Quaest. 1
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/10/d/1/q/bon-qpe-q1
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### Disputed Questions on Evangelical Perfection

Wishing to investigate some things concerning evangelical perfection, we must take the first beginning of our inquiry from humility.

And first let us inquire about it as about the root of all perfection.

Second, about poverty.

Third, about continence.

Fourth, about obedience.

### Question I. *On humility as to its act, namely whether it belongs to Christian perfection to make oneself vile for Christ.*

And since a habit is known through its acts, therefore we must inquire about humility as to its act. The question therefore is whether it belongs to Christian perfection to make oneself vile for Christ. And that it does, is shown:

1. First *by the authority of Christ himself*, who says in Matthew, chapter 18: *Unless you be converted and become as little children, you shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven;* but to make oneself little is nothing other than to grow vile to oneself and to wish to be reputed vile by others: therefore etc.

2. Likewise, Matthew, chapter 20: *He that will be first among you shall be your servant;* but to make oneself the servant of others is to make oneself vile with the very greatest making-vile: therefore etc.

3. Likewise, Luke, chapter 17: *When you shall have done all things that are commanded you, say: We are unprofitable servants;* but whoever rightly says something wishes to be believed, and believes that what he says is true: therefore, for someone to be a perfect disciple of Christ, it is necessary that he repute himself vile and that he wish to be reputed such by others.

4. Likewise, Luke, chapter 22: *He that is the greater among you, let him become as the younger, and he that is the leader, as he that serveth;* but if the least were to make himself as the greatest, it would be the height of ambition and elation: therefore conversely, when the greater becomes lesser and the leader as one who serves, it will be the height of his abjection; and this ought to be done according to the evangelical teaching: therefore etc.

5. Likewise, John, chapter 13: *You call me Master and Lord* etc., up to: *to wash feet;* from this authority it is gathered by reasoning that the disciple of Christ, by reason of the Master, ought to bow himself down even to the uttermost kind of humiliation and abjection.

6. Likewise, Philippians, chapter 2: *Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus, who being in the form* etc.; but to empty oneself is nothing other than to make oneself vile: if therefore we ought to imitate Christ in

this, the emptying of oneself and the making of oneself vile befits evangelical perfection.

7. Likewise, on that word Bernard says in the sermon on the Nativity of the Lord: «What necessity was there that the God of majesty should so empty himself, so humble himself, so shorten himself, unless that you should do likewise? Already he cries out by example what he is about to preach by word». And a little after: «It is a shamelessness not to be borne that, where majesty has emptied itself, a little worm should be puffed up and swell». If therefore in such an emptying we ought to imitate Christ, it remains that to be made vile pertains to the perfection of virtue.

8. In the second book of Kings, chapter 6, on that text: *Michol, the daughter of Saul, looking, saw king David leaping, and she despised him in her heart;* Gregory says: «Behold, he whom the Lord preferred singularly to the rest, by making himself equal to the least under the Lord and by displaying abject things, despises himself. The power of the kingdom is not called back to memory; he does not fear to grow vile in the eyes of his subjects by dancing; what is thought by others of these deeds, I do not know; I, for my part, am more amazed at David dancing than fighting; by fighting he conquered the enemy, by dancing before the Lord he conquered himself». If therefore to conquer oneself is a work of perfect virtue; and this is done in the making of oneself vile: therefore etc.

9. Likewise, a little after in the same place: *I will play, and I will become viler* etc.; on which Gregory says: «As if he were saying openly: I seek to grow vile before men, because I seek to keep myself free-born before God through humility». If therefore to be free-born before God is nothing other than to be perfect; and the making of oneself vile makes one free-born before God: therefore it is an act of perfect virtue.

10. Likewise, Jonas, chapter 3, on that text: *Let men and beasts be covered with sackcloth;* the Gloss: «Behold, the king of Ninive rises from his throne, exchanges purple for sackcloth, ointments for mud, clean things for filth»; but this is in the highest degree to make oneself vile, not only inwardly but also outwardly, and by this God, who was angry, was appeased: therefore the making of oneself vile is a work most acceptable to God.

