What did the fall do to us, and can we turn to God on our own?

Left human nature “utterly indisposed, disabled, and made opposite to all good,” in the words of Westminster and the 1689 Confession.

From Westminster Confession, Second London Baptist Confession

Took away “original justice,” a gift that kept human nature in order. Nature itself is wounded, not destroyed.

From Thomas Aquinas, John Duns Scotus, William of Ockham

Corrupted it through and through; Arminius affirms this too, though he is often misread. Wesley calls it “only evil continually.”

From John Wesley, Jacobus Arminius

Passed on death or harm, but not guilt. Chrysostom asks how another man’s disobedience could make anyone a sinner; Finney says what we inherit isn’t sinful in itself.

From John Chrysostom, Charles Grandison Finney

No. People still make real choices, but none will choose God until God changes the heart.

From John Calvin, Westminster Confession, Second London Baptist Confession, Martin Luther, Jonathan Edwards, John Owen, George Whitefield, Justin Peters

Not without grace. But the will keeps real freedom, and grace builds on nature rather than replacing it.

From Council of Ephesus, Thomas Aquinas, William of Ockham, Athanasius of Alexandria

Not on its own, but no one is left on their own. God gives everyone a grace that restores the power to say yes or no.

From Jacobus Arminius, John Wesley

The will is still free. Finney says it never lost its “natural ability” to obey; Chrysostom says grace comes first but God “draws no one by force.”

From Charles Grandison Finney, John Chrysostom

Jesus says no one can come to him unless the Father draws him. Sproul reads “draw” as compel, not invite.

From R.C. Sproul, John Calvin, John Owen, Second London Baptist Confession, Westminster Confession

What the fall removed was a gift added to human nature, not nature itself. So grace perfects nature rather than replacing it.

From John Duns Scotus, Thomas Aquinas

Grace reaches everyone. Wesley: “no man sins because he has not grace, but because he does not use the grace which he hath.”

From John Wesley, Jacobus Arminius

Being held responsible assumes being free. Finney says God’s rule over people assumes “the natural ability of men to obey”; Basil says each of us is “the first author of his own vice.”

From Charles Grandison Finney, Basil the Great

Whether Adam’s guilt is inherited, or only his corrupted condition. The 1689 Confession, Edwards and MacArthur say guilt too; Zwingli calls it “a disease, not a sin,” and Heiser denies inherited guilt outright.

From Second London Baptist Confession, Jonathan Edwards, John MacArthur, Huldrych Zwingli, Michael S. Heiser

How deep the wound goes. Scotus treats it more lightly than Aquinas, leaving the will freer; Athanasius sees the fall mainly as a slide into decay and death.

From John Duns Scotus, Thomas Aquinas, Athanasius of Alexandria

Little between Arminius and Wesley. Melanchthon changed his mind: in 1521 he denied free will outright, and later taught that the will, drawn by the Spirit, can assent or resist.

From Jacobus Arminius, John Wesley, Philip Melanchthon

How they tell the story. Irenaeus pictures the first people as infants who had to grow, not perfect beings who fell; the Basil texts read here never treat Adam’s fall at all.

From Irenaeus of Lyons, Basil the Great