Bonaventure

The numbered footnotes below correspond to markers in both the Latin body above and the English translation; Quaracchi restart their numbering on every printed page, so the labels are qualified by page.

COLLATIO I.¹

De qualitatibus in auditoribus divini verbi requisitis et de Christo omnium scientiarum medio.

Summarium

Ex textu eruitur materia trium priorum collationum tripliciter divisa, numero 1. — Pars I. In auditoribus tria requiruntur, 2. — De his tribus specialiter, 3-5. — Ineptorum auditorum tria genera, unumquodque propter duo vitia, 6-9. — Pars II. De Christo, qui est medium omnium scientiarum, 10. — Media septem secundum septem scientias et ad Christum applicanda, 11. — Primum medium essentiae aeterna generatione primarium, 12-17. — Secundum medium naturae virtuali diffusione pervalidum, 18-20. — Tertium medium distantiae centrali positione profundum, 21-24. — Quartum medium doctrinae rationali manifestatione praeclarum, 25-30. — Quintum medium modestiae morali electione praecipuum, 31-33. — Sextum medium iustitiae iudiciali compensatione perpulcrum, 34-36. — Septimum medium concordiae universali conciliatione pacatum, 37-39.

1. In medio Ecclesiae aperiet os eius et adimplebit eum Dominus spiritu sapientiae et intellectus et stola gloriae vestiet illum, Ecclesiastici decimo quinto². In verbis istis docet Spiritus sanctus prudentem, quibus debet sermonem depromere, unde incipere, ubi terminare.

Primo, quibus debet loqui: quia Ecclesiae; non enim dandum est sanctum canibus, nec margaritae spargendae sunt ante porcos³.

Secundo docet, ubi debet incipere: quia a medio, quod est Christus; quod medium si negligatur, nihil habetur.

Tertio, ubi terminare: quia in plenitudine sive adimpletione spiritus sapientiae et intellectus.

2. Sed primo loquendum est de nobis ipsis et videndum, quales esse debemus. Si enim oculo infirmo apponatur radius, potius excaecatur, quam illuminetur. Loquendum est igitur Ecclesiae, quae quidem est convocatio rationalium; synagoga autem est congregatio gregum et hominum brutaliter viventium⁴. Ecclesiae loquendum est, quae quidem est unio rationalium concorditer et uniformiter viventium per concordem et uniformem observantiam divinae legis, per concordem et uniformem cohaerentiam divinae pacis, per concordem et uniformem consonantiam divinae laudis. Haec autem ordinata sunt: quia laus esse non potest, ubi non est pax, nec divina pax, ubi non est observantia divinae legis.

3. De primo in prima ad Timotheum⁵: Haec tibi scribo, fili Timothee, ut scias, quomodo oporteat te conversari in domo Dei, quae est Ecclesia Dei vivi, columna et firmamentum veritatis. Ecclesia dicitur columna et firmamentum, quia mentis illustrativa, et quia virtutis stabilitiva. Venientes enim ad eam illustrantur per fidem et stabiliuntur per virtutis constantiam. Et haec duo facit lex divina. Unde est columna filiorum Israel⁶, ad cuius motum p. 330 apparet omnino, quomodo agendum et quomodo quiescendum. In hoc enim omnes Ecclesiae concordant, ut custodiant legem Dei, sicut olim totus populus motum columnae aspiciebat. Qui ad hanc non aspicit semper non est de unitate Ecclesiae, ut si eam non intelligas, vel si intelligis, eam non sequaris.

4. Item loquendum est Ecclesiae rationalium unitorum per concordem et uniformem cohaerentiam divinae pacis. Unde dicitur in Ecclesiastico¹: Filii sapientiae ecclesia iustorum, et natio illorum obedientia et dilectio. Ecclesia enim mutuo se diligens est. Dilectio autem nascitur ex legis impletione. Lex enim praecipit dilectionem, in prima ad Timotheum: Finis praecepti est dilectio seu caritas de corde puro et conscientia bona et fide non ficta. Et idem Apostolus: Qui diligit proximum Legem implevit. Et probat per verbum Salvatoris: In his, inquit, duobus universa Lex pendet et Prophetae. Oportet ergo, ut legis observatores sint amatores, Ioannis decimo tertio²: In hoc cognoscent omnes, quia discipuli mei estis, si dilectionem habueritis ad invicem; et Apostolus: Non est Deus dissensionis, sed pacis.

5. Item, loquendum est Ecclesiae rationalium unitorum per concordem et uniformem consonantiam divinae laudis; in Psalmo³: Apud te laus mea in ecclesia magna. Sicut enim ex multitudine vocum unitarum secundum quandam proportionem et harmoniam dulcedo cantus fit; sic ex multorum affectione harmonia spiritualis, placens Altissimo; unde in Psalmo: In ecclesiis benedicite Deo domino de fontibus Israel. — Talibus igitur observatoribus divinae legis, amatoribus divinae pacis, persolutoribus divinae laudis, et non aliis, debet fieri sermo⁴; et tales sunt viri ecclesiastici. Qui autem rapitur extra hanc Ecclesiam, illi non debet fieri.

6. Rapitur autem homo per spiritum carnalitatis et cupiditatis, contra primum. Hi duo sunt, qui avertunt hominem a lege Dei et excaecant duos oculos mentis. Lex enim Dei praecipit bonum commune et bonum spirituale et retrahit ab amore foedo, qui est carnalitatis, et ab amore privato, qui est cupiditatis. Lex enim odiosa est carnali et cupido; nec unquam eam audire volunt. Sunt enim sicut canis et porcus. Canis enim semper est cupidus et nunquam communicare volens, porcus autem semper in luto esse vult.

7. Item, contra cohaerentiam pacis est spiritus malignitatis et crudelitatis, invidus et iracundus; et hi duo totum pervertunt: invidus omne bonum convertit in malum, iracundus omne malum in bonum et ipsam redditionem mali reputat bonum. Et ideo ponunt tenebras lucem et lucem tenebras, Isaiae quinto⁵. Unde tales non sunt idonei ad audiendum legem Dei.

8. Item, contra consonantiam divinae laudis spiritus praesumtionis et curiositatis, ita quod praesumtuosus Deum non magnificat, sed sese laudat; curiosus autem devotionem non habet. Unde multi sunt tales, qui vacui sunt laude et devotione, etsi habeant splendores scientiarum. Faciunt enim casas vesparum, quae non habent favum mellis, sicut apes, quae mellificant.

