Principle 4: not every being is made — some unproduced independent being
Fourth: not every being is made — some unproduced, independent being must exist.
Else infinite regress (already ruled out) or a circle of mutual makers.
Abraham–Isaac–Jacob circle: Abraham would mediately beget himself — absurd.
Latin
XIV. Porro ex principiis jam positis sequitur, non omne ens esse factum & sui habere causam: sed dari aliquod ens improductum & independens. Nam si non daretur ens aliquod improductum, sed omne ens factum & productum esset, necesse esset factum esse vel a se vel ab alio. Sed ens ullum a se factum dici non potest, quia nihil est causa sui, per primum principium a nobis ante positum. Igitur oportet omne ens fuisse ab alio productum. Et ita vel dabitur in causis producentibus progressus in infinitum, quem impossibilem esse jamjam demonstratum est: vel circulus aliquis entium invicem productorum & producentium. Sed cum in eis quae sunt facta detur ultimum, quod aliud non fecit & produxit, talem circulum non dari evidens est. Praeterquam quod ejusmodi circulus est impossibilis. Nam tali circulo posito, sequeretur idem a se ipso fieri, & idem esse sui ipsius causam. Si dicas enim, exempli gratia, Abraham genuisse Isaac, & Isaac genuisse Jacob, & rursus Jacob genuisse Abraham, quod in circulo necessarium est; inde sequetur Abraham mediate saltem seipsum genuisse: quo nihil absurdius.
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.