Bonaventure

Quaestio II. Utrum et qua ratione in damnatis sit vermis spiritualis.

Nota de apparatu. Quaracchi restarts its footnote numbering on every printed page. The apparatus below is therefore labelled by page: notes 5–7 of page 1051, notes 1–8 of page 1052, and notes 1–2 of page 1053. Notes 1–4 of page 1051 anchor in the preceding question and are rendered there; notes 3–11 of page 1053 anchor in the following question and are rendered there.

Secundo quaeritur, utrum in damnatis sit vermis spiritualis; et quaeritur: pro quanto dicitur in eis esse vermis?

1. Si quia est in eis dolor mordens; sed in poenitentibus est maximus dolor de peccatis: ergo et maximus vermis.

2. Item, aliqui ita sunt perversi, quod laetantur, cum malefecerint, et exsultant⁵, adeo ut nullum remorsum, aut dolorem sentiant: ergo si damnati sunt magis perversi quam viatores, videtur, quod nullum omnino habeant remorsum.

3. Item, aliqui sunt ita excaecati et obstinati in malo⁶, quod nullum omnino sentiunt remorsum, sicut haeretici, qui moriuntur pro haeresi sua tuenda; sed damnati sunt magis obstinati et excaecati: ergo etc.

4. Item, si habent dolorem, aut de poena, aut de culpa. Si de poena, tunc ergo non differt vermis a poena ignis, quia ignis non punit, nisi quia dolent. Si de culpa, aut voluntate deliberativa, aut naturali sive synderesi. Sed non deliberativa, quia secundum illam non poenitent, immo perseverat in eis peccandi voluntas⁷. Non secundum synderesim, quia synderesis in aliquibus viatoribus est praecipitata: ergo videtur in eis penitus exstincta. Et hoc videtur per rationem: quia, sicut fomes se habet ad malum, sic synderesis ad bonum; sed fomes omnino exstinctus est in Beatis: ergo synderesis in damnatis.

Item, quaero: cum vermis nascatur ex putrefactione et rodat, qua metaphora dicitur vermis conscientiae, cum illa non putrescat?

Sed contra: 1. Quod in damnatis sit vermis spiritualis sive dolor, videtur: quia super illud Ecclesiastici¹: Vindicta carnis impii etc.: « Vermis est sera scelerum poenitentia »; et Augustinus de Fide ad Petrum dicit, quod habebunt hoc supplicium.

2. Item, ratione videtur: quia synderesis naturaliter remurmurat contra malum; sed « vitium non demit extrema naturae vestigia² »: ergo etc.

3. Item, quaecumque faciunt ad poenam damnatorum, debent esse in eis; sed remurmuratio synderesis auget eorum poenam: ergo saltem actus ille non debet tolli.

4. Item, omnis creatura secundum quod natura deservit Creatori: ergo si voluntas rationalis secundum quod natura est recta, ergo ei deservit; sed creatura Creatori deserviens armatur in tormentum contra iniustos³: ergo etc.

Conclusio

In damnatis viget vermis spiritualis, concurrente quadruplici ratione.

Respondeo: Dicendum, quod ipsa translatio vermis ad dolorem spiritualem manifestat, in quibus et quomodo sit vermis, si attendatur ratio transferendi. In verme enim materiali consideratur origo et morsio⁴: oritur, inquam, ex putrefactione et mordet illud, in quo oritur. Sic in spirituali dolore non quilibet dolor est vermis, sed qui nascitur ex putrefactione peccati, et tunc peccatum dicitur putridum; quando anima in eo requiescit finaliter⁵. — Rursus, oportet, quod sit in dolore morsio. Haec autem est ex concursu duorum moventium sibi invicem obviantium et resistentium. Ista duo moventia sunt in homine voluntas naturalis et deliberativa, quarum utraque movet. Ista concurrunt per conscientiam dictantem, aliquod factum esse indebitum; et tunc obviant, quando naturalis detestatur indebitum, et deliberativae placet; tunc autem resistunt, quando utraque in suo actu viget, ita⁶ quod illa efficaciter detestatur, et ista immutabiliter adhaeret.

