CHAPTER IV
CHAPTER IV
THE "LUMEN SUPERIUS" — THE KNOWLEDGE OF THEOLOGY
The fourth light which illumines the mind for the under standing of saving truth is the light of Sacred Scripture. This light is called "higher" because it leads to things above by the manifestation of truths which are beyond reason and also because it is not acquired by human research, but comes down by in spiration from the "Father of lights"1. Thus the starting point for investigation in theology is not the natural light of reason and the evidence it discovers but the content of revelation accepted as true by a voluntary act of faith2.
Having for its object the knowledge and love of God, theology may be considered a theoretical as well as a practical science.
"However," says St. Bonaventure, "since Sacred Scripture rests on the foundation of faith, it is more fitting that it be divided into the Old and New Testament, the one the doctrine of fear, the other the doctrine of love3."
The meaning of the sacred text is not always limited to the literal interpretation, for the language of the Bible, under the inspiration of the Holy Ghost, is used to express many truths beyond the power and scope of human reason. In addition to the literal sense, many passages contain an allegorical, a tropological, and an anagogical meaning. The allegorical interpretation is the application of some incident in the Bible to a doctrine of faith; the tropological, to moral life; the anagogical, to the promise of a future reward4. Hence all Sacred Scripture teaches these three truths: namely, the eternal generation and Incarnation
1 De Reduc. art. ad Theol., n. 5, t. V, p. 321. Ci. supra p. 26.
2 "... sicut scientiae philosophicae super prirna principia sua fundantur, ita scientia Scripturae fundatur super articulos fidei."
De Donis S. S., IV. 13, t. V, p. 476.
3 "Quoniam igitur Scriptura sacra est notitia movens ad bonum et revocans a malo; et hoc est per timorem et amorem: ideo dividitur in duo testamenta, quorum 'brevis differentia est timor et amor'."
Brevil., Prol. 1, t. V, p. 203.
4 "Est autem allegoria, quando per unum factum indicatur aliud factum, secundum quod credendum est. Tropologia sive moralitas est, quando per id quod factum est, datur intelligi aliud, quod faciendum est.
Anagogia, quasi sursum ductio est, quando datur intelligi illud quod desiderandum est, scilicet aeterna felicitas Beatorum." Brevil., Prol. 4, t. V, p. 205. Cf. supra p. 26.
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of the Son of God, the pattern of human life, and the union of the soul with God5.
Faith teaches that one purpose of the Incarnation of the Son of God was to restore to man, at least essentially, his primary relation to God. The first man by his faculties of memory, under standing, and will, participated in a finite manner in the divine immortality, intelligence, and free will. In addition to this natural likeness, he possessed supernatural gifts, chief among which was sanctifying grace whereby the Holy Ghost dwelt in his soul.
The indwelling of the Holy Ghost brought with it many other gifts, such as the theological virtues of faith, hope, and charity, the seven gifts of the Holy Ghost and freedom from ignorance, sorrow, and concupiscence. Original sin not only despoiled the soul of the likeness to God which conferred grace but it also weakened the natural faculties which reflected the image of God6, for which reason there was need of a spiritual re-creation before fallen man could attain his destined end. As the natural image of God in the soul consists in the trinity of the faculties in the unity of its essence, so the supernatural image is the trinity of the infused virtues -— faith, hope, and charity in the unhy of grace7. This divine likeness which grace confers upon the soul,
St. Bonaventure calls the imago recreationis, thus distinguishing it from the divine reflection which every soul naturally bears, the imago creationis. Faith is the firm foundation of the spiritual edifice, the guiding light on the road to God, the door through which we enter8. Charity is the bond of perfect union9. This stress on the preparatory value of sanctifying grace and the theological virtues is one of the most distinctive characteristics of St. Bonaventure's doctrine10.
5 "Unde tota sacra Scriptura haec tria docet, scilicet aeternam generationem et incarnationem, vivendi ordinem et Dei et animae unionem." De Red. art. ad Theol., n. 5, t. V, p. 321. Cf. supra p. 26.
6 "Subtracta similitudine remansit sola imago...; ilia tamen imago est exspoliata propter aversionem et vulnerata propter conversionem." In Luc, c. xo, n. 62, t. VII, p. 271.
7 "Consistit enim imago recreationis in tribus virtutibus theologicis et unitate gratiae, sicut imago creationis in tribus potentiis et unitate substantiae." Ill Sent., 27, x, 1, t. Ill, p. 592.
