CHAPTER 4. ON THE ORIGIN OF SIN. Gen. Chap. 3, verses 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. "Now the serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said unto the woman yea, hath God said, ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden? And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat ef the fruit of the trees of the garden: But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die. And the serpent said unto the woman, ye shall not surely die. For God doth know, that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened; and ye shall be as Gods, knowing good and evil." This argument had its desired effect,so that both the woman and the man indulged themselves in disobedience against the command of God. Now, in order to find out more perfectly, the origin of transgression, let us inquire what is meant by this figure, a serpent tempting man to disobey. Surely it could mean no beast of the field, for that serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field God had made. And it could mean no immortal spirit, for we find the serpent's life, or being, expressly limited as to duration, in the next chapter. I think, according to the Scriptures, that by the serpent, must be meant some principle in nature attached to man in his state of formation, which as a link connects his animal and spiritual nature together, in point of natural reasoning faculty, called in Scripture the wisdom of this world: this wisdom from beneath, has always been man's tempter. St. James, when speaking of this kind of wisdom, says, (Chap. iii. 15.) "This wisdom descendeth not from above, but is earthly, sensual, devilish." This must have been that adversary of a serpent which first tempted man in the garden especially, as James says again, (Chap. 1, verses 14, 15,) "Every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin; and sin when it is finished, bringeth forth death." But is wisdom ever plainly signified by this figure, a serpent? Yes abundantly in the holy scriptures, as I shall endeavor to show, as follows. The Scribes and Pharisees, who exerted every faculty they possessed in human ingenuity, to tempt Jesus Christ, and who also through that wisdom which is from beneath, sought to explain away the true meaning of the ceremonial law, were on that account, called serpents by Christ himself, Mat. 23. 33, "Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers! how can ye escape the damnation of hell ?" Jesus warns his followers to be wise as they, but at the same time, to be harmless as doves. St. Mat. 10. 16, "Behold I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves; be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves." St. Luke 16. 8, "For the children of this world are in their generation wiser than the children of light." By those passages, when compared together, it is easy to be seen why our Lord called that generation,serpents, who so often tempt ed him. It was with reference to that cunning, or in other words, with an allusion to that wisdom which is from beneath, and was so much exercised among the treacherous Jews. St. Paul seems to understand the figure of serpent, to signify subtility, in his 2 Ep. to the Cor. 11.3 But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtility, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ." It appears that the apostle thought as Eve had been formerly tempted by the subtility of carnal wisdom, and so drawn away from the simplicity in Christ, even so there was now danger, alter one was restored to such child like state in Christ, of being drawn away by the deceitfulness of fleshy wisdom, the same serpent; and thereby becoming naked, as to the simplicity of being clothed with the righteousness of Christ. For as any man was crea ted in the image of God, which is in Christ, as I have shown in my first chapter, even so the new born babe in Christ, as being created anew in him the image, if he shall depart from that simplicity, and seeks to clothe himself with fig-leaf aprons of self righteousness, then it is evident that such person has been climbing up into the tree of self dependence through the instability of carnal wisdom. As did the first pair in the garden of Eden, so do they who place confidence in their own works, so that in proportion as man ever did or shall be tempted to, and grow into self confidence, his confidence in God is diminished; which amounts to what is meant by unbelief. Hence unbelief is the root and essence of original sin, in Adam: the origin of which sin, was man's intellectual faculty being blended with his animal powers, în formation; so that the clay was marred in the hands of the potter. For the man's created reasoning powers of mind, being a little seasoned with animal passions, conceived and brought forth the serpent, even that wisdom from beneath, which St. James says is, "Earthly, sensual, devilish." However, the serpentine figure, in itself considered, is only used to signify wisdom, and not so much to determine the nature of wisdom as to goodness: therefore may sometimes be used to imply as a type, that wisdom from above. For instance; Christ who was preached the wisdom of God, was prefigured by the brazen serpent in the wilderness of Sinai. St. John 3. 14. "As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the sun of man be lifted up." But there is a remarkable instance recorded (Exodus 7. 10, 11, 12, 13.) directly to my purpose, in which both the wisdom of God, and the wisdom of man are signified by serpents. In this record it appears that Aaron the servant of the Lord, was commanded to cast down his sacred rod before Pharaoh and he did so, and it became a serpent, upon which the king called for the wise men of Egypt, and those magicians, cast down every man his rod, and they became serpents. Therefore Pharaoh was tempted by the wisdom of Egypt, to trust to his own strength, and his heart was hardened in unbelief against the God of Israel, and he would not let the people go; notwithstanding Aaron's rod, transformed into a serpent by the wisdom of God, swallowed up the rods of the cunning Egyptians, as a token, that the wisdom of God will in the end bring to nought the wisdom of men. So then no device practiced against the plan of infinite wisdom shall prosper; but in the end, as not one Egyptian serpent was left, being all swallowed up by the token of wisdom from above, even so God will be all in all at last. Now it is very easy to see how Pharaoh was tempted by serpentine wisdom from beneath, even the scientific ingenuity of his wise men. He looking on the skill they had already displayed in his sight, and judging from this source that he and his vassals would be able to ei fect all he wished, independent of God, and thus Le was lifted up in vain ambition, and tempted not to chy God. Man is liable to glory in himself while viewing his own abilities that God hath given him: although they are but finite yet as their judgment is finite, they are often tempted to believe, they can do more than belongs to man; and such an imperfect mode of reasoning appears to be the nature of the temptation in the origin of sin. I thinkSt. Paul's words fitly apply to the subject Rom. 1. 21, 22, 23, 24, 25 "Because that, when they, knew God they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but because vain in their imaginations, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools.-&c. Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshiped and served the creature more than the creator, who is blessed forever, Amen." Yes certainly it was so, for when man reasoned himself into the belief, that although he should disobey yet he would not die as God had foretold; he then in the most direct manner changed the truth which God had told him, into a lie; a full manifestation of unbelief and want of love to God: for had he loved he would have believed and obeyed. However, man's own |