11. Likewise, Augustine, *On True Religion*: «All the things which, desiring to have them, we were not rightly avoiding, Christ made vile by going without them; for no sin can be committed except while those things are sought which he despised, or by fleeing those things which he endured»; but Christ endured being made vile, not compelled but by will, and refused honours: if therefore we wish to be made vile for him, let us be conformed to him in the discipline of morals.

12. Likewise, Gregory in the first book of the *Dialogues* speaks thus: «In the praises of Constantius it must be weighed how great his humility was within himself, who loved the more the rustic who despised him; for what each one secretly is within himself, an insult inflicted proves. For just as the proud rejoice in honours, so the humble for the most part rejoice in being despised; and when they see themselves vile in the eyes of others too, they are glad for this reason, that they understand the judgment to be confirmed by this which they themselves also held of themselves within themselves». From this authority it is manifestly gathered that one is not truly humble unless he is vile in his own eyes and wishes to be so in the eyes of others.

13. Likewise, Bernard on the Canticles, the sixteenth homily: «The truly humble man wishes to be reputed vile, not to be proclaimed humble»; but humility is not virtuous unless it is true humility: therefore if true humility cannot be without the voluntary making of oneself vile, by equal reason neither can virtuous humility.

14. This same thing is shown *by reason*. As pride stands to loftiness, so humility stands to vileness; but there is never pride without there being with it an appetite for loftiness: therefore there is never true humility without an appetite for vileness.

15. Likewise, as wantonness stands to austerity, so pride stands to vileness; but wantonness is not rooted out of us except by the rigour of austerity: therefore neither is pride, except by the vileness of abjection: therefore the making of oneself vile is an act that extinguishes pride, and on this account an act of perfect virtue.

16. Likewise, no one can be justified from original guilt unless he subjects himself to the Sacraments, which are sensible signs; but to subject oneself to a

sensible sign cannot be without great abjection; but more is required for removing actual sin: therefore, for someone to be justified, it is required not only that he be humbled inwardly, but also that he be humbled outwardly.

17. Likewise, the despiser of God is worthy of the highest reproach and contempt; but the sinner is a despiser of God, therefore he is to be despised in the highest degree: therefore whoever despises himself as a sinner does what he ought and judges himself justly. But this pertains to perfect virtue: therefore etc.

18. Likewise, there are two things in sin, namely lust and contempt of God; but a man cannot be justified from a sin in which there was lust unless the sorrow of compunction be present: therefore by equal reason he can be justified neither from pride nor from contempt of God except through contempt and the making vile of himself.

19. Likewise, the city of God stands opposite to the city of Babylon; but the city of Babylon begins from love of self and reaches even to contempt of God: therefore, on the contrary, the city of God begins from contempt of self and reaches even to the love of God. If therefore to despise oneself and to make oneself vile pertains to the founding of the divine city: therefore it is a work of perfect virtue.

20. Likewise, no one walks rightly along the way of virtue except one who pays the honour due to God; but whoever makes himself vile on account of God is the one who honours God: therefore etc. The *major* is manifest of itself; the *minor* is proved by what is said in Ecclesiasticus, chapter 3: *Great is the power of God alone, and he is honoured by the humble;* and Baruch, chapter 2: *The soul that is sorrowful for the greatness of evil, and goeth bowed down and feeble, and the eyes that fail, and the hungry soul give glory and justice to thee, O Lord.*

21. Likewise, the more someone is conformed to the exemplar of the virtues, the more perfect he is; but Christ on the cross is the exemplar of perfect virtue, where he was in the highest abjection: therefore each one is the more perfect, the more he approaches it.

22. Likewise, no virtue is in the true perfection of virtue unless it approves each thing according as it is to be approved; but, as is said in the Psalm, *all things are vanity, every man living:* therefore no one is of perfect virtue unless he reputes himself vain and useless, and wishes to be reputed such by anyone whatever.

