Two Dissertations · §438

Cap. VI thesis vs Remonstrants; Faustus Semipelagian axioms exploded

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Remonstrants say and defend that the predestination or election decree falls on no one God has not foreseen and considered as believing and persevering in faith to life's last habit. We say predestination precedes that foresight — so only those are foreseen and considered by God as perseveringly believing whom God by the antecedent purpose of his election decreed to make such and, having made them, to lead to eternal life. We therefore explode Faustus the Semipelagian's axioms, not far from Remonstrant mind: Salvation of men is placed not in the Maker's predestination but in the servant's operation. There was no special divine munificence toward believers. Predestination is not cause of certain goods. Predestination pertains to justice. Unless foreknowledge has explored, predestination decrees nothing. Against all these we set ours: predestination of singular persons to life arises from God's mere good pleasure, not from any foresight operations of the human will — nay, of all good operations leading to eternal life, election's grace is the antecedent cause and fountain, not a following reward or wage. Now to arguments: mere divine good pleasure, not foresight faith on one side and unbelief on the other, makes the first discrimination of elect and passed-by.

Latin

Dicunt etenim et defendunt Remonstrantes, decretum praedestinationis sive electionis non cadere in quenquam, quem Deus non praevidit et consideravit ut credentem et ad extremum usque vitae habitum in fide perseverantem. Nos autem dicimus, praedestinationem antecedere hanc praevisionem; ita ut illi soli a Deo praevideantur et considerentur tanquam perseveranter credentes, quos Deus antecedente electionis suae proposito decrevit tales facere, factosque ad vitam aeternam perducere. Explodimus igitur illa Fausti Semipelagiani axiomata, quae non multum abludunt a mente et sententia Remonstrantium: qualia sunt; Salus hominum non in praedestinatione Factoris, sed in operatione famulantis collocata est. Non fuit specialis aliqua Dei munificentia erga credentes. Praedestinatis non est aliquorum bonorum causa. Praedestinatio ad justitiam pertinet. Nisi praescientia exploraverit, praedestinatio nihil decernit. Hisce omnibus opponimus hanc sententiam nostram; Praedestinationem singularium personarum ad vitam ex mero Dei beneplacito oriri, et non ex praevisis ullis humanae voluntatis operationibus: quin-etiam omnium bonarum operationum quae ad vitam aeternam ducunt, gratiam electionis causam antecedaneam ac fontem esse, non praemium aut mercedem sequentem. Argumentis jam agamus, ac ostendamus, merum Dei beneplacitum, non praevisam fidem ex una parte, et infidelitatem ex altera, facere primam discriminationem electorum et praeteritorum.

