Unwritten viva-voce deposit would corrupt — Scripture alone a certain rule
Scripture alone is a certain rule of faith; traditions proposed outside it are doubtful and uncertain.
If any part of Christian doctrine had been left by the Apostles only viva voce, committed to memory and never written, it either would not have reached us, or would have reached us thick with corruptions — so that pure truth could hardly be separated from human inventions.
Men's perversity, ignorance, and negligence easily bury, erase, or adulterate what is trusted only to care and memory. Writing is needed for a sure and accurate record.
What is not written soon vanishes from memory or is tangled in fables until true and false cannot be told apart.
Philosophers' opinions and commonwealth institutes left only to memory have perished, except scraps someone happened to write. Of past deeds and sayings we have nothing certain except what books kept as faithful custodians.
If writing is needed anywhere, it is needed most in religion and worship — where people are by nature forgetful and quick to invent.
Ask Rome where the Jews' alleged Mosaic and prophetic oral traditions are now: even Rome cannot say what they contained. Of Jewish religion and worship we know nothing certain except from Moses and the Prophets in writing.
Latin
XXXII. Praeterea solam Scripturam esse certam fidei regulam, traditiones vero quae extra illam proponuntur dubias & incertas esse, inde patet quod si qua pars doctrinae Christianae ab Apostolis solum viva voce tradita, & memoriae hominum commissa, non vero etiam scriptis mandata esset, certe vel illa ad nos non pervenisset, vel saltem non sine multis corruptelis & depravationibus; adeo ut vix purum ab impuro, germanaque ac sincera veritas ab humanis figmentis & commentis addititiis discerni & secerni posset. Tanta est enim hominum perversitas, ignorantia & negligentia, ut quae simpliciter eorum curae & memoriae commissa sunt, oblivioni facile mandentur, & penitus obliterentur, aut saltem variis modis corrumpantur & adulterentur. Ideoque Scripturae usus plane necessarius est ad certam & accuratam rerum memoriam servandam. Quae vero scriptis consignata non sunt, brevi ex hominum memoria delentur, aut fabulis ita implicantur ut verum a falso distingui non possit. Quod multis experienciis manifestum reddi posset. Nam placita Philosophorum, & instituta Rerumpublicarum quae literis tradita non sunt, sed tantum hominum memoriae commissa penitus interierunt, neque de iis quicquam amplius scitur, nisi si quid forte obiter ab aliquo literis mandatum est. Denique de omnibus illis quae praeteritis temporibus sive gesta, sive dicta sunt, nihil certi habemus praeter ea quae libris tanquam fidis custodibus data sunt asservanda. Si autem Scripturae usus ullibi necessarius est, certe praesertim in iis quae ad religionem & cultum divinum pertinent, circa quae homines natura maxime obliviosi sunt, & ad mentiendum & confingendum proni. Atque in hujus rei fidem Pontificios rogare possumus, ubi nunc sint illae Judaeorum traditiones quas volunt illos a Mose & Prophetis accepisse. Certe ne ipsi quidem Pontificii explicare audent, aut possunt quid traditionibus illis continebatur. Neque de Judaeorum religione & cultu quicquam certi hodie habemus aliunde quam ex Mosis & Prophetarum scriptis.
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.