Two Dissertations · §215 · John Davenant

Cap. 1 prol. IV: distinguishing conditions defined — free-will use

A few words now on distinguishing conditions. IV. By distinguishing conditions I mean contrary acts or qualities which, when foresight and weighed beforehand in the subject, bring about contrary acts in God toward that same subject. Take free choice: its good use and its bad use are contrary acts. If someone holds that, by God's ordination, foresight of the good use always means predestination, and foresight of the bad use means reprobation, then that person makes the good and bad use of free choice into distinguishing conditions required in the subject of predestination or reprobation.

Latin

Jam de conditionibus distinguentibus pauca etiam dicenda sunt. IV. Conditiones distinguentes appello, contrarios actus aut qualitates, quibus in subjecto praevisis & praeconsideratis, contrarii actus etiam in Deo circa idem subjectum exercentur. Verbi causa, bonus usus liberi arbitrii, & malus usus liberi arbitrii sunt actus contrarii: Si quis ergo sentiat ex praevisione boni usus secundum Dei ordinationem homines semper praedestinari, ex praevisione mali usus reprobari, is facit bonum & malum usum liberi arbitrii conditiones distinguentes in subjecto praedestinationis aut reprobationis requisitas.

Report a mistake in this passage

About this text

John Davenant argues from Scripture that Christ's death is a remedy offered to every person, so that anyone who hears the Gospel may be called to believe, and then opens a second dissertation on predestination.

John Davenant (1572–1641) was Lady Margaret Professor of Divinity at Cambridge, bishop of Salisbury from 1621, and England's leading delegate to the Synod of Dort. A Reformed theologian of the moderate school, he defended universal atonement language within a Calvinist frame.

The Two Dissertations (1650) press two theses: that Christ died sufficiently for all, and that God sincerely calls all who hear the gospel — against the novel claim that Christ died only for the elect in every sense. They are Davenant's mature statement of the hypothetical-universalist position that divided English Calvinists.

This volume covers the opening of the first dissertation through the close of chapter 3, with the theses on the extent of Christ's death.

Date1572–1641 AD (Bishop of Salisbury; 1650 Cambridge imprint)

The 1683 reprint was not used as base text. No modern English was copied.

Printed text used

Also checked PDF of the 1650 (Latin · print facsimile)
Also checked DjVu machine-read text of the 1650 (Latin)

We have not yet re-checked this work against its source. We made this study translation with AI help. No scholar has yet certified it as faithful and complete. Open Latin on any section, or the Latin source link, to see the source text. It is not a critical edition.

Report a mistake