Dist. 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/2/d/6/q/bon-sent-II-d6-littera
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### Distinction VI.

### Cap. I. *That some fell from among both the greater and the lesser, among whom one was loftier, namely Lucifer.*

Moreover it ought to be known that, just as some from among the greater and the lesser stood firm, so from each rank some fell away. Among them one was more excellent than all the others who fell, nor among those who stood was any more worthy than he, as is shown by the testimonies of authorities. For Job says: *He is the beginning of the ways of God.* And in Ezekiel it is read: *Thou wast the seal of resemblance, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty; thou wast in the delights of the paradise of God.* Expounding this, Gregory says: «The more subtle is the nature in him, the more is the like image of God shown stamped upon him». Likewise in Ezekiel it is read: *Every precious stone was his covering*, that is, every Angel was as it were his covering, because, as Gregory says, «in comparison with the others he was brighter than the rest». Hence too he was called Lucifer, as Isaiah attests: *How*, he says, *art thou fallen, O Lucifer, who didst rise in the morning* etc.? He is to be taken not as one order, but as one spirit, who, on Isidore's testimony, after he was created, weighing the eminence of his nature and the depth of his knowledge, grew proud against his Creator to such a degree that he willed even to make himself equal to God, as is said in Isaiah: *I will ascend into heaven, above the stars of heaven will I exalt my throne, and I will be like the Most High.* He willed indeed to be like God not by imitation, but by equality of power.

### Cap. II. *Whence and whither they were cast down.*

And by the merit of so great a pride he was cast down from heaven, that is, from the empyrean, in which he had been with the others, into this murky air with all the partners of his depravity. For, as John says in the Apocalypse: *The dragon, falling from heaven, drew with him the third part of the stars*, because that Lucifer, greater than the others, did not fall alone, but with him many others, who consented with him in malice, and as they fell the dwelling-place of this murky air received them. And this was done for our testing, that it might be for us an occasion of exercise. Hence the Apostle: *Our wrestling is against the principalities and powers of this world and against the rulers of these darknesses, against the spiritual wickednesses in the heavenly places*; for the demons, who are spiritual and wicked, dwell in this turbulent air, near to us, which is called heaven. Hence too the devil is called the prince of the air.

### Cap. III. *Why it is not granted them to dwell in heaven, or on earth.*

For it is not granted them to dwell in heaven, because it is a bright and pleasant place; nor on earth with us, lest they should harass men too greatly; but, according to the teaching of the Apostle Peter handed down in his canonical Epistle, in that murky air, which has been assigned to them as a kind of prison until the time of judgment. But then they will be thrust down into the pit of hell, according to that word: *Go, ye cursed, into the everlasting fire, which is prepared for the devil and his angels.*

### Cap. IV. *On the preeminences of the demons.*

And just as among the good Angels some are set over others, so too among the evil ones some are set in preeminence over others, and some subjected to others. For as long as the world lasts, Angels are set over Angels, demons over demons, men over men; but in the world to come every preeminence will be done away, as the Apostle teaches. They have also, according to the measure of greater or lesser knowledge, other preeminences greater or lesser. For some are set over one province, others over one man, some even over one vice. Hence one is called the spirit of pride, the spirit of lust, and the like, because he can tempt men most of all in that vice from which he is named. Hence too it is that by the name of a demon riches are called, namely mammon. For mammon is the name of a demon, by which name riches are called according to the Syriac tongue. But this is not because the devil has it in his power to give or to take away riches to whomever he wills, but because he uses them for the temptation and deception of men.

### Cap. V. *Whether all the demons are in this murky air, or some in hell.*

But it is wont to be asked whether all are in that murky air, or some are already in hell. — That some of the demons descend daily into hell is likely — those who lead souls down there to be tortured; and that some are always there, perhaps in alternating turns, is not far from the truth — those who there detain and torture souls. But that the souls of the wicked descend there and are punished there is clear from this, that Christ descended to the lower regions, in order to lead out the just, who were held there. For if the just descended there, much more the unjust; and as authority has handed down, when he led out the just, he left the wicked there. For he bit hell, he did not swallow it.

### Cap. VI. *On the power of Lucifer.*

Concerning Lucifer, however, some are of the opinion that he is bound there and now has no access to tempt us, because in the Apocalypse it is read: *When the thousand years shall have been completed, Satan will be loosed from his prison, and will go forth and seduce the nations*; which will be in the last time of Antichrist, when there will be so great a tribulation that even the elect, if it be possible, would be moved. They say he has been bound there from the time when he tempted Christ in the desert or in the passion, and was conquered by him. They think that he tempted and conquered the first man, and secondly God, but was conquered by him, and therefore was bound in hell. — But others think that, from the time he fell, he was sunk down there because of the greatness of his sin. — But whether he has been sunk into hell or not, it is credible that he does not have the faculty of approaching us which he will have in the time of Antichrist; in which he will work fraudulently and violently, and therefore perhaps he is said to be loosed then, because then there will be given him by God a power of tempting men which he does not now have.

### Cap. VII. *Whether the demons, once conquered by the saints, approach others any further.*

From others too, who are conquered by saints living justly and chastely, the power of tempting others seems to be taken away. Hence Origen: «I think, indeed, he says, that the saints, fighting back against these instigators and conquering them, diminish the army of the demons, and, as it were, destroy very many of them; nor is it any longer permitted to that spirit, who has been conquered by some saint living chastely and purely, to attack another man again». — But some think this is to be understood only of that vice in which he was overcome, so that, if he tempts some holy man with pride and is conquered, it is no longer permitted him to tempt that man or another with pride.