Friday, November 2, 2007

Of Free Will, IX:2

Man, in his state of innocency, had freedom, and power to will and to do that which was good and well pleasing to God; but yet, mutably, so that he might fall from it.

The Confession here embarks upon a discussion of the four states of man, starting with the state of original innocency. Adam was created as good. Prior to the fall, he had both the freedom and ability to obey God perfectly, yet it was within him to change subject to external temptations and the stimulation of his creaturely nature. Because we now have no experience of such a state it is not possible for us to comprehend either it or what exactly happened that produced the fall.

Tomorrow: The effects of the fall.

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