Bonaventure

Secundo ostenditur, quomodo inde nascatur voluptas.

Nemo est, qui semper vivat. Iam monstravit, quomodo ex indistinctione nascitur securitatis vanitas; hic secundo monstrat, quomodo ex securitate nascitur voluptas; et hoc quidem facit hoc ordine. Primo notatur mortis certitudo; secundo, per mortem status peioratio; tertio, voluptatis commendatio; quarto, commendationis confirmatio.

(Vers. 4.). Primo igitur notatur mortis certitudo per hoc, quod nullus evadit eius iudicium. Propterea dicit: Nemo est, qui semper vivat; propterea in Psalmo⁸: « Quis est homo, qui vivet et non videbit mortem »? Et in hanc damnationem cecidit Adam cum sua posteritate, cum dictum est ei Genesis tertio: « Pulvis es, et in pulverem reverteris ». Et qui huius rei habeat fiduciam, supple: nemo est; huius rei, scilicet spem de semper vivendo; Iob septimo: « Dies mei velocius transierunt, quam a texente tela succiditur, et consumti sunt sine ulla spe, quia ventus est vita mea, et non revertetur » etc.

Melior est canis vivus etc. Hic secundo ostenditur, quod per mortem est status deterioratio; et hoc proponit sub metaphora: Melior est canis vivus leone mortuo. Licet leo excedat canem, tamen mors reddit inferiorem, quia canis vivus aliquid potest, leo mortuus nihil potest, et tamen vivens potentior est cane; Proverbiorum trigesimo⁹: « Leo, fortissimus animalium, ad nullius pavebit occursum ». Sic metaphorice vult dicere, quod quilibet vivens, quantumcumque vilis, melior est mortuo, quantumcumque bono.

(Vers. 5. 6.). Et probat primo quoad actum cognitionis. Viventes enim sciunt, se esse morituros; saltem de hoc certi sunt; secundi Regum decimo p. 74 quarto¹: « Omnes morimur, et quasi aquae, quae dilabuntur in terram, quae non revertuntur ». Vel: morituros, id est necessitati mortis deditos; ad Romanos octavo: « Corpus mortuum est propter peccatum ». Mortui enim nihil noverunt amplius, quia cognitio supponit vitam; et ita praecellunt in actu cognitionis viventes mortuos; non enim habent nec motum nec sensum. Quoad actum recordationis dicit: Nec habent ultra mercedem, scilicet famae in memoria aliorum; quia oblivioni tradita est memoria eorum; supra secundo²: « Non erit memoria sapientis, sicut nec stulti, in perpetuum et futura tempora » etc. Vel: quia eorum memoria non habet actum recordationis; Iob septimo: « Qui descendet ad inferos non ascendet nec revertetur ultra ad domum suam, nec cognoscet eum amplius locus eius ». — Quoad actum affectionis dicit: Amor quoque et odium et invidiae simul perierunt, quia non afficiuntur, ut prius in vita. Quoad actum exterioris operationis dicit: Nec habent partem in hoc saeculo, et exponit quantum ad quid: et in opere, quod sub sole geritur, quia non possunt operari, iuxta illud Ioannis nono³: « Venit nox, quando nemo potest operari ».

(Vers. 7. 8. 9.). Vade ergo et comede etc. Tangitur hic tertium, scilicet praesentis delectationis commendatio, ad quam amplectendam exhortatur primo secundum gustum; unde dicit: Vade ergo et comede cum laetitia panem⁴; per panem intelligitur omne, quod pertinet ad cibum. Et bibe cum gaudio vinum tuum; per vinum, omne, quod spectat ad potum. Quia Deo placent opera tua; quasi dicat: non es certus, utrum displiceant; ideo praesume, quod placeant, et ideo secure comede et bibe, secundum illud Isaiae vigesimo secundo⁵: « Ecce, gaudium et laetitia comedere carnes et bibere vinum; comedamus et bibamus, cras enim moriemur ». — Deinde secundum visum dicit: Omni tempore sint vestimenta tua candida, ut homo decorus appareas in vestitu; et oleum de capite tuo non deficiat, ut decorus appareas in aspectu. Hoc modo ornant se qui placere volunt in conspectu hominum. Exemplum de Iudith, quae cum vellet placere oculis Holofernis, ornavit se, secundum quod dicitur Iudith decimo⁶; sed ipsa faciebat pro bono, quia alias est reprehensibile; Ecclesiastici undecimo: « In vestitu ne glorieris unquam ». — Deinde secundum tactum dicit: Perfruere vita cum uxore, quam diligis. Haec perfruitio describitur in Proverbiorum septimo⁷: « Veni, inebriemur uberibus et perfruamur cupitis amplexibus, donec illucescat dies ». Et hoc non tantum semel, sed cunctis diebus vitae instabilitatis tuae, qui dati sunt tibi sub sole. Vere vita nostra est instabilis, secundum illud Iob decimo quarto: « Nunquam in eodem statu permanet ». Et ad maiorem expressionem dicit: Omni tempore vanitatis tuae. Vita nostra tempus est vanitatis; unde in Psalmo: « Homo vanitati similis factus est; dies eius sicut umbra praetereunt ».

