S I N 



this world, and in that which is to come. See Gen. iii. 8. 

 10. 34. Eph. ii. 2,3. 2 Tim. ii. 26. Gen. ii. 17. Lam. 

 iii. 39. Rom. vi. 23. Matt. xxv. 41. 46. Jude, v. 7. 



On the other hand, it is alleged, that the language of 

 man's finfulnefs confiiling in the guilt of Adam's tirll fin 

 is unfcriptural ; nor, in the nature of things, can our 

 finfulnefs conlift in the guilt of Adam's firft fin ; becaufe, 

 as we could not poiFibly commit that aftion in any fenfe, 

 fo we could not, upon account of it, become obnoxious 

 to punifhment. If the texts above cited prove that man's 

 nature by Adam's fin is fo corrupted, that man, 2. e. 

 men, are utterly indifpofed, difabled, and made oppofite 

 to all that is fpiritually good, that is, to all moral adions, 

 pleafing and acceptable to God, and wlioUy and continually 

 inclined to all manner of wickcdnefs, they would further 

 prove, that men are no moral agents, and that fin mull be 

 natural to us, and if natural, necefTary ; and if ncceflary, 

 with regard to us, it is no fin, with regard to us, or fo far 

 as we are concerned in it. For a further account of the 

 ftate of this controverfy, and of the arguments adduced for 

 and againit the doftrine of original fin, we refer to the 

 Aflembly's Catechifm ; Watts's Ruin and Recovery ; 

 Jennings's Vindication, &c. Chandler's Sermons, vol. iv. 

 Serm. I — 7. Bury-Street Left. vol. i. Limborch Theolog. 

 lib. iii. c. 4. ^ 1,2. Taylor's Scripture Doctrir:e of Ori- 

 ginal Sin, in Three Parts, with a Supplement, &c. ed. 4. 

 Ben Mordecai's Letters, Letter V. 



The Romilh cafuifts dillinguilh a8ual fins into mortal ; 

 which are fuch as make us lofe the grace of God ; and 

 venial, which alone are pardoned, as being only fins of in- 

 firmity, not of malice. See Poperv. 



Divines are not yet agreed what the fin againfl the Holy 

 Ghoft is. See Blasphemy aga'mjl the Holy Ghojl. 



Sin, Ph'tlofophkal, according to the doftrine of the Jefuits, 

 is an aftion, or courfe of aftion, that is repugnant to the 

 diftates of reafon, and yet not ofFenfive to the Deity. 



SINA, in Ancient Geography, a town of Afia, in Mar- 

 giana. Ptolemy. — Alfo, a town of Cappndocia, in the pre- 

 fefture of Cilicia. Id. — Alfo, a place in the ifle of Lefbos. 

 Strabo. 



SiNA, or Jujliniapolis, a town of Afia, in the Greater 

 Armenia. 



SINAAB, in Geography, a town of Algiers, in the pro- 

 vince of Tremecen, on the E. fide of the SliellifT; 72 miles 

 S.W. of Algiers. 



SINACA, in Ancient Geography, a town of Hyrcania. 

 Ptolemy. 



SINADIZAVA, in Geography, a town of Eur pean 

 Turkey, in Bulgaria, on the Ozma ; 12 miles E. of 

 Nicopoli. 



SINjE, in Ancient Geography, a people of India, accord- 

 ing to Ptolemy. It appears that their country extended 

 from Siam into a part of China. 



SINAI, Mount, in Geography, a famous mount of Ara- 

 bia Petrsea, on which God gave the law to Mofes. (Exod. 

 xix. I. xxiv. 16. xxxi. 18. xxxiv. 2. 4. &c. Levit. 