Secundum hoc igitur patet, in quibus est vermis et quando. Nam deficiente concursu, qui est per peccati conscientiam, non est vermis, sicut in haereticis, et in his qui credunt, peccando bene fecisse. — Deficiente obviatione, non est vermis, ut puta in his qui dolent de culpa secundum voluntatem non tantum naturalem, sed etiam deliberativam, ut sunt poenitentes. — Deficiente resistentia, non est vermis, ut puta quando voluntas tanta delectatione fertur in peccatum, quod absorbet motum voluntatis naturalis, ut non sentiat. — Et sic patet, quare vermis deficit: aut propter defectum putrefactionis in iustis, aut concursus in caecis⁷, aut obviationis in poenitentibus vere, aut resistentiae, ut in his qui peccant ex magna libidine. — Et ex his patet, quod in damnatis vigebit vermis: quia ibi erit peccati putrefactio ex hoc, quod peccatum finaliter remansit in anima eorum; ibi erit concursus propter peccatorum apertissimam visionem; ibi erit obviatio propter voluntatis deliberativae obstinationem et synderesis remurmurationem; ibi erit resistentia, quia delectatio peccati erit ablata per poenae acerbitatem, et ex hoc ipsius synderesis actio fortificata, et ex hoc vermis mirabiliter rodens et puniens.

Ad 4. Ad illud vero quod obiicitur, quod synderesis est exstincta in damnatis; dicendum, quod synderesis triplex est actus: unus, qui est instigare ad bonum, et iste quidem ablatus est a damnatis, quia non est amplius locus bene faciendi; secundus, qui est retrahere a malo faciendo, et iste exstinctus est in daemonibus propter improbam malitiam voluntatis eorum; tertius, qui est remurmuratio contra malum factum, et iste manet in eis iusto Dei iudicio; tamen secundum istum actum in damnatis non remurmurat malo, quia culpa, vel quia inhonestum, sed quia ex hoc punitur⁸; unde iste aliquo modo est exstinctus; et quia daemones nondum sentiunt acerbitatem poenarum intense, ut damnati: ideo non habent ita remorsum.

Sane tamen posset dici, quod synderesis remurmurat malo facto, quia indebitum; ipsa enim non confert culpam ad poenam, et praeterea respicit honestum, non commodum; et iterum, ipsa voluntas deliberativa detestatur malum culpae propter poenam; nollet enim impius peccasse¹ vel fecisse, unde tot mala habet necesse pati, vel saltem mallet nunquam habuisse delectationem, quam esse in tanta miseria et dolore. Unde solvendum est, quod quantum ad istum actum, quia poenalis, synderesis est et Dei instrumentum ad flagellandum iniquos, et non exstinguetur; et remorsus modo non sic in daemonibus intensus est propter defectum resistentiae, quoniam modo delectantur in culpis².

---

Question II. Whether, and for what reason, there is a spiritual worm in the damned.

Secondly it is asked whether there is a spiritual worm in the damned; and it is asked: in what respect is a worm said to be in them?

1. Is it because there is in them a gnawing pain? But in the penitent there is the greatest pain over their sins: therefore also the greatest worm.

2. Likewise, some are so perverse that they rejoice when they have done evil, and exult⁵, to such a degree that they feel no remorse or pain at all: therefore, if the damned are more perverse than wayfarers, it seems that they have no remorse whatever.

3. Likewise, some are so blinded and obstinate in evil⁶ that they feel no remorse at all, like heretics who die in defence of their heresy; but the damned are more obstinate and blinded: therefore etc.

4. Likewise, if they have pain, it is either over punishment or over fault. If over punishment, then the worm does not differ from the punishment of fire, since fire does not punish except in that they suffer pain. If over fault, it is either by the deliberative will or by the natural will, that is, by synderesis. But not by the deliberative, since according to it they do not repent; rather, the will to sin persists in them⁷. Not according to synderesis, since synderesis in some wayfarers is cast down headlong: therefore it seems to be utterly extinguished in them. And this is seen by reason: because, as the tinder of sin stands to evil, so synderesis stands to good; but the tinder is altogether extinguished in the Blessed: therefore synderesis is extinguished in the damned.

Likewise I ask: since a worm is born of putrefaction and gnaws, by what metaphor is it called the worm of conscience, since conscience does not putrefy?