(Vers. 9. 10.). Haec est enim pars etc. Hic tangitur quartum, scilicet commendationis confirmatio, et est confirmatio in hoc, quod homo nullam aliam exspectat mercedem nec alium habet fructum, ideo debet accipere quod potest; ideo dicit: Haec est enim pars in vita tua et in labore, quo laboras sub sole, scilicet praesentialiter delectari; Sapientiae secundo⁸: « Ubique relinquamus signa laetitiae nostrae, quoniam haec est pars nostra, et haec est sors ». — Et quia nulla alia est exspectanda, debet homo de hac accipere, quantum potest; ideo dicit: Quodcumque potest manus tua, instanter operare, id est, dum tempus habes, non exspectes futurum; et ideo subditur: Quia nec opus, in agendis; nec ratio, in deliberandis; nec scientia, in cognoscendis; nec sapientia, in diligendis, erunt apud inferos, quo tu properas; ibi non sunt haec, quia, sicut dicitur Iob decimo⁹, « terra illa est tenebrosa et operta mortis caligine, ubi nullus ordo, sed sempiternus horror inhabitat ». Illuc properant peccatores, et omnes ante adventum Christi quantum ad limbum; Iob decimo septimo: « In profundissimum infernum descendent omnia mea ». Illuc properant peccatores, per dies et dies appropinquantes; Deuteronomii trigesimo secundo: « Iuxta est dies perditionis ».

Potest autem istud exponi spiritualiter, ut primo hortetur ad iucunditatem contemplationis; secundo vero, ad instantiam actionis. Viris autem contemplativis necessaria est meditatio sacrae Scripturae, puritas conscientiae, amplexus devotionis internae. — Quantum ad meditationem sacrae Scripturae dicit: Comede panem et bibe vinum: panem quantum ad difficilia, et vinum quantum ad facilia; Proverbiorum nono¹⁰ dicit Sapientia: « Venite, comedite panem meum et bibite vinum, quod p. 75 miscui vobis ». — Quantum ad puritatem conscientiae dicit: Omni tempore vestimenta tua sint candida, id est conscientia munda; Apocalypsis tertio¹: « Non inquinaverunt vestimenta sua; ambulabunt mecum in albis ». Quocontra dicitur Isaiae nono: « Vestimentum mixtum sanguine erit in combustionem et cibus ignis ». Et quia ad munditiam conscientiae sequitur interna laetitia, ideo dicit: Et oleum de capite tuo non deficiat; unde in Psalmo²: « Ut exhilaret faciem in oleo »; Matthaei sexto: « Tu autem, cum ieiunas, unge caput tuum » etc. — Quantum ad amplexus devotionis internae dicit: Perfruere vita cum uxore, quam diligis. Haec uxor est religio, in qua vacandum est contemplationi; Proverbiorum quinto³: « Laetare cum muliere adolescentiae tuae, cerva carissima » etc. Haec uxor dilecta figurata est per Rachel, pro qua « servivit Iacob septem annis », Genesis vigesimo nono.

