Bonaventure explains how the “book of nature” may be read in such a way that, through it, the soul may ascend to God. Bonaventure writes, ‘created beings […] signify the invisible things of God’, referring to God’s creation of the world based upon the eternal ideas within the Word of God. Christ is ‘the template of creation’ (Richard Rohr) and all things derive from Him. In creation, God stamps an indelible but hidden mark upon each thing, demonstrating His triune nature: ‘every creature is by nature a kind of copy and likeness of that eternal wisdom’. With the guidance of Scripture, we can uncover this stamp within things through reading the book of nature/creation.
Bonaventure states that ‘created beings […] signify the invisible things of God partly because God is the […] goal of all creation’; they point us to their Creator. ‘Every copy is a sign of its exemplar’ because they were designed by Him, just as we can often discern the identity of an artist from their works which bear his/her style. ‘Natural representation’ refers to things which themselves bear the ‘image’ and likeness (similitude) of God. They are mirrors *in* which we can see God. ‘Prophetic prefiguration’ refers to ‘vestiges’ which demonstrate God’s existence and direct our gaze beyond our finite world. They are mirrors *through* which we may discern God’s existence, prefiguring our eschatological, mystical union with God. ‘Angelic operation’ refers to the appearance of divine wisdom ‘in those creatures in whose likeness God wished to appear in angelic ministry’ (The Soul’s Journey into God). They will have the wisdom of the angels which lacks uncertainty. ‘Additional institution’ refers to God’s ordination of bread and wine as sacramental vessels of His grace.
By Ben Somervell
Theology Seeking Faith in Durham 