Bonaventure

In his own words on Exodus

• Exodus 3:1

  That the Holy Spirit prompted such a move may be seen in Moses, whom the fire led "to the inner parts of the desert," where he received enlightenment. The inner parts are the form of wisdom; the enlightenment is mental ecstasy.

  Collations on the Hexaemeron, Collation 2

• Exodus 3:2

  A figure preceded in the bush and fire, which Moses saw; a figure in the rod and flower of Aaron; a figure in the fleece and dew of Gideon. Whence Bernard says: "What was shown to Moses in the bush and fire, to Aaron in the rod and flower, to Gideon in the fleece and dew: this Solomon clearly foresaw in the strong woman and her price; more clearly Jeremiah foretold concerning the woman and the man; most clearly Isaiah declared concerning the Virgin and her son; and at last Gabriel made it manifest by greeting the Virgin." Who brought it about that the Virgin conceived? Certainly the Holy Spirit, who is a love fervent, fruitful, undefiled, virile, incorrupt, and deifying. That he is a fervent love is signified to us in the bush and fire.

  Collationes de Septem Donis, Collation 6

• Exodus 3:2

  It is said in Exodus: "That the bush burned and was not consumed," that is, the glorious Virgin, bringing forth the Son of God and light, gave light to the world through the fire of divine love and was not corrupted. The love of charity preserves from corruption.

  Collationes de Septem Donis, Collation 6

• Exodus 3:2

  Hence Moses, after he had led the flock across the desert, saw a bush which, though on fire, was not consumed. "I must go over," he said, "to look at this remarkable sight, and see why the bush is not burned." And there he was enlightened. The spiny bush is the flesh liable to suffering; the flame is the soul of Christ full of light and of the fire of love; the light itself is the Godhead; the light joined to the bush by means of the flame is the Godhead joined to flesh by means of the spirit or soul. And so, in order that He be able to quicken the dead and to make sons of God out of mere men, He had to be preeminent.

  Collations on the Hexaemeron, Collation 3

• Exodus 3:2

  By means of diffusion, as of brightness out of light, of heat out of fire, of a river out of its headspring, of rain out of a full or humid cloud. In the first diffusion, equality is lacking, for brightness is not the same as light. In the second, closeness is lacking, for heat is not close to fire, since it is the principle neither of its form nor of its origin, but is merely an accident. In the third, simultaneity is lacking, for a spring diffuses itself by flowing, and not all at once. In the fourth, fullness is lacking, for not all of the rain is drawn out of a cloud, but only successive drops. Now, join these four conditions to a single diffusion, one of splendor having equality, of heat having closeness and substantiality, of a river or fountain having simultaneity, and of rain having fullness: and in this way, you will have a trace of the eternal generation. Hence, the Son is sometimes compared to brightness: "Being the brightness of His glory," etc.; at other times, to a flame, as in Moses' bush which represented the person of the Son; or again, as a river or spring: "But a spring rose out of the earth. A river rose in Eden." Again, He is sometimes compared to rain: "For just as from the heavens the rain and snow come down and do not return there till they have watered the earth," etc. And, later: "So shall my word be that goes forth from my mouth," that is, from the Father's heart.

  Collations on the Hexaemeron, Collation 11

• Exodus 3:6

  The first object of speculation is the fact that God is. The first name of God is "To Be" which is most manifest and most perfect — and therefore, first. Hence nothing is more manifest, for anything said of God is retraced to being: this then is truly God's proper name. God would not have said to Moses, that is to the Giver of the Law, "I am who am," unless He were First. Later, He said: "The God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob," by which He expressed the mystery of the Trinity. Thirdly, He said: "Who gives one man speech?" by which He explains that He is the Exemplar.

  Collations on the Hexaemeron, Collation 10

• Exodus 3:14

  You know to whom the first noble knowledge of the commandments was given? Certainly to Moses, who wrote through the Holy Spirit. But when did he have this knowledge? Certainly, when the Lord appeared to him. And in what manner did He appear to him? Certainly, in the fire of the flame of the burning bush. And then Moses said: Who are you, Lord? And the Lord answered him: I am who I am. And then the Lord gave him two lights, namely the light of eternal essence and the light of eternal truth. The bush was burning and was not consumed, in which the mystery of the incarnation is signified to us. These are the two lights and the principal foundations of faith, namely the light of eternal essence and the light of eternal truth, and together with this also the mystery of the incarnation of our Savior. And when we make the cross on our forehead in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, we acknowledge the Trinity and together with this our Redeemer. By saying: In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, man acknowledges the Trinity; by making the cross on the forehead, he acknowledges the Redeemer.

  Collationes de Decem Praeceptis, Collation 2

• Exodus 3:14

  The first mode first and principally fixes its gaze upon being itself, saying that He Who Is is the primary name of God. The second mode fixes its gaze upon the good itself, saying that this is the primary name of God. The first pertains especially to the Old Testament, which above all proclaims the unity of the divine essence; whence it was said to Moses: I am who I am; the second pertains to the New, which determines the plurality of persons, baptizing in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Therefore our master Christ, wishing to raise the young man who had kept the Law to evangelical perfection, principally and precisely attributed the name of goodness to God. No one, he said, is good but God alone. Damascene therefore, following Moses, says that He Who Is is the primary name of God; Dionysius, following Christ, says that the good is the primary name of God. Whoever wishes therefore to contemplate the invisible things of God with regard to the unity of essence, let him first fix his gaze upon being itself and let him see that being itself is so certain in itself that it cannot be thought not to be, because being most pure does not present itself except in the full flight from non-being, just as nothingness presents itself in the full flight from being. Just as therefore absolute nothingness has nothing of being nor of its conditions, so conversely being itself has nothing of non-being, neither in act nor in potency, neither according to the truth of the thing nor according to our estimation. Since, however, non-being is the privation of being, it does not fall into the intellect except through being; but being does not fall through another, because everything that is understood is understood either as non-being, or as being in potency, or as being in act. If therefore non-being cannot be understood except through being, and being in potency only through being in act; and being names the pure act itself of a being: being therefore is what first falls into the intellect, and that being is what is pure act. But this is not particular being, which is contracted being, because it is mixed with potency; nor analogous being, because it has the least of act, since it has the least of being. It remains therefore that that being is divine being. Wondrous therefore is the blindness of the intellect, which does not consider that which it sees first and without which it can know nothing. But just as the eye, intent upon the various differences of colors, does not see the light by which it sees the rest, and if it sees it, does not attend to it: so the eye of our mind, intent upon particular and universal beings, does not attend to being itself beyond every genus, although it first presents itself to the mind, and through it all other things. Whence it most truly appears that "as the eye of the bat is to the light, so is the eye of our mind to the most manifest things of nature"; because, accustomed to the darkness of beings and the phantasms of sensible things, when it gazes upon the very light of supreme being, it seems to itself to see nothing: not understanding that this very darkness is the supreme illumination of our mind, just as when the eye sees pure light, it seems to itself to see nothing. See therefore being most pure itself, if you can, and it will present itself to you that it cannot be thought as received from another: and thereby it is necessarily thought as in every way first, which can be neither from nothing nor from something. For what is through itself, if being itself is not through itself nor from itself? It also presents itself to you as entirely lacking non-being, and thereby as never beginning, never ending, but eternal. It also presents itself to you as in no way having in itself anything except what is being itself, and thereby as composed with nothing, but most simple. It presents itself to you as having nothing of potentiality, because every possible thing in some way has something of non-being, and hence as supremely most actual. It presents itself as having nothing of defectibility, and hence as most perfect. It presents itself lastly as having nothing of diversification, and hence as supremely one. Being therefore, which is being pure and being simply and being absolute, is being primary, eternal, most simple, most actual, most perfect, and supremely one. And these things are so certain that the opposite of them cannot be thought by one understanding being itself, and one of them necessarily implies the other. For because it is simply being, therefore it is simply first: because it is simply first, therefore it is not made by another, nor could it have been made by itself, therefore it is eternal. Likewise, because it is first and eternal; therefore it is not from others, therefore it is most simple. Likewise, because it is first, eternal, and most simple: therefore there is nothing of potentiality mixed with act in it, and therefore it is most actual. Likewise, because it is first, eternal, most simple, most actual; therefore it is most perfect: to such a being absolutely nothing is lacking, nor can any addition be made. Because it is first, eternal, most simple, most actual, most perfect: therefore it is supremely one. For what is said through every manner of superabundance with respect to all things. "What also is said simply through superabundance, it is impossible that it should belong to any but one alone." Whence if God names being primary, eternal, most simple, most actual, most perfect: it is impossible for him to be thought not to be, nor to be anything but one alone. Hear therefore, O Israel, your God is one God. If you see this in the pure simplicity of the mind, you will be in some measure flooded with the illumination of eternal light.

