Rome's hardest instance: Scripture cannot prove its own divinity — so an unwritten word seems needed
Harder still: they say Scripture cannot be a sufficient faith-rule because we must know which books are inspired.
Even if Scripture calls the Prophets' and Apostles' books divine, no one trusts that claim until he already trusts that Scripture is divine.
So, they argue, some unwritten word of God must teach us that Scripture is God's word — or faith has no divine ground.
Latin
XXVIII. Sequitur instantia quae plus habet difficultatis, & per quam Pontificii demonstrare se putant Scripturam esse non posse sufficientem fidei regulam. Nam, inquiunt, necesse est nosse esse Scripturam aliquam divinitus inspiratam, & illam consistere in libris illis quos hodie prae manibus habemus, qui praeferunt Prophetarum & Apostolorum nomen, & a Christianis pro divinis habentur. Sed hoc dogma tam necessarium non potest sufficienter haberi ex Scriptura. Nam, etiamsi Scriptura dicat libros Prophetarum & Apostolorum esse divinos, nemo certo id credet, nisi prius crediderit Scripturam quae hoc dicit, esse divinam: proinde necesse est praeter Scripturam esse aliquod Dei verbum quo doceamur ipsam Scripturam esse verbum Dei; alioqui de eo nullam fidem haberemus, quandoquidem fides verbo Dei nititur.
About this text
Louis Le Blanc de Beaulieu, Sedan Theses, newly rendered from Latin: from theology proper through the Roman theses I–77 and the Reformed theses of Part Two. The theses only — not the collected works.
English follows locked Pitt Latin through Imaginum CLOSED + Sanctorum Cultu Romana CLOSED + Pars Secunda Reformata I-XL. 1675 PDF ~384-390 (book ~370-376); Vision OCR + pdftotext + tess. No modern English. This slice densifies Sanctorum Pars Secunda I-XL. Next: Pars Secunda XLI–fin (~CI). Claim stays claimed (book densify not done).
Catalogue & scope
ESTC R17887; Wing L802. IA bub_gb_eOkHAW4G0-wC (+ EEBO 1675 for gap leaves). Densify through Sanctorum Cultu Romana I-LXXVII + Pars Secunda Reformata I-XL (Pars Secunda not closed; not whole folio).
Witnesses
- Copy-text Locked Latin, De Theologia I-XLIII (Pitt 1675) (Latin)
- Checked print Internet Archive PDF of the 1675 Pitt folio (Latin)
- Checked print pdftotext of De Theologia pages (Latin)
- Checked print Internet Archive DjVu OCR of the 1675 Pitt folio (Latin)
- Copy-text Locked Latin, De Fide I-XXII (Pitt 1675) (Latin)
- Copy-text Locked Latin, De Authoritate Scripturae Pars I I-XLVII + Pars II I-XXXV + Pars III I-VIII (Pitt 1675) (Latin)
- Copy-text Locked Latin, De Scripturae plenitudine densify (Pitt 1675) (Latin)
This is an AI-assisted study translation. Source fidelity and completeness have not been independently certified. Open Latin on each section (or the Latin source witness link) for the source text. This is not a complete critical edition.