Two Dissertations · §429 · John Davenant

Cap. V Obj. 7 Sol close: Augustine on perseverance; God requires faith then gifts it to the elect

Augustine found no contradiction here — he knew best that Gospel doctrine is Whoever perseveres to the end will be saved, yet taught that to saints predestinated into God's kingdom before the world's foundations this very perseverance was prepared and gifted. Briefly: these two sayings do not fight — God first exacts from us the duties of faith, then promises the benefit of life; and because for his special mercy he elected certain ones to share eternal life's benefit, he therefore wills to give them faith efficaciously so they may fulfill that duty.

Latin

Nullam hic contradictionem invenire potuit Augustinus, qui optime novit hanc esse Evangelii doctrinam, Quisquis ad finem usque perseveraverit, salvus erit; et tamen ipse docuit, Sanctis in regnum Dei ante jacta mundi fundamenta praedestinatis hanc ipsam perseverantiam praeparatam et donatam. Ut brevi absolvam; Nulla in hisce duobus effatis pugna est, Deus primo a nobis exigit officia fidei, deinde promittit beneficium vitae: et Deus, quoniam pro speciali sua misericordia quosdam elegit ad participandum vitae aeternae beneficium, propterea vult illis efficaciter fidem dare, ut impleant hoc officium.

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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.

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