Thursday, March 31, 2022

Reformed Protestant Zacharias Ursinus (1534-1583) Responding to Ezekiel 18:20 as a proof-text against Original Sin

  

Obj. 7. But it is said, Ez. 18:20, that the son shall not bear the iniquity of the Father; therefore it is unjust that posterity should endure punishment for the Sin of Adam. Ans. The son shall not, indeed, bear the iniquity of the father, nor make satisfaction for his transgression, if he does not approve of it, nor imitate it, but condemns and avoids it. But we justly suffer on account of the sin of Adam: 1. Because all of us approve of, and follow his transgression. 2. Because the offence of Adam is also ours; for we were all in Adam when he sinned, as the Apostle testifies: “We have all sinned in him” (Rom. 5:12). 3. Because the entire nature of Adam became guilty; and as we have proceeded from his very substance,--being, as it were, a part of him,-we must also necessarily be guilty ourselves. 4. Because Adam had received the gifts of God upon the condition that he would also import them unto us, if he retained them; or lose them for us also, if he lost them. Hence, it is, that when Adam lost these gifts, he did not merely lose them for himself, but also for his posterity. (The Commentary of Zacharias Ursinus: On the Heidelberg Catechism—The Protestant Christian Doctrines, Dating to 1563 [trans. G. W. Williard; Pantianos Classics, 1888], 63)