Introduction to the Works of Bonaventure

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INTRODUCTION TO

THE WORKS OF BONAVENTURE translated from the French

J.

GuY

of BouGEROL, by

Jose

0. F. M.

de Vinck

Docteur en Droit of Louvain University

PUBLISHER ST. ANTHONY GUILD PRESS, PATERSON, N.

J.

DISTRIBUTOR DESCLEE CO., PARIS, TOURNAI, NEW YORK, ROME

This work wu originally published io French by Desclee Co. (1961) as volume 2 of: BIBLIOTH!QUE DE THtOLOGIE Serie 1 THtOLOGIE DOGMATIQUE (edited by P. Glorieux - A. Chavasse - Ch. Baumgartner) First American edition, 1964 Copyright © 1964 by Saint Anthony's Guild Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 64-14477

bXEto

I

NIHIL OBSTAT: BEDE BABO, IMPRIMATUR:

T

JAMBS

J.

73 (, 1cf /3 t,_3 0. S. B.,

Censor Librorum

NAVAGH, Bishop of Paterson

December 20, 1963

The Imprimatur simply means that there is nothing contrary to faith or morals in this book. The end-sheet decoration of the present series is symbolical of a revealing incident in the life of Bonaventure. On his way to Rome to receive the Red Hat of a Cardinal, he stopped at a small Franciscan monastery. That is where the papal delegation met him: he was busily washing the dishes. With utter simplicity, he asked them to leave the hat on a bush until he was through with his task. Book and jacket designed by the translator.

Printed in the United States of America

P. EPHREM LONGPRE PATRI ET MAGISTRO NOSTRO HOC OPUS DEDICAVI

PREFACE

WHAT. EXACTLY. is an introduction to the study of an author?

It consists, first of all, in a description of the circumstances in which he lived; then, in the determination of the sources from which he drew his inspiration; finally, in a consideration of the work that he produced: all this to bring his personal vision as close as possible to the reader's mind.

These words set forth with precision the purpose of our book. Saint Bona­ venture lived in a very clearly defined world: the Franciscan Order, the "Ecole des Mineurs" (School of the Minors, i. e., Friars Minor) of the University of Paris, and the thirteenth-century Church. He obtained his inspiration from sources which his citations and many of his doctrinal positions clearly indicate. His writings, the fruit of immense personal labor, may be considered the summit of achievement of Franciscan Scholasticism: by infusing his personal genius into materials gathered by earlier masters, he succeeded in creating a new thing- an organic synthesis of all Franciscan thought. His successors will do no more than develop some of its elements. They will lead certain of his intuitions to completer fulfillment, but no one, not even Duns Scotus, could deeply modify the structure he erected. The place held by Saint Bonaventure in Franciscan theology is, further, a means for determining his position as regards the body of theological teach­ ing in the Church. Would anyone claim that Saint Thomas Aquinas holds a monopoly of that understanding of the Faith which the Church is constantly seeking as it proceeds in timer The part played by the Dominican master was certainly of capital import. But it in no way diminishes his glory to assign him a particular place among the great Doctors of the Church. After Saint Augustine, of the time of Saint Bonaventure, before Suarez and Saint Alphon­ sus of Liguori, Saint Thomas was a ''moment'' in theology. Limiting our conspectus to the Middle Ages, we note a very striking fact: in Paris, the intellectual center of medieval Christendom, two towering figures appear at the same time whose destinies are closely interlocked. Both com­ bine with an unprecedented endeavor toward the understanding of the Faith an evangelical fervor for the renewal of souls. Alike natives of Italy, both come to Paris to complete their studies. Born eight years apart-Bonaventure in 121 7 and Thomas in 1225- both assume the religious habit, the former that of the Minors (Franciscans), the latter that of the Preachers (Dominicans): VII

VIII

INTRODUCTION TO BONAVENTURE

the two Mendicant Orders "whose appearance on the scene is one of the out­ standing facts of twelfth-century Church history." 1 They follow, respectively, the lectures of the two great masters Alexander of Hales and Albert the Great, and eventually succeed them. Thomas devotes his whole life to teaching and to the maturing of a work majestic in clarity and logic. Bonaventure, after nine years of teaching, is forced to assume the labor of administering his Order, and then to concern himself with the affairs of the universal Church. Thomas, the Angel of the Schools, perfects his soul and his holiness by the lifelong pursuit of truth: Bonaventure, the Seraphic Doctor, seeks understanding solely as a path to love. 2 They die in the same year, 1274 (Thomas on March 7, Bonaventure on July 15), thus maintaining to the very end the parallel be­ tween their two lives, so entirely consecrated to the service of God in truth and love. In the framework of medieval Christianity, their closeness is much more apparent than their opposition. There are those who believe that the universal authority of Saint Thomas overshadows that of the equally great Saint Bona­ venture. In fact, however, Bonaventure by his inspired genius seems to respond more genuinely and more deeply to some of the exigencies of modern thought. Plainly, his ontology of participation and essence, derived from Plato through Augustine, 3 Dionysius the Pseudo-Areopagite, and Hugues de Saint-Victor, does not have the same ring as Thomas' ontology of being and efficient causality. The Summa theologica represents the consummate mastery of theological data: it is the most coherent work available to the Christian as a means of understanding his Faith. In contrast, Bonaventure never considers the goal as being attained: he expresses faith in its upward surge, and sees understanding as a constant quest. Here, we recognize the "ascension" of Plato, which Augustine explained in terms of the constant striving of the Christian soul. This, perhaps, is what gives Bonaventure an original place even among the great Doctors of the Church, with whom he ranks in virtue of his religious and speculative genius. In order to bring out this originality, we shall examine first of all the sources upon which Bonaventure has drawn: the ideal of Saint Francis, the School of the Minors in Paris, and the authorities to which he most frequently ap-­ peals. This will be our object in Part I. Part II will attempt to present Bonaventure at work. Language and style will be analyzed, and also method, both in the works of scholastic theologians in general, and in Bonaventure's own writings. We shall then touch upon these writings themselves. The titles of the chapters in the third part of the book are those generally given to Saint Bonaventure: Doctor scripturae evangelicae, Magister in sacra doctrina, Seminator verbi Dei, Doctor devotus.

PREFACE

IX

We should like, in conclusion, to show what a wealth of matter the doc­ trinal writings of Bonaventure contain that is adapted to the thought and the needs of the modern world. Bibliographical notes follow each chapter, with the aim of making clearer to the reader the particular aspect being studied, and at times, of suggesting interesting perspectives and lines of possible research. Our intention is not to produce anything new, but to take stock of all that has been published on Bonaventure since the completion of the critical Qua­ racchi edition ( 1882-1902) . In some instances, we are limited to hypotheses. The Christian Middle Ages, indeed, are far from being perfectly known and great numbers of their texts are still unpublished; hence it is impossible to produce final conclusions on a subject so precisely delimited as ours. The courteous disputations that opposed such experts in medieval studies as Pro­ fessor Gilson, Canon Van Steenberghen, Father Patrice Robert, Father Goree, and Father Victorin Doucet are proof that the survey of the Middle Ages must be approached with modest prudence. To quote Father Robert: "On the broader level of the general studies of the Middle Ages, a final conclusion may clearly be drawn: our knowledge of medieval teachings is still most un­ certain and superficial, even as concerns the greatest scholastic masters, Thomas Aquinas not excepted. May we not find the reason for this in the tendency, which becomes more and more prevalent among historians otherwise highly gifted and full of good intentions, to substitute the philosophy of history for the history of philosophy? The former is undoubtedly necessary; it is certainly more attractive and possibly more useful than the latter; yet it must come second, not first. If the philosophy of history is not founded on a deep knowledge of both texts and doctrines, it will necessarily reach false conclu­ sions and will hamper philosophical thinking instead of promoting it. In this field as in every other, analysis must necessarily precede synthesis.''4 Father M.-D. Chenu has written an Introduction to the Study of Saint Tl1omas Aquinas, the fruit alike of a long and intimate encounter with the Angelic Doctor, and of penetrating knowledge of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. 5 In the following pages, we refer frequently to this work, many of whose observations apply not only to Aquinas but also to the whole theology of the thirteenth century. Our intention of introducing the reader to the study of Bonaventure has been strongly encouraged by the fact that a master such a� Father Chenu was able to draw at length from the Seraphic Doctor as one of his sources, and to appreciate the unique phenomenon of a theologian meditating on Mount Alverno. We have not studied here those works which Bonaventure wrote specifically for the Franciscan Order. They are not directly related to our present purpose, although in the case of a man like Bonaventure his every text is marked by his particular spirit and in a sense bears witness to the unity of his thought.

X

INTRODUCTION TO BONAVENTURE

However, it has seemed to us that we should not add, to a work already sufficiently extensive, further analyses which pertain rather to the history of the Order than to theology or metaphysics.* This work could not have been completed without .the invaluable support of Msgr. Nedoncelle. The enlightened advice of our master, Mr. A. Chavasse, remained our guide throughout the elaboration of our theme; and at the beginning of our task, the brotherly co-operation of Fathers Patrice Robert and Victorin Doucet was of great assistance to us. The final adjustment of certain chapters was made possible only by the kindness of our reception in Quaracchi and the aid there given in the actual work. In dedicating this book to Father Ephrem Longpre, we repeat what we have already had occasion to express- the feelings of admiration and veneration with which he has filled us for almost thirty years. We may say that he was our initiator in the study of and love for Bonaventure, and that the pres­ ent book was born in our own mind on the day he showed us it was needed. To all, we express our gratitude. What we have received from each has contributed more than our own work to whatever of value the reader will find in these pages.

J. G. B

Paris, feast of Saint Bonaventure July 14, 1961

• At the translator's request, Father Bougerol has provided two notes-on the Commentaries on the Rule of Saint Francis, a.nd on the De/mse of the Mendicants­ which will be found in Appendix II, p. 178.

TABLE OF CONTENTS page PREFACE

VII

PART I-THE SOURCES CHAPTER 1: T H E FR A N CI S CA N VO CATIO N OF S A IN T BONAVENTIJRE -

IO

BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTES CHAPTER 2: THE SCHOOL OF THE MINORS IN PARIS

3

-

BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTES -

13 20

CHAPTER 3: SAINT BONAVENTIJRE'S LIBRARY I. AUTHORITY AND CITATION IN THE MIDDLE AGES II. ARISTOTLE AND SAINT BONAVENTUREIII. SAINT AUGUSTINE IV. SAINT ANSELM V. THE SCHOOL OF SAINT-VICTOR VI. DIONYSIUS THE PSEUDO-AREOPAGITE BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTES -

23 25 30

34 37 39 48

PART II-THE TECHNIQUE CHAPTER l: THE S1YLE OF SAINT BONAVENIURE -

53

CHAPTER 2: THE LANGUAGE OF SAINT BONAVENTIJRE

55

CHAPTER 3: THE METHOD OF SAINT BONAVENTIJRE I. THE LECTIO II. THE DISPUTATIO III. BONAVENTURE'S DIALECTIC 1.

THE REDUCTIO

2. THE METHOD OF PROPORTION XI

57 73 75 77

XII

INTRODUCTION TO BONAVENTURE

3.

THE NECESSARY REASONS

78 81 82

-

4. THE ARGUMENT EX PIETATE BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTES

PART III-THE WORK CHAPTER l:

DOCTOR SCRIPTURAE EVANGELICAE

I. THE PLACE OF SCRIPTURE IN BONAVENTURE'S

THEOLOGY II. INTRODUCTION TO THE STUDY OF THE SCRIPTURES III. THE COMMENTARIES: SAINT LUKE IV. THE POSTILLAS 1. 2. 3.

THE

11

POSTILLA ON ECCLESIASTES"

THE

11

-

POSTILLA ON THE GOSPEL OF SAINT JOHN"

V. THE "COLLATIONS ON SAINT JOHN'' -

94

97 98

BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTES CHAPTER 2:

90

95 96 97

-

THE "posTILLA ON THE BOOK OF WISDOM"

85

MAGISTER IN SACRA DOCTRINA

I. THE MASTER OF PARIS 1.

THE FI RST SYNTHESIS: THE "COMMENTARIES ON THE SENTENCES" -

2. 3.

A MANUAL OF THEOLOGY: THE

11

BREVILOQUIUM" -

-

THE "DISPUTED QUESTIONS"

I. In the Light of Christ: the "Quaestiones disputatae de scientia Christi" II. In the Likeness of the Trinity: the "Quaestiones disputatae de mysterio Trinitatis" III. In the Likeness of Christ: the "Quaestiones disputatae de perfectione evangelica · · CONCLUSION: THE UNIQUE MASTER OF KNOWLEDGE

BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTES II. THE DOCTOR OF THE CHURCH 1. 2.

99 108

THE ROAD TO GOD: THE

11

ITINERARIUM" -

-

113 116 117

-

120 122

-

123

-

THE "coLLATIONES"

I. The Ethics of Christ and the Ethics of the Philoso­ phers:

XIII

TABLE OF CONTENTS

the "Collationes de decem praeceptis" II. Theology and Spirituality: the "Collationes de septem donis"

III. The Final Bonaventurian Synthesis: the "Collationes in Hexaemeron"

BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTES CHAPTER 3:

-

-

II. BONAVENTURE AS A PREACHER

-

III. THE SERMONS OF BONAVENTURE

-

128

-

130 134

THEIR TEXT

-

THEIR GENRE

CHAPTER 4:

- 135 - 143 -

THEIR NUMBER

4. THEIR DOCTRINE BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTES

144 145 148 149 152

DOCTOR DEVOTUS

I. BONAVENTURE'S SPIRITUAL DOCTRINE II. THE PRINCIPAL SPIRITUAL WORKS 1. 2. 3.

125

SEMINATOR VERB! DEi

I. MEDIEVAL PREACHING

1. 2. 3.

-

THE

11

-

DE TRIPLICI VIA"

THE "soLILOQUIUM"

-

THE "LIGNUM VITAE" -

III. THE OTHER SPIRITUAL WORKS

BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTES

CONCLUSION:

- 153

-

THE UNITY OF KNOWLEDGE

156 158 159 161 162

- 163

APPENDICES APPENDIX APPENDIX

I: THE CHRONOLOGY OF SAINT BONAVENTURE 171

II: WORKS WRITTEN SPECIFICA L LY FOR THE ORDER -

- 178

APPENDIX Ill: WORKS DIS COVERED AFTER PUBLICATION

OF QUARACCHI EDITION

GENERAL BIBLIOGRAPHY NOTES

-

- 179

-

185

- 203

TH E MAJ OR DATES IN THE LIFE OF SAINT BONAVENTURE

To facilitate the reader's task, we are presenting here the major dates of Bonaventure's life, certain of them parallel with corresponding dates in the history of the Church and of the University of Paris. A detailed study of Bonaventurian chronology will be found in Appendix I, to which we ask the reader to refer for elucidation of the arrangement here. C. 12 1 7: Birth at Bagnorea. 1 225- 1235: Religious education and elementary instruction in Francis­ can Monastery of Bagnorea. 1 236- 1242: Student at the Faculty of Arts in Paris. 1243 : Entrance into the Order in Paris. 1248: Bachelor of Biblical Studies. 1250- 1252 : Bachelor of Sentences. 1252- 1253 : Licentiate and Doctor. 1253- 1257: Regent M a s t e r a t t h e School of the Minors in Paris. Feb. 2 , 1257: Elected 1'1inister Gen­ eral. Aug. 12, 1257: Official recognition as Regent Master of the University. 1259 : Itinerarium.

June 3, 1273: Cardinal Bishop of Albano. July 15, 1274 : Death in Lyons, at the age of 57.

XIV

1245- 1246: Albert the Great teaches in Paris. 1252- 1259 : Thomas Aquinas teaches in Paris.

Aug. 12, 1257: Thomas A q u i n a s made Regent Master. 1266- 1268: Roger Bacon in Paris. 1267- 1273 : Summa theologica . 1270 : First condemnation of Siger de Brabant.

1277: C o n d e mn a t i o n b y Etienne Tempier, Bishop of Paris, of ration­ alistic propo5itions.

PART I THE SOURCRS

Chapter 1 -The Franciscan Vocation of Saint Bonaventure Chapter 2 -The School of the Minors in Paris

Chapter 3 - Saint Bonaventure's Library l. Authority and Citation in the Middle Ages 11. Aristotle and Saint Bonaventure III. Saint Augustine IV. Saint Anselm V. The School of Saint-Victor VI. Dionysius the Pseudo-Areopagite

CHAPTER

1

THE FRANCISCAN VOCATION OF SAINT BONAVENIDRE T HE QUARACCHI EDITORS rightly observe that it is impossible to penetrate the meaning of an author without studying the influences that affected h im and the spirit of the times in which he lived. 1 No one, indeed, is able to draw much original material from himself alone. Every one of us inherits some knowledge without deserving to be called a mere compilator - as Bona­ venture humbly accuses himself of bcing. 2 We receive the gift from the past within a specific historical context that determines in part the way in which we handle it. We add to it, as a personal supplement, that unique view we have of all things, which gives to our work its individual mark. Much has been written on Saint Bonaventure's Franciscanism.3 In order to establish its true character, it is necessary to consider, in history and in his personal life, the major factors that affected him. Outstanding among these, it is clear, were the influence of Saint Francis himself and that of the School of the Minors in Paris. This latter will be considered in a subsequent chapter. The influence of Saint Francis, our immediate subject, can be measured by a number of precise facts. It made itself felt in Bonaventure's life at various times and in different circumstances. The first occurrence was miraculous. Born in Bagnorea, a small town of the Papal states near Viterbo, in the year 1 2 1 7, 4 Bonaventure was still a child when he became so ill that his mother vowed him to Saint Francis of Assisi on condition of his recovery. 5 Thereupon the child regained health. The age to which Bonaventure assigns this (pueru lus and in puerili aetate ) seems to be pueritia, which, according to the medieval manner of measuring the age of man, 6 extended from the seventh to the fourteenth year. Thus it is not probable that the cure took place before the death of Saint Francis (October 3, 1 226) : nor, in addition, was it customary to consecrate anyone by vow to a living person. 7 Franciscan iconography may be losing a touching subject from these considerations, but historical truth is gaining a point. Because of his miraculous cure, Bonaventure kept for Saint Francis such a "sentiment of special love" 8 that he was afraid of being accused of ingratitude if he refused to bear witness to it: "Never would I have dared, unworthy and unable as I feel myself to be, to set down in writing the l ife, deserving of imitation in all things, of a 3

4

INTRODUCTION TO BONAVENTU RE

man himself so venerable, had I not been invited to do so by the affectionate fervor of the brothers, pressed by the unanimous insistence of the General Chapter, and compelled by the devotion which binds me to my holy Father Francis. How, indeed, could I escape? I still bear this as a living memory: that as a child I was snatched away from the jaws of death by his prayer and his merits. I should fear, then, the accusation of ingratitude if I refused my own witness in his praise. Having personally experienced his power, since I owe to his intercession the life of my body and my soul, it was for me to . assume th 1s work . . . . "9 Such was the reason which made Bonaventure bow to the request of the General Chapter of Narbonne in 1 260, and write the life of Saint Franch; known as the Legenda major. It gives a special character to his Franciscan vocation. It is an essential element of his seraphic spirit. If, as the saying goes, gratitude is a potential ingredient of the virtue of justice, 1 0 Bonaventure expressed his thanks in an admirable way in this life of Saint Francis, and in his sermons in honor of the Seraphic Father. But there were other facts which seem to have determined Bonaventure's entry into the Order of Friars Minor. In three different places in his Commentaries on the S entences he speaks of Alexander of Hales as his father and master: patris et mag istri bonae memoria e

fratris A l exandri; 1 1 verumtamen pater et mag is ter noster bona e memoriae f rater A lexander; et f ra tris A lexandri de Hales, patris et mag is tri nostri. 1 2 In spite of the grammatical difference between the plural nostri and the singular subject of the verbs ad1wesi, non recedam, propono , 1 3 is it too much to infer from

these texts that there existed a close friendship between Alexander and Bona­ venture? The former admired the purity of soul of his pupil, who entered the Order as a young man of such spiritual wealth that Alexander said of him: ' 'I do not see in him that Adam sinned. ' ' 1 4 The young Master of Arts was drawn to the evangelic militia by the example of a scholar loaded with honors. before whose learning the whole University of Paris was mute; 1 5 who was procurator of the masters and students exiled to Angers from Paris in 1 229 ; 1 6 and who, finally, had transferred his Chair and reputation to the monastery of the Friars Minor. * Born of a wealthy English family, canon of Saint Paul's in London, Major Archdeacon of Coventry, abundantly provided with benefits of office, Alexander had cast away all his goods and honors to follow the Gospels in the steps of Saint Francis. (Later, he would comment on Francis' Rule, together with three other masters who, like him, had elected to share the poverty and despised state of the Mendicants by becoming Friars Minor. ) 1 7 • As indicated below, Alexander was not originally a Friar Minor. He joined the Franciscan Order in 1 23 1 . (Tr.)

F RANCISCAN VOC ATION

5

And Bonaventure precisely reveals to u s his thoughts when he writes, in his Letter to an Unknown Master: " I confess before God that the reason which made me love most of all the life of blessed Francis is the fact that it resembles the beginning and the growth of the Church. The Church, indeed, began with simple fishermen, and was enriched later with most illustrious and learned doctors. Thus you may understand that the religion of blessed Francis was established, not by the prudence of men, but by Christ, as shown by God Himself. And because the works of Christ do not fail but ceaselessly grow, it is God who has accomplished this work, since scholars have not been reluctant to j oin the company of simple men, heeding the word of the Apostle ( 1 Cor. 3 : 1 8 ) : I/ any one of you thinks h i mself wise in th is world , let h im become a fool , that he may come to be wise . " 1 8 We are in the year 1 24 3 , at a time when the University of Paris counts twelve Chairs of Theology, four of which belong to the Mendicants: two to Saint-Jacques and two to the Friars Minor. 1 9 After the rebellion, which ended in 1 23 1 , the u niversity became conscious of its unity. In 1 229, when the Holy See gave permission to the Preachers to open a school, and in 1 23 1 , when Alexander of Hales took the habit of the Friars Minor, an unstable peace reigned between seculars and regulars. Soon the Mendicants were to exert a great influence over the intellectual youths who came to Paris from every corner of Christendom. As early as 1 224 , the Preachers received many masters and students among their forty novices. 2 0 In 1 226, Jordan of Saxony counted twenty-one registrations, including six Masters of Arts. 2 1 The Friars Minor likewise received an increasing number of graduates in the Arts, and the entrance of Master Alexander into the Order was an important element in the growing enthusiasm of the young, who measure for us the ever greater power of the renewal which the two Mendicant Orders were offering to the Church. 2 2 Bonaventure, for instance, who came to Paris in 1 23 6 - already responsive and , as we know, having been acquainted with Friars Minor in his own coun­ try2 3 -was wholly captivated at the sight of the Franciscans' firstfruits. For in the very footsteps of Saint Francis of Assisi and his companion Giles came Saint Anthony of Padua and Alexander of Hales ; and the vocation of the scholarly Alexander was no less evangelical than that of the humble Giles. Exempla trahunt. Bonaventure offered to divine grace a heart already devoted to the cult of Saint Francis, whose intercession had �aved his life, and a spirit already won over to the evangelism of the Friars Minor. 2 4 Present-day Franciscan vocations are most often born, it seems, from con­ templation of the Poverello, whose figure still towers over history, and whose eyes o f fire seem to rest upon every man begging on his knees to be admitted to the Order. Every Franciscan bears those eyes in his heart, as a call to which

6

INTROD U CTION TO BONAVENTUR E

he desires to respond. But for Bonaventure, Francis is, historically, too close. The interior Franciscan reality seems to strike him less at first than does the exterior of this brotherhood which, beginning with the same littleness and abasement as the Church itself, now witnesses the .masters of intelligence coming down to meet the humble Friars. Alexander of Hales is a potent ex­ ample of this. 2 5 Entering the monastery of the Friars Minor as a Master of Arts, 2 6 Bona­ venture assumes the habit and immediately becomes a pupil of Alexander in the faculty of theology. Under his direction, he studies for a period of at least two years. 2 7 In 1 248, as a Biblical Bachelor, he begins his Scriptural Commentaries; then, in 1 250- 1 25 1 , as a Bachelor of Sentences, he expounds the text of Peter Lombard. Obtaining the degree of Master of Sentences in 1 253, he presides over disputations and acquires the right of "determination" (i. e . , of settling questions by authority) . From Bonaventure's writings as a master, there is very little to be gleaned regarding his Franciscanism. He speaks of Saint Francis twice in the Co m­ mentaries o n Saint Luke, 2 8 twice in the Commentaries o n the S entences, 2 9 and once in the Quaestiones d ispu tatae d e per{ectione evangelica . 3 0 But at some time between 1 253 and 1 257, 3 1 Bonaventure wrote the Le tter to an Unknown Master, in which he reveals to us the deep recesses of his thought. He intended apparently to deal with a number of difficulties pre­ sented by this unnamed addressee - difficulties which ( according to the Breslau manuscript) were raised by members of an Order close to Bonaventure's own. At the same time, Bonaventure wished to convince the recipient, who was attracted to the Friars Minor, that he should yield to this attraction. The addressee, a Master of Arts, was not yet certain how to orient his life defini­ tively. The letter probably overcame his last resistance. In it, Bonaventure displays a deep knowledge of the Rule and life of Saint Francis, which beyond doubt he acquired through study, but most of all through the personal ex­ perience of Franciscan life, lucidly thought out and devotedly practiced. It is certain that Bonaventure began his theological studies immediately after his clothing, for the tradition of a closed novitiate had not yet been established. Nevertheless, from the very beginning and throughout the pro­ bation year, he lived the Rule with all his soul. There is in him no separation between the religious life of a friar and the spirit of a theologian. It is a single existence, entirely devoted to perfection, organized for the increasingly ardent search for Light and Love, in the steps of Saint Francis. Let us return to the Letter to an Unknown itaster. The style is concen­ trated: "You believe that the Rule prescribes poverty, recommends manual labor, and forbids curiosity: so do I. Hence, you loathe the receiving of

FRANCISCAN VOCATION

7

money, the ownership of books and buildings: so do I. Even more, all of us strongly condemn such things and repudiate them. In all of this, we agree. " 3 2 To be sure, the community of friars is not made up entirely of saints. [xperience teaches Bonaventure not to be over-concerned about individual fail­ ings, 3 3 but rather to consider the sanctity of the community as a whole, and the state of perfection in which it lives. He loves this community, and is always the first to perform the lowly tasks of a Friar Minor. "For they must beg for alms, do the cooking, take care of the sick, wash the dishes, and fulfill all manner of humble works which are sweeter to the friars than would be many honorable offices. ' ' 3 4 For Bonaventure, as for his spiritual father Saint Francis, work is merely a means, not an end: "Note that he [ Saint Francis] does not say: I prescribe, or even I couns e l , that the friars work. Nor does he say: Let the friars work who have the strength and the capacity to do so. He says: Let those work to whom God gave the grace to work -which includes not only the capacity to work, but also the will. Just as, if he had said: Let the friars to whom the Lord gave the grace of tears weep moderately so as not to lose their eyesight, he would not be ordering them to weep. That is what he means here. He himself gave little importance to manual labor, except as a means for avoiding idleness: he, who was the most perfect observer of the Rule, probably never gained 1'velve pennies from the work of his hands. " 3 5 But Bonaventure wishes also to clarify the question of studies. The Friars Minor are blamed for occupying magistral seats, thus betraying the spirit of humility of their founder. This reproach affects him all the more strongly as it apparently comes from the religious of an Order close to his, in which he counts many friends, and which he sincerely loves. In his response to these difficulties, he makes less use of the dialectical subtleties of wh ich he is a master than of his personal experience. He has asked himself this very ques­ tion, as does every Franciscan who desires to live the Rule without compro­ mise. His answer is very simple, so simple that it appears as the fruit of many years of thought: Every man must remain in the vocation to which God has called him. The layman must not desire to become a cleric ; the cleric must fallow the clerical way. Bonaventure feels he is on firm ground, quoting Saint Francis himsel f who said in his Testament: " As for theologians and those who dispense to us the most holy words of God , we must honor them and revere them as being the purveyors of spirit and life. " 3 6 If, then, Bonaventure strongly rejects the honors of mastership, he yet recommends the acceptance of its labors: "I say, therefore, in accordance with the Gospc I , that the ambition and pomp of such a title [ Master] i s worthy of condemnation, and not at all of desire, but that the burden o f it

