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.

PROOEMIUM

IN SECUNDUM LIBRUM SENTENTIARUM.

Solummodo hoc inveni, quod Deus fecit hominem rectum, et ipse se infinitis immiscuit quaestionibus⁴.

Sollicite consideranti praesentis libri, scilicet secundi Sententiarum principalem intentionem et totalem continentiam⁵, illud occurrit, ad quod suam inquisitionem dicit Sapiens esse perductam, Ecclesiastis septimo, in verbo proposito. Cum enim cuncta tentasset in sapientia et plus defecisset, quam profecisset; tandem hoc se invenisse fatetur, quod Deus fecerit hominem rectum etc. In quo verbo duo clauduntur, scilicet quod hominis recta formatio et rectitudo est a Deo; et hoc tangitur, cum dicitur: Deus fecit hominem rectum. Aliud est, quod hominis misera obliquatio⁶ est a se ipso; et hoc tangitur, cum dicitur: et ipse se infinitis immiscuit quaestionibus. — In his autem duobus clauditur ter-

minus totius humanae comprehensionis, ut cognoscat originem boni et cognoscendo requirat et ad illam perveniat et ibi requiescat; et ut cognoscat originem et principium mali, et illud vitet et caveat. In his etiam clauditur tota intentio tractatus libri praesentis, qui¹ circa duo versatur, scilicet circa hominis conditionem, et eius deviationem.

Hominis autem conditio tangitur, cum dicitur: Deus fecit hominem rectum. Qualiter autem illud intelligitur, quod Deus fecerit hominem rectum, explicat Ecclesiasticus, decimo septimo capitulo², ubi dicit: Deus creavit hominem de terra — hoc dicit quantum ad corpus — et secundum imaginem suam fecit illum — hoc dicit quantum ad animae naturam — et iterum convertit illum in ipsam — hoc dicit quantum ad gratiam superadditam, quae animam convertit ad Deum per virtutum habitus; et ideo subiungit: et secundum se vestivit illum virtute. In hoc verbo ostenditur, quod Deus non tantum fecit hominem possibilem ad rectitudinem, suam ei imaginem conferendo³, sed etiam fecit hominem rectum, ipsum ad se convertendo. Tunc enim homo rectus est, quando intelligentia adaequatur summae veritati in cognoscendo, voluntas conformatur summae bonitati in diligendo, et virtus continuatur summae potestati in operando. Hoc autem est, quando homo ad Deum convertitur ex se toto.

Primo igitur homo rectus est, cum intelligentia summae veritati aequatur; aequari autem dico non per omnimodam impletionem, sed per quandam imitationem. Si enim « veritas, ut dicit Anselmus⁴, est rectitudo sola mente perceptibilis », et rectitudini non potest aequari nisi rectum; cum intellectus noster aequatur veritati, necessario rectificatur. Tunc autem aequatur, quando actualiter se convertit ad veritatem. Veritas enim in actu definitur, quod « est adaequatio rei et intellectus⁵ ». Intelligentia autem nostra ad veritatem conversa verificatur, ac per hoc veritati aequatur, et dum aequatur rectitudini, rectificatur; unde « sine veritate nullus recte iudicat », ut dicitur in libro de Vera Religione⁶, et qui aspicit ad veritatem iudicat recte, secundum quod Dominus dicit Simoni, Lucae septimo: Recte iudicasti, id est recte decrevisti.

Similiter homo rectificatur, dum voluntas summae bonitati conformatur. Summa enim bonitas est summa aequitas sive iustitia; tanto enim quis melior, quanto iustior. Sed, ut dicit Anselmus⁷, « iustitia est rectitudo voluntatis »: nihil autem conformatur rectitudini nisi rectum. Dum ergo voluntas bonitati summae et aequitati conformatur, necessario rectificatur. Tunc autem conformatur, cum ad ipsam convertitur diligendo. Unde Hugo⁸: « Scio, anima mea, quod, dum aliquid diligis, in eius similitudinem transformaris ». Qui enim diligit bonitatem rectus est. Et hoc est quod dicitur Canticorum primo⁹: Recti diligunt te; recti enim ad tuam bonitatem sunt conversi, et tua bonitas ad eos inclinatur. Unde anima experta clamat et dicit: Quam bonus Israel Deus his qui recto sunt corde¹⁰. Et quia soli recti experiuntur, ideo rectos decet collaudatio.

