Theological Theses · §2149 · Louis Le Blanc de Beaulieu

Rome: even before grace man has free choice in spiritual things, since aided he can embrace or reject the good

First, the theologians of the Roman School, however much they acknowledge that the help of divine grace is necessary for works of piety, still want it said that man has free choice in divine and spiritual things even before grace.

They do not mean that he can do anything of that kind without grace, but that, with the help of grace, he can freely embrace spiritual good, and in such a way that he has a real power to reject it and turn away from it.

Latin

II. Primo enim Scholae Romanae Theologi, quantumlibet gratiae divinae auxilium ad pietatis opera necessarium agnoscant, nihilominus dici volunt hominem in rebus divinis & spiritualibus, etiam ante gratiam, esse Liberi arbitrii. Non quod in eo genere sine gratia quicquam possit, sed quia, mediante auxilio gratiae, libere potest bonum spirituale amplecti, & sic ut veram potestatem habeat illud rejiciendi, atque ab eo recedendi.

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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).

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Translated from Latin (Pitt 1675) (Latin)
Also checked PDF of the 1675 (Latin)
Also checked pdftotext of De Theologia pages (Latin)
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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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