Bonaventure

QUAESTIO III.

Utrum convenientius de Spiritu sancto dicatur donum quam datum.

Tertio quaeritur, utrum convenientius dicatur de Spiritu sancto donum quam datum. Et quod tam convenienter dicatur datum ut¹ donum, videtur:

1. Quia Iacobi primo²: Omne datum optimum et omne donum perfectum desursum est; ergo a Spiritu sancto ita sunt data, sicut et dona³: ergo sicut ad ipsum transfertur ratio doni, ita et dati.

2. Item, mobilis et moti est eadem ratio⁴: ergo similiter dati et donabilis: ergo si donum dicitur in ratione donabilis, datum vero in ratione actualiter dati, ergo eadem est ratio doni et dati, ergo etc.

3. Item, in quolibet genere perfectior est actus quam potentia⁵: ergo cum datum dicat in actu, donum in potentia, perfectius exprimitur aliquid cum dicitur datum quam donum; sed quod maioris est perfectionis magis proprie convenit Deo: ergo etc.

4. Item, quando aliqua duo dicuntur de aliquo, quorum unum est ratio dicendi alterum de eodem, illud convenientius dicitur, quod est ratio dicendi⁶; sed datum et donum dicuntur de Spiritu sancto, et, ut vult Augustinus⁷, «eo donum dicitur, quia datur»: ergo magis proprie dicitur datum.

Contra: 1. Datum convenit Spiritui sancto solum

ex tempore, sed donum aeternaliter: ergo magis proprie dicitur donum.

2. Item, si nunquam actu daretur, donum esset et spiritus esset: ergo videtur, quod magis proprie convenit ei donum⁸.

3. Item, Glossa super illud Iacobi primo⁹: Omne datum optimum etc. dicit, quod «datum dicitur quoad naturalia, donum quoad gratuita». Si ergo gratuita aptius appropriantur Spiritui sancto, qui sanctificat, quam naturalia: ergo melius in divinis dicitur de Spiritu sancto donum quam datum.

4. Item, «donum est datio irreddibilis»¹⁰; sed quidquid Deus dat, irreddibiliter dat, quia cum det, nihil potest recipere: ergo in divinis datum rationem habet doni et induit eius rationem: ergo convenientius ibi dicitur donum quam datum.

CONCLUSIO.

Spiritus sanctus convenientius dicitur donum quam datum, quod duplici ratione probatur.

Respondeo: Dicendum, quod quamvis in divinis utrumque dicatur, et datum et donum, tamen convenientius dicitur donum. Et huius duplex est ratio. Una quidem est, quia datum, cum sit vel¹¹ participium vel nomen verbale, concernit tempus; donum autem a tempore subtrahit; et ideo, quia omnia divina¹² supra tempus sunt, convenientius dicitur in divinis donum quam datum. Alia ratio est, quia donum supra rationem dati addit conditionem liberalitatis sive irreddibilitatis, quae est conditio magnae nobilitatis; et ideo maxime competit¹³ divinis. Et haec est ratio, quare donum appropriatur gratuitis donis, non tantum ipsi Spiritui sancto, qui est principium gratuitorum donorum.

Ad 1. Et ex hoc patet responsio ad illud de auctoritate beati Iacobi.

Ad 2. Ad illud quod obiicitur, quod¹⁴ mobilis et moti eadem est ratio; dicendum, quod non est simile de mobili et moto, et de dono et dato: quia motum esse addit supra mobile actum¹⁵ et dicit totum, quod dicit mobile. Sed datum non dicit totum, quod dicit donum, quantum est de generali intellectu¹⁶ nominis, nisi approprietur; «donum enim est datio irreddibilis», et hoc melius patebit in quarto problemate.

Ad 3. Ad illud quod obiicitur, quod actus est perfectio potentiae; dicendum, quod aliquid est in potentia ad actum dupliciter: aut propter imperfectionem agentis, aut propter defectum suscipientis. Si sit potentia primo modo, tunc actus est perfectio potentiae; si autem secundo modo, non est perfectio¹⁷. Unde si dicatur, quod sol actu lucens, potest domum illuminare, quae non est aperta, et domum apertam illuminat, nulla omnino maior notatur perfectio¹⁸ quam ante. Sic intelligendum est de donabilitate et actuali donatione.

