Perpetual consensus is strong human proof — not divine pastor-authority
So when a book of Scripture is disputed — whether it is truly prophetic and apostolic, and was sealed with the rest of the canon by the apostles or apostolic men — we grant that the best argument is the Church's perpetual, constant consensus and testimony, which has always referred that book to the apostles as authors or approvers.
Faith cannot be withdrawn from that witness without great shamelessness and stubbornness. We know no fitter argument for answering a sectarian or a heretic.
Yet the argument is human, not divine. Its force does not lie in some infallible, divine authority residing in the Church's overseers. That is not required for the argument to stand.
In literary questions no such infallible judging-authority can even be invented; yet the continuous consensus of the learned that ascribes certain books to Aristotle, Plato, or Galen is enough for full confidence, and anyone who fought it would rightly be thought shameless and mad.
How much more, then, does the Church's consensus — which no one doubts is ruled by God's special providence and the Spirit's help — give us confidence that this or that book was written by an apostle or prophet and recommended as divine.
Latin
XLI. Itaque quum liber aliquis Scripturae in controversiam vocatur, & dubitatur an vere sit Propheticus & Apostolicus, & cum caetero Canone consignatus ab Apostolis aut viris Apostolicis, agnoscimus optimum hujus rei argumentum duci posse ab Ecclesiae perpetuo & constanti consensu & testimonio, quo liber ille semper relatus est ad Apostolos ut authores sive approbatores, cui testimonio fides derogari non potest, absque magna impudentia atque pervicacia. Nec ullum putamus esse argumentum magis idoneum quo revinci possit homo sectarius, sive haereticus. Nec tamen argumentum istud est divinum, sed humanum, neque vis ejus in eo consistit, quod in Ecclesiae praepositis resideat infallibilis & divina quaedam authoritas. Id enim necesse non est ut argumentum subsistat, & vim suam habeat. Nam in iis qui rem literariam tractant nulla fingi potest talis judicandi infallibilis authoritas. Et tamen perpetuus literatorum consensus qui libros quosdam ascribit Aristoteli, Platoni, & Galeno, sufficit ad plenam fidem faciendam; & si quis contra niti vellet, jure merito protervus & insanus haberetur. Quanto magis ergo consensus Ecclesiae, quam non est dubium peculiari Dei providentia, & Spiritus sancti assistentia regi, fidem faciet librum hunc vel illum ab Apostolo vel Propheta conscriptum, & pro divino commendatum esse.
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.