B O N AVEN T URE

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THE CROSSROAD SPIRITUAL LEGACY SERIES
Edited by John Farina

The Rule of Benedict: Insights for the Ages

by Joan Chittister, O.S.B.
Ignatius Loyola: Spiritual Exercises
by Joseph A. Tetlow, S.J.
Francis de Sales: Introduction to the Devout Life
and Treatise on the Love of God
by Wendy M. Wright
Teresa of Avila: Mystical Writings
by Tessa Bielecki
St. Francis of Assisi: Writings for a Gospel Life
by Regis J. Armstrong, O.F.M. Cap.
A ugustine: Essential Writings
by Benedict J. Groeschel, C.S.R.
Thomas Aquinas: Spiritual Master
by Robert Barron
Hildegard: Prophet of the Cosmic Christ
by Renate Craine
Karl Raimer: Mystic of Everyday Life
by Harvey D. Egan
C.S. Lewis: Spirituality for Mere Christians
by William Griffin
Anselm: The Joy of Faith
by William Shannon
Dante Alighieri: Divine Comedy, Divine Spirituality
by Robert Royal
John of the Cross: Doctor of Light and Love
by Kieran Kavanaugh, O.C.D.
BONAVENTURE

MYSTICAL WRITINGS

Zachary Hayes

A Crossroad Book
The Crossroad Publishing Company
New York
 The Crossroad Publishing Company
370 Lexington Avenue, New York, NY 10017

Copyright© 1999 by Zachary Hayes, O.F.M.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a

retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic,
mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the written
permission of The Crossroad Publishing Company.

Printed in the United States of America

Library of Congress Catnloging-in-Publicntio11 Data

Hayes, Zachary.
Bonaventure : mystical writings I Zachary Hayes.
p. em.- (The Crossroad spiritual legacy series)
Includes bibliographical references (p. ).
ISBN 0-8245-2514-0
1. Bonaventure, Saint, Cardinal, ca. 1217-1274. 2. Theology,
Doctrinal-History-Middle Ages, 600-1500. I. Title. II. Series.
BX4700.B68H39 1999
230' .2 '092-dc21 99-14481
CIP

2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 03 02 01 00 99
 Dedicated to
my dear friend
Dr. M. Tl1erese Southgate,
whose search for a unified vision
in her personal journey
echoes so 111any of the themes in
Bonaventure 's work
 Contents

Foreword 9
Preface 11
Abbreviations 14
Introduction 15
The Life and Works of St. Bonaventure 16
The Context of Bonaventure's Work 18
Qualities of Bonaventure's Work 21
Francis, Bonaventure, A/verna 26
The Stigmata 29

Chapter
1 . Bonaventure's Program 37
Wisdom and Knowledge 37
Metaphysical Viewpoints 43
Point of Departure for the Journey 50

2. The World Outside 58

The Experience of St. Francis 59
Bonaventure 's Development 60

3. The World Inside 78

The Soul as Image of God 81
The Image Reformed by Grace 92

4. The World Above 100

God as the Mystery of Being 100
God, the Highest Good 107

7
8 -:- Contents

5. Christ the Center 114

The Christ of Dogma 115
Mysteries of the Life of Christ 117
The Cross 120

6. The Goal of the Journey 128

Conclusion 145

Selected Bibliography 151

 Foreword

Bonaventure. If asked to identify him, I would wager that most

educated persons would at least recognize the name. Yet he is cer­
tainly not as familiar as many of the other figures that have been
featured in the Spiritual Legacy series to date. The memory of
people like Augustine, Benedict, Francis of Assisi, Aquinas, and
Ignatius Loyola have, for various reasons, endured in our culture
even to the point of having scores of cities, schools, and hospitals
dedicated to their memories. Their books are read, their poetry
recited, their prayers still offered. Yet in terms of the quality of his
intellectual achievements, Bonaventure was their equal. His work
won for him the title of a great master of the spiritual life: a Doctor
of the Church. Discovering him, then, is somewhat like making
the acquaintance of a distant member of the family who, we dis­
cover after finally meeting him, has had a brilliant and celebrated
career.
Bonaventure lived in the thirteenth century, a time when the
learning of the monastic orders had found new homes outside of
the monasteries, in the universities established in the great cities
of Europe. At Paris he taught on the faculty where another Italian
scholar, Thomas Aquinas, would make his monumental contribu­
tion to Western civilization. But Bonaventure was not a member
of one of the orders with a long tradition of scholarship such as
the Dominicans or the Benedictines. Rather, he was a follower of
Francis of Assisi. II Poverello was anything but a professional aca­
demic. An itinerant preacher who lived by the radical teachings of
the Gospels, a prophet, a wandering holy man-Francis was all of
these things, and so were the majority of his followers. It was not

9
10 -:- Foreword

his writings-which were minimal-but his actions that became

the basis of a powerful renewal movement.
Francis had modeled a new awareness of the presence of God
in creation. It made him write odes to Brother Sun, and in our own
day has won for him the title of patron saint of environmentalism.
Bonaventure, as a follower of Francis, had lived that new insight.
His task as a Franciscan and an academic was to explore the
implications of Francis's spirituality for philosophy and theology.
He did that with a passion and strength that immediately con­
front even the most casual reader of his texts. When he was fin­
ished, he had produced a highly detailed map that charted new
ground for both the intellect seeking understanding and the heart
seeking love.
The author of this volume, Zachary Hayes, like Bonaventure, is
both a follower of St. Francis and a professional scholar. His pre­
sentation of Bonaventure has the balance and nuance that only
years of studying and living the tradition could bring. In it the
richness of an age in which the inner workings of the human intel­
lect-its powers of reasoning and of understanding, of desiring
and of loving-were all seen as reflections of the macrocosm, not
the idiosyncrasies of the individual, a time when creation and the
divine were linked, and when human love was seen as a reflection
of the love that made the stars.
It is then with special delight that I present this volume and
ask, in the words of Bonaventure that you

Open your eyes,

Alert your spiritual ears,
Unseal your lips,
And apply your heart!
John Farina
 Preface

In line with the general policy of this series, this volume is an

attempt to provide an orientation and an introduction to some of
the outstanding texts of a great spiritual writer and theologian
from the Christian tradition. In this case, we are dealing with a
Franciscan, St. Bonaventure. Bonaventure has left a wealth of
written ma terials and takes a consistently philosophical approach
to matters of theology and spirituality; this can make our task
difficult.
The task of situating Bonaventure's thought in its historical
context might well be compared to what many today call a cross­
cultural experience. The seven hundred years that separate us
just happen to place Bonaventure in a pre-Enlightenment context
and ourselves in a very different post-Enlightenment context.
Hence, we can easily see the difficulty of trying to enter his world
from our perspective.
In planning this book, two distinct approaches seemed possi­
ble. One possibility was to provide a literary introduction to each
of the many texts of Bonaventure that deal with spirituality and
mysticism. Since there are a significant number of such texts, this
would have been a rather forbidding task and may not have pro­
vided a good sense of what Bonaventure's system looks like as a
whole. The other option was to use the basic structure of a single
text that comes closest to providing a synthesis of his thought in
his own terms, and to discuss the topics related to that structure
by drawing other texts into the picture. This is the way we have
chosen. The structure is taken from Tile Journey of tlze Soul into God.

11
12 -:- Preface

The other texts are taken from a wide range of Bonaventure's sys­
tematic and spiritual writings.
At times these selections are quite brief; at other times they are
rather lengthy. The author's intention is to place them in an
expository context that will help open them to the reader.
Precisely because of the distance between Bonaventure's time
and our own, the expository material frequently goes into con­
siderable detail. Though the style-both Bonaventure's and
mine-will be difficult at times, my hope is that it will be very
rewarding when the richness and depth of his thought begin to
open before us. My hope is not so much to simplify the work of
a challenging thinker and mystical author as to make some of his
insightful and powerful texts available to a wider reading public.
During the time I have been working on this book, the thought
constantly came to my mind that this book would never have
been written without the pioneering work of Fr. Philotheus
Boehner, O.F.M. Though I never had the pleasure of meeting him
personally, much of my introduction to medieval Franciscan the­
ology and spirituality was based on his work. His translation of
the Journey of the Soul into God, together with a very rich com­
mentary, is still my vademecum for that particular work.
After my seminary studies, I was introduced into quite differ­
ent dimensions of Bonaventure's work through the study of
Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, who had recently completed a major
study on Bonaventure's theology of history when I arrived in
Germany to pursue doctoral studies in theology. Cardinal
Ratzinger was one of my professors at the University of Bonn.
From him I have learned much about the problems raised by the
diverse readings of the work of Joachim of Fiore and the relation
of this to the later work of Bonaventure, culminating in the
Collations on the Six Days of Creation.
During the years of my own personal investigation of the
Seraphic Doctor, the friendship and scholarship of both Ewert
Cousins and Bernard McGinn have been a constant stimulus and
support. Without all of these exceptional people, this book would
never have been written.
 Preface -:- 13

Finally, I would like to say a word of thanks to Crossroad

Publishing Company for undertaking this exceptional series, and
for inviting me to make a contribution to it. It is my sincere hope
that, in line with the rationale of the series, my work will help
make the spiritual doctrine of one of the great masters accessible
to many people today at a time when so many are searching for
a deeper understanding of their life and of their relation with the
divine.

Zachary Hayes, O.F.M.

Catholic Theological Union
Chicago, Illinois
 Abbreviations

Brevi/. Breviloquium
OM Defense of the Mendicants
GS Collations on the Gifts of the Holy Spirit
JS The Journey of the Soul into God
KC Disputed Questions on the Knowledge of Christ
LM The Major Life of St. Francis
LMin The Minor Life of St. Francis
MV Mystical Vine
PL On the Perfection of Life
RA On the Reduction of the Arts to Theology
so Collations on the Six Days of Creation
Sent. Commentary on the Sentences
Soli/. Soliloquium
TL Tree of Life
Trin. Disputed Questions on the Mystery of the Trinity
TW The Threefold Way

14
 Introduction

When I first visited the remnants of the medieval town of Bagno­

regio, I was stunned by the impact of the terrain. It might best be
described as a very large crater with a cone standing in the cen­
ter. On top of that cone are the ruins of the ancient town known
as Bagnoregio, the birthplace of St. Bonaventure. When one stands
in that town today, no matter which direction one looks, one is
looking out from the center to the circumference of the circular
crater. It is not clear how much of the present geographical char­
acter is due to an earthquake that hit the region in the year 1695.
But as the town now stands, it is a powerful symbol of one of the
driving metaphors of St. Bonaventure's theology and spirituality:
that is, the symbol of the circle with its circumference and center.
God can be thought of as "an intelligible sphere whose center
is everywhere, and whose circumference is nowhere" US 5.8
[5:310]).
Working with this symbol, Bonaventure can speak of a center
in God. And it is through that center that God reaches ou t to form
the created world. The world with its history, then, moves out­
ward in a circular movement from its origin in God to find its
final end in its return to God. This circular movement is medi­
a ted by the central person of the Trinity, who became incarnate in
the form of Jesus of Nazareth, thereby bringing the center of God
into union with the center of the world.
Precisely how Bonaventure himself came to this vision we
may never know. But to anyone who visits the place of his birth
today, the physical ruins stand as a remarkable symbol of the

15
16 -:- Introduction

vision that eventually emanated from the spirit and mind of this
exceptional human being.

The Life and Works of St. Bonaventure

Not a lot is known about the saint's youth. Scholars are not sure
of the exact year of his birth, but it is placed between 1217 and
1221. At baptism he was given the name Giovanni after his father,
Giovanni di Fidanza, who worked as a doctor in Bagnoregio. His
mother was Maria Ritella.
His earliest education was probably with the friars at Bagno­
regio. After some ten years with them, he moved to Paris in 1235
or 1236 to begin the study of the arts. It was in Paris, probably in
the year 1243, that he entered the Franciscan Order and began the
study of theology during the time of Alexander of Hales, John of
La Rochelle, Odo Rigaldi, and William of Meliton. He became a
Bachelor of Scripture in 1248 and commented on the Sentences of
Peter Lombard from 1250 to 1252. From 1253 to 1257, he func­
tioned as regent master for the school of the Franciscans at Paris
and became one of the most impressive representatives of the
early Franciscan theology at the University of Paris, though
he describes himself merely as a "poor and weak compilator"
(II Sent. prael. [2:1]).
His early writings, which come from this period, consist
largely of scriptural commentaries and his monumental Commen­
tary on the Sentences. Together with these, there are three sets of
disputed questions: On the Knowledge of Christ, On the Mystery of
the Trinity, and On Evangelical Perfection. These works, while they
are cast in a strictly academic style, provide important insights
into many of the concerns that will appear in his later works that
deal specifically with spirituality.
During those years, the Franciscan Order was torn by volatile
disputes concerning the nature of the order and its relation to St.
Francis of Assisi. In this context, thirty-one years after the death
of St. Francis, Bonaventure was elected minister general of the
order on February 2, 1257. This took him out of the academic con-
 Introduction -:- 17

text and placed him directly in the work of administration for the
rest of his life. It was probably during this time, or very close to
the end of his university career, that he wrote the B reviloquium,
which is seen by many medieval scholars to be a particularly
impressive summa of medieval, systematic theology in a single
volume.
While he continued to make his headquarters at Paris, Bona­
venture traveled widely to visit the friars in Germany, England,
Spain, and Italy, attempting to mediate among the friars con­
cerning the burning differences that divided them. Early in his
years as general, in 1259, he visited Mount Alverna, the place of
St. Francis's stigmatization. This was a most intense experience
for Bonaventure in his efforts to come to a better understanding
of St. Francis, and out of it was to come the spiritual classic
known as The Journey of the Soul into God.
This work will play a major role in our presentation of Bona­
venture's orientation to spirituality. While the basic structure of
this work reveals the significant influence of Richard of St. Victor,
it is, in another sense, a very personal synthesis of Bonaventure's
own journey, viewed now in relation to the experience of St.
Francis. In a rich symbolic structure, the book brings together
central elements of the spirituality of the saint of Assisi with
other styles of Christian spirituality and the personal experience
of Bonaventure, the scholar and friar, and now the minister gen­
eral of the order. Of particular significance in the shaping of this
text, apart from Richard of St. Victor, is the work of St. Augustine
and that of Pseudo-Dionysius.
Later writings of Bonaventure are the Defense of the Mendicants,
the Soliloqu ium, the Threefold Way, the Tree of Life, the Mystical
Vine, Five Feasts of tlze Child Jesus, On the PeJfection of Life, the Life
of St. Francis, numerous sermons, especially those on St. Francis,
the Collations on the Ten Commandments, the Collations on the Gifts
of the Holy Spirit, and the Collations on tlze Six Days of Creation, his
final work, which was left unfinished because of Bonaventure's
elevation to the cardinalate. Most of these works will play a sig­
nificant role in our presentation.
For our purpose here, the technical term collation can be taken
18 -:- Introduction

as equivalent to a theological conference commonly cast in the

form of a sermon and given after luncheon or in the evening to
an audience of masters, bachelors, and friars of various sorts con­
nected with the university.
In 1273, Bonaventure was named cardinal bishop of Albano by
Pope Gregory X. From this point on he was concerned with the
preparations for the Council of Lyons, which convened in May of
1274. He was an active participant in the work of the council until
his unexpected death on July 15, 1274. In 1482 he was canonized,
and in 1588 he was given the title Seraphic Doctor, a designation
that highlights one of the basic qualities of his teaching. The ser­
aph is understood to be the highest of the traditional choirs of
angels, whose nature is the purest love. Hence, in Christian
iconography, the seraph is commonly used as a symbol of love.

The Context of Bonaventure's Work

It is clear that no system of theology or spirituality exists in a vac­

uum. Bonaventure was a person who was deeply involved in
many of the crucial issues in the life of medieval Europe, and
specifically in the life of the Franciscan Order. The period in
which St. Francis lived and in which the Franciscan Order began
was marked by a variety of reform movements involving sectar­
ian groups with a strongly heretical nature. The "Poor Men of
Lyons" may be seen as an instance of a reform movement bear­
ing a striking resemblance to the Franciscans which eventually
found itself outside the official church. Such movements raised
serious questions about how one was to understand any spiritu­
ality that thought of itself as a form of the imitation of Christ.
This would be one of the major questions raised by the secular
masters in university circles during the career of Bonaventure,
and he dealt with it at length in his Disputed Questions on Evan­
gelical Perfection as well as la ter in his Defense of the Mendicants.
The movement known as Catharism involved an emphatic
form of dualism, seeing material reality as essentially evil and as
the work of an evil principle. This raises questions not only about
 Introduction -:- 19

the human body but also about the material beings in the world
of creation as a whole. It is often argued, and for good reasons,
that the Canticle of Creatures of St. Francis of Assisi is the saint's
way of responding to Catharism. This might be seen as the con­
text for a spirituality such as Bonaventure's, which, as we shall
see, takes the whole of the created world, both material and spir­
itual, as a theophany.
Joachim of Fiore, the famous Calabrian abbot, in the light of a
special experience which he claimed to have had on Pentecost
Sunday, presented a new theology of history that would eventu­
ally be taken up by some radical Franciscans as a framework for
developing their own program for the order and the church.
These would be known as the Franciscan Joachites. Their under­
standing would lead to divisive issues for the order. At one level
these were problems internal to the order, for they concerned the
order's own proper self-understanding. But when that self­
understanding was cast in the potentially incendiary terms of the
radical Joachite Franciscans, they became problems between the
order and the au thorities of the church as well. Concerns such as
these would consume much of Bonaventure's time and energy as
minister general.
All of these movements were still living and influential ele­
ments of the world into which Bonaventure was born and in
which he worked. But of even more immediate and particular
concern for the understanding of his spiritual doctrine and the
style of his theology in general is the shift in the locale where the­
ology was engaged in.
It is common to think of the medieval period as a time of un­
excelled peace and harmony in Christendom. But such a roman­
ticized understanding is very misleading. The time we are
concerned with, the thirteenth century, was a period of consider­
able turmoil concerning both the method and the content of the­
ology. For some centuries prior to this period a style of reflection
commonly described as the monastic style had come to be the
familiar way of doing theology. It represented a received tradi­
tion. In that context, one knew what theology was. One knew
how to go about it. And one knew where it was done and by
20 -:- Introduction

whom. It was done in monasteries, and it was done principally

by monks. It consisted, to a great extent, in prayerful reading and
commentary on the Scriptures and centered largely on the daily
rhythms of monastic life and liturgy. For this style of theology,
the Bible was simply the book to be dealt with, and theology was
best seen as the appropriate understanding of the Bible.
Gradually, we begin to see the emergence of a new locale for
doing theology. This involved, in a first move, the creation of
cathedral schools such as the well-known school of Chartres.
Such schools entailed not only a shift in place from the monastery
to the city but also a shift in the student body and in the choice of
people who were engaged in doing theology. From the cathedral
schools, the next step was the development of the medieval uni­
versities. This involved the emergence of a new professional class
of scholars: theologians, who simply made a living by teaching
theology at a school of the university.
As regards the style of theology, all of this meant a significant
change. The monastic tradition represented a style influenced
considerably by Neoplatonism, familiar with Aristotle chiefly as
a grammarian. But during the late eleventh century and on into
the twelfth century, matters began to change. More of Aristotle's
logic came to be known. This represented a more critical approach
to human knowledge and a far more systematic approach to log­
ical argumentation, which would offer quite a different way of
developing ideas and thought. As this entered into the field of
theology, it led to a far more dialectical style of theological devel­
opment.
Together with this, the whole of Aristotle's writings made
their way into the university circles. This meant not only the logic
but the physics, the metaphysics, the ethics, and so on. In sum­
mary, the philosophy of Aristotle offered an alternative world­
view that was far more secular in tone than the Platonic and was
at odds with the biblical and monastic theological tradition on a
number of important points. Thus, both at the level of method
and at the level of content, the familiar tradition was being chal­
lenged by the new movement in the universities.
How was one to react to this? By any standard, the work of
 Introduction -:- 21

Aristotle is very impressive. To many in the thirteenth century it

simply appeared to be the best that the human mind had been
able to do up to tha t point. Should one ignore it? Or should one
engage it critically? And if the latter, what shape would theology
take through tha t engagement?
There was not a single answer to that question. But the work
of Bonaventure was one attempt to deal with the issue in a cre­
ative way. Another answer to the question took the form of the
extreme rationalism of the radical philosophical movement at the
university level. In three sets of collations-On the Ten Com­
mandments, On the Gifts of the Holy Spirit, and On the Six Days of
Creation-we see Bonaventure as a major controversialist arguing
with this crucial intellectual movement of the thirteenth century.
All of these historical factors have left an impression on his
thought.

Qualities of Bonaventure's Work

Against that background, I would like to suggest four qualities of

Bonaventure's work that give it something of its distinctive flavor.
1 . The spirit of St. Francis left an indelible impression on
Bonaventure's theology. As we have seen, he was deeply influ­
enced by friars from his earliest years. While he never would
have met St. Francis personally, Bonaventure himself tells of the
way he came to appreciate the Saint of Assisi at a very personal
level. While he was a young boy, Bonaventure was suffering from
a serious illness. In this situa tion, his mother prayed to St. Francis
to come to the aid of her young son. In retrospect, Bonaventure
writes:
W h e n I wa s sti l l a yo u n g boy, I b e c a m e very s e r i o u s l y i l l . M y
mot h e r m a d e a vow to t h e b l essed Fat h e r Fra n c i s o n my b e h a lf.
a n d I was p u l l e d by h i m f ro m the j aws of d e a t h a n d was
restored to v i g o ro u s l ife without d a m a g e . ( LMin [ 8 : 579])

As we have already seen, the whole of Bonaventure's educa­

tion involved the influence of the friars. He developed a system-
22 -:- Introduction

a tic vision deeply rooted in the spiritual experience of St. Francis,

as we will see in later chapters. As general of the order, in the
context of the Joachite controversies, his job was to save the order
from self-destruction from within, or from possible suppression
by ecclesiastical authorities. At this level, he found it necessary to
confront the various interpretations of St. Francis that were oper­
ative among the friars, and to come to a personal understanding
of the meaning of the Saint of Assisi.
In general we can say that he did two significant things. First,
he developed a powerful theological interpretation of the person
of St. Francis, which would have far-reaching effects in subse­
quent history. Beyond this, he developed key insights of St.
Francis's spirituali ty into theological and metaphysical doctrines
that greatly enrich the Christian tradition of theology. This had to
do with a specific form of Christology, a distinctive form of trini­
tarian theology, and a form of creation theology that moves one
strongly in the direction of a contemplative sense of the world.
2. Bonaventure's teaching, at every level, is deeply rooted in
the Scriptures. This can be seen, first of all, in relation to the role
of Scripture in the spirituality of Francis. In Bonaventure's Life of
St. Francis we read:
Alth o u g h he h a d no a c a d e m i c ski l l in the S ac red Scriptures. h i s
u ntiring engagement i n p rayer a l o n g with h i s conti n u a l practise
of v i rtue had led the m a n of God to s u c h peace of m i n d t h a t
h i s i ntellect. i l l u m i n ed by t h e bri l l i a nce of the eternal light. p e n­
etrated the depths of Scripture with remarka b l e a c u m e n . Free
fro m every sta i n , h i s genius pen etrated the h id d e n d e pt h s of the
mysteries. and w h e re t h e knowledge of the ma ste rs sta nds o ut­
side, t h e affection of the l ove r entered with i n . ( LM 1 1 . 1 [ 8 : 535])

Concerning his own experience as a scholar, Bonaventure offers

a programmatic statement early in the Breviloquium:
The o r i g i n of the Scriptures is n ot to b e a ttributed to h u m a n
research but t o t h e d iv i n e revelation which flows f ro m the
"Father of Lig hts. from w h o m all fatherhood i n heaven and on
e a rth receives its name"; a n d from whom. t h ro u g h His Son,
Jesus C h rist. t h e S p i rit f l ows i nto us. Th ro u g h t h e Holy S p i rit.
 Introduction -:- 23

w h o a p p o rt i o n s H i s g ifts a n d a l l ots to everyo n e a c c o rd i n g a s

H e w i l l , fa i t h i s g ive n ; a n d t h roug h fa ith, C h r i st d we l l s i n our
hearts. T h i s is t h e k n owledge of Jesus C h r i st f ro m w h o m t h e
firm und e rsta n d i n g of Scri pture f l ows a s f ro m i t s o r i g i n . T h e re­
fore. n o o n e c a n p e n etrate its m e a n i n g u n l ess t h a t p e r s o n h a s
fi rst b e e n i n fused with fa ith i n J esus C h ri st , f o r C h ri st i s t h e
l a m p, t h e d o o r, a n d a l s o t h e fou n d a t i o n of t h e w h o l e of
Scri pture . T h i s fa ith i s the fou n d a t i o n that suppo rts us, t h e
l a m p t h a t guides us. a n d t h e d o o r t h a t l e a d s u s i n w i t h respect
to a l l supern atural i l lu m i nation dur i n g our e a rt h ly sojourn. w h i l e
we a re exi l e d fro m t h e Lord . I t i s b y t h i s fa ith, m o reover. t h a t
t h e w i s d o m g iven us by G o d must be m e a su red . . . . S o , i t i s b y
m e a n s of t h i s fa ith t h a t we a re g ive n t h e k n ow l e d g e o f S a c red
Scri pture in t h e m e a sure of the b l essed Tri n ity's outpouring . . . .
( Brevi! . p ro l . [ 5 : 201 ] )

And in his Collations on the Six Days of Creation Bonaventure

clearly states that Scripture is the first source to which the the­
ologian must turn:
There a re four k i n d s of b o o ks w h i c h must b e a p p ro a c h e d in a n
orderly way. T h e fi rst o f t h e s e a re t h e b o o k s o f H o ly Scripture .
. . . Th e s e c o n d a re t h e o r i g i n a l writ i n g s of t h e s a i nts . . . . The
third a re t h e tea c h i ng s of the M a sters . The fourth a re t h e teach­
i n g s of s ecul a r teachers. t h a t i s . t h e d octri n e s of t h e p h i l o s o­
phers. A nyo ne, t h e refore. w h o d e s i re s to l e a r n s e e k s k n owledge
at the wel l-sprin g , that is. in H o ly Scri pture. For with t h e
p h i losoph ers there i s n o k n owledge l e a d i n g t o t h e re m is s i o n of
s i n s . N o r is t h e re a ny f o rg i ve n e s s of s i n i n t h e Sum m a s of t h e
masters. s i n ce t h ey d rew f ro m t h e o r i g i n a l writi n g s o f t h e
s a i nts, w h o i n tu rn used S c r i pture a s t h e i r s ource . . . . T h e f o l­
lowe r of C h r i st must con centrate o n S a c red Scri pture a s c h i l­
dren fi rst l e a r n t h e i r A, B,C's, a n d t h e n m a ke syl l a bl e s , a n d t h e n
l e a r n t o rea d , a n d t h e n f i n a l ly to understa n d t h e m e a n i n g o f
t h e p a rts o f s p e e c h . ( SD 1 9 . 6 - 7 [ 5 : 421 ] )

With this emphasis o n Scripture, Bonaventure reveals his ties

to the earlier monastic tradition as well as to St. Francis, who had
such a profound respect for the Scriptures. Bonaventure will cite
24 -:- Introduction

the Scriptures profusely and will expound them through the

writings of the fathers, and personally through the use of both
the literal and the spiritual interpretation. He himself provides a
perfect synthesis of his understanding of the Scriptures in the fol­
lowing:
T h e w h o l e of s a c red Scriptu re teaches these t h ree t ruths:
namely, t h e eternal g eneration a n d i nca rnation of C h rist. t h e
patte r n of h u m a n l ife. a n d t h e u n i o n of t h e s o u l w i t h God . T h e
fi rst i s c o n cerned w i t h fa ith; t h e second w i t h m o ra l s; a nd t h e
third with the u lti mate g o a l of bot h . The effort of t h e d octors
s h o u l d b e a i m ed at the study of the fi rst; t h a t of t h e p reach­
ers. at t h e stu d y of t h e second; that of t h e c o ntemplatives. a t
t h e stu d y of t h e th i rd . ( RA n . 5 [ 5 : 321 ] )

3. Next, we are dealing with a person of deep, mystical orien­

tation. We use the word mystical to refer to an experience of union
with God far more intense than that enjoyed in ordinary, every­
day experience. This is referred to by Bonaventure as a type of
experiential knowledge. What is involved with this we will dis­
cuss further in the final chapter.
St. Bonaventure was very aware of the Augustinian tradition,
with its understanding of the symbolic character of creation and
its exceptional emphasis on the spirituality of the inner way. He
was familiar also with the Dionysian tradition with its strongly
Neoplatonic overtones. This tradition, with its emphasis on the
apophatic dimension of mysticism and its understanding of the
threefold way of purgation, illumination, and consummation,
plays a s ignificant role in the spiritual doctrine of Bona­
venture. Beyond this, Bonaventure is very familiar with the love­
mysticism of the twelfth-century Victorine school, and his
work shows significant influence of both Hugh and Richard of
St. Victor. As we will see, all of these elements play a very notice­
able role in the shaping of the Seraphic Doctor's spiritual vision.
4. Finally, Bonaventure was a highly skilled intellectual of the
thirteenth century. What this meant at that time is best envi­
sioned if we keep in mind what we have already said about the
monastic style during the preceding centuries. But Bonaventure
 Introduction -:- 25

was a theologian of the university. While his style may seem to

favor the monastic style in many ways, yet it is in no way simply
a continuation of that style. Far from it. If we read his early aca­
demic writings, we discover a mind that was well instructed in
the style of Aristotle and fully capable of using that style should
he so choose.
His conversation with Aristotle will always be critical; and his
conversation with the philosophers of his own time will be even
more critical. Already as a student, Bonaventure had been con­
cerned with the rise of a philosophical movement in the context
of the university. This concern would become even stronger as
the years went on and the philosophers seemed to envision phi­
losophy as a self-sufficient vision of reality. And it was a vision
that differed significantly from that of the Christian religious­
theological tradition. Thus, a major problem arose concerning the
relation between rational knowledge and religious revelation,
and between the philosophical programs developing at the uni­
versities and the work of the theologians. A text from his Colla­
tions on the Gifts of the Holy Spirit expresses this clearly:
There a re t h ree e r rors w h i c h must be avoided in the s c i e n ce s .
These a re e r rors w h i c h e ntirely d estroy t h e S c r i ptures, t h e
Christ i a n fa i t h , a n d a l l wisdom. O n e o f t h e s e i s a g a i n st t h e
g rou n d o f b e i n g; a noth e r is a g a i n st t h e g round o f u n d e rstand­
i n g ; a n d t h e t h i rd i s contrary to t h e ord e r of l if e . T h e e r ror t h a t
i s a g a i n st t h e c a u s e o f b e i n g i s t h a t conce r n i n g t h e etern ity of
t h e wor l d w h i c h a ff i r m s that t h e wor l d i s ete r n a l . The e r ror
a g a i nst t h e g round of unde rsta n d i n g i s that w h i c h a ff i r m s t h e
n e cess ity o f fate. T h i s h o l d s that a l l t h i n g s h a p p e n b e c a u s e of
necessity. T h e t h i rd e r ror is that con c e r n i n g t h e u n i ty of t h e
hum a n intel l ect , w h i c h a ff i r m s that t h e i nt e l l e c t is o n e a n d t h e
s a m e i n a l l hum a n b e i n g s . These e r rors a re s i g n if i e d i n t h e
book of t h e Apoc a lypse i n t h e num b e r by w h i c h t h e b e a st i s
na med . T h e re i t i s s a i d t h a t t h e b e a st h a s a n a m e w h i c h i s
t h e num b e r s i x hund red s i xty-s i x . T h i s i s a cyc l i c number. Those
who hold the f i rst position base t h e i r v i ew on the cycl ical
motion of t i m e . Those who hold t h e second position b a s e t h e i r
view o n t h e m ovement o f t h e sta rs; a n d those w h o h o l d t h e
third b a s e t h e i r v i ew on t h e fa ct t h a t t h e re i s but o n e I ntel-
26 -:- In troduction

ligence, s ay i n g that it e nters a n d l e aves t h e body. T h i s is total l y

false. T h e f i rst e r ror i s refuted b y w h a t i s writte n i n t h e O l d
Testament: " I n t h e beg i n n i n g God created t h e h eave n s a n d t h e
e a rth . " The second e rror d e n i es the i m porta nce o f f r e e w i l l a n d
destroys t h e m e a n i n g of t h e c ross of C h r i st . With res pect to
the t h i rd , it sees no d i fference i n m e r i t a n d rewa rd if o n e a n d
t h e s a m e soul i s i n C h r i st a n d i n J u d a s , t h e t raitor. T h e e ntire
t h i n g is h e ret i c a l . (GS 8. 1 6 [ 5 :497 - 98])

What we see here is a major conflict between two worldviews.

One, apparently being propagated by at least some of the
philosophers and based on ancient theories of number and time,
sees history as an endless, cyclic return of the same. It has no
room for human freedom. In essence, it represents a very fatalis­
tic understanding of reality. The other, based on the revelation of
the Scriptures, has a richer sense of time and history, and of the
importance of humans as free and ethically responsible individ­
uals. Bonaventure can see this as serious enough that he
describes the worldview of the philosophers with the apocalyp­
tic symbol of the beast, that is, with the number 666.
When we view the work of Bonaventure against this intellec­
tual background, we might describe it in the following way. He
took the concerns of a rich tradition of spirituality and theology
together with the claims of a spiritual vision grounded in the reli­
gious experience of St. Francis of Assisi and brought these into a
creative engagement with some of the dominant categories of the
increasingly critical and secular culture of his time.

Francis, Bonaventure, Alverna

It may seem strange to suggest that images of St. Francis might

be a problem. One way to understand this is to think of the issue
by way of analogy with the problems involved in the search for
the historical Jesus. How much do we actually know about the
figure of Jesus who walked the roads of his homeland and
seemed to be busy as a wandering preacher? How does that his-
 Introduction -:- 27

torical information rela te to the faith-confession of the early com­

munity and subsequent Christian generations? Why is it that
ever since scholars began to do critical research into the historical
reality of Jesus, they have come to such widely diverse conclu­
sions? Albert Schweitzer brought his monumental study of the
nineteenth-century quest for the historical Jesus to the conclusion
that each author seemed to have created the Jesus that seemed
most appropriate to the particular author.
Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, in a study of Bonaventure written
in 1 959, made a comparison between this situation and that of St.
Francis. Referring to the problem of the various biographies of
Francis, he spoke of a "Francis of history" and a "Francis of faith."
As there have been different understandings of the meaning and
purpose of the Franciscan Order, so there have been different
images of St. Francis developed to support those views.
Probably no other theologian of the order has dealt with the
meaning of St. Francis as extensively as did Bonaventure. While
it is true that much of Bonaventure's early experience of the order
was far from Assisi in the heady atmosphere of the university
town of Paris, after his appointment as minister general, he trav­
eled to Italy to visit with the early friars who were still living, and
to imbibe as much as he could of the spirit of St. Francis.
As Bonaventure reflected on all that he himself experienced on
these visits, and particularly on this visit to Mount Alverna, he
came to understand St. Francis as the fullest flowering of the life
of the Gospel. So true did this seem that St. Francis appeared not
simply as another religious founder but as a figure of truly escha­
tological significance. While St. Francis had called himself the
herald of a great king, Bonaventure could see this as parallel to
the figure of John the Baptist. Other traditions, reflected in the
writings of Thomas of Celano, relate St. Francis to the prophet
Elias, who must come-as Bonaventure writes-to restore all
things again. A third biblical figure related to St. Francis by
Bonaventure is the "angel who ascends from the rising sun." This
becomes especially important in his later writings. In each of
these figures we sense the seriousness with which Bonaventure
28 -:- Introduction

deals with the evangelical perfection of St. Francis, for the main
thrust of all of these is to project the image of St. Francis as a gen­
uinely eschatological figure.
In broad terms, St. Francis is seen by Bonaventure to be a per­
son in whom the most profound humility is but the condition for
the richest inpouring of divine grace. One of Bonaventure's ser­
mons is in essence an extended meditation on the meaning of St.
Francis's humility. He writes as follows:
To be m e e k is to be a b roth e r to everybody; to be h u m b l e i s
to b e l e s s t h a n everybody. Therefore. to be m e e k a n d h u m b l e
of h e a rt i s to be a t r u e f r i a r m i nor. ( Sermon V [ 9 : 594])

Here we see something that had appeared already in the ear­

lier Disputed Questions on Evangelical Pe1jection, namely, the con­
viction that humility is the most fundamental condition for
entering on the spiritual journey. And humility involves, most
basically, the awareness that deep down we are not of our own
making. Each one of us is a creature brought into being by the
love of God. Without that divine creative love, we would be sim­
ply and absolutely nothing. To recognize this and to see that not
only are we creatures but we are fallen creatures are, at root, what
Bonaventure means by the word humility.
In this sense, it is equivalent to poverty of spirit. And this, he
argues, is true not only for members of the order but for all
human beings who would enter on the journey into God.
Althou g h i t i s n ot for everyone to t a ke the h a b i t a n d p rofess
t h e R u l e of t h e Friars M i nor. it is necessary for everyone who
wants to b e s aved to be a fri a r m i nor i n t h e sense of b e i n g
m e e k a n d h u m b l e . ( Sermon V [ 9 : 594])

What Bonaventure sees in the Saint of Assisi is certainly exem­

plary for the life of all the friars. But the mystery that is lived out
by St. Francis is so deeply grounded in an authentic relation to
God that it is exemplary not only for the friars but for all who
would be people of the Spirit. From a number of viewpoints, St.
Francis is the example of one who has engaged in the spiritual
journey successfully. Not only does humility define his relation
to God; it comes to shape his relation to other people as well as
 Introduction -:- 29

to the entire created world. If it is true that I live and move and
have my being only in the creative and salvific love of God, the
same is true of all other people as well as of the entire created
order.
We must then ask: What is an appropriate response to this
deep truth of our being? Thus, when St. Francis comes to speak
of all creatures as "brothers and sisters," this is a long way from
the birdbath image through which his insights have often been
trivialized.
If humility of this sort is the first step in the journey, the jour­
ney does not end there. For humility opens one to an ever deeper
and fuller life of grace that will find expression in an active love
and a life of virtue. If spiritual poverty is genuine, it will express
itself in our relations to all things. It can eventually express itself
in the form of radical voluntary poverty, and such poverty is a
furnace that purifies and leads ever more deeply into conformity
with the poor and naked Christ.
From the roots of humility, the human spirit grows in active
love of God and neighbor which expresses itself in the virtues of
the Gospel. It was this life of Christ-inspired activity that led St.
Francis to a new and deeper level of spiritual experience on
Alverna.

