Excerpt from Contending for the Faith, or the Fountain of Love

Early in the history of our race, Infinite Wisdom declared that, "The imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth, " and thousands of years subsequent, we hear Paul declaring, with all the warmth of one speaking under the most positive convictions, "For I know that in me (that is in my flesh) dwelleth no good thing, for to will is present with me, but how to perform that which is good I find not."

In this confession, Paul concedes not only the sinful tendency of humanity, but we may infer also the existence of certain obstacles in the way of the Apostle's development in spiritual things. In his great struggle to bring into subjection every thought, as well as in all his noble efforts against the sins of the age, he recognized a counteracting influence, the tendency of which was to weaken or destroy the effect of the glorious Gospel, which he preached. Such, we believe, is the testimony of universal experience, that, in this world we are in the midst of a moral conflict in which exists two opposing forces: - and that from these, we can infer the existence of two distinct agencies, or efficient causes, must be the conclusion of every person candidly considering the subject.

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