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.

SERMO IV.

Christus unus omnium magister.

Summarium

Introductio. Triplex gradus cognitionis certitudinalis et rectae, quorum Christus est principium et causa ut via, veritas et vita, numero 1. — Pars I. De ipsius Christi triplici magisterio. Primo, Christus ut via est magister cognitionis per fidem acquisitae, duplici scilicet via: per adventum in mentem, infundendo lumen revelationis; per adventum in carnem, praebendo firmamentum auctoritatis, 2-4. — Hinc Christus est fundamentum totius fidei secundum utrumque testamentum, 5. — Secundo, Christus ut veritas est magister cognitionis rationalis. Ad cognitionem scientialem requiruntur duo: veritas immutabilis ex parte scibilis, certitudo infallibilis ex parte scientis, 6. — De primo, 7. 8. — De secundo, 9. 10. — Tertio, Christus ut vita est magister cognitionis contemplativae. Duplex exercitium et pastus, 11. — De primo exercitio et pastu, sive de Verbo increato, 12. — De secundo, sive de Verbo incarnato, 13. — De utroque; duplex vita, duplex sensus, duplex ingressus secundum ascensum et descensum, duplex contemplatio libri scripti intus et foris, 14. — Duo corollaria: primo, quo ordine perveniatur ad sapientiam; triplex gradus; incipiendum a fide, 15. — Secundo, quo auctore et doctore; ipse est Christus, qui cooperatur nostrae intelligentiae non solum generali concursu, nec tamen proprie supernaturali, sed quodam medio modo. Triplex modus conformitatis ad Deum, 16. — Secundum hos modos est triplex divina cooperatio, 17. — Sana explicatio verbi Augustini, quod Deus nobis sit ratio intelligendi, 18. — De scientia et sapientia Augustini, Moysi et Pauli. De Christo solo principali magistro et doctore, 19. — Pars II. De officiis erga Christum, principalem magistrum, praestandis. Primo est honorandus, et hoc dupliciter, 20. — Secundo, audiendus ad intelligendum et obediendum, 21. — Tertio, interrogandus, non curiose, sed studiose, 22. — Interrogandus est circa tria: circa veritatem scientiae, sanctitatem disciplinae, caritatem benevolentiae, 23. — Hinc etiam doctores ministeriales suam doctrinam ad eadem tria debent ordinare: primo debent intendere scientiae veritatis fidei, 24. — Secundo, disciplinae sanctitatis animi, 25. — Tertio, benevolentiae caritatis Dei et proximi. Hinc debent concordare in suis sententiis, non fieri plures magistri per schismata; dissensio sententiarum oritur a praesumtione et parit confusionem, 26. 27. — Epilogus, 28.

1. Unus est magister vester, Christus, Matthaei vigesimo tertio¹. In verbo isto declaratur, quod est fontale principium illuminationis cognoscitivae, Christus videlicet, qui cum sit splendor gloriae paternae et figura substantiae eius, portans omnia verbo virtutis suae, sicut dicitur ad Hebraeos primo²; ipse est, qui est origo omnis sapientiae, secundum illud Ecclesiastici primo³: Fons sapientiae Verbum Dei in excelsis. Ipse Christus est autem fons omnis cognitionis rectae. Ipse enim est via, veritas et vita, Ioannis decimo quarto⁴. — Triplex namque est gradus cognitionis certitudinalis et rectae, secundum quod dicit Hugo de Sacramentis⁵: «Isti sunt tres gradus promotionis fidei, quibus fides crescens ad perfectum tendit vel conscendit: primus, per pietatem eligere; secundus, per rationem approbare; tertius, per veritatem apprehendere». Secundum hoc apparet, quod triplex est modus cognoscendi, quorum primus est per credulitatem piae assensionis, secundus per approbationem rectae rationis⁶, tertius vero per claritatem mundae contemplationis. Primus spectat ad habitum virtutis, quae est fides; secundus ad habitum doni, quod est intellectus; tertius ad habitum beatitudinis, quae est munditia cordis⁷. Cum igitur

triplex sit cognitionis¹ differentia, videlicet creditiva, collativa et contemplativa, omnium harum est Christus principium et causa, et ita quod primae est principium in quantum via, secundae in quantum veritas, et tertiae in quantum vita.

2. Christus namque secundum quod via est magister et principium cognitionis, quae est per fidem. Haec enim cognitio duplici via habetur, videlicet per revelationem et per auctoritatem. Sicut enim dicit Augustinus in libro de Utilitate credendi²: «Quod intelligimus, debemus rationi; quod credimus, auctoritati». Auctoritas autem non esset, nisi revelatio praecessisset; propter quod secundae Petri primo³: Habemus firmiorem propheticum sermonem, cui bene facitis attendentes quasi lucernae lucenti in caliginoso loco. In quo insinuat auctoritatem sermonis prophetici, et rationem huius subiungit: Non enim voluntate humana allata est aliquando prophetia, sed Spiritu sancto inspirati locuti sunt sancti Dei homines. — Cum igitur his duabus viis contingat devenire ad cognitionem fidelem, hoc non potest esse nisi per Christum datorem, qui est principium omnis revelationis secundum adventum sui in mentem, et firmamentum omnis auctoritatis secundum adventum sui in carnem.

3. Venit autem in mentem ut lux revelativa omnium prophetalium visionum, secundum illud Danielis secundo⁴: Ipse revelat profunda et abscondita et novit in tenebris constituta, et lux cum eo est; lux scilicet divinae sapientiae, quae Christus est, secundum illud Ioannis octavo⁵: Ego sum lux mundi; qui sequitur me non ambulat in tenebris, et duodecimo: Dum lucem habetis, credite in lucem, ut filii lucis sitis; quia, sicut dicitur Ioannis primo, dedit eis potestatem filios Dei fieri, his qui credunt in nomine eius. Sine hac luce, quae Christus est, nemo potest sacramenta fidei penetrare. Propter quod Sapientiae nono⁶: Mitte illam — loquitur de Sapientia — de caelo sancto tuo et a sede maiestatis tuae, ut mecum sit et mecum laboret, ut sciam, quid acceptum sit apud te. Quis enim homo potest scire consilium Dei, aut quis potest cogitare, quid velit Deus etc., usque ibi: sensum tuum etc. Ex quo datur intelligi, quod non potest perveniri ad certam fidei revelationem nisi per adventum Christi in mentem.

4. Venit etiam in carnem ut verbum approbativum omnium prophetalium locutionum; ad Hebraeos primo⁷: Multifarie multisque modis etc. Quia enim ipse Christus est sermo Patris plenus potestate, secundum illud Ecclesiastae octavo⁸: Sermo illius potestate plenus est, nec dicere ei potest quis: quare ita facis? ipse etiam⁹ est sermo plenus veritate, immo ipsa veritas, secundum illud Ioannis decimo septimo¹⁰: Sanctifica eos in veritate. Sermo tuus veritas est, — Glossa¹¹: «In veritate hoc est in me, qui sum veritas, quod subdendo aperit: Sermo tuus veritas est, quod est, ego sum veritas; Graece logos, Latine verbum» — quia ergo auctoritas debetur sermoni potestativo et veridico, et Christus est Verbum Patris, et per hoc Dei virtus et sapientia, ideo in ipso fundatur et stabilitur et consummatur omnis auctoritatis stabilitas.

