Christ, the One Master of All

St. Bonaventure of Bagnoregio

Cardinal of the Holy Roman Church

Minister General of the Order of Friars Minor

Doctor of the Universal Church

SELECT SERMONS ON THEOLOGICAL SUBJECTS

SERMON IV.

Translated from the Quaracchi Edition of the Opera Omnia S. Bonaventurae Vol. V, 1891, pp. 567-574 with original notes.

The English translation here has been released to the public domain by its author from the Quaracchi Edition. The translation of the notes in English corresponds to the context of the English text, not that of the Latin text; likewise they are a freer translation that that which is necessitated by the body of the text. Items in square [ ] brackets are Latin terms corresponding to the previous English word(s) and/or notes added by the translator.

1.

[1] One is your Master, the Christ, Matthew, chapter 23 [Mt 23:10].
[2] In this verse it is declared, that there is a fontal principle of cognitive illumination, namely the Christ, who since He is the splendor of the Father’s glory and the figure of His Substance, bearing all things by the word of His virtue, just as is said to the Hebrews, chapter 1 [Heb 1:3];
[3] is Himself, the One who is the Origin of every wisdom, according to that (verse) of Ecclesiasticus, chapter 1 [Eccles 1:5]. The Fount of wisdom, the Word of God on high. For He is the Way, the Truth and the Life, John, chapter 14 [Jn 14:6].
[4] – For indeed threefold is the step of certain [certitudinalis] and right cognition, according to that which Hugo (of St. Victor) says in De Sacramentis:
[5] “There are three steps for the promotion of the Faith, by which growing faith tends and/or climbs thoroughly to perfection [ad perfectum . . . conscendit]: the first, (is) to choose through piety; the second, to approve through reason; the third, to apprehend through truth”. According to this it appears, that threefold is the manner of cognizing, of which the first is through the credulity of pious assenting, the second through the approbation of right reason,
[6] but the third through the clarity of clean contemplation. The first looks to the habit of the virtue, which is faith; the second to the habit of the gift, which is understanding; the third to the habit of the beatitude, which is cleanliness of heart.
[7] Therefore since threefold be the difference of the cognition,
[8] namely creditive, collative and contemplative, of all these Christ is the Principle and the Cause, and thus that of the first He is the Principle inasmuch as He is the Way, of the second inasmuch as He is the Truth, and of the third inasmuch as He is the Life.

2.

[9] For indeed Christ according to which He is the Way is the Master and Principle of the cognition, which is through the Faith. For this cognition is had in a twofold way, namely through revelation and through authority. For just as (St.) Augustine says in the book De Utilitate credendi:
[10] “What we understand, we ought to for a reason; what we believe, by an authority”. Moreover there would be no authority, unless revelation had preceded it; on account of which the first chapter of the Second (Letter) of (St.) Peter (says) [2 Pt 1:19]:
[11] We have a firmer prophetic sermon, to which you do well to be attentive as to a lamp giving light in a shadowy place. In which he hints at the authority of the prophetic sermon, and subjoins a reason for this: For prophecy has not at any time come about by a human will, but holy men of God have spoken, inspired by the Holy Spirit. – Therefore since by these two ways one happens to come to the cognition of the faith [cognitionem fidelem], this cannot be but through Christ the giver, who is the Principle of every revelation according to His advent in the mind, and the firmament of every authority according to His advent in the flesh.

3.

[12] Moreover He comes into the mind as a light revealing all the visions of the prophets, according to that (verse) of Daniel, chapter 2 [Dan 2:22]: He reveals things profound and hidden away and knows the things constituted in the shadows, and the Light is with Him; the light, namely, of the Divine Wisdom, which is Christ, according to that (verse) of John, chapter 8 [Jn 8:12]: I am the Light of the world; he who follows Me walks not in the shadows, and chapter 12 [Jn 12:36]: While you have the Light, believe in the Light, so that you may be sons of the Light; because, as is said in John, chapter 1 [Jn 1:12], He gave them power to become sons of God, those who believe in His Name. Without this Light, which is Christ, no one can penetrate the Sacraments of the Faith. On account of which Wisdom, chapter 9 [Wis 9:10-17] says:
[13] Send Her – speaking of Wisdom – from Thy holy Heaven and from the throne of Thy Majesty, so that She may be with me and work with me, that I may know, what has been accepted before Thee. For what man can know the counsel of God, or who can ponder, what God may want etc., up to Thy sense, etc.. From which one is given to understand, that one cannot come to a certain revelation of the Faith except through the advent of Christ in the mind.

4.

[14] He comes also into the flesh as the word approving all the sayings of the prophets; Hebrews, chapter 1 [Heb 1:1]:
[15] In a manifold manner and in many ways etc.. For because Christ Himself is the speech [sermo] of the Father full of power, according to that (verse) of Ecclesiastes, chapter 8 [Eccles 8:4]:
[16] His speech is full of power, and no one can say to Him: why hast Thou done thus? He is also
[17] the speech full of truth, nay the Truth Itself, according to that (verse) of John, chapter 17 [Jn 17:17]: Sanctify them in the truth. Thy speech is Truth, – the Gloss reads:
[18] “In the truth that is in Me, who am the Truth, (the sense of) which opens by substituting: Thy speech is truth, which is, I am the Truth: in Greek logos, in Latin Verbum” – therefore because authority is due to the powerful and the truthful, and Christ is the Word of the Father, and through this the Virtue and Wisdom of God, for that reason in Him is founded both stably and consummately every stability of authority.

5.

[19] And for that reason the whole authentic Scripture and its preachers have their power of sight trained on Christ coming into the flesh as the foundation of the whole Christian Faith, according to that (verse) of the First (Letter) to the Corinthians, chapter 3 [1 Cor 3:10-11]:
[20] According to the grace, which has been given to me, as a wise architect I have laid the foundation. For another foundation no one can lay, except that which has been laid etc.. For He is the foundation of the whole authentic doctrine, whether apostolic or prophetic, according to each Law, the new and the old. On account of which (it is said) to the Ephesians, chapter 2 [Eph 2:20]:
[21] You have been built up upon the foundation of the Apostles and Prophets, with that most high cornerstone, Christ Jesus. Therefore it is clear, that Christ is the Master of cognition according to the Faith, and this, inasmuch as He is the Way, according to His twofold advent, namely, in the mind, and in the flesh.

6.

[22] He is also the Master of the cognition, which is through reason, and this, inasmuch as He is the Truth.
[23] For there is necessarily required for the cognition of knowledge [cognitionem scientialem] immutable truth on the part of the knowable, and infallible certitude on the part of the knower. For every (something), which is known, is in itself necessary and to the very knower certain. For then we know, “since we judge [arbitramur] that we cognize the cause, on account of which the thing is, and we know, that it is impossible that it be otherwise regarded”.
[24]

7.

[25] Therefore, on the part of the knowable immutable truth is required. Moreover, (a truth) of this kind is not a created truth, simply and absolutely (speaking); but rather a creating truth, which has a full immutability. On account of which there is said in the Psalm [Ps 101:26,28]:
[26] And Thou in the beginning, Lord, has founded the Earth, up to here: shall not fail. But this, as the Apostle says to the Hebrews, chapter 1 [Heb 1:10], is said regarding the Son of God, who is the Word, the Art and the Reason of the Omnipotent God, and for that reason the Sempiternal Truth, according to that (verse) of the Psalm [Ps 118:89]:
[27] In eternity, Lord, shall Thy Word remain, and unto the Age of age Thy Truth. Since, therefore, things have ‘being’ [esse] in their own genus, they also have ‘being’ in the Eternal Reason; nor is their ‘being’ entirely immutable in the first and second manner, but only in the third, that is, insofar as they are in the eternal Word: it remains, that nothing can make things perfectly knowable, unless Christ, the Son of God and Master, be there.

8.

[28] Whence (St.) Augustine (says) in the second chapter of De Libero Arbitrio:
[29] “In no manner will you have denied, that there is an incommutable Truth, containing all these things, which are incommutably true, which I cannot say is yours and/or mine and/or of any man, but is ready at hand to all discerning incommutable truths and offers itself commonly (to all)”. This very (passage) is had in the fourteenth chapter of De Trinitate.
[30] When the impious see the rules, according to which anyone ought to live; “where do they see them? For neither in their own nature, though without doubt these are seen in the mind – and let one grant [constet] that their minds are mutable – however it sees that these rules are immutable, and anyone among them could see this; nor in the habit of their mind, since those rules belong to justice, but their minds, it is granted [constat], are unjust. Where then are those rules written, whereby even the unjust acknowledges and
[31] discerns, that ‘what be just’ has to be that which he himself does not have? Where, therefore, have they been written except in the book of that light, which is called the Truth, whence every just law is described, and (whence) justice, not by migrating into the heart of a man, but as if by being impressed is transferred”? This very (discourse) is said in the book De Vera Religione
[32] and in the sixth book of De Musica and in the book Rectrationum.

9.

[33] There is also required, second, for cognition of this kind, certitude on the part of the knower. But this (certitude) cannot be on the part of that, which can fail, and/or from that light, which can be obscured. Moreover, the light
[34] of such (a cognition) is not the light of the created intelligence, but of the uncreated Wisdom, which is Christ. On account of which (there is said) in Wisdom, chapter 7 [Wis 7:17,18,21,25,26,29 and 8:1]:
[35] God gave me true knowledge of those things, which are, that I may know the disposition of the world and the virtues of the elements, the start and the consummation and middle of the seasons. And after this: For the Artisan of all things has taught me, Wisdom. And the reason is subjoined:
[36] For She is a vapor of the virtue of God and a certain, sincere emanation of the Omnipotent God, and for that reason nothing iniquitous is found in Her. For She is the shining whiteness of the Eternal Light and the mirror without spot of the Majesty of God. She is more beautiful than the sun, and above every disposition of the stars, compared to the light She is found (to be) first. Therefore She reaches from end unto end strongly and disposes all things sweetly. On account of which there is said in John, chapter 1 [Jn 1:9]: He was the true Light, which illumines every man etc., where the Gloss
[37] says, “that which is not the true light, is that which lights not from itself, but from another”.

