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A Candid Inquiry into the Controversies among Evangelicals · §179

Annotatio II §.III (1)-(2): A posteriori necessary heads — Scripture sole principle; Elements (Symbol, Decalogue, LP, two sacraments)

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§. III. That Protestants agree fundamentally among themselves has already been shown a priori; the same can be confirmed a posteriori by running through the general necessary heads of Christian doctrine.

(1.) They agree on the first and only adequate principle for knowing all Christian dogmas — at least all the necessary ones — namely Holy Scripture: held by Protestants with one voice as a rule and norm, both sufficient and perfect and clear enough, for everything Christians must believe and must do.

Other so-called Christians (synonymously or only equivocally) differ here: they either set something beside Scripture as co-principle — Traditions, the unwritten word — or put Scripture under something else, native light (reason) or fictitious light (enthusiasm).

Protestants, by contrast, explode enthusiasm and the unwritten word as hostile to Scripture; and they treat reason, however illuminated, not as a principle of proof but as a bare instrument of apprehension.

(2.) They agree in an honest, unvarnished reception and profession of the elements of Christian religion in all their parts: the Apostles' Creed, the Decalogue, the Lord's Prayer, and only two sacraments — which not only signify their significates but also exhibit and seal them.

Latin

§. III. Ita Protestantes inter se Fundamentaliter convenire à priori ostensum est; Constare idem à posteriori potest inductione Capitum Doctrinae Christianae Necessariorum Generalium: Enimverò conveniunt inter se (1.) Principio cognoscendi Christiana Dogmata omnia, saltèm necessaria cuncta, primo & unicô adaequato, nempe Scripturâ S. ideò unanimibus votis, tam sufficienti atque perfectâ, quàm satis perspicua Regulâ & normâ credendorum pariter ac agendorum Christianorum omnium necessariorum, Protestantibus habita; Secus ac Christianis reliquis quibuscunque, vel Synonymicè, vel aequivocè sic dictis, à Protestantibus in eo dissidentibus, quod vel principio Scripturae aliud coordinant, Scilicet Traditiones seu Verbum non-Scriptum, vel hoc alteri subordinant, puta vel Lumini Nativo, i. e. Rationi, vel Lumini Fictitio, i. e. Enthusiasmo; Dum è contrario Protestantes tàm Enthusiasmum, quàm Verbum non-Scriptum, Scripturae adversa, explodunt penitus; Rationem verò, utcunque illuminatam, non Principium probandi, sed nudum apprehendendi instrumentum arbitrantur. (2.) Elementorum Christianae Religionis in omnibus particulis suis ingenua infucatâque receptione ac professione, Symboli Scilicet Apostolici, Decalogi, Precationis Dominicae, & duorum duntaxat Sacramentorum, Signata sua non significantium tantùm, sed & exhibentium & obsignantium.

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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