5. Et ideo tota Scriptura authentica et eius praedicatores aspectum habent ad Christum venientem in carnem tanquam ad fundamentum totius fidei christianae, secundum illud primae ad Corinthios tertio¹²: Secundum gratiam, quae data est mihi, ut sapiens architectus fundamentum posui. Fundamentum enim aliud nemo potest ponere, praeter id quod positum est etc. Ipse enim est fundamentum totius doctrinae authenticae, sive apostolicae sive propheticae, secundum utramque Legem, novam et veterem. Propter quod ad Ephesios secundo¹³: Superaedificati estis super fundamentum Apostolorum et Prophetarum, ipso summo angulari lapide Christo Iesu. — Patet igitur, Christum esse magistrum cognitionis secundum fidem, et hoc, in quantum est via, secundum duplicem adventum ipsius, in mentem videlicet et in carnem.

6. Est etiam magister cognitionis, quae est per rationem, et hoc, in quantum est veritas¹⁴. Ad cognitionem enim scientialem necessario requiritur veritas immutabilis ex parte scibilis, et certitudo infallibilis ex parte scientis. Omne enim, quod scitur, necessarium est in se et certum est ipsi scienti. Tunc

enim scimus, «cum causam arbitramur cognoscere, propter quam res est, et scimus, quoniam impossibile est aliter se habere¹».

7. Requiritur igitur ex parte scibilis veritas immutabilis. Huiusmodi autem non est veritas creata simpliciter et absolute, quia omne creatum vertibile et mutabile; sed veritas creans, quae plenam habet immutabilitatem. Propter quod dicitur in Psalmo²: Et tu in principio, Domine, terram fundasti, usque ibi: non deficient. Hoc autem, ut dicit Apostolus ad Hebraeos primo³, dicitur ad Filium Dei, qui est verbum, ars et ratio omnipotentis Dei, et ideo veritas sempiterna, secundum illud Psalmi⁴: In aeternum, Domine, permanet verbum tuum, et in saeculum saeculi veritas tua. Cum igitur res habeant esse in proprio genere, habeant etiam esse in mente, habeant esse et in aeterna ratione; nec esse earum sit omnino immutabile primo et secundo modo, sed tantum tertio, videlicet prout sunt in Verbo aeterno: restat, quod nihil potest facere res perfecte scibiles, nisi adsit Christus, Dei Filius et magister.

8. Unde Augustinus secundo de Libero Arbitrio⁵: «Nullo modo negaveris, esse incommutabilem veritatem, haec omnia, quae incommutabiliter vera sunt, continentem, quam non possum dicere tuam vel meam vel cuiusquam hominis, sed omnibus incommutabilia vera cernentibus praesto esse ac se praebere communiter». Hoc ipsum habetur decimo quarto de Trinitate⁶. Cum impii videant regulas, secundum quas quisque vivere debeat; «ubi eas vident? Neque enim in sua natura, cum procul dubio mente ista videantur, eorumque mentes constet esse mutabiles, has vero regulas immutabiles videat, quisquis in eis et hoc videre potuerit; nec in habitu suae mentis, cum illae regulae sint iustitiae, mentes vero eorum constet esse iniustas. Ubinam sunt istae regulae scriptae, ubi, quid sit iustum, etiam iniustus agnoscit et⁷ cernit, habendum esse quod ipse non habet? Ubi ergo scriptae sunt nisi in libro lucis illius, quae veritas dicitur, unde omnis lex iusta describitur, et in cor hominis iustitia non migrando, sed tanquam imprimendo transfertur»? Hoc ipsum dicitur in libro de Vera Religione⁸ et in sexto de Musica et in libro Retractationum.

9. Requiritur etiam secundo ad huiusmodi cognitionem certitudo ex parte scientis. Haec autem non potest esse ex ea parte, quae potest falli, vel ex ea luce, quae potest obscurari. Talis autem lux⁹ non est lux intelligentiae creatae, sed Sapientiae increatae, quae Christus est. Propter quod Sapientiae septimo¹⁰: Deus dedit mihi horum scientiam veram, quae sunt, ut sciam dispositionem orbis terrarum et virtutes elementorum, initium et consummationem et medietatem temporum. Et post: Omnium enim artifex docuit me, sapientia. Et ratio subditur¹¹: Vapor est enim virtutis Dei et emanatio quaedam omnipotentis Dei sincera, et ideo nihil inquinatum invenitur in ea. Candor est enim lucis aeternae et speculum sine macula maiestatis Dei. Speciosior est sole, et super omnem stellarum dispositionem, luci comparata invenitur prior. Attingit ergo a fine usque ad finem fortiter et disponit omnia suaviter. Propter quod dicebat Ioannes primo¹²: Erat lux vera, quae illuminat omnem hominem etc., ubi dicit Glossa¹³, «quod non est vera lux, quae non ex se, sed aliunde lucet».

10. Lux ergo intellectus creati sibi non sufficit ad certam comprehensionem rei cuiuscumque absque

luce Verbi aeterni. Unde Augustinus in primo Soliloquiorum¹: «Quomodo in hoc sole tria quaedam licet advertere: quod est, quod fulget, quod illuminat, ita et in illo secretissimo Deo tria quaedam sunt: quod est, quod intelligit, quod cetera facit intelligi». Unde et paulo ante praemittit, quod «sicut terra nisi luce illustrata videri non potest, sic quae in disciplinis traduntur, quamvis intelligi² verissima esse nulla dubitatione quisque concedat, credendum est, non posse intelligi, nisi ab illo quasi suo sole illustrentur». Item, duodecimo de Trinitate, capitulo ultimo³, loquens de puero, qui recte respondebat de geometria absque magistro, et reprobans Platonicam positionem, qui dicebat, animas scientiis prius imbutas infundi corporibus, dicit, hoc non esse verum. «Sed potius credendum est, inquit, mentis intellectualis ita conditam esse naturam, ut rebus intelligibilibus naturali ordine, disponente Conditore, subiecta, sic ista videat in quadam luce sui generis incorporea, quemadmodum oculis carnis videt quae in hac corporea luce contraiacent, cuius lucis capax et congruus est creatus⁴». — Quae autem sit ista lux, dicitur in secundo de Libero Arbitrio⁵: «Illa veritatis et sapientiae pulcritudo, quae nec peragitur tempore nec migrat locis nec nocte intercipitur nec umbra intercluditur nec sensibus corporis subiacet; de toto mundo ad se conversis, qui diligunt eam, omnibus proxima est, omnibus sempiterna, nullo loco est, nusquam deest, foris admonet, intus docet; nullus de illa iudicat, nullus sine illa bene iudicat. Ac per hoc, eam manifestum est mentibus nostris, quae ab ipsa una fiunt singulae sapientes et non de ipsa, sed per ipsam de ceteris iudicant, sine dubitatione esse potiorem». Hoc ipsum dicitur in libro de Vera Religione⁶ et in octavo de Trinitate et in libro de Magistro, ubi hanc conclusionem probat per totum librum, quod unus est magister noster, Christus.

11. Postremo, Christus in quantum vita est magister cognitionis contemplativae⁷, circa quam dupliciter anima se exercet, secundum duplicem differentiam pastus, videlicet interioris in Deitate, et exterioris in humanitate, secundum quam duplex est modus contemplandi, scilicet ingressivus et egressivus, ad quem perveniri non potest nisi per Christum. Propter quod ipse dicit Ioannis decimo⁸: Ego sum ostium; per me si quis introierit, salvabitur et ingredietur et egredietur et pascua inveniet.

