The procedure of Sacred Scripture -- unlike the other sciences -- is not confined by the laws of reasoning, defining, or making distinctions, nor is it limited to only one aspect of the universe. Rather, it proceeds, by supernatural inspiration, to give us human wayfarers as much knowledge as we need to achieve salvation. And so, in language that is sometimes literal, sometimes symbolic, as in a kind of summa, it describes the contents of the entire universe, and so covers the breadth; it narrates the course of history, thus comprehending the length; it portrays the excellence of those who will ultimately be saved, thus manifesting the height; and it depicts the misery of those who will be damned, thus plumbing the depth, not only of the universe, but of the very judgments of God. In this way it describes the breadth and length and height and depth of the entire unvierse, insofar as it is expedient to have knowledge of it for salvation.
[Bonaventure, Breviloquium (prologue), Franciscan Institute Publications (Saint Bonaventure, NY: 2005) pp. 3-4.]
