Friday, July 15, 2022

Doctor Seraphicus

 Today is the feast of St. Bonaventure of Bagnoregio, Doctor of the Church. From the Breviloquium, Part I, Chapter 8, Sections 2 & 3:

Not only does this wisdom imply the power of knowing: it actually is the very principle of knowing. Therefore, it is called LIGHT as being the principle of knowing all that is known; MIRROR as being the principle of knowing all that is seen and approved; EXEMPLAR as being the principle of all that is foreseen and disposed; BOOK OF LIFE as being the principle of all that is pre-elected and reproved. In respect to things as they return to Him, God is the Book of Life; as they proceed from Him, He is the Exemplar; as they follow their course, He is the Mirror; and from all viewpoints together, He is the Light. To the Exemplar pertain idea, word, art, and purpose: IDEA, as regards the act of foreseeing; WORD, as regards the act of proposing; ART, as regards the act of carrying out; and PURPOSE, as regards the act of completing, for it adds final intention. Since all these acts are the same in God, one is often understood for another.

Because of the distinction between the objects of knowledge and their various connotations, divine wisdom is given a variety of names. Yet it is not diversified for any intrinsic reason, for it knows the contingent infallibly, the mutable immutably, the future presently, the temporal eternally, the dependent independently, the created uncreatedly; and all things that are not itself, it knows in itself and through itself. And since it knows the contingent infallibly, freedom and indetermination of the [created] will are compatible with pre-election and foreknowledge.