12. Ingressus namque est ad Christum secundum quod Verbum increatum et cibus Angelorum, de quo Ioannis primo: In principio erat Verbum. De hoc ingressu dicitur in Psalmo⁹ secundum aliam translationem: Ingrediar in locum tabernaculi admirabilis usque ad domum Dei, in voce exsultationis et confessionis, sonus epulantis. Hoc dictum est de illa superna Ierusalem, ad quam contemplandam nemo ingreditur, nisi per Verbum increatum, quod est Christus, introducatur. Unde Dionysius in primo de Angelica Hierarchia¹⁰: «Ergo Iesum invocantes, paternum lumen, quod est quidem verum, quod illuminat omnem hominem venientem in hunc mundum, per quem ad principale lumen, Patrem, accessum habemus, in sacratissimorum eloquiorum a Patre traditas illuminationes, quantum possibile est, respicimus, et ab ipsis symbolice nobis et anagogice manifestatas caelestium animorum hierarchias, quantum potentes sumus, considerabimus, principalem et superprincipalem divinam Patris claritatem immaterialibus et non trementibus mentis oculis respicientes».

13. Egressus autem est ad Verbum incarnatum, quod est lac parvulorum, de quo Ioannis primo¹¹: Verbum caro factum est et habitavit in nobis. De hoc egressu Cantici tertio¹²: Egredimini, filiae Sion, et videte regem Salomonem in diademate, quo coronavit eum mater sua in die desponsationis et laetitiae cordis sui. Hoc diadema, quo coronatur verus Salomon pacificus a matre sua, est caro immaculata — quam assumsit de Virgine Maria — quae dicitur diadema desponsationis, quia per illam sibi desponsavit sanctam matrem Ecclesiam, quae

de latere eius formata fuit, sicut Eva de latere viri. Et ideo per eam tota hierarchia ecclesiastica purgatur, illuminatur et perficitur; et ideo aspicienda est tanquam totius Ecclesiae pastus vivificus, secundum illud Ioannis sexto¹: Caro mea vere est cibus, et sanguis meus vere est potus. Et propterea subdit²: Qui manducat meam carnem et bibit meum sanguinem habet vitam aeternam.

14. Et hoc est quod dicitur in libro de Anima et spiritu³: «Duplex est vita animae: alia, qua vivit in carne; et alia, qua vivit in Deo. Duo siquidem sunt in homine sensus: unus interior, et unus exterior; et uterque bonum suum habet, in quo reficitur: sensus interior in contemplatione Deitatis, sensus exterior in contemplatione humanitatis. Propterea enim Deus factus est homo, ut totum hominem in se beatificaret, ut, sive ingrederetur sive egrederetur, pascua in Factore suo inveniret, pascua foris in carne Salvatoris et pascua intus in Divinitate Creatoris». — Hic autem ingressus ad Divinitatem et egressus ad humanitatem nihil aliud est quam ascensus ad caelum et descensus ad terram, qui fit per Christum tanquam per scalam, de qua Genesis vigesimo octavo⁴: Vidit Iacob in somnis scalam stantem super terram, et cacumen eius tangens caelum, Angelos quoque ascendentes et descendentes per eam. Per scalam intelligitur Christus, per ascensum et descensum Angelorum illuminatio virorum contemplativorum ascendentium et descendentium. — Hic etiam duplex modus contemplationis intelligitur per lectionem interiorem et exteriorem libri scripti intus et foris, de quo Apocalypsis quinto⁵: Vidi in dextera sedentis in throno librum scriptum intus et foris, signatum sigillis septem; et subditur ibi, quod nemo poterat neque in caelo neque in terra neque subtus terram aperire librum et neque respicere illum; et subditur ibi, quod leo de tribu Iuda vicit, qui dignus est aperire librum et solvere septem signacula eius. — Si ergo ille proprie dicendus est doctor, qui librum aperit et eius signacula solvit; et talis est Christus, qui fuit leo surgens et agnus occisus: apparet ergo, quod magister noster unus est, Christus, in omni cognitionis differentia, secundum quod est via, veritas et vita.

15. Ex praedictis ergo apparet, quo ordine et quo auctore pervenitur ad sapientiam. — Ordo enim est, ut inchoetur a stabilitate fidei et procedatur per serenitatem rationis, ut perveniatur ad suavitatem contemplationis; quem insinuavit Christus, cum dixit: Ego sum via, veritas et vita. Et sic impletur illud Proverbiorum quarto⁶: Iustorum semita quasi lux splendens procedit et crescit usque ad perfectum diem. Hunc ordinem tenuerunt Sancti, attendentes illud Isaiae⁷, secundum aliam translationem: Nisi credideritis, non intelligetis. Hunc ordinem ignoraverunt philosophi, qui, negligentes fidem et totaliter se fundantes in ratione, nullo modo pervenire potuerunt ad contemplationem; quia, sicut dicit Augustinus in primo de Trinitate⁸, «mentis humanae invalida acies in tam excellenti luce non figitur, nisi per iustitiam fidei emundetur».

16. Patet etiam, quis sit auctor et doctor: quia Christus, qui est director et adiutor nostrae intelligentiae non solum generaliter, sicut in omnibus operibus naturae, nec ita specialiter, sicut in operibus gratiae et virtutis meritoriae, sed quodam modo medio inter utrumque. — Ad cuius intelligentiam notandum, quod in creaturis reperitur triplex modus conformitatis ad Deum. Quaedam enim conformantur Deo sicut vestigium, quaedam sicut imago, quaedam sicut similitudo. Vestigium autem dicit comparationem ad Deum sicut ad principium causativum; imago autem non solum sicut ad principium, sed etiam sicut ad obiectum motivum; «eo enim est anima imago Dei, ut dicit Augustinus decimo quarto de Trinitate⁹, quod capax eius est et particeps esse potest», scilicet per cognitionem et amorem. Similitudo autem respicit Deum non tantum per modum principii et obiecti, verum etiam per modum doni infusi.

17. In illis ergo operationibus creaturae, quae sunt ipsius, in quantum est vestigium, sicut sunt universaliter actiones naturales, cooperatur Deus sicut principium et causa. In his autem, quae sunt ipsius, in quantum est imago, sicut sunt actiones intellectuales, quibus anima percipit ipsam veritatem immutabilem, cooperatur sicut obiectum et ratio motiva. In his vero, quae sunt ipsius, in quantum est similitudo, sicut sunt operationes meritoriae,

cooperatur sicut donum infusum per gratiam. Et propter hoc dicit Augustinus octavo de Civitate Dei¹, quod «Deus est causa essendi, ratio intelligendi et ordo vivendi».

18. Quod autem dicatur ratio intelligendi, sane intelligendum est, non quia sit intelligendi ratio sola, nec nuda, nec tota. — Si enim esset ratio sola, non differret cognitio scientiae a cognitione sapientiae, nec cognitio in Verbo a cognitione in proprio genere. — Rursus, si esset ratio nuda et aperta, non differret cognitio viae a cognitione patriae, quod quidem falsum est, cum illa sit facie ad faciem, haec autem per speculum et in aenigmate²; quia nostrum intelligere secundum statum viae non est sine phantasmate. — Postremo, si esset ratio tota, non indigeremus specie et receptione ad cognoscendas res; quod manifeste videmus esse falsum, quia, amittentes unum sensum, necesse habemus amittere unam scientiam³. Unde licet anima secundum Augustinum connexa sit legibus aeternis, quia aliquo modo illud lumen attingit secundum supremam aciem intellectus agentis et superiorem portionem rationis; indubitanter tamen verum est, secundum quod dicit Philosophus⁴, cognitionem generari in nobis via sensus, memoriae et experientiae, ex quibus colligitur universale in nobis, quod est principium artis et scientiae. Unde quia Plato⁵ totam cognitionem certitudinalem convertit ad mundum intelligibilem sive idealem, ideo merito reprehensus fuit ab Aristotele; non quia male diceret, ideas esse et aeternas rationes, cum eum in hoc laudet Augustinus⁶; sed quia, despecto mundo sensibili, totam certitudinem cognitionis reducere voluit ad illas ideas; et hoc ponendo, licet videretur stabilire viam sapientiae, quae procedit secundum rationes aeternas, destruebat tamen viam scientiae, quae procedit secundum rationes creatas; quam viam Aristoteles e contrario stabiliebat, illa superiore neglecta. Et ideo videtur, quod inter philosophos datus sit Platoni sermo sapientiae, Aristoteli vero sermo scientiae. Ille enim principaliter aspiciebat ad superiora, hic vero principaliter ad inferiora.

