Theological Theses · §239

Forged or doubted apostolic writings do not level Scripture with oral tradition

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Rome objects: forged 'apostolic' writings once circulated, and even true apostolic books were doubted among the faithful — so if that undercuts unwritten tradition, Scripture's authority falls too.

The objection fails on our side. We do not hang Scripture's authority on Church doctors' testimony. The faithful receive Scripture immediately, for its own sake, because it carries the marks of its divinity in itself.

Old doubts about certain books therefore do not prejudice Scripture among us.

We reject Rome's traditions not merely because some doubted them, but because they fight Scripture and have nothing in them that can claim divine authority.

Rome, by contrast, makes both written and unwritten 'word of God' hang on doctors' testimony. If those early doctors — the only chain by which later ages learned 'apostolic' traditions — were themselves uncertain, various, and often deceived, then on Rome's own principles those traditions have no certain authority.

Latin

XXXIX. At, inquiunt, adversarii, Apostolis etiam multa scripta olim falso supposita sunt, & de quibusdam veris Apostolorum scriptis apud fideles ipsos dubitatum est. Igitur, si hoc argumentum traditionis non scriptae authoritatem tollit, ipsi Scripturae sua non constabit authoritas. Verum haec instantia nec apud nos Scripturae authoritatem evertit, nec argumenti nostri vim contra Pontificias traditiones imminuere potest. Neque enim Scripturae sacrae authoritatem quoad nos pendere volumus a testimonio doctorum Ecclesiae, sed Scripturam a fidelibus immediate & propter se suscipi statuimus, ut quae in se habeat divinitatis suae argumenta & notas insitas: adeoque quorumdam olim dubitatio de quibusdam Scripturae libris authoritati ejus apud nos nihil praejudicare potest. Nec etiam simpliciter traditiones rejicimus, quod quidam olim de iis dubitarunt, sed quia sunt Scripturae adversae, nec in se quicquam habent quo divina ipsis authoritas conciliari possit. Pontificii vero verbi Dei tam scripti, quam non scripti authoritatem quoad nos pendere statuunt a testimonio doctorum Ecclesiae. Adeoque, si prisci Ecclesiae Doctores, ex quorum relatione atque testimonio Ecclesia posteriorum saeculorum accepit traditiones suas, nec aliunde didicit illas ab Apostolis originem habere, si, inquam, prisci illi Ecclesiae Doctores de istis traditionibus tam incerti & varii erant, & eorum plerique in iis discernendis lapsi & decepti sunt, juxta placita Pontificiorum nulla certa authoritas ipsis constare potest.

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

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.