8

INTRODUCTION TO BONAVENTURE

must be assumed. ' ' 3 7 Is not such a master as Friar Alexander of Hales a wonderful example of this detachment from honors? He has both taught it and practiced it, so that he deserves to be called great in the kingdom of heaven. There remains one more difficulty which, for Bonaventure, is very serious: a difficulty which explains, in part if not completely, the reason why we have found no commentary from his pen on Aristotle, Boethius, or Porphyry. He has asked himself whether to study and teach philosophy. 38 The answer is clear, and he lets his heart speak out: ' 'Dear friend, it remains now for me to speak of those who philosophize. Would that we could agree on this as we have agreed so far! Even as imprudent investigations are displeasing to you, so are they to me, and to good brothers, and to God, and to His angels. I cannot bear complacently with the perpetrators of such immature writings, for I detest them as much as you do. But I would wish that you and I may have zeal according to knowledge, and detest no more than ,ve should, nor things that should not be detested. " 3 9 For there is need to translate the words of God into human words. If we are to study heresy in order to answer heretics, we do not become heretics by doing so . Philosophy is useful as a means toward the better understanding of truth and the refutation of error. And more: many of the questions which faith proposes to us cannot be solved without philosophy. Augustine has al­ ready said it: ' 'We cannot understand Holy Scripture without knowing other sciences. " 40 Hence philosophy has its place, which is strictly determined: it must lead to the understanding of faith. Thus Bonaventure, Master in Theology, does not betray his father: he continues a true Friar Minor, whose ideal remains the same as that of Saint Francis, although the means he employs for its realization are different. Their minds and hearts are so much at one that it has been rightly said that Bonaventure translated into concepts the intuitions of Francis, and that Bona­ venture's experience of Franciscan spirituality influenced his metaphysics. 4 1 In the year 1 257, when he was called by the General Chapter to head the Order, he took the first opportunity of making a pil grimage to Mount Alverno. He wished, at one and the same time, to recall the wounds and holiness of his father, and to ascend like him toward God. The Jou rney of the Mind to God is, before everything else, the witness of a soul resolved to live with all its powers the Franciscan ideal it has come to perceive. Bonaventure has become a man of desires. 42 On reading the Letter, which is, i n a sense, his spiritual legacy, we are deeply edified by the moral ascesis to which he submitted himself. His personal experience of the religious life leads him to declare that it requires unusual will power and ardent love for the Lord: "Such discipline

FRANCISCAN VOCATION

9

in the present life appears, not as joy, but as pain." 4 3 Bonaventure knows perfectly whence his father drew the strength to persevere in these dispositions, and he follows the same road. His spirituality is entirely centered on Christ, but on Christ crucified ; which induced Saint Francis de Sales to write so delightfully: ' 'As for you, 0 very holy and seraphic doctor Bonaventure, who in composing your divine works seem to have had no paper but the cross, no pen but the spear, no ink but the blood of my Saviour, great is your power to move when you cry out: 'How good it is to live with the Crucifix! ' " 44 And so, both in his life and in his works, Bonaventure reveals himself to us as a true son of Saint Francis. It would be easy to show how this Francis­ can W eltanschauung influenced the major propositions of his metaphysics and theology. ·Not alone his spirituality, but all of his thought, is centered on Christ. Christ is indeed the center of everything: the middle One of the divine Persons; the exemplary Cause of the whole creation; and, by His redeeming incarnation, the Mediator of salvation and life, the Light who brings to every man u nderstanding and the certainty of trutir-·· He is also the Goal toward whom tend all the efforts of ascesis and all the desires of the soul in its quest for God through contemplation. When Bonaventure realizes that Saint Francis, after recovering original innocence, sees the whole of creation as a steppingstone, 4 � he knows why this is so . . 'The purified vision of man is able to perceive reality, while to the eye of the sinner it is deeply obscured. Although God remains silent, all His works speak of Him: "Every creature is a word of God. " 4 6 .' / For Bonaventure, creation itself is an immense sacrament. Indeed , God has given us two books which communicate to us the understanding of His work and of His being: the book of Scripture and the book of creation. The Bonaventurian vision of creation as a unique and historical event gives us an u nderstanding of how Christ brought salvation to us/ When creation is considered from such a viewpoint, the problem of predestination, raised later by Duns Scotus, is seen in its true perspective. All things are signs of God, and the effort of man must be to rediscover God in all things in order that, through all things, he may ascend to Him. Where£ore exemplarism is at the very core of Bonaventure's thought. It finds its source in Saint Francis. 47 Precedents may be traced to twelfth-century theologians and to some of the Fathers: but one point personal to Bonaventure is that he organized his whole vision of creation in relation to exemplarism . No wonder, then, that he manages to close the "intelligible circle, ' ' 48 and that he propounds the oneness of knowledge. 4 9 Throughout the present book we shall have o pportunities to note Bona...­ venture' s proximate sources. But before going into this analytical work, it

10

INTRODUCTION TO BONAVENTURE

has seemed necessary to underline the principle which unifies the whole Bonaventurian opus, whether its object be properly theological and scriptural, or Franciscan, or spiritual. The inspiration remains u nchanged throughout; the goal Bonaventure sets for himself is ever the same. Here, intelligence is at the service of devotion. 50 And so we behold in Bonaventure a high light of the thirteenth century, both as a religious and as a man: a man of Christendom, simultaneously loving intellectual knowledge and in love with evangelical life : a man both of action and of contemplation : a man of governance, acclaimed by history as the second founder of the Franciscan Order, and a man of the Church, de­ fending papal primacy against the attacks of secular power and of the uni­ versity jealously clinging to its privileges: a man who died in the midst of an ecumenical council, having first seen to its detailed preparation, and led Greeks and Latins to sing the Creed together.

BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTES 1 . Before entering upon the study of Bonaventure's works, it may be hel p­ ful to consider the Middle Ages in general, as presented by the following reliable authorities: first, A . FLICHE, La chretiente romaine, 1 1 98- 1 2 74 ( His­ toire de l'Eglise, Fliche-Martin, 1 0, Paris, 1 950 ) : then, A FOREST, F. VAN e ST EENBE RGH EN, M. D E GANDI L LAC, Le mouvement doctrinal d u au XIV siecle (Histoire de l'Eglise, Fliche-Martin, 1 3 ) : or J. CH EVALIER, Histoire de la pensee . 2. La pensee chretienne ( Paris, 1 956) . A more detailed study is provided by M. D E WU L F, Histo ire de la pensee medievale ( 3 vols. , 6th ed. , Lou vain-Paris, 1 934- 1 94 7 ) , with an extensive bibliography. Also worth reading: F. UEBERWEG-GEYER, G rundriss der Geschich te der Ph ilosophie (Berlin, 1 928 ) , section on Die patris tische und sclwlastische Philosophie; and the various works of E. GILSON on medieval philosophy, including A . Gilson Reader (Image, New York, 1 957 ) . After this general survey, the attention of the student should turn to the classical works on Saint Francis, on the Franciscan Order, and on methods of study in that Order. The best life of Saint Francis remains that of J . JoERG ENSEN, Sa int Fran�ois d 'Ass ise ( Paris, 1 9 1 2 ) , reprinted many times. A general view of the history of the Order is provided by FR . GRATIEN, Histo ire de la fondation et de l' evolution de l' ordre des j\f in eurs au XIII� s iecle (Paris, 1 928) : as also by FR. H1 LARIN FE LDER, L' h is toire des etudes dans l ' Ordre de Sa in t Franrois depu is sa f ondation jusq u' a vers la moitie d u XI Il e siecle (Paris, 1 908) .

xr

FRANCISCAN VOCATION

11

2 . There exists no modern biography of Saint Bonaventure besides that of FR . LEONARD LEMM ENS, Der heilige Bonaventura (Kempen-Munich, 1908). For an adequate grasp of the man and of his background, the student should read E. GI LSON 's fundamental work, La philosophie de Saint Bonaventure ( 3rd ed . , Paris, 1953). A comprehensive view of the life of Saint Bonaventure is given by FR. E. LoNGPRE in the article Bonaventure (DHGE, 9 [ 1937] , 74 1-788); see also, by the same author, Bonaventure ( Catholicisme, 2 [ 1950] , 122- 138) for a general study of his thought; and Bonaventure ( DS, 1 [ 193 7] , 1786- 1843) for a more direct treatment of his spiritual theology. A very interesting study remains to be made on Saint Bonaventure's life of Saint Francis, the Legenda major, to determine his interpretation of the Fran­ ciscan ideal. The broad outlines of such a study were traced by FR. MICHEL BIH L in the introduction to the critical edition of the Legenda (AF, 10 [ 1885] , LXII-LXXXI). The introduction to the critical edition of the Glossa of ALEXAND ER OF HA L ES (Vol . 1 , Quaracchi, 195 1) contains the most complete biography of the first Franciscan master in Paris. It examines in particular his relationship with Bonaventure. A definitive bibliography on Saint Bonaventure is still to be compiled, but its elements exist, perfectly classified, in the Capuchin Fathers' Collectanea franciscana (Rome, 1 935 ff.). The Bulletin de theologie ancienne et medievale of Louvain provides twice a year a report on everything, or almost everything, published on the thought and history of Bonaventure. Volume I of the Obras de San Buenaventura, by the Spanish Friars Minor, contains an excellent bibliography.

•

CHAPTER

2

THE SCHOOL OF THE MINORS IN PARIS " ACCURSED Paris, which has destroyed our Assisi! " 1 This exclamation of Jacopone da Todi summarizes the feelings of the "spirituals" toward the school of theology in Paris. The fear inspired in the first companions of Saint Francis by the establishment of a study center in the intellectual capital of Christendom was indeed very strong. Yet the history of the Franciscan School shows how unwarranted were these misgivings of the primitive friars and how much new greatness Paris conferred upon the ideal of the Little Poor Man. Paris, rather, crowned Assisi. The Friars Minor arrived in Paris in the year 1 2 1 9 . Tho mas of Eccleston informs us that they lived at first outside the city, in a modest house at Saint-Denis, 2 a dwelling which could hold no more than about thirty religious. As late as 1 224, they had to go to a neighboring parish to celebrate their Offices, having no church of their own. Some time after that, they began the construction of a large monastery in Vauvert ( Vallis Viridis ) ; but it must have been too magnificent for poor friars, for it fell to the ground when about to be blessed, in 1 229 . The abbot of Saint-Germain-des-Pres lent them some houses belonging to the abbey, but they were not permitted to enlarge these, nor to build a church there. In the year 1 234, however, King Saint Louis purchased the residences and gave them to the friars outright, together with a large additional piece of land. Pope Gregory IX confirmed this donation in 1 236, 3 and, on Decem­ ber 8, 1 239, granted permission for building. Thus was born the great Couvent des Cordeliers, which took twenty-three years to complete, and ex­ tended from the porte Saint-Germain to the porte Saint-Michel. It was in the church of this monastery that, on every feast day, a sermon was delivered to the teachers and students of the university, while every Sunday saw the university convening at the Church of Saint-Jacques in the monastery of the Preachers. 4 The School of the Minors in Paris was placed under the direct authority of the Minister General, represented by the Custodian of the Great Monastery. It followed the same regulations as those of the university, laid down by Robert de Coun;on. 5 Each of the thirty-two provinces of the Order had the right to send two students to Paris on free scholarships. The only expense charged to the 13

14

INTRODUCTION TO BONAVENTURE

monastery of origin was the cost of books. Within the limits of available quarters, other friars were allowed to come at their own expense to follow the university lectures. Such were called s tuden tes de gratia ( students by favor) . In the year 1 268, Saint Bonaventure, following the university practice, grouped the students into four ' ' nations' ' - Spaniards, Germans, Lombards, and Romans * - each "nation" being headed by a dean. 6 The Couvent des Cordeliers became the wellspring of the great intellectual movement called the Franciscan School. It was there that, in 1 23 6 - the year in which the Pope confirmed the royal donation of buildings and land ­ Master Alexander of Hales requested the habit of the Friars Minor, and thither that he moved the Chair of Theology to which he had been appointed. Born some time before 1 1 86 in Hale Owen, Shropshire, Alexander studied in Paris, where, prior to 1 2 1 0, he became a Master of Arts. Passing over to the faculty of theology, he became a Bachelor, then, in 1 220- 1 22 1 , Regent Master. 7 In 1 229, during the great dispute between the Schools of Paris, Alexander moved with his students to Angers, where he served as their procurator. In August, 1 230, he appeared - together with Guillaume d 'Auxerre, Godefroid de Poitiers, and Jean Pagne - before the Curia in Rome, in which city he re­ mained u ntil May, 1 23 1 . 8 Next he went to England, returning to Paris the following year. His entrance into the Order took place some time in the beginning of the academic year 1 23 6- 1 237, when he was about fifty years old. This late Franciscan vocation, extraordinary as it appears, may be explained by the attraction he felt toward the evangelical life as practiced by the early friars. It was natural, however, that his action should give rise to much comment in Paris. Immediately after his clothing, Master Alexander resumed his teach­ ing, but now within the walls of the monastery. He remained a regent u ntil his death. In 1 238, Jean de Ia Rochelle obtained a second Chair for the Friars Minor, who thus attained equal magistral authority and an equal number of Chairs with the Preachers of Saint-Jacques. 9 Shortly after the entrance of Alexander of Hales into the Order, his reli­ gious superiors sought his assistance ( 1 23 8- 1 239 ) in the grave matter of the deposition of Brother Elias. In addition, he collaborated with Jean de la Rochelle, Eudes Rigaud, and Robert de la Bassee, u nder the leadership of Gode froid de Brie, Custodian of the Great Monastery, in the writing of an Exposition of th e Rule o f th e Friars Minor ( 1 24 1 - 1 242 ) . 1 0 • The Catholic Encyclopedia has: French, Picards, Normans, and English. (Tr.)

THE SCHOOL OF THE MINORS

15

Alexander certainly took part in the condemnation by Paris masters, in 1 24 1 or 1 244, of ten propositions of which Bonaventure writes. 1 1 In 1 245, together with three cardinals, including Hugues de Saint-Cher, and three bishops, including Robert Grosseteste and Guiard de Laon, he par­ ticipated in the Council of Lyons as the " great doctor" of the Paris faculty of theology. He died on August 2 1 , 1 245, during an epidemic in Paris a short time after his return from the council. The fame of Alexander extends beyond the University of Paris: he may truly be seen as the founder of the Franciscan School, for he gave that school both its body of teachings and its characteristic spirit. His influence appears more and more clearly as the Quaracchi editors give us the critical texts of his basic works: the Theologica l Summa , the G loss o n the Four Books of Sentences , and the Disputed Qucstions . 1 2 The Th eologica l Summa gives rise t o many complicated problems, which Father Victorin Doucet has studied, and in great part resolved, in a remarkable appendix to the text itself. 1 3 We give his conclusions here: 1 . Books I, II, and III were compiled mainly before 1 245, that is, before Alexander's death. 2 . The major sources of these three books are Alexander's own Questions and the writings of Jean de la Rochelle. No major source is later than 1 245. 3. It is certain that these three books are a compilation. History does not say as yet who did the actual work of compiling. 4 . The last question in Book I, De mission e visibili (nn. 5 14-5 1 8) , is probably a later addition whose author may be Eudes Rigaud. 5. In Book II, part I, the treatises De corpore humano and De conjuncto ( nn. 427-523 ) are later additions whose author may be William of Middleton writing between 1 260 and 1 270. 6. Book IV 1 4 was compiled by William of Middleton. Within this book, the questions De sacramentis are earlier than 1 24 8 : the questions De con­ tributione, also earlier than 1 248, are the work of Eudes Rigaud ; and finally, the questions De perfectione evangel ica were written by Saint Bonaventure between 1 253 and 1 256. The methods of work characteristic of the Middle Ages appear here in full light. The "Summa of Alexander of Hales " is the product of a team of theologians, disciples of the master to whom the entire work is ascribed in the title. Moreover, it combines the knowledge of the whole Christian tradi­ tion with that of pagan thought. It is a remarkable, indeed a unique, witness to the intellectual state of the first half of the thirteenth century. The doctrine is that of traditional Augustinianism: that is, the Augustinian­ ism of Saint Augustin e as recast by Saint Anselm and enlarged with the speculations of the School of Saint-Victor. 1 5 The original synthesis was made

16

INTRODUCTION TO BONA VENTURE

in the days of Guillaume d' Auvergne, but the orientation of the S umma is different: here Aristotle prevails over Avicenna. And, since the main subject treated is theology, Saint Augustine and Saint Anselm prevail over Aristotle. 1 6 The dependence upon Augustine appears clearly in the vocabulary of the S umma. Its theology combines sacra doctrina with sacra scriptura or scientia sacrae scripturae. 1 7 The definition of theology may be different in the Summa and in the Quaestiones dispu tatae de theolog ia , 1 8 but, with Alexander of Hales, theology remains the science secundum pietatem. The formal object of theol­ ogy is the same as that of Sacred Scripture. Thus we have here a return of theological epistemology to the De doctrina christiana of Augustine. Bonaven... ture, while making a distinction between the formal objects of Scripture and theology, maintains the same unity. By introducing the notion of the total Christ, he asserts that all things belong to theology in that they are related to the intelligible aspect of the truths of faith. Already in the works of Alexander of Hales the techniques proper to reason alone are denied any theological value. We shall see later how this fundamental position is main... tained by Bonaventure. The Summa followed the plan of the Sentences of the Lombard, and this in itself was a novelty. The method of exposition of the Questions also set a pattern of debate that lasted until the end of the Middle Ages. The formula of the threefold division, originated by Abelard, became classical: arguments pro, arguments contra, followed by the "determination" of the master and the answers to objections. We shall recognize in the works of Bonaventure, especially in the Brevilo­ q uium, expressions used by Alexander - for instance, the introduction to developments: ad praedictorum intelligentiam notandum. The G loss on the Fou r Books of the Sentences is Alexander's own work. He brought about a veritable revolution when he introduced the text of Peter Lombard next to the Scriptures in the curriculum of the faculty of theology. Indignant reproaches from Roger Bacon failed to prevent this initiative from spreading rapidly as a tradition in all the Schools. The Quaracchi editors place the G loss between the years 1 220 and 1 227, that is, well before Master Alexander entered the Franciscan Order. And yet, this work imposed itself upon the School of the Minors. We shall indicate later the influence which the G loss may have had upon the first reading of the S entences by Bonaventure as a Bachelor of Sentences. This reading is repre­ sented by the dubia of his commentary. It is enough to compare these two texts to understand how the young bachelor enlightened his studies by using the master's G loss . The G loss represents the type of reading which was called "cursory, ' ' that is, textual. The expositor presented the actual text of the Sentences , and

T H E SCHOOL O F T H E MINORS

17

stopped at certain words to define their meaning in the light of the Scriptures or the Fathers. If a difficulty arose from such comparisons, he proposed a solution, but always briefly. Alexander's Disputed Ques tions, on the other hand, constitute a much more advanced form of exposition. The critical study of this text brings to the history of medieval teachings a contribution which may be called capital. Yet, it may take years to trace the precise filiation of some of its passages thus far considered original. The greatest masters of the Middle Ages, not exclud­ ing Bonaventure and Aquinas, are linked by common sources. The critical edition of Alexander's Q uestions makes it evident that, in spite of the different bent of individual minds, the great medieval theologians represent one and the same movement of a Christianity renewed by the Mendicants' evangelism, and seeking to understand the Faith in order to live it better. Very early, the School of the Minors took a definite position in the face of the Aristotelian invasion. Rather than risk a decreasing fervor in religious spirit that might have resulted from the study of the philosophers, it chose to judge Aristotle in the light of Augustine. Alexander of Hales marked out the way in which the whole of Franciscan thought was to develop. Very little is known about the masters who taught when Alexander was regent of the Franciscan School, and after his death until the incumbency of Bonaventure. Jean de la Rochelle 1 9 joined the Order in Paris in 1 23 1 or 1 232. Some time be£ore 1 235, he was presented by Alexander of Hales to receive the degree of Licensed Bachelor. He became Regent Master in 1 236. His work is considerable in scope and significance, but remains almost entirely unpub­ lished. He certainly gave Alexander important assistance in the composition of the Summa - to the extent, indeed, that it is hard to distinguish between their individual contributions. Eudes Rigaud is better known. 2 0 He joined the Minors in 1 236, was a pupil of Alexander, and became Regent Master at the death of Jean de la Rochelle in 1 245. He retained that position until his elevation in 1 24 7 to the archiepiscopal See of Rauen. We find him again in 1 274 at the Council of Lyons, assisting Bonaventure in the preparation of the sessions. He died on July 2, 1 275. Eudes does not consider theology to be a science, as we learn from the two texts published by Pergamo, 2 1 the prologues to the Commentaries on the Sentences and to the Quaestiones disputatae dt theologia . In this matter of the character of theology, the influence of Eudes Rigaud on Bonaventure is unmistakable. Eudes was the first to note the importance of the habitus fidei, which is neither faith nor demonstrative science, but understanding perfecting

18

INTRODUCTION TO BONAVENTURE

the intellect with the sole intention of improving the aff ectus . It was Eudes who definitely geared the Order of Friars Minor in its approach to faith. 2 2 Eudes Rigaud' s successor, William of Middleton, apparently followed the same road, 2 3 although we know of him only that· he sedulously carried out the Pope's wish that he complete Alexander's Summa. Of the other masters we have mentioned, Robert de la Bassee, 2 4 Eudes de Rosny, 2 5 and Bertrand de Bayonne, 2 6 the chief thing to be said of them is that in their teaching they were the faithful disciples of Alexander. Bonaventure, as a theology student, knew all these masters. For eight years he lived in an atmosphere of ardent religious life, scriptural labors, and deep theological study. During this time he took part in the disputations as well, perfecting the dialectic instrument first developed in him in the faculty of arts; but most important of all was the grasp he acquired of Scripture and of the "authorities." This understanding visibly increases throughout the course of his teaching down to his final work, the Collationes in H exaemeron; yet it is in evidence in his very first writing, the Commentaries . As we have seen, the main doctrinal current of the world into which he came was Augustinian in origin, but influenced by Anselm and the Victorines. The thought of Augustine thus reached Bonaventure in a form enriched with important intellectual developments and with the spiritual fervor of many saints, whose inner ascension had further perfected the living tradition of theology. At the same time, Bonaventure was being formed in a special spiritual climate: that of the Franciscan School, whose particular character led him to develop from an original viewpoint certain elements of the Augus­ tinian tradition. Bonaventure must be approached, not from the standpoint of our present ideas, but in the historical context in which he lived. His years of study in Paris gave him the opportunity to read, and undoubtedly to copy, his masters, and through them, to gain a knowledge of the "authorities. " But he did more than merely study: he lived in the monastery and in the university. Every Sunday found him at Saint-Jacques listening to the sermon traditionally delivered by one of the Preachers. Since Albert the Great taught in Paris from 1 240 to 1 24 8 - during which time Bonaventure studied under the re­ gency of William of Middleton, and ( 1 248) became a Biblical Bachelor -the Franciscan student had many opportunities to hear the great Dominican master, whether in his sermons or in disputations and determinations. This was the time when Albert led the School of the Preachers to make a decisive turn, by injecting the philosophers into the teaching of theology. After Albert's departure for Cologne, Bonaventure kept the memory of him as a powerful theologian; he clearly understood the Dominican master's funda­ mental positions, and most of all, the bent of his mind. In the prologue

THE SCHOOL OF THE MINORS

19

to his Commentaries, Bonaventure solemnly affirmed that he intended not to depart from the traditional teachings he himself had received from his masters. He was then saying, precisely and deliberately, what he meant. In various passages of his writings, reminiscences of Albert the Great may be found, so clear that they cannot be the result of coincidence. We should accept this without criticism, remembering the conventions which governed medieval theologians. Every one of them candidly gathers data from every possible source. For them, there is but one faith, but one light by which to pursue the understanding of that faith. And since such light comes from the Father , it is unthinkable that any of His children should appropriate the smallest of its rays to himself alone. This point of view, strange to us today, was kept alive by the openness of intellectual life in the University of Paris. Masters, and students as well, were of all nations. In this catholicity, no one school was self-enclosed, turned in upon itself. People came from every­ where to hear Master Alexander or Master Albert, Master Guillaume d'Auver­ gne or Chancellor Philippe. When, in 1 273, at the height of the doctrinal dispute [ between seculars and Mendicants] , Bonaventure gave his famous lectures on the H exaemeron, the whole university attended. It is easy to imagine the comments and the passionate discussions generated by such a firm statement of principles. Before attempting to study any medieval author, then, we should guard against possible mistakes in judgment by taking into account the known circumstances of university life. We should also remember that the great masters Thomas Aquinas and Bonaventure, although they certainly enjoyed the veneration of their disciples, were not canonized during their lifetime. The doctrinal disputations, the conflicts between regulars and seculars, gave rise to personal encounters in which both sides appeared in all their human frailty. Thomas lost patience completely on one occasion when John Peckham pur­ sued him with objections : and Bonaventure was roundly criticized for having acquiesced in the condemnation of John of Parma, his predecessor in the government of the Order and his personal friend. Such human-scale hap­ penings are not sufficient to shadow the greatness of souls who otherwise spent their whole earthly pilgrimage seeking light. Another point is worth noting. We have commented earlier upon the fact that Saint Francis is mentioned very seldom in the works of Bonaventure. And yet this is not really strange. Life in the great monastery of Paris was far removed from Assisi and from the inner conflicts of the Order. Although friars came from every province, they had little practical part in general Franciscan business. Of their brother Saint Francis they knew only what Thomas of Celano had written, and the heated arguments of the Spirituals died on the doorstep of the monastery, as on the shores of a foreign world.

