Faith received Scripture as Canon for centuries before any solemn Church decree
The certainty with which believers receive sacred Scripture as the rule of faith does not hang on some public, solemn Church decree that confirms Scripture's divinity like an oracle. For ages Scripture was publicly known and received as the Canon of faith with no such decree at all.
For several centuries after the Apostles, no council and no pope sealed a fixed Canon or drew up a catalogue of the sacred books. The first council to review the number of Canonical books was Laodicea — not before the three-hundredth year from Christ's birth, and still a particular council, not a general one. Yet before Laodicea the Canon was already certain, and Scripture's authority was certain to the faithful.
Neither Laodicea nor the later councils that listed the sacred books aimed to give those books some new authority. They only marked and declared which books were already Canonical.
Latin
XXXVI. Praeterea quod certitudo fidei, qua Scripturam sacram fideles amplectuntur ut fidei regulam, non pendeat a publico et solemni aliquo Ecclesiae judicio, quo tanquam oraculo divina authoritas Scripturae confirmatur, inde patet quod, citra ullum ejusmodi judicium, Scriptura multis seculis publice innotuit et recepta est, tanquam fidei Canon. Etenim per aliquot annorum centurias a tempore Apostolorum, nullum Concilium, nec ullus Pontifex certum Scripturae Canonem consignavit, et librorum sacrorum catalogum contexuit. Nam primum Concilium in quo librorum Canonicorum numerus recensitus est Laodicenum fuit, quod non habitum est ante trecentesimum a Christo nato annum, et adhuc particulare fuit, non generale. At ante Concilium istud certus fuit Scripturae Canon, et certa fidelibus Scripturae authoritas. Neque Laodicenae Synodi, ut nec subsequentium Conciliorum quae librorum sacrorum numerum recensuerunt, scopus fuit novam quandam authoritatem libris illis acquirere, sed tantum indicare et declarare qui jam Canonici fuissent.
About this text
Louis Le Blanc de Beaulieu - Sedan Theological Theses, newly rendered from the 1675 London Latin. Covers De Theologia through Angelorum & Hominum Sanctorum Cultu Romana I-LXXVII and Pars Secunda (Reformata) I-XL. Not the collected folio.
English follows locked Pitt Latin through Imaginum CLOSED + Sanctorum Cultu Romana CLOSED + Pars Secunda Reformata I-XL. 1675 PDF ~384-390 (book ~370-376); Vision OCR + pdftotext + tess. No modern English. This slice densifies Sanctorum Pars Secunda I-XL. Next: Pars Secunda XLI–fin (~CI). Claim stays claimed (book densify not done).
Catalogue & scope
ESTC R17887; Wing L802. IA bub_gb_eOkHAW4G0-wC (+ EEBO 1675 for gap leaves). Densify through Sanctorum Cultu Romana I-LXXVII + Pars Secunda Reformata I-XL (Pars Secunda not closed; not whole folio).
Witnesses
- Copy-text Locked Latin, De Theologia I-XLIII (Pitt 1675) (Latin)
- Checked print Internet Archive PDF of the 1675 Pitt folio (Latin)
- Checked print pdftotext of De Theologia pages (Latin)
- Checked print Internet Archive DjVu OCR of the 1675 Pitt folio (Latin)
- Copy-text Locked Latin, De Fide I-XXII (Pitt 1675) (Latin)
- Copy-text Locked Latin, De Authoritate Scripturae Pars I I-XLVII + Pars II I-XXXV + Pars III I-VIII (Pitt 1675) (Latin)
- Copy-text Locked Latin, De Scripturae plenitudine densify (Pitt 1675) (Latin)
This is an AI-assisted study translation. Source fidelity and completeness have not been independently certified. Open Latin on each section (or the Latin source witness link) for the source text. This is not a complete critical edition.