The central Presbyterian. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1856-1908, 1906-02-14


tractfve. 1t is nothing to be proud Of. 1t lends
no help in the effort to defy human nature It
soui-ts bad 1t is the fashion to ridicule it,
class those who profess believe it with the hope
lessly non -progressives
A gay pulpiteer in his effort to ridicue the doc
trine, mirthfuy depicts the sorrow of a gloomy de-
voice, Who moumfuly recites the decay of re-
hgion by saying: They have taken away our
eternal punishment and they threaten TO take
away our original sin, and directly nothing will
be left for our souls to feed upon" That sounds
funny; but, when you reflect, it is neither funny
nor smart We have to-day coterie of rose
water poets and novelists who dip their pens in
mist and write nonsense Their mission in life
is to make virtue homely and vice as attrac-
tive as possible. They are dead set against orig
fnal sim They regard the sinner as an accident
and the criminal victim.
Their esthetic temperaments affect severe
shock when confronted with the conditions of so
horrible a dogma inherited depravity or race
SIM They are the apostles of the fog and their
creed is to believe nothing that fails to please
them What is to be said of all this? Are we to
make new creed that leaves out original sin?
Paul preached original sin. Was Augustine mis-
taken? John Calvin and John Knox preached orig
ina sin. Were their fntellects infirm?
The Reformed and Presbyterian churches Of the
world In all their doctrinal symbols and confess
sions' proclaim original sin. Are these churches
hereto? Is the Bible wrong on this subject? If
So can we be sure that it is right any subject?
If it is astray from the in what it saws about
the origin of sin, may it not be far afeld from
truth in its teachings about pardon, salvation
hope and heaven?
Let us not be frightened by a name What is
meant by original sin? 1 does not mean that
when God made man, he preferred to make him a
sinner rather than saint. 1t does not mean that
Wheh God made the human race, he made a failure.
1t does not mean that God prefers sin to holiness
or that He would rather condemn than redeem
God hates sin. The fact that He does consti-
tues our eternal hope. God made man holy. Why
SIN was permitted to enter world is the great
mystery Tor which we have no explanation. But
While we cannot explain why it allowed to en-
ter, we know when 1t entered and through whom
human hand opened the door human voice
said Come in," and human heart gave sin it's
first abode in world.
The hippant agnostic who says: Were God
should have made goodness catching rather than
sim" is exploding a blank she'll God did make
goodness catching, but man let sin enter and in
doing so must bear the burden responsibility for
sins contagion.
Neither does original sin that anyone will
be punished hereafter for anothers sins Each
soul must answer for itself. When 1 stand before
the Judge at the bar of final account shall not
De examined as to the sins of my ancestors. Each
life must render account for itself to Cod
Neither does it mean that all men are equally
bad, nor that anyone is as bad as he might be nor
that anyone is ever so bad to have no good In
the breast of the worst there fingers that divine
propulsion COD gave man when He made him in
HIS own image. In that face most marred by sin
there fingers the tracery of angels fingers.
Original sin simply means that we are born with
sinful natures which incline us certainly to evil
rather than to good. Sin is neither an indscretion
nor an accident. 1t is result the product of
adequate causes. In the central soul there is dis
position to transgress Mans nature is utterly
and wholly averse to Gods will It is spiritually
dead, This evil nature is the source of actual
transgressions. Circumstances affect but do not
coinpel SINS sometimes the Sinner makes his OPP
portunity to do wrong. Original sin does not mean
that there is to-day anything original in sin What
was sin six thousand years ago is not righteous
ness now. The moral law has not been revised