CHAPTER ONE
Here Begins The Reflection Of The Poor Man In The Desert
CHAPTER ONE
THE STAGES OF THE ASCENT
INTO GOD AND ON CONTEMPLATING HIM
THROUGH HIS VESTIGES
IN THE UNIVERSE
Blessed is the man whose help isfrom you; in his heart he has prepared to ascend by steps in 'the valley of tears , in the place which he has set. 2
Since happiness is nothing other than the enjoyment of the highest good and since the highest good is above, no one can be made happy unless he rise above himself, not by an ascent of the body, but of the heart.
But we cannot rise above ourselves unless a higher power lift us up.
No matter how much our interior progress is ordered, nothing will come of it unless accompanied by divine aid.
Divine aid is available to those who seek it from their hearts,
. The Latin term for "contemplating" in this and the other chapter headings is speculatio
, which has as its root speculum , meaning "mirror." Bonaventure uses the word to mean "reflection," "speculation," "contemplation," "consideration." As is customary in his use of certain key words, he often intends all of these meanings in a given instance. The Latin term for "vestige" is vestigium , which primarily means "footprint." Since this seemed too graphic for the context, we have chosen the less concrete term "vestige."
Ps. 83:6-7.
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humbly and devoutly; and this means to sigh for it
in this valley of tears , through fervent prayer.
Prayer, then, is the mother and source of the ascent.
Dionysius, therefore, in his book Mystical Theology , wishing to instruct us in mystical ecstasy, places a prayer at the outset.
Let us pray, therefore, and say to the Lord our God:
Lead me , Lord , in your path, and I will enter in your truth.
Let my heart rejoice that it may fear your name.* 2. By praying in this way, we receive light to discern the steps of the ascent into God.
In relation to our position in creation, the universe itself is a ladder by which we can ascend into God. Some created things are vestiges, others images; some are material, others spiritual; some are temporal, others everlasting; some are outside us, others within us.
In order to contemplate the First Principle, who is most spiritual, eternal and above us, we must pass through his vestiges, which are material, temporal and outside us. This means to be led in the path of God.
We must also enter into our soul, which is God's image, everlasting, spiritual and within us. This means to enter in the truth of God. We must go beyond to what is eternal, most spiritual and above us, by gazing upon the First Principle. This means to rejoice in the knowledge ofGod and in reverentfear ofhis majesty (cf. Ps.
: 1 1).
Dionysius, De mystica theologia , I, 1; Bonaventure has incorporated the prayer into the present work; VII, 5, p.
114-115.
Ps. 85:11.
Bonaventure develops the beginning of his treatise like a medieval sermon, giving first the text Psalm 83:6-7 : Blessed is the man.
. This prothema , as it is called, exhorts to prayer and leads to the thema , or main theme, expressed in the text Psalm 85:1 1: Lead me, Lord.
. From this latter verse he derives the threefold division of his treatise developed in 2: the reflection of God in his vestige, his image and in himself. Note the correlation of this division with the text, as indicated in the italicized phrases in 2.
THE SOUL'SJOURNEY INTO GOD
This threefold division, then, corresponds to the three days' journey into the wilderness (Exod.
3:18), and to the threefold intensity of light during a single day: The first is like evening, the second like morning, the third like noon. This division reflects the threefold existence of things: in matter, in the mind and in the Eternal Art, 6 according to which it was said:
Let it be made; he made it; and it was made (Gen. l:3ff.). It reflects also the threefold substance in Christ, who is our Ladder: bodily, spiritual and divine.
Corresponding to this threefold movement, our mind has three principal perceptual orientations. The first is toward exterior material objects and is the basis for its being designated as animal or sensual. The second orientation is within itself and into itself and is the basis for its being designated as spirit. The third is above itself and is the basis for its being designated as mind. 7 By all of these we should dispose ourselves to ascend into God so as to love him with our whole mind
, with our whole heart and with our whole soul (Mark 12:30; Matt. 22:37; Luke 10:27). In this consists both perfect observance of the Law and Christian wisdom.
5. Any one of these ways can be doubled, according to whether we consider God as the Alpha and the Omega (Apoc.
1:8).
Or in each of these ways we can see him through a mirror or in a mirror. Or we can consider each way independently or as joined to another. Therefore it is necessary that these three principal stages be multiplied to a total of six. Just as God completed the whole world in six days and rested on the seventh, so the smaller world of man is led in a most orderly fashion by six successive stages of illumination to the quiet of contemplation. This is symbolized by the following: Six steps led up to the throne of Solomon (3 Kings 10:19); the Seraphim which Isaiah saw had six
For Bonaventure the Eternal Art means the Son in the Trinity as the expression of the Father, in whom the Father expresses all that he can make. Thus the Son contains the ideas of all things, which have an eternal existence in him.
