The work next in order is to discover the pollution of every man’s conscience by original sin.

1. A Natural Blindness in the Conscience

First, there is naturally a blindness and a veil upon it, whereby it horribly misjudgeth, and so deserveth the prophet’s woe, “calling evil good, and good evil, light darkness, and darkness light.“

Take the conscience of a heathen not enlightened by God’s Word, and what darkness covereth the face of it? How enthralled to idols, as if they were a god that could either damn or save? Yea, the consciences of some heretics have had such Egyptian darkness upon them that they have thought they have served God by doing most abominable and unnatural things; insomuch that had not some of the Ancients, worthy of credit, delivered such things about them, we could never have believed that the conscience of a man could be so far blinded, as to think such things lawful, much less a worship of God.

The Gnostics taught that fornications and uncleanness were frequently to be exercised to avoid all conception, and if a child did follow, they would draw it from the womb, beat it in a mortar, season it with honey and pepper, and so eat it, saying, that in this manner they did celebrate the great Passover. The Carpocratians also affirmed, that everyone was bound to commit sin, and that the souls were put into the bodies till they did fulfill the measure of their iniquities, applying that in the parable to this purpose, “thou shalt not go out till thou hast paid the last farthing.” So, the Montanists made a sacrifice of the blood of a year old infant, which they pricked to death with needles in a most cruel manner. These also said that it was as great a sin to pull a leaf off the tree as to kill a man. The Donatists would throw themselves from steep mountains and drown themselves in water to make themselves martyrs. What horrid blindness was here upon their consciences? It is true indeed, these were not suddenly made thus abominable, therefore here was a voluntary contracted blindness upon their conscience, and a judicial one inflicted upon them, God giving them up to blindness. Yet had there not been such inbred error upon the conscience, such natural blindness upon it, it could never be improved to such height of impiety!

Oh, then groan under this blindness that is naturally upon thy conscience! That which should be the pilot to guide the ship of thy soul and body to an eternal haven, but knoweth no compass, beholdeth no star, and being practically blinded carrieth thee to Hell, while thou art thinking thou art sailing to heaven. That which should be the rule to thy actions is all over crooked and perverted. Thus every man’s conscience is naturally in the dark, and maketh us fall into every ditch, because the blind leadeth us. While the foundation is thus destroyed, there is no hope either of conversion or salvation. Thou that wallowest in thy sins, thou that art upon the brinks of Hell, and yet rejoicest and makest thyself blessed: Oh that thy conscience were enlightened! Oh, that the Lord’s candle within thee did give any light! What a terror and an amazement wouldst thou be to thyself? Thou art no better than a brute till this conscience in thee is able to inform and direct thee.

- Anthony Burgess, Treatise on Original Sin, Part 3, chapter 2, sections 2-3. Read more at https://purelypresbyterian.com/2018/01/18/the-conscience-blinded-by-original-sin/

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