Sophists' three false proof-genera: pseudographic, sophistic, heterogeneous

But sophists and false theologians, as such, use almost a threefold genus of proofs. The first is pseudographic — when for proving a spiritual theorem proofs are indeed assumed from the sacred letters, yet not true ones, either because of perverse interpretation or because of sinister application to the proposed question — of which pseudographemata countless occur among the Arians and Photinians, as also among Paracelsists and Weigelians and many Jacob-Boehmists and the like, who twist many Scripture testimonies to absurd and blasphemous opinions, as when they attack the deity of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, the truth of the human nature assumed from the virgin Mary, the personal union, and things connected with these. This first genus is opposed to true proofs proper and vernacular to theology, because it constructs a syllogism from vernacular premises that are not true, as the philosopher speaks (Topics book 1, chapter 1).

The second is sophistic, which is opposed to dialectic and common proofs and commits some fallacy either in conjoined words, or in simple ones, or outside diction in things. The third is interposed between the two prior ones, which assumes some heterogeneous principle — alien or foreign — true indeed in its own genus, but transferred to another genus ineffective for what is proposed. Aristotle sometimes calls this logical, sometimes absurd and fictitious, forced toward the proposed question (Metaphysics book 13, chapter 7). This third genus of vicious proof was too familiar to the scholastics, who fitted philosophical principles to proving spiritual theorems, crossing from one genus into another against the analytic laws that demand kinship of all terms. The Photinians, unlearned and ignorant of analytics, abuse this when they try to destroy the eternal and hyperphysical generation of the Son of God with physical little reasonings.

Moreover, as analytic proofs beget accurate knowledge of things, so pseudographic proofs produce ignorance and a disposition — ignorance of a depraved affection contrary to solid cognition. Sophistic proofs make a show and as it were mock with certain juggling tricks. Heterogeneous foreign proofs bring forward some opinion for science. Hence blessed Luther rightly writes of Scholastic Theology that it is only opinion, or a shadowy and thin cognition of spiritual things, because it constructs spiritual theorems not from proper but from alien or diverse-genus principles.