Reply: superstition hides mysteries — Christian truth is not ashamed
Reply: hiding mysteries is superstition's habit — pagans barred the crowd.
Christian truth is not ashamed; Tertullian: it blushes only at being hidden.
Prudence still holds — milk for babes, solid food for the mature; do not cast pearls.
Writing the Gospel is not casting pearls: Rome's own summas and catechisms already publish every Mass mystery Bellarmine calls tremendous.
Latin
XXXIII. Respondeo, proprium esse superstitionis occultare sua mysteria, & plebem ab eis arcere, ut Ethnici olim faciebant. Sed religionem Christianam sui ipsius non pudet; ac, ut ait Tertullianus, veritas Christi nihil erubescit nisi abscondi. Itaque religio Christiana nemini sui notitiam invidet, sed ad eam ipsos infideles invitat. Fateor quidem hac in re prudentia aliqua opus esse. Nam monet Christus sanctum non esse dandum canibus, nec margaritas porcis objiciendas esse. Aliter etiam agendum cum parvulis in Christo, aliter cum perfectis. Et prioribus quidem lac praebendum est, posterioribus, cibus solidus reservandus. Itaque Pastorum atque Doctorum est hac in re auditorum suorum rationem habere, & doctrinam Evangelii, quam ex Scripturis hauriunt, dextre & ad captum eorum, qui audiunt, proponere, nec temere religionis Christianae mysteria profanis & impiis ridenda exponere. Sed contra prudentiam istam, a Christo ipso praeceptam, non peccarunt Evangelistae & Apostoli nostri, dum integrum Evangelium breviter & summatim scriptis suis consignarunt. Nam illa ipsa scripta proponi & exponi possunt aliis ad modum lactis, aliis vero ad modum solidioris cibi. Neque quicquid scriptum est, protinus censeri debet porcis objectum esse, & profanorum sibilis & cachinnis expositum. Alioquin ipsi Doctores Ecclesiae Romanae sanctum canibus quotidie darent, & margaritas porcis objicerent, si quidem illi quotidie Theologicas summas, & Catecheses edunt, & religionis Christianae mysteria quaelibet scripto docent, & explicant, quam clare & aperte possunt. Quod certe si ipsis licet, inviolata manente dignitate mysteriorum Evangelicorum, cur idem non licuerit Apostolis & Evangelistis? Si vero non licuit, nec decuit Apostolos scripto explicare omnia fidei mysteria, cur idem hodie magis licebit scholasticis & Theologis Pontificiis, qui omnia Pontificiae Theologiae dogmata scripto docent, & illa ipsa, quae dicit Bellarminus, tremenda Missae mysteria, quorum nullum prorsus est quod scriptum non reperiatur in Pontificiorum libris.
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.