Wesley Corpus

Taylor believes, ‘the influence of the Spirit of God, to assist our sincere endeavours, is spoken of in the gospel, but never as supposing any natural pravity of our minds. But certain it is, that Christ opposeth our being ‘born of the Spirit, to our being ‘born of the flesh : ‘That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.” (John iii.6.) Therefore, the influence of the Spirit in regeneration supposeth something that we are ‘born with; which makes such an influence necessary to our being ‘born again.” And if this be not some natural pravity, let our author tell us what it is. It is plain it is not any ill habit afterward acquired; for it is something that we are born with. And if to be ‘born of the flesh, means only ‘to have the parts and powers of a man;’ and if these parts and powers are all ‘pure and uncorrupted, we have no need of any such influ ence of the Spirit to be superadded to our natural powers. Without this, our own sincere endeavours will suffice for attain ing all habits of virtue.” (Jennings's Vindication, p. 125.) I proceed to your conclusion: “Is it not highly injurious to the God of our nature, whose hands have formed and fashioned us, to believe our nature is originally corrupted?” (Taylor's Doctrine, &c., p. 256.) It is; but the charge falls not on us, but you. We do not believe “our nature is ori ginally corrupted.” It is you who believe this; who believe our nature to be in the same state, moral and intellectual, as it originally was ! Highly injurious indeed is this supposition to the God of our nature. Did he originally give us such a nature as this? so like that of a wild ass’s colt; so stupid, so stubborn, so intractable; so prone to evil, averse to good? Did his hands form and fashion us thus? no wiser or better than men at present are? If I believed this,--that men were originally what they are now,-if you could once convince me of this, I could not go so far as to be a Deist; I must either be a Manichee or an Atheist. I must either believe there was an evil God, or that there was no God at all.