Bonaventure
Medieval
c. A.D. 1221–1274
“The second firmness of faith comes from the outstanding reputation of the witnesses. This consists in three things: the high reputation of their merits, miracles and martyrdom. The high reputation of merits belonged to the patriarchs. Hence in Ecclesiasticus: Let us now praise men of renown. The patriarchs did not perform miracles, but they were famous for their merits. They were the beginning of Scriptures which are concerned with the apparitions that occurred to them.”