Bonaventure — Opera Omnia

Dist. 31, Art. 1, Q. 1

Book IV: On the Sacraments · Distinction 31

Textus Latinus

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Articulus I. De bonis matrimonii.

Quaestio I. Utrum matrimonium sit in genere utilis, an honesti.

Et quod sit in genere honesti, videtur.

1. Super illud primae ad Corinthios septimo¹: Non ut laqueum etc.; Glossa: « Non esse turpe demonstravit, sed quod honesto honestius est generali nomine honesti commendavit ».

2. Item, hoc videtur ratione: quia castitas, cum sit virtus, est in genere honesti; sed actus coniugalis est actus castitatis, quoniam est castitas coniugalis, sicut vidualis²: ergo etc.

3. Item, actus, qui alias esset fornicarius, fit non fornicarius per coniugium³; sed nihil tollit dehonestatem peccati nisi honestum: ergo coniugium etc.

4. Item, servare fidem coniugii hoc est opus iustitiae de se; sed talia cadunt in genere honesti, et hoc est bonum matrimonii: ergo etc.

Contra: 1. Augustinus de Bono coniugali⁴: « Quaedam bona data sunt a Deo, quae propter se appetenda sunt, ut sapientia, salus et amicitia; quaedam vero propter aliud necessaria, ut doctrina, cibus et coniugium »; sed honestum est propter se appetendum: ergo etc.

2. Item, Hieronymus in libro de Virginibus⁵: « Fornicationis periculo conceduntur nuptiae, et excusabile fit quod non propter se est appetendum, sicut viduis solum fornicationis periculo conceduntur secunda connubia ».

3. Item, ratione videtur: quia « honestum est quod sua vi nos trahit et dignitate nos allicit⁶ »; sed omne tale est ab omnibus appetendum, coniugium autem non est ab omnibus appetendum: ergo etc.

4. Item, omnis verecundia recta est de eo quod habet aliquid inhonestatis, non de honesto; sed omnis homo sanae mentis actum coniugalem erubescit: ergo etc.

Conclusio.

Matrimonium secundum aliquid sui est in genere tum honesti, tum utilis, tum delectabilis, quae tamen bona suis contrariis sunt admixta.

Respondeo: Dicendum, quod cum triplex bonum sit in coniugio, scilicet fides, proles et Sacra-

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mentum⁷; fides est, quod suam cognoscat et non aliam; hoc est bonum moris de se ordinatum et cadit in genere honesti. — Prolis vero bonum cadit in genere conferentis; confert enim prolis multiplicatio ad speciei conservationem et perfectionem numeri, sicut cibus ad conservationem individui. — Bonum vero Sacramenti cadit in genere delectabilis, quia tanta est ibi unio, ut relinquat homo patrem et matrem, et sint duo in carne una⁸; unde praecipitur viris, ut uxores diligant sicut corpora sua. Et sic patet, « quod cum tria sint in electione, sicut vult Philosophus, scilicet honestum, conferens et delectabile »; in triplici genere est bonum coniugii. Et haec tria bona pura essent in statu puritatis et innocentiae; sed per peccatum sunt suis contrariis admixta: quoniam in actu illo est quaedam inhonestas contracta ratione improbitatis libidinis et pruritus; et ideo in⁹ bono honesto quaedam permiscetur inhonestas. Est etiam quoddam damnum, quia impeditur homo ab orationis instantia; unde procreando prolem ad cultum Dei impeditur ut tunc perfecte colere Deum¹⁰: sic ergo bono conferenti permiscetur damnum. Et etiam delectabili, scilicet Sacramenti indivisioni, quaedam tribulatio et angustia, quia qui cum uxore est cogitat quae sunt mundi, quomodo placeat uxori, et divisus est, quoniam tribulationem carnis habet huiusmodi¹¹: et ita bonum delectabile permiscetur tristitiae et angustiae. — Quoniam ergo bonum est, tamen permixtum; ideo appeti potest, et etiam melius est non appeti. Unde qui iungit virginem bene facit, et qui non iungit virginem melius facit. — Concedendae igitur sunt rationes ostendentes, matrimonium secundum aliquid sui esse in genere honesti.

Ad obiecta:

1. Ad illud ergo quod obiicitur, quod est propter aliud appetendum; dicendum, quod loquitur ratione boni conferentis, quod ibi est.