10.

[38] Therefore the light of the created intellect is not self-sufficient for a certain comprehension of whatever thing without the light of the Eternal Word. Whence (St.) Augustine (says) in the first book of his Soliloquiorum:
[39] “As in this it is licit to advert only to a certain three: what is, what shines, what illumines, so also in that most secret God there are a certain three: what is, what understands, what causes all others to be understood”. Whence he even a little before this prefaces (this), (saying) that « just as the Earth could not be seen except it be brightened by light, so those things which are handed down in the (academic) disciplines, though everyone without doubt concedes
[40] that they are understood to be most true, it must be believed, that they could not be understood, unless they were brightened by Him as if by their sun ». Likewise, in the twelfth book of De Trinitate, the last chapter,
[41] speaking of the boy, who was correctly answering (questions) concerning geometry without a master, and reproving the Platonic position, which says, that souls imbued with bodies are infused beforehand with knowledge [scientiis], says that this is not true. “But rather it must be believed, he says, that the nature of the intellectual mind has been thus established, that having been subjected to intelligible things in the natural order, by the disposition of the Founder, sees these in a certain, corporeal, sui generis light, in the same manner as [sic . . . quemadmodum] (a man) sees, with the eyes of his flesh, those things which in this corporeal light lie before him [contraiacent], of which light, as one capable, he has been created fit for it.”.
[42] – what, moreover, be that light, is spoken of [dicitur] in the second book of De Libero Arbitrio:
[43] “That beauty [pulchritudo] of truth and wisdom, which neither is driven along by time, nor migrates from place to place [locis], nor is cut off by the night, nor closed in by shadow nor lies beneath the senses of the body; having converted to Herself from the whole world, those who love Her, is near to all, sempiternal to all, is in no place, is lacking in nothing, admonishes without, teaches within; no one judges of Her, no one judges well without Her. And through this, it is manifest, that She is without doubt more powerful than our minds, each of which by Her [ab ipsa una] become wise and judge not of Her, but through Her concerning all other things”. This very (passage) is said in the book De Vera Religione
[44] and in the eighth book of De Trinitate and in the book De Magistro, where (St. Augustine) proves throughout the whole book this conclusion: that One is our Master, the Christ.

11.

[45] Lastly, Christ, inasmuch (as He is) the Life, is the Master of contemplative cognition,
[46] about which the soul exerts herself in a twofoldmanner, according to the twofold difference of pasture, namely of the one interior in His Deity, and of the one exterior in His Humanity, according to which there is a twofold manner of contemplating, that is the ingressive and the egressive, to which one cannot arrive except through Christ. On account of which He Himself says in John, chapter 10 [Jn 10:9]:
[47] I am the gate; if anyone will enter through Me, he shall be saved, and he shall step in and step out to find pasture.

12.

[48] For indeed there is an ingress to Christ according to which (He is) the uncreated Word and the food of Angels, of which (there is said) in John, chapter 1 [Jn 1:1]: In the beginning was the Word. Of this ingress there is said in the Psalm [Ps 44:5]
[49] according to the other translation: I shall step into the place of the admirable tabernacle even unto the house of god, in a voice of exsultation and confession, of the sound of a priest offering a sacrificial feast [sonus epulantis]. This is said of that supernal Jerusalem, to contemplate which no one steps in, except through the uncreated Word, which is Christ, he be introduced. Whence Dionysius (says) in the first book of De Angelica Hierarchia:
[50] “Therefore invoking Jesus, the Light of the Father, which is indeed the True (Light), which illumines every man comming into this world, through which to the principle Light, the Father, we have access, we look back, as much as is possible, into the illuminations of the most sacred utterances [eloquiorum], handed down from the Father, and we will consider, as much as we are able, the hierarchies, of celestial souls, manifested symbolically and anagogically to us by these (illuminations), (as we) look back to the principle and superprinciple Divine Clarity of the Father with the immaterial and untrembling eyes of our mind”.

13.

[51] Moreover, there is an egress to the incarnate Word, which is the milk of children, of which (there is said) in John, chapter 1 [Jn 1:14]: The Word was made flesh and dwelt among us. Of this egress (there is said) in Canticles, chapter 3 [Song 3:11]:
[52] Step forth, daughters of Zion, and see king Solomon with his diadem, with which his mother crowned him on the day of his betrothal and gladness of heart. This diadem, with with the true, peaceful Solomon is crowned by His Mother, is His immaculate flesh — which He assumed from the Virgin Mary — which is called a diadem of betrothal, because through it He betrothed to Himself Holy Mother Church, which was had been formed from His side, just as Eve (was) from the side of her man. And for that reason through it the whole ecclesiastical hierarchy was purged, illuminated and perfected; and for that reason it is to be looked upon as the vivifying pasture of the whole Church, according to that (verse) of John, chapter 6 [Jn 6:56]:
[53] My Flesh is truly food, and My Blood is truly drink. And on that account He says further on:
[54] Who eats My Flesh and drinks My Blood has eternal life.

14.

[55] And this is what is said in the book De Anima et spiritus:
[56] “Twofold is the life of the soul: one, that by which it lives in the flesh; and the other, that by which it lives in God. Two indeed are the senses in man: one interior, and one exterior; and each has its own good, in which it is refected: the interior sense in contemplation of the Deity, the exterior sense in the contemplation of the Humanity. For on this account God has become man, to beatify the whole man in Himself, so that he might step in or step out, find pasture in his Maker, pasture without in the Flesh of the Saviour and pasture within in the Divinity of the Creator”. – Moreover this ingress to the Divinity and egress to the Humanity is nothing other than the ascent to Heaven and the descent to Earth, which is done through Christ as through a ladder [scalam], of which Genesis, chapter 28 (says) [Gn 28:12]:
[57] Jacob saw in his dream a ladder standing upon the earth, and its top touching Heaven, and also the Angels ascending and descending by it. By ladder there is understood Christ, by the ascent and descent of the Angels the illumination of contemplative men, ascending and descending. – Here too a twofold manner of contemplation is understood through interior and exterior reading of the book written inside and out, of which Apocalypse, chapter 5 (speaks) [Rev 5:1,3 and 5]:
[58] I saw at the right hand of the One seated on the throne a book written inside and out, sealed with seven seals; and there is said further on there, that no one could neither in Heaven nor on earth nor beneath the earth open the book nor even look upon it [respicere]; and there is said further on there, that the Lion of the tribe of Judah has conquered, He who is worthy to open the book and loose its seven seals. – If therefore He is properly to be called the Teacher [doctor], He who opens the book and loosens its seals; (then) such even is the Christ, who was the Lion rising and the slain Lamb; therefore it appears, that One is our Master, the Christ, in every difference of cognition, according to which He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life.

15.

[59] From the aforesaid, therefore, there appears, the order by which and the author by whom one arrives at Wisdom. – For the order is, to begin from the stability of the Faith and proceeds through the serenity of reason, to arrive at the savouriness of contemplation; which Christ hinted at, when He said: I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life. And in this manner is fulfilled that (verse) of Proverbs, chapter 4 [Prov 4:18]: The path of the just as a splendid light goes forth and grows even unto the perfect day. To this order did the Saints hold, attentive (as they were) to that (verse) of Isaiah [Is 7:9],
[60] according to the other translation: Unless you will have believed, you will not understand. This order the philosophers ignore, who neglecting the Faith and totally founding themselves on reason, could in no manner arrive at contemplation; because, as (St.) Augustine says in the first book of De Trinitate,
[61] “the sickly keeness [invalida acies] of the human mind is not fixed in such an excellent light, unless it be cleansed through the justice of the Faith”.

16.

[62] It is also clear, who be the Author and the Teacher: because Christ, who is the Director and Helper of our intelligence not only generally, as in all works of nature, nor so specially, as in the works of grace and meritorious virtue, but in a certain middle manner between both. – For an understanding of which it must be noted, that in creatures there is found a threefold manner of conformity to God. For certain (creatures) are conformed to God as a vestige, certain ones as an image, certain ones as a similitude. Moreover vestige means a comparison to God as to a causative principle; image on the other hand not only as to a principle, but even as to a motive object; “For this reason the soul is an image of God”, as (St.) Augustine says in the fourteenth (book) of De Trinitate,
[63] “that it is capable of Him and can be a participant (in Him)”, that is, through cognition and love [amorem]. Moreover, a similitude looks back to God not only according to the measure [per modum] of a principle and object, but also according to the measure of infused gift.

17.

[64] Therefore, in these activities [operationibus] of the creature, which belong to it, inasmuch as it is a vestige, as are natural actions [actiones] universally, God cooperates as Principle and Cause. But in those, which belong to it, inasmuch as it is an image, as are the intellectual actions, by which the soul perceives immutable Truth itself, He cooperates as Object and motive Reason. However, in those, which belong to it, inasmuch as it is a similitude, as are the meritorious activities, He cooperates as a Gift infused through grace. And on this account (St.) Augustine says in the eighth (book) of De Civitate Dei,
[65] that “God is the cause of being, the reason of understanding and the order of living”.