The Stigmata

It was Bonaventure's visit to Alverna that eventually led to the

writing of The Journey of the Soul into God. But the mystery of the
stigmata received by St. Francis on Alverna appears in other
writings such as The Life of St. Francis (both the long version and
the short one) and in Bonaventure's sermons, at least one of
which is given over in its entirety to a discussion of the stigmati­
zation.
Bonaventure's way of treating this aspect of St. Francis's spir­
itual experience reveals important insights about Bonaventure's
assessment not only of St. Francis himself b ut also of the nature
and goal of the spiritual journey. It is very clear that for Bona-
30 -:- Introduction

venture this is the supreme experience of St. Francis. He speaks

of it not only as a visionary experience but as an unusually
intense ecstatic experience (see LM 13.1ff. [8:542]). It is here that
St. Francis "became the example of perfect contemplation as he
had previously been of action" (JS 7.3 [5:312]).
Thus, as St. Francis approached the end of his life-his death
was just two years in the future-his most profound experience
was of the mystical order. It now becomes clearer than ever that,
for Bonaventure, the mystery of St. Francis is above all the expe­
rience of a profound spiritual journey. Never was St. Francis
more a friar than on that lonely mount where, loosened from all
restrictive ties to creatures, he was open to God and was so filled
with the transformative power of the divine presence that it not
only marked his spirit but overflowed into his flesh as well.
Bonaventure writes concerning this in The Life of St. Francis:
Fra n c i s saw a s e ra p h with six f i e ry a n d s p l e n d i d w i n g s d e­
scend i n g from the h i g h est point i n t h e h e aven s . W h e n t h e
v ision i n swift f l i g h t came t o rest i n t h e a i r n e a r t h e m a n of
God, t h e re a p peared i n t h e m i d st of the w i n g s t h e i m a g e of a
m a n cru cified , with h i s h a n d s a n d feet stretched out a n d n a i l e d
to a c ross . Two o f t h e w i n g s were ra i sed a bove h i s h e a d a n d
two were stretched out i n f l i g h t , a n d two s h i elded h i s body.
Seeing t h i s . Fra n c i s wa s overwhelmed. a n d h i s h e a rt was
flood ed with a m i xt u re of joy a n d sorrow. He wa s overjoyed a t
t h e g racious way C h r i st looked u pon h i m u n d e r t h e form of t h e
sera p h , b ut t h e fa ct that h e w a s n a i l e d to a c ross p i e rced h is
soul with a sword of compass ionate sorrow. . . . As the v i s ion
disappeared. it l eft his h e a rt b u r n i n g with a m a rve lous a rdor
a n d i m p ressed u pon h i s body an i m a g e of the s i g n s w h i c h was
no less m a rvelous . T h e re a n d then the m a rks of n a i l s b e g a n to
a p p e a r in h i s h a n d s a n d feet . just as h e h a d s e e n t h e m in h i s
v is ion of t h e c r u c ified m a n . (LM 1 3 . 3 [ 8 : 543 ] )

To come to a deeper understanding of the mystery of Alverna,

Bonaventure reaches back to the love-mysticism of the Vic­
torines. Hugh of St. Victor had written of the power of a love­
communion that transforms the lover into the likeness of the
 Introduction -:- 31

beloved (De arrha animae [Patrologia Latina 176:954]). In his ser­

mons about St. Francis, Bonaventure appeals to this text to shed
light on the inner dynamic of St. Francis's experience.
H u g h of St . V i ctor s ays: ··so g re a t i s t h e powe r of l ove t h a t i t
tra nsforms t h e l over i nto t h e B e l oved . "" As t h e l ove of t h e C r u c i­
f i e d was s upremely a n d g l oriously b u r n i n g i n h i s h e a rt , so t h e
Crucified, i n t h e f o r m o f t h e Se raph-an a n g e l i c spi rit-b u r n i n g
with t h e f i re o f l ove, appe a re d externally to h i s s a i ntly eyes a n d
imprinted t h e s a c re d sti g m a ta o n h is b o d i l y m e m b e r s . ( Sermon
v [ 9:593 ] )

The Victorine text helps distinguish the specific form of mysti­

cism involved in the stigmata as love-mysticism. The text helps
further to clarify the power of the symbol in which the experi­
ence of St. Francis was expressed. The transforming power of
love is symbolized by the heat of a fire that can so soften iron that
the molten material can be imprinted with any mark. The form of
the seraph evokes the same idea, for its very name-according to
Bonaventure-means a "burning love."
The way to the goal of the spiritual journey, therefore, is only
through the most burning love. But love demands a price. Insofar
as the specific object of St. Francis's reflection is the crucified
Christ, when the religious subject is bound to such an object in
the furnace of burning love, it becomes clear why at least the
spirit of St. Francis would be deeply marked by the cruciform
love of Christ. But because of the intensity of this experience, that
which marked the soul poured over into his body as well. As the
Journey of tlze Soul into God puts it: "his spirit shone through his
flesh" US prol. 3 [5:295]) .
Viewed in this way, the stigmatization of St. Francis is a state­
ment about the goal of the spiritual journey. Little wonder, then,
that for Bonaventure's understanding, St. Francis stands out as
the exemplar that integrates nature and grace, body and soul,
action and contemplative ecstasy. Bonaventure's understanding
of St. Francis is above all a theology of the spiritual journey,
which, within history, is oriented toward a profound, grace-filled
contemplative experience. It is on Alverna tha t St. Francis
32 -:- Introduction

embodies the ordo seraphicus; he has become the Seraphic Saint.

(Bonaventure himself will later be known as the Seraphic
Doctor.)
The six-winged seraph in the form of the Crucified will
become, for Bonaventure, the symbol that brings together "six
levels of illumination by which . . . the soul can pass over to
peace through ecstatic elevations of Christian wisdom. There is
no other path but through the burning love of the Crucified" US
prol. 2 [5:295]).
These six stages of illumination will be discussed in the fol­
lowing chapters. It is certainly possible to argue about the intent
of Bonaventure in describing these illuminations. One notices
readily that, aside from the prologue US prol [5:295-96]) and the
final chapter US 7.3 [5:312]) of the text, St. Francis plays virtually
no role in the explanation of these illuminations.
The description of these illuminations rests on the background
of works such as The Mystical Ark by Richard of St. Victor (also
known as Benjamin Major). In Exodus 25, we find the elaborate
description of the materials and the plan for the building of the
ark of the covenant. This will be used by Richard in a symbolic
sense to lay out his understanding of contemplation. The theme
of six levels of reflection is present already in Richard together
with the two cherubs facing each other on the cover of the ark.
Bonaventure will use these themes in his own structure of The
Journey of the Soul into God.
It is possible to see the description of these illuminations as a
compendium of the variety of spiritualities known in the Chris­
tian tradition. This seems to be a fair interpretation of the text of
Richard of St. Victor, who, in fact, speaks of six types (genera) of
experience. If we read the text of Bonaventure in similar terms,
then the six levels of experience need not be thought of as a kind
of flowchart of exercises or experiences that each person must
undergo in order to arrive at the goal. Indeed, it would be very
difficult to associate some of them with the personal history of St.
Francis. But it is possible to see them at least as representations of
different spiritualities that speak to different types of religious
persons.
 Introduction oo} 33

In this context we might think of the remarkable difference

between the way of St. Francis and that of Bonaventure. That of
St. Francis looks far more immediate and intuitive, uncluttered
with a lot of critical questioning and philosophical analysis. That
of Bonaventure is the way of an intellectual familiar with all the
complexities of human consciousness and the tricks it can play.
We will discuss this question further as we describe the various
illuminations in the following chapters.
While the mystery of the stigmata plays such an important
role in Bonaventure's understanding of the spirituality of St.
Francis and provides the principal inspiration for the structure of
Tile Journey of tile Soul into God, there are a number of other
aspects of the life of St. Francis that enter into the spirituality of
Bonaventure. The understanding of God as a loving Father, which
was so obvious in St. Francis's experience, will be developed by
Bonaventure into a rich theology of the Trinity as the mystery of
primordial love. The spirituality of the imitation of Christ will be
developed into a stunning Christocentric vision of all created
reality. And St. Francis's sense of the goodness and beauty of cre­
ation will be developed, by reaching back into resources in the
theology of Augustine, into a powerful theology of the symbolic
meaning of the cosmos.
These themes are developed extensively in Bonaventure's sys­
tematic theology. But what appears in more extended treatments
at that level shimmers through unmistakably in the chapters of
The Journey of tile Soul into God. Systematic theology and spiritu­
ality are not two distinct, separated realities in the mind of
Bonaventure. They clearly interact in a variety of ways.
Bonaventure's work reveals a number of important steps.
First, since there were aspects of the experience of St. Francis that
made it stand out as unusual in comparison with other forms of
Christian spirituality, Bonaventure takes the trouble to relate that
experience to the broader tradition of spirituality and biblical
interpretation. We might think of the exceptional emphasis on
the humanity of Jesus and particularly on the cross. But we could
also think of St. Francis's relation with nature, the meaning of
34 -:- Introduction

which would not be self-evident from the perspective of some

earlier forms of Christian spirituality.
Next, Bonaventure grounds that spirituality in a metaphysical
vision; eventually this involves a fully cosmic vision. We might
think of this in the following way. The claims of a spirituality on
one's personal life may be very far-reaching. It can become a
question of fundamental importance to ask whether my personal
spirituality is precisely that and nothing more. Does my personal
spirituality amount to a tragic distortion of what my life could
be? Or does my spirituality in fact relate me in an appropriate
and life-giving way to the reality of the world of people and
things in which I live, and ultimately to God? Is my spirituality
really a mere psychological trick? Or is it truly life-giving and ful­
filling? This will lead one eventually to ask what sort of world we
live in, and how we are to relate to that world appropriately.
Metaphysics is, in essence, the attempt to provide a description
of the basic structures of reality. It is in the light of a good meta­
physics that we may define the significance of a particular spiri­
tuality.
Even a superficial reading of the Seraphic Doctor's work will
make it clear tha t he was a thinker with an outstanding gift of
synthesis. In a sense, the whole of his vision is present in each of
its parts. This makes it both powerful and difficult to expound
without overlapping and repetition. It might be said that for
Bonaventure's way of thinking, there is no systematic theology
that does not express or imply a spirituality. And there is no liv­
ing spirituality that is not the concrete expression of a form of
theology. What stands out in the case of Bonaventure is the fact
that he was so able to give convincing expression to both the sys­
tematic and the spiritual dimensions. While our presentation will
focus principally on the spiritual doctrine of the Seraphic Doctor,
there will be frequent pointers to the systematic theology
involved with it.
As we have seen above, Bonaventure has left us with quite a
collection of spiritual writings. Rather than discuss each of these
works individually, our presentation will be built around the
main structure of one of Bonaventure's works, The Journey of the
 Introduction -:- 35

Soul into God. Over the years, particularly during the last century,
it has been debated whether this is, in fact, a mystical text or
whether it is best seen as a work of natural philosophy and spec­
ulative theology with a mystical intent. Withou t reviewing the
history of this deba te, we take the view that it is, indeed, a pro­
foundly mystical text which serves to draw other levels of human
intellectual and affective experience into a unified journey to the
goal of mysticism. Our attempt will be to present the major
themes of this particular work and to draw into that structure
insights and issues from the other works of Bonaventure, both
the spiritual writings and the more academic or speculative
works.
All the translations provided in this volume are my own,
based on the Latin edition of the Franciscans of Quaracchi. All
the references are to that Latin edition and include in square
brackets the volume and page numbers.
 Chapter 1

B onaventure's Prog ram

As we have indicated above, the careful reader will find two

things converging in the work of Bonaventure. One is a spiritual
tradition with roots that go back clearly to St. Francis of Assisi.
The other is an intellectual, theological tradition with a strong
orientation to spirituality. This theological tradition has roots
going back at least to the work of Augustine and includes the
work of Dionysius the Areopagite, Richard of St. Victor, and
Bernard of Clairvaux. The interaction between these two kinds of
traditions in the context of the Aristotelian movement of Bona­
venture's time gives his work something of its distinctive charac­
ter and leads to a specific form of wisdom theology.

Wisdom and Knowledge

We have already spoken of the monastic tradition of theology.

The writings of Bonaventure frequently show that he had con­
siderable sympathy for that style though he was well aware of
the new style that was developing in the university context. The
monastic style had never been concerned with purely theoretical
knowledge. It was far more concerned with opening up a vision
of a way of life. In this sense, it was, for the most part, what is
commonly known as a wisdom theology.
Wisdom (sapientia) is understood to be something more than
the mere possession of knowledge (scientia). If we look up the
word wisdo111 in the dictionmy even today, we discover that it is
not defined as simply the possession of a lot of information.
37
38 -:- Bonaventure 's Progran1

Rather, what is emphasized is the ability to make sound and

helpful judgments concerning the relation of one's knowledge to
the conduct of one's life. This may serve as a helpful entry point
into the issue of wisdom in the thought world of Bonaventure.
In discussing the na ture and purpose of theology in his Com­
mentary on the Sentences, Bonaventure asks whether theology is
purely speculative knowledge or whether it is some form of prac­
tical knowledge as well. His response demonstrates the basic
qualities of a wisdom model of theology:
The knowledge presented in t h i s b o o k is of t h i s s o rt . F o r t h i s
knowledge h e lps fa ith. a n d fa ith i s related t o t h e i ntellect i n
s u c h a way t h a t . g reat a s i t i s i n itself. i t s n a t u re i s to m ove
t h e affect . A n d t h i s is c l e a r. For t h i s k n owl edge that te l l s us
that C h r i st has d i ed for u s , a n d s i m i l a r t h i n g s , m oves a person
to l ove u n l ess that person i s a h a rdened sinner . . . . Therefore. it
must b e c o n ceded that we d o theology so t h a t we m ay
become good people . ( I Sent. prooe. q . 3. [ 1 : 1 3 ] )

Speaking of wisdom in its multidimensional character, Bona­

venture writes in a remarkable sermon on the mystery of the
kingdom of God:
There a re s o m e d i m e n s i o n s of wisdom that rel ate to o u r i ntel­
lect, oth e r s that relate to o u r d e s i res, a n d oth e rs t h a t a re to
be l ived out. T h e refore. wisdom o u g h t to t a ke possession of
the e ntire pe rson, t h a t i s with respect to the i ntellect, the affec­
tive l ife. a n d t h e perso n ' s acti o n . ( Sermon II on the Kingdom
of God 34 [ 5 : 548])

Texts such as these indicate that the wisdom tradition as seen

by Bonaventure is concerned with the process of integrating
many levels of reality into a unified vision of the world and mul­
tiple levels of human experience into a unified sense of the spiri­
tual journey of humanity. But the goal of the journey is not to be
simply a knower. It is, above all, to become a lover.
To cast this in terms of our relation to God, the goal of the spir­
itual journey is not simply to have a conceptual knowledge about
the existence and perhaps, even to some degree, about the nature
of God. We are to move beyond that into a union of transforming
 Bonaventure's Program -:- 39

love with the mystery of divine, creative love from which we

come and to which we are called to return. " Knowledge without
love is not perfect," writes Bonaventure (I Sent. d. 10, a. 1, q. 2,
fundam. 1 [1:197]). Knowledge, then, is not the ultimate goal of
the spiritual quest. But it is an element on the way.
The spiritual quest will not allow us to rest simply with
knowledge. But there are those whose spiritual journey will
involve extensive intellectual effort. Augustine himself is a clear
case of this. His early life was an ongoing search for a God in
whom he could place his faith. He was an intellectual, well
trained in the disciplines of the ancient world. He bequeathed a
program for Western Christianity the dynamic of which can be
put very pointedly: Faith in search of understanding. One can
ask questions; one can make use of all the classical disciplines to
come to a deeper understanding of wha t it means to be a person
of faith and what it is that Christians believe in. One can wish to
have a deeper understanding of that which one loves.
Bonaventure comes from this tradition and carries it to one of
its most powerful and coherent expressions. The wisdom tradi­
tion is not anti-intellectual . It recognizes the importance of the
intellectual search for truth:
As t h e b o d y without food l o s e s its strength, bea uty, a nd h e a l t h ,
so t h e s o u l w i t h o ut t h e k n owledge o f truth b e c o m e s d a r kened
a n d i nf i r m , deformed a n d u n sta b l e i n a l l t h i n g s . I t n e e d s to b e
n ourished . ( SD 1 6 . 6 [ 5 : 41 0] )

And the nourishment of the mind is truth. Without knowing

truth, the mind may wander in strange and dangerous ways.
Commenting on the inadequacy of purely theoretical knowledge,
Bonaventure asks us to recall the strange situation we discover
when we try to determine the precise ratio of the circumference
of a circle to the diameter. The result, which still puzzles the
human mind, is the strange, apparently unending chain of num­
bers 3.1415 . . . and so on. It is wha t we call pi in mathematics and
geometry. This is a situation tha t has challenged mathematicians
over the centuries. Bonaventure speaks about Aristotle being
confronted with this strange phenomenon:
40 -:- Bonaventure's Program

The P h i losopher says it i s a g reat pleasure to k n ow t h a t t h e

diameter i s asym metrical to the c i rcu mference. Let h i m e n j oy
t h a t if h e c a n . ( SO 17. 7 [ 5 :41 0])

About curiosity itself without a sense of reverence and piety

Bonaventure reflects much of the thought of Bernard of Clair­
vaux when he writes:
The c u r i o u s person l acks d evotion. There a re m a ny s u c h peo­
ple. They a re e m pty of p ra i se a n d d evotion w h i l e t h ey a re f i l led
with the s p l en d ors of the sciences. They b u i l d wasps' nests
that co nta i n no h o n ey, w h i l e the bees go a b o ut p roducing
honey. ( SO 1.8 [ 5 : 330])

In the same vein, but even more emphatically, he writes in the

Soliloquy of the contrast between worldly wisdom and a true,
authentic wisdom. The wisdom of the world is accursed, for it
extinguishes the spark of the divine spirit in the human soul. By
way of contrast:
If yo u w i s h to be t r u ly wise. follow the advice of J e rome. a n d
" l ea r n o n e a rth that s o rt o f wisdom that w i l l rem a i n with you
foreve r in h eave n . " Lea r n here o n ea rth h ow to a rrive at t h a t
O n e t h e s i n g l e s i g h t of w h o m l e a d s t o a k n owledge of a l l . T h i s
i s ete r n a l truth, "without w h i c h a l l knowledge i s i g n o ra nce, b ut
t h e experience of which is perfect knowledge . " ( Soli/. 2 . 5
[8:46])

By way of contrast with programs that are fed by empty curiosity,

Bonaventure points to the wisdom of St. Francis:
The B l essed Fra n c i s s a i d that he wished h i s f r i a rs to stu d y p ro­
vided that they wou l d fi rst l i ve o ut what t h ey t a u g h t . W h a t i s
t h e p o i nt of k n ow i n g m a ny t h i n g s a n d tast i n g n ot h i n g ? ( SO
22.21 [ 5 :440])

This highlights another aspect of the medieval understanding

of wisdom. The Latin verb sapio, from which the noun is derived
means "to taste," or " to savor." Thus, here Bonaventure can
speak of tasting what one knows. As we look at his spiritual doc­
trine in greater detail, we will see how he speaks of internal
senses with which we taste, smell, feel, and so on.
 Bonaventure's Program -:- 41

From this perspective, it becomes clear that, while Bona­

venture had a great respect for the intellectual life, he did not see
the pursuit of knowledge as its own end. In this area, we can feel
the strong influence of such monastic authors as Bernard of
Clairvaux. In his Collations on the Gifts of the Holy Spirit, Bona­
venture quotes Bernard in the following way:
What i s m e a nt by the m a n n e r of k n ow i n g ? I t m e a n s to k n ow
i n w h a t o rder, with what d e s i re, a n d f o r w h a t p u r p o s e a nyon e
s h o u l d b e c o n c e r n ed with lea r n i n g : i n what o rder, t h a t o n e fi rst
l e a r n what l e a d s m o re readily to s a l vation; with w h a t d e s i re,
t h a t one m i g ht a p ply o n eself m o re e n e rgetica l l y to that l e a rn­
i n g w h i c h d raws one m o re strongly to the l ove of G o d ; for w h a t
p u rpose, that o n e m i g ht be c o n c e rn e d w i t h l e a r n i n g n ot f o r t h e
s a ke of e m pty g l o ry o r c u rios ity, b ut for t h e b u i l d i n g u p of o n e­
s e lf a n d of o n e ' s n e i g h b o r. ( GS [ 5 :478 ], q u oti n g B e r n a rd of
C l a i rva u x , Sermons on the Canticle of Canticles 3 6 . 3 )

We see here the understanding of a true intellectual reflecting

on his own experience in the light of the tradition of Western wis­
dom theology, and in the light of the experience of St. Francis. It
is in the experience of Francis that Bonaventure sees embodied
most clearly what the goal of the spiritual journey is. While
Francis's way to this goal was more intuitive and immediate, and
not terribly complicated by intellectual questioning, the goal at
which he arrived is the same goal that beckons the intellectual
and all who wish to enter on the spiritual journey. The goal is that
true wisdom in which the human person, by whatever way he or
she may have to go because of personal characteristics, finally is
drawn ever more deeply into the transforming power of the
divine love in which the human spirit finally finds its light and
its peace.
In the Threefold Way, Bonaventure provides the following over­
view of his vision:
F o r every m ed itation of a wise person is e i t h e r a b o ut h u m a n
wo r k s ref l ecti n g o n what h u m a n s h ave d o n e, o n w h a t t h ey
s h o u l d d o , a n d on h u m a n m otiva t i o n ; o r t h i s m e d itati o n i s
a bout d iv i n e works, reflecting o n G o d " s g e n e ro s ity t o h u m a n ity
42 -:- Bonaventure's Program

b e c a u s e God h a s d o n e a l l t h i n g s for h u m a n ity's s a ke, a n d

reflect i n g o n h ow g reat i s God's forgiveness a s we l l a s o n t h e
g re a t t h i n g s G o d h a s p romised-the d iv i n e works i n c l u d e the
mystery of c rea t i o n , of reparation, a n d of g l o rification; o r t h i s
meditation i s a bo ut the p r i n c i ples b e h i n d bot h of t h e f o reg o i n g ,
namely G o d a n d the s o u l . a n d c o n s i d ers i n w h a t way t h ey
o u g h t to be u n i ted with each other. A n d it i s at t h i s p o i nt that
our med itation comes to rest because t h i s i s t h e t r u e e n d of
all our k n owledge a n d a ctivity, a n d this i s t h e t r u e wisdom in
w h i c h we c o m e to k n owledge thro u g h true experience. ( TW
1 . 4 , 18 [ 8 : 7 ] )

Here w e see the general direction that i s reflected i n virtually all

of Bonaventure's mystical writings. The goal is always that true
wisdom which is to be found in the union between God and
humanity. At times this is more implicit, lurking in the back­
ground. At other times it comes through very clearly and
emphatically.
What we find in works such as the Journey of the Soul into God
and On the Reduction of the Arts to Theology is a description of how
this direction can be carried out by drawing all the human arts
and sciences into the journey to that ultimate goal, namely, the
mystical union of the person with God. It is particularly in the
latter work that Bonaventure clarifies the relations of all the
sciences to theology and, through theology, to mystical union:
A n d t h i s is t h e f r u i t of a l l the s c i e n ces, t h a t i n a l l , fa ith m ay
be strengthened, G o d m ay be h o n o red, c h a racte r m ay b e
formed, a n d consolation may b e d e rived fro m a u n i o n of t h e
S p o u s e w i t h the beloved. a u n i o n w h i c h t a kes p l a c e t h rough
c h a rity; a c h a rity i n which the whole p u rpose of s a c red
Scripture. a n d t h u s of every i l l u m i nation desce n d i n g fro m a b ove.
comes to rest-a c h a rity without w h i c h a l l k n ow l e d g e is vain
because n o one comes to the Son except t h ro u g h the H o ly
S p i rit who tea c h e s us a l l the truth. who i s b l essed fo rever.
A m e n . ( RA n . 26 [ 5 : 325])

Here, and in the remarkable text of The Journey of the Soul into
God we find the most synthetic statement of the Seraphic
Doctor's program. It involves both the pursuit of the mind and
 Bonaventure 's Program -:- 43

the pursuit of the heart, both knowledge and wisdom, both the
life of the intellect and the life of the mystic. It is not some sort of
philosophical proof for the existence of God, since it clearly
begins with a person of faith. All this is powerfully expressed in
the prologue of Tile journey of tlze Soul into God:
Fi rst , t h e refore, I i nvite t h e rea d e r to t h e g ro a n s of p rayer
t h ro u g h C h r i st cruc ified . . . so t h a t t h e rea d e r w i l l n ot c o m e to
believe t h a t rea d i n g is s u fficient without u n ction, speculation
without d evot i o n , i nvestigation without wonder, o b s e rvation
without j oy, wo rk with o ut p i ety, k n owledge without l ove, u n d e r­
sta n d i n g without h u m i l ity, study without d iv i n e g race, t h e m i r­
ror without d ivinely i n s p i red w i s d o m . (JS p ro l . 4 [ 5 : 296])

The head and the heart. Clearly for Bonaventure, it is not a

question of choosing one to the exclusion of the other. It is, rather,
a question of finding a way to unite them. We are invited to see
how the pursuit of knowledge can be integrated into the total
pattern of the soul's journey into God.
This does not mean that everyone must follow the intellectual
way. But it does mean that the intellectual way can, indeed, be a
dimension of the human journey into God for those who are per­
sonally thus inclined. But, if one uses one's head in dealing w ith
one's religious and spiritual convictions, religion may never look
precisely the same as before. Once the so-called critical moment
enters into one's understanding of religion, one does not neces­
sarily become irreligious. But one becomes a different sort of
believer. A Bonaventure was not a Francis of Assisi, even though
both moved to the same goal. Both were great mystics, though
each followed a different road to that end.

Metaphysical Viewpoints

It is clear tha t for Bonaventure one of the major disputes of his

time was that which revolved around the metaphysics of Aris­
totle. This involved, at one level, the relation of Aristotelian
thought to the familiar style of Christian spirituality, which was
more Platonic in orientation. At another level, it involved ques-
44 -:- Bonaventure's Progran1

tions about the relation of specific Aristotelian insights to the

Christian vision of the Trinity and the mystery of Christ. If Christ­
centered spirituality is truly a way of entering into a saving rela­
tion with reality, what must reality look like for that to be the
case?
This leads us to a number of principles of Bonaventure's
thought that may seem surprising today in view of some of the
contemporary critiques of religious consciousness. First, nothing
that he suggests in this area is possible if a genuine religious
experience is incapable of opening us to reality beyond our­
selves. This runs against many modern reductionist views that
tend to see religious consciousness as nothing but a form of psy­
chological projection. That projection is involved may well be the
case. That religion is nothing but projection is another question
again.
A critical study of the na ture of religious consciousness offers
solid reason for rejecting totally reductionist theories and of giv­
ing a serious account of the significance of religious truth claims.
But if religious experience can indeed open us to a dimension of
transcendence beyond ourselves, then the possibility that reli­
gious experience may have metaphysical implications must be
taken into account.
Related to this is the validity of the title of our present volume,
which speaks of mystical writings. Over the years, the term mys­
ticism has been defined in a variety of ways. For our purposes
here, we take it to mean the conviction that it is possible for the
human person to have an experience of union with God far more
intense than that of ordinary human experience. Such experi­
ences can be triggered by a wide range of realities, all of which
can be thought to have mystical significance. It is clear in the case
of Bonaventure that he was a person who believed that genuine
mystical experiences are possible. His writings indicate some of
his attempts to describe what such experiences might be, and in
what circumstances they might take place.
But if the experience of Christ is taken as the foundational
experience underlying the Christian tradition, this means that
 Bonaventure's Program -:- 45

Christians will discover their key insights into the meaning of

humanity, the world, and God by reflecting on the mystery of
Christ. Such insights, then, will function in theology in a way
analogous to the role of metaphysics in philosophy. This will
mean eventually that we come to relate our thought patterns to
Christ in a way that corresponds to the place of Christ in creation
and in human existence. In a text found in On tlze Reduction of the
Arts to Theology, Bonaventure puts his vision in these terms:
In t h i s way, u n d e rsta n d that from the h ig h est M i n d , w h i c h i s
knowa b l e t o t h e i n n e r s e n s es of o u r m i n d , t h e re h a s e m a n a ted
fro m a l l ete rn ity a S i m i l itude, an I m a g e, a n d a n Offs p r i n g ; a n d
afterwa rds, w h e n "the f u l n e s s of t i m e c a m e , '" H e wa s u n ited
as n ever before to a m i n d a n d to f l e s h , a n d a s s u m ed a h u m a n
f o r m . I t i s t h ro u g h H i m t h a t a l l o u r m i n d s a re l e d b a c k t o G o d
w h e n we receive t h e S i m i l it u d e o f t h e Fat h e r i nto o u r h e a rts
t h ro u g h fa i t h . ( RA 8 [ 5 : 320])

Now if the Christ-centered spiritual way of St. Francis of

Assisi is an authentic religious journey, it may be taken to mean
that reality as such is Christ-centered. This will become ever
more clear in the writings of Bonaventure, up to and including
his final work, the Collations on the Six Days of Creation. Probably
nowhere in the history of Western Christian literature has a more
consistently Christocentric vision of creation and history been
formulated by anyone with the possible exception of Karl Barth
or Dietrich Bonhoeffer in the twentieth century. Precisely when
Bonaventure comes to see the views of certain philosophers as an
attack on the intellectual center of Christendom at the University
of Paris, he develops this Christocentric metaphysics, which he
unfolds with a beauty and elegance reminiscent of the glorious
Gothic structures in the city where he held his conferences.
Finally, it is impossible to deal with the meaning of Christ
without moving to the mystery of God as Trinity. It is Bonaven­
ture's view, therefore, that these two dogmas of Christianity-the
incarnation and the Trinity-are laden with metaphysical impli­
cations that will move us beyond the philosophical visions of
either Plato or Aristotle. There is a dimension to Bonaventure's
46 -:- Bonaventure's Program

theological vision that can be called a theological metaphysics,

and it will function as a point of criticism for the major philo­
sophical movements of his time.
Viewing the mystery of the Trinity in terms of the doctrine of
exemplarity, Bonaventure unfolds a consistently trinitarian
vision of the universe-both the universe as a whole, and each
creature in the universe.
The logic of this is quite simple and direct. God is the creator
of the entire universe. But God is the mystery of the Trinity.
Therefore, the trinitarian God is the Creator. Bonaventure names
God the creative Trinity (Brevi!. 2.12 [5:230]). But if the trinitarian
Creator is the exemplar, then all that comes forth in the universe
in some way reflects that trinitarian exemplar. The implications
of this are seen in Bonaventure's tendency to search out triadic
structures and patterns at every level.
There is a text from the Gospel of John that provides signifi­
cant inspiration for Bonaventure's metaphysical vision. Bonaven­
ture has given a lengthy exposition of his understanding of the
Trinity and of his conviction that the person of the Word is the
central person of the Trinity. It is the Word that expresses the
Father and all the things that the Father has made in creation.
And it is the Word above all who leads us to union with the
Father in whom all things are to be brought together. It is from
this trinitarian and christological vision that Bonaventure cites
the text of John 16:28:
I h ave c o m e f o rth f ro m the Father a n d h ave c o m e i nto t h e
world . Ag a i n I l e ave t h e wo r l d a n d g o t o t h e Father. ( SD 1 . 17
[ 5 : 3 32 ] )

Bonaventure's comment on the implication of this text is very

pointed:
We c o u l d p ut it as fo l l ows: " Lord, I c a m e o ut of Yo u, t h e
Supre m e B e i n g ; I w i l l return t o Yo u , a n d t h ro u g h Yo u , t h e
Su pre m e B e i n g . " ( i b i d .)

Then, referring back explicitly to the idea of the Word as the cen­
tral person of the Trinity, he writes:
 Bonaventure's Progrnm -:- 47

S u c h , t h e n , is t h e m etaphysical Cente r that l e a d s u s b a c k , a n d

t h i s i s t h e w h o l e of o u r m etaphysic s . It d e a l s with e m a n at i o n ,
exempla rity, a n d c o n s u m m a t i o n ; that i s , to b e i l l u m i n ed by s p i r­
i t u a l l i g ht a n d to ret u r n to t h e S u p re m e Be i n g . A n d i n t h i s way
yo u w i l l be a t r u e m etaphys i c i a n . ( i b id . )

F o r u n l e s s yo u a re a b l e to c o n s i d e r t h i n g s i n t e r m s of h ow t h ey
origi nate, h ow t h ey a re b ro u g h t b a c k to t h e i r g o a l , a n d h ow
G o d s h i n e s f o rth i n t h e m , yo u w i l l h ave n o u n d e rsta n d i n g . ( SD
3 . 2 [ 5 : 34 3 ] )

Bonaventure had developed a strong theology of the Word as

early as his youthful Commentary on John:
The q u e st i o n is a s ke d : If t h e d e s i g n at i o n " S o n " i m p l i e s t h e m o st
d istinctive p roperty, w h y i s H e h e re c a l led "Word " rather t h a n
" S o n "? I t s e e m s t h a t p recisely the o p p osite s h o u l d b e t h e c a s e .
I res p o n d a s f o l l ows . T h e t e r m " S o n " expresses o n l y t h e rela­
t i o n to t h e Father. B ut t h e term "Word " expresses n ot o n ly t h e
re l a t i o n t o t h e o n e s p e a k i n g , b ut t o t h a t w h i c h i s expressed
thro u g h the word, to the s o u n d with w h i c h i t c l othes itself. a n d
to t h e k n ow l e d g e effected i n t h e oth e r t h ro u g h t h e med i a t i o n
of t h e word . A n d s i nce h e re ( i n J o h n ' s P ro l o g u e ) t h e S o n of
God i s to b e d e s c r i bed n ot o n ly in terms of H i s re l a t i o n to t h e
Father, f ro m w h o m H e p roceeds, b ut a l s o i n t e r m s of H i s rela­
t i o n to t h e c reatures w h i c h He h a s m a d e, a s we l l as to t h e
f l e s h w i t h w h i c h H e wa s c l ot h e d a n d to t h e t r uth w h i c h H e
h a s g iven u s , H e i s m o st n o b l y a n d f i ttingly d e s c r i bed a s t h e
"Word , " f o r t h a t n a m e i n c l u d es a l l these relations, a n d a m o re
fitt i n g n a m e c o u l d n ot be f o u n d a nywhere i n t h e world . ( Com­
mentary on John [ 6 : 247 ] )

This text provides the program for an entire theology of reve­

lational history, beginning with the mystery of creation, and
grounds the whole in the mystery of the Trinity. God utters but
one Word. It is this Word, spoken from the depths of the divine
mystery, that finds expression in the world of God's creation, and
in the world of salvation history and biblical revelation. It is this
one Word that undergirds the whole of creation and that has
become incarnate in the history of Jesus of Nazareth.
48 -!- Bonaventure 's Program

In one of his synthesizing formulations, Bonaventure speaks

of the divine Word from three perspectives:
T h e key to contem plation is a threefold understa n d i n g : an u n d e r­
sta n d i n g of t h e U n c reated Word by whom a l l t h i n g s a re p ro­
d uced; a n u n d e rsta n d i n g of the I n ca rnate Word by w h o m a l l
t h i n g s a re restored ; a n d a n u n d e rsta n d i n g o f the I n s p i re d Word
by w h o m a l l t h i n g s a re revealed . F o r no o n e c a n h ave u n d e r­
sta n d i ng without considering where t h i n g s c o m e fro m , h ow
they a re l e d b a c k to t h e i r end, a n d h ow God s h i n es f o rth i n
t h e m . ( SD 3 . 2 [ 5 : 343])

Christ is, for Bonaventure, the preeminent embodiment of

divine Wisdom. He is, in the fullest sense of the word: "the way,
and the truth, and the life" Qohn 14:6). Any other claim to wis­
dom must be brought into relation with this wisdom. Philosophy,
then, which at the level of Aristotle's understanding of meta­
physics is a search for the ultimate principles of reality, is best
seen not as a self-sufficient form of human knowledge but as a
stage in the larger pattern of the spiritual journey of humanity
into God.
But that journey, which in the case of St. Francis was uncom­
plicated by extensive rational inquiry, takes a different form in
the life of the intellectual scholar. In the latter case, rational phi­
losophy is seen as a necessary and important development of the
human mind. But it cannot be allowed to rest in itself. The intel­
lectual person is to move through the process of rational inquiry
in philosophy, and even in theology, only to culminate in a form
of ecstatic, transforming love of the divine in which the human
person is drawn beyond the categories of rational discourse ever
deeper into a mystery that it never comprehends. To make phi­
losophy, or any other cognitive discipline, an end in itself, there­
fore, is to abort a process in a way that allows a part to be taken
for the whole and to be seen as self-contained or self-sufficient.
This means that, for Bonaventure, all the arts and sciences
together with philosophy can play an important role in the jour­
ney of the soul, at least for people who are intellectually inclined.
But clearly, for Bonaventure, all these human cognitive endeav­
ors must be left open to the insights gained from the historical
 Bonaventure's Program -:- 49

experience of the biblical revelation and, specifically, the histori­

cal experience of Jesus Christ as this is reflected on in the history
of the Christian community.
Inspired as he is by the tradition of Augustine, Bonaventure is
concerned with the ideal of the unity of Christian wisdom. At the
basic level of methodology, this means that we must take into
account the possibility that, as we have seen above, the answer to
some of the most basic philosophical questions might be discov­
ered not in philosophical reflection that abstracts from Chris­
tianity but precisely from the historical, religious experience that
provides the basic clues to Christian self-understanding.
The implications of this can be seen at a number of crucial
points in the writings of Bonaventure. The above citation from
the Collations on the Six Days of Creation is one of the clearest state­
ments of it. The same idea appears elsewhere in the form of a
prayer:
It is p ro p e r at t h e be g i n n i n g of a ny g o o d wo r k to c a l l u p o n t h e
O n e f ro m W h o m a l l good t h i n g s p roceed a s f r o m t h e i r s o u rce,
b y Whom t h ey a re p ro d u ced a s by their Exe m p l a r, a n d to
W h o m t h ey ret u rn as to t h e i r e n d . T h i s i s t h e i n effa b l e Tri n ity:
Father. S o n . a n d H o ly S p i rit . ( Soli/. pro l . [ 8 : 28 ] )

In summary form, this means that all of creation is on a jour­

ney. All pours out from the Father through the mediation of the
Word and is brought to full fruition in the power of the Spirit. As
it is the Word through whom all pours forth from God, so it is
the Word who leads us to union with the Father in whom all cre­
ation will eventually converge. The work of the Spirit is to bring
us ever more into the mystery of the Word who has been mani­
fested to us most explicitly in the form of the incarnation. In the
incarnation, the center of God becomes present as the center of
creation.
In t h i s s e n se. H e is t h e Tree of Life. for b y m e a n s of t h i s c e n­
t e r we ret u r n to t h e very f o u nta i n of l ife a n d a re revived i n i t .
( SD 1 . 17 [ 5 : 332])

From this perspective, the point of the spiritual journey is to

become personally aligned with the mystery of the Word so that
50 -:- Bonaventure's Progra111

as consciously knowing and loving creatures, human beings

enter into the Word's relation with the Father and the Spirit. This
is to be realized expressly in human life. But it is through human­
ity that the destiny of the rest of the cosmos will be brought to
realization.

