On the Imputation of Adam's First Sin · §102

Cap. IX: Garissoles (4) — whole-sentence softener; Placeus answers, does not assert

Fourth: "Granted," he says, "that that phrase also belongs to softening the whole sentence — 'Levi was tithed in Abraham' — what help is that to the adversary's cause? For the payment of tithes was certainly Abraham's own personal act alone. Therefore when it is attributed to the Levites as well, a certain impropriety of speech must be owned: it is attributed to them not properly and personally, but interpretatively and by imputation, insofar as they are reckoned to have done what Abraham alone had done. For what others have performed, and what is imputed to us, is not called properly ours in the same way as what we ourselves did — according to that of the Poet: 'And what we ourselves did not do, I scarcely call ours.'" First, though, he seems to have forgotten what part he ought to play. For he answers when he ought to prove. We certainly do not assert those words of the Apostle; we only answer what has been brought forward and objected, and we make plain that it in no way harms our cause — and that is enough for us. Meanwhile he grants what we want: that there is a certain impropriety of speech that needs softening. It was therefore his to show and prove that such impropriety does not keep the words of that place from being pressed so as to serve those who attack us. But this he does not do at all.

Latin

4. Esto, inquit, etiam phrasim illam ad molliendam totam sententiam pertinere, Levi decimatus est in Abrahamo, quid hoc juvat causam adversariam? Certe enim decimarum persolutio fuit actio propria & personalis solius Abrahami. Ergo cum ea Levitis etiam tribuitur, est agnoscenda quaedam sermonis improprietas; non enim proprie & personaliter, sed interpretative & per imputationem eis tribuitur, quatenus illi reputantur fecisse id quod Abrahamus solus fecerat; Neque enim quae praestita sunt ab aliis & nobis imputantur, ita proprie nostra dicuntur, sicut ea quae ipsi fecimus, juxta illud Poetae, Et quae non fecimus ipsi, vix ea nostra voco. Primum autem oblitus videtur quas agere partes debeat. Respondet enim, cum probare debeat. Nos certe verba illa Apostoli non asserimus; allatis & objectis respondemus duntaxat, ac palam facimus ei causae nostrae nullo modo obesse: id quod nobis satis est. Interim concedit quod volumus, esse sermonis improprietatem quandam egentem emollitione. Ejus igitur erat ostendere & probare hujusmodi improprietatem non impedire, quominus illius loci verba sic urgeantur, ut ab iis sit qui nos oppugnant. Hoc vero minime facit.

About this text

New English, free to read. Open any section below.

English follows the locked 1661 Saumur Latin of Capita I–XIV partial through Man. Post. Caput IX (eph-ho / eph-ho pantes) before eph-ho / eph-ho pantes, reconstructed from IA PDF page images with Vision OCR and pdftotext as check. No modern English was copied. Cap. IX deepen+ remain.

Catalogue & scope

IA deimputationepri00lapl. Densify: Capita I–XII + Caput XIV + Man. Post. Cap. II–VI through Cap. X Rom. 5:14 tip. Not whole Disputatio; Cap. X Rom. 5:14+ / ~494 pp Disputatio remain.

Witnesses

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.