About this text

John Davenant — Dissertationes duae from the 1650 Cambridge Latin. Honest partial through De praedestinatione Cap. 1 subject tip; Cap. 1 mid-Thesis and remainder remain; De praedestinatione Cap. 1 Prolegomena IV distinguishing conditions tip; De praedestinatione Cap. II Variae (Pelagian opening) tip; De praedestinatione Cap. II Scholastici / Vasquez Arg. 1 tip; De praedestinatione Cap. II Arg. 2 praescientia tip; De praedestinatione Cap. II Arg. 3 (1 Cor. 2:9) tip; De praedestinatione Cap. II Arg. 4 (2 Tim. 2:21) tip; De praedestinatione Cap. II Arg. 5 (1 Tim. 2:4) tip; De praedestinatione Cap. II Arg. 6 (James 2:5) tip; De praedestinatione Cap. II Arg. 7 (Apoc. 3:11) tip; De praedestinatione Cap. III Rat. 1 (common inefficacious will) tip; De praedestinatione Cap. III Rat. 2 (Vasquez physical vs moral media) tip; De praedestinatione Cap. III Rat. 3 (king/prize / victory foresight) tip; De praedestinatione Cap. III Rat. 4 (optimum modus / crown of justice) tip; De praedestinatione Cap. III Rat. 5 (acceptor personarum) tip; De praedestinatione Cap. III Rat. 6 (misericordia/congruitas) tip; De praedestinatione Cap. III Rat. 7 (equal disposition) tip; De praedestinatione Cap. III Rat. 8 (few saved / major part) tip; De praedestinatione Cap. III Rat. 9 (Stephen / glory from others' sins) tip; De praedestinatione Cap. III Rat. 10 (mere beneplacitum / Predestinati) tip; De praedestinatione Cap. III reprobation ratio (foresight of sin) tip; De praedestinatione Cap. III Rat. 12 (efficacious election / free choice) tip; De praedestinatione Cap. III Rat. 13 (hortation/prayer) tip; De praedestinatione Cap. III Rat. 14 (decree/execution conformity) tip; De praedestinatione Cap. IV Arminianorum open tip; De praedestinatione Cap. IV Arg. 1 Sol tip; De praedestinatione Cap. IV Arg. 7 (τρόπος; Rom. 9:22) tip; De praedestinatione Cap. IV Arg. 8 (ordo exsecutionis) tip; De praedestinatione Cap. IV Arg. 9 (Christus fundamentum) tip; De praedestinatione Cap. V Obj. 1 (amor ad salutem) tip; De praedestinatione Cap. V Obj. 2 (actualis vitae datio) tip; De praedestinatione Cap. V Obj. 3 (qualis existens) tip; De praedestinatione Cap. V Obj. 4 (justitiae satisfactio) tip; De praedestinatione Cap. V Obj. 5 (natura vitae aeternae) tip; De praedestinatione Cap. V Obj. 6 (Christus a decreto) tip; De praedestinatione Cap. V Obj. 7 (Evangelium invertitur) tip; De praedestinatione Cap. V Obj. 8 (arcana/revelata) tip; De praedestinatione Cap. VI (Orthodoxa sententia) tip; De praedestinatione Cap. VI Arg. 2 (gratia specialis) tip; De praedestinatione Cap. VI Arg. 3 (Scripturae) tip; De praedestinatione Cap. VI Arg. 4 (vocatio) tip; De praedestinatione Cap. VI Arg. 5 (adjutorium) tip; De praedestinatione Cap. VI Arg. 7 (inconveniens) tip; De praedestinatione Cap. VI Arg. 8 (perseverantia) tip; De praedestinatione Cap. VI Arg. 9 (unica ratio) tip; De praedestinatione Cap. VI Arg. 10 (abyssus) tip; De praedestinatione Cap. VI Arg. 11 (efficacia) tip; De praedestinatione Cap. VI Arg. 12 (segregativum) tip; De praedestinatione Cap. VI Arg. 13 (pura gratia) tip; De praedestinatione Cap. VII open (reprobatio) tip; De praedestinatione Cap. VII Junius trifariam tip; De praedestinatione Cap. VIII open (adversariorum) tip; Cap. VIII peccata-causa tip; Cap. VIII fewer-reprobates tip; Cap. VIII Argentina tip; Cap. VIII dives-misericordia tip; Cap. VIII Corvinus tip into Cap. IX; Cap. IX Ab Adae tip; Cap. IX Ab Adae Christus omnibus+Minor tip; Cap. IX Arg. 3 Sol tip; Cap. IX vocatione Evangelica tip; Cap. IX vocatione Sol cont. tip; Cap. IX Arg. 6 Sol cont. tip.

English follows locked 1650 Cambridge Latin of De morte Christi Cap. 1-6 opening (origin + Thesis 1 + Cap. 2 Rat. 1-ultima + Cap. 3 Satisfit through Obj. 17 + Cap. 4 Thesis 2 tip through Mem. 1 close + Cap. 4 Mem. 2 through Mem. 3 tip + Cap. 4 Mem. 3 possible-faith through Thesis 2 close + Cap. 5 Thesis 3 tip through Mem. 2 Scripture close + Cap. 5 Mem. 2 Rat. 1-4 + Cap. 5 Mem. 2 Fathers tip + Cap. 5 Mem. 2 Huberiana objections tip through Obj. 3 Solut close + Cap. 5 Mem. 2 elect-from-eternity objections tip through Obj. 3 Solut close + Cap. 5 Mem. 2 Scripture elect objections tip through Cap. 5 thesis close + Cap. 6 opening tip through Arg. 1 close before Arg. 2), reconstructed from the Internet Archive PDF (pdftotext + tesseract) of the Roger Daniel folio with DjVu OCR check. The 1683 reprint was not used as copy-text. No modern English was copied.

Witnesses

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