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/3/d/0/q/bon-sent-III-proem
----------------------------------------
# PROEMIUM.

### ON THE THIRD BOOK OF THE SENTENCES.

> *But God, who is rich in mercy, on account of his exceeding charity wherewith he loved us, when we were dead by our sins, brought us to life together with Christ, by whose grace you are saved.*

This word is written in the second chapter of Ephesians, in which the mystery of our redemption is intimated to us, and through this the subject of the book of the Sentences is made manifest to us, and especially as regards the third part of it, in which is set forth the sacrament of our redemption accomplished through Christ. Now four things can be noted in this word pertaining to the repair of the human race, of which the first is the author of the repair; the second is the reparable fall; the third, the person of the Repairer; and the fourth and last, the salvation of the man repaired.

Now the author of the repair is noted when it is said: *But God, who is rich in mercy* etc. For he, out of his own overflowing mercy, moved by nothing else, resolved to repair the human race, as is written in the third chapter of John: *So God loved the world that he gave his only-begotten Son, that everyone who believes in him should not perish.*

But the reparable fall, when it is said: *When we were dead by our sins.* For the sin of the first parent was the cause of our death, through whom the whole human race fell away from the state of innocence, according to what is written to the Romans, chapter five: *As by one man sin entered into the world, and by sin death, so also death passed upon all men, in whom all have sinned.* And because they sinned in another and through another, they therefore fell reparably.

But the person of the Repairer is noted through this, that it is said: *He brought us to life together with Christ.* For it was Christ in whom that reconciliation was made, as is written to the Colossians, chapter one: *In him it hath well pleased all fullness to dwell, and through him to reconcile all things unto himself, making peace through the blood of his cross, whether the things that are in heaven, or the things that are on earth.*

But the salvation of the man repaired is touched upon in this, that it is said: *By whose grace you are saved* etc. For by the merit of Christ's passion efficacy was conferred upon the Sacraments, so that through them healing grace might be given to the sick, according to that passage to Titus, chapter three: *According to his mercy he saved us, by the laver of regeneration and renovation of the Holy Spirit, whom he hath poured forth upon us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour.*

These four together are had in the fifth chapter to the Romans, in a certain word, where he speaks thus: *But God commendeth his charity towards us* — behold the author of the repair — *for when as yet we were sinners* — behold the reparable fall — *Christ died for us* — in which the person of the Repairer is noted — *much more therefore, being now justified by his blood, shall we be saved from wrath through him* — behold the salvation of the man repaired.

According to these four, which are described in the aforesaid authority, there are four books of the Sentences. For in the first book there is treated the *author of the repair*, namely the blessed Trinity. In the second, however, there is treated the *reparable one itself*, namely man falling from the state of his making and of innocence. In the third there is treated the *person of the Repairer*, namely Christ, God and man. In the fourth, however, there is treated the *salvation of the man repaired*, which indeed consists in the expiation of guilt and the removal of all misery.

And thus it is plain how this whole book is concerned with the explaining of the mystery of our repair;

yet in a more special way this pertains to the third book, in which is made manifest in what manner we have been brought to life through Christ. And the Apostle noted this in the aforesaid word, when he said: *He brought us to life together with Christ.* And the Apostle says this for the reason that God brought us to life *in* Christ, and *with* Christ, and *through* Christ, and *according to* Christ.

First, therefore, God brought us to life together *in* Christ, because in his person he joined our mortality to life, according to that passage of John, chapter five: *As the Father hath life in himself, so he hath given to the Son also to have life in himself.* If, therefore, the Son has life in himself, then when he took our mortality to himself, he joined us to true and immortal life, and through this brought us to life together *in* himself.

He also brought us to life together *with* Christ, when Christ himself, who was life, lived among mortal men, according to that which is said at the beginning of the first Canonical epistle of John: *That which was from the beginning, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled of the Word of life; and the life was made manifest, and we have seen and do bear witness and declare unto you life eternal*; and thus, when *he was seen upon earth and conversed with men,* God brought us to life together *with* Christ, when he made us to live with him.

He also brought us to life *through* Christ, when he snatched us from death through his own death, according to that passage of the first epistle of Peter, chapter three: *Christ died once for our sins, the just for the unjust, that he might offer us to God, being put to death indeed in the flesh, but brought to life in the spirit.* When therefore Christ laid down his life for us, God through him brought to life the dead human race.

Lastly, he brought us to life *according to* Christ, when he directed us along the way of life after his example, according to that passage of the Psalm: *Thou hast made known to me the ways of life.* He made the ways of life known to us when he distributed to us faith and hope and charity and the gifts of graces, and added the commandments, in which Christ himself walked, and in which the way of life consists, along which Christ taught us to walk. God, therefore, brought us to life *according to* Christ, because he directs to life those who imitate him.

These four together are had in the second chapter to the Philippians: *He emptied himself, taking the form of a servant* — behold the first, namely that he united our mortality to his own life — *being made in the likeness of men and in habit found as a man* — behold the second, namely that he lived with men as a man — *he humbled himself unto death* — behold the third, namely that through his own death he freed us from death — *for which cause God also exalted him* — behold the fourth, namely that after his death he had many followers and imitators believing in him.

Since therefore in this book, which begins thus, *When therefore the fullness of time came* etc., the Master intends to determine etc.

---