 xxv. I. xxvi. 46.) It is fitnated in a kind of peninfnla, 

 formed by the two arms of the Red fea, one extending 

 N. called the gulf of Kolfun ; the other extending E. called 

 the gulf of Elan. The Arabs call mount Sinai by 

 the name of " Tor," ;. e. the mountain, by way of ex- 

 cellence ; or " Jebbel Mufa," the mountain of Mofes ; 

 comprehending a range of mountains which rifes at the 

 interior extremity of the valley of Fazan, reftrifting the 

 name of Tor Sinai to that part of the range on which the 

 convent of St. Catharine ftands ; and diftant about 260 

 miles from Cairo. The wildernefs of Sinai, wliere the 

 I 



S I N 



Ifraelites continued encamped almoft a year, and where 

 Mofes erefted the tabernacle of the covenant, is confiderablr 

 elevated above the rell of the country ; the afcent to it is 

 very craggy, the greater part being cut out of the rock ; 

 and then you arrive at a large fpace of ground, which is 

 a plain furrounded on all fides by rocks and emmences, 

 whofe length is nearly twelve miles. Towards the extre- 

 mity of this plain, on the north, two high mountains appear, 

 the highelt of which is called Sinai, the other Horeb. 

 They are both of a very fteep afcent, and the ground on 

 which they Hand is mconfiderable, when compared with 

 their height. Sinai is one-third part higher than the other, 

 and its afcent more upright and difficult. The Greeks have 

 cut a flight of fteps up the rock. Pococke reckons 3000 of 

 thefe fteps to the top of the mountain, or rather bare, 

 pointed rock. T.vo German miles and a half up the mountain 

 ftands the convent of St. Catharine. The body of this 

 monallery is a building 120 feet in length, and almoft as 

 many in breadth. Before it ftands another fmall building, 

 in which is the only gate of the convent, and which remains 

 always (hut, except when the bifhop is there. At other 

 times, whatever is introduced within the convent, whether 

 men or provifions, is drawn up by the roof in a bafket, and 

 with a cord and pulley. The whole building is of hewn 

 ftone, which, in fuch a defart, muft have been conftruftcd 

 with great labour and expence. Within the walls is a 

 fmall mofque for the convenience of the Arabs. This 

 monailery belongs to Greek monks, who had in former 

 times only a tower erefted near the burning bufti of Mofes. 

 But being molcfted by the infults and depredations of the 

 Arabs, they petitioned the emperor Juftinian to build for 

 them a ftroiig monaftery for their future fecurity ; and the 

 emperor is faid to have complied with their requeft. Before 

 the convent is a large garden, planted with excellent fruit- 

 trees. According to the account of the Arabs, the monks 

 enter it by a fubterraneous paflage. Thefe Greek eccle- 

 fiaftics are not allowed to receive an European vifitor, with- 

 out an order from the bilhop of mount Sinai, who refides 

 ordinarily at Cairo. When the biftiop happens to be pre- 

 fent, the gate is opened, and the convent mull entertain all 

 the Arabs who come in there ; and this is a grievous 

 charge on the poor monks, who live merely on alms, and 

 whofe provifions, which they are obliged to bring from 

 Cairo, are often ftolen by the way. The Arabs are, in 

 general, very dangerous neighbours, as they often fire en 

 the convent from the adjacent rocks ; and ieize the mosks 

 whenever they find them without the walls of the monailery, 

 and refufe to releafe them without a confiderable ranfom. 



Five hundred fteps above the convent is found an excel- 

 lent fpring, which fuperftitious perfons have counted mira- 

 culous, as the mountain is lo high and fo barren. A thoufand 

 fteps higher ilands a chapel dedicated to the Bleffed Virgin ; 

 and joo above this, are two other chapels, fiti^ated in a plain, 

 which the traveller enters by two fmall gates of mafon-work. 

 Upon this plain are two trees, under which, at high fellivals, 

 the Arabs are regaled at the expence of the Greeks. Sinai 

 is held in great veneration, on account of the law which 

 God gave on this mountain. The whole mountain is a very 

 remarkable rock of red granite, interfperfed with fpots, to 

 which foil lias been brought by human labour, or waftied 

 down by rain, and in which grow almonotrees, figs, and 

 vines. Mount Horeb ftands W. of Sinai, fo that at fun- 

 rife the fliadow of Sinai covers Horeb. iSefide the little 

 fountain at the top of Sinai, there is another at the foot of 

 Horeb, which fupplies the monaftery of St. Catharine. At 

 a fmall diftance is Ihewn a ftone, four or five feet high, and 

 three broad, from which, it is pretended, Mofes caufed the 



water 



