Hermeneutic guides; five norms for proving spirits and true interpretation
Therefore, so that neither the Stoa, nor the Peripatetics, nor Plato's porch, nor even the light of sounder reason or the better dictate of conscience in adversaries can deny the true and certain sense of Scripture, that sense must be dug out by true and least-suspect means in the serious struggle of spirit with our flesh, according to the hermeneutical rules in Flacius Illyricus's Key of Sacred Scripture, Hyperius on forming sermons, Martinus on ready meditation of things, and Dannhauer's Idea of a Good Interpreter and of a Malignant Calumniator. Nor is every interpretation to be received rashly amid such variety of spirits who handle the sacred letters. Test the spirits whether they are of God, says the beloved disciple (1 John 4:1).
The tokens of proof — and so the norms of true interpretation — are five: (1) Sacred Scripture (Isa. 8:20; 34:16; Luke 16:29–31; John 5:39); (2) its unique orthodoxy and truth, Jesus Christ, God already incarnate (Heb. 13:8; John 20:31; Deut. 13:1–7; Matt. 24:23; 1 John 4:3); (3) these two not in bare words but in the power that consists in spirit and truth (1 Cor. 4:20; 2:4; 1 John 4:2); (4) from this anointing of the Spirit no lies follow, whether in Christian theory or practice, but the purest truth (1 John 2:27); (5) the event, when prophecies are to be interpreted, noted from history as fulfillments of predictions (Deut. 18:21; Jer. 28:5–9). By these, every mortal's theological interpretations, sayings, and writings about divine things are to be examined and proved — each according to his age, grace, and calling — and each is bound to try his own by them, to prove or disprove.
Latin
Ne igitur vel Stoa, vel Peripatus, vel Porticus Platonis, vel denique ipsius sanioris rationis lumen aut melius conscientiae dictamen etiam in adversariis verum certumque Scripturae sensum negare possit, is veris minimeque suspectis mediis dextere eruendus est in seria lucta spiritus cum carne nostra, secundum regulas hermeneuticas in clave sacrae Scripturae Flacii Illyrici, Andreae Hyperii Theologo & de formandis concionibus, Matthiae Martinii libro de prompta rerum meditatione, Dannhaweri idea boni interpretis & maligni calumniatoris. Neque temere recipienda est quaevis interpretatio in tanta spirituum varietate, qui sacras literas tractant. Probate spiritus an ex Deo sint, ait dilectus Christi discipulus 1. Joh. 4.1. Probationis tekmeria adeoque verae interpretationis normae sunt quinque. 1. Sacra Scriptura, Esaiae 8.20. & 34.16. Luc. 16.29.30.31. Joh. 5.39. 2. Unica illius orthodoxia & veritas Iesus Christus, jam incarnatus Deus, Heb. 13.8. & Joh. 20.31. Deut. 13.1-7. Matth. 24.23. 1. Joh. 4.3. 3. Haec ambo, non in nudis verbis, sed in virtute, quae in spiritu & veritate consistit, 1. Cor. 4.20. & 2.4. 1. Joh. 4.2. 4. Ex hac vero unctione Spiritus nulla sequuntur mendacia sive in theoria, sive in praxi Christiana, sed merissima veritas, 1. Joh. 2.27. 5. Eventus, siquidem prophetiae interpretandae veniant, ex historia notandi, tanquam praedictionum complementa, Deut. 18.21. Jer. 28.5-9. Secundum haec ta tes theologias omnium mortalium interpretamenta, dicta, scripta de rebus divinis examinanda, probandaque sunt cuique pro aetate, gratia & vocatione sua: imo ad haec suamet quisque exigere, probare, improbareve tenetur.