Coll. 8
by St. Bonaventure
Source text: Public Domain Mark 1.0. English translation/apparatus/encoding: CC BY-NC 4.0, Wroot Press.
https://bonaventure.wrootpress.com/browse/11/d/8/q/bon-hex-c8
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### COLLATION VIII.
#### *On the second vision, that of the understanding uplifted by faith: the first treatment, which treats of the height of faith.*

### Summarium

*Introduction. Heaven has three properties: it is lofty, stable, worth beholding, 1. — For the same properties faith is called heaven, 2. — Faith has light and cloud; it is highest, firmest, most comely, 3. — Part I. On the height of faith, according to the height of loftiness and the height of depth, that is, according to the mystery of the Trinity and of the incarnation, 4. — Of both heights Scripture speaks, 5. — Both are incomprehensible, especially the second, 6. — Isaias' vision of both, 7. — The twofold light; the two Seraphim, crying thrice Holy; the admirable name of God, 8-10. — Epilogue of the first part, 11. — Part II. On the six wings of each Seraph and on the twelve articles of faith. Six articles concerning God, figured by the six wings of the first Seraph; on the three wings on the right side and the three persons in God, 12. — Three wings on the left side and the threefold emanation into the creature, 13. — How the six wings answer to one another, 14. — Six articles concerning the incarnation, figured by the six wings of the second Seraph, according to the descent and the ascent, 15. 16. — The twelve articles preached by the twelve Apostles; in these the worship of God consists, 17. — A figure in the Old Testament, 18. — The order of the twelve articles, 19.*

1. *God called the firmament heaven; and there was evening and morning, the second day*. There follows the work of the second day, which is the second vision, that *of the understanding uplifted by faith*; and of it it is not said *he saw*, but *he called*. To the letter, this heaven is *lofty, stable* and *worth beholding*: *lofty* as regards position, *stable* as regards form, *worth beholding* as regards brightness. It is *lofty*; whence in Proverbs: *Heaven above, and the earth beneath*; by this very thing, that heaven is noble, it holds the higher place in the order of the universe, and earth the lowest. — It is also *stable* as regards form, because it is moved not by changing place, but in place and about the centre; Job: *Thou perhaps hast made the heavens with him, which are most strong, as if they were of molten brass?* — It is also *worth beholding* as regards the multitude of its ornaments; Job: *His spirit hath adorned the heavens*; and Ecclesiasticus: *The beauty of heaven, the glory of the stars, the Lord enlightening the world on high.* From this last property *heaven* (*caelum*) is named from *engraving* (*caelando*), not from *hiding* (*abscondendo*) but from *carving* (*sculpendo*), because it is written with the diphthong *ae*, since it is adorned and as it were carved with lights.

2. By the *firmament*, however, is understood *the vision of faith*. For faith renders the soul or the understanding *lofty*, because it transcends all reason and all investigation of reason; it renders it *stable*, because it excludes doubt and wavering; it renders it also *worth beholding*, because it shows forth a manifold brightness. The firmness of faith is therefore called *heaven*, because it makes the understanding *lofty* by investigation; *stable*, while it establishes it in the truth; *worth beholding*, while it fills it with a manifold light. Hence Daniel: *They that are learned shall shine as the brightness of the firmament.* But no one is learned unless he be taught by God, since *no man cometh to the Father but by me*, says the Saviour; and in John: *They shall all be taught of God.* No one is taught unto faith save through God; and because it comes *from the voice* of God, therefore it is said: *God called the firmament heaven.* Hence he does not say *God saw the firmament*, but *he called* it, because the firmness of faith is more in *believing* than in *contemplation*; and believing is by hearing, since *faith cometh by hearing*, as the Apostle says to the Romans, and before that: *With the heart we believe unto justice.*

3. But faith is more in the *confession of the truth* than in the *communication of light*; whence *with the mouth confession is made unto salvation*. Hence faith in a certain manner *sees*, in a certain manner *does not see*; whence *not to see* is faith's merit, and *to believe* is faith's light. It is therefore *firmament-heaven*, because it is *the substance of things to be hoped for*; and it is *light*, because it is *the evidence of things that appear not* — whence it has *light* and it has *cloud*. — *God called the firmament heaven*; in Ecclesiasticus: *The firmament on high is his beauty, the beauty of heaven with its glorious show.* And he touches these three here, namely *loftiness, stability* and *comeliness*. For this vision of faith is *high, firm* and *comely*. This faith is *most noble, most firm* and *most comely*. Yet many have this faith and do not know it, because faith has a veiled face; whence it has a certain black veil before its face. It also makes *the highest* souls out of base ones; whence in the Acts: *Purifying their hearts by faith.*

4. Now the *height* of faith is in two things: in the height of *loftiness* and in the height of *depth*. Of the *first* height Ecclesiasticus says: *The height of heaven, and the breadth of the earth, and the depth of the abyss, who hath measured?* As though he should say, it is above all human reason to know the *loftiness of faith*, the *dilation of charity*, the *veneration of divine fear*. — Of the *second*, in Ecclesiastes: *A deep depth; who shall find it out?* — namely by reason; for it transcends our investigation. And although *height* and *depth*

are the same in bodies, yet they are distinguished according to reason; and the Apostle distinguishes them when he says: *That you may comprehend what is the length and the breadth and the height and the depth.*

