Bonaventure

Dubia circa litteram Magistri.

The numbered footnotes below correspond to markers in both the Latin body and the English translation. Quaracchi restarts its footnote numbering on every printed page, so the labels are page-qualified: notes 5–9 of page 995 (notes 1–4 of that page belong to the preceding chunk, d48-a2-q4), notes 1–9 of page 996, and notes 1–8 of page 997. Page 997 carries a second, separately numbered register headed Notae ad libr. Sententiarum, which belongs to the littera of distinction 49 and is not reproduced here.

Dubium I.

In parte ista sunt dubitationes circa litteram, et primo quaeritur de hoc quod dicit: Quia non in terra, sed in spatio aëris sedebit contra montem Oliveti. Obiicitur enim tunc contra hoc de iudicandis, quia tota terra promissionis non posset capere omnes homines, qui iudicandi sunt. — Si dicas, quod erunt in aëre; contra: corpora damnatorum erunt ponderosa: ergo non erunt in aëre. — Si dicas, quod erunt in aëre electorum corpora; cum damnati sint innumerabiliter plures, quomodo poterunt esse in terra?

Respondeo: Dicendum, quod credendum est, in iudicio Dominum descensurum in eum locum, unde ascendit, sicut colligitur ex textu, Actuum primo⁵.

Quod quaeritur, utrum descendat ad terram; credendum est, ipsum in loco eminentiori esse futurum, unde ceteri poterunt videre ipsum. — Si quaeras de multitudine, dici potest, quod multi erunt in terra, et in parva terra innumerabilia millia hominum esse poterunt, quoniam constringentur; nec intelligendum est, quod ipsi omnes inter illam valliculam includantur, quia hoc est puerile, ut dicit Hieronymus⁶, sed quod erunt ibi et in locis circumiacentibus; et si necesse fuerit, electi erunt in aëre per corporum agilitatem, et damnati etiam esse poterunt, divina suspendente virtute⁷.

Dubium II.

Item quaeritur de hoc quod dicit: Sol et luna obscurari dicuntur, non sui luminis privatione. Videtur enim male dicere, quia Rabanus super Matthaeum⁸: « Nihil prohibet, inquit, intelligere, veraciter solem et lunam cum sideribus ceteris suo lumine privari, quomodo factum de sole constat tempore dominicae passionis ». — Item, ratione videtur: quia turbulentia est in mundo propter peccatum hominis, et corpora omnia debent ostendere se ad honorem divinum facta, et nihil innovatur, nisi aliquo modo veterascat; unde homo non glorificatur, nisi resurgat. Si ergo in fine peccatum hominis excrescet, et superbia antichristi super caelos ascendet in vituperium Dei, quamvis non possit vituperari, et illa corpora debent renovari: ergo totus mundus debet obscurari, tum propter peccatum hominis, tum propter contumeliam Dei, tum propter renovationem mundi: ergo male dicit in littera⁹.

Respondeo: Dicendum, quod hic non est contrarietas; potest enim esse, quod aliqua obscuratio in stellis accidet primo; sed post renovationem ex

praesentia corporis Christi et aliorum corporum erit obscuratio solum in apparentia, vel etiam in comparatione; et ita utrumque potest esse verum secundum diversa tempora, et utrumque satis probabile¹.

Dubium III.

Item quaeritur de hoc quod dicit, quod magnus dicitur propter magna, quae ibi fient. Quaeritur, quae sint illa magna, quae fient tunc, et signa, quae praecedent.