Deinde quantum ad activos dicit: Quodcumque potest manus tua, instanter operare. Instanter operari est operari celeriter, contra negligentiam; Ecclesiastici trigesimo primo⁴: « In omnibus operibus tuis esto velox, et omnis infirmitas non occurret tibi »; ferventer, Proverbiorum decimo octavo: « Qui mollis est et dissolutus in opere suo frater est sua opera dissipantis »; continue, ut non tepescat; Ecclesiastici vigesimo septimo: « Si non in timore Domini te tenueris instanter, cito subvertetur domus tua »; perseveranter; secundae ad Timotheum secundo: « Qui certat in agone non coronabitur, nisi legitime certaverit », id est perseveranter. Et subiungitur ratio, quare oportet instanter bene operari in praesenti: quia breve est tempus meriti; unde: Apud inferos non est opus, ad se exercendum ad pietatem; Ioannis nono⁵: « Me oportet operari, donec dies est ». Et ideo dicitur ad Galatas ultimo: « Operemur bonum, dum tempus habemus, ad omnes, maxime autem ad domesticos fidei ». Non est ratio, ad inquirendum et discernendum, quid bonum, quid malum; Iob duodecimo⁶: « Palpabunt quasi in tenebris et non in lumine, et errare eos faciet quasi ebrios »; Isaiae decimo nono: « Et Dominus miscuit in medio eius spiritum vertiginis ». Non est sapientia et scientia: scientia, scilicet ad contemplandum Deum in operibus suis, nec sapientia, ad contemplandum in se; de his Isaiae trigesimo tertio: « Divitiae salutis sapientia et scientia, timor Domini ipse est thesaurus ».

Quaestiones.

I. Potest quaeri de hoc quod dicit: Mortui nihil noverunt amplius.

Videtur esse falsum: quia anima separata a corpore est liberior; sed substantia quanto liberior a corpore, tanto magis idonea cognitioni: ergo mortui sunt magis apti ad cognoscendum: aut igitur anima perit, aut cognoscit⁷.

II. Item de hoc est dubitatio, quod non habent ultra mercedem. — Hoc est haereticum manifeste, quia hoc tollit divinam iustitiam.

III. Item de hoc quod dicit, quod amor et odium simul perierunt. — Contra: Mala voluntas semper remanet: ergo si mala voluntas est per amorem et odium⁸: ergo etc.

IV. Item de illa exhortatione: Vade ergo et comede panem tuum et bibe vinum etc.

Si velimus ad haec respondere, quod illud dicitur in persona Epicuri, tunc patet responsio; sed si volumus sustinere, quod in persona sua; dicendum, quod cum dicit, quod mortui non noverunt, intelligitur quantum ad ea quae sunt in hoc mundo; quia haec mundana non noverunt, nec sunt in memoria mundanorum nec habent affectionem ad mundana. Et hoc patet per litteram, quia dicit: Nec habent partem in hoc saeculo⁹.

Quod obiicitur de illa exhortatione, dico, quod illa exhortatio non est absolute dicta, sed conclusio ex praedicta vanitate illata. Unde dicit: Vade ergo, hoc est dicere: si homo non potest distinguere, utrum in praesenti debeat Deo placere et in futuro praemiari; si hoc, inquam, scire non potest, nec potest semper vivere: ergo secure potest gaudere. Sed illud non tenet, nisi hoc supposito, quod Dominus non remuneret aliter in futuro quam in praesenti; quae est praedicta vanitas, quam destruet infra undecimo¹⁰.

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Secondly it is shown how pleasure is born from it.

There is no man that always liveth. He has already shown how the vanity of security is born from indistinction; here, secondly, he shows how pleasure is born from security; and this indeed he does in this order. First is noted the certainty of death; second, through death, the worsening of state; third, the commendation of pleasure; fourth, the confirmation of the commendation.

(Vers. 4.). First, then, the certainty of death is noted through this, that no one escapes its judgement. Therefore he says: There is no man that always liveth; therefore in the Psalm⁸: « Who is the man that shall live, and not see death »? And into this condemnation Adam fell with his posterity, when it was said to him, Genesis, the third: « Dust thou art, and into dust thou shalt return ». And who hath confidence in this thing, supply: there is no man; in this thing, that is, hope of always living; Job, the seventh: « My days have passed more swiftly than the web is cut by the weaver, and are consumed without any hope, because my life is wind, and it shall not return » etc.

A living dog is better etc. Here, secondly, it is shown that through death there is the deterioration of state; and this he proposes under a metaphor: A living dog is better than a dead lion. Although the lion exceeds the dog, yet death renders it inferior, because the living dog can do something, the dead lion can do nothing, and yet the living one is more powerful than the dog; Proverbs, the thirtieth⁹: « A lion, the strongest of animals, shall fear the meeting of none ». So he means to say by metaphor that any living man, however vile, is better than a dead one, however good.

