Fathers alleged to refute heretics from Church authority alone
Finally, when heretics rejected or doubted many books whose authority was always sure among the Orthodox, many Roman doctors try to show that the Fathers refuted them from the Church's authority, consent, and testimony, by which they vindicated those books' divinity and authority.
So Augustine on Acts, which the Manichees denied: I must believe this book if I believe the Gospel, since Catholic authority recommends both Scriptures to us alike. And against the same: The authority of our books, strengthened by so many nations' confession through the successions of Apostles, bishops, and councils, stands against you; yours has none, being put forward by so few.
From this and the like they conclude that our faith about sacred Scripture hangs on the Church's judgment, and that its authority, testimony, and consent are the rule and plumbline by which all Scripture must be tested so we can be sure of it — citing Augustine's famous line, I would not believe the Gospel unless the Catholic Church's authority moved me.
And elsewhere the same holy man: The faithful mind will keep this measure in the Canonical Scriptures — prefer what all Catholic churches receive to what some refuse; and among books not received by all, prefer what more and weightier churches receive to what fewer churches of lesser standing hold.
Latin
XXIX. Denique, cum multi libri quorum authoritas semper certa fuit apud Orthodoxos, ab haereticis rejecti aut in dubium vocati sint, in eo multi sunt Pontificii, ut ostendant Patres refellisse illos haereticos ex authoritate, consensu, & testimonio Ecclesiae, quibus librorum istorum divinitatem & authoritatem vindicarunt & asseruerunt. Ita enim ex. gr. Augustinus loquitur de Actis Apostolorum, quorum authoritatem Manichaei negabant, Huic libro necesse est me credere, si credo Evangelio: cum utramque Scripturam pariter nobis Catholica commendet authoritas. Et adversus eosdem Manichaeos, Nostrorum, inquit, librorum authoritas tot gentium confessione, per successiones Apostolorum, Episcoporum, Conciliorumque roborata, vobis adversa est: Vestrorum autem nulla est, quae a tam paucis profertur, &c. Ex quibus & similibus concludunt Pontificii fidem nostram de Scriptura sacra ab Ecclesiae judicio pendere: ejusque authoritatem, testimonium & consensum esse regulam & amussim, ad quam Scriptura omnis probanda & examinanda est, ut certo de ea nobis constare possit: juxta celebre illud Augustini, Ego vero Evangelio non crederem nisi me Catholicae Ecclesiae commoveret authoritas. Et quod alibi dicit idem vir sanctus. Tenebit hunc modum fidelis animus in Scripturis Canonicis, ut eas quae ab omnibus accipiuntur Ecclesiis Catholicis praeponat eis quas quaedam non accipiunt. De iis vero quae non accipiuntur ab omnibus, praeferet eas quas plures gravioresque accipiunt, eis quas pauciores minorisque authoritatis Ecclesiae tenent.
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.