Ad 4. Ad illud quod obiicitur, quod¹⁹ datum est ratio dicendi donum, quia ideo donum, quia datur; dicendum, quod non est tota ratio, sicut dicitur in littera²⁰, sed solum in comparatione ad eum cui datur. — Vel potest dici quantum a parte nostri intellectus: ideo donum dicitur, quia datur; sed tamen a parte veritatis²¹ rei est e converso, quia ideo datur, quia donum est.

QUESTION III.

Whether it is more fittingly said of the Holy Spirit gift than given.

Thirdly it is asked, whether it is more fittingly said of the Holy Spirit gift than given. And that given is said as fittingly as¹ gift, it seems:

1. Because in James 1²: Every best gift and every perfect donation is from above; therefore from the Holy Spirit things have been given just as also they are gifts³: therefore just as the account of gift is transferred to him, so also that of given.

2. Likewise, of the movable and the moved there is the same account⁴: therefore similarly of given and donatable: therefore if gift is said in the account of donatable, but given in the account of what is actually given, then the account of gift and of given is the same, therefore etc.

3. Likewise, in any genus actuality is more perfect than potency⁵: therefore since given expresses [something] in act, gift in potency, something is more perfectly expressed when it is called given than gift; but what is of greater perfection more properly belongs to God: therefore etc.

4. Likewise, when any two things are said of something, of which one is the reason for saying the other of the same, that one is more fittingly said which is the reason for saying⁶; but given and gift are said of the Holy Spirit, and, as Augustine wills⁷, «He is called gift because he is given»: therefore given is more properly said.

On the contrary: 1. Given belongs to the Holy Spirit only from time, but gift eternally: therefore gift is more properly said.

2. Likewise, if he were never actually given, gift he would still be and spirit he would be: therefore it seems that gift more properly belongs to him⁸.

3. Likewise, the Gloss on that text of James 1⁹: Every best gift etc. says, that «given is said with respect to natural [things], gift with respect to gratuitous [things]». If therefore gratuitous [things] are more aptly appropriated to the Holy Spirit, who sanctifies, than natural [things]: therefore in divine [matters] it is better said of the Holy Spirit gift than given.

4. Likewise, «a gift is a donation that is not to be returned»¹⁰; but whatever God gives, he gives irretrievably, because when he gives, he can receive nothing: therefore in divine [matters] given has the account of gift and takes on its account: therefore there it is more fittingly called gift than given.

CONCLUSION.

The Holy Spirit is more fittingly called gift than given, which is proven by a twofold reason.

I respond: It must be said that although in divine [matters] each is said, both given and gift, nevertheless gift is more fittingly said. And of this there is a twofold reason. One indeed is, because given, since it is either¹¹ a participle or a verbal noun, concerns time; but gift withdraws from time; and therefore, since all divine [things]¹² are above time, gift is more fittingly said in divine [matters] than given. Another reason is, because gift adds beyond the account of given the condition of liberality or irretrievability, which is a condition of great nobility; and therefore it most belongs¹³ to divine [matters]. And this is the reason why gift is appropriated to gratuitous gifts, not only to the Holy Spirit himself, who is the principle of gratuitous gifts.

To 1. And from this is clear the response to that [argument] from the authority of blessed James.

To 2. To that which is objected, that¹⁴ of the movable and the moved the account is the same; it must be said, that the case of the movable and the moved is not similar to that of gift and given: because to be moved adds beyond the movable an act¹⁵ and expresses the whole that the movable expresses. But given does not express the whole that gift expresses, as far as concerns the general meaning¹⁶ of the term, unless it be appropriated; «for a gift is a donation that is not to be returned», and this will appear better in the fourth problem.

To 3. To that which is objected, that act is the perfection of potency; it must be said, that something is in potency to act in two ways: either on account of the imperfection of the agent, or on account of the defect of the recipient. If it be in potency in the first way, then act is the perfection of potency; but if in the second way, it is not a perfection¹⁷. Hence if it be said that the sun, actually shining, can illuminate a house which is not open, and illuminates a house which is opened, no greater perfection at all¹⁸ is noted than before. Thus it must be understood concerning donatability and actual donation.

To 4. To that which is objected, that¹⁹ given is the reason for saying gift, because [it is] therefore gift, because it is given; it must be said, that this is not the whole reason, as it is said in the [Master's] text²⁰, but only in comparison to him to whom it is given. — Or it can be said, as far as concerns our intellect: it is therefore called gift because it is given; but yet on the side of the truth²¹ of the matter it is the reverse, because it is therefore given because it is gift.