Wesley Corpus

‘They go astray as soon as they are born, speaking lies. Not that they actually speak lies as soon as they are born; but they natu rally incline that way, and discover that inclination as early as is possible.” (Pages 51, 52.) “‘Foolishness is bound in the heart of a child; but the rod of correction shall drive it far from him.’ (Prov. xxii. 15.) ‘The rod and reproof give wisdom: But a child left to himself bringeth his mother to shame.’ (xxix. 15.) These passages put together are a plain testimony of the inbred corruption of young children. “Foolishness, in the former, is not barely “appetite, or a want of the knowledge attainable by instruction.” Neither of these deserve that sharp correction. But it is an indisposedness to what is good, and a strong propensity to evil. This ‘foolishness is bound in the heart of a child; it is rooted in his inmost nature. It is, as it were, ‘fastened to him by strong cords; so the original word signifies. From this corrup tion of heart in every child it is, that the ‘rod of correction’ is necessary to give him ‘wisdom: Hence it is, that “a child left to himself,’ without correction, ‘brings his mother to shame. If a child were born equally inclined to virtue and vice, why should the wise man speak of foolishness, or wicked ness, as fastened so closely to his heart? And why should ‘the rod and reproof’ be so necessary for him? These texts, there fore, are another clear proof of the corruption of human nature. “‘Those things which proceed out of the mouth, come from the heart, and they defile the man. For from within, out of the heart, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, murders:--All these things come from within, and defile the man.’ (Matt.xv. 18, 19; Mark vii. 20-23.) Our Lord here teaches, that all evil thoughts, words, and actions, of every kind, flow out of the heart, the soul of man, as being now averse to all good, and inclined to all evil.” (Pages 55, 56.) “Rom. v. 12-19. Let the reader please to read the whole passage very carefully.