20

INTROD UCTION TO BONAVENTURE

loachino di Fiore probably had some influence on the students. His teach­ ings were very probably discussed in the cloister; but study came first, and the friars could take active part in the life of the Order only after leaving the School. That is why Bonaventure, as soon as he was elected Minister General of the Friars Minor (February, 1 257) , desired to go to Assisi and to Mount Alverno: he was impelled by a commanding desire to know Saint Francis better. Between him and the father whose ideals he had loved and lived, there was a total communion of souls. Yet he longed to perceive in full detail how Saint Francis ascended Mount Alverno. By the time he composed the Legenda major, he had acquired the understanding of these events from an inner vision, and thus was able to demonstrate grace at work in a soul com­ pletely open to it. 2 7

BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTES

1 . The history of the School of the Minors in Paris is outlined in the work of Fr. HrLARIN D E LUCERNE quoted herein in the footnotes to chapter 1 . Abundant information on this pioneer Franciscan School will be found also in the first chapters of E. G1LS0N's book, La philosophie de Saint Bonaven­ ture, as well as in the Histoire de la pensee of J EAN CHEVALI ER. There is some information likewise in another work by GI LSON, La philosophie au Moyen-Age ( 2nd ed., Paris, 1 934 ) . A comparative study remains to be made between, on the one hand, the dubia of the Commentaries on the Sentences, and, on the other, the G lossa and Quaestiones disputatae antequam esset f rater of Alexander of Hales. The elements of such a study will be found, under the word "Bonaventure, " in the remarkable indexes of the Quaracchi edition of these two works. We shall give later on an example of collocation of their texts; but the research must be continued from the beginning of the Commentaries to the end. The bond which links Bonaventure and Alexander of Hales appears even more clearly when the study is extended to Guillaume d'Auxerre, Eudes Rigaud, Jean de la Rochelle, and William of Middleton; but many texts of these masters are still in manuscript form. The work of B. PERGAMO mentioned in the general bibliography may serve as a guide. 2. As for the question of the two Chairs in the School of the Minors: although FR. V. DoucET has formulated ( in the prolegomena to the critical edition of the Glossa of Alexander of Hales, I , 70 * -74 • ) a solution which, to our mind, is authoritative, we list here the studies which lead to the clearest understanding of the matter:

THE SCHOOL OF THE MINORS

21

P. G LORIEUX, D'A lexandre d e Hales a Pierre A urio l . La su ite des maitres franc isca ins d e Paris a u Xllt siecle (AFH, 26 [ 1 93 3 ] , 257-281 ) : V. DouC ET, Maitres f rancisca ins de Paris . Supplement au Repertoire des maitres en theolog ie au XIII" siecle de M. le Chan. Glorieux (AFH, 27 [ 1934 ] , 53 1564 ) : A. TE ETAERT, critique of the article of P. GLORIEUX (CG, 5 [ 1 935] , 309, n. 44). 3. On the Franciscan masters who preceded Bonaventure, see the articles by FR. F. HENQUIN ET, Eudes d e Rosny, Eudes R igaud, et la Somme d 'A lex­ andre d e Hales (AFH, 3 3 [ 1940] , 3-54): and, by the same, Le canoniste Mainfro id de Tortona , disciple d 'A l exandre de Hales et de Jean de la Rochelle (AFH, 33 [ 1 940] , 221 -225) . John o f Parma should not be forgotten, for he was probably one of Bonaventure's masters. On all those we have named, see the bibliography o f the Collectanea f ranciscana and the articles in DTC and DHGE.

CHAPTER

3

SAINT BONA VENfURE'S LIBRARY

N O MEDIEVAL THEOLOGIAN would have dreamt of wntmg a com-

pletely personal book. More than at any other period in history, the thinker knew he was but one link in a long chain of faith, thought, and religious experience. That is why, before we come to the works of Bonaven­ ture, we must consider the sources he drew upon. This method will allow us to gauge the extent of his own contribution by comparing these sources with the use to which he put them by reason of his personal genius.

I. A UTHORITY AND CITATION IN THE MIDDLE AGES A modern reader is often astonished at the way medieval authors handle the texts they quote. There seems to be a complete lack of proportion between the importance such authors give to the Fathers and the authentici or "au­ thorities," and the, as we would say, unscientific way they use their actual words. The Middle Ages remained faithful to the principle of tradition. 1 Next to Scriptural proof, the argument from the authorities was the perfect weapon for the masters: in some instances, it even took precedence over Scripture. 2 And what is meant by the argument from tradition? Has it any logical force at all? Historical research should lead to the convergence of several opinions: their accord would then serve as the foundation for argumentation. But none of the masters seem to show a trace of such scientific concern. When faced with two different versions of a text, they do not even try to determine which is the more accurate.3 The answer is, of course, that the religious situation in the Middle Ages did not require such investigation. Everyone made use of tradition with perfect equanimity. Even when the past needed to be questioned, nothing of the material gathered for that purpose ever appeared in the master's final work. But it is somewhat disturbing to see with what total credulity medieval writers accepted, not only the most authentic monuments of tradition, but also certain works whose origin must always have been dubious, and is still so today. Theologians were not much concerned with reducing the contradictions they discovered in the text of the "authorities. " All followed the example of 23

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Peter Lombard, who was content "to set the different texts side by side, or [who] attempted to reconcile the discordant assertions by what has been called a 'pious' interpretation - the first sign of a tendency which was to become the general rule as regards doctors of the class of the authentici [ or auctoritates ] , and which would be designated by the words pie or reverenter exponendum. ' ' 4 No wonder, then, that major theologians of the Middle Ages did nothing more than touch upon the problem of the development of Christian doctrine. 5 In fact, there was overlapping of the argument of tradition and the argument of authority. That is why "the technique of medieval argumentation included both pagan and Christian writers in the canon of its auctoritates . " 6 A list of such "authorities" had been set up once and for all : after them came the magistralia, or works of the doctors. "Authority, " writes Bonaventure, "has no efficacy as proof outside of faith. Hence the solidity of an argument rests upon this faith. For instance, when certitude is sought concerning future resurrection, the proof is first established through Holy Scripture in the words of the prophets who spoke about resur­ rection. If we wish to go beyond this and to prove that they have told the truth, the answer is that we know the truth of their sayings because the Holy Spirit inspired them. Thus, it is the faith which they received from God which makes their sayings authentic. And we, in turn, are assured of their authenticity through the faith we receive from the same God . " 7 This, then, appears to the medieval writer as sufficient reason to be content with a single quotation from the Fathers, provided it is properly interpreted. Nevertheless, "the study of the hermeneutical rules of argumentation would permit the discovery, in the works of more than one theologian, of at least the possibility, if not the existence, of a dogmatic development which their point of view did not lead them to consider more closely. " 8 Let us finally consider this: if medieval theologians gave little attention to the genesis of theological questions, their point of view is not lacking in wisdom or clarity. "We should not bend the authority of the saints to our reason, but on the contrary, submit our reason to the authority of the saints wherever there is no express absurdity . ' ' 9 * -----

• Such a position is open to criticism because it implies in the writings of the saints but two categories of statements: those to which we must bow, and those that are expressly absurd. This leaves no place for statements of an intermediate nature that are only partly or qualifiedly true. The words of a saint are subject to all the rules of logic, and there is no reason why we should accept a partial mistake any more than an express error. When we give the saint the full benefit of the doubt, this does not exclude the possible existence in his writings of the many shades of error which are part of the common lot of man. (Tr.)

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If, now, we seek to determine which are the authors cited by medieval masters, we note how seldom the pre-Nicene Fathers are called to the wit­ ness stand. 1 0 Saint Cyprian appears very seldom, Tertullian not at all in Bona­ venture, nor Saint Irenaeus, nor the Co m mo n i tori u m of Vincent de Lerins. The post-Nicene tradition is well represented: Saint Basil, Saint Gregory Nazianzen, and most frequently of all, Saint John Chrysostom, although in the main citations attributed to him are in fact quoted from an apocryphal work, the Co mmenta ry on Sa int Ma tth ew, called opus imperf ectu m . Theologians generally made use of three collections: those of Peter Lom­ bard, Gratian (mostly part III) , and Walafrid Strabo. These compilations put an end to the effort of research: as regards Greek authors, it apparently continued on only" one, Saint John Damascene, as translated by Burgundio di Pisa. Bonaventure quotes him over two hundred times in his Commentaries o n the S en tences . 1 1 However, another Greek assumed for him even greater im­ portance than the Damascene: Dionysius the Pseudo-Areopagite, the most mysterious phenomenon of the Middle Ages. His works combined with Occidental theology to bring about a syncretism unique in history. 1 2 The Latin Fathers were much more easily available to the masters. First in importance are Augustine, Ambrose, Jerome, Gregory the Great: then Bede and Anselm. The latter, as we shall see, was accepted in the canon of the a u th entici only from the time of Alexander of Hales and Bonaventure. It is very difficult to determine with certainty the number and the titles of the books available to a Master of Theology like Bonaventure. In some cases, a detailed analysis of such a man's writings permits a fairly accurate estimate; with others, only a guess can be made. On the basis of the quota­ tions listed in the Quaracchi edition, it is certain that Bonaventure made use of many "authorities." Did he discover them directly, or did he quote them from the works of his predecessors, Alexander of Hales, Jean de la Rochelle, Eudes Rigaud, and William of Middleton? Or again, did he merely copy them from the anthologies then published in such numbers? The answer to such questions can be neither complete nor final. Many medieval texts are still to be examined by scholars. The history of theology has a long way to go before it can shed true light on the sources of medieval thought.

II. ARISTOTLE AND SAINT BONAVENTURE Bonaventure and Aristotle: two names which, at first sight, seem to repre­ sent complete opposition. John of Salisbury's saying about Plato and Aristotle might be thought to apply here also: "One does not reconcile dead men who disagreed when they were alive. " 1 3 But to see in Bonaventure merely the

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violent enemy of Aristotle is oversimplification. It was Bonaventure himself who wrote that Aristotle was the Prince of the Peripatetics, 14 the most excel­ lent of philosophers; 1 5 Bonaventure who, in the question of the sense of time in angels, 1 6 adduced Aristotelian principles in opposition to those of Augus­ tine. Further, it seemed to him incomprehensible that Aristotle should have asserted the eternity of the material universe, 1 7 since he was too great a philos­ opher to have made such a mistake. Bonaventure remembered encountering that Aristotelian thesis while he was a student in the faculty of arts. It had stirred him to try to understand the reasoning behind it, 1 8 leading him to excuse Aristotle on the ground that he was speaking as a " natural" philos­ opher. 1 9 Such praise, such respect, are not compatible with the hostile sentiments Bonaventure is supposed to have felt in Aristotle' s regard. The problem is entirely different. When Bonaventure exposes Aristotle 's thought on knowledge, he is very careful not to reject the necessity of sensory perception as the source of universal ideas. All science and all art find their origin in it; and Aristotle rightly blamed his master Plato for scorning the sensible world and seeking to obtain certainty from no source but innate ideas and eternal reasons. By this stand, Plato did perhaps strengthen the method of reasoned thought, but he destroyed the possibility of scientific knowledge. Aristotle went the opposite way; 2 0 therefore Bonaventure considered Aristotle the initiator of that knowledge, while denying to his teaching any value as a means toward wisdom and the salvific aspect of theology. It seems, then, that there is confusion in the mind of those who feel a condescending pity for Bonaventure and seek to excuse his "rejection" of Aristotelianism. What he rejected was the thought of Siger de Brabant and the Latin Averroists who applied Aristotelian philosophy where it did not properly belong . 2 1 How could he reject Aristotle? As a student in the faculty of arts, he re­ ceived from him all he knew of rhetoric and dialectic. Even when, in theology, he came in contact with Aristotle's metaphysical position and attacked his errors, he yet found him consistent within himself. He did not blame Aristotle for having failed to be a Christian or for having known nothing of the Trinity. It was the men of his own time who returned to a pre-Christian position, neglecting the lights of faith to adopt a pagan' s beliefs, that Bona­ venture rose against. As early as in his Commentaries on th e Sentences , he knew, perhaps not completely, but partially at least, the major principles of Aristotle. When, in refuting the notion of creation ab aetern o , 2 2 he surrounded his central argu­ ment with many other considerations founded on the impossibility of a created infinite, he relied in so doing on the very texts of Aristotle. 2 3

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In full awareness of the position he was taking, he himself was well armed against Averroism even before the conflict broke out into the open. At the time of the Co mmentaries , he was aware of Aristotle's position, but he did not condemn the man. In 1273, he was better informed, and in his Co lla­ tiones in H exaemeron, he acquitted Plato of the error he had attributed to him, to accuse Aristotle alone. In brief, we may say that Bonaventure recognized in Aristotle a true au­ thority in matters of natural knowledge. But he opened the doors of the faculty of theology to him only as to a human light reflecting the authentic light of Christ. Having adopted the exemplarism of Augustine, he rejected in its name the major theses of Latin Averroism, and of its inspirer, Aristotle. 2 4 His master was Christ, and no one else: he taught the doctrine of Christ through faith and the Holy Scriptures. 2 5 " For if Aristotle had said everything, why would Christ have come?' ' 2 6 Now, as R. Lazzarini puts it, "a major school of philosophy or theology always presupposes a critical inventory of tradition. This inventory will lead the philosopher either to oppose the tradition in order to establish a new one, or to renovate it and make it more fruitful. Scholastic Aristotelianism adopted the first way: Franciscan Augustinianism, the second. " 2 7 Where did Bonaventure obtain the 930 quotations from Aristotle that are found in his works? He quotes from every one of the philosopher' s books with the exception of the Politics , which had not yet been translated. 2 8 Let us now pass these works in review. Logica vetus et nova : Log ica vetus, comprising the Praedicamenta ( 4 9 quotations), in the common version of Boethius: 2 9 and the Periermenias (20 quotations), in the same version (which was also used by Alexander of Hales). Log ica nova , under which title are comprised two of Aristotle's works: Analytica priora ( 10 quotations), in the so-called James of Venice edition, which is actually the work of Boethius. A nalyt ica pos teriora (2 quotations), of which two Greco-Latin ver­ sions existed in the twelfth century - the common version, used by Bonaventure, and that of Toledo. A third text, by Gerardo di Cremona, came down from the original Greek through several intermediaries. 3 0 Topica ( 1 2 1 quotations) and Soph istici elenchi (24 quotations), are also quoted from the common version. 3 1 M etapll y s ica ( 1 0 1 quotations) , existed in several versions: 3 2 I . Vetustissima , Greco-Latin of the twelfth century, comprising only Books 1, 2 and 3, and the beginning of Book 4, to text 13 inclu­ sively:

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2.

Media,

Greco..-Latin, known around 1 2 1 0, from which Book 1 1 is

missing; 3. Nova, dating from about 1 220, Arabo-Latin, printed in Venice in 1 489 and again in 1 550, from which many books are missing; 4. Vetus, dating from before 1 230, and ending like the Vetustissima with Book 4, text 1 3; 5. Moerbekiana ( 1 265- 1 270) , published together with the works of Thomas Aquinas. Bonaventure quoted the Arabo-Latin Nova, as has been established by Msgr. Grabmann after detailed study of the text. 33 The Nova is divided into two books the contents of which do not correspond to the numbering of texts found in the V etus. The reproduction of errors is one proof among others that Bonaventure had access only to a single version, and that one quite de­ fective. Guillaume de Moerbeke had not yet translated Aristotle at the time when Bonaventure was citing him in his Commentaries. A further study of the texts quoted in the Col lationes in H exaemeron would reveal whether or not the Moerbekiana version was used at all.3 4 Physica ( 1 23 quotations) existed in four versions; which of these was used by Bonaventure is not known: 1 . the Arabo-Latin of Gerardo di Cremona ( twelfth century) : 2. the Arabo-Latin of Michael Scot ( 1 230) , with the commentaries of Averroes; 3. the so-called Vetus, Greco-Latin ( twelfth century) ; 4. the so-called Nova, Greco-Latin, of Guillaume de Moerbeke.3 '.5 D e anima ( 1 28 quotations) existed in three versions: which one was used by Bonaventure is not known: 1 . the so-called Vetus, Greco-Latin ( twelfth century) : 2. the so-called Nova , of Guillaume de Moerbeke: 3 . the Arabo-Latin of Michael Scot (beginning of the thirteenth century) . Alexander of Hales quoted the Vetus only.3 6 De animalibus is a group of several works: De generatione animalium (30 quotations) existed in two versions: 1 . the Arabo-Latin of Michael Scot (before 1 220 ) : 2. the Greco-Latin of Guillaume de Moerbeke. Bonaventure probably quoted the version of Michael Scot. 3 7 De partibus anima lium (7 quotations) existed in the same nvo versions. De progressu animalium ( 2 quotations) also existed in the same two versions. De generatione et corruptione (36 quotations) existed in three versions: I . the Arabo-Latin of Gerardo di Cremona ( twelfth century) :

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2. the Greco-Latin of Henri Aristippe ( twelfth century) ; 3 . the Greco-Latin of Guillaume de Moerbeke.3 8 De caelo et mundo ( 4 1 quotations) existed in three versions: 1 . the Arabo-Latin of Gerardo di Cremona; 2 . the Arabo-Latin of Michael Scot, with the Commen taries of Averroes; 3 . the incomplete Greco-Latin version of Robert of Lincoln, completed and corrected by Guillaume de Moerbeke. Alexander of Hales quotes one of the Arabo-Latin versions.3 9 A1cteora ( 1 1 quotations) . Not cited in Alexander of Hales; which version Bonaventure used is not known. As for the Parva naturalia, which Alexander, and probably Bonaventure also, quoted in the Vetus version, they comprise several opuscula : D e scnsu et sensa to ( 7 quotations) ; De memoria et re miniscentia ( 6 quotations) ; De somno et vigilia ( 5 quotations) ; De longitud ine e t brevitate vitae ( 5 quotations) ; De somniis ( 2 quotations) ; De juventute e t senectute, de morte et vita ( 3 quotations) . Among the moral works of Aristotle, the first is Ethica Nicomachea ( 1 1 5 quotations) . Many versions were in circulation in the universities, and it is difficult to determine which one Bonaventure possessed: I . Eth ica vetus (before 1 200) , Greco-Latin, containing only Books 2 and 3 ; 2 . Eth ica nova (beginning o f the thirteenth century) , Greco-Latin, con­ taining only Book 1 ; 3 . Eth ica borghesiana, known by Albert the Great - quite fragmentary; 40 4 . Eth ica arabico-latina (before 1 240) , a complete version translated by Hermann the German, followed by the Commentaries of Averroes ; 5 . Compendium A lexandrinorum (before 1 243 or 1 244 ) , an Arabo­ Latin version, also by Hermann ; 6. Eth ica greco-latina ( 1 240- 1 249 ) , a complete version by Robert of Lincoln, revised by Guillaume de Moerbeke. 4 1 Magna moralia ( 9 quotations) was known to the Latins only about 1 2581 266, through the text of Bartolomeo di Pisa. 42 Moralia Eudemia ( 1 quotation) consists of excerp ts from the Ethica N icomac1ua (Books 5-7) . The writers of the thirteenth century knew only chapters 1 4 and 1 5 of Book 6 ( alias 8) . 4 3 Rheto rica ( 1 0 quotations) existed in the twelfth century in several ver­ sions. 4 4

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Finally, De plantis ( 4 quotations) is a work by Nicholas Damascene which was attributed to Aristotle at the beginning of the thirteenth century in the Arabo-Latin version of Alfred the Englishman. 45 We must await the definitive editing of the Aristot.e les latinus * before we can determine the complete list of Bonaventure' s sources. A word, finally, as to the Liber de causis. This treatise, circulated about 1 180, is a translation by Gerardo di Cremona of an Arabic text probably dating back to the ninth century, 46 which itself merely transcribed in summary the Elementatio theo logica of Proclus ( fifth century) . The Arabic text was known under the title Liber Aristo telis de expositione bonitatis, although its actual author was Alfarabi. Alain de Lille ( d. 1 202) cited this treatise. Later, Rolando di Cremona gave it the title under which it was subsequently known, Liber d e causis . Alexander of Hales quoted it under that title, and the whole thirteenth cen­ tury did the same. Bonaventure used 4 7 excerpts from the Liber de causis, the Platonic themes of which were well suited to his taste. It proposes a complete explanation of the world, without, however, reaching the notion of creation. 47 The history of this work furnishes a good example of how Greek philosophy found its way to medieval writers. They seldom knew it from original texts, but, as in the present instance, from compilations containing very different and some­ times contradictory currents of thought. Saint Thomas Aquinas was the first to attribute the Liber d e causis to its real author. III. SAINT A UG USTINE "Greatest of the Latin Fathers, " 48 "Supereminent Doctor" : 4 9 these titles which Bonaventure gives to Saint Augustine indicate the place he occupied in the Seraphic Doctor' s mind and work. When Bonaventure began to teach in Paris, he had received from his masters an education which at the very least must be said to have imbued him alike with Augustine's spirit and his themes. The impact of Augustine on the Middle Ages was that of a vital personality, a powerful theologian, a philosopher of deep insight, a subtle dialectician, an heir to ancient thought and culture. His stature imposed itself upon Christendom and dominated the • Tue A ristoteles latinus is a series of critical editions of the Works of Aristotle in Latin. under the direction of the International Academic Union, published by Desclee De Brouwer, Bruges, Belgium. The first texts appeared in 1 953 and the work is being continued. (Tr.)

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thought-patterns of later Greek and Latin Fathers. His authority stood un­ opposed, even though textual contradictions existed in his works which some­ times had to be interpreted ' ' pie' ' or ' ' reveren ter. ' ' His human and religious personality conferred upon whatever he gave of his thought a value which was acknowledged by all. His living experience of the needs of the human soul, and of the answers to those needs in terms of Christianity, provided for the son of Saint Francis precisely what he expected from a doctor and a saint. It was to Augustine, therefore, that Bonaventure attached himself defini­ tively. It was in the light diffused by Augustine that he created a system ' ' which is neither a corrected form of Aristotelianism, nor the thought of Avicenna or Avicebron more or less purified, but the authentic philosophical and theological teaching of Augustine, translated by the most ardent of all Franciscan souls, and entirely aimed toward the peace of that contemplation whose model is Saint Francis stigmatized on Mount Alverno. ' ' 5 0 First of all, Bonaventure adopted Augustine's spirit. The Crede u t intelligas was the point of departure of his theological research. It was his constant doctrine that " faith precedes understanding, " and that " in order to understand, we must first believe, that is, humble and submit ourselves. " 5 1 " Believe in order to understand. Faith necessarily comes first and understanding later. " 5 2 But faith does not justify doing away with intelligence, and to accuse Augus­ tine of fideism would be a serious mistake. " No one is less mystical than Augustine, if the word mystical is used improperly in the sense of irrational. None has pressed so far as he the obligation imposed upon the spirit to assimilate truth through its proper activity. " B Bonaventure understood this well. H e may b e called a n intellectualist in the sense that he expected of reason the maximum that it could yield ; he may not be called a fideist. It would be more accurate to say that Bonaventure believed, with Augustine, that it was possible to elaborate, on the basis of the Scriptures, an understanding of faith to which reason would contribute its proper light: possible - and sufficient. This orientation of Bonaventure's thought, which came to him from Augus­ tine, set in the first place the search for wisdom and led theology to develop normally along the line of spiritual teaching. There is no quest for a better knowledge of God without an effort to love Him and to reach Him through contemplation. The theologian's view, limited as it is and full of enigmas, requires for an indispensable complement the mystical vision as an anticipation of the clear vision of glory.' 4 Between Augustine and Bonaventure, then, the community of aspiration was complete. Hence, Augustine became for Bonaventure "the master whose authority is definitive, and whose words can never be contested. " � �

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Augustine's spirit and approach were not the only things Bonaventure borrowed from him: he adhered to Augustinianism as it had been taught to him, and as he was able to assimilate it directly by plunging into the complete works of the Bishop of Hippo. Augustinianism is not a system. It is a com­ plex of themes growing out of Augustine's personal history, which we might define as ' ' a Platonic impulsion achieved by Christian revelation. ' ' 56 The same themes may be found anew in the Bonaventurian synthesis in which medieval A ugustinianism came to its flowering. 5 7 Let us listen to Bonaventure's own words: "No one has ever described the nature of time and matter in a better way than blessed Augustine in his Confess ions . No one has ever explained the origin of forms and the manner of propagation of being so well as it may be found in his Co mmentary o n Genesis. In like manner, his treatise On the Trinity bears witness that no one has provided a better solution to the questions concerning the soul. Again, it is evident from his book On the City of God that no one has investigated with greater understanding the nature of the creation of the world. To con­ dense it all in a few words, no question has been propounded by the masters whose solution may not be found in the works of this Doctor. " 5 8 But the Augustinianism taught in Bonaventure's day was not Augustine in his pure form. Bonaventure himself read the complete works and became steeped in them to the point of sharing with Cistercians, Carthusians, and Vic­ torines an insistence on a rigorous interpretation of their common master; but there existed in the Schools, not a genuine Augustinianism, but one more strongly marked by Platonism. 5 9 The Neoplatonism of Dionysius the Pseudo­ Areopagite differed greatly from that of Augustine, as may be seen earlier in Hugues de Saint-Victor, in Bonaventure's faithful rendering of Augustine's thought, or in Thomas Aquinas ' systematic exploitation of it. Particularly in­ compatible with Augustine's Neoplatonism was the Platonism of Avicenna. Nevertheless, in spite of such complex interferences, a specifically Augus­ tinian Platonism did exist in the Middle Ages as a common denominator of different syncretisms. Peter Lombard had retained of Augustine nothing more than vague general perspectives. Little by little, an apparently lasting concord had even established itself between the most strongly opposed Dionysian and Augustinian concepts. Toward the end of the twelfth century, however, "theologians, paying closer attention to the techniques and structures of thinking, if not as yet to the stating of problems, will be led by necessity to perceive the incompatibilities existing between the currents of thought of the Greeks and those of the Latino-Augustinians.' ' 60 The vocabulary of Augustine now spreads abroad. 6 1 The Augustinian philosophical themes also become the common possession of theologians, who maintain their value in spite of the rise of Aristotelianism. While Dionysius

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organized his thought around the concept of the One, Augustine had taken the theory of the origin of ideas as the start of his exploration. This option was " not so much his philosophical choice as the expression of a religious temperament which would reveal itself to be incompatible with another thought-family, Platonic also, but penetrated by the mystique of the One. " 62 Bonaventure accepted Augustine's central themes on knowledge and ex­ emplarism. His theories of the veritas exprimens , 6 3 of the seminal reasons, 64 and of the function of light are thus characteristic of Augustine. 6 5 Bonaventure's particular faithfulness to the Augustinian theory led him beyond Anselm's position and induced him to point out " the historically necessary link between the identification of God with being, on the one hand, and the so-called ontological argument, on the other. ' ' 66 In brief, Bonaventure represented the fulfillment of Augustinianism, and it was with good reason that the body of doctrines professed by the School of the Minors came to be called "Franciscan Augustinianism. " In claiming this appellation for the Bonaventurian synthesis, we have no intent to minimize the Augustinianism of Aquinas. For the sake of determining the proper char­ acter of each School, we cannot do better than accept the firm and well­ balanced j udgment of Etienne Gilson as the final word: ' ' In the thirteenth century the influence of Saint Augustine is visible, not only in Franciscans such as Saint Bonaventure, of whom it may be said that they incarnate him, but also in Dominicans such as Saint Thomas, whose plan he completes with­ out contradiction. " 67 Bonaventure quoted Augustine over three thousand times, although it is true that some works are represented by less than 1 0 quotations, some by only one. The more often quoted are, in the order of frequency ( the number of quotations being shown in parentheses) : D e Trinita te (559 ) ; PL, 42 Tracta tus in Joa n . Evang . (3 1 8 ) : PL, 35 D e c ivitate D e i (299 ) : PL, 4 1 De Genes i ad litteram, l ibri d uodecim (23 1 ) ; PL, 34 Sermones ( 1 82 ) Enarra tioncs i n Psalmos ( 1 79 ) : PL, 36-37 Episto la e ( 1 56) : PL, 33 Enc11 irid ion ad Lau rentium ( 1 26) ; PL, 40 De l ibero a rbitrio , l ibri tres ( 1 07) : PL, 32 De d ivers is q uaestionibus octoginta tribus (99) : PL, 40 Con/ess ion um, l ibri trcdecim (98) : PL, 40 De doctrina christiana ( 84 ) : PL, 34 A comparative study of the number of quotations utilized in each volume provides no certainty as to whether, from the beginning of his teaching,