23. Likewise, no virtue is perfect unless, when it can, it goes out into outward work; but the outward work corresponding to inward abjection is the outward making of oneself vile: therefore no one has in himself the virtue of perfect humility unless he wishes to show himself outwardly vile and abject, when place and time offer themselves.

24. Likewise, the virtue of perfect humility reforms what the vice of pride deformed; but pride disorders cognition through presumption, affection through arrogance, speech through boasting, bearing through ostentation and insolence: therefore no one has perfect humility unless he has the contraries of these in thought, affection, speech and bearing.

25. Likewise, perfect virtue removes one far not only from vices, but also from the kindlings of vices; but the display of inward things and outward honouring are kindlings of pride: therefore perfect humility removes one far from these. But to be removed far from honouring is to approach vileness and ignominy: therefore etc.

Cᴏɴᴛʀᴀ 1.: «Virtue is a habit of the mind in the manner of nature, in accord with reason»; but nature naturally desires to be advanced and not to be cast down: therefore the making of oneself vile is against the dictate of nature: therefore it is not a work of perfect humility.

2. Likewise, «virtue is the order of love», as is said in the book *On the Morals of the Church*; but when the greater subjects himself to an inferior, there is disorder and a perversion of order: therefore it is not a work of virtue.

3. Likewise, virtue is a thing consisting in the mean; but whoever makes himself vile approaches an extreme: therefore he withdraws from the act of perfect virtue.

4. Likewise, every virtue has the underlay of truth; for where truth is lacking, there virtue cannot

be; but a just and perfect man, reputing himself viler than others, while he thinks some such thing, judges falsely: therefore if such a thought is repugnant to truth, it is necessary that it be repugnant to virtue.

5. Likewise, whoever makes the handiwork vile makes the maker vile; but man is the handiwork of God: therefore whoever makes himself vile makes God vile. But to make God vile is not a matter of perfect virtue, but a fault: therefore etc.

6. Likewise, among the other creatures man is the most noble creature, therefore most to be honoured and prized in the whole universe of things: therefore whoever makes himself vile disorders the universe.

7. Likewise, to make another vile is a sin; but a man is bound to love himself as also his neighbour: therefore whoever renders himself contemptible acts against the order of charity.

8. Likewise, when another thinks you vile, he sins: therefore if you wish that another repute you vile, you wish that another sin; but this is a disordered will: therefore etc.

9. Likewise, the soul is the image of God, therefore it is naturally apt to be conformed to him; but God is supremely good, wise and exalted: therefore the appetite for excellence befits the reforming of the image of our mind: therefore, on the contrary, the appetite for making oneself vile is not a work of virtue.

10. Likewise, there are three things desirable, namely the good, the true and the arduous; but no virtue or appetite of virtue consists in desiring the contrary of the true or of the good: therefore neither in desiring the contrary of the arduous. But such is the making vile: wherefore etc.

11. Likewise, every virtue and act of virtue has an exemplar in God; but the making of oneself vile has no exemplar in God, because God in no way makes himself vile.

12. Likewise, every virtue renders a man conformed to the state of glory, because «it is the disposition of the perfect to the best»; but the making of oneself vile is directly repugnant to glorification: therefore etc.

13. Likewise, it is objected against *outward* humiliation: because it is a sign of the inward; but it is pride to confess in word that one is humble; therefore it is pride to show this very thing by a sign.

14. Likewise, you who put forward humility in a sign either repute *yourself humble*, or *not;* if *so:* then you attribute to yourself a noble virtue, therefore you are proud; if *not:* then, since your habit outwardly shows you humble, you bear one thing in your mind and show another in the sign: therefore you are a hypocrite.

15. Likewise, every part is unseemly which does not fit its whole; but these singularities of habits seem to disfigure the good ecclesiastical state: therefore it does not pertain to perfect virtue or to Christian perfection.

