Rom 5:17-19 | Abbott

Romans 5:17-19

As by one man's disobedience many were made sinners. This, and similar expressions in the preceding verses, bring up the subject of the connection between the sin of Adam and the moral ruin of his posterity—a subject in regard to which different branches of the Christian church still entertain very different opinions. One class contends that the whole human race is considered by Jehovah as involved in the guilt which was incurred by their common ancestor, who is to be considered as their head and representative; that it becomes all men to cherish feelings of abasement and sorrow in view of their first parent's sin, taking to themselves, as his children, a share of the guilt of it; and that all individuals enter the world with this burden, in fact, resting upon them, and with a sinful constitution of character, inherited through the stock from which they spring. To others this view of the subject seems entirely inadmissible. They cannot allow that the sin of one generation can bring any burden of accountability for it upon another; or that there can be any relation of cause and effect between the sinful characters of men at the present day, and that of Adam,—choosing, rather than admit such a supposition, to leave the invariable and universal corruption of human nature entirely unexplained. This controversy will probably not soon be settled. Elements appear to be necessarily involved in the discussion which transcend the human faculties. At any rate, we must admit that, thus far, that mysterious and hidden cause, which, seemingly like an hereditary taint, descends from generation to generation, leading in all ages, in all climes, and under every of the human condition, to substantially the same moral results, has eluded and baffled all the attempts which have been made to fix and define it.