VII. Of the Condition of Man Before the Fall.

Concerning the condition of man before the fall, we believe that God made man upright (Ecclesiastes 7:29) and good (Genesis 1:31), in His image and after His likeness (Genesis 1:26; 5:1); in which holy and good condition our first parents were glorious and happy creatures, endowed and adorned with exalted wisdom, pure affections and impulses, and with a free will whereby they could (under God's permission) accept without compulsion, or of their own accord reject, what was presented to them, whether it be the counsel and will of God (Genesis 2:16, 17) or the counsel and will of the evil one (Genesis 3:4, 5) as the issue demonstrated. To prove this, God laid upon them a certain duty (namely, first of all the law of nature written in their hearts (Romans 2:14, 15); wherefore God could ask Cain, Genesis 4:7: "Is it not thus?"  -- Luther's translation), and made, as it were, a covenant with them. Hosea 6:7.

As long as this good condition lasted, they doubtless enjoyed a perfect and intimate converse with God. (Gen. 3:8) in child-like love and reverence, which, had they continued therein, could have issued only in a pure blessedness for soul and body in all eternity.

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