A rule need not prove itself — canonicity not required from Scripture
The fullness and sufficiency we give sacred Scripture do not require that Scripture prove its own principles — for example, that this or that book is divine and canonical.
Any rule is perfect when it measures everything else of its kind. It need not be the rule of itself.
No science asks its first principles to prove themselves; that is absurd and impossible. Principles are perfect enough in their kind if from them everything belonging to that science can be proved.
Latin
XV. Sed plenitudo & sufficientia quam Scripturae sacrae tribuimus, nullo modo requirit, ut ex ea fidei principia probari & demonstrari possint, verbi gratia, hunc, aut illum librum divinum esse atque Canonicum. Etenim cujusvis regulae perfectio in eo consistit, ut sit reliquorum omnium quae sunt ejusdem generis mensura, minime vero ut sit regula sui ipsius. Neque in ulla disciplina requiritur in principiis, ut seipsa probent & demonstrent, quod absurdum est & impossibile, sed in suo genere sat perfecta habentur, si ex iis omnia quae ad talem scientiam, & disciplinam pertinent, probari & demonstrari possint.
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.