Valencia and Bellarmine list marks of the Word; the fight is not whether notes exist
Gregory of Valencia, a sharp and learned Jesuit, spends the whole first book of his Analysis of Faith chasing the arguments by which Christian doctrine and Scripture (its book) can be proved and pressed. He counts nineteen such arguments, and in them touches nearly every mark of God's Word that our people name — the proofs by which sacred Scripture can be told apart from human writings.
Bellarmine himself, in On the Word of God book 1, chapter 1, leaves aside his Church's testimony (which his opponents refuse) and still proves Scripture's divine authority by many reasons: miracles done to confirm Scripture, the striking agreement of the sacred writers, prophecies of future things contained in Scripture and proved by the event — and other points he urges against Libertines who despise Scripture.
So those of our theologians miss the Roman mind when they labor to prove against them that Scripture has marks and arguments of divinity — as if the whole heat of the authority debate sat there, and as if the Pontificii simply denied that Scripture has any τεκμήρια or notes of divinity and held that it can be known only by the Church's word.
Latin
XI. Praecipue vero Gregorius de Valentia, Jesuita doctus et acutus, in eo volumine quod de Analysi fidei inscripsit, primum librum insumit in persequendis argumentis quibus doctrina Christiana et Scriptura, quae ejus liber est, probari et suaderi potest: et argumenta ejusmodi usque ad decem et novem enumerat. In quibus attingit fere omnes illas quas nostri notas verbi Dei vocant, hoc est argumenta, quibus Scriptura sacra a scriptis humanis dignosci et discerni potest. Atque etiam Bellarminus ipse libr. 1. de Verbo Dei cap. 1. Omittens Ecclesiae suae testimonium, quod respuunt illi quibuscum rem habet, multis argumentis et rationibus Scripturae divinam authoritatem probat. Ut, exempli gratia, ex miraculis in Scripturae confirmationem factis, ex admiranda conspiratione et concordia Scriptorum sacrorum, et ex futurorum praedictionibus et Prophetarum vaticiniis in Scriptura contentis, et eventu comprobatis. Quae et alia quaedam profert et vindicat adversus Libertinos Scripturam contemnentes. Itaque non videntur Pontificiorum mentem satis capere illi ex nostris Theologis qui operose probant adversus eos Scripturam sacram quasdam notas habere et quaedam argumenta quibus divina comprobetur; quasi in eo positus esset ardor controversiae de Scripturae authoritate, negarentque simpliciter Pontificii Scripturam ulla divinitatis τεκμήρια et notas habere, sed solo Ecclesiae testimonio posse internosci.
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.