"A mere existence or being is an indifferent thing, ('tis a Rasa Tabula) that may be coloured over with sin or holiness: and accordingly it receives its value from these; as a picture is esteemed not from the materials upon which it is drawn, but from the draught itself."
— South, Robert (1634-1716)
Author
Place of Publication
London
Publisher
Printed for Charles Bathurst
Date
1744
Metaphor
"A mere existence or being is an indifferent thing, ('tis a Rasa Tabula) that may be coloured over with sin or holiness: and accordingly it receives its value from these; as a picture is esteemed not from the materials upon which it is drawn, but from the draught itself."
Metaphor in Context
2. Sin disengages God from shewing love to the creature, by taking away that similitude that is between God and him; which (as has been observed) was one cause of that love. The creature, indeed, still retains that resemblance of God that consists in being; but the greatest resemblance, that consists in moral perfections, this is totally lost and defaced. A mere existence or being is an indifferent thing, ('tis a Rasa Tabula) that may be coloured over with sin or holiness: and accordingly it receives its value from these; as a picture is esteemed not from the materials upon which it is drawn, but from the draught itself. Holiness elevates the worth of the being in which it is, and is of more value than the being itself. As in scarlet, the bare dye is of greater value than the cloath. Sin debases the being in which it is; and makes the soul more unlike God, in respect of its qualities, than it is like him in respect of its substance. 'Tis not the alliance of flesh and blood, but the resemblance of virtue, that makes the greatest likeness between the father and son. [...]
(vol.viii, p. 124)
(vol.viii, p. 124)
Categories
Provenance
Searching "tabula rasa" in ECCO
Citation
Found searching in ECCO: see Five Additional Volumes of Sermons Preached Upon Several Occasions. By Robert South, D. D. Late Prebendary of Westminster, and Canon of Christ-Church, Oxon. Now First Printed from the Author’s Manuscripts. With the Chief Heads of the Sermons Prefix’d to Each Volume: and a General Index of the Principal Matters. (London: Printed for Charles Bathurst, opposite St. Dunstan’s Church in Fleet-Street, 1744). <Link to ESTC>
Theme
Blank Slate
Date of Entry
10/10/2006