Respondeo: Dicendum, quod ita consuevit referri², quod primo die maria omnia exaltabuntur quindecim cubitis super excelsos montes, orbem terrae non affluentia, sed sicut nunc aequora faciunt³. — Secundo omnia aequora prosternentur in imum profundi, ita quod vix queant humanis obtutibus aspici. — Tertio omnia maria redigentur in antiquum statum, qualia ab exordio creata fuerunt. — Quarto belluae omnes et omnia quae moventur in aquis, congregabuntur et levabuntur super pelagus, more contentionis invicem mugientes, nescientque homines, quid cogitent, sed tantum Deus⁴. — Quinto omnia volatilia caeli congregabuntur in campis, unumquodque genus in ordine suo; eodem modo volucres invicem plorantes erunt, non gustantes neque bibentes, sed adventum iudicis timentes. — Sexto flumina ignea surgent ab occasu solis contra faciem firmamenti usque ad ortum corruentia⁵. — Septimo errantia sidera et stationaria omnia spargent ex se igneas comas, qualiter in cometis apparet signum orbi cum habitatoribus suis. — Octavo terrae motus erit magnus, ut nullus homo possit stare et nullum animal, sed solo prosternentur omnia. — Nono omnes lapides tam parvi quam magni scindentur in quatuor partes, et unaquaeque pars collidet alteram partem, nescietque homo sonum illius, nisi solus Deus. — Decimo die omnia ligna silvarum et olera herbarum sanguineum fluent rorem. — Undecimo omnes montes et colles et omnia aedificia humana arte constructa in pulverem redigentur. — Duodecimo omnia animalia terrae venient ad campos de silvis et montibus rugientia et mugientia, non gustantia neque bibentia. — Tertiodecimo die omnia sepulcra ab ortu solis usque ad occasum patebunt, cadaveribus surgentibus, usque ad horam sepulcri finalis, id est diem iudicii. — Quartodecimo die omne humanum genus, quod inventum fuerit, de habitaculis⁶ descendet velociter, non intelligentes neque loquentes, sed discurrentes. — Quintodecimo die homines morientur, ut resurgant cum mortuis longe ante defunctis. — Haec utrum ita se habeant, Deus novit⁷.

Dubium IV.

Item quaeritur de hoc quod dicit, quod lux solis erit septempliciter, id est sicut lux septem dierum. Videtur enim male dicere, quia lux solis tunc⁸ non excedebat lucem, quam modo habet, tantum, quantum sol excedit lunam; quia, si luna luxisset, sicut nunc sol, certe non fuisset nox: ergo si debet semper proportio servari in corporibus mundi, ergo male exponit, cum dicit: Erit, sicut fuit in prima conditione.

Respondeo: Dicendum, quod sicut dicit similitudinem, non quantitatem, pro eo quod amplior lucis quantitas erit post quam ante, quia omnia debent meliorari, homine meliorato⁹; et homo erit melior in caelo post resurrectionem, quam erat in paradiso ante peccatum. Unde per illud quod dicit

septempliciter, intelligitur, quod augmentabitur usque ad perfectam additionem¹.

Dubium V.

Item quaeritur de hoc quod dicit, quod non erit vicissitudo diei et noctis. Videtur enim male dicere: quia, si haec luminaria facta sunt propter diem et noctem, sicut dicitur primo Genesis²: ergo cessante nocte, debet cessare luminare, quod factum est, ut praeesset nocti.

Respondeo: Dicendum, quod cum dicitur, quod luna facta est, ut praeesset nocti, non assignatur ratio productionis substantiae, sed paucitatis luminis, ut esset tantum, quod compateretur noctem, secundum substantiam vero factum propter perfectionem universi. Et quoniam non erit tunc nox, sed dies perfecta, dabitur lunae luminositas competens diei, qualis est luminositas solis; et solis luminositas crescet usque ad perfectum diem³.

Dubium VI.

Item quaeritur de hoc quod dicit: Significat, his qui tunc erunt in aeterna beatitudine, nullum lucis usum praestare. Videtur enim male dicere, quia omnia facta sunt propter hominem⁴: ergo si nullam facient homini utilitatem, frustra erunt: ergo si nihil est tunc frustra, non debent remanere.

Respondeo: Dicendum, quod hoc erit ad gloriam electorum. Sicut enim gloria est regi habere plurimas cameras in palatio et pulcram coquinam, quamvis⁵ non ingrediatur; sic electis erit gloria et honor, quod non solum aula paradisi et caelum empyreum sit pulcrum, sed etiam, quod caelum sidereum et antiquum habitaculum.

Dubium VII.

