SECTION I, BOOK II.

...His stupendous operations in created things! And note, that it is always in the power of man, that by his own seeking and knocking, it referring to wisdom or salvation can be acquired for his salvation. This is the ineffable and inexplicable subject of true Philosophy, and the highest good of true philosophers, which is exalted and heralded with such great praise by the Old and New Testaments.

Colossians 2:3 Wherefore the Apostle said not unwisely in the aforementioned place: In Christ all the treasures of knowledge and wisdom are hidden etc. By which the Apostle seems to infer that there is no true philosophy which does not have that spiritual foundation, namely Jesus Christ, in whom is the fullness of the Godhead bodily, and who is the head of both Angelic and superior Nature, as well as of inferior Creatures; and consequently all in all. Since this is so, one may see with open eyes how far that Greek Philosophy original: "Philosophia Græcanica," referring to Aristotelian or Platonic thought unguided by scripture stands from the truth; and for this reason it is by no means to be embraced by pious Christians, but rather to be banished into eternal exile: since a more straight, complete, and perfect way is delineated by the sacred scriptures for discerning the mysteries of eternal wisdom and investigating the secrets of true philosophy. Finally, it is evident therein that the Philosophy of the Greeks—and therefore that worldly or human wisdom upon which such philosophy is built—is earthly, animal sensual/soulish, and devilish, and contradicts true wisdom and philosophy; and for this reason it is necessary that it be false and spurious, as will be clearly demonstrated in what follows.

CHAPTER II.

But before we proceed further in this our discourse, it will be worth the effort to first open to the world the account of the rise or origin of both human or worldly wisdom and the natural man original: "hominis animalis," the "soulish" man driven by senses (of whom the scriptures speak in many places), as well as that of divine wisdom and the spiritual man. It must be known, therefore, that supreme wisdom is the very taste of the soul, intelligence is its vision, the mind its eye, reason its gaze, and reasoning itself the investigation of the object; so that, where the intelligence does not receive its primary taste or flavor from supreme wisdom, it is there often accustomed to be failed and deceived in its judgment. Nor is it enough to have the mind as an eye, by whose act vision occurs, since that is occupied in the intuition of both inferior and superior things: but it is necessary that judgment proceed directly from wisdom.

Intelligence, therefore, is that faculty or power of the soul by which man perceives, knows, and discerns all intelligible things. And we ought to understand that vision of this kind happens in three ways: namely, either by the assistance of the external senses, and then it is occupied by means of the phantasia the "imagination" or "image-forming faculty" concerning sensible bodies, which are accustomed sometimes—indeed, truly most often—to direct and assist the intellect and reason of the natural man; or by the spirit of the phantasia alone, and then it is occupied concerning the imaginary likenesses of both bodies and spirits. And in both of these types of seeing, the intellect may easily be corrupted and seduced by reason of the mediating phantasia, through which the knowledge of corporal intelligible things is conducted and offered to the reason, and finally to the intellect. For it is impossible but that the phantasia (since it is an interior sensitive faculty which receives within itself a deep impression of various sensible things, whether present or absent, and labors to produce and extract similar species in concept from the various species of real sensible things)—and since it cannot transcend beyond the knowledge of natural, sensitive things and corporeal substances—it is impossible but that it represents such sensible notions to the soul or intelligence as its special objects assign to it. Hence, therefore, it happens that the mind or intelligence is deceived in perceiving rightly and justly, and in knowing and discerning any intelligible things; and this especially the more the phantasia tries to extract and elicit from certain sensible things an imaginary concept of some intelligible thing. For in such an action, the intelligence or mind (seduced in this manner by the phantasia itself) can most easily be deceived in discerning and perceiving such a thing: insofar as that intelligible thing is spiritual and supernatural, and consequently exceeds the circle of the capacity of human reason. For example, when mention is made to a natural or "animal" man of the God of Hosts, then immediately an image is painted in his fantastic spirit of some sensible and corporeal Potentate, or an eminent Emperor fortified by his princes. Furthermore, if he wishes to contemplate the Holy Spirit, he will bring forward the impression of a dove or cloven tongues of fire and other things of this sort. Even if we name a Seraph, he will appear in the fantastic spirit as touched with six wings, just as a fiery and winged Angel will be seen in him, and a horned devil with split feet and in a terrible image will be presented in him in a fantastic manner...