9. Talibus itaque iam dictis non est faciendus sermo, quia sunt domus exasperans⁶; et aliquando propter indispositionem auditorum facit Dominus linguam adhaerere palato; sed loquendum est fratribus, unde in Psalmo: Narrabo nomen tuum fratribus meis, in medio ecclesiae laudabo te, et viris spiritualibus, ut a sapientia mundana trahantur ad sapientiam christianam. Praecessit enim impugnatio vitae Christi in moribus per theologos, et impugnatio doctrinae Christi per falsas positiones per artistas. Non itaque redeundum est in Aegyptum per desiderium vilium ciborum, alliorum, porrorum et peponum⁷, nec dimittendus cibus caelestis. — Et sic patet primum.

10. Circa secundum nota, quod incipiendum est a medio, quod est Christus. Ipse enim mediator Dei et hominum⁸ est, tenens medium in omnibus, ut patebit. Unde ab illo incipiendum necessario, si quis vult venire ad sapientiam christianam, ut pro- p. 331 batur in Matthaeo: quia nemo novit Filium nisi Pater, neque Patrem quis novit nisi Filius, et cui voluerit Filius revelare. — Manifestum est etiam, quod ab illo incipiendum, a quo duo maximi sapientes inceperunt, scilicet Moyses, inchoator sapientiae Dei, et Ioannes, terminator. Alter dixit¹: In principio creavit Deus caelum et terram, id est in Filio, secundum Augustinum; et Ioannes: In principio erat Verbum, et Verbum erat apud Deum, et Deus erat Verbum. Hoc erat in principio apud Deum. Omnia per ipsum facta sunt. Si ergo ad notitiam creaturae perveniri non potest nisi per id, per quod facta est; necesse est, ut verbum verax praecedat te, in Ecclesiastico².

11. Propositum igitur nostrum est ostendere, quod in Christo sunt omnes thesauri sapientiae et scientiae Dei absconditi³, et ipse est medium omnium scientiarum. Est autem septiforme medium, scilicet essentiae, naturae, distantiae, doctrinae, modestiae, iustitiae, concordiae. Primum est de consideratione metaphysici, secundum physici, tertium mathematici, quartum logici, quintum ethici, sextum politici seu iuristarum, septimum theologi. — Primum medium est aeternali origine primarium; secundum virtuali diffusione pervalidum; tertium centrali positione profundum; quartum rationali manifestatione praeclarum; quintum morali electione praecipuum; sextum iudiciali compensatione praecelsum; septimum universali conciliatione pacatum. — Primum medium Christus fuit in aeterna generatione; secundum in incarnatione; tertium in passione; quartum in resurrectione; quintum in ascensione; sextum in futuro examine; septimum in sempiterna retributione sive beatificatione.

12. Primum ergo medium est essentiae aeternali generatione primarium. Esse enim non est nisi dupliciter: vel esse, quod est ex se et secundum se et propter se, vel esse, quod est ex alio et secundum aliud et propter aliud. Necesse etiam est, ut esse, quod est ex se, sit secundum se et propter se. Esse ex se est in ratione originantis; esse secundum se in ratione exemplantis, et esse propter se in ratione finientis vel terminantis; id est in ratione principii, medii et finis seu termini. Pater in ratione originantis principii; Filius in ratione exemplantis medii; Spiritus sanctus in ratione terminantis complementi. Hae tres personae sunt aequales et aeque nobiles, quia aequae nobilitatis est Spiritui sancto divinas personas terminare, sicut Patri originare, vel Filio omnia repraesentare⁴.

13. Metaphysicus autem, licet assurgat ex consideratione principiorum substantiae creatae et particularis ad universalem et increatam et ad illud esse, ut habet rationem principii, medii et finis ultimi, non tamen in ratione Patris et Filii et Spiritus sancti. Metaphysicus enim assurgit ad illud esse considerandum in ratione principii omnia originantis; et in hoc convenit cum physico, qui origines rerum considerat⁵. Assurgit etiam ad considerandum illud esse in ratione ultimi finis; et in hoc convenit cum morali sive ethico, qui reducit omnia ad unum summum bonum ut ad finem ultimum, considerando felicitatem sive practicam, sive speculativam. Sed ut considerat illud esse in ratione omnia exemplantis, cum nullo communicat et verus est metaphysicus.

Pater enim ab aeterno genuit Filium similem sibi et dixit se et similitudinem suam similem sibi et cum hoc totum posse suum; dixit quae posset facere, et maxime quae voluit facere, et omnia in eo expressit, scilicet in Filio seu in isto medio tanquam in sua arte. Unde illud medium veritas est; et constat secundum Augustinum⁶ et alios Sanctos, quod « Christus habens cathedram in caelo docet interius »; nec aliquo modo aliqua veritas sciri potest nisi per illam veritatem. Nam idem est principium essendi et cognoscendi. Si enim scibile in quantum scibile secundum Philosophum⁷ aeternum est; necesse est, ut nihil sciatur nisi per veritatem immutabilem, inconcussam, incoangustatam.

14. Istud est medium personarum necessario: quia, si persona est, quae producit et non producitur, et persona, quae producitur et non producit, p. 332 necessario est media, quae producitur et producit. Haec est ergo veritas sola mente perceptibilis¹, in qua addiscunt Angeli, Prophetae, philosophi vera, quae dicunt.

15. De isto medio dicitur in Genesi²: Produxit dominus Deus de humo omne lignum pulcrum visu et ad vescendum suave, lignum etiam vitae in medio paradisi. Secundum quod dicit Augustinus, de omnibus productis dictum est: Fiat; fecit, et factum est, praeterquam de luce, de qua dixit: Fiat lux, et facta est lux; quia primo producta sunt ab aeterno in arte aeterna, secundo in creatura intellectuali, tertio in mundo sensibili.

16. Et hoc est contra errores eorum qui credunt mundum ab aeterno creatum. Quia enim mentes nostrae cognatae sunt aeternis luminibus, putant, quod sicut res productae sunt seu descriptae in arte aeterna ab aeterno, sic ab aeterno in isto mundo creatae sint; et sicut mundus ab aeterno descriptus est in arte aeterna, sic descriptum putant in materia. Hoc autem verbum Genesis de paradiso terrestri, intelligitur de intellectu angelico, humano et aeterno. Pater enim, ut dictum est, similem sibi genuit, scilicet Verbum sibi coaeternum, et dixit similitudinem suam, et per consequens expressit omnia, quae potuit.

