Fathers

A Candid Inquiry into the Controversies among Evangelicals · §256

Annotatio IV §.II: First fountain — free-acting pravity of will precedes intellect-error; sacred strife by free choice

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Of the two fountains, the first is the free-acting pravity of the will — which, under the covenant of grace no less than of works, runs ahead of intellect’s error.

For any divine covenant with man presupposes enough light in the mind to restrain or repel malicious will-pravity.

So whoever has gone on to needless sacred quarrels and church splits — even with the Devil prodding — should know he rushed in not unwillingly, nor merely by intellect’s mistake or the Devil’s talk, but by his own free choice and προαίρεσις.

Three larger rivulets from will-pravity, well marked by the Apostle John, promote that work of dissension; we list them here in reverse order:

Latin

Fontium binorum Priorem, Pravitatem Voluntatis facio-liberam, non minus sub Foedere Gratiae, quam Operum, errorem Intellectûs praevertentem: cum vel ipsius Foederis divini cujuscunque cum homine initi natura, tantum Luminis in intellectu humano supponat, quantum sufficit Pravitati voluntatis malitiosae vel cohibendae, vel repellendae, ut sic ad rixas sacras & dissidia Ecclesiastica praeter necessitatem, etiamsi instigante Diabolo, progressus, sciat, se non invitum, vel per errorem intellectûs, vel per Diaboli persuasionem, sed per liberam potius electionem suam ac προαίρεσιν, ad eandem provolâsse, promoventibus dissidiorum negotium rivulis majoribus tribus ex pravitate Voluntatis emanantibus & Johanni Apostolo probè notatis, hôc locô, inverso ordine recensendis:

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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