-- What do you believe concerning man and concerning yourself?
A: Apart from the Scriptures, I see it through experience. Food, drink, and clothing, though devoid of life, could not sustain human life unless there were a special providence of God to give them virtue.
Q: How is this one God distinguished?
A: He is distinguished into the Father, who begets the Son; into the Son, who is begotten of the Father; and into the Holy Ghost, who proceeds from the Father and the Son.
II. Q: What do you believe concerning man and concerning yourself?
Q: Let us now turn to ourselves, and first, tell me, what is the natural state of man?
A: Every person, by nature, is dead in sin, like a repulsive carrion or a lifeless corpse lying rotting and decaying in the grave.
Q: What is Sin?
A: Any violation of God's Law, even if it is no more than the slightest failure to meet the Law's requirements.
Q: How many kinds of sin are there?
A: Sin is either the corruption of one's nature or any evil actions that proceed from it as its consequences.
Q: In whom is this corruption of nature?
A: In all people, without exception.
Q: In which part of man is it?
A: In every part, both body and soul, just like leprosy that spreads from the crown of the head to the sole of the foot.
Q: Show me how every part of man is corrupted with sin.
A: First, in the mind, there is nothing but ignorance and blindness regarding heavenly matters. Second, the conscience is defiled, always either numbed by sin or tormented by inner accusations and fears.
Third, the human will only desires and craves evil. Fourth, the emotions of the heart, such as love, joy, hope, desire, etc., are stirred towards embracing what is evil, and they are never stirred towards what is good unless it is to avoid it. Lastly, the body's members are the instruments and tools of the mind for carrying out sin.
Q: What are those evil actions that are the consequences of this corruption?
A: Evil thoughts in the mind, which arise either from a person's own thinking or from the Devil's suggestions; evil desires and lusts stirring in the heart, and from these, evil words and deeds when there is an opportunity.
Q: How is it that all people are defiled with sin in this way?
A: Through Adam's unfaithfulness and disobedience in eating the forbidden fruit, just as we see that great individuals who commit treason not only harm themselves but also tarnish their lineage and disgrace their descendants.
Q: What harm comes to man from his sin?
A: He is continually subject to God's curse in his lifetime, at the end of his life, and after this life.
Q: What is the curse of God in this life?
A: In the body, there are diseases, aches, and pains; in the soul, there is blindness, hardness of heart, and a troubled conscience; in one's possessions, there are hindrances and losses; in one's reputation, there is shame and reproach; finally, in the whole person, there is bondage under Satan, the Prince of darkness.
Q: What kind of bondage is this?
A: This bondage is when a person becomes the slave of the Devil and allows him to rule in their heart as their God.
Q: How can a person know whether Satan is their God or not?
A: They can know by examining whether they obey him in their heart and manifest it in their behavior.
Q: And how can a person discern this obedience?
A: If they take pleasure in the evil desires that Satan instills in their heart and act on the Devil's lusts.
Q: What is the curse awaiting man at the end of his life?
A: Death, which is the separation of the body and soul.
Q: What is the curse after this life?
A: Eternal damnation in hellfire, of which every person is guilty, and they are in as great danger of it as a captured traitor is in danger of being hanged, drawn, and quartered.