Fathers

Two Dissertations · §45

Cap. 5 first member: Evangelical preaching and placability under the faith-condition

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With this distinction or explanation of the word reconciliation set down, let us now return to the proposed thesis, whose prior member, to be confirmed by us in the prior place, stood thus: By the very fact of the death of Christ God is so far reconciled to any human being that he may truly be said ready to admit any into grace, even to eternal life, if only he has believed. We will dispatch this matter with fewer words, because the things we disputed about the universal pact, stabilized by the death of Christ under the condition of faith, all look toward this: yet we will add some things.

First, therefore, the very tenor of our Evangelical preaching demonstrates this. For what else do we preach to impious human beings and those still unbelieving, than that by the death of Christ it has been effected that the Divine will now stands toward the human race far otherwise than it would have stood with this death of Christ shut out? Namely, that that just God who without the blood of the Mediator would have breathed nothing other than wrath and death against us all and each, now placated by the blood of the Redeemer is ready to indulge pardon and life to all and each, provided they present themselves as suppliants and as believing in the Mediator. God would never order Ministers to preach this promiscuously to human beings unless he were in fact so disposed in mind. For the Gospel is a word of truth (Colossians 1:5), which announces nothing false or vain to sinners. But it pronounces and promises that God is so far placated and reconciled by the merit and efficacy of the blood of Christ poured out on the cross that he is ready to embrace any sinner whenever he has repented and believed: Therefore, the importunate speculation of election and reprobation set aside, the aforesaid efficacy of the death of Christ ought to be acknowledged toward all and each, and promiscuously proclaimed.

Second, that actual reconciliation of any singular person which is promised and exhibited to any believer because of the merit of crucified Christ presupposes that prior grade of reconciliation whereby God is understood so placated by the death of Christ that he already wills, under the condition of faith performed, to return into grace with any sinner. Whoever therefore confesses that any human being, however burdened with sins, as soon as he has believed is received into grace because of the death and merit of Christ, ought not to deny that by the death of Christ this has been effected toward all and each, that they have God ready, even obligated, to grant this benefit of reconciliation under the aforesaid condition to any. The antecedent is confirmed. Because we cannot even think the act of reconciliation or of perpetual remission going out as it were by law and terminated to any believing person at the very moment when he has apprehended the Mediator by true faith, unless we simultaneously think and acknowledge that the Divine will by the death of Christ is so prepared and predisposed that it leans toward exhibiting this favor to any human being, provided he has believed. This propensity or readiness of the Divine will to indulge pardon and grace to any human being as soon as he has performed the condition of faith I notice expressed by some with the word placability or reconciliability: which placability or reconciliability, obtained by the passion of Christ considered in itself, I do not understand why certain theologians reject so superciliously. For God would not be actually placated and reconciled to any human being as soon as he believed — that is, the condition of faith performed — unless he were placable and reconciliable to any human being before he believed — that is, under the condition of faith to be performed.

Here certain theologians object against us: Therefore on our view God will not be reconciled and placated to the sinful human being through and because of the death of Christ, but only reconciliable and placable: likewise the human being through the death of Christ is not reconciled to God, but reconciliable under a certain condition, namely of faith.

Latin

Posita hac vocabuli reconciliationis sive distinctione sive explicatione, jam revertamur ad thesin propositam, cujus prius membrum priore loco a nobis confirmandum, sic se habuit, Ipso facto mortis Christi Deus eatenus reconciliatus est cuivis homini, ut vere dicatur paratus quemvis in gratiam, imo ad vitam aeternam, admittere, si modo crediderit. Eo paucioribus hanc rem expediemus, quod quae de universali pacto, per mortem Christi sub conditione fidei stabilito, disputavimus, huc spectant omnia: nonnulla tamen adjiciemus. Primo igitur ipse tenor praedicationis nostrae Evangelicae hoc demonstrat. Quid enim aliud praedicamus hominibus impiis et adhuc incredulis, quam morte Christi effectum esse, ut Divina voluntas longe aliter jam erga humanum genus se habeat quam habuisset seclusa hac morte Christi? Nimirum quod Deus ille justus, qui absque sanguine Mediatoris nil aliud quam iram et mortem spirasset adversus nos omnes et singulos, jam placatus sanguine redemtoris veniam vitamque omnibus et singulis paratus sit indulgere, modo supplices atque in Mediatorem credentes sese praebeant. Deus nunquam juberet Ministros hoc promiscue hominibus praedicare, nisi reapse ita esset animo comparatus. Evangelium siquidem est sermo veritatis, Coloss. i. 5. quod nihil falsum aut vanum peccatoribus annunciat. Pronunciat autem promittitque Deum eatenus placatum et reconciliatum merito et efficacia sanguinis Christi in cruce suffusi ut paratus sit ad quemlibet peccatorem amplexandum, quandocunque poenituerit et crediderit: Ergo, seposita electionis et reprobationis importuna speculatione, quoad omnes et singulos praedicta Christi mortis efficacia agnosci debet, et promiscue depraedicari. Secundo, actualis illa reconciliatio cujuscunque personae singularis, quae promittitur et exhibetur cuivis credenti propter meritum Christi crucifixi, praesupponit illam priorem gradum reconciliationis, quo Deus ita Christi morte placatus intelligitur, ut velit jam sub fidei conditione praestita cum quolibet peccatore redire in gratiam. Qui igitur fatentur quemvis hominem, quantumvis peccatis onustum, simulac crediderit, propter Christi mortem meritumque in gratiam recipi, negare non debeat Christi morte hoc effectum esse quoad omnes et singulos, ut habeant Deum paratum, imo obligatum, ad beneficium hoc reconciliationis sub praedicta conditione cuivis concedendum. Confirmatur antecedens. Quia ne cogitare quidem possumus actum reconciliationis sive remissionis perpetui quasi lege exeuntem et terminatum ad quamlibet personam credentem, eo ipso momento quo vera fide Mediatorem apprehenderit, nisi simul cogitemus et agnoscamus, Divinam voluntatem morte Christi ita esse quasi praeparatam et praedispositam ut propendeat in hunc favorem exhibendum cuivis homini, modo crediderit. Hanc propensionem sive prontitudinem Divinae voluntatis ad veniam et gratiam cuivis homini indulgondam, simulac fidei conditionem praestiterit, a nonnullis placabilitatis sive reconciliabilitatis vocabulo expressam animadverto: Quam placabilitatem sive reconciliabilitatem, ipsa passione Christi in se considerata impetratam, cur quidam Theologi tam superciliose rejiciant ego non intelligo. Deus etenim non esset actu placatus et reconciliatus cuivis homini, simulac crederet, hoc est, praestita fidei conditione, nisi esset placabilis et reconciliabilis cuivis homini antequam crederet, id est, sub praestanda fidei conditione. Hic nobis objiciunt quidam Theologi, Ergo ex nostra sententia Deus non erit reconciliatus et placatus homini peccatori per et propter mortem Christi, sed tantum reconciliabilis et placabilis: homo item per mortem Christi non reconciliatus Deo, sed reconciliabilis sub certa quadam conditione, nempe fidei.

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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