Truly canonical books were never so doubtful
Next, their second proof from books once doubted — as if certain divine books were once of doubtful authority because the Church had not yet spoken, and all doubt later fell by the Church's judgment and definition.
I say first: the authority of books that are truly divine and canonical was never so doubtful that it was once lawful to doubt them and later unlawful, which is what the Pontificians claim.
Those who doubted Hebrews, John's Apocalypse, and other New Testament books did so rashly and without just cause. Just as today anyone who denied or questioned those books' authority would not be blameless, so those who once stripped them of authority or tried to make them doubtful deserved blame.
But as for the other books Rome wants in the Old Testament Canon, about which they themselves grant it was once lawful to doubt: as they were rightly doubted then, so we contend they may rightly be doubted still.
Latin
XXXV. Ad secundam vero illam probationem petitam ex libris de quibus olim dubitatum est, quasi librorum quorundam divinorum fuerit olim dubia authoritas, quoniam Ecclesia super illis sententiam suam nondum pronunciarat: postea vero omnis dubitatio sublata fuerit per Ecclesiae judicium & definitionem: Dico primo librorum qui vere divini & Canonici sunt authoritatem nunquam ita fuisse dubiam, ut de iis aliquando dubitare licuerit, amplius vero non liceat, quod Pontificii volunt. Etenim qui dubitarunt de Epistola ad Hebraeos, & Joannis Apocalypsi, aliisque Novi Testamenti libris, id temere fecerunt, & sine justa ratione. Et sicut hodie culpa non careret qui librorum illorum authoritatem negaret, aut in dubium vocaret, ita quoque fuerunt reprehensione digni, qui libris istis olim authoritatem sustulerunt, aut dubios eos reddere voluerunt. Quod attinet autem caeteros illos libros, quos ad Veteris Testamenti Canonem Pontificii pertinere volunt, & de quibus tamen agnoscunt licuisse olim dubitare, quemadmodum merito de illis dubitatum fuit, ita quoque hodie jure dubitari posse contendimus.
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.