Mr. Hume's First Address.
LADIES AND GENTLEMEN ---
We have now met for the purpose of discussing and having discussed, some of the most prominent feature of the doctrine of Christ, as we believe them to be taught in the Sacred Scriptures. We deem it wholly inexpedient to trespass upon your time and patience with a detail of the circumstances which have led to the present discussion; suffice it to say, that propositions were submitted, and the time appointed, by a very respectable gentleman, of this town, which was concurred in by myself. The time appointed has arrived - the speakers are both present, and they are honored with a respectable audience; and it becomes my duty, having the affirmative of the first proposition, to open the discussion, for which purpose I am now before you; and I do sincerely hope that this debate will be so conducted as to honor the great head of the Church, instruct the people, and increase the ties of friendship between the contending parties. With those prefatory remarks, I proceed to affirm that the doctrine of total hereditary depravity is taught in the Sacred Scriptures. In the first place, I will proceed to show what I mean by the terms Total Hereditary Depravity. Total means or signifies, whole, full, complete, not divided. Hereditary signifies, that which has descended from an ancestor, that is or may be transmitted from a parent to a child. Depravity signifies corruption - a vitiated state of the heart - wickedness - corruption of moral principles, destitution of holiness or good principles. Now, if I have arrived at a proper conclusion with regard to the meaning of these terms, I think we shall find no difficulty in sustaining the affirmative of our proposition. We therefore remark, in the first place, that Adam, the father of mankind, became a corrupt and depraved being by violating God's holy law, in consequence of which he subjected himself and his posterity also to all that was threatened in the Law; for, said Jehovah to man, in the day thou eatest thereof, thou shalt surely die. - Genesis ii., 17. Now it must be acknowledged, that when Adam transgressed the law of his Maker, all his posterity were in him, and consequently a part of him; hence, his act was their act, and the consequences the same upon them all, which consequences are clearly set forth in the following declarations of Holy Writ, Genesis, chapter iii., vs. 17, 18, 19: "And unto Adam he said, because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree which I commanded thee saying, thou shalt not eat of it, cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow what thou eat of it all the days of thy life. Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth unto thee, and thou shalt eat the herb of the field. In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken; for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return."
Let it be remembered that we are governed alone by the Bible upon this subject, and upon the testimony here introduced, we might let the matter rest; for if the above Scriptures prove anything, they surely prove that the first of men was defiled, corrupt, and polluted by sin, and consequently depraved; but, as we intend to make this point strong, and render it impossible for our opponent to gainsay or overthrow it, we invite the attention of the audience to the language of the Apostle, recorded in Romans chapter v., vs. 12, 17, 18, 19: "Wherefore as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin, and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned. For by one man's offence death reigned by one," etc. "Therefore, as by the offense of one, judgment came upon all men to condemnation," etc. Now hear him in the 19th verse: "For as by one man's disobedience, many were made sinners, so, by the obedience of one, shall many be made righteous." Now we maintain that the foregoing Scriptures are directly in point, and fully establish the truth of our proposition so far as Adam is concerned; and surely it must be admitted, and cannot be denied, that from him has descended the whole human race; and if he, the fountain head of the human family, be corrupt and depraved, his posterity cannot be otherwise, for it is an acknowledged truth in sound philosophy, that if the fountain be corrupt, the streams are corrupt also; or if the tree be corrupt, its fruit is also corrupt.
We have shown by the foregoing scriptures, that because man violated God's holy law, his Maker declared he should suffer its penalty. That sin entered our world by this one man, and that in consequence of his disobedience, judgment came upon all men to condemnation, and also that by his disobedience many were made sinners, consequently, it must be admitted by this audience, and by all intelligent, reflecting minds, that we have fully sustained our position, that the first man, (to wit, Adam,) became corrupt, degenerate, defiled by sin, and consequently depraved, as an effect flowing from his disobedience. We would here add, that had not this been his condition, death never could have preyed upon him or his posterity. We will now proceed to show that this depravity is hereditary - that it has been transmitted from the parent to his offspring. It is said in the fifth of Romans, v. 12, that death passed upon ALL men, for that ALL HAVE sinned - in the past tense. Not that they shall or will sin after they have crossed the line of accountability, as some tell us; no, BUT HAVE SINNED. Now, if they did not sin in Adam, their federal head, when did they sin. We hope our worthy opponent will be very particular in answering this question, for much depends upon a correct answer here; for if he admits that ALL men sinned in Adam, he admits the truth of my proposition. If he denies it, I call upon him to tell me when and where they did sin, so as to allow the Apostle to throw it in the past, and not in the future. I hope we shall have something definite upon this subject. But again we are told in the 18th verse, same chapter, that judgment came upon ALL men to condemnation by the offense of one. Who are these "ALL men" but the human race; and if we are so to understand it, then judgment has come upon the race to condemnation. This is also in the past tense, and not in the future. The Apostle tells us in the 19th verse, same chapter, That by the disobedience of one, many were MADE SINNERS. Now we ask, what is the difference between the MANY in the 19th verse, and the ALL MEN in the 12th and 18th verses? Surely there can be none. Hence, we have proven clearly, beyond a doubt, the doctrine of our proposition, that depravity is hereditary - that it has descended from the natural father of mankind to all his race; and consequently all men are depraved.