2. 3. 4. Ad illud quod obiicitur de Hieronymo, et ad rationes sequentes solvendum est, quod non est pure bonum, sed aliquid habens admixtum; et quia bonum istud est medicinale, ideo bonum non fit malum propter malum, quod ibi est, immo curat et excusat malum, non ut non sit poenale — et ideo est ibi verecundia et tribulatio — sed solum, ut non sit culpabile, sicut patebit infra¹².

Scholion

I. In hoc articulo agitur praecipue de tribus bonis matrimonii, a S. Augustino assertis et deinde communiter receptis. Notandum est, quod fides hic non accipitur ut fides theologica nec proprie ut virtus, sed ut quaedam pars sive proprietas virtutis iustitiae. Item, Sacramentum hic non dicitur ipsum matrimonium, sed inseparabilitas eius; cfr. hic q. 2. ad ult.; Magister, hic c. 2; S. Thom., hic q. 1. a. 2. ad 7; Scot., hic q. unica n. 5. Porro de bono prolis vide hic dub. 1.

II. Quod in solutione quaestionis 1. dicitur, tria ista bona in lapso per peccatum esse suis contrariis admixta, a S. Thoma aliisque supponitur et adhibetur ad probandum, quod in matrimonio debeant esse aliqua « bona excusantia », per quae scilicet fiat compensatio detrimenti spiritualis, quod in matrimonio incurritur. Scoto (hic q. unica n. 2. 3.) non placet hic modus loquendi, iam a Magistro aliisque antiquis usurpatus, quia sensu proprio non possit accipi, cum matrimonium ex obiecto et fine iam habeat rationem actus honesti. Nec hoc negat S. Thom., immo dicit (hic q. 1. a. 1. ad 2.): « Ista bona, quae matrimonium honestant, sunt de ratione matrimonii; et ideo non indiget eis quasi exterioribus quibusdam ad honestandum, sed quasi causantibus in ipso honestatem, quae ei secundum se competit ». — Ceterum notum est, Manichaeos, tum antiquos tum medio aevo redivivos, negasse, matrimonium esse in genere honesti, cum esset malum in se, sicut materia; qui error pessimus in Almarico iterum damnatus est ab Innocentio III. et Concilio Laterano IV. (c. 2. Damnamus). Cfr. etiam infra a. 2. q. 1.

Quaestionem I. tractant S. Thom., Petr. a Tar. et Richard. a Med. sub titulo: « Utrum debeant haberi aliqua bona ad excusandum matrimonium ». Cfr. Scot., de hac et 2 seqq. hic q. unica. — S. Thom., hic q. 1. a. 1; Suppl. 49. a. 1. — B. Albert., hic a. 1. 2. 7. — Petr. a Tar., hic q. 1. a. 1. — Richard. a Med., hic a. 1. q. 1. — De hac et 2 seqq. qq. Durand., hic q. 1; Dionys. Carth., hic q. unica.

III. De sufficientia horum 3 bonorum omnes consentiunt. Cfr. S. Thom., locis citt. a. 2. — B. Albert., a. 4-6. 8-10. — Petr. a Tar., loc. cit. a. 2. — Richard. a Med., hic a. 1. q. 2.

IV. Circa 3. quaestionem patet, quod tria illa bona non eodem modo spectant ad hoc Sacramentum. Bonum Sacramenti sive inseparabilitas est bonum « primum et intrinsecum et forma; fides, id est fidelitas in iuste reddendo actum debitum, est bonum eius ut finis proximus, sed minus principalis; bonum prolis est eius bonum extrinsecum, ut finis ultimus, sed principalis » (Scot., loc. cit. n. 4.). — Attamen de bonis fidei et prolis loquendum est cum distinctione ab omnibus recepta, quod licet in matrimonio contracto defectus eorum non solvat vinculum, tamen in contrahendo eodem conditio apposita contra haec duo bona (sicut contra bonum Sacramenti) matrimonium reddat invalidum (Scot., loc. cit. n. 9.). De 3. quaestione S. Thom., locis cit. a. 3. — B. Albert., hic a. 3. — Petr. a Tar., hic q. 2. a. 1. 2. — Richard. a Med., hic a. 1. q. 3. et a. 2. q. 1-3.

