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The Tree of Questions

From
Blessed Raymond Lull’s
Tree of Science
This is the 16th or last tree in the Tree of Science
It contains questions about every part of each of the 15 preceding trees
Moreover, it gives instructions for learning this art on your own.
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The tree of questions

Summary
The tree of questions deals with questions about the other trees, and in the end there
are questions about the hundred forms and their practice. This tree contains four thousand
questions. Like the other trees, it divides into seven main parts, namely into the roots, the
trunk, the branches, the twigs, the leaves, the flowers and the fruit.

The roots are questions about the roots of the other trees
The trunk is made of questions about the trunks of the other trees.
The branches are made of questions about the branches of the other trees.
The twigs are made of questions about the twigs of the other trees.
The leaves are made of questions about the leaves of the other trees.
The flowers is made of questions about the flowers of the other trees.
The fruits are made of questions about the fruits of the other trees.
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This tree divides into seven parts, namely the roots, the trunk, the branches, the twigs,
the leaves, the flowers and the fruit.
In the roots, we find questions made from the roots of the other trees. In the trunk, we
look at questions about the natural properties of the trunks of the other trees, and so on in
sequence. We propose to follow this process in order to give a doctrine for solving other
questions that can be put regarding the natural properties of the trunks of the other trees. We
will give this doctrine by solving four thousand questions that we propose to include in this
tree so that through the ones we solve those who know this science can solve other extraneous
questions. Hence, it is said that this book is a tree of science general to all sciences because it
is constituted of general principles which are investigated generally and artificially. And the
same with the conclusion of this tree, which is a practical application of the other preceding
trees.
We make the solutions to the questions as brief as we can in order to avoid prolixity.
Naturally, there is more investigative art in the brief solution of a question because briefness
in words is more general than a prolixity of words. We gave a doctrine regarding this in Ars
inventiva, in Tabula Generalis and in Arbor Philosophiae.
The process we propose to follow in solving the questions consists in three modes. In
the first mode we refer the answer to certain loci in the preceding trees in which you can
attain the solution according to the natural properties of the locus, of the question and of the
terms employed.
For instance, if we have a question about the goodness of fire, the answer is to be
found in the roots of the elemental tree so that the statement of the question derives from the
text in accordance with the way in which the text better signifies a positive or a negative
answer and so that the text and the definitions of the roots always retain their conditions.
Likewise, the same applies when a question is put about the goodness of pepper; here the art
requires that you seek out the solution in the roots of the vegetal tree, and so on in orderly
sequence following the natural properties of the roots and the natural properties of questions
relevant to the roots. What we said about the roots also applies to the trunks and to the other
parts of the trees.
The second mode consists in solving questions by using maxims that are conditioned
in accordance with the natural properties of the trees and by according these maxims with the
conclusion of the question through affirmation and negation. If a maxim is somewhat obscure,
then we advise you to refer to the natural properties of the other trees in the loci with which
the maxim has concordance.
For instance, if you want to draw a conclusion from the maxim that says: “All
principles are nobler through both existing and doing good works than through merely
existing.” Now, this maxim is general to all the things said in the other trees about principles
and to all that is said about the magnitude of goodness, duration, power etc. Some of its
particulars are in the roots of the elemental tree, others are in the trunk, others in the branches
and likewise in orderly sequence through the other parts of the tree and through the other parts
of the other trees.
We propose to make one maxim for the question according to this second mode of
investigation, where the maxim is composed after putting the question.
The third mode of solving questions is composed of the first and the second modes, for
we sometimes propose to solve some questions by referring them to loci in the other trees and
by attributing one maxim to the question.
Note that when the solutions of two or more questions are referred to one and the same
locus or chapter, then the locus of the solution is indicated in detail after the first question, but
the same locus is simply indicated by “Ibid.” for the second question, the third question and
other subsequent questions
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About the roots of the tree of questions