  Itinerarium Mentis in Deum, Chapter 5

• Exodus 3:14

  Now this is the most manifest and perfect name of God, for all things depending upon God are comprised within this name: "I am who am." This name is properly His, and it was said of it in what manner all things represent Him by way of order, origin and fulfillment, or immediate relationship. This name written in the soul gives it light so that it may see.

  Collations on the Hexaemeron, Collation 11

• Exodus 3:14

  The first object of speculation is the fact that God is. The first name of God is "To Be" which is most manifest and most perfect — and therefore, first. Hence nothing is more manifest, for anything said of God is retraced to being: this then is truly God's proper name. God would not have said to Moses, that is to the Giver of the Law, "I am who am," unless He were First. Later, He said: "The God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob," by which He expressed the mystery of the Trinity. Thirdly, He said: "Who gives one man speech?" by which He explains that He is the Exemplar. The fact that God is first is most manifest because from every proposition, both affirmative and negative, it follows that God is. Even if you say: "God is not," it follows that God is, for every proposition implies itself as both affirmative and negative.

  Collations on the Hexaemeron, Collation 10

• Exodus 3:14

  As related to pre-existent truth, in three ways: as regards essence, as regards excellence, or as regards refulgence. The divine essence is the first thing that comes to the mind. When Moses inquired about God's name, he was told: "I am who am," that is, every kind of goodness and power. As regards excellence: God is one, triune, and true. As regards refulgence, He is the Exemplar of all things.

  Collations on the Hexaemeron, Collation 10

• Exodus 3:15

  The first object of speculation is the fact that God is. The first name of God is "To Be" which is most manifest and most perfect — and therefore, first. Hence nothing is more manifest, for anything said of God is retraced to being: this then is truly God's proper name. God would not have said to Moses, that is to the Giver of the Law, "I am who am," unless He were First. Later, He said: "The God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob," by which He expressed the mystery of the Trinity. Thirdly, He said: "Who gives one man speech?" by which He explains that He is the Exemplar.

  Collations on the Hexaemeron, Collation 10

• Exodus 4:11

  The first object of speculation is the fact that God is. The first name of God is "To Be" which is most manifest and most perfect — and therefore, first. Hence nothing is more manifest, for anything said of God is retraced to being: this then is truly God's proper name. God would not have said to Moses, that is to the Giver of the Law, "I am who am," unless He were First. Later, He said: "The God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob," by which He expressed the mystery of the Trinity. Thirdly, He said: "Who gives one man speech?" by which He explains that He is the Exemplar.

  Collations on the Hexaemeron, Collation 10

• Exodus 5:4

  What else is this than what was signified by the taskmasters of Pharaoh, of whom it is said in Exodus 1, that they hated the children of Israel and brought them to bitterness, afflicting them with hard labors of clay and brick, and with every kind of servitude? And hear what the Gloss says on that passage of Exodus 5: Why, Moses and Aaron, do you disturb the people from their works? Go to your burdens: "Today if Moses and Aaron, that is, the prophetic and priestly word, should urge a soul to the service of God, to go out from the world, to renounce all that one possesses, to attend to the law and the word of God; immediately you will hear the unanimous friends of Pharaoh saying: See how men are seduced, and young people are perverted, so that they neither labor, nor serve in the military, nor do anything profitable, and having abandoned necessary affairs, they pursue idleness and leisure! What is it to serve God? They do not wish to labor and they seek occasions for idleness. These were then the words of Pharaoh, these also his friends now speak, and they persecute not only with words, but also with blows."

  Disputed Questions on Evangelical Perfection, Question 2

• Exodus 8:19

  "For in her is a spirit intelligent, holy, unique, manifold, subtle." This spirit lifts up the soul and teaches unforeseen things. "This is the finger of God" which the Pharaoh's magician cannot touch, that is, our mind. Many wise men possess the first faces of wisdom, but only a few have this one.

  Collations on the Hexaemeron, Collation 2

• Exodus 12:11

  Whoever looks upon this mercy seat with full turning of the countenance, gazing upon him who hangs upon the cross through faith, hope, and charity, devotion, admiration, exultation, appreciation, praise, and jubilation, makes the Passover, that is, the passing over, with him, so as to pass through the Red Sea by the rod of the cross, entering the desert from Egypt, where he may taste the hidden manna, and may rest with Christ in the tomb as though outwardly dead, yet sensing, insofar as is possible according to the state of wayfaring, what was said on the cross to the thief clinging to Christ: Today you shall be with me in paradise.

  Itinerarium Mentis in Deum, Chapter 7

• Exodus 12:35

  Theft is the handling of another's property, against the owner's will, out of greed. If it is done not out of greed, as the children of Israel by the Lord's command carried with them from Egypt vessels of silver and gold, or when someone takes a sword from another lest he do harm, then he is not said to commit theft.

  Collationes de Decem Praeceptis, Collation 6

• Exodus 14:16

  Whoever looks upon this mercy seat with full turning of the countenance, gazing upon him who hangs upon the cross through faith, hope, and charity, devotion, admiration, exultation, appreciation, praise, and jubilation, makes the Passover, that is, the passing over, with him, so as to pass through the Red Sea by the rod of the cross, entering the desert from Egypt, where he may taste the hidden manna, and may rest with Christ in the tomb as though outwardly dead, yet sensing, insofar as is possible according to the state of wayfaring, what was said on the cross to the thief clinging to Christ: Today you shall be with me in paradise.

  Itinerarium Mentis in Deum, Chapter 7

• Exodus 15:18

  That the divine being is eternal, the authority of Scripture demonstrates this, Exodus 15: The Lord shall reign forever and ever; and Romans 1: His eternal power also and divinity. The truth of the faith also demonstrates this: "Eternal the Father," it says in the Athanasian Creed, "eternal the Son, eternal the Holy Spirit." Likewise, the necessity of reason concludes this same thing. For everything that is its own being is eternal; for being cannot not be, therefore it can neither begin nor cease, and thus it lacks a beginning and an end: if therefore God, since he is most simple, is his own being, indeed is simply being itself; therefore he is altogether eternal.

  Quaestiones Disputatae, De Mysterio Trinitatis, Question 5

• Exodus 15:27

  Again, you can multiply the four cardinal virtues by the three theological, and then there are twelve: for prudence must be faithful, trusting, and loving; and so it is with the others. And they are represented by the twelve springs, the twelve gems in the High Priest's vestment, and the twelve doors of the City. First, the twelve springs, for as they flow into each other, they make the soul clean. Second, the twelve gems, for they adorn the soul with all the virtues carried in the heart, as these gems were carried on the High Priest's chest. Third, the twelve doors, in so far as they lead in: for in the east, there is the sincerity of temperance; in the south, the serenity of prudence; in the north, the stability of constancy; and in the west, the sweetness of justice.

