Proemium
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/1/d/0/q/bon-sent-I-proem
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### PROEMIUM
#### OF SAINT BONAVENTURE
#### TO THE FIRST BOOK OF THE SENTENCES.

> *He hath searched the deep places of the rivers, and hath brought hidden things forth to light.*
> Job, XXVIII, 11.

This word, which is taken from Job, chapter twenty-eight, considered more carefully, has opened for us the way to knowing beforehand the fourfold kind of cause in the book of the Sentences, namely the *material, the formal, the efficient* and the *final.* For the material cause is intimated in the name of the *rivers,* the formal cause in the searching of the *deep places,* the final cause in the revealing of the *hidden things,* while the efficient cause is understood in the subject of the two verbs, namely *hath searched* and *hath brought forth to light.*

The *material* cause is intimated by the name of the *rivers* in the plural, not in the singular, so that not only the matter or subject of the whole book in general should be touched upon, but also that of the particular books in special. On account of which it is to be noted that, according to the *fourfold* property of the material river, there is a fourfold spiritual river, according to whose fourfold difference there are four books of the Sentences. For I consider the material river as to its duration, and I find *perpetuity.* For as Isidore says: «A river is a perennial flowing». I consider it as to its extension, and I find *spaciousness.* For in this a river is distinguished from a brook. I consider it as to its motion, and I find *circulation.* For as is said in Ecclesiastes, chapter one: *Unto the place from whence the rivers come out, they return* etc. I consider its effect, and I find *cleansing.* For a river, on account of the abundance of its waters, cleanses the lands through which it runs, in such wise that it is not itself defiled. And since all who transfer a word do so according to some likeness, the metaphor being taken from this fourfold condition, a fourfold river is found in spiritual things, as we can gather from the Scriptures.

*First,* on account of *perpetuity,* the emanation of the persons is called a river, since that emanation alone is without beginning and without end. Of this river Daniel, chapter seven: *The Ancient of days sat, and a swift stream of fire issued forth from before him.* This Ancient of days is the eternal Father, whose antiquity is eternity. This Ancient *sat,* because there is in him not only eternity but also immutability. *From before that Ancient there issued forth a swift stream of fire,* that is, from the sublimity of his godhead there proceeded the fullness of *love* and the fullness of *power:* the fullness of *power* in the Son, and therefore the stream was swift; the fullness of *love* in the Holy Spirit, and therefore the stream was of fire.

*Secondly,* on account of *spaciousness,* the production of the things of the world is called a river; for which cause this world is called by the Prophet in the Psalm not only a river but a sea: *This great sea and spacious* etc. Of this river Ezechiel, chapter twenty-nine: *Behold, I come against thee, Pharao, king of Egypt, thou great dragon that liest in the midst of thy rivers and sayest: The river is mine, and I made myself. And I will put a bridle in thy jaws* etc. This great dragon, whom the Lord addresses and threatens under the figure and person of Pharao, is the devil, who is the king of *Egypt*, since he reigns in those whom he has blinded with the darkness of error, such as are the heretics, to whom he also says: *The river is mine, and I made myself,* as though he himself had made this world and had no other beginning. This error he spoke and suggested to the impious Manichees, who contend that the whole fabric of visible things was made by an evil god. The jaws of this dragon the Lord *will bridle*, when, the power of suggesting falsehoods being taken from him, he will show that he himself is the maker of this river; whence in the same authority there follows: *And all the inhabitants of Egypt shall know that I am the Lord.*

*Thirdly,* on account of *circulation,* the incarnation of the Son of God is called a river, since, just as in a circle the last is joined to the first, so in the incarnation the highest is joined to the lowest, as God to the clay, and the first to the last, as the eternal Son of God to man made on the sixth day. Of this river Ecclesiasticus, chapter twenty-four: *I, like the river Dorix, and as an aqueduct, came out of paradise.* Dorix is interpreted "the medicine of generation," and there is here a figurative manner of speech, so that it be understood by inversion, that is, "the generation of the medicine." For the incarnation of the Son of God was nothing else than the generation of a medicine: *For surely he hath borne our infirmities, and carried our sorrows*. Rightly therefore is the incarnation of the Son called the river Dorix. And Christ himself truly says of himself: *I, like the river Dorix,* that is, a medicinal river, *and as an aqueduct came out of paradise.* The nature of water is this, that it rises as high as it has descended. Such was the going forth of the incarnation, according to what is said in the Psalm: *His going out is from the height of heaven, and his circuit even to the height thereof.* And John, chapter sixteen: *I came forth from the Father and came into the world: again I leave the world and I go to the Father,* and thus he made a circle. Of this river also, as regards his going forth from his mother, may be expounded that which is said in Esther, chapter ten, in the dream of Mardochai: *A little fountain grew into a river, and was turned into a light and into the sun.* Who, I ask, is this little fountain but the most humble Virgin? She grew into a river when she brought forth Christ, who is called not only a river by the abundance of grace, but also the light of wisdom and the sun of justice, according to what John in the first chapter says of him: *He was the true light* etc.