About the roots of the elemental tree
Since fire is made of goodness and duration, why does it harm the subjects it burns,
and why does it consume them? Solution - If fire was not consumptive it would not be
generative nor would it do any good for man.
What is goodness full of? Solution - go to goodness in the roots of the elemental tree.
Is the goodness of fire substantial? Solution - The answer is yes. Ibid. If the goodness
of fire was not substantially good, then fire would be better through minor things than
through major things.
What are the qualities of the accidents of goodness? Ibid.
Can any great thing be great without magnitude? Ibid. Moreover, if a being could be
great without magnitude, then it could not be small by reason of smallness nor could it
be great by reason of substance.
Is fire greater than its own magnitude? Solution - Refer this question to its loci just as
the previous questions were referred to their respective loci. The entirety of substance
is greater than a part of it. Therefore, the magnitude of fire cannot exist as a supposite
on its own.
Can the magnitude of fire be idle? Solution - The succession of the beginning, the
middle and the end of fire is present throughout the entirety of the substance of fire.
Can fire be great outside itself? Solution - Just as goodness is good in magnitude, so is
magnitude great in goodness..
Could fire endure without acting? Solution - Fire would never exist if its parts did not
exist. Refer to the chapter on duration in the roots of the elemental tree.
Is the duration of fire substantial? Solution - If no durability was substantial, then
duration would be more durable through something other than itself than by itself.
Is fire more durable through form or through matter? Solution - if fire had sufficient
firewood it would burn up all elemented substances.
Why does fire last longer in lead than in iron, since iron is stronger than lead? Solution
– The heavier an elemented thing is, the closer it is to its center.
Could fire give if it could not receive? Solution – If fire could give without receiving,
then it could multiply its essence from non-being.
Can the heat of fire abandon its own subject? Solution – No appropriated quality is as
durable as a proper quality.
Does the fire of heat have its own power, or is its power appropriated? Solution – Go
to the chapter on power in the roots of the elemental tree.
Does fire have as much power in water as in air? Solution – Since concordance and
being have concordance as do contrariety and non-being, all power is greater in
concordance than in contrariety.
Can fire without air heat water? Solution – No participation can exist without some
concordance.
Since fire, heat and light are equal, why can fire heat water more than it can illuminate
it? Solution – If power could not do more with one quality than another, then power
would be equal in all substances.
Can fire operate within itself without the other elements? Solution – Operation
requires that one thing must arise from another.
Why does fire when it is in its own sphere have an appetite to descend down to the
sphere of earth, since water, which is contrary to fire, stands in the middle? Solution –
A great power is one that defeats its contrary, and go to the chapter on power in the
elemental tree above.
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Since fire has no discretion, why does it have natural concordance with air and with
earth? Solution – Refer to the chapter on wisdom in the roots of the elemental tree
above.
Since air and earth oppose each other, why does fire have concordance with air and
with earth? Solution – In the natural triangle, generation proceeds along two lines
which are lines of concordance, while corruption proceeds along one line between two
contraries.
Is fire in the water that it heats more inclined to move water than to move its coldness?
Solution – All motivity is more inclined toward major mobility than toward minor
mobility in the natural course of things.
Why does fire have an appetite for generating gold, since gold is not generated in
fire’s own species? Solution – No appetite has repose in elemented substance. And
follow what is said in the chapter on the will in the roots of the elemental tree.
Since the appetites of fire and water are made of goodness, why are they contrary to
each other? Solution – If fire and water were not contraries, there would be no
generation, and generation is good.
Does fire have a greater appetite for heating than for the heated object? Solution – Fire
cannot find repose in any elemented thing.
Since water is heavy, why has it an appetite to ascend upward? Solution – A poor
merchant has the will to go to distant lands so he can earn wealth and bring his wealth
back home.
Why does fire dry out clay tiles and melt wax with one and the same virtue? Solution
– The actions of a power differ in the difference of its passions. And follow what is
said about virtue in the roots of the elemental tree above.
Is fire as great in a flame as in a piece of coal? Solution – The major virtue is the one
closest to the center.
Why does the virtue of form arise in matter and issue forth in action? Solution –
Created production exemplifies uncreated production.
Does fire communicate its virtue to water? Solution – Necessity knows no laws.
Is the truth of fire essential to fire? Solution – If the substance of fire was not made of
substantial truth, than it would not exist on its own. And refer to the above chapter on
virtue in the roots of the elemental tree.
Does the substance of fire have accidental truth? Solution – Ibid.
Does fire verify water? Solution – From two contrary truths there arises a third truth
that is the daughter of both.
Are the truth of fire and the truth of water opposed to each other? Solution – Ibid. As
above in the chapter on truth.
Does fire have greater delight in heating air than in heating water? Solution – No man
can hate without passion.
Does fire have any passion when it dries out air? Solution – A father has passion when
he chastises his son.
Does fire enjoy burning up wood more than heating iron? Solution – Fire can heat iron
more than it can heat charcoal.
Does fire acquire as much for itself by heating up iron as by burning up wood?
Solution – Fire distances itself farther away from water when it burns up wood than
when it heats up iron.
Is the difference between fire and water a substantial part of both? Solution –As above
in the chapter on difference in the roots of the elemental tree.
Why is there accidental difference? Solution – Ibid.
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Is there more difference between a man’s body and his soul than there is between fire
and water? Solution – Corporeal and spiritual difference are not of one and the same
goodness.
Is the difference between the heat of fire and its light accidental? Solution – Without
accidental difference fire cannot give its likeness to the heat of garlic and pepper.
Why does fire melt gold but does not liquefy stone? Solution – The concordance of
fire is sufficient for one substance and for many substances.
Is the concordance between form and matter substantial? Solution – In no accident
within the course of nature is concordance as great as it is in substance.
Why does fire heat air? Solution – All substance would be idle without concordance.
Is the concordance that fire and water have in iron made of contrariety? Solution –The
dryness of iron is the object of fire and its coldness is the object of water.
Is the contrariety between fire and water substantial? Solution – Go to the chapter on
contrariety in the roots of the elemental tree.
Can water cool fire? Solution – Without circular contrariety there would be no
elemented things. And refer to the locus on contrariety, as above.
Since contrariety is not a substantial part of substance, why doesn’t concordance,
which is a substantial part of substance, totally deprive elemented substance from
contrariety? Solution – No proper quality is separable.
Does fire oppose water through heat as much as it opposes earth through dryness?
Solution – If a stone was heavier due to water more than to earth, then the earth would
not be its center.
What are the qualities of the prime principles of elemented substance? Solution – Go
to the roots of the elemental tree.
When fire begins to heat water, does it begin by heating itself first before heating
water? Solution – Fire heats water so that it can heat itself.
Does the natural agent initiate form before initiating matter? Solution – The natural
agent moves matter by moving form.
Why does iron, since it is a son of fire, become cold after it has been heated. Solution
– The proportion of matter to artificial form is never as great as the proportion of
matter to natural form.
Is disposition a natural principle in iron? Solution – Artificial disposition cannot exist
without natural disposition; and alchemists rejoice over this fact.
Is air closer to fire than to water? Solution – If air was closer to water than to air, then
it would not have any appetite for receiving heat from fire.
Is air closer to water than to earth? Solution – Participation always comes closer to the
subject through giving than through taking away.
Does air occupy the entire space between fire and water? Solution – Participation
cannot exist in emptiness.
Is the heated object closer to the form of fire than to its matter? Solution – No form
can heat itself.
Is fire dry per se? Solution – If fire was dry per se, it would have no appetite for earth.
Can fire transmute or convert the essence of air into its own species? Solution – The
end of the simple element is the beginning of the compound element.
Are some parts of fire in other parts? Solution – All the parts of fire are in a circle.
Since the prime principles are mixed together, why aren’t elemented substances mixed
together? Solution – If the donkey was in the ox and the ox was in the donkey, then
there would be some emptiness in nature.
Does fire have more appetite for giving than for receiving? Giving has concordance
with fulfilling but receiving has concordance with need.
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Does the substance of fire have greater concordance with the substance of air than
with the accidents of earth? Solution – The substance of fire has greater concordance
with heat than with dryness and with light than with blackness.
Is any accident of fire greater than the substance of fire? Solution – Human warmth is
more valuable than the substance of fire.
In fire, is relation greater than quantity? Solution – The noblest and the greatest
creatures are the ones that have the greatest similarity to God.
Since gold is made of fire, which is a light element, why doesn’t it naturally ascend
upward, instead of descending downward? Solution – Fire in its own sphere can never
have the equality of heat and colour in gold because fire and water are not equal in
gold.
Is gold devoid of equality? Solution – In gold, heat and light are equal quantities of
fire but coldness and colour are equal quantities of water.
Are fire and water equal in gold? Solution – Refer to the chapter on equality in the
roots of the elemental tree.
Can one substance be simply equal to another substance? Solution – If elemented
substance could be without majority and minority, then emptiness would be possible.
What is the quality of the greatest major minority? Solution – The greatest major
minority is the one that has no concordance with essence.
Is major minority really divisible? Solution – If major minority was divisible, then its
divisibility would be infinite.
Can a minor point be mobile? Solution – No major minority has anything that comes
first or last.
Does any accident have anything that comes first or last? Solution – If an accident
simply had first and last parts of its own, then it would be a substance.

