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 XII.

De visione secunda tractatio quinta, quae est tertia de speciositate fidei et agit de Deo, ut est exemplar omnium rerum.

Summarium

Introductio; repetitio, 1. — Pars I. Deum esse exemplar omnium rerum, intelligitur ex quatuor fidei suppositionibus. Est creator rerum, gubernator actuum, doctor intellectuum, iudex meritorum, 2. — Primo, de Deo creatore, 3. — Secundo, de Deo conservatore et gubernatore actuum, 4. — Tertio, de Deo doctore intellectuum, 5. — Quarto, de Deo secundum leges iustissimas iudicante et praemiante, 6. — Haec probantur per Scripturam, 7. 8. — Pars II. De speculatione contemplante exemplar divinum. Est ars una et multiplex; causa immediata, potentissima, actualissima; lux inaccessibilis et proxima, inalligabilis et intima, 9-11. — Repraesentat contingentia infallibiliter, mutabilia immutabiliter, materialia immaterialiter, possibilia actualiter, partibilia impartite, accidentia substantialiter, corporalia spiritualiter, temporalia sempiterne, distantia indistanter, dissonantia indissonanter, deficientia indeficienter, 12. 13. — Triplex adiutorium ad contemplandum divinum exemplar; primum est mundus sensibilis, qui est umbra, via, vestigium, liber scriptus foris, 14. 15. — Secundum, spiritualis creatura, quae est lumen, speculum, imago, liber scriptus intus, 16. — Tertium, Scriptura sacramentalis, quae est Dei cor, os, lingua, calamus et liber scriptus foris et intus, 17.

1. Nos vero omnes, revelata facie gloriam Domini speculantes³ etc. Dictum est de altitudine fidei, quia excedit investigationem rationis, ut patet in duodecim articulis designatis per duodecim stellas et per duodecim alas Seraphim. — Dictum est de firmitate eius designata per duodecim fundamenta civitatis. — Item, de speciositate designata per duodecim portas civitatis et per duodecim margaritas,

quae sunt speculationes fidei, et sunt fulgidae et vivificae et iucundae quantum ad duas portas orientales¹, scilicet speculari, Deum esse primum et purissimum; secundo, Deum trinum et unum.

2. Sequitur de tertia porta, scilicet quod sit exemplar omnium rerum. Supponendum enim est per fidem, quod Deus est conditor rerum, gubernator actuum, doctor intellectuum, iudex meritorum. Et ex hoc intelligitur, quod est causa causarum et ars praestantissime originans, dux providissime gubernans, lux manifestissime declarans vel repraesentans, ius rectissime praemians et iudicans.

3. Primum ostenditur sic. Creatura egreditur a Creatore, sed non per naturam, quia alterius naturae est: ergo per artem, cum non sit alius modus emanandi nobilis quam per naturam, vel per artem sive ex voluntate²; et ars illa non est extra ipsum: ergo est agens per artem et volens: ergo necesse est, ut habeat rationes expressas et expressivas. Si enim det huic rei formam, per quam distinguitur ab alia re, vel proprietatem, per quam ab alia distinguitur; necesse est, ut habeat formam idealem, immo formas ideales. Sic enim in plurali vocantur a Sanctis³.

4. Item, quia est causa conservans, est dux gubernans. Praeest enim ad dirigendum omnes actus, secundum quod gubernabiles sunt; non sicut artifex, qui domum dimittit, sed res conservat et dirigit⁴. Ideo habet apud se normas directissimas. Nec est idem modus, ut creatura manat a Creatore secundum formas vel rationes expressivas, et secundum quod a mente divina emanant regulae ad conservationem ipsarum secundum directionem aeternarum regularum.

