Breviloquium

But concerning the whole man placed in paradise¹, these points are to be held: namely, that a twofold sense was given to him, interior and exterior, of mind and flesh. — A twofold motion was given to him, namely, commanding in the will and executing in the body. — A twofold good was given to him, one visible, the other invisible. — A twofold precept was given to him, namely, of nature and of discipline; the precept of nature: “Increase and multiply”²; the precept of discipline: “You shall not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.” — In accordance with these, a fourfold aid was given to him, namely, of knowledge, conscience, synderesis, and grace, from which he had sufficient means to stand in the good, advance, beware of evil, and turn away from it.

The reason for understanding the foregoing is this: the first principle made this sensible world in order to declare himself, namely, so that through it, as through a mirror and vestige, man might be led back to God the maker³, to love and praise him. And accordingly there is a twofold book: one written within, namely, the eternal art and wisdom of God; and another written without, namely, the sensible world. Since, then, there was one creature that had sense within for knowing the interior book, as an angel; and another that had all its sense without, as any brute animal: for the perfection of the universe there had to be made a creature endowed with this twofold sense for knowing the book written within and without, that is, Wisdom and its work. And because in Christ eternal Wisdom and its work come together simultaneously in one person, therefore he is called the book written within and without⁴ for the restoration of the world.

And because a motion corresponds to each sense, therefore a twofold motion was given to man: one according to the impulse of reason in the mind, the other according to the impulse of sensuality in the flesh⁵. The first is to command, the second to obey, according to right order; but when the reverse happens, then the soul’s rectitude and governance is thrown down from its state.

And because an appetite for some good corresponds to each motion and sense, therefore a twofold good was prepared for man: «one visible, the other invisible; one temporal, the other eternal; one for the flesh, the other for the spirit. Of these goods God gave one, promised the other, so that one might be possessed freely, the other sought through merit».

And because good is given in vain unless it is guarded, and promised in vain unless one reaches it, therefore a twofold precept was given to man: one of nature, for guarding the good given; the other of discipline, for meriting the good promised, which he could in no way merit better than through pure obedience. But pure obedience is when a precept obliges by itself alone, not by some other cause; and this is called the precept of discipline, because through it one learns how great is the virtue of obedience, which by its merit leads to heaven, but by its contrary⁶ plunges into hell. Therefore that commandment was not given to man because of some need that God had of human service, but to provide a way of meriting the crown through pure and voluntary obedience.

And since man, because of a defective nature formed from nothing and not confirmed through glory, could fall, the most benevolent God bestowed on him a fourfold aid: twofold of nature and twofold of grace. For he implanted in nature itself a twofold rectitude: one for judging rightly, and this is the rectitude of conscience; the other for willing rightly, and this is synderesis, whose function is to protest against evil and urge toward good. — He also superadded a twofold perfection of grace: one of grace freely given, which was knowledge enlightening the intellect to know itself, its God, and this world, which had been made for its sake; the other of sanctifying grace, which was charity enabling the affection to love God above all and one’s neighbor as oneself⁷. — And thus, before the fall, man had perfect natural endowments, nevertheless clothed over with divine grace. From this it is manifestly gathered that, if he fell, this was only through his own fault, because he scorned to obey.