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English Translation

Article I. On the goods of matrimony.

Question I. Whether matrimony is in the genus of the useful, or of the honorable.

And that it is in the genus of the honorable, it seems.

1. On that passage of the first [letter] to the Corinthians, chapter seven¹: Not that I may cast a snare etc.; the Gloss: "He showed it not to be base, but commended, under the general name of the honorable, that which is more honorable than the honorable."

2. Likewise, this seems [to hold] by reason: because chastity, since it is a virtue, is in the genus of the honorable; but the conjugal act is an act of chastity, since there is a conjugal chastity, just as [there is] a widow's²: therefore etc.

3. Likewise, an act which otherwise would be fornicating becomes non-fornicating through marriage³; but nothing takes away the dishonor of sin except the honorable: therefore marriage etc.

4. Likewise, to keep the faith of marriage is of itself a work of justice; but such things fall in the genus of the honorable, and this is a good of matrimony: therefore etc.

On the contrary: 1. Augustine, On the Good of Marriage⁴: "Certain goods have been given by God which are to be sought for their own sake, such as wisdom, health, and friendship; but certain others [are] necessary for the sake of something else, such as teaching, food, and marriage"; but the honorable is to be sought for its own sake: therefore etc.

2. Likewise, Jerome in the book On Virgins⁵: "By the danger of fornication marriages are conceded, and that becomes excusable which is not to be sought for its own sake, just as to widows second wedlocks are conceded only by the danger of fornication."

3. Likewise, it seems by reason: because "the honorable is that which draws us by its own force and allures us by its dignity⁶"; but everything such is to be sought by all; matrimony, however, is not to be sought by all: therefore etc.

4. Likewise, all right shame is concerning that which has something of dishonor, not concerning the honorable; but every person of sound mind blushes at the conjugal act: therefore etc.

Conclusion.

Matrimony, according to something of itself, is in the genus now of the honorable, now of the useful, now of the delightful—goods which nevertheless are mixed with their contraries.

I respond: It must be said that, since there is a threefold good in marriage, namely faith [fidelity], offspring, and Sacra-

ment⁷; faith is that one should know one's own [spouse] and not another; this is a good of conduct, ordered of itself, and it falls in the genus of the honorable. — But the good of offspring falls in the genus of the beneficial; for the multiplication of offspring is conducive to the conservation of the species and the perfection of number, just as food [is conducive] to the conservation of the individual. — But the good of the Sacrament falls in the genus of the delightful, because so great is the union there, that a man leaves father and mother, and the two are in one flesh⁸; whence it is enjoined upon husbands, that they love their wives as their own bodies. And thus it is clear, "that since there are three things in choice, as the Philosopher wills, namely the honorable, the beneficial, and the delightful"; in a threefold genus is the good of marriage. And these three goods would be pure in the state of purity and innocence; but through sin they are mixed with their contraries: since in that act there is a certain dishonor contracted by reason of the wickedness of lust and prurience; and therefore in the honorable good a certain dishonor is intermingled⁹. There is also a certain harm, because a man is impeded from persistence in prayer; whence in procreating offspring for the worship of God he is impeded from then worshipping God perfectly¹⁰: thus therefore to the beneficial good is intermingled harm. And also to the delightful [good], namely to the indivision of the Sacrament, [is intermingled] a certain tribulation and distress, because he who is with a wife thinks on the things that are of the world, how he may please his wife, and is divided, since he has tribulation of the flesh of this kind¹¹: and so the delightful good is mingled with sorrow and distress. — Since therefore it is a good, yet a mixed [one]; therefore it can be sought, and yet it is better not to be sought. Whence he who joins a virgin does well, and he who does not join a virgin does better. — The reasons showing that matrimony, according to something of itself, is in the genus of the honorable, are therefore to be conceded.

To the objections:

1. To that, then, which is objected, that it is to be sought for the sake of something else; it must be said that it speaks by reason of the beneficial good, which is there.

2. 3. 4. To that which is objected from Jerome, and to the reasons following, it must be resolved that it is not purely good, but something having an admixture; and because this good is medicinal, therefore the good does not become evil on account of the evil which is there, but rather cures and excuses the evil—not so that it should not be penal (and therefore there is there shame and tribulation)—but only so that it should not be culpable, as will be clear below¹².

