Cap. 7, Vers. 24-30
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/7/q/bon-eccl-c7-v24-30
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#### Part III. The vanity of a twofold penalty is proved, both that which is an occasion of sin and that which is pure affliction.

*I have tried all things* etc. Above he treated of the vanity of mutability and of iniquity; in this part he intends to treat of the vanity of *penalty.* And since punishment is twofold: one, which is an *occasion of sin,* as concupiscence; another, which is *pure affliction,* as death and infirmity of body: therefore first he treats of the first penalty, which is an *occasion of sin;* secondly, of that which is *pure affliction,* below in the twelfth: *Remember thy Creator* etc.

#### *Member I of the third part. The twofold punishment which is an occasion of sin is shown.*

And since the punishment which is an occasion of sin is twofold, one, namely, from a defect of love, and this is *proneness;* the other from a defect of fear, and this is *security;* the first renders one prone to evil, and the second secure, because he does not fear, so long as he does not believe he will be punished: therefore this part has two: in the first he treats of the vanity of *proneness,* in the second, of the vanity of *security;* and the second part begins below in the eighth: *All these things have I considered and I gave my heart* etc.

#### Art. 1. *On the first occasion of sin, which is proneness to sin through concupiscence, it is treated in two ways.*

And since the vanity of the *proneness* of concupiscence is perilous, and no one is freed except by the help of divine wisdom; therefore first the *finding of concupiscence* is noted. Secondly the *remedy of wisdom* is subjoined, there: *Who is such as the wise man* etc.

#### First the finding of concupiscence is noted, and first its diligent inquiry is set before it, which is described according to three things.

And since, where there is the finding of something hidden, a diligent inquiry precedes; therefore first its diligent *inquiry* is described; secondly, the *finding* of concupiscence, there: *And I have found more bitter than death* etc.

Its diligent *inquiry,* then, which was so diligent that it degenerated into curiosity, is described in this order: first as to the curiosity of his *presumption,* as to the sublimity of the *inquiry,* as to the studiousness of the *consideration.*

(Vers. 24. 25. 26.). As to the *curiosity of his presumption,* then, he says: *I have tried all things in wisdom,* that is, in inquiry; behold, the inquiry of curiosity; Ecclesiasticus, the third chapter: « In many of his works be not curious ». *I have said: I will be wise,* behold, the elation of presumption; Isaias, the fifth chapter: « Woe, you that are wise in your own eyes » etc.; and the first to the Corinthians, the third chapter: « If any of you seem to be wise in this world, let him become a fool, that he may be wise ». — As to the *sublimity of the inquiry* he says: *And it departed farther from me than it was before,* because the question seemed more difficult to him the more he inquired, and this by the *severity* of divine *judgement;* to the Romans, the first chapter: « Saying that they were wise, they became fools »; and by the *height of the question;* therefore he says: *And a deep depth, who shall find it?* Deep is the depth of the inquiry into wisdom; Ecclesiasticus, the twenty-fourth chapter: « I dwelt in the highest places, and my throne is in a pillar of a cloud ». And therefore who can find it? Few sufficiently, but none perfectly; Ecclesiasticus, the forty-third chapter: « Labour not; for you shall not comprehend »; and to the Romans, the eleventh chapter: « O the height of the riches of the wisdom and of the knowledge of God » etc. — As to the *strenuousness of the consideration* he subjoins: *I have surveyed all things in my mind,* that is, I went round about and diligently considered on every side; Ecclesiasticus, the sixth chapter: « As one that plougheth and that soweth, come to her ». And the moving reason is touched: *That I might know,* in habit; *and consider,* in act; *wisdom,* in the appetites; *reason,* in operations. And on the contrary: *That I might know the wickedness of the fool,* in things to be done; *and the error of prudence,* in things to be believed; above, in the first: « I have given my heart to know prudence and learning, and errors and folly ».

#### Secondly the finding itself of concupiscence is described, and its threefold condition.

*And I have found* etc. The diligent inquiry has been described; here the *finding of carnal concupiscence* is described, and this as to a threefold condition. First is noted the *proneness* of concupiscence itself, secondly its *generality,* thirdly its *causality.*

(Vers. 27.). First, then, the vehement *proneness* of concupiscence itself is touched, because it leads to the greatest bitterness under the appearance of sweetness. Therefore he says: *I have found a woman more bitter than death,* and this after the perpetration of the wicked work to which concupiscence draws; whence Proverbs, the fifth chapter: « A honeycomb dropping are the lips of a harlot, and her throat is smoother than oil ». To this that concupiscence draws,

which had its rise from a woman and has its kindling in a woman, who by her beauty *ensnares* through *love;* therefore he says: *She is the snare of hunters,* that is, of demons, who hunt the souls of men. She ensnares by *words* and by *looks;* Proverbs, the seventh chapter: « She entangled him with many words, and drew him away with the flattery of her lips ». She ensnares by the *beauty* of her face; Ecclesiasticus, the ninth chapter: « Because of the beauty of a woman many perish ». She ensnares also by *words;* whence in the same place: « Her converse is kindled as a fire ». Not only does she *ensnare* in *love,* but she also *swallows* in the wicked *work;* whence he says: *And her heart a net,* when according to her wish consent is given to the wicked work. This is the devil's net; Habacuc, the first chapter: « He lifted up the whole with a hook; he drew it in his net ». But afterwards she *binds* through affection; and therefore he says: *And her hands are bands;* Proverbs, the seventh chapter: « He followeth her, and knoweth not that he is drawn like a fool to bonds ». From this *proneness* no one is rescued except one who is helped by the Lord, so great is it; therefore he says: *He that pleaseth God shall escape her,* according to that of the first to the Corinthians, the sixth chapter: « Fly fornication »; Wisdom, the eighth chapter: « I knew that I could not otherwise be continent, unless God give it ». *But he that is a sinner shall be caught by her;* Proverbs, the fifth chapter: « His own iniquities catch the wicked, and he is bound fast with the ropes of his own sins ».