18.

[66] Moreover that He be called the reason of understanding, must be sanely understood, not that He be the sole, nor the bare, nor the whole reason of understanding. – For if He were the sole reason, cognition of a science would not differ from cognition of Wisdom, nor cognition in the Word from cognition in it proper genus. – Again, if He were the bare and open reason, cognition of the way would not differ from cognition of the fatherland, which indeed is false, since that is face to face, but this through a mirror and in mystery [cf. 1 Cor 13:12]; because our act of understanding [intelligere] according to the state of the way is not without the phantasm. – Lastly, if He were the whole reason, we would not need the species and (its) reception (in the senses) to cognize things; which manifestly we see to be false, because, admitting one sense, we have to necessarily admit that (there is) one science.
[67] Whence though according to (St.) Augustine the soul has been conjoined [connexa] to the eternal laws, because in some manner it attains to that light according to the supreme keenness of the agent intellect and the superior portion of reason; nevertheless it is indubitably true, according to what the Philosopher says,
[68] that cognition is generated in us by way of the sense, memory and experience, from which within us there is gathered the universal, which is the principle of art and science. Whence because Plato
[69] turned the whole of certain cognition [totam cognitionem certitudinalem] toward the intelligible or ideal world, he was for that reason deservedly reprehended by Aristotle; not because he said badly, that there are ideas and eternal reasons, since in this (St.) Augustine praises him:
[70] but because, having despised the sensible world, he wanted to reduce the whole certitude of cognition to those ideas; and by posing (the argument) in this manner, though it would seem that he stabilized the way of wisdom, which proceeds according to eternal reasons, he nevertheless destroyed the way of science, which proceeds according to created reasons; which way Aristotle on the contrary stabilized, having neglected that superior one. And for that reason it seems, that among philosophers the sermon of wisdom is given to Plato, but to Aristotle the sermon of science. For the former looked principally to superior things, but the latter principally to inferior ones.

19.

[71] Moreover each speech, that is, of wisdom and of science, was given through the Holy Spirit to (St.) Augustine, as the chief expositor of the whole of Scripture, sufficiently excellent, just as appears from his writings. – However, in a more excellent manner was it in Paul and Moses, in one as in a minister of the Law of figure, in the other, however, as in a minister of the Law of grace. For indeed of Moses there is said in Acts, chapter 7 [Acts 7:22],
[72] that he had been instructed in all the wisdom of the Egyptians; and again, on Mount (Sinai) there was said to him [Ex 25:10]: Inspect and make it according to the exemplar, which has been shown to you on the Mountain. – However of (St.) Paul, as he himself says, that when among the simple he would not show himself to know (anything) but Christ Jesus, and Him crucified; nevertheless among the perfect spoke of wisdom, just as is said in the First (Letter) to the Corinthians, chapter 2 [1 Cor 2:6].
[73] Moreover this wisdom he taught, when he was rapt unto the third heaven, Second (Letter) to the Corinthians, chapter 12 [2 Cor 12:2].
[74] – But most excellent was it in Our Lord Jesus Christ, who was the principle Law-giver and simultaneously the perfect Wayfarer and Comprehensor; and for that reason He alone is the principle Master and Teacher.

20.

[75] Therefore He as the principle Master is principally to be honoured, to be heard, to be questioned. – For indeed He is principally to be honoured, as there is attributed to him the dignity of the Magisterium, Matthew, chapter 23 [Mt 23:8]: Do not be called Rabbi; for one is your Master, but all you are brothers. Moreover He wanted to reserve the dignity of the Magisterium to Himself, according to that (verse) in John, chapter 13 [Jn 13:13]:
[76] You call me, Master and Lord; and well you say it, for indeed I am. – He is to be honoured, moreover, not only with words [vocaliter] in speech, but also really in imitation; on account of which there is said further on: If I, therefore, was your feet etc.; because, as is said in Luke, chapter 14 [Lk 14:27]: who comes not after Me cannot be My disciple.

21.

[77] He is also principally to be heard through the humility of the Faith, according to that (verse) of Isaiah, chapter 50 [Is 50:4]:
[78] The Lord gave me a learned tongue, that I may know how to support him who is wearied by the word: He raised in the morning, in the morning He raised my ear, that I may hear Him as my Master. Twice it says He raised, because it is not sufficient, that our ear be raised to understand (Him), unless it also be raised to obey (Him). On account of which there is said in Matthew, chapter 13 [Mt 13:43]: Let him who has ears to hear, hear! For Christ teaches us not only by word, but also by example; and for that reason one is not a perfect hearer, unless he accommodate his understanding to His words and his obedience to His deeds; on account of which (there is said) in Luke, chapter 6 [Lk 6:40]: He will be perfect, if he be just as His Master.

22.

[79] He is also principally to be questioned through the desire of learning, not as the curious and the incredulous did, who interrogated Him by tempting Him, Matthew, chapter 12 [Mt 12:38]:
[80] Certain of the Scribes answered Him, saying: Master, we want to sign a sign from you. Signs indeed they had seen and were seeing, and nevertheless they still were seeking a sign, so that there be shown through this, that human curiosity has no end and does not merit to be led to the truth.
[81] Whence they were given the reply, that a sign will not be given them except the sign of Jonah the prophet. — Not in this manner is Jesus to be questioned, but rather studiously, just as Nicodemus questioned Him, of which in John, chapter 3 [Jn 3:2], there is said, that he came to Jesus at night and said to Him: Rabbi, we know, that Thou, Master, hast come from God etc.; and there is added further on there, that Jesus opened the mysteries of the Faith to him, for the reason that he was not seeking signs of virtue, but the text-books of the Truth [documenta veritatis].

23.

[82] Moreover, this Master is to be questioned concerning those things which pertain [spectant] to science, to discipline and goodness, according to that (verse) of the Psalm [Ps 118:66]: Goodness and discipline and science teach me. For indeed science consists in knowledge of the true, discipline in caution against the bad, goodness in choosing the good. The first respects the truth, the second respects holiness, the third respects charity. – Therefore He is to be questioned concerning those things which pertain to the truth of science, not by striving to tempt Him [studio tentandi], as the disciples of the Pharisees used to tempt Him, Matthew, chapter 22 [Mt 22:16,18,21]: Master, we know, that you are truthful etc.. And because they were questioning with an evil intention, for that reason they were given the response: Why tempest thou Me, hypocrites? However, because the question (was) a good one, for that reason He gave a true response: Render, therefore, the things which are Caesar’s to Caesar; and the things which are Gods, to God. – Second, He is to be questioned concerning those things which pertain to holiness of discipline, just as that adolescent questioned Him in Mark, chapter 10 [Mk 10:17]:
[83] Good Master, what shall I do, to possess eternal life? And he was given the response, that he should observe the commandments, and if he wanted to be perfect, (that) he should observe the counsels, in which consist the perfect disciple of morals, in cautioning against those thing which incite us to sin. – He is to be questioned also concerning those things which pertain to the charity of benevolence, after the example of the doctor of the Law, in Matthew, chapter 22 [Mt 22:36,37]:
[84] Master, what is the great commandment in the Law? He said to him: Love the Lord thy God with thy heart, and with thy mind etc.., where He shows, that the fullness of the Law is love [dilection] [Rm 13:10].

24.

[85] Therefore there are three things, which are to be asked from Christ as from a master, and to which the whole Law of Christ has been ordained, and for that reason every doctrine of a servant-teacher [ministerialis doctoris] ought to be to be ordained to these three, so that under that Most High Magisterium the office of master might be worthily put into execution [exsecutione mandare]. – For indeed a servant-master ought to direct his attention [intendere] to the science of the truth of the Faith, according to that (verse) of the First (Letter) to Timothy, chapter 2 [1 Tm 2:7]: I speak the truth and I do not lie, a teacher of the gentiles in the Faith and in the Truth. On account of which the Second (Letter) of Peter, chapter 1 (says) [2 Pt 1:16]: For we have not, (by) having followed doctored fables, made known to you the virtue and present of Our Lord Jesus Christ, but were made eyewitnesses [speculatores] of His Greatness.

25.

[86] He ought to also direct his attention to the discipline of the holiness of the spirit [animi], according to that (verse) of the Second (Letter) to Timothy, chapter 1 [2 Tim 11-12]:
[87] I, Paul, have been set as a preacher and apostle in the Gospel, for which cause I also suffer these things, because, according to what is said in Proverbs, chapter 19 [Prov 19:11], the doctrine of a man is known through his patience. For just as it is not decent that the foolish teach wisdom, so it is not decent that the impatient teach patience, nor the undisciplined teach discipline. For in morals examples move more than words.

26.

[88] He ought also to direct his attention to the benevolence of the charity of God and neighbor, Ecclesiastes, chapter 11 [Sir 11:11]:
[89] I have fixed my attention upon [defixi] the words of the wise men as goads and as keys on high, which through the counsel of masters have been given by one shepherd. These, I say, words are the words of divine love [amoris], which penetrate the marrow of heart; and these are said to be given through the counsel of masters by one shepherd, because, though the divine love be praised and recommended [suadeatur] through the words of many, as for example through the documents of the two Testaments, nevertheless by one Word alone is it breathed forth [spiratur], who is indeed the Pasture and Shepherd of all. And for that reason all those words are from the same (Author) and tend unto the same (End): and on this account they are said to be given significantly [signanter] through the counsel of masters, that is, namely, of those perceiving them [sentientium]. – And since all teachers of the Christian Law finally ought to hold [tendere] to the bond of charity, for that reason they ought to agree in their judgments [sententiis]. On account of which James, chapter 3 (says) [Jm 3:1]:
[90] Do not, brothers, become many masters; which indeed his says, not by prohibiting them from communication in the gift of science, since Moses says in Numbers, chapter 11 [Nm 11:29]: Who grants, that every people prophesy, and gives to them their spirit, but the Lord? and First Peter, chapter 4 [1 Pt 4:10]:
[91] Each one, as he has accepted grace, to each other etc.; but he says this, not that they have various and wandering judgments, but so that all say the same thing, just as (is said) in the First (Letter) to the Corinthians, chapter 1 [1 Cor 1:10]: I beseech you, brothers, through the name of Our Lord Jesus Christ, to all say the very same thing, and do not let there be schisms among you; but be perfect in the same sense and in the same judgment.