  Collations on the Hexaemeron, Collation 7

• Exodus 19:13

  And here is shown how a prelate should behave: being perfect in both action and contemplation, he must accept the laws. Where? On the Mountain of Contemplation, with Moses, so that he may act with propriety and industry, and not as a beast, for a beast cannot go up into the Mountain: a beast that touches the Mountain must be stoned.

  Collations on the Hexaemeron, Collation 5

• Exodus 20:2

  For knowing the Creator, he says: I am the Lord your God. In that he says Lord, he intimates the power of the Father. In that he says God, he intimates the wisdom of the Son. In that he says your, he intimates the benevolence or goodness of the Holy Spirit. Moreover, in that he says I, he denotes the identity of essence, and in this he intimates God as triune and one, Creator of all things. There follows: Who brought you out of the land of Egypt; here he intimates the gift of restoration through the incarnate Word. The Lord speaks to all to whom he gave the commandment, and he gave the commandments to all, although he first gave them to the children of Israel. From the house of servitude, that is, of sin; for all of us have been led out from the servitude of sin who have been redeemed through the blood of the Lamb. The whole Trinity speaks these words. He says therefore I, namely, the one whom you ought to obey and whom you ought to love and adore. Or he says I, who made you in the being of nature and in the being of grace. We ought therefore also to say: Lord, you are the one whom we ought to adore, whom we ought to serve; you are the one who created me; you are the one who redeemed me. These two things, therefore, namely the knowledge of the Creator and the Restorer, are set forth first, without which we can understand nothing, because these are the foundations of our faith.

  Collationes de Decem Praeceptis, Collation 2

• Exodus 20:3

  It must be said that this truth, that God is one, is a truth not only believable, but also intelligible: since it is necessary and certain not only from the testimony of Scripture and the illumination of grace, which is found in faith; but it is also certain from itself and from the testimony of creatures. From itself, therefore: because the divine being, on account of its singular sublimity and sublime singularity, possesses unity in every way. For since God has every perfection in himself, and this in the highest degree and most excellently, he is shown to be one not only from the sublimity of nature and wisdom, power and goodness and influence and causality, but indeed from all his conditions and noble properties that are attributed to him in the highest degree. Hence all conditions attest to the unity of the supreme essence. From the testimony of creatures also: because every creature, just as it has natural goodness, so also is shown to have unity. "For nothing can exist unless it is one," as Boethius and Augustine say, and as sense and intellect teach. Therefore, just as every creature by its goodness proclaims that in God there is true and supreme goodness, so by its unity it proclaims that the cause of all things is one in itself. Nor does the diversity of things stand against this testimony. For every diversity of things is comprehended within one universe, which in itself is indeed finite and limited and perfect. But this would not be so unless that plurality were reduced to something in which there would be a stopping point: and therefore it is necessary that all things be reduced to one ultimate end and one first principle, otherwise there would be a regress to infinity. Therefore the very universe of things testifies that God is one: whence, just as it is impossible for one circumference to have, nor can one rationally conceive, any but one center, from which lines flow and to which they are reduced as to a terminus: so in one universe one cannot posit or understand anything but one God alone.

  Disputed Questions on the Mystery of the Trinity, Question 2

• Exodus 20:3

  It is necessary that certain moral precepts order us toward God: and certain toward our neighbor according to the twofold precept of charity; which the Holy Spirit willed to intimate through the mystery of the two tablets, and therefore they are said to be written by the finger of God. And because God is triune, namely Father and Son and Holy Spirit, to whom belongs the highest majesty to be adored, truth to be professed, and charity to be embraced, according to the irascible, rational, and concupiscible powers, through the act of deed, of mouth, and of heart: therefore the commandment of the first tablet is threefold, corresponding to the three aforesaid, namely subjective adoration, truthful oath-taking, and sacred sabbath-observance.

  Breviloquium, Part 5

• Exodus 20:3

  Note that latria is worship owed to God alone and is rendered in such a way that it is owed to no other. God prohibits the worship of others in the negative, and by this he implied the worship of God in the affirmative, which is made explicit in the New Testament, when the Lord says: Thou shalt adore the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve. It is asked: why did the Lord prohibit the worship of others in the negative and not make explicit the worship of God in the affirmative? Certainly, because he wished to give us the commandments in the easiest manner he could; and therefore in the negative he called us back from the worship of others, so as to imply his own worship in the affirmative. And it should be noted that he called us back from all idolatry. Now everything that is adored other than God is either an intellectual creature, such as angels and demons; or a corporeal creature, such as heaven and earth and water and the like; or it is a figment of the human mind. And the Lord prohibits adoring these three. Sacred Scripture places the intellectual creature at the highest level, the figment in the middle, and corporeal nature at the lowest; and accordingly it first prohibits idolatry with respect to the intellectual creature, when it says: You shall not have strange gods. We Christians ought to see beyond that Jewish people to whom these commandments were given, because the truth has been made manifest to us. In the first word: You shall not have strange gods before me, all profane pacts with demons are prohibited, whether they be made through incantations of words, or through inscriptions of characters or images, or through immolations of sacrifices. In these three consist all the parts of the magical art. And thus by prohibiting these three, all things are prohibited from which all profane pacts with demons arise, whether they be made for the transmutation of natures, as the magicians of Pharaoh did; or for the deception of the senses, as illusionists do; or for the investigation of future contingencies. All these Augustine calls pacts with demons, because in such things there is attributed to the creature what ought to be attributed to the Creator; and therefore such persons sin against the first word of the commandment: You shall not have strange gods before me. We have an example of this in a certain learned man, who had long studied how he might become rich, and had made his tongue available for hire for a long time, and yet was always in want. But he thought thus: since I cannot be made rich through God, I will be made rich through the devil. He sought a magician among Jews and Christians and found none. At length he thought: I myself will try whether I can become rich through the devil. He went by a certain shady, rocky path alongside a torrent and said: Where are you, demon, who always seek to deceive men? I am here to give you my soul. The first and second time the demon did not come nor respond, because the Lord did not yet permit it. But the third time the devil came and said: What do you seek from me? He answered: That you make me rich. The devil said to him: It is necessary that you first adore me. And then he bowed down and adored him. And immediately the devil had power over him and deceived him: he made all those stones appear to him to be gold. And the demon said to him: Take as much gold as you wish. And then he, rejoicing, loaded himself with stones, and when he came home he placed the stones in a certain corner of the house; and the stones caught fire, and the house was burned along with whatever was in it, so that he himself barely escaped. He thought again to return to the former place, saying: I will go and take enough gold. And when he came to the place, then he saw that there was nothing there but stones: and so he was made a fool.

  Collationes de Decem Praeceptis, Collation 2

• Exodus 20:3

  The Jews sometimes reproach us and say that we do not properly observe the first commandment. Concerning the first statement, namely: "You shall not have strange gods," they say that the Lord says: "Hear, O Israel, the Lord your God is one;" and you posit a Trinity, namely the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. To this objection, that we worship three gods, I say that if we worshipped three persons such that we said there were three gods and a threefold essence, it would necessarily follow that we worshipped three gods. But we worship the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, one God and one essence, but three persons. Whence, just as we see that in man there is a plurality of natures, namely intellectual and corporeal, and yet there is but one person, so conversely in the divine there is unity of essence and plurality of persons. God the Father has a Word and the Holy Spirit: indeed He has a Word, through which He made all things; and He has the Holy Spirit, through whom He preserves all things. The Word flows forth from the one who speaks and is God from God. Likewise the Holy Spirit is spirated from the Father and the Son and is God and in God. The Holy Spirit alone is the one who searches the depths of hearts, and He is God. Hence the person who wishes to understand these things and to speak about them must have the most elevated thoughts, not earthbound ones: for otherwise he cannot understand the most exalted things concerning God. For when we posit the Trinity, we do not posit Christ as a mere man, but God with man.

