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must be a sensible lack of proofj before such a passage can be quoted as favourable to original si ^» Ep&es . ii . 3 . And were by « atnre children of wrath . It has been taken for . granted , that by nature in this pUice , Paul means natui ' a ] generation , and concluded that all arc born under the
wrath of God ; but common sense dictates that Paul ought to he suffered to explain himself , by the different passages where he uses the word nature being heard , aud by a comparison of them , his sense of the term nature ascertained .
Oo examination , common sense discovers , that Paul in several places uses the word nature to express the light of nature , or the circumstances in which those were
placed who had no divine revelation , or were uncircumcised , as in Horn . ii . 14 . and £ 7 . 1 Cor . xi . 14 . In the above passage he mentions their being'by nature the children of wrath , as the
consequence of their [ evil ] conversation in times post in the lusts of the Jleshy of their having fulfilled the desires of the jlesh and of the mind ; but it is impossible they should have pursued such a course before they were born ;
consequently , common sense concludes , that Paul did not mean to say , that they were born children of wrath , or that they were such b y natural generation ; but either that their conduct had been such , that the light of nature
condemned them , or that , by their evil courses , they had become such characters as might , according to a Usual figurative mode of expres - sion " , be denominated children of wrafh . As those who are truly tnrclightened ur % called children of B $ hty 4 : h 0 $ e who efcre tatfgHt by di-
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vine wisdom * childrefi 01 wis < lom ' so common sense can perceive the propriety oF calling ttoosV , who have filled themselves with coiw clemnation and wrath , children of wrath ; and that their being said to be such by nature , shows they were not made such arbitrarily , but became such by the moral nature , or character , they acquired Ail this common sense can easil y approve ; but it revolts at the idea of God's being angry with those ,
who never were capable of o ( Tending him , ami of their being made children of wrath , before they have done any thing amiss . Having stated the decisions of
common sense , on some of the principal passages of Scripture , commonly brought to support tbe doctrine of original sin , as specimens of what its decisions are , on the supposed proofs of that absurd notion at large , it does not seem necessary to enlarge any further .
None of the detached passages alleged in support of the above doctrine , except those quoted in my former letters , make any mrntioa of Adam , or of his fall , or of any thing derived from him :
and the context * in every instance . and the context , 111 every instance , shews , that the writers could not refer to the supposed hereditary depravity of mankind . Hence it is concluded , that the doctrine of
original sin is without foundation in Scripture , as well as incompatible with the character of God , and contrary to the dictates of common sense . Having finished what I have to say on this sub * jeet ,
I remaiiij Your ' s , &c . RUSTIC Vlk
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G 16 Decisions of Common Sense : —Letter 3 *
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Nov. 2, 1809, page 610, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1742/page/24/
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