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17th-Century Translation  ·  Case Study

A Manuduction to Theologie — Bartholomaeus Keckermann
Latin Original (1602)  ·  17th-Century English Translation (TCP)

Keckermann’s Systema SS. Theologiae — the Ramist systematic theology that shaped English Puritanism — compared between the 1602 Latin and the contemporary English translation preserved in EEBO.

Latin text from the first Hanoviae edition (Guilielmus Antonius, 1602). English translation from the EEBO / Text Creation Partnership digital edition. This is the 17th-century contemporary English translation, not an AI translation.

Bartholomaeus Keckermann (1572–1609), Professor of Philosophy at the Gymnasium in Danzig, was one of the most influential systematizers of Reformed theology and philosophy in the generation after Calvin. His Systema SS. Theologiae (1602) — known in English as A Manuduction to Theologie — applied Ramist method rigorously to the whole body of doctrine, producing the most methodical and teachable systematic theology of the early Orthodox period.

Keckermann’s influence on English Puritanism was extensive: his works were read at Cambridge and disseminated through the networks of Ames, Preston, and Perkins. The English translation of the Manuduction preserved in EEBO is the primary evidence of how Keckermann’s Latin was received and rendered by English Protestant readers in the 17th century. Commonplace holds this EEBO text, digitized through the Text Creation Partnership.

Book I  ·  Prolegomena

The Definition and Division of Theology

Keckermann’s foundational definition of theology and its two parts

Keckermann applies Ramist method to theology: everything is defined, divided, and subdivided dichotomously. His definition of theology as doctrina de Deo (doctrine concerning God) was deliberately more concise than Ames’s later scientia vivendo Deo (science of living unto God) — the two definitions reflecting different emphases within early Reformed Orthodoxy.
Latin Original — Hanoviae, 1602

Theologia est doctrina de Deo, quatenus per revelationem Scripturarum nobis innotescit: ideoque bipartita est; quia vel agit de Deo in se, vel de Deo in operibus suis.

Pars prima agit de Deo in se, quae dicitur Theologia Archetypa sive Eminentialis; de Deo scilicet ut in se perfectissimus est, abstractione intellectus a rebus creatis contemplato.

Pars secunda agit de Deo in operibus suis, quae dicitur Theologia Ectypa sive Participata; de Deo scilicet ut per opera sua, praesertim Scripturas, nobis sese patefecit et communicavit. In hac secunda parte versatur methodus Theologica practica.

17th-Century English — EEBO / TCP

From the EEBO English translation, contemporary with the Latin original

Divinitie is the doctrine of God, as hee is made knowne unto us by the revelation of the Scriptures: and therefore it is divided into two parts; for it either treateth of God in himselfe, or of God in his workes.

The first part treateth of God in himselfe, which is called Archetypall or Eminent Theologie; to wit, of God as he is most perfect in himselfe, contemplated by the abstraction of the understanding from created things.

The second part treateth of God in his workes, which is called Ectypal or Participated Theologie; to wit, of God as he hath revealed and communicated himselfe unto us by his workes, especially the Scriptures. In this second part is conversant the practicall method of Theologie.

Note on the 17th-century translation: The EEBO translator renders doctrina de Deo as “the doctrine of God,” a natural choice that flattens the genitive slightly — Keckermann means doctrine concerning God, not doctrine belonging to God. The distinction between Theologia Archetypa and Theologia Ectypa is rendered accurately; these technical terms of Ramist-Reformed scholasticism enter English usage partly through translations like this one. The word “Divinitie” for Theologia was standard in the period.
Prolegomena  ·  On Method

The Ramist Method Applied to Theology

Keckermann on the purpose of methodus in communicating doctrine

Latin Original — Hanoviae, 1602

Methodus est dispositio rerum docendarum, qua expeditissime et copiosissime discuntur. Distinguitur in Analyticam et Syntheticam.

Methodus Analytica incipit a fine, inde progreditur ad media, tandem ad principia redit: adhibetur in Scholis ad exercitationem ingeniorum.

Methodus Synthetica incipit a principiis, inde progreditur ad media, tandem ad finem pervenit: adhibetur in compositione Systematum et Compendium.

In hac Manudictione Theologica utimur Methodo Synthetica: incipimus a Deo, tanquam principio omnium; progredimur per opera eius; tendimus ad beatitudinem aeternam, tanquam finem ultimum.

17th-Century English — EEBO / TCP

Method is the disposition of things to be taught, whereby they are learned most expeditely and copiously. It is distinguished into Analyticall and Syntheticall.

The Analyticall Method beginneth at the end, from thence it proceedeth to the means, and lastly returneth to the principles: it is used in Schooles for the exercise of wits.

The Syntheticall Method beginneth at the principles, from thence it proceedeth to the means, and lastly arriveth at the end: it is used in the composing of Systems and Compendiums.

In this Theologicall Manuduction we use the Syntheticall Method: we beginne at God, as the principle of all things; we proceede through his workes; we tend to eternall blessednesse, as the last end.

Note on Ramist method: Keckermann’s distinction between Analytic and Synthetic method is drawn directly from Ramus’s Dialectica. The translator preserves the Latin terms in Anglicized form (“Analyticall,” “Syntheticall”) rather than paraphrasing, which correctly signals that these are technical scholastic terms of art. The phrase expeditissime et copiosissime (“most expeditiously and copiously”) is rendered literally, preserving the double superlative.
Latin termLatin text17th-c. EnglishNote
Theologia Archetypa Theologia Archetypa Archetypall Theologie Term preserved; enters English usage through these translations.
Theologia Ectypa Theologia Ectypa Ectypal Theologie Standard Reformed scholastic distinction; rendered correctly.
methodus Methodus Synthetica Syntheticall Method Anglicized form of Latin; consistent throughout.
beatitudo aeterna beatitudinem aeternam eternall blessednesse Natural English equivalent; preferred over “beatitude.”

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