From the book
Heinrich Khunrath’s Magnesia Catholica Philosophorum
Heinrich Khunrath · Diotimos Editions · 2026
Browse this book’s lexicon →Orientation
At a Glance
- The wordThe Haußhalter is the wealthy person as steward of God's property.
- In KhunrathKhunrath's emphatic “HIS” makes ownership the crux: money is entrusted by God and put into human hands.
- In this editionUse “steward,” not merely “householder,” where the property belongs to another and must be accounted for.
- A reading distinctionThe English translation supplies “an account” to complete the sentence’s sense.
Meaning
The Haußhalter is the wealthy person as steward of God's property. Pages 153–1542 deny that riches were given solely to magnify the recipient and his own household in worldly affairs. Their use is subject to a final reckoning.
Use in the book
Khunrath's emphatic “HIS” makes ownership the crux: money is entrusted by God and put into human hands. The steward must answer whether it has served God, those needing financial or other help, and his own circle Christianly. The positive Golden Rule accompanies the question.
The address follows the defence of transmutation as bait for potential supporters of costly natural inquiry. Yet the stewardship criterion reaches beyond patronage of alchemy. The named needy neighbour is not reduced to a practitioner seeking funding, and self and household remain legitimate objects of service within the wider obligation.
The passage therefore criticizes exclusive private aggrandizement rather than simply possession of wealth. Calling someone a steward changes the purpose and accountability of possession.
Places to read
- 1599 p. 152The preceding bait argument seeks wealthy support for costly inquiry
- 1599 p. 153Rich people are called stewards over God’s entrusted money
- 1599 p. 154The reckoning includes service to God, neighbour and household
Translation in this edition
Use “steward,” not merely “householder,” where the property belongs to another and must be accounted for. The Gospel stewardship identification is supplied by the modern note.
Source note
The English translation supplies “an account” to complete the sentence’s sense. The German’s construction and the judicial setting establish the reckoning even though that noun is not separately printed.