the merits of his sa

* The original words (ed') are thus translated in 2 Cor. v. 4. : "We that are in this tabernacle do groan, being burdened, not for that we would be unclothed, but clothed upon."

crifice. In accordance, therefore, with the opposition stated between this and Adam's fall, it should be concluded, that we derive from the latter, beside a corruption of nature, an actual imputation of his sin.

This doctrine, however, is objected to by others, on the following grounds: (1.) There is no reason to suppose Adam was our representative. This is a point of the greatest consequence; it is strange, therefore, that no mention is made of it in the History of the Creation.

(2.) This doctrine contradicts the justice of God. It seems repugnant both to the justice and goodness of God, to account men guilty of a sin which they never committed, and to punish them in their souls eternally, for that which was no act of theirs.

(3.) There is no analogy between the imputation of Adam's sin and of Christ's merits. We can well conceive how God, in the riches of his grace, may transfer merits and blessings from one person to many, this being only an economy of mercy, where all is free; but in the imputation of sin, which is a matter of strict justice, it is quite different; here God appeals to men of the justice of his ways, and has himself expressly

2 See Welchman in Art. and Curcellai Dissert. Theol. de pec. Orig.

See Placæi. Disp. p. 341, and Taylor's Deus Justific.

said, "that children shall not be put to death "for their father's, but every man shall be put to "death for his own sin." (Deut. xxiv. 16.) Hence they say, this doctrine, which contradicts God's attributes, should be rejected.

(4.) As to St. Paul's words, they consider them inconclusive. For their force is much weakened by their being a single proof, whereas on so necessary a doctrine it is natural to expect the support of parallel passages. It is allowed, too, that an illustration should always be clearer than the question it is brought to prove, which is here by no means the case, for the imputation of Adam's sin is certainly less conceivable than the reconciliation by Christ. And hence it is conjectured, that the words are used by St. Paul, merely to prove his point to the Jews on their own admission, and as it was a general opinion among them, that all men's souls were in Adam's body, so he may have taken advantage of that opinion to establish the truth of Christ's sacrifice, at the same time that we are not bound to agree in the premises he adopts for the purpose. Again they add, that all comparisons are not to be taken in their full extent: thus we are required to be perfect, as God is perfect;" where the comparison only implies resemblance, not equality.

2. As to the manner in which this corruption is conveyed to us Augustin seems to us to have

believed in the doctrine of a soul being propagated from parent to child. Some of his followers, however, accounted for the corruption of the soul, by supposing it was first created pure, but being infused into a corrupt body at the moment of conception, it became instantly impure, though God was thereby freed from the charge of having made it so.

3. As to the consequences of it. They explain the words of the Article literally, as signifying the eternal wrath and damnation to which all were exposed by the sin of Adam. Hence, it would inevitably follow, that infants dying before the commission of personal sin, should be damned. This opinion, however, was so repugnant to every feeling of human nature, that the term damnation was made to signify a state of insensibility, and to this infants were supposed to be condemned. And here was the source of another objection advanced against the doctrine, that its upholders shrunk from avowing consequences, which were yet necessarily deduced from its admission.

II. The Article asserts, that this infection of nature remains in the regenerate.

This is constantly declared in Scripture. In Rom. vii. 21, the Apostle affirms, that "when he would do good, evil is present with him." If this passage is allowed to allude to St. Paul's own feelings, it is decisive on the point. This inter