Cap. 5, Vers. 1-8
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/5/q/bon-eccl-c5-v1-8
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#### *Member II of the second part. On the threefold remedy against the threefold vanity of fault, that is, against the evil which follows upon malice.*

*Keep thy foot.* It was treated above of the *vanity* of fault. Since that vanity is deadly and pestilent, therefore here it is treated of the *remedy* against that vanity. And since a threefold vanity went before, namely of malice, of avarice and of imprudence, therefore he here sets down three remedies. And first he gives the remedy against *malice;* secondly against *avarice,* at: *A covetous man shall not be satisfied;* thirdly against *imprudence,* at: *What hath the wise man more* etc. But since the disease of malice is of itself irremediable and can moreover corrupt others, therefore the remedy is set down here not against *malice,* but against *the corruption of malice,* or the evil which follows in others from the sight of another's malice.

#### Art. 1. *On the remedy against the vanity of malice, from which a threefold disorder arises.*

Now from this there arises a threefold disorder, namely in *deed,* through the *disobedience* of transgression; in *mouth,* through the *folly* of speech; in *heart,* through *erroneous thought.* Into all of these the incautious beholder of another's malice rushes. For when someone considers the wicked unpunished, he *believes* that there is no providence: behold, *erroneous thought;* and through this he freely *speaks foolish things,* because he believes that there is none to reprove him; and further he *transgresses the commandments,* because he does not believe that there is one to punish him.

First, then, he gives the remedy against *disobedience;* secondly, against *foolish speech,* at: *Speak not any thing rashly* etc.; thirdly, against *erroneous thought,* at: *If thou shalt see the oppressions of the poor* etc.

#### First, the remedy against disobedience is given.

(Vers. 17.). In the remedy against *disobedience* an *exhortation* is brought in, and the *reason for the exhortation* is added. Now he exhorts to a diligent guarding of the feet, lest one transgress the divine commandments; therefore he says: *Keep thy foot, lest perhaps it turn aside from the right way;* to the Hebrews, the twelfth chapter: « Make straight steps for your feet, that no one halting may go astray ». *When thou goest into the house of God,* that is, into the church, or into the service of God, into which a man ought to enter with fear; hence in the Psalm: « I will go into thy house, and I will worship towards thy holy temple in thy fear ». So ought he to keep his foot from disobedience and to have it ready for obedience; on account of which he says: *And draw nigh to hear,* that is, to obey: *draw nigh,* because Deuteronomy, the thirty-third chapter: « They that approach to his feet shall receive of his doctrine »; *to hear,* by obeying; Jeremias, the seventeenth chapter: « Hear ye the word of the Lord, all ye that enter in by these gates. Thus saith the Lord: Take heed to your souls ». — And the *reason for the exhortation* is added: *For much better is obedience than the victims of fools, who know not what evil they do,* who do not acknowledge their transgressions nor care to obey; Gregory: « Obedience is better than victims, because in obedience one's own will is slain, in a victim another's flesh ». *Improper* is the comparison, because obedience is good, and therefore pleases; hence Lamentations, the third chapter: « It is good for a man, when he hath borne the yoke from his youth »; but the victims of fools displease; Proverbs, the fifteenth chapter: « The victims of the wicked are abominable to the Lord »; hence Saul was reproved, because out of love of offering he transgressed the divine command; I Kings, the fifteenth chapter: « Doth the Lord desire holocausts, or victims, and not rather that he be obeyed? For obedience is better than victims, and to hearken rather than to offer the fat of rams ».

### Chapter V.

#### Secondly, the remedy is given against foolish speech, which happens in three ways.

*Speak not any thing rashly.* Here he gives the remedy against *foolish* or disordered *speech.* Now speech is disordered either because *inconsiderate;* or because *false,* and this he forbids at: *If thou hast vowed any thing* etc.; or because *erroneous,* and this he forbids at: *Give not thy mouth, that thou cause to sin* etc. — Concerning inconsiderate speech *he forbids*

*precipitancy,* and *adds the reason,* and *applies the confirmation of an example.*