Item quaeritur de hoc quod dicit Isidorus: Non veniet ad occasum nec sol nec luna, ne impii in tormentis sub terra positi fruantur luce eorum. Videtur enim male dicere: quia impii sunt in medio terrae, vel circa medium; alioquin non sunt in imo⁶; immo quia quaelibet superficies terrae est superior respectu medii: ergo sicut non vident solem, cum est in nostro hemisphaerio, ita non vident, cum revolvitur per illud.

Respondeo: Dicendum, quod non est intelligendum, quod infernus sit sub terra, quasi sit in alia superficie terrae nobis opposita, cui nos sumus inferiores, sicut et ipsa nobis; sed intelligendum est, infernum esse sub terra⁷; verumtamen possibile est, quod infernus habeat aliquod amplum os, et si sol revolveretur, possibile esset, quod aliquando eis beneficium lucis praeberet; et pro tanto loquitur Isidorus⁸.

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Doubts concerning the text of the Master.

Doubt I.

In this part there are doubts concerning the text, and first it is asked about this which he says: That he will sit not on the earth, but in the space of the air over against the Mount of Olives. For an objection is then raised against this, concerning those who are to be judged, because the whole land of promise could not hold all the men who are to be judged. — If you say that they will be in the air, on the contrary: the bodies of the damned will be heavy: therefore they will not be in the air. — If you say that the bodies of the elect will be in the air, then, since the damned are innumerably more numerous, how will they be able to be on the earth?

I respond: It must be said that it is to be believed that at the judgement the Lord will descend to that place from which he ascended, as is gathered from the text, Acts the first⁵.

As to what is asked, whether he will descend to the earth: it is to be believed that he will be in a more eminent place, whence the rest will be able to see him. — If you ask about the multitude, it can be said that many will be on the earth, and in a small land innumerable thousands of men can be, since they will be pressed together; nor is it to be understood that they will all be enclosed within that little valley, because this is childish, as Jerome says⁶, but that they will be there and in the surrounding places; and if it be necessary, the elect will be in the air through the agility of their bodies, and the damned too will be able to be, by the divine power holding them up⁷.

Doubt II.

Likewise it is asked about this which he says: The sun and moon are said to be darkened, not by the privation of their own light. For he seems to speak badly, because Rabanus on Matthew⁸ says: « Nothing forbids us to understand that the sun and moon, with the rest of the stars, are truly deprived of their own light, as is agreed to have happened to the sun at the time of the Lord's passion ». — Likewise, it seems so by reason: because there is turbulence in the world on account of man's sin, and all bodies ought to show themselves to have been made for the divine honour, and nothing is renewed unless it in some way grows old; whence man is not glorified unless he rise again. If therefore at the end man's sin will increase, and the pride of antichrist will ascend above the heavens unto the reproach of God — although he cannot be reproached — and those bodies ought to be renewed: therefore the whole world ought to be darkened, both on account of man's sin, and on account of the contumely done to God, and on account of the renewal of the world: therefore he speaks badly in the text⁹.

I respond: It must be said that here there is no contrariety; for it can be that some darkening will befall the stars first; but after the renewal, from

the presence of the body of Christ and of the other bodies, there will be a darkening only in appearance, or else in comparison; and thus both can be true according to different times, and both are sufficiently probable¹.

Doubt III.

Likewise it is asked about this which he says, that he is called great on account of the great things which will happen there. It is asked what those great things are which will happen then, and the signs which will precede.

