Sacred historians' candor, and pagan myths as shadows of the true history
Moreover sincerity and candor build faith for the sacred historians — candor so great that they do not hide their own vices, and often brand themselves and their own with many marks of ignominy. Nay, the poets' very fables make Scripture's history credible. For if anyone diligently inspects the ancient poets' fables and compares them with sacred history, he will find those fables to be shadows of things whose body Scripture has, and to have drawn their origin from true histories spread through the whole world by the tradition of Noah's sons, and later corrupted and interpolated by the lapse of time: which could be made plain by many examples, and which learned men who have labored in this matter have made easy to see.
Latin
XL. Praeterea Historicis sacris fidem astruit sinceritas et candor eorum, qui tantus est, ut vitia sua non dissimulent, et saepe sibi suisque multas inurant ignominiae notas. Imo Scripturae historiam credibilem reddunt ipsae poetarum fabulae. Si quis enim veteres poetarum fabulas diligenter inspiciat, et cum historia sacra conferat, reperiet istas fabulas umbras quasdam esse rerum, quarum corpus Scriptura habet, et originem traxisse e veris historiis quae traditione filiorum Noe per totum orbem disseminatae sunt, et tandem lapsu temporis corruptae et interpolatae: ut multis exemplis posset fieri manifestum, et rem facilem reddiderunt viri docti, qui hac in re operam posuerunt.
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.