17. Verbum ergo exprimit Patrem et res, quae per ipsum factae sunt, et principaliter ducit nos ad Patris congregantis unitatem; et secundum hoc est lignum vitae, quia per hoc medium redimus et vivificamur in ipso fonte vitae³. Si vero declinamus ad notitiam rerum in experientia, investigantes amplius, quam nobis conceditur; cadimus a vera contemplatione et gustamus de ligno vetito scientiae boni et mali, sicut fecit lucifer. Si enim lucifer, contemplando illam veritatem, de notitia creaturae reductus fuisset ad Patris unitatem; fecisset de vespere mane diemque habuisset; sed quia cecidit in delectationem et appetitum excellentiae, diem amisit⁴. Sic Adam similiter. — Istud est medium faciens scire, scilicet veritas, et haec est lignum vitae; alia veritas est occasio mortis, cum quis ceciderit in amorem pulcritudinis creaturae. Per primariam veritatem omnes redire debent, ut, sicut Filius dixit⁵: Exivi a Patre et veni in mundum; iterum relinquo mundum et vado ad Patrem; sic dicat quilibet: Domine, exivi a te summo, venio ad te summum et per te summum. — Hoc est medium metaphysicum reducens, et haec est tota nostra metaphysica: de emanatione, de exemplaritate, de consummatione, scilicet illuminari per radios spirituales et reduci ad summum. Et sic eris verus metaphysicus.

18. Secundum medium est naturae virtuali diffusione pervalidum, quod est de consideratione physici, qui considerat mobile et generationem secundum influentiam corporum caelestium in elementa, et ordinationem elementorum ad formam mixtionis, et formae mixtionis ad formam complexionis, et formae complexionis ad animam vegetabilem, et illius ad sensibilem, et illius ad rationalem, et ibi est finis⁶.

19. Considerat autem physicus duplex medium, scilicet maioris mundi et minoris mundi. Medium maioris mundi est sol, medium minoris est cor. Sol enim est in medio planetarum, secundum cuius delationem in obliquo circulo⁷ fiunt generationes, et regulat physicus generationem. Inter omnes autem planetas maioris diffusionis est sol. A corde similiter est diffusio, quidquid dicant medici. Nam spiritus vitalis ab eo diffunditur per arterias; spiritus autem animalis per nervos, licet complementum recipiat in cerebro; spiritus vero naturalis ab eodem diffunditur per venas, licet compleatur in hepate.

20. Hoc medium fuit Christus in incarnatione; unde dicitur in Ioanne⁸: Medius vestrum stetit, quem vos nescitis; et sequitur: Qui misit me baptizare in aqua, ille mihi dixit: Super quem videris Spiritum sanctum descendentem et manentem super eum, hic est qui baptizat in Spiritu sancto. — Scriptura quandoque dicit Christum medium, quandoque caput. Caput dicitur, quia ab eo fluunt omnes sensus et motus spirituales et charismata gratiarum. Hoc autem influit, secundum quod est unitum membris. Caput enim Christi Deus est, secundum scilicet quod Deus est; sed viri caput Christus⁹, secundum quod Deus et homo. Diffundit ergo Spiritum sanctum in membra Ecclesiae sibi unita, non separata. Unde sicut in corpore humano non est diffusio a capite in membra, nisi sint unita; sic in cor- p. 333 pore mystico. Ipse est ergo medium duorum animalium ut cor; unde in Habacuc¹: In medio duorum animalium cognosceris; et secundum aliam translationem: in medio annorum, scilicet ut sol; quia totum tempus decurrit, secundum quod iste sol descendit per decem gradus in horologio Achaz. Ipse est ergo secundum Septuaginta in medio animalium, quae praeibant, et quae sequebantur².

21. Tertium medium est distantiae centrali positione profundum, de quo mathematicus, cuius licet prima consideratio sit circa mensuram terrae, est tamen ulterius circa motus corporum superiorum, ut habent disponere haec inferiora secundum influentiam eorum³.

22. Hoc medium fuit Christus in crucifixione. In Psalmo⁴: Rex noster ante saecula operatus est salutem in medio terrae. Terra enim plane centrum est, et ideo infima et ideo modica; et quia infima et modica, ideo suscipit omnes influentias caelestes, et ideo facit mirabiles pullulationes. Sic Filius Dei infimus, pauperculus, modicus, humum nostram suscipiens, de humo factus, non solum venit ad superficiem terrae, verum etiam in profundum centri, scilicet operatus est salutem in medio terrae, quia post crucifixionem anima sua ad infernum descendit et restauravit caelestes sedes.

23. Hoc medium est salvativum; a quo recedens damnatur, scilicet a medio humilitatis. Et hoc ostendit Salvator⁵: Ego in medio vestrum sum, sicut qui ministrat; et in Matthaeo: Nisi conversi fueritis et efficiamini sicut parvuli, non intrabitis in regnum caelorum. In hoc medio operatus est salutem, scilicet in humilitate crucis.

24. Sed caligo subintravit, quia Christiani hunc locum medium dimittunt, in quo Christus hominem salvavit. Unde homo impugnat suam salutem, nesciens se metiri. Quid enim prodest, quod sciat metiri alia, cum se metiri nesciat? Si enim aliquantulum se plus quam debet, exaltat, periculum sibi est; sicut dicit beatus Bernardus⁶, quod « si quis intrans per portam, caput erigat, laeditur; qui autem se inclinaverit, non laeditur ». Unde responsum fuit beato Antonio, quod solus humilis evadere poterat laqueos diaboli. — Sed unde est, quod humilitas non habetur nec lumina sapientiae? Quia ignis non custoditur in medio cinerum, sed lucerna nostra exponitur omni vento, et cito exstinguitur lucerna. Statim enim ostendere volumus, si quid boni in nobis est. Sed mirabilis fuit sapientia divina, quae per cinerem humilitatis operata est salutem. Medium enim, cum amissum est in circulo, inveniri non potest nisi per duas lineas se orthogonaliter intersecantes.

25. Quartum medium est doctrinae rationali manifestatione praeclarum. Ad hoc est omnis sermo rationalis, ut per ipsum tanquam per medium exprimamus quod est apud nos⁷. Sermo enim est ad simplicem orationem; oratio ad argumentationem secundum quatuor species argumentationis; argumentatio ad syllogismum; syllogismus ad persuadendum. Medium ergo per suam evidentiam et manifestationem et convenientiam cum extremis compellit rationem ad assentiendum, ut, quia extrema prius non conveniebant inter se manifeste, per virtutem medii cum utroque extremo convenientis inter se manifeste conveniant⁸.

