St. Bonaventure on Divine Unity and the Inner Life of the One

Derek Michaud (Boston University, Middlesex Community College)

This paper examines the relationship between divine unity and the orthodox Christian doctrine of the triunity of God in St. Bonaventure’s The Journey of the Mind into God (Itinerarium mentis in Deum). Bonaventure’s commitment to "the Good" as a primary name for the Divine leads him to continue his narrative of mystical ascent beyond the naked singularity of the One as logical and causal counterpart to the multiplicity observed in everyday phenomenal existence. If God is Goodness itself as well as Unity then for Bonaventure, and much of the Christian tradition with him, the divine Unity must also be a fecund source of boundless self-giving eternally emanating in the form of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit of Christian orthodoxy. In other words, if the Platonic One is also the Good then the inner life of the One is the Christian Trinity.