Required reading
Systematic Theology by Charles Hodge (Vol 2) (Available from Amazon or free here) - Read Chapter 7 (The fall).
My summary
Today we learn about the fall.
After acknowledging the historicity of the fall, Hodge teaches us about:
(i) the tree of life;
(ii) the tree of knowledge;
(iii) the serpent;
(iv) the nature of the temptation;
(v) the effects of the first sin.
What grabbed me
I liked Hodge's argument that the fall of man is historical: 'That this account of the probation and fall of man is neither an allegory nor a myth, but a true history, is evident, (1.) From internal evidence. When contrasted with the mythological accounts of the creation and origin of man as found in the records of early heathen nations, whether Oriental, Grecian, or Etruscan, the difference is at once apparent. The latter are evidently the product of crude speculation, the Scriptural account is simple, intelligible, and pregnant with the highest truths. (2.) From the fact not only that it is presented as a matter of history in a book which all Christians recognize as of divine authority, but that it also forms an integral part of the book of Genesis, which is confessedly historical. It is the first of the ten divisions into which that book, in its internal structure, is divided, and belongs essentially to its plan. (3.) It is not only an essential part of the book of Genesis, but it is also an essential part of Scriptural history as a whole, which treats of the origin, apostasy, and development of the human race, as connected with the plan of redemption. (4.) We accordingly find that both in the Old and New Testaments the facts here recorded are assumed, and referred to as matters of history. (5.) And finally, these facts underlie the whole doctrinal system revealed in the Scriptures. Our Lord and his Apostles refer to them not only as true, but as furnishing the ground of all the subsequent revelations and dispensations of God. It was because Satan tempted man and led him into disobedience that he became the head of the kingdom of darkness ; whose power Christ came to destroy, and from whose dominion he redeemed his people. It was because we died in Adam that we must be made alive in Christ. So that the Church universal has felt bound to receive the record of Adam's temptation and fill as a true historical account.'
Amen!
Next week's reading
Commence Chapter 8 (Sin) by reading up to the heading '3. The doctrine of the early church'.
Now it's your turn
Please post your own notes and thoughts in the comments section below.
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