Church authority does not remove the same inquisitive doubts
Third, the argument assumes that doubts human reason can raise against Scripture are cleared by the Church's authority. That too is false.
To someone asking how we know circulating books are the Apostles' and Prophets', or that there ever were Apostles and Prophets, it is not enough to say the Church so teaches — he will ask with equal right how we know the Church speaks truth and is led by the Spirit.
With so many Christian sects, how do we know this rather than that is the true Church — or that any Church of God is on earth at all? Then they have nothing left against such an inquirer but those marks and prejudices that make Rome's authority look credible to them.
But what we need here is not that kind of probability — it is what proves the matter to be of faith and can bear faith as its foundation. And if we did have to go there, we are ready to show that Scripture's authority is recommended by far more and surer arguments and marks than any Christian church's.
Latin
XXII. Tertio, istud argumentum supponit dubitationes illas quas adversus Scripturam movere potest humana ratio per Ecclesiae authoritatem tolli. Sed hoc quoque falsum est. Nam quaerenti unde scimus libros qui circumferuntur Apostolorum & Prophetarum esse, aut omnino fuisse Apostolos & Prophetas ullos, non satis fit dicendo Ecclesiam ita dicere & docere. Siquidem pari jure quaeret ille unde scimus Ecclesiam verum dicere, & duci a Spiritu sancto. At cum tot sint sectae inter Christianos, unde scimus hanc potius quam illam esse veram Ecclesiam, aut ullam omnino esse in terris Dei Ecclesiam. Certe tum ipsis nihil supererit quo se adversus ejusmodi percunctatorem tueantur, nisi notae & praejudicia illa quibus Ecclesiae Romanae authoritas ipsorum judicio redditur credibilis. Verum hic non quaeruntur ejusmodi argumenta, sed quae certo probent rem esse de fide, & quibus fides tanquam suo fundamento niti possit. Ac praeterea, si istuc deveniendum foret, promptum est nobis ostendere Scripturae authoritatem longe pluribus & certioribus argumentis & notis commendari, quam cujuscunque inter Christianos Ecclesiae authoritatem.
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.