Nihilominus homo rectificatur, dum virtus summae potestati continuatur. « Rectum enim est cuius medium non exit ab extremis¹¹ ». Extrema sunt primum et ultimum, alpha et omega, principium et finis. Medium inter haec est operatio, per quam efficiens pervenit in finem. Illa ergo virtus recta est, cuius operatio est a principio primo et ad finem ultimum. Quoniam ergo divina virtus omnia operatur¹² et propter Deum, hinc est, quod rectissima est in operando. Nihil autem continuatur recto nisi rectum; cum ergo virtus nostra summae potestati continuatur, absque dubio rectificatur: et ex hoc homo non solum rectus, sed etiam rector et rex efficitur, Deuteronomii penultimo¹³: Et erit apud rectissimum rex congregatis principibus populi cum tribubus Israel. Hoc erit in gloria, quando virtus nostra continuabitur divinae virtuti; tunc erimus omnipotentes voluntatis nostrae, sicut et Deus suae, et ideo omnes reges; et ideo omnibus promittitur regnum caelorum.

Fecit igitur Deus hominem rectum, dum ipsum fecit ad se conversum¹. In conversione enim hominis ad Deum non tantum rectificabatur ad id quod sursum, sed etiam ad id quod deorsum. Homo enim in medio constitutus, dum factus est ad Deum conversus et subiectus, cetera sunt ei subiecta, ita quod Deus omnem veritatem creatam subiecerat eius intellectui ad diiudicandum, omnem bonitatem eius affectui ad utendum, omnem virtutem eius potestati ad gubernandum.

Ex hoc namque, quod intelligentia conversa est ad divinam veritatem, vindicat sapientiam, per quam omnia diiudicat, secundum quod dicitur Sapientiae septimo²: Ipsa dedit mihi omnium quae sunt scientiam, ut sciam dispositionem orbis terrarum et virtutes elementorum: initium, et consummationem, et medietatem temporum, vicissitudinum permutationes et commutationes temporum, anni cursus et stellarum dispositiones, naturas animalium et iras bestiarum, vim ventorum et cogitationes hominum, differentias virgultorum, et virtutes radicum, et quaecumque sunt absconsa et improvisa. Unde et Adam omnibus nomina imposuit³.

Subiecit nihilominus voluntati omnia ad utendum, ut possit omnia in usum et utilitatem suam convertere. Unde in Psalmo⁴: Omnia subiecisti sub pedibus eius. Unde Apostolus ad Deum conversis, primae ad Corinthios tertio: Omnia vestra sunt.

Subiecit etiam virtuti omnia ad gubernandum, Genesis primo⁵: Subiicite eam, et dominamini piscibus maris et volatilibus caeli.

Ista autem recta hominis conditio quantum ad superius et inferius simul tangitur in illo verbo: Faciamus hominem ad imaginem et similitudinem nostram, et praesit⁶ etc. — Fecit igitur Deus hominem rectum, dum ad se convertendo sibi eum assimilavit, et per hoc omnibus praeposuit; et sic patet recta hominis⁷ conditio.

Et sequitur miserabilis deviatio in hoc quod subiicitur: Et ipse se infinitis immiscuit quaestionibus. In quo potest notari et modus labendi, et status, in quem cecidit. Modus labendi in his tribus, quae dicit secundum tria, quae in peccato considerantur, et tria, quae in hoc verbo proponuntur. In peccato namque est aversio, est conversio, est bonorum amissio sive exspoliatio. Conversio intelligitur per immixtionem, aversio per finis privationem, sed exspoliatio per quaestionem. Nam conversio facit impurum⁸, aversio infirmum, exspoliatio mendicum: et hoc totum tangitur, cum dicitur: Immiscuit se infinitis quaestionibus.

Potest etiam notari status, in quem cecidit⁹. Sic enim cecidit a rectitudine, ut perderet ipsam rectitudinem, non rectitudinis aptitudinem, perderet habitum, non appetitum: quia sic amisit similitudinem, ut tamen pertranseat in imagine¹⁰. Quoniam igitur remansit appetitus sine habitu, ideo factus est homo quaerendo sollicitus. Et quia nihil creatum recompensare potest bonum amissum, cum sit infinitum, ideo appetit, quaerit et nunquam quiescit; et ideo declinando a rectitudine infinitis quaestionibus se immiscuit.