> **Conclusio.** *The foundation of all Christian perfection is humility, whose act is the inward and outward making vile of one's own self.*

Sᴏʟᴜᴛɪᴏ: For the understanding of the foregoing it must be noted that the sum of all Christian perfection consists in humility, whose act is the *outward* and *inward* making vile of oneself. For the sum of all Christian perfection turns about three things, namely about *grace*, *justice* and *wisdom*, according to which three Christ is said to be *the way, the truth and the life*. For the *gift of grace* affords the way to the *truth of justice*, in which consists the exercise of action; the *truth of justice* leads through to the *taste of wisdom*, in which consists the solace of contemplation; and when these have been perfectly attained, one ascends to the summit of evangelical perfection, which Christ Jesus taught by word and example, who professed himself especially the master of humility, Matthew, chapter 11: *Learn of me* etc. For humility is *the door of wisdom, the foundation of justice and the dwelling-place of grace.*

It is *the door of wisdom:* because wisdom is «the cognition of the highest and first causes», not only by the mode of speculative and intellectual cognition, but also of savouring and experiential cognition. Since, therefore, all things whatsoever that have been made flow from one principle and have been produced from nothing; he is truly wise who truthfully recognises his own and others' nothingness and the loftiness of the first principle. Whence Augustine prays in the second book of the *Soliloquies*: «May I know thee, may I know myself». But no one arrives at a full knowledge of God except through a true

and right knowledge of himself; nor does he rightly know himself who does not attend to his own nothingness; *for if any man think himself to be something, whereas he is nothing, he deceiveth himself*, as the Apostle says in the last chapter to the Galatians; but to know one's own nothingness, this is to humble oneself: humility, therefore, is *the door of wisdom.* — And this is what the Wise Man says in Proverbs, chapter 11: *Where humility is, there also is wisdom;* this is also what Wisdom herself says in Matthew, chapter 11: *Thou hast revealed them to little ones* etc.; on which Bernard, *On the Degrees of Humility*: «It is apparent that the truth which is hidden from the proud is revealed to the humble. Now humility is the virtue by which a man, through true knowledge of himself, grows vile to himself; and this befits those who, having disposed ascents in their heart, advance from degree to degree, until they arrive at the summit of humility, on which, set as on Sion, they look out upon the truth». And a little after: «He who commanded humility leads through to truth»; whence also the ladder of Jacob, «what else does it intimate to us, but that the cognition of truth consists in the summit of humility»? And a little after: «Good is the way of humility, by which truth is found, charity is acquired, the generations of wisdom are shared».

It is also *the foundation of justice.* For it belongs to justice «to render to each one what is his own», to God as to oneself as to one's neighbour. Now to God is owed principally honour and reverence; and humility especially disposes one to render this, according to that text of Ecclesiasticus, chapter 3: *How great is the power of God alone, and he is honoured by the humble.* Since, therefore, the beginning of all justice is divine worship and honour, and this is shown to God by the humble; hence it is that the root and foundation of all justice is humility. — Whence on that text of Matthew, chapter 3: *So it becometh us to fulfil;* the Gloss: «that is, all humility, which is all justice». And Gregory in a Homily: «In the other things that you do, hold humility as the root of good working. For even if any works whatever be present, they are nothing unless they are seasoned with humility; for a marvellous action joined with elation does not lift up, but weighs down. For whoever gathers virtues without humility carries dust into the wind; and whence he is seen to see, thence he is the worse blinded». The same: «The whole of what you build grows into a ruin, if before the mass of the fabric you do not provide the foundations of humility».

It is nonetheless *the dwelling-place of grace.* For grace makes a man pleasing to God; and he is pleasing to God who recognises the gift of the divine deigning and condescension; but no one recognises this except one who looks carefully upon his own unworthiness; and such a one is truly humble: and hence it is that the grace of the Holy Spirit rests upon the humble alone. — Whence Isaias, the last chapter: *Upon whom shall my Spirit rest, but upon the humble* etc.; Augustine, in the third book *On Christian Doctrine*: «To this end the sins of great men have been written, that that apostolic sentence may everywhere be feared: *Wherefore he that seemeth to stand, let him take heed lest he fall.* For there is no page of the holy books on which it does not sound: *God resisteth the proud, but to the humble he giveth grace*». — Since, therefore, humility is the dwelling-place of grace, hence it is that in it consists *the sum of all evangelical perfection.* And this is what Augustine says to Dioscorus: «You will find no other way for grasping and obtaining the truth than that which was found by him who, as God, sees the infirmity of our steps. Now the first is humility, the second humility, the third humility; and as often as you should ask, I would say this, not that there are no other precepts that might be spoken of, but unless humility have gone before, accompanied and followed all things whatever that we do well, and been set before us for us to gaze upon, and set beside us for us to cling to, and set upon us to restrain us; pride wrests the whole from our hand even as we rejoice over some good deed. Therefore, if you should ask, and as often as you should ask, concerning the precepts

