Q79 ~ How does Bonaventure depict the journey of the mind toward God? Compare Bonaventure’s approach to that of Thomas in Questions 2-3 of the First Part of the Summa.

79.  How does Bonaventure depict the journey of the mind toward God?  Compare Bonaventure’s approach to that of Thomas in Questions 2-3 of the First Part of the Summa.

RW: Previous outlines were solid, if long.  As usual, I reformatted and slightly edited, adding an intro.  I tried to cut it down, but it’s still 4 pages; if you want more detail, check 2010/11 (I know, you want less!).  I’m not clear on the Bonaventure/Thomas comparison, and look forward to discussion.

I)     Intro

A)   Setup/Overview

1)    Bonaventure’s vision

(a)   A six-winged seraph in the form of Christ (the same vision as St. Francis had)

(b)   The six wings of the seraph represent the six “progressive illuminations” to attain peace through “the ecstatic transports of Christian wisdom”

(i)    The journey’s Augustinian exterior–interior–superior pattern

(i)    Steps 1 & 2 concern the external world

(ii)  Steps 3 & 4 concern the human soul/mind

(iii) Steps 5 & 6 concern God above our minds

(iv) (Chapter 7 concerns Christ, the door by which this transport takes place)

2)    St. Thomas in Questions 2 & 3

(a)   Proves God through effects, and further argues for Divine Simplicity by the negative method (consequences of full-stop actuality of the 5 ways)

(b)   Thomas rejects knowledge of God in His essence as naturally possible

B)    Map

1)    Preliminaries to the Journey

2)    The Journey

3)    Comparison with Aquinas

II)   Preliminaries to the Journey

A)   Why we make the journey

1)    Happiness

(a)   This is found in enjoyment of the Supreme Good, which is above us

(b)   We must rise above ourselves

B)    The character of those who would journey

1)    Humans are “bent-over” with sin (= ignorance and concupiscence)

(a)   We need God’s grace/help to start the journey

(b)   We need Christ as our mediator

(c)   Grace is given to those who pray

2)    Those who would journey must be “men of desires”

(a)   // Augustine’s restless heart

(b)   Desires kindled through prayer and speculation

3)    Those who would journey must live lives of prayer and holiness

C)    Why the journey has six steps (in three stages)

1)    The human mind has three ways of perceiving

(a)   Sensibility – corporeal things exterior to the mind

(b)   Spirit – looks within and into itself

(c)   Mind – looks above itself

2)    Each way of seeing can be divided, concerning whether we discern or consider God as the alpha (beginning) or omega (end)

III) The Journey

A)   STAGE ONE (Sensibility)

1)    STEP 1: Considering God through His Vestiges in the Visible World

(a)   Creatures are signs of the invisible things of God, as an effect is a sign of a cause

(b)   God’s power, wisdom, and goodness shine forth as the senses inform the interior sense

(c)   Three ways in which the bodily senses serve the intellect

(i)    Investigates rationally

(i)    Considers things in themselves, sees in them weight, number, and measure, and thereby their substance, power, and activity

(ii)  These are vestiges, pointing to God’s power, wisdom, and goodness

(ii)  Believes faithfully

(i)    Considers the origin, development, and end of this world

(ii)  Thereby, considers God’s power, providence, and justice

(iii) Cf. Thomas’ fifth way (teleological argument)

(iii) Contemplates intellectually [perhaps only use one example from this?]

(i)    Considers the actual existence of things

1.     Some things exist, some exist and live, some exist, live, and understand; these have ascending value

2.     Some things are corporeal, some corporeal and spiritual; from this he realizes that some things are purely spiritual

3.     Some things are changeable and corruptible, others changeable and incorruptible; from this, realizes that some things are unchangeable and incorruptible

(ii)  Vestiges of God

1.     God is exists, lives, and understands

2.     God is pure spirit

3.     God is incorruptible and immutable

(iii) Also, he sees God’s power, wisdom, and goodness by considering the sevenfold properties of creatures.

(iv) Cf. Thomas: God is most noble (from gradation argument), so God is not a body

2)    STEP 2: Considering God in His Vestiges in the Visible World

(a)   God is in creatures by His essence, power and presence

(b)   The five senses are portals through which the world enters the soul, as sense objects are apprehended, enjoyed, and judged

(i)    Apprehended

(i)    Sense object makes likeness in some medium, which in turn makes an impression on an organ, which presents to the faculty of apprehension

(ii)  Vestige: see substance generate image; leads us to contemplate the generation of the Son from the Father

(ii)  Enjoyed

(i)    Pleasure founded on proportion/beauty

(ii)  Vestige: realize there is a first beauty, sweetness and wholesomeness in God; come to see God as the source of delight

(iii) Cf. Aquinas: We know God from effects, such as beauty, which is a matter of proportion

(iii) Judged

(i)    Judgment requires abstraction; thus it is immutable, unlimited in space and time, and, thus, total spirit

(ii)  Vestige: given the nature of judgment, it must be in God

(iii) The laws by which we judge are incorruptible; without divine light to show these laws, nothing could be known

(c)   Cf. Aquinas: Visible world signifies the invisible things of God; point to God as Origin, End and Exemplar; every example points to God as its exemplar