Unde intelligentia, avertendo se a summa veritate ignara effecta, infinitis quaestionibus se immiscuit per curiositatem, Ecclesiastis octavo¹¹: Est homo, qui diebus et noctibus somnum non capit oculis, et intellexi, quod omnium operum Dei nullam possit homo invenire rationem, supple, quae finiat appetitum sive inquisitionem; immo generat aliam quaestionem, et parit novam contentionem, et immiscet inextricabilem dubitationem. Propter quod Proverbiorum vigesimo¹²: Honor est homini, qui separat se a contentionibus; omnes autem stulti miscentur contumeliis. Tales sunt miseri homines, qui intendunt fabulis et genealogiis interminatis etc., secundum quod dicitur primae ad Timotheum primo¹³. Tales miscent se contumeliis, quia, sicut dicitur secundae ad Timotheum tertio, semper sunt discentes, et nunquam ad scientiam veritatis pervenientes.

Voluntas, discordando a summa bonitate egena effecta, immiscuit se infinitis quaestionibus per concupiscentiam et cupiditatem; quia, sicut dicitur Proverbiorum trigesimo¹⁴, ignis nunquam dicit:

sufficit. Unde et avarus non implebitur pecunia, sicut dicitur Ecclesiastis quinto¹. Ideo semper quaerit et mendicat. Similiter concupiscentia nunquam satiatur, immo infinitis voluptatum quaestionibus implicatur, Sapientiae decimo quarto²: Omnia commixta sunt, sanguis, homicidium, furtum, fictio, corruptio, infidelitas, turbatio, periurium, tumultus, bonorum Domini immemoratio, animarum inquinatio, nativitatis immutatio, nuptiarum inconstantia, inordinatio moechiae et impudicitiae. Hae sunt quaestiones infinitae, quae commixtae sunt, quibus immiscuit se homo, dum voluntatem deformavit a summa bonitate.

Virtus autem, discontinuando se a summa potestate facta infirma, immiscuit se infinitis quaestionibus per instabilitatem, unde semper quaerit quietem et non invenit. Unde Isaiae decimo nono³: Dominus immiscuit in medio Aegypti spiritum vertiginis. Iste est spiritus instabilitatis, pro eo quod nihil potest stabilire. Unde homo peccator est sicut pulvis, quem proiicit ventus a facie terrae⁴. Unde in Psalmo: Avertente te faciem, turbabuntur, auferes spiritum etc., et ideo erit tanquam pulvis, quem proiicit ventus a facie terrae. Sicut igitur pulvis non potest quiescere, quamdiu est ventus vertiginis, sic nec nostra virtus stabilis permanere; et ideo infinita loca quaerit et mutat, et mendicat suffragia⁵.

Immiscuit igitur se homo infinitis quaestionibus per curiositatem, dum cecidit a veritate in ignorantiam; per cupiditatem, dum cecidit a bonitate in malitiam; per instabilitatem, dum cecidit a potestate in impotentiam. Sic igitur in verbo proposito notatur hominis conditio et eius deviatio; et hoc solum invenio determinatum in hoc libro. Unde liber iste secundus⁶ etc.^nota

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PROEMIUM

TO THE SECOND BOOK OF THE SENTENCES.

Only this I have found, that God made man right, and he hath entangled himself with an infinity of questions⁴.

To one who carefully considers the principal intention and the whole content of the present book, namely of the second book of the Sentences⁵, there occurs that to which the Wise Man says his inquiry was brought, in Ecclesiastes the seventh chapter, in the word set before us. For when he had tried all things in wisdom and had failed more than he had gained, at last he confesses that he found this: that God made man right, and so on. In which word two things are enclosed, namely that man's right formation and rectitude is from God; and this is touched on when it is said: God made man right. The other is that man's wretched crookedness⁶ is from himself; and this is touched on when it is said: and he hath entangled himself with an infinity of questions. — And in these two is enclosed the ter-

minus of the whole of human comprehension: that man may know the origin of good, and knowing it may seek it and come to it and there rest; and that he may know the origin and beginning of evil, and may shun and beware of it. In these also is enclosed the whole intention of the treatise of the present book, which¹ turns upon two things, namely upon man's making, and his deviation.