of the Christian religion, it would please me to answer nothing other than humility; and if perhaps I were to say other things, necessity would compel».

Now the act of such humility is not only an inward, but also an outward humiliation and making vile of oneself. And the reason for this is: because, since *being* is twofold, namely of nature and of grace, nothingness is twofold: in one way by opposition to *the being of nature*, in another way by opposition to *the being of morals and of grace.* And according to this, humility, which is through consideration, or which is considerative of our nothingness, is twofold: one can indeed be called the humility of *truth*, which arises from the consideration of nothingness by opposition to *the being of nature;* and this is found not only in men but also in Angels, not only in wayfarers but also in the Blessed. The other can be called the humility of *severity*, which arises from the consideration of *guilt;* by which, when a man considers that he has been sunk down through elation, by a certain severe censure through humility he rises up against himself, making himself vile not only inwardly in his own eyes, but also outwardly in the eyes of others. Hence the making of oneself vile, not only outward but also inward, is an act of the humility-virtue, and none the less consonant with evangelical perfection, if in it there be attended to its due *origin* and *mode* and *fruit.* — For *in its origin* outward humiliation ought to proceed from inward humility according to the dictate and rule of the divine gift; and this can be done according to the law of the divine *precept*, or of the divine *good pleasure*, or of the divine *counsel.* The *precept* regards all universally; the *good pleasure* regards those to whom the divine will is specially inspired; but the *counsel* those who ascend to the summit of perfection. And of these three it is said to the Romans, *that you may prove what is the good, and the acceptable, and the perfect will of God.* He therefore rightly humbles himself who conforms himself to the divine will according to any one of the three modes, according to which the spirit of true humility inclines diverse persons to diverse kinds of humiliations.

Now the *mode* of outward humiliation is that there be kept in it *manliness, truth* and *seemliness; manliness* against faintheartedness, which casts down the mind; *truth* against hypocrisy, which deceives men; *seemliness* against stolidity, which dishonours men and makes them play the fool.

And the *fruit* of this humiliation is that it avails for *acquiring* humility, for *exercising* it and for *perfecting* it. Whence on that text of John, chapter 13: *You also ought to wash one another's feet;* the Gloss: «Whoever bows down to the feet, in him humility is stirred up in the heart; or if it is already in the heart, the affection of humility is confirmed». And Bernard in a certain letter to Ogerius: «Humility, to which humiliation surely leads, is the foundation of the whole spiritual fabric; for humiliation is the way to humility, as patience to peace, as reading to knowledge. If you desire the virtue of humility, do not flee the way of humiliation; for if you cannot be humiliated, you will not be able to be advanced to humility». Now this humiliation he calls *the making vile of one's own self;* whence he also adds: «*I will play, and I will become viler*, I will play, that is, that I may be mocked. A good play, at which Michol is angered and God delighted; a good play, which to men indeed offers a laughing-stock, but to Angels a spectacle; a good play, I say, in which we are made *a reproach to the rich and a contempt to the proud.* In this chaste and religious play he played who said: *We are made a spectacle to this world, and to Angels, and to men.* Let us too meanwhile play at this play, that we may be mocked and confounded and humbled, until he comes who *puts down the mighty and exalts the humble*, who may gladden us, exalt us and glorify us for ever». — From these things it is manifestly gathered that to humble oneself and to make oneself vile for Christ is a work of perfect virtue, and consonant both with religion and with Christian perfection. Hence the reasons and authorities which are brought forward for this side are to be conceded.

