Page:A Catechism on the Thirty nine Articles.pdf/41

Rh What then is the natural condition of every other child of Adam?

He has that "fault or corruption of nature, whereby he is very far gone from original righteousness, and is of his own nature inclined to evil."

What is meant by "original righteousness?"

The state of innocence and divine favour in which Adam and Eve were created.

Prove that every man has a fault or corruption of his nature.

Job xxv. 4; Rom. v. 12, 15, 17-19. In the book of Job it is inquired, as though admitting of only one answer, "How can he be clean that is born of a woman?" and St. Paul shows that in Adam all men have sinned and become liable to condemnation.

Prove that this fault reaches to the extent which the Article states.

Gen. viii. 21; Jer. xvii. 9; Ps. xiv. 2, 3. "There is none that doeth good, no not one;" and "the heart of man is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked;" and when men were left to themselves, "every imagination of the thought of their hearts was only evil and that continually."

What do you mean by "the flesh?"

The mind of man in his natural state since the fall.

What is meant by its "lusting contrary to the Spirit?"

That it is always inclined to go contrary to the Spirit of God.