7. The Latin is mens , which we translate here as "mind" although in the title as "soul," for here the context focuses on cognition; cf. our introduction, pp. 20-21.
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wings (Isa.
6:2); after six days the Lord called Moses from the midst of the cloud (Exod.
24:16); and after six days , as is said in Matthew, Christ led his disciples up a mountain and was transfigured before them (Matt.
17:1-2).
6. Just as there are six stages in the ascent into God, there are six stages in the powers of the soul, through which we ascend from the lowest to the highest, from the exterior to the interior, from the temporal to the eternal. These are the senses, imagination, reason, understanding, intelligence, and the summit of the mind or the spark of conscience. 8 We have these stages implanted in us by nature, deformed by sin and reformed by grace.
They must be cleansed by justice, exercised by knowledge and perfected by wisdom.
In the initial state of creation, man was made fit for the quiet of contemplation, and therefore Godplaced him in a paradise ofdelights (Gen. 2:15). But turning from the true light to changeable good, man was bent over by his own fault, and the entire human race by original sin, which infected human nature in two ways: the mind with ignorance and the flesh with concupiscence. As a result, man, blinded and bent over, sits in darkness and does not see the light of heaven unless grace with justice come to his aid against concupiscence and unless knowledge with wisdom come to his aid against ignorance. All this is done through Jesus Christ, whom God made for us wisdom , justice , sanctification and redemption (1 Cor.
1:30). Since he is the power of God and the wisdom ofGod (1 Cor.
1:24), the incarnate Wordfull of grace and truth (John 1:14), he madt grace and truth. That is, he pours out the grace of charity, which, since it flowsfrom a pure heart and a good conscience andfaith unfeigned (1 Tim.
1:5), rectifies the entire soul in the threefold orientation mentioned above. He has taught the knowledge of truth according to the threefold mode of theology: symbolic, literal and mystical, so that 8. The Latin is apex mentis seu synderesis scintilla , the highest point of the soul, from which mystical union proceeds. For Bonaventure it is conscience as the natural tendency of the soul toward goodness.
THE SOUL'SJOURNEY INTO GOD
through the symbolic we may rightly use sensible things, through the literal we may rightly use intelligible things and through the mystical we may be lifted above to ecstasy.
8. Whoever wishes to ascend to God must first avoid sin, which deforms our nature, then exercise his natural powers mentioned above: by praying, to receive restoring grace; by a good life, to receive purifying justice; by meditating, to receive illuminating knowledge; and by contemplating, to receive perfecting wisdom. Just as no one comes to wisdom except through grace, justice and knowledge, so no one comes to contemplation except by penetrating meditation, a holy life and devout prayer.
Since grace is the foundation of the rectitude of the will and of the penetrating light of reason, we must first pray, then live holy lives and thirdly concentrate our attention upon the reflections of truth. By concentrating there, we must ascend step by step until we reach the height of the mountain where the God ofgods is seen in Sion (Ps. 83:8). j 9.
Since we must ascend Jacob's ladder before we descend it, let us place our first step in the ascent at the bottom, presenting to ourselves the whole material world as a mirror through which we may pass over to God, the supreme Craftsman. 9 Thus we shall be true Hebrews passing over from Egypt to the land promised to their fathers (Exod.
1 3 : 3ff.); we shall also be Christians passing over with Christfrom this world to the Father (John
13:1); we shall be lovers of wisdom, which calls to us and says:
Pass over to me all who longfor me and befilled with myfruits (Ecclus.
24:26). For from the greatness and beauty of created things , their Creator can be seen and known (Wisd.
13:5).
10. The Creator's supreme power, wisdom and benevolence shine forth in created things, as the bodily senses convey this to the interior senses in three ways. For the bodily senses assist the intellect when it investigates rationally, believes faith9.
Cf. Gen. 28:12; although Bonaventure begins here with the material world, it is clear from many other texts that he does not believe we must begin from sense perception in order to come to knowledge of God.
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fully or contemplates intellectually. In contemplating, it considers the actual existence of things; in believing, the habitual course of things; and in reasoning, the potential excellence of things.
11.
