Cap. VIII Resp.: personal unworthiness foresighted — but not antecedent motive of the reprobation decree
If the talk is of adults only, we grant Arminius and Corvinus this much: a certain personal proper unworthiness, sprung from voluntary rebellion, was foresighted from eternity in all whom God from eternity reprobated. What we deny is that from that foresighted actual and final rebellion the reprobation decree flowed as from an antecedent moving cause. Rather we affirm: in the divine will we must first conceive that decree of permissive hardening or reprobation of which Paul speaks — He has mercy on whom he will, and whom he will he hardens — before we can conceive in the divine mind that foresight of any particular person as from eternity struggling against his grace and, to life's end, contumaciously spurning and rejecting it.
Latin
In hac sententia, si de adultis solis sermo sit, concedemus Arminio et Corvino, personalem ac propriam quandam indignitatem, ex voluntaria rebellione ortam, fuisse in illis omnibus ab aeterno praevisam, quos Deus ab aeterno reprobavit: sed negabimus, ex praevisa hac actuali et finali eorundem rebellione decretum reprobationis, tanquam ex causa antecedanea et motiva, emanasse. Quin potius affirmamus, in voluntate Divina prius concipi a nobis oportere decretum illud indurationis permissivae sive reprobationis, de qua Apostolus sic loquitur, Miserebitur cujus vult, et quem vult indurat, quam in mente Divina concipere possimus praevisionem istam ad quamlibet singularem personam relatam, qua ab aeterno Deus intuetur eandem personam ut gratiae suae reluctantem, et ad finem usque vitae suae eandem gratiam contumaciter aspernantem et rejicientem.