Some learned men ground dogma-faith in the light of the things revealed; we put the proper ground in God speaking
Some learned men — if we have their mind right — think the certainty of the faith by which we embrace religion's dogmas and believe what God has revealed rests in the light of the things revealed, and in a certain inborn splendor of truth that convinces our mind and all but compels assent. When someone believes the Gospel, and is persuaded that the Son of God was made man, came into the world, suffered and died for us, rose again, ascended into the heavens, and the rest that belongs to our redemption, they hold that the proper and principal ground of that assent is the doctrine's own majesty, holiness, sublimity, and truth, and its congruence with right reason — which seizes the mind into assent and makes plain that the doctrine is not only true but has come immediately from God, since things so great and wonderful could neither be found nor fabricated by human wit.
On that view the truth of heavenly doctrine would by nature be recognized by us before we were sure God was its author; and so the ultimate and chief ground of believing it would not be the truthfulness and authority of God speaking, and that God so said and revealed, but — as they put it — the very truth and evidence of the thing. We do grant that religion's dogmas have their own light and arguments of truth, and even of divine origin. Still it seems more agreeable to theological truth and teaching to say that the proper and principal ground of the faith by which we receive those dogmas is the authority of God speaking and revealing, rather than the thing's own truth and light. That is proved by many arguments.
Latin
XXVI. Viris doctis quibusdam visum est, si modo mentem eorum percipimus, certitudinem fidei, qua religionis dogmata amplectimur, et rebus a Deo revelatis credimus, fundari in rerum revelatarum luce, et splendore quodam insito veritatis, quo mens nostra convincitur, et ad assensum veluti cogitur. Nimirum, quum aliquis Evangelio credit, et sibi persuadet Filium Dei hominem factum esse, et in mundum venisse, pro nobis passum et mortuum esse, resurrexisse, in caelos ascendisse, et caetera quae ad nostram redemptionem pertinent, in ea sunt sententia, propriam et praecipuam rationem illius assensus, esse ipsam doctrinae majestatem, sanctitatem, sublimitatem, veritatem, et cum ratione recta congruentiam, quae mentem rapit in sui assensum, et manifestum reddit doctrinam illam, non tantum veram esse, sed immediate a Deo prodiisse, quandoquidem ab ingenio humano tanta, tamque miranda, nec inveniri, nec confingi potuerint. Unde sequitur doctrinae caelestis veritatem natura prius a nobis agnosci, quam certi simus illam Deum authorem habere; adeoque ultimam et potissimam illius credendae rationem non esse Dei dicentis veracitatem et authoritatem, et quia Deus ita dixit et revelavit: sed ipsam, ut diximus, rei veritatem et evidentiam. Verum, licet agnoscamus religionis dogmata suam habere lucem et argumenta veritatis, atque etiam originis divinae: Videtur tamen veritati et doctrinae Theologicae magis consentaneum, si dicamus fidei, qua dogmata illa recipimus, rationem propriam et praecipuam esse authoritatem Dei dicentis et revelantis, potius quam ipsam rei veritatem et lucem: quod probatur multis argumentis.
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.