19. Uterque autem sermo, scilicet sapientiae et scientiae, per Spiritum sanctum datus est Augustino, tanquam praecipuo expositori totius Scripturae, satis excellenter, sicut ex scriptis eius apparet. — Excellentiori vero modo fuit in Paulo et Moyse, in uno tanquam in ministro legis figurae, in altero vero sicut in ministro legis gratiae. De Moyse namque dicitur Actuum septimo⁷, quod fuit eruditus in omni sapientia Aegyptiorum; et rursus, in monte dictum est ei⁸: Inspice et fac secundum exemplar, quod tibi in monte monstratum est. — De Paulo vero, sicut ipsemet dicit, quod cum inter simplices non ostenderet se scire nisi Christum Iesum, et hunc crucifixum; tamen sapientiam loquebatur inter perfectos, sicut dicitur primae ad Corinthios secundo⁹. Hanc autem sapientiam ipse didicit, quando usque ad tertium caelum raptus fuit, secundae ad Corinthios duodecimo¹⁰. — Excellentissime autem fuit in Domino nostro Iesu Christo, qui fuit principalis legislator et simul perfectus viator et comprehensor; et ideo ipse solus est principalis magister et doctor.

20. Hic igitur tanquam principalis magister est principaliter honorandus, audiendus, interrogandus. — Principaliter namque honorandus est, ut sibi attribuatur dignitas magisterii, Matthaei vigesimo tertio¹¹: Nolite vocari Rabbi; unus est enim magister vester, omnes autem vos fratres estis. Sibi autem vult dignitatem magisterii reservare, secundum illud Ioannis decimo tertio¹²: Vos vocatis me, magister et Domine; et bene dicitis, sum etenim. — Honorandus est autem non solum vocaliter in locutione, sed etiam realiter in imitatione; propter quod subdit: Si ergo ego lavi pedes vestros etc.; quia, sicut dicitur Lucae decimo quarto¹³, qui non venit post me non potest meus esse discipulus.

21. Est etiam principaliter audiendus per humilitatem fidei, secundum illud Isaiae quinquagesimo¹⁴: Dominus dedit mihi linguam eruditam, ut sciam sustentare eum qui lassus est verbo: erigit mane, mane erigit mihi aurem, ut audiam eum quasi magistrum. Bis dicit erigit, quia non sufficit, quod auris nostra erigatur ad intelligendum, nisi etiam erigatur ad obediendum. Propter quod dicitur Matthaei decimo tertio¹⁵: Qui habet aures audiendi audiat. Christus enim docet nos non tantum verbo, sed etiam exemplo; et ideo non est perfectus audi-

tor, nisi accommodet intelligentiam verbis et obedientiam factis; propter quod Lucae sexto¹: Perfectus omnis erit, si sit sicut magister eius.

22. Est etiam principaliter interrogandus per desiderium addiscendi, non sicut curiosi et increduli, qui interrogant tentando, Matthaei duodecimo²: Responderunt quidam de Scribis dicentes: Magister, volumus a te signum videre. Signa quippe viderant et videbant, et tamen adhuc signum quaerebant, ut per hoc ostendatur, quod humana curiositas non habet terminum nec meretur perduci ad verum³. Unde responsum est eis, quod signum non dabitur eis nisi signum Ionae prophetae. — Non hoc modo interrogandus est Iesus, sed studiose, sicut interrogavit eum Nicodemus, de quo Ioannis tertio⁴ dicitur, quod venit ad Iesum nocte et dixit ei: Rabbi, scimus, quia a Deo venisti magister etc.; et subditur ibi, quod Iesus aperuit ei mysteria fidei, pro eo quod non quaerebat signa virtutis, sed documenta veritatis.

23. Interrogandus est autem hic magister de his quae spectant ad scientiam, ad disciplinam et bonitatem, secundum illud Psalmi⁵: Bonitatem et disciplinam et scientiam doce me. Scientia namque consistit in notitia veri, disciplina in cautela mali, bonitas in eligentia boni. Primum respicit veritatem, secundum respicit sanctitatem, tertium respicit caritatem. — Interrogandus est ergo de his quae spectant ad veritatem scientiae, non studio tentandi, sicut tentabant discipuli Pharisaeorum, Matthaei vigesimo secundo⁶: Magister, scimus, quia verax es etc. Et quia mala intentione quaerebant, ideo responsum est eis: Quid me tentatis, hypocritae? Quia vero quaestionem bonam, ideo dedit responsionem veram: Reddite ergo quae sunt caesaris caesari; et quae sunt Dei, Deo. — Interrogandus est secundo de his quae spectant ad sanctitatem disciplinae, sicut interrogabat eum ille adolescens, Marci decimo⁷: Magister bone, quid faciam, ut vitam aeternam possideam? Et responsum est ei, quod servaret mandata, et si vellet perfectus esse, servaret consilia, in quibus consistit perfecta disciplina morum, in cautela eorum quae nos incitant ad peccandum. — Interrogandus est etiam de his quae spectant ad caritatem benevolentiae, exemplo Legis doctoris, Matthaei vigesimo secundo⁸: Magister, quod est mandatum magnum in Lege? Ait illi: Diliges Dominum Deum tuum ex corde tuo, et ex mente tua etc., ubi ostendit, quod plenitudo Legis est dilectio⁹.

24. Haec igitur tria sunt, quae interroganda sunt a Christo tanquam a magistro, et ad quae tota lex Christi est ordinata; et ideo omnis doctrina ministerialis doctoris ad haec tria debet ordinari, ut sub illo magistro summo officium magisterii digne possit exsecutioni mandare. — Debet namque ministerialis magister intendere scientiae veritatis fidei, secundum illud primae ad Timotheum secundo¹⁰: Veritatem dico et non mentior, doctor gentium in fide et veritate. Propter quod secundae Petri primo¹¹: Non enim doctas fabulas secuti, notam fecimus vobis Domini nostri Iesu Christi virtutem et praesentiam, sed speculatores facti illius magnitudinis.

25. Debet etiam intendere disciplinae sanctitatis animi, secundum illud secundae ad Timotheum primo¹²: Positus sum ego Paulus in Evangelio praedicator et apostolus, ob quam causam et haec patior; quia, secundum quod dicitur Proverbiorum decimo nono¹³, doctrina viri per patientiam noscitur. Sicut enim non decet insipientem docere sapientiam, sic non decet impatientem docere patientiam, nec indisciplinatum docere disciplinam. In moribus enim plus movent exempla quam verba.

