Rome's first sufficiency attack: lost canonical books would leave doctrine incomplete
Rome's opening move: if Scripture were enough, either the whole Canon together would be enough, or each book by itself would be enough.
Neither works. Single books, cut off from the rest, do not hold every saving dogma — not every OT prophecy, not every NT epistle.
So sufficiency would have to belong to the whole Canon. Missing books would mean missing doctrine.
They claim many sacred books have perished: Nathan and Gad, Ahijah and Iddo, Solomon's songs and parables, plus a Laodicean letter and perhaps another Corinthian letter.
From today's incomplete Canon, they say, salvation's doctrine cannot be drawn sufficiently.
Latin
II. Primum ergo, ut probent Scripturam non continere omnia quae ad fidem & religionem necessaria sunt, in hunc modum argumentantur. Si Scripturae omnia necessaria ad fidem & salutem sufficienter continerent, id intelligendum esset, vel de toto Scripturae Canone, qui simul sumptus sufficiens esset; vel de singulis Scripturae partibus, quae singulae per se sufficerent. At neutrum dici potest. Et quidem de singulis libris manifestum est eos seorsim sumptos, & absque reliquo Scripturae corpore non continere omnia necessaria ad salutem. Nec enim prophetia quaevis Veteris Testamenti, aut Novi Testamenti Epistola quaelibet omnia fidei dogmata complectitur. Restat ergo, ut illa perfectio & sufficientia toti Scripturae sacrae Canoni tribuenda sit. Itaque ut habeatur integra salutis doctrina, necesse est ut integer Scripturae Canon habeatur. Quod si aliquid desit in Scripturae Canone, in doctrina quoque aliquid deficere necesse est. Jam autem non habetur integer Scripturae Canon. Igitur ex Scriptura, prout illam hodie habemus, doctrina salutis non potest sufficienter hauriri. Quod autem nunc non habeatur integer Scripturae Canon inde probant quod multi libri sacri interciderunt, tam ex Veteri, quam ex Novo Testamento. Et ex Veteri quidem Testamento libri Nathan & Gad Videntis, de quibus mentio fit cap. ult. lib. 1. Paralip. Et libri item Ahiae Scilonitae & Addo Videntis, de quibus mentio fit 2. Paralip. 9. hodie non extant amplius. Ut nec quinquies mille Salomonis Cantica, & tria millia parabolarum quae loquutus fuisse dicitur 1 Reg. 4. Ex Novo vero Testamento aiunt periisse Epistolam ad Laodicenses, cujus mentio fit, ut putant, ult. cap. Epist. ad Colos. Et forte aliam quandam Epistolam ad Corinthios, cujus mentio fieri videtur 1 Cor. 5.
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.