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Bonaventure knew the complete works of Augustine or only part of them. Taking, for instance, the De Trinitate , we get the following breakdown: I S ent. 284 74 II S ent. Ill S ent. 97 IV S ent. 18 37 Theological works 21 Scriptural commentaries 10 Spiritual works 22 Sermons It is normal, on the other hand, that the Tractatus in Joan. Evang . should have been quoted most frequently in the postilla and collations on the Fourth Gospel ( 1 55 quotations out of 3 1 8, i. e., close to one half) . Likewise, out of a total of 23 1 quotations from the De G enesi ad litteram, 145 appear in the Commentaries on the S econd Book of S entences. Thus, there is mere probability that from the beginning of his theological studies Bonaventure knew the complete works of Augustine, although some of these works are quoted but once in the Commentaries on the S entences: for instance, De actis cum Felice Manicheo, in the first book : De divinatione daemonum, Contra duas epistolas Pelagii ad Boni/acium, and De immortalitate animae, in the second: De cataclysmo, Contra Donatistas, Contra epistolam Parmeniani, De patientia, De poenitentia, and De unico baptismo contra Petilianu m , in the fourth. The theological works of the second period ( 1 257- 1 27 4 ) indicate that Bonaventure had further deepened his knowledge of Augustine. But it would take a more advanced study of each of the works of the Bishop of Hippo to determine how Bonaventure made use of the thought of his master. The Quaestiones disputatae de scientia Christi will give us an opportunity to explain this point more completely. 68

IV. SAINT ANSELM Saint Anselm appears as an important figure in the Augustinian tradition which so definitely marked the Franciscan School. It is interesting to observe how little was known in the twelfth century of either his personality or his work. As Father de Ghellinck writes: "We must wait until the thirteenth cennuy for the Philosophus Christi, as Henry of Huntingdon called him, to be accepted in the Schools . . . . About 1 240 , the almost official reign of the theologian from the Abbey of Bee definitely enters its phase of glory. Fore­ most among the promoters of his fame are Alexander of Hales, Saint Bona­ venture, and Saint Thomas, who now endorse the contents of his theological

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writings by introducing them, not always without some change, into the great body of theological systematization. ' ' 69 Historians admit that the acceptance of Anselm was due to Alexander of Hales, for whom fides quaerens inte llectum is the definition and foundation of scholastic theology. Quoted 50 1 times in Alexander's Summa and 266 times in the G lossa, Anselm contributed a new element with his demonstration of the existence of God. 70 He was the perfect secuto r of Saint Augustine, and for this reason held a lofty place in Bonaventure' s esteem. There follows a list of quota­ tions from Anselm found in Bonaventure, 249 in all: De casu d iabo l i : 1 3 D e conceptu virgina l i : 46 De concord ia praescientiae D e i c u m libero arbitrio : 2 1 Cur Deus homo : 45 De fide Trin itatis et d e incarnation e Verb i: 9 Pro ins ipiente: 1 De libero arbitrio : 20 Med ita tiones : 2 1 Monologion: 27 De process ione Spiritus Sancti: 6 Pros log ion : 25 De verita te : 1 5

The point o n which Anselm' s influence upon Bonaventure seems to have been capital was th e concept of God. On this question, Alexander of Hales referred to Anselm more directly than Guillaume d 'Auxerre had done : but with Bonaventure, the influence of Anselm went deeper, in the sense that it affected the methods of his thought. Let us now study this in greater detail. Bonaventure treats the question7 1 twice in his theological works. 7 2 The Commentaries on the Sentences present in a sense a sketch of the development found in the Q uaestiones d isputatae d e mysterio Trinitatis . Of the three ways constituting the stages whereby the mind rises to the full evidence of God's existence, 7 3 the third leads to the following conclusion : " The truth o f God's existence i s sovereignly evident i n itself, because i t is the first and sovereignly immediate truth. For here not only do we see the reason of the predicate contained in the subject: the very existence attributed to the subject is absolutely identical with it. Hence, as the joining together of tenns supremely distant from one another is absolutely contrary to our intelligence, because no mind can ever conceive that any one being could at the same time exist and not exist, so also, separation of what is absolutely one and indivisible is no less absolutely opposed to our intelligence. By the

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very reason that it is most evidently false to say that one and the same being exists and does not exist, or that the being which exists to the supreme degree does not exist, it is most evidently true that the first and supreme being exists.' ' 74 Hence, our intelligence seizes in some way God's very being. The Q uaes­ tiones d isputa tae de scien tia Christi indicate in what this apprehension consists. The eternal reasons, light of the mind, are seized, not in themselves and in their own [uncreated] light, but in part, and in combination with created reason. Because of this twofold relationship, with God as co-operator and rational evidence as instrument, eternal reasons do not act as the only and complete motivation, for created reason acts by its own rules also. The being of a known object is a sign of God because of the evidence with which it is perceived by the mind.7 5 Different was the knowledge man possessed in the state of innocence, for then the rational mind attained eternal reasons, though in pa rte, yet not in aenigmate; since the fall, the mind attains these same reasons both in parte and in aen igma te . Different again will be knowledge in the state of glory, for then shall the mind attain eternal reasons fully and clearly. Bonaventure appeals here to the Augustinian doctrine of the two parts of the soul. In its superior part, the soul is the image of God, and that is where it attains the knowledge referred to above, whereas in its inferior part the soul can attain knowledge only from the senses. 76 Because the certitude of higher knowledge is an act of immediate co-opera­ tion of God with the superior part of the soul, Bonaventure brings forth his characteristic dialectic, the "reduction," which we might call integral analysis. 7 7 This dialectic allows him to complete the formulation of the Anselmian argument. Because God is ontologically present in the soul, the finite creature rests upon the absolute. Its being depending upon the absolute, its knowledge of being does also. Hence the motivating and regulating action of God in the higher intelligence bringing forth the idea of being as an image of Himself, comes from God, not in terms of thought, but in terms of existence. 7 8 And so the Anselmian formula may be expressed as follows: God exists, for He is in the soul. By passing from the implicit to the explicit, the soul conceives God as existing. 7 9 But when God is attained in this manner, He is neither known in Himself nor objectively seen: man's condition on earth forbids it. In order to obviate any mistake or misunderstanding, Bonaventure avoids the word "intuition" in designating that "indirect apprehension, by thought, of an object which escapes our grasp, but whose presence is somehow implied in the effects which flow

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37

from it. " 8 0 He speaks of "con tuition" or "apprehension, " through perceived effects, of the presence of a cause which cannot be discerned even by intuition. We never have any intuition of God: all we can have of Him is " contui­ tions' ' within things, within our soul, or within transcendent principles. God, then, is the constant light of our thought, a light in which we apprehend Him as absolute and pure act. Yet, as long as we live, we cannot perceive Him directly in Himself (i. e., have any intuition of Him) ; but we do know that He is. By so presenting the argument, did Bonaventure ( like Alexander of Hales and Guillaume d'Auxerre ) distort Anselm's perspective? We believe he did not. Although Bonaventure omitted the word cred imus in quoting a passage from the Proslogion, 8 1 in argument 22 of the Quaestiones dispu tata e d e mys­ tcrio Trin ita tis , 82 he provided in argument 2 1 a text from Anselm in which the same word is found : " Thanks be to Thee, good Lord, for what I first believe by Your gift of faith, and [ then] know by the light which You give me ; so that, if I were not willing first to believe that You exist, I could not know it. " For Bonaventure, the fides quaerens intel lectum has an absolute value. He is philosophizing, but within the domain of faith. His thoughts, like Anselm's, are those of a believer: faith stands at the head of his search. It is precisely here that the Bonaventurian proofs differ from those of the Thomists: for Bonaventure's "tend less to demonstrating God's existence than to displaying the evidence of th e fact . . . and to leading the mind progressively toward that full light which shall render useless such proofs as the disciples of Saint Thomas Aquinas will never on earth consent to do away with. ' ' 8 3 The Bonaventurian formulation of Anselm's argument has meaning only in terms of the Augustinian proof: it is worked out within the context of faith . In his last work, the Col la tion es in H exaemero n , Bonaventure clearly estab­ lishes the fact that "one can reach this understanding only if the soul is cleansed [ by faith] . " 8 4

V. THE SCHOOL OF SAINT-VICTOR The School of Saint-Victor may justly be ranked with Saint Anselm, Abe­ lard, and Saint Bernard as a major source o f scholastic theology. 8 5 Founded by Guillaume de Champeaux, it maintained during its short life span that open-mindedness and single-mindedness from which radiated its remarkable power. The Franciscan School, from the very beginning, came under its influence. Alexander of Hales quoted Hugues and Richard with respect and

38

INTRODUCTION TO BONAVENTURE

veneration. Following him, Bonaventure both read the two Victorine masters and made use of their works. 86 Bonaventure's emphasis on the concept of wisdom is a direct inheritance from Hugues de Saint-Victor. 87 Two treatises of this ·master had an immediate influence on him: the Erud itio d idascalia or Didascalicon, and the De sacra­ mentis christianae fidei tractatus . 88 In the Eruditio, Bonaventure found the inspiration for his De reductione artium ad theologiam. The relationship between the two works will be studied later. Here let us note it in passing -remembering, however, that Bonaventure, faithful to his personal genius, wrote the De reductione, not as a teaching manual for the study of liberal arts and the Scriptures, but as a manifesto to show how all sciences, arts, and crafts are so many elements in the elabora­ tion of faith within the unity of theology. Both authors are Augustinian in spirit, but Bonaventure developed the Augustinian theme and completed its construction. The second treatise of Hugues de Saint-Victor which inspired Bonaventure, the De sacramentis christianae fidei tractatus, is a veritable theological s umma in which the term "sacrament" is understood in the widest possible sense, since the work itself encompasses the whole field of theology. Bonaventure retained not only its fundamental concepts, but most of all the dynamic character of its doctrinal exposition. Hugues' thought is far removed from the static approach of Peter Lombard. For him, Christianity is essentially a history; 8 9 the journey, not of a single soul, but of humanity which, issuing from the living God through Christ and in Christ, returns to God for the life of eternity. We recognize here the basic theme of Bonaventure's Brevi­ loquium.90 The development of the parts is different in the two masters, however. While Hugues covers in two books the history of the world from creation to future life, the pattern of the Breviloquium is less chronological. Yet it is placed within the perspective of Scripture, which is itself a history. Father de Ghellinck had seen this: ' 'The intention of the Victorine ( to present a general view of traditional doctrine which might serve as a guiding thread in reading the books of the Bible or ecclesiastical writings] suggests a resemblance with the teachings of Bonaventure -who is more explicit- on the relationship between the reading of patristic works ( originalia ) , the Bible, and theology. It would be worth while studying the concept of each, and of Bonaventure especially, 9 1 in order to free it from its latent antinomy • and to demonstrate the possibility of its realization in the field of teaching. " 9 2 • "Latent antinomy, " i. e., the possibility of obtaining conflicting impressions from the study of tradition and from the Bible. (Tr . )

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39

Richard de Saint-Victor is called to the witness stand less often than his master Hugues by Bonaventure, but his influence on the latter is certain. Alexander of Hales had already drawn from Richard' s work De Trinitate the essence of his own teaching concerning the Trinity, going so far as to adopt in part Richard's notion of ' 'person, ' ' a point on which Alexander's disciples did not follow him. Within the framework of the Quaestiones disputatae d e mysterio Trinitatis, Bonaventure returned to the problems brought up by Richard. His development of these, though original and complete, never­ theless shows perceptible traces of the Victorine master. The division of each of Bonaventure's articles into seven questions serves to establish how the trinity of Persons is reconciled with the unity of substance and the other characteristic attributes - simplicity, infinity, eternity, immutability, necessity, and primacy. This, precisely, was one of Richard's concerns.93 A comparative study of the two texts would bring their relationship to light.

VI. DIONYSIUS THE PSEUDO-AREOPAGITE " Dionysius the Pseudo-Areopagite, " says R. Roques, "is assuredly one of those who have most widely led astray both criticism and history. "9 4 He is also one of the important sources of medieval theology and spirituality. What do we know of him? From the time when Abbot Hilduin of Saint­ Denis blended into one composite three different men named Dionysius ­ Saint Paul's convert, the founder of the Church in Paris, and the author of the Corpus areopagiticum9 � - theologians have shown this mysterious being much veneration. It is only since the Renaissance, however, that historians have sought (without much success) to determine his true identity. The conclusions of contemporary critical science are as follows: I . The Pseudo-Areopagite was mentioned nowhere during the first five centuries. 2. He was influenced beyond doubt by Plotinus and Proclus. 3 . Information about him based upon his work may be found only by analyzing that work, for what he says directly regarding himself is evidently false. 4. The whole Corpus seems to have been produced after the Cou ncil of Chalcedon , perhaps bern,een 500 and 525. 5. The convergent research of historians has narrowed the field of investi­ gation, so that it may now be admitted that he was a Syrian who wrote during the first quarter of the sixth century. 9 6 The authentic works of Dionysius97 are, in chronological order: Tlu D ivin e Names (DN) My s t ical Th eolog y (MT)

40

INTRODUCTION TO BONAVENTURE

The Celestial Hierarchy ( CH ) The Ecclesiastica l Hierarchy (EH ) Numerous translations o f these works were made, of which Father Thery has written the history. 9 8 These translations have been published in the D iony­ s iaca .99 During the Middle Ages, translations by the following were known: Hilduin, abbot of Saint-Denis ( ca. 8 3 2 ) 1 00 John Scotus Eriugena ( ca. 867) 1 0 1 Jean Sarrazin ( ca. 1 1 67 ) 1 02 Robert Grosseteste ( ca. 1 23 5 ) 1 0 3 To these names may be appended Thomas of Wales, Canon of Saint­ Victor, abbot of Verceil, whose Extractio (ca. 1 23 8 ) is neither a commentary nor a new text. Thomas Aquinas worked with the version of Jean Sarrazin, which he sometimes paraphrased and summarized. At the School of the Minors, there probably existed a corrected version, now lost. Alexander of Hales and Bonaventure made use of it, as will be seen later. The works of Dionysius the Pseudo-Areopagite are clearly Neoplatonic in character. Yet it is almost impossible to give a determinate meaning to the expression ' 'Neoplatonism' ' or to point out the successive additions by which this meaning was enlarged. Augustine and Dionysius drew [ upon Plato] in different ways, from entirely different sources. Most of what the Middle Ages received of Platonism came from the Timaeus in its various inter­ pretations, including that of Dionysius. 1 04 It was the religious bent of Neoplatonism which assured its success. The symbolism of light, for instance, appealed to every medieval author as an expression of the metaphysics of emanation. 1 0 5 Bonaventure frequently quotes the words of Saint James, ' 'Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of Lights. " Now, these are precisely the words that open the treatise on The Celestial Hierarchy, in which Diony­ sius linked the effusion of light with the rhythm of procession and ana­ gogical return. 1 0 6 Extensive reading of Dionysius toward the middle of the thirteenth century "resulted in an original expression of the doctrine of the One, superimposed upon a foundation twice latinized -by Augustine and by Boethius. ' ' 1 0 7 The Areopagite's teaching is hard to summarize. We may say, however, that his influence on Bonaventure was threefold: he gave Bonaventure a viewpoint, a method, and a few fundamental themes. Bonaventure himself says: "The first [ dogma] is exposed chiefly by Augustine, the second [ morals] by Gregory, and the third [ the end of both, or mystical anagogy] by Dionysius. ' ' 108

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41

Indeed, the Dionysian spirit is essentially mystical. That intelligible Reality to which Dionysius tends by way of hierarchical ascent is the actual goal of all contemplation. The term "hierarchy" is characteristic of Dionysius. His universe, the spiritual universe of intelligences, is organized hierarchically, every intelligent being having its proper place and function. It is divinized by a twofold action: of itself - a constant effort toward purification and conver­ sion: and of the hierarchy - purification, illumination, perfection. The Celes tia l Hiera rchy , although unduly stretching obscure Scriptural texts, determined for centuries the study of angelology. As for the human hierarchy, Dionysius places it between the celestial hierarchy and the legal hierarchy of the Old Testament. On this level ( i. e. , the human) , knowledge i s provided by Scripture, the interpretation of which comes to us through tradition. (Dionysius' own interpretation is so hermetical as to relate him to the Gnostics. ) Knowledge and holiness inflame the life of the Church, which then pursues through the sacraments the divinization of man. The Christo logy of Dionysius is Neoplatonic in form. It brings close together the redeeming Incarnation and " that operation by which the One or the Good spreads Itself out generously to constitute the hierarchy o f beings. ' ' l 09 The movement o f condescension o f the Word toward the world of the many culminates in the return of that world to the One. Dionysius intentionally avoided the formulas of Cyril of Alexandria, the Council of Chalcedon, and the Monophysitism of Severius, retaining o nly the Neo­ platonic scheme of the expansion of the many out of the One. Christ, then, the Thearch and the Hierarch, brings about the descending motion which enlightens all the orders, and the anagogical or ascending motion which perfects those orders and unites them. The God of Dionysius is distant and hidden : his Christ is not the Master speaking to the soul . The Victorine School retained o f Dionysius his notion o f participation and his symbolism, but eliminated the fanciful developments superadded by John Scotu s Eriugena. Bonaventure kept in mind the well-balanced interpretation of Hugues de Saint-Victor: going beyond Richard in that he incorporated in his synthesis these two Dionysian themes, while Richard did not. It was Bonaventure, together with Albert the Great and Thomas Aquinas, who introduced Dionysius as a constructive element into Occidental theology. Like the two Dominican masters, he followed the general spirit of the Areopagite, but deeply modified the theme of hierarchical action . We shall sec this when we come to the study of Bonaventure's spiritual teachings. A problem, already mentioned by Father Dondaine, now remains to be solved : that of the version used by Bonaventure. It differed from the trans­ lations made by Hilduin (H) , John Scotus Eriugena (E) , Jean Sarrazin (S) , and Robert Grosseteste (R) :

42

INTRODUCTION T O BONA VENTURE

Text 1 - DN, c. 7, § 2 1 1 0; I Sen t . , d. 39, a. 2 , q. 2, f. 1 1 1 1 Bonaventure

H

E

s

R

Cognoscit Deus omnia immaterialiter matcrialia impartite

cognoscit

cog nose it

cognosci t et

cognoscit

omnia: immaterialiter materialia

omnia: immaterialiter materialia

omnia: immateriali ter materialia

partita,

et indivisibiliter divisibilia,

omnia: immaterialiter materialia

et multa universa Ii ter,

et multa unitiYe,

et multa unitive,

partita, uniformiter multa, immutabi liter mutabi lia.

et impartibiliter partialia, et multa unialiter,

et non-partite

et impartibiliter partibilia,

The text is quoted by Bonaventure from an unknown version. Alexander of Hales had previously appealed to the authority of Dionysius in the same distinction of the G lossa: 1 1 2 " cognoscit omnia , materia l ia immaterial iter, et non partite partita e t fin i te infin ita, e t multa un iversal iter. " Aside from the words " et finite infin ita , " his version is that of Eriugena. Text 2 - DN, c. 4 , § 30 1 1 3 ; II Sent . , d. 34, a. I , q. 2 , arg. I 1 14 Bonaventure

H

E

Anima est causa mali, sicut

Anima

A n ima

causa

causa

ignis calefieri

malorum, quernadmodum ignis

est calefacere?

malorum, sicut

ignis calefaciendi?

s

R A n ima

est causa

causa

malorurn. quernadmodum ignis calefaciendi?

malorum, quernadmodum ignis

ej us qui est calefacere? 1 1 s

As may be seen, the version quoted by Bonaventure 1s different from the other four. Text 3 - DN c. 7, § l 1 1 6 ; Q u . d isp . de scientia Christi, q. 7, concl. 1 1 7 Bonaventure

H

E

S

oportet agnoscere, nostrum

oportet

oportet

oportet

quidem scire nostram mentem

scire

nostrum

animum

autem videre mentem nostram

I

R optimum scire eum qui secundum

43

LI BRARY quandam habere potentiam ad intelligendum, per quam videt intelligibilia unioncm vero excedentem intellcctus naturam, per quam

conjugitur

ad ea quac sunt ultra se.

Secundum hanc igitur divina intclligcndo,

non secundum nos, sed nos totos a nobis totis ext ra factos et totos dcificatos; Melius est enim Dci esse et non esse sui;

sic en im erun t

omnia credibilia iis qui sunt cum Deo.

habere

habere

quidem virtutem

habere

quidem virtutem

habere

ad intelligendum

ad intelligendum

ad intelligendum

quidem virtutem ad intelligere

per quam vidct

per quam videt,

per quam

per quam

intelligibilia

intelligibilia unionem

autcm

autem superexcellentem

virtutem

inspicit,

conspicit,

intellecta coadunationem quidem superextentam

invisibilia unitatemque superexaltatam

excedentcm

naturam

naturamque

naturam

per q uam

per quam

per quam conjugitur ad ea quae sunt

ad ul teriora se ipso.

Secundum hanc igitur divina

Sccund um 1tanc igitur divina

autem

copulatur in ilia ej us.

Sccundum

ergo ipsam divina

esse intelligendum 11 011

secundum 1105,

scd totos nos ipsos totorum ipsorum existent es et totos

Dei factos. Et meliores esse et membra

eorum ,

sic cn im erunt

convertitur ad summa sui. Juxta

11anc igitur divina

intelligendum non secundum nos, scd totos nos totis ipsis

excedcntes

unitionem

mcntis

supra ipsam.

intcllectus naturam per quam

convertitur

intelligcre

intelligendum

non sccundum nos, scd nos ipsos totos

non sccundum

extra nos ipsos statutos

nos, sed totos

ipsos

a totis

no bismeti psis ext ra statutos et totos

Melius est enim csse Dci et membra

et totos deificatos. Melius est enim esse Dci et non nostri

et non nostri

sic enim

ipsorum, ita enim

ipsorum, sic enim

et totos

Dei factos.

eorum, erunt

crunt

Dei effectos.

Melius enim esse Dei

CTU 11 t

divina data

divina data

divina data

divina data

cum Deo factis.

cum Dco

cum Deo

cum Dco

futuris.

factis.

effectis.

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INTROD UCTION TO BONAVENTURE

By means of this rather long text, it is possible to ascertain that although the version used by Bonaventure comes fairly close to those of Sarrazin and Eriugena, important differences remain. Text 4 - DN, c. 9 , § 9 1 1 8 ; Q u . disp . de mysterio Trinitatis , q. 6, a. 1 , ad 1 1 1 9 Bonaventure

H

E

s

Moveri Deum religiose existimandum

Moveri enim eum pie opinandum,

Moveri enim ipsum pie arbitrandum,

Moveri enim ipswn religiose estimandum

est, non secundum portationem, aut mutationem, aut altera­ tionem, aut modalem, aut localem motum, non directum, non circu­ larem,

non

non secund um ductionem, aut mutation em, aut aliter existentiam, aut conver­ sionem, aut localem motum, non secundum divinam,

non

secundum circularem ductionem,

non

ex ambobus, non intelli­ gibi lem, non animalem, non na turalem,

per alterutra. n on intelli­ gibi lem, non animalem,

sed quod ad substantiam

sed secundum quod in substan tiam ducere est Deum et continere omnia, et omnimodis.

agat Deus et continea t omnia et totaliter

non

naturalem,

non secundum delationem, aut aliena tionem. aut altema­ tionem, aut conver­ sionem, aut modalem, aut localem motum, non rectum, non circularem ferentem,

non

ex ambobus. non in telli­ gibi lem,

non

animalem, n on naturalem, sed in essentiam ducere Deum et continere omnia, et univer­ saliter,

est, non secundum portationem, aut mutationem, aut altera­ tionem, aut modalem,

R Moveri enim ipsum relig iose existiman­ dum,

aut localem motum, non directum,

non secundum lationem, aut alienationem, aut altera­ tionem, aut versionem, aut localem motionem, non rectam,

non circularem.

n on circulo­ lativam

n on ex ambobus, non intelli­ gibi lem,

non

animalem,

non

naturalem, sed eo quod ad substan tiam agat Deus et contineat omnia, et totali ter,

non

ex ambobus, non intelli­ gibi lem, non anima lem, non naturalem, sed in substantiam ducere Deum. et continere omnia, et omni­ modae,

45

LIBRARY omnia providea t, tt quod adsi t omnibus

omnibus providere, et adesse

omnibus providere, et adesse

omni b us,

omnibus,

omnium

omnium

omnium

inn umerabili circumtenentia, et in

ci rcui t u

et ad txis ten tia omnia provisivis processib us et opera tio­

n ibus.

omnium

irretensibili continentia, et his quae adentia

et ad existen tia omnia

providis processionibus

processi bus et operationi bus.

ea quae

circumitu immensurabili,

et in existen tia omnia

provisalibus

omnibus,

omnium

immensurabili circumstantia,

exis ten tia omnia

omnibus providere, et adesse

omnia provideat, et eo quod adsit omni b us,

omnia provisivis processi bus et opera tio­ n ibus.

provisivis

et opera tio-

processibus ct operatio-

nibus.

ni bus .

Here the version closest to the one used by Bonaventure is assuredly that of Sarrazin. Yet there are a few differences. Text 5 - CH, c. 3, § l 1 2 0 ; Hexa em . , coll. Bonaventure

E

Es t autem 11 ierarchia ordo divinus, scientia et actio ad deiforme, quan tum possi b i le est, assimi lata, et ad i ndi tas

Es t quidem hierarchia ordo divinus et scien tia et actio, deiforme (quan tum possibi le)

ei

divini tus i lluminationes proporti ona li t er i n Dei simi litudinem ascend ens.

similans

et ad indi tas ei divini tus i lluminationes p roportionali ter

in

Dei simi li tudinem ascend ens.

s

21,

Es t quidem hierarchia

n.

1 7121

R Est quidem hierarchia

ordinatio sancta et scientia et operatio,

ordinatio sacra et scientia et operatio,

ad deiforme (sicut es t possi bi le) assimi la ta, ct ad i nditas

ad deiforme ( ut possi bi le)

ipsi a Deo

i l lumina tiones

juxta proportionem ad Dei imitativum sursumacta .

assimi lata, et ad inditas

lpsi

divini tus i l luminationes

analogice

ad Dei imitativum reducta.

Alexander of Hales quoted the translation of Eriugena. 1 2 2 Bonaventure used the same version in his Commentaries on the Sentences , 1 2 3 while in the Col la­ tiones in Hexa emeron he introduced important variations in the text : "ad d e iform e . . . assimilata " comes either from the translation of Sarrazin or from that of Grosseteste.

46

INTRODUCTION TO BONAVENTURE

Text 6 - CH, c. 1 ,

§ 2 1 2 4 ; Serm . 4 1 2 5

Bonaventure

E

s

Ergo ]esum invocan tes, paternum lumen, quod est quidem verum, quod i lluminat omnem hominem venien tem in hunc mundum. per quern ad principale lumen, Patrem, accessum habemus, in sacratissimorum eloquiorum a Patre traditas i lluminationes, quan tum possibile est, respicimus, et ab ipsis symbolice nobis et anagogice man ifestatas caelestium animorum h ierarchias, quantum poten tes sumus, considerabimus, principalem et superprincipa lem divinam Patris claritatem immateria li bus e t nontremen tibus mentis oculis respicientes.

