[Theses theologicae, variis temporibus in Academia Sedanensi editae et ad disputandum propositae; (London: 1683)]
Louis Le Blanc de Beaulieu (1614–1675), a faithful minister and learned professor in the Reformed churches of France, was born, according to varying accounts, either in Longvilliers near Paris or in Senlis, into a noble lineage known for its fidelity to the gospel. His family, enriched with civil dignity and ecclesiastical zeal, had long adorned the cause of Christ in France; his grandfather Étienne Le Blanc served as royal counselor and wrote piously on Christian devotion. Educated in the spirit of Geneva and Beza, Le Blanc rose early to prominence as a preacher in Sedan, a stronghold of French Huguenot piety, where he served over thirty years. In 1644, he was appointed professor of theology at the renowned Academy of Sedan, succeeding the eminent Des Marêts, and was several times rector and moderator, guiding both ecclesiastical polity and theological instruction with singular prudence. A man of profound intellect and irenic disposition, Master Le Blanc strove not only for the propagation of pure doctrine but for the peace of the visible church, even being appointed by civil magistrates, including the Marshal of Turenne, to mediate reconciliation between Protestants and Papists—though in vain. His involvement with the Synod of Alençon in 1637 as a commissioner to assess the doctrines of Amyraut and others shows the esteem in which he was held for both doctrinal precision and spiritual sobriety. As Pierre Nicole testified, he was “a precise man with a clear mind,” discerning with rare clarity the subtleties of authors and doctrinal variance. He departed this life in Sedan in 1675, leaving behind not the noise of controversy, but the fragrance of wisdom and charity, ever laboring for truth and unity in the house of God.
Table of Contents:
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I. In the most common and general notion, and in the ordinary manner of speech, those things are said to live which appear to move themselves in any wise unto us. Thus, we speak of living water and living fire, for the flame seemeth to be stirred of its own accord with sundry motions, and likewise water gushing from a fountain, which is set against the dead waters of stagnant pools.
II. But properly and philosophically, that alone is said to move itself, and thus to live, which, being naturally constituted in its place and state, can move itself, and so, after it hath ceased naturally from motion and operation, is able to commence motion again from itself. Yet when I say that which liveth ceaseth from motion, I mean not simply from all motion. For in every living thing there is a certain continual vigor and an undefined motion which ceaseth not save in death. Nevertheless, we call not that living unless it can, by nature, cease from some motion and again commence the same from an internal principle.
III. In this definition of life, motion is not taken strictly, as defined by philosophers: the act of a being in potency insofar as it is in potency, which motion necessarily supposeth some imperfection in the subject, and is therefore called in the schools an act of imperfection. But in a general sense, by motion is understood any operation, even that which is an act of perfection.
IV. Moreover, the perfection of life, as may easily be gathered from the definition, consisteth chiefly in two things: first, in the excellence and variety of motions and operations; secondly, in the agent’s, as it were, self-activity—that is, its independence from an external mover in acting, and its indetermination. And thus, those things live more perfectly which can exercise more and nobler motions, and which are less dependent and determined by another in their actions.
V. But that we may gradually, as it were by degrees, ascend unto that life which belongeth to God, the Most High and Most Excellent, whereof we are here to treat, it must be noted that God hath created and established many orders of living things among corporeal and visible creatures. For as the industry and skill of men shineth forth chiefly in devising sundry machines which seem to move of themselves and serve many uses in human life, so also the manifold wisdom of God hath manifested itself in this sensible world, by devising, as it were, divers automata, fashioned with incomprehensible and truly marvelous art, which we call living bodies. And verily, to him that rightly considereth, the works of nature are naught else but the works of divine art, even as, conversely, the works of human art are naught else but the works of nature, insofar as they are directed by human understanding.
VI. First, therefore, we behold many bodies fixed to the earth and adhering thereto, which are furnished with organs and endowed with an internal principle of motion, which we call asoul. When the earth is opened by the heat of the sun, and the spirits contained therein are stirred, these bodies draw and attract divers juices from the earth, whereby they are not only nourished and increased, but also produce leaves, flowers, and fruits of sundry kinds, and bring forth seeds, whence afterward similar bodies spring forth and grow of their own accord. These we call plants, which philosophers say live with a vegetative life, whose three principal faculties are reckoned as nutritive, augmentative, and generative.
VII. But beyond this first and lowest kind of living things, there exist upon the earth’s surface, in the waters, and in the air itself, many bodies distinguished by far more and more admirable organs, and endowed with nobler faculties, able to exercise many more and more diverse motions. For they have not only the power to nourish themselves with food received within, to increase, and to generate their like, but they are not, as the former, fixed to one certain place. They can move themselves from place to place, nor are they, like plants, so determined by nature to one certain and simple kind of operation that they can move and act only in the same manner. But oftentimes they act otherwise and variously, and temper their motions diversely, according to the sundry impressions they receive inwardly from various objects, through organs which philosophers call sensory. These are called animals, which move of their own accord upon the earth’s surface, in the air, and in the waters with divers motions, and perceive external objects through their senses; thus, above plants, they possess the sensitive and locomotive faculties.
VIII. Yet above all living bodies, men stand far more eminent. In these, we behold a body like unto that of beasts, save that it is furnished with more perfect organs; nor is there aught in beasts pertaining to animal life that is not found in men. But in men, there lieth hid a certain principle of action, of a nature wholly diverse from that in beasts, whence proceed motions and actions that can in no wise follow from the mere structure of organs or any purely corporeal form. These must necessarily be attributed to a spiritual and immaterial principle, such as understanding, reasoning, knowing God, reflecting purely immaterially upon itself and its own operations, inquiring into the causes of things, and finally, using liberty and being the lord of its own actions. These things prove that in men there lieth hid a soul of an altogether different kind than the sensitive and vegetative—namely, an intelligent and reasoning soul, and thus spiritual and immaterial.
IX. Wherefore, man liveth a life far more perfect than brute beasts, not only because he exerciseth far more and nobler actions, but because he moveth himself and acteth from himself in a far more excellent manner. For beasts, lacking reason and intelligence, neither appoint an end unto themselves nor direct themselves unto an end, but are simply borne toward an end by the author of nature, and are led thereto necessarily by impressions received through the senses from material objects. Thus, their operations are not in their power, nor do they properly have dominion over them. But man, using reason, appointeth an end unto himself, and by his own choice rejecteth or selecteth the means leading to that end; nor is he necessarily dependent in his actions upon material objects and the impressions of the senses. But he directeth his operations deliberately toward an end, according to his own judgment, and thus is self-governing and the lord of his own actions.
X. And yet it must be confessed that among creatures there are some whose life ismore perfect than man’s—namely, purely immaterial substances, such as the angelic spirits. For not only is their intelligence more noble, and their knowledge and power extend to far more things, but, being not bound to matter, they are less dependent in their actions than men, who, in respect of many motions exercised by or in them, depend upon matter and are determined thereby, and act—or rather are acted upon—no otherwise than beasts.