26. Hoc medium fuit Christus in resurrectione. Est autem argumentum Christi et argumentum diaboli. Argumentum diaboli ducit ad infernum et est paralogismus et sophisticum argumentum et destructivum; argumentum Christi constructivum et reparativum. Diabolus enim paralogizavit primum hominem et supposuit quandam propositionem in corde hominis quasi per se notam, quae est: creatura rationalis debet appetere similitudinem sui Creatoris, quia scilicet est imago — unde in damnatis erit maxima poena, quia, cum imago sit animae essentialis, similiter et talis appetitus erit essentialis in damnatis — sed si comederis, assimilaberis⁹: ergo bonum p. 334 est comedere de vetito, ut assimileris. Et per istum syllogismum omnes peccant, quia, ut dicit Dionysius, « nullus malus fit, ad malum aspiciens, sed omnis intendit bonum et appetit bonum; sed fallitur, quia similitudinem boni accipit pro vero ». Per istum paralogismum induxit diabolus hominem in passibilitatem naturae, in necessitatem indigentiae, in mortalitatem vitae.

27. Econtra argumentum Christi fuit salvativum et destructivum argumenti diaboli. Ex quo enim diabolus fecerat hominem dissimilem Deo, cum tamen promisisset, similem se facturum; necesse fuit, Christum esse similem homini, ut faceret hominem similem sibi sive Deo. Christus ergo habuit conformitatem naturae in quantum Deus cum Patre, aequalitatem potentiae, immortalitatem vitae. In his tribus coniunctus fuit Patri. Necesse ergo fuit, ipsum in aliis tribus oppositis coniungi homini. Assumsit ergo passibilitatem naturae, necessitatem indigentiae, mortalitatem vitae. Tria ergo habuit per essentiam et tria assumsit per misericordiam. Necesse ergo fuit, ut tria vincerentur a tribus. Sed vita per essentiam superari non potuit a morte, nec potentia a penuria, nec impassibilitas a passibilitate. Necesse ergo fuit, ut homo transiret a mortalitate ad immortalitatem, a defectu ad opulentiam, de passibilitate ad coronam¹.

28. Maior propositio fuit ab aeterno; sed assumtio in cruce; conclusio vero in resurrectione. Iudaei credebant Christum confudisse et improperabant ei²: Si Filius Dei es, descende de cruce. Nam Christus non dicebat: sinite me vivere, sed dicebat: sinite me mortem assumere et alteri extremitati copulari, pati, mori; et tunc sequitur conclusio. Unde ipse illusit diabolo.

29. Et ista sunt argumenta, quibus Christus utebatur, per quadraginta dies apparens eis³. Nonne, inquit, oportuit Christum pati, et ita intrare in gloriam suam? De hoc medio Ioannes: Cum sero esset die illo, stetit Iesus in medio discipulorum et ait illis: Pax vobis. Et duo ibi ostendit, scilicet gloriae sublimitatem, eo quod impassibilis et immortalis, clausis ianuis, intravit tanquam Deus; postea ostendit eis manus et latus et confessionem extorsit a Thoma, ut diceret: Dominus meus et Deus meus! Vide processum! Primo intravit ut Deus, ianuis clausis; haec fuit maior; deinde minorem propositionem assumit, cum ostendit eis manus et latus; tertio conclusionem extorsit, ut confiteretur Thomas: Dominus meus et Deus meus.

30. Non sine causa signatur liber septem sigillis. Ecce, inquit⁴, vicit leo de tribu Iuda, radix David, aperire librum et solvere septem signacula eius. Ista sunt septem media. In huius significationem Christus sepulcrum reseravit, et significat apertionem libri, et linteamina removit, et significat manifestationem mysteriorum. — Haec est logica nostra, haec est ratiocinatio nostra, quae habenda est contra diabolum, qui continuo contra nos disputat. Sed in assumtione minoris est tota vis facienda; quia nolumus pati, nolumus crucifigi. Tamen ad hoc est tota ratiocinatio nostra, ut simus similes Deo. — Diabolus vero parum reputabat argumentum Christi, cum vidit eum patientem. Sed Christus illusit ei; Iob⁵: Nunquid illudes ei quasi avi, aut ligabis eum ancillis tuis? Christus reputavit argumentum fortissimum, Ioannis duodecimo: Ego si exaltatus fuero a terra, omnia traham ad me ipsum.

31. Quintum est medium modestiae morali electione praecipuum. Modestia enim virtus est; virtus autem in medio consistit⁶; hoc medium considerat ethicus.

32. Hoc medium fuit Christus in ascensione. Dicitur in Exodo⁷: Ingressus Moyses medium nebulae, fuit ibi quadraginta diebus et quadraginta noctibus. Et hoc fuit Christus in ascensione; unde in Actibus dicitur: Nubes suscepit eum ab oculis eorum. Sic Christianus debet ascendere de virtute in virtutem, non statuendo terminum virtutis, quia ex hoc facto desineret esse virtuosus.

33. Fundamentum autem virtutis fides est, et nos ponimus eam sicut medium. Hic dicit ethicus⁸, quod medium est, « ut ratio recta determinat ». Ista autem fides est; fides est sicut stella matutina in medio nebulae. Ad istam ascendit Christianus assumtus de aquis baptismi et intrat caliginem, quae quidem caligo fides est cum lumine in aenigmate. Hoc fundamentum est, per quod fundatur in nobis Christus; per hanc fidem proficit anima ascendendo ad virtutes politicas, quasi ad radicem montis, ubi Moyses fecit duodecim holocausta⁹; deinde ad virtutes purgativas, quasi ad medium montis; deinde p. 335 ad virtutes animi iam purgati quasi ad supremum montis, ubi aptus est locus ad contemplandas virtutes exemplares. De quibus in Sapientia¹: Vapor est enim virtutis Dei et emanatio quaedam est claritatis Dei sincera; sequitur: candor est lucis aeternae quantum ad munditiam vel temperantiam; et speculum, quantum ad prudentiam; attingit a fine usque ad finem fortiter, quantum ad fortitudinem; et disponit omnia suaviter, quantum ad iustitiam.

34. Sextum medium est iustitiae iudiciali recompensatione perpulcrum seu praecelsum. Quod medium erit Christus in iudicio. Hoc considerat iurista sive politicus, ut fiat retributio secundum merita. — Hoc totum mundum pulcrificat, quia deformia facit pulcra, pulcra pulcriora et pulcriora pulcherrima. Unde Augustinus² dicit, quod damnati pulcherrime locantur in inferno.

35. Ezechielis primo³: Vidi, et ecce, ventus turbinis veniebat ab aquilone et nubes magna et ignis involvens; et splendor in circuitu eius, et de medio eius quasi species electri, scilicet de medio ignis. Et in medio eius similitudo quatuor animalium. Describitur iudicium, primo quantum ad commotionem naturarum, per ventum turbinis et per nubem; secundo, quantum ad conflagrationem ignis, per ignem involventem; tertio, quantum ad examinationem mentium vel meritorum, per splendorem, tunc enim conscientiae clarae erunt; quarto, quantum ad assistentiam iudicantium, per circuitum; per electrum, Christus in duplici natura; per quatuor animalia, quatuor ordines: pontificum in leone, martyrum in bove, confessorum in homine, virginum in aquila, propter contemplationem. Unde fiet segregatio puri ab impuro per Christum, agnorum ab hoedis⁴.

