APOLOGETIC PREFACE,

original: "PRAEFATIO APOLOGETICA." In this period, an "apology" was not an expression of regret, but a formal defense or justification of one's beliefs against critics.

That is /

A Brief Defensive and Justificatory PREFACE.

A decorative typographical ornament featuring symmetrical floral and scrollwork designs.

GOD’S Grace and Blessing be to the good-hearted reader: But especially to each and every faithful lover of the nature-conformed, universal, and invincible Truth / I wish that you might see and receive the LIGHT of NATURE The "Light of Nature" (Lumen Naturae) is a central concept in alchemical and Paracelsian philosophy, referring to the divine wisdom and knowledge imprinted within the physical world, which can be discovered through study and experience. in your LIGHT, O God! who you are a LIGHT, in whom there is no darkness.

AMEN.

That it is / Whether it be. Why it is / What & Wherefore it be. original: "ὅτι ἐστὶ, an sit. Διότι ἐστὶ, Quid & Quare sit." Khunrath provides the Greek and Latin philosophical terms for examining any subject: first establishing its existence (that it is), then its essence and purpose (what it is).

Rightly, of every thing it is first and foremost asked, WHETHER IT BE; afterwards, WHAT IT BE.

The vocabulary list provided in the transcription reflects the key themes of this page: the Apologetica (defense), the Licht der Natur (Light of Nature), and the Catholisch (universal) nature of the truth the author seeks to share.