Theological Theses · §1187

Why Reformed call assurance ‘certainty of faith’: it rests partly on a revealed premise, partly on experience

Reformed call assurance ‘certainty of faith’ because one premise is revealed and the other is experiential self-knowledge of living faith.

Not everything referred to faith’s assent shares the same necessity as truths resting wholly on divine testimony.

Latin

XXVII. Solenne quidem est Scholae Reformatae Theologis certitudinem fidei vocare, illam qua quis confidit, se esse Deo reconciliatum, & sibi per Christi sanguinem peccata fuisse remissa: sed id ab illis ideo fit quod certitudo illa nitatur altera propositione in verbo Dei revelata, hac scilicet, Quicunque credit in Christum remissionem habet peccatorum in sanguine ejus. Altera vero quae fideli nota est interno sensu & experientia, nempe quod ipse vere credit in Christum, & fiduciam suam in morte illius collocat. Fidelis enim, dum seipsum excutit, & animi sui motus occultos examinat, proculdubio sentire & percipere potest se non ficte in Christum credere, seque Deum serio amare, & illius timore duci; quae vivae fidei sunt signa & τεκμήρια. Hoc autem sufficere putant ut aliquid ad fidei assensum referatur; nimirum, si deducatur ex una propositione quam Deus in Verbo suo revelarit, & ex altera quae experientia, aut alia quadam ratione certa sit. Nec tamen propterea censent quicquid ad fidei assensum refertur, esse ejusdem omnino rationis & necessitatis. Nam ad fidem aliqua ratione pertinet quicquid testimonio divino ullo modo nititur. Sed sunt quaedam quae testimonio divino nituntur in solidum: alia vero quae ex parte quidem divino testimonio; ex parte vero humano sensu, testimonio, vel ratiocinio. Quae autem sunt prioris generis proculdubio majus aliquid habent, quam quae sunt posterioris.

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

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.