(Vers. 28. 29.). *Lo, this have I found* etc. Here the second is noted, namely the *generality* of concupiscence, whose reason it was difficult to see; therefore he says: *Lo, this have I found, said Ecclesiastes, one thing,* namely the *proneness* of concupiscence itself, *and another,* namely its *generality.* — And I have laboured, supply, *that I might find the reason, which my soul still seeketh;* this is the *reason* for the generality of concupiscence, why it is in all. *And I have not found,* namely by my own wit; because the philosophers did not know how to know this; but yet by *faith* he knew the *reason* and by *experience* he knew the *effect,* namely the generality. Therefore he says: *One man of a thousand I have found, and a woman among them all I have not found;* it is hyperbole, and he means that he found very few men in whom concupiscence did not reign; but he himself found no women; nor is it surprising, because Ecclesiasticus, the twenty-fifth chapter: « All malice is short to the malice of a woman ». — We could, however, expound this of Christ, who alone escaped the corruption of original concupiscence, who alone was « free among the dead ».

(Vers. 30.). *Only this have I found.* Here the third is noted, namely the *causality* of concupiscence, which indeed was not from God, but from the first sin. Therefore he says: *Only this have I found, that God made man right;* Ecclesiasticus, the seventeenth chapter: « God created man of the earth, and made him after his own image ». And the sign of this is the uprightness of stature, which still remains in the body. *And he himself,* namely by his own liberty, *hath entangled himself with infinite questions;* because by withdrawing from the one he became prone to many and infinite things, because in them his concupiscence is not ended nor sated; Proverbs, the thirtieth chapter: « There are three things that are insatiable, and the fourth, which never saith, It is enough: hell, and the mouth of the womb, and the earth » etc.

### Questions.

I. It can be doubted concerning what he says here: *I have tried all things in wisdom;* whether in this he was blameworthy. That he was, it seems:

1. By the letter itself: *I have said: I will be wise, and it departed farther from me.*

2. Likewise, by that which is said in Ecclesiasticus, the third chapter: *In many of his works be not curious.*

**On the contrary:** 1. *The spiritual man judgeth all things, and he himself is judged of no man*: therefore if Solomon had the spirit of wisdom, then it was his to judge of all things.

2. Moreover, in the first to the Thessalonians, the last chapter, the Apostle says: *Prove all things; hold fast that which is good:* it is good, therefore, to try all things.

**I respond:** It must be said that *to try something* is in two ways: in one way, to know by *experience,* as one knows and tries wine, which he tastes; in another way, by *examination* and *approbation* and *reprobation.* In the first way nothing is to be tried except useful things only; but if one wishes to try more, it is curiosity. But according as *to try* is the same as *to examine,* so Paul takes *to prove,* and so all things are to be examined, not only good and useful things, but also useless ones. So it is said that *the spiritual man judgeth all things*; so also it is said: *prove all things,* that is: examine all things, whether they be good or

evil in *our* works, concerning which we can doubt; but in the works of *God,* concerning which we ought to suppose that they are well made, it is curiosity to prove or examine. Since, therefore, Solomon extended his examination beyond the things which are of salvation; therefore it was curiosity. And that is to be conceded. — Those two authorities are understood of the things which look to salvation and pertain to oneself, but Solomon went further.

II. Likewise it is doubted concerning what he says: *One man of a thousand I have found.* According to this he seems to confirm that heresy, that no woman is saved; and the heretics strive to prove this:

1. Because, if only that is saved which Christ assumed; and he assumed only the male sex: therefore that alone will be saved.

2. And they strive to prove this by that which is said in Mark, the last chapter: *He that believeth and is baptized;* he does not say: *she that is baptized.* And the same is said in John, the third chapter.

The contrary of this is shown: 1. By that which is said in Matthew, the twenty-first chapter: *The harlots shall go before you into the kingdom of God.*

2. Likewise, this is shown, because the Lord received both sexes, healed both bodily, called both through the Apostles. Solomon himself also praised both, and of the valiant woman, Proverbs, the last chapter: *She shall laugh in the latter day.* What is it, then, that he says: *A woman among them all I have not found* etc.

**I respond:** It must be said that he speaks of the generality of concupiscence, and of this one can speak in two ways: in one way as to *carnal propagation,* because it is transfused; in another way as to *the pursuit through actual sin.* If in the first way, the saying is true and proper, because Christ alone was conceived without sin and did not contract original sin. If in the second way, the saying is hyperbolic; and this is clear, because not only one man is good and to be saved, but rather many; and that is said as to the rarity of those who at that time were found immune from the act of concupiscence.

1. As to what the heretics object, that he assumed the male sex; I respond that, although he assumed the male, it must be attended that he assumed it *from a woman;* which he would not have done, if it did not pertain to salvation. Moreover, man and woman are of one nature and one body.

2. As to what they object from the Gospel, that it is in the *masculine;* it must be said that that masculine is confused and stands there for the nature, not for the sex; and frequently the masculine gender takes in the feminine according to the custom of Scripture.

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