Of free will, and thus of human powers (Second Helvetic Confession, 9a)
This article by Ronald Cammenga examines the Second Helvetic Confession's teaching on human free will through the lens of man's threefold condition: before the fall, after the fall, and after regeneration. Drawing on Augustine's Latin formulations and the Canons of Dort, Cammenga explains how humanity possessed the capacity for both obedience and sin in the original creation, establishing the theological foundation for understanding human nature and divine sovereignty in Reformed thought.
In this matter, which has always produced many conflicts in the Church, we teach that a threefold condition or state of man is to be considered. What Man Was Before the Fall. There is the state in which man was in the beginning before the fall, namely, upright and free, so that he could both continue in goodness and decline to evil. However, he declined to evil, and has involved himself and the whole human race in sin and death, as has been said already. The threefold condition of man is his...
Full article available on sb.rfpa.org