#fallen men

Such is the degeneration of human nature, that it does not only practice sins, but glory in them. Man fallen is but man inverted and turned upside down; —— his love is where his hatred should be, and his hatred where his love should be; his glory where his shame should be, and his shame where his glory should be.—— Many count strictness a disgrace, and sin a bravery. The apostle saith, Phil. 3.19, `They glory in their shame., It cometh to pass some times through ignorance; men mistake evil for good, and so call revenge valour or resolution, and prosperity in an evil way the blessing of providence upon their zealous endeavours, and presumptuous carelessness a well-built confidence... First we practice sin, then defend it, then boast of it.

It is the will of God to transact with fallen men only by Christ. God leaves the whole affair of the redemption of mankind in Christ's hands. Christ not only procures holiness by the purchase of his blood, but he produces it by the power of his Spirit.

The Gothic (...) is preoccupied with the home. But it is the failed home that appears on its pages, the place from which some (usually “fallen” men) are locked out, and others (usually “innocent” women) are locked in.