(Vers. 5. 6.). And he proves it first as regards the act of cognition. For the living know that they shall die; at least of this they are certain; the second of Kings, the p. 74 fourteenth¹: « We all die, and like waters that glide away into the earth, which return not ». Or: that they shall die, that is, given over to the necessity of death; to the Romans, the eighth: « The body is dead because of sin ». For the dead know nothing more, because cognition presupposes life; and so the living excel the dead in the act of cognition; for they have neither motion nor sense. As regards the act of recollection he says: Neither have they a reward any more, namely of fame in the memory of others; for the memory of them is delivered to oblivion; above, the second²: « There shall be no remembrance of the wise, as neither of the fool, for ever, and the times to come » etc. Or: because their memory has no act of recollection; Job, the seventh: « He that goeth down to hell shall not come up, nor shall he return any more into his house, neither shall his place know him any more ». — As regards the act of affection he says: Their love also, and their hatred, and their envies are perished together, because they are not affected as before in life. As regards the act of outward operation he says: Neither have they any part in this world, and he explains as regards what: and in the work that is done under the sun, because they cannot work, according to that of John, the ninth³: « The night cometh, when no man can work ».

(Vers. 7. 8. 9.). Go then, and eat etc. Here the third is touched upon, namely the commendation of present delight, to embrace which he exhorts first according to taste; whence he says: Go then, and eat thy bread with joy⁴; by bread is understood everything that pertains to food. And drink thy wine with gladness; by wine, everything that regards drink. Because thy works please God; as if to say: thou art not certain whether they displease; therefore presume that they please, and therefore eat and drink securely, according to that of Isaias, the twenty-second⁵: « Behold, joy and gladness, to eat flesh and to drink wine; let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we shall die ». — Then according to sight he says: At all times let thy garments be white, that thou mayest appear comely in thy clothing; and let not oil depart from thy head, that thou mayest appear comely in thy countenance. In this way those adorn themselves who wish to please in the sight of men. An example of Judith, who, when she wished to please the eyes of Holofernes, adorned herself, according to what is said in Judith, the tenth⁶; but she did it for good, because otherwise it is reprehensible; Ecclesiasticus, the eleventh: « Glory not in apparel at any time ». — Then according to touch he says: Enjoy life to the full with the wife whom thou lovest. This full enjoyment is described in Proverbs, the seventh⁷: « Come, let us be inebriated with the breasts, and let us enjoy to the full the desired embraces, till the day appear ». And this not only once, but all the days of the life of thy unsteadiness, which are given to thee under the sun. Truly our life is unsteady, according to that of Job, the fourteenth: « It never continueth in the same state ». And for greater expression he says: All the time of thy vanity. Our life is a time of vanity; whence in the Psalm: « Man is like to vanity; his days pass away like a shadow ».

(Vers. 9. 10.). For this is thy portion etc. Here the fourth is touched upon, namely the confirmation of the commendation, and the confirmation is in this, that man awaits no other reward nor has any other fruit, therefore he ought to take what he can; therefore he says: For this is thy portion in life, and in thy labour wherewith thou labourest under the sun, namely to take delight in the present; Wisdom, the second⁸: « Let us everywhere leave tokens of our joy, for this is our portion, and this is our lot ». — And since no other is to be awaited, a man ought to take of this as much as he can; therefore he says: Whatsoever thy hand is able to do, do it earnestly, that is, while thou hast time, do not wait for the future; and therefore there is added: For neither work, in things to be done; nor reason, in things to be deliberated; nor knowledge, in things to be known; nor wisdom, in things to be loved, shall be in hell, whither thou art hastening; these are not there, because, as is said in Job, the tenth⁹, « that land is dark and covered with the mist of death, where no order, but everlasting horror dwelleth ». Thither sinners are hastening, and all before the coming of Christ, as regards limbo; Job, the seventeenth: « All that is mine shall go down into the deepest hell ». Thither sinners are hastening, drawing near day by day; Deuteronomy, the thirty-second: « The day of destruction is at hand ».

