Coll. 6
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/13/d/6/q/bon-praec-c6
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1. *Thou shalt not kill. Thou shalt not commit adultery. Thou shalt not steal*. — *Then I shall not be confounded, when I shall have looked upon all thy commandments.* Blessed James says: *Whosoever shall keep the whole law, but offend in one point, is become guilty of all;* not that for one transgression alone he is punished with the pain of *sense* as much as for the transgression of all, but he shall be punished only with the pain of *loss,* yet not so sharply for one as for all. Therefore, if anyone wishes to attain to the true life, it behooves him to look upon *all the commandments* of God with heart, mouth and deed. And therefore it says: *When I shall have looked,* that is, when I shall have perfectly looked and considered and acted accordingly, I shall not fear to be confounded. It is no great thing to be confounded in the present, but to be confounded eternally. Such confusion is greatly to be abhorred. But we cannot escape this confusion, unless we look upon all the commandments of God. Therefore at the beginning let us ask God that he *reveal our eyes* to *consider his commandments.*

2. *Thou shalt not kill,* etc. I was telling you that the commandments of God were divided into two tables. In the first are contained the commandments according to the law of justice ordering us to the Trinity, in which are contained three commandments according to the three things appropriated to the three divine persons. In the second table are contained the commandments ordering us to our neighbour, and this according to the twofold part of justice, namely of *beneficence* and of *innocence.* Now all justice is reduced to three things: because to God we owe the debt of *reverence* through prayer, through confession and through satisfaction; to a father we owe *beneficence,* and to all others *innocence.* — It has been said concerning the three commandments which order us to God; it has also been said concerning the fourth commandment, which is taken under the part of justice that is *beneficence;* in which it is commanded that we show honour to father and mother.

3. There follow the six other commandments, which pertain to *innocence,* in which it is commanded that no one harm his neighbour. Now a man harms his neighbour in three ways: by *perversity of deed, falsity of speech* and *wickedness of will;* and according to this the Legislator first forbids the harm that comes from *perversity of deed.* Now perversity of deed, by which one does injury to another, is threefold: for one does injury to another either in his *own person,* or in a *person joined to him,* or in his *temporal substance;* and according to this there are three commandments which pertain to innocence. In the first, harm is forbidden in one's *own person,* there: *Thou shalt not kill.* In the second, harm is forbidden in a *person joined to him,* there: *Thou shalt not commit adultery.* In the third, harm is forbidden in *temporal substance,* there: *Thou shalt not steal.*

4. First, I say, in this commandment: *Thou shalt not kill,* there is forbidden anger breaking out into injuries destructive of *natural* or substantial life, and of the life of *soundness,* and of the life of *honour.* « For nature desires what is better », and therefore it is not enough for it to have a life that merely stands, but along with this it wills a life that is wholesome and sound and honourable; and according to this the Legislator, in this commandment: *Thou shalt not kill,* forbids first the angers that break out into injuries destructive of *natural* life; secondly, of the life of *soundness,* namely when injury is done through blows or wounds; thirdly, of the life of *honour,* as is the injury that is done through open or hidden insult, such as that which is done through a sign. — Whence in the Gospel: *You have heard that it was said to them of old: Thou shalt not kill; and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment. But I say to you, that whosoever is angry with his brother, shall be in danger of the judgment. And whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council. And whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire.* It is plain, then, that a man acts against that commandment: *Thou shalt not kill,* in three ways, namely when someone is angry with his brother, or when he says: *Raca,* or when he says: *Thou fool.* And when he does this out of deliberation of mind, then it is said that *he is in danger of hell fire.* And because natural life is the foundation of the others, therefore under this manner: *Thou shalt not kill,* the Legislator expressed the commandment.

5. The Manichaeans, however, object against us and say that the Legislator contradicts himself. For he says: *Thou shalt not kill,* and elsewhere he says: *Wizards thou shalt not suffer to live.* And this is against *princes* in the Christian law, who by judicial sentence put others to death. — Likewise they object, that the Lord says: *All that shall take the sword shall perish with the sword:* therefore it is not lawful to take up the sword. — And similarly they say that it is not lawful for a *priest* to be a slayer. And this is against the *Church* and ecclesiastical persons, who in carrying out judgment and in commanding take up the sword. — Likewise they object, that it is said: *But I say to you, not to resist evil,* and this is against the Legislator.