27.

[92] For dissention in judgements
[93] has its rise from presumption, according to that (verse) of Proverbs, chapter 13 [Prov 13:10]:
[94] Among the proud there are always quarrels; and it begets confusion, First (Letter) to Timothy, last chapter [1 Tim 6:3-5]: If anyone teaches in another manner and does not acquiesce to the sane sermons of Our Lord Jesus Christ and to that, which is according to the piety of doctrine, he is proud, knowing nothing, but wearing himself about questions and fighting over words; from which arise envies, contentions, blasphemies, evil suspicions, the conflicts of men corrupt in mind and who are deprived of the truth.

28.

[95] Therefore since these are the three, which impede the perception of the truth, namely presumption of senses and dissention of sentences and desperation of finding the true one; for that reason, obviating these, Christ says: One is your Master, the Christ. He says, I say, that Christ is Master, so that we may not presume from our knowledge; He says, that (this Master) is one, lest we dissent in sensing; He says, that He is yours, prepared (as He is) to assist us, lest we despair, most of all since He wants and knows and can teach us, by sending that Spirit, of which He speaks in John, chapter 16 [Jn 16:13]: When He comes, the Spirit of truth, He shall teach you all truth. Which we beg He grant us, through … etc.. — Explicit.

  1. Unus est magister vester, Christus, Matthaei vigesimo tertio. In verbo isto declaratur, quod est fontale principium illuminationis cognoscitivae, Christus videlicet, qui cum sit splendor gloriae paternae et figura substantiae eius, potarns omnia verbo virtutis suae, sicut dicitur ad Hebraeos primo; ipse est, qui est origo omnis sapientiae, secundum illud Ecclesiastici primo: Fons sapientiae Verbum Dei in excelsis. Ipse enim est via, veritas et vita, Ioannis decimo quarto — Triplex namque est gradus cognitionis certitudinalis et rectae, secundum quod dicit Hugo de Sacramentis: «Isti sunt tres gradus promotionis fidei, quibus fides crescens ad perfectum tendit vel conscendit: primus, per pietatem eligere; secundus, per rationem approbare; tertius, per veritatem apprehendere ». Secundum hoc apparet, quod triplex est modus cognoscendi, quorum primus est per credulitatem piae assensionis, secundum per approbationem rectae rationis, tertius vero per claritatem mundae contemplationis. Primus spectat ad habitum virtutis, quae est fides; secundus ad habitum doni, quod est intellectus; tertius ad habitum beatitudinis, quae est munditia cordis. Cum igitur triplex sit cognitionis differentia, videlicet creditiva, collativa et contemplativa, omnium harum est Christus principium et causa, et ita quod primae est principium in quantum via, secunduae in quantum veritas, et tertiae in quantum vita. ↑
  2. Verse 10. The Vulgate reads: Your Master is one, the Christ. [Trans. note: Master in the sense of Teacher is the sense throughout this sermon, and this is confirmed through what is said at the end of paragraph n. 14]] ↑
  3. The Vulgate reads: Who since He is the splendour of His glory and the figure of His Substance and carrying all things by the word of His virtue. ↑
  4. On this cf. Hexaëmeron, collation 1, n. 11 ff., collation 3, n. 12 ff., and passim throughout. ↑
  5. Book I, p. X, ch. 1. ↑
  6. This second member of the division is lacking in the codex. ↑
  7. The Seraphic Doctor uses similar words in Sent., Bk. III, d. 35, a. 1, q. 3, in the conclusion: “The cognition of God under the reckoning of the true can be had according to a threefold manner: in one manner the cognition of God is had through a simple assent (of the mind); in another manner through the support of reason; in the third manner through a simple contuition [contuitum]. The first belongs to the virtue of faith, to which it belongs to assent; the second belongs to the gift of understanding, to which belongs the understanding of the things believed through reason; the third belongs to the beatitude of cleanliness of heart, to which it belongs to see God”. Of this threefold cognition (St. Bonaventure) speaks diffusely and in a manner entirely similar not only in regard to the doctrine, but also in regard to the words used, above in De Donis Spiritus Sancti, collation 4, nn. 2-24. There the author recalls even a fourth (kind) of knowledge, that is, the glorious, which exists in our fatherland. ↑
  8. The codex badly reads cogitationis. [Trans. note: The English title of this work would be, On the Utility of Believing.] ↑
  9. Christus namque secundum quod via est magister et principium cognitionis, quae est per fidem. Haec enim cognitio duplici via habetur, videlicet per revelationem et per auctoritatem. Sicut enim dicit Augustinus in libro de Utilitate credendi: «Quod intelligimus, debemus rationi; quod credimus, auctoritati”. Auctoritas autem non esset, nisi revelatio praecessisset; propter quod secundae Petri primo: Habemus firmiorem propheticum sermonem, cui bene facitis attendentes quasi lucernae lucenti in caliginoso loco. In quo insinuat auctoritatem sermonis prophetici, et rationem huius subiungit: Non enim volutate humana allata est aliquando prophetia, sed Spiritu santo inspirati locuti sunt sancti Dei homines. — Cum igitur his duabus viis contingat devenire ad cognitionem fidelem, hoc non potest esse nisi per Christum datorem, qui est principium omnis revelationis secundum adventum sui in mentem, et firmamentum omnis acutoritatis secundum adventum sui in carnem ↑
  10. Chapter 11. This entire doctrine concerning the cognition of the Faith is more amply explained in the Hexaëmeron, collation 9, n. 2 ff. ↑
  11. Verse 19, and the following is v. 21. — In the codex giving light [lucenti] is lacking after the word lamp [lucernae]. ↑
  12. Venit autem in mentem ut lux revelativa omnium prophetalium visionum, secundum illud Danielis secundo: Ipse revelat profunda et abscondita et novit in tenebris constituta, et lux cum eo est; lux scilicet divinae sapientiae, quae Christus est, secundum illud Ioannis octavo: Ego sum lux mundi; qui sequitur me non ambulat in tenebris, et duodecimo: Dum lucem habetis, credite in lucem, ut filii lucis sitis; quia, sicut dicitur Ioannnis primo, dedit eis potestatem filios Dei fieri, his qui credunt in nomine eius. Sine hac luce, quae Christus est, nemo potest scaramenta fidei penetrare. Propter quod Sapientiae nono: Mitte illam — loquitur de Sapientia — de caelo sancto tuo et a sede maiestatis tuae, ut mecum sit et mecum laboret, ut sciam, quid acceptum sit apud te. Quis enim homo potest scire consilium Dei, aut quis potest cogitare, quid velit Deus etc., usque ibi: sensum tuum etc. Ex quo datur intelligi, quod non potest perveniri ad certam fidei revelationem nisi per adventum Christi in mentem. ↑
  13. The Vulgate reads: Send Her from Thy holy heavens and from the throne of Thy Magnitude, that etc.. [Trans. note: The verses quoted, however are 10 and 13; the final verse, 17 reads: Thy sense, moreover, who shall know it, unless you grant wisdom, and send Thy Holy Spirit from the highest]. ↑
  14. Venit etiam in carnem ut verbum approbativum omnium prophetalium locutionum; ad Hebraeos primo: Multifarie multisque modis etc. Quia enim ipse Christus est sermo Patris plenus potestate, secundum illud Ecclesiastae octavo: Sermo illius potestate plenus est, nec dicere ei potest quis: quare ita facis? ipse etiam est sermo plenus veritate, immo ipsa veritas, secundum illud Ioannis decimo septimo: Sanctifica eos in veritate. Sermo tuus veritas est, — Glossa: “In veritate hoc est in me, qui sum veritas, quod subdendo aperit: Sermo tuus veritas est, quod est, ego sum veritas; Grace logos, Latine verbum” — quia ergo auctoritas debetur sermoni potestativo et veridico, et Christus est Verbum Patris, et per hoc Dei virtus et sapientia, ideo in ipso fundatur et stabiliter et consummatur omnis auctoritatis stabilitas. ↑
  15. The Vulgate reads: In many places [multifariam] for In a manifold manner [multifarie]. ↑
  16. The Vulgate reads nor can anyone [nec . . . quisquam] in place of and no one [nec . . . quis]. ↑
  17. The codex reads not so well For He is [Est enim]. ↑
  18. The Glossa ordinaria (according to St. Augustine, In Ioan. Evang., tr. 118, n. 3) reads: “In the truth, whose shadows were the old sanctifications, that is, in Me, who am the Truth, (the sense of) which opens by substituting: Thy speech is truth, which is: I am the Truth; in Greek logos, in Latin verbum and/or sermo, who is the Unbegotten of the Father”. Then there is a reference to 1 Cor. 1:24: (we preach) Christ, the Virtue of God and the Wisdom of God. – On the two necessaries, that is, the internal brightening and the external witnessing of authority, cf. Breviloquium, p. V, ch. 7, and its Prologue, § 5. ↑