(Vers. 1.). He forbids, then, *precipitancy;* hence he says: *Speak not any thing rashly,* that is, inconsiderately; Ecclesiasticus, the ninth chapter: « He that is rash in his word shall be hateful »; and again Ecclesiasticus, the twenty-eighth chapter: « Make a balance for thy words and bridles for thy mouth ». And since a man who is hasty cannot deliberate, therefore he adds: *Nor let thy heart be hasty to utter a word,* but rather one must deliberate long; hence Proverbs, the twenty-ninth chapter: « Hast thou seen a man hasty to speak? folly is rather to be looked for than his amendment ». Hence there ought to be a distance between the mouth and the heart; against which Ecclesiasticus, the twenty-first chapter: « In the mouth of fools is their heart ». Hence it is said in James, the first chapter: « Let every man be swift to hear and slow to speak »; and Seneca: « I would have you slow of speech ». — And the *reason* is added, the divine judgement, which sees all things; therefore he says: *For God is in heaven,* supply: seeing all things; hence in the Psalm: « The Lord hath looked from heaven upon the earth »; *and thou upon earth,* placed in plain sight of him, so thou art not hidden from him; Ecclesiasticus, the twenty-third chapter: « The eyes of the Lord are far brighter than the sun, beholding round about all the ways of men ». *Therefore let thy words be few,* since namely thou speakest before God, because he will demand an account of all things; Matthew, the twelfth chapter: « Of every idle word that men shall speak, they shall render an account for it in the day of judgement ». — And it can scarcely be that he who speaks much does not displease God. Hence he makes this plain by an example and a likeness, saying: *Dreams follow many cares,* and therefore it is foolish to attend to them; Ecclesiasticus, the thirty-fourth chapter: « Dreams have made many to err ». *And in many words shall be found folly;* Ecclesiasticus, the twentieth chapter: « He that useth many words shall hurt his own soul »; and Proverbs, the tenth chapter: « In the multitude of words there shall not want sin »; but on the contrary, below, the tenth chapter: « A fool multiplieth words ».

(Vers. 3. 4.). *If thou hast vowed any thing* etc. Here secondly he forbids *false* speech, that is, that by which something is promised which is not fulfilled. — He exhorts, then, to fulfil what has been promised; hence he says: *If thou hast vowed any thing to God,* that is, promised by a vow, *defer not to pay it;* hence in the Psalm: « Vow ye, and pay to the Lord your God, all you that round about him bring presents »; and the Gloss: « To vow is voluntary, but to pay is necessary », since otherwise a man is false in his promise; hence he adds: *For an unfaithful and foolish promise displeaseth God: unfaithful,* in which there is no truth; *foolish,* in which there is no judgement, because a foolish promise is not to be made; hence Isidore: « In evil promises break faith; in a base vow change the decree ». Therefore he adds that truth is to be kept in a promise, when he says: *But whatsoever thou hast vowed, pay it,* without varying it; Leviticus, the twenty-seventh chapter: « A clean beast, which may be sacrificed, if any one shall vow it, shall be holy and cannot be changed, neither for better nor for worse ». — Otherwise it had been better not to vow; therefore he says: *And it is much better not to vow,* that is, a lesser evil, because it is without fault, *than after a vow not to perform the things promised;* II Peter, the second chapter: « It was better for them not to know the way of truth, than after the knowing of it to be turned backward »; because Luke, the ninth chapter: « No man putting his hand to the plough and looking back is fit for the kingdom of God ».

(Vers. 5. 6.). *Give not thy mouth* etc. Here thirdly he forbids *erroneous* speech; and he *dissuades* from the *error* of speech, and then *adds the reason,* and afterwards *makes plain the root of the error.* — He *dissuades* from the *error* of speech, saying: *Give not thy mouth to cause thy flesh to sin,* that is, do not speak erroneous speech, by which thou art cast headlong into sins. And he expresses of what speech he means, adding: *And say not before the angel: There is no providence,* that is, do not say it, neither in secret nor in hiding, because in hiding the Angels hear, who are deputed to guard us; hence below, the tenth chapter: « In thy thought detract not the king, and in thy secret bed speak not evil of the rich man, because the birds of the air will carry thy voice ». And the *reason* of the exhortation is added: *Lest perhaps the Lord, being angry, destroy thy works,* that is, render them useless; *angry,* not through commotion of mind, but through the rigorous punishment of fault. So was he angry at the words

