In these closing sections, Calvin presses the doctrine of original sin to its deepest and most uncomfortable conclusion: corruption does not merely touch the surface of human desire but penetrates the very center of the soul—mind, heart, and will alike. Sin has seized not only our appetites but the “citadel” of reason itself, blinding understanding and twisting judgment so thoroughly that nothing in us remains neutral or untouched (Romans 8:7; Ephesians 4:17–18). This devastation, however, must never be attributed to God as Creator. Calvin is careful here: our corruption is natural in the sense that it is inherited, but it is not original to creation. It is an alien infection, an adventitious wound introduced by Adam’s revolt, not a defect built into human nature by God (Ecclesiastes 7:29). Thus all attempts to blame God for hum ...