They "prophesy falsely", then, who describe human nature, and every branch and faculty of it, as utterly and entirely corrupted by the transgression of Adam; as an unleavened mass of malignity and sin, incapable of any good thought, amiable feeling, virtuous affection, or worthy deed; thus leading men to believe, that they are altogether without power to co-operate with the Holy Spirit, in the work of their own moral improvement and spiritual advancement; and encouraging them to continue in sin, that grace may abound; and impiously to throw the blame of their turpitude upon their Maker, who, by the change which he produced in man's nature at the fall, rendered him unable to do anything for himself, and, consequently, not chargeable for his sin, and not responsible, even if all his work of piety, virtue, and charity, should remain neglected and unperformed. But, utterly contrary to all this is the language of scripture, and the doctrine of our church. Man was created "in the image of God", the work of infinite power, wisdom, and goodness; and it is therefore impossible, that, by any act of his own, he should utterly destroy this amazing work, and entirely obliterate every trace of that image in which he was created. No, my brethren, he went "far" (as our Church tells us) "from original righteousness" when he fell, but he did not plunge into the dark and bottomless gulf of unmixed sin; he became "inclined to evil", because his judgment was weakened, his passions acquired strength, and his will was perverted: But he did not entirely lose sight of the knowledge of God; and the natural respect which he yet feels for virtue, and his natural disapprobation of vice, still shew, amidst the ruins of the fall, traces of the grandeur of the original building; features of that image of God, which sin defaced and obscured, but could not "utterly destroy".
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