Reformed Book Club

Firstly Shedd outlines three particulars under the general head of Sin:

Today we only look at the first particular: The guilt of the first sin.

Firstly we learn about the internal nature of the first sin, especially the desire for forbidden knowledge.

Then Shedd defends the guilt of all of Adam's posterity in the sin of Adam, primarily from Romans 5 which teaches that all humans actively sinned. The sin of Adam is ours due to its indivisibility and commonality to those in natural union to Adam.

I liked this illustration of how the internal sinful desire for forbidden knowledge is the root of external sin: 'Concupiscence is different from natural created appetency or desire. Hunger and thirst are not evil concupiscence. They are instinctive, constitutional, and involuntary. Gluttony on the contrary is voluntary, not constitutional. It is not pure instinctive craving for food. There is will in it. It is the inclining and desire of the will for a more intense pleasure from eating food, than the natural healthy appetite provides for. Innocent hunger makes use of the appointed food, and when satisfied it rests. If a man simply quiets his hunger with bread convenient for it, he does not have or exhibit concupiscence. But if he craves sensual pleasure from eating, and gratifies the craving by tickling the palate, he has and exhibits concupiscence or evil desire.'

The desire for forbidden knowledge is what leads us astray again and again, just like Adam and Eve.