Jesus Christ said.. regarding little children;
“Suffer the little children to come unto me for of such is the Kingdom of Heaven” AND “except you become like one of these, you will NOT enter the Kingdom of Heaven”
Jesus was the authority on this... him being God and all. Edwards can take it up with Jesus if he ever gets into the kingdom himself.
Hope he repented for contradicting Jesus before he died... offending against the little children can get one a pretty nasty millstone fitted for their neck it is said.
MIA_eccl1212,
Edwards, without doubt; when saying that little children are little vipers.. was referring to the Pauline concept of ORIGINAL SIN...a doctrine which is held in common with Orthodox Roman Catholics and the Orthodox Protestants (including the Reformers and the Reformed Creeds)
Original Sin is not a new doctrine, nor a doctrine that is safe to ignore, just because some may not like it.
The Pauline concept of ORIGINAL SIN = “Original sin is the Christian doctrine that humans inherit a tainted nature and a proclivity to sin through the fact of birth. Theologians have characterized this condition in many ways, seeing it as ranging from something as insignificant as a slight deficiency, or a tendency toward sin yet without collective guilt, referred to as a “sin nature”, to total depravity or automatic guilt of all humans through collective guilt.”
It is this concept of ORIGINAL SIN that is what Edwards referred to in the book that I quoted from earlier. Edwards DID know what Jesus said...but what Jesus said, while true; has nothing to do with the SIN NATURE that we have all inherited, INCLUDING NEW BORNS.. through ADAM.
This has always been ORTHODOX Christian doctrine . I didn’t make it up... but Edwards didn’t either. Augustine held it in the 4th century..Martin Luther (who was an Augustinian Monk) held it... the Protestant Reformers, including John Calvin..held it as well.
This is HISTORY. Most Christians (Roman Catholic or Protestant Evangelicals) today are woefully ignorant of historic Christian doctrines..the majority hardly know their own Christian history..(they deny these things, because they have never actually HEARD of these things... )
Edwards and other major Christian theologians knew their Scripture quite well. These men were CONSERVATIVE, Bible Believing men...Go read Edwards, or Luther, or Calvin... you’ll soon find that these men LIVED, breathed, and drank in Scripture in their time..much more than most Christians do today.
The Doctrine of ORIGINAL SIN is BIBLICAL, DOCTRINAL, and accepted by Orthodox Christians everywhere.
But... going back to what Edwards stated in regard to little children being vipers. (he was actually referring to his own children)... he did not end there... he finished the thought by stating that children are little vipers, wearing “COVENANTAL DIAPERS”. What did he mean by stating that they were wearing Covenantal diapers.. ?
Edwards was saying as a Reformed Protestant, that; just as the children of Israel were given the Sign and Seal of the Covenant through circumcision, so also our children also are given the Sign and Seal of the Covenant of Grace through Baptism.. God promising through the Covenant that these Children will be RAISED in the Faith...and so many will become Believers as He draws them to Himself. Hence...”COVENANT DIAPERS”~
If you’ve never heard of these things.. go find books and articles on COVENANT THEOLOGY... This is a very old doctrinal concept. YES..there are books existing that detail the Scriptural premise for these concepts. Here’s a PDF from Dr. Scott Clark of Westminster Theological Seminary, San Diego, California from my Dropbox https://www.dropbox.com/s/t6slgtd3nt05k85/Covenantal%20Baptism-R.Scott%20Clark.pdf?dl=0
This is a large subject... which cannot be discussed in depth here in chat...at least.. at least, not very well.. SO...I’ll just leave it at that. Thanks for your kind attention.
Hope he repented for contradicting Jesus before he died... offending against the little children can get one a pretty nasty millstone fitted for their neck it is said.
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Apples, oranges. All are born evil and only faith in
Christ can save. Child being offended doesn’t mean
it isn’t evil.