Theological Theses · §1381 · Louis Le Blanc de Beaulieu

The synod's letter: to adore images is to kiss and love them

The synodical letter equates ‘adoring’ images with kissing and loving them.

Greek usage (proskunein and related terms) is pressed to mean embrace and strong affection, not latria.

Latin

XII. Consona sunt quae leguntur in epistola Synodica prima ad Augustos. Sunt autem haec, nempe Christi & sanctorum imagines, adorandae quoque, hoc est, exosculandae & amandae, idem enim significant haec, juxta antiquam Graeciae Dialecton. Nam prosechein, id est, adorare, & aspazesthai, id est, amplecti, & philein, id est, amare significat. Praepositio autem pros, intentionem significat desiderii, quemadmodum in proskunein. Unde concludit epistola vocem proskunein significare amplexum, & vehementem amorem. Tomi saepius allegati pag. 390.

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About this text

Louis Le Blanc, a Reformed professor at Sedan, sets out theology in theses argued against Rome: Scripture, faith, grace, free choice, good works and the saints.

This volume holds the Theses on Theology I–XLIII and On Faith I–XXII, in eighteen sections.

Louis Le Blanc de Beaulieu (1614–1675) was minister and professor of theology at the Academy of Sedan, the Reformed school on France's eastern border. His Theses were disputed by students over many years and collected in a London folio (1675).

The Theological Theses range across the whole Reformed system — Scripture, God, predestination, grace, and justifying faith — in the crisp thesis-and-proof form of the seventeenth-century schools.

Date1675 AD (Sedan theses; London collection)

No modern English.

Reference

ESTC R17887; Wing L802. IA bub_gb_eOkHAW4G0-wC (+ EEBO 1675 for gap leaves).

Printed text used

Translated from Latin (Pitt 1675) (Latin)
Also checked PDF of the 1675 (Latin)
Also checked pdftotext of De Theologia pages (Latin)
Also checked DjVu machine-read text of the 1675 (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.

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