  19. Et ideo tota Scriptura authentica et eius praedicatores aspectum habent ad Christum venientem in carnem tanquam ad fundamentum totius fidei christianae, secundum illud primae ad Corinthios tertio: Secundum gratiam, quae data est mihi, ut sapiens architectus fundamentum posui. Fundamentum enim aliud nemo potest ponere, praeter id quod positum est etc. Ipse enim est fundamentum totius doctrinae authenticae, sive apostolicae sive propheticae, secundum utramque Legem, novam et veterem. Propter quod ad Ephesios secundo: Superaedificati esti supra fundamentum Apostolorum et Prophetarum, ipso summo angulari lapide Christo Iesu. — Patet igitur, Christum esse magistrum cognitionis secundum duplicem adventum ipsius, in mentem videlicet et in carnem. ↑
  20. Cf. Hexaëmeron, collation 8, n. 4 ff. ↑
  21. The Vulgate reads: Built up upon the foundation etc.. ↑
  22. Est etiam magister cognitionis, quae est per rationem, et hoc, in quantum est veritas. Ad cognitionem enim scientialem necessario requiritur veritas immutabilis ex parte scibilis, et certitudo infallibilis ex parte scientis. Omne enim, quod scitur, necessarium est in se et certum est ipsi scienti. Tunc enim scimus, “cum causam arbitramur cognoscere, propter quam res est, et scimus, quoniam impossibile est aliter se habere”. ↑
  23. Here he briefly expounds the doctrine demonstrated at length above in Quaestion. dips. de scientia Christi, q. 4, and in Itinerarium mentis in Deum, in the Hexaëmeron, in the smaller work De Donis Spiriti Sanctus and frequently mentioned elsewhere. ↑
  24. Aristotle, Posterior Analytics, Bk. I, ch. 2. ↑
  25. Requiritur igitur ex parte scibilis veritas immutabilis. Huiusmodi autem non est veritas creata simpliciter et absolute, quia omne creatum vertibile et mutabile; sed veritas creans, quae plenam habet immutabilitatem. Propter quod dicitur in Psalmo: Et tu in principio, Domine, terram fundasti, usque ibi: non deficient. Hoc autem, ut dicit Apostolus ad Hebraeos primo, dicitur ad Filium Dei, qui est verbum, ars et ratio omnipotentis Dei, et ideo veritas sempiterna, secundum illud Psalmi: In aeternum, Domine, permanet verbum tuum, et in saeculum saeculi veritas tua. Cum igitur res habeant esse in proprio genere, habeant etiam esse in mente, habeant esse in aeterna ratione; nec esse earum sit omnino immutabile primo et secundo modo, sed tantum tertio videlicet prout sunt in Verbo aeterno: restat, quod nihil potest facere res perfecte scibiles, nisi adsit Christ, Dei Filius et magister. ↑
  26. The Vulgate reads: At the start Thou, Lord, founded the Earth, and the works of Thy hands are the Heavens. They shall perish, but Thou perduring, and all as a vestment shall grow old. And as a cover-all [opertorium] Thou shall change them, and they shall be changed. But Thou art the same, and Thy years shall not fail. ↑
  27. The Vulgate reads: unto generation and generation Thy Truth. – Concerning the following, cf. Sent., Bk. III, d. 14, a. 3, q. 1. ↑
  28. Unde Augustinus secundo de Libero Arbitrio: “Nullo modo negaveris, esse incommutabilem veritatem, haec omnia, quae incommutabiliter vera sunt, continentem, quam non possum dicere tuam vel meam vel cuiusquam hominis, sed omnibus incommutabilia vera cernentibus praesto esse ac se praebere communiter”. Hoc ipsum habetur decimo quarto de Trinitate. Cum impii videant regulas, secundum quas quisque vivere debeat; “ubi eas vident ? Neque enim in sua natura, cum procul dubio mente ista videantur, eorumque mentes constet esse mutabiles, has vero regulas immutabiles videat, quisquis in eis et hoc videre potuerit; nec in habitu suae mentis, cum illae regulae sint iustitiae, mentes vero eorum constat esse iniustas. Ubinam sunt istae regulae scriptae, ubi, quid sit iustum, etiam iniustus agnoscit et cernit, habendum esse quod ipse non habet? Ubi ergo scriptae sunt nisi in libro lucis illius, quae veritas dicitur, unde omnis lex iusta describitur, et in cor hominis iustitia non migrando, sed tanquam imprimendo transfertur”? Hoc ipsum dicitur in libro de Vera Religione et in sexto de Musica et in libro Retractationum. ↑
  29. Chapter 12, n. 33. In this text the edition of (St.) Augustine’s works has you cannot [non possis] in place of I cannot [non possum]. ↑
  30. Chapter 15, n. 21. ↑
  31. The edition of (St.) Augustine’s works has where [ubi] in place of and [et: which renders the English translation thus: Where then are those rules written, where does even the unjust acknowledge (them), where does he discern, that ‘what be just’ has to be that which he himself does not have?]; below this after whence every just law is described the same continues thus: and is transferred not by migrating into the heart of the man who works according to justice, but as if by being impressed (therein)? [et in cor hominis qui operatur iustitia non migrando etc.]. ↑
  32. Chapters 30 and 31. – De Muscia, ch. 12; Retractionum, ch. 1. Cf. Hexaëmeron, collation 4, n. 9, collation 2, n. 10, where among other things there is said of these rules: “These are rooted in the Eternal Light and lead into It, but not on this account is It seen”. See also above p. 314, collation II ff., and Intinerarium mentis in Deum, ch. 2, n. 9: De Donis Spiritus Sancti, collation 8, n. 15. That this doctrine, however, is not to be understood, as if the First Light be the object, which is immediately cognized, but only the object, whereby all things exposed below are now cognized by their author, that is, not formally in the First Light, but causally or effectively through It, has been demonstrated by the irrefragable testimonies of our author in the dissertation prefacing the work De Humanae Cognitionis ratione. [Trans. note: see the beginning of the Scholium to the Itinerarium for reference]. Let it be sufficient here to cite one passage (Sent., Bk. III, d. 14, a. 1. q. 1, ad 1), where of the human cognition of Christ Himself it will be taught, the presence alone of the object does not suffice to cognize it, unless it be united to the one cognizing by means of the one cognizing [per modum cognoscentis], that is unless the intellect in some manner through the influence of the Light be formed and informed by the intelligible itself. ↑
  33. Requiritur etiam secundo ad huiusmodi congitionem certitudo ex parte scientis. Haec autem non potest esse ex ea parte, quae potest falli, vel ex ea luce, quae potest obscurari. Talis autem lux non est lux intelligentiae creatae, sed Sapientiae increatae, quae Christus est. Propter quod Sapientiae septimo: Deus dedit mihi horum scientiam veram, quae sunt, ut sciam dispositionem orbis terrarum et virtutes elementarum, initium et consummationem et medietatem temporum. Et post: Omnium enim artifex docuit me, sapientia. Et ratio subditur: Vapor est enim virtutis Dei et emanatio quaedam omnipotentis Dei sincera, et ideo nihil iniquinatum invenitur in ea. Candor est enim lucis aeternae et speculum sine macula maiestatis Dei. Speciosior est sole, et super omnem stellarum dispositionem, luci comparata invenitur prior. Attingit ergo a fine usque ad finem fortiter et dipsonit omnia suaviter. Proper quod dicebat Ioannes primo: Erat lux vera, quae illuminat omnem hominem etc., ubi dicit Glossa, “quod non est vera lux, quae non ex se, sed aliunde lucet”. ↑
  34. Supply: which cannot be obscured. For it seems that there has been an ellipsis after be obscured, something like, but on the part of the Truth, which cannot fail nor be obscured. [Trans. note: the context, however, is a parallel twofold denial, first regarding what cannot be the origin of such certitude, in the previous sentence, and second regarding which kind of light is the cause of such certitude. And hence no ellipsis need be presumed; cf. Le Christ Maître, bibliothèque des Textes Philosophiques, traduction par Goulven Madec, Librairie Philosophique J. Vrin, Paris, 1990 pp. 34-35. Indeed the entire difficulty consists in reading the first word of this Latin sentence, Talis, as a nominative adjective modifying light, rather as a genitive referring to the certitude of the first sentence, and in this way understanding a parallel structure with the second sentence, which by begining with This [Haec] refers to the same certitude; on this basis the English translation proceeds.] ↑
  35. The Vulgate reads: For He gave me of those things which are true knowledge, that I may know the disposition . . . ↑
  36. The Vulgate in verse 25 after certain [quaedam] adds is of clarity [est claritatis]; in place of is found in Her [], reads is incurred against Her; in verses 26 and 29 it has an inverted order for Majesty of God [Dei maiestatis], and disposition of the stars [sipositionem stellarum]. ↑
  37. This passage is found in the Glossa interlinearis according to (Nicholas de) Lyra. ↑
