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A Candid Inquiry into the Controversies among Evangelicals · §177

Annotatio II §.I cont: Theological sense — doctrines necessary to faith and salvation; God alone fixes necessity

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Or take fundamentals in the theological sense: doctrines wholly necessary both to constitute Christian religion or faith and to reach faith's end — the salvation of our souls.

Hence they are commonly called either fundamentals of faith (toward the object: the intrinsic, essential thing founded) or fundamentals of salvation (toward the end: the thing founded partly intrinsic/essential, partly extrinsic/extra-essential).

God alone in Holy Scripture fixes all that necessity — explicitly or implicitly, by a consequence open to anyone — and in an exclusive sense no less than a positive one: so God both names which doctrines are necessary and, by not naming others as necessary (explicitly or implicitly), exempts them from faith-and-salvation necessity, though not from usefulness of every degree.

It is neither likely nor admissible that God, sole author of all Scripture — where necessities for faith and salvation are mixed with lesser matters, and some necessities are at times marked openly — either failed to define all necessities at all (and so failed to distinguish them from the less necessary) or left that definition and distinction to human whim; especially since he handed down everything needed for salvation promiscuously, and as such. See this taught more fully in the Inquisition into the Arminians, Annotation XVII.

Latin

VEL SENSU THEOLOGICO, & sunt Doctrinae, tam ad Religionem vel Fidem Christianam constituendam, quàm ad Fidei Christianae Finem, Animarum nostrarum Salutem consequendam, omninò necessariae, indeque communiter dicendae, modò Fundamentales Fidei, respectu ad Objectum, Fundamentato intrinsecum & essentiale; modò Fundamentales Salutis, respectu ad Finem, Fundamentato partim intrinsecum & essentialem, partim extrinsecum & extraessentialem, habito. Necessitatem autem istarum omnem determinante, in Scriptura S., Deô solô, idque vel explicitè, vel implicitè, per obviam cuivis consequentiam; itemque exclusivo non minus Sensu, quàm positivo, ut & dicat Deus, quaenam Necessariae Doctrinae sint; & non dictas ab eo Necessarias, sive explicitè, sive implicitè, eô ipsô à Necessitate Fidei & Salutis, non tamen pariter à varii Gradûs Utilitate, exemptas velit. Neque enim vel probabile est, vel ullo modo admittendum, ut Deus, universae Scripturae S. unicus quidem Autor habitus, in qua & Necessaria ad Fidem Salutemque, & minus necessaria promiscuè traduntur, necessaria etiam nonnulla subindè apertè significantur, vel non omnia necessaria ullo modo definivisse, sicque necessaria à minus necessariis non satis distinxisse, vel definitionem distinctionemque hanc humano arbitrio permisissse credendus sit; praesertim cùm cuncta, ad salutem necessaria, promiscuè, eóque ut talia, tradiderit. Vide haec fusius edocta Inquisit. in Arminian. Annot. XVII.

About this text

Samuel Strimesius — Prefatio through Controversiae Post Lutherum Controv. III-XIII + XV Tolerantia, Hexades Annotationum Prooemium and Annotatio I through Decem Theses / Francus plus Annotatio II §.I-§.VI and Annotatio III §.I–§.VII (through Cassellanum 1661) from Ingenua in Controversias Evangelicorum (Frankfurt an der Oder, 1708). Honest partial; Prefatio silence reasons, Annotatio III §.VIII+ fruits / §.IX+, Hexades theses body, deeper Controversiae / Part II remain.

English follows the locked 1708 Francofurti ad Viadrum Latin of Prefatio §I–II, Crimina defenses through III, Part I Protheoria through Controversiae Obices/Historia/Varii gradus, Formula Discord/Disparitas, Ulterius confirmatur / Classes / Formula protest / triplex differentia, Coena Domini Controversiae Priores through Precariae Hypotheses (Controv. print pp. 34–40), Controversiae Post Lutherum Natae Controv. III–XV tip (providence through De Tolerantia mutua; Controv. print pp. 40–78), Hexades Annotationum Prooemium H.I–§.III (Hexades print pp. 1–4 / PDF ~182–185), and Annotatio I De Augustana Confessione §.I–§.VIII tip (Hexades print pp. 5–24+ / PDF ~186–205+), reconstructed from Google Books PDF page images (ONB copy, id 3epYAAAAcAAJ) with pdftotext as check. No modern English was copied. Sister Halle digitization of Ingenua in Arminianismum (DOI 10.25673/65287) remains Anubis-blocked — skipped; Controversias only. Prefatio silence reasons, Annotatio I §.IX+, Hexades theses body beyond §.VIII, and remainder of Controversiae / folio remain.

Witnesses

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