Point of Departure for the Journey

Early in The foumey of the Soul into God Bonaventure presents

three themes that are important for understanding the point of
departure for the spiritual journey. The prologue gives eloquent
testimony that Bonaventure is engaged in a search for peace. It
also sees the person who engages in this journey to be a person
of desire. A title found immediately before the beginning of the
first chapter reads: "Here starts the speculation of the poor one in
the desert" (JS 1 . 1 [5:296]). A few comments on each of these will
help set the stage for the journey.
Concerning the theme of peace, Bonaventure had been
involved for two years in trying to heal the divisions that had
been tearing the Franciscan Order apart. This meant considerable
travel and consultation with the friars. He went to Assisi itself to
talk with those who had the strongest living memories of St.
Francis. Then he visited Mount Alverna. He described his visit
there in the following words:
Follow i n g the exa m p l e of the most b l essed father, Francis, I
c a m e with a yea r n i n g spi rit sea rch i n g for that peace; I, a s i n­
ner, who-th o u g h comp letely u nworthy-s ucceeded as the sev­
enth m i n i ster general of t h e b rothers i n p l a ce of t h a t s a m e
most b l e s s e d Father afte r h i s death . . . . Moved by d iv i n e i n s p i­
rat i o n , I w i t h d rew to M o u nt A lverna. to that p l a c e of q u i et , to
sati sfy t h e sea rch of my s o u l for peace. ( JS prol . 1 - 2 [ 5 : 29 5 ] )

It was while there that Bonaventure came to his insights con­

cerning the meaning of the experience of St. Francis that would
eventually be put into writing in the form of The foumey of the
Soul into God.
The prologue uses the figure of the prophet Daniel to describe
 Bonaventure's Program -:- 51

the person who wishes to embark on the journey. Daniel is

described by Bonaventure as a person of desires.
F o r n o p e r s o n is d i s posed in a ny way f o r t h o s e d iv i n e con­
t e m p l a t i o n s w h i c h l e a d to s p i r i t u a l ecstasy except o n e w h o , l i ke
D a n i e l , is a " p erson of d e s i res . " S u c h d es i re s a re a ro u s e d i n u s
i n two ways, n a m e ly, t h ro u g h the c ry of p rayer w h i c h l e a d s u s
t o g ro a n f ro m a n g u i s h of h e a rt; a n d t h ro u g h t h e l i g h t of s p e c­
u l a t i o n , by w h i c h t h e m i n d t u r n s m o st d i rectly a n d i ntensely to
t h e rays of l i g h t . (JS p ro l . 3 [ 5 : 296])

Neutrality will not work in this journey. A person must deeply

desire union with the divine. This desire will manifest itself in
deep and constant prayer. Prayer, for its part, will help open the
human person to be receptive to the utterly free grace of God.
And without the aid of divine grace, the mystical journey cannot
be carried out successfully.
N o m atte r h ow t h e i nterior sta ges m ay b e o rd ered , n ot h i n g w i l l
h a p p e n u n less t h e d iv i n e a i d accom p a n ies u s . B ut t h i s d ivine
aid comes to a l l w h o s e e k i t with a truly h u m b l e and d evout
heart . A n d t h i s m e a n s to t r u l y s i g h for d iv i n e a i d in fe rvent
praye r in t h i s va l e of tears . P rayer, the refore, is t h e m ot h e r a n d
s o u rc e of every u pward strivi n g of t h e s o u l . T h u s , D i o nysius, i n
h i s b o o k Mystical Theology, w i s h i n g to i n struct u s c o n c e r n i n g
ecst a s i e s of t h e s o u l , p l a ces a p rayer at t h e b eg i n n i n g . Let u s,
therefore, p ray, a n d l et u s say to t h e Lord, o u r G o d : " Le a d m e,
0 Lord , i n yo u r way, a n d I w i l l e nter i nto yo u r trut h . Let my
h ea rt rej o i ce t h a t it m ay fe a r yo u r n a m e . " (JS 1 . 1 [ 5 : 297 ] )

Concerning the nature and importance of prayer for the jour­

ney, Bonaventure writes to women religious in the small work
On the PeJfection of Life:
Praye r i s a ves s e l by w h i c h t h e g ra c e of t h e H o ly S p i ri t i s
d rawn from t h a t font overflow i n g with sweetness, t h e m o st
b l e s s e d Tri n ity. . . . H ave I n ot a l re a d y exp l a i n e d to yo u w h a t
praye r i s ? L i sten a g a i n . P rayer i s t h e t u r n i n g of t h e m i n d towa rd
God . D o yo u w i s h to k n ow h ow yo u o u g h t to t u r n yo u r m i n d
towa rd G o d ? Pay a ttenti o n . W h e n yo u p ray, yo u o u g h t t o g at h e r
u p yo u r e ntire s e lf, e nter with yo u r B e l oved i nto t h e c h a m b e r
52 -:- Bonaventure 's Program

of yo u r hea rt, a n d rem a i n there a l o n e with H i m , fo rgetti n g a l l

ext e r n a l affa i rs; a n d so you s h o u l d elevate yo u rself with a l l you r
h e a rt a n d a l l yo u r m i n d , a n d w i t h a l l yo u r affection, desire, a n d
devot i o n . A n d yo u s h o u l d n ot l et yo u r m i n d wa n d e r away f rom
yo u r p rayer, b ut as long a s you can, r i s e up by t h e fe rvor of
yo u r d evot i o n until yo u e nter i nto the " p l a c e of the wonderful
tabernacle, even to t h e house of G o d . '" There the eye o f you r
h e a rt wi l l be d e l i g hted at t h e s i g h t of yo u r Beloved , a n d you
w i l l ""taste a n d see h ow g o o d t h e Lord i s , " a n d " h ow g re a t i s
H i s goodness . '' T h e n you wi l l r u s h i nto H i s e m b races . Yo u w i l l
k i s s H i m w i t h s u c h i ntimate d evotion t h a t yo u w i l l b e c o m­
pletely c a r r i ed away, w h o l ly e n raptured i n h eave n , tota l l y t rans­
formed i nto C h r i st . Yo u wi l l n ot be a b l e to c o nta i n yo u r s p i rit,
but w i l l c ry o ut with t h e p rophet D av i d : "My soul refused to b e
comfort e d : I remembered G o d , a n d was d e l i g hted . " ( PL 5 . 5
[8: 1 1 9 ] )

Keeping all this in mind, we understand why it is that Bona­

venture urges his readers to move slowly through the text and
reflect prayerfully on the thoughts and issues that it deals with.
He does not want the reader to think:

that m e re rea d i n g w i l l be e n o u g h without u n ction, speculation

without d evotion, i nvestigation without wonder, o b s e rvation
without exultation, h a rd work without p i ety, k n owledge without
love, u n d e rsta nding without h u m i l ity, study without d iv i n e g race,
the m i rror without d ivinely i n s p i red wisdom. ( JS pro l . 4 [ 5 : 297 ] )

The necessity of desire in the spiritual journey remains in

Bonaventure's writings until his final work, where he says:

The d o o r to w i s d o m is a yea r n i n g for it a n d a powerful d e s i re .

Therefore t h e Psa l m says: " O p e n w i d e yo u r m o uth a n d I w i l l f i l l
it . " T h a t i s t h e roa d b y w h i c h wisdom comes to m e; b y w h i c h
I e nte r i nto w i s d o m , a n d wisdom ente rs i nto m e . T h e s a m e i s
t r u e of cha rity. H e n ce, " G o d i s l ove, a n d t h o s e w h o a b i d e i n
love a b i d e i n G o d a n d G o d i n t h e m . " S u c h wisdom c a n n ot b e
o bta i n ed without s u p re m e m utual pleasure; b ut w h e re o n e
l o o k s for s u p re m e m utual pleasure, s u p reme d e s i re m u st b e
there f i rst . ( SD 2 . 2 [ 5 : 336])
 Bonaventure's Progra111 -:- 53

Later in the same work he writes concerning the soul and the
illumina tions corning from God:
For the s o u l to receive these i l l u m i n a t i o n s , a l ively d e s i re i s
req u i red, toget h e r with c l e a r scrutiny a n d t ra n q u i l j u d g m ent . F o r
there i s n o c o ntemplative s o u l without a l ively d e s i re . O n e w h o
d o e s n ot h ave t h i s k n ows n oth i n g o f contem plation, because
t h e o r i g i n of t h e i l l u m i n a t i o n s goes f ro m t h e h i g h est to the l ow­
est, a n d n ot t h e reverse. ( SD 22.29 [ 5 : 4 41 -42 ] )

The "poor one i n the desert." This phrase elicits a number of

thoughts. The most obvious possibility is that it is a reference to
the fact that Bonaventure is a mendicant and is a poor one in that
sense. But that can be related to yet another level of meaning. The
poor one is one who recognizes precisely what he or she is before
God: a creature, and a fallen creature. These two elements, as we
have seen above, constitute the core of what Bonaventure under­
stands as spiritual poverty. And without such spiritual poverty,
there can be no deep desire for the fulfilling relation with God
that is the concern of the journey. In view of that, the spiritual
journey as here conceived is simply impossible without the
recognition of one's poverty before God.
Bonaventure places the poor one "in the desert." This phrase
recalls the tradition of the desert as a place of testing and a place
of encounter with the divine. The wandering of the Hebrew peo­
ple for forty years in the desert comes to mind as an obvious bib­
lical example. And a later prophet, Hosea, describes God as a
lover who will lead the unfaithful spouse back to the desert to
win her heart once again. Together with the theme of testing, the
desert is known in spiritual traditions as a place of encounter
with the divine. Such a combination of themes is clearly con­
nected with the need for conversion from human sinfulness and
with asceticism.
We n e e d to k n ow that t h e re a re t h ree t h i n g s in us t h e u s e of
w h i c h w i l l e n a b l e us to p roceed in t h i s t r i p l e way: t h e sti n g of
conscience, t h e ray of i ntel lig ence, a n d t h e l ittle f l a m e of w i s­
d o m . I f yo u w i s h to be c l e a n s e d , t u rn to t h e sti n g of c o n­
s c i e n c e ; if yo u w i s h to be e n l i g h tened, t u r n to t h e ray of
54 -:- Bonaventure 's Program

i nte l l i g e n ce; if yo u w i s h to reach perfection, turn to t h e l i ttle

f l a m e of w i s d o m . ( TW 1 . 2 [ 8 : 3 ] )

What follows from this i s a detailed description o f how one

ought to call to mind one's sins and failings, how one ought to
feel sorrow for them and pray for forgiveness. It is an unrelent­
ing call to the awareness of one's negligence and sinfulness and
a call to attentive prayer to move beyond such weaknesses.
The entire context leaves no doubt as to what Bonaventure has
in mind. He will lead us on a profound contemplative journey.
The goal is a deep, personal union with God. Over and over
again, he will lead us to an encounter with our world, with our­
selves, and with God. The way to that goal will take us through
the mysteries of God's creation. But, in order that we do not
become hopelessly enmeshed in created things, the practice of
asceticism becomes necessary so that we can realize in ourselves
the necessary inner, spiritual freedom.
But how is the world shaped, and how is human nature
equipped for this journey? Concerning the world, the metaphys­
ical structure we have already described is basic: emanation,
exemplarity, and consummation. All pours forth from the mys­
tery of divine, creative love; all is shaped in some similarity to the
divine Archetype; and all is to move back into unity with the lov­
ing from which the river of creation emanates.
Viewed from another perspective, Bonaventure, following the
Victorine insights, distinguishes a world outside ourselves, a
world within ourselves, and a world above ourselves. The first is
clearly the world of bodily beings that can be experienced empir­
ically. The second is the world of spiritual reality such as we dis­
cover within the human person and the human soul. The third
has to do with the mystery of the divine, which transcends any­
thing at either of these levels.
Concerning the equipment of the human person for this jour­
ney in this three-leveled reality, Bonaventure's description of this
amounts to an outline of the journey itself:
[ O ] u r m i n d h a s t h ree p r i nc i p a l ways of perceivin g . The fi rst way
refers to corpore a l t h i n g s o utside the s o u l , a n d t h i s is ca l le d
a n i m a l ity o r sensitivity. The second way l o o k s i nward within
 Bonaventure's Program -:- 55

itself, a n d t h i s is c a l l e d s p 1 r 1 t . The t h i rd way i nvolves l o o k i n g

a b ove itself, a n d t h i s i s c a l led m i n d . W i t h a l l of t h e s e we
s h o u l d be d i s posed to a s c e n d to G o d , so a s to l ove G o d w i t h
a l l o u r h e a rt , w i t h a l l o u r s o u l . a n d with a l l o u r m i n d . I n t h i s
consists t h e p e rfect observa n c e o f t h e Law a n d , a t t h e s a m e
time, C h ri st i a n w i s d o m . (JS 1 . 4 [ 5 : 297 ] )

This reflects the classical Christian outline of the spiritual way

going back at least to Augustine. In his final work, Bonaventure
explicitly traces his treatment of this to Gregory the Great. He
refers it also to a certain philosopher who, in this case, is proba­
bly not Aristotle but the au thor of the Book of Causes:
The t h i rd way of d i st i n g u i s h i ng w i t h i n the s o u l in re l a t i o n to
t h e retu r n to G o d fo l l ows t h ree l eve l s of contemplation. G regory,
comment i n g on Ezech i e l , sets up t h re e l eve l s : whatever
b e c o m e s a n object of o u r c o n s i d e ra t i o n is e i t h e r o ut s i d e u s ,
i n s i d e u s , o r a b ove u s . T h e refore, G o d i s c o ntemplated i n t h o s e
t h i n g s t h a t a re i n s i d e u s , o uts i d e u s , o r a b ove u s, by m e a n s of
three p owers, the exterior, t h e i nterior, and t h e s u pe r i o r, that is
t h e a pp rehensive, the affective, and t h e o p e rative . A n d a c c o rd­
i n g to a p h i l o s o p h e r, " every n o b l e s o u l h a s t h ree o p e rations,"
t h a t i s , t h e a n i m a l towa rd t h i n g s o utside, t h e i nt e l l e ct u a l toward
t h i n g s i n s i d e ; a n d t h e d i v i n e toward t h i n g s a b ove . ( SD 2 2 . 3 4
[ 5 :442 ] )

In this view, one moves "from that which exists outside us" to
"tha t which exists inside us" to "that which exists above us."
Then, playing with the symbolic significance of the number six,
which stands out so strongly in the biblical tradition, and draw­
ing, no doubt, on the Mystical Ark of Richard of St. Victor, Bona­
venture proceeds to show in what sense there are six steps
involved in this ascent to God: two involved in reflection on the
world outside ourselves, two involved in reflection on the world
within ourselves, and two involved in reflection on the mystery
of God. He then goes on to show how the human person is
equipped with six powers corresponding to these six levels:
In a c c o rd a n c e with the s i x sta g e s of the a s c e nt to G o d , t h e re
a re s i x l eve l s i n t h e p owe r s of t h e s o u l by w h i c h we a s c e n d
56 -:- Bonaventure 's Program

fro m t h e l owest to the h i g h est , f rom t h i n g s external to t h i n g s

i nte r n a l . fro m tempora l t h i n g s to etern a l t h i n g s . T h e s e a re:
sense, i m a g i nation, rea son. i ntellect. i ntelligence. and h i g h p o i nt
of t h e m i n d o r t h e s p a r k of synderesis . These g ra d es we h ave
implanted i n u s by n a t u re. They h ave been d efo rmed t h rough
sin. a n d h ave b e e n reformed by m e a n s of g race. T h ey m u st be
c l e a n sed by j u stice, exercised by knowledge, and p e rfected b y
wisdom. (JS 1 . 6 [ 5 : 297 ] )

This doctrine of the six levels of reflection corresponding to six

powers of the soul can be traced to a text mistakenly attributed
to Augustine, On the Spirit and the Soul. This material can be
found in Isaac of Stella as well and can be traced back to Boethius
and Augustine. These six powers should be understood not as
faculties of the soul but as functions of the soul.
The concern with the high point of the mind, apex mentis, cor­
responds to the interior point of integration of the many diverse
functions and faculties of the soul. If we follow the inner way, our
tendency will be to speak of this point in the language of depth.
But if we follow the lead of Augustine, we recognize that the
depth of our interiority is identical with the high point. The turn
inward is simultaneously the turn upward. Thus, for Bonaven­
ture, the term points to that inner point of wholeness and inte­
gration which is crucial for the mystical experience. Commenting
on the return of the Magi to their homeland, he writes:
The fifth d ay of t h e i r return t a kes p l ace by m e a n s of t h e rec­
o l lection of the s o u l . . . . The s o u l which h a s been s p re a d o ut
thro u g h i m a g i n ings, thoug hts. a ffections. a n d speech s h o u l d
now b e g at h e red i n . . . . There a re seven i nter i o r powers. l i ke a
c i rc l e within a ci rcle. w h i c h need to be g a t h e re d together.
namely s e n se. i m a g i nation. estimation. which is m idway
betwe e n reason a n d the i m a g i n ation beca use it a p p rehends
somet h i n g of the s p i r i t u a l good; reason. t h ro u g h which t h e s o u l
knows itself, a n d i n k n owing itself. k n ows oth e r s p i ritu a l s u b­
sta nces; t h e i ntel lect. i n w h i c h t h e p r i n c i p l e s of t h e ete r n a l l aws
a b ide; i ntelligence, w h i c h contemplates God H i m se lf; a n d t h e
apex of t h e m i n d . w h i c h i s t h e very h e i g h t of t h e s o u l , a n d i s .
 Bonaventure 's Program -:- 57

a s i t were, t h e c e nter i n w h i c h a l l t h e oth e r p owers a re g a t h­

ered together. ( Sermon 4 on Epiphany [ 9 : 162])

In The Journey of the Soul into God, from a different perspective,

Bonaventure addresses the same issue:
Those w h o w i s h to a s c e n d to G o d m u st avo i d s i n w h i c h
d eforms nature . T h ey m u st exercise the a b ove-mentioned nat­
u ra l p owe rs by p rayer to receive regenera t i n g g ra ce; by a g o o d
l ife t o receive p u rify i n g j u stice; by med itation t o receive t h e i l l u­
m i n a t i o n of k n ow l e d g e ; a n d by conte m p lation to receive t h e
w i s d o m that p erfects . J u st a s g race i s t h e f o u n d a t i o n of t h e
w i l l ' s recti t u d e a n d of t h e p e n etrating e n l i g htenm ent o f reason,
s o f i rst we m u st p ray; second, we m u st l ive i n a h o ly m a n ner;
t h i rd , we m u st con centrate o n t h e reflect i o n s of truth a n d , b y
concentra t i n g o n t h e s e , m o u nt ste p b y ste p u nt i l w e c o m e " to
t h e h i g h m o u nt a i n " where we s h a l l s e e t h e " G o d of g o d s i n
S i o n . " ( JS 1 . 8 [ 5 : 298])

With this we gain a sense of the six stages in the structure of

the journey and the relation of these steps to an understanding of
the human subject who is to undertake it. It is a person of faith
who engages in this journey. Therefore it would be a mistake to
think of this as some sort of proof for the existence of God. It is
from the standpoint of faith that one looks at reality to discern its
deepest message.
We will try to follow this way with the Seraphic Doctor in the
spirit which he himself suggests, a spirit of prayer and medita­
tion embracing both our head and our heart, both our intellect
and our affect, seeking to find that sense of integration and
wholeness in which peace is to be found. We will move from the
"outside world" to the "inside world" to the "mystery above our­
selves," looking at each level from two perspectives until all con­
verge in the mystery of Christ. At that point, Bonaventure invites
us to move with and through Christ into the silence of loving,
mystical union.
 Chapter 2

The World Outside

The first chapter of The Journey of the Soul into God introduces the
reader to a way of reflecting on the mystery of the created order.
Here the experience of St. Francis interacts with the theological
and philosophical reflection of Bonaventure in a fascinating way.
We are concerned above all with the sense of the familial unity of
the entire created order that appears in the life of St. Francis, and
with the way in which Bonaventure reflects on this in terms of
theology and spirituality.
It is very obvious that this view of the material universe dif­
fers greatly from that of the medieval vision of Catharism, with
its conviction that material reality is fundamentally evil. But
beyond this it has been argued that the vision of St. Francis
involves a spirituality that places a distinctive emphasis on the
material world. In the case of Francis, and in the Bonaventurean
development of the vision of Francis, the material world of God's
creation plays a very positive role in spirituality. That the world
can be a problem, even for Bonaventure, we will see later. But
that is no longer a case of the world precisely in its material
nature as God's creation. It is quite a different question.
What we find in Bonaventure, first of all, is a spirituality that
sees a very positive, spiritual significance in material beings and
in human sense experience. Those who are familiar with the writ­
ings of the ancient Eastern Christian writers such as Origen,
Clement of Alexandria, and Maximus the Confessor will notice
striking affinities between their sense of cosmic mysticism and
that of Bonaventure.

58
 The World Outside -:- 59

The Experience of St. Francis

Before looking directly at Bonaventure's reflections on the exter­

nal world of creation, it might be helpful to recall something of
the life of St. Francis. Of basic significance is the scene before the
bishop of Assisi early in the process of the saint's conversion. It
will be recalled tha t Francis had come into considerable conflict
with his biological father, Pietro Bernardone, because of the way
the son was using or giving away the goods of his father to the
needy who appealed for help. In a desperate effort to resolve the
conflict, the two appeared before the bishop seeking his media­
tion and judgment. It is there, in a scene laden with drama, that
Francis stripped off all his clothing and returned everything to
his father saying:
Until n ow I h ave c a l l e d yo u father h ere on e a rt h . b ut n ow I c a n
say w i t h o ut reservati o n , " O u r Fat h e r w h o a re i n h e aven , " s i n ce
now I p l a c e a l l my t reas u re a n d a l l t h e c o n f i d e n c e of my h o p e
i n h i m . ( LM 2 . 4 [ 8 : 508])

The deep sense of God as loving source of all, on whom

Francis is now totally dependent stands out strongly. Surely it is
a long way from the scene before the bishop to the composition
of the Canticle of Creatures toward the end of his life. But the idea
that appears in the Canticle of a universal familial relation uniting
all creation is not new. It has been with St. Francis all along ever
since this scene with his father, but it is radicalized in the Canticle
as his personal experience of reconciliation with what has been
happening to him is translated into a sense of reconciliation with
all aspects of creation.
From this perspective, we can begin to understand why i t is
that in the mind of Francis, radical poverty as a spiritual outlook
assumes such foundational importance. One does not divide up
and carry horne as private property what is God's common gift
to all. If I sit near a great waterfall with no concern for owning it
or using it to generate power or keeping other people away from
it, then I am truly free to see it and to enjoy it as a reflection of
nature's beauty. I can rejoice in it. I do not need to be tied to it by
60 -:- The World Outside

ownership. This might give at least some insight into the con­
nection between a deep creation theology and the meaning of
spiritual poverty. Such a spiritual outlook makes room for a
deeper sense of our bonds to all other creatures in the world of
God's creation.
The early biographies of St. Francis are consistent in describ­
ing this sort of relation between the "Little Poor Man" and the
created world. Because he chose to possess nothing, in a sense, all
things were his to enjoy. As Thomas of Celano writes:
He praised the Artist in every work of the artist. . . . He rejoiced in
all the works of the Lord's hands, and behind all things that were
pleasant to behold he saw their life-giving reason and cause. I n
beautiful things he s a w Beauty itself; a l l things were good t o him.
"He who made u s i s the highest Good," they cried o u t to him . . . .
From all things he made a ladder for himself by which he could
come even to His throne. (See Celano, Legenda 2.124, 165)

Bonaventure writes in similar terms in The Life of St. Francis:

I n everyt h i n g beaut if u l , he saw Bea uty itself . . . . With t h e power
of a n u n u s u a l d evot i o n , he savored in e a c h a n d every c reature
that fonta l G ood n ess flow i n g in them as in so m a ny s m a l l
streams. A n d h e perce ive d a d ivine harmony i n t h e i nterplay o f
powe rs a n d activities God h a s g iven t h e m . A n d l i ke t h e p rophet
David, h e sweetly exhorted them to praise t h e Lord . ( LM 9 . 1
[8: 530])

In brief, St. Francis is seen by his early biographers as a person

who had an exceptional ability to discover the traces of God in
the world of nature. He was a man possessed of an extraordinary
love for created things. For him the whole of creation is a gift
from God and a sacramental manifestation of God. The entire
created order could well be seen as a family because all creatures
have their origin in God. This is what all things share in common.

Bonaventure's Development

Bonaventure takes up St. Francis's vision of creation and enriches

it by relating it to some of the great philosophical insights that
 Tlze World Outside -:- 61

have helped humans to define their place in the world. Bonaven­

ture agrees with Celano that what is distinctive about St. Francis's
vision of creation is his feeling of belonging to one and the same
family with all other creatures. Bonaventure writes:
W h e n he c o n s i d e re d t h e s o u rce of a l l t h i n g s , h e wa s f i l led with
even g reate r p i ety, c a l l i n g c reatures-no matter h ow s m a l l-by
the n a m e of b roth e r or s i ster. b e c a u s e he k n ew t h ey h a d t h e
s a m e s o u rce a s h i m self. ( LM 8 . 6 [ 8 : 527])

Tlze Objective World of Creation

As we have indicated already, St. Francis can be seen as a person
of immediate religious experience. On the other hand, Bonaven­
ture appears as the theologian who, more completely than any
other, transformed this religious experience into a rich theologi­
cal vision of creatures as mirrors reflecting God's power, wis­
dom, and goodness. We can single out three interrelated points
that illustrate this.
First, the loving Father of St. Francis becomes the theological
mystery of primal Goodness, the principle of fontal fullness in
which is grounded the mystery of the divine persons within the
Trinity, and the circle of creation that flows like a river outside the
Trinity. Details of Bonaventure's theology of the Trinity will be
discussed in a later chapter. For now, it is sufficient to point out
that trinitarian theology provides a rich background to the sim­
ple, direct confession of St. Francis concerning God as universal
Father.
Corresponding to Bonaventure's understanding of the triune,
creative God, the entire cosmos can be seen as a vast symbol of
God. At this point, Bonaventure reveals clear traces of Augus­
tine's theology of creation. It is here that Bonaventure works with
a well-developed theology of exemplarity.
One might envision God as an artist. As a human artist has an
idea in his or her mind and tries to render that idea externally in
some object of art such as a statue, a painting, or a work of music
or literature, so God has an Idea in mind and projects that Idea
externally to bring forth the created universe. The universe,
62 -:- The World Outside

therefore, can be seen as a work of art that expresses the divine

Idea in something that is not God; that is, the created universe.
So it a p p e a r s t h a t the e ntire wo r l d is l i ke a s i n g l e m i rror. f u l l
o f l i g hts t h a t sta n d i n t h e p resence o f t h e d iv i n e Wisdom. s h ed­
d i n g l i g ht l i ke b u r n i n g coa l s . ( SD 2.27 [ 5 : 340])

All creatures reflect God in some way, even though it may be

a very distant reflection. In this sense, everything in the created
order may be seen at least as a vestige of i ts divine, creative
source. The Latin word for vestige means simply a footprint. A
vestige, in Bonaventure's usage, may be compared with the foot­
print of a person in the sand of the beach. One who discovers the
footprint may not discover a lot about the person who left it
there. But something can be known about the person's size,
weight, and so on. So it is with the relation of all creation to God.
Every created reality can open us to some awareness of the
source of this footprint. But at best it is a distant and unclear
knowledge.
Within this cosmos, all of which reflects God in some way,
there is a particularly intense reflection to be found in the human
creature. Humanity is to reflect God with a particular responsi­
bility. It is not simply a vestige. It is an image of the divine. Its task
is, above all, to bring to conscious expression the song of creation,
which Augustine described centuries earlier: "We did not make
ourselves, but we were made by God who is forever" (Confessions
bk. 9, 10, 25). 1t is in humanity that this song of creation finds con­
scious voice. As Bonaventure writes:
I n a l l of us t h e re a ri ses a p ra i s e of God in a l l t h i n g s . A l l c rea­
tures c ry o ut: "God . " What, t h e n , s h o u l d I d o ? I w i l l s i n g o ut
toget h e r with t h e m . The t h i c k str i n g on the zither d o e s n ot
sound p leasant by itself. B ut i n h a rmony with oth e r s it d o e s .
( SD 18.25 [ 5 :418 ])

Francis's sense of familial relations among creatures plays a

crucial role in Bonaventure's understanding of the spirituality of
St. Francis. The inner dynamism of such a vision must lie in the
shaping of all our relations to reality in the light of the mystery of
 Tile World Outside -:- 63

the divine, creative love. If God so loves the world and all in it,
how can we not love the world of God's creation. It is, indeed, the
creative love of God confessed by St. Francis in the scene before
the bishop that flows out into all the elements of creation so that
our Creator-God is simultaneously the creator of the entire uni­
verse. And the plan for reflecting on God's creation is laid out
before us:
In t h i s s o rt of p rayer one i s e n l i g h tened to k n ow the ste p s of
the a s c e nt to G o d . For we a re c reated in s u c h a way t h a t t h e
u n iverse i t s e l f i s a l a d d e r f o r asc e n d i n g to G o d . A n d a m o n g
creatures. s o m e a re vest i g e s a n d oth e rs a re i m a g e s ; s o m e a re
corpora l , a n d oth e rs a re s p i ri t u a l ; some a re tempora l . a n d oth­
e r s a re everlast i n g ; s o m e a re o ut s i d e of u s. oth e rs a re i n s i d e
u s . S o t h a t w e m i g h t a r rive at t h e f i rst P r i n c i p l e w h i c h i s m o st
s p i r i t u a l a n d ete r n a l a n d a b ove u s . we m u st p a s s t h ro u g h those
vest i g e s w h i c h a re corpora l and tempora l a n d o uts i d e us. A n d
t h i s i s w h a t i t m e a n s to b e l e d i n t h e way of G o d . N ex t we
m u st e nter i nto o u r m i n d , w h i c h is t h e i m a g e of G o d . a n i m a g e
w h i c h i s everlasting. s p i ri t u a l . a n d with i n u s ; a n d t h i s i s t o e nter
i nto t h e truth of G o d . T h e n we m u st t ra nscend o u rselve s to
t h a t w h i c h i s ete r n a l . most s p i r i t u a l . a n d a b ove u s by l o o k i n g
at t h e F i rst P r i n c i p l e . A n d t h i s i s w h a t i t m e a n s t o rej o i c e i n
t h e k n ow l e d g e of G o d a n d i n revere nce f o r G o d ' s majesty. (JS
1 . 2 [ 5 : 297 ] )

Though Bonaventure uses many symbols to elicit a sense of

the religious meaning of the created world, two of his favorite
symbols are that of the book and that of the window. The entire
universe can be thought of as a book. Here we are dealing with a
metaphor drawn from the human experience of knowledge and
language.
Human knowledge is internal to the mind of the knower.
When a person wishes to express that knowledge to another, it
takes the external form of sound; the sound of the human voice
shaping words that symbolize the thoughts that remain in the
speaker's mind . Knowledge takes the form of language and can
be communicated in the form of speech and writing. A written
64 -:- The World Outside

document, therefore, is the external, symbolic expression of the

internal knowledge in the mind of the author.
When applied to God and to creation, this suggests that God's
inner Word of knowledge becomes the cosmos when it is pro­
jected outward. The cosmos, then, is comparable to a language
system, or a book. The inner content of this book is the eternal
Word of God. In learning how to read this cosmic book, therefore,
we are learning something about God. Without doubt, if Bona­
venture were to pick up the writings of some twentieth-century
cosmologists and discover how they speak of their work as
"reading the mind of God," he would no doubt resonate with the
language, though he would have a fundamentally different
understanding of what the language means.
The e ntire wo r l d i s , a s it were, a k i n d of b o o k i n w h i c h t h e
Creato r c a n b e k n own i n terms of p ower, w i s d o m , a n d g ood­
ness w h i c h s h i n e t h ro u g h in c reatures . ( Commentary on Wis­
dom 1 3 . 5 [ 6 : 193])

Because our human vision has become distorted through the

influence of sin, however, we find it difficult to read this book
correctly. It has become for us almost an "unknown language­
like Hebrew or Greek-and the book of the universe has become
unknown to us" (SD 2.20 [5:340]).
Therefore, we need the help of another book to enable us to
read the book of creation. If sin has blinded us to the mystery of
the cosmos, the gift of God's grace will again open our eyes, and
with the help of a second book, the Sacred Scriptures, we will
learn again to read the book of creation. And the central point of
both the cosmic and the scriptural books is compacted into the
mystery of Christ; for, in his humanity, Christ can be described as
an external book in which the internal book of God's Word
becomes incarnate in the most intense and explicit way. Speaking
about the book of creation from the perspective of the original
creation and the Fall, Bonaventure writes:
It is c e rta i n t h a t as l o n g as h u m a n ity stood u p r i g h t , h u m a n s
possessed t h e knowledge o f created t h i n g s a n d t h ro u g h t h e i r
s i g n ificance, t h ey were c a r ried u p to G o d ; to p ra ise, worship,
 The World Outside -:- 65

a n d l ove G o d . Th i s is t h e p u rpose of c rea t i o n , a n d t h i s is h ow

c re a t i o n i s l e d b a c k to G o d . B ut after t h e Fa l l , t h i s k n owledge
wa s l o st , a n d t h e re wa s n o l o n g e r a nyo n e to l e a d c reatures
b a c k to G o d . The refore, t h i s book-th e wor l d-became d e a d a n d
i l l e g i b l e . A n d a n ot h e r b o o k was n e e d e d t h ro u g h w h i c h t h i s o n e
wo u l d b e l i g hted u p , so t h a t i t c o u l d receive t h e sym b o l i c
m e a n i n g o f c reated t h i n g s . Th i s b o o k i s t h e b o o k of S c r i p t u re
w h i c h esta b l i s h es t h e l i kenesses, t h e p roperties, a n d t h e sym­
b o l i c m e a n i n g of those t h i n g s written d ow n i n t h e b o o k of t h e
world . A n d s o , S c r i p t u re h a s t h e powe r t o restore t h e e ntire
wo r l d a n d b r i n g it to t h e k n owledge, p raise, a n d l ove of G o d .
( SD 1 3 . 1 2 [ 5 : 390])