  38. Lux ergo intellectus creati sibi non comprehensionem rei cuiuscumque absque luce Verbi aeterni. Unde Augustinus in primo Soliloquiorum: “Quomodo in hoc sole tria quaedam licet advertere: quod est, quod fulget, quod illuminat, ita et in illo secretissimo Deo tria quaedam sunt: quod est, quod intelligit, quod cetera facit intelligi”. Unde et paulo ante praemittit, quod “sicut terra nisi luce illustrata videri non potest, sic quae in disciplinis traduntur, quamvis intelligi verissima esse nulla dubitatione quisque concedat, credendum est, non posse intelligi, nisi ab illo quasi suo sole illustrentur”. Item, duodecimo de Trinitate, capitulo ultimo, loquens de puero, qui recte respondebat de geometria absque magistro, et reprobans Plantonicam positionem, qui dicebat, animas scientiis prius imbutas infundi corporibus, dicit, hoc non esse verum. “Sed potius credendum est, inquit, mentis intellectualis ita conditam esse naturam, ut rebus intelligibilibus naturali ordine, disponente Conditore, subiecta, sic ista videat in quadam luce sui generis corporea, quemadmodum oculis carnis videt quae in hac corporea luce contraiacent, cuius lucis capax ei congruus est creatus”. — quae autem sit ista lux, dicitur in secundo de Libero Arbitrio: “Illa veritatis et sapientiae pulcritudo, quae nec peragitur tempore nec migrat locis nec nocte intercipitur nec umbra intercluditur nec sensibus corporis subiacet; de toto mundo ad se conversis, qui diligunt eam, omnibus proxima est, omnibus sempiterna, nullo loco est, nusquam deest, foris admonet, intus docet; nullus de illa iudicat, nullus sine illa bene iudicat. Ac per hoc, eam manifestum est mentibus nostris, quae ab ipsa una fiunt singulae sapientes et non de ipsa, sed per ipsam de ceteris iudicant, sine dubitatione esse potiorem”. Hoc ipsum dicitur in libro de Vera Religione et in octavo de Trinitate et in libro de Magistro, ubi hanc conclusionem probat per totum librum, quod unus est magister noster, Christus. ↑
  39. Chapter 8, n. 15. In which text the edition (of St. Augustine’s works) has turn the mind to [animadvertere] in place of advert [advertere], omits also [et] after thus [ita], and adds whom you want to understand [quem vis intelligere]; and is understood [intelligitur] for understands [intelligere]. Cf. this passage as quoted in tome II, p. 266, footnote 2. ↑
  40. Understand this passage as: concedes, that these are understood and are most true. In the edition (of St. Augustine’s works) after are handed down in the (academic) disciplines there is the better reading: which everyone without doubt concedes, are understood to be most true, it must be believed … [Trans. note: The English translation follows the critical text of St. Bonaventure, as is, without modification, since this presents no difficulty to its English translation, which results in nearly that of the critical text of St. Augustine’s works anyhow.] ↑
  41. Num. 24. ↑
  42. Which in the text the edition of (St. Augustine’s works) has Creator [Creator] in place of Founder [conditore], subjoined [subiuncta] for subjected [subiecta], and lie round about it [circumadiacent] for lie before it [contraiacent], and then and fitting to it [eique congruens] for fit for it [ei congruus]. [Trans. note: The critical text read and [et] in place of for it [ei]; the latter has been substituted on the basis of this very footnote 4, which twice refers to for it [ei] and not and [et]. This correction of the critical text is confirmed by the reading exhibited in Le Christ Maître, Bibliothèque des Textes Philosophiques, traduction par Goulven Madec, Librairie Philosophique J. Vrin, Paris, 1990 pp. 34-35.] ↑
  43. Chapter 14, n. 38. In the edition (St. Augustine’s works) which [quae] is lacking, before is lacking in nothing [nusquam deest] has is in no place [nullo loco est], and at the end has you judge [iudices] for judge [iudicant]. [Trans. note: the remark regarding is in no place is somehow faulty, since the text already has this phrase in such a position.] ↑
  44. Chapter 30: De Trinitate, Bk. VIII, ch. 3, n. 5; De Magistro, ch. 14. ↑
  45. Postremo, Christus in quantum vita est magister cognitionis contemplativae, circa quam dupliciter anima se exercet, secundum duplicem differentiam pastus, videlicet interioris in Deitate, et exterioris in humanitate, secundum quam duplex est modus contemplandi, scilicet ingressivus et eggressivus, ad quem perveniri non potest nisi per Christum. Propter quod ipse dicit Ioannis decimo: Ego sum ostium; per me si quis introierit, salvabitur et ingredietur et egredietur et pascua inveniet. ↑
  46. On this cognition cf. Breviloquium, p. V, ch. 6; De Donis Spiritus Sancti, collation 4, nn. 19-23; collation 9, nn. 2-7; Hexaëmeron, collation 2, nn. 4 and 28 ff.; collation 20, n. 2. – St. Bonaventure teaches that this contemplative cognition cannot be acquired except through Christ, speaking as he does of the philosophers who promise after the existing nine sciences a tenth, that is, contemplation, Hexaëmeron, collation 4, n. 1, and 5, nn. 23-33; and explained at length in collation 3, n. 2-23. ↑
  47. The same passage in a similar manner is employed in Itinerarium mentis in Deum, Prologue, nn. 3 and 4; ch. 1, n. 7; ch. 7, n. 1. ↑
  48. Ingressus namque est ad Christum secundum quod Verbum increatum et cibus Angelorum, de quo Ioannis primo: In principio erat Verbum. De hoc ingressu dicitur in Psalmo secundum aliam translationem: Ingrediar in locum tabernaculi admirabilis usque ad domum Dei, in voce exsultationis et confessionis, sonus epulantis. Hoc dictum est de illa superna Ierusalem, ad quam contemplandam nemo ingreditur, nisi per Verbum increatum, quod est Christus, introducatur. Unde Dionysius in primo de Angelica Hierarchia: “Ergo Iesum invocantes, paternum lumen, quod est quidem verum, quod illuminat omnem hominem venientem in hunc mundum, per quem ad principale lumen, Patrem, accessum habemus, in sacratissimorum eloquiorum a Patre traditas illuminationes, quantum possibile est, respicimus, et ab ipsis symbolice nobis et anagogice manifestatas caelestium animorum hierarchias, quantum potentes sumus, considerabimus, principalem et superprincipalem divinam Patris claritatem immaterialibus et non trementibus mentis oculis respicientes”. ↑
  49. According to the Biblia Maxima of Aquila and Theodoret the text reads I shall step in [Ingrediar], where the Vulgate reads I shall pass-over [Transibo]. ↑
  50. Chapter 1, §2. – The citation is the version of John Scotus Erigena (ed. Migne), in which which is because (it is) true [quod est quod verum] replaces which is indeed the True (Light) [quod est quidem verum] is Near the end of this citation after the words Clarity of the Father [Patris claritatem] the codex suppresses the words which manifests to us the most blessed hierarchies of the Angels in figured symbols [quae Angelorum nobis in figuratis symbolis manifestat beatissimas hierarchias]; similarly at the very end of the quote there are lacking the words again from the very (Clarity) we are restored into its simple ray [iterum ex ipsa in simplicem suum restituimur radium]. With the text thus shortened, even the particle and [et] before the final subordinate clause has been eliminated in the manuscript. ↑
  51. Egressus autem est ad Verbum incarnatum, quod est lac parvulorum, de quo Ioannis primo: Verbum caro factum est et habitavit in nobis. De hoc egressu Cantici tertio: Egredimini, filiae Sion, et videte regem Salomonem in diademate, quo coronavit eum mater sua in die desponsationis et laetitiae cordis sui. Hoc diadema, quo coronatur verus Salomon pacificus a matre sua, est caro immaculata — quam assumsit de Virgine Maria — quae dicitur diadema desponsationis, quia per illam sibi desponsavit sanctam matrem Ecclesiam, quae de latere eius formata fuit, sicut Eva de latere viri. Et ideo per eam tota hierarchia ecclesiastica purgatur, illuminatur et perficitur; et ideo aspicienda est tanquam totius Ecclesiae pastus vivificus, secundum illud Ioannis sexto: Caro mea vere est cibus, et sanguis meus vere est potus. Et propterea subdit: Qui manducat meam carnem et bibit meum sanguinem habet vitam aeternam. ↑
  52. The Vulgate reads slight differently, transposing and see [et videte] before daughters of Sion [filiae Sion], and then reading him [illum] and his [illius] for him [eum] and his [eius], and at the end of the gladness of her heart [laetitiae cordis eius]. ↑
  53. On Christ’s illumination and perfecting of the angelic and human Hierarchy, cf. Breviloquium, Prologue § 3, and Hexaëmeron, collation 3, n. 32. ↑
  54. It’s really the preceding verse, n. 55; the following verse, n. 57, reads: Who . . . eats My Flesh and drinks My Blood, remains in Me, and I in him. ↑