36. Agant ergo iuristae de iudiciis pecuniarum, nos agamus de iudicio nostro. Unde ante iudicium para iustitiam tibi⁵.

37. Septimum medium est concordiae universali conciliatione pacatum. De quo theologus agit, qui considerat, quomodo mundus factus a Deo reducatur in Deum. Licet enim agat de operibus conditionis, principaliter agit tamen de operibus reconciliationis⁶.

38. Hoc medium est Christus in sempiterna beatificatione. Agit enim theologus de salute animae, quomodo inchoatur in fide, promovetur in virtutibus, consummatur in dotibus. Unde in Apocalypsi⁷: Non esurient neque sitient amplius, nec cadet super illos sol neque ullus aestus; quoniam Agnus, qui in medio throni est, reget illos et deducet eos ad vitae fontes aquarum. Agnus in medio aquarum est Filius Dei, Filius, dico, qui est media persona, a qua omnis beatitudo. Vidit enim Ioannes fluvium in medio platearum procedentem a sede Dei et Agni. Agnus enim Dei deducet nos, ut, videntes corpus et animam et Divinitatem, pascua inveniamus sive ingrediendo, sive egrediendo. Hic lucet super corpus et animam, medium beatificans. In Psalmo⁸: Fluminis impetus laetificat civitatem Dei, scilicet procedens a sede Dei et Agni, Spiritus sanctus. Et nullus defectus interior erit, quia non esurient neque sitient per defectum pabuli, per quod deficit vita; neque cadet super illos sol, per extrinsecam perturbationem.

39. Ista media sunt septem candelabra aurea, sive Christus in medio candelabrorum⁹, quae sunt septem illuminationes sapientiales praedictae, scilicet metaphysica, naturalis etc. Isti sunt septem oculi Agni et septem oculi super unum lapidem, ut dicit Zacharias, et septem dies, quos fecit prima lux.

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COLLATION I.¹

On the qualities required in the hearers of the divine word, and on Christ the medium of all the sciences.

Summarium

From the text is drawn the matter of the first three collations, divided in three ways, at number 1. — Part I. Three things are required in hearers, 2. — On these three in particular, 3-5. — Three kinds of unfit hearers, each on account of two vices, 6-9. — Part II. On Christ, who is the medium of all the sciences, 10. — The seven media according to the seven sciences, and to be applied to Christ, 11. — The first medium, of essence, primary by eternal generation, 12-17. — The second medium, of nature, most powerful by virtual diffusion, 18-20. — The third medium, of distance, profound by central position, 21-24. — The fourth medium, of doctrine, most illustrious by rational manifestation, 25-30. — The fifth medium, of modesty, pre-eminent by moral choice, 31-33. — The sixth medium, of justice, most beautiful by judicial recompense, 34-36. — The seventh medium, of concord, made peaceful by universal reconciliation, 37-39.

1. In the midst of the Church he shall open his mouth, and the Lord shall fill him with the spirit of wisdom and understanding, and shall clothe him with a robe of glory, Ecclesiasticus the fifteenth². In these words the Holy Spirit teaches the prudent man to whom he ought to deliver his discourse, whence to begin, where to end.

First, to whom he ought to speak: namely to the Church; for what is holy is not to be given to dogs, nor are pearls to be scattered before swine³.

Second, he teaches where he ought to begin: namely from the middle, which is Christ; and if that medium is neglected, nothing is had.

Third, where to end: namely in the fulness, or filling up, of the spirit of wisdom and understanding.

2. But first we must speak about ourselves and see what we ought to be. For if a ray is set before a weak eye, it is blinded rather than illumined. We must speak, then, to the Church, which is the convocation of rational beings; whereas the synagogue is the congregation of flocks and of men living brutishly⁴. We must speak to the Church, which is the union of rational beings living concordantly and uniformly through a concordant and uniform observance of the divine law, through a concordant and uniform cohesion of the divine peace, through a concordant and uniform consonance of the divine praise. And these are ordered: because praise cannot be where there is no peace, nor divine peace where there is no observance of the divine law.

3. Of the first, in the first letter to Timothy⁵: These things I write to thee, son Timothy, that thou mayest know how thou oughtest to behave thyself in the house of God, which is the Church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth. The Church is called pillar and ground, because it gives light to the mind and stability to virtue. For those who come to it are illumined through faith and made stable through constancy in virtue. And these two things the divine law does. Hence it is the pillar of the children of Israel⁶, at whose movement p. 330 it appears in every case how one is to act and how to rest. For in this all the Churches agree, that they keep the law of God, as of old the whole people watched the movement of the pillar. He who does not always look to it is not of the unity of the Church — as, if you do not understand it, or if you understand it and do not follow it.

4. Likewise we must speak to the Church of rational beings united through a concordant and uniform cohesion of the divine peace. Hence it is said in Ecclesiasticus¹: The children of wisdom are the church of the just, and their generation obedience and love. For the Church is that which loves itself mutually. And love is born of the fulfilling of the law. For the law commands love, in the first letter to Timothy: The end of the commandment is love, or charity, from a pure heart and a good conscience and an unfeigned faith. And the same Apostle: He that loveth his neighbour hath fulfilled the Law. And he proves it by the word of the Saviour: On these two, he says, dependeth the whole Law and the Prophets. It is fitting, therefore, that the observers of the law be lovers, John the thirteenth²: In this shall all men know that you are my disciples, if you have love one for another; and the Apostle: God is not the God of dissension, but of peace.

5. Likewise, we must speak to the Church of rational beings united through a concordant and uniform consonance of the divine praise; in the Psalm³: With thee is my praise in a great church. For just as from a multitude of voices united according to a certain proportion and harmony the sweetness of song arises, so from the affection of many there arises a spiritual harmony, pleasing to the Most High; whence in the Psalm: In the churches bless ye God the Lord, from the fountains of Israel. — To such, then — observers of the divine law, lovers of the divine peace, renderers of the divine praise — and to no others, the discourse ought to be made⁴; and such are churchly men. But to him who is snatched away outside this Church it ought not to be made.