5. Item, quia ipse doctor est, docet infallibiliter et certificat sic, quod impossibile est, aliter se habere. Secundum sententiam omnium doctorum⁵ Christus est doctor interius, nec scitur aliqua veritas nisi per eum, non loquendo, sicut nos, sed interius illustrando; et ideo necesse est, ut habeat clarissimas species apud se, neque tamen ab alio acceperit. Ipse enim intimus est omni animae⁶ et suis speciebus clarissimis refulget super species intellectus nostri tenebrosas; et sic illustrantur species illae obtenebratae, admixtae obscuritati phantasmatum, ut intellectus intelligat. Si enim scire est cognoscere, rem aliter impossibile se habere; necessarium est, ut ille solus scire faciat, qui veritatem novit et habet in se veritatem.

6. Item, est ius rectissime remunerans per leges iustissimas. Si ergo iuste praemiat, necesse est, ut habeat leges iustissimas.

7. Loquitur autem Scriptura de ipso, ut est exemplar, quo omnis creatura vivit in formis aeternis; Ioannis primo⁷: Quod factum est in ipso vita erat. Vivit autem per cognitionem et amorem; et qui hoc negat negat praedestinationem aeternam. Nam ab aeterno novit Deus creaturam et amat eam, quia praeparavit eam gloriae et gratiae. — Item, habet normas directissimas; unde Apostolus et Ieremias⁸ dicunt: Dabo leges meas in visceribus eorum, et in corde superscribam eas. Superscribit enim primo in natura; secundo, in industria seu in progressu; tertio, in gratia; quarto, in gloria. In quolibet statu dat normas suas: ergo necesse est, ut in se habeat eas.

8. Item, quia est lux illustrans; in Sapientia⁹: Est enim haec speciosior sole et super omnem dispositionem stellarum luci comparata invenitur prior; quia, licet sol habeat rationem radiandi, non tamen species in se descriptas habet: et ideo illud exemplar est pulcrius, quia cum hoc, quod lucem habeat, etiam species claras habet. — Item, est ius per se iudicans; in Apocalypsi¹⁰: Libri aperti sunt, et alius liber apertus est, scilicet liber vitae et liber conscientiae. Per librum vitae habet anima vivere et iudicari; et si liber conscientiae concordat cum libro vitae, approbatur; si autem discordat, reprobatur; unde in Psalmo: Imperfectum meum viderunt oculi tui, et in libro tuo omnes scribentur, id est manifestabuntur scripti, non de novo scribentur. In hoc libro scribuntur omnes leges aeternae. — Deus ergo est exemplar aeternum, et hoc est fidei, quae credit, Deum esse conditorem rerum etc.

9. Et super hoc fertur speculatio, ut sit ars praestantissime repraesentans. Haec autem ars et est una et multiplex. Quomodo autem hoc esse possit, videri non potest, nisi veniat illuminatio a mon-

tibus aeternis, et tunc turbabuntur insipientes corde¹, id est stulti. Oportet enim alte sentire de Deo. — Est autem multiformis, quia multa repraesentat distincte et certitudinaliter. Unde melius videbo me in Deo quam in me ipso. Est tamen summe una.

10. Ad hoc notandum, quod causa prima et est prima et immediata; quia prima, ideo nihil habet ab alio, sed omnia ab ea; et est immediata, quia causa immediata nobilior est quam mediata. Quia ergo prima, ideo potentissima: ergo multa potest; item, quia immediata, ideo est actualissima, quia causa immediata in actu est; est etiam actualissima, eo quod immediata, quia actus immediatior est quam potentia. Non autem est actualissima secundum efficientiam sive secundum actum extrinsecum, quia non facit statim quidquid potest: ergo est actualissima secundum actum intrinsecum, qui est dicere. Unde ab aeterno dixit hoc fiendum, et hoc in tempore. — Haec etiam causa, quia est una, est summe simplex; et eo quod summe simplex, est infinita, quia « virtus vel causa, quanto magis unita et simplex, tanto magis infinita² », non quidem distensione molis, sed virtutis.

11. Haec lux est inaccessibilis³, et tamen proxima animae, etiam plus quam ipsa sibi. Est etiam inalligabilis, et tamen summe intima. — Hoc autem videre non est nisi hominis suspensi ultra se in alta visione; et quando volumus videre simplici intuitu, quomodo illa ars est una, et tamen multiplex; quia immiscet se phantasia, cogitare non possumus, quomodo infinita sit nisi per distensionem: et ideo videre non possumus simplici intuitu nisi ratiocinando.