1. To that which is objected first, that virtue is consonant with nature, and nature always desires to be advanced, it must be said that, although according to the outward face the act of humility, which is the making of oneself vile, seems to be dissonant from the instinct of nature, yet according to truth and its intrinsic reason it is in the highest degree consonant with nature itself, both as to *origin* and as to *conservation*, and also as to *advancement.* For every nature, by the fact that it is from *nothing*, has some defect in itself and proclaims itself defective. — Nature is also *conserved* in this, that it keeps unity in its composing principles and also in its quantitative parts as far as its powers allow; in this also, that it expels everything that induces dispersion, so far as is possible to it. — And it *advances* in this, that it desires to receive influence from a superior nature, to which it subjects itself, so that it may be completed by it. Since, therefore, it belongs to humility to

recognise its own defect; to bring itself back to a certain unitive littleness, to drive back from itself the spirit of inflation and of pride as something dispersive; to subject and offer itself to the influence of supernal grace: hence it is that according to truth it is consonant with natural act and instinct. Hence that argument assumes a falsehood when it says that humility and its act, which is to make oneself vile, are dissonant from the instinct of nature. — It could also be said otherwise, that that definition is of *moral* virtue, which is rooted in the natural dictate. But this act of humility is founded in the faith of Jesus Christ, which is an act above reason and exceeds the bounds of nature. And therefore that argument is not valid.

2. To that which is objected, that virtue is the order of love, it must be said that *the order of love* which is attended to in virtue regards principally, radically and essentially this, that God be preferred to the creature; and every other order is annexed and as it were ordering to this order as to the principal order. Since, therefore, as Augustine says, in order that the Creator may grow sweet in the heart, it is fitting that the creature grow vile; and since that creature which most of all opposes this order is one's own person and private good: therefore, for preserving the perfect order of virtue, this is most of all consonant, that one make oneself vile; which one does when on account of God one subjects oneself to another and puts another before oneself, saving, however, the dignity of the ecclesiastical order, which true humility does not pervert, nor neglect, nor set aside, but rather preserves, while inwardly in the heart humility is kept, and outwardly authority endures in its own degree.

3. To that which is objected, that virtue is a habit consisting in the mean, it must be said that that word is understood not of a mean as to quantity on the part of the object, but as to removal from the deficiency and the excess that have the character of vice; and thus is the making of oneself vile, which is the work of a virtue midway between faintheartedness and arrogance. Hence, although it seems to decline to an extreme, yet according to truth it holds the mean. — *Moreover*, as has been touched on, the making of oneself vile is not only an act of virtue informing nature, but also an example of virtue repairing it; hence it holds more the character of the *medicinal* than of the *completive;* and because the disease corrupting the human race is most of all the haughtiness of pride and arrogance, and the medicinal ought to work through the contrary: therefore by declining to the other extreme it brings back to the mean; as by a likeness can be seen in the constraint of fasting and abstinence against the disease of wantonness.

4. To that, that every virtue has the underlay of truth, it must be said that this is true and has place in humility: because the very truth of the divine law dictates that each one ought to think humbler things of himself than of another. Hence, as each one naturally feels his own afflicting disease more than another's, so each one ought to consider his own defect more certainly and more nearly and more frequently, and on this account ought to repute himself viler than others, not because he is certain that he is such, but because he is more certain of his own than of another's vanity or vileness. Therefore, as is said in the Gloss on Philippians, chapter 2: *In humility, esteeming one another superior to themselves*, «we ought not so to esteem this as to pretend that we esteem it, but truly to esteem that there can be something hidden in another by which he is superior to us, even if our good, by which we seem superior to him, is not hidden». And thus it appears that the making of oneself vile is founded not upon the false but upon the true, namely according to the *experiential* cognition of one's own defect, which each man has as it were singularly with respect to another; just as also each just man has some singular excellence with respect to another, by reason of which it is said in the praise of every Confessor: *There was not found the like to him.*

5. To that: whoever makes the handiwork vile, it must be said that the handiwork, because it was made by God from nothing and was vitiated in man by the first, original sin, has in itself something of *deiformity* by reason of him *from whom* it is, and something of *defectibility* by reason of that *out of which* it is, and something of *deformity* by reason of the vice *under which* it is; and just as by reason of *deiformity* it is to be honoured, because there shines back in it the divine vestige, image and likeness; so by reason of *defectibility* it can be held of small account, and by reason of *deformity* be reputed vile, not to the insult but to the honour of God, since honour is taken away only through the deformity of vice and sin.

