N06399:694
The great Christian doctrine of original sin defended
The great Christian doctrine of original sin defended; evidences of it's [sic] truth produced, and arguments to the contrary answered. Containing, in particular, a reply to the objections and arguings of Dr. John Taylor, in his book, entitled, "The Scripture-doctrine of original sin proposed to free and candid examination, &c. / By the late Reverend and learned Jonathan Edwards, president of the College of New-Jersey. ; [Thirteen lines of quotations]The great Christian doctrine of original sin defended; evidences of it's [sic] truth produced, and arguments to the contrary answered. Containing, in particular, a reply to the objections and arguings of Dr. John Taylor, in his book, intitled, "The Scripture-doctrine of original sin proposed to free and candid examination, &c. / By the late Reverend and learned Jonathan Edwards, president of the College of New-Jersey. ; [Thirteen lines of quotations]
printed by S. Kneeland, 1758
The great Christian Doctrine of ORIGINAL SIN defended. › Part 4 › Chapter 3
Modern spelling is a reading aid: the words are the author’s, only the spelling is modernized. Original shows the page as printed, with the transcription marks.
If any shall say, This Reasoning is not good, & shall insist upon it, that there is no Need of any immediate divine Power, to produce the present Existence of created Substances, but that their present Existence is the Effect or Consequence of past Existence, according to the Nature of Things; that the established Course of Nature is sufficient to continue Existence, where Existence is once given;—I allow it: But then it should be remembered, what Nature ⟨p. 342⟩is, in created Things; and what the established Course of Nature is; That, as has been observed already, it is Nothing, separate from the Agency of God; and that, as Dr. T. says, GOD, the Original of all Being, is the ONLY Cause of all natural Effects.—A Father, according to the Course of Nature, begets a Child; an Oak, according to the Course of Nature, produces an Acorn, or a Bud; so according to the Course of Nature, the former Existence of the Trunk of the Tree is followed by it's new or present Existence. In the one Case, and the other, the new Effect is consequent on the former, only by the established Laws, and settled Course of Nature; which is allowed to be Nothing but the continued immediate Efficiency of GOD, according to a Constitution that he has been pleased to establish. Therefore, as our Author greatly urges, that the Child and the Acorn, which come into Existence according to a Constitution that he has been pleased to establish. Therefore, as our Author greatly urges, that the Child and the Acorn, which come into Existence according to the Course of Nature, in Consequence of the prior Existence and State of the Parent and the Oak, are truly immediately created or made by God; so must the Existence of each created Person and Thing, at each Moment of it, be from the immediate continued Creation of God. It will certainly follow from these Things, that God's preserving created Things in Being is perfectly equivalent to a continued Creation, or to his creating those Things out of Nothing at each Moment of their Existence. If the continued Existence of created Things be wholly dependent on God's Preservation, then those Things would drop into Nothing, upon the ceasing of the present Moment, without a new Exertion of the divine Power to cause them to exist in the following Moment.
If any shall say, This Reasoning is not good, & shall insist upon it, that there is no Need of any immediate divine Power, to produce the present Existence of created Substances, but that their present Existence is the Effect or Consequence of past Existence, according to the Nature of Things; that the established Course of Nature is suffient to continue Existence, where Existence is once given;—I allow it: But then it should be remembered, what Nature