Welcome to five minutes in church history hosted by Dr Stephen Nichols, where we take a little

break from the present to go exploring the past. Travel back in time as we look at the people,

events, and even the places that have shaped the story of Christianity.

This is our story, our family history.

Let's get started.

Welcome back to another episode of five minutes in church history. On this

episode we'll be traveling to Scotland and talking about the Church of

Scotland Minister Thomas Boston. Thomas Boston was born in 1676 and he

died in 1732. He studied at the University of Edinburgh, and then for the remainder of his adult life he served two pasturates, both just south of Edinburgh until his death in 1732.

In fact, he preached his final sermon from his deathbed.

Some of his faithful congregants gathered there in his home and surrounded his bed

and with his dying breath he preached his final sermon before he went on to his reward in heaven.

One of the things that Thomas Boston left behind was a book, and that book is called The Four Fold State. Now this idea in Thomas Boston's

book goes all the way back to Augustine and Thomas Boston took Augustine's idea and presented it in his book, The Fourfold State.

The Fourfold State speaks of the Fourfold State of us, of Christians. These four states are the state of innocence, the state of

nature, the state of grace, and the state of eternity. The state of

innocence of course refers to Adam. And Augustine used a Latin expression to

refer to Adam in that Latin expression or phrase is that Adam was posset, non-pacare. And what that phrase means is

Adam was able not to sin. Now that means that Adam had a certain creaturely freedom and an

ability to do that which was pleasing to God and to not sin. But at the fall, Adam lost that ability, and so Boston calls this second

state, the state of nature.

The Latin phrase to describe this is non-Pase, non-Pecare, not able, not to sin.

...