in being, of any kind, revealed or natural by which men could be
more appears, that God would not bring temporal death for personal sins, without a standing revealed law threatening it, than that he would not bring eternal death before there was a revealed law threatening that: which yet wicked men that lived in Noah's time, were exposed to, as appears by 1 Pet. 3:19, 20, and which Dr. Taylor supposes all mankind are exposed to by their personal sins; and he himself says, sin in its own unalterable nature leads to death. Yea, it might be argued with as much strength of reason, that God could bring on men no punishment at all for any sin, that was committed from Adam to Moses, because there was no standing revealed law then extant, threatening any punishment. It may here be properly observed, that our author supposes, the shortening of man's days, and hastening of death, entered into the world by the sin of the antediluvians, in the same sense as death and mortality entered into the world by Adam's sin,2 but where was there any standing revealed law for that, though the event was so universal? If God might bring this on all mankind, on occasion of other men's sins, for which they deserved nothing, without a revealed law, what could there be to hinder God's bringing death on men for their personal sins, for which their own consciences tell 'em they do deserve death, without a revealed law?
2. If it had been so, that from Adam to Moses there had been no law in being, of any kind, revealed or natural by which men could be properly exposed to temporal death for personal sin, yet the mention of Moses' law would have been wholly impertinent, and of no signification in the argument, according to our author's understanding of it. He supposes, what the Apostle would prove, is, that temporal death, or the death we now die, comes by Adam; and not by any law threatening such a punishment for personal sin; because this death prevailed before the law of Moses was in being, which is the only law threatening death for personal sin. And yet he