8 "Est enim ipsa fides omnium supematuralium illuminationum, quamdiu peregrinamur a Domino, et fundamentum stabiliens et ianua introducens." Brevil., Prol., t. V, p. 201 b.
9 "Et propterea spirituale aedificium dicitur fundari in fide et erigi in spe et consummari in caritate, quia caritas inter virtutes theologicas est maxime unitiva, et ideo actus eius maxime facit homines deiformes." Ill Sent., 27, 2, 1, t. Ill, p. 604.
10 "Qui igitur vult in Deum ascendere necesse est, ut vitata culpa deformante naturam, naturales potentias supradictas exerceat ad gratiam reformantem, et hoc per orationem." Itiner., I, 8, t. V, p. 298.
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When sanctifying grace enters the soul, it brings with it not only the supernatural virtues, but also the gifts of the Holy Ghost and the beatitudes. This threefold series of gratuitous grace — the virtues, the gifts, and the beatitudes, corresponds to the three stages by which the soul advances to the knowledge and love of God. In the first state, we have the virtues; it is faith which prompts us to believe. In the intermediary state, we have the gifts to direct us; it is the gift of understanding which makes us see things in their true light. In the last state, the beatitudes dispose us to perfect acts, for purity of heart prepares us for the vision of God. The virtues dispose the faculties to good only after they have directed them to their proper object. To the virtues, then, has been ascribed the rectification of the natural powers.
The faculties of the soul thus rectified by the virtues must be strengthened in order to attain a higher perfection; it is the gifts which confer upon them this added energy. The beatitudes, which permit the powers of the soul to attain the maximum of their activity, are the first fruits of the grace which perfects11. These dispositions of the soul correspond to the purgative, the illumi native, and the unitive way and represent the supernatural energy which must be utilized as the ascent becomes more and more difficult12. From these considerations, it is obvious that the virtues prepare the soul for the active life, the gifts for the contemplative life, and the beatitudes for the perfection of both, the eternal bliss of heaven13.
Since essences may be regarded as things or as symbols14, there are two attitudes in which man may view creation. The first is that of the philosopher who is interested in the nature of things; the second, that of the contemplative who looks upon all creatures as mere types or symbols. Transferring these viewpoints to the realm of theology, we have the two methods of arriving at the 11 "Et quoniam quaedam sunt opera moralia primaria, sicut credere; quaedam media, sicut intelligere credita; quaedam vero postrema, sicut videre intellecta; et in primis anima rectificatur, in secundis ex pedition, in tertiis, perficitur: ideo gratia gratum faciens ramificatur in habitus virtutum, quorum est animam rectificare; in habitus donorum, quorum est animam expedire; et in habitus beatitudinum, quorum est animam perficere." Brevil., 5. 4, t. V, p. 256.
12 "Necesse est igitur . . . per tres gradus ascendere secundum triplicem viam, scilicet purgativam quae consistit in expulsione peccati, illuminativam quae consistit in imitatione Christi, unitivam quae con sistit in susceptione Sponsi, ita quod quaelibet habet gradus suos per quos incipitur ab imo et tenditur ad summum." De triplici via, c. 4, n. 1, t. VIII, 12 a.
13 Cf. Brevil., 5, 6, t. V, p. 259 a; De Donis S. S., II, t. V, p. 463, 14 "Creaturae possunt considerari ut res vel ut signa." I Sent., 3,
3, 2, t. I, p. 75 b.
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knowledge of God — the one, that of the theologian; the other, that of the mystic. The former applies philosophical methods of investigation to the gifts of revelation; he devotes himself principally to speculation that through it he may arrive at unction or piety. The latter utilizes the same gifts the better to interpret and understand the meaning of the natural and the supernatural world; he gives the first place to unction, the second to speculation.
In conformity with the spirit of his Holy Father, Francis, St. Bonaventure, wherever possible, adopts the viewpoint of the contemp lative, stressing the union of the soul with God15. To be sure, the natural bent of his piety and his Franciscan training would not permit him to do otherwise. The whole world was created to show forth the greatness of God and His infinite perfections; every creature, corporeal and incorporeal, is by its very nature arepresentation of the Divine Wisdom. The better man's knowledge of creatures, the deeper his penetration into their mystic meaning.
To see God in every creature is the highest degree of human knowledge; it is the domain reserved to the metaphysician16.
