Third and fourth proofs from practical means and the mode of the primary object; theology is a practical habit
9. Third, from practical means. That discipline whose means do not stop in theory but extend themselves to practice is a practical habit. But the means of sacred theology do not stop in theory; they extend themselves to practice. Therefore sacred theology is a practical habit. The major shines with its own light. The minor is proved because the Word of God and the sacraments, by which the Holy Spirit works and confirms faith, do not stop in bare speculation but are handed down for the sake of something else (1 Timothy 1:5; 1 Timothy 4:1 and following).
10. Fourth, from the mode of the primary object. That discipline which does not know its primary object merely in order to know it, but in order to do something about what is known — that is, to worship God by loving him above all things, to correct and humble itself in order to him, and to love the neighbor in order to the same as itself, by building him up — is a practical habit. But sacred theology does not know its primary object merely in order to know it, but in order to do something about what is known. Therefore sacred theology is a practical habit.
11. From all these things it is indeed plain that sacred theology is a practical habit: for it is known not merely in order that it may be known, remaining shut within the intellect in cognition — which is the specific difference of theoretical disciplines, by which they are distinguished from practical ones — but also so that it may extend itself beyond the intellect, namely so that the will may rest in the object known by the intellect: that is, may by faith apprehend the grace of God offered, may love the offering God above all things and the rest in order to him and for his sake, and may set its hope in him — which is altogether a practical discipline.
And a heap of divine testimonies may be brought forward by which this discipline is praised not only as prudence but also as wisdom, as may be seen in (Proverbs 7:4; James 3:17) and many others, both elsewhere and in the Theological Precognita of Master Alsted and in the Syntagma of Doctor Polanus.
Latin
9. Tertio, a mediis practicis. Cujus disciplinae media non in theoria sistunt, sed ad praxin se extendunt, ea est habitus practicus. Atqui sacrae theologiae media non sistunt in theoria, sed extendunt se ad praxin. Ergo sacra theologia est habitus practicus. Major luce sua radiat. Minor probatur, quia verbum Dei et sacramenta, per quae Spiritus S. fidem operatur et confirmat, non sistunt in nuda speculatione, sed propter aliud traduntur, 1. Tim. 1.5. et 4. 10. Quarto, a primarii objecti modo. Quae disciplina objectum suum primarium non cognoscit, ut tantum cognoscat, sed ut circa cognitum aliquid agat, i.e. Deum supra omnia diligendo colat, se in ordine ad ipsum corrigendo et humiliando, et proximum in ordine ad eundem aedificando tanquam seipsum diligat, ea est habitus practicus. Atqui sacra theologia objectum suum primarium non cognoscit, ut tantum cognoscat, sed ut circa cognitum aliquid agat etc. Ergo S. Theologia est habitus practicus. 11. Ex his omnibus manifestum quidem est, sacram theologiam esse habitum practicum, quippe quae cognoscitur, non ut cognoscatur duntaxat, in cognitione sistens intra intellectum se contineat, quae theoreticarum disciplinarum specifica differentia est, qua a practicis distinguuntur, sed etiam ut sese extra eundem extendat, nempe ut voluntas in objecto ab intellectu cognito acquiescat, h.e. fide oblatam Dei gratiam apprehendat, Deum offerentem supra omnia, caetera vero in ordine ad ipsum et propter ipsum diligat, et spem suam in ipso reponat, id quod omnino practica disciplina est. Et cumulum testimoniorum divinorum suggesserit, quibus huic disciplinae non prudentiae tantum, sed et sapientiae elogium tribuitur, ut videre est Prov. 7.4. Jac. 3.17. et plurima alia, tum alibi, tum in praecognitis Theologicis Domini Alstedii, et syntagmate Doct. Polani.