Cap. 10, Vers. 4-7
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/15/d/10/q/bon-eccl-c10-v4-7
----------------------------------------
*If the spirit of him that hath power.* Above was set forth the despising of the wise man and, on the other hand, his just commendation; here is added, thirdly, *the promotion of fools.* And because the prelacy of fools is burdensome, therefore *the armour of patience* is set first, and *the disordered prelacy of fools* is added, at: *There is an evil that I have seen* etc.

(Vers. 4.). First, then, *the armour of patience* is set forth, for the having of which he says: *If the spirit of him that hath power,* that is, the fury of the prelate; for fury is called *spirit* in Isaias, the second: « Cease ye from the man, whose spirit is in his nostrils »; of the third of Kings, the nineteenth: « A great and strong spirit, overthrowing the mountains and breaking » etc. *Ascend upon thee,* namely to oppress; Jeremias, the fourth: « Behold, he shall come up as clouds, and his chariots as a tempest; woe unto us, for we are laid waste ». *Leave not thy place,* that is, the place of patience and constancy, in which the soul rests, according to that of Luke, the twenty-first: « In your patience

you shall possess your souls »; the first of Peter, the second: « Servants, be subject in all fear to your masters, not only to the modest, but also to the froward; for this is grace, if for conscience towards God a man endure » etc. And the reason of the usefulness is given: *Because care will make the greatest sins to cease.* Here the affliction of scourges, in which a man is cured, is called *care;* Wisdom, the sixth: « The care of discipline is love, and love is the keeping of laws ». The predication is *causal* in both places, since, if through many scourges one comes to love, by this too the law is kept; therefore it makes sins to cease.

It is expounded otherwise: *If the spirit of him that hath power,* that is, if the spirit *of ambition,* that is, the malice of the ambitious man, *ascend upon thee,* that is, if it come into your mind that you would be a prelate; *leave not thy place,* the *place,* namely, of subjection and servitude, of which Luke, the fourteenth: « When thou art invited to a wedding, sit down in the lowest place »; and of Ecclesiasticus, the eleventh: « But trust in God, and stay in thy place ». And the reason is given: *Because care will make the greatest sins to cease.* The translation of Symmachus has: *Because purity;* whence the first to the Corinthians, the ninth: « I chastise my body and bring it into subjection, lest perhaps, when I have preached to others, I myself should become a castaway ».

It is expounded otherwise of *the devil: If the spirit of him that hath power,* that is, of the devil; Job, the last but one: « There is no power upon earth that can be compared with him »; *ascend upon thee,* and this by tempting; Luke, the eleventh: « When the unclean spirit is gone out of a man, he walketh through places without water, seeking rest, and findeth not ». *Leave not thy place,* the *place,* namely, of penance; to the Ephesians, the fourth: « Give not place to the devil ». *Because care will make the greatest sins to cease;* the text of Origen has: *salvation,* which indeed is through the medicine of penance; of Ecclesiasticus, the eleventh: « The affliction of one hour maketh one forget the greatest delights », that is, a brief penance of a great sin.

(Vers. 5.). *There is an evil that I have seen* etc. Here the second is touched, namely *the disordered prelacy of fools,* both on account of a defect *of knowledge* and on account of a defect *of life,* since fools and the wicked are set over others, but the wise and those rich in good morals are pressed down. On account of which he says: *There is an evil that I have seen under the sun,* that is, in the present state of men, *as it were by an error proceeding,* not by error according to truth, but apparently by error, yet nevertheless according to a just judgement; *from the face of the prince,* namely of him from whom is all power, who by a just judgement sometimes gives wicked prelates; Osee, the thirteenth: « I will give thee a king in my wrath, and will take him away in my indignation ».

(Vers. 6.). And he expresses what that evil is as regards the defect *of knowledge: A fool set in high dignity; set,* he says well, because there is nothing there but a false setting; the Psalm: « Thou hast put it to them, thou hast cast them down when they were lifted up ». Or: *set* as a useless stone; whence in Zacharias, the eleventh, it is said to the foolish prelate: « O shepherd and idol! that forsaketh the flock, the sword upon his arm and upon his right eye; his arm shall quite wither away, and his right eye shall be utterly darkened »; and therefore in Proverbs, the twenty-sixth: « As he that casteth a stone into the heap of Mercury, so is he that giveth honour to a fool ». On the other hand: *The rich sitting beneath; the rich,* namely in good morals and knowledge and grace, of whom the first to the Corinthians, the first: « In all things you are made rich in him, so that nothing is wanting to you in any grace »; and Isaias, the thirty-third: « Riches of salvation, wisdom and knowledge ».

