Rome's living judge — Pope or Council — is not even certain inside Rome
Rome replies: when ancients disagree and apostolic tradition looks uncertain, the Church has a living authority that can settle true vs false traditions for the faithful, certainly and infallibly.
Ask who holds that authority now that prophets and apostles are gone, and Rome splits.
Most say the Roman Pontiff is Christ's infallible faith-judge — yet even inside Rome that claim is not a settled de fide dogma; many Catholics in communion deny it.
Others put infallibility in a general Council of overseers — still less settled; many Roman doctors, and the popes themselves, fight it, and denying it is not treated as heresy.
The fallback — Councils safe once the Pope confirms them — collapses into a circle: if Councils can err before confirmation and the Pope is not infallible, how can he infallibly judge whether the Council erred?
Latin
XL. Sed regerunt adversarii, si haeremus, num aliquid traditio sit Apostolica, & propter dissentientes veterum sententias res incerta videtur, in Ecclesia est certa authoritas quae dubium tollere possit, & cujus judicio verae traditiones a falsis discernantur, & fidelibus innotescant certo & infallibiliter. Si autem rogamus quis sit tanta authoritate praeditus, quum nulli amplius sint in Ecclesia viri a Deo inspirati, ut Prophetae & Apostoli, non omnes Adversarii eodem modo respondent. Nam eorum plerique dicunt authoritatem illam in Pontifice Romano residere, quem, scilicet, volunt judicem infallibilem esse in rebus fidei a Christo constitutum. Verum haec authoritas in ipsa Ecclesia Romana certa non est. Nec enim illi ipsi qui Pontifici Romano maxime adulantur, audent asserere hoc esse dogma de fide compertum atque manifestum. Siquidem non pauci sunt quos Ecclesia Romana pro Catholicis habet, & qui in ejus communione manent, qui in Papa non agnoscunt ejusmodi authoritatem. Alii vero contendunt praerogativam istam infallibilitatis in judicando de rebus fidei reperiri in Concilio, id est, in coetu generali praepositorum Ecclesiae. Sed rursus apud Ecclesiam Romanam istud adhuc minus certum est. Nam Pontificii plurimi reclamant, praecipue vero ipsi Romani Pontifices. Nec qui hoc negat ab ullo habetur in Ecclesia Romana haereticus. At, inquies, saltem omnes Pontificii consentiunt Concilia generalia quae Papa probavit atque confirmavit in fide errare non posse, & tuto eis posse credi. Verum, si Concilia quantumvis generalia non sint extra omne erroris periculum ante Papae confirmationem, & Papa ipse non sit infallibilis, quomodo infallibiliter judicabit an propositum Concilium erraverit, vel non?
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.