6. To that, that man is the most noble creature, it must be said that by reason of the fact that he has in himself the *deiformity* of the image, he is *set before* the others; but by reason of the fact that he has *defectibility* and nothingness, he is *made equal* to the others; but since he has the *deformity* of viciousness, he is *set after* the others; whence the impious are placed in *hell* in the most ordered way by reason of sin, and by reason of this

the making of oneself vile befits the sinner, which, when it is voluntary, holds the character of virtue and of medicine.

7. To that, that to make another vile is a sin, it must be said that to make *another* vile is to put oneself before another, but to make *oneself* vile is to subject oneself to another; and the first belongs to pride, the second to humility and reverence; and therefore it is not alike on the one side and on the other.

8. To that, that whoever wishes to be reputed vile by another wishes that the other sin, it must be said that this argument fails in two ways: first, because a passion can be good, although the action is evil, as is plain in the passion of Christ, in which there was merit on the part of Christ who endured, and demerit on the part of the crucifier; and therefore it does not follow that, if someone wishes to suffer something in which another sins, he therefore wishes the other to sin. — Moreover, when someone wishes to be reputed vile, he does not wish this by reason of nature or of person, but by reason of the guilt that is against nature; and whoever despises or hates that, whether in himself or in another, can do this meritoriously and without sin.

9. To that, that the soul naturally desires to be conformed to God, it must be said that some things are *proper to the divine excellence*, such as divine judgment and vengeance, honour etc.; and in such things whoever desires to be conformed desires in a disordered manner, as lucifer did. But there are some things which *he communicates to the creature*, such as goodness, truth and virtue, which is most of all shown when someone is able to be master of himself; and therefore it does not follow that the making of oneself vile is repugnant to the image.

10. To that, that there are three things desirable, namely the true, the good and the arduous, it must be said that, as virtue has to do with the *true good*, and vice with the *apparent good;* so pride regards an *apparent arduousness*, which it is very difficult and arduous to despise; but humility is the making of oneself vile, which includes a *true arduousness*, although it is repugnant to the *apparent.* — Moreover, no one who is truly humble makes himself vile except on account of this, that he wishes to be exalted eternally.

11. 12. To that, that every virtue has an exemplar in God, it must be said that humility, as to that which belongs to its completion, namely *not to exceed its own bounds*, has an exemplar in God; but as to that which regards defect and subjection to another, it has no exemplar in God, who has no defect and has no superior. Yet, so that man should not neglect to be humbled on account of the lack of an exemplar, it pleased God to take *the form of a servant* and in it to be humbled, despised and made vile, so that the rest might be inflamed by so great an exemplar to the perfect making vile of themselves.

13. 14. To that concerning outward humiliation, that it is a sign of the inward, it must be said that that humiliation is not a sign of humility already acquired, but of a will to exercise oneself in acquiring humility; and this indeed ought to be and is in every good man who bears religion in his heart. — And by this the answer is plain to the following objection, because by this a man does not say, nor boast, nor show off that he is humble, but that he wishes to acquire and to have humility.

15. To the last objection, that every part is unseemly which does not fit etc., it must be said that, as Augustine says, «if all things were equal, all things would not be». And therefore order, distinction and multiformity in professions and habits does not disfigure but adorns the universe of the Church itself; hence, just as he would be an assailant of the universe of the world who would not wish these little creatures to be in the universe; so he is an assailant of the universal Church, if anyone should wish to root out of it habits that are vile and abject.

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