Monday, May 15, 2006

Who Said It? Part 9

Speaking on the subject of original sin and the depravity of man, someone once wrote the following:
"Moral depravity cannot consist in any attribute of nature or constitution, nor in any lapsed or fallen state of nature. . . . Moral depravity, as I use the term, does not consist in, nor imply a sinful nature, in the sense that the human soul is sinful in itself. It is not a constitutional sinfulness"

"[Sinners] are under the necessity of first changing their hearts, or their choice of an end, before they can put forth any volitions to secure any other than a selfish end. And this is plainly the everywhere assumed philosophy of the Bible. That uniformly represents the unregenerate as totally depraved, and calls upon them to repent, to make themselves a new heart"
Any guesses as to the originator of this quote?


2 comments:

Jim Pemberton said...

Interesting. I can't seem to wrap my brain around that first paragraph. The author doesn't equate moral depravity with sinful nature. I wonder how he uses "moral depravity". Perhaps the rest of the work would shed some light on it.

The second paragraph seems rather Arminian.

Jeff A. Spry said...

OK, since no one wanted to guess - here's the answer:

Evangelical poster boy Charles Finney from his "Systematic Theology"
Pages 245-249