12. Quia ergo illa ars est causa, sequitur, quod in illa arte est repraesentatio causabilium incausabiliter; quia rationes illae causae sunt⁴, ideo incausatae⁵; et hinc est, quod causae sunt contingentium infallibiliter. Quod enim contingens est illic infallibiliter repraesentatur; exprimit enim modum, qui accidit in re, infallibiliter, quia, secundum quod in se et apud se est, exprimit. Vera enim est contingentia a parte rei, et infallibilitas ex parte Dei.

13. Item, mutabilium immutabiliter, materialium immaterialiter, quia illae rationes non sunt materiales; possibilium actualiter, partibilium impartite⁶, quia non est maior ratio montis quam milii, nec etiam in anima nostra; accidentium substantialiter, quia illae rationes sunt substantia, quae est Deus; corporalium spiritualiter; temporalium sempiterne; distantium indistanter, ut etiam patet in anima, quia situationes specierum non sunt in anima; dissonantium indissonanter, ut ratio albi et nigri; deficientium indeficienter, quia quidquid est ibi, vita vivit.

14. Ad hos splendores exemplares ratio ducit et fides. Sed ulterius triplex est adiutorium ad surgendum ad exemplares rationes, creaturae scilicet sensibilis, creaturae spiritualis, Scripturae sacramentalis, quae continet mysteria. — Quantum ad primum totus mundus est umbra, via, vestigium et est liber scriptus forinsecus⁷. In qualibet enim creatura est refulgentia divini exemplaris, sed cum tenebra permixta; unde est sicut quaedam opacitas admixta lumini. — Item, est via ducens in exemplar. Sicut tu vides, quod radius intrans per fenestram diversimode coloratur secundum colores diversos diversarum partium; sic radius divinus in singulis creaturis diversimode et in diversis proprietatibus refulget; in Sapientia⁸: In viis suis ostendit se. — Item, est vestigium sapientiae Dei. Unde creatura non est nisi sicut quoddam simulacrum sapientiae Dei et quoddam sculptile. — Et ex his omnibus est quidam liber scriptus foris.

15. Quando ergo anima videt haec, videtur sibi, quod deberet transire ab umbra ad lucem, a via ad terminum, a vestigio ad veritatem, a libro ad scientiam veram, quae est in Deo. Hunc librum legere est altissimorum contemplativorum, non naturalium philosophorum, quia solum sciunt naturam rerum, non ut vestigium.

16. Aliud adiutorium est spiritualis creaturae, quae est ut lumen, ut speculum, ut imago, ut liber scriptus intus. — Omnis substantia spiritualis lumen est; unde in Psalmo⁹: Signatum est super nos lumen vultus tui, Domine. — Simul etiam cum hoc est speculum, quia omnia recipit et repraesentat; et habet naturam luminis, ut et iudicet de rebus. Totus enim mundus describitur in anima¹⁰. — Et est etiam imago. Quia ergo est lumen et speculum habens rerum imagines, ideo est imago. — Ex

hoc est etiam liber scriptus intus. Unde ad intimum animae nullus potest intrare, nisi sit simplex; hoc autem est intrare ad potentias; quia, secundum Augustinum¹, intimum animae est eius summum; quanto potentia intimior, tanto sublimior. — Haec duo habent magi Pharaonis.

