“moderns” like Richard of Saint-Victor. For Bonaventure, theology was so far above
philosophy in purpose that there could be no difficulty deciding between faith and reason.
This is not to say that faith is irrational; in cases of apparent disagreement, faith is clearly
acting out of a different rationality. He made careful distinction among the object of faith
per se, which is God, who can be known directly (the “believable” or “credible” thing);
the object of faith as known through the authority of Scripture; and the object of faith as
investigated in theological inquiry. Theology’s task is not superior to either revelation or
Scripture, or undermining of it, but is intended to cast a new light—that of
intelligibility—on the search for God.
Bonaventure, known as Doctor devotus and Doctor seraphicus, saw the Son of God as
the pattern for life on earth, and his theology is particularly Trinitarian—indeed, he
described many things in threes. For instance, he developed a theology-spirituality of the
triple way: the purgative way, moved by the prick of conscience; the illuminative way,
moved by the light of the intellect; and the unitive way, moved by the flame of wisdom.
The obviously devotional stance of Bonaventure’s work has sometimes led to his
being unfavorably compared with Thomas Aquinas; the two are better seen as
complementary than as comparable.
Lesley J.Smith
[See also: ALEXANDER OF HALES; FRANCISCAN ORDER; HUGUES DE
SAINT-CHER; MATTHEW OF AQUASPARTA; MYSTICISM; PHILOSOPHY;
RICHARD OF SAINT-VICTOR; THEOLOGY]
Bonaventure. Opera omnia, ed. PP. Collegii a S. Bonaventura. 11 vols. in 28. Ad claras Aquas
(Quaracchi): Typographia Colegii S.Bonaventurae, 1882–1902.
——. Sermones dominicales, ed. Jacques-Guy Bougerol. Grottaferrata (Rome): Collegio
S.Bonaventura, Padri Editori di Quaracchi, 1977.
——. Saint Bonaventure’s Disputed Questions on the Mystery of the Trinity, trans. Zachary Hayes.
St. Bonaventure: Franciscan Institute, St. Bonaventure University, 1979.
——. The Works of St. Bonaventure, trans. José de Vinck. 5 vols. Paterson: St. Anthony Guild,
1960–70.
——. What Manner of Man? Sermons on Christ by St. Bonaventure, trans. Zachary Hayes.
Chicago: Franciscan Herald, 1974.
Bougerol, Jacques-Guy. Introduction à Saint Bonaventure. Paris: Vrin, 1988.
——. Introduction to the Works of Bonaventure, trans. José de Vinck. Paterson: St. Anthony Guild,
1964.
——. St. Bonaventure et la sagesse chrétienne. Paris: Seuil, 1963.
——. Lexique saint Bonaventure. Paris: Éditions Franciscaines, 1969.
Chavero Blanco, Francisco de Asis, ed. Bonaventuriana: miscellanea in onore di Jacques-Guy
Bougerol. 2 vols. Rome: Antonianum, 1988.
Cousins, Ewert H. Bonaventure and the Coincidence of Opposites. Chicago: Franciscan Herald,
1978.
S.Bonaventura 1274–1974. 5 vols. Grottaferrata (Rome): Collegio S.Bonaventura, 1973–74.
Hayes, Zachary. The Hidden Center: Spirituality and Speculative Christology in St. Bonaventure.
New York: Paulist, 1981.
The Encyclopedia 255