The Second Helvetic Confession
CHAPTER VIII
Of Man’s Fall, Sin and the Cause of Sin
THE FALL OF MAN. In the beginning, man was made according
to the image of God, in righteousness and true holiness, good and upright. But
when at the instigation of the serpent and by his own fault he abandoned
goodness and righteousness, he became subject to sin, death and various
calamities. And what he became by the fall, that is, subject to sin, death and
various calamities, so are all those who have descended from him.
SIN. By sin we understand that innate corruption of man
which has been derived or propagated in us all from our first parents, by which
we, immersed in perverse desires and averse to all good, are inclined to all
evil. Full of all wickedness, distrust, contempt and hatred of God, we are
unable to do or even to think anything good of ourselves. Moreover, even as we
grow older, so by wicked thoughts, words and deeds committed against God’s law,
we bring forth corrupt fruit worthy of an evil tree (Matt. 12:33 ff.). For this
reason by our own deserts, being subject to the wrath of God, we are liable to
just punishment, so that all of us would have been cast away by God if Christ,
the Deliverer, had not brought us back.
DEATH. By death we understand not only bodily death, which
all of us must once suffer on account of sins, but also eternal punishment due
to our sins and corruption. For the apostle says: “We were dead through
trespasses and sins…and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of
mankind. But God, who is rich in mercy…even when we were dead through our
trespasses, made us alive together with Christ” (Eph. 2:1 ff.) Also: “As
sin came into the world through one man and death through sin, and so death
spread to all men because all men sinned” (Rom. 5:12).
ORIGINAL SIN. We therefore acknowledge that there is
original sin in all men.
ACTUAL SINS. We acknowledge that all other sins which
arise from it are called and truly are sins, no matter by what name they may be
called, whether mortal, venial or that which is said to be the sin against the
Holy Spirit which is never forgiven (Mark 3:29; I John 5:16). We also confess
that sins are not equal; although they arise from the same fountain of
corruption and unbelief, some are more serious than others. As the Lord said,
it will be more tolerable for Sodom than for the city that rejects the word of
the Gospel (Matt. 10:14 f.; 11:20 ff.).
THE SECTS. We therefore condemn all who have taught
contrary to this, especially Pelagius and all Pelagians, together with the
Jovinians who, with the Stoics, regard all sins as equal. In this whole matter
we agree with St. Augustine who derived and defended his view from Holy
Scriptures. Moreover, we condemn Florinus and Blastus, against whom Irenaeus
wrote, and all who make God the author of sin.
GOD IS NOT THE AUTHOR OF SIN, AND HOW FAR HE IS SAID TO
HARDEN. It is expressly written: “Thou art not a God who delights in
wickedness. Thou hatest all evildoers. Thou destroyest those who speak lies”
(Ps. 5:4 ff.). And again: “When the devil lies, he speaks according to
his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies” (John 8:44).
Moreover, there is enough sinfulness and corruption in us that it is not
necessary for God to infuse into us a new or still greater perversity. When,
therefore, it is said in Scripture that God hardens, blinds and delivers up to a
reprobate mind, it is to be understood that God does it by a just judgment as a
just Judge and Avenger. Finally, as often as God in Scripture is said or seems
to do something evil, it is not thereby said that man does not do evil, but
that God permits it and does not prevent it, according to his just judgment, who
could prevent it if he wished, or because he turns man’s evil into good, as he
did in the case of the sin of Joseph’s brethren, or because he governs sins lest
they break out and rage more than is appropriate. St. Augustine writes in his
Enchiridion: “What happens contrary to his will occurs, in a
wonderful and ineffable way, not apart from his will. For it would not happen
if he did not allow it. And yet he does not allow it unwillingly but willingly.
But he who is good would not permit evil to be done, unless, being omnipotent,
he could bring good out of evil.” Thus wrote Augustine.
CURIOUS QUESTIONS. Other questions, such as whether God
willed Adam to fall, or incited him to fall, or why he did not prevent the fall,
and similar questions, we reckon among curious questions (unless perchance the
wickedness of heretics or of other churlish men compels us also to explain them
out of the Word of God, as the godly teachers of the Church have frequently
done), knowing that the Lord forbade man to eat of the forbidden fruit and
punished his transgression. We also know that what things are done are not evil
with respect to the providence, will, and the power of God, but in respect of
Satan and our will opposing the will of God.
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