The deep meaning of the book of the world and the book of
Scripture is expressed in its most compact form in the mystery of
the incarnation of the Word:
The o n e who wa s i nv i s i b l e i n the f i r st i n stance became v i s i b l e
f o r o u r s a ke . N ow a s a m e nt a l word ca n n ot b e h e a rd before i t
i s expressed vocally, b ut becomes a u d i b l e to u s w h e n i t h a s
been c l ot h e d w i t h t h e s o u n d o f t h e voice, so t h e I n ca r n ate
Word , befo re H i s b i rth, c o u l d n ot be u n d e rstood . B ut a fter H i s
b i rt h , w h e n H e h a d c l othed H i mself with f l e s h j u st a s a word
is expre s s e d by t h e voice, He became percepti b l e to u s . So i t
i s t h a t Aug u st i n e writes i n De doctrina christiana 1 , " J u st a s
w h e n we s p e a k s o t h a t what we h ave i n o u r m i n d m ay e nter
i nto the m i n d of the h e a re r t h ro u g h t h e e a rs of the f l e s h , a n d
t h e word t h a t we c a r ry i n o u r h e a rt b e c o m e s a s o u n d w h i c h
i s c a l l e d s p e e c h , a n d yet o u r t h o u g h t i s n ot c h a n g e d i nto s o u n d
but re m a i n s i ntegra l i n itself even w h i l e a s s u m i n g t h e f o r m of
s o u n d by w h i c h i t can i m p i n g e on the e a rs w i t h o ut a ny m a r k
o f c h a n g e i n itse lf, s o t h e Word o f G o d wa s m a d e f l e s h t h a t
H e m i g h t dwe l l a m o n g u s w h i l e u n d e rg o i n g n o c h a n g e i n
H i m self. " T h e Word b e c a m e n ot o n ly a u d i b l e b ut v i s i b l e a s wel l .
I n itself, i t i s m o re f i tti n g t h a t a word b e h e a rd t h a n t h a t i t b e
s e e n . B ut t h e Word of t h e Father, w h i c h c o u l d be n e i t h e r h e a rd
n o r s e e n , b e c a m e both v i s i b l e a n d a u d i b l e i n H i s b i rt h . So it i s
t h a t 1 J o h n 1 w r i tes:
66 -:- The World Outside

Th i s is what we p roclaim to you :

w h at was from t h e beg i n n i n g ,
w h a t we h ave h e a rd .
what w e h ave seen with o u r eyes.
what we h ave looked upon.
a n d our hands h ave touched-
we s p e a k of t h e Word of Life.
This Life became visible.
We h ave seen a n d bear witness to i t .
a n d we p ro c l a i m to you t h e eter n a l Life
that wa s p resent to the Father
a n d became visible to u s .
( Sermon 1 on the Nativity o f the Lord [ 9 : 1 03 ] )

Thus, by means of the single metaphor of the book with its full
linguistic background, the Seraphic Doctor draws together in a
powerful way the mystery of creation with that of incarnation.
As regards the symbol of "window/' we need to think of the
glorious stained glass going into two magnificent Gothic struc­
tures in the city of Paris during the lifetime of Bonaventure: the
cathedral of Notre Dame and the remarkable Saint Chapelle. Both
of these buildings present the visitor, even today, with an orgy of
richly colored light, broken into patterns of the most varied hues,
the color-tones shifting as the sun moves around the exterior of
the buildings. Both are situated in the center of Paris, where
Bonaventure delivered the following statement in 1273, a text that
combines the metaphor of the book with that of the window:
The e ntire wo rld is a s h a d ow. a road. a vestige, a n d it is a l so
a b o o k writte n o ut s i d e (of God). F o r i n e a c h c reature t h e re i s
a s h i n i n g f o rth o f t h e d i v i n e exemplar. b ut m i xed with d a rkness.
Hence c reatures a re l i ke a k i n d of da rkn ess m i xed with l i g h t .
A l s o i n every c reature there i s a road l e a d i n g t o t h e exemplar.
J u st a s yo u s e e t h a t a ray of l i g h t e ntering t h ro u g h a w i n d ow
is c o l o red i n d ifferent ways accord i n g to t h e d ifferent c o l o rs of
t h e va rious parts, so t h e d iv i n e ray s h i n e s f o rth i n each a n d
every c reature i n d ifferent ways a n d i n d i fferent p roperties . I t
says i n Wisdom: "Wisdom shows h e rself i n h e r ways . " S o , t h e
 The World Outside -:- 67

creatu re i s a vest i g e of the w i s d o m of G o d . The refore, t h e c rea­

ture is n ot h i n g oth e r t h a n a c e rta i n l i ke n e s s of the d i v i n e wis­
d o m ; a k i n d of statue. F o r a l l t h e s e reasons. c re a t i o n i s a
c e rt a i n b o o k w ritte n o utside. ( SD 1 2 . 14 [ 5 : 38 6 ] )

In Tlte ]oumey of tlte Soul into God, Bonaventure writes:

Creatures a re s h a d ows, echoes, a n d p i c t u res of t h a t m ost p ow­
erful. m o st w i s e. a n d m o st p e rfect P r i n c i p l e . . . . They a re ves­
tiges, representations, s pecta cles p roposed to u s a n d s i g n s
divinely g ive n s o t h a t we c a n s e e G o d . T h e s e c reatures a re . . .
exe m p l ificati ons presented to s o u l s sti l l u ntra i n ed a n d i m m ersed
in s e n s i b l e t h i n g s so that t h ro u g h t h e s e n s i b l e t h i n g s t h ey s e e,
they w i l l b e l e d to i ntel l i g i b l e t h i n g s w h i c h t h ey d o n ot s e e a s
t h ro u g h s i g n s to that w h i c h i s s i g n if i e d . (JS 2 . 1 1 [ 5 : 302 ] )

To the degree that our souls are cleansed of sin by grace and
our spiritual senses again come to function in a healthy way, the
whole of the cosmos can be seen to reflect something of the rich­
ness of the divine life.
The s u p re m e power, wisdom, a n d b e n evo l e n c e of t h e C reator
s h i n e forth in c reated t h i n g s i nsofa r as the b o d i ly s e n s e s m a ke
them k n ow n to t h e i nter i o r senses in t h re e ways . F o r t h e b o d­
i ly s e n s e s se rve t h e i nt e l l ect w h e n it i nvestig ates rationally, o r
believes fa ithfu l l y, o r c o ntemplates i ntellectual ly. O n e w h o c o n­
tem p l ates c o n s i d ers t h e a c t u a l existence of t h i n g s ; o n e w h o
bel ieves c o n s i d e r s t h e h a b i t u a l c o u rse of t h i n g s ; a n d o n e w h o
i nvestigates w i t h reason considers the potent i a l exc e l l e n ce of
things . (JS 1 . 1 0 [ 5 : 298])

After drawing the reader through a series of triadic structures

in relation to each of the above-mentioned functions of the soul,
Bonaventure concludes:
Therefore, f ro m v i s i b l e t h i n g s , t h e s o u l r i s e s to refl e ct on t h e
power, w i s d o m , a n d g o o d n ess o f God i n s ofa r a s G o d exists ,
l ives, a n d i s i ntelligent, p u rely s p i ritu a l a n d i n corru pti b l e a n d
i m m utable. ( JS 1 . 1 3 [ 5 : 299])
68 o} The World Outside

Discovering God in Sense Experience Itself

From here, the next level of Bonaventure's reflection is concerned
with how to read the book of the cosmos not in its objective exis­
tence outside the mind but in the actual human sense experience
of the cosmos. The theological principle that stands in the back­
ground is that God is present in all creatures by reason of the
divine essence, power, and presence (JS 2.1 [5:299]).
At this level of reflection, it is a question of what goes on in our
bodies when the external world of empirical realities impinges
on human experience through our sense organs. In terms charac­
teristic of the medieval understanding of human nature (micro­
cosm) and its relation to the physical universe (macrocosm),
Bonaventure writes:
It s h o u l d be n oted that t h i s world , which is c a l led the m a c ro­
cosm, enters o u r s o u l . the m i c rocosm, t h ro u g h t h e d o o r s of t h e
five s e n se s i n a s fa r a s sense o bj ects a re experienced, enjoyed,
and j udged . ( JS 2 . 2 [ 5 : 300])

In discussing these three functions-experience, enjoyment,

and judgment-involved in the process of sensation, Bonaven­
ture leads the reader from the point at which the external data
impinge on the sense organs to reflect on the way in which sense
pleasure arises at the level of sensation. This involves qualities
such as beauty, sweetness, or wholesomeness. At this level, Bona­
venture offers reflections on the nature of beauty which he
describes in terms that hark back to Pythagorean mathematics
and ancient Greek aesthetics together with the philosophical
principle that virtue lies in the middle between the extremes:
"Beauty is n oth i n g other than n u merical proporti o n , " or a "cer­
t a i n d i s position of pa rts together with pleasing color. " Ag a i n pro­
porti on, in as fa r as it i nvolves powe r or strength, is c a l led
pleasure when t h e power a cti ng does not d i s p roportionately
exceed the sense o rg a n receiving it. For the senses a re p a i ned
by extremes and d e l i ghted by moderation . . . . Thus t h ro u g h plea­
sure, d e l i g htfu l external objects enter the s o u l by m e a n s of t h e i r
l i keness to p roduce t h ree k i n d s of pleasure . (JS 2 . 5 [ 5 : 301 ])
 The World Outside -:- 69

From this follows the judgment that this is indeed a beautiful

or delightful object. And it is because of its beauty that it evokes
an experience of delight in the human person. Here in the judg­
ment the triadic structure of sensation is completed. And already
here in this triadic structure (experience, enjoyment, judgment)
involved in sense experience, Bonaventure sees a vestige of the
Trinity. The issue of aesthetics is drawn out yet further:
S i n c e a l l t h i n g s a re b e a utifu l a n d in s o m e way d e l i g htfu l . a n d
s i n c e b e a uty a n d d e l i g h t d o n ot exist without p ro p o rtion, a n d
s i n ce p ro p o rtion i s fo u n d p r i m a r i ly i n n u m bers. a l l t h i n g s m u st
i nvolve n u m ber. T h e refore. " n u m b e r is t h e p r i n c i p a l exe m p l a r i n
t h e m i n d of t h e C reator. .. a n d i n t h i n g s i t i s t h e p r i n c i p a l ves­
t i g e l e a d i n g to W i s d o m . S i nce t h i s is m o st evi dent to a l l a n d
very c l o s e to G o d . i t l e a d s u s . . . very c l o s e to G o d . I t m a kes
God k n ow n in a l l b o d i ly a n d s e n s i b l e t h i n g s w h e n we perce ive
t h e m in terms of n u m be r. w h e n we t a ke d e l i g h t in t h e i r n u m e r­
i c a l p roportions. a n d w h e n we m a ke defin ite j u d g m e nts i n
accord a n c e with t h e l aws of n u m b e r s . (JS 2 . 1 0 [ 5 : 302 ] )

God is seen here as the basic principle that undergirds any

true and solid human judgment about the beauty of creation. The
laws or standards-or the judicial numbers, as Augustine re­
ferred to them-preexist creation in the eternal Word of God, or
in the divine Art. The deepest truth about creatures is not to be
found in the simple fact of their physical existence or in our
knowledge of their chemical makeup. It is found, rather, in the
awareness that each creature is a symbol pointing beyond itself
to the eternal Archetype. From this we can conclude that it is pos­
sible: " that all creatures in this sensible world lead the spirit of
the contemplative and the wise person to the eternal God" US
2.11 [5:302]).
Without doubt, any object in the world around us can be of
significance in our search for the mystery of God. The first biog­
raphy by Celano gives a description of St. Francis that could
hardly be surpassed for a description of nature mysticism.
Who would be able to express the very great love which he had for
all things tha t were God's? Who would be able to tell of the sweet-
70 -:- The World Outside

ness he enjoyed when he contempla ted in creatures the wisdom of

the Creator, together with the Crea tor's power and goodness?
Certainly he was frequently filled with a great and unspeakable
joy from this sort of consideration when he looked upon the sun,
while he beheld the moon, and while he gazed on the stars and the
firmament. 0 simple piety, and pious simplicity. Even toward
small worms he burned with a great love, for he had read this
about the Savior: "I am a worm, and no man." Therefore he picked
them up from the road and placed them in a safe spot so that they
would not be crushed by the feet of those passing by. (Legendn
1 .80)

Surely all of us have had similar experiences of creation, perhaps

not as powerful, but real nonetheless: the experience of awe at
the Grand Canyon, the Rocky Mountains, Niagara Falls, the red­
wood forests, sunrise and sunset.
But it is not only the grandeur and magnificence of so many
creatures that evoke a sense of awe. It can also be the awareness
of the small and apparently insignificant: the structure of the
wing of a fly, the communal life of a colony of ants, and other
things of this sort, which we normally pass by without even
noticing. There are moments when we know that what we see is
more than j ust so much chemistry.
What we need is a more concentrated sense awareness. With
that, the beautiful objects of nature or of human culture can
awaken us to levels of reality that we do not attend to in our
everyday experience. This is not yet the mystical experience that
Bonaventure sees as the goal of the journey, but it is a sense of
meditative wonder that may serve to help us on the way. It is
already a contact with God, but "through a glass, darkly."
We have mentioned two symbols employed by Bonaventure
to express the meaning of creation. In The Journey of the Soul into
God he uses other symbols. In this case, he describes creation as a
ladder that the spiritual person can climb to arrive at ever deeper
awareness of God, as did St. Francis. He uses also the symbol of
the temple. In fact, this symbol, like that of the journey itself, or
that of the ladder, reaches from these opening chapters to the cli­
mactic point at the end of the journey.
 Tile World Outside -:- 71

One needs to recall the structure of the temple in Jerusalem.

One moves from the outer court to the interior, and then more
deeply into its depths in the Holy of Holies, where is contained
the Ark with the two angelic figures in the form of cherubim on
its lid. Suffice it to say at this point that, for Bonaventure, we are
still in the outer court of the temple. We can certainly feel the
presence of St. Francis there. And, impressive as the court of the
sensible world may be, this is not the end of the journey. Where
we go from here will be the material of subsequent chapters.

A Word of Caution
With all this in mind, it may be difficult to understand the harsh
language that Bonaventure uses to speak of the world in many of
his other spiritual writings. Two observations might be in place
concerning this issue.
First, Bonaventure is deeply grounded in Neoplatonic tradi­
tion both in his theology and in his spiritual doctrine. In fact, the
main line of the Christian West, from the very earliest centuries
of its history, has made extensive use of Neoplatonic elements.
This probably is attributable to the fact that, while Neoplatonism
is first of all a philosophical style, it seems to be more akin to reli­
gious and spiritual concerns than other possible philosophies. If
nothing else, it leans strongly in the direction of a genuinely
philosophical mysticism. Nevertheless, as a philosophical vision,
it has an abiding distrust of material reality, including the human
body.
By way of contrast, if we look at the biblical tradition concern­
ing both creation and anthropology, we find a religious tradition
that can describe the Creator who looks at the various creatures
of the material world and calls them good. We might describe it
as a religious tradition that saw genuine religious and spiritual
significance in the material world, which has its ultimate origin
in the creative love of God.
If we were to study the history of Christian Neoplatonism
closely, we would discover that something of the tension
72 -:- The World Outside

between these two traditions tends to remain in the writings of

most Christian Neopliittonists. We can think of St. Augustine as
an early example. In the case of Bonaventure, we find a Platoni­
cally structured hierarchy of created beings. While all may be
said to be good, some are "better" than others.
Most important for our reflections is the conviction that spiri­
tual realities such as the human soul are higher on the hierarchy
of being than the body together with all of material creation.
Some of this hierarchial understanding we saw above in the dis­
tinction between vestige and image. What makes humanity an
image lies, for Bonventure, principally in the area of the soul,
with its faculties and its functions. Given this sense of hierarchy,
it is quite possible for human persons to give an inappropriate
importance to something that stands lower on the hierarchy
ra ther than turning upward to things that are higher.
This leads to the second observation. While the spiritual writ­
ings of Bonaventure often use very strong, negative language
about the world, if we look closer we will see that such texts do
not refer to God's creation as such. In this spirituality, there is
much room for enjoying the world of creation. Yet one who fol­
lows St. Francis or Bonaventure does not love the world of God's
creation simply for its own sake, nor seek to find fulfillment for
the yearnings of the human heart simply in the created world.
When all the exhortations about the world are finished, we do
not really leave the world of God's creation. But we do try to
resist a certain ethos of the human world of society and culture.
This involves a way of relating to the world that is concerned
excessively with sensual pleasures, or with such things as money,
control, and power.
The harsh statements of Bonaventure refer not to God's cre­
ation as such but to distorted forms of human relations to the
world of created things. These texts are concerned with the ways
in which we give more weight to created goods than they can
bear. To appreciate them as creatures of God that awaken us to a
sense of the divine is one thing. To allow them to replace God in
our spiritual journey is quite another thing. Created things are
good and true, but theirs is a limited goodness and truth, had
 The World Outside -:- 73

only by reason of participa tion in the divine goodness and truth.

Reaching back to Augustine, Bonaventure explains this in terms
of the image of an artist.
For t h i n g s a re t r u e to t h e d e g ree t h a t t h ey exist e i t h e r in t h e i r
ow n rea l ity, o r a s u n iversals. a s t h ey exist i n t h e ete r n a l Art
a n d a re expressed there . A t h i n g i s g o o d . t h e n . i n s ofa r as i t i s
adequate d to t h e i nt e l l ect that c a u ses i t . B ut b e c a u s e it i s n ot
perfectly a d e q u ated to t h e reason that expre s s e s or represents
it, every c reature i s a l i e. a s August i n e says . ( SD 3 . 8 [ 5 : 344];
refere n c e to Aug ustine. On True Religion 61. 6 6 . 83; a n d 83
Questions q . 23)

This does not mean that creatures are bad. It means that they are
a limited good and can be misread to our detriment if we
attribute to them a greater truth than they possess. In the
Soliloquium, Bonventure writes:
Alas. 0 Lord, n ow I u n d e rsta n d . b ut it s h a m e s me to a d m it a l l
t h i s : my eyes were deceived by the f i g u re a n d b e a uty o f c rea­
tures. a n d I fa i l e d to s e e t h a t Yo u a re m o re b e a ut i f u l t h a n a l l
crea t i o n to w h i c h Yo u i m p a rted b ut a d ro p o f Yo u r p r i celess
splendor. . . . T h e sweetness of c reatures deceived my t a ste. a n d
I fa i l e d to n ot i c e t h a t Yo u a re sweeter t h a n h o n ey, f o r i t i s You
who i m p a rted to h o n ey a n d to every c reature t h e i r sweetness.
o r rat h e r Yo u r own . For every good t a ste o r f l avor in the c rea­
tures is b ut a to ke n of Yo u r sweetness . . . . Th u s . to o n e w h o
s e e s p roperly, t h e c h a r m of a l l c reatures i s b ut a s i g n t h a t l e a d s
t o Yo u r ete rn a l sweetness . ( Soli/. 1 . 3 . n . 1 2 - 1 3 [ 8 : 33 ] )

Or, again, we find a text that resonates strongly with the tragic
experience of Willy Loman in Arthur Miller's play Oeat/1 of a
Sales 1111711 :
Reflect over a n d ove r o n t h e f o l l owing thoug ht-not s i m p l y a s
somet h i n g yo u h ave h e a rd . b ut a s s o m et h i n g yo u h ave actu a l ly
experienced: n ot o n ly o n t h e b a s i s of word s . b ut a l s o o n t h e
b a s i s of facts: h ow u n st a b l e i s worldly wea lt h . h ow i n s e c u re i s
worldly s u ccess. a n d h ow f ut i l e i s worldly fa m e . ( Soltl. 2 . 2
[8:44-45 ] )
74 -:- The World Outside

It seems clear that wha t we are dealing with here is not the
world as God's creation but a world that has been worked over
and shaped in terms of human values and projects. It is not a
question of saying that the world of creation is somehow evil, but
rather that the goodness of creation is a participated goodness
and should not be allowed to take the place of the Absolute
Goodness of God in our lives.
With the first text, we are led to ask about the symbolic mean­
ing of all the goodness and beauty that we find in the world
around us. We have just seen Bonaventure's delightful reflections
on this dimension of human experience in the world.
In the second text we are invited to ask: What is it that can
finally support us in our quest for a meaningful existence?
Experience provides abundant evidence that all finite things, and
especially all human constructs, can betray us in the end. It is not
a question of saying that it is evil to be successful in one's career.
But it is a question of saying you cannot ultimately trust such suc­
cess. In both cases, in the Seraphic Doctor's view, what is prob­
lematic is the distorted importance we too easily give to what, by
definition, are finite goods or humanly constructed projects.

[ R]ecogn ize that yo u r capac ity is so g re a t t h a t no c reature

below G o d s uffices to f i l l yo u r desire . H u g h of St . Vi ctor writes:
"Every d e l i g ht , sweetness, o r b e a uty of a c reature m ay touch
the h u m a n h e a rt , b ut n o n e can f i l l i t . " And A n s e l m : "All a b u n­
d a n c e w h i c h is n ot G o d i s poverty to m e . " A n d G regory, i n h i s
Ethics: "The h u m a n s o u l i s m a d e to d e s i re G o d . A nyt h i n g below
G o d that t h e s o u l d e s i res is less t h a n its true g o a l . I t fo l l ows,
t h e n . that a nyt h i n g oth e r than God w i l l l eave the s o u l u n satis­
fied . " ( Soli/. 1 . 2 . 6 [ 8 : 31 ] )

From here we can see the logic of some form of asceticism or

discipline. The issue is that we commonly fail to read the book of
creation properly. We too easily give distorted importance to the
finite things of the world which should be-in their goodness,
truth, and beauty-symbols of the divine. Instead, we let them
become ends in themselves, replacing the mystery of God, who
alone can fill the emptiness that yawns in our depths. Discipline
 Tlu? World Outside -:- 75

and asceticism are indispensable in coming to terms with this

and eventually in finding the outer and inner quiet that is the
condition for a successful spiritual journey.
Ancient Greek philosophy formulated the maxim: Know
yourself! And Augustine once wrote: "I wish to know my God
and my soul. Nothing else? Nothing whatever" (Augustine,
Soliloqu iu m 1 .2.7). In a text reminiscent of both of these,
Bonaventure writes:
Therefore. 0 s o u l . m a ke a d a i ly exa m i n a t i o n of yo u r l if e . Look
carefully to s e e h ow fa r you h ave a d va n ced a n d h ow m u c h f u r­
t h e r yo u h ave yet to g o ; l o o k at t h e q u a l ity of yo u r m o ra l s a n d
t h e c h a racte r of yo u r l ove ; exa m i n e to w h a t d e g re e yo u a re l i ke
G o d a n d to w h a t d e g ree yo u a re u n l i ke G o d ; t a ke n ote of h ow
c l o s e to G o d . o r h ow fa r removed f ro m G o d yo u a re . Remember
this a l ways : i t i s better and m o re p ra isewo rthy to k n ow you r­
s e l f t h a n to i g n o re yo u rself w h i l e yo u c o m e to k n ow t h e c o u rse
of the stars. the p owe r of h e rbs. t h e structure of h u m a n n a t u re.
a n d the n a t u re of a n i m a l s-in s h o rt . a l l oth e r t h i n g s of h e aven
a n d e a rt h . Tu r n to yo u r i n n e r self. i f n ot a l ways, t h e n at l e a st
fro m t i m e to t i m e . M a ste r yo u r affections. g u i d e you r actions,
correct yo u r ways . ( Soli/. 1 . 1 . 2 [ 8 : 30])

Looking back at the way we have come, we can conclude that

this view, clearly rooted in the experience of St. Francis and
developed theologically by Bonaventure, might serve to awaken
us to a number of important concerns. It might alert us, first of
all, to the multiple dimensions of the world around us, and
awaken us to awe, admiration, and contemplative awareness of
those dimensions that do not appear as scientific data yet are real
factors in our experience.
It is a vision that calls us to recognize the beauty of things
independently of their practical usefulness. Surely questions
about use are inevitable. After all, we depend on other creatures
to support our own existence. But the contemplative, mystical
sense will have an impact on how we deal with such questions.
To accept the world as a gift does not mean that we do not use
it, nor do we look at it and tell the giver that it really is nothing.
76 -:- The World Outside

Our first response to a gift is gratitude. In a similar way, our first

response to the gift of our own existence is gratitude. It is in the
awareness of creation that the Christian sense of the Eucharist is
grounded.
In addition, at a very basic level, this vision might alert us to
the intimate relation between ourselves and the physical world
in which we live. We are so connected with the world and the
world with us that the fate of one is inseparable from that of the
other. In medieval terms, all the elements that go to make up the
macrocosm are somehow present in the microcosm that is
humanity. Hence, this is a spiritual vision that calls us to thought­
ful respect for the world that has given us our physical life and
sustains us in it.
It is interesting to reflect on the significance of this remarkable
vision of cosmic reality in relation to the contemporary cosmo­
logical sense of the unitary character of the cosmos. From a sci­
entific perspective, in terms of the best science available at the
present time, all the elements that go to make up what we today
call our cosmos appear to be deeply interrelated. Humanity, for
its part, emerges out of the chemical web of the cosmos. In the
famous line of Carl Sagan, we are stardust.
We are, in a sense, the cosmic process at a point where it has
become aware of itself in the form of human consciousness and
knowledge. We also have the freedom to take the cosmic process
into our own hands and to shape it by humanly chosen values
and ends. Thus, while we are deeply interwoven in the chemistry
of the cosmos, there is a significant way in which we are distinc­
tive. What we do with that distinctiveness can be of crucial
significance in shaping our relations to the cosmic context of our
life.
The vision of the world which we find in St. Francis and
Bonaventure, then, is not simply a naive religious dream. It offers
the wisdom of a spiritual vision that may help us define our rela­
tion to the physical world as we know it today.
O p e n yo u r eyes, a l e rt you r s p i ritua l ears, u n se a l you r l i p s , a n d
apply yo u r h e a rt , so t h a t i n a l l c reatures yo u m ay see, h e a r,
praise, l ove, se rve, g l o rify a n d h o n o r God, l e st t h e w h o l e world
 The World Outside -:- 77

rise u p a g a i n st yo u . F o r "the u n iverse s h a l l wa g e war a g a i n st

t h e foo l i s h . " O n t h e c o ntra ry, it w i l l b e a m a tt e r of g l o ry f o r
t h e w i s e w h o c a n s ay w i t h t h e p rophet : " F o r yo u h ave g iven
me, 0 Lord , a d e l i g h t in yo u r deeds, a n d I w i l l rej o i c e in t h e
wo r k of yo u r h a n d s . H ow g reat a re yo u r works, 0 Lord ! You
have m a d e a l l t h i n g s i n w i s d o m . The e a rth i s f i l l e d with you r
creatures . " ( JS 1 . 1 5 [ 5 : 299])
 Chapter 3

The World Inside

At this point, Bonaventure invites us to move from our reflec­

tions on the world outside to contemplate that mystery that lies
hidden within ourselves, the human soul with its varied func­
tions. As we make this move with Bonaventure, we might do
well to recall a remarkable statement of the philosopher Alfred
North Whitehead: "Religion is what the individual does with his
own solitariness." He then goes on to write: " . . . religion is solitari­
ness; and if you are never solitary, you are never religious" (Reli­
gion in the Making [New York: World Publishing Co., 1960], 16).
One could certainly argue about how adequate this is as a
description of religion, but one thing is clear. It certainly points to
a crucial dimension of religion without which religious systems
run the danger of becoming pure external formalities. At its
depth, writes Whitehead, "the religious insight is the grasp of
this truth: That the order of the world, the depth of reality of the
world, the value of the world in its whole and in its parts, the
beauty of the world, the zest of life, the peace of life, and the mas­
tery of evil, are all bound together" (Religion in the Making, 115).
Surely this statement reveals a deep insight into human expe­
rience and the meaning of religion in relation to that experience.
If we look at it from a theological perspective, we might describe
it this way. In the most basic sense, we are "from God and for
God." After all has been said about our origin from our parents,
our grandparents, and the rest of our family history, finally we
are "from" God. On the other hand, when we have said all that is
to be said about future plans, career, and projects, ultimately we
are "for" God.
78
 The World Inside -:- 79

This describes from a theological perspective what we experi­

ence psychologically. There is a point at the inner core of our
experience that can never be touched by any other human being.
No one can see through your eyes. No matter how fine one's
community experience may be in family life or elsewhere, who
you are deep inside is really your own most personal secret. You
may be able to talk about it to others, but finally no other human
person can really know you as you know yourself and as you
desire to be known. If you can be touched at this level at all, it
will be by God. Bonaventure cites Augustine in a significant way:

List e n to w h a t Aug u stine, the g re a t l ove r of G o d , h a s to s ay i n

h i s Confessions: "W h e n I l ove G o d , i t i s n ot b o d i l y b e a uty t h a t
I l ove, n o r tempora l g l o ry, n o r t h e b r i l l i a n c e of a l i g ht t h a t
a p p e a l s t o t h e eyes, n o r sweet melodies, n o r sweet-s m e l l i n g
o i ntments, n o r m a n n a , n o r h o n ey, n o r l i m b s m a d e f o r b o d i ly
embra c e : it i s n o n e of t h e s e t h i n g s t h a t I l ove w h e n I l ove G o d .
But w h a t d o I l ove ? I l ove a k i n d of l i g ht , a k i n d of voice, a
ce rta i n fra g ra nce, a c e rta i n food, a c e rta i n e m b ra c e of my i n n e r
self. W i t h i n m y s o u l t h e re s h i n es a l i g ht that s p a c e c a n n ot c o n­
t a i n ; the re i s a s o u n d that t i m e c a n n ot sti l l ; there i s a f ra g rance
t h a t n o wind c a n b l ow away; there is a savo r i n g that i s n ot
d i m i n i s h ed by eating; there i s s o m eth i n g that c l i n g s so t i g htly
to my soul t h a t s a t i ety d o e s n ot tea r u s a p a rt . " ( Soli/. 1.4, 44
[8:43 ])
What we do with our solitariness! At some point this is a cru­
cial issue of religion. When everything is said about the relations
that make up our lives, and all is said about religious teachings,
laws, rituals, and celebrations, religion is what we do with our
solitariness. It is what we do with that most intimate, personal
fact that, even in the midst of swarming human activity, we are
and remain alone inside. What do we do with this fact? Wha t do
we think about it? How do we deal with it?
In our culture, there is a strong tendency to block this out; to
drown it out with noise and activity. We are forever assaulted
with the portable radios and headsets carried everywhere on the
street, on the running path, in buses, and in trains, in the early
80 -:- The World Inside

morning hours and throughout the day, well into the night. And
there is the pervasive presence of the portable telephone even on
remote ski slopes in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado and the
Sierra Nevadas of California so that one may always be reached
and always be in contact.
This is not only a marketing phenomenon; it is also a religious
phenomenon. We cannot bear to turn off all the external signals
that come at us through these remarkable technological devices.
Why is that? Is it, perhaps, because of fear of the solitariness we
will experience within? And yet, despite all our efforts to silence
the voice of that inner silence, it does not go away. And the need
for personal depth remains. What does one do with one's soli­
tariness? This raises the issue of the contemplative dimension in
human life.
The contemplative dimension in the life of St. Francis appears
in all the early biographies. They speak of Francis's periods of
withdrawal to remote places and caves to pray, and we know
about the Rule for Hermitages as part of the early history of the
order. Bonaventure describes Francis in the following way:
In p rayer he had lea rned that the p resence of the H o l y S p i r i t
w h i c h h e l o n g ed for w a s g ranted m o re i ntimately t o those w h o
pray t o t h e d e g ree that t h e H o ly S p i rit fo u n d them withdrawn
fro m t h e r u s h of worldly a ffa irs . Therefore see k i n g o ut l o n ely
places. h e used to go to deserted a reas a n d a ba n d o n ed
c h u rches to s p e n d t h e n i g h t in p rayer. There h e often end u red
h o r r i b l e f i g hts with demons who struggled with h i m phys i c a l ly
a n d tried to p u l l h i m away f rom h i s d e s i re f o r p rayer. B ut a rmed
with heavenly weapons. t h e m o re vehemently he wa s attacked
by the e n e my, t h e stro n g e r h e became in p racticing v i rtue a n d
the m o re fe rvent i n p rayer. ( LM 1 0 . 3 [ 8 : 533])

This contemplative dimension of Francis was so strong in the

estimation of Bonaventure that it could be seen as the final mean­
ing of his way of life.
Above all, the Alverna experience as Bonaventure describes
it in The Life of St. Francis and in his sermons highlights this
dimension. The experience on Alverna is seen preeminently as
 The World Inside -:- 81

a contemplative-mystical experience. And it is the epitome and

summary of St. Francis's life.
The world of God's creation does indeed have an outside. But
it has an inside as well. And its inside is where human beings
encounter their solitariness and the possible depth of their rela­
tion with God. For a medieval theologian such as Bonaventure,
the inside of the world is the question of the human soul and its
remarkable functions.

The Soul as Image of God

The early Franciscan theologians developed the contemplative

dimension not only in terms of St. Francis's nature mysticism but
also, especially in the case of Bonaventure, by making use of the
Augustinian tradition of the inner way. As we have seen in the
preceding chapter, there is no doubt that, in the mind of Bona­
venture, the experience of the world of nature can trigger a deep
experience of wonder, meditation, and prayer. But beyond this,
Bonaventure urges us, after we have learned to see the world in
this way, to turn to the world of our inner experience. And there
we will find even more remarkable things.
With this in mind, we recall the spiritual journey of Augustine.
At one point in his Confessions, he describes how he has looked
everywhere to find whatever it is that he was looking for. He had
tried a variety of philosophies and youthful excesses, but he had
found nothing to satisfy his restless heart. He addressed God in
the following way:
Being thus admonished to return to myself, under your leadership
I en tered in to my inmost being. This I could do, for you became
my helper. I en tered there, and by my soul's eye, such as i t was, I
saw above that same eye of my soul, above my mind, an unchange­
able light. (Confessions 7.10)

More elaborate, but along a similar line, Augustine writes in his

slim tract On True Religion:
Do n o t go abroad . Return w i thin yoursel f. F o r truth d w e l l s in the
inner person. If you find that your nature is subject to change, then
82 -:- The World Inside

transcend yourself. But remember when you do this that you must
transcend yourself even as a rational soul. Move toward tha t place
where the light of reason is kindled . What is it that every good rea­
soning person a ttains but truth? And yet truth is not a ttained by
reasoning, but is itself the goal of all who reason. There is an agree­
ableness than which none can be grea ter. Come to agree with i t.
Confess tha t you are not as it is. It has to do no seeking, but you
reach it by seeking, not in space, but by a disposition of mind, so
that the inner person may come to agree with the indwelling truth
in a pleasure that is not low and carnal but supremely spiritual.
(On Tme Religion 39.72)

Here Augus tine describes in impressive terms the "turn

inward." Not having found what he was seeking in the world
outside himself, he now turns to the world within, to that
remarkable cosmos that resides within the world of the human
soul. And where is one more solitary than in the depths of one's
inner world? Throughout the Confessions and in other works such
as On the Trinity and The Teacher, Augustine will show himself to
be an outstanding master of the spirituality of the "inner way."
Following the lead of this master, Bonaventure, having com­
pleted the first two levels of his analysis of the spiritual journey
by the examination of the world of sensible things and of the
human sense experience of these things, now invites us to move
in another direction. Instead of continuing to look outward, let us
now look inward, into the world of our own interiority.
The fi rst two stages, by l e a d i n g u s to God by m e a n s of t h e
vestiges t h ro u g h w h i c h G o d s h i nes forth i n a l l c reatures. h ave
bro u g h t u s to t h e p o i nt of e nte ring i nto ou rse lves. t h a t i s . i nto
o u r m i n d , w h e re t h e d iv i n e i m a g e s h i n es forth . It is h e re t h a t
. . . we re-ente r i nto o u r very se lves; a n d a s i t were, l e av i n g t h e
outer c o u rt , w e s h o u l d strive t o see God t h ro u g h a m i r ro r i n
the h o ly p l a ce, t h a t i s , i n t h e s p a ce i n front o f the tabernacle.
Here. a s f ro m a c a n d e l a b ru m. the l i g h t of truth g l ows u p o n t h e
fa ce of o u r m i n d . i n w h i c h t h e i m a g e of t h e m o st b l essed
Tri n ity s h i nes i n splend or. (JS 3 . 1 [ 5 : 303])

In the Journey of the Soul into God this step leads Bonaventure
to reflect on the way in which the human being is more than a
 The World Inside -:- 83

distant vestige of God, but is truly an image of the Trinity. He

develops this by reflecting on the mystery of the soul's powers,
faculties, and functions. As we have seen with the reflections on
the world outside ourselves, Bonaventure approaches the issue
at two levels; so also here, in viewing the world inside ourselves,
his discussion takes place on two levels. The first involves reflec­
tions on the nature of the soul precisely as an image of God. The
second looks at the operation of divine grace within the soul,
cleansing it from sin and bringing it to perfection.
To develop his viewpoint, Bonaventure reaches back to ele­
ments of the Augustinian anthropology which the African Doctor
had developed in his work On the Trinity. Augustine, it will be
recalled, felt dissatisifed with the sort of physical metaphors
often used in the early fathers to discuss the mystery of the
Trinity. He felt that they were too crude and may well be more
harmful than helpful. In his attempt to move beyond these phys­
ical metaphors, he developed what has come to be known as the
psychological model of trinitarian theology. This style was to
have a massive influence on Western trinitarian theology down
to the present time.
This may be seen as another example of Augustine's tendency
to move into the world of human consciousness. If God is thought
of as supreme Spirit, then we might find some helpful insights
into the mystery of the divine by probing into the world of created
spirit. For Augustine, if the human person is to be understood as
an image of God, then the analysis of human reality might pro­
vide better analogies than the older physical analogies.
It is by looking inward into ourselves where we see something
of the dynamism of spirit-in-act that we may find clues to what
is meant by the purest Spirit-in-act. Augustine's attempt to find
helpful metaphors leads him to two significant triadic structures.
The first is mind-knowledge-love, and the second is memory­
intelligence-will. While Bonaventure does not use these exten­
sively in his trinitarian theology, he does employ this tradition
for laying out his anthropology. He will use especially the triad
of memory-intelligence-will.
Bonaventure will also follow Augustine in an unusual under-
84 -:- The World Inside

standing of what is meant by memory. The common understand­

ing of the term has to do with the way in which the human per­
son retains something of experiences from the past. We can
remember things that we did, or things that happened to us years
ago. Even though these things may not be at the foreground of
our consciousness for long periods of time, they remain deep
inside us and can be called forth by a variety of means. But for
Bonaventure, the term memory has a broader meaning. It involves
not only the past but the present and the future also; and in this
way it reflects something of the mystery of God's eternity.
I n t h e s o u l . w h i c h i s the i m a g e of God. there i s t h e m e m o ry of
past t h i n g s , the u n d e rsta n d i n g of p resent things, a n d the a ntic­
ipation of future t h i n g s . These things, which s u cceed each other
in d iverse moments of t i m e. a re gathered a n d b o u n d together
sim ultaneously in the s o u l w h i c h is a s p i ri t u a l su bstance. A n d
yet, beca u se the s o u l i s l i m ited a n d receives t h i n g s i nto itself
from o utside. i t does n ot enjoy total sim u ltaneity. God. o n t h e
other h a n d . receives n ot h i n g a n d is l i m ited i n n o way. T h e refore
G o d i s to be u n d e rstood necessa rily as h aving a l l t h i n g s s i m u l­
taneously p resent, without beg i n n i ng or end . A n d t h i s is h ow
we a re to u nd e rsta n d eternity. ( Trin. 5 . 1 . resp. [ 5 : 90])

