On Ecclesiastical Power and Government--Theses 1-10 (Louis Cappell)
Syntagma Thesium Theologicarum in Academia Salmuriensi... Pars Prima (Saumur, 1664), pgs. 5-6.
I. Universam huius mundi machinam Deus primum e nihilo, non ab aeterno, sed in principio, fabricauit ut in eo Ecclesiam haberet, non quod ea indigeret, sed ut illi benigne se communicaret.
I. God first fashioned the whole world from nothing, not from eternity, but in the beginning, so that he might have in it a church--not because he needed her, but so that he might freely communicate himself to her.
II. Ecclesia illa sunt creaturae intellectu et volutate praeditae, quibus Deus se patefecit, ut ab ipsis cognosceretur, et, pro modo cognitionis atque naturae, debite coleretur.
II. Creatures gifted with intellect and will are that Church to which God revealed himself, in order that he might be known by them, and, on account of this knowledge and nature, fittingly worshiped.
III. Sunt autem creaturae illae vel simplices intelligentiae, quales sunt Angeli, vel sunt Homines corpore et anima intelligente atque rationali praediti.
III. However, those creatures are either simple intelligences, as are the angels, or they are humans, with body and soul, having been gifted with reason and understanding.
IV. Et hi et illi a Deo fuerunt primo boni creati, quo in statu spiritualem cum Deo communionem habuerunt: eoque respectu corpus quoddam mysticum, diversarum quidem partium, non tamen prorsus heterogenearum, constituerunt.
IV. In the beginning, both simple [i.e., angels] and corporeal [i.e., humans] creatures were created good. In that state, they had spiritual communion with God; and, in that respect, they made up a certain mystical body of diverse yet not entirely different parts.
V. Cum Angelorum nonnulli a Deo defecissent, neque primam suam originem servassent, eorum Caput et Princeps fuit homini similis Apostasiae author atque suasor. Epist. Iud. vers. 6.
V. When some of the angels had defected from God, and they did not keep their original estate (Jude 6), their Head and Leader was the author and counselor of that similar apostasy of man.
VI. Hac rebellione factum fuit in corpore illo mystico magnum dissidium, et primitiva illa Dei civitas in duas abiit et discissa est partes, quarum unius Satan fuit Dux et Caput, altera Deo fidelis permansit sub ipsius ductu atque imperio.
VI. By this rebellion, a great separation in that mystical body took place, and that original city of God passed away and was divided into two parts: of which one group had Satan as leader and head, the other group, those faithful to God, continued under his leadership and command.
VII. Deus Diabolum, eiusque sequaces Angelos, quia destinata malitia peccaverant, in aeternum, sine spe veniae, abiiciens, hominis, qui illius fraude in errorem pellectus fuerat, humanique generis ex eo orituri, misertus, viam et rationem resarciendae concordiae, et redintegrandae amicitiae, illi statim post lapsum aperuit in promissione seminis mulieris benedicti, contrituri caput Serpentis, quod semen demum suo tempore exhibuit in Iesu Christo Dei Filio nato ex B. Virgine, passo, crucifixo, mortuo, excitato, et in coelum ad Patris dexteram euecto, indeque ad iudicium venturo.
VII. God, casting out eternally without hope of forgiveness the Devil and the angels who followed him because they had sinned with obstinate wickedness, having pity on the man who had been seduced into his error through the deceit of the Devil, and on those people born from that man, opened to that man, immediately after the fall, a way and plan of restoring concord and of renewing friendship, in the promise of the woman's blessed seed, who was to crush the head of the Serpent. That seed was finally revealed, in his own time, in Jesus Christ the Son of God, born of the Blessed Virgin, who suffered, was crucified, died, rose, and exalted to the right hand of the Father, and from thence he will return for the judgment.
VIII. Quos Deus verbo Promissionis illius, sive olim exhibendae, sive jam, et aliquot post saeculis actu exhibitae, vocat ad sui communionem, quique illi veram adhibent fidem, ii sunt quos Scriptura Ecclesiam proprie et stricte dictam vocat.
VIII. Those whom God calls into his fellowship by the word of that promise, whether formerly or already exhibited and after some ages actually exhibited, all those who hold to a true faith, these are those strictly and properly named the church in Scripture.
IX. Hi non sunt omnes in universu homines (Fides enim non est omnium, [a] et, Multi sunt vocati) sed pauci electi, [b] quos Christus pusillum gregem [c] vocat. Hos Deus pro beneplacito suo e reliquorum numero selegit, ut fide, Spiritus sui singulari vi atque efficacia, donatos Christo insereret, perque eum iustificatos et sanctificatos vitae aeternae compotes faceret. a 2. Thess.3.2 b Matth. 20.16. c Luc. 12.32.
IX . These are not all people in the world (For not all have faith, and a, many are called) but few are chosen, b whom Christ called his little flock c. God selected them from the number of the rest according to his own good pleasure, that those given to Christ might be engrafted into Christ by faith, through the power and efficacy of His Spirit, and, having been justified and sanctified through him, that he might make them possessors of eternal life.
X. Illi inter se, et cum Christo, per fidem arcta et spirituali atque arcana communione sunt coniuncti, cuius respectu quotquot ubique sunt, fuerunt, eruntue ad finem usque mundi, fideles sanctam quandam et coelestem constituunt societatem, Mysticumque corpus, cuius Christus est Caput, Rex et Legislator, ut pote quos sanguine suo sibi acquisiuit, aeternumque redemit. Rom. 12:5; 1 Cor. 12:27; Eph. 1:22, 23, 4:12, 16, 5:23; Acts 20:28; Col 1:18, 24.
X. They have been united among themselves and with Christ through faith by a close, spiritual, and mysterious fellowship, with respect to which however many in any place are, have been, or will be faithful, even until the end of the world, constitute a certain holy and heavenly society and a mystical body of which Christ is head, king, and legislator, as especially he aquired them for himself by his own blood, and redeemed them eternally. Rom. 12:5; 1 Cor. 12:27; Eph. 1:22, 23, 4:12, 16, 5:23; Acts 20:28; Col 1:18, 24.