5. Of these two Ecclesiasticus: *I dwell in the highest places, and my throne is in a pillar of cloud.* The *height* of faith consists in the knowledge of God *eternal*, the *depth* in the knowledge of God *made man*. Of the first it is written: *He is higher than heaven, and what wilt thou do?* Of the second it is added: *He is deeper than hell, and how wilt thou know?* The depth of God made man, namely his humility, is so great that reason fails. — The *height* of God is unsearchable; whence *thy knowledge is become wonderful to me; it is high, and I cannot reach to it*. — Likewise, *in the highest places* he says, inasmuch as faith teaches God *eternal*; *my throne in a pillar of cloud* he says, inasmuch as it teaches God *made man*. Of these two the Apostle to the Romans: *O the depth of the riches of the wisdom and of the knowledge of God! How incomprehensible are his judgments, and how unsearchable his ways!* *Wisdom* as regards the knowledge of God eternal, *knowledge* as regards the knowledge of God made man. Hence the firmament was made *in the midst of the waters*, that is, faith, that the soul may know the things which are *above the firmament* and those which are *under the firmament*. And this *wisdom* is of divine things, and *knowledge* of human ones.

6. *Incomprehensible* is the wisdom by which he judges all things; but most incomprehensible is that which goes by *unsearchable ways*. Of which in Proverbs: *Three things are hard to me, and the fourth I am utterly ignorant of: the way of an eagle in the air, the way of a serpent upon a rock, the way of a ship in the midst of the sea, and the way of a man in youth.* The *way of an eagle in the air* was in Christ's *ascension*; the *way of a serpent*, in the *resurrection*, because the serpent is renewed upon the rock, where it leaves its old skin; the *way of a ship in the sea*, in the *passion*; the *way of a man in youth*, in the *incarnation*, of which he says he is utterly ignorant — and it is true according to human reason, but according to faith it is otherwise.

7. There is therefore a twofold *height of the firmament*: one by which it looks to the highest things, another by which it looks to the lowest; one by which it teaches us to know God *eternal*, another God *incarnate*. Of these two it is said in Isaias, chapter six, in the vision which was the root of all his visions: *I saw the Lord sitting*, etc., down to: *All the earth is full of his glory.* And immediately there follows the blinding of the Jews and the enlightening of the Gentiles. Hence John says: *These things said Isaias, when he saw his glory*; and there follows: *Blind the heart of this people, and make their ears heavy.* Hence the enlightening of the Gentiles was the blinding of the Jews. And of this the Apostle exclaims: *O the depth of the riches*, etc.

8. Isaias says therefore: *I saw* — namely with the vision of the understanding *uplifted by faith* and established in the loftiness of eternal wisdom, by which there is a twofold light, *inflammative* and *seraphic*; and the seraphic makes one cry out threefold; and faith by a *twofold seraphication* makes the soul *seraphic* and makes minds winged with six wings.

9. For our intellect, illuminated by faith, cries out threefold: *Holy, holy, holy.* For there are two Seraphim established in us by faith, and each cries with a threefold exclamation, yet only once *the Lord God*. For the knowledge of God is the knowledge of three persons with unity of essence; whence *there are three who give testimony in heaven, the Father, the Word and the Holy Spirit, and these three are one.* The intellect therefore *seraphicated*, that is, illuminated and inflamed by faith, cries thrice *holy*. The other Seraph answers: *Holy, holy, holy*: because, just as in God *eternal* there is a trinity of persons with unity of essence, so also in God *made man* there are three natures with unity of person. — And these are the *two roots of faith*, which he who is ignorant of believes nothing: namely body, soul, Divinity. Holy Christ has a holy body; holy Christ has a holy soul; holy Christ has a holy Divinity. Holy *outwardly*, holy *inwardly*, holy *above*.

10. These are the two cognitions of faith, *illuminating* and *burning*, triformly led back to unity. And they are said *to cry out* because of wonder, since each is admirable; whence in the Psalm: *O Lord our Lord, how admirable is thy name in the whole earth! Thou hast made him a little less than the angels; thou hast crowned him with glory and honour.* And truly the *admirable name* as regards God *eternal*, because there is the true distinction of persons with unity of essence, by which they are supremely *conformed*, supremely *concordant*, supremely *coequal, coeternal, consub-*

*stantial, coessential.* — Likewise it is admirable, since *three natures are conjoined*: the *highest* with the *lowest* without depression, the *first* with the *last* without innovation, the *simple* with the *composite* without composition.

11. In these three all marvels are rooted; and the knowledge of the *Divinity* and of the *humanity* are joined, because the incarnation is not known unless the distinction of persons be known. For if you do not know the Trinity, the Father was just as much incarnate or suffered as the Son; and you are a Sabellian and a Patripassian. — Likewise, if you posit the Trinity and not the incarnation, you have the testimony *in heaven* and do not receive it *on earth*; whereas *there are three that give testimony on earth: the spirit, the water and the blood*. In the *spirit*, the Divinity; in the *water*, the body; in the *blood*, where the life of the soul is, the soul. For through the blood of Christ the spirit is joined to the water, because through the mediation of the soul the Divinity is joined to the body.

