Arriaga, Roderic De

, a Spanish Jesuit, was born at Logrona, in Castille, Jan. 17, 1592. He entered into the society Sept. 17, 1606, and taught philosophy with great applause at Valladolid, and divinity at Salamanca. Afterwards, at the instigation of the society, he went to Prague, in 1624, where he taught scholastic divinity three years, was prefect general of the studies twenty years, and chancellor of the university for twelve years. He took the degree of doctor in divinity in a very public manner, and gained great reputation. The province of Bohemia deputed him thrice to Rome, to assist there at general congregations of the order, and it appears that he afterwards refused every solicitation to return to Spain. He was highly esteemed by Urban VIII. Innocent X. and the emperor Ferdinand III. He died at Prague, June 17, 1667. His works are, “A course of Philosophy,” fol. Antwerp, 1632, and at Lyons, 1669, much enlarged; “A course of -Divinity,” 8 vols. fol. printed at different periods from 1645 to 1655, at Antwerp. Other works have been attributed to him, but without much authority. By these, however, he appears to have been a man of great learning, with some turn for boldness of inquiry; but, in general, his reasoning is perplexed and obscure, and perhaps the abbé l’Avocat is right in characterising him as one of the most subtle, and most obscure of the scholastic divines. Bayle says he resembles those authors who admirably discover the weakness of any doctrine, but never discover the strong side of it: they are, he adds, like warriors, who bring fire and sword into the enemies’ country, but are not able to put their own frontiers into a state of resistance. ²