Bonaventure, on Eccl 12:13

“Let us all hear together the conclusion of the discourse. Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is all man:”

“Concerning the method of treatment in Ecclesiastes: it has been said that he acts and speaks in diverse persons, namely that of the fool and that of the wise man. But: As it is said in Sirach 20, "a parable from the mouth of a fool will be rejected": therefore a statement made in the person of a fool is not to be heeded: therefore if the meaning of the sacred books is to be heeded, he ought not to speak in the person of a fool. Likewise, what he says in the person of the fool and the carnal man is to be rejected: but it is not known, when he speaks, whether he says this in his own person or in another's: therefore it is not known what in this book is to be held and what is to be rejected: therefore this science is a path to error. But canonical books ought to purge error: therefore this book should be removed from the canon. I respond: it must be said that to speak something in the person of a fool or a carnal man is twofold: either to approve it, or to reject it and show it to be vain. In the first way it does not befit the science of truth: in the second way it does, just as if someone wished to refute an error and first set it forth, then afterward destroyed it. And he speaks in this way, not in the first; and therefore he is not to be condemned, but rather to be commended, because he rejects what is to be rejected. To the objection that it is not known when he speaks in his own person: it must be said that the other side of a disputation cannot be known until one arrives at the judgment and at the determination, because in the resolution it is known what is chosen and what is rejected. Thus I say that Ecclesiastes proceeds as if disputing up to the end of the book, and at the end gives his judgment, when he says: "Let us all hear together the end of the discourse: Fear God, and know that for every fault God will bring you to judgment." In which word he condemns all the opinions of the foolish, the carnal, and the worldly. Whence what accords with that judgment he says in his own person, and what disagrees he says in the person of others: and therefore this book cannot be understood unless it is heard in its entirety.”

Imported from an open dataset — not yet checked against the printed edition.