Ergo Jesum invocan tcs. paternum lumen, quod verum est quod i llumina t omnem hominem venien tem in mundum, per quern ad principale lumen Patrem accessum habuimus, in sacratissimorum eloquiorum Patre tradi tas i lluminationes (quan tum possibi le) respiciemus: et ab ipsis symbolice nobis et anagogice man ifestatas caelestium animorum h ierarchias (quan tum poten tes sumus) considerabimus. et principalem et superprincipalem divini Patris clari tatem, immaterialibus et nontrementibus mentis oculis respicien tes,

Igitur ]es um invocan tes, qui est pa tern um lumen, quod verum est quod i lluminat omnem hominem ven ien tem in hunc mundum. per quem ad principem luminis Patrem adductionem habuimus, ad sanctissimorum eloquiorum a patribus tradi tas i lluminationes (sicut est possibi le) respiciamus ; et ab ipsis significative nobis et sursumactive man ifes tatas caelestium mentium hierarchias (sicut poten tes sumus) inspiciamus. et principa lem et superprincipalem thearchici Patris luminis donationem, immaterialibus et nontremen ti bus men tis oculis intus suscipientes,

R lgitur J esum

i nvocantes, paternum lumen, quod verum quod illuminat omnem hominem ven ien tem hunc mundum, in per quem ad principem luminis Pa trem adductionem habuimus, ad sacratissimorum eloquiorum a patribus tradi tas i lluminationes (sicut possi bi le) respiciamus; et ab ipsis symbolice nobis et anagogice man ifestatas caeles tium intellcctuum h ierarch ias (sicut et poten tes sumus) respiciamus, et principalem et superprincipalem thearchici Patris luminis donationem, immaterialibus et nontremen tibus intellectus oculis intus suscipientes,

47

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The Celest ial H ierarchy is never quoted by Alexander of Hales ( and seldom by Bonaventure) . The translation u sed by Bonaventure here is very close to that of Eriugena, but there are differences which lead us once more to the conclusion that Bonaventure had access to a different, improved text. Text 7 - EH, c. 2, p. 1 1 2 6 ; IV Sen t . , d. 3, p. 1, a. 1, q. I , ad. 4 1 21 Bonaventure

Alexander of Hales 1 2 8

ad opportunitatem divinorum eloquiorum et actionum .

ad opportunitatem divinorum eloquiorum et actionum,

et ad caclestis

et ad caelestis

quietis anagogcn iter facicns.

quiet is a nagogen

E ad aliorum divinorum eloq uiorum ct sacrorum

actionum susceptivam opportunitatern formans animales nostros habitus, ad supercaelestis quietis

a nagogcn

nostrum

iter faciens,

s quod ad aliarum sanctarum locutionum ct sanctificationum susceptioncm opportunissime format animales nostros habitus, quod ad supercaclestis finis sursumactionem nos conducit,

R

ad aliarum

sanctarum locutionum ct sacrarum operationum susceptivam aptitudinem formans animales nostros habitus ad supercaelestis gentis reductionem nostri viaefactio,

Bonaventure and Alexander of Hales quoted the same version, which is considerably different from Eriugena' s translation. As regards Text MT. , 1, par. 1, 1 2 9 this is quoted twice by Bonaventure : 1. in the ltin erarium , 1 3 0 where it reproduces exactly Eriugena's translation; 2 . in the Collationes in Hexaemeron , 1 3 1 where it follows the Extractio by Thomas of Wales.

From the observations we have made, these conclusions may be drawn: 1 . The versions used by Bonaventure are always different in some way from other known versions. 2. In the case of the Divine Names , it seems apparent that Bonaventure's version is u nrelated to the others. 3 . In the case of the Celestial Hierarchy , Bonaventure had evidently oh-• tained a new version during his doctoral period. We must remember that the Commentaries on the Sentences and the Col lationes in Hexaemeron were written more than twenty-five years apart.

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INTRODUCTION TO BONA VENTURE

4 . The Ecclesiastica l Hierarchy seems also to have been quoted, and per­ haps to a greater extent than the other works, in a special version which Alexander of Hales likewise used . 5. The Mystical Theology , as we have seen, is quoted in two different versions -which, provides no indication as to the existence of any special text in Bonaventure's possession. These conclusions confirm the viewpoint of Father Dondaine after he had investigated the possible existence of a version proper to the Minors: ' 'This hybrid source seems to have been a worked-over transcription of Scotus­ Sarrazin, with the wording rejuvenated here and there closer to the Latin of the Schools, but with attention to the Greek text; its simplified expressions verge at times on paraphrase. We do not know the author of this recension, which had authority in the first Franciscan School. " 1 3 2 BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTES

1 . To obtain as accurate an idea as possible of the library a man like Bonaventure might have had, we should first understand the spirit of the medieval schools of theology. FR . J. D E GttELLINCK's Le mouvement theo­ logiq u e du XIr s iecle (Paris, 2nd ed. , 1 948) and FR. M.-D. Ctt ENu 's, La theolog ie au XII" s iecle (Paris, 1 957) should be read for a general view of the question. 2. If we are concerned with studying the particular sources, the first to be consulted for Aristotle is F. VAN STEENBERGHEN, Le mouvement doctrinal du XI 8 au XIV e s iecle (His to ire de l 'Egl ise, Fliche-Martin [ vol. 1 3 , 1 93-200, with bibliography] ) : by the same author, A ristotle in the West (Lou vain, 1 955 ) and The Philosoph ical Movement in the Th irteenth Cen tury (Edin­ burgh, 1 955 ) . 3 . On Saint Augustine and his influence upon Saint Bonaventure, the best-documented work is that of FR. E. LoNGPRE, Sa int A ugustin et la pensee franciscaine (FF, 1 5 [ 1 932] , 5-76) . It would be well also to consult J. CH EVALIER, His to ire de la pensee (vol. 2, La pensee chretienne, 380-406) , with bibliography, 440-445 . The critical edition is continued both in the Corpus scriptoru m eccles iasticorum latinorum ( CSEL ) (Berlin-Vienna) and in the Corpus chris tianorum (Turnhout) . The bilingual edition (Latin­ French ) of Desclee has been augmented recently with The City of God . A handy edition is that of the Biblioteca de Autores Cristianos of Madrid, 1n 1 6 volumes, the first of which contains a monumental introduction.

LIBRARY

49

4. On Saint Anselm, the Spicilegium beccense (Paris, 1 959, I) offers a choice of studies unique, though unavoidably differing in quality. The best for our purpose is that of J. CHATIL LON. A handy edition of the works of Saint Anselm is that of the Biblioteca de Autores Cristianos ( 2 vols., Madrid, 1 952- 1 953 ) . 5. On the School of Saint-Victor, the work of P. VIGNAUX, substantial and concise, is very useful : also that of R. BARON, Science et sagesse chez Hugues de Saint-Victor, quoted in the text. 6. On Richard de Saint-Victor, read the introduction by FR. SA L ET to his edition of the book On the Trinity (Paris, 1 95 8 ) , and also the very well documented doctrinal notes ( 463-508 ) . The critical edition of the Victorines is being completed: the references will be found in BTAM ( 8 [ 1 959 ] , 342355 ) . 7 . The study of Dionysius the Pseudo-Areopagite is now made easier by the work of R. ROQUES, L'univers d ionysien . Structure hierarchique du monde selon le pseudo-Denys ( Paris, 1 954 ) , as well as the introduction by the same author to the edition of H ierarchie celeste ( Paris, 1 958, V-XCV) , with bibliography: and also his article Denys ( DS, 3 [ 1 9571 , 245-429 ) . The work we have quoted, by FR. H. F. DoNDAINE, Le corpus d ionysien de l'Un i­ 8 versite d e Paris au XII siecle (Rome, 1 953 ) , is concerned with the versions used in the different Middle-Latin schools. A comparative study of the versions of Dionysius still does not exist. We have offered a possible example of it in our text. The Dionys iaca will be useful for this purpose.

PART II THE TECHNIQUE

Chapter 1 -The Style of Saint Bonaventure Chapter 2 -The Language of Saint Bonaventure Chapter 3 -The Method of Saint Bonaventure I. The Lectio II. The Disputatio III. Bonaventure's Dialectic

CHAPTER

1

THE STYLE OF SAINT BONAVENTURE S AINT BONAVENTURE is undoubtedly a dialectician; he is also an artist with very definite qualities of style. 1 As a student in the faculty of arts in Paris from 1 236 to 1 242, he followed the courses of the trivium and the quadrivium; he studied not only logic and dialectic but also grammar and rhetoric. His style displays a deep culture' obtained from contact with Greek and Latin authors, and also with the Scrip­ tures, which he assimilated through assiduous reading. 2 His temperament, close to that of Augustine, leads him to admirable heights in the Apologia pauperum and gives an intensely personal quality to his style. Bonaventure certainly obtained substantial profit from his knowledge of Greek culture. It was during his student years that the Greek anthology of Conrad de Mure, Novus graecismus, was being compiled. 3 Indeed, we find in Bonaventure's works several citations of texts outside of the biblical Glossa which seem to prove his own knowledge of Greek. He quotes the Damascene in the Greek original, 4 and offers the judgment that the Greek language is more beautiful than the Hebrew, 5 and richer than the Latin as a means of expressing theological truths. 6 From the study of Latin culture, he remembers that eminent writers, for example Tacitus and Sulpicius Severus, always prefaced their work with a prologue: he adopts this custom, and thus provides us with delightful intro­ ductions to the least of his opuscula. 7 His whole style is marked by this assiduous commerce with great writers. He knows the laws of the classic cursus, • and makes happy use of it; we note its beauty in a number of his works. But more than anything else, the Bonaventurian style is fashioned upon Holy Writ. Writers who possess the Scriptures, he tells us, know the laws of language and of beautiful expression. 6 He admires the fittingness and beauty of the images in the Sacred Books. 9 * • He envies Solomon his rich style 1 0 • See footnote 1 4 o f this chapter. • • In both instances cited in footnote 9, it is to be noted that the "aptness" Bona­ venture admires ts not, in fact, related to realities, but to the wholly imaginary "four clements" and "seven heavens." (Tr . )

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INTROD U CTION TO BONA VENTU R E

and the music of his words. 1 1 Bonaventure's admiration turns occasion­ ally to imitation, and this explains the rhetorical character found in some passages, the abundance of superlatives, the length of sentences which unfold with the elaborate twisting of a mighty river. He is aware of the power of the word, * but remarks that simple souls are not concerned with it. 1 2 The priest addressing them must inject persuasive­ ness into his speech in order to move the hearts of his listeners. 1 3 A number of examples of Bonaventure's style would be needed to do him justice. A master of language, he is able to adapt it perfectly to the multifarious demands of his writings. Simple and delicate in his De per/ ec­ tione vitae ad sorores, dense and charged with emotion in the Lignum vitae, precise in the theological works, ardent in the sermons, his style attains a unique perfection in the Apologia pauperum. The classical rhythmic beauty of the liturgical prayers in the Sermones de tempore -prayers borrowed from the Gregorian, Gelasian, and Leonine sacramentaries - displays the cursus in the state of full adoption by the Church. Bonaventure makes use of it in a manner which recalls the best pages of Tertullian. Let us take as an example Lesson 6 of the Feast of the Stigmata of Saint Francis, a text which the reader will single out more easily than a quotation from the Apolog ia pauperum: "Postquam igitur novus homo Franciscus novo et stupendo m iraculo claruit == , quwn singulari privilegio, retroactis saecu lis non concesso - , ins i­ gn ftus apparuit == , sacris videlicet stig mdtibus decoratus - , descend it de monte sec um fer ens crucif ixi effigiem == , non in tabulis lapideis vel ligneis man u figuratam artificis == , sed in carneis membris digito Dei vivi - ." 1 4 Bonaventure knows Cicero well, and he is fully able to apply the rules of Latin rhythm. The Franciscan beginnings are rich in prosody and color. The simple art of Saint Francis in the Canticle of the Sun becomes more elaborate with Bonaventure, yet does not lose the freshness of the wellspring from which he drew his deepest inspiration.

• The "power of the word" lies in the fact that the word or name is the sign of the essence of the thing represented, as the icon also is in a sense the person repre­ sented. It is this "power of the word" which is not understood by the uneducated. (Tr.)

CHAPTER

2

THE LANGUAGE OF SAINT BONAVENTURE

THERE IS always danger that the modern reader will be confused by the speech of the masters of the Schools. Hence it seems desirable to give

at the outset a brief word on the Bonaventurian lexicon. A few examples will show how important it is to determine the exact meaning of the words Bonaventure uses. Father Chenu offers in his introduction very detailed notes on the language of Saint Thomas. 1 Some of these notes apply to Bonaventure as well. By no means all of them, however. Many words used by both doctors have a different ring for each, because they refer to different theological and philo­ sophical backgrounds. Let us consider, for instance, the word forma tio. With Aristotle, the word fo rma applies on three distinct levels - of being, of knowledge, a nd of mo tion. In the Neoplatonism of Augustine, forma is synonymous with three other words: idea , species, and ratio . Hence the Augustinian meaning of forma brings about a particular meaning of formatio: ' 'We have here the notion of participation in ideas, the perfect metaphysical ideas within God ; eternal, creative ideas which, in created things, incur the limitations and deficiencies of matter [ even] while providing the reason for the being and intelligibility of these same [ created ] things - of which the ideas are the exemplaries, and which attain their perfection only through conversion toward the ideas in a creative and f om1ative contemplation. ' ' All of the psychology of illumination passes through this point. In rational nature, grace, which is both light and strength, brings about this formatio, without which nature would remain uninformed, but within which it realizes the image of God through a return to Him. The medieval philo­ sophical vocabulary is pervaded by this Augustinian theme, whose presence constantly animates the analyses and expressions of Saint Thomas in spite of the Aristotelian realignments. But the reader will perceive in Bonaventure's notion of /ormatio an accent much closer to that of Augustine . " 2 Hence the importance of determining the sense of every expression in the light of the doctrine within which it appears. Let us now consider the word abstractio . As early as in the Commentaries on th e Sen tences, Bonaventure uses it in its Aristotelian meaning, to designate 55

56

INTRODUCTION TO BONAVENTURE

the operation through which the intellect brings forth the intelligible out of the data of sense. But, also from that very moment, he seems to use inter­ changeably with the Aristotelian term abstractio the Augustinian term judicatio.3 If we pursue our search, however, we shall find that Bonaventure makes a perfect distinction in the use of these two terms. For him, abstractio has a psychological meaning and designates the process by which ideas are formed, while judicatio is used to indicate the evaluation of knowledge, and thus has an epistemological connotation. Here again Thomas Aquinas and Bonaventure differ: the former is not primarily interested in the epistemological viewpoint, while the latter seems to disregard the psychological. It is very important, therefore, as we go deeper into the study of Bona­ venture, to seek out the rather specialized senses in which he uses certain words. It would be a mistake to give them always and exclusively the mean­ ing they would have with an Augustinian - even though, as a general rule, Bonaventure is prone to borrow from Augustine the language in which he expresses his favorite themes.

CHAPTER

3

THE METHOD OF SAINf BONAVENTURE

I. THE LECTIO F ATHER CHENU rightly observes that in order to attain genuine understanding of a writer, we must become familiar with the outward forms in which he has cast his thought. ' 'Even the choice exercised in this external, purely literary element depends upon the individual quality of the author's thinking. Plato composed dialogues and used the myth, these being forms which corresponded intimately with his deepest intuitions, and were consub­ stantial, so to speak, with his genius; Augustine wrote confessions; and if Dionysius resorts to symbols, it is not through mere literary caprice, but as the method by which he can best render his vision of the world.'' 1 Bonaventure composed Commentaries , D ispu ted Questions, a veritable summa ( the B reviloquium) , and short treatises - in the form of a monologue ( the I tinerarium) and of an inner dialogue ( the Soliloq u ium) . He also preached many sermons. All these literary genres obey specific rules, which if well understood lead to a deeper insight into the work itself and a clearer knowledge of the master's mind. The method proper to the sermons will be underlined in a later chapter concerning Bonaventure's oratorical work. Here, let us take a brief look at the scholastic method as such, ·and see how the Seraphic Doctor made use of it in his work. The l ec tio , the d ispu tatio, and the dialectical methods familiar to Bonaventure will be covered in turn. The works of scholastic masters are primarily intended for teaching. Now, medieval teaching is based on the reading and analysis of texts, either script­ ural, magistral, or philosophical. Hugues de Saint-Victor asserts that the two disciplines proper to the acquiring of knowledge are the lectio and the meditatio . 2 The master acquires knowledge through med itatio , and communicates it through lectio. He him­ self is called lcctor. 3 He reads in order to learn, and again in order to teach ; the student also reads under his authority. In the decree forbidding the teach­ ing of Aristotle, it is the lectio of his works which is forbidden. 4 Besides the Scriptures, whose technique of exposition we shall study later, the university lists in its program a number of authors the reading of whom

57

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INTRODUCTION TO BONAVENTU R E

constitutes the warp of the teaching in the different faculties. For grammar, the student reads Donat, A rs minor and A rs major; Priscian ( whose lnstitu­ t iones are gradually replaced by the Doctrinale of Alexandre de Villedieu) : and the Graec ismus of Evrard de Bethune. For rhetoric, the authors are Cicero, De inventione and the pseudepigraph Rhetorica ad H eremium; and Quintilian, lnstitutio oratoria . For medicine, the texts are Galen and Constantine the African, then the Canon of Avicenna and the De anima l ibus of Aristotle. For philosophy, they are Porphyry and Boethius, then very soon all of Aristotle, whose De anima is listed in the faculty of arts as early as 1 252. For theology, from the time of Alexander of Hales the tradition is estab­ lished of reading the Sentences of Peter Lombard at the same time as the Scriptures. The reading of the S en tences takes place in two different ways: cursorie, that is, rapidly, with the sole intention of covering the text itself, and ord inarie, that is, with a commentary which amounts to an exposition. 5 It goes beyond the mere letter of the text and proposes to bring out the truth of the thoughts contained in it. 6 Such a method leads the master to search the meaning of difficult passages or to attempt the solution of the additional ques­ tions which occurred in the course of reading. This new critical tendency does not only appear in the exegesis of the Scriptures: it attains its summit in the Commentaries written by Bonaventure and other Scholastics on the Book of S entences of Peter Lombard, 7 the work which, as we have seen, Alexander of Hales introduced in theology side by side with the Scriptures. Not without opposition and protest did this innovation prevail. Roger Bacon objected to it and blamed the masters for not being content with read­ ing the sacred text and for giving less importance, as he charged, to the most holy word of God than to the heavy treatises and s ummae that leave every­ thing open to discussion. 8 But the masters were carried away b y the new current of thought. And the greatest among them were able, at one and the same time, to respect the sacred texts of the Scriptures and bow to their authority, and to search in deep study the "reasons" that would lead to the understanding of faith. The evolution in teaching methods will go even further, and the wealth of scholastic techniques will be increased by the dispu tatio, to be studied in the next section. As we have said, it was during the magistral period of his teaching that Bonaventure composed the Commentaries on the Sentences. The best way to penetrate this fundamental work is to study its structure by means of an example. We choose one of very complete form - distinction 24, article 2, question 3 9 - from the Commentaries on t h e Third B o o k o f S en tences, uni­ versally considered to be the most detailed in its content and development.

M ETHOD

59

This is how Bonaventure proceeds in his Commentaries . The text of Peter Lombard is before the pupils' eyes. Bonaventure, as Bachelor of Sentences, has already read it cursorie, which reading had produced what are now found as the d u b ia in the critical Quaracchi edition. The exposition proper always appears in the following form, each distinc­ tion being subdivided into five parts:

1 . The d ivis io textus, which marks the broad outlines of the passage being commented. 2. The tractatio quaestionum, which establishes the plan of exposition. 3. The one or more articles in which a certain number of problems are logically grouped. 4 . The questions in each article, which treat the problems by subdividing them. It is here that the master takes his position. 5. Finally, the dubia, which dispel certain obscurities in the text of the original Sen tences . 1 . DIVISIO TEXTus 1 0

In distinction 24, Peter Lombard considers the object and matter of faith. He seeks to determine whether faith concerns only those things beyond our understanding, or whether it bears also upon things that we are able to comprehend. Now, our u nderstanding is twofold, sensible and intellectual. Hence the twofold division: In the first, the Lombard questions whether faith bears upon that which our senses can reach, and he divides his exposition into three points: he solves the question and determines the solution with authority ( deter­ m inat io ) ; he then returns to it to eliminate an objection; finally, he brings forth an example to make it better u nderstood. In the second, he questions whether faith bears upon that which our intellect can reach, and his exposition is again subdivided into three points: solution and detcrmina tio; proof by authority ( in the present case, Saint Augustine) ; finally, the distinction to be established between the cred ibilia .

2.

TRACTATIO QUAESTIONUM

The d ivis io textus has provided no advance information as to the plan chosen by Bonaventure for the exposition. It has merely enlightened the pupils on the content of the text itself. The divisio textus may have been part of Bonaventure's work when he tread the Sentences as a bachelor, cursorie, but we have no written proof of it. Bonaventure now indicates the plan he is about to follow. Three major problems will be approached in a series of three articles:

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INTRODUCTION TO BONAVENTURE

art. 1 : The object of faith, in itself. art. 2 : The object o f faith, i n relation to our understanding. art. 3 : The object of faith, in its content. This plan is Bonaventure's own. Thomas Aquinas, in his exposition of the same distinction, follows a different procedure. 1 1 This, then, i s a n actual form o f teaching which arises from the commenting of an existing work. Peter Lombard provides a few of the elements; certain texts quoted by him will be retained in the master's exposition : his doctrinal position will be generally respected; but it will be developed and qualified in accordance with the position of the commenting master. 3.

ARTICLE

2

Besides question 3 , selected here as an example, article 2 comprises two other questions. The three questions study faith in terms of what is seen, what is known with probability, and what is perceived experimentally: q. 1 : Utrum fides sit de his, de quibus habetur visio sensibil is. q. 2: Utrum fides sit de his, de quibus habetur opinio probabilis. q. 3: Utrum fides sit de his, de quibus habetur cognitio scient ia l is . 4.

QUESTION

312

We have already given its title: Whether faith concerns those things that may be the objects of knowledge.13 Bonaventure expounds first the founda­ tions upon which he will establish his magistral conclusion, or determinatio: Tertio quaeritur, utrum fides sit de his, de quibus habetur cognitio scien­ tialis. Et quod sic, videtur tali ratione .

Third, it is asked whether faith ap­ plies to those things of which knowl­ edge is had. And that it does, appears for the following reason.

1 - Philosophus aliquis sciens ra­ tionibus cogentibus, Deum esse unum, creatorem omnium, potest venire ad fidem, ita quod non obliviscatur il­ larum rationum; sed sciens illas ra­ tiones habet scientiam: ergo vide tur quad possit de eodem simul habere fidem et scientiam.

1 - A p h i l o s o p h e r w h o knows through compelling reasons that God is one, the Creator of all things, may attain faith [ in these matters] and yet not forget these same reasons. Now, knowing these reasons, he possesses knowledge. It would seem, then, that it is possible to have at the same time both knowledge and faith concerning a given matter.

M ETHOD

61

Such is the first argument. It sets forth the problem and helps thereby toward its solution. The conclusion will repeat the argument with the change of one word, cogentibus being replaced by n ecessariis . This is important, for it brings to mind the dialectic of "necessary reasons, " which will be covered in section 3 of the present chapter. 2 - Item, a l iq u is cognoscens a l iq u id per demons trationem " qu ia" s ive per e/Jectum,

si inc ipia t nosse per eausam

s iv e per d emonstra tion em "propter q u id , " n o n p r o p t c r h o c a m i t t i t priorem eogn itionem, q uamvis haee scc u n da

sit nobilior illa: ergo d ua e

cogn itiones possunt haberi de eodem, q uarum u na nobilior est q ua m alia , et una non expellit a l iam n e e evaeua t.

Et s i hoc verum es t, tune v idetur, q uad simu l possit a l iq u id eognosci

ra tioc ina tione acq u isita et illum ina­ tione inf usa: ergo de eodem s imul po tes t haberi fides et scientia .

2 - He who knows a thing through the d e m o n s t r a t i o n q u ia , t h a t i s , through the effects, if he then begins to know it through the cause, that is, through the demonstration p r o p t e r q u id , does not by so doing lose the former knowledge, although the latter is of a higher order. Thus, it is pos­ sible to have of a given matter two kinds of knowledge, one higher than the other, which, however, it does not expel or void of content. And if this is true, then it seems possible to know a thing at the same time through both acquired reasoning and infused illu­ mination: hence it is possible to have at the same time both knowledge and faith concerning a given matter.

With this second argument, the stating of the problem has been clarified. The new ground covered here is important, for the answer Bonaventure is about to give will serve as the rational foundation of the method he will use in the Q uaes t iones d ispu ta tae d e mysterio Trinitatis to demonstrate positively the existence of the Trinity. To be sure, this is a strictly theological demon­ stration brought about within the compass and by the light of faith. But in this demonstration, some arguments propter q u id will be adduced because they are the only ones to produce knowledge properly so called. The argu­ ment q u ia alone would lead to no more than very imperfect understanding. 14 Now, if this demonstration leads to proving the existence of the Trinity, it does not render void the faith which we can and must have in it. On the contrary, the demonstration is valid only if faith is present. Such is the reason for Bonaventure's insisting here on the establishment of a proper balance between faith and knowledge.

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INTRODUCTION TO BONAVENTURE

3 - Item, C08nitio intellectiva su­ peradveniens non to llit cognitionem sensitivam, licet una illarum sit d ignior et per/ ectior et nobilior altera: ergo pari ratione videtur de fid e et scientia, quod simul possunt haberi de eodem et circa idem .

3 - lntellectual k n o w l e d g e o f a thing coming after sensible perception does not eliminate such perception, although iqtellectual knowledge is better, higher, and more perfect. The same reasoning seems to apply to faith and knowledge, so that they may be had together of a given object and from the same viewpoint.

Intellectual knowledge and sensible perception belong to different orders. The certainty they procure is correspondingly different in degree. But they are compatible ; and so, by the same token, the statement may be made that it is possible to have both faith and knowledge concerning a given matter. 4 - 1tern , " experientia est principi­ u m scientiae"; sed de uno et eodem potest haberi fides et experientia: ergo de uno et eodem potest haberi fides et scientia. Major probatur per Phi­ losophum 1 5 ; minor probatur in beata Virgine Maria, quae fide tt experientia cognovit, se concepisse d e Spiritu Sancto .

4 - ' 'Experience is the principle of knowledge. " Now, it is possible to have in regard to one and the same thing both faith and e x p e r i e n c e . Hence it is possible to have in regard to one and the same thing both faith and knowledge. The major of this reasoning is established by the Phi­ losopher . 1 � The minor finds its proof in the case of the Blessed Virgin Mary, who knew both by faith and by experience that she had conceived of the Holy Spirit.

With this new argument, we turn to the source of knowledge, experience, and through this byroad, we see again that knowledge and faith do not exclude each other, since faith is compatible with experience. Contrary Arguments Let us not misunderstand the exact meaning of a contrary argument. It is not an objection in the modern sense of the word. The arguments pro and contra are intended implicitly to set up an inventory of the different positions held in the School : after which Bonaventure, like Thomas Aquinas, will endorse one of them, sometimes qualifying or completing the proposed solution. The whole art of the true master consists in the choice of the terms of comparison, so that his conclusion is both enlightened by the contrary arguments and supported by those which are parallel.

METHOD Sed contra: 1 -S icut c a r it a s d i l i g i t D e u m propter se et super omnia, sic fides assentit primae Veritati propter se et super omnia; sed quia caritas diligit Deum super omnia et propter se, im­ poss ibile est, q uod ipsa compatiatur secum dilectionem , qua quis diligit Deu m propter terrena principaliur: ergo pari ratione impossibile erit, q uod fides secum compatiatur cognitionem, quae principaliter adhaeret ratiocina­ tioni acquisitae. Sed tal is est cognitio scientiae: ergo impossibile est, fidem circa idem esse cum scientia simul et semel .