Augustine had thought of memory in similar ways. But he

was fascinated further by the fact that there seem to be other
things going on inside us that we cannot fully account for in
terms of our ordinary understanding of human knowledge, and
Bonaventure would follow him in this regard. The description of
memory that we have just seen does not exhaust the possible
meaning of the term, nor does it explain the source of certain
kinds of knowledge.
We seem to know certain things that we apparently have
never learned. How do we account for this? In the background of
this style of reflection is the ancient Socratic and Platonic tradi­
tion of memory which still plays a role in so-called Socratic
approaches to teaching. Does the teacher simply feed the student
with data and information, or does the teacher, at certain levels,
help awaken the student's memory?
 Tlze World Inside -:- 85

Augustine is led to envision memory not simply as the place

where we hold our past experiences but as a much deeper well of
preconscious connection with the self (memory of the self), and
finally with God (memory of God). Out of this preconscious well
flows eventually a consciousness of self that can be named, ana­
lyzed, and thought about. Bonaventure will use the term "mem­
ory" in a similar way. It is impossible to come to a conscious
self-knowledge without that preconscious presence to self in­
volved in memory, he argues. The text of the Journey of the Soul
into God is a clear example of this.
In a technical discussion of three levels at which we can speak
of the activity of memory, Bonaventure has described how mem­
ory is the power to retain temporal things. It can also hold the
forms abstracted from sense experience. But, at a third level, he
speaks of the way eternal principles of logic and of the sciences
seem to be with us in an almost innate manner. For example, if
we know the meaning of the words whole and part, the truth of
the proposition that says "The whole is greater than the part" is
self-evident.
This sort of knowledge, which seems to be innate, suggests
that the soul is somehow in contact with what Platonic philoso­
phy would call the world of Ideas. Christian theology, at least
from the time of Augustine, had situa ted these Ideas in the mind
of God.
Fro m the t h i rd l eve l , we c o n c l u d e that m e m o ry h a s an u n d y­
i n g l i g ht p resent to i t s e l f i n w h i c h it rec a l l s u n c h a n g i n g truth s .
A n d t h u s , f ro m t h e o p e rations o f m e m ory, i t i s c l e a r t h a t t h e
s o u l i t s e l f i s a n i m a g e of God a n d a s i m i l i t u d e s o p resent to
itself a nd h av i n g G o d so p resent that it a c tu a l ly g ra s p s G o d a n d
potentia l l y " i s c a p a b l e o f possess i n g G o d a n d o f b e co m i n g a
pa rta ke r i n G o d . " (JS 3 . 2 [ 5 : 303])

All of this comes to bear very clearly when we look at Bonaven­

ture's more detailed statement about the relation of memory to
the other functions of the soul:
Enter i nto you rself, t h e refore, a n d s e e t h a t yo u r m i n d l oves itself
most fe rvently. B ut i t c o u l d n ot l ove itself if i t d i d n ot k n ow
86 -:- The World Inside

itself; a n d it c o u l d n ot k n ow itself if it were n ot p resent to i tself

i n m e m o ry, for whateve r we g ra s p with our u n d ersta n d i n g m u st
fi rst be p resent to us i n o u r m e m o ry. Fro m t h i s yo u c a n see,
not w i t h t h e eye of t h e body b ut with t h e eye of t h e m i n d ,
t h a t yo u r s o u l h a s t h ree p owers . I f you consider t h e a ctivites
of these t h ree powers a n d t h e i r relationships, yo u w i l l b e a b l e
t o see G o d t h ro u g h you rself a s t h ro u g h a n i m a g e . A n d t h i s ,
i ndeed , i s t o s e e " t h ro u g h a m i r ro r i n a n o b s c u re m a n ner." (JS
3 . 1 [ 5 : 303])

Bonaventure's analysis of intelligence or understanding is, in

a sense, an anticipation of an argument that will appear more
fully when we contemplate the names of God. In the present
level of reflection, Bonaventure focuses on the importance of
knowing the meaning of the terms that will be used in formulat­
ing judgments and developing arguments. But the process of
defining terms leads us from concrete particulars to wider and
more general perspectives, and finally to universal terms. Only
when we reach the universal do we arrive at that on which all the
previous stages are grounded, and only then do we know the
object of our concern in the truest sense of the word. Bonaventure
concludes that unless we know Being per se, we will not fully
know the definition of any particular being. Put in a different
way, the human mind cmmot come to an assured knowledge of
what created beings are without some knowledge of that pure,
simple, eternal Being in which all things are grounded.
O u r i nte l l ect cannot c o m e to a f u l l k n owledge of a ny c reated
t h i n g s u n less i t is a i d e d by the knowledge of that B e i n g that
i s most p u re, m o st actual, most complete a n d a b s o l ute; that
w h i c h i s B e i n g simply and eternal ly, i n w h i c h the p r i n c i p l es of
a l l oth e r things a re found in their p u re f o r m . O r, h ow co u l d t h e
i ntel l ect know that a p a rtic u l a r being is i n c o m p l ete a n d d efec­
tive if i t h a d n o k n owledge of a B e i n g free of a l l d efe ct? ( JS
3 . 3 [ 5 : 304])

As this line of thought is drawn out to include both the mak­

ing of judgments and the development of arguments or syllo-
 The World Inside -:- 87

gisms, it eventually leads to the claim that, in fact, we do have

certain knowledge; and that this fact cannot be explained in
terms of the objects we know, or in terms of our intellect itself.
S i n c e t h i n g s h ave a n existence i n t h e h u m a n m i n d , in t h e i r
ow n real ity, a n d i n t h e etern a l a r t , t h e t r uth w h i c h t h ey h ave
e i t h e r in t h e h u m a n m i n d or in t h e m selves is n ot s u ffici ent f o r
certitude, s i n ce b oth o f t h e s e a re s u bj ect to c h a n g e-u n less i n
s o m e way t h e s o u l c o m e s to these t h i n g s a s t h ey a re i n t h e
ete r n a l a r t . ( KC q . 4 , res p . [ 5 : 23 ] )

Thus, Bonaventure moves from the fact that there is some cer­
titude in human knowledge to the explanation of this fact
through some form of divine illumination.
[Th i s c e rtitu d e ] comes fro m t h e exe m p l a rity in t h e ete r n a l a rt .
I t i s i n re lation to t h i s t h a t t h i n g s h ave a n a pt i t u d e a n d a rela­
t i o n to e a c h oth e r accord i n g to the representati o n w h i c h t h ey
have i n t h e ete r n a l a r t . As August i n e says i n On True Religion.
"Th e l i g h t of o n e w h o reasons truly i s e n ki n d l ed b y t h a t t ruth,
a n d strive s to ret u r n to t h a t trut h . " From t h i s i t is m a n ifestly
c l e a r that o u r i nt e l l ect i s j o i n e d to the ete r n a l Truth itse lf, a n d
t h a t o u r i nt e l l ect c o u l d n ot k n ow a nyth i n g with c e rtitude u n less
i t were being i n structed by that l i g h t . (JS 3.3 [ 5 : 304 ] )

And then there is the faculty of the will by which we can delib­
erate, judge, and make choices. The argument here is similar to
that about the intellect. The principal difference is that the object
of the will is the good. One cannot deliberate about, make judg­
ments, and make choices about lesser degrees of the good unless,
in some way, one has an awareness of the supreme Good. For the
will to function effectively, therefore, some notion of the supreme
Good must be imprinted on the soul.
[ D]esi re is d i rected p r i n c i p a l ly to t h a t w h i c h m oves o n e t h e
most . T h a t w h i c h m o st m oves o n e ' s d e s i re i s t h a t w h i c h o n e
loves t h e m ost . T h a t w h i c h o n e l oves t h e m o st i s t o b e h a p py.
But t h e re is no h a p p i n e s s except t h ro u g h t h e p o s s e s s i o n of t h e
best a n d f i n a l e n d . H u m a n d e s i re, t h e refore. s e e k s n oth ing
88 -:- The World Inside

oth e r t h a n the h i g hest Good, o r somet h i n g that l e a d s to t h a t

Good. o r s o m et h i n g that resembles t h a t Good . S o g re a t i s t h e
power of t h e h i g h est G o o d that n oth i n g c a n b e l oved by t h e
creature except by reason of a d e s i re for t h e h i g h est Good . A n d
a nyo n e w h o t a ke s the i m a g e o r t h e c o p y i n p l a c e of t h e t r uth
is in e r ro r a n d goes a stray. (JS 3 . 4 [ 5 : 304])

As had been the case in Augustine, so here in Bonaventure it

is through the analysis of these three faculties-memory, intel­
lect, and will-and their functions and interrelations that one is
led to a sense of the triadic, relational nature of spirit-being in the
human person, and one is led also to the sense of how the soul­
the image of God-is related to God in terms of the divine eter­
nity (in memory), the divine truth (in intelligence), and the
divine goodness (in will). Recognizing the limitations which
must be placed on all human attempts to speak about God,
Bonaventure concludes:
These t h ree-the generating m i n d . t h e word. a n d l ove-are p re­
sent i n t h e s o u l a s m e m o ry, i ntell igence, a n d w i l l ; t h ey a re
consu bstant i a l . co-e q u a l a n d contemporary, a n d m utua lly i m m a­
nent. T h e refore, i f G o d is a pe rfect spi rit. t h e n G o d h a s m e m­
ory, i ntelligence, a n d w i l l ; God h a s both a Word begotten a n d
a Love b reathed forth . These a re necessa rily d i stinct, s i n c e o n e
i s produced by t h e other. They a re d i stinguished neither essen­
tially nor a c c i d ental ly, b ut personal ly. When the s o u l reflects on
itself, i t r i s e s t h r o u g h itself a s t h ro u g h a m i r ro r to speculation
a bout t h e B l essed Tri n ity of Father, Word, a n d Love; t h ree
Persons co-eter n a l , co-eq u a l . and consubstant i a l , so that what­
eve r is i n a ny o n e i s i n t h e others, b ut o n e i s n ot t h e other.
but a l l t h re e a re o n e G o d . (JS 3 . 5 [ 5 : 305])

From all of this we can begin to see how, in the thought of

Bonaventure, it is possible for us to come to some sense of the
mystery of God by reflecting on the mystery of the human soul,
and particularly on the faculties of memory, intelligence, and
will. Since, in fact, we are reflecting on the mystery of spiritual
being in ourselves, this can be seen as a fuller reflection of God
than what we discovered in the first two steps of this journey. For
here we are reflecting on the image of God.
 The World Inside -:- 89

We have spoken earlier about the Neoplatonic tendency to

envision an organically structured hierarchy of being, moving
from the most sublime to the most opaque-that is, from the
most exalted forms of spiritual being to the humblest forms of
material being. In Bonaventure's analysis, we have seen the lan­
guage of vestige and image as reflections of that tendency. In his
spiritual teaching and in his theology of grace, this reflects a
lesser and a higher degree of similarity to the divine. But the
deepest meaning of the image will take us further into the mean­
ing of the soul.
In Bonaventure's understanding, to speak of the soul as an
image of God is to describe the human being as an openness, or
as a potential to a yet deeper communication of the divine than
we have just seen in the previous section on the faculties of the
soul. It is this potential that has been fulfilled in the most pro­
found way in the incarnation of the Word in Jesus of Nazareth.
But the same potency for a depth of divine self-communication
which made the incarnation possible without destroying the
humanity of Jesus lies in the depths of each human being. In the
case of Jesus, this potency is brought to act by a union with one
who is Son of God by nature. In all others, it is brought to act by
the mystery of adoptive filiation. In an extraordinary Christmas
sermon, Bonaventure says:

The a b i l ity of h u m a n n a t u re to be u n i te d in a u n ity of p e r s o n

w i t h t h e d i v i n e-wh i c h i s the m o st n o b l e o f a l l t h e receptive
pote n c i es i m p la nted in h u m a n n a t u re-i s red uced to a c t so t h a t
i t wo u l d n ot b e a m e re em pty potency. A n d i n sofa r a s i t i s
red u ced to a ct , t h e p e rfection o f t h e e nti re c reated o rd e r i s
rea lized, f o r i n t h a t o n e b e i n g t h e u n ity of a l l rea l ity i s b rought
to c o n s u m m at i o n . ( Sermon II on the Na tivity o f the Lord
[ 9 : 1 1 0] )

The christological implications of this text are exceptional. For

our purposes here, it is sufficient to point out that, as here
described, the deepest potential of the entire created order is
found in human nature, which we have just described as an
image of the divine. To be an image, therefore, means to be open
90 ..;. The World Inside

to a deeper communication of the divine than that which is

given in the fact of creation. And when that deeper divine self­
communication is effective in the human person, that person
reflects an even more intense similarity to God; the image
becomes a similitude or a likeness. God has created humanity
and equipped it in such a way that it is destined for the most
profound union with God:
Fro m t h i s we m ay c o n c l u d e that the c reated wo r l d is l i ke a
b o o k i n w h i c h the t r i n ity that creates i t is reflected, repre­
sented, a n d d e s c r i b e d at t h ree leve l s of expre s s i o n : as a ves­
tige, a s a n i m a ge, a n d as a s i m i l it u d e . T h e rea l ity of t h e vestige
is fo u n d in every c reature; t h e rea l ity of the i m a g e is f o u n d o n l y
i n i ntellectual creature s o r rat i o n a l s p i rits; the rea l ity of t h e
s i m i l itude i s fo u n d o n ly i n those who a re c o n f o r m e d t o G o d .
Thro u g h these levels, a s it were on t h e r u n g s of a l a d d e r. t h e
h u m a n m i nd i s d e s i g ned i n i t s nature t o a s c e n d g ra d u a l ly to
the s u p re m e P r i n c i p l e who is God . ( Brev!l 2 . 1 2 [ 5 : 230])

In another text, Bonaventure makes use of cosmic imagery and

looks back to the biblical fourth day of creation, where God is
described as creating the celestial lights. He uses these resources
to speak in symbolic terms of the nature of the contemplative
soul.
T h i s i d e a that o u r u n d ersta n d i n g m ight be suspended t h rough
conte m p lation c a n be u n d erstood in terms of t h e wo r k of the
f o u rth d ay o n which t h e l i g hts were m a d e . F o r o n ly that s o u l
w h i c h h a s t h e s u n a n d t h e m o o n a n d t h e sta rs i n i t s f i r m a­
ment is s u s pended i n contemplation. Consider what the world
wo u l d h ave been l i ke, if th e re h a d been no s u n . m o o n . or stars
in the f i rm a ment . It wou l d h ave been n oth i n g b ut a k i n d of
d a r k mass. f o r even the n i g ht with o n ly the l i g ht of t h e stars
is d a r k a n d f r i g htening . So it is with t h e s o u l . A s o u l t h a t d o e s
not h ave t h e g ra ce of contemp lation i s l i ke a f i r m a m e nt with­
out l i ghts. B ut a s o u l that does h ave t h a t g ra c e is l i ke a f i r­
mament a d o r n ed with l i g hts. A n d a s a h e aven t h a t d o e s n ot
have these l i g hts is d i fferent from a n other h eaven that h a s
 T11e World Inside -:- 91

them, s o a s o u l that d o e s n ot h ave ( t h i s g ra c e ) d iffers f rom

a n ot h e r that has it. The d iffere n c e i s l i ke that b etwe e n an a n g e l
a n d a b e a st . F o r a p e r s o n w h o l a c k s t h e s e l i g hts i s l i ke a b e a st ,
w i t h h i s fa ce t u rned d own towa rd t h e e a rt h l i ke a n a n i m a l . B ut
t h e p e r s o n f u l l of l i g h ts is f u l l y a n g e l i c . ( SD 20 . 2 [ 5 : 425 ] )

See, t h e refore, h ow c l o s e t h e s o u l i s to G o d . S e e h ow m e m­
o ry i n i ts o p e ra t i o n b r i n g s us to etern ity; i nte l l i g e n c e b r i n g s u s
t o t r ut h ; a n d o u r powe r of c h o i c e b r i n g s u s t o t h e h i g h e st
good . (JS 3 . 4 [ 5 : 305])

All of this gives a very positive emphasis to the beauty and

dignity of the human soul. And yet Bonaventure is fully aware of
weaknesses in the soul. Despite the soul's remarkable potential
for the divine, it is clear that "few perceive the First Principle
within themselves." This Bonaventure explains in the following
terms:
B e ca u s e t h e h u m a n m i n d i s d i stracted by c a res , it d o e s n ot
enter i nto itself t h ro u g h m e m o ry; b e c a u s e it is o b s c u re d with
sense i ma g e s , i t does n ot come back to itself t h ro u g h i ntelli­
g e n c e ; a n d b e c a u s e it is d rawn by concu piscen ce, it d o e s n ot
ret u r n to itself t h ro u g h t h e d e s i re f o r i nt e r i o r sweetness a n d
s p i ri t u a l j oy. B e c a u se i t i s tota lly i m m e rsed i n t h i n g s of s e n se,
t h e soul c a n n ot re-ente r i nto itself a s t h e i m a g e of G o d . (JS
4 . 1 [ 5 : 30 6 ] )

These statements must be seen in relation to what is said in the

Soliloquy. There Bonaventure clearly distinguishes the soul as
formed by God in creation and as deformed by sin through
human failure, and therefore in need of being reformed by the
grace of God in Christ. Concerning the first, he says:
It s e e m s to me t h a t t h e b e a uty of yo u r n a t u re c o n s i st s in t h i s :
t h a t t h e i m a g e o f t h e m o st b l essed Tri n ity i s i m p re s s e d i n you
n aturally f o r yo u r a d o r n m ent . . . . Behold, my s o u l , w h a t a won­
derf u l a n d i n est i m a b l e d i g n ity it is to be n ot o n ly a vest i g e of
the C reator, as a l l c reatures a re, b ut to b e a l s o H i s i m a g e ,
w h i c h i s t h e p r i v i l e g e of rati o n a l creatu res . ( Soli/. 1 . 2 , 3 [ 8 : 30])
92 -:- The World Inside

But that glorious nature in which the soul was formed has been
miserably deformed by human sinfulness:
Now t h a t yo u rea l ize how generously you h ave been formed by
natu re, c o n s i d e r how viciously you have been deformed by s i n .
"Rem e m b e r t h e e n o rm ity o f yo u r s i n , m is e ra b le a n d wretched
s o u l . Let you r s h o ut i n g a n d you r l a mentation rea c h up to h e av­
en." . . . Remember, my s o u l , for what p r i c e it wa s t h a t you s o l d
you r bea uty, for what advantage that you th rew away you r
honor, f o r what p u rpose t h a t you so d isfi g u re d yo u r face. S u c h
g reat g o o d s yo u exc h a n g ed for s u c h a v i l e reward . ( Soli/. 1 . 3,
10 [ 8 : 33])

The Image Reformed by Grace

All this is indicative of the fact that, noble as the soul may be in
terms of its created nature, it is, in fact, in a fallen condition. The
soul, formed in such noble terms by God, has been deformed
throughout human history and must be re-formed. If it truly
desires to enter on the spiritual journey, it must be purged and
lifted up by the divine light. This is the work of God's grace in
the human person. And with grace come the theological virtues
"by which the soul is purified, enlightened, and perfected" US 4.3
[5:306]). This is done through the mediation of Christ.
W h e n o n e h a s fa l l e n , it is necess a ry to l i e t h e re u n less th e re
i s s o m e o n e at h a n d to h e l p l ift u p t h e fa l l e n person. I n a s i m­
i l a r way, o u r s o u l c o u l d n ot be l ifted u p o ut of these t h i n g s of
sense completely so a s to see itself a n d t h e ete r n a l Truth i n
itself i f that Truth h a d n ot assumed a h u m a n form i n C h r i st ,
t h u s becom i n g a l a d d e r t o restore the f i r st l a d d e r that h a d b e e n
broke n i n A d a m . (JS 4 . 2 [ 5 : 306])

Using the language of Dionysian hierarchical thought, Bona­

venture here describes Christ as the "supreme Hierarch, who
purifies, enlightens, and perfects His spouse, that is, the entire
church and every sanctified soul" US 4.5 [5:307]). It is important
to note here that the life of grace and the spiritual life are
 The World Inside -:- 93

described not as something that draws the individual away from

the community of the church, but draws each into more perfect
harmony.
T h e i m a g e of o u r m i n d . t h e refore. i s to be c l ot h e d over with
t h e t h ree t h e o l o g i c a l v i rtues by which t h e soul i s p u ri f i e d .
e n l ig htened . a n d p e rfected . I n t h i s way t h e i m a g e i s reformed
a n d m a d e to b e l i ke t h e h eavenly J e ru s a l e m a n d a p a rt of t h e
c h u rc h m i l ita nt . w h i c h i s t h e offs p r i n g of t h e h e avenly J e ru­
s a l e m . a ccord i n g to the A p o stle. ( JS 4 . 3 [ 5 : 306])

The text then goes on to make explicit the role of Christ in the
process of reforming the soul:

Therefore. the s o u l b e l i eves i n . h o pes i n . a n d l oves J e s u s C h r i st .

W h o i s t h e Word i n carnate. u n c reated . a n d i n s p i red. t h a t i s .
t h e way a n d t h e t r uth a n d t h e l if e . W h e n b y fa ith i t b e l i eves
in C h r i st as t h e u n c reated Word a n d the s p l e n d o r of t h e Father.
it recove rs its s p i ri t u a l h e a r i n g a n d v i s i o n ; its h e a r i n g in o rder
to receive the tea c h i n g s of C h r i st; and its v i s i o n to look u p o n
t h e s p l e n d o r o f H i s l i g h t . W h e n . h owever. w i t h h o p e i t yearns
to receive t h e i n s p i re d Word t h ro u g h d e s i re and a ffection. it
recove rs its s p i ri t u a l sense of s m e l l . W h e n i t e m b ra c e s t h e
inca rnate Word i n c h a r ity, receiv i n g d e l i g h t fro m H i m a n d p a s s­
i n g i nto H i m t h ro u g h ecstatic l ove. it recove rs i t s s e n s e of t a ste
a n d to u c h . When these s p i ritual senses h ave b e e n restored so
t h a t t h e soul sees. h ea rs . s m e l l s . t a stes. a n d e m b ra c e s its
Spouse. i t can s i n g l i ke the b r i d e of t h e Canticle of Canticles.
w h i c h wa s writte n f o r t h e s a ke of t h e exercise of c o ntempla­
t i o n a t t h i s f o u rth stage. w h i c h " n o o n e k n ow s except o n e w h o
receives i t . " T h i s o c c u r s i n affective experience m o re t h a n i n
rat i o n a l t h o u g h t . O n t h i s l eve l , w h e n t h e i n n er s e n s e s a re
restored to s e e t h e h i g h e st bea uty, to h e a r t h e h i g h est h a r m o ny.
to s m e l l t h e h i g hest f ra g rance. to t a ste t h e h i g h est d e l i c a cy,
a n d to a p p re h e n d that w h i c h is m o st d e l i g h tf u l . t h e s o u l is d i s­
posed to m e nt a l e l evation t h ro u g h d evotion. a d m i ra t i o n , a n d
exu ltati o n . i n accord a nce with t h e t h re e exc l a m at i o n s w h i c h a re
i n t h e Canticle of Canticles. (JS 4 . 3 [ 5 : 30 6 ] )
94 -:- The World Inside

Here as in many other places, Bonaventure uses the language

of the threefold way to describe three dimensions of the spiritual
journey. This language can be traced back to Dionysius.
It is n e c e s s a ry, t h e refore, to a s c e n d by t h ree steps i n a c c o r­
d a n ce with t h e t h reefold way; n a mely t h e p u rgative way,
w h i c h cons ists i n b e i n g c l e a n sed from s i n ; t h e i l l u m i n ative
way, w h i c h c o n s i sts i n t h e i m itation of C h r i st; a n d t h e u n itive
way, w h i c h c o n s i sts i n u n i o n with t h e S p o u s e . ( TW 3 . 1 [ 8 : 1 2 ] )

The journey, therefore, involves what Bonaventure calls three

hierarchic acts: purgation, which involves removing all obstacles
that stand in the way; illumination, which means learning to see
with the eye of Christ; and consummation, which involves expe­
riencing ever deeper union with God in love. These three might
best be seen not as a chronological flowchart that defines so
much time to be spent in purgation, and so much time in illumi­
nation, and so on. Rather, the hierarchic acts represent dimen­
sions of spirituality at all times as long as we are in history. One
always needs purgation and further illumination to enter more
fully into union with God.
The issue of purgation will raise the question of asceticism.
Illumination raises the need to develop a truly spiritual vision of
reality and not to remain at the level of empirical observation
and evaluation. And the goal is always deeper love. The soul
needs to be:
Lifted u p to t h e h e i g hts. a b ove everything sensible. i m a g i na ble.
and i ntelligible . . . beca u se God i s beyond demonstration. d ef i n­
ition, o p i n ion. est i mation. or i nvestigation. Consequently, G o d i s
beyon d o u r u n d e rsta n d i n g a n d yet i s tota lly d e s i rable. ( T W 1 . 17
[8:7])

The life of grace and the virtues, in Bonaventure's under­

standing, is a process of radical transformation as the human per­
son is drawn ever more deeply into the trinitarian life of God.
O n e who w i s h e s to ascend to God m u st fi rst of a l l avo i d s i n
which deforms nature. I t i s n ecessa ry, t h e n . t o b r i n g those n at­
u ra l powers u n d e r g race which refo rms t h e m . And t h i s i s d o n e
 Tlze World Inside -:- 95

thro u g h p rayer; p rayer f o r t h a t j u stice w h i c h p u r if i e s in t h e c o n­

d u ct of o u r l ife; a n d p rayer for t h a t k n owledge w h i c h i l l u m i nes
i n t h e form of m e d i ta t i o n ; and p rayer f o r t h a t wisdom w h i c h
l e a d s t o p e rfect i o n i n contemplation . . . . A n d s i n ce g ra c e i s t h e
f o u n d a t i o n of the rightness o f the w i l l a n d t h e c l e a r i l l u m i n a­
t i o n of rea s o n , we m u st p ray f i r st of a l l ; t h e n we m u st l ive i n
a h o ly m a n n e r, a n d t h i rd ly, we m u st l o o k u p o n t h e reflections
of truth, and by g a z i n g o n them, we m u st rise g ra d u a l l y u ntil
we a rr ive a t t h e h i g h m o u ntain "where the God of g o d s i s s e e n
i n S i a n . " ( JS 1 . 8 [ 5 : 298])

More eloquent testimony to the importance of grace as the foun­

dation of the spiritual journey is found in the following:
G race, i n d e e d , is a g ift t h a t is b e stowed a n d i nf u s ed i m m e d i­
ately by G o d . F o r, w i t h it a n d i n it we receive t h e H o ly S p i r i t ,
w h o i s t h e u n c reated g ift , that best a n d m o st p e rfect g ift t h a t
c o m e s d own f r o m t h e G o d of L i g hts t h ro u g h t h e i n c a rn ate
Word . . . . I t is t h i s g i ft that p u rges, i l l u m i nes, a n d p e rfects t h e
s o u l ; t h a t v i v i f i e s i t . refo rms it, a n d stre n g t h e n s it; that e l evates
it, a s s i m i l ates i t to G o d , a n d u n ites i t w i t h G o d , a n d t h u s
m a kes t h e s o u l accepta b l e t o G o d . ( Brevi!. 5 . 1 [ 5 : 252])

Grace itself can be described by Bonaventure with the term

deiformitas, God-likeness. This does not mean that the human
being becomes metaphysically divine. But it does mean that
through the spiritual journey the human person is opened ever
more to the divine self-communication that enters into the depths
of the person and begins the process of radical re-formation (or
transformation) through which it moves higher on the scale of the
hierarchy of God-likeness.
Finally, since God, in the final analysis, is a triune God, the
similitude in the graced human person involves a depth of rela­
tion to the persons of the Trinity. As we have seen above, all pro­
ceeds from the Father, through the Son, in the Spirit. The work of
the Spirit in the human person is, essentially, to draw that person
more deeply into the mystery of the Son and thus into the Son's
relation to both the Father and the Spirit.
In this sense, Bonaventure can describe the relationship of
96 -:- The World Inside

grace as filiation. This means, specifically, that the life of grace,

which transforms the person within, flows outward to the living
of the virtues that lie at the center of the life of the incarnate
Word; for these values give concrete expression to the mystery of
the one who stands at the center of the Trinity and at the center
of all created reality.
To grow in the spiritual journey is to allow one's personal life
to become centered on that reality and to become more deeply
like the Son who is that center. The deepest meaning of that cen­
tering is to come to that humble self-awareness in which one rec­
ognizes how radically one comes from God and how deeply one
is oriented to God as to the final end of the human journey. To
recognize this, and to see to what degree this reality has been dis­
torted by our fallen history is to be poor in spirit. It is the condi­
tion for any significant growth in the life of grace. To grow in
grace, then, is to grow in God-likeness by becoming more like
Christ. To grow in Christ-likeness is to enter more deeply into the
Word's relation to the Father and the Spirit:
If. t h e n . t h e rati o n a l s o u l is to become wo rthy of etern a l h a p­
piness. it m u st p a rticipate i n a God-confo r m i n g i nfl uence. S u c h
a n i nf l u ence. s i n ce i t comes f rom G o d , conforms t o G o d , a n d
l e a d s t o G o d a s t o o u r e n d . restores t h e i m a g e i n o u r s p i rit.
conform i n g it to t h e m ost b l essed Tri n ity a n d affecti n g i t n ot
only a s p a rt of t h e o rd e r of c reation. but a l s o i n te r m s of t h e
righte o u s n es s of t h e w i l l a n d t h e repose of beatitude. A n d
s i n c e a s o u l s o favored i s b rought b a c k i m medi ately t o G o d
and conformed i m mediately t o G o d , t h e refore t h i s g race i s
g ra nted i m med iately by God acting a s t h e S o u rc e of g race.
Therefore. a s t h e i m a g e of God comes forth i m m e d i ately f rom
God so also does t h e s i m i l itude, w h i c h i s t h e s a m e i m a g e b ut
now i n its God-conformed perfecti o n . It is c a l l ed , t h e refore. t h e
i m a g e of t h e n ew c reati o n . ( Brevi/. 5 . 1 [ 5 : 252-53])

Following a similar line of thought, Bonaventure writes at the

conclusion of his Disputed Questions on the Mystery of the Trinity:
. . . eter n a l l ife consists i n t h i s a l one, t h a t t h e ratio n a l spi rit.
which c o m es forth from t h e most b l essed Tri n ity and is a l i ke-
 The World Inside -:- 97

n e s s of t h e Tri n ity, s h o u l d ret u rn l i ke a c e rt a i n i ntel l ig i b l e c i r­

cle-thro u g h m e m o ry, i ntell igence, a n d w i l l-to t h e m o st b l essed
Tri n ity by G od-confo r m i n g g l o ry. ( Trin. q. 8 , 7 [ 5 : 1 1 5 ] )

Tl1e Mystical Vine expresses the whole o f this vision o f the soul­
formed, deformed, and reformed-in the following words:
The O n e w h o is so g o o d a n d so g reat d e s i re s yo u r e m b ra ces
a n d i s wa i t i n g to e m b ra c e yo u . H e i n c l i n e s toward yo u t h e
flowe r of H i s h e a d , p i erced with m a ny t h o r n s , a n d i nvites you
to receive t h e k i s s of peace, a s if to say: S e e h ow I wa s d i s­
figured, t ra nsfixed, a n d beaten in o rd e r t h a t I c o u l d p l a c e you
u p o n My s h o u l d e r-My s h eep who g oes a stray-a n d b r i n g you
b a c k to t h e p a ra d i s e of h e avenly p a stures . N ow yo u , f o r you r
p a rt: b e m oved with p i ty for M y wo u n d s ; a n d j u st a s yo u n ow
s e e M e, " p l a c e M e a s a s e a l u p o n you r h e a rt , a n d a s a s e a l
u p o n yo u r a r m "; so t h a t i n every t h o u g h t of yo u r h e a rt , i n every
wo r k of you r h a nd s , yo u m ay b e f o u n d to rese m b l e Me w h o
a m wea r i n g t h e s e sea l s . W h e n I c reated yo u , I c o n f o r m e d you
to t h e l i ke n e s s of My d ivinity. I n o rd e r to re-form yo u , I beca m e
conformed t o t h e l i ke n es s of you r h u m a n ity. D o yo u , w h o d i d
not kee p t h e f o r m of M y d iv i n ity w h i c h wa s i m p re s s e d o n you
w h e n yo u were c reated, keep at l e a st t h a t i m p ri nt of you r
h u m a n ity w h i c h wa s sta m pe d o n me w h e n yo u were re-formed .
I f yo u d i d n ot stay a s I c reated yo u , at l e a st stay a s I h ave re­
created yo u . If yo u d o n ot u n d e rsta n d h ow g re a t were t h e p ow­
e r s I g ra nt e d yo u i n c rea t i n g yo u, u n d e rsta n d at l e a st h ow g reat
were the m i s e r i e s I acce pted for yo u in yo u r h u m a n ity, i n re­
creati n g yo u , a n d i n re-fo r m i n g yo u f o r j oys m u c h g reater t h a n
t h o s e f o r w h i c h I h a d o r i g i n a l ly f o r m e d yo u . I beca m e a v i s i b l e
h u m a n b e i n g so t h a t yo u m i g h t s e e M e a n d so l ove M e, s i n ce,
as l o n g as I wa s u n se e n a n d i nv i s i b l e in My d ivin ity, I wa s n ot
loved p roperly. As a p r i c e for My i n ca r n a t i o n a n d p a s s i o n , g ive
M e you rself, yo u f o r w h o m I b e c a m e f l e s h a n d f o r w h o m I s u f­
fered . I h ave g ive n Myself to yo u ; n ow g ive yo u rself to M e . ( MV
24 . 3 [ 8 : 1 88 ] )

In his early Commentary on the Sentences (II Sent. p roo e . [2:3ff.])

Bonaventure comments on the text of Ecclesiastes 7:30: "God
98 -:- The World Inside

created humanity upright," that is, standing straight and erect.

He interprets this text in such a way as to indicate how the term
image can be seen to designate a task or a goal to be undertaken
in human life. He explains this in relation to three activities of
human experience: intelligence, will, and ability to control. It is in
terms of these three abilities that the human person is called to
stand upright, reflecting God as an image of the divine in the
created world.
Our intellect is made to be upright when it comes to know
things for what they really are, limited expressions of the very
truth of God. Our will is made to be upright when it embraces
the good in things precisely as a limited share in the goodness of
God. And our ability to control is made to be upright when the
quality of human creativity conforms to and expresses the loving
quality of God's creative action.
Human beings, therefore, as God would have us, are created
to function as images of God, standing upright in the world, a
living revelation of the truth, goodness, and loving power of God
in the world. To the degree that we turn ourselves to God in this
way, to that degree the finite things in the world will fall into
place. With our minds in harmony with divine truth, our wills in
harmony with divine goodness, and our ability to engage our
creative energies in harmony with God's creative love, we are
called to participate in the creative process by which the world
will be brought to its God-intended goal.
By discovering the truth of the world as a participation in
God's truth, by loving the goodness of the world as a participa­
tion in God's goodness, and by continuing God's creative love in
human society and history-it is in this way that we live out
what it means to be created in God's image. It is in this way that
the soul becomes hierarchized, or brought back into harmony
within itself and in relation to the world of God's creation.
Thus, in reflecting on the soul as an image of God, Bonaven­
ture has led us to ponder deeply the mystery of our own interior
world, to see its potential and its obviously limited condition,
and to see it remarkably restored by the grace of God to become
a similitude of the divine. The most profound union with God is
 The World Inside -:- 99

preeminently the gift of grace. It is this union with the divine that
arises to some level of awareness in the mystical experience as
Bonaventure sees it.
Bonaventure concludes his reflections on the soul reformed by
grace in the following way.
W h e n o u r m i n d is f i l l e d with a l l these i ntellectual l i g hts. i t i s .
a s i t were. a h o u s e o f G o d i n h a bited by t h e d iv i n e W i s d o m . I t
becomes a d a u g hter. a s p o u se. a n d a f r i e n d of G o d ; i t b e c o m e s
a m e m b e r of C h r i st . t h e H e a d . a s i ster a nd co-h e i r. I t b e c o m e s
a l s o a te m p l e of the H o l y S p i ri t , g ro u n d e d i n fa ith, e l evated
thro u g h h o p e , a n d d e d i c ated to G o d t h ro u g h h o l i n e ss of m i n d
a n d body. I t i s t h e m o st s i n c e re l ove o f C h ri st t h a t b r i n g s a l l
t h i s a bout. a l ove t h a t i s p o u re d i nto o u r h e a rts b y t h e H o ly
S p i r i t w h o h a s been g iven to u s . Without t h i s S p i r i t . we c a n­
not c o m e to k n ow t h e d iv i n e mysteries . F o r n o o n e c a n k n ow
t h e t h i n g s of a h u m a n person except t h e s p i ri t of t h a t p e r s o n
that a b i d e s with i n . Thus. t h e myste ries of G o d a re k n ow n b y
n o o n e b ut t h e S p i rit of God . Let u s . t h e refore. b e rooted a n d
g ro u n d ed i n l ove, t h a t we m ay com p re h e n d with a l l t h e S a i nts.
w h a t is the l e n g t h of etern ity, w h a t is the b re a d t h of l i b e ra l ity,
w h a t i s t h e h e i g ht of m aj esty, a n d w h a t is t h e d e pt h of t h a t
d iscern i n g w i s d o m . (JS 4 . 8 [ 5 : 308])
 Chapter 4

The World Above

We might use the term metaphysical mysticism to designate a

level of reflection that, to most of us, might seem to be purely
philosophical. We may be inclined at first to see this mode of
reflection to be really no different from that of the great Neo­
platonist philosophical mystic Plotinus. He seems to have made
a remarkable ascent up the ladder of being while focusing his
mind on the true, the good, and the One. His experience seems to
be a form of purely philosophical mysticism. It would have a sig­
nificant impact on Christian tradition, but it was consistently
seen as philosophy and not as theology.
Bonaventure, who is well aware of this tradition, has explicitly
set up his task in a different way. As we have seen, Bonaventure
assumes a person of faith as the subject of the journey he is
describing. This, together with what we have seen concerning the
role of divine grace, makes it clear that, at least in Bonaventure's
mind, what follows here is not a purely philosophical adventure.
Together with this, if we recall how, in the history of Christian
thought and spirituality, the tradition of philosophical thought
was commonly used to form theological terminology and to
develop theological thought, it will become easier to understand
the theological overtones of what Bonaventure invites us into at
this point.