17. Sed tertium adiutorium est Scripturae sacramentalis. Est autem omnis Scriptura cor Dei, os Dei, lingua Dei, calamus Dei, liber scriptus foris et intus. — In Psalmo²: Eructavit cor meum verbum bonum, dico ego opera mea regi. Lingua mea calamus scribae velociter scribentis: cor Dei, os Patris, lingua Filii, calamus Spiritus sancti. Pater enim loquitur per Verbum seu linguam; sed qui complet et memoriae commendat est calamus scribae. — Scriptura ergo est os Dei. Unde Isaias³: Vae! qui descenditis in Aegyptum, scilicet ad saeculares scientias, et os Domini non interrogastis, scilicet sacram Scripturam. Non enim debet ad scientias alias descendere, ut sciat certitudinem, nisi habeat testimonium in monte, scilicet Christi, Eliae, Moysi, hoc est novi testamenti, Prophetarum et Legis. — Item, est lingua, unde mel et lac sub lingua eius⁴. Quam dulcia faucibus meis eloquia tua, super mel ori meo! Haec lingua cibos saporat; unde haec Scriptura comparatur panibus, qui habent saporem et reficiunt. — Item, est calamus Dei, et hoc est Spiritus sanctus; quia, sicut scribens potest praesentialiter scribere praeterita, praesentia et futura; sic continentur in Scriptura praeterita, praesentia et futura. — Unde est liber scriptus foris, quia habet pulcras historias et docet rerum proprietates; scriptus est etiam intus, quia habet mysteria et intelligentias diversas.

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Collation XII.

On the second vision: the fifth treatment, which is the third on the comeliness of faith and treats of God as the exemplar of all things.

Summarium

Introduction; recapitulation, 1. — Part I. That God is the exemplar of all things is understood from four suppositions of faith. He is the creator of things, the governor of acts, the teacher of understandings, the judge of merits, 2. — First, of God the creator, 3. — Second, of God the conserver and governor of acts, 4. — Third, of God the teacher of understandings, 5. — Fourth, of God as judging and rewarding according to the most just laws, 6. — These things are proved from Scripture, 7. 8. — Part II. On the speculation that contemplates the divine exemplar. It is an art one and manifold; a cause immediate, most powerful, most actual; a light inaccessible and near, unbindable and inmost, 9-11. — It represents contingent things infallibly, mutable things immutably, material things immaterially, possible things actually, divisible things undividedly, accidents substantially, corporeal things spiritually, temporal things everlastingly, distant things undistantly, dissonant things undissonantly, deficient things indeficiently, 12. 13. — A threefold help toward contemplating the divine exemplar; the first is the sensible world, which is a shadow, a way, a vestige, a book written without, 14. 15. — The second, the spiritual creature, which is a light, a mirror, an image, a book written within, 16. — The third, sacramental Scripture, which is God's heart, mouth, tongue, pen, and a book written without and within, 17.

1. But we all, beholding the glory of the Lord with open face³ etc. It has been said of the loftiness of faith, that it exceeds the investigation of reason, as is plain in the twelve articles designated by the twelve stars and by the twelve wings of the Seraphim. — It has been said of its firmness, designated by the twelve foundations of the city. — Likewise, of its comeliness, designated by the twelve gates of the city and by the twelve pearls,

which are the speculations of faith, and they are shining and life-giving and delightful as regards the two eastern gates¹: namely, to behold that God is first and most pure; second, that God is three and one.

2. There follows the third gate, namely that he is the exemplar of all things. For it must be supposed by faith that God is the founder of things, the governor of acts, the teacher of understandings, the judge of merits. And from this it is understood that he is the cause of causes and the art that originates most excellently, the guide that governs most providently, the light that declares or represents most manifestly, the right that rewards and judges most uprightly.

3. The first is shown thus. The creature goes forth from the Creator, but not by nature, since it is of another nature: therefore by art, since there is no other noble mode of emanating than by nature, or by art or from will²; and that art is not outside himself: therefore he is one acting by art and willing: therefore it is necessary that he have expressed and expressive accounts. For if he gives to this thing the form by which it is distinguished from another thing, or the property by which it is distinguished from another, it is necessary that he have an ideal form, indeed ideal forms. For so they are called in the plural by the Saints³.

4. Likewise, since he is the conserving cause, he is the governing guide. For he presides over the directing of all acts, according as they are governable; not as a craftsman who leaves the house behind, but he conserves and directs things⁴. Therefore he has with himself the most directive norms. Nor is it the same mode by which the creature flows from the Creator according to expressive forms or accounts, and that according to which there emanate from the divine mind rules for the conservation of those creatures according to the direction of the eternal rules.

