Bonaventure 1221 – 1274
Bonaventure was a 13th-century Italian Franciscan friar, theologian, philosopher, and Cardinal, regarded as one of the most important medieval Christian thinkers alongside his contemporary Thomas Aquinas. He served as Minister General of the Franciscan Order from 1257 to 1274, during which time he produced an extensive body of philosophical, theological, and devotional writings. His Itinerarium Mentis in Deum, the Mind's Journey into God, set out a Neoplatonic and Augustinian path of contemplation through nature, the soul, and ultimately the divine. He defended the Augustinian and Franciscan tradition against the increasing dominance of Aristotelianism in 13th-century scholasticism. He was canonised in 1482 and named a Doctor of the Church in 1588.
Key facts
- Nationality
- Italian
- Era
- Medieval
- Movements
- Medieval, Christian, Scholasticism
Selected quotes
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Attributed to Bonaventure:
“Let us run, then, with all our being, to enter the joy of our Lord.”
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Attributed to Bonaventure:
“He who is not enlightened by such great splendours of created things is blind; he who is not awakened by such great cries is deaf.”
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Attributed to Bonaventure:
“All knowledge serves theology.”
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Attributed to Bonaventure:
“The soul, in its journey to God, ascends through nature, through itself, and finally through what is above.”
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Attributed to Bonaventure:
“The light of natural knowledge is in vain if our affections are not rightly ordered.”