God as the Mystery of Being

We have looked at the world of sense objects outside our con­

sciousness. We have looked at the world within ourselves. We are
100
 The World Above -:- 101

now invited to look at that reality that is above ourselves. In

terms of the symbol of the temple, we have already moved from
the outer court to the inner court. At this point, we move deeper
into the temple into the Holy of Holies, where the ark of the
covenant is kept. There we see the ark surmounted by two cheru­
bim facing each other over the mercy seat.
To understand better what Bonaventure is about at this point,
we need to recall in a special way what happened to the text of
Exodus 3:14 when it was translated from Hebrew into Greek.
Moses has been told by God to return to Egypt to lead the people
out. Moses responds to God by asking how he should identify
God when the people ask who has sent him.
It is at this point tha t the Hebrew text provides a way of speak­
ing about God that some scholars see as a puzzle or as a simple
refusal to give a name. Others suggest that it might be seen in the
context of covenant theology as a promise of saving presence.
Few if any biblical scholars today are willing to see the Hebrew
formulation as equivalent to the Greek text together with all its
apparent philosophical overtones. Yet that is the way in which it
was read by Christians for centuries, including the time of
Bonaventure.
What stands out in that reading of the Greek translation of the
text is the fact that the name which God gives to Moses is identi­
cal with the Greek word used by the philosophers of antiquity to
name the object of their concern: Being. What we are confronted
with in Greek is almost impossible to translate except through
some form of paraphrase. Since, in terms of grammar, it is the
present participle form of the Greek word for "to be" preceded
by a definite article, a very literal but awkward translation might
be " the being-one." Attempts to offer a more congenial-sounding
translation suggest the following. God says to Moses: "I am who
I am." Or God replies to the question of Moses by saying that
Moses should tell the people that "I AM sent me."
However we might want to solve the problem of translation,
the historical fact is that the Greek translation suggests strongly
that what philosophers sought under the name of Being is basi­
cally identical with the God of the Hebrew covenant. If that is the
102 -:- The World Above

case, it is not hard to see this biblical text as warrant for a larger
theological project that envisions a very close bond between phi­
losophy and theology. In fact, much of Western Christian theol­
ogy reflects something of this conviction throughout its history.
Alfred North Whitehead once described Christianity as "a reli­
gion seeking a metaphysic" (Religion in the Making [New York:
World Publishing Co., 1969], 50). In this sense, Whitehead con­
trasts Christianity with other religions which may be essentially
either metaphysical or ethical systems. The description of Chris­
tianity as a religion in search of a proper metaphysical self­
understanding is an apt summation of much of the actual history
of Christian thought. During the centuries, Christianity has asso­
ciated itself with philosophical and metaphysical modes of
thought from the early second century onward. But the history of
theology makes it clear that Christianity has never been able to
espouse a particular philosophy or a metaphysical vision with­
out subjecting that philosophy to critique and transformation.
This might be of considerable help when we turn to Bona­
venture, as he tells us that the two cherubim above the ark sym­
bolize two ways of contemplating the invisible mystery of God.
The first way, turning to the name of God found in the Hebrew
Scriptures and philosophy, focuses on what philosophy and
philosophical theology know as the essential attributes of the
divine in terms of its nature as primal unity, while the second
way, turning to the name of God drawn from the Christian
Scriptures, focuses on that which pertains properly to the divine
persons of the Trinity.
The fi rst way f i xes t h e a ttention of the s o u l p r i n c i p a l ly a n d fi rst
of a l l on B e i n g Itse lf, p roc l a i m i n g that the p r i m a ry n a m e of G o d
i s The O n e Who is. The s e c o n d way t u r n s t h e a ttent i o n of t h e
s o u l o n t h e Good Itself. pro c l a m i n g t h a t this i s t h e p r i m a ry
n a m e of G o d . (JS 5 . 2 [ 5 : 308])

As we move into Bonaventure's meditation, it might be helpful

to keep in mind that puzzling question that seems to lie at the
foundation of so much philosophical reflection. If everything we
encounter in this world including ourselves is here today while it
 The World Above -:- 103

was not here at some point in the past, and it will not be here at
some point in the future, why is it here at all? If everything seems
to be profoundly contingent in that sense, then why is there any­
thing at all when nothing we encounter needs to be? In more per­
sonal terms, each of us could ask: Why am I when I might not
have been at all had circumstances in the life of my parents been
even minimally different at the time of my conception?
Why is there anything when nothing that we experience em­
pirically seems to be necessary? Just to hear that question seri­
ously will help us to understand why the philosophers of
antiquity could reach the conclusion that if contingent things
exist, then somewhere there must be something that exists neces­
sarily, for even an endless chain of contingent things really does
not answer the question. It simply prolongs contingence.
Such a question is not just one for ancient philosophers. It is
one that many people ask about their world or about themselves
at particular times in their life. It is also one that contemporary
cosmologists frequently ask at some point in their cosmological
speculations. Thus, it seems to appear at the end of Stephen
Hawking's Brief History of Time ([New York: Bantam Books, 1988],
175), where he looks to a time when science will have said all
there is to say about what the cosmos is and how it works, and
all people of good will can reflect together on this question: Why?
And when they find an answer to the question why the universe
exists at all, they will have come to know the mind of God. It
appears in another form in the statement that E. Tryon gave
when he was asked about the origins of the cosmos. "It's just one
of those things that happen from time to time" (see A. Guth, The
Injlati01zary Universe: Tlze Quest for a New Theory of Cosmic Origins
[Reading, Mass.: Addison-Wesley, 1997], 14).
The mystery of being: Why is there something rather than
nothing? If everything in our experience seems to be contingent,
does this mean tha t there must be something that exists neces­
sarily? And if that is the case, does that mean that something of
the necessary being might be intimated in our experience of con­
tingence? This might be a helpful springboard for moving into
104 -:- Tlw World Above

Bonaventure's meditation on God in terms of the metaphysical

mystery of Being.
Anyo n e w h o wishes to contemplate t h e i nv i s i b l e t h i n g s of God
with res pect to the u n ity of essence should fi rst b e a ttentive
to B e i n g itself. a n d see that B e i n g itself is so c o m p l etely c e r­
ta i n t h a t it ca n n ot be t h o u g ht n ot to b e . T h e rea s o n for t h i s i s
that t h e t h o u g h t of the most p u re B e i n g Itself wo u l d n ever
enter o u r m i n d except in contrast with the t h o u g h t of n o n­
being, j u st a s t h e i d e a of n oth i n g sta n d s i n tot a l contrast to t h e
i d ea of b e i n g . T h e refore, j u st a s a bs o l ute n oth i n g n ess contains
not a s h re d of b e i n g , a n d none of the c o n d i t i o n s of b e i n g , so
b y way of c o ntrast. Being Itself possesses n ot h i n g of n on-be i n g ,
n e i t h e r i n act n o r i n potency, n e i t h e r i n i t s own rea lity, n o r i n
o u r u nderst a n d i n g o f i t . (JS 5 . 3 [ 5 : 308])

The analysis of Bonaventure moves in the direction of claim­

ing that in the final analysis, when we have tried to give an
account of our puzzling experience and our awe before the fact
of existence, being is, in fact, that which comes first into the mind
in this experience. The concept of being is at least implicit in
every judgment we make about the existence of all the things we
experience, even though we might not be aware of it. And the
being we are speaking of, finally, is the divine Being. Yet it is dif­
ficult to recognize this to be the case.
How strange, t h e n . is t h e b l i n d ness of the i nte l l ect w h i c h does
not c o n s i d e r that which i t sees fi rst. and without w h i c h it
wou l d be i m po s s i b l e to k n ow a nythi n g . (JS 5 . 4 [ 5 : 308])

At this point, Bonaventure employs the metaphor of light to

provide some insight into what he is trying to say. Basically he
claims that it is the mystery of the divine Being shining on our
experience of the beings of this world that enables us to know
them at all. We might compare this to the physical experience of
light. It is the light of the sun that illumines the objects of our
empirical experience enabling our eyes to see what is there. Light
is the medium in which we see whatever it is that we see.
However, if I were to turn my eyes away from the specific objects
 The World Above -:- 105

to look at the light itself, I would, in fact, seem to see nothing but
empty space. And if I were to be very brave and turn to look a t
the source o f the light, the sun would blind me. The light would
be experienced as darkness. Bonaventure, following the lead of
Aristotle, refers at this point to the example of the blindness of
the bat to make his point.
H ence, it s e e m s to be very true that "j u st as t h e eye of t h e
b a t i s related t o t h e l i g ht , so t h e eye of o u r m i n d i s related to
those t h i n g s w h i c h a re m ost m a n ifest i n n at u re . " S o , a c c u s­
to m e d a s it i s to t h e d a rkness of b e i n g s a n d t h e p h a nt a s m s of
sensible objects. t h e eye of t h e m i n d s e e m s to s e e n othing
when it l o o ks u p o n t h e l i g ht of t h e h i g h e st B e i n g . It fa i l s to
und ersta n d t h a t t h i s d a rkness itself i s t h e s u p re m e i l l u m i nation
of t h e m i n d . j u st as when t h e eye looks a t p u re l i g ht i t s e e m s
t o itself t h a t i t sees n oth i n g . (JS 5 . 4 [ 5 : 308])

If Being is involved in every experience we have of beings in

this way, and if Being is to be identified with God, does this not
mean that in some way God is involved in every experience we
have of beings in the world? We never see God precisely as God,
and when we turn to look at the divine light that makes our expe­
rience possible we seem to see nothing. But God is involved
nonetheless.
Elsewhere in his more academic writings, Bonventure had
argued that, in a certain sense, the existence of God is self­
evident. It is impossible to formulate the judgment that affirms
the nonexistence of God without being involved in a massive
contradiction. The reflections we have just dealt with might shed
light on the sort of logic involved here.
The existence of God is self-evident not in the sense that we
have a vision of the divine essence, but in the sense that if we
truly understand the proper meaning of the term God, whose pri­
mary name is Being, it is impossible to deny the existence of God
with any logical cogency. In everything you know, you know
something of God's existence without necessarily knowing that it
is God tha t you are involved with.
You may deny the existence of God because you do not have
106 -:- Tl1e World Above

a proper understanding of the meaning of that name. Or you

may deny God's existence for moral reasons, because you do not
wish to live with the ethical implications of such a reality. But in
the deepest level of human consciousness, it is impossible not to
have some awareness of the divine. Our yearning for truth, good­
ness, beauty, and happiness together with our awareness of our
own limitations cry out for the existence of that supreme Truth,
Goodness, and Beauty which is God.
The truth of God's existence, then, is a truth that arises from
the existence of every creature and is naturally imprinted on the
human mind. The universe is filled with God; every creature pro­
claims the existence of the divine. The existence of God is so evi­
dent to the soul through reflection on itself that our reflection on
the external world serves principally to remind us of that which
we already know within. There is, then, an implicit awareness in
human consciousness that can be made explicit through reflec­
tion on the implications of human experience.
Therefore, Bonaventure will argue that such things as proofs
for the existence of God might best be understood as a form of
spiritual exercise. They do not provide us with a new object of
knowledge of which we had no prior awareness. Rather, they
enable us to understand better the nature of the judgment that is
involved when we affirm God's existence (Trin. 1 . 1 [5:45-51]).
After his moving meditation on God as Being, Bonaventure
goes on to draw out the attributes of God when the divine
mystery is viewed in terms of the unity of essence. Such a Being
must be pure being, simple being, and absolute being. It must,
therefore, be first, eternal, supremely simple, actual, most perfect,
and supremely one. These he presents in a number of thought­
provoking contrasts or opposites in a paradoxical style that comes
to a high point when he reaches to the Theological Rules (rule 7) of
Alan of Lille for the following description of God. God is "an
intelligible sphere, whose center is everywhere and whose cir­
cumference is nowhere" US 5.8 [5:310]). Such a paradoxical jux­
taposition of opposites pushes our mind even further than the
opposites that have preceded it. Such a metaphysical reflection
leads us in yet another way to a sense of awe and wonder at the
 The World Above -:- 107

mystery of our cosmos and even more at the mystery of Being in

which it is grounded.

God, the Highest Good

In 1991, a book by the French author Jean-Luc Marion appeared

in English translation. The title of this very challenging book is
God Without Bei11g. A part of the argument in the book has to do
with the critique of the centuries-old metaphysical tradition that
has conditioned at least Western Christians to think of God as the
ultimate mystery of Being. We have just seen at least one version
of that tradition above.
Two things stand out in Marion's argument. The first is the
problem involved in the human tendency to create idols in place
of the mystery of the divine. Idols can be in many forms. Some of
them take the form of very concrete images of God which are too
easily taken to be literal descriptions of the divine. Others are
more rarified and difficult to recognize. These take the form of
conceptual images and names for the divine that tend to be more
abstract and are less likely to be seen in their limited nature. The
second thing that stands out in Marion's argument is the claim
that we need to take up seriously the possibility of approaching
the mystery of the divine more emphatically in terms of the
Christian claim that "God is love."
It is hard to read this very contemporary book and not be
reminded of the vision of Bonaventure and the move he makes
from his metaphysical meditation on God as Being, which we
have just discussed, to the next level, the meditation on the
specifically Christian name for God: God is the Good. As we
have seen in the preceding section of this chapter, when God is
viewed from the perspective of philosophy, or from that of the
Hebrew Scriptures, specifically with the text of Exodus 3:14 in
mind, it appears that the most basic name for God is simply
Being. At least, that is our suspicion if we read this text in the
Greek translation of the Septuagint rather than in the original
language which was Hebrew. And so it was read for centuries, at
108 -:- The World Above

least by Christians. But when we look at Bonaventure's medita­

tion, we find that:
When C h r i st , o u r M a ster, wished to l e a d the you n g m a n w h o
h a d observed t h e Law t o t h e g reater perfection of the G o s p e l .
h e n a m e d God p r i n c i p a l ly a n d exclusively with t h e n a m e o f
Goodness. H e s a y s : " N o o n e i s good b ut God a l o n e . " H e nce,
St . John D a m a scene, fol l owing Moses, s ays that The One who
is i s t h e f i r st n a m e of God . D i o nysius, on t h e oth e r h a nd , f o l­
lowing C h r i st , s ays t h a t Good is the fi rst n a m e of G o d . (JS 5 . 2
[ 5 : 308])

Were Bonaventure to pick up the book of Marion, he might be

puzzled by the title. Why does the title say God without Being?
Why does it not say God beyond Being? For to name God as Being
is not incorrect in every sense of the term. For God is truly Being,
Bonaventure would say. It becomes problematic, however, if you
choose to stop there and say nothing further.
The philosophical understanding of a sort of self-enclosed,
monadic Being is simply not adequate for the naming of God.
Both the history of philosophy and the history of revelation in the
Hebrew Scriptures must be held open to yet another level of
insight. The primal level of Being is Being as the Good, or Loving
Being. God, therefore, is not monadic, self-enclosed, unrelated
substance. On the contrary, God is a mystery of primal, loving
communion and relationality.
Thus, Bonaventure envisions two ways of reflecting on the
mystery of the invisible God. These two ways, as we have seen,
are symbolized by the two angelic figures facing each other on
the top of the ark of the covenant in the Holy of Holies. We have
already seen the impressive meditation on the mystery of Being
symbolized by one of the angels. Now Bonaventure leads us into
a consideration of the Christian vision of God as the primal mys­
tery of the Good symbolized by the other angel.
What follows at this point is not simple theology. It is highly
philosophical theology that reaches not only to the Scriptures,
which, as we have just seen, name God as the Good, but to the
 The World A bove -:- 109

Neopla tonic philosophy of the good, which functions as a means

of interpreting the implications of the biblical name.
From the Neoplatonic tradition, through Dionysius, Bonaven­
ture borrows the language of self-diffusion. It is the nature of the
good to be self-diffusive. But, if God is the highest Good, then
God must be self-diffusive in the highest sense. To speak of a
highest Good that could not be self-diffusive in the highest degree
would simply be a contradiction.
Therefore, if God is the highest good, God must be supremely
self-diffusive. But the supreme self-diffusiveness of the infinite
God cannot be directed to creation, for then creation would, of
necessity, be equal to God; it would, in fact, be divine. But this is
impossible unless one is willing to envision some form of pan­
theism. That Bonaventure is not willing to do. It follows, then,
that God must be supremely self-diffusive in a way that is inter­
nal to the mystery of the divinity itself, prior to and independent
of any talk of creation. In essence, this is what Christian theology
understands to be the mystery of the Trinity.
It was above all the work of Richard of St. Victor in the twelfth
century that succeeded in reinterpreting the Neoplatonic tradi­
tion of the good from a Christian perspective that made it possi­
ble to speak of God's self-diffusion in the language of free and
loving self-communication. Without making any explicit appeal
to the Johannine way of naming God as love (1 John 4:8, 16) at this
point in The foumey of the Soul into God, Bonaventure draws on
the Victorine argument to make his point.
The argument revolves around an analysis of the nature of
love. If God is the highest Good, and the nature of the highest
Good is to be found in the highest form of love, then the mys­
tery of the Trinity becomes the mystery of the primordial, self­
communicative love which is productive within the Godhead
before it moves outside to create the universe.
So it is that, out of these varied resources, Bonaventure crafts
for us a vision of the divine as purest, loving, self-communicative
Being. Internally, God is the purest loving self-communication.
This is the point of the doctrine of the Trinity. In Bonaventure's
1 10 -:- The World Above

view, if we wish to see God not simply as Being but as supreme

Good, then we are well on the way to saying that there must be
some plurality of persons in God. The Victorine and Bonaven­
turean arguments revolve around the analysis of different modes
of love; and this analysis is based on centuries of Christian expe­
rience in attempting to live the meaning of the Christian vision of
God in the context of human life. The argument runs along the
following line.
There is such a thing as love of oneself, or private love, in the
language of Richard of St. Victor. But this form of love can too eas­
ily become simply the highest form of narcissistic self-concern. I t
i s better i f one has love for another and not simply for oneself.
And if that is the case, and God is to be thought of as love in the
highest sense, then there must be at least two persons in God.
The love between two persons is better than simple self-love. But,
to move one step further, the desire of two persons deeply in love
to share their love with another is even more noble than keeping
it to themselves.
Hence, moving in this direction, both Richard and Bonaven­
ture will argue that the theology of the Trinity is a necessary
explication of the way God is named in the Christian Scriptures.
It says basically that God is a mystery of primordial, loving com­
munion. And love is self-diffusive or self-communicative. But,
precisely because God is perfectly self-diffusive internally, God is
free to be diffusive externally. It is precisely for this reason that
Bonventure can see God's creative action purely and simply as an
action of free, generous love. It is against this background that we
must read the text of Tlze Journey of the Soul into God:
F o r ''t h e g o o d is s a i d to be se lf-diffusive . " Therefore t h e h i g h­
est good m u st be s u p remely self-d iffusive. B ut t h e s u p reme se lf­
d iffus i o n can not be u n less it is a c t u a l a n d i ntrinsic, s u b stantial
and hypostatic, nat u ra l a n d volu ntary, f ree and necessa ry, l a c k­
i n g i n n o way a n d p e rfect . Therefore, u n less i n t h e s u p reme
good there is f ro m etern ity a p roduction that i s actual and con­
su bstant i a l . a n d a hyposta s i s that is as n o b l e a s t h e p roducer,
as is f o u n d i n t h e c a s e of a p ro d u ction by way of g e n e ration
a n d s p i ration-so that what is from the eternal p r i n c i p l e i s a l s o
 The World Above -:- 1 1 1

eternally f ro m t h e co-p r i n c i p l e-so that there i s a b e l oved a n d

a co-b e l oved , o n e g e n e rated a n d o n e s p i rate d ; t h a t i s Father,
a n d S o n , a n d H o l y S p i r i t , i n n o way wo u l d t h i s be t h e h i g h est
good, f o r it wou ld n ot be s u p remely d i ffusive. F o r t h e d i ffusion
in t i m e in the form of c re a t i o n i s n o m o re t h a n a c e nt e r or a
point w h e n c o m p a re d with t h e i m m e n s i ty of t h e eter n a l good .
Fro m t h i s , t h e n , a n ot h e r g reater self-d iffu s i o n c a n be t h o u g h t
of, n a m e l y, o n e i n w h i c h t h e O n e w h o i s d i ffusive c o m m u n i­
cates t h e w h o l e of its s u b stance a n d n a t u re to a n other. A n d
s u c h a O n e wo u l d n ot b e t h e h i g h est g o o d if i t l a c ked t h e a b i l­
i ty to d o t h i s i n real ity, o r even i n t h o u g h t . (JS 6 . 2 [ 5 : 31 0] )

I n n o way can creation b e the eternal, perfect self-communica­

tion of God. But if God is already perfect self-communication
independent of creation, then that self-diffusion in time which
constitutes creation can be supremely free and totally uncoerced.
Neither Plato nor Aristotle ever came to an understanding of the
origin of the world in terms similar to the Christian doctrine of
creation. This might be related to the fact that neither of them
came to the idea that the most primal reality was, in fact, best
thought of in terms of personal, loving, self-communicative
goodness.
Plato might have sensed a hint of this in his notion of the high­
est Good. As Whitehead put it: "Can there by any doubt that the
power of Christianity lies in its revelation in act, of that which
Plato d ivined in theory?" (Aduentures of Ideas [New York: Free
Press, 1967], 1 67). Wha tever one might say about Plato, Aris­
totle's prime mover seems quite far removed from a loving cre­
ator; and in fact, in Aristotle's philosophy, the prime mover does
not create the world from nothing. Aristotle's world exists of
necessity and from eternity. Bonaventure's world exists contin­
gently and in time that has a beginning and will have an end . It
exists simply because of the loving, creative will of God.
For Bonaventure, the Christian experience of the divine cen­
tered in the life and history of Jesus opens our eyes to a new way
of thinking of God as well as the origin of our world and our­
selves. Precisely because God is supreme love within the
Godhead, God does not need to have a world in order to be God.
1 1 2 -:- The World Above

If there is a world, therefore, it is not because God must create.

God, who is the purest of love within, creates not out of any need,
but out of pure love so as to manifest something of the mystery
of the divine truth, goodness, and beauty outwardly, and to bring
forth creatures capable of participating in the splendor of the
divine life thus conceived. And, grand as the cosmos appears to
be from our perspective, Bonaventure writes, as we have just
seen, that "creation is no more than a center or a point when com­
pared with the immensity of the eternal good" US 6.2 [5:310]).
In his meditation on the mystery of the divine Trinity of lov­
ing being, Bonaventure invites us to an even greater sense of awe
at the way in which the qualities of being are opened up to new
levels of meaning and are held together in a sort of coincidence
of opposites. Bonaventure alerts us to the mystery in the follow­
ing words:
Do n ot t h i n k that yo u a re a b l e to unde rstand t h e i n co m p re­
hensible . . . . A n d yet , w h o wo u l d not b e m ove d to g reater won­
der . . . . F o r w h e n you consider these t h i n g s o n e at a t i m e. you
have t h e b a s i s f o r c o nte m p l ating the truth; w h e n yo u see t h e m
i n re lation with one a n other, y o u h ave s o m et h i n g that w i l l l i ft
yo u u p i n t h e h i g h e st wonder. Therefore you s h o u l d consider
all these things toget h e r so that yo u r m i n d m i g ht a s c e n d in
wo n d e r to a d m i ra b l e contemplation. (JS 6 . 3 [ 5 : 31 1 ] )

There can be little doubt that, for Bonaventure, the religious

experience involved in the person and history of Jesus leads him
not to reject philosophical metaphysics but to hold it open to yet
further depths of meaning, and perhaps to significant correction.
The doctrine of the Trinity is, in Bonaventure's eyes, clearly a cor­
rection of Aristotle's metaphysics that has major implications for
our understanding of the created world in which we live. Hence,
what we suggested at the opening of this section seems to flow
from Bonaventure's reflections. If this is a fair reading of the text
of The Journey of the Soul into God, we might describe Bonaven­
ture's reflection as a meditation on the mystery of God beyond
Being to a reflection on Being precisely as a Being-in-love. And
 Tlze World A bove -:- 1 13

when we follow Bonaventure on this way, we discover some­

thing that
l e a d s t h e eye of t h e m i n d with g re a t p owe r to a st u p o r of awe.
F o r there is t h e g reatest c o m m u n i ca b i l ity tog et h e r with i n d i­
v i d u a l ity of persons. t h e g reatest consu bsta nt i a l i ty tog et h e r with
p l u ra l ity of hypostases, t h e g reatest config u ra b i l ity tog et h e r with
d isti n ct perso n a l ity, the g reatest co-eq u a l ity tog et h e r with o rder,
t h e g reatest co-etern ity togeth e r with e m a n at i o n , t h e g reatest
m ut u a l i nt i m acy tog ether with m is s i o n of perso n s . W h o would
not b e l i fted to a sense of wo n d e r at such g re a t t h i n g s ? (JS
6 . 3 [ 5 : 31 1 ] )

We notice how our ability to think and to speak about the mys­
tery of God is being stretched in paradoxical ways. This must say
something about any attempt of humans to name the mystery
that remains always ineffable in its deepest reality. Not only is all
philosophical language about the ultimate mystery seriously lim­
ited, so also is the language that Christians use to speak about the
God of biblical revelation.
None of these images, metaphors, or concepts is to be taken as
a literal description of God. Yet the clash of metaphors and the
paradoxical sense that emerges from them open us to a deeper
sense of mystery. We think of the sta tement of St. Augustine, who
was keenly aware of the limits of every human attempt to name
the divine. Finally, he says, we continue to speak about God so
that our silence will not be construed as atheism.
At this stage of our journey with Bonaventure, we are still talk­
ing a lot. But we are saying very strange things. And eventually
the Seraphic Doctor will lead us into silence. But before that,
there is yet another dimension of the ark and the two cherubim
to take into account. That is the point of our next chapter.
 Chapter 5

Christ the Center

We have followed Bonaventure as he leads us ever more deeply

into the temple, the mysterious symbol of divine presence: first in
the outer court of the world and in our sense experience of the
world; then in the inner court of the soul and in the transforma­
tion of the soul in grace; yet deeper into the temple through
contemplation of two mysterious names for the divine, each rep­
resented symbolically by one of the angelic figures. Their wings
overshadow the mercy-seat-that point in the temple at which
the mystery of the divine presence is most sharply focused.
Now we approach the final stages of the journey. In the very
depths of the temple, in that most sacred of all spots, at the
mercy-seat, we encounter the mystery of Christ. For it is here in
Bonaventure's text that we find the symbol that elicits an aware­
ness of the "most marvelous union of God and humanity, in the
unity of the person of Christ" (JS 6.4 [5:311])
In the opening section of The Journey of the Soul into God Bona­
venture had invited the reader "to groans of prayer through
Christ crucified, in whose blood we are cleansed from the filth of
our vices" (JS prol. 4 [5:296]). The figure of Christ is basic in
Bonaventure's spirituality and theology. We have spoken above
about the need for the soul to be re-formed, and we indicated
something of the role of Christ there.
Bonaventure also speaks of Christ in the language of Diony­
sius as the Hierarch through whose action the human soul is
hierarchized. As we have seen, this means that all the soul's func­
tions are put in the right order within the person and in a proper
relation to their objects.
114
 Christ the Center -:- 1 15

Now it is the figure of Christ that moves into the very center
of Bonaventure's reflections. Specifically, it is the figure of Christ
on the cross. And this is the figure evoked by the mysterious
symbol from the Alverna experience. A reading of Bonaventure's
more systematic works together with the christological refer­
ences scattered throughout Tlze Journey of tlze Soul into God make
it clear that in his framework it is the Incarnate Word who stands
out as the basis on which an authentic spirituality will be built.

The Christ of Dogma

At one level, the reflections on Christ are reflections about the

mystery of the incarnation in its dogmatic dimension. The reflec­
tions about the two names for God given in our previous chapter
are here brought together with the understanding of Christ as the
Incarnate Word. It is here that we arrive at one of those stunning
formulations of Bonaventure:
[W] h e n i n C h r i st , t h e S o n of G o d , w h o is by n a t u re t h e i m a g e
o f t h e i nv i s i b l e G o d , o u r m i n d c o ntemplates o u r h u m a n ity s o
wonderfu l ly exa lted a n d s o i n effa bly u n ited , a n d w h e n i t s e e s
at o n e t i m e i n o n e B e i n g t h e fi rst a n d t h e l a st , t h e h i g h est a n d
t h e l owest, the c i rcu mfere n ce a n d t h e c e nter. t h e A l p h a a n d
t h e O m e g a , t h e c a u sed a n d t h e c a u se, t h e C reato r a n d t h e
creature, t h a t i s , t h e b o o k written with i n a n d without , i t reaches
somet h i n g pe rfect . I t n ow a r r ive s at t h e p e rfecti o n of its i l l u­
m i n a t i o n s o n t h e s i xth stage, a s if w i t h G o d o n t h e s ix t h d ay.
Now n ot h i n g f u rther re m a i n s b ut t h e d ay of rest on w h i c h
thro u g h t ra n s p o rts of t h e m i n d i t s power o f d i s c e r n m e nt f i n d s
rest " f ro m a l l t h e wo rk t h a t it h a s d o n e . " ( JS 6 . 7 [ 5 : 31 2 ] )

We recall here the Christocentric character of the spirituality of

St. Francis. The spirituality of Francis revolves around his dis­
covery of a Christ different from what was common at his time.
In his own personal experiences, Francis breaks from the Byzan­
tine tone of the Christ images common even in the West, and
reflected to some extent even in the crucifix of San Damiano. In
116 -:- Christ the Center

that crucifix, even on the cross we encounter a Christ already

moving to glory. St. Francis will center his piety much more
around the reality of the humanity of Jesus and come to see him
more and more as a brother and as one whose life was somehow
to be imitated in one's personal journey.
We have already pointed out how Bonaventure moves from
that Christocentric form of spirituality to a metaphysical vision
that places Christ at the very center of creation and history.
Bonaventure's understanding of the christological dogma begins
already in the dogma of the Trinity. That person who is at the cen­
ter of the Trinity is the person who mediates all of God's work in
creation and in the history of salvation. When that central person
becomes incarnate, he assumes his rightful place publicly as the
center of creation and history.
Thus, Bonaventure is convinced that there is a universal cen­
ter of meaning, and it is to that center that we are called in our
spiritual journey. Not only is one's personal spiritual life to be
centered on Christ, but to the degree that this takes place, one's
personal center comes into more perfect harmony with the center
of reality-the center of the world and the very center of God.
For Bonaventure, Christ is simply the universal center.
In laying out his plan for the Collations on the Six Days of
Creation, Bonaventure writes about the starting point:
It is necessary to beg i n with the center. t h a t i s . with C h r i st .
F o r H e i s t h e M e d i a to r between G o d a n d h u m a n ity, h o l d i n g t h e
centra l position i n a l l t h i n g s , a s wi l l become c l e a r. T h e refore, i t
i s n ecessa ry t o beg i n with H i m if a person w i s h e s t o reach
Ch rist i a n wisdom . . . . Our i ntent i o n i s to s h ow t h a t in C h r i st a re
" h i d d e n a l l t h e treasures of wisdom a n d k n owledge," a n d that
H e H i m s e l f i s t h e centra l point of all k n owledge . H e i s t h e c e n­
tra l p o i nt i n a s evenfold sense: name ly, He i s t h e c e nte r of
essence, n a t u re. d i stance. doctrine. mod e ration. j u stice. a n d
concord . . . . Ch rist i s t h e f i rst cente r i n H i s ete r n a l gen eration,
the second in H i s i n ca r n ation. the t h i rd in H i s p a s s i o n . t h e
f o u rt h i n H i s resurrection, the fifth i n H i s a s c e n s i o n . t h e s i x t h
i n t h e j u d g m ent t o come, t h e seventh i n t h e eter n a l retribution
o r beatitud e . ( SD 1 . 1 0- 1 1 [ 5 : 330-31 ])
 Christ the Center -:- 117

Mysteries of the Life of Christ

Bonaventure at times virtually identifies the illuminative way

with the spirituality of the imitation of Christ. One reason for this
might be seen in his understanding of the symbolism of light. In
many ways, the divine mystery itself can be seen under this sym­
bol, and the action of God in human experience can be seen in
terms of the diffusion of light. The mystery of God and God's
grace illumines the human soul and lifts it up beyond i tself much
as the light of the sun reaches down to pick up water from the
earth and lift it up to the sky. Insofar as Christ is the divine Word
incarnate, his salvific work can be expressed in terms of the same
symbolism. Thus, in his Collations on the Six Days of Creation
Bonaventure writes:
In the a l l e g o r i c a l sen se. the s u n s i g n ifies C h ri st . T h e s u n r i s e s .
a n d t h e s u n s ets . I t r i ses i n H i s b i rt h . i t sets i n H i s d e a t h ; i t
c i rcles t h ro u g h m i d d ay i n H i s a s c e n s i o n ; i t i s i n c l i n e d t o t h e
n o rth i n t h e t i m e o f j u d g m e nt . ( SO 13 . 26 [ 5 : 391 ] )

For Bonaventure, it is clear that not everything that Christ did

during his earthly life is to be imitated by his followers. He dis­
tinguishes between instruction and imitation. It is true that
everything in the life of Christ is for our instruction in some way.
But not everything is for our imitation. Some of Christ's actions
reveal the mystery of his divinity. Therefore, they instruct us; but
it would be unwarranted pride to desire to imitate them. What
we are called to imitate can be named in terms of the virtues that
stand out in the history of Christ: humility, poverty, obedience,
and charity.
S o . a g re a t n u m b e r of actions s h i n e from C h r i st w h o i s t h e
exe m p l a r a n d o r i g i n o f o u r e ntire s a lva t i o n . N ow s o m e o f t h e s e
actions relate t o H i s exalted power. T h e s e i n c l u d e wa l k i n g o n
t h e water. t ra n sfo r m i n g t h e e l ements [wate r i nto w i n e a t C a n a ] .
m u ltiply i n g t h e l oaves. t ra nsfi g u ring H i m self, a n d oth e r m i ra c l e s .
O t h e r a c t i o n s relate t o t h e l i g ht of w i s d o m . These ref e r t o h e av­
enly s e c rets . rea d i n g the secrets of h e a rts. a n d p red icting future
eve nt s . O t h e r a c t i o n s relate to t h e s eve rity of j u d g m e nt . T h e s e
1 1 8 -:- Christ the Center

i n c l ude cast i n g the merchants f ro m t h e temple. overturn i n g the

tables of those who were sel l i n g d oves. and reproaching the
priests severely. Other actions relate to t h e d i g n ity of office.
These i n c l u d e confecting the sacrament of H i s m ost holy body,
the i m position of h a n d s . a n d t h e f o rg iveness of s i n s . O t h e r
a c t i o n s relate t o the condescension o f m ercy. T h e s e i n c l u d e
s u c h t h i n g s a s h i d i n g at the time o f persecution. b e i n g fearful
and sorrowfu l i n t h e fa ce of death. a n d p ray i n g to the Father
to remove t h i s c h a l ice. Other actions relate to the f o r m of t h e
l ife of p e rfect i o n . These i n c l u d e t h e observa n ce of p overty,
chastity, a n d obed i e n ce to God a n d to h u m a n b e i n g s , s p e n d­
i n g t h e n i g ht i n p rayer, p rayi n g for those who c r u c ified H i m .
a n d offer i n g H i mself i n death f o r h i s e n e m i e s o ut o f s u p reme
love. Thus. w h i l e there a re six d ifferent forms of action, per­
fection consists i n the i m itation o n ly of t h e l a st k i n d . ( DM 2 . 1 3
[ 8 : 243] )

So i t i s that Bonaventure, following the inspiration o f St.

