Deep Dive into The Doctrine of Original Sin by Jonathan Edwards - That Great Objection against the Imputation of Adam's Sin to His Posterity, Considered, That Such Imputation Is Unjust and Unreasonable, inasmuch as Adam and His Posterity Are Not One and the Same, with a Brief Reflection Subjoined of What Some Have Supposed, of God Imputing the Guilt of Adam's Sin to His Posterity, but in an Infinitely Less Degree Than to Adam Himself

Jonathan Edwards defends the doctrine of original sin by arguing that God views Adam and his posterity not as separate individuals, but as a single constituted unit, analogous to a tree where the root and branches share one life. Consequently, the guilt of Adam’s apostasy and the innate depravity of his descendants are not two distinct sins, but a single, unified reality; the corruption of the human heart is simply the extended pollution of the primal transgression.

The central conflict Edwards addresses is the "great objection": that imputing Adam's sin to his posterity is unjust because they are distinct moral agents who did not personally consent to the act. Edwards dismantles this objection by attacking its underlying premise regarding identity. He argues that no created being possesses an intrinsic, self-sustaining identity. Instead, because God upholds the universe through "continued creation"—producing existence out of nothing at every moment—the connection between any person's past and present self relies entirely on God’s sovereign constitution. If God’s will is the only force that makes a person responsible for their own past crimes, He can just as validly establish a constitution uniting the human race with its first father.

Edwards further contends that this arrangement was benevolent, as Adam was a mature and motivated representative, offering a better probability of success than if infants stood trial individually. Moreover, he asserts that the undeniable reality of universal suffering and death proves that God does, in fact, treat humanity as one with Adam. Finally, Edwards rejects the compromise of "partial imputation," arguing that if Adam and his descendants were truly distinct, punishing them with even physical death would be as unjust as eternal condemnation. Therefore, justice requires acknowledging the real, constituted union of the race.

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