26. Debet etiam intendere benevolentiae caritatis Dei et proximi, Ecclesiastae ultimo¹⁴: Verba sapientium quasi stimuli et quasi clavi in altum defixi, quae per magistrorum consilium data sunt a pastore uno. Haec, inquam, verba sunt verba divini amoris, quae penetrant medullas cordis; et haec dicuntur dari per magistrorum consilium a pastore uno, quia, licet amor divinus laudetur et suadeatur per verba multorum, utpote per documenta duorum testamentorum, ab uno tamen solo Verbo spiratur, quod quidem est pastus et pastor omnium. Et ideo omnia illa verba ab eodem sunt et in idem tendunt; et propterea dicuntur dari signanter per magistrorum consilium, idem videlicet sentientium. — Et quoniam omnes doctores christianae legis finaliter debent tendere ad vinculum caritatis, ideo debent concordare in suis sententiis. Propter quod Iacobi tertio¹⁵: Nolite, fratres, plures magistri fieri; quod quidem dicit, non prohibendo eos a doni scientiae

communicatione, cum dicat Moyses Numerorum undecimo¹: Quis tribuat, ut omnis populus prophetet, et det eis Dominus spiritum suum? et primae Petri quarto²: Unusquisque, sicut accepit gratiam, in alterutrum etc.; sed hoc dicit, ut non habeant varias sententias et peregrinas, sed omnes idem dicant, sicut primae ad Corinthios primo³: Obsecro vos, fratres, per nomen Domini nostri Iesu Christi, ut id ipsum dicatis omnes, et non sint in vobis schismata; sitis autem perfecti in eodem sensu et in eadem sententia.

27. Nam dissensio sententiarum⁴ ortum habet a praesumtione, secundum illud Proverbiorum decimo tertio⁵: Inter superbos semper iurgia sunt; et parit confusionem, primae ad Timotheum ultimo⁶: Si quis aliter docet et non acquiescit sanis sermonibus Domini nostri Iesu Christi et ei quae secundum pietatem est doctrinae, superbus est, nihil sciens, sed languens circa quaestiones et pugnas verborum; ex quibus oriuntur invidiae, contentiones, blasphemiae, suspiciones malae, conflictationes hominum mente corruptorum et qui veritate privati sunt.

28. Quoniam ergo haec tria sunt, quae impediunt ad perceptionem veritatis, videlicet praesumtio sensuum et dissensio sententiarum et desperatio inveniendi verum; ideo his obvians Christus dicit: Unus est magister vester, Christus. Dicit, inquam, quod Christus est magister, ut de nostra scientia non praesumamus; dicit, quod unus, ne in sensu dissentiamus; dicit, quod vester est, paratus nobis assistere, ne desperemus, maxime cum ipse velit et sciat et possit nos docere, mittendo illum Spiritum, de quo ipse dicit Ioannis decimo sexto⁷: Cum venerit ille Spiritus veritatis, docebit vos omnem veritatem. Quod nobis praestare etc. — Exᴘʟɪᴄɪᴛ.

Sermon IV.

Christ the one teacher of all.

Summarium

Introduction. The threefold degree of certitudinal and right cognition, of which Christ is the principle and cause as way, truth and life, number 1. — Part I. On Christ's own threefold teaching office. First, Christ as way is the teacher of the cognition acquired through faith, and this by a twofold way: by his coming into the mind, infusing the lumen^tr. of revelation; by his coming into the flesh, affording the firmament of authority, 2-4. — Hence Christ is the foundation of the whole of faith according to both testaments, 5. — Second, Christ as truth is the teacher of rational cognition. For scientific cognition two things are required: immutable truth on the side of what is knowable, infallible certitude on the side of the knower, 6. — On the first, 7. 8. — On the second, 9. 10. — Third, Christ as life is the teacher of contemplative cognition. The twofold exercise and pasture, 11. — On the first exercise and pasture, that is, on the uncreated Word, 12. — On the second, that is, on the incarnate Word, 13. — On both; the twofold life, the twofold sense, the twofold entrance according to ascent and descent, the twofold contemplation of the book written within and without, 14. — Two corollaries: first, by what order one arrives at wisdom; the threefold degree; one must begin from faith, 15. — Second, by what author and doctor; he himself is Christ, who cooperates with our intelligence not only by a general concurrence, nor yet properly by a supernatural one, but in a certain middle way. The threefold mode of conformity to God, 16. — According to these modes there is a threefold divine cooperation, 17. — The sound explanation of Augustine's saying, that God is for us the ground of understanding, 18. — On the knowledge and wisdom of Augustine, of Moses and of Paul. On Christ as the sole principal teacher and doctor, 19. — Part II. On the duties to be rendered towards Christ, the principal teacher. First he is to be honoured, and this in two ways, 20. — Second, to be heard unto understanding and unto obeying, 21. — Third, to be questioned, not curiously, but studiously, 22. — He is to be questioned concerning three things: concerning the truth of knowledge, the holiness of discipline, the charity of benevolence, 23. — Hence ministerial doctors too ought to order their doctrine to the same three: first they ought to aim at the knowledge of the truth of faith, 24. — Second, at the discipline of the holiness of the soul, 25. — Third, at the benevolence of the charity of God and of neighbour. Hence they ought to agree in their opinions, and not to become many teachers through schisms; dissension of opinions arises from presumption and begets confusion, 26. 27. — Epilogue, 28.

1. One is your teacher, Christ, Matthew, chapter twenty-three¹. In this word there is declared what is the fontal principle of cognitive illumination, namely Christ, who, since he is the brightness of the Father's glory and the figure of his substance, bearing all things by the word of his power, as is said to the Hebrews, chapter one²; he it is who is the origin of all wisdom, according to that of Ecclesiasticus, chapter one³: The fountain of wisdom is the Word of God on high. And Christ himself is the fountain of all right cognition. For he himself is the way, the truth and the life, John, chapter fourteen⁴. — For there is a threefold degree of certitudinal and right cognition, according to what Hugh says On the Sacraments⁵: "These are the three degrees of the promotion of faith, by which faith, growing, tends or climbs up to the perfect: the first, to choose through piety; the second, to approve through reason; the third, to apprehend through truth." According to this it appears that there is a threefold mode of knowing, of which the first is through the credence of pious assent, the second through the approval of right reason⁶, and the third through the clarity of clean contemplation. The first pertains to the habit of virtue, which is faith; the second to the habit of the gift, which is understanding; the third to the habit of beatitude, which is cleanness of heart⁷. Since therefore

there is a threefold difference of cognition¹, namely creditive, collative and contemplative, of all these Christ is the principle and cause, and that in such a way that of the first he is the principle inasmuch as he is the way, of the second inasmuch as he is the truth, and of the third inasmuch as he is the life.

2. For Christ, according as he is the way, is the teacher and principle of the cognition which is through faith. For this cognition is had by a twofold way, namely through revelation and through authority. For as Augustine says in the book On the Usefulness of Believing²: "What we understand, we owe to reason; what we believe, to authority." But authority would not exist unless revelation had gone before it; on which account in the second of Peter, chapter one³: We have the more firm prophetical word, whereunto you do well to attend, as to a lamp shining in a dark place. In this he insinuates the authority of the prophetic word, and he subjoins the reason of it: For prophecy came not by the will of man at any time, but the holy men of God spoke, inspired by the Holy Ghost. — Since therefore it is by these two ways that one may come to believing cognition, this cannot be except through Christ the giver, who is the principle of all revelation according to his coming into the mind, and the firmament of all authority according to his coming into the flesh.