Just as the plan of a building is conceived by the architect before it is built, so are all creatures before their creation expressed in the Essence of God under the form of eternal ideas17. These rationes aeternae are the ultimate foundation of essences as well as the source of the intelligibility and truth of things and the certitude of our knowledge, not because we know things in God, which doctrine would constitute Ontologism, but because reason shows us that the attributes of all things reproduce their Uncreated
Exemplar. These Divine Ideas must not be looked upon as distinct entities, for this concept would be inconsistent with the simplicity
15 "Hunc librum (creaturarum) legere est altissimorum contemplativorum, non naturalium philosophorum, quia solum sciunt naturam rerum, non ut vestigium." In Hexaem., XII, 15, t. V, p. 386. Some contemplatives apply themselves to the things of God "per modum speculatorium vel speculativum, ut illi qui vacant speculatione Scripturae ... Hi sunt Praedicatores et Minores. Alii principaliter intendunt speculationi, a quo etiam nomen acceperunt, et postea unctioni. Alii principaliter unctioni et postea speculationi. . . Et addebat quod beatus
Franciscus dixerat quod volebat quod fratres sui studerent, dummodo facerent prius quam docerent. Multa enim scire et nihil gustare, quid valet?" In Hexaem., XXII, 21, t. V, p. 440 b.
16 ''Primum principium fecit mundum istum sensibilem ad declarandum seipsum, videlicet ad hoc quod per ilium tamquam per speculum et vestigium reduceretur homo in Deum artificem amandum et laudandum." Brevil., II, ix, t. V, p. 229 a.
17 "Ideo est alia positio, et secundum Sanctos, et secundum philosophos, quod Deus cognoscit per ideas et habet in se rationes et sirnilitudines rerum, quas cognoscit, in quibus non tantum ipse cognoscit, sed etiam aspicientes in eum: et has rationes vocat Augustinus ideas et causas primordiales." I Sent., 35, 1, 1, t. I, p. 601.
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of God. They are identical with the Divine Essence, contemplated by the Divine Intellect as susceptible of imitation ad extra. They are a participation in the perfection of the Eternal Being Who is
Truth and Life.
God has left His seal upon the creation of His Hands; every object around and about us proclaims His presence; traces of His creative power are seen in every leaf, on every blade of grass.
These impressions of God upon His handiwork signify that the creature has been made secundum Deum. An analogy, then, between God and the universe which He has created is not only possible but inevitable; it is the law according to which creation was accomplished.
Finite beings are distinct from God and distinct from one another; they are shadows, vestiges, images of the divinity ac cording to the manner in which each represents God18. The shadow
(umbra) is a distant and confused representation of God; the vestige (vestigium), a distant but distinct representation; the image (imago), a representation which is both distinct and close.
From this first method of distinction, there proceeds a second: a creature is a shadow of God by those of its properties which are related to Him without specification of the class of cause under which it is considered; the vestige is the property of the creature which is related to God, considered either as efficient, as exemplary, or as final cause; the image, lastly, is every property of the creature which implies God not only as cause but as object, and this kind of property is found only in the spiritual creature19.
There is a difference, too, in the sorts of knowledge to which these various analogies lead20. Considered as a shadow, the creature leads only to the knowledge of the attributes which are common in the same sense to the three Divine Persons, such as being, life, and intelligence. Considered as a vestige, the creature leads again to the attributes common to the three Divine Persons, but to those that are assigned more particularly to one of them; such as power to the Father, wisdom to the Son, and goodness to the Holy Ghost. Considered as an image, the creature leads to a knowledge of the attributes that belong to one Divine Person and therefore to one only; the fatherhood of the Father, the sonship of the Son, the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. These modes of resemblance are not exclusive of one another. That which 18 Cf. Gilson-Bohner, op. cit., p. 495. For a detailed study of St. Bonaventure's doctrine of exemplarism, consult J. M. Bissen, O. F. M.,
L'Exemplarisme Divin selon Saint Bonaventure, Paris, 1929.
19 / Sent. 3, 1, 1, 2, fund. 4, t. I, p. 72-73. Cf. Gilson, op. cit., pp. 203-204.
20 Cf. Gilson-Bohner, op. cit., p. 495 f.
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possesses the greater possesses the lesser also; spiritual creatures are the images of God because they have Him as their object, but they are equally vestiges and shadows. On the other hand, material creatures can be only the shadows and vestiges of God21.