  Collationes de Decem Praeceptis, Collation 3

• Exodus 20:3

  In the first tablet are contained the commandments ordering us toward God: but God is the Trinity, Father and Son and Holy Spirit. To the Father is attributed majesty, to the Son truth, and to the Holy Spirit goodness. In the Father there is supreme majesty to be humbly adored; in the Son there is supreme truth to be faithfully asserted; in the Holy Spirit there is supreme goodness to be sincerely loved. In the first commandment is commanded the humble adoration of divine majesty, when it is said: "Thou shalt not have strange gods."

  Collationes de Decem Praeceptis, Collation 1

• Exodus 20:3

  The first plague was of blood, by which idolaters were struck, because the Psalm says of them: "They poured out innocent blood, the blood of their sons and of their daughters, whom they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan."

  Collationes de Decem Praeceptis, Collation 7

• Exodus 20:3

  And from this fact, that He is the pious worshiper of Himself, the true witness to Himself, and the holy lover of Himself, there comes down from heaven a threefold radiation in the mind, according to the three commandments of the first tablet. For the creature must behave in relation to God in a manner that is pious, true, and holy. This consists in worshiping God piously, hence, the first commandment, You shall not have other gods besides Me, but only one; in witnessing to God: You shall not take the name of the Lord, your God, in vain; in loving God in a holy manner: Remember to keep holy the Sabbath day. These three imprint the Sun in the higher portion of the soul.

  Collations on the Hexaemeron, Collation 21

• Exodus 20:3

  Concerning the first, we proceed as follows and it is shown that the divine being is supremely one. And that this is so, faith and divine Scripture sufficiently proclaim, Exodus twenty: Your God is one God; and Deuteronomy thirty-two: See therefore that I alone am, and there is no other God besides me; and David in the Psalm: There shall not be in you a new god, nor shall you adore a foreign god: and divine Scripture sufficiently preaches this.

  Disputed Questions on the Mystery of the Trinity, Question 2

• Exodus 20:4

  In the second word: You shall not make a graven image, all false and superstitious inventions of errors are prohibited. And it should be noted here that every error is nothing other than a fiction of the mind. For imagination produces error by clouding reason and making what is not appear to be. Now all false and superstitious inventions of errors arise either from the wicked audacity of philosophical investigation, or from a perverse understanding of Sacred Scripture, or from a disordered affection of human carnality. From the wicked audacity of philosophical investigation proceed errors among philosophers, such as positing that the world is eternal and that there is one intellect in all men. For to posit that the world is eternal is to pervert all of Sacred Scripture and to say that the Son of God was not incarnate. To posit, moreover, that there is one intellect in all men is to say that there is no truth of faith, nor salvation of souls, nor observance of the commandments; and this is to say that the worst man is saved and the best is damned. And whoever fabricates or defends or imitates this, or proceeds according to it, errs most gravely, because he acts against the second word of the commandment: You shall not make a graven image: whence the fabricator, the defender, and the imitator alike are all prohibited here. Second, errors arise in some from a perverse understanding of Sacred Scripture, as among heretics, who hold wrongly concerning the Trinity and the Holy Spirit. Such are the Arians, the Sabellians, the Donatists, the Pelagians, and the like. Third, errors are prohibited which arise from a perverse affection of human carnality, such as the errors of the Epicureans, who say that there is no other life than this one; and the Nicolaitans, who say that it is lawful for anyone to act shamefully with anyone. The Saracens likewise do not have what they say from Sacred Scripture nor from the height of divine wisdom. Therefore all errors, in whatever manner they proceed, ought to be abominated as graven images, because they sin against this word of the commandment: You shall not make a graven image. We must therefore stand upon what the lights of faith dictate, and whatever is opposed to this, we ought to abominate entirely as a graven image. In the third word: Neither shall you make a likeness of those things that are in the heavens, etc., all perverse valuations of worldly natures are prohibited. Now every perverse valuation of creatures proceeds either by reason of sublimity, or by reason of sufficiency, or by reason of delight. In the first way it is the idolatry of the proud; in the second way it is the idolatry of the avaricious; in the third way it is the idolatry of the lascivious.

  Collationes de Decem Praeceptis, Collation 2

• Exodus 20:4

  Concerning the third clause of the first commandment, in which God prohibits worshipping corporeal nature, the Jews say that we worship a morsel of bread; and this seems to them most absurd. But it must be understood that at the utterance of the word of the priest and the intention of the one speaking, the substance of the bread is immediately converted into the true Body of Christ, which has a soul united with the Divinity. But the Jew says: how can this be? I say that He who can separate substance from accidents can bring it about that the substance which is under alien accidents does not appear to our senses. Hence I say that we adore the true Body of Christ and God, three and one; and in this the virtue, power, wisdom, and goodness of God are manifested. But the Jew errs who believes he can judge of this in an earthbound manner.

  Collationes de Decem Praeceptis, Collation 3

• Exodus 20:4

  Concerning the command "You shall not make a graven image," the Jews object that we make graven images, because we have many images in our churches. I say that it is impossible for the Divinity to be carved; but we make an effigy of Christ — of Christ, I say, incarnate, and we adore that effigy. But it must be understood that there is a twofold adoration: one which is called dulia, another which is called latria. With the adoration of dulia we can adore all those in whom there is power, wisdom, and holiness: and thus we adore princes, prelates, and masters as those in whom there is power and wisdom; likewise those who have the excellence of prophecy, as those in whom there is wisdom: and thus that captain of fifty adored Elijah. Likewise, we thus adore the Saints who are in the homeland, as those in whom there is eminent holiness. Similarly, the adoration of dulia is to be shown to images, not insofar as it is an image or painting, but by reason of that which is signified through it. But to God alone is the adoration of latria to be shown.

  Collationes de Decem Praeceptis, Collation 3

• Exodus 20:5

  There are certain things which avail for the observance of the commandments, and these must be subjoined. It should be noted here that all commandments are either affirmative or negative. Affirmative ones indeed are that man should do good; negative ones, that man should avoid evil. But it is impossible for man to avoid evil except through fear, and to do good except through love; and on account of this, two things are necessary for the observance of the commandments, namely fear and love. A bird cannot fly without two wings, nor can a man walk without two feet. Similarly, no one can be a perfect observer of the commandments of God unless he is filled with fear and love. But man is not filled with fear except from the consideration of divine severity, nor is he filled with love except from the consideration of divine goodness. This twofold consideration is therefore necessary for man. And on account of this He says: I am the Lord your God, strong and jealous, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of those who hate me. A mighty zealot, that is, having the strongest zeal, namely against those who hate me. Visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, not that he punishes the children on account of the actual sins of the fathers, but when the children are imitators of their fathers' crimes, then the Lord punishes the sins of the fathers together with their own sins unto the third and fourth generation, namely of those who hate me. He says this so that we may fear, and through fear turn away from evil.

  Collationes de Decem Praeceptis, Collation 2

• Exodus 20:6

  Together with fear one must also love him, because he says of himself: And showing mercy unto thousands to those who love me; in which he shows us that the mercy and kindness of God transcends the punishment of iniquities. When the heart is enlarged through love, then man easily keeps the commandments of God. I have run the way of thy commandments, when thou didst enlarge my heart. I have seen an end of all perfection; thy commandment is exceedingly broad. He says that the way of God's commandments is broad, yet to some it seems to be narrow. Certainly to those who love, it is broad; but to those who do not love, it seems to be narrow.