5. Likewise, since he is himself the teacher, he teaches infallibly and certifies in such a way that it is impossible to be otherwise. According to the judgement of all the doctors⁵ Christ is the teacher within, nor is any truth known except through him — not by speaking, as we do, but by illumining within; and therefore it is necessary that he have the clearest species with himself, nor yet that he have received them from another. For he is inmost to every soul⁶ and with his clearest species shines above the darkened species of our intellect; and thus those overshadowed species, mingled with the obscurity of phantasms, are illumined, that the intellect may understand. For if to know is to know a thing as impossible to be otherwise, it is necessary that he alone make us know who knows the truth and has the truth in himself.

6. Likewise, he is the right that rewards most uprightly through the most just laws. If therefore he rewards justly, it is necessary that he have the most just laws.

7. Now Scripture speaks of him as the exemplar by which every creature lives in the eternal forms; John the first⁷: What was made, in him was life. And it lives through knowledge and love; and he who denies this denies eternal predestination. For from eternity God knew the creature and loves it, since he prepared it for glory and for grace. — Likewise, he has the most directive norms; whence the Apostle and Jeremiah⁸ say: I will give my laws in their bowels, and in their heart I will write them over. For he writes them over first in nature; second, in industry or in progress; third, in grace; fourth, in glory. In every state he gives his own norms: therefore it is necessary that he have them in himself.

8. Likewise, since he is the light that illumines; in Wisdom⁹: For she is more comely than the sun, and above all the disposition of the stars: being compared with the light, she is found before it; because, although the sun has the character of radiating, yet it does not have species described in itself: and therefore that exemplar is more beautiful, since together with this, that it has light, it also has clear species. — Likewise, he is the right that judges through itself; in the Apocalypse¹⁰: The books were opened, and another book was opened, namely the book of life and the book of conscience. Through the book of life the soul has to live and to be judged; and if the book of conscience agrees with the book of life, it is approved; but if it disagrees, it is reproved; whence in the Psalm: Thy eyes did see my imperfect being, and in thy book all shall be written, that is, they shall be made manifest as written, not written anew. In this book are written all the eternal laws. — God therefore is the eternal exemplar, and this belongs to faith, which believes that God is the founder of things, and so on.

9. And upon this speculation is borne, that he may be the art that represents most excellently. Now this art both is one and is manifold. But how this can be cannot be seen unless there come an illumination from the ever-

lasting hills, and then the foolish of heart shall be troubled¹, that is, the stupid. For one must think loftily of God. — Now it is multiform, since it represents many things distinctly and with certitude. Whence I shall see myself better in God than in myself. Yet it is supremely one.

10. On this it is to be noted that the first cause both is first and is immediate; because it is first, therefore it has nothing from another, but all things are from it; and it is immediate, since an immediate cause is nobler than a mediate one. Since therefore it is first, it is on that account most powerful: therefore it can do many things; likewise, since it is immediate, it is on that account most actual, since an immediate cause is in act; it is also most actual in that it is immediate, since act is more immediate than potency. But it is not most actual according to efficiency or according to extrinsic act, since it does not straightway do whatever it can: therefore it is most actual according to intrinsic act, which is to speak. Whence from eternity he said that this was to be done, and this in time. — This cause also, since it is one, is supremely simple; and in that it is supremely simple, it is infinite, since « a power or cause, the more united and simple it is, so much the more is it infinite² » — not indeed by the extension of mass, but of power.

11. This light is inaccessible³, and yet near to the soul, even more than the soul is to itself. It is also unbindable, and yet supremely inmost. — But to see this belongs only to a man uplifted beyond himself in a lofty vision; and when we wish to see by a simple intuition how that art is one and yet manifold, then, because imagination mingles itself in, we cannot think how it should be infinite except through extension: and therefore we cannot see by a simple intuition except by reasoning.