6. We must understand that what is here forbidden is the killing of *man,* not of beasts or of plants, as the ancient Manichaeans used to say, who refused to eat of the fruits of trees. — Now the killing of a man can be *by the law,* or *by man* in truth, or *interpretatively.* Now the killing of a man by man as man, not as the law, is forbidden; but God, who is the founder of nature and the preserver of nature and of the law,

can deprive a man of life when he wills. — But the *law* kills a man when the minister of the law kills, and this with a *just order,* a *just cause,* and a *just intent* observed.

7. It is fitting that there be a *just order* and a *just cause,* that is, that he be killed for a just cause, because the law says: *Justly shalt thou pursue that which is just.* — Likewise, it is fitting to have a *just intent,* that the man who is a minister of the law kill a man by the law, not from lust of vengeance, but from love of justice. Whence the Apostle to the Romans, speaking to princes, says that *the prince does not bear the sword without cause. For he is the minister of God, an avenger to execute wrath upon him that doth evil.* — What the Lord therefore says to Peter: *All that shall take the sword shall perish with the sword;* refers only to this, that he who is not a minister of the law ought not to kill. — And what is said: it is not lawful for a priest to be a slayer, this does not refer to princes. — The first, then, that the Lord says: *Thou shalt not kill,* is true of him as *man,* but not as *a minister of the law.* The second, that the Lord says: *All that take the sword shall perish with the sword,* is true, *if he be not set over the commonwealth.* — The third, that the Lord says: *But I say to you, not to resist evil,* is true with regard to *lust of vengeance;* but out of *love of justice* it is well lawful to resist evil. — It is now clear how the *law* kills a man.

8. Likewise, a man is killed *by man* as man, and this happens in three ways: either by *chance,* or by *necessity,* or by *will.* — If a man kills a man by *chance,* and he was engaged in a lawful act and used due diligence, then he is excused both *in part* and *wholly.* But if the homicide is by chance and the man was engaged in an unlawful act and did not use due diligence, then he is excused *in part,* not *wholly*.

9. But if the homicide should be by *necessity,* this is twofold: either by *avoidable* necessity, or by *unavoidable.* Necessity is avoidable if I am able to escape, but I let it pass out of shame, or some other cause; and in this case a man is excused *in part,* not *wholly,* because it would have been better that he should have fled. But if the necessity be *unavoidable,* namely that a man kill another not out of lust of vengeance, but out of love of the preservation of life and soul, so that he does not slay him out of cruelty, but so as to hinder him, lest he lose his own life and soul, and if this be done with the moderation of *blameless self-defence;* then it is granted to *imperfect* persons, not to *perfect* ones — and this Augustine says in the *Free Will* — and here he is excused both *wholly* and *in part.*

10. In a third way homicide is done by man's *will,* and this is twofold: either from *lust of vengeance,* as when someone kills another's father; or from *cruelty of mind,* as robbers or angry men kill others; and both of these are forbidden, and the first is more grave than the second.

11. Likewise, homicide is done *interpretatively,* and this is done in three ways: first by *omission* in deed; whence Ambrose: « *Feed him who is dying of hunger; if thou hast not fed him, thou hast killed him* ». — Secondly it is done, when someone kills another by *counselling,* or by *accusing,* or by *detracting,* when he does this out of malice of mind. — Thirdly, homicide is done interpretatively by *hating* in the mind; whence in the canonical epistle of John: *He that hateth his brother is a murderer.* — I say, therefore, that according to the principal understanding what is here forbidden is not the killing that is *by the law,* but that which is *by man,* and that which is done by *will,* or *interpretatively;* and this is what it says: *Thou shalt not kill.*

### The sixth precept.

12. There follows: *Thou shalt not commit adultery.* Here it is commanded that no one violate the wife of his neighbour. And blessed Augustine says that here is forbidden every unlawful use of the members of generation, which is done for the procuring of lust with the assailing of chastity. And this is done in seven ways, namely through *adultery, fornication, harlotry, rape, sacrilege, incest* and *the sin against nature.*

13. It is to be noted that there is a chastity that is *conjugal, common,* and *privileged*. According to this, I say, one can be an assailant of *conjugal* chastity, and this is called *adultery;* or he is an assailant of *common* chastity, and this either happens with one unmarried simply, and is called *fornication,* or with one unmarried, roving and prostituted, and is called *harlotry.* But if one is an assailant of *privileged* chastity, that is, of virginity, this is twofold: either it happens with an attached condition, which is *defloration,* and thus it is called *rape;* or it happens with a woman consecrated to God, and thus it is called *sacrilege,* namely when someone violates a woman consecrated to the Lord. — But if it be against the foundation

of all these, thus it is called *the sin against nature;* and this happens in two ways: either against the dictate of natural reason, namely against this, « that nature has taught all animals », and thus it is properly called *the sin against nature;* or it happens against the instinct of nature, and in this way it is *incest,* namely when someone sins with a person joined to him. — The sin against nature is most wicked and above all to be fled. And of this crime Joseph accused his brothers before their father with a most wicked crime.

