Was original righteousness natural or supernatural?
 

(Extracts from Francis Turretin, edited into modern English)

1. What Is the Question Really About?

The issue is how Adam was created.

• Did God create Adam morally neutral, and then add righteousness as a bonus?

• Or did God create Adam already righteous, as part of what it means to be truly human?

Rome says:

Original righteousness was supernatural, something added on top of human nature.

The Reformed say:

Original righteousness was natural, belonging to human nature as God created it.

This is not a small debate.
It affects how we understand:

• sin

• the Fall

• grace

• salvation

• and human responsibility

2. What Is “Original Righteousness”?

Original righteousness means:

• Adam’s right relationship with God

• His upright will

• His ordered desires

• His ability to obey God freely and gladly

• The harmony between mind, heart, and body

In short:

Adam was created knowing God rightly, loving God sincerely, and obeying God willingly.

3. The Roman Catholic Position (What Turretin Rejects)

Rome teaches:

• Human nature, by itself, is morally neutral

• God added righteousness as a supernatural gift

• When Adam fell, he lost only this added gift

• Human nature itself was not corrupted, only wounded

So sin becomes:

• primarily a lack of a gift

• not a deep corruption of nature

Turretin says this weakens the doctrine of sin and diminishes the need for grace.

4. The Reformed Position (What Turretin Defends)

Original righteousness was natural, not supernatural.

This does not mean:

• Adam earned it

• Adam was independent of God

• Adam did not need grace

It means:

God created man as man to be righteous.

Righteousness was:

• not an added ornament

• not an extra layer

• not something optional

It belonged to human nature as God originally designed it.

5. Key Argument 1: Creation in God’s Image

Genesis 1:26–27

“Let us make man in our image, after our likeness.”

The image of God includes:

• true knowledge

• righteousness

• holiness

Paul confirms this:

Ephesians 4:24

“Put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.”

Colossians 3:10

“The new self… renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator.”

Turretin’s logic:

• If righteousness is part of God’s image

• And Adam was created in God’s image

• Then righteousness belonged to Adam’s nature as created

Not an extra gift.
Not a later addition.
But part of what it meant to be human before the Fall.

6. Key Argument 2: God Does Not Create Moral Disorder

God is:

• perfectly holy

• perfectly wise

• perfectly good

Would God create a rational creature:

• without moral order?

• without uprightness?

• without proper love for Him?

That would mean God created man unfinished or defective.

Turretin says:

To lack original righteousness would not be a mere absence of grace, but a moral defect.

And God does not create moral defects.

7. Key Argument 3: The Nature of the Fall

After the Fall, Scripture says:

• man became corrupt

• man became dead in sin

• man lost righteousness

But you can only lose what you had by nature.

If righteousness were merely supernatural:

• Adam would have lost a gift

• not corrupted his nature

Yet Scripture teaches:

• total corruption

• bondage of the will

• inability to please God

This only makes sense if:

Original righteousness belonged to human nature itself.

8. Key Argument 4: Grace Restores Nature, It Does Not Replace It

Redemption in Christ is described as:

• restoration

• renewal

• re-creation

Christ does not give us a different kind of humanity.
He restores true humanity.

So:

• what we regain in Christ

• must be what was lost in Adam

And what was lost was not merely a supernatural bonus, but:

righteous human nature itself.

9. Answering a Common Objection

Objection:
If original righteousness was natural, does that mean Adam did not need grace?

Answer:
No.

Turretin carefully explains:

• Adam needed God’s help to remain righteous

• He was dependent on God at every moment

• His righteousness was natural in constitution, not independent in existence

Adam was upright by creation, but:

• not immutable

• not confirmed

• not glorified

10. Why This Matters Spiritually

This doctrine teaches us:

1. How serious sin really is
   Sin is not just missing something extra.
   It is the corruption of our nature.

2. Why we need sovereign grace
   If our nature is fallen, only God can restore it.

3. How great salvation in Christ is
   Christ does not merely help us.
   He recreates us.

4. What true humanity looks like
   Holiness is not unnatural.
   Sin is.

11. Summary in Simple Terms

• Adam was created righteous by nature

• Righteousness was part of what it meant to be human

• The Fall corrupted human nature itself

• Grace in Christ restores what was lost

• Rome weakens sin; the Reformed confess its depth

• The gospel shines brighter when sin is taken seriously