Fathers

A Candid Inquiry into the Controversies among Evangelicals · §2

Called at Frankfurt an der Oder in 1679 to weigh controversies only by Scripture toward Protestant peace

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As for me: as soon as, by divine providence and by the grace of the Great Frederick William of most blessed and immortal memory — the Brandenburg hero and, if anyone ever was, while he lived the most sincere esteemer and unwearied assertor and promoter of the Evangelicals' ecclesiastical peace — I obtained my lot among the cultivators of the heavenly vineyard in this most celebrated University in the year 1679, and had surveyed more than enough the weight of the Protestant controversies, I held nothing more important than this:

not to serve the base itch of certain theologians of one party or the other for quarreling and somehow defending their own cause, but to hang and weigh everything on the balance and scale of the Holy Codex alone — which reveals and first establishes not only theological truths, but also the widely varied degrees of their value and necessity, and which diligently and continually praises Christian love, gentleness, mildness, moderation, and tolerance.

According to the measure of theological knowledge and prudence, and according to the public office granted me by God — dedicated not only to the Frankfurt church through preaching labors, but also to the Christian church at large through professorial labors — I would strive conscientiously everywhere to consult for that one Protestant Peace which is of all things most necessary and most useful.

Latin

Quod ad me attinet, simulac inter coelestis vineae Cultores, sortem, Divina Providentia et MAGNI FRIDERICI WILHELMI beatissimae et immortalis memoriae Herois Brandenburgici, ejusdemque, si quis alius, Pacis Evangelicorum Ecclesiasticae, dum viveret, sincerissimi Aestimatoris ac indefessi Assertoris Promotorisque, Gratia, in hac Universitate celeberrima, anno 1679. nactus essem, Controversiarumque Protestanticarum pondus satis superque perspectum haberem, non ad unius vel alterius partis Theologorum quorundam rixandi et sua utcunque defendandi turpissimi pruritus, sed ad solius S. Codicis (non Veritatum solummodo Theologicarum, sed et harum Valoris et Necessitatis, graduum varietate multum diversa, Revelatoris et Promo-condi, christiani etiam Amoris, Mansuetudinis, Lenitatis, Moderationis ac Tolerantiae encomiastae diligentissimi perpetuique) stateram lancemque appensum expensumque, nihil mihi antiquius duxi habendum, quam ut, pro modulo scientiae prudentiaeque Theologicae, juxtaque munus publicum divinitus mihi concessum, non Ecclesiae tantum Francofurtanae, per Concionatorias, verum etiam Christianae promiscue, per Professorias operas, dicatum, conscientiose ubique, uni omnium maxime necessariae utilissimaeque Paci Protestanticae consulere anniterer.

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.

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