I respond: It must be said that it is customarily reported thus², that on the first day all the seas will be raised fifteen cubits above the high mountains, not flooding the globe of the earth, but standing as the waters now do³. — Secondly, all the waters will be laid low into the lowest depth, so that they can scarcely be looked upon by human eyes. — Thirdly, all the seas will be reduced to their ancient state, such as they were created from the beginning. — Fourthly, all the sea-beasts and all things that move in the waters will be gathered together and lifted up above the deep, bellowing at one another after the manner of strife, and men will not know what they think, but God alone⁴. — Fifthly, all the birds of heaven will be gathered together in the fields, each kind in its own order; in the same way the birds will be lamenting one to another, not eating nor drinking, but fearing the coming of the Judge. — Sixthly, rivers of fire will rise from the setting of the sun against the face of the firmament, rushing on unto its rising⁵. — Seventhly, the wandering stars and the fixed ones will all scatter from themselves fiery tresses, as in comets a sign appears to the world with its inhabitants. — Eighthly, there will be a great earthquake, so that no man can stand and no animal, but all will be laid flat upon the ground. — Ninthly, all stones, small as well as great, will be split into four parts, and each part will strike against the other, and man will not know the sound of it, but God alone. — On the tenth day all the trees of the forests and the herbs of the field will drip a bloody dew. — Eleventhly, all mountains and hills and all buildings constructed by human art will be reduced to dust. — Twelfthly, all the animals of the earth will come to the plains out of the woods and mountains, roaring and bellowing, not eating nor drinking. — On the thirteenth day all the sepulchres from the rising of the sun unto its setting will lie open, the corpses rising, until the hour of the final sepulchre, that is, the day of judgement. — On the fourteenth day the whole human race, whatever shall be found of it, will come down swiftly from its dwellings⁶, not understanding nor speaking, but running to and fro. — On the fifteenth day men will die, that they may rise again with those who died long before. — Whether these things are so, God knows⁷.

Doubt IV.

Likewise it is asked about this which he says, that the light of the sun will be sevenfold, that is, as the light of seven days. For he seems to speak badly, because the light of the sun then⁸ did not exceed the light which it now has by as much as the sun exceeds the moon; because, if the moon had shone as the sun now does, certainly there would have been no night: therefore, if a proportion must always be preserved among the bodies of the world, then he expounds it badly when he says: It will be as it was in the first condition.

I respond: It must be said that as states a likeness, not a quantity, inasmuch as the quantity of light will be greater afterwards than before, since all things ought to be bettered, man having been bettered⁹; and man will be better in heaven after the resurrection than he was in paradise before sin. Hence by that which he says

sevenfold, it is understood that it will be increased unto a perfect addition¹.

Doubt V.

Likewise it is asked about this which he says, that there will be no alternation of day and night. For he seems to speak badly: because, if these luminaries were made for the sake of day and night, as is said in the first of Genesis²: therefore, night ceasing, that luminary ought to cease which was made that it might rule the night.

I respond: It must be said that when it is said that the moon was made that it might rule the night, the reason assigned is not that of the production of its substance, but of the scantiness of its light, that it should be only so much as would be compatible with night; but according to its substance it was made for the perfection of the universe. And since there will then be no night, but perfect day, there will be given to the moon a luminosity befitting the day, such as is the luminosity of the sun; and the luminosity of the sun will increase unto the perfect day³.

Doubt VI.

Likewise it is asked about this which he says: It signifies that to those who will then be in eternal beatitude it affords no use of light. For he seems to speak badly, because all things were made for man's sake⁴: therefore if they will render no usefulness to man, they will be in vain: therefore, if nothing is then in vain, they ought not to remain.

I respond: It must be said that this will be unto the glory of the elect. For just as it is a glory to a king to have very many chambers in his palace and a beautiful kitchen, although⁵ he does not enter it; so to the elect it will be glory and honour that not only the hall of paradise and the empyrean heaven is beautiful, but also that the starry heaven and their ancient dwelling-place is.

Doubt VII.

Likewise it is asked about this which Isidore says: Neither sun nor moon will come to its setting, lest the wicked, placed in torments beneath the earth, should enjoy their light. For he seems to speak badly: because the wicked are in the middle of the earth, or about the middle; otherwise they are not in the lowest place⁶; indeed, since any surface of the earth whatever is higher in respect of the middle: therefore, just as they do not see the sun when it is in our hemisphere, so they do not see it when it revolves through that other one.

I respond: It must be said that it is not to be understood that hell is beneath the earth as though it were on another surface of the earth opposite to us, to which we are lower, as it also is to us; but it is to be understood that hell is beneath the earth⁷; nevertheless it is possible that hell has some wide mouth, and if the sun were to revolve, it would be possible that it might sometimes afford them the benefit of light; and it is to that extent that Isidore speaks⁸.

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