Scholion

I. In this article the discussion is chiefly about the three goods of matrimony, asserted by St. Augustine and thereafter commonly received. It must be noted that faith here is not taken as theological faith, nor properly as a virtue, but as a certain part or property of the virtue of justice. Likewise, Sacrament here is not called matrimony itself, but its inseparability; cf. here q. 2, at the end; the Master, here c. 2; St. Thomas, here q. 1, a. 2, ad 7; Scotus, here sole q., n. 5. Further, concerning the good of offspring, see here dub. 1.

II. As to what is said in the solution of question 1, that these three goods, in [the nature] fallen through sin, are mixed with their contraries, this is presupposed by St. Thomas and others and applied to prove that in matrimony there must be certain "excusing goods," by which, namely, a compensation may be made for the spiritual detriment which is incurred in matrimony. To Scotus (here sole q., n. 2, 3) this manner of speaking, already employed by the Master and other ancients, is not pleasing, because it cannot be taken in a proper sense, since matrimony from its object and end already has the character of an honorable act. Nor does St. Thomas deny this, but rather says (here q. 1, a. 1, ad 2): "These goods, which make matrimony honorable, are of the very account of matrimony; and therefore it does not need them as certain external things for making it honorable, but as things causing in it the honorableness which belongs to it in itself." — For the rest, it is known that the Manichaeans, both the ancient ones and those revived in the Middle Ages, denied that matrimony is in the genus of the honorable, since it was evil in itself, like matter; which most wicked error was again condemned in Amalric by Innocent III and the Fourth Lateran Council (c. 2, Damnamus). Cf. also below, a. 2, q. 1.

Question 1 is treated by St. Thomas, Peter of Tarentaise, and Richard of Middleton under the title: "Whether there ought to be some goods for excusing matrimony." Cf. Scotus, on this and the 2 following, here sole q. — St. Thomas, here q. 1, a. 1; Supplement 49, a. 1. — Bl. Albert, here a. 1, 2, 7. — Peter of Tarentaise, here q. 1, a. 1. — Richard of Middleton, here a. 1, q. 1. — On this and the 2 following questions, Durandus, here q. 1; Denis the Carthusian, here sole q.

III. Concerning the sufficiency of these 3 goods all agree. Cf. St. Thomas, in the places cited, a. 2. — Bl. Albert, a. 4–6, 8–10. — Peter of Tarentaise, in the place cited, a. 2. — Richard of Middleton, here a. 1, q. 2.

IV. Concerning the 3rd question it is clear that those three goods do not regard this Sacrament in the same manner. The good of the Sacrament, or inseparability, is a good "first and intrinsic and form; faith, that is fidelity in justly rendering the due act, is its good as a proximate end, but less principal; the good of offspring is its extrinsic good, as a last end, but principal" (Scotus, in the place cited, n. 4). — Nevertheless concerning the goods of faith and offspring one must speak with a distinction received by all, namely that although in a matrimony [already] contracted a defect of them does not dissolve the bond, yet in contracting [it], a condition attached against these two goods (just as against the good of the Sacrament) renders the matrimony invalid (Scotus, in the place cited, n. 9). Concerning the 3rd question: St. Thomas, in the places cited, a. 3. — Bl. Albert, here a. 3. — Peter of Tarentaise, here q. 2, a. 1, 2. — Richard of Middleton, here a. 1, q. 3, and a. 2, q. 1–3.

