Annotatio IV §.II: First fountain — free-acting pravity of will precedes intellect-error; sacred strife by free choice
Of the two fountains, the first is the free-acting pravity of the will — which, under the covenant of grace no less than of works, runs ahead of intellect’s error.
For any divine covenant with man presupposes enough light in the mind to restrain or repel malicious will-pravity.
So whoever has gone on to needless sacred quarrels and church splits — even with the Devil prodding — should know he rushed in not unwillingly, nor merely by intellect’s mistake or the Devil’s talk, but by his own free choice and προαίρεσις.
Three larger rivulets from will-pravity, well marked by the Apostle John, promote that work of dissension; we list them here in reverse order:
Latin
Fontium binorum Priorem, Pravitatem Voluntatis facio-liberam, non minus sub Foedere Gratiae, quam Operum, errorem Intellectûs praevertentem: cum vel ipsius Foederis divini cujuscunque cum homine initi natura, tantum Luminis in intellectu humano supponat, quantum sufficit Pravitati voluntatis malitiosae vel cohibendae, vel repellendae, ut sic ad rixas sacras & dissidia Ecclesiastica praeter necessitatem, etiamsi instigante Diabolo, progressus, sciat, se non invitum, vel per errorem intellectûs, vel per Diaboli persuasionem, sed per liberam potius electionem suam ac προαίρεσιν, ad eandem provolâsse, promoventibus dissidiorum negotium rivulis majoribus tribus ex pravitate Voluntatis emanantibus & Johanni Apostolo probè notatis, hôc locô, inverso ordine recensendis: