No Compromise "No Empty Words, No White Lies, No Token Prayers…"

The Noetic Effect of the Fall

Introduction

The command was clear. The LORD said to Adam, “You may surely eat of every tree in the garden, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil shall not eat[1].” With this command came the promise of both physical and spiritual death. In rebellion, Adam disobeyed God’s command and sinned not only for him but as the federal representative of mankind[2]. This was a defining event in history. Adam’s sin would affect all of his posterity, both physically and spiritually. The physical affect of his sin is clearly seen in the disease and death that universally plagues mankind. Among evangelicals, this fact is not often debated. On the contrary, it is the spiritual affect of Adam’s sin that has been both hotly debated and divided over since the days of the early Christian church. What affect, if any, did Adam’s sin have on the spiritual state of mankind? The goal of this essay is to summarize the historical discussions surrounding this question and to show from the Scripture that man’s will is not free to act contrary to its nature, but rather it is dependent upon God to impart life to man’s will if there is any hopes for salvation.

Historical Discussions

As early as the fourth century, disputations regarding Adam’s sin and its affect on the will of man were already present in the church. A British author by the name of Pelagius promoted the freedom of man's will to do whatever God commanded[3]. This belief was based off on his conviction that Adam’s sin did not affect man’s will to achieve righteousness and that “God never commands what is impossible for man to perform[4].” For Pelagius, God’s ability to command was limited by man’s ability to perform. This conviction was “roused” by reading a prayer written by his future opponent Augustine. Augustine’s prayer stated, “Grant what thou commandest, and command what thou dost desire[5].” For Pelagius, the idea that God would command anything that man was unable to perform was ridiculous. Pelagius reasoned that man’s responsibility would be destroyed if the ability to make the choice to obey was not naturally present in man. He believed that any God-dependent ability would make man a puppet, not a human. But Augustine of Hippo understood things