  Collationes de Decem Praeceptis, Collation 2

• Exodus 20:7

  God is the Trinity, Father and Son and Holy Spirit. To the Father is attributed majesty, to the Son truth, and to the Holy Spirit goodness. In the Son there is supreme truth to be faithfully asserted. In the second commandment is commanded the faithful assertion of divine truth, when it is said: "Thou shalt not take the name of thy God in vain."

  Collationes de Decem Praeceptis, Collation 1

• Exodus 20:7

  Because God is triune, namely Father and Son and Holy Spirit, to whom belongs the highest majesty to be adored, truth to be professed, and charity to be embraced, according to the irascible, rational, and concupiscible powers, through the act of deed, of mouth, and of heart: therefore the commandment of the first tablet is threefold, corresponding to the three aforesaid, namely subjective adoration, truthful oath-taking, and sacred sabbath-observance.

  Breviloquium, Part 5

• Exodus 20:7

  The second plague was of frogs, by which blasphemers and perjurers were struck, who are compared to frogs. For the frog is a noisy animal and consumes itself by its croaking. Similarly does a man when he loses the stability of truth.

  Collationes de Decem Praeceptis, Collation 7

• Exodus 20:7

  Just as in the first commandment humble adoration of the supreme majesty is commanded, so in this second commandment faithful confession of the supreme truth is commanded, and the denial of truth is forbidden. In the Old Testament it is said that he who swears in the name of God should swear and not perjure himself. For to perjure is the same as to forswear, and this is to take the name of God in vain. Jeremiah says: "And you shall swear: the Lord lives, in truth and in judgment and in justice;" and the Gloss says there that "an oath ought to have three companions: truth, judgment, and justice." First, I say, an oath ought to be made with truth; whence he says: "You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain," that is, without truth. Now it must be understood that there is a twofold oath, namely assertory and promissory, such that there is a certain oath given as testimony and a certain oath given as a promise. An assertory oath is made thus: I assert this to you and testify to it by the witness of divine truth. Now this assertory oath must first possess truth. Truth is present in an assertory oath when a man does not deny what is true, nor affirm what is false, nor knowingly assert what is doubtful; for speech is indicative of those things which are in the heart. But do you know what it means when a man testifies to something false by the witness of divine truth? It is to say that he lies and that divine truth lies along with him. And this is the first way of taking the name of God in vain, namely, when we deny the truth. Second, an assertory oath must be made with justice. It is made with justice when it is not made against a commandment of the divine law, nor against a precept of holy Mother Church, nor to the detriment of one's own salvation or that of another. And he who swears against these three swears rashly and sins in a twofold manner: both because he swears and because he keeps the oath. Third, it is necessary that judgment accompany an assertory oath, so that there be in the mind a discernment of truth and justice, namely, whether the oath is true or false, just or unjust, fruitful or unfruitful. Whence, if I swear without judgment, not discerning among these three, I swear rashly. These three companions ought to be present in an assertory oath. But the Manichaeans assail us and say that we ought not to swear at all, because it is said in the New Testament, namely in Matthew: "You shall not swear falsely;" and it follows: "But I say to you, not to swear at all. But let your speech be: yes yes, no no." I certainly say that in certain cases or for certain reasons it is quite lawful to swear. But the heretics do not rightly attend to the force of the words. For it is one thing to say: "not to swear at all," and another to say: "at all not to swear" — just as it is one thing to say: "a certain man does not run," and another: "not a certain man runs." "At all not to swear" is the same as "in no way to swear," and "not to swear at all" is the same as not "to swear in every way," but for certain reasons. Second, the name of God ought not to be taken in vain in a promissory oath. Now a promissory oath is made in three ways, namely for promoting good, for preserving fidelity, and for entering into mutual peace. In the first way, inferiors swear to superiors; in the second way, equals to equals; in the third way, superiors to inferiors. By the first oath the Apostle swore, saying in Romans: "God is my witness, whom I serve in my spirit." In the second way, Laban swore fidelity to Jacob. In the third way, superiors swear to protect the people. From the first oath a threefold benefit results: faith in the intellect, love in the affections, and peace in effect. For these three reasons an oath is made for promoting good. In the second way, a promissory oath is made for preserving fidelity, and this is done in three ways, namely for restraining malice, for settling controversy, and for clearing away infamy. First, I say, it is made for restraining malice, so that a man may neither deny the true nor affirm the false; and this is the reason for the usefulness of the oath. Second, it is made for settling controversy. Whence the Apostle says to the Hebrews: "The end of all controversy is an oath." Third, it is made for clearing away infamy. Whence in Deuteronomy it is said that the elders had to clear themselves by oath when a dead body was found. For these three reasons an oath is made for preserving fidelity. In the third way, a promissory oath is made for entering into mutual peace: and in this is understood the restraint of all mortal sins; because "every true oath is dangerous, a false one is pernicious, and no oath is safe." And for this reason it is said in Ecclesiasticus: "Let not your mouth become accustomed to swearing." This is the literal understanding of the words. But the spiritual understanding of this precept is this: that we take the name of God not in vain in three ways, namely for effecting, for promising, and for expressing. First, I say, we take up the name of God not in vain for effecting, as in the Sacraments, when it is said in baptism: "I baptize you in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit." Second, we take up the name of our God not in vain for promising, as when I promise to go to Saint James, or to enter religious life, by an oath. Third, we take up the name of God not in vain for expressing, as when we speak with an oath. Conversely, we take up the name of God in vain in three ways: first, through frustration of a Sacrament received; second, through breaking of a vow made; third, through uttering of blasphemous speech. First, we take up the name of God in vain through frustration of a Sacrament received; and according to this there is a threefold degree of taking the name of God in vain. The first is when someone does not believe in the Sacrament, like a heretic. Second, when one believes but does not dispose himself for the Sacrament, like a usurer. Third, when someone does not preserve the grace received in the Sacrament, like one who afterward sins. Hear, you who are marked with the Christian name: the character is then imprinted upon you through the power of the name of God; and when you afterward sin, you empty out the power of the Sacrament. Of such persons the Apostle says to Titus: "They profess to know God, but by their deeds they deny Him;" and thus "you trample upon the Son of God" and "treat as polluted the blood" of the covenant, you who were washed in the blood of Christ! The second mode of taking the name of God in vain is through breaking of a vow made. And here there is likewise a threefold degree. The first is through irrational delay, as when I promise to go to Saint James by an oath and do not assign myself a fixed term, and thus always procrastinate. In the second way, breaking of a vow occurs through a contrary will, as when someone promises something to God and afterward repents of it. Against such persons it is said in Deuteronomy: "If anything has proceeded from your lips, you shall not make it void." In the third way, breaking of a vow occurs through apostatic rebellion, as when a man apostatizes from religious life. The first of these modes is evil, the second worse, the third worst, because it is said: "An apostate man is a worthless man;" on account of which it is said in Ecclesiastes: "If you have vowed anything to God, do not delay to pay it; for an unfaithful and foolish promise displeases God." And this is so when time and hour and day and year were calling out. In the third way, we take up the name of God in vain through uttering of blasphemous speech; and this occurs in three ways: first, when someone, speaking of God, uses cursing speech, as when he curses God. The second mode is through mendacious speech, when someone denies what is true of God, or affirms what is false; because Anselm says that the nobler part of every contradiction is to be attributed to God. The third mode is through reproachful speech, such as when someone speaks of the lower members of Christ, he blasphemes most wickedly, even if he speaks the truth, and despises Christ in that He was humble and assumed our nature. And such persons have been destroyed by divine judgment. For Gregory narrates that a certain boy of six years was accustomed to blaspheme the name of the Lord. One day, when he was blaspheming and was in the lap of his father, he was seized by demons and carried into hell. On account of which it is said in Leviticus: "Whoever shall have blasphemed the name of the Lord, let him surely die."