But perhaps the gentleman will feel disposed to acknowledge the doctrine of Depravity in some sense, but deny TOTAL Depravity. We have shown you that total means whole, full, complete, not divided; we will now see how near we can approach this point, according to the Bible, Genesis, chap. vi., v. 5: "And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually." Also 11th, 12th verses, same chapter: "The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence; and God looked upon the earth, and behold it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth." Now it must be evident to every candid, honest mind, that the depravity here presented, is total, whole, full, complete, not divided; for the thoughts of the heart is ONLY EVIL CONTINUALLY - that the earth was full of violence. The earth here evidently means the people; hence the following language in the text: For all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth. Now, if the critic is disposed to say the "all flesh" here has reference to beasts and birds, we would remark that man is evidently embraced here as the character who has corrupted his way, and if so, the depravity is total and complete.
We have a confirmation of the truth of this doctrine in the 8th chapter of Genesis, and 21st verse. Jehovah here declares that the imagination of man's heart is EVIL from his youth. Hence we maintain, that depravity is TOTAL and complete, even from youth to his conversion to God; but we will not stop here, for the Bible abounds with testimony to sustain this doctrine. We are told in the 14th Psalm, 2d and 3d verses, "The Lord looked down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there were any that did understand and seek God. They are all gone aside; they are all together become filthy; there is none that doeth good: no, not one." Here we remark that this investigation took place among the children of MEN, consequently the descendants of Adam; and we are here told that they have all together become filthy; there is none that doeth good, no, not one.
We now ask, how much does "all together filthy" lack of being total? We feel assured that this intelligent audience are now fully prepared to say that the doctrine of Total Depravity is taught in the Sacred Scriptures. In the 53d Psalm, 1st, 2d, and 3d verses, we have a repetition of the language above quoted, consequently we will not transcribe it, but remark that it strongly confirms the doctrine we are contending for.
We will now invite your attention to Jeremiah, chapter xvii. v. 9, where the Lord God declares that the heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; who can know it? I wish the audience to bear this text in mind, as it has to do with the heart, for we intend to examine the remaining part of man directly; and, for that purpose, we call your attention to Romans chap. iii. from the 10th to the 18th verses inclusive. We shall not give the whole quotation, but we give the following. It is here said, "There is none righteous: no, not one. They are together become unprofitable; their throat is an open sepulchre; with their tongues they have used deceit; the poison of asps is under their lips; whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness. Their feet are swift to shed blood; destruction and misery are in their ways, and the way of peace have they not known; and there is no fear of God before their eyes." Is not this truly a lamentable condition to find the whole human race involved in. Here we have the heart, the throat, the lips, the mouth, the tongue, their feet, the ways, and the eyes, and we would inquire what language could be used more fully to represent the deep-rooted depravity of mankind. Even an open sepulchre, the most offensive thing that the mind of man can conceive of, and the asp, one among the most poisonous reptiles that infest the earth, are here introduced to represent the awful and deplorable condition of the children of men, in consequence of sin and transgression, while the heart is declared to be deceitful, and above ALL THINGS DESPERATELY WICKED. Now if all means all, what is more desperately wicked than the heart?
If there has heretofore been a remaining doubt on the mind of any with regard to the doctrine of Total Depravity, we feel assured that that doubt is now removed, and that the audience is prepared to say, It is enough - the doctrine of Total Depravity is true; and we ourself feel perfectly satisfied that the testimony here introduced can never be set aside. But we are determined, God being our helper, to put this doctrine to rest in this place, if Bible testimony will do it; for if the Bible proves any one point clearly, it is the doctrine of Total Hereditary Depravity; and if this is proven, then the gentleman's proposition for tomorrow falls to the ground; for if the doctrine of Total Depravity be true, then conditional salvation is not true, as admitted by the gentleman himself this morning.