12. Since therefore that art is a cause, it follows that in that art there is a representation of causable things uncausably; since those accounts are causes⁴, they are on that account uncaused⁵; and hence it is that they are causes of contingent things infallibly. For what is contingent is there represented infallibly; for it expresses the mode which befalls in the thing, infallibly, because it expresses it according as it is in itself and with itself. For the contingency is true on the side of the thing, and the infallibility on the side of God.

13. Likewise, of mutable things immutably, of material things immaterially, since those accounts are not material; of possible things actually, of divisible things undividedly⁶, since there is no greater account of a mountain than of a millet-seed, nor even in our soul; of accidents substantially, since those accounts are the substance which is God; of corporeal things spiritually; of temporal things everlastingly; of distant things undistantly, as is plain also in the soul, since the placements of species are not in the soul; of dissonant things undissonantly, as the account of white and of black; of deficient things indeficiently, since whatever is there, lives by life.

14. To these exemplar splendours reason leads, and faith. But further, there is a threefold help toward rising to the exemplar accounts, namely of the sensible creature, of the spiritual creature, of sacramental Scripture, which contains mysteries. — As to the first, the whole world is a shadow, a way, a vestige, and is a book written on the outside⁷. For in every creature there is a shining-back of the divine exemplar, but mingled with darkness; whence it is like a certain opacity mixed with light. — Likewise, it is a way leading into the exemplar. As you see that a ray entering through a window is coloured in diverse ways according to the diverse colours of the diverse parts, so the divine ray shines back in single creatures in diverse ways and in diverse properties; in Wisdom⁸: In his ways he sheweth himself. — Likewise, it is a vestige of the wisdom of God. Whence the creature is nothing but a certain likeness of the wisdom of God and a certain carved thing. — And out of all these there is a certain book written without.

15. When therefore the soul sees these things, it seems to it that it ought to pass from the shadow to the light, from the way to the term, from the vestige to the truth, from the book to true knowledge, which is in God. To read this book belongs to the highest contemplatives, not to the natural philosophers, since these know only the nature of things, not as vestige.

16. Another help is that of the spiritual creature, which is as a light, as a mirror, as an image, as a book written within. — Every spiritual substance is a light; whence in the Psalm⁹: The light of thy countenance, O Lord, is signed upon us. — Together with this it is also a mirror, since it receives and represents all things; and it has the nature of light, that it may also judge concerning things. For the whole world is described in the soul¹⁰. — And it is also an image. Since therefore it is a light and a mirror having the images of things, it is on that account an image. — From

this it is also a book written within. Whence to the inmost of the soul none can enter unless he be simple; and this is to enter to the powers; since, according to Augustine¹, the inmost of the soul is its highest; the more inward a power, the more sublime. — These two the magicians of Pharaoh have.

17. But the third help is that of sacramental Scripture. Now all Scripture is God's heart, God's mouth, God's tongue, God's pen, a book written without and within. — In the Psalm²: My heart hath uttered a good word; I speak my works to the king. My tongue is the pen of a scrivener that writeth swiftly: the heart of God, the mouth of the Father, the tongue of the Son, the pen of the Holy Spirit. For the Father speaks through the Word or tongue; but he who completes it and commends it to memory is the pen of the scrivener. — Scripture therefore is the mouth of God. Whence Isaiah³: Woe to you that go down to Egypt, namely to the secular sciences, and have not asked at the mouth of the Lord, namely sacred Scripture. For one ought not to go down to other sciences in order to know certitude, unless he have testimony on the mountain, namely of Christ, of Elijah, of Moses — that is, of the New Testament, of the Prophets and of the Law. — Likewise, it is a tongue, whence honey and milk are under his tongue⁴. How sweet are thy words to my palate, more than honey to my mouth! This tongue gives savour to foods; whence this Scripture is compared to loaves, which have savour and restore. — Likewise, it is the pen of God, and this is the Holy Spirit; since, as one writing can write things past, present and future as present, so in Scripture are contained things past, present and future. — Whence it is a book written without, since it has beautiful histories and teaches the properties of things; it is written also within, since it has mysteries and diverse understandings.

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