*Fourthly,* on account of *cleansing,* the dispensation of the Sacraments is called a river, which without any defilement of itself cleanses us from the pollutions of sins. Of this river the Apocalypse, chapter twenty-two: *He showed me a river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding from the throne of God and of the Lamb.* The dispensation of the Sacraments is called a river *clear as crystal* on account of the brightness and the sheen which it leaves in the souls that are cleansed in this stream. It is called also a river *of water of life* on account of the efficacy of grace, which quickens the soul. This also *proceeds from the throne of God and of the Lamb.* For sacramental grace proceeds from *God* as from its author and efficient cause, from *Christ* as from its mediator and from him who merited it. On account of which all the Sacraments are said to have their efficacy from the passion of Christ; whence Augustine testifies: «From the side of the sleeping Christ

the Sacraments flowed forth, when from thence there flowed blood and water».

Of all these rivers together and in order we have it in Genesis, chapter two, where it is said that *a river went out of the place of pleasure, which from thence is divided into four heads: the name of the first is Phison, the name of the second Gehon, the name of the third Tigris and the name of the fourth Euphrates.* This river going out of Paradise is the matter of this whole book. The four rivers proceeding from it are the special matters of the four books, as he can easily fit them who is willing to set forth diligently the interpretations of the aforesaid names. For Phison is interpreted "the changing of the mouth," and in this is signified the emanation of the persons. For as from a material mouth there proceed word and breath, so from the mouth of the Father the Son and the Holy Spirit, Ecclesiasticus, chapter twenty-four: *I came out of the mouth of the Most High, the firstborn before all creatures.* This the Son himself says, who is the Word and the Wisdom of the Father. And in the Psalm: *By the word of the Lord the heavens were established: and by the spirit of his mouth* etc. Gehon is interpreted "sand," and in this is signified the production of the things of the world. For as the whole array of creatures is compared to the sea on account of its spaciousness, so to sand on account of its multitude, Ecclesiasticus, chapter one: *Who hath numbered the sand of the sea and the drops of rain?* Tigris is interpreted "arrow," and in this is signified the incarnation of the Son of God. For as in an arrow the iron is joined to the wood, so in Christ the strength of the godhead is joined to the softness of humanity. And as an arrow flies from the bow and the wood to strike down adversaries, so Christ, leaping from the cross, broke the adversary. This is that arrow of which it is said in the fourth book of Kings, chapter thirteen: *The arrow of the salvation of the Lord, and the arrow of salvation against Syria.* Euphrates is interpreted "fruitful," in which is signified the dispensation of the Sacraments, which not only cleanse the soul from guilt but also make it fruitful in grace. Which was signified in the last chapter of the Apocalypse, where it is said that beside the crystal river *was the tree bearing fruit, whose leaves were for medicine.*

Since therefore there are four rivers, there are four *deep places* of the rivers corresponding to the aforesaid rivers.

The deep place of the *eternal emanation* is the sublimity of the divine being, of which may be understood that saying of Ecclesiasticus, chapter seven: *It is a great depth, who shall find it out?* Truly a lofty depth and a deep loftiness, so that the Apostle cries out to the Romans, chapter eleven, and says: *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!* Truly his judgments are incomprehensible, because deep. *For the judgments of God are a great deep*, and Ecclesiasticus, chapter one: *Who hath measured the depth of the abyss?* This depth is intimated in Job, chapter eleven: *Peradventure thou wilt comprehend the steps of God, and wilt find out the Almighty perfectly? He is higher than heaven, and what wilt thou do? he is deeper than hell, and how wilt thou know?* as if he should say: of thyself thou canst not; and therefore the Apostle counsels to the Ephesians, chapter three: *Being rooted and founded in charity, that you may be able to comprehend* etc.

