Chemical Lexicon (1657) - Page 17

...of Paracelsus, which we may view set into the wall near St. Sebastian in the hospital The St. Sebastian Cemetery and the neighboring St. Anne's Hospital in Salzburg., erected by the Bishop of Salzburg. It contains these words:

Here is buried Philippus Aureolus Paracelsus, distinguished Doctor of Medicine, who by wonderful art removed those terrible wounds, Leprosy, Gout, Dropsy original: "Hydropisin"; a historical term for swelling or edema., and other incurable contagions of the body, and honored his goods by decreeing they be distributed and granted to the poor. In the year of our Lord 1541, on the 24th day of September, he exchanged life for death.

But let these things suffice concerning Paracelsus for now. If Paracelsus is somewhat obscure, and his writings are more intricate than a meager intellect can grasp—forcing them to admit it—this must be attributed to their own ignorance; otherwise, they would not call his works obscure and unintelligible. Indeed, the condemnation of things not understood can be called blindness and stupidity.

Nor should the teaching of Paracelsus be rejected simply because it does not please the Schools of the Greeks This refers to the "Galenic" medical tradition based on ancient Greek texts, which Paracelsus famously rejected. and the unfaithful. For we must no more agree with the fictions of the Greeks than with the certain Word of God, upon which alone Christians ought to lean. Instead, we should embrace the Light of Nature Light of Nature: A central Paracelsian concept (Latin: "Lumen Naturae") suggesting that God grants humans the ability to learn truth through direct observation of the natural world and spiritual intuition., supported by the Word of God, rather than the darkness of the Greeks...