  55. Et hoc est quod dicitur in libro de Anima et spiritu: “Duplex est vita animae: alia, qua vivit in carne; et alia, qua vivit in Deo. Duo siquidem sunt in homine sensus: unus interior, et unus exterior; et uterque bonum suum habet, in quo reficitur: sensus interior in contemplatione Deitatis, sensus exterior in contemplatione humanitatis. Propterea enim Deus factus est homo, ut totum hominem in se beatificaret, ut sive ingrederetur sive egrederetur, pascua in Factore suo inveniret, pascua foris in carne Salvatoris et pascua intus in Divinitate Creatoris”. — Hic autem ingressus ad Divinitatem et egressus ad humanitatem nihil aliud est quam ascensus ad caelum et descensus ad terram, qui fit per Christum tanquam per sacalam, de qua Genesis vigesimo octavo: Vidit Iacob in somnis scalam stantem supra terram, et cacumen eius tangens caelum, Angelos quoque ascendentes et descendentes per eam. Per scalam intelligitur Christus, per ascensum et descensum Angelorum illuminatio virorum contemplativorum ascendentium et descendentium. — Hic etiam duplex modus contemplationis intelligitur per lectionem interiorem et exteriorem libri scripti intus et foris, de quo Apocalypsis quinto: Vidi in dextera sedentis in throno librum scriptum intus et foris, signatum sigillis septem; et subditur ibi, quod nemo poterat neque in caelo neque in terra neque subtus terram aperire librum et neque respicere illum; et subditur ibi, quod leo de tribu Iuda vicit, qui dignus est aperire librum et solvere septem signacula eius. — Si ergo ille proprie dicendus est doctor, qui librum aperit et eius signacula solvit; et talis est Christus, qui fuit leo surgens et agnus occisus; apparet ergo, quod magister noster unus est, Christus, in omni cognitionis differentia, secundum quod est via, veritas et vita. ↑
  56. Chapter 9, but many words are omitted. – This book is found among those works of (St.) Augustine, falsely attributed to him. ↑
  57. The Vulgate in this passage reads And Jacob saw . . . [Viditque . . .], has its [illius] for its [eius], and after and also the Angels [Angelos quoque] adds of God [Dei]. — On this ladder which Jacob saw, cf. Breviloquium, Prologue §3, and Itinerarium mentis in Deum, ch. 1, n. 9. ↑
  58. The Seraphic Doctor quotes the words of Holy Scripture in contracted form. – On the book written inside and out, see Breviloquium, p. II, ch. 11. ↑
  59. Ex praedictis ergo apparet, quo ordine et quo auctore pervenitur ad sapientiam. — Ordo enim est, ut inchoetur a stabilitate fidei et procedatur per serenitatem rationis, ut perveniatur ad suavitatem contemplationis; quem insinuavit Christus, cum dixit: Ego sum via, veritas et vita. Et sic impletur illud Proverbiorum quarto: Iustorum semita quasi lux splendens procedit et crescit usque ad perfectum diem. Hunc ordinem tenuerunt Sancti, attendentes illud Isaiae, secundum aliam translationem: Nisi credideritis, non intelligetis. Hunc ordinem ignoraverunt philosophi, qui, negligentes fidem et totaliter se fundantes in ratione, nullo modo pervenire potuerunt ad contemplationem; quia, sicut dicit Augustinus in primo de Trinitate, “mentis humanae invalida acies in tam excellenti luce non figitur, nisi per iustitiam fidei emundetur”. ↑
  60. According to the Septuagint; the Vulgate reads: If you will not have believed, you shall not endure. ↑
  61. Chapter 2, n. 4. In the edition of (St.) Augustine’s works in place of it be cleansed through the justice of the Faith [per iustitiam fidei emundetur] there is read nourished through the justice of the Faith it be exited [per iustitiam fidei nutrita vegetetur]. But Peter Lombard, Sent, Bk. I, d. 2, ch. 1, and (St.) Bonaventure above on p. 58 and passim, read it be cleansed [emundetur]. — On the order and manner to be observed in studies, St. Bonaventure speaks at length in the Hexaëmeron, collation 19 throughout. But that philosophers without the Faith cannot ascend to contemplation, he teaches in Hexaëmeron, collation 4, n. 1, collation 5, n. 22, and collation 7, n. 5. ↑
  62. Patet etiam, quis sit auctor et doctor: quia Christus, qui est director et adiutor nostrae intelligentiae non solum generaliter, sicut in omnibus operibus naturae, nec ita specialiter, sicut in operibus gratiae et virtutis meritoriae, sed quodammodo medio inter utrumque. — Ad cuius intelligentiam notandum, quod in creaturis reperitur triplex modus conformitatis ad Deum. Quaedam enim conformantur Deo sicut vestigium, quaedam sicut imago, quaedam sicut similitudo. Vestigium autem dicit comparationem ad Deum sicut ad principium causativum; imago autem non solum sicut ad principium, sed etiam sicut ad obiectum motivum; “eo enim est anima imago Dei, ut dicit Augustinus decimo quarto de Trinitate, quod capax eius est et particeps esse potest”, scilicet per cognitionem et amorem. Similitudo autem respicit Deum non tantum per modum principii et obiecti, verum etiam per modum doni infusi. ↑
  63. Chapter 8, n. 11, where the edition (of St. Augustine’s works has): “Indeed for this very reason it is His image, whereby (man) is capable of Him and can be a participant in Him”. Concerning this doctrine cf. Breviloquium, p. II, ch. 12, where among the notes there are cited other relevant passages. ↑
  64. In illis ergo operationibus creaturae, quae sunt ipsius, in quantum est vestigium, sicut sunt universaliter actiones naturales, cooperatur Deus sicut principium et causa. In his autem, quae sunt ipsius, in quantum est imago, sicut sunt actiones intellectuales, quibus anima percipit ipsam veritatem immutabilem, cooperatur sicut obiectum et ratio motiva. In his vero, quae sunt ipsius, in quantum est similitudo, sicut sunt operationes meritoriae, cooperatur sicut donum infusum per gratiam. Et propter hoc dicit Augustinus octavo de Civitate Dei, quod “Deus est causa essendi, ratio intelligendi et ordo vivendi”. ↑
  65. Chapter 4. The Edition of (St.) Augustine’s works has of subsisting [subsistendi] for of being [essendi], after which it adds and [et]. This familiar distinction of (Sts. Augustine and Bonaventure has been taken from Plato. Those things which follow correspond to what is said in Quaestiones disputatae de scientiae Christi, q. 4. ↑
  66. Quod autem dicatur ratio intelligendi, sane intelligendum est, non quia sit intelligendi ratio sola, nec nuda, nec tota. — Si enim esset ratio sola, non differret cognitio scientiae a cognitione sapientiae, nec cognitio in Verbo a cognitione in proprio genere. — Rursus, si esset ratio nuda et aperta, non differret cognito viae a cognitione patriae, quod quidem falsum est, cum illa sit facie a faciem, haec autem per speculum et in aenigmate; quia nostrum intelligere secundum statum viae non est sine phantasmate. — Postremo, si esset ratio tota, non indigeremus specie et receptione ad cognoscendas res; quod manifeste videmus esse falsum, quia, amittentes unum sensum, necesse habemus amittere unam scientiam. Unde licet anima secundum Augustinum connexa sit legibus aeternis, quia aliquomodo illud lumen attingit secundum supremam aciem intellectus agentis et superiorem portionem rationis; indubitanter tamen verum est, secundum quod dicit Philosophus, cognitionem generari in nobis via sensus, memoriae et experientiae, ex quibus colligitur universale in nobis, quod est principium artis et scientiae. Unde quia Plato totam cognitionem certitudinalem convertit ad mundum intelligibilem sive idealem, ideo merito reprehensus fuit ab Aristotele; non quia male diceret, ideas esse et aeternas rationes, cum eum in hoc laudet Augustinus: sed quia, despecto mundo sensibili, totam certitudinem cognitionis reducere voluit ad illas ideas; et hoc ponendo, licet videretur stabilire viam sapientiae, quae procedit secundum rationes aeternas, destruebat tamen viam scientiae, quae procedit secundum rationes creatas; quam viam Aristoteles e contrario stabiliebat, illa superiore neglecta. Et ideo videtur, quod inter philosophos datus sit Platoni sermo sapientiae, Aristoteli vero sermo scientiae. Ille enim principaliter aspiciebat ad superiora, hic vero principaliter ad inferiora. ↑
  67. Aristotle, Posterior Analytics, Bk. I, ch. 14 (ch. 18). ↑
  68. Posterior Analytics, Bk. II, ch. 18 (ch. 15) and Metaphysics, Bk. I, ch. 1. Cf. De septem Donis Spiritus Sancti, collation 8, n. 14. ↑
  69. Cf. above p. 360, footnote 6. ↑
  70. De Civitate Dei, Bk. VIII, ch. 6 and 83 Quaestiones, q. 46. ↑
  71. Uterque autem sermo, scilicet sapientiae et scientiae, per Spiritum sanctum datus est Augustino, tanquam praecipuo expositori totius Scripturae, satis excellenter, sicut ex scriptis eius apparet. — Excellentiori vero modo fuit in Paulo et Moyse, in uno tanquam in ministro legis figurae, in altero vero sicut in ministro legis gratiae. De Moyse namque dicitur Actuum septimo, quod fuit eruditus in omni sapientia Aegyptiorum; et rursus, in monte dictum est ei: Inspice et fac secundum exemplar, quod tibi in monte monstratum est. — De Paulo vero, sicut ipsemet dicit, quod cum inter simplices non ostenderet se scire nisi Christum Iesum, et hunc crucifixum; tamen sapientiam loquebatur inter perfectos, sicut dicitur primae ad Corinthios secundo. Hanc autem sapientiam ipse didicit, quando usque ad tertium caelum raptus fuit, secundae ad Corinthios duodecimo. — Excellentissime autem fuit in domino nostro Iesu Christo, qui fuit principalis legislator et simul perfectus viator et comprehensor; et ideo ipse solus est principalis magister et doctor. ↑
  72. The Vulgate reads: And Moses was instructed in all the wisdom of the Egyptians. ↑
  73. Verse 6: But we speak wisdom among the perfect. The quote above this refers to v. 2: For I have not judged, that I know anything among you, except Christ Jesus and Him crucified. ↑
  74. Verse 13. The other passage is v. 14: . . . Lord and Master; and you ought to wash each other’s feet; v. 15: For I have given you an example, that as I have done to you, so also you do. ↑
