Theological Theses · §281

Further squeeze: even an infallible Pope or Council cannot prove its own legitimacy or pure decrees

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For faith to rest sure, you need more than an infallible Pope or Council — you need certainty that this Pope and this Council are the legitimate ones.

Neither can prove its own legitimacy by its own testimony.

Even if legitimacy is granted, you still need certainty that the decrees and canons reached you uncorrupted.

So Rome's rule would demand yet another divine word beyond Scripture, tradition, papal decrees, and conciliar canons — or faith has no sure foundation.

Latin

XXXVII. Deinde sic urgebo, ut fides mea certum fundamentum habeat, non tantum necesse est ut sciam Ecclesiam infallibile testimonium perhibere, sive per Concilium, sive per summum Pontificem; sed praeterea ut certus sim legitimum esse Pontificem illum cujus testimonium audio, & legitimum quoque Concilium cujus decreta mihi objiciuntur. De hoc autem non possum certus reddi per testimonium sive Pontificis, sive Concilii ipsius. Nam proprio testimonio sufficienter nihil probari potest. Ac praeterea posito quod talis Pontifex fuerit legitimus, & legitimum tale Concilium, oportet ut certus sim sincerum & incorruptum ad manus meas pervenisse Pontificis decretum, & similiter sinceros & incorruptos Canones Concilii. Itaque necesse est ut non tantum praeter Scripturam & traditiones, sed etiam praeter ipsa Pontificum decreta, & Conciliorum Canones, sit in Ecclesia quoddam Dei verbum, quo certus reddar legitimum esse Pontificem istum, & Concilium istud, & decreta Pontificum, ac Conciliorum statuta, quae mihi in manus traduntur, sincera esse atque incorrupta, alioqui fides mea non nitetur certo fundamento, neque fides dicenda erit, quandoquidem fides verbo Dei nititur.

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.