Solomon's lost songs and sayings need not have been inspired Scripture
Yes, much of Solomon's writing is gone — but not everything a God-breathed man writes is divine Scripture.
Augustine in City of God 18: prophets can write as historians by human diligence, or as prophets by inspiration; only the latter bind as God's word.
Solomon's inspired share is what entered the Canon: Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Songs.
The rest — plant-lore from cedar to hyssop, extra parables, five thousand songs — can be brilliant human work without being lost canonical revelation.
Latin
VII. Quod spectat autem ad libros Salomonis, quorum plurimos interiisse constat, sciendum est non omnia, quae Prophetae & alii viri θεόπνευστοι scripserunt, authoritatem habuisse divinam: Nam, ut recte monet Augustinus de Civit. Dei lib. 18. Prophetae alia sicut homines scribere potuerunt, historica diligentia, & alia sicut Prophetae, inspiratione divina. Quae ita distincta fuerunt, ut priora quidem ipsis, posteriora Deo, per ipsos loquenti tribuenda fuerint. Ita ergo Salomon nonnulla quidem scripsit a Deo inspiratus, in quo genere sunt illi libri Salomonis qui partem Scripturae faciunt, & in Canonem sunt relati, veluti Proverbia, Ecclesiastes, & Canticum canticorum. Plurima vero scripsit idem ille propria industria, neque tanquam Propheta, sed tanquam vir omnium suo tempore doctissimus. In quo genere fuerunt multa physiologica, veluti quae scripsit de plantis a cedro usque ad hyssopum. Multa quoque ethica, quo pertinent parabolae illae quae proverbiorum libro non continentur. Denique multa poetica, ut illa quinque millia canticorum, de quibus loco citato mentio fit.
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.