System of Sacred Theology · §3.3.2 · Ludwig Crocius

I-VI. Immediate and mediate knowledge; vision; analogy; affirmation, negation, eminence

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I. Now God is known by us either immediately or mediately.

II. Immediately, by clear vision of Him as He is (1 John 3:2; 1 Corinthians 13:12), proper to the blessed in heaven.

III. Mediately, through analogical images and signs — God's outward actions, works, and word (Psalm 19:1; Romans 1:20). This knowledge is called seeing through a mirror in mystery, proper to pilgrims.

IV. Mediately God is known from His works or word in three modes: affirmation, negation, and eminence. V. The first mode is affirmation. VI. Negation removes imperfections; eminence raises perfections above the manner of creatures.

Latin

I. Cognoscitur autem Deus a nobis immediate aut mediate. II. Immediate, per visionem claram ejus sicuti est, 1 Joh. 3.2; 1 Cor. 13.12, & beatorum propria est in caelis. III. Mediate, per imagines analogicas & signa, quae sunt actiones Dei externae & opera & verbum ipsius, Psal. 19.1; Rom. 1.20. Haec cognitio per speculum in aenigmate dicitur, & viatorum propria est. IV. Mediate cognoscitur Deus ex operibus aut verbo tribus modis: affirmationis, negationis & supereminentiae. V. Primus modus est affirmationis. VI. Negationis modus removet imperfectiones; supereminentiae elevat perfectiones supra creaturarum modum.

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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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