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Apparatus Criticus

1
Vers. 35. — Glossa, quae exhibetur a Petro Lombard. in hunc locum (a Strabo et Lyrano ex parte tantum), sumta est ex August., de Bono viduitatis, c. 5. n. 7: Non matrimonium turpe esse monstravit, sed quod honesto erat honestius generalis honesti nomine commendavit.
Verse 35. — The Gloss, which is presented by Peter Lombard on this passage (from Strabo and [Nicholas of] Lyra only in part), is taken from Augustine, On the Good of Widowhood, c. 5, n. 7: "He showed that matrimony is not base, but commended, under the general name of the honorable, that which was more honorable than the honorable."
2
Cfr. August., de Bono coniugali, c. 8. n. 8, ubi exponit illud Hebr. 13, 4: Honorabile connubium in omnibus et torus immaculatus, et Serm. 343. de Susanna et Ioseph. — Codd. N aa addunt et virginalis.
Cf. Augustine, On the Good of Marriage, c. 8, n. 8, where he expounds that passage of Heb. 13:4: "Marriage honorable in all, and the bed undefiled," and Sermon 343, On Susanna and Joseph. — Codices N, aa add and a virgin's [i.e. sicut vidualis et virginalis].
3
Epist. I. Cor. 7, 2: Propter fornicationem autem unusquisque suam uxorem habeat etc.
[Paul's] Epistle, 1 Cor. 7:2: "But on account of fornication let each one have his own wife," etc.
4
Cap. 9. n. 9.
Chapter 9, n. 9.
5
Libr. I. adversus Iovinian. n. 14. (refutans primum ipsius errorem: Virgines, viduas et maritatas, quae semel in Christo lotae sunt, si non discrepent ceteris operibus, eiusdem esse meriti), et Epist. 48. (alias 50.) apologetica ad Pammachium pro libris contra Iovinianum, n. 8.
Book I Against Jovinian, n. 14 (refuting his first error: that "virgins, widows, and married women, who have once been washed in Christ, if they do not differ in their other works, are of the same merit"), and Letter 48 (elsewhere 50), the apology to Pammachius for the books against Jovinian, n. 8.
6
Cicero, II. Rhetor. c. 53. Cfr. tom. I. pag. 40, nota 5.
Cicero, Rhetoric [On Invention] II, c. 53. Cf. tom. I, p. 40, note 5.
7
Vide quaest. seq. — Inferius pro numeri (cod. aa addit electorum) cod. bb universi. Cfr. Aristot., II. de Anima, text. 35. (c. 4.).
See the following question. — Below, for numeri (codex aa adds electorum) codex bb [reads] universi. Cf. Aristotle, On the Soul II, text 35 (c. 4).
8
Gen. 2, 24: Quamobrem relinquet homo patrem suum et matrem... et erunt duo etc. Cfr. Matth. 19, 5. et Marc. 10, 7. — Seq. locus est Eph. 5, 28: Ita et viri debent diligere uxores suas ut corpora sua. — Verba Philosophi vide supra pag. 717, nota 1.
Gen. 2:24: "Wherefore a man shall leave his father and his mother... and they shall be two," etc. Cf. Matt. 19:5 and Mark 10:7. — The following passage is Eph. 5:28: "So also men ought to love their wives as their own bodies." — For the words of the Philosopher see above, p. 717, note 1.
9
Pro ideo in cod. E ita, alii codd. communiter et ed. 1 omittunt ideo. Superius pro essent cod. aa erant, et pro admixta plures codd. annexa.
For ideo in, codex E [reads] ita; the other codices generally and ed. 1 omit ideo. Above, for essent codex aa [reads] erant, and for admixta several codices [read] annexa.
10
Respicitur I. Cor. 7, 5: Nolite fraudare invicem, nisi forte ex consensu ad tempus, ut vacetis orationi etc. — Cod. Z addit non posset, cod. aa nequeat, Vat. non valeat. Superius pro ab orationis plures codd. et ed. 1 a rationis, Vat. legit a rationis instantia seu intentione.
Regarded is 1 Cor. 7:5: "Do not defraud one another, except perhaps by consent for a time, that you may be free for prayer," etc. — Codex Z adds non posset, codex aa nequeat, the Vatican edition non valeat. Above, for ab orationis several codices and ed. 1 [read] a rationis; the Vatican edition reads a rationis instantia seu intentione [from the persistence or intention of reason].
11
Epist. I. Cor. 7, 33, ubi Vulgata pro cogitat (quod in v. 34. occurrit) sollicitus est, et v. 28: Tribulationem tamen carnis habebunt huiusmodi. — Seq. locus est ibid. v. 38: Igitur et qui matrimonio iungit virginem suam bene facit etc.
[Paul's] Epistle, 1 Cor. 7:33, where the Vulgate, for cogitat (which occurs in v. 34), [reads] sollicitus est, and v. 28: "Yet such shall have tribulation of the flesh." — The following passage is ibid. v. 38: "Therefore both he who joins his virgin in matrimony does well," etc.
12
Art. 2. q. 1. seq. et dub. 5.
Article 2, q. 1 and following, and dub. 5. ---