But this can be expounded spiritually, so that he exhorts first to the joyfulness of contemplation; and second, to the earnestness of action. Now for contemplative men there are necessary the meditation of sacred Scripture, the purity of conscience, the embrace of inward devotion. — As regards the meditation of sacred Scripture he says: Eat bread and drink wine: bread as regards difficult things, and wine as regards easy things; in Proverbs, the ninth¹⁰, Wisdom says: « Come, eat my bread, and drink the wine which p. 75 I have mingled for you ». — As regards the purity of conscience he says: At all times let thy garments be white, that is, a clean conscience; Apocalypse, the third¹: « They have not defiled their garments; they shall walk with me in white ». Against which it is said in Isaias, the ninth: « The garment mingled with blood shall be for burning and food for fire ». And since inward gladness follows upon the cleanness of conscience, therefore he says: And let not oil depart from thy head; whence in the Psalm²: « That he may make the face cheerful with oil »; Matthew, the sixth: « But thou, when thou fastest, anoint thy head » etc. — As regards the embraces of inward devotion he says: Enjoy life to the full with the wife whom thou lovest. This wife is religion, in which one must be free for contemplation^tr.; Proverbs, the fifth³: « Rejoice with the wife of thy youth, dearest hind » etc. This beloved wife is figured by Rachel, for whom « Jacob served seven years », Genesis, the twenty-ninth.

Then as regards the active he says: Whatsoever thy hand is able to do, do it earnestly. To work earnestly is to work swiftly, against negligence; Ecclesiasticus, the thirty-first⁴: « In all thy works be quick, and no infirmity shall come to thee »; fervently, Proverbs, the eighteenth: « He that is soft and slack in his work is brother to him that wasteth his own works »; continually, so that he grow not lukewarm; Ecclesiasticus, the twenty-seventh: « If thou hold not thyself earnestly in the fear of the Lord, thy house shall quickly be overthrown »; perseveringly; the second to Timothy, the second: « He that striveth in the contest shall not be crowned, unless he strive lawfully », that is, perseveringly. And the reason is added why one must work well earnestly in the present: because the time of merit is short; whence: In hell there is no work, for exercising oneself unto piety; John, the ninth⁵: « I must work, whilst it is day ». And therefore it is said to the Galatians, the last: « Let us work good, whilst we have time, to all, but especially to those of the household of the faith ». There is no reason, for inquiring and discerning what is good, what is evil; Job, the twelfth⁶: « They shall grope as in the dark, and not in the lumen^tr., and he shall make them stagger as men that are drunk »; Isaias, the nineteenth: « And the Lord hath mingled in the midst thereof the spirit of giddiness ». There is not wisdom and knowledge: knowledge, namely for contemplating God in his works, nor wisdom, for contemplating him in himself; of these, Isaias, the thirty-third: « The riches of salvation are wisdom and knowledge; the fear of the Lord is the treasure itself ».

Questions.

I. It can be asked about what he says: The dead know nothing more.

It seems to be false: because the soul separated from the body is freer; but a substance, the freer it is from the body, the more fit it is for cognition: then the dead are more apt for knowing: either, therefore, the soul perishes, or it knows⁷.

II. Likewise there is doubt about this, that they have no reward any more. — This is manifestly heretical, because it takes away the divine justice.

III. Likewise about what he says, that love and hatred are perished together. — On the contrary: An evil will always remains: then if an evil will is through love and hatred⁸: then etc.

IV. Likewise about that exhortation: Go then, and eat thy bread, and drink wine etc.

If we wish to respond to these that this is said in the person of Epicurus, then the response is plain; but if we wish to maintain that it is said in his own person, it must be said that when he says that the dead do not know, it is understood as regards the things that are in this world; because they do not know these worldly things, nor are they in the memory of the worldly, nor have they affection toward worldly things. And this is plain from the letter, because it says: Neither have they any part in this world⁹.

As to what is objected about that exhortation, I say that that exhortation is not said absolutely, but is a conclusion inferred from the vanity spoken of before. Whence he says: Go then, that is to say: if a man cannot distinguish whether in the present he ought to please God and in the future be rewarded; if, I say, he cannot know this, nor can he always live: then he can rejoice securely. But that does not hold, except on this supposition, that the Lord does not reward otherwise in the future than in the present; which is the vanity spoken of before, which he will destroy below in the eleventh¹⁰.

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