6. Now a man is snatched away by the spirit of carnality and of cupidity, against the first. These two are what turn a man away from the law of God and blind the two eyes of the mind. For the law of God commands the common good and the spiritual good, and draws a man back from the foul love, which is that of carnality, and from the private love, which is that of cupidity. For the law is hateful to the carnal and the covetous man; nor do they ever wish to hear it. They are like the dog and the swine. For the dog is always greedy and never willing to share, while the swine always wants to be in the mire.

7. Likewise, against the cohesion of peace is the spirit of malignity and cruelty, the envious man and the wrathful; and these two pervert everything: the envious turns every good into evil, the wrathful every evil into good, and reckons the very repaying of evil a good. And therefore they put darkness light and light darkness, Isaiah the fifth⁵. Hence such men are not fit to hear the law of God.

8. Likewise, against the consonance of divine praise is the spirit of presumption and curiosity, so that the presumptuous man does not magnify God but praises himself, while the curious man has no devotion. Hence there are many such, who are empty of praise and devotion, even if they have the splendours of the sciences. For they build the nests of wasps, which have no honeycomb of honey, as the bees have, which make honey.

9. To such as have now been named, therefore, the discourse is not to be made, because they are a provoking house⁶; and sometimes, on account of the indisposition of the hearers, the Lord makes the tongue cleave to the palate; but we must speak to brothers, whence in the Psalm: I will declare thy name to my brethren, in the midst of the church I will praise thee, and to spiritual men, that they may be drawn from worldly wisdom to Christian wisdom. For there has gone before an assault upon the life of Christ in morals by the theologians, and an assault upon the doctrine of Christ by false positions on the part of the artists. We must not, then, return into Egypt through desire for cheap foods — garlic, leeks and melons⁷ — nor must the heavenly food be let go. — And so the first point is clear.

10. As to the second, note that one must begin from the middle, which is Christ. For he is the mediator of God and men⁸, holding the medium in all things, as will appear. Hence one must necessarily begin from him, if anyone wishes to come to Christian wisdom, as is pro- p. 331 ved in Matthew: for no one knoweth the Son but the Father, neither doth any one know the Father but the Son, and he to whom it shall please the Son to reveal him. — It is also manifest that one must begin from him with whom the two greatest sages began, namely Moses, the inaugurator of the wisdom of God, and John, its finisher. The one said¹: In the beginning God created heaven and earth, that is, in the Son, according to Augustine; and John: In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. This was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him. If, therefore, one cannot arrive at the knowledge of the creature except through that by which it was made, it is necessary that a true word go before thee, in Ecclesiasticus².

11. Our purpose, therefore, is to show that in Christ are hidden all the treasures of the wisdom and knowledge of God³, and that he is the medium of all the sciences. Now the medium is sevenfold, namely of essence, of nature, of distance, of doctrine, of modesty, of justice, of concord. The first belongs to the consideration of the metaphysician, the second of the physicist, the third of the mathematician, the fourth of the logician, the fifth of the ethicist, the sixth of the political thinker or of the jurists, the seventh of the theologian. — The first medium is primary by eternal origin; the second most powerful by virtual diffusion; the third profound by central position; the fourth most illustrious by rational manifestation; the fifth pre-eminent by moral choice; the sixth most exalted by judicial recompense; the seventh made peaceful by universal reconciliation. — Christ was the first medium in his eternal generation; the second in the incarnation; the third in the passion; the fourth in the resurrection; the fifth in the ascension; the sixth in the judgement to come; the seventh in the everlasting retribution or beatification.

12. The first medium, then, is that of essence, primary by eternal generation. For being is only in two ways: either being which is from itself and according to itself and for the sake of itself, or being which is from another and according to another and for the sake of another. It is also necessary that being which is from itself be according to itself and for the sake of itself. Being from itself is in the character of the originating; being according to itself in the character of the exemplifying; and being for the sake of itself in the character of the ending or terminating; that is, in the character of principle, medium and end or term. The Father in the character of the originating principle; the Son in the character of the exemplifying medium; the Holy Spirit in the character of the terminating completion. These three persons are equal and equally noble, because it is of equal nobility for the Holy Spirit to terminate the divine persons as for the Father to originate them, or for the Son to represent all things⁴.

13. The metaphysician, however, although he rises from the consideration of the principles of created and particular substance to the universal and uncreated substance and to that being as it has the character of principle, medium and ultimate end, does not nevertheless rise to it in the character of Father and Son and Holy Spirit. For the metaphysician rises to the consideration of that being in the character of the principle originating all things; and in this he agrees with the physicist, who considers the origins of things⁵. He rises also to the consideration of that being in the character of the ultimate end; and in this he agrees with the moral philosopher or ethicist, who leads all things back to one highest good as to the ultimate end, considering happiness whether practical or speculative. But as he considers that being in the character of that which exemplifies all things, he shares with no one and is the true metaphysician.

Now the Father from eternity begot a Son like to himself and uttered himself and his own likeness like to himself, and with this the whole of his power; he uttered what he was able to do, and above all what he willed to do, and expressed all things in him, namely in the Son or in that medium, as in his own art. Hence that medium is truth; and it is agreed, according to Augustine⁶ and the other Saints, that « Christ, having his chair in heaven, teaches within »; nor can any truth be known in any way whatever except through that truth. For the principle of being and of knowing is the same. If, indeed, the knowable as knowable is, according to the Philosopher⁷, eternal; it is necessary that nothing be known except through truth immutable, unshaken, unconstrained.

14. This is necessarily the medium of the persons: because, if there is a person which produces and is not produced, and a person which is produced and does not produce, p. 332 there is necessarily a middle person, which is produced and produces. This, then, is the truth perceptible by the mind alone¹, in which the Angels, the Prophets, the philosophers learn the true things they say.

15. Of this medium it is said in Genesis²: The Lord God brought forth from the ground every tree fair to behold and pleasant to eat of, the tree of life also in the midst of paradise. According to what Augustine says, of all the things produced it was said: Let it be made; he made it, and it was made, except of the light, of which he said: Let there be light, and there was light; because they were produced first from eternity in the eternal art, second in the intellectual creature, third in the sensible world.

16. And this is against the errors of those who believe the world was created from eternity. For because our minds are akin to the eternal lights, they suppose that, just as things were produced or described in the eternal art from eternity, so from eternity they were created in this world; and just as the world was described from eternity in the eternal art, so they suppose it was described in matter. But this word of Genesis about the earthly paradise is understood of the angelic, the human and the eternal intellect. For the Father, as has been said, begot one like to himself, namely the Word coeternal with himself, and uttered his own likeness, and consequently expressed all that he could.

