Stapleton's tacit Church testimony follows the faithful's belief; it cannot found it
Stapleton's further device helps no more. He distinguishes two kinds of Church testimony: one solemn and express, given in general councils and papal decrees; the other tacit and interpretative, by which the Church is said to approve whatever she lets her ministers teach and her people hold.
As if, before any council decided the Canon, the Church had already judged the Canonical books — not by a solemn sentence, but by this tacit reading: she let pastors hand the books to the faithful as Canonical, and did not reject the faith of those who received them.
That so-called interpretative judgment cannot found the faithful's belief, nor did Christian faith hang on it. It follows their faith; it does not precede it. What the Church allows to happen is already happening before she allows it. So I ask Rome: what grounded that early Christian faith which the Church merely tolerated and is said to have approved by her silence? A faith conceived as prior to that tolerance cannot rest on the tolerance and the tacit consent.
Latin
XXXVIII. Nec etiam est magis ad rem commentum Stapletoni qui duplex Ecclesiae testimonium distinguit. Unum solemne et expressum, quod Ecclesia scilicet perhibet in Conciliis universalibus et PP. Decretis. Alterum tacitum et interpretativum, quo Ecclesia censetur probare illa quae a suis ministris patitur doceri, et a populo fideli teneri; quasi Ecclesia ante Conciliorum determinationem, jam de Canonicis libris judicium pronuntiasset, et testimonium perhibuisset, non illud quidem solemne et expressum; sed alterum istud tacitum et interpretativum: quatenus nimirum sinebat Pastores libros Scripturae tanquam Canonicos fidelibus tradere, nec fidelium illos acceptantium fidem improbabat. Nam judicium, sive testimonium illud, quod vocat interpretativum, non poterat fidem fidelium fundare, nec ab eo fides Christianorum pendebat, quandoquidem judicium illud fidem fidelium sequitur, non praecedit. Quod enim sinit Ecclesia fieri, intelligitur esse et fieri, prius quam Ecclesia illud fieri sinat et patiatur. Itaque rogo Pontificios quodnam fundamentum habebat illa priscorum Christianorum fides, quam Ecclesia toleravit, et quam probasse censetur sua tolerantia. Nam certe non potuit niti Ecclesiae tolerantia, et tacito consensu, fides illa quae concipitur tanquam aliquid ista tolerantia prius.
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.