Two Dissertations · §248 · John Davenant

Cap. II Sol. Arg. 4: mark of vessels, not cause — seal of adoption / flight from iniquity

In that place Paul does not teach why vessels are elect to glory, but by what mark they are known. He stamps a double mark on them: one God alone can read — the seal of eternal adoption ("The Lord knows who are his"); the other men can see — flight from impiety and the practice of holiness and justice ("Let him depart from iniquity"; "If he cleanses himself, he will be a vessel unto honour").

Latin

Nam ille, in loco praedicto, non docet ex qua causa eligantur vasa ad gloriam, sed qua nota discernantur. Duplicem autem notam illis impressam dicit: Unam, quae Deo soli perceptibilis est, nempe signaculum aeternae adoptionis, Novit Deus qui sunt sui. Alteram, quae hominibus patet, fugam scilicet impietatis, & praxim sanctitatis & justitiae; Recedat ab iniquitate: Si se emundaverit, erit vas in honorem.

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