System of Sacred Theology · §3.18.4 · Ludwig Crocius

XIII-XVI: goodness, benignity, grace, mercy

XIII. Goodness is that by which God inclines toward communicating good outside Himself. That God is good is testified by Scripture and by all His works — Psalm 34:8; Matthew 19:17; Luke 18:19; Genesis 1:31; against the heresies of Cerdo, Marcion, and the Manicheeseses.

XIV. Benignity is that by which God, by giving some good, shows Himself beneficent to His creatures. The first progression of divine goodness is benignity; one general toward all creatures — Psalm 145:9; Matthew 5:45; another special toward the elect. XV. Grace is that by which God imparts some good to intelligent creatures, regarding none of their merits. Grace excludes the creatures merit; distinctions of grace into operating and cooperating, prevenient, concomitant and subsequent, sufficient and efficacious, we treat elsewhere.

XVI. Gods mercy is the affection of coming to the aid of the miserable, nothing obstructing by reason of sin. Gods mercy is taken actively or passively; here in the former way — Exodus 34:6; Romans 9:18; Ephesians 2:4; Titus 3:5. Just as grace is the second progression of divine goodness excluding merit, so mercy is its third progression, finding a remedy for the miserable.

Latin

XIII. Bonitas est, qua Deus ad bonum extra se communicandum propendet. Bonum esse Deum praeter Scriptura omnia ipsius opera testantur — Psal. XXXIV.9; Matth. XIX.17; Luc. XVIII.19; Gen. I.31; contra Cerdonis, Marcionis et Manichaeorum haeresin. XIV. Benignitas est, qua Deus boni aliquid donando se creaturis suis beneficum exhibet. Primus divinae bonitatis progressus est benignitas; alia generalis erga omnes creaturas — Psal. CXLV.9; Matth. V.45; alia specialis erga electos. XV. Gratia est, qua Deus creaturis intelligentibus, nulla earum merita spectans, bonum aliquod impertit. Gratia excludit meritum creaturae; distinctiones gratiae in operantem et cooperantem, praevenientem, concomitantem et subsequentem, sufficientem et efficacem alibi expendimus. XVI. Misericordia Dei est affectus miseris, nihil obstante peccato, subveniendi. Misericordia Dei vel active accipitur vel passive; priore modo hic — Exod. XXXIV.6; Rom. IX.18; Eph. II.4; Tit. III.5. Sicut gratia est secundus bonitatis divinae progressus excludens meritum, ita misericordia est tertius illius progressus, remedium miseris inveniens.

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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.

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