1689 6.1

6.1. Of the Fall of Man, of Sin, and of the Punishment thereof

Although God created Man upright, and perfect, and gave him a righteous law, which had been unto life had he kept it, and threatned death upon the breach thereof; yet he did not long abide in this honour; Satan using the subtilty of the serpent to seduce Eve, then by her seducing Adam, who without any compulsion, did wilfully transgress the Law of their Creation, and the command given unto them, in eating the forbidden fruit; which God was pleased according to his wise and holy Councel to permit, having purposed to order it, to his own glory.

Proof texts

• Genesis 2:16, 17 — [16] And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, “You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, [17] but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.”
• Genesis 3:12, 13 — [12] The man said, “The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate.” [13] Then the LORD God said to the woman, “What is this that you have done?” The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”
• 2 Corinthians 11:3 — [3] But I am afraid that as the serpent deceived Eve by his cunning, your thoughts will be led astray from a sincere and pure devotion to Christ.

For discussion

1. The Assembly cited Genesis 2:16, 17 in support of this answer. Read it in context — how does it bear on what is claimed here?
2. 3 passages are cited here. Which does the most work, and is anything claimed that the proofs do not obviously carry?
3. WSC Q13 treats the same ground. What does it add, and why might it put things differently?
4. WLC Q21 treats the same ground. What does it add, and why might it put things differently?

Read alongside

WSC Q13 · WLC Q21 · WCF 6.1 · HC Q3 · BC 4.1 · BC 4.2 · SD 6.1