FathersVia Patrum

On the Imputation of Adam's First Sin · §151

Cap. XII: Blancus Th. XLIII–XLI — spiritual death, derivation, Nero reductio; before Cap. XIV

In Thesis XLIII he adds that the death which passed to all through one man includes spiritual death—of the soul—nothing but the loss of original righteousness with the contrary habitual corruption set in its place. What is affirmed so easily can be denied as easily; it needed proof, which he does not even attempt. The Helvetic Confession and every better interpreter take that death of bodily and eternal death alone; that reading will be proved elsewhere. He adds that without imputing Adam's disobedience the derivation of habitual human corruption cannot be just. How can that be true? That derivation is nothing but sin's contagion and the spread of injustice; it is not itself just, nor can it be— for it is not just to multiply injustice. But God's permitting or not hindering that derivation is just and has nothing against justice. His further reason—by what justice would we all bear that sin's penalty, namely spiritual death, if it is not imputed?—first assumes what we dispute: that God inflicts original vice on us as a penalty properly so called. Next, making another's sin ours by imputation does not remove injustice but increases it: as if the most equitable and holy God first imputed another's sin to all, to make them sinners and guilty by imputation, then to punish that imputed sin made them sinners by inherence. So the Devil's temptation would have made only one man a sinner; God's act—imputation—would have made all men sinners and lost. How could a pious conscience not detest such a dogma? I find nothing more in this author not already refuted enough; empty repetition would only weary the Reader. One point I nearly passed: in Thesis XLI he says whatever someone commits as head of a society or multitude is justly imputed to the whole community. If that were true, the Romans were wholly wronged when Nero or Caligula was their head: whatever those wicked emperors did could justly be imputed to each Roman, so that no one in the empire was not a parricide if the head's parricide was justly charged to all.

Latin

Subjungit th. XLIII. Mortem illam, quae per unum hominem in omnes homines pertransiit &c. includere suae significationis ambitu mortem spiritualem, seu animae, quae nihil aliud est, quam privatio justitiae originalis cum positione contrariae corruptionis habitualis &c: Hoc qua facilitate affirmatur, eadem negari potest; itaque probandum erat: quod vir doctus ne conatur quidem. De sola corporis & aeterna morte Confessio Helvetica, omnesque melioris notae interpretes mortem illam accipiunt, esseque accipiendam probabitur alio loco. Quod subiicit, sine imputatione inobedientiae Adami derivationem habitualis naturae humanae corruptionis non posse esse justam, id quomodo verum esse possit considerare oportet. Derivatio enim illa, cum sit aliud nihil quam contagium peccati & propagatio injustitiae, ipsa per se justa non est, nec esse potest. Non enim justum est propagare & multiplicare injustitiam. Sed illius derivationis permissio seu non impeditio divina justa est, nihilque habet justitiae repugnans. Quam adjungit rationem, Qua enim justitia & aequitate sustineremus omnes illius peccati poenam, nempe mortem spiritualem, si peccatum illud nobis non imputatur? Ea primum supponit, id quod inter nos controvertitur, vitium originale nobis a Deo infligi, & esse poenam proprie dictam. Deinde imputatio peccati alieni, qua nostrum fiat, non tollit injustitiam, sed auget potius: quasi Deus aequissimus & sanctissimus omnibus hominibus primum imputaret alienum peccatum, quo eos faceret imputative peccatores & reos, deinde ut illud imputatum puniret eos faceret inhaerenter peccatores. Ita unum tantum hominem Diabolus tentatione sua fecisset peccatorem, Deus sua actione, id est, imputatione, fecisset omnes homines peccatores & perditos. Quomodo fieri potest, ut pia conscientia tale dogma non detestetur? Nihil amplius argumenti apud hunc autorem reperio, quod non sit jam satis refutatum, ut nihil opus sit inani repetitione fastidio esse Lectori. Tantum, quod pene praeterieram, illud sine aliqua censura dimittendum non videtur, quod ait Th. XLI. Palam est, quicquid delinquat aliquis ut caput alicujus societatis, aut multitudinis, illud juste toti communitati imputari. Nam si id verum est, male omnino agebatur cum Romanis, cum eorum caput esset Nero aut Caligula: quippe quibus omnibus & singulis juste imputari poterat quicquid scelerati illi imperatores delinquebant: ita nullus erat in toto imperio Romano, qui non esset parricida, siquidem parricidium a capite commissum omnibus Romanis juste imputabatur.

About this text

New English, free to read. Open any section below.

English follows the locked 1661 Saumur Latin of Capita I–XIV partial through Man. Post. Caput IX (eph-ho / eph-ho pantes) before eph-ho / eph-ho pantes, reconstructed from IA PDF page images with Vision OCR and pdftotext as check. No modern English was copied. Cap. IX deepen+ remain.

Catalogue & scope

IA deimputationepri00lapl. Densify: Capita I–XII + Caput XIV + Man. Post. Cap. II–VI through Cap. X Rom. 5:14 tip. Not whole Disputatio; Cap. X Rom. 5:14+ / ~494 pp Disputatio remain.

Witnesses

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.