IX.
The Fall and Human Corruption
This section outlines the tragic loss of human integrity through the fall, resulting in the total corruption of the mind, heart, and will, leaving humanity entirely dependent on God's grace.
IX. We believe that man was created pure and whole, conformed to the image of God, but by his own fault fell from the grace he had received and so alienated himself from God, who is the source of righteousness and all good things, with the result that his nature is wholly corrupted.12 And being blinded in his mind and depraved in his heart, he has lost all integrity and has nothing left.3 And although he still has some discernment of good and evil, we nevertheless say that whatever light he has turns into darkness when he seeks God, so that he cannot approach him at all through his understanding and reason.4 And although he has a will that moves him to do one thing or another, it is still wholly captive under sin, so that he has no freedom to do good except for what God gives him.
Read the original French
IX. Nous croyons que l’homme ayant été créé pur et entier, et conforme à l’image de Dieu, est, par sa propre faute, déchu de la grâce qu’il avait reçue, et ainsi s’est aliéné de Dieu, qui est la fontaine de justice et de tous biens, en sorte que sa nature est du tout corrompue. Et étant aveuglé en son esprit, et dépravé en son cœur, a perdu toute intégrité sans avoir rien de reste. Et bien qu’il ait encore quelque discrétion du bien et du mal, nonobstant nous disons, que ce qu’il a de clarté, se convertit en ténèbres quand il est question de chercher Dieu, tellement qu’il n’en peut nullement approcher par son intelligence et raison. Et bien qu’il ait une volonté par laquelle il est incité à faire ceci ou cela, toutefois elle est du tout captive sous péché, en sorte qu’il n’a nulle liberté à bien, que celle que Dieu lui donne.
Notes
- 1 ↩French entier can mean whole, intact, or upright (Latin integer). Rendered as whole to keep the sense of unimpaired created integrity.
- 2 ↩Rendered righteousness rather than justice: fontaine de justice is iustitia, the source of moral rightness, not civil law.
- 3 ↩Paired with cœur, esprit is the intellectual faculty (mind), not the Holy Spirit or a vague inner spirit.
- 4 ↩Sixteenth-century discrétion here is discernment of good and evil, not modern English discretion in the sense of caution or reserve.
French Confession of Faith (Confession de La Rochelle / Gallican Confession) companion
Rule yourself daily, not just on retreat
Chosen Portion turns the mirror into a daily practice — a short reading and examining question each morning before you lead anyone.
Chosen Portion makes the mirror daily: the ruler-formation questions this collection preserves become a two-minute morning examination in the app.
- A daily formation reading drawn from centuries of counsel to those in authority
- One pointed examination question a day — two minutes, before the meetings start
- Track your practice over weeks and watch the examined life become a habit