Bonaventure

Articulus I. De iudicis apparitione.

Quaestio IV. Utrum hora iudicii sit nota alicui creaturae.

Nota de numeratione. Quaracchi restarts its footnote numbering on every printed page. The markers below are therefore page-qualified: notes 3–12 of printed page 988, and notes 1–5 of printed page 989. Notes 1–2 of page 988 anchor in the preceding question (a1-q3) and notes 6–8 of page 989 anchor in the following article (a2-q1); they are not reproduced here.

Quarto quaeritur de hora iudicii et quaeritur, utrum alicui creaturae sit nota. Et quod non, videtur.

1. Matthaei vigesimo quarto³: De illo autem die et hora nemo novit, neque Angeli, qui sunt in caelo, neque Filius: ergo videtur, quod Christus non noverit: ergo multo minus noscunt alii.

2. Item, Ioannis decimo quinto⁴: Omnia, quaecumque audivi a Patre meo, nota feci vobis; sed istud non notificavit Apostolis: ergo istud non novit etiam ipse Christus.

3. Item, Ioannis decimo sexto⁵: Cum venerit Spiritus sanctus, ille docebit vos omnem veritatem; sed Spiritus adveniens illud non docuit Apostolos: ergo istud non est scibile ab aliqua creatura, quia, si esset scibile, Spiritus sanctus docuisset.

4. Item, Deus revelavit Prophetis multa et futura, diem autem et horam iudicii non expressit per aliquam prophetiam nisi solum per signa quaedam praeambula⁶: ergo cum Dominus illud non revelaverit Prophetis, videtur, quod sibi soli reservaverit.

Contra: 1. Christus non profecit nec potest proficere in scientia, sicut supra dicitur libro tertio, distinctione decima tertia⁷: ergo si unquam sciturus est, modo scit.

2. Item, de Angelis videtur: Gregorius⁸: «Quid est quod non vident qui videntem omnia vident»? ergo videtur, quod illud videant.

3. Item, videtur, quod omnibus debuerit revelari: quia magis timendum est iudicium speciale cuiuslibet quam generale, quia qui hoc evadit evadit et illud; sed dies mortis pluribus revelatus est, sicut dicitur de beato Martino⁹ et beato Benedicto: ergo etc.

4. Item, locus et tempus sunt circumstantiae negotii¹⁰; sed Dominus revelavit nobis iudicii locum: ergo pari ratione videtur, quod et tempus; aut si non, quare non?

Conclusio

Iudicii hora est nota toti Trinitati et homini assumto, sed ignota omnibus viatoribus; fortasse tamen aliquibus Angelis et Beatis nota est.

Respondeo: Dicendum, quod absque dubio hora diei iudicii est nota toti Trinitati et homini assumto¹¹, ignota est omnibus in statu viatorum existentibus.

Sed de hoc est contentio inter doctores, utrum nota sit Angelis et animabus beatis. Quidam dicunt, quod sic, quidam, quod non. — Sed certe, quid sit super hoc tenendum, magis docebit experientia pro loco et tempore, quam nunc doceat scientia; utrumque enim est possibile. Cum enim Christo soli communicata sit omnium scientia, non video, quare Angeli illud ignorare non possint, cum istud non sit de substantia gloriae ipsorum; rursus, cum Deo sint familiares et nihil in huius rei scientia perdere possint, quare illud non congruat revelari. Non tamen est facile hoc definire. Unde quia aliquae auctoritates Sanctorum videntur sonare, quod Angeli hoc norunt¹²; aliquae, quod ignorent; sane dici potest, quod istud notum sit aliquibus Angelis et Beatis, aliquibus ignotum; et sicut dicitur circa incarnationis mysterium, sic et in illa parte standum est, quod alicui creaturae hora iudicii nota sit.

Ad argumenta pro parte negativa:

Ad 1. Ad illud ergo quod obiicitur, quod nemo novit; dicendum, quod in illa auctoritate, sicut patet ex Glossa¹, non excluditur Filius naturalis, sed adoptivus; nec excluduntur omnes Angeli, sed illi qui sunt inferioris ordinis; nec excluduntur omnes homines, sed solum puri homines et viatores. — Vel dicendum, quod non noverunt, quia aliis non notificant, id est, non ostendunt se scire, sicut fovea dicitur caeca, non quia non videat, sed quia quod habet in se aliis non ostendit².

Ad 2, 3. Ad illud quod obiicitur, quod nota fecit omnia Apostolis Christus et Spiritus sanctus; dicendum, quod istud intelligitur de necessariis ad salutem³.

Ad 4. Ad illud quod obiicitur de Prophetis, dicendum, quod Deus non revelavit illud Prophetis, quia non erat nobis utile nosse, sed perutile erat ignorare tum propter nostram utilitatem, tum etiam propter istud quod dicitur Iacobi secundo⁴: Sic loquimini et sic facite, quasi per legem libertatis incipientes iudicari.

