Manton Mondays — Insights on the Word from puritan Thomas Manton

For centuries some men have questioned the biblical doctrine of creation by asking about the origins of all the troubles and ugly disorders found in world God is said to have created. If He made it all “good” why are there dangerous (e.g., poisonous) creatures or sickness and disease, et cetera. In the mid-17th century, puritan Thomas Manton proposed the
following answer in a sermon on Hebrews 11:3 — 

“All these confusions and disorders of nature are the effects of sin. Our sins are as a secret fire that has melted and burned under the secret ties and confederations of nature. Thence are there so many destructions and denigrations, such enmities, cruelties, and antipathies among the creatures. Man, being the lord of all things, was not only punished in his own person, but in the creatures, which are his servants and retinue. The Lord had given to us the free us of these things, and dominion over them; but upon our rebellion, the frame of nature is much altered and changed. Genesis 3:17, “Cursed is the earth for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life.” …it is cursed in that regard as it belonged to Adam, and as part of man’s possession; and by earth He doth not only mean the lower element, but the whole visible world; it was made for man, and it was all cursed for man’s sake. …Wherever thou seest thorns and thistles to grow, remember that sin is the root of them. Whenever thou seest the seas toss, and the confederation of the creature to be disturbed, this is the fruit of man’s disorder and rebellion against God. Whenever thou seest a fruitful land grow barren, that is the actual curse, a fruit of the original curse that is passed upon the earth for man’s sin. (cf, Romans 8:28)…  As Moses in a holy anger broke the tablets when he saw the people turn aside to idolatry, so when man turned unthankful and rebellious to God the King, it dissolved much of the order and beauty which otherwise would have been in the creation.”

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