System of Sacred Theology · §1.6.6 · Ludwig Crocius

Reasons 10–11: revealed dogmas can be taught clearly; papists admit it; simple style

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10. From the side of revealed dogmas. Either they could be handed down perspicuously, or they could not. If you assert the latter, you err, because — by the papists' own witnesses — certain things, and indeed those needful to all for salvation, are written so clearly that they can be understood by the pious and industrious. Thomas (Summa Theologiae part 1 question 1 article 9 reply to objection 2): "Those things which in one place of Scripture are said under metaphors are set out more expressly in other places." Costerus (Enchiridion chapter 1): "We do not deny that those chief heads of the faith which are needful for all Christians to know unto salvation are comprehended perspicuously enough in the Apostolic writings." And Gregory of Valencia (Analysis of the faith book 3): "Those truths of the faith which absolutely and simply must necessarily be known and believed by all human beings are truly taught perspicuously in the Scriptures" — as Augustine also noted.

11. From the side of style. For it is simple, open, and most fitting for expressing such great mysteries (1 Corinthians 2:1 and following).

Latin

10. Ex parte dogmatum revelatorum. Aut enim potuerunt perspicue tradi aut non potuerunt. Si hoc asseras, erras, quia, pontificiis ipsis testibus, quaedam & quidem ad salutem omnibus necessaria ita clare scripta sunt, ut a piis & industriis intelligi possint. Thomas p.1. q.1. a.9. resp. ad 2. Ea, inquit, quae in uno loco scripturae sub metaphoris dicuntur, in aliis locis expressius proponuntur. Costerus enchirid. cap.1. Non, ait, inficiamur praecipua illa fidei capita, quae omnibus Christianis cognitu ad salutem sunt necessaria, perspicue satis Apostolicis scriptis comprehensa esse. Et Gregorius de Valentia analys. fidei l. 3. Ea, inquit, fidei veritates, quae absolute & simpliciter ab omnibus hominibus necessario cognoscendae & credendae sunt, perspicue vere in scripturis docentur: ut Augustinus etiam notavit. 11. Ex parte styli. Nam is est simplex, apertus, & exprimendis mysteriis tantis convenientissimus, 1. Cor. 2.1. &c.

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About this text

Ludwig Crocius's System of Sacred Theology (Bremen, 1636), all four books: theology and its rule in Scripture; man's last end, death and the resurrection; God, the Trinity, creation, providence and sin; and the grace of Christ, the Word and sacraments, faith, the Christian life and prayer.

Ludwig Crocius (1586–1655) taught theology and philosophy at Bremen and sat as a delegate at the Synod of Dort (1618–1619). A Calvinist of the irenic school, he spent his career seeking common ground between the Reformed and Lutheran churches.

His System of Sacred Theology (Bremen, 1636) is a full Reformed dogmatics in the high-orthodox style: precise definitions, ordered questions, objections raised and answered.

Date1636 AD (Bremen; Reformed professor)

EditionSyntagma sacrae theologiae (Bremen: Berthold Villerian, 1636)

English follows the 1636 Bremen Latin (Berthold Villerian), read chapter by chapter from the SLUB Dresden page images, with a machine reading of the same pages as a check. No modern English was copied. The author index at the end of the volume is not translated.

Reference

VD17 14:684303C. SLUB id335860389.

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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