  Collationes de Decem Praeceptis, Collation 3

• Exodus 20:7

  And from this fact, that He is the pious worshiper of Himself, the true witness to Himself, and the holy lover of Himself, there comes down from heaven a threefold radiation in the mind, according to the three commandments of the first tablet. For the creature must behave in relation to God in a manner that is pious, true, and holy. This consists in worshiping God piously, hence, the first commandment, You shall not have other gods besides Me, but only one; in witnessing to God: You shall not take the name of the Lord, your God, in vain; in loving God in a holy manner: Remember to keep holy the Sabbath day. These three imprint the Sun in the higher portion of the soul.

  Collations on the Hexaemeron, Collation 21

• Exodus 20:8

  But you will say: why did he confuse and mix together moral and ceremonial precepts? - I say that this commandment: Remember to keep holy the Sabbath day, is about charity: and whatever is manifest and hidden in the other commandments is consummated in this one. And therefore he mixed together the ceremonial and the moral, so that we might better recall them to memory: lest, if he had set them out separately, our memory would be burdened. Now there are three things that are required for perfect love. The first is divine leisure, converting the soul to God. The second is the imitation of Christ in good works. The third is cessation from every servile work, which renders the heart pure and clean. Now the conversion to God takes place according to seven works, without which the soul is not converted to perfect leisure in God; of which three are intrinsic, which are done by meditating, praying, and exulting: and from these three results contemplation. The other four are extrinsic, which are done by reading, chanting psalms, offering sacrifice, and fulfilling the divine law; and this is done either by hearing, or by teaching, or by conferring with others. And this is what he says: Remember to keep holy the Sabbath day. The Lord therefore first commands leisure converting the soul to himself.

  Collationes de Decem Praeceptis, Collation 4

• Exodus 20:8

  But the Jews mock us and say: you hold the Decalogue, and the Decalogue contained only moral precepts; but a moral precept has binding force for all time. But the seventh day, on which it is not permitted to work, counting from the first day on which it is permitted to work, is the Sabbath day, which is called the day of Saturn; and you rest on the Lord's Day instead of the Sabbath day. Likewise it is said: You shall do no work on it: and you do many works, and thus you destroy the whole thing. See, dearly beloved: it must be understood that that precept contains something that is purely moral, and something that is purely ceremonial, and something that is mixed from the moral and the ceremonial. That the Lord commands sanctification, that is, rest for the sake of loving, this is a purely moral precept. Whence blessed Peter says: But sanctify the Lord Christ in your hearts, that is, love him. For he sanctifies or makes holy the Sabbath who loves God above all things for his own sake, not for the sake of something else.

  Collationes de Decem Praeceptis, Collation 4

• Exodus 20:8

  In the first tablet are contained three commandments ordering us to God according to three things appropriated to the three divine Persons. In the first commandment is commanded the humble adoration of the divine majesty; in the second, the faithful confession of the supreme truth; in the third, the sincere love of the supreme goodness. See that in these words the Holy Spirit wrote the tablets: for by the finger of God the Holy Spirit is understood, who inscribed all the precepts with the utmost diligence, signifying the integrity and consummation of the commandment. In this commandment, however, the Lawgiver commands something, permits something, and prohibits something. He commands to sanctify the Sabbath day, where it says: Remember to sanctify the Sabbath day. For sanctification is that which turns the soul toward the holy God, toward the true God, and toward God who is to be loved above all. He permits something in this commandment, where it says: Six days you shall labor and do all your work. He truly prohibits something, namely servile work, where it says: You shall do no work on it. This is the perfect rest, which has joined to it good work and the prohibition of servile work.

  Collationes de Decem Praeceptis, Collation 4

• Exodus 20:8

  Because God is triune, namely Father and Son and Holy Spirit, to whom belongs the highest majesty to be adored, truth to be professed, and charity to be embraced, according to the irascible, rational, and concupiscible powers, through the act of deed, of mouth, and of heart: therefore the commandment of the first tablet is threefold, corresponding to the three aforesaid, namely subjective adoration, truthful oath-taking, and sacred sabbath-observance.

  Breviloquium, Part 5

• Exodus 20:8

  The third was the plague of gnats, by which the undevout were struck, who did not keep the Sabbath day, which is the day of devotion. Gnats are small flies, and they greatly disturb and vex men. Similarly the undevout are disturbed. In this sign the magicians of Pharaoh failed, as a sign that we cannot escape the restlessness of thoughts except through devotion. Of blessed Gregory it is read that scarcely in an entire day did he have a single thought about earthly things.

  Collationes de Decem Praeceptis, Collation 7

• Exodus 20:8

  And from this fact, that He is the pious worshiper of Himself, the true witness to Himself, and the holy lover of Himself, there comes down from heaven a threefold radiation in the mind, according to the three commandments of the first tablet. For the creature must behave in relation to God in a manner that is pious, true, and holy. This consists in worshiping God piously, hence, the first commandment, You shall not have other gods besides Me, but only one; in witnessing to God: You shall not take the name of the Lord, your God, in vain; in loving God in a holy manner: Remember to keep holy the Sabbath day. These three imprint the Sun in the higher portion of the soul.

  Collations on the Hexaemeron, Collation 21

• Exodus 20:8

  God is the Trinity, Father and Son and Holy Spirit. To the Father is attributed majesty, to the Son truth, and to the Holy Spirit goodness. In the Holy Spirit there is supreme goodness to be sincerely loved. In the third commandment is commanded the sincere love of divine goodness, when it is said: "Remember to keep holy the Sabbath day."

  Collationes de Decem Praeceptis, Collation 1

• Exodus 20:9

  Now for the work of virtue, six things are required corresponding to the works of the six days, which are provident circumspection, right intention, pure affection, just or right election, vigorous prosecution, and charitable formation. The first, then, is understood in the work of the first day, when God said: Let there be light: and light was made: this is provident circumspection. Second, it is necessary that a man set for himself a right end in God; and this is indicated when he says: Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters. And God called the firmament heaven; because it is necessary that a man be drawn upward, so that he may have a right intention toward God. Third, pure affection is required; and this is understood in the third work, when God divided the land from the waters, that is, secular affections from divine ones. Fourth, just or right election is required, so that all our works may be done in an orderly manner, according as they ought: and this is indicated in the fourth work, when he says: Let there be luminaries in the firmament of heaven, that is, let our works be ordered. Fifth, vigorous prosecution is required, which is signified in the fifth work, when God brought forth living soul in the waters, as swimming creatures, and in the air flying creatures. Sixth, charitable formation is required, so that the works may be complete, clothed over with all circumstances, according to what the law of divine charity demands. For charity is the perfective form of all things; and he who has charity has all these six. The sixth work of virtue, therefore, is the formation of charity: which is signified when it says: God made man in his image and likeness. When the work of man is made complete from these six, then man is said to live rightly.

  Collationes de Decem Praeceptis, Collation 4

• Exodus 20:9

  He commands imitation of himself, when he says: Six days you shall labor. Concerning this imitation the Apostle says: Be imitators of God, as most beloved children: and in Luke it is said: Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful. Now there are six works of mercy, namely: feeding the hungry, giving drink to the thirsty, clothing the naked, gathering in strangers, visiting the sick, and ransoming captives. Moreover, the work of perfect virtue cannot exist unless the creature is conformed to Christ in these things.