Ad argumenta pro parte affirmativa:

Ad 4. Et ita patet, quare Dominus manifestavit nobis iudicii locum, sed non tempus, quod ultimo quaerebatur quantum ad primam partem.

Ad 2. Ad illud quod obiicitur de Angelis, quod omnia vident; dicendum, quod illud oportet intelligi de his quae sunt de integritate beatitudinis, non sui ministerii⁵.

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Article I. On the appearing of the Judge.

Question IV. Whether the hour of the judgement is known to any creature.

Fourthly it is asked concerning the hour of the judgement, and it is asked whether it is known to any creature. And that it is not, seems to be the case.

1. Matthew twenty-four³: But of that day and hour no one knows, neither the Angels who are in heaven, nor the Son: therefore it seems that Christ did not know it: therefore much less do others know it.

2. Likewise, John fifteen⁴: All things whatsoever I have heard from my Father I have made known to you; but he did not make this known to the Apostles: therefore Christ himself also did not know it.

3. Likewise, John sixteen⁵: When the Holy Spirit shall have come, he will teach you all truth; but the Spirit, when he came, did not teach the Apostles this: therefore this is not knowable by any creature, because, if it were knowable, the Holy Spirit would have taught it.

4. Likewise, God revealed to the Prophets many things and things future, but he did not express the day and hour of the judgement through any prophecy except only through certain preliminary signs⁶: therefore, since the Lord did not reveal it to the Prophets, it seems that he reserved it to himself alone.

On the contrary: 1. Christ did not advance nor can he advance in knowledge, as is said above in the third book, distinction thirteen⁷: therefore if he is ever going to know it, he knows it now.

2. Likewise, concerning the Angels it seems so: Gregory⁸: «What is there that they do not see, who see him who sees all things»? therefore it seems that they see it.

3. Likewise, it seems that it ought to have been revealed to all: because the particular judgement of each one is more to be feared than the general one, since he who escapes the one escapes the other also; but the day of death has been revealed to many, as is said of blessed Martin⁹ and blessed Benedict: therefore, etc.

4. Likewise, place and time are circumstances of a transaction¹⁰; but the Lord has revealed to us the place of the judgement: therefore by parity of reasoning it seems that he has revealed the time also; or if not, why not?

Conclusion

The hour of the judgement is known to the whole Trinity and to the assumed man, but unknown to all wayfarers; perhaps, however, it is known to some Angels and to some of the Blessed.

I respond: It must be said that without doubt the hour of the day of judgement is known to the whole Trinity and to the assumed man¹¹, and is unknown to all existing in the state of wayfarers.

But about this there is contention among the doctors, whether it is known to the Angels and to the blessed souls. Some say that it is, some that it is not. — But certainly, what is to be held upon this matter, experience in its own place and time will teach better than knowledge now teaches; for either is possible. For since the knowledge of all things has been communicated to Christ alone, I do not see why the Angels cannot be ignorant of it, since this is not part of the substance of their glory; again, since they are familiars of God and can lose nothing in the knowledge of this matter, [I do not see] why it should not be fitting for it to be revealed to them. Yet it is not easy to define this. Hence, since some authorities of the Saints seem to sound as though the Angels know this¹², and some as though they are ignorant of it, it can soundly be said that this is known to some Angels and to some of the Blessed, and unknown to others; and as is said concerning the mystery of the incarnation, so also in that matter one must stand by this, that the hour of the judgement is known to some creature.

To the arguments for the negative side:

To 1. To that, then, which is objected, that no one knows it: it must be said that in that authority, as is clear from the Gloss¹, the natural Son is not excluded, but the adoptive one; nor are all the Angels excluded, but those who are of the lower order; nor are all men excluded, but only mere men and wayfarers. — Or it must be said that they do not know it, because they do not make it known to others, that is, they do not show that they know it, just as a pit is called blind, not because it does not see, but because what it has within itself it does not show to others².

To 2, 3. To that which is objected, that Christ and the Holy Spirit made all things known to the Apostles: it must be said that this is understood of the things necessary for salvation³.

To 4. To that which is objected concerning the Prophets: it must be said that God did not reveal it to the Prophets, because it was not useful for us to know it, but it was highly useful to be ignorant of it, both on account of our own advantage and also on account of that which is said in James two⁴: So speak and so act, as beginning to be judged by the law of liberty.

To the arguments for the affirmative side:

To 4. And thus it is clear why the Lord manifested to us the place of the judgement, but not the time, which was asked last with respect to the first part.

To 2. To that which is objected concerning the Angels, that they see all things: it must be said that this must be understood of those things which pertain to the integrity of their beatitude, not of their ministry⁵.

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