(Vers. 7.). As regards the defect *of life* he says: *I have seen servants upon horses;* by *servants* he means sinners, of whom John, the eighth: « Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin »; *upon horses,* he speaks in the plural to express pomp; Deuteronomy, the seventeenth: « When he is appointed, he shall not multiply horses to himself ». On the other hand: *Princes walking as servants,* those princes, namely, who rule themselves by a good life; Seneca: « If you rule yourself well, you will be a prince »; these he saw *as servants,* but in the future it will be the contrary; Luke, the fourteenth: « Every one that humbleth himself shall be exalted, and he that exalteth himself shall be humbled ».

### Question.

It is asked here whether it is just that the wicked be set over the good. That it *is so,* seems:

1. Because it is said to the Romans, the thirteenth: *There is no power but from God:* therefore wicked princes do not have power except from God.

2. Likewise, John, the nineteenth: *Thou shouldst not have,* says Christ to Pilate, *any power against me, unless it were given thee from above.* And Augustine expounds *from above:* that is, from God: therefore if Pilate was wicked and used power ill, then that the wicked are set over others is from God.

3. Likewise, the first of Peter, the second: *Be subject not only to the good and modest, but also to the froward;* and he gives the reason: *for conscience:* therefore if it is just to be subject to them, since everything just is from God, this too will be from him.

4. Likewise, Job, the thirty-fourth: *Who maketh a hypocrite to reign for the sins of the people* etc.: therefore etc.

**On the contrary:** 1. Osee, the eighth: *They have reigned, but not by me; they have been princes, and I knew not:* therefore it seems that the prelacy of the wicked is not from God.

2. Likewise, servitude is a punishment inflicted for sin, therefore it is rightly and justly inflicted on no one but the sinner: therefore *from opposites,* neither is lordship justly given except to the just. Therefore if lordship is given to the sinner, and servitude to the just, there is there a defect of order and of justice: therefore it is not from God.

3. Moreover, if the power of the wicked is just and from God, since nothing is from God but what is just; since no one ought to take away from anyone his right: therefore no one ought to labour for the deposition of a wicked prelate: therefore whoever labours for it sins against this.

**I respond:** It must be said that the wicked or unjust prelate falls under a threefold difference. One is unjust in himself, yet enters justly and executes justly; and such a one can justly preside and does not sin in this, and it is just to be subject to such a one. There is also another, who enters unjustly and executes unjustly; and such a one cannot justly preside, nor ought a man to be subject to such a one. There is also another, who is unjust, but yet enters justly, but executes unjustly, since he afflicts the good and promotes the wicked; to such a one it is just to be subject in those things which pertain to justice; but in those things which are against God, a man ought not to be subject; and « since he deserves to lose his privilege who abuses the power granted to him », although he entered justly, yet it is just that he be removed.

As to what is objected, then, concerning the first part, whether it is just that the wicked preside: it must be said that for the wicked who rule *well* to preside is not an evil for the commonwealth; but for those who rule *ill* it is just to preside, not by their own justice, but by the divine, since he *maketh* him *to reign for the sins of the people*. — And so the response to the first objections is clear, that the power of wicked men is from God.

1. As to what he objects to the contrary first, I say that he understands it as regards those who enter unlawfully and by their own authority, not by divine authority.

2. As to what he objects concerning order, I say that the punishment of sin remains even without sin, for exercise; so too I say of servitude in the good.

3. As to what he objects: if it is from God, then it is just that this man have such power: it must be said that by comparison with *his own merits* it is not just, nay rather unjust; in comparison with *the merits of the wicked* subjects it is just. And because for diverse causes it is lawful for us to will contraries, where the divine will is not plain; and we do not know which of these will please God more in the future: a man can justly labour that an unjust prelate be removed. — Moreover, he had such power from God, but the execution from himself; he had the power justly, but executes unjustly: and therefore so long as he has the power from God, he is to be obeyed; but because he executes unjustly, it is to be laboured that he may not have it. Thus that is clear.

---