In the first way, that of contemplation, we consider things in themselves and see in them weight, number and measure: weight, by which they tend to their position; number, by which they are distinguished; and measure, by which they are limited. Thus we see in them mode, species and order as well as substance, power and operation. From these, as from a vestige, we can rise to knowledge of the immense power, wisdom and goodness of the Creator.
12.
In the second way, that of faith, we consider this world, in its origin, process and end. For byfaith we believe that the world wasfashioned by the Word of life (Heb.
11:3). By faith we believe that the periods of the three laws— of nature, Scripture and grace— succeeded each other and progressed in a most orderly way. By faith we believe that the world must come to an end with the final judgment. In the first, we consider the power of the supreme Principle; in the second, his providence; and in the third, his justice.
13.
In the third way, that of investigating by reason, one sees that some things merely exist, others exist and live, and others exist, live and discern. He sees that the first are less perfect; the second, intermediate; and the third, more perfect.
Likewise he sees that some things are material, others partly material and partly spiritual. From this he realizes that others are purely spiritual and are better and more noble than the two previous classes. He sees, finally, that some things are changeable and corruptible, as are earthly bodies; others are changeable and incorruptible, as are heavenly bodies. From this he realizes that other things are unchangeable and incorruptible, as are supercelestial realities.
From these visible things, therefore, one rises to consider the power, wisdom and goodness of God as existing, living,
THE SOULSJOURNEY INTO GOD
intelligent, purely spiritual, incorruptible and unchangeable.
14.
This reflection can be extended according to the sevenfold properties of creatures—which is a sevenfold testimony to the divine power, wisdom and goodness— if we consider the origin, magnitude, multitude, beauty, fulness, activity and order of all things.
The origin of things, according to their creation, distinction and embellishment, as the work of the six days, proclaims the divine power that produces all things from nothing, the divine wisdom that clearly distinguishes all things, and the divine goodness that lavishly adorns all things.
The magnitude of things, in the mass of their length, width and depth; in their great power extending in length, width and depth as appears in the diffusion of light; in the efficiency of their operations which are internal, continuous and diffused as appears in the operation of fire all this clearly manifests the immensity of the power, wisdom and goodness of the triune God, who by his power, presence and essence exists uncircumscribed in all things.
The multitude of things in their generic, specific and individual diversity in substance, form or figure, and efficiency
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beyond all human calculation clearly suggests and shows the immensity of the three previously mentioned attributes in God.
The beauty of things, in the variety of light, shape and color in simple, mixed and even organic bodies— such as heavenly bodies, and minerals (like stones and metals), and plants and animals— clearly proclaims the three previously mentioned attributes.
The fulness of things by which
matter is full of forms because of seminal principles , form is full of power because of its active potency, power is full of effects because of its efficiency, clearly declares the same attributes.
The activity , multiple inasmuch as it is natural, artificial and moral, by its manifold variety shows the immensity of that power, art and goodness which is "the cause of being, the basis of understanding
" 11 and the order of living 10. The Latin term here is rationes seminales, emerge in the future. the potencies in matter out of which forms
1 1.
Augustine, De civitate Dei , VIII, 4.
THE SOUL'SJOURNEY INTO GOD
The order in duration, position and influence, that is, before and after, higher and lower, nobler and less noble, in the book of creation clearly indicates the primacy, sublimity and dignity of the First Principle and thus the infinity of his power.
The order of the divine law, precepts and judgments in the book of Scripture shows the immensity of his wisdom.
And the order of the divine sacraments, benefits and recompense in the body of the Church shows the immensity of his goodness.
In this way order itself leads us most clearly into the first and highest, the most powerful, the wisest and the best.
15.
Whoever, therefore, is not enlightened by such splendor of created things is blind; whoever is not awakened by such outcries is deaf; whoever does not praise God because of all these effects is dumb; whoever does not discover the First Principle from such clear signs is a fool.
Therefore, open your eyes, alert the ears of your spirit, open your lips
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and apply your heart 12 so that in all creatures you may see, hear, praise, love and worship, glorify and honor your God lest the whole world rise against you.
For because of this 1 * On the contrary, the whole world willfight against the foolish. it will be a matter of glory for the wise, who can say with the Prophet:
You have gladdened me , Lord, by your deeds and in the works ofyour hands I will rejoice.
How great are your works , Lord!
You have made all things in wisdom; the earth is filled with your creatures , 14 12.
Prov. 22:17.
13.
Wisd. 5:20.
14.
Ps. 91:5-6, 103:24.