FathersVia Patrum

On the Imputation of Adam's First Sin · §103

Cap. IX: Unequal Adam/Levi hardness; Christ-in-us reductio alien to justice

Besides, from his words I gather this: if the reason of that sentence — "In Adam all sinned" — were equal to the reason of this — "In Abraham Levi was tithed" — the impropriety or hardness of each would be equal, and therefore that softening ought to have been set before either neither of them, or both alike. Either, then, the Apostle did not say that all sinned in Adam, or if he did, the reason of that proposition and of this — "in Abraham Levi was tithed" — is unequal. I gather another point as well. For if the criminal act of the first man was properly his act alone, and ours less properly — namely by an imputation that makes us, equally with Adam, properly guilty and liable to death before God the most just Judge — ought it likewise to make us guilty less properly? Yet he illustrates it by a comparison. Just as our sins were in Christ not properly, but only by imputation, and yet that imputation brought it about that Christ truly and in very deed paid the penalties of our sins: can Christ therefore be said to have sinned in us, as we in Adam? Are our sins so imputed to him as Adam's sin is said to be imputed to us? If you say yes, then — and the mind shudders even to think it — he was a sinner, and more than any other, since more sins were imputed to him. If you deny it, what does that dissimilar example of ὡς ἔπος εἰπεῖν do? Imputation could indeed suffice for Christ to pay the penalties of our sins as our vessel; but not for him to pay them as the cause of the sins. But here the debate is about an imputation by which we are reckoned causes of a sin that was properly Adam's act alone — and causes so properly and truly that we deserve to be punished no less properly and truly than Adam himself. That, I say, is altogether alien to truth and justice.

Latin

Caeterum ex ejus verbis sic colligo: Si par esset ratio illius sententiae, In Adamo omnes peccaverunt, ac hujus, In Abrahamo Levi decimatus est, par esset utriusque improprietas seu durities, ac proinde aut neutri, aut utrique pariter emollitio illa praemittenda fuisset. Vel igitur Apostolus non dixit omnes in Adamo peccasse, vel si dixit, dispar est propositionis illius, ac hujus, in Abrahamo Levi decimatus est, ratio. Aliud etiam colligo. Nam si actio criminosa primi hominis fuit proprie actio ipsius solius, & nostra minus proprie, nimirum per imputationem, qui nos, aeque ac Adamum, facit proprie reos ac morti obnoxios coram Deo justissimo judice. Debet enim similiter nos facere reos minus proprie? Id tamen comparatione illustrat. Sicut peccata nostra non proprie, sed tantum per imputationem fuerunt in Christo, & effecit tamen ea imputatio, ut Christus peccatorum nostrorum poenas vere ac reapse lueret. An igitur ut nos in Adamo, sic Christus in nobis dici potest peccasse? An ei peccata nostra sunt ita imputata, uti nobis imputatum dicitur peccatum Adae? Si ais, igitur, quod vel cogitare horret animus, peccator fuit, & quidem magis quam alius quisquam: quippe cui plura fuerint imputata peccata. Si negas, quid facit ὡς ἔπος εἰπεῖν dissimile exemplum? Potuit quidem sufficere imputatio, ut poenas peccatorum nostrorum Christus lueret tanquam vas noster; at non ut eas lueret tanquam peccatorum causa. Agitur autem hoc loco de imputatione, qua fiat ut censeamur causae peccati, quod solius Adami proprie actio fuit, & quidem causae ita proprie & vere, ut non minus proprie & vere quam ipse Adamus puniri mereamur. Id quod aio a veritate & justitia omnino esse alienum.

About this text

New English, free to read. Open any section below.

English follows the locked 1661 Saumur Latin of Capita I–XIV partial through Man. Post. Caput IX (eph-ho / eph-ho pantes) before eph-ho / eph-ho pantes, reconstructed from IA PDF page images with Vision OCR and pdftotext as check. No modern English was copied. Cap. IX deepen+ remain.

Catalogue & scope

IA deimputationepri00lapl. Densify: Capita I–XII + Caput XIV + Man. Post. Cap. II–VI through Cap. X Rom. 5:14 tip. Not whole Disputatio; Cap. X Rom. 5:14+ / ~494 pp Disputatio remain.

Witnesses

This is an AI-assisted study translation. Source fidelity and completeness have not been independently certified. Open Latin on each section (or the Latin source witness link) for the source text. This is not a complete critical edition.