Preface.

[They] can be raised up / as long as their mind is honest. But that this man, who was first a poor cattle-herd original: "Vieh-hirte" and became a shoemaker original: "Schuster", arrived at such Mysteries original: "Mysteriis" / was not done by his own curiosity / but by God. For after the learned world / even in theology original: "Theologia", began to depart from the initial simplicity that lies within Holy Scripture / and began, as it were, to lust after the physical causes of divine things original: "Causis Physicis rerum divinarum" / so much so / that they [argued] about the divine generation of the Son original: "generatione divina filii" / the procession of the Holy Spirit original: "processione spiritus sancti" / and the distinction original: "Distinction" of the three Persons in the Godhead among themselves / and their unity original: "Unität" with the Divine Essence; [debating] whether the Persons original: "Personæ" are to be distinguished original: "distinguiren" from the Essence by the virtual distinction of the Nominalists A school of thought following William of Ockham, suggesting that universal concepts are just names rather than real things. / or the Scotistic formal distinction from the nature of the thing A middle-ground distinction proposed by John Duns Scotus, suggesting things are different in reality even if they aren't separate things. / or the Thomistic distinction of reasoned reason A distinction made by the mind based on a real foundation, according to the followers of Thomas Aquinas. / in order to save original: "salviren" this scriptural mystery; also in pneumatics original: "pneumatica"; the branch of philosophy/theology dealing with spiritual beings or "pneuma." / they had brought forth particular concepts regarding the nature of Angels original: "conceptos de natura Angelorum" / concerning the communication of thoughts through the will original: "de communicatione cogitationum per voluntatem" / the power of sight, motion, etc. original: "de potentia visiva, motiva &c."; so God’s heartfelt mercy has taken fatherly pity on us poor children / who have fallen into great quarrels and schisms original: "Schismata" among one another over such matters / and to make us free from such wretched quarreling / He has explained these / and other similar Mysteries original: "Mysteria" according to Divine Philosophy original: "Göttliche Philosophia" / to such an extent / that whoever [looks] with impartial eyes and without preconceived opinion / and thus with an almost Cartesian liberation original: "Carthesianischen liberation"; referring to René Descartes' philosophical method of stripping away all previous assumptions to reach a fundamental truth. from all