14. It says, therefore: *Thou shalt not commit adultery.* It is clear, first, how here is forbidden every adultery with the wife of one's neighbour; and according to Augustine is forbidden every unlawful use of the members of generation, which is done for the procuring of lust with the assailing of chastity. It is clear also, under what head are taken the seven transgressions of this commandment: *Thou shalt not commit adultery;* and that the sin against nature is above all to be fled.

15. Peter Damian relates, that there were two together in the desert, who did most severe penance. One of them was unlettered and, his sins requiring it, was mocked by the devil, who told him that the sin of pollution against nature was no greater a sin than casting mucus from the nose. And then that pestilent man exercised himself in that immodesty. At his death the devil carried off his soul. Seeing this, the other was amazed that a man of such great vigils and sorrows should be lost. And then an Angel of the Lord stood by, who told him that he had defiled the whole of it by such a sin.

16. Every act, therefore, that is in the experience of lust, in whatever way a man may devise the sin itself, is forbidden, unless it be done in the form of the marriage of the Church. — In sleep a man sometimes suffers pollutions without fault and without cause. A certain foolish priest said to one confessing to him a nocturnal pollution: *canst thou not give a penny to satisfy thy lust?* — It is now clear how here is forbidden every unlawful use of the body and of lust, procured outside the form of marriage.

### The seventh precept.

17. There follows: *Thou shalt not steal.* Theft is *the handling of another's thing, against the will of its owner, out of covetousness.* If it be done not *out of covetousness,* as the children of Israel by the Lord's command carried with them out of Egypt *vessels of silver and of gold*, or as when someone takes away another's sword, lest he do evil; then it is not said to be theft.

18. Now theft is divided into parts, because theft is the handling of another's thing, against the will of its owner; and this is done either by *mere fraud,* or by *violence,* or by *circumvention.* — If it be done by *mere fraud* and by stealth, then it is called *theft.* — If it be done by *violence,* either it is open, and thus it is called *robbery;* or it is hidden, and thus it is called *brigandage.* — But if the handling of another's thing be done by *circumvention,* this can happen with an attached agreement, and this in three ways: either with a *fraudulent* agreement, or an *unjust* one, or a *profane* one. The first way occurs in trading, and this happens in three ways, namely either in *weight,* or in *number,* or in *measure*; and from this merchants very rarely escape. But if it be done with an *unjust* agreement, thus it is *usury,* in which what is sold is something common, namely *time.* But if it be done with a *profane* agreement, in which what is sold is *God's own,* thus it is *simony.*

19. But it is asked: why, if I lend thee a garment or a horse or a house for money, is this not usury, as it is with money? — I say that in a garment or a horse or a house, the *use* is drawn from the thing itself, not from the money; and therefore it is not called usury. Some believe that usury is evil because it is forbidden; but surely it is forbidden because it is evil. In a *loan for consumption* my own becomes thine; and if thou shouldst acquire something by thy own industry from that loan, and I should ask back something from it, I am selling time, which is common, and which it is not lawful to sell. But in a *loan for use* my thing does not pass into thine, as in a *loan for consumption* my money becomes thine; and the money is neither lessened nor made worse, as happens in the case of a house or a garment or a horse, because it is fitting that the money be returned whole and entire. And therefore, when a man asks something from usury, there is in it a perversion of order and an appropriation of what is common; and everyone ought to beware of this for himself. Thus, therefore, when circumvention is done with an *unjust* agreement, it is called *usury.*

20. But if circumvention be done with a *profane* agreement, thus it is called *simony*, in which he who buys acquires nothing, nor does he who sells have anything, but they only handle another's thing; and this happens, when a spiritual thing is sold as though a cheap thing. Against such the Lord says: *Make not the house of my Father a house of traffic.* But some make it a

*den of thieves;* whence: *Her princes have judged for bribes, and her priests have taught for hire, and her prophets have divined for money.* Let us therefore beseech the Lord Jesus Christ, etc.

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