3. Now he comes into the mind as the revealing light of all prophetic visions, according to that of Daniel, chapter two⁴: He revealeth deep and hidden things, and knoweth what is in darkness, and light is with him; the light, namely, of the divine wisdom, which is Christ, according to that of John, chapter eight⁵: I am the light of the world; he that followeth me walketh not in darkness, and chapter twelve: Whilst you have the light, believe in the light, that you may be the children of light; because, as is said in John, chapter one, he gave them power to be made the sons of God, to them that believe in his name. Without this light, which is Christ, no one can penetrate the sacraments of faith. On which account in Wisdom, chapter nine⁶: Send her — he is speaking of Wisdom — out of thy holy heaven and from the throne of thy majesty, that she may be with me and may labour with me, that I may know what is acceptable with thee. For what man is he that can know the counsel of God, or who can think what the will of God is, etc., as far as: thy sense, etc. From which it is given to be understood that one cannot come to the certain revelation of faith except through the coming of Christ into the mind.

4. He comes also into the flesh as the approving word of all prophetic utterances; to the Hebrews, chapter one⁷: God, who at sundry times and in divers manners, etc. For since Christ himself is the Father's word full of power, according to that of Ecclesiastes, chapter eight⁸: His word is full of power, neither can any man say to him: Why dost thou so? he himself also⁹ is the word full of truth, nay, truth itself, according to that of John, chapter seventeen¹⁰: Sanctify them in truth. Thy word is truth, — the Gloss¹¹: "In truth, that is, in me, who am the truth, which he opens by subjoining: Thy word is truth, which is: I am the truth; in Greek logos, in Latin word" — since therefore authority is owed to a word that is powerful and truthful, and Christ is the Word of the Father, and through this the power of God and the wisdom of God, therefore in him is founded and established and consummated all stability of authority.

5. And therefore the whole authentic Scripture and its preachers have their gaze upon Christ coming in the flesh as upon the foundation of the whole Christian faith, according to that of the first to the Corinthians, chapter three¹²: According to the grace that is given me, as a wise architect, I have laid the foundation. For other foundation no man can lay, but that which is laid, etc. For he is the foundation of the whole authentic doctrine, whether apostolic or prophetic, according to both Laws, the new and the old. On which account to the Ephesians, chapter two¹³: You are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone. — It is plain therefore that Christ is the teacher of the cognition which is according to faith, and this inasmuch as he is the way, according to his twofold coming, namely into the mind and into the flesh.

6. He is also the teacher of the cognition which is through reason, and this inasmuch as he is the truth¹⁴. For for scientific cognition there is necessarily required immutable truth on the side of what is knowable, and infallible certitude on the side of the knower. For everything that is known is necessary in itself and is certain to the knower himself. For then

do we know, "when we judge that we know the cause on account of which the thing is, and know that it is impossible for it to be otherwise¹."

7. There is required therefore, on the side of what is knowable, immutable truth. But of this kind is not truth simply created and absolute, because everything created is changeable and mutable; but the creating truth, which has full immutability. On which account it is said in the Psalm²: In the beginning, O Lord, thou foundedst the earth, as far as: they shall not fail. But this, as the Apostle says to the Hebrews, chapter one³, is said to the Son of God, who is the word, art and ground of almighty God, and therefore everlasting truth, according to that of the Psalm⁴: Thy word, O Lord, endureth for ever, and thy truth unto generation and generation. Since therefore things have being in their own genus, have also being in the mind, and have being also in the eternal ground; and since their being is not altogether immutable in the first and second way, but only in the third, namely as they are in the eternal Word: it remains that nothing can make things perfectly knowable, unless Christ, the Son of God and teacher, be present.

8. Whence Augustine in the second book On Free Choice⁵: "In no way wouldst thou deny that there is an immutable truth containing all these things which are immutably true, which I cannot call thine or mine or any man's, but which is present to all who discern immutable truths and offers itself to them in common." This same thing is had in the fourteenth book On the Trinity⁶. Since the impious see the rules according to which each one ought to live; "where do they see them? For not in their own nature, since without doubt these things are seen by the mind, and their minds are agreed to be mutable, whereas he sees these rules to be immutable, whoever has been able to see this too in them; nor in the habit of their mind, since those rules are rules of justice, whereas their minds are agreed to be unjust. Where then are these rules written, where even the unjust man recognizes what is just and⁷ discerns that one must have what he himself does not have? Where then are they written, unless in the book of that light which is called truth, whence every just law is copied out, and is transferred into the heart of man, not by migrating, but as it were by being impressed?" The same thing is said in the book On True Religion⁸ and in the sixth book On Music and in the book of the Retractations.

9. There is required also, in the second place, for cognition of this kind, certitude on the side of the knower. But this cannot come from that part which can be deceived, or from that light which can be darkened. But such a light⁹ is not the light of created intelligence, but of the uncreated Wisdom, which is Christ. On which account in Wisdom, chapter seven¹⁰: God gave me the true knowledge of the things that are, that I might know the disposition of the whole world and the virtues of the elements, the beginning and the ending and the midst of the times. And after: For wisdom, the worker of all things, taught me. And the reason is subjoined¹¹: For she is a vapour of the power of God, and a certain pure emanation of the glory of the almighty God; and therefore no defiled thing cometh into her. For she is the brightness of eternal light, and the unspotted mirror of God's majesty. She is more beautiful than the sun, and above all the order of the stars: being compared with the light, she is found before it. She reacheth therefore from end to end mightily, and ordereth all things sweetly. On which account John said in chapter one¹²: That was the true light, which enlighteneth every man, etc., where the Gloss says¹³ "that that is not the true light which shines not of itself, but from elsewhere."

10. The light therefore of the created understanding does not suffice of itself for the certain comprehension of any thing whatever without

the light of the eternal Word. Whence Augustine in the first book of the Soliloquies¹: "As in this sun three things may be noticed: that it is, that it shines, that it illumines, so also in that most secret God there are three things: that he is, that he understands, that he makes other things to be understood." Whence also a little before he premises that "as the earth cannot be seen unless it be lit up by light, so the things which are handed down in the disciplines, although anyone would concede without any doubting that they are most true when understood², it is to be believed that they cannot be understood unless they be lit up by that as by their own sun." Likewise, in the twelfth book On the Trinity, in the last chapter³, speaking of the boy who was answering rightly about geometry without a teacher, and reproving the Platonic position, which said that souls previously imbued with the sciences are infused into bodies, he says that this is not true. "But rather it is to be believed, he says, that the nature of the intellectual mind is so constituted that, being subjected by a natural order to intelligible things, under the disposition of the Creator, it sees these things in a certain light of its own kind, incorporeal, just as the eye of flesh sees the things that lie before it in this corporeal light, of which light it is capable and to which it has been created congruous⁴." — But what that light is, is said in the second book On Free Choice⁵: "That beauty of truth and wisdom, which is not carried through by time nor migrates by places nor is intercepted by night nor shut off by shadow nor lies under the senses of the body; to all who from the whole world are turned to it and who love it, it is nearest of all, everlasting to all, it is in no place, it is nowhere absent, without it admonishes, within it teaches; no one judges of it, no one judges well without it. And by this it is manifest that it is without doubt more excellent than our minds, which by it alone are made severally wise, and which judge, not of it, but through it, concerning other things." This same thing is said in the book On True Religion⁶ and in the eighth book On the Trinity and in the book On the Teacher, where he proves this conclusion through the whole book, that our teacher is one, Christ.

11. Lastly, Christ inasmuch as he is the life is the teacher of contemplative cognition⁷, about which the soul exercises itself in two ways, according to the twofold difference of pasture, namely of the interior pasture in the Godhead, and of the exterior in the humanity, according to which there is a twofold mode of contemplating, namely the entering and the going out, to which one cannot come except through Christ. On which account he himself says in John, chapter ten⁸: I am the door; by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and he shall go in and go out and shall find pastures.