Now man's making is touched on when it is said: God made man right. But in what way that is to be understood, that God made man right, Ecclesiasticus explains in the seventeenth chapter², where he says: God created man of the earth — this he says as to the body — and made him after his own image — this he says as to the nature of the soul — and turned him again into it — this he says as to superadded grace, which turns the soul to God through the habits of the virtues; and therefore he subjoins: and he clothed him with strength according to himself. In this word it is shown that God not only made man capable of rectitude, by conferring his own image upon him³, but also made man right, by turning him to himself. For then is man right, when his understanding is made equal to the highest truth in knowing, his will is conformed to the highest goodness in loving, and his power is joined continuously to the highest power in working. And this is when man is turned to God out of his whole self.

First, therefore, man is right when his understanding is made equal to the highest truth; but I say made equal not by an all-round filling out, but by a certain imitation. For if « truth, as Anselm says⁴, is a rectitude perceptible by the mind alone », and nothing can be made equal to rectitude but what is right; when our intellect is made equal to truth, it is necessarily made right. And it is then made equal, when it actually turns itself to truth. For truth in act is defined as « the adequation of the thing and the intellect⁵ ». Now our understanding, turned to truth, is made true, and through this is made equal to truth; and while it is made equal to rectitude, it is made right; whence « without truth no one judges rightly », as is said in the book On True Religion⁶, and he who looks to truth judges rightly, according to what the Lord says to Simon, in Luke the seventh: Thou hast judged rightly, that is, thou hast rightly decided.

Likewise man is made right while his will is conformed to the highest goodness. For the highest goodness is the highest equity or justice; for a man is so much the better as he is the more just. But, as Anselm says⁷, « justice is the rectitude of the will »: and nothing is conformed to rectitude but what is right. While, therefore, the will is conformed to the highest goodness and equity, it is necessarily made right. And it is then conformed, when it is turned to it by loving. Whence Hugh⁸: « I know, O my soul, that while thou lovest anything, thou art transformed into its likeness ». For he who loves goodness is right. And this is what is said in the Canticle, chapter one⁹: The righteous love thee; for the right are turned to thy goodness, and thy goodness is inclined towards them. Whence the soul that has experience cries out and says: How good is God to Israel, to them that are of a right heart¹⁰. And because only the right have experience of it, therefore praise is comely for the upright.

Nonetheless man is made right while his power is joined continuously to the highest power. For « that is right whose middle does not go out from the extremes¹¹ ». The extremes are the first and the last, alpha and omega, the beginning and the end. The middle between these is operation, through which the efficient cause arrives at the end. That power, therefore, is right whose operation is from the first beginning and unto the last end. Since, therefore, the divine power works all things¹² and for God's sake, hence it is that it is most right in working. But nothing is joined continuously to what is right save what is right; when, therefore, our power is joined continuously to the highest power, without doubt it is made right: and from this man becomes not only right, but also ruler and king, Deuteronomy, the next-to-last chapter¹³: And he shall be king with the most righteous, the princes of the people being assembled with the tribes of Israel. This will be in glory, when our power shall be joined continuously to the divine power; then we shall be omnipotent over our own will, as God is over his, and therefore all kings; and therefore to all is promised the kingdom of heaven.

God, therefore, made man right, in that he made him turned to himself¹. For in man's turning to God he was made right not only towards what is above, but also towards what is below. For man, set in the middle, when he was made turned to God and subject to him, the rest are subject to him, so that God had subjected all created truth to his intellect for adjudging, all goodness to his affection for using, all power to his power for governing.

For from this, that his understanding is turned to the divine truth, it lays claim to wisdom, through which it adjudges all things, according to what is said in Wisdom the seventh²: She gave me the knowledge of all 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, the alterations of their courses and the changes of seasons, the revolutions of the year and the dispositions of the stars, the natures of living creatures and the rage of wild beasts, the force of winds and the reasonings of men, the diversities of plants, and the virtues of roots, and all such things as are hid and not foreseen. Whence also Adam imposed names upon all things³.