B)    STAGE TWO (Spirit)

1)    STEP 3: Considering God through His Image Imprinted on Our Natural Powers

(a)   The soul has three powers: memory, intellective reasoning, and elective faculty, through which the soul sees itself as an image of God [reflects Trinity]

(i)    Memory

(i)    Three (Augustinian) functions: remember, receive present things, foresight

(ii)  An image of Eternity/Father (= and indivisible present) insofar as past, present, and future are held together in a present

(ii)  Intellective Reasoning

(i)    By this we understand terms, propositions, and inferences, but only with aid of Truth; we can’t evaluate beings without the aid of the most complete being

(ii)  An image of Truth/Son

(iii) Elective faculty

(i)    Found in counsel, judgment, and desire

(ii)  An Image of Highest Good/Holy Spirit

(b)   Triune nature:  the soul itself, in the order, origin, and relationship of the three faculties leads to consideration of the Trinity

(i)    If God is a perfect spirit, he has memory, intelligence and will

(c)   The role of philosophy

(i)    Natural, rational, and moral philosophy all aid the soul in contemplation of God

2)    STEP 4: Considering God in His Image Reformed in Gifts of Grace

(a)   We are immersed in sensory things, ignorance, and concupiscence, which prevents the soul from seeing in itself the image of God

(b)   We can enjoy Truth only after being “clothed” in the theological virtues (faith, hope, and love), which purify, enlighten and perfect the soul.

(i)    The soul recovers its spiritual senses, allowing it to embrace what it loves

(ii)  We are prepared for spiritual transports through devotion, admiration and exultation

C)    STAGE THREE (Mind)

1)    Two grades of contemplation of God (// the two cherubim above the ark)

(a)   One considers the essential attributes of God (step 5)

(b)   The other, the proper attributes of the three Persons (step 6)

2)    STEP 5: Considering the Divine Unity through Being

(a)   Argument from Being [Cf. Anselm and Aquinas touch points]

(i)    Being is so certain that it cannot be thought not to be

(ii)  Being contains nothing of non-being, and non-being is a privation of being

(iii) So non-being and potentiality of being come to mind by means of being, but being is not grasped by means of something else

(iv) So, non-being and being-in-potency are grasped through being, and being designates the pure actuality of being, so being is the first thing in the intellect: so essence (which is also actuality of being) exists

(v)  Pure Being can’t be being mixed with potency, so it can’t be any particular being, so we must be considering the Divine Being

(b)   Phenomenology: we seem to see nothing when we gaze at the light of the highest being, but “it does not understand this very darkness is the supreme illumination of the mind”

(c)   Pure being:

(i)    Absolutely first (Cf. 5 ways?), independent, eternal, simple, fully actual, perfect, one

(ii)  One characteristic implies another

(i)    Cf. Aquinas: Prima Pars Q3

(d)   Thus, Being is the efficient, exemplary, and final cause of all things

(e)   Cf. Aquinas: Bonaventure reaches the conclusion of God’s simplicity from our experience of Being as primary, while Aquinas reaches it through the negative method

3)    STEP 6: Considering the Divine Trinity through Goodness

(a)   Highest good

(i)    That which no greater can be thought, cannot be thought not to exist, since to exist is better than not to exist [cf. Anselm and Aquinas’ reaction to Anselm]

(ii)  Highest good is most self-diffusive, so must be thought of as triune and one

(i)    The three persons are supreme in communicability, consubstantiality, and likeness in nature, and so are coequal, coeternal, and supreme in intimacy

(ii)  Yet they are three persons, and their order and emanation are real

(b)   Cf. Aquinas: Don’t think you can understand the incomprehensible

D)   PASSING OVER TO SABBATH REST THROUGH CHRIST

1)    Chapter 7 title: “Spiritual and mystical transport of the mind in which rest is given to understanding and our affection passes entirely to God”

2)    Passing Over: Having beheld God outside, within, and above us, the mind must “pass over, not only this visible world, but even itself”

(a)   In passing over, Christ is the ladder and the door.

(b)   In passing over, intellectual activity must cease; all affection/desire be transported to God.

(c)   The passing over is mystical, and only those who desire it receive it.

(d)   Grace, desire, prayer, darkness and fire take precedence over learning, understanding, reading, clarity, and light.

IV) Comparison with Aquinas (I’m no good at this part; help?)

A)   Knowledge of God through His effects

1)    Both Bonaventure and Aquinas think that we can arrive at knowledge of God through his effects, and thus through sense knowledge. 

2)    Both think we need grace for this

3)    Both think sensible realities alone do not lead one, directly, to knowledge of God

4)    For Bonaventure, the first thing we know is God because divine illumination makes all knowledge possible (cf. The Teacher)

B)    Being and simplicity

1)    Both agree that it follows from God qua pure Being that God is perfectly simple. That is, God lacks potentiality and is fully actuality.

C)    Method

1)    Aquinas is strategic.  He uses the simplicity of God to separate God from creatures.  Our intellects, as embodied and relying on senses, aren’t proportioned to know God perfectly

2)    Bonaventure, on the other hand, presents us with a mystical ascent, wherein intellectual activities eventually cease, and we have an entire union with God.  This union is not intellective, but focuses on affections and will.