St. Bonaventure sees everywhere the vestige or the image of the most Holy Trinity because the world was created by the Triune
God. His exemplarism, therefore, is thoroughly "trinitarian", and in this respect it differs from that of other theologians. Hence it is only in the light of exemplarism, that is, of the analogyrelation of God to the creature, that the deepest nature of the creature is evident to us. Every being, for example, is defined and determined by an essence; and every essence is in its turn con stituted by concurrence of three principles: matter, form, and the composition of matter with form, a doctrine which has its basis in the Exemplarity of God22.
The soul with its three constitutive powers of memory, under standing, and will is a true image of the Trinity only in the measure in which it knows and wills itself as such. Failing to recognize in itself this intimate conformity and turning from God and itself towards matter, the soul falls back into the distant analogy of natural bodies. So the human soul, the image of God, may sink to the obscurity of a vestige. We may say, then, that the distinction between the vestige and the image lies in the power of the divine likeness to know itself as such and to transform into an express relation the law which was hidden in the very nature of its being23.
In order to effect this transformation, it is enough to turn towards God and to contemplate the mystery of the creative Trinity as revealed by Sacred Scripture and faith. In the presence of the archetype of its being, the soul is irradiated with an incomparable light; it sees its resemblance to the perfect model which it reproduces and finds its ultimate metaphysical basis in this analogue which 21 Brevil. II, c. 12, n. 1, t. V, p. 230. Cf. Gilson, op. cit., p. 203.
22 "In substantia est altius vestigium, quod repraesentat divinam essentiam. Habet enim omnis creata substantia materiam, formam, compositionem: originate principium seu fundamentum, formale complementum et glutinum; habet substantiam, virtutem et operationem.
Et in his repraesentatur mysterium Trinitatis: Pater, origo; Filius, imago; Spiritus Sanctus, compago." In Hexaem., II. 23, t. V, p. 340.
Cf. Gilson-Bohner, op. cit., p. 495 ff.
23 "Secundum autem harum potentiarum ordinem et originem et habitudinem, ducit in ipsam beatissimam Trinitatem. Nam ex memoria oritur intelligentia ut ipsius proles, quia tunc intelligimus, cum similitudo quae est in memoria resultat in acie intellectus, quae nihil aliud est quam verbum; ex memoria et intelligentia spiratur amor, sunt in anima quoad memoriam, intelligentiam et voluntatem, quae sunt consubstantiales, coaequales et coaevae, se invicem circumincedentes." Itiner., Ill, 5, t. V, 305. Cf. E. Gilson, La Philosophic de Saint
Bonaventure, p. 215.
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effects its conformation. In the same way, the soul may turn from sensible things and take itself for object. Without turning directly towards God, it considers in itself the unity of its essence and the trinity of its powers which engender one another, thus remaining a true image of God, less immediately conformed than in the former case, but less inadequate, perhaps, since the inferior object which it apprehends is grasped in its being and its substantiality.
Thus we see that the two considerations of the image here distinguished correspond to the two different orders of knowledge.
Reason of itself can consider the Trinity in its human image, but this consideration does not lead to the knowledge of the Divine
Trinity. The pagan philosophers are proof of this24. To perfect the analogy which the human image reveals, we must know it as such and thus compare the copy to the divine model. But faith alone reveals the nature of the model25. Here again we have evidence of the insufficiency of natural philosophy which cannot reach its fulfillment without faith.
When the philosopher rises to the consideration of God as the exemplary cause of all things, he is on ground which is exclusively his own; he is a true metaphysician26. Exemplarism is the very heart of metaphysics; from it flows all light; without it there is total darkness27. For this reason Aristotle, who sought the knowl edge of things for their own sake, is on this point enshrouded in obscurity. Plato perceived the truth of the doctrine but, without the light of revelation, he was unable to discover its hidden Source, the Incarnate Word28.
24 "Philosophi istam trinitatem (sc. mens, notitia et amor) cognoverunt, et tamen non cognoverunt Trinitatem personarum: ergo haec non necessario ducit in illam." I Sent., 3, 2, 1, 2, ad 5m, t. I, p. 84.
25 "Et ita perfecta ratio imaginis non habetur nisi a fide." I Sent., 3, 2, 2, 3, Concl., t. I, p. 93.
26 "Ut considerat illud esse in ratione omnia exemplantis, cum nullo communicat et verus est metaphysicus." In Hexaem., I. 13, tv, p. 331.
27 ''Divisit tamen Deus lucem a tenebris, ut, sicut dictum est de Angelis, sic dicatur de philosophis. Sed unde aliqui tenebras secuti sunt ?