of Rabsaces, and destroyed by an Angel in the night all the works of the kings of the Assyrians; Isaias, the thirty-seventh chapter: « If by any means the Lord thy God may hear the words of Rabsaces, whom the king of the Assyrians sent to blaspheme the living God »; Proverbs, the twentieth chapter: « A wise king scattereth the wicked » etc. — And the *origin* of this speech is added: that it does not arise from right reason, but from the illusion of dreams; on account of which he says: *Where there are many dreams, there are very many vanities,* since a dream is vanity; Isaias, the twenty-ninth chapter: « The hungry man dreameth and eateth, and afterwards, when he is awaked, his soul is empty ». *And words without number:* these follow upon dreams, because nothing certain can be known from them; for Ecclesiasticus, the thirty-fourth chapter: « The divination of error, and lying omens, and the dreams of evildoers are vanity ». And therefore one is not to care for such things, but for God; hence he adds: *But do thou fear God,* because he alone it is who can destroy and save us, not dreams, not omens; Luke, the twelfth chapter: « I will shew you whom you shall fear: fear him who, after he hath killed, hath power to cast into hell ».

#### Thirdly, the remedy is given against erroneous thought.

(Vers. 7. 8.). *If thou shalt see the oppressions* etc. Here thirdly he draws back from *erroneous thought,* namely lest from the malice of men that he has seen one believe that providence is wanting; hence he says: *If thou shalt see the oppressions of the poor;* above, the fourth chapter: « I saw the oppressions that are done under the sun, and the tears of the innocent ». *And violent judgements,* which he saw, above, the third chapter: « I saw under the sun in the place of judgement wickedness ». *And justice perverted in the province;* which likewise he had seen above, the third chapter: « I saw in the place of justice iniquity ». From this consideration, I say, one ought not to wonder, as though there were none to rule nor to correct; hence he says: *Wonder not at this matter,* as though there were none to rule, because there is one orderer of all things; hence he adds: *For he that is high hath another higher, and there are others still higher than these;* hence in Matthew, the eighth chapter, the centurion said: « I am a man set under authority, having under me soldiers; and I say to this one: Go, and he goeth ». — *And moreover the king commandeth all the land that serveth him;* although, then, they do not serve one another and are not ordered *of themselves,* they are nevertheless ordered by God, who knows how to use evil things well; in Genesis, the forty-first chapter, it is signified: « I am Pharao; without thy command no man shall move hand or foot in all the land of Egypt ». Hence it is said in the Apocalypse, the nineteenth chapter: « He had on his garment and on his thigh written: King of kings and Lord of lords ». And he perverts nothing; hence it is said in Deuteronomy, the tenth chapter: « The Lord our God, he is the God of gods and the Lord of lords, the great Lord, mighty, terrible, who accepteth no person nor gifts; he doth judgement to the fatherless and the widow »; and therefore, if he commands, he is not perverted from justice.

### Questions.

I. A question arises here concerning what he says: *Whatsoever thou hast vowed, pay it;* whether one who has vowed indiscreetly is bound, supposing that he intends to bind himself; for, if *not:*

1. Then he carries off an advantage from his own indiscretion.

2. Likewise, he is bound to do the truth; but one who does not do what he promised does not do the truth, nay rather lies: therefore such a one is bound to do what he vowed.

3. Likewise, Jephte vowed indiscreetly and paid, and is commended by the Apostle to the Hebrews, the eleventh chapter: therefore we ought to pay and fulfil indiscreet vows.

**On the contrary:** 1. What it is indiscreet to say it is indiscreet to do: if therefore he who vows thus is indiscreet by the very fact that he says it, if he does it he is much more indiscreet and sins more: therefore by omitting it he does well.

2. Likewise, a preceding evil does not excuse a following one: therefore if someone has vowed something foolish and does it, he is not less reprehensible than if he did it without a vow; nor is the vow less reprehensible than if he did not do it: therefore etc.

3. Likewise, Isidore: « In evil promises break faith; in a base vow change the decree »: therefore etc.

I respond: it must be said that he is not bound; nay rather, if he does it, he adds sin upon sin; hence Jephte too sinned more in paying the vow than if he had not paid it; for in vowing he was foolish and in paying impious, as Augustine says.

3. As to the objection that he is commended, it must be said that he is commended not for the *vow* nor for the *payment of the vow,* because the Apostle there commends *faith,* and

commends the faith of Jephte, in that he believed that he would triumph over his enemies by the Lord's help.

