ABSTRACT
In 1641 John Cotton defined the “carnall man” as one who “never served any man but himselfe” (“The Way of Life”, 447). For Cotton, the “carnall man” was the inevitable consequence of Adam’s fall from grace and banishment from the garden of Eden (Gen. 3) after eating from the forbidden fruit. 2 Of course, this view of the Fall was not original to Cotton. St Paul states:
Therefore just as one man’s trespass led to condemnation for all, so one man’s act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all. For just as by the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man’s obedience the many will be made righteous. (Rom. 5: 18–19) 3
