Two Dissertations · §428 · John Davenant

Cap. V Obj. 7 Sol: Gospel not inverted — Quisquis crediderit; elect get constant faith

Nearer then to their reason. We deny that our position inverts the Gospel or holds anything against it. The Gospel says Whoever believes will be saved; we say God from special mercy inspires constant faith in certain ones he has decreed to lead infallibly to life. The Gospel first commands faith, then under that condition promises salvation; we teach God first ordains a singular person to life, then pours faith into that heart. I find no fight or contradiction here. The evangelizing voice tells individuals by what means they may obtain eternal life — it puts means first under a condition and promises attainment to those who use them. But God's electing decree prefixes for certain persons both means and end — end through means, means for the end — and so is said to look to the end first and more principally, because for its infallible attainment such grace is conceived as prepared for that person.

Latin

Sed accedamus propius ad rationem propositam. Negamus ex sententia nostra Evangelium inverti, aut quicquam Evangelio adversum in ea contineri. Evangelium dicit, Quisquis crediderit, salvus erit: Nos dicimus, Deum ex speciali misericordia quibusdam, quos infallibiliter ad vitam perducere decrevit, fidem constantem inspirare. Evangelium prius mandat fidem, deinde sub conditione fidei salutem promittit: Nos docemus, Deum primo ordinare singularem aliquam personam ad vitam, deinde vero fidem cordi ejusdem infundere. Ego pugnam aut contradictionem hic nullam invenio. Vox Evangelizantis instituit singulos, quibus modis et mediis possint vitam aeternam consequi: Media igitur sub conditione praemittit, quibus reis consecutionem promittit. At decretum Dei eligentis praestituit certis personis et media et finem, finem per media, et media propter finem; atque idcirco dicitur finem prius et principalius respicere, quia propter infallibilem ejus adeptionem talem gratiam concipitur tali personae praeparare.

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