Reply to the major: what cannot be demonstrated can still be faith's first rule
As for the major — that what is doubtful and uncertain to us of itself cannot be firmly grasped or stand as a sure rule of faith unless a higher authority confirms it — the reply is that this is utterly false if "uncertain to us" means "what cannot be demonstrated and confirmed by wholly necessary arguments."
What cannot be proved by necessary and evident arguments in the philosophical sense can still be firmly believed and be a sure rule of faith, even without confirmation from an authority prior and superior for us.
As we have just shown, the first rule of faith must be something non-evident that cannot be demonstrated — and that neither can nor should be confirmed by a higher authority. Otherwise it would not be, as supposed, faith's first and supreme rule, but only a subordinate, inferior one.
Latin
XXIV. Ad majorem vero illam, Quod ex se nobis est dubium & incertum firma fide non potest apprehendi, & esse certa fidei regula, nisi authoritate superiore confirmetur. Resp. falsissimam esse, si per illud quod nobis est incertum intelligatur id quod demonstrari non potest, & argumentis prorsus necessariis confirmari. Etenim quod probari non potest argumentis, philosophice & proprie loquendo, necessariis & evidentibus, firma tamen fide potest apprehendi, & esse certa fidei regula, quamvis authoritate quoad nos superiori & priori non confirmetur. Imo, ut jamjam probavimus, omnino necesse est ut prima fidei regula sit aliquid inevidens, quod demonstrari non possit, nec tamen superiori authoritate confirmari aut queat aut debeat. Quandoquidem hoc pacto non esset, ut supponitur, prima & suprema fidei regula, sed subalterna tantum & inferior.
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.