  Collationes de Decem Praeceptis, Collation 4

• Exodus 20:10

  There is contained in the precept something that is partly moral and partly ceremonial, such as the cessation from works. And here certain things are to be understood generally, and certain things specifically. If we understand it generally, as the Jews do, who say that there ought to be a universal cessation from every servile work, so it is suggested to the Christian that he ought to abstain from all sin. But if we understand it specifically, that we ought to abstain from some things and not from others, then it is moral, not as in a precept, but as in well-being, and it has remained, as it is commanded in ecclesiastical institution. Now I call servile works mechanical works, which are seven, namely: agriculture, which comprehends every manner of cultivating the earth; wool-working, which consists in every work and kind of garments; fabrication, whether it be in iron material, or metallic, or stone, or wood; hunting, which comprehends every work of bakers and cooks and every manner of preparing food; medicine, which consists in the art of preparing ointments or syrups and things of this kind; navigation, which comprehends every work of sailors on the sea or every work of commerce; and theatrics, which comprehends every manner of play or amusement. Now among all of these there are some things that are of pure servility; some that are of continual necessity; and some that are of pure enjoyment. Those that are of pure servility are prohibited by the Church; but those that are of continual necessity, such as those that pertain to the preservation of life or health, are permitted insofar as they are of necessity, but are prohibited insofar as they are of servility. But those that are of pure enjoyment are permitted, not prohibited, because on account of our inclination they are allowed by the Church.

  Collationes de Decem Praeceptis, Collation 4

• Exodus 20:10

  There is in the precept something figurative, such as the signification of the seventh day. For the seventh day signifies the rest of souls and the rest of the Lord in the tomb and the cessation from all servile work with leisure and contemplation of God. On the seventh day, however, he rested and called the intellectual creature back to himself, and on the seventh day he led the souls existing in limbo back to the rest of paradise. The signification, therefore, of the seventh day is the figurative rest of souls. Thus in this commandment there is contained something that is purely moral, namely, that God should be loved above all things, and something that is purely ceremonial, such as the signification of the seventh day.

  Collationes de Decem Praeceptis, Collation 4

• Exodus 20:10

  It does not suffice to do the work of virtue unless man guards himself from vicious work; and this is touched upon when it says: You shall do no work in it, that is, no sin. Now man can commit sin in five ways: first, when he perpetrates sin against the commandment; second, when he incites another to sin; third, when he defends the sinner; fourth, when he accepts the sinner; fifth, when he overlooks the sinner and neither rebukes nor punishes, and this is the greatest danger, when someone neglects to correct another. The first sin is touched upon when it says: You shall do no work in it, that is, you shall perpetrate no sin. The second sin is touched upon when it says: nor your son nor your daughter, that is, you shall not be the father of sin by instigating another to sin either by word or deed or example. The third sin is touched upon when it says: nor your manservant nor your maidservant. He who commits sin is the servant of sin: but he who defends sin is the master of sin, by providing harbor to the one committing sin. The fourth sin is when someone accepts the sinner: which is touched upon when it says: nor your beast of burden. A beast of burden, when it was tied, was not led to work except by the acceptance of its master, and this acceptance is a binding. The fifth sin is when someone neglects to correct another: which is touched upon when it says: nor the stranger who is within your gates. One considers a man a stranger when he sees a man sinning and says: what is his sin to me? And thus, when a man does not punish the sin of another, he becomes a partaker of that sin. In many other ways also a man becomes a partaker of the sin of another; and on account of this the Psalm says: From my hidden sins cleanse me, O Lord, and from the sins of others spare your servant.

  Collationes de Decem Praeceptis, Collation 4

• Exodus 20:11

  The reason for the precept is added, where it says: In six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea and all things that are in them, and he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed and sanctified it. But why does he command rest? Certainly, because he blessed and sanctified it. Therefore you also, creature of God, who are an imitator of Christ, ought to do this. For God wrought all things in six days, not because he could not have made them in one day: but it must be understood here that the world has something in the eternal art, namely eternal being, which is the eternity of life and one possession, in which nothing is prior or posterior: and this God impressed upon the angelic minds. Likewise, the world has something in the created intelligence, namely a priority and posteriority by nature, though it exists simultaneously according to duration. But it has a before and after according to duration, not according to nature, insofar as it is in matter, not on account of a defect of the worker, but on account of his condescension, so that he might fit all things together and designate all things in the first works. And just as he produced the roots of all operations in the first works, so also he fully produced the seeds of all works and their rest.

  Collationes de Decem Praeceptis, Collation 4

• Exodus 20:12

  And because the lower portion of the soul is informed by the higher and is given to it as a help, it is necessary that the lower have commandments by which it would be conformed to the higher, so that it behave piously, truly and holily. Piously toward superiors, most of all parents, hence, Honor your father and your mother. Truly and justly toward equals, hence: You shall not kill, which precludes any harm. Holily toward inferiors, hence, You shall not commit adultery, which forbids any act of impudicity.

  Collations on the Hexaemeron, Collation 21

• Exodus 20:12

  But because the neighbor is an image of the Trinity, and to him, insofar as he bears the image of the Father, piety is owed: insofar as he bears the image of the Son, truthfulness is owed, insofar as he bears the image of the Holy Spirit, benignity is owed: hence it is that there are seven commandments which pertain to the second tablet. For with respect to piety there are two: one which commands piety, namely concerning honoring one's father: the other which forbids impiety, namely concerning not killing.

  Breviloquium, Part 5

• Exodus 20:12

  The precepts are ordered according to their nobility; and beneficence is better than innocence: therefore the commandment of beneficence is placed before the commandment of innocence; and it was handed down to the Jews synecdochically thus: Honor your father and your mother. And here is set forth first the form of the commandment, when he says: Honor, etc. Second, the promise is added, where it says: That you may be long-lived upon the earth. Understand according to the literal sense that father designates the person of the one who begets, the person of the one who instructs, and the person of the one who rears, because a father, having a son, begets him, instructs and nourishes him, and it belongs to the father to bequeath his goods to his son: and according to these three things, the father in relation to the son holds the character of origin, the character of governance, and the character of benefactor. And accordingly a threefold honor is owed to the father: the honor of reverence, the honor of obedience, and the honor of beneficence. First, I say, to the father, insofar as he holds the character of origin, the honor of reverence is owed; whence in Ecclesiasticus: He who fears God will honor his father and his mother, and will serve as masters those who begot him. Second, by reason of governance, the honor of obedience is owed to the father; whence the Apostle to the Ephesians: Children, obey your parents, for this is just. Honor your father and your mother: which is the first commandment with a promise, that it may be well with you, and that you may be long-lived upon the earth. Third, the honor of beneficence is owed to the father, because he holds the character of benefactor: whence in Ecclesiasticus: Son, support your father in his old age, and do not grieve him in his life. It is therefore commanded that a threefold honor be rendered to parents, namely the honor of reverence, obedience, and beneficence. And this is the first commandment that you must keep on account of the promise, namely that it may be well with you, and that you may be long-lived upon the earth. But is it always true that they live longer? For we see that this sometimes fails: therefore God is deceitful in his promise. I say that long life is considered not only according to the length of passing days, but according to their value. And according as there is a threefold honor which is shown to parents, so there corresponds to this threefold honor a threefold reward: because to the one who honors his father with the honor of reverence is owed a glorious or honorable life; to the one who honors his father with the honor of obedience is owed a joyful life; to the one who honors his father with the honor of beneficence is owed an abundant life. First, I say, to the one who honors his father with the honor of reverence is granted a glorious or honorable life; whence in Ecclesiasticus: The glory of a man is from the honor of his father; likewise in the same place: Glory not in the dishonor of your father, for his shame is not glory to you. For it is natural that a son should love his father most ardently, and that he should be indignant when someone does injury to his father. Second, to the one who honors his father with the honor of obedience is granted a joyful life; whence in Ecclesiasticus: He who honors his father shall find joy in his children, and in the day of his prayer he shall be heard. He who honors his father shall live a longer life; and he who obeys his father shall bring comfort to his mother. The highest joy is that a man not be rebellious toward his superior; because he who is rebellious toward his superior will find his inferior rebellious toward him, and the despiser of higher powers will be despised by those beneath him: just as Adam, when he was disobedient to his superior, found all the lower creatures which had been subject to him turned against him. Third, to the one who honors his father with the honor of beneficence is granted an abundant life; whence in Ecclesiasticus: Honor your father and your mother, and blessing shall come upon you, and your blessing shall remain to the last. This blessing is called the multiplication of goods. Behold, the precept, and behold the promise. We are obliged to obey our parents as long as we make use of their goods; and we ought to comply with them in the exercise of virtuous or salutary acts, in the dispensation of temporal goods, and in the rendering of services: because we ought to live according to their counsel and spend according to their command and, when they require it, render service. If, however, parents should wish, say, or command something that is against the advancement of our salvation, piety is not to be shown to them in such matters. And this is what the Lord says in the Gospel: He who does not hate his father and mother and wife and children and brothers, and even his own soul, cannot be my disciple. The Lord wills that on account of paternal affection a man should not cease to do what pertains to his salvation. And this is what the Lord says: Let the dead bury their dead; but you go and proclaim the kingdom of God. And Jerome says: 'If your father should lie across the threshold, if your mother should bare the breasts with which she nursed you, trample over your father, trample over your mother, and fly to the standard of the cross. For the only kind of piety in this matter is to be cruel.'