63

But on the contrary: 1 - As charity loves God for His own sake and above all things, so faith adheres to the first Truth for its own sake and above all things. But since charity loves God for His own sake and above all things, it is impossible for it to subsist with a love of God principally founded upon earthly reasons. Hence, by the same reasoning, it will be impossible for faith to subsist with an understanding principally founded on some acquired argumentation. But such is scientific knowledge. It is impossible, then, for faith and knowledge to subsist to... gether in regard to one and the same object.

In view of the length at which Bonaventure answers this argument, it may be thought to have worried him. The same point was made in the same form by Guillaume d'Auxerre. 1 6

2 - Itern , visio

patriae tol l it fidem propter certitudinem et evidentiam in cognoscendo; si igitur quod cogno­ scitur per scientia m est certum et apertum, videtur, quod impossibile sit, aliquid esse simul scitum et cre­ ditum .

2 - The vision of glory eliminates faith because of certitude and evi.... dence in the act of knowing. If, therefore, what is perceived by knowl­ edge is certain and evident, a thing cannot possibly be at the same time the object of knowledge and of faith.

3 - lte m, a n i m u s n o s t e r n u l l o modo potest dissentire ab eo q uod novit 1rnbitu s c i e n t i a e - non enim potest non credere, quod triangulus non habeat t r e s a n g u l o s aequales duobus rectis, si scit il lud d c monstra­ re - s cd q uae fid e creduntur voluntarie creduntur, et sicut possunt credi, ita et poss unt discredi: ergo videtur, quod notitia scientiae non poss it simul stare circa idem cum ipsa fide.

3 - Our mind cannot in any way disagree with what it knows through the function of knowledge - for in­ stance, the mind cannot fail to admit that the sum of the angles of a tri­ angle is equal to two right angles, supposing it is able to demonstrate this. Bu t those things which are be­ lieved through faith are believed vol­ untarily, and as they may be the object o f belief, so they may be the object of disbelief. It would seem ►

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therefore, that scientific knowledge cannot subsist at the same time as faith in regard to the same object . 4. -ltem, q uae s c i e n t i a co9nos­ cuntur subiacent rationi; s ed q uae fid e creduntur sunt supra rationem, quoniam fides est illuminatio rationem e levans supra se: erBo, si idem non po test esse infra rationem e t s upra rationem, non videtur, q uod possit simul cognosci per scientiam et fid em.

.

4 -The things perceived by knowledge are below reason; but the things believed by faith are above reason, since faith is an illumination which lifts reason above itself. Therefore, because one and the same thing can­ not be both below and above reason, it would seem that it cannot be com­ prehended at the same time through knowledge and through faith .

After exposing the arguments that would tend to prove a thesis opposite to the one he is about to propose, Bonaventure elaborates his own conclusion. He takes the whole problem over from the beginning and indicates the reasons for his position. This position will be qualified, but also very clear. By assuming it, he is exercising the function proper to the master, that is, the d eterminatio, proposing the one solution which in his opinion, among all those given, must be held true. Respondeo: A d praedictorum intel­ l igentiam est notandum, quod duplex est cognitio, scilicet apertae compre­ h ension is et manuductione ratiocina­ tionis . S i loquamur d e scientia apertae compreh ensionis, q uo modo cogno­ scitur Deus in patria; s ic non com­ patitur secum fid em, u t s imul idem sit sci tum et cred itum, pro eo quod tal is cognitio simpl iciter exclud it aenigma; et hoc mel ius apparebit infra, cum agetur de evacuatione virtu tum, q uare videlicet et q ualiter fide i actus per visionem excludatur et evacu etur. Et de hac scientia Sanctoru m auctoritates dicunt, et communis opinio mag is­ trorum tenet, hoc esse verum, quad id em non po test esse simul scitum et c red itum.

I answer: To understand what has been said, we should note that there are two kinds of knowledge, by di­ rect apprehension and by progressive reasoning. If we speal.< _ 9£ a k_nowl­ edge attained directly, in the way -in which God is known in heaven, this cannot subsist with faith in the sense that the same object may be at the same time both known and believed, for the reason that such know ledge absolutely excludes a n y o b s c u r i t y . This will be seen later when we dis­ cuss the disappearance of the virtues, 1 7 that is, why and how the act of faith is eliminated and made to disappear by means or' the beatific vision. It is to such knowledge that the writings of the saints refer, as do also the

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common teachings of the m a s t e r s when they assert that one and the same thing cannot be at the same time the object of knowledge and of faith. S i autem loquamur d e scientia , q uae es t a manuductio n e ratiocina­ tio nis, s ic voluerunt quidam d icere, adhuc esse verum, quo d non po tes t simul s tare cum fide, q u ia per talem scientiam assentit i ntellectus ipsi rei cogn itae propter ipsam ra tionem prin­ c ipa liter, assen tit e tiam n e c e s s a r i o , assentit etiam s icut rei, qua e est infra se; cujus con trarium reperitur i n fide , q u a e assentit primae V eritati proptcr se e t voluntarie, elevando rationem super s e . Et idea d ixerunt, hab itum fidei et scientia e m u tuo sese excludere, s ecundum q uad caritas illum amorem exclud it, quo q u is a ma t Deum propter tempora l ia principaliter.

Speaking now of knowledge at. tained through progressive reasoning, some writers claim that it is also true that this could not subsist together with faith, arguing that by means of such knowledge the intellect assents to the known object principally be .... cause o f reason ; that it assents even necessarily ; that it assents also to a thing inferior to itself; whereas the opposite is found in faith, which as.... sents to the first Truth because of what it is, and voluntarily, by ele­ vating reason above itsel f. And there­ £ore they say that the dispositions of faith and o f knowledge are mutuaily exclusive, in the sense that charity is incompatible with that love which seeks God m a i n l y f o r t e m p o r a l reasons.

A l iorum vero positio est, quod de uno et eodem simul potest haberi scientia manud uctio n e ratiocination is cum hab itu fidei, juxta quad d icit A ugustinus, XIV d e Trinitate, ex­ ponens illud A p o s t o l i : A lii datur per Sp iritum sermo sapientiae, a l i i senna scien tiae : "Huie scientiae tribuo illud quo fides saluberrima , q ua e ad veram b ea titud inem ducit, g ign itur, n u tritur, d ef end itur, robora tur; q ua scientia n o n pollent plurimi fide les , l icet habean t fidem . " · Et R ic1rnrdus d e Sancto Victore dicit, quad: "ad ta quae fidei sunt, n on tantum possunt

Others, on the contrary, assert that in regard to one and the same thing the progressive knowledge of reason.... ing may subsist together with the disposition of faith, confonnably to the words of Augustine 1 8 in XIV de Trinita te where he explains this pas.... sage from the Apostle : To o n e through the Spirit is g iven the u tter­ ance of wisdom; and to another the utterance of knowledge ( l Cor. 1 2 : 1 8 ) : "I attribu te to such knowledge the function of engendering. foster­ ing, defending. and strengthening the most salutary virtue o f faith . which

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INTRODUCTION TO BONA VENTURE

haberi rationes probabi les, sed etiam necessariae, l icet eas interdum con­ tingat nos latere. " Unde al iquis cre­ dens, Deu m esse unum, creatore m omn ium, s i ex ration ibus necessariis incipiat ipsu m idem nosse, non prop­ ter hoc desinit fidem habere; vel s i etiam prius nosset, fides superveniens talem cogn it ionem non e x p e l l e r e t , s icut per experientiam patet.

Ratio autem quare talis scient ia simul potest esse de eodem cum ipsa fide, ita quod una cognitio alteram non expellat, est, q u ia scientia manu­ d uctione rationation is, l icet aliquam certitud inem faciat et ev identiam circa d ivina, illa tamen certitudo et eviden­ t ia non est omn ino clara, q uamd iu sumus i n v ia. Quamvis en im al iquis possit rationibus n ecessariis probare, Deum esse, et Deum esse unum , tamen cernere ipsum d ivinum esse et ipsam Dei unitatem , et qual iter illa un itas non excludat personarum plu­ ral item, non potest, n isi " per justitiam fide i emundetur. " Und e i l lum inat io et ccrtitudo tal is sc ient iae non est tanta, q uod hab ita illa, superfiuat illum ina­ tio fidei , immo valde est cum illa pernecessaria.

leads to true beatitude; yet many who have faith do not abound in such knowledge. " And Richard de Saint.... Victor says that "in matters of faith, there may be not only probable rea.... sons, but sometimes also necessary reasons, although the latter may re.... main hidden to us. ' ' 1 9 Wherefore anyone who believes that God is one, the Creator of all things, and who begins to perceive the same through necessary reasons, does not for that cease to have faith. And even if such knowledge comes first, when faith is added later the knowledge is not thereupon rejected, as is ob­ vious from experience.

The reason why such knowledge _ may bear upon the very same object as faith, so that the one perceptio-n does not exclude the other, is that knowledge by progressive reasoning, while producing some certitude an9 evidence in divine matters, leaves such certitude and evidence short of full clarity as long as we are in this life. Although it is possible to prove by means of necessary reasons that God exists, and that God _is one, yet to see2 0 [ with the eyes of the intel­ lect] the very being of the Godhead, or the very oneness of God, or the manner in which this oneness does not exclude plurality of Persons, is quite impossible unless [ the mind] is cleansed by the righteousness of faith . Hence, the illumination and cer-­ titude of knowledge is not so great a� to render superfluous the illumi�ation of faith: on the contrary,_ such an illumination is a necessary addfrion.

M ETHOD

Et hujus signum est, quia, licet aliqui ph i losophi de Deo sciverint multa vera, tamen, quia fide caruerunt, in mult is erraverunt vel etiam def e­ cerunt. Unde, sicut in praecedentibus dictum est, quad fides po test stare cum visione exteriori, quia illa habet conjunctam latentiam circa personam Christi; s ic intell igendum est circa habi tum fidei et talem modum sciendi, quod passunt se simul in eadem et respectu ejusdem compati.

Unde cancedendae sunt rat ianes q uae sunt ad istam partem.

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In proof of this: although some philosophers have known much about God that is true, yet, because of lack of faith, they have of ten erred in their speculations or even given them up altogether. Hence, as faith may sub­ sist together with experimental vision ( a point we have already made) 2 1 because such vision implies an in­ trinsic mystery as regards the Person of Christ, so we should understand the relationship between the disposi­ tion of faith and that other manner of knowing: i. e., we should under­ stand that they may coexist in one and the same subject as regards a given object. Hence the arguments establishing this point must be accepted.

As may be seen, Bonaventure's conclusion is firm, but he takes the position only after having carefully defined the meaning of the term scientia (knowl­ edge) . He agrees that faith is not compatible with the direct vision of a given thing. But he believes that the relative obscurity and lack of complete assurance which remain in discursive knowledge make such knowledge com­ patible with faith, even when the farmer brings forth necessary reasons concerning the object of the latter. Thus, the way is open to the argumenta­ tion which will be used in the Quaestiones disputatae de mysteria Trinitatis. A d objecta: I - A d illud v e r o q u o d p r i m o objicitur in contrarium, quad caritas non compatitur secum dilectianem, quae principaliter adhaeret alii rei; respanderi potest, quad non est simile: quoniam amare Deum prapter crea­ turam finaliter pertinet ad amarem iniquum et libidinosum, qui habet repugnantiam ad amorem rectum; sed assentire alicui vero probato propter rationem probantem, dum illatio sit vera et n ecessaria, nee hoc dicit pee-

1 -To the first objection, that char­ ity is not compatible with a love mainly concerned w i t h s o m e t h i ng other than God, we may answer that the parallelism does not apply here. For to love God by reason of some creature considered as a final end is an act of wicked and libidinous love which is in contradiction to true love. But to give one's assent to a demon­ strated truth by reason of the demon­ stration, if the conclusion is true and

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catum nee dicit errorem, et ideo non sic habet r e p u g n a n t i a m ad fidem; propterea non es t simi le.

necessary, can be called neither a sin nor a mistake, and is in no way in contradiction to faith. Therefore there is no possi� le comparison.

Sed adhuc i llud non solvit plene, quia, quidquid sit de caritate, ista duo non videntur simul se posse com­ pati, quod aliquis assentiat veritati creditae propter s c , et quod assentiat t i propter aliud . Propter quod notan­ dum , quod haec praepositio "propter" dupliciter potest accipi: uno modo, prout notat causam finalem: alio modo, prout dicit rationem moventem . S i prout dicit causam finalem, sic non potest unum et idem cred i propter s e et propter aliud , s icut amari non potest propter se et propter al iud .

Yet this does not provide a com­ plete solution. For, whatever the case may be with charity, there would seem to be no possibility for a man to adhere to a single truth because of two [ primary] reasons simultaneous­ ly. Wherefore we must note that the preposition because of may have two meanings: it may designate either the final cause or a [ secondary] motivat­ ing principle. If it refers to the final cause, then one and the same thing cannot be the object o f faith because of itself and because of something else, any more than an object can be loved because of itself and because of something else .

S i d icat rationem moventem, cum plures possint esse rationes moventes ad assentiendum uni et e idem, s icut potest una conclus io probari per cau­ sam et per effectum, potest etiam probari per aliquid extrinsecus et per al iquid intrinsecus: sic non est incon­ veniens , quod al i quis assentiat al icui veritati propter se et propter al iud , d iversis tamen habitibus et considera­ tionibus .

B u t if, on the contrary, i t [ the preposition because of] refers to a [ secondary] m o t i v a t i n g principle, since t h e r e c a n b e s e v e r a l s u c h [ secondary] principles by which as.. sent may be induced in regard to one and the same object - as it is possible to draw a conclusion both from a cause and from an effect, or to estab­ lish a proof from extrinsic and in­ trinsic factors - then also it is not contradictory that a man should as­ sent to a certain truth because of it­ sel f and because of something else, as long as the dispositions and view­ points remain distinct.

Sed nee adlntc il lud plene solvit, quia d icitur Joannis 4 , 4 2 , quod dixerun t Samaritani credentes : Jam

But even this fails to provide a complete solution, for John in 4 : 42 says, o f the believing Samaritans,

METHOD non propter verbum tuum cred imus; quod est verbum fidei, et ita videtur, quod ass ensus fide i non compatiatur secum assensum scientiae, qui princi­ pal iter innititur ration i . Et propterea voluerunt aliqui d icere, quod ets i non tol latur cognitio quantum ad habitum, tol l itur tamen quantum ad actum, quia non habet jam illius usum nee motum. [stud ta men non oportet d icere, n ee videtur ess e conveniens , quod aliquis habet habitum, et non possit habere usum , maxime cum non habeat poten­ tiam ligatam per a l i q u o d i m p e d i ­ mentum .

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[ that they spoke to the Samaritan woman thus] : " We no longer b e­ l ieve becaus e of what thou hast said , "

which is an expression of faith. Thus, it would seem that the assent of faith is not compatible with the assent of experimental knowledge, which rests principally upon reason. Some theo­ logians argue that, although knowl­ edge is not removed as a disposition, it is yet taken away as an act, since it has no longer any use or motive power. But this is not correct, nor does it seem acceptable to say that a thing may remain as a disposition and yet be unusable - especially when there exists no impediment to limit its potency.

Et propterea potest dici, quad quando aliquis s i mul est sciens et credens, hab itus fid ei tenet in eo principatum; et ideo talis assensu fide i assentit ipsi Veritati propter s e , ita quad "propter" d icit ra tion em princi­ pa liter moventem . A s s e n s u e t i a m scientiae assentit eidem propter ra­ tionem, ita quod " propter" non d icit rationem principaliter ipsum moven­ tem .

Hence it can be said that, when someone both knows and believes, the disposition of faith plays in him the principal part. Therefore it is by the assent of such faith that he adheres to [ this point of] truth because of itself, and this in such a way that the pre­ position because of refers [ not to the final principle but] to the foremost motive principle. Now, he also ad­ heres to the same truth because of a rational principle, and this in such a way that the preposition because of does not refer to the [ final principle, nor even to the foremost] motive principle [ but to a motive principle of lesser degree] .

Quamvis autem non possit unum et idem credere propter se et propter a liud , ita quad sic et sic credat princi­ paliter; ta men propter s e et propter aliud bene possun t se compati ad

Therefore, although it is impossible to believe in one and the same thing because of itself and because of some­ thing else, in such a way that both principles of belief are foremost, yet

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invicem, ita q uod unum s it principale e t a liud s i t s ubserviens. Unde i l lud q uod d ixerunt fideles: Jam non prop­ ter loquelam tuam credimus; intel­ ligendu m es t principaliter.

' 'because of itself' ' and '' 'because of something else' ' are compatible pro­ vided one is foremost and the other is subservient to it. Hence, what the believers said - ' ' We no longer b e­

lieve because of what thou hast said' '

- should be understood to mean: we no longer believe principally because of what thou hast said. Bonaventure' s conclusion, then, is clear-cut. One and the same thing may be both known and believed at the same time, but the formal purposes of the two approaches are quite different. The preceding example shows how necessary it is to read in full any of Bonaventure's questions - indeed, the questions of any scholastic master. The replies to objections very often provide important explanations which add indispensable sidelights to the determinatio . 2 -Ad il lud q uod obj icitur de

2 -To the opposite argument that the vision of glory voids faith, we should answer that the case i s not the same. Since such vision excludes all obscurity, faith is no longer needed. This is not so with discursive knowI-edge.

3 - Ad i llud quod objicitur, quod sc iens non po test d i s s e n t i r e ab eo q uod scit; d icendum, q uod verum est quantum ad id quod de eo cognoscit, q uantum tamen ad id q uod latet, ex illo d iss entire po tes t; et ratione ill ius est necessaria s ib i cred ul itas fidei, s icut a l iq u is ph io losoph us sciens probare, Deum esse u n u m, ra tione necessaria , ab hoc non potcst dissen tire; d issen­ tiret tamen ab hoc, si q u is dicere t, q uod illa unitas potest compati secum plural item; q uod q u idem eum latet et exced it vires c o g n i t i o n i s s u a e e t scien tiae.

3 - To the opposite argument that one who knows cannot refuse his as­ sent to what he knows, we should answer that it is true of whatever he does kno,v; but because of what es­ capes him, he may dissent from the truth, and for this reason he needs the belief of faith. For instance : if a philosopher were able to prove through necessary reasons that God is one, he could not possibly dissent from this truth ; whereas if someone told him that this oneness is compat­ ible with plurality, he might dissent from tha t truth, for it is hidden to him and exceeds the power of his

visione patriae, q uod tollit fidem; d icendum, q uod non est s imile: q u ia , cum omnem exclud i t latentiam, jam credulitas fide i non est necessaria: non sic autem es t de scientia, quae habetur per rationem manuductivam .

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understanding and acquired knowl­ edge. 4 -Ad i llud q uad o bj ic itur, q uad

fides est de h is q uae sunt supra ratio­

nc m , et scicn tia de his quae sunt infra; d icendum, quad s icut n ih i l imped it, unum e t idem esse latens e t patens; sic n ih i l imped it, unum e t idem secun­ d u m a l ium et a lium cognoscend i mo­ d um esse infra et supra; tt ita sci tum et creditum. Licet enim sempiterna v irtus et D ivinitas nosci possi t per scientiam acq u is i tam, vel etia m in­ nata m , in s e; ta men, pro u t comparatur ad pluralitem personarum, vel ad hu­ milita tem h u manitatis nos trae, q uam Deus assumps it, omnino supra ration­ em est et supra sc ient iam. Si q u is enim jud ic io rationis e t scientiae innita tur, nequaquam crederet possibile, quad s u m ma Uni tas secum compatiatur plu­ ra l ita t c m perso naru m; nee quad sum­ ma l\fo j cstas u n iri poss i t cu m nos tra humilita te; nee q uad summa Virtus de non operante fiat operans s ine sui mutabilitate, e t cetera cons imilia, q uae videntur repugnare communibus animi concep t ion ibus secundum philosophi­ am. Unde valde parum att ingit scientia cognitionem d ivinorum, n is i fidei in­ n ita tur; q u ia in una et eadem re aper­ t iss imum est fidei q uad occul tiss imum es t scientia e; sicut patet d e altiss im is et nobiliss imis q uaestionibus, quarum veritas latu it p11 ilosophos, scilicet de crea tione mundi, d e po ten tia e t sa­ pien t ia Dei, q uae latuenm t ph ilo­ s ophos et nw1 c man ifesta e sunt Chri­ stian is s implicib us . Propter q u od dicit A pos to l us, stu lta m f ecisse Deum sa-

4 - To the opposite argument that matters of faith are above reason while those of acquired knowledge are below reason, this is what we should answer: Nothing prevents one and the same thing from being both hidden and evident: likewise, nothing prevents one and the same thing from being known in one way as above reason and in another as below it, and so being both known and believed. For although the eternal power of the Godhead may be known as such either through acquired or through innate knowledge, yet in terms of the plurality of Persons or of the lowliness of our humanity which God assumed, it is entirely above reason and above acquired knowledge. Any­ one, indeed, who would rest upon the judgment of reason and knowledge alone would never think it possible that supreme Oneness would be com­ patible with plurality of Persons, or that supreme Majesty could be united with our lowliness, or that supreme Power could pass from inaction to action without intrinsic change, or other things of the same kind which seem to contradict the common ra­ tional concepts of philosophy. Hence acquired knowledge, of itself, lacking a basis in faith, touches very incom­ pletely upon divine realities: for with­ in one and the same object, what is open to faith may be closed to knowl­ edge. This is obviou s in the high{'st and most noble matters, whose truth

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pientiam hujus mundi; quia omnis sapientia de Deo in via absque fide magis est stultitia quam vera scientia. Deprimit enim perscrutantem in er­ rorem, nisi dirigatur et juvetur per fidei illuminationem; unde per ipsam non expellitur, sed magis perficitur.

is unknown to philosophers. For in­ stance, the creation of the world, and the power and wisdom of God, re­ mained hidden from philosophers, but are now manifest to simple Christians. Wherefore the Apostle said ( 1 Cor. 1 : 20 ) that . . . God turned to foolish­ ness the " wisdom" of this world; without faith, all wisdom concerning God in this life is rather foolishness than true knowledge. The searcher who is not led and assisted by the illumination of faith is precipitated into error. Hence acquired knowledge is not expelled by faith, but rather perfected.

Bonaventure has now defined the positions which will permit him to use the argument of necessary reasons within the analogy of faith. And this is precisely why he insisted on completing the discussion. For him, philosophy has its place within the construction of faith; once the premises of faith are given to the theologian as a starting point, philosophy is free to develop its metaphysics according to the program assigned to it by Augustine - causa essend i, ratio intell igendi, ordo vivend i 2 2 -which remains the only possible pattern for Christian thought.

5.

DUBIA CIRCA LITTERAM MAGISTRI

After the exposition of the questions come the dubia bearing upon the text of the Sentences itself. In distinction 24, there are four dubia: dub. 1 : The merit of faith which does not see dub. 2: The motive of faith by hearsay dub. 3: Faith as related to understanding dub. 4: Faith and experimental knowledge of God Such "doubts" are in fact minute questions arising from the text itself. Brief arguments are provided, and a conclusion is offered to enlighten the reading. We have already suggested that the dubia are perhaps the fruit of Bona­ venture's reading of the same text cursorie when he was a Bachelor of Sen­ tences. A study would be worth making to determine the relationship bet\V'een these dubia and the Glossa of Alexander of Hales. It would serve as a valuable preliminary to measuring the influence of the master upon his disciple.

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The questions of the Commentaries on the S entences are all built on the same model. The Quaracchi editors give the name / undamenta to the argu... ments presented in support of the thesis, while the opposite arguments are said to be ad oppositum. In our footnote references, the f undamenta are designated by the letter f ., the arguments ad oppositum by the abbreviation arg . , the d etermina tio by conc l . , and the answers to objections or arguments ad oppos itum, by ad 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , or 5 .

II. THE DISPUTATIO Specialists are now well infarmed on the scholastic exercise called the d isputatio. Only the d isputatio ord inaria is considered here, since Bonaventure left no question in the form of a d ispu tatio quod l ibeta l is . However, the difference between the two is relatively minor, so that an explanation of the former may generally also apply to the latter. Bonaventure's Dispu ted Ques­ t ions closely resemble the questions in his Commentaries on the S en tences, the only noteworthy difference being the greater number of arguments in the former. The d isputatio is a scholarly exercise whose primary purpose is to test a bachelor in the dialectics of scholastic argumentation. The theme is chosen by the master. The development follows strict rules of procedure, which do not appear in the written text. This written expression of a question is the final state of an elaborate process. The d isputatio involves a number of distinct persons: the master, and his pupils divided into two opposing sides, the respondcn tcs and the opponentcs . The participants, selected by the master, will contribute under his direction to the exposition of his thesis, in the pres... ence of other masters and students of the various faculties of theology in the university. The d isputa tio extends over two entirely different sessions: the disputatio, properly so called, and the final settlement, or determinatio . In the first, the students have the active part : in the second, the master speaks alone. The disputation begins with the exposition of the thesis. The respondens has the floor. He proposes solutions, and when objections are raised, he opens the way to new answers. The opponens formulates the arguments in support of both sides. During the debate, he defends the objections. A properly conducted disputation has several respondcn tes and opponentes challenging each other. The master intervenes at times to correct dialectical mistakes. At the end of the session , the master clarifies what has been said, establishes the order of arguments pro and con, proposes the definitive sol ution, and answers the opposite arguments.

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The second session takes place on the next dies legibilis ( i. e., the nex t day suited for a reading) . It is essentially a magistral act, the determinatio. This session is much more solemn than the first: masters and bachelors leave their studies to attend. The master presents the disputed question in its defi­ nitive form, as it is preserved in the manuscripts. In his determinatio, he may either offer several solutions and formally endorse one of them: 2 3 or he may offer several solutions and leave the choice open: or again, he may, for reasons of prudence, abstain entirely and leave the substance of the question un­ settled. The determinatio has a special and definite vocabulary. Some of the ex­ pressions are proper to it in their specific meaning, for instance, narrando, dubitando, inquirendo, non asserendo . When a personal stand is taken, it is announced by such words as asserendo, determinando, or attendendum est. 24 Bonaventure conducted his disputations between the years 1253 and 1257, 2 5 at which time he was Regent Master in actu . although it was only in 1257 that he received his title officially from the university. Important as these D isputed Questions are in Bonaventure's theological work, they were com­ pletely lost sight of for over six centuries, until Father Fedele da Fanna' s fortunate discovery of Manuscript 185 in the library of Todi. This manu­ script contains an alphabetical inventory of the library of the Minors in the same town. By analyzing it, Father de Fanna was led to distinguish four successive lists, the first of which seemed to date from the end of the thirteenth century: this was indicated by the penmanship and also by the facts that all the authors listed had lived before the year 1290. Now, on folio 18, number 18, appear these words: Item, quaestiones d isputatae fratris G uillelmi Baglionis, fratris Bonaventurae, fratris Bartholomaei, fratris Guil­ lelmi d e Mara, fratris Gualteri, in uno volumine . 2 6 Let us add that Pietro Olivi, who died in 1298, 2 7 quoted in his Q uodlibetal Questions the D isputed Questions of Bonaventure. We shall study their contents later. Now, we merely note their subjects: the knowledge of Christ, the Trinity, and evangelical perfection. These ques­ tions differ from the Commtntaries on the Sentences in that here the operative element is not the question, but the article, as it is in the Disputed Questions and the Summa Theologica of Thomas Aquinas.