1. As to the objection that he carries off an advantage, I say that it is false; for in the very vow he at once sins and is worthy of punishment.

2. As to the objection concerning truth, it must be said that *truth* places *judgement* beneath itself; since, then, he vowed without *judgement,* therefore he cannot pay with *truth;* and therefore there cannot be truth in such a vow, and therefore there is no obligation.

II. It is asked whether one can change it. — That *not,* seems from that of Leviticus, the last chapter: *It cannot be changed, neither for worse nor for better.*

But that *so,* seems: because it is lawful to make the Lord's part better: therefore, even if it be not lawful for the worse, it is nevertheless lawful for the better.

I respond: it must be said that there is changing a vow *altogether for the worse,* and there is changing it for *the better,* which *includes* this one, as when one who vowed to enter a less perfect religious order enters a more perfect one, which encloses that one within it. There is changing beyond, into *a better that does not include* it, as to go to Rome into a journey overseas. — The first is not lawful at all, but is forbidden; the second is lawful *of itself;* the third is lawful, yet it is not lawful *without the authority of a superior.* For since I am bound to the Lord, I cannot change except at his decision; and since he does not speak to me except through his minister, who holds his place, I cannot change without the authority of a superior, unless the Lord himself inspire it inwardly with the greatest certainty. And thus that is clear.

III. It is asked also concerning what he says: *Say not before the angel: There is no providence.*

**On the contrary:** it seems that there is no providence:

1. First, because providence gives things their due order; but this is not in the world, below, the tenth chapter: *I have seen servants upon horses, and princes walking on the ground as servants.*

2. Likewise, secondly: because providence gives due reward, but this is not in the world, below, the ninth chapter: *The same things happen to all.*

3. Likewise, thirdly: because it gives due duration; but this simply is not in the world, below, the seventh chapter: *The wicked man liveth a long time in his impiety.*

But that it is necessary to posit it, seems:

1. Because it belongs to the wise man to provide for his house: therefore much more to the supremely wise.

2. Likewise, it belongs to a wise craftsman not only to make but also to preserve; so, then, God preserves and governs; but he is wise, and the wise man governs by providence everything that he governs: therefore etc.

3. Likewise, since God is supremely wise, he cannot but see our evils: therefore, since he is supremely just, he cannot but punish evils and reward goods: therefore there is a reward for all things, therefore also a providence.

IV. Likewise it is asked who sins more, whether he who denies providence, or he who finds fault with the divine providence.

It seems that he who denies it sins more; for he who believes that there is a providence does well by the very fact that he believes: therefore he has something of good; but he who simply denies it has nothing: therefore he is more reprehensible.

**On the contrary:** Jerome says that he sins more who posits providence and accuses God than he who simply denies providence.

I respond to the first, that there is a providence.

1. As to the objection concerning due order, it is answered that order is twofold, namely *particular* and *universal;* something can be deprived of *particular* order, but not of *universal,* as Boethius says. *Universal* order embraces all things; hence he who falls from the order of *nature* falls into the order of *punishment;* as Augustine's example is of the cloud, in which there is a whirlwind and

an involution disordered in itself, but ordered to the fruit of the earth; so the wicked are set over the good for the exercise of the good and the punishment of the wicked.

2. Likewise concerning reward it must be said that in the present life good things come to the wicked in a just manner, that they may be rewarded here and be tormented eternally in the future; and evil things to the good, that they may be purged here and be rewarded eternally.

3. As to the objection concerning life, it must be said that the wicked live long for the said cause, but the good die; for it is said of Henoch that *he was taken away, lest malice should alter his understanding*. Since, then, the divine judgements are hidden in the present life for the testing of men, and since the simple and unlearned do not perceive hidden things, it seems that all things are disordered; and therefore Ecclesiastes teaches us to look to him, under whom all things are ordered.

As to the question, who sins more, I respond: it must be said that *to deny providence* can be in two ways: in one way, because we believe God to be *ignorant,* or because we believe that he *does not care* about the deeds of mortals. Likewise *to accuse* it is twofold: either because he *does not care,* or because he *perverts.* In either way to accuse providence is worse, because it does not only err, nay rather it blames and blasphemes God; and so it sins more simply, and knowledge there does not excuse, nay rather aggravates.

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