  75. Hic igitur tanquam principalis magister est principaliter honorandus, audiendus, interrogandus. — Principaliter namque honorandus est, ut sibi attribuatur dignitas magisterii, Matthaei vigesimo tertio: Nolite vocari Rabbi; unus est enim magister vester, omnes autem vos fratres estis. Sibi autem vult dignitatem magisterii reservare, secundum illud Ioannis decimo tertio: Vos vocatis me, magister et Domine; et bene dicits, sum etenim. — Honorandus est autem non solum vocaliter in locutione, sed etiam realiter in imitatione; propter quod subdit: Si ergo ego lavi pedes vestros etc.; quia, sicut dicitur Lucae decimo quarto, qui non venit post me non potest meus esse discipulus. ↑
  76. Verse 13. The other passage is v. 14: . . . Lord and Master; and you ought to wash each other’s feet; v. 15: For I have given you an example, that as I have done to you, so also you do. ↑
  77. Est etiam principaliter audiendus per humilitatem fidei, secundum illud Isaiae quiquagesimo: Dominus dedit mihi linguam eruditiam, ut sciam sustentare eum qui lassus est verbo: erigit mane, mane erigit mihi aurem, ut audiam eum quasi magisterum. Bis dicit erigit, quia non sufficit, quid auris nostra erigatur ad intelligendum, nisi etiam erigatur ad obediendum. Propter quod dicitur Matthaei decimo tertio: Qui habet aures audiendi audiat. Christus enim docet nos non tantum verbo, sed etiam exemplo; et ideo non est perfectus auditor, nisi accommodet intelligentiam verbis et obedientiam factis; propter quod Lucae sexto: Perfectus omnis erit, si sit sicut magister eius. ↑
  78. Verse 4. The Vulgate omits him [eum] after that I may hear [ut audiam]. ↑
  79. Est etiam principaliter interrogandus per desiderium addiscendi, non sicut curiosi et increduli, qui interrogant tentando, Matthaei duodecimo: Responderunt quidam de Scribis dicentes: Magister, volumus a te signum videre. Signa quippe viderant et videbant, et tamen adhuc signum quaerebant, ut per hoc ostendatur, quod humana curiositas non habet terminum nec meretur perduci ad verum. Unde responsum est eis, quod signum non dabitur eis nisi signum Ionae prophetae. — Non hoc modo interrogandus est Iesus, sed studiose, sicut interrogavit eum Nicodemus, de quo Ioannis tertio dicitur, quod venit ad Iesum nocte et dixit ei: Rabbi, scimus, quia a Deo venisti magister etc.; et subditur ibi, quod Iesus aperuit ei mysteria fidei, pro eo quod non quaerebat signa virtutis, sed documenta veritatis ↑
  80. Verse. 38. The Vulgate reads: Then they answered Him, certain ones of the Scribes and Pharisees, saying etc.. And verse 39: Who responding said to them: A wicked and adulterous generation seeks a sign, and a sign shall not be given it, except etc.. ↑
  81. The Seraphic Doctor often blames curiosity in the Hexaëmeron; cf. collations 1, nn. 8 and 17; 6, n. 19; 17, n. 23; 18, n. 1; 19, nn. 3 and 4. ↑
  82. Interrogandus est autem hic magister de his quae spectant ad scientiam, ad disciplinam et bonitatem, secundum illud Psalmi: Bonitatem et disciplinam et scientiam doce me. Scientia namque consistit in notitia veri, disciplina in cautela mali, bonitas in eligentia boni. Primum respicit veritatem, secundum respicit sanctitatem, tertium respicit caritatem. — Interrogandus est ergo de his quae spectant ad veritatem scientiae, non studio tentandi, sicut tentabant discipuli Pharisaeorum, Mattaei vigesimo secondo: Magister, scimus, quia verax es etc. Et quia mala intentione quaerebant, ideo responsum est eis: Quid me tentatis, hypocritae? Quia vero quaestionem bonam, ideo dedit responsionem veram: Reddite ergo quae sunt caesaris caesari; et quae sunt Dei, Deo. — Interrogandus est secundo de his quae spectant ad sanctitatem disciplinae, sicut interrogabat eum ille adolescens, Marci decimo: Magister bone, quid faciam, ut vitam aeternam possideam? Et responsum est ei, quod servaret mandata, et si vellet perfectus esse, servaret consilia, in quibus consistit perfecta disciplina morum, in cautela eorum quae nos incitant ad peccandum. — Interrogandus est etiam de his quae spectant ad caritatem benevolentiae, exemplo Legis doctoris, Mattaei vigesimo secundo: Magister, quod est mandatum magnum in Lege? Ait illi: Diliges Dominum Deum tuum ex corde tuo, et ex mente tua etc., ubi ostendit, quod plenitudo Legis est dilectio. ↑
  83. Verse. 17. The Vulgate reads lay hold of [percipiam] in place of possess [possideam]. ↑
  84. The Vulgate reads: But Jesus (replied) to him: Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with thy whole heart, and with thy whole soul etc.. ↑
  85. Haec igitur tria sunt, quae interroganda sunt a Christo tanquam a magistero, et ad quae tota lexChristi est ordinata, et ideo omnis doctrina ministerialis doctoris ad haec tria debet ordinari, ut sub illo magistero summo officium magisterii digne possit exsecutioni mandare. — Debet namque ministerialis magister intendere scientiae veritatis fidei, secundum illud primae ad Timotheum secundo: Veritatem dico et non mentior, doctor gentium in fide et veritate. Propter quod secundae Petri primo: Non enim doctas fabulas secuti, notam fecimus vobis Domini nostri Iesu Christi virtutem et praesentiam, sed speculatores facti illius magnitudinis. ↑
  86. Debet etiam intendere disciplinae sanctitatis animi, secundum illud secundae ad Timotheum primo: Positus sum ego Paulus in Evangelio praedicator et apostolus, ob quam causam et haec patior; quia, secundum quod dicitur Proverbiorum decimo nono, doctrina viri per patientiam noscitur. Sicut enim non decet insipientem docere sapientiam, sic non decet impatientem docere patientiam, nec indisciplinatum docere disciplinam. In moribus enim plus movent exempla quam verba. ↑
  87. Verse. 11. 12. The Vulgate reads: In which I have been set as a preacher and an apostle etc.. For which cause I also suffer these things. – Cf. Hexaëmeron, collation 19, nn. 3 and 20 ff. and passim. ↑
  88. Debet etiam intedere benevolentiae caritatis Dei et proximi, Ecclesiastae ultimo: Verba sapientium quasi stimuli et quasi clavi in altum defixi, quae per magistrorum consilium data sunt a pastore uno. Haec, inquam, verba sunt verba divinis amoris, quae penetrant medullas cordis; et haec dicuntur dari per magistorum consilium a pastore uno, quia, licet amor divinus laudetur et suadeatur per verba multorum, utpote per documenta duorum testamentorum, ab uno tamen solo Verbo spiratur, quod quidem est pastus et pastor omnium. Et ideo omnia illa verba ab eodem sunt et in idem tendunt: et propterea dicuntur dari signanter per magistorum consilium, idem videlicet sentientium. — Et quoniam omnes doctores christianae legis finaliter debent tendere ad vinculum caritatis, ideo debent concordare in suis sententiis. Propter quod Iacobi terto: Nolite, fratres, plures magistri fieri; quod quidem dicit, non prohibendo eos a doni scientiae communicatione, cum dicat Moyses Numerorum undecimo: Quis tribuat, ut omnis populus prophetet, et det eis Dominus spiritum suum? et primae Petri quarto: Unusquisque, sicut accepit gratiam, in alterutrum etc.;sed hoc dicit, ut non habeant varias sententias et peregrinas, sed omnes idem dicant, sicut primae ad Corinthios primo: Obsecro vos, fratres, per nomen Domini nostri Iesu Christi, ut id ipsum dicatis omnes, et non sint in vobis schismata; sitis autem perfecti in eodem sensu et in eadem sententia. ↑
  89. Verse. 11. The Vulgate has in place of the first as [quasi] just as [sicut]. ↑
  90. Verse. 1. The Vulgate reads: Do not become many masters, my brothers. — Cf. Hexaëmeron, collation 1, nn. 5 and 8. ↑
  91. Verse 10, where it continues thus: to the other ministering it, as good dispensers of the manifold grace of God. ↑
  92. Nam dissensio sententiarum ortum habet a praesumtione, secundum illud Proverbiorum decimo tertio: Inter superbos semper iurgia sunt; et parit confusionem, primae ad Timotheum ultimo: Si quis aliter docet et non acquiescit sanis sermonibus Domini nostri Iesu Christi et ei quae secundum pietatem est doctrinae, superbus est, nihil sciens, sed languens circa quaestiones et pugans verborum; ex quibus oriuntur invidiae, contentiones, blasphemiae, suspiciones malae, conflictationes hominum mente corruptorum et qui veritate privati sunt. ↑
  93. Codex has of sciences [scientiarum]. ↑
  94. Cf. those things which are said against the spirit of contention, Hexaëmeron, collation 18, n. 3. ↑
  95. Quoniam ergo haec tria sunt, quae impediunt ad perceptionem veritatis, videlicet praesumtio sensum et dissensio sententiarum et desperatio inveniendi verum; ideo his obvians Christus dicit: Unus est magister vester, Christus. Dicit, inquam, quod Christus est magister, ut de nostra scientia non praesumamus; dicit, quod unus, ne in sensu dissentiamus; dicit, quod vester est, paratus nobis assitere, ne desperemus, maxime cum ipse velit et sciat et possit nos docere, mittendo illum Spiritum, de quo ipse dicit Ioannis decimo sexto: Cum venerit ille Spiritus veritatis, docebit vos omnem veritatem. Quod nobis praestare etc. — Explicit. ↑