Death Of Men And Beasts

Quaeritur de hoc quod dicit: Nihil habet homo amplius iumento, et quod aequa est utriusque conditio. Quod istud sit falsum , videtur 1. Genesis secundo dicitur: Adae non inveniebatur adiutor similis ei , ergo nullum iumentum est homini simile: ergo habet aliquid amplius iumento. 2. Item, certum est, quod homo deliberat de futuris et praeterita discernit et conceptiones suas exprimit; hoc autem non iumentum: ergo etc. 3. Praeterea, homo domat iumenta, sed nullum iumentum hominem: ergo homo aliquid plus habet iumento. Quod autem non habeat, videtur: quia nascitur, vivit et moritur et in terram vadit, sicut et iumentum. Respondeo: quidam dicunt, quod hoc dicit in persona carnalis, qui nihil credit habere hominem plus iumento. Aliter dici potest, quod in propria persona loquatur; et verum dicit secundum suum intellectum. Intendit enim ipse ostendere incertitudinem remunerationis animae per similitudinem ad iumentum. Illam autem similitudinem ponit et intellegit quantum ad visibilia, quae possunt sensu discerni; et per hoc non concludit similitudinem de spiritualibus, sed dubitationem; unde dicit: Quis novit etc. Dicendum est igitur, quod secundum veritatem homo habet ultra bestias rationem, communicat autem in corruptibilitate, vita et respiratione; et quia ratio non est quid sensibile, sed intelligibile; et ipse de sensibilibus loquitur: ideo nulla est in hoc omnino instantia. II. Dubitatur de hoc quod dicit: Quis scit, utrumspiritus filiorum Adam ascendat sursum? Quod autem sic, videtur: 1. Primo per corporis dispositionem , cuius dispositio et organizatio attenditur secundum congruentiamad sursum. Si igitur 'os homini sublime dedit caelumque tueri', et respicit sursum: ergo spiritus fertur sursum. 2. Item, omnes naturaliter appetunt beatitudinem; sed, constans est, nullum beatum esse posse in miseriis , maxime cui mors cedit invite: ergo si non potest habere beatitudinem in hac vita, natus esthabere post hanc vitam spiritum separatum: ergo etc. 3. Praeterea, intellectus noster est impermixtus, unde omnia intelligit, ergo non dependet a corpore quantum ad actum, ergo multo minus quantum ad esse: ergo corpore descendente, possibile est , ascendere spiritum. 4. Item, per rationem ipsius Ecclesiastae: quia, si aliqui habent bona, et aliqui mala; et videmus, quod in praesenti mala bonis et bona malis contingunt:si ergo necesse est unum rectorem ponere,necesse est aliud tempus et remunerationem ponere, in quo impium et iustum iudicet Deus.. Sanctus Bonaventura, Commentarius In Ecclesiasten, Cap III Source: Here, p 36

One must enquire into this which he says: 'A man has nothing more than a beast, and both their states are alike... 1 This seems to be false. 1 In the second chapter of Genesis: 'Adam did not find a helper like himself.' 2 Therefore there is no animal like man, and so he has something more than a beast. 2 Likewise it is certain that man deliberates concerning the future and considers the past, and expresses his ideas, but no animal does this. 3 Besides, man tames beasts but no beast tames man, therefore man has something more than a beast. And yet it seems he does not: 'Because he is born, he lives, and he dies, and into the earth he goes, like a beast.' 3 I respond: some say that this is spoken in the person of worldly man, one who thinks that man has nothing beyond a beast. But it is possible to say that he does speak in his own person, and what is true according to his own understanding. For his intention is to show the uncertainty of the reward of the soul by this likening to an animal. Thus he sets forth the likeness and understands it as much as it pertains to visible things, which the senses are able to discern, and because of this he does not consider a likeness to spiritual things, but there is doubt, whence he says: 'Who knows...?' Therefore it must be said that according to truth man has reason beyond the beasts, but he shares their corruptibility, life, and breath, and because the mind is not a sensible thing but an intelligible thing and he speaks only of sensible things, thus there is nothing truly of great force here. He then expresses doubt when he says, 'Who knows if the spirit of the sons of Adam ascends above?' 4 But so it seems. 1 First according to the disposition of the body concerning which disposition and arrangement is it fit from things above. If therefore, 'The face of man is given to look on heaven,' 5 and to gaze at high things, therefore the spirit is carried above. 2 Likewise everyone naturally desires happiness, but it is certain that no one is able to be happy in wretchedness, especially one on whom death unwillingly falls, therefore if he cannot have happiness in this life, he is born to have it after this life, when the spirit is separated. 3 Besides, our intellect is unmixed, whence it may understand everything, 6 and it does not depend on the body for its operation, and therefore much less for its existence. So when the body descends, it is possible that the spirit ascends. 4 Likewise by reason of this same Ecclesiastes, because if some have goods and some have evils, and we see that in the present evils come to good people and goods to evil people, 7 if therefore it is necessary to appoint at corrector, it is necessary that at some time a reward is given, in which 'God shall judge the wicked and the righteous.' 8 Saint Bonaventura, Commentary on Ecclesiastes, Chapter 3 1 Eccl 3.19 2 Gen 2.20 3 Eccl 3.20 4 Eccl 3.21 5 Ovid Metamorph 1.83-86 6 Arist De Anima 3.4 7 Eccle 8.14 8 Eccl 3.17