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III. BONAVENTURE'S DIALECTIC 1 . THE REDUCTIO

To claim for any one medieval writer the exclusive use of some scholastic method or dialectic would be untrue to history, for all scholastic practices were common to the theologians of the period -necessarily so, because all of them placed reason at the service of faith and developed the analogy of being within the analogy of faith. The theologian, whether he be Thomas Aquinas or Bonaventure, must bring Aristotle to respect the ontological mystery. This further dimension now widens the limited perspective of Greek philosophy : 2 8 and so, certain Platonic discursive processes which appear to the theologians as well adapted to the dialectics of theology are extended in their application and added to the logical weapons inherited from Aristotle. But even if the same methods are seen at work in all , it is nonetheless true that each one makes use of them in accord with his own personal per..­ spective. We shall try to show here in what way Bonaventure utilized the red uctio and other scholastic methods. The reductio - a word meaning both resolution and retracing [ to the origin] - is "the soul and technique of the return to God." 2 9 For the Seraphic Doctor it is assuredly more than a mere technique, for his whole synthesis tends to define how the entire creation that issued from God returns to Him in the manner of an intelligible circle. 3 0 The term reductio, or resolution, is found seemingly for the first time in the works of Chalcidius, in connection with the term compositio. 3 1 For this writer, resolution is an analysis or de-composition of things, brought to the point where the justifying principle of all change is perceived. It is a re... gressive deduction. Boethius is perhaps not quite so profound as Chalcidius. but his part is the more important in that he brings Aristotle to the attention of Western theologians. In his translation, cxvo:Aucnc; is rendered by resolutio. It is in the main John Scotus Eriugena, however, who initiates the Middle Ages into the technique of resolution. 32 He goes beyond Chakidius by extending the action of analysis to the point of making of it the very rule of being. We shall find the same idea in Bonaventure, who refuses to limit resolution to a mere method, thus taking a more advanced position than Albert the Great, for whom the reso lutio-compos itio must never be more than a technical pattern of knowledge . H Like Thomas Aquinas, Bonaventure seldom uses the noun resolutio - he prefers redu ctio . And yet he retains the verb resolvere . In its proper sense, reductio , as Bonaventure understands it, reveals the relationship between a

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complete substance and either its accidents or the incomplete substances which depend upon it. By extension, reductio will apply also to a thing which does not possess, of itself and by itself, a sufficient reason for being : in which case the word will indicate the relationship of th� thing with what gives it such sufficient reason. In the reduction of a reality to its genus, five types may be distinguished: 3 4 1 . The reduction of the principles of a substance to the substance itself. The principles considered here are the essential ones, such as matter and form, or those integral principles which are substantial parts and as such belong to the substance without being themselves substances. 2. The reduction of the complements of a substance to the substance itself, for instance, the first and the second act, being and life, which are not the substance but are not intelligible without the substance. 3. The reduction of the operations to the substances, for instance, reduc­ tion of generation to the engendered substance, or of the faculties to the substance that produces them. 4. The reduction of the images to the substance from which they originate, for instance, reduction of the images radiated by objects, which are not these objects themselves, but may be traced back to them. 5. The reduction of the privations to the dispositions they affect. In each case there is some reality which cannot subsist of itself and is not sufficient to itself, but which must be distinguished from the substance to which it is bound, because it is not this substance and yet depends upon it.3 5 The reduction is not merely a technique- it is the soul of the return to God; and since all knowledge depends upon principles, and principles are born within us under the regulating and motivating action of divine ideas, the certitudes which seem most capable of being self-sufficient are necessarily linked, by means of the first principles, with the eternal reasons and their divine foundation. To reduce, then, the truth of any judgment amounts to bringing back this judgment, from condition to condition, to the eternal reasons upon which it is established. In this dialectical motion, the mind is led to note that the process of reduction requires God's immediate collaboration for the formulating of the first principles from which the reduction itself draws its compelling necessity. 3 6 "To be sure, we may perceive without this reduction some measure of evidence and certitude, but to seize a truth in itself and to retrace its evidence to the conditions that justify it are two entirely different operations. In the former case, particular truths are self-sufficient; in the latter, they require that the thought that formulates them be able to determine the complete series of its antecedents so as to bring them back to God. " 37

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An illuminating example is given in the ltinerarium, 3 8 when Bonaven... ture rises from the thought of being to the contemplation of the divine es--­ sence. We shall speak of it when we present his works. 2. THE METHOD OF PROPORTION The human soul is the image of God, says Saint Augustine; 3 9 it is able to rise to participation in the divine perfection. Such a relationship implies a direct link between God and man. But the parallels Bonaventure discovers in creation lead him to expound an indirect link, that of proportion, by which he explains the universality of the phenomenon of analogy. With him, as Etienne Gilson says, 40 the meta­ physics of analogy is completed with a logic of analogy which is quite personal to him. Indeed, the logic of Aristotle cannot serve as a satisfying instrument for research within an exemplaristic metaphysic. While remaining an excellent method of exposition, it must surrender to a dialectic adapted to the end Bonaventure proposes: "to discern, beneath the apparent diversity of things, the fine threads of analogy which tie them to one another and attach them all to God . " 4 1 The metaphysical principle o f such a dialectic i s clearly formulated in an admirable text: "For those who looked upon Christ with piety, the sight of His flesh, which was evident, was the way to the acknowledgment of His divinity, which was hidden. Likewise, it is through mysterious and sym­ bolic figures that the eye of rational intelligence is led to understand the truth of d ivine wisdom. For the wisdom of God invisible could not have made itself known to us in any other way than by conforming itself through similitude to those forms of visible things which we perceive, and by mani­ festing to us, in the form of signs, its invisible qualities which we do not perceive. The Apostle affirms the same in the Epistle to the Romans: For s ince the creation of the world His invis ib l e attribu tes are clearly seen . . . b eing u nderstood t1uo ugh th e th ings tha t are made . 42 And blessed Dionysius writes in his book on the A ngel ical H ierarchy : 'It is impossible that the thearchic radiance enlighten us except it be enwrapt, for the sake of elevating us, in the many-hued veils of the sacred, and prepared in a connatural and familiar manner by a fatherly providence precisely through those things that are close to u s. ' 4 3 These sacred veils are the Holy Scriptures - the symbolical represen... tations by which the divine radiance is shaded and darkened so as to be adapted to our senses, in such a way that this darkening becomes our en­ lightenment, and this shading, the means of our elevation and of the revela... tion of su praterrestrial mysteries. " 44

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In addition to the book of the Scriptures, whose four senses - the literal, the analogical, the tropological, and the anagogical - reveal to us the hidden wealth of God's word, we have the book of creatures. In this, too, we must seek beyond the literal sense the deeper lesson of which visible reality is a sign. The logical instrument fitted to this task is the dialectic of proportion. Such an instrument is adapted to the inner law which rules the essence of created beings, for if all created beings conform to the divine essence, dia­ lectics will discover the sense and signification of creation by bringing out their correspondence with the Uncreated, the "proportion" benveen their participated being and the divine essence. Now, true metaphysics is centered upon Christ: it will be the same with true logic, for the principle of being and knowing is one. 45 Here we are in the thick of theology, in the fullness of the analogy of faith. Christ becomes the minor of our reasoning ( if we dare express it in that way) , and all the conclusions are formulations of "analogical proportions. " Many examples of this dialectic method may be found in the works of Bonaventure, the best of which are developed in his last work, the Co llationes in Hexae­ meron . 46 The whole of natural philosophy thus speaks to us of Christ, the Word of God, born and incarnate, and this through the "relation of proportion" by which all participated beings appear as the writing of an immense book which speaks to us of God. 4 7 The dialectic of proportion, then, seems to Bonaventure the only logical method that permits progression and elevation in the illuminative way, "by revealing the hidden presence of God within each being we meet along the way' ' : 4 8 for it alone is closely molded upon the inner structure of things - that which appears only at the moment when we perceive their relationship with God. Such a notion is far removed from the perspective in which Thomas Aquinas treats analogy. In the works of the nvo masters, the vocabulary and even certain texts may seem to correspond, but their spirit is profoundly different. While the Thomist analogy is as much difference as resemblance, the Bonaventurian analogy takes on a fundamentally dynamic and positive character. It appears in its own logical fonn as an EFF ECTIVE means of knowl­ edge, for Bonaventure insists most of all on its "anagogical' ' function.

3.

THE NECESSARY REASONS

In keeping with his spiritual kinship to Anselm, Bonaventure considers with special attention the method of argumentation based on necessary reasons, for he discerns its great potential value and efficacy in Trinitarian theology.

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Theological knowledge differs from simple knowledge of faith in that it seeks the intelligible element in what faith makes known. Within the frame­ work of the analogy of faith, theological reason makes use of a method of research which scholastic philosophy calls the modus inqu isitivus sive perscrutatorius. 4 9 Reason intervenes for a twofold purpose: to make explicit what was im­ plicit, by drawing theological conclusions from articles of faith : and to prove - i. e . , to render intelligible - these same articles of faith through argu­ ments of reason or fittingness. 5 0 Thomas Aquinas attributes to analogies no more than a relative power. H Bonaventure, on the contrary, deems that the work of the theologian is to discover analogies in matters not directly related to the Scriptures. His position is explained by the kind of relationship he conceives as existing between demonstrative knowledge and the knowledge of faith . 5 2 A single matter, then, may be the object of two kinds of knowledge, that of theology and that of faith. Theology does not eliminate faith: it acknowl­ edges the full merit of the assent of faith. 5 3 Rational argumentation, scientific demonstration, and the very science they produce are compatible with faith. The B reviloquium is a masterly example of argumentation through neces­ sary reasons, aimed at a better understanding of faith. The process is intro­ duced each time by the words: Ratio autem ad intelligentiam p raedictorum haec est. * Bonaventure uses the expression ' 'necessary reasons' ' in the chapter in which he expounds his arguments tending to prove the existence of the Trinity. These are of three kinds: traces or images of the God-Trinity taken from the books of creatures : arguments of authority taken from the Book of Scripture: arguments of reason taken from the Book of Life. Creatures offer mere arguments of fittingness: Scripture imposes its weight : the Book of Life alone produces necessary and truly demonstrative reasons. 5 4 Bonaventure is assuredly not the first to have used the argument of neces­ sary reasons. Origen used it before him to justify mystery. Augustine, too, proposed to penetrate religious truth rationally. But the systematical exploita­ tion of this method appears only later - in an over-rationalistic form, with Abelard, and in tempered and adjusted form, with Anselm and Richard de Saint-Victor. With both of the latter, the reasoning starts from a mystical • In the transl ation of the Brevi loquium (Vol . 2 of present series) , this formula Is rendered : "This should be understood as follows. " A literal translation would have read : "Now, the reason for understanding what has b�n said is this." Since the ratio ad intelligcntiam actually represents the necessary reason, the translator regrets not having used a more forceful expression in the Brevi loq uium, for instance : "The rational j ustification of the aforementioned is this." Perhaps the more ponderous sentence might have done better j ustice to the original Latin. (Tr.)

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basis and progresses in a deeply religious atmosphere. It is within this frame­ work that it can, without too much risk, support its claim of being scientific. With his Neoplatonic methods, Dionysius the Pseudo-Areopagite brings forth what may be called a rational justification for recourse to necessary reasons. Theologians of later date than Richard de Saint-Victor tend to use these reasons less and less. Thomas Aquinas holds them to signify not much more than "manifestations. " 5 5 Franciscan thinkers, however, revalidate them in the light of their own understanding of theological knowledge. 56 In the I tinerarium, argumentation by necessary reasons applies to the notion of the supreme Good. The Bonaventurian identification of Being with Love ­ generous, infinitely active and dynamic -appears there in its full light. 5 7 Likewise, in the Collationes in H exaemeron, the convergence of all the lights we are able to gather by means of necessary reasons increases our under­ standing of this same mystery, God being considered in His perfection, 1n the diffusion of His love, and in His productive power. 5 8 We know through revelation that God is trine in Persons and one in nature. As a theologian and metaphysician, Bonaventure seeks justifying reasons for this, and he believes such reasons must be necessary reasons. A fact is understood through the grasping of its cause: of that by which it is what it is and nothing else. A rational justification of the truth of the Trinity demands that it be related to some divine attribute from which it flows by necessity. Now, this attribute must be primitas . Bonaventure does not claim that he can actually demonstrate the Trinity through the natural lights of reason alone, as being able to explain of itself how a single essence can exist within a plurality of Persons. 5 9 The argumentation by nece ssary reasons is properly theological, for it is based on faith and elaborated in the light of faith. It is used in the spirit which inspired the Commen taries on the Sentences and the Quaestiones disputatae de mysterio Trinitatis - the intent of making faith intelligible60 through recourse to the Book of Life. 61 Bonavent u re believes that analogy gives him the right to pass from the inner activity of the soul to the inner life of God. 62 In the exemplaristic perspective which is his, h e develops, therefore, an ' 'ontological' ' argumentation parallel to the Anselmian system, and attempts to show how, by flowing out of the first Principle, ontological participation is an active reality at every level of being: and this, in accord with the twofold characteristic of supreme Good, its immanence or universal presence, and its transcendence. By retracing all things upward, we encounter the divine Being to whom every being is leading us. Now, in each category of being, God is represented, not only as God, but also as Trinity, as the analogy of faith would lead us to expect. 63 In the present world, it is impossible to reach the Trinity in its own eternal reasons. But th e light of faith opens to us a new perspective in which to

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contemplate the divine meaning o f things, so that we may see them as fl.owing from God. The essence of the mystery thus remains. The only thing Bona­ venture wants to do is provide a rational j ustilication for the existence of this mystery, which otherwise would remain an unjustified dogma. Without confusing the natural with the supernatural, he believes that we can have a supernatural vision of natural things. The concepts, then, though formally different, are materially identical. 64 If Bonaventure makes such frequent use of necessary reasons, it is because his theology is so dynamic -which permits us to doubt that he actually air proved the definitely negative trend of Dionysius. Although at times he refers to this negative doctrine, it is rather out of faithfulness to him as a teacher of mysticism than because of any accord with his thought. 4 . TH E ARGUM ENT EX PIETATE The argument ex pietate is found fairly o ften in Bonaventure's works. 65 It may be defined thus: of two theological propositions of which the first is theoretically closer to truth and the second is practically more religious, the second is the more trustworthy. The use of this argument is consistent with the position taken in the prologue to the Commentaries on the Sentences: that theology is a science both speculative and practical. 66 On this point, he is very far from Thomas Aquinas, for whom theology is not a practical science as such but a form of rational knowledge which indirectly has a practical influence and is a source of wisdom. The purpose of theology, for Bonaventure, is to impart the knowledge of truth, while at the same time effecting that moral purification and elevation of the heart which lead to perfect wisdom. 67 In this perspective, then, ' ' the argument ex pietate, considered in itself, is the rational theological attitude before a practico-religious challenge. It consists in the intertwining of the Christian virtues to form a supernatural inner mood devoted to the cult of God. " 68 It corresponds to a requirement of living faith: we must think of God altissime, through the highest concepts, at the same time as our life is ordained to His love piissime , through the greatest devotion. If the fact of conceiving in God some given attribu te favors these two aspects of theology, we have then a reasonable, if not a formally reasoned , justification for assert­ ing the presence of j ust such an attribute in the divine Being. Clearly, then, in Bonaventure's mind, the argument rx pietate can never be allowed to overstep the rights of reason . 69 The fact that he is a disciple of the seraphic Francis in no way deprives him of the rigor of the theologian .

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The argument ex pittate draws its complexity from the fact that it is founded on human subjectivity; it should not be confused with the argument of fittingness, which has a properly objective base. Both arguments have theological value. 70 BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTES

I . The style of Bonaventure remains to be studied. Useful indications will be found in the various works of FR. M.-D. CHENU. 2. The vocabulary used by Bonaventure should also be studied. This would be made easier by the indexes of the Quaracchi Opera omnia. In particular, it would be useful to determine whether there is divergence, and if so, to what degree, when the terms he uses are found also in Thomas Aquinas and other masters -Alexander of Hales, Jean de la Rochelle, Eudes Rigaud, etc. 3. As for the method of Bonaventure, the indications of FR. CHENU in his Introduction a l' etude de Saint Thomas d' Aquin may serve as a beginning, for many of his notations apply to any medieval master. On the "reduction, " it will be useful to read the study by FR. A. ZIGROSSI, Saggio sul neoplatonismo di s. Bonaventura, Florence, 1 954, and that of FR. W. DETLOF, Christus tenens medium in omnibus, in WW, 20 ( 1 957) , 28-42, 1 20- 1 40. Regarding the other methods ordinarily used by Bonaventure, we have indi­ cated in the footnotes the sources to which the reader may refer.

PART III THE WORK

Chapter I - Doctor Scripturae Evangelicae I. II. III. IV. V.

The Place of Scripture in Bonaventure's Theology Introduction to the Study of the Scriptures The Commentaries: Saint Luke The Postillas The Collations on Saint John

Chapter 2 - Magister in Sacra Doctrina I. The Master of Paris II. The Doctor of the Church Chapter 3 - Seminator Verbi Dei I. Medieval Preaching II. Bonaventure as a Preacher III. The Sermons of Bonaventure Chapter 4 - Doctor Devotus I. Bonaventure's Spiritual Doctrine II. The Principal Spiritual Works III. The Other Spiritual Works Conclusion: The Unity of Knowledge

CHAPTER

1

DOCTOR SCRIPTURAE EVANGELICAE To the modern reader, the scriptural works of Saint Bonaventure may seem to be of limited interest. Yet the Seraphic Doctor's theological and scriptural studies and labors give to these biblical commentaries a value which attentive reading will reveal. Before presenting these works, it may be well to indicate the place which Scripture occupies in Bonaventure's theology, and his under-­ standing of how it should be studied. I. THE PLACE OF SCRIPTURE IN B ONAVENTURE'S THEOLOGY The evangelical renewal which reached its height in the thirteenth century had its beginnings much earlier. Two names dominate the thought of the eleventh century: Saint Anselm, whose lofty dissertations had a definite in-­ fluence on Bonaventure; and the Venerable Bede, whose humble and dogged work contributed greatly to the Carolingian civilization. 1 Both were pioneers in the elaboration of theology; they were also primarily responsible for the renewed interest in biblical studies. And following the third Lateran Council ( 1 1 79 ) , the work they had fathered ceased to be confined to a few specialists taking over the labor of the monastic schools. After Hugues de Saint­ Victor and his disciples Richard and Andre, the masters in sacra pag ina Pierre Comestor, 2 Pierre Cantor, 3 and Stephen Langton4 (whom Msgr. Grabmann has fittingly grouped in a separate chapter of his History of the Scho las tic Met11 o d ) 5 had continued the renovation of biblical exegesis. Saint Francis and Saint Dominic, in turn, add their own stimulus to the movement. Their followers, by living in their spirit, carry the revivifying quality of the New Testament throughout Christendom. Let us recall the deep reasons which led Bonaventure to join the Friars Minor: his vocation had an entirely evangelical meaning. This "return to the Gospel , " to repeat, will have a considerable influence upon biblical studies. In the beginning of the thirteenth century, scriptural teaching overflows from the monasteries; the students of the university eagerly gather arou nd the Chairs of those who "purvey spirit and life, " 6 the masters in sacra pan ina . But such evolution implies a change in the technique of exegesis. There is definitely a swing away from the simple commented reading of the Bible ( lec t io or lec t u ra ) to a more complete teaching. The very history of the 85

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expression sacra pag ina is revealing. Sacra pag ina no longer designates the Bible alone, ' 'but is now enriched with a whole complex of notions that arise from the 'question' and become the matter for study and teaching different from purely scriptural knowledge. ' ' 7 As used by Saint Augustine and Saint Gregory, the "questions" are intended to explain obscure passages of a given scriptural book or of a series of scriptural books. They now go beyond this original program to cover ' 'problems which have nothing to do with properly scriptural matters. " 8 But a further change may be noted. The term sacra pagina is used, it is true, in the pontifical letters of Innocent Ill, Honorius Ill, and G regory IX, and occurs also in Sweden, in Ireland, and in Italy (Bologna) as late as 1 36 4 . But neither Robert Grosseteste i n Oxford, nor Roger Bacon in Pa ris, nor Bonaventure himself, ever makes use of it. Other expressions have replaced it completely.9 Bonaventure prefers sacra scriptura . 1 0 Later we shall con sider the meaning of this term which, as he uses it, extends far beyond the domai n proper to exegesis. Despite these developments and changes, however, the Bible always remains the basic book for the theological teachings of the masters. 1 1 While the sweetness of the Victorines and the unction of Saint Bernard were gradually eliminated from the technique of teaching, it was the program elaborated by Hugues de Saint-Victor in his Didascalion 1 2 which was fulfilled by the three masters in sacra pagina whose names are indicated above. Pierre Cantor is a witness to this: "The teaching of - Scripture consists in three things: reading, disputation, and preaching . . . . The reading is the foundation . . . , the disputation provides the walls . . . , preaching is the roof. " 1 3 Pierre Comestor in particular played an important part in the thirteenth cen­ tury. His Historia scholastica, supplementing the biblical G lossae and the Sen­ tences, provided a historical view of mankind's religious destiny. Both in Oxford and in the schools of the Preachers, the H istoria was a basic text­ book. 1 4 In Paris and among the Minors, the Bible alone was imposed upon masters and students, though the H istoria was often quoted. The exegetical method of Stephen Langton has a threefold division: first, he seeks to perfect the technique of moralizing exegesis in order to assist preachers : then, he attempts to bring to light the true and complete teaching of the Scriptures; finally, he shows his students how to handle the complicated machinery of the G lossa e: to distinguish the letter from the tropological meaning, by comparing the various readings of the Glossae and of the text, in order to attain a better understanding of the Scriptures themselves. 1 5 The exegetical tradition originated by Langton will be followed by the masters until the appearance of the Mendicants, who initiate further changes

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in the character of scriptural teaching. They are less interested in tropological conclusions than in biblical theology. While homiletics remains for them the scholar' s true goal in teaching the Bible ( ' 'The purpose of expounding and teaching the Gospel of God is to preach the divine word" ) , 1 6 the foremost aim of the Mendicant masters being to prepare, not future teachers, but future priests and pastors of souls: yet, by taste as much as by necessity, they seek in the careful study of Scriptures to find the building blocks of a theology. As between the Preachers and the Minors, the technical process of ex­ position is notably different. At Saint-Jacques, the masters, under the guidance of Hugues de Saint-Cher, 1 7 dwell at length on the revision and correction of the text before they proceed to the reading of it. The Minors of Paris, from Jean de la Rochelle onward, 1 8 prefer to begin with an exposition and to study theological questions after the text is read. In the year 1 243, when Bonaventure, clothed in the habit of the Minors, began his theological studies, his first two years, according to the statute adopted by almost every university in the Christian world, were planned to cover a biblical cycle during which the Bible would be read cursorie. After two more years, consecrated to the study of the B oo k of Sentences of Peter Lombard, there came a second biblical cycle during which the teaching of a master was received in the form of a more profound exegesis of one of the Sacred Books. The first biblical cycle, then, was a limited initiation. Bonaventure em­ ployed the opportunity given during these first two years to meditate on the Scriptures with such attention and fervor that in later years biblical quotations crop up quite naturally in his works. A single word suffices to call to his mind a biblical text, or a whole series of texts. The scriptural indexes of his works are proof of this. To be sure, concordances existed at the time,19 but their effective use depended upon an understanding of God' s word. 2 0 Bonaventure covered his first biblical cycle in 1 243- 1 245, the cycle of the Sentences in 1 245- 1 24 7, and the second biblical cycle in 1 24 7- 1 249. He thereupon obtained the degree of Biblical Bachelor and began in turn to read the Bible cursorie with younger students. "Every bachelor, before reading [ expounding] the Sente nces, must read [ expound ] the Old and New Testaments for a period of two years. He will receive no dispensation for any reason whatsoever. " 2 1 The secular bachelors, called Cursorcs, were expected to "read" one of the books of the Old or New Testament. The Mendicants, on the contrary, "read" the whole Bible. For that purpose, they made use of the notes they had taken during their own six student years, and the commentaries they could find in the libraries of their master or their monastery. An example of

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BONAVENTURE

such an expository text may be seen in the Cracow manuscript which contains Bonaventure ' s Commentary on Eccles iasticus . 2 2 With what text of the Bible did Bonaventure work? From the few studies on the question, 2 3 it would seem to have been the text endorsed in 1 226 by a committee of doctors of the University of Paris - the Bible with G lossae, 2 4 that is, the text interspersed with paraphrases and commentaries. It was called B iblia de l ittera et apparatu parisiens i . 2 5 Roger Bacon desired to reinstate the original text of Saint Jerome, and begged the Pope to establish a commission of competent masters for the purpose. 2 6 But it was the Dominican Hugues de Saint-Cher who began this extensive work and published a Correctoriu m based on the notations of Stephen Langton and Andre de Saint-Victor, though far superior in its critical standards. The most scientific Correctorium is that which the Franciscan Guillaume de la Mare composed while he was regent in Paris in the years 1 274- 1 275. The origins of the Glossae which accompany the Parisian text are imper­ fectly known and obscure. 2 7 According to Miss B. Smalley, the G lossae are a complex of work by different authors whose contributions are established with varying degrees of probability. Anselm de Laon undoubtedly had the major share in their compilation. He was apparently the original author of both the Glossa in terl inearis , which refers to explanations of words of the sacred text, and the G lossa o rd i naria , or marginal gloss, which explains whole passages by quoting the Fathers and other authors declared to be "authorities. ' ' Peter Lombard assured the success of these glosses by imposing them as part of the biblical studies in the university of Paris. Thenceforth, they had authority. 2 8 A final word, now, on a few technical expressions used i n the Middle Ages in a sense that needs to be clearly specified. The terms glossa and g loss u la are reserved to designate the marginal and interlineary glosses. A g lossarium is a summary of the g lossa . Pos tilla seems to be derived from the expression post i l la verba , used by the reader to introduce the commentary of a text he has just read. The term in fact designates all the commentaries that insert a brief exposition bet\veen scriptural passages or loci . 2 9 Expos itio and l ectura are also used, but their meaning has not yet been fully elucidated. We may now question Bonaventure as to the place he intended Scripture to have in his theology. Among the texts in which he has given us his thoughts, we shall select, as the one most directly devoted to the question we are now studying, the Prologue of the B rev il o q u i u m .

