Two Dissertations · §466 · John Davenant

Cap. VI Arg. 7 close: then Peter no more ordained than Judas — fights Eph. 1:4 and Acts 13:48

If so, elect and passed-by would differ only by human operation, not divine — and Peter would be no more ordained by God to eternal life than Judas. Peter would enter the elect number only because he met the universal decree Whoever perseveringly believes shall be saved; Judas failed it and was shut out. Plainly absurd, and at war with Scripture: some elected in Christ before the world's foundation, to be holy and blameless (Eph. 1:4); some gifted with faith before others because before others God from mere mercy ordained them to life — Matt. 11:25-26; Acts 13:48; John 6:37; and throughout.

Latin

Haec si ita essent, nulla esset differentia inter electos et praeteritos ex Divina operatione, sed solummodo ex humana; nec Petrus a Deo magis ordinatus ad vitam aeternam fuisset quam Judas: sed quia credendo et perseverando satisfecit universali huic decreto, Quisquis perseveranter crediderit, salvus erit, Judas autem non satisfecit, ideo fuit hic in electorum numerum receptus, iste ab eodem numero exclusus. Sed haec omnia sunt plane absurda et cum Scripturis pugnantia, quae docent quosdam in Christo electos ante jacta mundi fundamenta, ut essent sancti et inculpati, Eph. i. 4. Quosdam prae aliis fide donatos, quia prae aliis fuerunt a Deo ex mera misericordia ad vitam ordinati; ut Matth. xi. 25, 26; Act. xiii. 48; Joh. vi. 37; et alibi passim.

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