II–IV. Church testimony pure or mixed; themes known from Scripture and nature
II. And it is either the Church's testimony, or that of those who are outside the Church. III. The Church's testimony is first pure or mixed. IV. Pure is that which by the Church's voice defines the matter to be believed from the Scriptures alone. V. Mixed is that which by the Church's voice determines the matter from Scripture and nature together.
For there are certain things in theology which become known partly through Scripture, partly through nature: for example, that God is; that there is providence; that there is a magistrate; that there is marriage. Here faith can also be confirmed by natural principles, according to that saying: Turn your eyes to the birds of the sky, and consider the lilies of the field (Matthew 6:26) — of which things Paul also makes mention (Acts 14:17; Romans 1:19).
What then, you ask — are not both theological themes and arguments sought from Scripture alone? Reply: Arguments that found the Christian faith, on which we rest, are rightly drawn from Scripture alone; but illustratives, which we use and are helped by in any way — especially in refuting heresies and human additions, which we necessarily contradict — can also without inconvenience be sought from nature, right reason, and human testimonies ad hominem. See Chemnitz, Theological Commonplaces part I, on creation, chapter 3.
Latin
II. Estque vel ecclesiae testimonium, vel eorum qui sunt extra ecclesiam. III. Ecclesiae testimonium est primo purum aut mixtum. IV. Purum est, quod voce Ecclesiae rem credendam e solis scripturis definit. V. Mixtum est, quod voce Ecclesiae rem e scriptura & natura simul determinat. Sunt enim res quaedam in Theologia, quae partim per scripturam, partim per naturam innotescunt: ut, esse Deum; esse providentiam; esse magistratum; esse conjugium. Hic fides etiam naturalibus principiis potest firmari juxta illud: Vertite oculos ad volatilia coeli, & cognoscite lilia agri, Matth. 6.v.26. quarum etiam rerum Paulus meminit, Act. 14.v.17. Rom. 1.v.19. Quid, inquis, annon ex sola scriptura tum themata, tum argumenta theologica petuntur? Resp. Argumenta fidem Christianam fundantia, quibus nitimur, merito a sola scriptura ducuntur: illustrantia vero, quibus quovis modo utimur & juvamur, praesertim in refutatione haereseon & additionum humanarum, quibus necessario contradicimus, possunt etiam ex natura, recta ratione & humanis testimoniis ad hominem non incommode peti. Vide Chemnitium parte I. L. Theologic. de creatione cap. 3.
About this text
Ludwig Crocius — Book IV Chapter 9 On the forensic law. Cap.10 next De Euangelio.
English follows the locked 1636 Bremen Latin of Liber I Cap. 10, reconstructed from SLUB Dresden page images. Same-page OCR (tesseract lat + Vision) used as check. No modern English was copied. Cap. 11 (CAPUT UNDECIMUM / De S. Theologiae distributione) begins. Cap. 9 complete. Liber I still open. No Internet Archive copy was located.
Witnesses
- Copy-text Locked Latin, Liber I Cap. 10 complete (Villerian 1636) (Latin)
- Checked print SLUB per-page OCR of Liber I Cap. 10 pages (Latin)
This is an AI-assisted study translation. Source fidelity and completeness have not been independently certified. Open Latin on each section (or the Latin source witness link) for the source text. This is not a complete critical edition.