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Bonaventure's goal in composing this treatise was twofold. He sought, first of all, to show the masters that the whole of revealed doctrine is contained in Scripture. But he noted that to extract it entails arduous labor, and that the commentaries of Fathers and Doctors are very lengthy; at the request of his brothers in religion, therefore, he has composed this summary of theological truth, to which "some explanatory notes ( reasons) have been added as they suggested themselves in the course of the writing. ' ' 30 There was a second purpose as well. The young theologians, less attentive, perhaps, than their elders to the reading of the Holy Books and more tempted by the S en tences or the Disputed Ques tions, or even by philosophy in general, were losing all taste for Scripture itself. They found it ' ' con£ using, orderless, uncharted as an impenetrable fore st. ' ' Bonaventure, then, sought to remind these students of the prime importance of Scripture, and to initiate them into the literary styles and characteristic methods of the bibl ical books. The body of the B reviloqu ium, divided into seven parts, corresponds to the first purpose . The second led to the Prologue, which combines three distinct elements: a short introduction showing the importance of Scripture, its origin, methodology, and culmination : the body of the Prologue, which constitutes the most complete treatise on hermeneutics produced in the Middle Ages : and, finally, the exposition of the author's purpose. We shall consider first the introduction to the Prologue . Next we shall take up the body of the Prologue. The B revilo q u ium itself, considered as a theological work, will be studied in a later chapter. As a theme for his introduction, Bonaventure chooses Ephesians 3 : 1 4-19 : For th is reason I bend m y knees t o the Father o f o u r Lord Jesus Chris t, from whom all father11ood i n heaven and on earth receives i ts name, that He may gra n t you f ram H is glorious riches to be s trengthened with power thro ugh His Spirit u n to the progress of the inner man; and to have Christ dwelling through faith in your h earts : so that, being rooted and grounded in love, you may be able to compreh end with all t11 e saints wha t is the breadth and length and heigh t and depth , and to know Christ's love wh ich surpasses knowledge, i n order t1tat you may be fil led u n to a l l th e ful lness of God. Commenting on this text, as he does when explaining the theme of one of his sermons or collations, or that of his Prologue to the Commen taries on the Sentences, Bonaventure discovers in it the foundations of Scriptural teaching: sacra scrip t u ra , quae t11 eologia d icitur. 3 1 The teaching of the master consists in reading and expl aining the Scriptures, the revelation of the Father. He fulfills this task, not as he would expou nd the text of some human author, but by referring to the divine origin of the word. The "inner man" is at work in that master who, from the light Christ brings to him by Jiving in his heart, draws the strength to understand the

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revelation of the Father and to extend it to others� For Bonaventure, the theologian must seek wisdom ; theology must be within the theologian, " a pious knowledge o f the truth apprehended by faith, " 3 2 before becoming the same pious knowledge in those who receive his teaching. The character which Bonaventure attributes to the Scriptures explains in part why he uses indifferently the expressions sacra scriptura and theolog ia to indicate both the study and the teaching of the Bible. Sacra scriptura signi­ fies at one and the same time the material object of theology, that is, the text of the Bible, and the work of faith reflecting upon itself. In this second sense, Bonaventure considers theology to be a science, because it concerns a pattern of organized knowledge. Assuredly the words do not have the same meaning for Thomas Aquinas. To the very end of our work we shall be encountering the Bonaventurian notion of theology, whose domain extends to the univer­ sality of things human and divine because the Scriptures compass this same universality. Bonaventure discovers also in the text of Saint Paul what we might call the methodology of the Scriptures. We shall return to this point later. 3 3 Finally, the master discovers in this text how the study and teaching of the Scriptures reaches its culmination in the faithful soul. The Scriptures are the word of eternal life, of which we possess the seed in this world. By studying the word and practicing it, the theologian is directing himself toward eternal beatitude, which is to be his fulfillment. We see now why Bonaventure considers theology as a stage in the soul's ascent toward wisdom: the last step before the vision of heaven. II. INTRODUCTION TO THE STUDY OF THE SCRIPTURES

1.

HOW TO APPROACH THE STUDY OF THE SCRIPTURES

In his prologue to the Commentary on the Gospel of Sa int Luke, 3 4 Bonaventure expounds his ideas concerning the master and the pupil. The master must work in the light of grace. We have already indicated this theme in the preceding pages. Th e Scriptures need to be studied and explained in the same spirit in which the word of God was revealed to us. Also, the master must have been established by authority. As Moses re­ ceived from God the command to lead the sons o f Israel to the promised land , so the master receives from the Church the mandate to lead the people of the Lord out of the darkness of ignorance toward the knowledge of Jesus Christ. The greatness of his mission towers over him from all sides. He cannot presume on his personal strength: it is the Church, the mistress of truth,

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who empowers him, and thereby opens his spirit to the light he needs to fulfill his mission. Finally, by teaching the Gospel of God, the master is both teacher and apostle. He must be moved by the zeal of God's house, and by a brotherly love for souls. The pupil, too, receives his proper directives. He must, says Bonaventure, approach the study of the Scriptures in a spirit of deep submission, as a true disciple of Christ, meek and humble of heart. He must also prepare himself to receive the teaching of the master with a cleansed mind, so that grace may enlighten his study. Finally, he must assent to the teaching with faith and intellectual humility. 2.

INTRODUCTION TO THE STUDY PROPER 3 5

The introduction to the study o f the Scriptures includes t\vo operations: measuring the dimensions of the revealed word and investigating its method . In his exposition, Bonaventure follows the plan the Apostle gives in the text we have quoted in the preceding section. 3 6 I. Dimensions of the Scriptures 1 . Their Breadth The breadth of Scripture consists in the whole extent of the sacred text. The classification Bonaventure presents is apparently adopted from Jean de la Rochelle. 3 7 The Old Testament grouping is, five legal books, ten historical, five sapiential, and six prophetical: twenty-six books in all. The New Testa­ ment grouping corresponds, with four legal books, the Gospels : one historical, the Acts; twenty-one sapiential, the Epistles; one prophetical, the Apoca­ lypse. * The division i nto two Testaments is the only one that befits the Bible. We cannot apply to it the philosophical division of theory and practice, for the Scriptures, founded on the knowledge that comes by faith, are, throughout their entire course, at one and the same time a rule of knowledge and a form of life. By the breadth of the books they contain, the Scriptures are the voice of the Holy Spirit giving to the Church of Christ the whole doctrine of the truth necessary to salvation.

2. Their Leng th The Scriptures present a supernatural v1s1on of world history, describing the times of the law of nature, the written law, and the law of grace. Here, • Cf. The Brevi loquium, vol. II of present series, footnote, p. 5 .

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Bonaventure is repeating what Augustine taught 3 8 on the ages of the world, showing how the Scriptures portray the order of creation from its origin to its fulfillment. This part of the Breviloq uium is a long and magnificent poem which sings the variety, unity, beauty, and order of the divine decrees. If man is to understand the course of creation, his eye must embrace the whole of it. And since the shortness of his life precludes his doing this, the Scriptures are given him so that he may see through them the order of the whole.

3. Their Height The Scriptures describe the progressive hierarchy of things: the ecclesiastical, the angelical, and the heavenly. 3 9 Things, indeed, exist in themselves. In a sense , they also exist in our souls, when we know them naturally, or when faith discovers them to us, or again when we see them in the state of glory. They exist, furthermore, in "Eternal Art. ' ' * Philosophy has for its object things considered in themselves or in the knowledge we have of them, whether innate or acquired. Theology, being a science founded on faith and having for its material object the Scriptures revealed by the Holy Spirit, has for its formal object all things related to grace, to the vision of glory, and to eternal wisdom. There is a bond between these two sciences. Theology makes use of philosophy to construct the mirror in which the things of God are represented, or, as Bonaventure expresses it in the De reductione, 40 to build up faith. It resembles Jacob's ladder, which rests on earth but reaches up to heaven. In the light of faith, in which it grows, theology is the work of the one Hierarch, Jesus Christ. For He alone, by reason of His human nature, is Hierarch in the ecclesiastical and the angelical hierarchies, and, by reason of His divine nature, is the "center" of the supracelestial hierarchy of the Holy Trinity. By Him, grace descends from the Father upon the Church, leading it to seek understanding in the things of faith through the study of theology. 4 1

4. Th eir Depth The depth of the Scriptures consists in the multiplicity of the meanings which the word of God may possess. The literal sense, that which derives • Eternal Art, in Bonaventure, is the creative wisdom of God manifested in the Word through whom, as if through an instrument of art, God created the universe. Or again, it is the perfect representative reason, within the Son, of all that the Father can bring forth, and particularly, of all that He proposes to bring forth by His action ad extra. Cf. My$tica l Opuscula, vol. I of present series, p. 10; The B reviloquium, vol. II of same series, p. 1 2. (Tr . )

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from the text itself, as it is written, is the fundamental sense and the basis of scriptural teaching. But besides this, appeal may be made also to the allegorical sense, the tropological sense, and the anagogical sense. The allegorical sense comes forth when the text produces, so to speak, an image calling to mind a reality that is an object of faith. The tropological sense exists when from the text there arises some definition of what ought to be done. The anagogical sense, finally, lifts up the mind toward the eternal good for which we hope. This fourfold sense of Scripture is perfectly fitted to the matter it covers. Bonaventure's position is made clear by his use of the Dionysian themes42 teaching that the object of Scriptures is fourfold : 4 3 GOD, insofar as the Scrip­ tures are His revealed word ; CHRIST, insofar as He manifests God's power; R ED EM PTION, insofar as it is God's work ; FAITH, insofar as it is the light in which revelation is received. The depth of the Scriptures is due to their origin and to the purpose for which they were revealed to us. Their origin is God Himsel f speaking through the Holy Spirit and through Christ, in the various books. each of which is a human transcription of what God said and of what He did. The purpose for which God revealed them to us is that, through them, we may grasp what we must know in order to act rightly and thus attain eternal life. This is how the wisdom of God tells us what we must believe, what we must do, and what we must desire. II. Methodology of the Scriptures The Scriptures, as we have said, are not only to be known : they must also incline our will to act rightly. For this reason, they speak to us rather through examples than through arguments. Promises are more persuasive than reasoning; it is more important for the Bible to appeal to devotion than to definition. Everyone finds there what he needs, and everyone may even find , in the same text but in different circumstances, what will best fit him each time to answer the Lord 's appeal. That is why Scripture relies less heavily on rational certitude than on the transcending authority of God who reveals it. It is His authentic word. Nothing is superfluous in the scriptural text: everything predicted will be fulfilled to the last iota. He who only teaches Scripture to others shall be little in the kingdom of heaven : but he who both teaches and follows it shall be great in the kingdom of heaven.

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III. How To Expound the Scriptures The Scriptures must be understood and taught in accordance with the meth­ od by which they were given. Hence a theologian in charge of scriptural teach­ ing must have assimilated the sacred text to such a degree that the various passages are correlated in his mind and explain one another. In this way he will bring out the different senses of God's word, and will rest the truth of faith upon the authority of the Holy Spirit. The different texts of the Scriptures cannot be expounded in a uniform manner, since they were not all inspired for the same specific purpose. Bonaventure therefore recalls the rules proposed by Augustine. 44 Father Tavard has summarized these as follows: 1. There are in the Scriptures some things that are not directly ordained toward salvation; for instance, the description of the shape of heaven. 4 5 2. The different literary styles of the Scriptures should be studied so that each may be explained in accordance with its own character. 46 3. In order to discover the sense or senses, we must begin with the literal purport the words had in the mind of the one who set them down. 47 4. The interpretation of the Scriptures should never be forced. 48 5. The Scriptures should never be overstretched in an effort to confirm a rational argument: reason, instead, must bow to them. 4 9 6. When the element of some theological reasoning is not found explicitly in a scriptural text, the needed link may sometimes be drawn from a parallel passage. 50 7. Finally, in a difficult issue, it is better to doubt piously than to define rashly. 5 1

III. THE COMMENTARIES: SAINT LUKE According to the Quaracchi editors, the exegetical works of Saint Bona­ venture are five in number, but may be grouped in three categories on the basis of differences in the techniques of reading and exposition: 1. A Commentary on the Gospel of Saint Luke, dating from the magistral period. 2. Postillas on Ecclesiastes, the Book of Wisdom, and the Gospel of Saint John: the works of the Biblical Bachelor period. 3. Collations on the Gospel of Saint John, which are rather working notes or sermon outlines than exegetical writings properly so called. Brother Salimbene tells us, in his Chronicle, that "Brother John of Parma gave formal license to Brother Bonaventure of Bagnorea to 'read' in Paris,

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which he had not done heretofore as he was a bachelor not yet installed in his Chair: and so he 'read' a very beautiful and perfect commentary on the whole Gospel of Saint Luke: this was in 1 248. " 52 We believe with the Quaracchi editors that, in its present condition, the Commentary on the Gospel of Saint Luke is a text that has been revised, and revised for a ve ry definite purpose. This Commentary, which implies the maturity of spirit of a master rather than of a bachelor, fills Volume VII of the Opera omn ia . It reveals Bonaventure as being strongly concerned with the formation of future preachers. He places at their disposal the wealth of his information and his thought, and he writes for them a book which is as deep in its inspiration as it is clear in its exposition. To illuminate the thought, he appeals to the biblical Glossae and to the Homil ies on Saint Ma tthew commonly known as Opus imperf ectum? 3 which the Middle Ages attributed to Saint John Ch rysostom. He also uses Saint Ambrose 's Expos ition, which he quotes seventy times, 54 and the Venerable Bede's Commentary , which he quotes one hundred and sixty-four times. 5 5 IV. THE POSTILLAS 1 . THE POSTIL LA ON ECCLESIASTEs" 56 11

Bonaventure's exegesis on Ecclesiastes is a postilla very close to that of Hugues de Saint-Cher, and yet original . It is an example, as Miss B. Smalley writes, of the fact that a simple commenta ry may become a classical work, quoted later without any indication of author and plundered without scruple. 5 7 The technique of exposition is perfectly developed. After a prologue in which Bonaventure studies the true character of Ecclesiastes, of which he proposes different aspects through recourse to the four causes of Aristotle, � 8 he goes straight to what is interesting to the medieval reader: Knowledge is a road to wisdom. The human soul is made for the eternal. "All things in th is world are vanity; now vanity does not satisfy . . . . As the wind cannot appease the stomach, nor shadows fill the things that cast them, neither can temporal things that are but shadows of the eternal appease man's desire, for he is made for the eternal. " 5 9 This same theme recurs frequently in Bonaventure's pages. 60 The work then develops in a theological direction, and establishes the fundamental ideas that will remain the program of all of Bonaventure 's teaching, as witnessed by this admirably worded text: " Verbum d ivinum est omn is creatura , q u ia Dcum loq u itu r" 6 1 - ' 'Eve ry creature is the divine word, because it speaks of God . " Bonaventure takes full advantage of the wealth of the literal sense, wh ich another commentator, Guerric, had hardly touched upon in his postilla. 62

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INTROD U CTION TO BONA VENTU R E

To each chapter or group of versicles he apposes one or several questions: eighty-three in all. These same questions will be used, either verbatim or in a slightly modified form, by many later commentators. 6 3 According to Miss B. Smalley, the Pos tilla o n Eccles ias tes is a model of literal interpretation in which objects and problems are clearly defined. Its popularity shows that this form of exposition provided its audience and its readers with what they desired. 64 The sources upon which Bonaventure has drawn seem to be the G lossae and Saint Jerome's Commentary . The influence of Hugues de Saint-Victor ap­ pears in the study of vanity, which is considered under the three aspects of change, curiosity, and frailty. 6 5 The Quaracchi editors mention, as a further source which is possible if not probable, the Exposi tio mystica in Eccl es iasten of Solonius, Bishop of Vienne ( + 453 ) . 66 Because he adopts the views of Hugues de Saint-Victor on vanity, Bona­ venture is led to quote the works of Aristotle, including the Libri naturales , twenty-nine times. He does not damage his exegesis thereby, for, as he says: "All forms of knowledge are ordained to the knowledge of Sacred Scripture, contained within it, perfected in it, and directed through it to eternal illu­ mination. " 6 7 2.

THE " posTI L LA ON T H E BOOK O F WISDO M " 68

The editors chose to include in their critical edition a Commentary on the Book of Wisdom . It is certain that Bonaventure composed such a Commen­ tary, for the fact is mentioned in a reliable manuscript. 6 9 Is this the one published in the Opera omnia? A detailed discussion of the problem is found in the Prolegomena to Volume VI ( 1 893 ) . Nine years later, in Volume X, the editors return to the question, but again without solving it with certainty. After admitting that the text they published may be the work of any one of four men (three Dominicans -Jean de Verdiaco, Guillaume d'Altona, Nicolas Gorran -or Bonaventure himself) , they conclude that they cannot determine the true author. Manuscript 1 4429 of the Bibliotheque Nationale in Paris attributes the work to a doctor innominatu s , which is no great help. Bonaventure's most serious competitor would seem to be the Dominican Nicolas Gorran, Prior of Saint-Jacques before 1 2 80, confessor to King Philip IV. Nicolas died about 1 295. 70 In the opinion of Miss B. Smalley, he seems to have continued the work of Hugues de Saint-Cher, and apparently intended to write a commentary on the whole Bible. In fact, he offered the preliminaries of such a work to Pope John XXII. 7 1 He also planned to modernize the Biblical apparatus of Saint-Jacques. 7 2

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A study of the sources of the Pos tilla on t h e Book of Wisdom and a comparison with those of the Postilla on Ecclesiastes provide no true enlight.... enment as to the origin of the present text. Yet we agree with the decision of the editors not to reject this postilla, although it does lack the questions found in the exegesis of the text in other postillas that are definitely Bonaventure's. 3. THE

1 1

POSTILLA ON THE GOSPEL OF SAINT JOHN"

In Bonaventure's exegetical study of the Gospel of Saint John, we find again the same technique of exposition as in the Postilla on Ecclesiastes . Three hundred and ninety-nine questions occur in the work, appearing each time after the "reading" of a text. These questions are generally rather short. At times, there is nothing more than a mere explanation, like the example that follows: "Qu. 1 . Here one wonders why the Lord compares Himself to a door, while above He compared Himself to the gatekeeper: how can He be at the same time the Door, the Gatekeeper, and the Shepherd? I answer: As is said in chapter 1 4 , Christ is the way and the truth and the life: the way toward the Father, and hence the Door: the truth teaching the way, and hence the Gatekeeper; the life, and hence the Shepherd who brings forth and preserves life. " Bonaventure has read Augustine well, and summarizes him in striking terms.7 3 There is a wide range of differences among the manuscripts of this postilla. Of the forty-nine manuscripts studied by the editors, the nventy-nine which show the name of Gorran also show variations in the text. The thirteen manuscripts containing the text published in the Quaracchi Opera omnia show the name of Bonaventure. Since we know from the manuscript of the Ambrosian Library in Milan that Bonaventure did produce an exegetical work on Saint John, 74 we are j ustified in believing the text given by the editors to be genuine. 7 � A further indication may be found in the sources of the quotations, which include, besides the G lossae, used by everyone, all the authorities to which Bona... venture refers in other similar works (with the addition, however, of a Bishop Victor, whose identity leaves historians puzzled ) . 7 6

V. THE " COLLA TIONS ON SAINT JOHN" 77 The Co lla t ions published in Volume II of the Vatican edition of Bona­ venture's works are probably not by him, but by another Friar Minor, John of Wales. 78 The Quaracchi editors have brought the authentic text to light, bu t it remains to be detennined what literary category these Co llations belong

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to. Are they working notes or sermon outlines? They are based on the Post illa on the Gospel of Saint John already noted. Following upon these Col lations, the editors have published notes on certain scriptural passages: Luke 3 : 6, Cant. 6 : 1 , Eph. 4 : 23, and Rom. 1 2 : 2 . 7 9 The technique of Bonaventure is always the same. His exegetical pro­ cedures are not original with him ; they may be found in Albert the Great, as well as in Thomas Aquinas and Hugues de Saint-Cher. No philological , historical, or critical problem is raised. The literal sense is studied first, and, more rarely, a mystical meaning is introduced. Bonaventure frequently appeals to the tropological sense in order to provide the preacher for whom he works with an immediately usable homiletic tool. The purpose of these Col lations is definitely practical. They form a supple­ ment to the aforementioned Postilla on the same Gospel. Many versicles are not analyzed. Only those passages which offer a possible theme for preaching are covered. For instance, chapter 1 is studied in seven collations correspond­ ing to verses 5, 1 4 , 1 6, 26, 33, 29, and 5 1 . Three notes refer to verses 3 , 6 , and 23. A comparative study of the Commentary and the Col lations o n Saint John would reveal Bonaventure' s concern to be both theological and pastoral. The Commentary treats the letter of the text and solves the theological problems that it raises. The Col lations, on the other hand, have a practical purpose, and analyze the text in view of its use by the preacher.

BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTES There is in existence no general study of the exegesis of Bonaventure. The work of B. SMALLEY is mostly historical ; that of FR. SPICQ is the effort of an exegete more interested in the methods of his specialty than in the historical problems which result from Bonaventure's biblical works. These works, however, deserve a detailed study to show the essentially pastoral bent of his exegesis and its character, which is mainly theological. FR. P. D E LuBAC has noted this in Exegese medievale (I, 56-74 ) .

CHAPTER

2

MAGISTER IN SACRA DOCTRINA I. THE MASTER OF PARIS 1 . THE FI RST SYNTHESIS : THE "COMMENTARIES ON THE SENTENCES "

In a spirit of oversimplification, many theologians limit their study of Thomas Aquinas to the S u mma theo log ica . Yet, as Father Chenu notes, the fundamental positions of the Angelic Doctor had already been established in his Co mmen taries o n th e S entences . 1 Hence it is not only useful, but indispensable, to refer to the Co mmenta ries in order to shed light on the Su mma .

To an even greater degree, perhaps, than in the case of Aquinas, the Commen taries of Bonaventure represent his first theological synthesis. Much later, before leaving the master's Chair, he was to compose his own summa , the B revi lo q u ium; but this work would suppose, on every page, the develop­ ments and discussions that had appeared in the Co mmentaries . What is this B o o k of Sen tences , so often commented by the greatest writers of the thirteenth century? It represents an almost unique phenomenon in the Middle Ages. Written by Peter Lombard between 1 1 55 and 1 1 57, 2 it had become, less than a century later, in all Christian universities, the official textbook in the faculty of theology for a cycle of studies named after it, those requisite to the degree of ' 'Bachelor of the Sentences. ' ' It was to retain that position until the middle of the sixteenth century. How can such pre... eminence be explained? The B o o k of Sen tences presents itself as a compilation of patristic and magistral quotations that follow a rather loose plan. The Lombard manages to introduce his own thought into expressions borrowed from authors whose names he does not give; moreover, he frequently takes the liberty of modifying the words of the known great - Augustine, John Damascene, Abelard , Hugues de Saint..-Victor - or of the Summa S ententiaru m . The merit of Peter Lombard is not in this, but in having been able to group, with a very sure sense of theology, the problems as they were stated in the Schools and the most tra­ ditional solutions they received . "A clear mind that sees things accurately: a prudent and judicious man who knows how to unravel tendencies and their consequences, and also how

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to make use of them or tone them down." 3 He is, indeed, a man of tradition. Rejecting the insecure philosophical tenets of thinkers such as Abelard and Gilbert de la Porree, he looks to Augustine for the principle of his plan, and is also partial to him as a source for the exposition of many questions. By the content and organization of his treatises, he marks a real advance over the past. While giving no attention to ecclesiology, he is yet an in­ novator in that he adds to his work a treatise on teleology. His plan may have been inadequate, his terminology faulty, and his philosophical founda­ tions too narrow. Yet the great masters of Scholasticism were able to cast ·within this artificial mold he imposed upon their teaching a strongly original thought and even a synthesis which he himself was unable to produce. Both Thomas Aquinas and Bonaventure, after attaining intellectual maturity, felt the need of formulating teachings that were entirely independent of the S entences of Peter Lombard. But the Summa theologica and the Brevilo­ quium, both works of genius, were produced by two masters who were able to impose upon themselves the strong and salutary discipline of commenting upon an existing text whose imperfections they were best fitted to know. The Sentences continued their course, adding impetus to the renewal of theological studies in the Middle Ages. Their author was not much concerned with the pastoral character of the patristic texts he quoted, for he aimed at a work of "science," which fact also led him unduly to dispense theologians from going back directly to Scripture and Tradition. We should remember, however, that heretofore a course in theology had consisted mainly in a com­ mentary of the Bible rather than a critical study of texts. Nor should we overlook the "positivism" * behind Roger Bacon's charge that the Parisians ( particularly Alexander of Hales) had taken away primacy from biblical studies and given it to the reading of the Sentences. 4 It was, in fact, much later that theologians actually ceased to go back to the sources, which were then replaced, not so much by the Commentaries on the Sentences, as by the commentaries on the Summa t11eologica . Although Alexander of Hales was not the first to use the Sentences, it was he who initiated the practice of "reading" them in the theological faculty, dividing the text so as to make it understandable. 5 His G lossa dates from 1 220- 1 227- considerably before he received the Franciscan habit ( 1 236) . From 1 245 on, Bonaventure worked as a detenninans under the direction of a master: reading, disputation, preaching, such was the program he fol­ lowed . Thus, for four years he "read" the Sentences of Peter Lombard. From • Posi tive theology is a theology derived from the Gospel. the teachings of which, developed in biblical theology, are offered in systematic form. Positive theology may be contrasted with the philosophical approach to religion. (Tr. )

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this period, we have the Dubia c irca l i tteram mag istri, published by the Quaracchi editors, but from a different manuscript than those in which they found the text of the Commentaries . 6 These dubia were composed when the future master read the works of the Lombard cursori e . It is only in the year 1 248 that Bonaventure begins the Commentaries proper, being then an i n­ formed Bachelor of the Sentences. It would seem that, in writing these Commentaries, Bonaventure did not fallow the numerical order of the Books themselves. The conclusions of Father Lemmens and Father Bonnefoy on this point are more than probable: 7 that Bonaventure began with the fourth Book of Sentences and ended with the third. As the Quaracchi editors indicate, the Co mmentaries on the Third Book of S entences were always considered the best, not only from a literary viewpoint, but also and primarily from the viewpoint of doctrine . We give below the general plan of the Four Books of Sentences of Peter Lombard. This plan is respected by all commentators, who assert their orig­ inality by disposing the matter of their teaching as they please, but within each of the Lombard 's distinctions: B.

I ( 49 distinctions) De Deo trino e t uno d . 1 -34 : the Trinity d. 35-4 8 : the divine attributes and action ad extra B . II ( 44 d istinctions) De Deo creante; d e gra tia; de peccato originali; de peccato actua l i

d. 1 - 1 1 : the purpose of creation; the pure spirits d. 1 2- 1 6 : the work of the six days d. 1 7-23 : man d. 24-29 : grace d. 30-44 : original sin and actual sin B. III ( 40 distinctions) De Verba incarnato et de Chris to redemptore; de virtutibus; d e decem mandatis

d. 1 - 1 7: the Incarnation and Christology d. 1 8-22 : the redemption d . 23-36: the theological virtues and the gifts of the Holy Spirit d. 37-40: the commandments B. IV ( 50 distinctions) De sacramen tis in genere; de septem sacranuntis m s p ecie; d e novissi m is d . 1 : the sacraments in general d. 2-6 : Baptism d. 7 : Con firmation d. 8- 1 2 : Holy Eucharist d . 1 3-22 : Penance

1 02

INTRODUCTION TO BONA VENTU R E

d. d. d. d.

23 : Extreme Unction 24-25 : Holy Orders 26-42: Matrimony 43-50: teleology

Before coming to the Commen ta ries themselves, we must underline the doctrinal value of the dubia. At times, Bonaventure defines by a few words in a dubium a position which he will later develop in a question of the Commentaries.

There is a close literary and doctrinal link between the dubia of Bona­ venture and the G lossa of Alexander of Hales. As an example, let us take distinction 5 from the first Book of Sentences, which considers the generation of the Son within the Trinity. 8 There are eleven dubia . In his G lossa, Alex­ ander devotes twenty-nine notes to this text of the S entencts. 9 Following are the points in which they correspond with Bonaventure 's dubia : A l exander

Bonaventure Dub . 3 :

same quotation:

" causa est

generally attributed to Aristotle, and published among the works of the Venerable Bede. 1 0

N. 5 .

cujus esse sequitur aliud, "

Dub . 4 : Dub. 5 : Dub . 6 : Dub .

7: Text o f the

Sy mbolum,

without reference. Dub. 8: Development of Alexan­ der's exposition. Dub. 9: D e v e l o p m e n t of Alex­ ander's exposition. Dub. 1 0:

Repeats G lossa, 1 and 2 . Same text as in Bonaventure. N . 1 7. Same quotation from Hil­ ary. 1 1 N . 1 8 . Same text. N . 1 9. Reference to the Symbolum Quicumqu e . 1 2

N . 20.

N . 22 . N . 25 . Same quotation from An­

selm, Dub. 1 1 : Doctrinally i m p o r t a n t . We are giving both texts so that the reader may have an accurate idea of the relationship between the two com­ mentaries.

Monologion. 1 3

N. 2 7-28 . Text below. 1 4

MAGISTER IN SACRA DOCTRINA

Bonaventure

Item quaeritur de hoc quod