He subjected likewise all things to the will for using, that he might be able to turn all things to his own use and profit. Whence in the Psalm⁴: Thou hast subjected all things under his feet. Whence the Apostle, to those turned to God, in the first to the Corinthians, chapter three: All things are yours.

He subjected also all things to his power for governing, Genesis the first⁵: Subdue it, and rule over the fishes of the sea and the fowls of the air.

Now this right making of man, as to what is above and what is below at once, is touched on in that word: Let us make man to our image and likeness, and let him have dominion⁶ and so on. — God, therefore, made man right, in that by turning him to himself he made him like to himself, and through this set him over all things; and so man's right making⁷ is clear.

And there follows the wretched deviation, in that which is subjoined: And he hath entangled himself with an infinity of questions. In which can be noted both the manner of falling and the state into which he fell. The manner of falling is in these three, which he states according to the three things which are considered in sin, and the three which are set forth in this word. For in sin there is turning away, there is turning towards, there is the loss or despoiling of goods. Turning towards is understood through the entangling, turning away through the privation of the end, but despoiling through the question. For turning towards makes a man impure⁸, turning away makes him infirm, despoiling makes him a beggar: and all this is touched on when it is said: He hath entangled himself with an infinity of questions.

There can also be noted the state into which he fell⁹. For he so fell from rectitude that he lost rectitude itself, not the aptitude for rectitude; he lost the habit, not the appetite: because he so lost the likeness that nevertheless he passeth as an image¹⁰. Since, therefore, the appetite remained without the habit, therefore man was made anxious in seeking. And because nothing created can make up for the good that was lost, since it is infinite, therefore he desires, seeks, and never rests; and therefore, in turning aside from rectitude, he hath entangled himself with an infinity of questions.

Whence the understanding, turning itself away from the highest truth and made ignorant, entangled itself with an infinity of questions through curiosity, Ecclesiastes the eighth¹¹: There is a man that day and night taketh no sleep with his eyes, and I understood that man can find no reason of all the works of God— supply: none that would put an end to the appetite or the inquiry; rather it generates another question, and brings forth a new contention, and mixes in an inextricable doubt. For which reason, in Proverbs the twentieth¹²: It is an honour for a man who separates himself from contentions; but all fools are meddling with reproaches. Such are the wretched men who give heed to fables and endless genealogies and so on, according to what is said in the first to Timothy, chapter one¹³. Such men meddle with reproaches, because, as is said in the second to Timothy, chapter three, they are ever learning, and never attaining to the knowledge of the truth.

The will, falling out with the highest goodness and made needy, entangled itself with an infinity of questions through concupiscence and cupidity; because, as is said in Proverbs the thirtieth¹⁴, the fire never saith:

It is enough. Whence also the covetous man shall not be satisfied with money, as is said in Ecclesiastes the fifth¹. Therefore he always seeks and begs. Likewise concupiscence is never sated, but rather is entangled with an infinity of questions of pleasures, Wisdom the fourteenth²: All things are mingled together, blood, murder, theft, dissimulation, corruption, unfaithfulness, tumults, perjury, disquieting of the good, forgetfulness of the Lord's benefits, defiling of souls, changing of birth, inconstancy of marriages, disorder of adultery and immodesty. These are the infinite questions which are mingled together, with which man hath entangled himself, when he deformed his will away from the highest goodness.

But his power, breaking off its continuity with the highest power and made infirm, entangled itself with an infinity of questions through instability, whence it always seeks rest and does not find it. Whence in Isaiah the nineteenth³: The Lord hath mingled in the midst of Egypt the spirit of giddiness. This is the spirit of instability, in that it can make nothing stable. Whence sinful man is like the dust which the wind driveth from the face of the earth⁴. Whence in the Psalm: When thou turnest away thy face, they shall be troubled; thou shalt take away their breath and so on, and therefore he shall be like the dust which the wind driveth from the face of the earth. As, therefore, the dust cannot rest so long as the wind of giddiness lasts, so neither can our power remain stable; and therefore it seeks and changes an infinity of places, and begs for supports⁵.

Man, therefore, entangled himself with an infinity of questions through curiosity, when he fell from truth into ignorance; through cupidity, when he fell from goodness into malice; through instability, when he fell from power into impotence. So, then, in the word set before us there is noted man's making and his deviation; and this alone do I find determined in this book. Whence this second book⁶ and so on.^nota

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