17. The Word, therefore, expresses the Father and the things which were made through him, and principally leads us back to the unity of the Father who gathers together; and according to this it is the tree of life, because through this medium we return and are made alive in the very fountain of life³. But if we turn aside to the knowledge of things in experience, searching out more than is granted us, we fall from true contemplation and taste of the forbidden tree of the knowledge of good and evil, as Lucifer did. For if Lucifer, contemplating that truth, had been led back from the knowledge of the creature to the unity of the Father, he would have made morning out of evening and would have had a day; but because he fell into delight and the appetite of excellence, he lost the day⁴. So likewise Adam. — This is the medium that makes one know, namely truth, and this is the tree of life; another truth is the occasion of death, when a man has fallen into love of the beauty of the creature. Through the primary truth all must return, so that, as the Son said⁵: I came forth from the Father and came into the world; again I leave the world and go to the Father; so let each one say: Lord, I came forth from thee the highest, I come to thee the highest and through thee the highest. — This is the metaphysical medium that leads back, and this is our whole metaphysics: concerning emanation, concerning exemplarity, concerning consummation, that is, to be illumined by spiritual rays and led back to the highest. And thus you will be a true metaphysician.

18. The second medium is that of nature, most powerful by virtual diffusion, which belongs to the consideration of the physicist, who considers the movable and generation according to the influence of the heavenly bodies upon the elements, and the ordering of the elements to the form of mixture, and of the form of mixture to the form of complexion, and of the form of complexion to the vegetable soul, and of that to the sensible, and of that to the rational, and there is the end⁶.

19. Now the physicist considers a twofold medium, namely of the greater world and of the lesser world. The medium of the greater world is the sun, the medium of the lesser is the heart. For the sun is in the midst of the planets, and according to its bearing along the oblique circle⁷ generations come about, and the physicist regulates generation by it. Among all the planets the sun is of the greatest diffusion. From the heart likewise there is diffusion, whatever the physicians may say. For the vital spirit is diffused from it through the arteries; the animal spirit through the nerves, though it receives its completion in the brain; while the natural spirit is diffused from the same through the veins, though it is completed in the liver.

20. This medium Christ was in the incarnation; whence it is said in John⁸: There hath stood one in the midst of you, whom you know not; and there follows: He who sent me to baptize with water said to me: Upon whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending and remaining upon him, he it is that baptizeth with the Holy Spirit. — Scripture sometimes calls Christ the medium, sometimes the head. He is called head, because from him flow all the spiritual senses and motions and the charisms of graces. And this he pours in according as he is united to the members. For the head of Christ is God, namely according as he is God; but the head of the man is Christ⁹, according as he is God and man. He pours out, therefore, the Holy Spirit into the members of the Church united to himself, not separated. Hence, just as in the human body there is no diffusion from the head into the members unless they be united; so in the mystical p. 333 body. He is therefore the medium of the two living creatures as the heart; whence in Habakkuk¹: In the midst of two living creatures thou shalt be known; and according to another translation: in the midst of the years, namely as the sun; because the whole of time runs its course according as this sun went down by ten degrees on the dial of Ahaz. He is therefore, according to the Septuagint, in the midst of the living creatures which went before and which followed².

21. The third medium is that of distance, profound by central position, of which the mathematician treats; and although his first consideration is about the measure of the earth, it is nevertheless further about the motions of the higher bodies, as they have to dispose these lower things according to their influence³.

22. This medium Christ was in the crucifixion. In the Psalm⁴: Our king before the ages hath wrought salvation in the midst of the earth. For the earth is plainly the centre, and therefore lowest and therefore small; and because it is lowest and small, it therefore receives all the heavenly influences, and therefore produces wonderful growths. So the Son of God, lowest, poor, small, taking up our earth, made from the ground, came not only to the surface of the earth but even into the depth of the centre — that is, he wrought salvation in the midst of the earth — since after the crucifixion his soul descended to hell and restored the heavenly seats.

23. This medium is salvific; and he who withdraws from it is damned — that is, from the medium of humility. And this the Saviour showed⁵: I am in the midst of you as he that serveth; and in Matthew: Unless you be converted and become as little children, you shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven. In this medium he wrought salvation, namely in the humility of the cross.

24. But a darkness has crept in, because Christians let go this middle place in which Christ saved man. Hence a man assails his own salvation, not knowing how to measure himself. For what does it profit that he knows how to measure other things, when he does not know how to measure himself? For if he exalts himself even a little more than he ought, there is danger for him; as blessed Bernard says⁶, that « if a man entering by a gate lifts up his head, he is hurt; but he who has bowed himself is not hurt ». Hence the answer given to blessed Anthony, that the humble man alone could escape the snares of the devil. — But whence is it that neither humility nor the lights of wisdom are had? Because fire is not kept in the midst of ashes, but our lamp is exposed to every wind, and the lamp is quickly put out. For at once we want to display whatever good is in us. But wonderful was the divine wisdom, which through the ash of humility wrought salvation. For the centre, when it has been lost in a circle, cannot be found except by two lines intersecting each other at right angles.

25. The fourth medium is that of doctrine, most illustrious by rational manifestation. To this end is all rational discourse, that through it as through a medium we may express what is within us⁷. For discourse is ordered to the simple sentence; the sentence to argumentation according to the four species of argumentation; argumentation to the syllogism; the syllogism to persuading. The middle term, therefore, by its evidence and manifestation and its agreement with the extremes, compels reason to assent — so that, whereas the extremes did not before agree manifestly among themselves, they may agree manifestly among themselves through the power of the middle, which agrees with each extreme⁸.

26. This medium Christ was in the resurrection. Now there is an argument of Christ and an argument of the devil. The argument of the devil leads to hell and is a paralogism and a sophistical argument and destructive; the argument of Christ is constructive and reparative. For the devil made a paralogism against the first man and laid down in the heart of man a certain proposition as though self-evident, which is: the rational creature ought to desire the likeness of its Creator, since indeed it is an image — whence in the damned there will be the greatest punishment, because, since the image is essential to the soul, such an appetite will likewise be essential in the damned — but if you eat, you will be made like⁹: therefore it is good p. 334 to eat of the forbidden thing, that you may be made like. And by this syllogism all sin, because, as Dionysius says, « no one becomes evil by looking to evil, but every one intends the good and desires the good; but he is deceived, because he takes the likeness of the good for the true good ». By this paralogism the devil led man into passibility of nature, into necessity of want, into mortality of life.

