“They maintain that ‘man, _after_ the fall of Adam, was as truly created in God’s image as was Adam; that Christ was tempted in all points like as we are; that the stronger are our inferior propensities, if we govern them, as we can, by the morally right act of the will, the greater is the moral excellence of the act. They do not maintain that man has full power to _change_ his depraved nature without divine aid, for they have never supposed he has a depraved nature _in any sense_, or a corrupt nature, much less a sinful nature, to be changed; but rather that _in nature_ he is like God. In discussions, they have always opposed the use of language by my father and Mr. Barnes of a corrupt nature, not sinful.’ “I present this as an exact statement of my own views, and I claim that, on the point of the native character of the human mind, it is the _Pelagian_ ground in opposition to the _Augustinian_, and that no _third_ ground is possible. If I am wrong in either particular, I ask to be enlightened by the editors of the Independent, and by the New Haven divines themselves. I claim also that, so far as I can see, this is the _only_ ground on which the argument above stated, as that of ‘Young America,’ can be successfully met. “I understand the editors of the Independent that they occupy the Augustinian ground, and I therefore appeal to them, as well as to the theologians of Princeton, Andover, Union, and Lane, to instruct me and the public _wherein_ I have misstated their views, and above all, to instruct us how, with this dogma fastened to it, the Bible can be sustained against the above infidel argument. In reference to this, should any thing be attempted, I offer these questions for attention: “Is there any passage in the Bible that teaches that the minds of the angels or of Adam were not made exactly like those of the descendants of Adam, and subjected to the same slow and gradual process of acquisition and development? “I have looked and inquired in vain to find any such passage, or to find any person who ever found one. “Is there any passage in the Bible that teaches that the _nature_ or constitution of the mind of man is not _the best that is possible in the nature of things_? I have never been able to find any. “Is there any passage in the Bible that teaches that man has received a _ruined nature in consequence of Adam’s sin_?