Francis, attempts to clarify in greater detail what it is in the life of
Christ that is for our imitation. This might help us to understand
why it is that in many of Bonaventure's other writings, the
emphasis is not so much on the theology of the hypostatic union;
but, presupposing that, the emphasis will be on the mysteries of
the life of Christ.
For Bonaventure, the human reality of Jesus and his history
provide the historical base from which Christians derive their
most fundamental insights into the mystery of God, of human
nature, and of the world in which human beings find themselves.
It is understandable, then, that Bonventure can lead us into mov­
ing meditations on all the mysteries of the life of Christ, from the
annunciation all the way to the end of Jesus' history. The histori­
cal life of the Incarnate Word takes on archetypal significance as
the historical, symbolic expression of the mystery of the eternal
Word who lies at the very center of the Trinity.
It is through meditation on the mysteries of his life that we
become more aware of the meaning of the eternal Word, and it is
in the living out of the values of that historical life that we come
into fuller harmony with the eternal archetype enfleshed in Jesus.
 Clzrist tlze Center -:- 119

Ewert Cousins has suggested that w e might see Bonaventure's

work in this area as a mysticism of historical event. It is a way of
drawing one into the dynamic of a historical situation, almost as
a participant in the event, so as to be drawn into its deeper reli­
gious significance. Bonaventure's Tree of Life, Mystical Vine, and
many of his sermons might serve well as examples of what is
involved here.
In one of his sermons for the feast of the Epiphany, Bonaven­
ture recalls the prophets Jeremiah and Hosea, who compare the
relation of God with Israel to that of a husband with an unfaith­
ful wife. Both of these prophets describe the return of the wife to
the loving husband. This now serves as a way of viewing the
return of the soul to Christ.
T h i s is w h a t t h e s o u l d oes w h e n it reca l l s its spouse, o u r Lord
J e s u s C h rist, w h o-fo r l ove of you-wa s b o r n , l ived , d i e d , etc.
W h o wo u l d n ot l ove H i m if o n e o n ly rec a l l e d w h a t He h a s d o n e
f o r u s i n H i s f l e s h ? B ut i t i s necessary to t u r n b a c k t o H i m f re­
quently. A ray of t h e s u n d o e s l ittle to wa rm t h i n g s by s i m p ly
p a s s i n g over, b ut rather by l i n g e ri n g . I n a s i m i l a r way, a s i n g l e
thought, o r reca l l i n g G o d b ut o n ce, w i l l h a rd l y i n f l a m e t h e
heart . Rather, w e n e e d t o d o t h i s frequently. ( Sermon 4 on
Epiph. [ 9 : 162])

It is in this area that Bonaventure reveals a significant influ­

ence of the work of Bernard of Clairvaux. Particularly in his
reflections on the Canticle of Canticles, the Cistercian had devel­
oped the spousal imagery of the biblical text as a way of empha­
sizing the relation of love that should develop between the soul
and the person of Christ.
Bernard w r i te s : " Le a rn from C h r i st H i m s e l f h ow yo u o u g h t to
love C h r i st , 0 C h r i st i a n s o u l . Love sweetly, p r u d e ntly, a n d
i ntensely. Love sweetly, s o t h a t , i n t h e l i g h t o f H i s l ove, every
oth e r l ove w i l l s e e m p o o r to yo u, a n d that C h r i st a l o n e w i l l be
honey to yo u r m o ut h , m u s i c to yo u r ea rs, a n d j oy to yo u r h e a rt .
Love p r u d e ntly, s o t h a t , without cea s i n g , yo u r l ove w i l l b u r n f o r
H i m a n d f o r n o o n e e l s e . Love i ntensely, s o t h a t yo u r fra i lty w i l l
joyfu lly e n d u re every h a rd s h i p a n d p a i n f o r H i s s a ke, a n d t h a t
120 -:- Christ the Center

yo u m ay c o m e to say: My t r i a l s l a sted h a rdly a n h o u r, a n d even

if t h ey were to l a st long er, because of l ove I wo u l d n ot feel
them. T h i s is h ow t h e C h r i st i a n should a l ways strive toward
Christ t h ro u g h l ove : i n s u c h a way that he or s h e wi l l i n g ly s u p­
p o rts a ny a dve rsity u ntil fina l ly reac h i n g H i m . " These a re t h e
words of B e r n a rd . ( Soli/. 1 . 4, 4 3 [ 8 :42])

Similar themes appear in the treatment of the sacrament of the

Eucharist in the Breviloquium:
In a s i m i l a r way, s i n c e i t i s in h a rmony with the t i m e of g race
that the s a c rament of u n i o n and l ove n ot o n l y s i g n ify t h i s u n i o n
a n d l ove, b ut a l s o that i t be a m e a n s of i nf l a m i n g t h e h e a rt i n
that d i rection so a s to b r i n g a bout w h a t i t represents . Because
what most i nf l a m e s us towa rd m ut u a l l ove and w h a t c h i efly
u n ites t h e m e m bers i s the o n e ness of the H e a d from whom
flows a m ut u a l affection thro u g h a stre a m of l ove that pours
forth, u n ites, and transforms, the refore t h i s s a c rament c o ntains
t h e true body and i m macu late flesh of C h r i st in s u c h a way
that it p o u r s i nto u s , u n ites us to o n e a n other, a n d t ransforms
us i nto H i m t h ro u g h that most b u r n i n g l ove by w h i c h He g ave
H i m self to u s , offered H i m self u p for u s , a n d n ow retu r n s to
us a n d rem a i n s with us u nt i l the e n d of t h e world . ( Brevi/. 6 . 3
[ 5 : 254])

There can be little doubt that Bonaventure saw the possibility

that reflection on the mysteries of Christ's life could lead one to
the most exalted form of mystical experience. This, in fact, is
what happened in the case in St. Francis on Mount Alverna.

The Cross

In this context, we must recall specifically the role that the cross
of Christ played in the spirituality of St. Francis, beginning with
the experience before the cross in the little church of San
Damiano and reaching a climactic point in the experience of
A!verna, when the wounds of the crucified Christ were imprinted
in his own body.
 Christ the Center -:- 121

When we think of Bonaventure's earlier reflection on the mys­

tery of God in relation to the glories of nature, the focus seems to
be on the greatness of God and the divine transcendence beyond
the world of crea ted realities. But, even at that level, we need to
recall how St. Francis saw also the small, humble creatures as
symbols of the divine. Both dimensions are present, though we
easily move to greatness and glory.
When we look at the mystery of Christ, however, both for St.
Francis and for Bonaventure, this evokes quite a different sense
of the divine. When we think of the historical origins of Jesus, the
poor circumstances of his life, the tragic historical ending on the
cross, we must ask in what sense this is truly the incarnation of
divine love. For both St. Francis and for Bonaventure, such his­
torical realities point our attention to the humble, tender ele­
ments of the world in order to discover there important signals of
the presence of the divine. How can one look at the figure on the
cross without asking: What is the nature of creative and redemp­
tive love? What is truly creative power?
Bonaventure himself will speak of the transformative power
of love. It is a common human experience that a person is grad­
ually changed by the persons or things that are most important
in his or her life. We can see this at various levels. Married peo­
ple who have struggled and worked and loved over many years
are changed by that process. Relations between children and par­
ents often reflect the same dynamic, as do many other types of
relation. We are changed by those persons and things that enter
deeply into our lives. And in a real sense, we become like what
we love.
If this is true of human relations, may it not also be true of the
relation between the human person and God? The life of grace
and the imitation of Christ are a process of responding to the
divine offer and the example of Christ. And the human person is
changed in that process. We become like what we love. And if it
is the divine, self-sacrificing love embodied in the figure on the
cross that we truly love, we will become human beings who truly
reflect such love in the world of human relations. Speaking of the
peace that the human soul seeks, Bonaventure writes:
122 -:- Christ the Center

T h e road to t h i s peace is t h ro u g h the most a rdent l ove of t h e

Crucified, t h e s o rt of l ove t h a t so t ra n sformed Pa u l i nto C h r i st
. . . that he d e c l a re d : "With C h r i st I a m n a i l e d to t h e c ross . I t i s
now n o l o n g e r I t h a t l ive. b ut C h r i st l ive s i n m e . " A n d t h i s l ove
so a b sorbed the so u l of Fra n c i s that h i s spi rit s h o n e t h rough
h i s f l e s h t h e l a st two yea rs of his l ife when h e b o re t h e m o st
holy m a r k s of t h e Pa s s i o n i n h i s body. (JS pro l . 3 [ 5 : 29 5 ] )

It is not surprising, therefore, to find that Bonaventure gives

great emphasis to the mystery of the passion and the cross in
many of his writings.
Woe to those who spend t h e i r entire l ive s studying l o g i c.
physics. or t h e p r i n c i p l es of the s c i e nces a n d who f i n d n oth­
i n g to s avo r in t h i s k n owledge. If t h ey were to stu d y t h e wood
of t h e c ross of C h r i st . t h ey wo u l d f i n d a knowledge there t h a t
i s t r u ly s a lvific. ( Sermon V o n Second Sunday after Easter
[ 9 : 304] )

In the prologue to the Tree of Life, Bonaventure writes as

follows:
"With C h rist I a m n a i l e d to t h e cross . " says t h e second c h a p­
ter of t h e E p i stle to the G a l a t i a n s . The t r u e wo rsh i pe r of God
and the true d is c i p l e of Ch rist, want i n g to be conformed p e r­
fectly to t h e S avi o r of a l l who was crucified for h i s s a ke, s h o u l d
try a bove a l l w i t h c l o s e attent i o n o f the m i n d to c a rry t h e c ross
of C h r i st a lways b oth in s o u l a n d in b ody, u nt i l he can feel t h e
truth of t h e a p o stle's words i n h i mself. N o o n e w i l l h ave a n
affecti o n o r a l ively experience of such a feel i n g u n less. neither
forgetti n g t h e Lord 's passion nor being u n g rateful for i t . h e c o n­
templates-with vivid memory. penetrating m i n d , a n d l oving
w i l l-the l a bo rs. t h e s uffering , and t h e l ove of Jesus crucified.
so t h a t h e ca n truthfu lly s ay with the bride: "A b u n d l e of myrrh
is my B e l ove d to me; He s h a l l a b id e betwe e n my b reasts . " ( TL
pro l . [ 8 : 68 ] )
Later in the same work we read the following exhortation:
Yo u w h o a re redeemed, c o n s i d e r who He i s . h ow g re a t a p e r­
s o n H e i s . a n d what s o rt of person He i s who h a n g s on t h e
 Cl1rist the Center -:- 123

cro s s f o r yo u . C o n s i d e r whose d e a th it i s that g ive s l i fe to t h e

d e a d . a n d a t w h o s e pass i n g t h e h e ave n s a n d t h e e a rth m o u rn
a n d t h e h a rd rocks a re s p l i t a s u n d e r a s if o ut of n a t u ra l c o m­
p a ss i o n . 0 h u m a n heart. yo u a re h a rd w i t h a h a rd n e s s g reater
t h a n t h a t of a ny ro c k if at the rec o l l ecti o n of s u c h a g reat
atonement yo u a re n ot str u c k with terror. n o r to u c h e d with
c o m p a s s i o n . nor to rn with c o m p u nction. n o r softe ned with
p iety. ( TL 29 [ 8 : 79 ] )

Another sort of meditation on the crucified Christ is found in

the Mystical Vine, emphasizing the revelatory meaning of the
wound in the side of Christ, and urging the reader to enter per­
sonally into that wound:
Yo u r s i d e wa s p i e rced in ord e r t h a t a n e ntra n c e m i g ht be
o p e n e d f o r us; Yo u r h e a rt wa s wo u n d e d s o that we m i g ht dwel l
i n t h a t V i n e f re e f ro m a l l external tri b u l at i o n s . B ut You r h e a rt
wa s wo u n d e d a l s o so that t h ro u g h t h e v i s i b l e wo u n d we m ig ht
s e e t h e i nv i s i b l e wo u n d of l ove. F o r o n e w h o l oves a rdently i s
wo u n d ed b y l ove. H ow c o u l d t h i s a rd o r b e s h ow n to u s m o re
effectively t h a n by p e r m i t t i n g n ot o n ly H i s b o d y b ut H i s very
h e a rt to b e p i e rced with a l a nce? The wo u n d of the f l e s h
reve a l s t h e wo u n d of the s p i ri t . ( MV 3 . 5 [ 8 : 1 6 4 ] )

An entire chapter of The Threefold Way is given over to show

the reader how it is that meditation on the suffering of Jesus and
above all on the cross can lead by seven steps to the splendor of
truth. These steps begin with the assent of faith to the mystery of
the divinity of Christ who is suffering and move to a sense of
empathy with him in his suffering and a sense of compassion for
one's neighbor that reflects the love of Christ for humans which
is enacted in His suffering. It culminates in the discovery of the
most profound truths about God and the human condition,
which Bonaventure describes as the splendor of truth. The chap­
ter ends with the following:
T h i s is h ow a l l is m a d e k n own t h ro u g h t h e c ross. s i n ce a l l
t h i n g s c a n b e i n c l u d e d i n t h i s sevenfold d iv i s i o n . Fro m t h i s i t
follows t h a t t h e c ro s s i s t h e key, t h e d o o r. t h e way, a n d t h e
1 24 -:- Christ the Center

very s p l e n d o r of truth. Anyone who is w i l l i n g to t a ke u p t h e

cross a n d f o l l ow its way a s we h ave descri bed it w i l l n ot wa l k
i n t h e d a rkness, b ut w i l l h ave the l i g h t of l if e . ( T W 3 . 3 , 3
[ 8 : 1 2 - 14])

For Bonaventure, the mystery of the cross raises the question

of renunciation and asceticism as an important dimension of the
spiritual journey and of the imitation of Christ. It is found at per­
haps its deepest level, as we have already seen, in his under­
standing of spiritual poverty. It plays a role also in various forms
of meditation on the mysteries of the life of Christ, and it may be
seen in a powerful form in the willingness to give oneself for the
sake of the other in works of charity. Beyond this, it will involve
also voluntary self-denial and mortification. Bonaventure offers a
powerful statement of how he understands the mystery of the
crucified Christ in relation to the spiritual life.

Therefore, my s o u l , with l ov i n g footsteps m ove c l o s e to J e s u s

wounded , t o J e s u s c rowned w i t h t h o r n s , t o J e s u s fastened to
t h e wo od of t h e c ross . With the a postle Thomas, d o n ot o n ly
s e e i n H i s h a n d s t h e p r i nt of t h e n a i l s , d o n ot o n ly p ut your
finger i nto t h e place of t h e n a i l s , d o n ot o n ly p ut you r h a n d
i nto H i s s i d e, b ut e nter w i t h the w h o l e of yo u r b e i n g t h rough
the door of His side i nto t h e very h e a rt of Jesus. T h e re, t rans­
formed i nto C h r i st by t h e m o st b u r n i n g love of the C r u c ified,
p i erced by t h e n a i l s of the fear of God, wo u n d ed by the s p e a r
of hea rtfelt love, transfixed by t h e sword of i ntimate c o m p a s­
s i o n , seek n oth i n g , d e s i re n oth i n g , wish for no consolation
oth e r t h a n to b e able to d i e with C h r i st o n t h e c ross . T h e n you
may c ry o ut with the a post l e Pa u l : "With C h rist, I a m n a i l e d to
t h e c ross . It is n ow no l o n g e r I that l ive, b ut Ch r i st l ives i n
m e . " ( PL 6 . 2 [8 : 1 20])

This text suggests, among other things, that the love one
searches for in the spiritual journey, modeled after the love of
Christ, is a loving compassion. The same tone appears in the fol­
lowing:
 Christ the Center -:- 125

F i n a l ly, we s h o u l d c o m e to the m o st h u m b l e h e a rt of J e s u s
most h i g h t h ro u g h t h e o p e n d o o r of H i s s i d e , p i e rced a s i t i s
with a l a n c e . H e re, b eyo n d d o u bt , t h e re l i es h i d d e n t h e trea­
s u re of t h a t l ove w h i c h is d e s i ra b l e a n d i n effa b l e . H e re is fo u n d
t h a t d evot i o n from w h i c h t h e g ra c e of tea rs i s d rawn . H e re we
l e a r n m i l d n e s s a n d p a t i e n ce in o u r afflictions, a n d c o m p a s s i o n
f o r t h e afflicted . H e re, a b ove a l l , i s fo u n d a " h e a rt c o ntrite a n d
h u m bled . " S u c h a g reat o n e d e s i re s yo u r e m b ra ces; s u c h a
g re a t o n e i s wa i t i n g to e m b ra c e yo u . ( MV 24 . 3 [ 8 : 1 89 ] )

In the midst of this meditation stands the word compassion. In

terms of its etymology, the word comes from the Latin com-pati.
This verb means, literally, "to bear, to endure, or to suffer with."
It names a love, then, that is willing to express itself in voluntary
suffering for the good of others, as Christ has done. In this way,
as Christ's human love in the service of God and humanity was
a reflection of the mystery of the eternal Word, so the human love
of the disciple of Christ will reflect the mystery of the eternal
Word as the one who is totally from the Other, and totally at the
service of the Other as it reaches to others. Meditation on the
mystery of the cross should move one to a practical love of the
crucified Christ which will express itself in the form of caring for
others and in personal asceticism that takes its inspiration from
the cross.
Already in his Commentary 011 the Sentences, Bonaventure refers
back to the teaching of Gregory the Great to say:
Anyo n e w h o w i s h e s to l ove God p e r fectly m u st f i rst be c o n­
c e r n e d with t h e l ove of n e i g h bo r, j u st a s o n e w h o w i s h es to
b e c o m e g o o d as a c o ntemplative m u st f i r st be g o o d i n t h e
active l ife. a s G regory teaches . ( /// Sent. d . 27, a . 2 . q . 4 [ 8 : 61 0] )

We might summarize Bonaventure's view by saying that the

most basic signal of progress in the spiritual journey is the degree
to which the human person becomes filled with the mystery of
compassionate love, a love that reaches out to all things with a
willingness to truly bear the weight of the other for the good of
the other as Christ bore the weight of humanity even to the point
of his cruel execution on the cross.
1 26 -:- Christ the Center

In The Life of St. Francis the Seraphic Doctor looks to the Saint
of Assisi for an example of the relation between the active and the
contemplative dimensions:
F o r he h a d lea rned wisely to d iv i d e the t i m e g ive n to h i m f o r
g a i n i n g m e r i t . P a r t of i t h e s pe nt i n working f o r h i s n e i g h bor's
salva t i o n . and t h e oth e r p a rt h e g ave to t h e t ra n q u i l ecstasy of
conte m plation. Therefore when. accord i n g to the d e m a n d s of
t i m e a n d p l ace, he h a d g iven h i mself f u l ly for the s a lvation of
others, he wou l d then leave b e h i n d the d i straction of the c rowds
a n d seek o ut t h e secrets of s o l i t u d e a n d a p l a c e of q u i et w h e re
he c o u l d s p e n d h is t i m e m o re f reely with t h e Lord a n d c l e a n s e
h i m self of a ny d u st that h e m i g ht h ave p i cked u p f ro m h i s
bus i n ess with people. ( LM 1 3 . 1 [ 8 : 542])

In these terms, Bonaventure describes the rhythms of the life of

St. Francis immediately before the description of the experience
of Alverna. Having brought us to this level of contempla tion on
the world, on ourselves, on God, and on the mystery of Christ, he
now writes:
W h e n the m i n d h a s d o n e a l l of t h i s , i t m u st sti l l , in behold i n g
these t h i n g s , t ra n scend a n d p a s s over. n ot o n ly t h i s s e n s i b l e
world . b ut even itself. I n t h i s p a s s i n g over. C h r i st i s t h e way
a n d t h e d o o r; C h r i st is t h e l a d d e r a n d t h e veh icle. l i ke t h e
mercy-seat a bove t h e a r k of God a n d t h e " mystery t h a t h a s
b e e n h id d e n fro m eternity. " ( JS 7. 1 [ 5 : 31 2 ] )

Here we stand before the very throne of God. We have done

all it is in our power to do. It remains only to place ourselves fully
in the loving embrace of God with Christ, to pass over into God.
Here Bonaventure singles out St. Francis on Mount Alverna as
the outstanding example of such a passing over. It is here that St.
Francis becomes the perfect example of contemplation, as he had
been the model of action earlier in his life. For Bonaventure, it is
through the example of St. Francis that God invites all who
would enter on the spiritual journey.
In a text filled with allusions to the experience of St. Francis on
Mount Alverna and cast against the background of the Mosaic
 Christ tile Center -:- 127

experience of the passage out of Egypt through the Red Sea,

Bonaventure writes:
O n e who t u r n s f u l l y toward t h i s m e rcy-s eat a n d with faith,
hope, a n d l ove, d evot i o n , wonder, j oy, a p p reciation, praise a n d
rejoici n g , b e h o l d s C h r i st h a n g i n g o n t h e c ross, s u c h a o n e c e l­
ebrates t h e Pa s c h , that i s , t h e Passover, with H i m . T h u s , u s i n g
t h e staff of t h e c ross, s u c h a p e r s o n m ay p a s s ove r t h e Red
S e a , g o i n g f ro m Egypt i nto the desert , w h e re he o r s h e m ay
taste t h e h i d d e n m a n n a ; a n d with C h r i st m ay rest i n t h e tom b ,
dead, a s i t were, t o t h e o utside wo rld; b ut experiencing , n ev­
erth eless, a s fa r a s i s poss i b l e i n t h i s p resent state a s wayfarer,
w h a t was s a i d on t h e c ro s s to t h e t h i ef w h o wa s h a n g i n g t h e re
with C h r i st : "Th i s d ay yo u s h a l l be w i t h m e i n Paradise . " ( JS
7. 2 [ 5 : 31 2 ] )
 Chapter 6

The Goal of the Journey

Already in the Prologue to The Journey of the Soul into God Bona­
venture gives the reader some clues as to the outcome of the jour­
ney. He does this with his description of the vision of the seraph
in the form of the Crucified which overwhelmed St. Francis on
Mount Alverna. Speaking of that experience, Bonaventure
writes:
As I reflecte d on t h i s it c a m e to me i m med iately that t h i s v i s i o n
sig nified o u r Father's own suspension i n conte m p lation a s well
a s t h e way through which one a r r ives a t t h a t state. (JS p ro l . 2
[ 5 :295])

We will now reflect on the meaning of this in the broader context

of Bonaventure's program.
In our introduction we spoke of Bonaventure's work as a case
of what is known as wisdom theology. As we come to the end of
his analysis and look to the goal that he opens before us, we can
see more clearly what this meant to him. We have already indi­
cated that, in his view, while knowledge could be an important
dimension of the human, spiritual journey, it is not the goal of
that journey but a step on the way to the goal. The goal itself, as
we have indicated, is best described in the language of a love that
draws one beyond mere cognition.
While Bonaventure can speak of a certain form of wisdom
already at the level of philosophy, that sort of wisdom is the fruit
of human effort. At this level, it can include our basic knowledge
of reality. More specifically, it can be taken to mean a more
sophisticated kind of knowledge such as we find in philosophi-
128
 Tile Goal of the Journey -:- 1 29

cal metaphysics. This is a sort of knowledge which truly strives

to see things in terms of their fundamental causes.
So, in Bonaventure's understanding, wisdom is not a simple,
univocal term. There are levels of wisdom that seem to be the
fruit of human effort and ingenuity. But the highest form of wis­
dom, which is our present concern, is not won through such
work. It is a gift of the Holy Spirit and is probably best under­
stood to be a form of what later authors will call infused con­
templation.
0 s o u l . g re a t is t h a t w h i c h you d e s i re. a n d p r i c e l e s s is the g ift
yo u w i s h for so e a g e rly. B ut it c a n n ot b e obta i n ed by h u m a n
effort; i t c a n n ot b e e a r n e d b y h u m a n m e r i t . I t m i g ht b e
received f ro m G o d t h ro u g h t h e h u m b l e p raye r o f a well­
d isposed s o u l , b ut o n ly b e c a u s e of G o d ' s d iv i n e a n d m e rc i f u l
condesce n s i o n . " Fo r a l l g o l d . i n v i ew of i t , i s b ut a b i t of s a n d .
a n d befo re i t s i lve r i s to b e a c c o u nted a s n oth i n g . " ( So/JZ 2 . 3 .
1 4 [ 8 : 50])

As a youthful commentator on the Sen tences of Lombard, Bona­

venture had written that in the most proper sense the word
wisdom
designates a n experient i a l knowledge of G o d ; a n d i n t h i s s e n se.
i t i s o n e of t h e s eve n g ifts of t h e H o ly S p i r i t . T h e a ct of t h i s
g ift c o n s ists i n t a st i n g t h e d iv i n e sweetness . . . . T h e a ct of t h e
g ift of w i s d o m i s pa rtly cogn itive a n d pa rtly a ffective. I t b e g i n s
i n k n ow l e d g e a n d is c o n s u m m ated i n a ffe ct i o n . T h e t a ste o r
savo r i n g i s a n experient i a l know l e d g e o f t h a t w h i c h i s g o o d a n d
sweet . . . . S u c h wisdom c a n not b e excessive. b e c a u s e excess i n
exp e r i e n c i n g the d iv i n e sweet n e s s i s to b e p ra i sed rather t h a n
t o be c o n d e m n e d . S u c h a t h i n g c a n b e s e e n i n h o ly a n d c o n­
tem p l ative p e r s o n s w h o at t i m e s a re e l evated to e c stasy
b e c a u s e of the g reat sweetness. a n d a t t i m es a re l ifted u p to
ra ptu re. t h o u g h t h i s h a p p e n s to very few. It m u st b e c o n ceded,
therefore. t h a t t h e p r i n c i p a l act of t h e g i ft of w i s d o m l i es in
t h e a re a of affect . ( Ill Sent. d. 35, a. un . . resp . [ 3 : 774 ] )

Bonaventure speaks in similar terms in his treatment of the

130 -:- The Goal of the Journey

various forms of knowledge of the divine, which he describes in

a wide-ranging discussion of the experience of Adam in the state
of innocence (II Sent. d. 23, a. 2, g. 3 [2:544]). In the context of this
discussion, Bonaventure singles out the case of St. Paul, which he
sees as involving a very special privilege. It is described in the
language of rapture as an experience in which one does not act
but rather is acted upon. It is a privilege reserved to very few. We
assume, therefore, that rapture is not to be identified with the
goal of the journey Bonaventure has been describing for us. This
goal lies in the area of what he calls ecstasy, as we shall see.
In his final work, Bonaventure clearly distinguishes between
ecstasy and rapture. The context for his discussion consists of a
schema of seven levels of experience corresponding to the six
days of creation followed by the seventh day of Sabbath rest. It is
on the sixth day that God brings the work of creation to comple­
tion. If the number six is taken as symbolic of human history, and
if the sixth day means some form of completion, it can be seen to
symbolize that point toward the end of history-either individ­
ual history or collective history-when humanity reaches its
fullest, historical maturity, immediately prior to the peace and
rest of the seventh day.
Since the end of personal history means a passage through
death, it involves the separation of the soul from the body,
whereas the fullness of life in heaven will involve the reunion of
soul and body. In medieval theology, this reunion is seen to take
place at the end of the collective history of the human race.
The sixth day, therefore, can be taken to symbolize a high
degree of maturity, in this case as seen in a very exalted form of
experience. In this symbolic framework, Bonaventure suggests
that there are levels of experience that can be thought of as simi­
lar to the passage through death to the vision of heaven. Such
experiences can include both ecstasy and rapture. But ecstasy
and rapture are not to be identified with each other. Ecstasy is a
lesser form of experience, and is the more frequent of the two.
Rapture, as Bonaventure understands it, is very rare. It seems to
consist in a vision of God which, already here in history, antici­
pates the experience of the beatific vision. Bonaventure sees it as
 The Goal of the Journey -:- 131

being involved in the experience of St. Paul, and he uses the work
of Richard of St. Victor to express his view.
The text of Richard deals with the character of Issachar, one of
Jacob's sons mentioned in Genesis 49. Issachar is described by
Richard as living in the space between a land that he has to put
up with by reason of necessity, and another land which he can
see and which he desires for the sake of enjoyment (The Twelve
Patriarchs, ch. 39). In this way lssachar can be seen as a symbol of
a person standing at a limited place in history yet yearning for
something greater tha t lies in the future.
Using this as the background for his reflections, Bonaventure
seems to place this exalted experience of rapture at the boundary
that distinguishes historical experience from heavenly experience.
Or, we might say that a person standing within history enjoys an
actual foretaste of heaven. Bonaventure puts it as follows:
The s ixth v i s i o n is that of u n d e rsta n d i n g a bs o r b ed by rapture
i nto G o d . H e n ce. t h e E p i st l e to the C o r i nt h i a n s says: " I k n ow a
m a n i n C h r i st w h o f o u rte e n years a g o-wheth e r i n t h e b o d y o r
o ut of t h e b o d y I d o n ot k n ow. G od k n ows-s u c h a o n e was
c a u g h t up in t h i s way. " T h i s l ifti n g up m a kes the s o u l as s i m­
i l a r to G o d a s i s p o ss i b l e with i n h i story. E csta sy a n d rapture a re
not t h e s a m e . The refore it i s s a i d t h a t t h ey [ w h o experience
rapture] d o n ot possess g l o ry a s a h a b i t , b ut t h ey d o experi­
e n c e the act of g l o ry. T h u s t h i s v i s i o n sta n d s a t the b o rder
betwe e n h i story and h eave n . and at t h e b o r d e r betwe e n t h e
sepa ra t i o n a n d u n i o n of s o u l a n d body. ( SD 3 . 30 [ 5 : 347-48 ] )

By way of contrast, i n the same work, Bonaventure speaks of

ecstasy in the following terms:
T h i s c o nte m p lation c o m es a bout t h ro u g h g race, b ut h u m a n
eff o rt c a n b e h e l p f u l ; f o r it c a n sepa rate t h e s e l f fro m every­
t h i n g t h a t is n ot G o d , a n d even from itself. if t h a t is p o s s i b l e .
A n d t h i s i s t h e h i g h est u n i o n o f l ove. A n d t h e A p o st l e says t h a t
i t t a ke s p l a c e o n l y t h ro u g h love: " B e i n g rooted a n d g ro u n d ed
i n l ove so t h a t yo u m ay c o m p re h e n d with a l l t h e s a i nts w h a t
i s t h e l e n gt h , t h e w i d t h , the h e i g ht , a n d t h e d e p t h . " T h i s l ove
tra n s c e n d s a l l u n d e rsta n d i n g a n d knowledge. B ut if i t t ra n-
1 32 -:- The Goal of the Journey

scends knowledge, h ow c a n t h i s wisdom be seen? Th i s is w h y

t h e Apostle cont i n u es: " N ow t o a nyo n e w h o i s a b l e t o rea l ize
a l l these t h i n g s in a m e a s u re fa r b eyo nd what we a s k or c o n­
ceive. etc . " F o r it does n ot c o m e to a nyo n e b ut to t h e o n e to
w h o m God reve a l s i t . Therefore the Apostle says: " B ut to u s
G o d h a s reve a l e d i t b y t h e S p i ri t . " S i n c e t h e m i n d i s j o i n ed to
God i n t h i s u n i o n . i n o n e sense it sleeps, b ut i n a n other sense
i t kee p s v i g i l . " I s l eep, b ut my h e a rt i s awake." I t is o n ly the
affective p owe r that kee ps v i g i l . a n d it i m poses s i l e n c e o n a l l
t h e oth e r powers. F o r t h i s reason, a person i s a l i enated f ro m
the s e n s e s , a n d-being p laced i n esctasy-h ears h id d e n t h i n g s
w h i c h a person i s n ot a l l owed t o s p e a k . because t h ey a re
affa i rs of the h e a r t . The refore. s i n c e n oth i ng c a n be s p o ken
u n less i t i s fi rst conceived, a n d n oth i n g can be conceived
u n less it is fi rst u n d e rstood, the i nte l l ect rem a i n s s i lent . I t f o l­
lows that a person c a n h a rdly s p e a k or exp l a i n a nyth i n g . A n d
s o i t i s . N ow, s i n c e n o o n e a rrives at s u c h w i s d o m except
thro u g h g race, a w i s e a uthor looks to t h e H o l y S p i ri t a n d to
t h e Word h i m s e l f to reveal a l l hidden a n d u nforeseeable t h i n g s .
( SD 2 . 30 [ 5 : 341 ] )

From here we can look at the final paragraphs of The Journey of

the Soul into God, where Bonaventure speaks again of the experi­
ence that is the goal of the journey. The six days of creation are
finished. There remains now the seventh day of Sabbath rest. At
this point, Bonaventure speaks of the levels of reflection which
we have followed with him as "steps to the true throne by which
a person ascends to peace, where the truly peaceful person rests
in peace of mind as if in an interior Jerusalem" US 7.1 [5:312]).
What has gone before has been, at best, a dark and obscure
sense of the divine. But at this point, Bonaventure is inviting us
to move yet further. The theme of peace is strong; the kind of
inner peace that one experiences when one has reached a level of
personal integration. This sense of integration or focusing is
expressed in The Threefold Way in the following terms:
Final ly, h ow a re we to be concerned with the l ittle f l a m e of wis­
d o m ? We s h o u l d m ove i n the f o l l owing o rder: this little f l a m e i s
 Tlze Goal of the Journey -:- 133

first to b e c o n centrated, s e c o n d it i s to be n o u ri s h ed , t h i rd it i s
to b e l ifted u p . I t i s concentrated b y d rawi n g o u r affections
away f ro m a l l l ove of c reati o n . Since there is no a d vanta g e to
be f o u n d i n t h e l ove of c reatio n , it is necessary t h a t o u r affec­
t i o n be d rawn away f ro m t h i s s o rt of l ove . If t h e re is n o a dvan­
t a g e to b e f o u n d i n s u c h l ove, t h e n it d o e s n ot refre s h ; a n d i f
i t d o e s n ot refre s h , it d o e s n ot satisfy u s . T h e refore, a l l l ove o f
t h i s s o rt m u st b e removed from o u r affectio n .
Seco n d , i t i s t o b e n o u rished . T h i s t a kes p l a c e by t u r n i n g
o u r a ffection t o t h e l ove o f t h e S p o u s e . We d o t h i s b y c o n­
s i d e r i n g l ove i n re lation to ou rse lves, to t h o s e i n h eave n , a n d
to t h e S po u s e H i mself. T h e s o u l d o e s t h i s w h e n it g ives
t h o u g ht to t h e fact t h a t every n e e d c a n be f i l l e d by l ove, t h a t
beca u s e of l ove t h e f u l l a b u n d a n c e of every g o o d i s i n t h e
blessed , a n d t h a t t h ro u g h love o n e e n j oys t h e p re s e n c e of t h e
O n e w h o i s s u p remely d es i rable. T h e s e a re t h e t h i n g s t h a t
n o u r i s h o u r affections.
Th i rd , i t is to b e l ifted up b eyo n d everyt h i n g t h a t can b e
sen sed , i m a g i ne d , o r u n d e rstood . T h i s s h o u l d b e d o n e i n t h e
follow i n g o rder. The s o u l s h o u l d fi rst m e d i ta te o n t h e G o d
w h o m i t w i s h es t o l ove p e rfectly, a n d i t w i l l s e e i m m e d i a tely
t h a t this God c a n n ot b e sen sed, seen, h e a rd , s m e l l e d , or t a sted,
and t h e refore is n ot an o bject of sense p e rcepti o n ; and yet i s
tota l l y d e s i ra b l e . Secon d , t h e s o u l s h o u l d ref l e ct o n t h e fact
t h a t t h i s God c a n n ot be i m a g i n ed beca u s e God h a s no l i m its,
n o fig u re, n o n u m b e r, n o q u a ntity, a n d n o c h a n g e a b i l ity, a n d
therefore c a n n ot b e i m a g i n ed, a n d yet i s tota lly d e s i ra bl e . T h i rd ,
t h e s o u l s h o u l d ref l ect o n t h e fa ct t h a t t h i s G o d i s beyo n d o u r
u n dersta n d i n g , b e c a u s e G o d i s b eyo n d d e m o n st ra t i o n , d efi n i­
t i o n , o p i n i o n , est i m at i o n , or i nvest i g a t i o n . S o , t h i s G o d is beyond
o u r u n d e rsta n d i n g a n d yet i s total l y d e s i ra bl e . ( TW 1 . 1 5 - 17
[ 8:7] )

In his final Collations, Bonaventure expresses it this way:

In t h i s u n i o n , t h e p owe r of t h e s o u l is d rawn tog et h e r a n d
beco m e s m ore u n ified . The s o u l e nters i nto i t s d e e pest s e l f a n d
consequently r i s e s to its h i g h est self. F o r accord i n g t o Aug ustine,
1 34 -:- The Goal of the Journey

the dee pest self a n d the h i g hest s e l f a re i d e ntica l . . . . But i n

ord e r to rea c h s u c h a c o n d i t i o n . i t i s good f o r u s to b e c a r r i e d
a bove every s e n s e experience, a n d a b ove every ratio n a l opera­
t i o n related to the i m a g i nation . . . . And t h i s is what D i o nysius
teaches: to d i s m i s s sensible and i ntellectual things, b e i n g s a n d
n on-b e i n g s-and b y n o n-be i n gs he m e a n s temporal t h i n g s
because they a re c o n stantly u n d erg o i n g c h a n g e-a nd t h u s to
ente r i nto t h e ra d i a nce of darkness. It i s c a l led d a r kness
because the i nte l l ect does n ot g ra s p it. a n d yet t h e soul i s
supremely i l l u m i ned . ( SD 2.31 -32 [ 5 : 341 -42 ] )