Ex hoc, quod licet omnes viderint primam causam omnium principium, omnium finem in medio tamen diversificati sunt. Nam aliqui negaverunt, in ipsa esse exemplaria rerum; quorum princeps videtur fuisse Aristoteles, qui et in principio Metaphysicae et in fine et in multis aliis locis exsecratur ideas Platonis. Unde dicit, quod Deus solum novit se et non indiget notitia alicuius alterius rei et movet ut desideratum et amatum. Ex hoc ponunt, quod nihil, vel nullum particulare cognoscat.
Unde illas ideas praecipuus impugnat Aristoteles et in Ethicis, ubi dicit, quod summum bonum non potest esse idea. Et nihil valent rationes suae, et commentator solvit eas." In Hexaem. VI. 2, t. V, p. 360-361.
28 "Horum ostium est intellectus Verbi incamati, qui est radix intelligentiae omnium; unde qui non habet hoc ostium intrare non
THE "LUMEN SUPERIUS" — KNOWLEDGE OF THEOLOGY XOJ
In Ecclesiasticus 24:5, Wisdom is described as uncreated, "the first bom of the most High before all creatures", "from the beginning and before the world was I made" {ibid., 14). So universal was the identification of Wisdom with Christ that even the Arians concurred with the Fathers therein. The Book of Wisdom also speaks clearly of Wisdom as "the worker of all things ... a certain pure emanation of the glory of the almighty God . . . the brightness of eternal light, the unspotted mirror of God's majesty, and the image of His goodness" (Wis. 7: 21-26). Just as we have stated that God formed all things according to rationes aeternae, so do we affirm that it is by His likeness, His Word and perfect repre sentation that He brings all things into existence, and this is the real basis and true explanation of the knowledge of the works of God. Holy Writ says, Dixit et facta sunt and again, Fecisti omnia
Verbo tuo. Like the vine which bears fruit without, the Eternal Wisdom has produced all the beings of the universe; He is the origin and principle of all creation. Again Holy Writ says: In principio creavit Deus caelum et terram. While St. Bonaventure ad mits that the phrase in principio may signify "in the beginning of time", still, in this term which manifests not only the efficient but also the exemplary causality of God, he likes to see Him Who was Himself the Beginning, the Word29.
"Active" and "passive" are correlative terms; we cannot consider the one without taking account of the other. Corre sponding to the active element on the part of God, since He is the type, the pattern, and the model of all things, there will be on the part of creatures, once the divine power shall have given them existence, a passive character which will manifest their divine origin in proportion to their respective powers of representation.
The study of exemplarism, then, has a twofold objective, namely, the study of God as the Exemplar of all things and a jstudy of the creature as a copy or likeness of its Exemplar and Creator30.
We must furthermore distinguish between the natural and the supernatural and consider God, first, as the Exemplar of the potest. Philosophi autem habent pro impossibili quae sunt summe vera, quia ostium est eis clausum." In Hexaem. Ill, 4, t. V, p. 343.
29 "Ex dictis igitur patet, pro quo supponat hoc nomen principium.
Potest enim supponere pro Filio . . . Potest etiam supponere pro creatura utpote pro principio temporis." II Sent. d. 1, p. 1, dub. 2, t. II,
37 b. "In Filio enim dicitur creasse . . . ut sic notetur non tantum causa efficiens, sed etiam exemplaris." Ibid., 36 b.
30 "Sicut exemplar secundum proprietatem vocabuli dicit expressionem per modum activi.... sic e contrario imago per modum passivi; et dicitur imago quod alterum exprimit et imitatur." I Sent., d. 31, t. I, p. 540.
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natural order and, secondly, as the Exemplar of the supernatural order which in turn would mean the consideration of the natural order and then of the supernatural order in so far as each is the copy of God. In this doctrine is contained the fundamental thought of the Reductio, namely, that the natural order is patterned after the supernatural order which ultimately culminates in the Exem plar of the Blessed Trinity. The Triune God beholds His likeness in the supernatural order which, in turn, finds its reflection in the natural order. Thus the supernatural order takes its place in the center and looks upward to the Triune God as its Model, downward to the natural arts and sciences of which it is the exemplar.
The term "exemplarism", in the strict sense of the word, excludes the outstanding element of St. Bonaventure's doctrine, namely, a consideration of the creature as the expression of God.
Father Bissen remarks that the doctrine should be termed "ex pressionism" and he formulates a definition which covers both aspects of the problem31.
