Pseudo-Dionysius, Bernard Of Clairvaux, And Bonaventure

The Middle Ages were filled with contrasting theologies on what perfection is and how it relates to the divine. Christian theologians such as Augustine, Pseudo-Dionysius, Bernard of Clairvaux, and Bonaventure all had their own personal beliefs on perfection and how to obtain it, each supported by various influences tracing back to early theologies that were not all necessarily Christian. An underlying theme of Augustine, Pseudo-Dionysius, Bernard of Clairvaux, and Bonaventure’s is the concept that perfection is obtained when the earthly reaches a connection with the divine. To begin, as one of the forefounders of Medieval Western Christianity, Augustine set the foundation of the development of the Catholic Church with his books in which he

Pseudo-Dionysus describes it as “the Good returns all things to itself” (pp. 78). This concept contains the belief of apocatasis, in which everyone will be saved as all will be returned to God. Rewards of this mode of belief is salvation for all in a “superabundant Life” (pp. 77). The belief in an afterlife in which nothing is for want is not solely found in Pseudo-Dionysius. A similar medieval western scholar of Christianity, Bernard of Clairvaux also theorizes methods to which a person can purify themselves to reach this ultimate end. In previously discussed philosophers, Plotinus’ legacy and theology was one of the more prominent aspects that aided in constructing new theologies, though this is not the case for Bernard of Clairvaux. Instead, Bernard of Clairvaux draws inspiration from the Song of Songs by deeply analyzing the passages for hints of the world to come. The phrase “kiss of his mouth” in particular resonates with Bernard of Clairvaux who draws from it to form a path to attainment for humans to be able to receive the kiss (pp. 87). First, Bernard notes that no one is worthy of such blessings and so one must start at the ground, then move up to the feet to kiss, followed by the hand so that it may bring one up to the mouth if they are worthy. This process of rising from the bottom

First is the love a person has for themselves for their own sake. This is a primal love that all engage in. Bernard of Clairvaux describes those in the first stage as a “slave, fearful on his own account” (pp. 108). The second phase is love of God for a person’s own sake. Again, Bernard of Clairvaux does not think favorable of those in this second stage, he describes them as a “mercenary” who “desires profit” for themselves (pp.108). The third phase is loving God for God’s sake. Though this third phase is not the ultimate phase, it is not deemed terrible by Bernard of Clairvaux. The last phase is loving God for a person’s own sake. Bernard of Clairvaux describes this last phase as a “son who honors his father” (pp. 108). This last phase is when a person is deemed worthy of receiving the kiss, because it is when everything will go back to God. These phases act as a guideline to realizing that “divine love is true love” though fundamentally Bernard of Clairvaux does not believe that humans are evil (pp. 95). For Bernard of Clairvaux, it does not make sense that humans are evil because if a person gives up all that they own then “all he has belongs to God. What belongs to God cannot be unclean,” therefore people cannot be unclean (pp. 108). The obstacles that make people unclean if they have yet to renounce all that they own are the “entanglement of flesh” that