And this deep place the Master searches in the first book. For the sublimity of the divine being consists in two things, namely in the most noble *emanations,* which are generation and procession, and in the most noble *conditions,* which are supreme wisdom, omnipotence and perfect will, of which the first book treats. For in the first part he treats of the most holy Unity and Trinity, while in the second he treats by a special tract of the aforesaid threefold condition or property of the same.

The deep place of *creation* is the vanity of the being of the creature. For the more a creature fades away, the more it tends into the deep, whether it fade away through guilt or through punishment. On account of this it is said through the Prophet in the person of man, who faded away through guilt, in the Psalm: *I stick fast in the mire of the deep, and there is no sure standing.* And again the Prophet praying, lest he fade away through punishment: *Let not,* he says, *the tempest of water drown me, nor the deep swallow me up* etc.

This deep place the Master searches in the second

book. For the vanity of the being of the creature consists in two things, namely in the change from *not-being* into *being* and again in the returning into *not-being.* And although no creature altogether passes into non-being by nature, nevertheless, as Augustine says, the sinner tends towards not-being through guilt. And of these two the whole second book treats. For in the first part he treats of the going forth of things, in the second part he treats of the fall, as of the temptation of the devil, of original and actual sin, even to the end.

The deep place of the *incarnation* is the merit of the humanity of Christ, which was so great that it may truly be called a deep, as having neither term nor bottom. Of which may be understood that saying of Jonas, chapter two: *Thou hast cast me forth into the deep, in the heart of the sea, and a flood hath compassed me.* This can be said of Christ, who was so far humbled that he may truly be called *cast forth* and *abject,* Isaias, chapter fifty-three: *And we have seen him, and there was no sightliness in him, and we desired him: despised and the most abject of men* etc. Truly therefore he says that he was *cast forth,* but whither? *into the deep of the sea and of the flood.* For the passion of Christ is compared to the *sea* on account of the bitterness of its penalty, but also to the *flood* on account of the sweetness of its charity. For the most sweet heart of Jesus Christ was so affected towards us with the tenderness of love that it did not seem to him grievous to bear for us the uttermost and most bitter kind of death.

And this deep place the Master searches in the third book. For the merit of Christ consists in two things, namely in his *passion,* by which he redeemed us, and in his *action,* by which he formed us, which consists in the works of the virtues, of the gifts and of the precepts, and of these two the third book treats. For in the first part there is treated the incarnation and the passion, in which our redemption consists, in the second the virtues, gifts and precepts, in which our formation consists.

The deep place of the *sacramental dispensation* is the efficacy of the perfect medicine. For so great is the efficacy of the sacramental medicine that it surpasses the human mind, so that it may truly be called a deep. Of this Isaias, chapter fifty-one: *Thou hast made the depth of the sea a way, that the delivered might pass over.* That deep, in which the Egyptians are drowned and the children of Israel pass over delivered and are saved, is the efficacy of the Sacraments, in which the works of darkness are destroyed and the arms of light and the gifts of graces are conferred, by which man is translated from the power of darkness into the kingdom of the Son of God's love. This efficacy of the Sacraments is the deep of the *sea* and of the *flood: of the sea*, inasmuch as it first delivers from guilt and leads into the bitterness of penance; *of the flood,* inasmuch as it delivers from misery and leads into the sweetness of glory. Which was excellently prefigured in the children of Israel, for whom, as they went out of Egypt, the sea was dried up, and they passed over *by dry land in the midst thereof,* as is said in Exodus, chapter fifteen; and, as they entered into the land of promise, the river was dried up, and they passed over through the midst of it, as is said in Josue, chapter four.

This deep place the Master searches in the fourth book. For the efficacy of the perfect medicine consists in two things, namely in *healing* from the variety of infirmities that press down, and in *deliverance* from the whole array of miseries that weigh down; and of these two the whole fourth book treats. For in the first part he treats of the manifold *healing* which the seven Sacraments effect. In the second he treats of the *perfect health* to which they lead, as of the *glory of those who rise again,* who have truly and faithfully received the Sacraments of the Church; and, on the opposite side, of the *punishment of the wicked,* who have despised the Sacraments of the Church.