12. We have, then, two Seraphim crying out and wondering; it remains to say why they have *six wings*, and then the things of faith will be seen. For faith is in God *eternal* and *made man*. — Faith in God *eternal* is one illustration of six wings; and this in two ways: either as regards the *distinction of persons*, or as regards the *diffusion of the Trinity into the creature* according to *essence, power* and *operation*. — In the first way there are three articles, namely of the Father *unbegotten*, of the Son *only-begotten of the Father alone*, of the Holy Spirit *breathed forth from both*. These are the three wings on the *right* side, namely in eternity; and nothing can be added or taken away as regards emanation — namely that there should be one *producing only and not produced*, since so there would be infinity; if there were one *only produced and not producing at all*, so there would be infinity on the prior side; therefore it is necessary to posit the *producing* and the *produced* together, that they may cohere with one another. Otherwise in the divine there would be distinction without order; and distinction without order is confusion: whence it is necessary that the Holy Spirit proceed from both; and this all the *wise* Greeks say, nor is there controversy except about the name; and consequently that error was among the *foolish* Greeks.

13. Likewise on the *left* there are three wings, inasmuch as from one *essence, power* and *operation* there is a diffusion into the creature. And according to this there is a threefold operation, inasmuch as the one God is *creator, sanctifier* and *rewarder*; because everything that emanates from him is either *nature*, or *grace*, or *glory*. And so the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit are one creator by nature, one sanctifier by grace, one rewarder by glory. Now the first is *before time*, the second *in time*, the third *after all time*. The first is at the beginning of time, the second in its course, the third at its consummation. — Yet the *creation of the soul* is in the course of time, since *my Father worketh until now, and I work*. *Rewarding* also takes place in the middle of time, as of *souls*, but afterwards it will be made perfect. — Likewise, *creation* is attributed to the *Father*, because he is powerful; *sanctification to the Holy Spirit*, because he is good; *rewarding to the Son*, because he will judge and will appear as king.

14. But how will wing answer to wing? It must be said that *sanctification* is considered either as regards *pardon*, which indeed comes about through redemption, and so it is attributed to the Son; or as regards *grace*, and so it is attributed to the Holy Spirit. — Likewise *rewarding* is considered according to the *judgment of him who passes sentence*, and so it is attributed to the Son; or as regards the *love of him who rewards*, and so to the Holy Spirit. And the middle operation reaches to the last; thus the three wings are disposed.

15. The other Seraph is nearer to us and likewise has six wings: three according to the *descent*, and three according to the *ascent*: according to the *descent*, coming from the wing *above the head* through the *middle* to the wing *above the feet*. These are the three articles according to the *incarnation, the crucifixion, the descent to hell* according to the soul. For he began *from the highest*, because it was necessary that he should unite to himself a nature in which he might appear and through which he might descend, since of himself he is immutable; then he came to the *cross*, at last to *hell*. These wings are on the *left*.

16. Three likewise in *ascending*: the *resurrection* from hell into the world, the *ascension* from the world into heaven, from heaven the *coming to judgment* — so that there is an ascent from the Church militant into the triumphant. But first will come the spoiling of hell in the *resurrection*, the opening of the gate in the *ascension*, the consummation of the kingdom in the *judgment*; than these nothing is more certain.

17. These first six wings are six perfect considerations of God in three persons and three works; the other six are six considerations of God incarnate: in these, then, are the twelve articles of faith, whose preachers are the twelve Apostles. For a *wing* lifts one up to transcend all human reason. Without this twofold consideration no one is a *worshipper of God*.

18. In designation of which the High Priest had on the ephod two stones: one on the right side and the other on the left; and on them the twelve names of the sons of Israel, six names on the one stone and six on the other; and they were of *onyx*, shining and burning, in which the faith of the *humanity* and of the *Divinity* is expressed; which things are likewise expressed in the Symbol composed by the twelve Apostles. In this faith sacrifice is pleasing to God.

19. On the stones the names were ordered according to their birth, but in the Symbol according to the sayings of the Apostles. Hence: « I believe in God the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth »; behold, one article, of the Father unbegotten. — « And in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord »; the second, of the Son begotten of the Father. — Then follow six pertaining to the humanity. « Who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary », the third article. — « Suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead and buried », the fourth article. — « He descended into hell », the fifth. — « The third day he rose again from the dead », the sixth. — « He ascended into heaven, sitteth at the right hand of God the Father almighty », the seventh. — « From thence he shall come to judge the living and the dead », the eighth. — « I believe in the Holy Spirit », the ninth. — « The holy catholic Church », the tenth. — « The communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins », the eleventh. — « The resurrection of the flesh, life everlasting », the twelfth. — And these, according as the Holy Spirit *institutes, unites, purifies*, as regards the three last operations except the last.

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