Scripture is the first external principle; the Spirit seals within

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Apply this to the present case. We and the Pontificii agree, as the earlier theses show, that faith's proper reason simply and of itself is divine revelation, however it comes; on that point there is no fight between us. We also agree that the last rest of each believer's conscience is the Holy Spirit's inward testimony.

What is not agreed is which revelation is today first and most known for us — the one we must receive by itself and for its own sake, not because of some other revelation better known to us and of higher authority; and so which is the first and most common external principle of faith, through which everything else is to be proved, while it itself has no prior.

We hold that this revelation is contained in sacred Scripture. God's Word in the books of both Testaments ought to win faith among us by itself — not by some other Word of God, some further divine revelation that would give it a public external witness better known and more certain to believers than Scripture is. No rule of faith, no external principle, stands prior to sacred Scripture so that Scripture could be proved from something earlier. Scripture is the first and most common rule of everything that belongs to faith, and it is not to be measured by another rule.

Ask why we believe this or that dogma — that God is triune and one, or that believers are to be baptized in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit — and we answer: because inspired Scripture holds it, and we point to the place. Press further why we take that Scripture as divine, and we do not offer another principle of faith to prove Scripture; we say one must stop there. We do offer arguments that Scripture is divine and deserves to be believed as divine. Those arguments are not, properly speaking, faith's principles, nor the foundation on which faith chiefly leans. We believe Scripture at once — God speaking in the Scriptures — moved by the Spirit's inward impulse.

Latin

XXII. Jam ut ista ad rem praesentem applicemus, constat inter nos et Pontificios, ut patet ex antedictis, fidei nostrae rationem propriam simpliciter et per se, esse divinam revelationem, quocunque tandem modo fiat, neque hac de re ulla est inter nos controversia. Constat quoque ultimum illud in quo fidelis cujusque conscientia conquiescit esse internum Spiritus sancti testimonium. At vero non constat quae sit hodie illa revelatio, nostri respectu, prima et notissima, quae per se et propter se a nobis recipi debeat, non vero propter ullam aliam revelationem, quae nobis sit notior et majoris authoritatis; adeoque quae sit primum et communissimum fidei principium externum, per quod omnia probari debeant, ipsum vero a nullo priore. Hanc revelationem asserimus nos sacra Scriptura contineri: Etenim verbum Dei, libris Veteris et Novi Testamenti comprehensum, tale est ut per se apud nos fidem obtinere debeat; non vero per aliquod aliud Dei verbum, et divinam quandam revelationem, quae publicum et externum testimonium illi perhibeat, quod fidelibus sit ipsa Scriptura notius et certius. Neque est ulla fidei regula, aut ullum fidei principium externum, quod Scriptura sacra sit prius, et quo Scriptura possit tanquam a priori probari. Sed ea est prima et communissima regula omnium quae ad fidem spectant, ipsa ad aliam nullam regulam examinanda. Itaque si quis roget cur hoc vel illud dogma credis, verbi gratia, Deum esse trinum et unum, et fideles esse baptizandos in nomine Patris et Filii et Spiritus sancti, Respondemus, quia hoc in Scriptura divinitus inspirata habetur, et locum indicamus. Si vero ultra rogemur, cur Scripturam illam divinam esse credamus, jam non proferimus aliud fidei principium, quo Scriptura probetur: sed in eo principio sistendum esse monemus. Adducimus quidem argumenta quibus probare conamur Scripturam divinam esse, et illi merito tanquam divinae credi. Attamen argumenta illa non sunt fidei nostrae principia proprie dicta, et fundamentum illud quo fides nostra praecipue nititur: Sed Scripturae, id est, Deo in Scripturis loquenti, immediate credimus, ad id moti interno Spiritus sancti impulsu.

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.