From the searching of the four deep places in the four books there is drawn out the *end,* namely the revealing of the *four hidden things.*

The *first* is the *greatness of the divine substance,* of which Isaias, chapter forty-five: *Verily thou art a hidden God, the God of Israel, the Saviour.* Truly the greatness of the divine substance is hidden, according to that saying of Job, chapter twenty-six: *When we have heard scarce a little drop of his word, who shall be able to behold the greatness of his thunder?* Certainly no one can behold it, save he with whom the wisdom of God dwells. On account of this that lover of wisdom asked, in the ninth chapter of Wisdom: *Send her out of thy holy heaven and from the throne of thy greatness.*

This hidden thing the Master, filled with wisdom from on high, brought forth to light through the searching of the first book. For, the most noble emanations and the most noble properties having been seen and understood, the greatness of the divine substance becomes known to us, according as is possible for wayfarers.

The *second* hidden thing is the *order of the divine wisdom,* of which Job, chapter twenty-eight: *Where is wisdom to be found? and where is the place of understanding? It is hid from the eyes of all living.* Truly hidden, because, as is said in the same place, *wisdom is drawn out of secret places;* and so, that it may be known, it needs the searching of its depth, not in itself, but in its works, in which it shines forth. Whence it is said in Ecclesiasticus, chapter one, that *there is one most high Creator, who poured her out upon all his works.*

This hidden thing therefore the Master manifests in the searching of the second book. For, the order of good things and of evil having been seen, it becomes plain to us how from eternity the wisdom of God *was ordained, and of old, before the earth was made*.

The *third* hidden thing is the *strength of the divine power,* of which Habacuc, chapter three: *Horns are in his hands: there is his strength hidden;* he speaks of Christ hanging upon the cross, where the strength of his power lay hid under the cloak of infirmity. And *this is the mystery hidden from the ages,* of which to the Ephesians, chapter three: *To me, the least of all the saints, is given this grace, to preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, and to enlighten all men, what is the dispensation of the mystery which hath been hidden from eternity in God.* This is the *hidden mystery,* the sacred secret, that the strong God, in order to conquer the enemy, put on the arms of our infirmity; which is a thing unheard of from the ages.

Yet in the searching of the third book, where it is shown that Christ in his infirmity overcame the contrary power, the strength of the divine power is made manifest. For if he conquered through infirmity, what would he have done had he fought through power? And if *the weakness of God is stronger than men,* who *shall be able to weaken* the arm of God? Truly it is plain that unspeakable is the strength of him whose infirmity is so strong.

The *fourth* hidden thing is the *sweetness of the divine mercy,* of which in the Psalm: *O how great is the multitude of thy sweetness, O Lord, which thou hast hidden for them that fear thee.* Truly hidden and reserved for them that fear him is the sweetness of mercy, since, as is said in the Psalm: *The mercy of the Lord is from eternity and unto eternity upon them that fear him, and upon them that hope in his mercy.*

This sweetness is made manifest in the searching of the fourth book. For, having seen in what manner God forgives sins in the present, and what medicines he applies to our wounds, and what rewards he will give in the future, the sweetness of the divine mercy is opened to us.

The publishing abroad therefore of these hidden things is the *end* of the book in general, to which, willing both to be led and to lead, the Master of the Sentences *searched the deep places of the rivers,* the grace of the Holy Spirit going before. For he is the chief searcher of secrets and of deep things, according to what is said in the first epistle to the Corinthians, chapter two: *The Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God.* Moved by the charity of this Spirit and illumined by his light and brightness, the Master composed this work and *searched the deep places of the rivers;* and by the help of this same Spirit he was made a *revealer of hidden things.* For he it is of whom it is written in Daniel, chapter two: *He revealeth deep and hidden things: and knoweth what is*

*set in darkness.* And this was the intention and the end of the Master, according to what he himself says in the Prologue: «Willing, he says, to lift up the lamp of truth upon a lampstand, in sweat and in much labour, God granting it, we have put together this volume out of the testimonies of truth founded in eternity». And a little before he had said that his purpose is «to lay open the hidden things of theological inquiries».

There is plain therefore in the word proposed the material, formal, efficient and final cause of the present book.

### THE QUESTIONS OF THE PROEMIUM.

For the understanding of those things which were touched upon first, four questions can be raised according to the four things aforesaid.

*First*, what is the matter or subject of this book.

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