  Collationes de Decem Praeceptis, Collation 5

• Exodus 20:12

  Beneficence toward every kind of person is commanded. Father names the person in whom there is a preeminent character of authority, seniority, and amiability. In natural being, the son is not coequal with the father. First I say, in the father there is authority: and in this commandment a precept is given that the father be obeyed, because he has authority. Moreover, everyone who presides over public affairs, or political affairs, or monastic affairs has authority. First I say that he who presides over public affairs is called father by reason of authority, such as a prince, baron, count, and the like, and is called father by guardianship or defense; and we ought to honor him as a father. Whence blessed Peter: Fear God, honor the king. Second, he who presides over political or ecclesiastical affairs is called father by reason of authority. And we ought to honor him according to what the ecclesiastical ordering requires, and the people ought to obey him: whence the Apostle to the Hebrews: Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they keep watch as those who will render an account for your souls. Third, he who presides over monastic affairs is called father by reason of authority. And we ought to honor him and obey him, according to the rule and the promise that has been made. Whence Jerome: 'Love the superior of the monastery as a father, fear him as a lord, hear him as a master, believe that whatever he says to you is salutary.' It is clear, therefore, that we ought to obey these according to what authority requires. Second, in the father is understood old age and frailty; for the elderly become weakened. And he who honors his father by reason of old age and frailty honors every person who is in need of assistance, or who lacks understanding, or strength, or who is harassed by another. And on account of this we ought to help another through instruction, or through sustenance, or through protection. And for this purpose prelates especially exist: if a person lacks understanding, they ought to help him through instruction: if he lacks strength, they ought to help him through sustenance: if he is harassed by another, they ought to help him through protection. Third, in the father is understood the notion of friendliness: and in this we understand that by reason of origin every person is lovable and ought to be loved, and every person is bound to honor another. Whence the Apostle: In honor anticipating one another; and again: Render to all what is owed; to whom honor, honor. Owe no one anything, except to love one another. For a person ought to love another, willing good to each one with respect to affection, with respect to deed, and with respect to outward expression. Moreover, this love has an order, because we ought to love according to the reason of proximity, according to the reason of likeness, and according to the reason of obligation. First, I say, we ought to love according to the reason of proximity; and according to this we owe greater love to those of our household than to strangers, and ought to serve friends more than enemies. Second, this love has an order according to the reason of likeness, because to some we owe by reason of likeness greater love than to others: thus by reason of likeness in specific form we are bound to love a human being; yet according to likeness by reason of agreement in faith we ought to love a Christian more than a Saracen; likewise by reason of profession in a community a religious is more bound to love a brother of his order, and one canon another canon. Third, we ought to love by reason of obligation: and thus we are more bound to some than to others. For I am bound to love another and to honor him by reason of precept; yet I am more bound by reason of precept and benefit, if I have received a benefit; I am most bound to love another and to honor him by reason of precept and by reason of benefit and by reason of promise, that is, him concerning whom there is a precept for me, and from whom I have received a benefit, and to whom I have made a promise—such a one I ought to love and honor more.

  Collationes de Decem Praeceptis, Collation 5

• Exodus 20:12

  So that you may better retain this in mind, I shall tell you two examples: one good, about a man who honored his mother, and another evil and cruel, about a man who did not honor his father. There was a certain great and famous master at Paris, known and beloved by many. His mother, hearing of this, who was a poor woman, resolved to go to her son; she took a staff and in a little tunic of coarse cloth came to Paris and inquired of certain ladies about this master. Those matrons said: what do you want from him? She replied: I am his mother. Then those matrons brought her into their house and refreshed her. Afterward they considered that the good man would be ashamed if he saw her in such a state; and they clothed her well and gave her a mantle and brought her to the master. Then she said: I am your mother. The master replied: I do not believe it, because my mother was a poor woman and was not accustomed to wear anything but a little tunic of coarse cloth. And since the master would not accept her words, the matrons brought her back to their house and returned to her the little tunic and the staff. Then she approached her son in the assembly of many people; and he recognized his mother in such garb, and removing his hood, he embraced her saying: now I know well that you are my mother. This was spread throughout the city and was reckoned to him as a great good. And afterward he was made Bishop of Paris. I saw the man who knew him to whom this happened. There was a certain poor man who through his own industry had acquired many goods, and he had an only son. Certain nobles, seeing this, arranged that the son should contract marriage with the daughter of a certain nobleman. And then she, who was young, beautiful, and noble, began to abhor the father of her husband and prevailed so much upon her husband that the father was driven from the table and from the house; and he had nothing to eat but bad beans. One day he was famished and came to the house of his son and asked for food, and bad beans were given to him, and he was driven from the house. Then she said to her husband: now we can eat in peace. Go to the chest and take out the cooked capon. And when he opened the chest, the capon was changed into a toad. Which, suddenly leaping onto his face, placed two feet on his chin and two on his forehead and covered his entire face, and there was no physician who knew how to remove it. At length a certain smith came who tried to remove it with his pincers. Then the toad looked at him with so horrible a countenance that he fell to the ground and dared do nothing more; and there was no one who knew how to give counsel; but that man died an evil death.

  Collationes de Decem Praeceptis, Collation 5

• Exodus 20:12

  In the second tablet are contained seven commandments ordering us toward neighbor, which are signified by two precepts of the natural law, namely: do to another what you wish to be done to you; do not do to another what you do not wish to be done to you. And according to these two precepts of the natural law a twofold justice is received, of which one is of innocence, the other of beneficence. The commandment of beneficence is: "Honor thy father and thy mother." This commandment, however, is not only one of reverence, but is also one of service and obedience; and it pertains not only to one's father, but indeed to all who proceed from one's father.

  Collationes de Decem Praeceptis, Collation 1

• Exodus 20:12

  The fourth plague was of dog-flies, by which the impious were struck, who have among themselves dog-flies, that is, carnal affections.

  Collationes de Decem Praeceptis, Collation 7