To Florus · §2.216

To Florus 2.216

Had he put it that way, the statement would have been shown as impious as it was foolish. The comparison itself would be utterly stupid, because the persons were presented on different terms and unlike things were compared: nature and will. On the evil side he would place the necessity of seed, but on the good side only freedom of effort—or rather, no freedom any longer, since the power to choose good and avoid evil would not be available if guilt were natural. The apostle, then, the church’s wise and learned teacher, says that sin arose and passed on through disobedience, and that righteousness multiplies (compare Romans 5:19).

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