COLLATION IV.
On the gift of knowledge.
Summary.
Introduction, 1.
Exposition of the text. Two antecedents to the gift of knowledge, and two consequents, 2.
There are four clarities or kinds of knowledge, all of which are gifts of God: their definitions, 3-5.
Part I. On philosophical knowledge. It is the certain knowledge of searchable truth. Its threefold principal division is confirmed, 6.
Solomon possessed these three, 7-11.
These same sciences are easily eclipsed; therefore a further light is required, 12.
Part II. On theological knowledge. It is the pious knowledge of credible truth: it is founded upon the articles of faith: Scripture is compared to the waters of the sea for a threefold reason, 13.
First, on account of the profundity of its mysteries, 14.
Second, on account of the multiplicity of its senses, 15.
Third, on account of the establishment of the Churches, 16.
When the knowledge of faith fails, the Church is shaken: this knowledge is necessary for pontiffs: moreover, the fulfillment of works is required, otherwise it is harmful: therefore a further knowledge is necessary, 17. 18.
Part III. On gratuitous knowledge. It is the holy knowledge of credible and lovable truth. It is called the knowledge of the Saints for a threefold reason. 19.
First, because it is given by the Holy Spirit, 20.
Second, because it has nothing of vice, 21.
Third, because it has a zeal for holiness; exhortation, 22.
Gratuitous knowledge teaches how to know and the true mode of knowing, 23.
Charity must be joined to knowledge, 24.
Glorious knowledge, 25.
1. God, who commanded light to shine out of darkness, has himself shone in our hearts for the illumination of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ Jesus.
He who chastises the nations, shall he not rebuke, he who teaches man knowledge? The Psalm of David says that the great teacher of knowledge is God. You know that if someone must draw water, he more willingly draws it from its original source than from a rivulet. Therefore, if the Lord is the great teacher and giver of the gift about which we intend to speak, it is necessary that we have recourse to that font in order to obtain illumination. Thus did the Psalmist, thus did Solomon, and he became a great scholar. In the beginning it is necessary that we lift up our souls and beseech the bestower of gifts, because we do not seek temporal things, but the benefit and salvation of our soul; and this is pleasing to God, just as Solomon did, who sought wisdom from the Lord. Let us therefore beseech the Lord, that he himself may open the eyes of our mind and grant me the light of knowledge, so that I may be able to say something concerning the gift of knowledge, which may be to the honor of God, etc.
2. God, who commanded light to shine out of darkness, etc. This word is written in the second Epistle to the Corinthians, in which the Apostle Paul, the great doctor, explains the gift of knowledge itself; and he explains the gift itself with respect to its antecedents and consequents. Two things precede the gift of knowledge: one is like an innate light, and the other is like an infused light. The innate light is the light of the natural judicatory or of reason; the superinfused light is the light of faith. With respect to the first he says: God, who commanded light to shine, that is, he impressed the light of the natural judicatory upon the rational creature, that is, not only the possible intellect, but also the agent intellect. With respect to the superinfused light of faith he says: He has shone in our hearts, etc., namely through the infusion of the light of faith. God established the rational nature and superadded grace. Therefore there are two antecedents.
The consequents are also two, namely clear knowledge of the Creator, and revealed knowledge of the Savior. With respect to the antecedents he says: God, who commanded, etc.; with respect to the consequents he says: For the illumination of the knowledge of the glory of God, where clear knowledge of the Creator is touched upon; in the face of Christ Jesus, where revealed knowledge of the Savior is touched upon.