Sed contra: 1. That there is in the damned a spiritual worm, that is, pain, is seen: because upon that text of Ecclesiasticus¹: The vengeance on the flesh of the ungodly etc., the Gloss says: « The worm is the too-late repentance for crimes »; and Augustine in On Faith, to Peter says that they will have this torment.

2. Likewise, it is seen by reason: because synderesis naturally murmurs against evil; but « vice does not take away the last vestiges of nature² »: therefore etc.

3. Likewise, whatever things make for the punishment of the damned ought to be in them; but the murmuring of synderesis increases their punishment: therefore at least that act ought not to be taken away.

4. Likewise, every creature, insofar as it is nature, serves the Creator: therefore if the rational will, insofar as it is nature, is upright, then it serves him; but the creature serving the Creator is armed for torment against the unjust³: therefore etc.

Conclusion

In the damned a spiritual worm is in full vigour, four grounds concurring.

Respondeo: It must be said that the very transferring of "worm" to spiritual pain makes clear in whom and in what manner there is a worm, if one attends to the ground of the transfer. For in a material worm two things are considered, its origin and its biting⁴: it arises, I say, from putrefaction, and it bites that in which it arises. So in spiritual pain not just any pain is a worm, but that which is born from the putrefaction of sin, and then the sin is called putrid; namely, when the soul finally rests in it⁵. — Again, there must be a biting in the pain. But this comes from the concurrence of two movers meeting and resisting one another. These two movers in man are the natural and the deliberative will, each of which moves. These concur through conscience dictating that some deed is undue; and then they meet, when the natural will detests what is undue and it pleases the deliberative; and then they resist, when each is in vigour in its own act, so⁶ that the one effectively detests and the other unchangeably clings.

According to this, therefore, it is clear in whom the worm is and when. For when concurrence, which is through the consciousness of sin, is lacking, there is no worm, as in heretics and in those who believe that in sinning they have done well. — When meeting is lacking, there is no worm, as for instance in those who grieve over fault according to a will not only natural but also deliberative, as the penitent do. — When resistance is lacking, there is no worm, as for instance when the will is borne into sin with such delight that it absorbs the motion of the natural will, so that it does not feel. — And thus it is clear why the worm fails: either through the defect of putrefaction in the just, or of concurrence in the blind⁷, or of meeting in the truly penitent, or of resistance, as in those who sin out of great lust. — And from these things it is clear that in the damned the worm will be in vigour: because there will be the putrefaction of sin from this, that sin finally remained in their soul; there will be concurrence on account of the most open vision of their sins; there will be meeting on account of the obstinacy of the deliberative will and the murmuring of synderesis; there will be resistance, because the delight of sin will have been taken away through the bitterness of punishment, and from this the action of synderesis itself is strengthened, and from this the worm gnaws and punishes marvellously.

To 4. But to that which is objected, that synderesis is extinguished in the damned, it must be said that synderesis has a threefold act: one, which is to instigate toward the good, and this indeed has been taken away from the damned, since there is no longer any place for doing well; the second, which is to draw back from doing evil, and this is extinguished in the demons on account of the wicked malice of their will; the third, which is the murmuring against the evil deed, and this remains in them by the just judgement of God; yet according to that act it does not, in the damned, murmur against evil because it is fault, or because it is dishonourable, but because from it one is punished⁸; hence this act too is in some manner extinguished; and because the demons do not yet feel the bitterness of the punishments intensely, as the damned do, therefore they do not have remorse in this way.

Yet it could quite reasonably be said that synderesis murmurs against the evil deed because it is undue; for synderesis itself does not refer fault to punishment, and besides it looks to the honourable, not to the advantageous; and again, the deliberative will itself detests the evil of fault on account of the punishment; for the ungodly man would not have wished to sin¹ or to have done that whence he must needs suffer so many evils, or at least he would prefer never to have had the delight than to be in such misery and pain. Hence it must be resolved that, as regards that act, since it is penal, synderesis is also God's instrument for scourging the wicked, and it will not be extinguished; and remorse is at present not so intense in the demons on account of the defect of resistance, since at present they take delight in their faults².

---