12. For the entering in is to Christ according as he is the uncreated Word and the food of the Angels, of whom in John, chapter one: In the beginning was the Word. Of this entering in it is said in the Psalm⁹ according to another translation: I shall go into the place of the wonderful tabernacle, even to the house of God, with the voice of joy and praise, the noise of one feasting. This was said of that supernal Jerusalem, to the contemplating of which no one enters, unless he be introduced through the uncreated Word, which is Christ. Whence Dionysius in the first chapter On the Angelic Hierarchy¹⁰: "Therefore, invoking Jesus, the paternal lumen, which is indeed the true one, which illumines every man coming into this world, through whom we have access to the principal lumen, the Father, we look upon the illuminations handed down by the Father in the most sacred oracles, as far as is possible, and from them, as far as we are able, we shall consider the hierarchies of the heavenly spirits made manifest to us symbolically and anagogically, beholding with immaterial and untrembling eyes of the mind the principal and superprincipal divine brightness of the Father."

13. But the going out is to the incarnate Word, which is the milk of little ones, of which in John, chapter one¹¹: And the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us. Of this going out in the Canticle, chapter three¹²: Go forth, ye daughters of Sion, and see king Solomon in the diadem wherewith his mother crowned him in the day of his espousals and in the day of the joy of his heart. This diadem, wherewith the true peace-making Solomon is crowned by his mother, is the immaculate flesh — which he assumed from the Virgin Mary — which is called the diadem of the espousals, because through it he espoused to himself holy mother Church, who

was formed from his side, as Eve from the side of the man. And therefore through her the whole ecclesiastical hierarchy is purged, illumined and perfected; and therefore she is to be looked upon as the life-giving pasture of the whole Church, according to that of John, chapter six¹: My flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed. And on this account he subjoins²: He that eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood hath everlasting life.

14. And this is what is said in the book On the Soul and the Spirit³: "Twofold is the life of the soul: one by which it lives in the flesh; and another by which it lives in God. For there are two senses in man: one interior, and one exterior; and each has its own good, in which it is refreshed: the interior sense in the contemplation of the Godhead, the exterior sense in the contemplation of the humanity. For on this account God was made man, that he might beatify the whole man in himself, so that, whether it went in or went out, it might find pastures in its Maker, pastures without in the flesh of the Saviour and pastures within in the Divinity of the Creator." — But this entering in to the Divinity and going out to the humanity is nothing else than ascent to heaven and descent to earth, which comes about through Christ as through a ladder, of which in Genesis, chapter twenty-eight⁴: Jacob saw in his sleep a ladder standing upon the earth, and the top thereof touching heaven, the angels also of God ascending and descending by it. By the ladder is understood Christ, by the ascent and descent of the Angels the illumination of contemplative men ascending and descending. — Here also the twofold mode of contemplation is understood through the interior and exterior reading of the book written within and without, of which in the Apocalypse, chapter five⁵: I saw in the right hand of him that sat on the throne a book written within and without, sealed with seven seals; and it is subjoined there that no man was able neither in heaven nor on earth nor under the earth to open the book, nor to look on it; and it is subjoined there that the lion of the tribe of Juda hath prevailed, who is worthy to open the book and to loose the seven seals thereof. — If therefore he is properly to be called a doctor who opens the book and looses its seals; and Christ is such, who was the rising lion and the slain lamb: it appears therefore that our teacher is one, Christ, in every difference of cognition, according as he is the way, the truth and the life.

15. From the things said, therefore, it appears by what order and by what author one arrives at wisdom. — For the order is that one begin from the stability of faith and proceed through the serenity of reason, that one may arrive at the sweetness of contemplation; which order Christ insinuated when he said: I am the way, the truth and the life. And thus is fulfilled that of Proverbs, chapter four⁶: The path of the just, as a shining light, goeth forwards and increaseth even to perfect day. This order the Saints held, attending to that of Isaias⁷, according to another translation: Unless you believe, you shall not understand. This order the philosophers were ignorant of, who, neglecting faith and founding themselves wholly upon reason, were in no way able to arrive at contemplation; because, as Augustine says in the first book On the Trinity⁸, "the weak edge of the human mind is not fixed upon so excellent a light, unless it be cleansed through the justice of faith."

16. It appears also who is the author and doctor: because Christ, who is the director and helper of our intelligence not only generally, as in all the works of nature, nor so specially as in the works of grace and of meritorious virtue, but in a certain middle way between the two. — For the understanding of which it is to be noted that in creatures there is found a threefold mode of conformity to God. For some things are conformed to God as a vestige, some as an image, some as a likeness. Now the vestige states a comparison to God as to a causative principle; but the image not only as to a principle, but also as to a motive object; "for by this is the soul the image of God, as Augustine says in the fourteenth book On the Trinity⁹, that it is capable of him and can be a partaker of him," namely through cognition and love. But the likeness regards God not only by way of principle and of object, but also by way of an infused gift.

17. In those operations of the creature, therefore, which are its own inasmuch as it is a vestige, such as are universally natural actions, God cooperates as principle and cause. But in those which are its own inasmuch as it is an image, such as are intellectual actions, by which the soul perceives immutable truth itself, he cooperates as object and motive ground. But in those which are its own inasmuch as it is a likeness, such as are meritorious operations,

he cooperates as an infused gift through grace. And on this account Augustine says in the eighth book On the City of God¹ that "God is the cause of being, the ground of understanding and the order of living."

18. But that he is called the ground of understanding is to be understood soundly, not as though he were the sole ground of understanding, nor the bare one, nor the whole one. — For if he were the sole ground, the cognition of knowledge would not differ from the cognition of wisdom, nor cognition in the Word from cognition in its own genus. — Again, if he were a bare and open ground, the cognition of the way would not differ from the cognition of the fatherland, which indeed is false, since that is face to face, but this through a glass, in a dark manner²; because our understanding according to the state of the way is not without a phantasm. — Lastly, if he were the whole ground, we should not need a species and a reception for the knowing of things; which we manifestly see to be false, because, losing one sense, we necessarily lose one science³. Whence, although the soul according to Augustine is connected with the eternal laws, because in some way it attains that lumen according to the supreme edge of the agent intellect and the higher portion of reason; yet it is undoubtedly true, according to what the Philosopher says⁴, that cognition is generated in us by way of sense, memory and experience, from which is gathered the universal in us, which is the principle of art and of science. Whence, because Plato⁵ turned the whole of certitudinal cognition to the intelligible or ideal world, therefore he was deservedly reproved by Aristotle; not because he said ill that there are ideas and eternal grounds, since Augustine praises him in this⁶; but because, despising the sensible world, he wished to reduce the whole certitude of cognition to those ideas; and by positing this, although he seemed to establish the way of wisdom, which proceeds according to eternal grounds, yet he destroyed the way of knowledge, which proceeds according to created grounds; which way Aristotle on the contrary established, that higher one being neglected. And therefore it seems that among the philosophers the word of wisdom was given to Plato, but to Aristotle the word of knowledge. For the one looked principally to the things above, but the other principally to the things below.