27. On the contrary, the argument of Christ was salvific and destructive of the argument of the devil. For since the devil had made man unlike God, though he had promised to make him like, it was necessary that Christ be like man, in order to make man like himself, that is, like God. Christ therefore had conformity of nature inasmuch as he is God with the Father, equality of power, immortality of life. In these three he was joined to the Father. It was necessary, therefore, that in three other, opposite things he be joined to man. He assumed, therefore, passibility of nature, necessity of want, mortality of life. Three things, then, he had by essence and three he assumed by mercy. It was necessary, therefore, that three be conquered by three. But life by essence could not be overcome by death, nor power by penury, nor impassibility by passibility. It was necessary, therefore, that man pass over from mortality to immortality, from defect to abundance, from passibility to the crown¹.

28. The major proposition was from eternity; but the assumption on the cross; the conclusion in the resurrection. The Jews believed that Christ had been confounded, and they reproached him²: If thou be the Son of God, come down from the cross. For Christ was not saying: let me live, but he was saying: let me take up death and be coupled to the other extreme, let me suffer, let me die; and then the conclusion follows. Hence he himself mocked the devil.

29. And these are the arguments which Christ used, appearing to them for forty days³. Ought not, he says, Christ to have suffered, and so to enter into his glory? Of this medium John says: When it was late that day, Jesus stood in the midst of the disciples and said to them: Peace be to you. And he showed two things there: namely the sublimity of glory, in that, impassible and immortal, he entered with the doors shut, as God; afterwards he showed them his hands and his side and wrung out a confession from Thomas, so that he said: My Lord and my God! See the procedure! First he entered as God, the doors being shut; this was the major; then he takes up the minor proposition, when he showed them his hands and his side; third, he wrung out the conclusion, so that Thomas confessed: My Lord and my God.

30. Not without cause is the book sealed with seven seals. Behold, he says⁴, the lion of the tribe of Juda, the root of David, hath prevailed to open the book and to loose the seven seals thereof. These are the seven media. In signification of this Christ opened the sepulchre, and it signifies the opening of the book, and he removed the linen cloths, and it signifies the manifestation of the mysteries. — This is our logic, this is our reasoning, which must be had against the devil, who continually disputes against us. But in the assumption of the minor the whole effort must be made; because we do not want to suffer, we do not want to be crucified. Yet to this end is our whole reasoning, that we may be like God. — The devil, however, thought little of Christ's argument when he saw him suffering. But Christ mocked him; Job⁵: Shalt thou play with him as with a bird, or bind him for thy handmaids? Christ reckoned the argument most strong, John the twelfth: If I be lifted up from the earth, I will draw all things to myself.

31. The fifth medium is that of modesty, pre-eminent by moral choice. For modesty is a virtue; and virtue consists in a mean⁶; and this medium the ethicist considers.

32. This medium Christ was in the ascension. It is said in Exodus⁷: Moses, entering into the midst of the cloud, was there forty days and forty nights. And this Christ was in the ascension; whence in Acts it is said: A cloud received him out of their sight. So the Christian ought to ascend from virtue to virtue, not setting a term to virtue, since by that very fact he would cease to be virtuous.

33. Now the foundation of virtue is faith, and we set it down as a medium. Here the ethicist says⁸ that the mean is « as right reason determines ». And this is faith; faith is like the morning star in the midst of a cloud. To this the Christian ascends, taken up out of the waters of baptism, and enters the darkness, which darkness indeed is faith with light in a riddle. This is the foundation by which Christ is founded in us; through this faith the soul advances, ascending to the political virtues, as to the foot of the mountain, where Moses made twelve holocausts⁹; then to the purgative virtues, as to the middle of the mountain; then p. 335 to the virtues of the soul already purged, as to the summit of the mountain, where the place is fit for contemplating the exemplary virtues. Of which it is said in Wisdom¹: For she is a vapour of the power of God and a certain pure emanation of the brightness of God; and there follows: she is the brightness of eternal light, as to purity or temperance; and a mirror, as to prudence; she reacheth from end to end mightily, as to fortitude; and ordereth all things sweetly, as to justice.

34. The sixth medium is that of justice, most beautiful or most exalted by judicial recompense. Which medium Christ will be in the judgement. This the jurist or political thinker considers, that recompense may be made according to merits. — This beautifies the whole world, because it makes deformed things beautiful, beautiful things more beautiful, and the more beautiful most beautiful. Hence Augustine² says that the damned are most beautifully placed in hell.

35. Ezekiel the first³: I saw, and behold, a whirlwind came out of the north, and a great cloud, and a fire infolding it; and brightness was about it, and out of the midst thereof as it were the resemblance of amber — that is, out of the midst of the fire. And in the midst thereof the likeness of four living creatures. The judgement is described: first as to the commotion of natures, by the whirlwind and by the cloud; second, as to the conflagration of fire, by the fire infolding; third, as to the examination of minds or of merits, by the brightness, for then consciences will be clear; fourth, as to the attendance of those who judge, by the encircling; by the amber, Christ in his twofold nature; by the four living creatures, four orders: of pontiffs in the lion, of martyrs in the ox, of confessors in the man, of virgins in the eagle, on account of contemplation. Hence there will be a separating of the pure from the impure through Christ, of the lambs from the goats⁴.

36. Let the jurists, then, treat of judgements about money; let us treat of our own judgement. Hence: before judgement prepare justice for thyself⁵.

37. The seventh medium is that of concord, made peaceful by universal reconciliation. Of this the theologian treats, who considers how the world, made by God, is led back to God. For although he treats of the works of creation, he treats principally of the works of reconciliation⁶.

38. This medium is Christ in everlasting beatification. For the theologian treats of the salvation of the soul: how it is begun in faith, advanced in the virtues, consummated in the dowries. Hence in the Apocalypse⁷: They shall no more hunger nor thirst, neither shall the sun fall on them, nor any heat; for the Lamb, who is in the midst of the throne, shall rule them and shall lead them to the fountains of the waters of life. The Lamb in the midst of the waters is the Son of God — the Son, I say, who is the middle person, from whom is all beatitude. For John saw a river in the midst of the streets proceeding from the seat of God and of the Lamb. For the Lamb of God will lead us, so that, seeing body and soul and Divinity, we may find pastures whether going in or going out. He shines upon body and soul, the medium that beatifies. In the Psalm⁸: The stream of the river maketh the city of God joyful — namely proceeding from the seat of God and of the Lamb, the Holy Spirit. And there will be no interior defect, because they shall not hunger nor thirst through want of food, by which life fails; neither shall the sun fall upon them, through extrinsic disturbance.

39. These media are the seven golden candlesticks, or Christ in the midst of the candlesticks⁹, which are the seven wisdom-bearing illuminations aforesaid, namely metaphysics, natural philosophy and the rest. These are the seven eyes of the Lamb and the seven eyes upon one stone, as Zechariah says, and the seven days which the first light made.

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