Bellarmine on the genus of image-cult: imperfect, analogical dulia/hyperdulia/latria
What genus of cult terminates on the image alone? Bellarmine: an imperfect, analogical cult.
Images get neither proper latria, hyperdulia, nor dulia—those belong to intelligent natures—but inferior reductive analogues keyed to what they represent.
Cited: De Ecclesia triumphante II.25.
Latin
XLVI. Inter hos vero Theologos, qui docent imagines adorari posse, non adorato simul exemplari, & peculiari cultu qui in ipsas terminetur, quaeritur Cujus generis sit cultus ille & quo nomine vocandus. Juxta Bellarminum. Cultus, qui per se, proprie debetur imaginibus, est cultus quidam imperfectus, qui analogice & reductive pertinet ad speciem ejus cultus qui debetur exemplari. Rem autem sic explicat ipse. Imaginibus non convenit proprie nec latria, nec hyperdulia, nec dulia, nec ullus alius eorum qui tribuuntur naturae intelligenti. Non enim est capax res inanima, & rationis expers ejusmodi cultuum: sed cultus quidam inferior & varius pro varietate imaginum. Itaque imaginibus sanctorum non debetur proprie dulia, sed cultus inferior, qui dici potest dulia secundum quid, vel dulia analogice, sive reductive. Similiter imaginibus Beatae Virginis non debetur hyperdulia simpliciter, sed hyperdulia secundum quid, sive analogice & reductive. Denique imaginibus Christi non debetur latria vera, & simpliciter, sed cultus sine comparatione inferior, qui tamen reducitur ad latriam, ut imperfectum ad perfectum. De Ecclesia triumphante lib. 2. cap. 25.
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.