II. “The Consideration of God in His Footsteps in This Visible World” by Bonaventure

Click here for the complete text of Chapter II of the Itinerarium.

Recall what the notion of “footstep” means and how it figures in to Bonaventure’s basic perspective.  If the “footsteps” [or vestiges] in part I were patterns found in the natural world, to what footsteps is Bonaventure calling out attention here?

In §4 Bonaventure provides a fairly standard, abbreviated account of the medieval, Augustinian theory of sense perception, which concludes with “the apprehensive faculty” attending to the “similitude” present in the “internal organ.”  Can you follow the general sense of his claims?  Can you make any sense out of this from what you know of contemporary theories about sensation?

Notice the shift in §5-§6 where Bonaventure focuses on “proportionality” and “delight.”  What is he suggesting here?  How does this eventually (§11-§13) lead him to claim that in these considerations we can discern the vestiges of God?  Can you find any hints here of what is sometimes called the “sacramental imagination” that is characteristic of the Catholic (as opposed to Protestant) tradition?

Can you explain how these reflections of Bonaventure might provide a framework for reading some of the creative responses to nature found in poetry or art?