Theological Theses · §2610 · Louis Le Blanc de Beaulieu

The word persuades through the Spirit, not beside it

Thesis XXVIII. To show what parts the word of God and the Holy Spirit who uses the word each play in this efficacy and working of grace, they say that the word urges but the Spirit using the word persuades.

They add that it is always safer to hold that the Spirit's action on the will has the word's action under it, than to make the Spirit's action run alongside the word's action on the will and say that he works beside the word rather than through it. This is so that we do not seem to hand the Enthusiasts the principles of their teaching, and who knows what hidden motions, drawings and impulses, which anyone can easily imagine for himself.

Latin

XXVIII. Caeterum ut exponant quae sint in hac gratiae efficacia & operatione tum verbi Dei, tum Spiritus Sancti verbo utentis partes, dicunt verbum suadere, sed spiritum verbo utentem persuadere: ac praeterea tutius semper esse statuere, actionem spiritus, qua in voluntatem agit, sibi subordinatam habere actionem verbi, quam si actionem spiritus faciamus collateralem actioni verbi in voluntatem, & juxta verbum operari dicamus, non per verbum, ne Enthusiastis doctrinae suae principia, & nescio quos arcanos motus, tractiones, impulsus, quos facile quisque sibi imaginari potest, largiri videamur.

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