We will now introduce Romans, 1st chapter, 29th and 30th verses, where the Apostle is describing the wickedness of man. He says: "Being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder; backbiters, haters of God," etc. etc. Now we maintain that when a thing is full it can hold no more. Well, mankind is filled with ALL unrighteousness, FULL of envy and murder. Now here is whole, FULL, complete depravity, not divided, and it cannot successfully be denied.
We will now show from two quotations from the Psalms of David, the extent of this depravity upon the offspring of fallen man, Psalms li., v. 5: "Behold! I was shapen in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me." Also Psalms lviii. vs. 1, 2, 3. Here it is said that the sons of men in heart work wickedness; that they are estranged from the womb; they go astray as soon as they are born; speaking lies, and their poison is like the poison of a serpent. Now, friends, how much further back could the Psalmist have gone to have proven to you that depravity is hereditary. He has even gone back to the conception, and tells us that it was in sin, and that the sons of men go astray from the womb, speaking lies. Here the doctrine of infantile purity is completely uprooted, and shown to be untrue. According to the Bible, if these children did not inherit the DISPOSITION to go astray, speaking lies, from their parents, how did they become possessed of it at so early a period? We think our friend will have use for Hedge's Logic, or some other logic, in order to give a satisfactory answer to this question. Indeed, it will require such eloquence and logic as we have no expectation of finding during this discussion, to explain away the vast amount of positive Scripture proof that we have introduced to prove the doctrine of Total Hereditary Depravity.
The Sacred Scriptures are so full, plain, and pointed on this subject, that we might suppose the inspired writers anticipated the objections that would be raised to this doctrine. Hence the great care they have taken in the selection of such words as would convey the idea the most forcibly, so that the honest inquirer after truth could not possibly be mistaken with regard to the ideas intended to be conveyed; and we frankly confess that we cannot see how any honest believer in the divine authenticity of the Holy Scriptures, can for one moment deny the doctrine of Total Depravity. It must surely be for want of an experimental knowledge of the corruption and depravity of their own wicked heart.
This doctrine of depravity eclipses the doing powers of the human race, and puts their future salvation entirely in the hands of another. This human nature never did love -- hence its great opposition to the doctrine, and its powerful exertions to overthrow it; but, notwithstanding the mighty roar of the enemy's artillery, and his loud shoutings of success against it, it stands the thunders of them all, like a golden bulwark of eternal truth, founded upon the authority of God's Holy Word, against which all the mighty host of the enemy never can prevail.
We could multiply quotations upon this subject almost without end. Only a few more, however, will we trouble you with at this time: Matthew chapter. vii. vs. 17, 18 - "But a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit, neither CAN a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit." Here was have the plain language of our blessed Lord Jesus, that a corrupt tree CANNOT bring forth good fruit. Now if it be admitted that Adam was a corrupt man after the fall, then our proposition is clearly proven. Hear the declaration of the Apostle James, 3d chap. 12th verse: "Can the fig-tree, my brethren, bear olive berries, either a vine, figs? so can no fountain both yield salt water and fresh." Now what is the burden of the Apostle's argument here? It is this: that like produces its like - if the fountain be sweet, the streams will be sweet also; but if the fountain be bitter, the streams will also be bitter. But the same fountain CANNOT send forth both. This has been our argument from the start, and Job testifies to the same truth, chap. xiv. v. 4. He says, "Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean? NOT one." Now, if Job tells the truth, the matter is forever settled, that out of unclean fountains, nothing clean can ever come.
We will give one more quotation, and stop for the present. Galatians, chap. vi. vs. 19, 20, 21: "Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, licentiousness, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulation, wrath, strife, sedition, heresies, envyings, murders, drunkenness, revelings, and such like." Now is it not evident, that the inspired Apostle, in this connection, has displayed both his wisdom and eloquence in describing the effects that flow from a depraved heart; for surely, by the word FLESH here, is not mean that mass of matter which decomposes after death, but must necessarily mean that wicked, depraved and fleshly mind, which is averse to God, and encourages our race to commit acts of cruel debauchery and prostitution, which disgrace the human character.
Is it not passingly strange that any sane mind, in the face of such an array of plan scriptural testimony as we have already introduced, should still deny the doctrine of total hereditary depravity. But still it is done, and in so doing, is clearly manifested the fact that unconverted men and women do not believe God's holy word, and are utterly opposed to his divine sovereignty.
Time expired.
