The Journey of the Mind Into God by Saint Bonaventure - Research Paper Example

The Journey of the Mind into God by Saint Bonaventure Contents Introduction Path to God described by Saint Bonaventura Conclusion [Course Number] [Professor Name] [Date] The Journey of the Mind into God by Saint Bonaventure Introduction The Journey of the Mind into God is the English translation of Saint Bonaventura short thesis Itinerary Mentis and Deum that was written in Latin English. The work possesses great significance for the students and knowledge seekers of the field of philosophy and theology. Saint Bonaventura was born in 1221 in Tuscany (Baldner, p206). He was professor of theology at University of Paris and was declared doctor of the church by Sixtus V. His treatise has been regarded as a fundamental source of information and guidance upon the matters related with God, faith and religion. Especially the preface of The Journey of the Mind into God describes the vision of Seraph very constantly and convincingly. In this work has also explains different paths to God and teach people that they could become close to the God by carrying out their life journeys in specific directions and paths (Quinn, p186). Path to God described by Saint Bonaventura Saint Bonaventura explains in his work Mind’s journey to the God that finding out God is very simple as well as very complicated for the people because God is present around the people but they could reach him only if they will adopt the right paths. He believes that one can easily find God by seeking him in different objects of the world because he is everywhere and it depends upon the sincerity and dedication of the seeker that he become able to find out God or not. Bonaventura believes that God is part of his own creations that why he is present in the tree standing silently as well as on the path where the people use to walk every day. Since human beings are also the creation of God so he is also present inside us and the internal truth of the personalities reveal the existence of God inside the people (Gendreau, p104). The first chapter of Mind’s journey to the God explains the stages through which the people can find their ways up to God. Bonaventura teaches that when a person is blessed by God he has been provided with the divine assistance and the path towards God becomes clear and easy for him. This happens to the people that are true by heart and possess no wrong intentions for God and his creations (Emery, p218). Without the assistance of God it is not possible for anyone to find God or seek the ways towards him. When a person is true and clean by his heart God makes him complete and shower him with all his blessings and miracles. This is possible only when someone is pure not only physically but his heart is also pure and clean and he truly wants to reach God and wants to follow the path sincerely that could take him towards God. He writes Thee. In his heart he hath disposed to ascend by steps, in the value of tears, in the place which he hath set [Ps., 83, 6]. Bonaventura points out the importance of prayers in the journey towards God and clarifies it to the people that prayer is the major source of ascent in God and the prayers could be regarded as the main guiding lights that allow the people to seek the ways from where they could find God (Baldner, p206). The prayers should be performed with complete concentration and dedication. The fervent prayers make people close to the creators because the fulfilment of the prayers reflect people’s understanding of God and shows that the person has complete faith upon the authority and power of God due to which he uses to pray to God regularly with all the truth, depth and sincerity of his heart. Bonaventura teaches people to say Conduct me, O Lord, in Thy way, and I will walk in Thy truth; let my heart rejoice that it may fear Thy name" [Ps., 85, 11]. The prayers give people knowledge about the stages that they have to go through during their journey towards God. Bonaventura explains that world itself is the greatest source of seeking God because it is an important creation of God that could take the creators towards him. Different objects in the earth reflect the existence of God and one can acquire great knowledge about God just by looking and exploring the things and objects around him on the earth. In this way, the keen observation of earth and its objects is another important path to God along with the true hearted prayers (Gendreau, p104). Bonaventura further explains that nature is also a path to God and when a person studies nature he finds God present inside all the natural objects. The intelligence of the creator could be observed in all the creations and when person seeks God inside the objects he finds that every object is ladder to God because the realization is the key to unlock the door from where the people could reach God. The nature implanted some principles inside people that could only be exercised through proper knowledge and sincerity. The avoidance of sin is also such principle that makes the path towards God more clear, easy and visible (Crowley, p310). It clarifies that when a person neglects the difference between the right and wrong he could never be able to realize the importance of good deeds and he could never be able to understand the harms of committing sins. The sins keep person on the wrong path and they could never know what they exactly have to do in order to seek God. In such cases, the divine help also remain away from such people and they never got the guidance from God until and unless they realize the destructive impacts of sin and left away all the bad deed to remain pure and away from the sins for becoming a person liked, guided and blessed by God(Gendreau,p104).. God has placed humans in the paradise of delight where they have the responsibility to sticking towards the right things only while avoiding the things that God has ordered to avoid. The ignorance to all the sins is the main path that could lead people to God. One has to acquire complete knowledge and wisdom about the right and wrong and on the basis of God guidance and acquired knowledge one has to decide which deeds are right for him and what are the things that he has to avoid in order to remain loyal to God and right on the path to Him(Crowley, p310).. It is very important that the person knows that sin is the most destructive thing that could keep the people away from God. God has made several things around us in the world but not all the things are good for the people. It is also important to know that the correct use of all the things also make it possible for us to remain outside the boundaries of sin and if one has little or no knowledge about the right use of the objects it would not be possible for him to seek God because he would commit sins in his life so frequently that divine help will not reach him to guide him. However, such situations could be avoided if a person seeks proper and deep knowledge about the creator and his creations. It implies that Bonaventura has explained some very important rules and principles that could help a person in his quest for God. It is imperative that a person truly seek guidance of God through prayers, avoid sins and seek deep knowledge about God and his creations by exploring the objects around him on the earth. The journey towards God could not be regarded as very tough journey because there is no hard or difficult path to reach him. Neither could it be said that one has to go through lot of difficulties to reach God because God is not present at any faraway place. He lived near the nerves of the people and inside their heart. There is only need of recognizing the presence of God and the movement one feels that God is near him he finds God however what matter is the truth and sincerity that the person possesses inside his heart for God (Crowley, p310). Conclusion It is unveiled from the reading and analysis of the work that seeking God is a journey that everyone should initiate in his life. If one is unaware about the importance of finding out God he could never led his life on the right path because the path to God is the most liked path and the person questing for God must adopt the right things and right path. The people with great awareness about the importance of seeking God become close and dear to God. At the same time they also become source of guidance and inspiration for the others because they stand as example of God blessing and love. They could use their experiences and knowledge to guide the other people towards God and in this way they could also become a path through which the other people could seek God. Bonaventura’s Mind’s journey to the God is an amazing and excellent source of identifying the ways to God because it is the reflection of the experiences and knowledge of a highly educated and knowledgeable person who has command over the subject matter and his words possess great importance in the perspective of providing people guidance regarding the journey to God. The work is a remarkable source of information that explain different path to God and it clarifies that every one regardless of his world identities and status could peruse the journey towards God if he know what he has to do and what are the things that he has to avoid in his lifetime to make him eligible for finding out God. Work Cited Baldner, Stephen. “Saint Bonaventure and the Temporal Beginning of the World.” New Scholasticism 63: 206-28. 1989. Print. Crowley, Theodore. “St. Bonaventures Chronology Revisited.” Franziskanische Studien 46: 310-22. 1974. Print. Emery, Kent. “Reading the World Rightly and Squarely: Bonaventures Doctrine of the Cardinal Virtues.” Traditio 39: 183-218. 1983. Print. Gendreau, Bernard. 1961. “The Quest for Certainty in Bonaventure." Franciscan Studies 21: 104-227. Quinn, J., “Chronology of St. Bonaventure (1217-1274),” Franciscan Studies 22: 168-186. 1972. Print. Read More