It is not without reason, then, that St. Bonaventure makes constant use of the term expressio to denote the relation of ideas to God on Whom their essence depends. In his Commentary on the Sentences of Lombard, he states that the ratio cognoscendi in Deo est summe espressiva and he identifies the term with the similitudo expressiva32. He repeats the same thought in his Quaestiones disputatae de scientia Christi33 and firmly maintains it in the Hexaemeron. In this work he tells us that the Divine Word ex presses the three ways by which creatures come into existence: namely, by diffusion, by expression, and by propagation, for, says the Saint, although the Trinity is the lumen intelligendi, the Word by His very nature is the ratio exprimendi3i.
St. Bonaventure considers ideas eternally actual but he represents them to us as eternally announced, spoken, or expressed by the thought of God. For St. Thomas, ideas are identical with the essence of God but for St. Bonaventure they are produced by the act which produced the word and they exist in the Word of God35. The knowledge which God has of the ideas shares in the 31 "La doctrine des relations d'expression qui existent entre Dieu et la cr6ature." L' exemplarisme Divin selon Saint Bonaventure, Paris,
1929, p. 4.
32 I Sent., 35, 1, Concl. 2, t. I, p. 601.
33 "Similitudo autem per exemplationem et expressionem summa est in Creatore respectu omnis creaturae, quia ipsa veritas, cum sit summa lux, summe exprimit omnia." Quaest. disp. de scientia Christi, II, ad 5m. t. V, p. 9.
34 In Hexaem. XI, 13-25, t. V, pp. 382-384.
35 "Pater enim ab aetemo genuit Filium similem sibi et dixit se et similitudinem suam similem sibi et cum hoc totum posse suum; dixit
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productivity by which the Father engenders the Son; hence the remarkable consistency with which he used for the ideas themselves the term "expression" which traditionally characterized the generation of the Divine Word.
Such, in general, is the doctrine of Exemplarism according to St. Bonaventure. His theory unites in an admirable manner the exalted views of St. Augustine and the more technical speculation of the Middle Ages. In the development of his doctrine, he used the terminology and thoughts of his revered master, Alexander of Hales. The disciple, however, has greatly enriched the rather fragmentary ideas of his predecessor and the idea of exemplarism more deeply penetrates his synthesis. Their inspiration is the same — the great St. Augustine, evidence at once of St. Bonaventure's respect for tradition and of his devoted adherence to the teaching of his master. His theory has the merit of impressing upon us the depth and richness of the relation between the Uncreated
Word and the creature: Christ was begotten of the Father as the Word who foreordained all because He is the source of light; as the Word who created all, for He is Power itself; as the Word who conserves all, for by His essence He is Life36. For St. Bona venture, the divine light, the expression of the truth of God, is not only the source of the knowledge which God has of Himself and of all other beings but it makes known to other intelligences
God Himself and the things which exist in Him more perfectly than they exist in themselves37.
In considering these aspects of Exemplarism, we see that the very structure of the universe comes into play. Some beings are pure matter, others are matter and spirit, but all are governed by the will of the Creator — material beings by the laws of nature, spiritual beings by spiritual laws of the intellect and will. These laws enlighten and guide the creature who rightly uses his Godgiven faculties. The laws of matter reveal the power, wisdom, and goodness of God. The laws of the spirit manifest God as their
Exemplar by the light which illumines the superior powers of the quae posset facere et maxime quae voluit facere, et omnia in eo expressit, scilicet in Filio seu in isto medio tamquam in sua arte." In Hexaem. I. n. 13, t. V, p. 331.
36 "De isto triplici exitu Verbi a Patre, scilicet per modum Verbi universa originantis et universa praeordinantis et conservantis, quia est lux fontalissima, vita fontalissima et virtus fontalissima, dicitur in Joanne: 'In principio erat Verbum' . . . Et eadern est ratio omnia praeordinans, omnia principians et omnia conservans." In Ascens.
Dom., sermo I, t. IX, p. 1316 b.
37 "Ilia enim similitudo exemplaris perfectius exprimit rem, quam ipsa res causata exprimat se ipsam." De Scientia Christi, q. 2, ad 9. t. V, xo a.
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soul and makes the Creator, as it were, attend the creature by the direct impression of infallible laws of truth and moral conduct left upon it. As the law which governs our use of things is inscribed in the law according to which they have been made, the meta physics of nature will lead us to the basic principles of moral philosophy.
PART FOUR
THE "LUMEN EXTERIUS, INFERIUS ET INTERIUS'
IN THE LIGHT OF THE
"LUMEN SUPERIUS"