Notitia is prerequisite, not a constitutive part of faith — against Bucanus, with Ames and Wittich
Reformed disagree on faith’s parts/acts.
Notitia (apprehension of what is to be believed), apart from assent: constitutive part (Bucanus) or only prerequisite (Ames, Wittich)?
Le Blanc sides with Ames/Wittich: you cannot rightly believe without some notion, but faith does not consist in that notion.
Bare notitia can sit in profane minds — even atheists know what Christians are told to believe — without a spark of faith.
Latin
XCIII. Quod attinet ad partes, sive actus fidei, vidimus quoque Scholae Reformatae Doctores inter se non consentire, qui & quales illi sint, eosque pluribus modis enumerare. Et primo quidem quaeritur de notitia, prout ab assensu distinguitur, & significat quandam rei, quae ad credendum proponitur, apprehensionem & praeconceptionem, an sit pars fidem constituens, ut Bucanus & alii censent; an vero solum actus ad fidem praerequisitus & antecedaneus, quae est sententia Guilielmi Amesii, & Christophori Wittichii. Ad quam posteriorem sententiam accedimus. Quamvis enim nemo rite credere possit, qui non habeat aliquam notitiam & conceptionem rei quae credenda est, fides tamen non consistit in illa notitia, quae sine ulla fide in aliquo consistere potest, & inest etiam mentibus prorsus profanis, & in qua nemo possit vere dicere, vel minimum esse fidei initium. Siquidem multi Athei non ignorant quae sint illa quorum fides a Christianis exigitur.
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.