Later in the same work, Bonaventure expresses his view on

ecstatic contemplation, comparing the contemplative and active
dimensions of human life to the moon, which waxes and wanes.
Think of the church, and of the individual members of the
church, as similar to the moon in its relation to the sun and its
movements of waxing and waning. Those in the church militant
are engaged in both active and contemplative concerns. When
they are engaged in contemplation and draw closer to God as the
moon approaches closer to the sun, they receive the fullest illu­
mination; and when they are engaged in activity, their illumina­
tion decreases. There is no human being whose illumination is
not diminished by action except Jesus Christ, who was perfect in
both action and contemplation. When the contemplative person
is most fully illumined, he or she frequently appears unusual or
disfigured to others. Bonaventure then compares the soul to the
hemisphere of the moon in the following words.
The m o o n w h i c h waxe s a n d wa nes s i g n ifies a person in the
active and i n t h e c o ntemplative l ife. The m o r n i n g sta r at times
p recedes t h e sun, and then i t s i g nifies t h e contemplative l ife.
At oth e r times i t comes later t h a n the sun. Then i t s i g n if i e s the
active l ife . . . . As t h e bride i s attracted to t h e g room . . . so the
soul d es i res to be u n i ted t h ro u g h the ecstas i es of contempla­
t i o n . When the h e m i s phere of t h e s o u l is c o m p l etely f i l led with
light, then exteriorly the person seems to b e e ntirely d eformed
and becomes s peech less . H e nce, these word s of the Canticle
conta i n a trut h : " D o n ot stare at me if I a m d a rk, b e c a u s e t h e
 The Goal of the journey -:- 1 35

s u n h a s b u rn e d m e . " for t h e n t h e s o u l i s s u p remely conj o i n ed

with t h e i nterior i l l u m i natio n s . H e n ce. a l s o . t h e word s of Exod us:
" S i n c e Yo u h ave s p o ke n to Yo u r s e rvant. I am i m p e d e d m o re
a n d s l owe r of ton g u e . " I t wa s t h e s a m e with J a c o b. t h a t i s
Isra e l . H e wa s a stro n g m a n w h o wa s stre n g t h e n ed i n h i s f i g h t
with t h e a n g e l . Yet h e d i s l ocate d t h e s o c ket of h i s t h i g h . a n d
h e b e g a n to l i m p , because s u c h contemplation m a ke s t h e s o u l
a p p e a r l ow t o p e o p l e w h e n it i s u n i ted w i t h t h e s u p re m e s u n .
( SD 20. 1 8 - 1 9 [ 5 : 428 -29])

How can one explain that the effect of the supreme illumination
will be darkness and silence? To this Bonaventure writes:
W h y is it t h a t t h i s ra d i ation b l i n d s w h e n it s h o u l d h ave e n l i g ht­
e n e d ? B ut t h i s b l i n d i n g i s . i n fact. the h ig h est i l l u m i nation
because i t o c c u rs i n the h i g hest p o i nt of t h e m i n d . b eyo n d the
i nvest i g a t i o n s of t h e h u m a n i ntel lect . H e re. the i nte l l ect i s in
d a rkn ess; it c a n n ot i nvestigate s i n ce t h e issue tra n s c e n d s every
i nvestigative p ower. T h e re is o n ly i n a ccess i b l e d a rkn ess w h i c h
nonet h e l ess i l l u m i nes t h o s e m i n d s that h ave rid t h e m selves of
idle i nvestigation s . A n d t h a t i s w h a t t h e Lord s ays, n a m e ly, that
He d we l l s " i n a c l o u d . " A n d i n t h e Psa l m s : "He made d a rkness
the cloak a bo ut H i m . " ( SD 20. 1 1 [ 5 : 427 ] )

Again, in the Breviloquium, after describing the various levels

of human knowledge, Bonaventure brings his description to an
end by mentioning wisdom. This he calls an ecstatic form of
knowledge, which begins in this life and reaches its completion
in the next life. He then describes the soul in its desire to be
united with Christ, i ts Spouse.
I n i t s m o st fe rvent d e s i re. t h e s o u l n ot o n ly b e c o m e s l i ke a
flame, q u i c k to r i s e ; it i s even d rawn u p b eyo n d itself i nto d a rk­
n e s s a n d ecstasy t h ro u g h a certa i n l e a r n e d i g n o rance. W h e re­
fore t h e s o u l is n ot o n ly a b l e to s ay toget h e r with t h e b r i d e .
"We w i l l r u n afte r yo u to t h e o d o r of yo u r o i ntments , " b ut i t
c a n a l s o s i n g w i t h t h e p rophet: " N i g h t s h a l l b e m y l i g h t i n my
pleasures . " O n ly o n e w h o h a s ex perienced t h e wo n d e r of t h i s
obscu re. d e l i g htfu l l i g ht c a n te l l of i t . N o o n e c a n experience
136 -:- The Goal of the Journey

it u n l es s it is g ive n by d iv i n e g race. And o n ly t h o s e w h o strive

f o r it w i l l receive s u c h g race. ( Brevi/. 5 . 6 [ 5 : 260])

In The Journey of the Soul into God we find similar ideas. And
here the language of mysticism and gift becomes very strong.
The peace of which Bonaventure had spoken at the outset is now
to be found by silencing all the cognitive activities of the soul,
leaving behind all the images of the senses, entering into the
darkness of a silence in which all our concerns are forgotten and
in which, to some degree, God can be tasted. This tasting or
savoring of God in mystical union is the peace which
Bonaventure is seeking. In the prologue to The Journey of the Soul
into God, Bonaventure writes:
To t h o s e w h o a re a l ready p repared by reason of d iv i n e g race,
that i s , to the h u m b l e a n d p i o u s , to the repentant a n d d evout
to those w h o a re a n o i nted with the o i l of g l a d ness, to those
who l ove t h e d iv i n e wisdom a n d to those i n f l a med with a
desire f o r i t , to those w h o wish to g ive themselve s to g l orify­
i n g , a d m i r i n g , a n d even tasti ng God-to s u c h p e o p l e I p ropose
the fol l ow i n g reflections, kee p i n g i n m i n d that the exter n a l m i r­
ro r is of l i ttle or no s i g n ificance u n l ess the i nternal m i rro r of
o u r m i n d is c l e a r a n d p o l i shed . ( JS pro l . 4 [ 5 : 296])

The further implications of that become clear now at the end of

the journey:
I n t h i s p a s s i n g over, if it is to be pe rfect a l l i ntellectual activ­
ities s h o u l d be a b a ndoned, a n d t h e most p rofo u n d affections
tra nsported to G o d , a n d t ra n sformed i nto G o d . T h i s , h owever,
i s myst i c a l a n d m o st secret , w h i c h no o n e k n ow s except o n e
w h o receives it, a n d n o o n e receives i t except o n e w h o d e s i res
it, a n d n o o n e d e s i re s i t except one who i s penetrated to t h e
marrow by t h e f i re of t h e H o ly S p i r i t , W h o m C h r i st h a s s e nt
i nto t h e world . ( JS 7.4 [ 5 : 31 2 ] )

As we have seen above, Bonaventure is talking about an expe­

rience of a person who stands within history. It is here described
as a very intense experience of loving, transforming union with
God, which here comes to some level of awareness or conscious-
 The Coni of the Jou rney -:- 137

ness. In the text we have just cited, Bonaventure seems to be

speaking of a form of what later authors will call infused con­
templation. This is not simply the fruit of human effort. One
must receive it. All the intellectual activity is a prelude. But, even­
tually one moves beyond what is possible to human intelligence
alone. The higher one goes in the journey, the greater is the need
for grace. Eventually, it is purely a gift of God in the Holy Spirit.
And in making the spiritual journey Bonaventure has been
describing, the christological dimension remains with us up to
the end:
It [the s o u l ] m u st st i l l pass over. n ot o n ly t h i s s e n s i b l e world,
but even itself. In this passage, C h r i st i s the way a n d t h e d o o r ;
Ch rist i s t h e l a d d e r a n d t h e veh icle, b e i n g l i ke t h e m ercy-seat
a bove the ark of God a n d l i ke the mystery w h i c h has been h i d­
d e n f ro m eternity. (JS 7. 1 [ 5 : 31 2 ] )

We note here the remarkable convergence of symbols. That of

the passage has been with us all along. It here comes together
explicitly with that of the ladder to draw us to a sense of the goal
of the journey. Specifically, here Christ is named as the way, the
door, the ladder, and the vehicle. He is explicitly related to the
mercy-seat. And all of this is unmistakably drawn into relation
with the experience of St. Francis on Mount Alverna and with
Bonaventure's experience on the same site.
T h i s is w h a t wa s m a d e k n own to t h e B l essed Fra n c i s w h e n . i n
a n exc e s s o f conte m p l a t i o n o n t h e h e i g h t o f t h e m o u nta i n­
where I t h o u g h t over t h e t h i n g s w h i c h I h ave w r i tten h e re­
there a p p e a re d a s e ra p h with s i x w i n g s fast e n e d to a c ross. I
a n d m a ny oth e rs h ave h e a rd t h i s f ro m t h e c o m p a n i o n w h o was
with h i m th e re . It is h e re that h e p a s s e d i nto G o d i n an e c stasy
of c o nte m p l at i o n . And he became the exa m p l e of p e rfect c o n­
t e m p l a t i o n as p reviously h e h a d b e e n t h e exa m p l e of a ct i o n .
. . . A n d s o . t h ro u g h h i m God wo u l d i nvite a l l t r u l y s p i ritual
p e o p l e to this kind of passing over and this e csta s y of s o u l .
m o re b y exa m p l e t h a n by word . ( JS 7. 3 [ 5 : 31 2 ] )

Here Bonaventure reaches t o Dionysius again, this time for

the remarkable, paradoxical language which elicits an aware-
138 -:- The Goal of the Journey

ness of mystery without offering any clear image of God. He

speaks of the
s u p e r l u m i n o u s d a rkness of a s i lence, t h a t teaches secretly i n
the g reatest obscurity, that i s m a n ifest a b ove a l l m a n ifestations;
of a d a rk n ess that is resplendent a b ove a l l s p l e n d o r. a n d i n
w h i c h everyt h i n g s h i n e s forth; of a d a rkness w h i c h f i l l s i nvisi­
b l e i ntel l ects f u l l a bove a l l f u l l ness with the s p l e n d ors of i nvis­
i b l e g o o d s that a re a b ove a l l good . (JS 7. 5 [ 5 : 31 2 - 1 3 ] )

It is an appeal, after all this activity on the journey, to leave

behind all concern for sense experiences, and for all intellectual
activities, so that
tra n scen d i n g yo urself a n d a l l t h i n g s , you m i g ht a s c e n d to t h e
superessent i a l g l e a m of the d iv i n e d a rkness b y a n i m m ea s u r­
a b l e a n d a bs o l ute ecstasy of a p u re m i n d . ( i b id . )

Language is here being pushed to its outer limits. Metaphors

clash in the remarkable paradox of a darkness that is light. The
Dionysian language of ecstasy appears here. And then the final
silence.
At the end of his discussion of the human knowledge of
Christ, the young Bonaventure had come to a similarly stunning
conclusion:
It is o n ly with g reat d ifficulty that this s o rt of k n owledge c a n
be u n d e rstood . A n d it c a n n ot be u n d e rstood a t a l l except by
s o m e o n e w h o has experien ced i t . A n d n o o n e w i l l experience
it except a person who is " rooted a n d g ro u n d ed i n l ove so a s
t o com p re h e n d with a l l t h e s a i nts what i s t h e l e n gth a n d t h e
b readth.'' etc . A n d t h i s i s what true. experient i a l wisdom con­
sists i n . I t beg i n s o n e a rth and i s b ro u g h t to c o n s u m mation in
heave n . ( KC [ 5 :43])

The intensity of the experience stands out again. And

Bonaventure describes it once more as an experiential wisdom.
We might take that to mean some level of awareness of the union
with God involved in grace. Over and over, we see Bonaventure
reaching to Dionysius for comments on the peculiarity of Ian-
 The Goal of the Journey -:- 139

guage, moving from positive statements (it is like . . . ) to negative

statements (it is not like . . . ) and then to superlative statements
(it is more than . . . ).
This movement i n language is made not because what we are
trying to express is false, but because the reality of the divine so
thoroughly surpasses our ability to know and to speak that no
human words can give an adequate expression to it. The experi­
ence of which Bonaventure speaks lies beyond all the knowledge
we can derive from either our sense experience or our intellectual
efforts. And therefore, finally, with Bonventure, we lapse into
silence.
We could not wish for a more pointed statement of what is
meant by the apophatic tradition in the literature of mysticism.
When all has been said and done, finally the experience is incom­
municable to anyone else. It may have remarkable power in the
life of the person who experiences it. And, as Bonaventure indi­
cates a number of times, another person who has had a similar
experience will recognize something in what is said about it. But
for a person who has never had such an experience, the language
says nothing significant.
Whatever this experience might be, in Bonaventure's analysis,
it seems fair to say that it is above all a gift of God to the human
person, and that it lies beyond the categories of cognition. In the
case of Bonaventure, that which draws us beyond cognition is the
mystery of love. Drawn beyond itself by the magnetic attraction
of the divine, the human person transcends itself in the direction
of that divine love which has poured itself out in the figure of the
man on the cross. Again, we stand with Francis and Bonaventure
on the heights of Alverna.
Bonaventure is, therefore, pointing to the radically transfor­
mative power of a love that moves beyond mere knowledge.
About this he writes in the Soliloquy:
0 my s o u l . if yo u d o u bt a n d wo n d e r at my words b e c a u s e t h ey
a re t h e word s of a s i n n e r. t h e n l i st e n to Aug u stine. a n d l i sten
to Pau l . Behold. t h i s i s w h a t August i n e says : "When we t a ke
h o l d of s o m eth i n g ete r n a l t h ro u g h k n ow l e d g e a n d l ove. we a re
i n s p i rit n o l o n g e r on t h i s e a rth . " A n d t h e A p o st l e says: " B ut
140 -:- The Goal of the Journey

yo u r citi ze n s h i p is i n h eave n . " 0 my s o u l , I t h i n k t h a t yo u exist

more t r u ly "where yo u l ove t h a n w h e re you m e rely l ive," s i nce
"yo u a re t ra nsformed i nto t h e l i keness of whateve r yo u l ove.
thro u g h t h e power of t h i s l ove itse lf." If you contemplate a n d
love t h e t h i n g s o f h e aven, h ow c o u l d yo u fa i l to l ive i n h e aven,
f o r i n yo u r d a i l y l ife yo u resemble the h eavenly s p i rits? ( Soli/.
2 . 1 2 [ 8 :49])

The journey that has taken us through so many different lev­

els of consciousness and forms of knowledge now culminates in
the love of that which the soul has discovered but cannot put into
words with any degree of adequacy. So the contemplative person
finally moves beyond all the cognitive processes-beyond cogni­
tion, beyond meditation, and finally to contemplation, sitting in
silence in the presence of the inconceivable mystery of Absolute
Love. After one has made every effort to express intellectually
the mystery that draws the human spirit beyond itself, one
finally ends those efforts and passes into the silence of a love that
transcends any effort of intellectualization.
The discussion in The Threefold Way speaks of the unitive stage
in similar terms. Corning to the end of a section on the steps
involved in moving to the sweetness of love, Bonaventure writes:
The steps of the u n itive way a re d i stingu ished as fol low s : watch­
f u l n ess s h o u l d a ro u s e you. s i n ce the Spouse is n e a r; confidence
should stre ngthen yo u, since H e i s fa ithfu l; d es i re s h o u l d
i n f l a m e yo u . s i nce H e i s sweet; rapture s h o u l d l ift you u p , s i n c e
H e i s exa lted; d e l i g h t s h o u l d bring you peace, s i n ce H e i s b e a u­
tiful; j oy s h o u l d i ne b ri ate yo u, because of the f u l l ness of H i s
love; closen ess m ust u n ite you firmly to H i m . beca u s e o f t h e
stre n gth of H i s l ove . Therefore. t h e d evout s o u l , i n its d e pths,
will a l ways s ay to t h e Lord : I t i s Yo u I s e e k ; in Yo u I h o pe; f o r
Yo u I l o n g ; t o yo u I r i s e ; Yo u I receive; i n Yo u I ex u lt; a n d to
Yo u I f i n a l ly c l i n g . ( TW 3 . 5 , 8 [ 8 : 1 5 ] )

At the end of the Soliloquy, Bonaventure brings his reflections

together in the form of a prayer.
I p ray, my G od , t h a t I m ay k n ow yo u ; t h a t I m ay l ove yo u; a n d
t h a t I m ay rej o i ce i n you fo rever. A n d i f I a m n ot a b l e to expe-
 The Goal of the Journey -:- 141

rience t h i s to t h e f u l l est in t h i s l ife. m ay at l e a st my k n owledge

and l ove o f yo u i n c re a s e in this l ife that my j oy m ay b e f u l l i n
t h e n ext l ife; t h a t t h e j oy w h i c h I h e re h o l d i n h o p e m ay t h e re
be b ro u g h t to fu lfi l l m ent . 0 Lord , o u r Father. yo u c o u n s e l e d , o r
rat h e r t h ro u g h yo u r S o n you c o m m a n d e d t h a t we a s k f o r t h i s
f u l l n ess o f j oy; a n d yo u p ro m ised to h e a r o u r p rayer. I a s k o f
yo u , 0 Lord . f o r t h a t w h i c h . t h ro u g h yo u r Wonder-Counselor,
yo u e n c o u ra g e d us to a s k f o r a n d p ro m i se d to g ra nt : t h a t o u r
j oy m ay b e f u l l . M e a nwhile. l et my m i n d med itate o n t h i s j oy;
let my to n g u e s p e a k of it; l et my h e a rt d e s i re it; l et my words
exto l it; l et my s o u l h u n g e r for it; l et my f l e s h t h i rst for it; a n d
let my w h o l e s u b stance yea r n f o r i t . u nt i l I e nte r i nto t h e j oy
of my G o d w h o is T h re e a n d O n e. b l essed fo rever. A m e n . ( Soli/.
4 . 27 [ 8 : 67 ] )

We conclude that for Bonaventure, the spiritual journey i s a

process of transformation which takes place under the power of
divine grace. Removing any obstacles that stand in the way of the
journey is the concern of the purgative way. This opens one to the
illuminative way, which, in Bonaventure's understanding, con­
sists above all in the imita tion of Christ. In essence, the illumina­
tive way involves the basic remaking of oneself through the
integration of the various levels of one's experience and reshap­
ing oneself in the light of the virtues of Christ. Thus, the practice
of the virtues that flows from the personal integration is but the
expression of the inner imitation of God's love that has been
made manifest in Christ, which is so central to Bonaventure's
vision.
The illuminative way in the form of the imitation of Christ
leads us into a deeper experience of union with God. When
Bonaventure speaks of the highest levels of the contemplative
journey as an experiential knowledge, or an experiential wisdom,
he is speaking of a level that is inaccessible to our normal
processes of sensation and reasoning and which, therefore, lies
beyond our normal cognitive and volitional power. Yet he speaks
of it in the terminology of the spiritual senses. He speaks of taste,
smell, and delight.
Are these ways of saying that this mystical experience is not
142 -:- The Goal of the Journey

some sort of direct vision of the divine essence, but an interior

sense that the soul is being touched in some mysterious way by
the presence of the divine? Is this, then, the difference between
ecstasy and rapture? Ecstasy is, above all, still an experience
within history; it is still in darkness. Rapture, on the other hand,
is described several times in terms of what contemporary theolo­
gians speak of as proleptic eschatology; it is a momentary, antic­
ipatory experience of the act of glory.
An eloquent text in the Collations on tlze Six Days of Creation
appeals to the Canticle of Canticles to speak of rapture as the soul's
highest experience:
W h e n t h e s o u l does what it is c a p a b l e of d o i n g , it is e a sy f o r
g ra c e t o l i ft t h e s o u l u p . . . . Then t h e s o u l i s ra pt i n G o d . that
is. i n its b e l oved . T h e refore. t h e C a nticle says: " H i s l eft hand i s
u n d e r m y h e a d , a n d h i s r i g ht a r m e m b races m e . I b e l o n g to
my b e l oved . a n d my b e l oved belongs to m e . H e feeds a m o n g
t h e l i l ie s . " F o r t h e s o u l a l ready senses somet h i n g o f t h a t u n i o n
w h i c h m a ke s i t to b e o n e s p i ri t w i t h G o d ; a s it i s written: " O n e
w h o c l i n g s t o G o d i s o n e s p i rit w i t h G o d . " A n d t h i s i s t h e
supre m e ex perience f o r the s o u l . I t e n a b l e s the s o u l t o h ave a
taste of h eave n . ( SD 22.39 [ 5 : 443])

We have exercised our mental powers to the fullest on the

journey. We have thought; we have meditated; we have rea­
soned. We now sit in silence, in awe, totally captivated by the
mystery of divine love which draws us. This level of experience
is preeminently the gift of God's grace.
N ote that t h i s is t h e h i g h p o i nt of C h r i stian wisdom. Therefore.
Dionysius, w h e n he h a d written m a ny books. stopped h e re,
namely, i n mystical theology. Therefore it i s i m p o rt a nt t h a t a
person be i n structed i n m a ny t h i n g s , a n d i n a l l of what h a s
preceded . C o n c e r n i n g mystical theology, D i o nys i u s h a s written:
" B ut yo u. T i mothy-my friend-concern i n g mystical vision. with
stro ng action and contrition. g ive up the s e n s e s . " He wants to
say that i t i s necessary for a person to b e f reed of a l l those
t h i n g s w h i c h c a n be c o u nted a n d to g ive them a l l u p, a s if say­
i n g t h e o n e I w i s h to u nd e rsta nd is beyo nd a l l s u b stance a n d
 The Coni of the Journey -:- 1 43

knowledge. H e re is a n o p e ra t i o n that t ra ns c e n d s a l l k n owled g e .

I t i s s u p remely s e c ret , a n d n o o n e k n ows i t b ut o n e w h o h a s
experienced it . I n t h e s o u l t h e re a re a n u m b e r of a p p rehensive
powe rs: sensitive, i m a g i n ative, e stimative, a n d i ntellective. It i s
necessary to l e ave a l l these; a n d a t t h e s u m m i t t h e re i s a u n i o n
of l ove t h a t transcends a l l these. T h e refore, i t i s c l e a r t h a t t h e
f u l l n e s s o f beatitude i s n ot fo u n d b y t h e i ntellective p ower
alone.
Th i s contem plation takes p l a c e t h ro u g h g race, b ut h u m a n
effort i s of s o m e h e l p; f o r it sepa rates t h e s e l f f ro m w h a t i s
not G o d , a n d even fro m itself if t h a t i s poss i b l e . . . . Love of t h i s
s o rt tra nscends every i nt e l l ect a n d every s c i e n ce . ( SD 2.29-30
[ 5 : 341 ])
In The journey (�f tl1e Soul into God, the final metaphor Bona­
venture uses to point in the direction of the divine is that of fire­
a flame that ignites all it touches and burns white in the passion
of Christ. As we come to the end of the journey with the Seraphic
Doctor, he addresses us in the following eloquent words, which
Evelyn Underhill describes as a "passage which all students of
theology should ever keep in mind" (Mysticism [New York:
Dutton, 1961], 124):
I f yo u wou l d l i ke to k n ow h ow these t h i n g s c o m e a bout, a s k
g race, n ot doctrine; d e s i re, n ot u n d e rsta n d i n g ; t h e cry o f p rayer,
not t h e l a b o r of study; the B r i d e g ro o m , n ot t h e teacher; G o d ,
n o t a h u m a n person; d a rkness, n ot c l a r i ty; n ot l i g h t , b ut t h a t
fire w h i c h i n f l a m e s tota lly a n d w h i c h w i l l c a rry yo u i nto G o d
with t h e g reatest sweetness a n d t h e m o st b u r n i n g affectio n s .
T h i s f i re, i n d eed, i s G o d , a n d G o d ' s "fu r n a c e i s i n J e ru s a l e m ";
a n d it is C h r i st w h o e n k i n d l e s it i n t h e w h i te f l a m e of H i s m ost
b u r n i n g p a s s i o n . T h i s f i re is t r u ly perceive d o n ly by o n e w h o
says: " M y s o u l c h ooses h a n g i n g , a n d my b o n e s , d e a t h . " A n d
o n e w h o l oves t h i s d eath c a n s e e G o d , f o r i t i s t r u e w i t h o ut
d o u bt t h a t " n o o n e s h a l l see me a n d l ive."
Let u s. t h e n , d i e . And l et us e nter i nto this d a rk n e s s . Let u s
s i l e n c e a l l o u r c a res, d e s i res, a n d sense i m a g e s . Let u s p a s s
over w i t h C h r i st c r u cified fro m t h i s wo r l d t o t h e Fat h e r s o t h a t ,
144 -:- The Goal of the Joumey

w h e n t h e Fat h e r is s h own to u s , we m i g h t say with P h i l i p : " I t

i s e n o u g h f o r u s . " Let us h e a r with Pa u l : " M y g ra c e i s s u fficient
f o r yo u . " Let u s ex u l t with Dav i d a s we say: " M y f l e s h a n d my
h e a rt waste away. Yo u a re t h e G o d of my h e a rt a n d t h e G o d
w h o i s m y p o r t i o n for etern ity. B l essed be t h e Lord fo rever. A n d
l e t a l l p e o p l e say: S o l et i t be; s o l et i t b e . A m e n . " (JS 7.6
[5:313 ])
 Conclusion

We have looked at some of the major texts of the Seraphic Doctor

in the previous pages. We would now like to ask what wisdom
this tradition might have to offer us today as we come to the
beginning of a new millennium. Our concern is not simply to
reconstruct a system from the past. Rather, now that we have
searched through that system, we wish to highlight some
insights that may be important for people of a very different time
and place.
The metaphor of a spiritual journey is certainly not peculiar to
Bonaventure, nor even to Christian spirituality. This metaphor,
together with numerous related motifs, can be found widely in
the world of religion. It might even be thought of as an arche­
typal metaphor. What is interesting in the work of Bonaventure
is to see how this archetype is laid out so richly in specifically
Christian insights into the nature of God, world, humanity, and
Christ. It would be interesting to compare this with the way the
metaphor is dealt with in other religious contexts. This might be
a helpful point of departure for some form of conversation
between the spirituality of diverse traditions. In this time of
growing global consciousness, this could be a significant devel­
opment in coming to understand in what ways the religious
traditions resonate with one another, and what the deeper signif­
icance of their differences might be.
To some authors, the tone of Bonaventure's writing seems to
be too much concerned with the spiritual development of indi­
viduals. Many would sense rela tively little of the communal
dimensions that seem to be of such concern today. And yet the
145
146 -:- Conclusion

view of Bonaventure does not isolate the individual from the

community of the church. We have seen his words about the indi­
vidual coming into greater conformity with the church militant,
and we have seen some of his theology of the Eucharist, which is
central to his understanding of the faith community. And we
have heard him speak of compassionate love for others in the
imitation of Christ. While a text such as The Journey of the Soul into
God is concerned primarily with the journey of the individual
person, the church is not absent even there. In the Collations on the
Six Days of Creation Bonaventure presents a vision of the spiritual
journey of the church itself, which is there described as the "con­
templative church." Overall, it is true to say that, in Bonaven­
ture's view, the spiritual journey is not that of an individual soul
isolated from the world and from the church. It is, rather, the
journey of the particular soul embedded in the context of the
church and the world of God's creation. The dimension of the
church and the human community is not absent from this spiri­
tual vision, but it is not developed and made explicit to the extent
that many would like to see it today. Above all, it is not devel­
oped in modern psychological terms.
But even though this may seem to be problematic for some, it
is still important to recognize the significance of a spirituality
that does not allow the individual to become swallowed up in
some form of group ideology. When all is said and done, in the
final analysis, the individual is responsible for his or her own life,
even though that life cannot be lived effectively in isolation from
the community. How to relate the personal and the communal
dimensions is the real issue. Bonaventure offers important
insights concerning the inner life of the individual which can
well be drawn into a more explicit sense of community.
What we find here is a spiritual tradition that urges us to
heighten our awareness of the nature and the dignity of the
human person. There is something distinctive about human
beings, and it does not help to say that this is not the case. It
becomes important, then, that we learn to name what it is that
makes us distinctive, and to realize that being distinctive does
not mean that we are unrelated. When Bonaventure speaks of
 Cone/ usion -:- 147

how the rest of creation is to serve us, what he has in mind pri­
marily is the way in which it is able to awaken us to the mystery
of God so that in human beings, the whole of creation finds an
intelligent, free voice of praise to God.
Perhaps one of the great advantages to his orientation, even as
it approaches the individual, is that it so clearly addresses the
multiple dimensions of what it means to be human, and opens us
to a contemplation of the heights to which we can aspire in our
relation to all reality. The human person, in Bonaventure's view,
is not a one-dimensional creature.
But if the human person is not one-dimensional, neither is the
world in which that person is situated. This is a spiritual vision
that opens us also to the complexity of the outside world in a cul­
ture that inclines us to think in more positivistic and one-dimen­
sional terms. At one level, creation can be described in purely
chemical terms. Even the phenomenon of human consciousness
and knowledge can be described in terms of the complex chemi­
cal interactions involved, particularly in the complexity of the
human brain. This is, in a sense, looking from the outside.
But, in view of this spirituality, reality has an inside also.
When viewed in that way, the chemical dimension can be seen as
the necessary condition for the experiences which we name, from
the inside, with words such as beauty, love, and altruism. We are,
indeed, bodily beings. But bodiliness in our case has developed
an inside. We are embodied spirit in the world of creation. Not
only can we find something of God in the outside world, but
even more, we can discover stronger reflections of God by reflect­
ing on the mystery of the interior cosmos, the human soul and its
functions.
To experience a beautiful work of art from the inside is quite a
different experience from describing it in terms of its formal,
external elements. Only one who can re-create the glory of a Bach
fugue on a splendid organ in a magnificent cathedral knows that
experience of beauty from the inside. It is a very different experi­
ence from tha t of sitting in one's room and analyzing all the for­
mal elements of the fugue, as it were from the outside. We are
dealing with a spiritual tradition that invites us to savor the rich-
148 -:- Conclusion

ness of the many dimensions of reality in our world and in our­

selves; to come to know reality from the inside in terms of its
beauty and magnificence, and not only from the outside in terms
of its chemistry.
We can hardly fail to be struck by the significance that the
whole of the created cosmos has in this spirituality. Given the
problems that confront us today, we should be willing to ask
whether what we think of as spirituality serves to alienate us
from the world of creation, or whether it helps us to develop a
healthy and life-giving relation to the world of God's creation.
What this spiritual tradition suggests is the real possibility of
being very serious about the religious significance of material
reality without lapsing into some form of pantheism that would
simply identify the world with God. As bodily beings with
senses open to the concrete world outside us, we can find some­
thing of God already at that level.
More specifically concerning the world of creation, it is signif­
icant to encounter a vision that, from the perspective of spiritual­
ity, sees the world as a network of deeply interrelated creatures
in a sense that seems to echo what the best of the modern sci­
ences suggest about the nature of our cosmos from an empirical,
physical perspective. From a spiritual perspective, this is a tradi­
tion that urges us to respect and care for all creatures, even the
seemingly most insignificant. I t is a spiritual tradition that sees
the relational character of creation to be grounded in the mystery
of the primordial community of loving relationships that Chris­
tian faith knows as the mystery of the Trinity.
The sciences, from their perspective, suggest that the ease with
which we can eliminate particular members of a life system can
be of far-reaching consequences. Thus, from two distinct per­
spectives, we are urged to be aware and to be respectful. The
spiritual perspective suggests strongly that we need to shape our
relation to the world in terms of a fundamentally different model
than that which is so pervasive in Western culture today. A model
of respect and compassion as suggested by Bonaventure's spiri­
tuality should be brought to bear on the more familiar model of
domination and control.
 Conclusion -:- 1 49

It is one thing to speak about the revelatory power of the cos­

mos. It is another thing to deal with the apparent ambiguity of
the message that the cosmos seems to suggest. With Bonaven­
ture, we have a spiritual tradition that integrates the mystery of
Christ deeply into our understanding of the cosmos. Christ is not
an afterthought on the part of God. Rather, Christ is the key to
understanding the meaning and purpose of all creation. What
might seem to the scientific eye to be a cold, heartless chemical
process is now seen from a spiritual perspective that allows us to
say that God loves and cherishes the world and everything in it.
God desires that the whole of the human race and the cosmos
with humanity be brought to full fruition in a way that has been
anticipated in the personal destiny of Jesus, the risen Christ.
From a christological perspective, this spirituality suggests that
the creative power that brings forth and sustains all of creation is
a power of love that is personal, forgiving, and fulfilling. And it
is above all from the mystery of Christ that we discover the most
appropriate way for us to relate to each other and to the rest of
the cosmos. That is the way suggested by the word compassion (to
suffer with), which Bonaventure uses to describe the quality of
divine love and the way in which that love is to be reflected by
human beings in the world of creation.
We see here a spiritual tradition that opens the door for a
remarkably rich form of Christian humanism, drawing all the
arts and sciences into the movement of the spiritual journey.
Thus it represents the real possibility that the spiritual journey
need not be cut off from the other great human enterprises as
these are reflected in the history of the arts and sciences.
As a spiritual tradition, it encourages us to go the way of the
mind and the intellect to the fullest extent, but not to allow
knowledge to be the final word about reality or about ourselves.
The use of the mind in a creative and critical way is important in
the area of religion and spirituality. Religious consciousness
tends to resist the concerns of the intellect. However, we must be
willing to reflect on the potential negative impact of well­
intended but blind fanaticism that too often goes under the name
of religious conviction. Particularly in a post-Enlightenment
150 -:- Conclusion

world a spirituality that invites the creative use of the intellect

can play an important role in redefining what it means to be a
serious believer in a world that is no longer naive.
While this tradition urges us to recognize the importance of
the intellect as a gift of God, it is yet not willing to say that knowl­
edge is the end. The end is an ecstasy of love; love of a God who
might be thought of not simply as Light, but even more in the
symbolism of Fire. Ultimately reality is undergirded by a mys­
tery of burning, creative love that ignites the fire of love in the
world of creation, and above all in the human heart. There is a
power throughout all of creation that enables things to unite. But
that power to unite becomes a matter of free and conscious
choice in humanity. It is there that we recognize it, enhance it
with personal qualities, and name it with the word love. And it is
there, above all, that the created cosmos is capable of responding
in deeply personal ways to the fire of divine love. The human ori­
entation to the divine---e xpressed in so many ways in our end­
less drive for more of truth, of goodness, of beauty, more of
everything in our lives-will never come to rest except in God,
and it is destined to be brought to fruition in an ecstatic union of
love with God.
 Selected Bibliography

Latin Texts
Doctoris Serapl!ici S. Bonaventurae opera omnia. 10 volumes.
Quaracchi: Collegium S. Bonaventurae, 1 882-1902.
Hugh of St. Victor. De arrha aninzae. In Patrologia Latina, vol. 1 76.
Edited by J. P. Migne.

Studies
Bettoni, Efrem, O.F.M. St. Bonaventure. Translated by Angelus
Gambatese, O.F.M. South Bend, Ind.: University of Notre
Dame Press, 1964.
Cousins, Ewert. Bonaventure: The Soul's Journey into God, The Tree
of Life, The Life of St. Francis. New York: Paulist Press, 1978.
Doyle, Eric, O.F.M. Tlze Disciple and the Master: St. Bonaventure's
Sermons on St. Francis of Assisi. Quincy, Ill.: Franciscan Press,
Quincy University, 1983.
Gilson, Etienne. Tlze Philosophy of St. Bonaventure. Translated by
Dom I. Trethowan and F. Sheed. Paterson, N.J.: St. Anthony
Guild Press, 1963. Now available from Franciscan Press,
Quincy University, Quincy, Illinois.
Hayes, Zachary, O.F.M. The Hidden Center: Spirituality and
Speculative Clzristology in St. Bonaventure. St. Bonaventure,
N.Y.: Franciscan Institute, 1992.
Majchrzak, Colman, O.F.M. A Brief History of Bonaventurianism.
Pulaski, Wis.: Franciscan Publishers, 1957.
McGinn, Bernard. Tlze Presence of God: A History of Westem
Christian Mysticism. Vol. 3, The Flowering of Mysticism: Men
151
152 -:- Selected Bibliography

and Women in the New Mysticism, 1 200-1 350. New York:

Crossroad, 1998.
Ratzinger, Joseph Cardinal. The Theology of History in St. Bona­
venture. Translated by Zachary Hayes, O.F.M. Chicago:
Franciscan Herald Press, 1971 . Now available from
Franciscan Press, Quincy University, Quincy, Illinois.
Schmucki, Octavian, O.F.M.Cap. The Stigmata of St. Francis of
Assisi: A Critical Investigation in the Light of Thirteenth-Century
Sources. Translated by Canisius Connors, O.F.M. St. Bona­
venture, N.Y.: Franciscan Institute, 1991 .

Texts in Translation
Habig, M., O.F.M. Omnibus of Sources. Chicago: Franciscan
Herald Press, 1973. Now available from Franciscan Press,
Quincy University, Quincy, Illinois.

English Translations of Writings of Bonaventure

Works of St. Bonaventure. 6 volumes. St. Bonaventure, N.Y.:
Franciscan Institute, 1956-. Includes On the Reduction of the
Arts, Itinerarium mentis in Deum, Disputed Questions on the
Mystery of the Trinity, Disputed Questions on the Knowledge of
Christ, Writings Concerning the Franciscan Order, Collations on
the Ten Commandments. Each volume includes a helpful intro­
duction to the text.
The Works of Bonaventure. 5 volumes. Paterson, N.J.: St. Anthony
Guild Press, 1960-66. Includes two volumes of mystical
writings, the Breviloquium, the Defense of the Mendicants, Col­
lations on the Six Days of Creation. Now available from Fran­
ciscan Press, Quincy University, Quincy, Illinois.
Bringing Forth Christ: Five Feasts of the Child Jesus. Translated by
Eric Doyle, O.F.M. Oxford: SLG Press, 1984.
What Manner of Man ? Sermons on Christ by St. Bonaventure.
Translated with commentary by Zachary Hayes, O.F.M.
Chicago: Franciscan Herald Press, 1974. Now available from
Franciscan Press, Quincy University, Quincy, Illinois.