Bonaventure

Quaestio III. Utrum animae aliquando exeant a suis receptaculis.

Nota de apparatu. Quaracchi restarts its footnote numbering on every printed page. This chunk spans printed pages 942 and 943, so the apparatus below is page-qualified: the notes labelled for page 942 are notes 3 through 13 of that page's footer, and the notes labelled for page 943 are notes 1 through 3 of that page's footer. Notes 1 and 2 of page 942 belong to the preceding question and are rendered there; notes 4 and following of page 943 belong to Article II and are rendered in the next chunk.

Tertio quaeritur, utrum animae a suis receptaculis aliquando exeant. Et quod non, videtur.

1. Psalmus³: Ut inhabitem in domo Domini.

2. Item, de malis specialiter, Iob septimo⁴: Qui descendit ad inferos non ascendet.

3. Item, aut locus aliquid facit⁵, aut nihil. Si nihil: ergo non videtur ratio, quare magis sint in loco determinato; si aliquid: ergo si bonorum gloria non debet minui nec malorum poena, ergo nunquam possunt nec debent egredi.

4. Item, nos non possumus locum nostrum mutare, quin mutemus et statum; unde quando morimur⁶, non sumus in statu merendi: ergo nec illi; sed eorum status est immutabilis: ergo et locus.

Contra: 1. Sancti multos visitant et multis apparent, sicut patet in vitis Sanctorum⁷: ergo si vera est apparitio, videtur, quod sint ubi apparent; sed non simul in caelo et in terra: ergo quandoque recedunt a suis habitaculis.

2. Item, daemones sunt circa nos et nos exercent, qui tamen sunt digni maiori poena quam animae⁸: ergo si illi, multo fortius et animae possunt circa nos esse.

3. Item, constat, quod resurrectio erit et iudicium omnium simul⁹: ergo necesse est, quod tam beatae quam damnatae veniant ad corpora et ad locum communem.

4. Item, Deus ubique est aequaliter, ergo anima ubique potest aequaliter frui Deo: ergo si beatitudo est fruitio, potest beata anima ire quo vult: ergo pari ratione et damnata.

5. Item, Gregorius in Dialogo¹⁰ narrat de suscitatione aliquorum, quorum animae erant in paradiso et in inferno: ergo etc.

Conclusio

Beatorum animae ante diem iudicii aliquando ad tempus locum mutare possunt, non vero damnati.

Respondeo: Dicendum, quod huiusmodi receptacula aliquibus dantur secundum Dei consilium et causas superiores, aliquibus secundum sententiam et causas inferiores. Illi secundi possunt mutatione divinae sententiae ad preces Sanctorum de huiusmodi locis revocari; et sicut mutant statum, ita et locum. Primi vero, qui secundum causas immutabiles huiusmodi locis deputati sunt, non exibunt finaliter; possibile est tamen, eos exire ad tempus. Sed exitus ad tempus aut est ad recipiendam completam remunerationem, et sic boni et mali exibunt in die iudicii; aut ad perficiendam aliquam operationem, et sic exeunt Beati, nunquam tamen damnati. — Et ratio huius est, quia Beati possunt iuvare nos revocando¹¹, docendo, confortando, liberando; sed damnati sunt ligati ad omne opus. Rursus, poena dependet a loco, et gloria non, quia est a Deo, qui ubique est. — Concedendae ergo sunt rationes probantes, quod boni aliquando loca receptionis suae mutant.

Ad illud quod obiicitur de malis per simile de daemonibus, dicendum, quod non est simile, quia isti habent operationem aliquam ad nos exercendos; et ideo non sunt ligati nec penitus damnati, quia adhuc sunt in statu demerendi quantum ad vim administrativam¹².

1. 2. Ad illud quod obiicitur, quod non exeunt; verum est finaliter: illi¹³, qui per sententiam definitivam sunt damnati.

3. Ad illud quod obiicitur, quid facit¹; dico, quod in bonis tantum ad congruentiam, in malis amplius, quia auget poenam; et ideo isti non exeunt ut illi.

4. Ad aliud patet responsio: quia non est nobis possibile in caelum ire, sed in caelo entibus² possibile est ad terram venire, quia anima liberior, quia exuta, et potentior, quia beata; mali vero non possunt, quia non sinuntur³.

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Question III. Whether souls ever go forth from their abodes.

Thirdly it is asked whether souls ever go forth from their abodes. And that they do not, seems [to be the case].

1. The Psalm³: That I may dwell in the house of the Lord.

2. Likewise, of the wicked in particular, Job the seventh⁴: He that goeth down to hell shall not come up.

3. Likewise, either place does something⁵, or nothing. If nothing: therefore no reason is apparent why they should be in a determinate place rather [than elsewhere]; if something: therefore, since the glory of the good ought not to be diminished, nor the punishment of the wicked, therefore they neither can nor ought ever to go out.

4. Likewise, we cannot change our place without also changing our state; hence when we die⁶, we are not in a state of meriting: therefore neither are they; but their state is unchangeable: therefore their place also.

On the contrary: 1. The Saints visit many and appear to many, as is plain in the lives of the Saints⁷: therefore, if the apparition is true, it seems that they are where they appear; but they are not at once in heaven and on earth: therefore they do sometimes withdraw from their dwellings.

2. Likewise, the demons are about us and harass us, who nevertheless are deserving of a greater punishment than the souls⁸: therefore if they [can], much more strongly can souls also be about us.

3. Likewise, it is agreed that the resurrection and the judgment of all will be at once⁹: therefore it is necessary that both the blessed and the damned [souls] come to their bodies and to the common place.

4. Likewise, God is everywhere equally, therefore the soul can everywhere equally enjoy God: therefore, if beatitude is enjoyment, the blessed soul can go where it wills: therefore, by parity of reasoning, the damned [soul] also.

5. Likewise, Gregory in the Dialogue¹⁰ narrates the raising up of certain persons whose souls were in paradise and in hell: therefore, etc.

Conclusion

The souls of the blessed can, before the day of judgment, sometimes change their place for a time; not so the damned.

I respond: It must be said that abodes of this kind are given to some according to God's counsel and higher causes, to others according to the sentence and lower causes. Those second ones can, by a change of the divine sentence, at the prayers of the Saints, be called back from places of this kind; and just as they change their state, so also their place. But the first, who according to unchangeable causes have been assigned to places of this kind, will not go forth finally; it is nevertheless possible for them to go forth for a time. But the going-forth for a time is either for receiving the complete remuneration, and thus both the good and the wicked will go forth on the day of judgment; or for accomplishing some operation, and thus the Blessed go forth, but never the damned. — And the reason of this is that the Blessed can help us by calling back¹¹, by teaching, by strengthening, by delivering; but the damned are bound with respect to every work. Again, punishment depends upon place, and glory does not, because it is from God, who is everywhere. — Therefore the reasons proving that the good sometimes change the places of their reception are to be granted.

To that which is objected concerning the wicked by the likeness drawn from the demons, it must be said that it is not alike, because these have some operation for harassing us; and therefore they are not bound, nor utterly damned, because they are still in a state of demeriting as regards their administrative power¹².

1. 2. To that which is objected, that they do not go forth; it is true finally: those¹³ who by a definitive sentence have been damned.

3. To that which is objected, what place does¹; I say that in the good it is only for fittingness, in the wicked it is more, because it increases the punishment; and therefore these do not go forth as those do.

4. To the other the answer is plain: because it is not possible for us to go into heaven, but for those who are in heaven² it is possible to come to earth, because the soul is freer, since it is unclothed, and more powerful, since it is blessed; but the wicked cannot, because they are not permitted³.

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