19. But both words, namely of wisdom and of knowledge, were given through the Holy Spirit to Augustine, as to the chief expositor of the whole of Scripture, sufficiently excellently, as appears from his writings. — But in a more excellent way they were in Paul and in Moses, in the one as in a minister of the law of the figure, in the other as in a minister of the law of grace. For of Moses it is said in Acts, chapter seven⁷, that he was instructed in all the wisdom of the Egyptians; and again, on the mountain it was said to him⁸: Look and make it according to the pattern that was shewn thee in the mount. — But of Paul, as he himself says, that although among the simple he showed himself to know nothing but Jesus Christ, and him crucified; yet he spoke wisdom among the perfect, as is said in the first to the Corinthians, chapter two⁹. And this wisdom he himself learned when he was caught up even to the third heaven, in the second to the Corinthians, chapter twelve¹⁰. — But most excellently of all they were in our Lord Jesus Christ, who was the principal lawgiver and at once perfect wayfarer and comprehensor; and therefore he alone is the principal teacher and doctor.

20. He therefore, as the principal teacher, is principally to be honoured, heard, questioned. — For principally he is to be honoured, that the dignity of the teaching office be attributed to him, Matthew, chapter twenty-three¹¹: Be not you called Rabbi; for one is your teacher, and all you are brethren. And he wills to reserve to himself the dignity of the teaching office, according to that of John, chapter thirteen¹²: You call me teacher and Lord; and you say well, for so I am. — But he is to be honoured not only vocally in speech, but also really in imitation; on which account he subjoins: If I then have washed your feet, etc.; because, as is said in Luke, chapter fourteen¹³, he that cometh not after me cannot be my disciple.

21. He is also principally to be heard through the humility of faith, according to that of Isaias, chapter fifty¹⁴: The Lord hath given me a learned tongue, that I should know how to uphold by word him that is weary: he wakeneth in the morning, in the morning he wakeneth my ear, that I may hear him as a teacher. Twice he says he wakeneth, because it does not suffice that our ear be awakened unto understanding, unless it be also awakened unto obeying. On which account it is said in Matthew, chapter thirteen¹⁵: He that hath ears to hear, let him hear. For Christ teaches us not only by word, but also by example; and therefore he is not a perfect hearer

who does not accommodate his understanding to the words and his obedience to the deeds; on which account in Luke, chapter six¹: Every one shall be perfect, if he be as his teacher.

22. He is also principally to be questioned through the desire of learning, not as the curious and the unbelieving, who question by tempting, Matthew, chapter twelve²: Certain of the Scribes answered, saying: Teacher, we would see a sign from thee. They had seen signs and were seeing them, and yet they were still seeking a sign, that by this it might be shown that human curiosity has no term and does not deserve to be led through to the true³. Whence the answer was given them that a sign shall not be given them but the sign of Jonas the prophet. — Not in this way is Jesus to be questioned, but studiously, as Nicodemus questioned him, of whom in John, chapter three⁴, it is said that he came to Jesus by night and said to him: Rabbi, we know that thou art come a teacher from God, etc.; and it is subjoined there that Jesus opened to him the mysteries of faith, for this reason, that he was not seeking signs of power, but proofs of truth.

23. But this teacher is to be questioned concerning those things which pertain to knowledge, to discipline and to goodness, according to that of the Psalm⁵: Teach me goodness and discipline and knowledge. For knowledge consists in the knowing of the true, discipline in the guarding against evil, goodness in the choosing of the good. The first regards truth, the second regards holiness, the third regards charity. — He is to be questioned therefore concerning those things which pertain to the truth of knowledge, not from a zeal for tempting, as the disciples of the Pharisees were tempting him, Matthew, chapter twenty-two⁶: Teacher, we know that thou art a true speaker, etc. And because they were seeking with a bad intention, therefore the answer was given them: Why do you tempt me, ye hypocrites? But because it was a good question, therefore he gave a true answer: Render therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar's; and to God the things that are God's. — He is to be questioned, secondly, concerning those things which pertain to the holiness of discipline, as that young man was questioning him, Mark, chapter ten⁷: Good teacher, what shall I do that I may possess life everlasting? And the answer was given him that he should keep the commandments, and if he wished to be perfect, he should keep the counsels, in which consists the perfect discipline of morals, in the guarding against those things which incite us to sinning. — He is to be questioned also concerning those things which pertain to the charity of benevolence, after the example of the doctor of the Law, Matthew, chapter twenty-two⁸: Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law? He said to him: Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with thy whole heart, and with thy whole mind, etc., where he shows that the fulness of the Law is love⁹.

24. These therefore are the three things which are to be asked of Christ as of a teacher, and to which the whole law of Christ is ordered; and therefore all ministerial doctrine of a doctor ought to be ordered to these three, that under that highest teacher he may worthily discharge the duty of the teaching office. — For the ministerial teacher ought to aim at the knowledge of the truth of faith, according to that of the first to Timothy, chapter two¹⁰: I say the truth, I lie not, a doctor of the Gentiles in faith and truth. On which account in the second of Peter, chapter one¹¹: For we have not by following artificial fables made known to you the power and presence of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were made beholders of his greatness.

25. He ought also to aim at the discipline of the holiness of the soul, according to that of the second to Timothy, chapter one¹²: I Paul am appointed a preacher and an apostle in the Gospel, for which cause I also suffer these things; because, according to what is said in Proverbs, chapter nineteen¹³, the learning of a man is known by patience. For as it does not become the foolish man to teach wisdom, so it does not become the impatient man to teach patience, nor the undisciplined man to teach discipline. For in morals examples move more than words.

26. He ought also to aim at the benevolence of the charity of God and of neighbour, Ecclesiastes, the last chapter¹⁴: The words of the wise are as goads, and as nails deeply fastened in, which by the counsel of the teachers are given from one shepherd. These words, I say, are the words of divine love, which penetrate the marrow of the heart; and these are said to be given by the counsel of the teachers from one shepherd, because, although divine love is praised and urged through the words of many, as through the proofs of the two testaments, yet it is breathed forth by one Word alone, which indeed is the pasture and the shepherd of all. And therefore all those words are from the same and tend to the same; and on this account they are said to be given pointedly by the counsel of the teachers, namely of those who feel the same. — And since all the doctors of the Christian law ought finally to tend to the bond of charity, therefore they ought to agree in their opinions. On which account in James, chapter three¹⁵: Be ye not many teachers, my brethren; which indeed he says, not by forbidding them from the gift of knowledge

or from communication, since Moses says in Numbers, chapter eleven¹: Who will grant that all the people may prophesy, and that the Lord may give them his spirit? and the first of Peter, chapter four²: As every man hath received grace, ministering the same one to another, etc.; but he says this, that they may not have various and strange opinions, but that all may say the same, as in the first to the Corinthians, chapter one³: I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all speak the same thing, and that there be no schisms among you; but that you be perfect in the same mind and in the same judgment.

27. For the dissension of opinions⁴ has its rise from presumption, according to that of Proverbs, chapter thirteen⁵: Among the proud there are always contentions; and it begets confusion, the first to Timothy, the last chapter⁶: If any man teach otherwise and consent not to the sound words of our Lord Jesus Christ and to that doctrine which is according to piety, he is proud, knowing nothing, but sick about questions and strifes of words; from which arise envies, contentions, blasphemies, evil suspicions, conflicts of men corrupted in mind and who are destitute of the truth.

28. Since therefore these are the three things which impede the perception of truth, namely the presumption of the senses and the dissension of opinions and the despair of finding the true; therefore, meeting these, Christ says: One is your teacher, Christ. He says, I say, that Christ is the teacher, that we may not presume upon our own knowledge; he says that he is one, that we may not dissent in judgment; he says that he is yours, ready to assist us, that we may not despair, especially since he himself both wills and knows and is able to teach us, by sending that Spirit of whom he himself says in John, chapter sixteen⁷: When he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will teach you all truth. Which may he grant to us, etc. — Exᴘʟɪᴄɪᴛ.