On the Imputation of Adam's First Sin · §17 · Josué de la Place (Placeus)

Chapter 6: Maresius and others — Rivetus deferred; Scripture arguments next

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Chapter Six. That the arguments of the most distinguished D. Maresius prove no other imputation of Adam’s first sin than the consequent or mediate.

After the last National Synod, several most distinguished men wrote in print — at least among the books I have seen — for the imputation of Adam’s first sin: Andreas Rivetus, Samuel Maresius, Antoine Garissoles, Charles Daubuz, and Stephen Blanc. Many others wrote in manuscript. The first of them, the celebrated Rivetus, chose to fight neither by Scripture’s authority nor by reasons, but by testimonies of learned men scraped together from every quarter, including living writers whose names we had never even heard of before. For now, then, set him aside. Hear first those who bring Scripture’s testimonies and arguments. We are not asking what men think; we are asking what we ought to think, and what God has willed us to think. God’s word is the rule of our faith, not men’s opinions. Push those opinion-collectors to the rear, and let us examine the arguments drawn from the Scriptures.

Latin

CAPUT VI. Non aliam imputationem primi Adae peccati, quam consequentem seu mediatam, Argumenta Clariss. D. Maresii probare. Post ultimam Synodum Nationalem pro imputatione primi Adae peccati scripserunt libris typis excusis, quos quidem viderim, Clarissimi viri, Andreas Rivetus, Samuel Maresius, Ant. Garissolius, Carolus Daubuz, et Steph. Blancus, manuscriptis vero alii complures. Sed primus illorum celeberrimus Rivetus non auctoritate Scripturae, nec rationibus, sed corrasis undecunque potuit virorum doctorum testimoniis, etiam adhuc viventium, eorumque nonnullorum, quorum nomen nobis antea inauditum fuerat, pugnandum sibi censuit; itaque nunc quidem omittatur. Docet enim prius audiri eos qui testimonia Scripturae, et argumenta afferunt. Non enim quaerimus quid homines sentiant, sed quid nobis sentiendum sit, quid Deus nos sentire voluerit. Regula fidei nostrae est Dei verbum, non hominum opiniones. His ergo in ultimum locum rejectis, deprompta e Scripturis argumenta inspiciamus.

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Josué de la Place (Placeus) on the imputation of Adam's first sin: chapters 1 to 12 and 14, and the later disputation up to its chapter on Romans 5:14, from the Latin. The rest is not yet translated.

Josué de la Place (c. 1596–1655), known in Latin as Placeus, was pastor at Nantes and from 1633 professor of theology at the Academy of Saumur, the school of Cameron and Amyraut.

On the Imputation of Adam's First Sin argues the distinctive Saumur thesis: Adam's sin reaches his posterity only mediately, through the inherited corruption — never by immediate reckoning of a sin they did not commit. Fellow Reformed theologians rejected the view, but the book remains its classic statement.

Part only: Chapters 1–12 and 14, and the disputation up to Romans 5:14

Datec. 1645–1655 AD (written after the 1645 Synod of Charenton, and read in draft by Drelincourt by 10 December 1653; printed posthumously at Saumur, 1661; Reformed / Amyraldian circle)

The English is made from the 1661 Saumur Latin of chapters 1 to 12 and 14 and part of the later disputation. No earlier English was copied.

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Also checked Text extract of Caput Primum (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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