Questions from the roots of the vegetal tree

Is the goodness of an apple made of the goodness of fire? Solution – Refer to the roots
of the vegetal tree.
Is foul taste made of the goodness of the vegetal tree? Solution – Sweetness and
bitterness are both good in their natural ways.
Is the sweetness of an apple a quality composed of the qualities of fire and of the other
elements in concordance? Solution – The qualities of the elements oppose animal
appetites with bitterness.
Does the vegetative power live on the elementative power? Solution – Go to the roots
as above.
Why does fire desire to be in pepper? Solution – Natural virtue is greater in a plurality
of species than in just one species.
Where does the essence of fire go to stand in the essence of pepper? Solution – The
vegetative makes flesh from bread and blood from wine.
If fire is present in pepper, why doesn’t it burn it up? Solution – The vegetative lives
on fire just as a flame lives on oil.
Why doesn’t fire have as great a virtue in a pumpkin as it has in pepper? Solution –
Just as the roots of the elemental tree are present in fire through heat, so are they
present in water through coldness.
How does the vegetative derive from the elementative? Solution –Just as the roots of
the elemental tree transition into a third number in fire, so do the elements transition
into a third number in vegetal substances.
Are the elements actually present in vegetal substances? Solution – If fire was not
actually present in wood, then no fire could ever grow.
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Questions from the roots of the sensual tree

Is the goodness of the sensitive power made of the goodness of the elementative and
vegetative powers? Solution – Go to the roots of the sensual tree.
Why does the goodness of the sensitive power exist? Solution – The goodness of bread is
multiplied from the goodness of flour and the goodness of water.
Is the goodness of the sensitive power present in the goodness of a flame of fire? Solution
– Just as tiles, glass and iron can be made from earth, so can flames, apples and flesh be
made from fire. And go to the roots as above.
When flesh is corrupted, where does its natural goodness go? Solution – Refer to the
roots of the sensual tree. And understand the exemplar given of gold artifacts melted back
down into the chunk of gold they were made from.
Why is the goodness of the sensitive power nobler than the goodness of the vegetative
power? Solution – Nobility is always greater in its entirety than in any of its parts.
Does the goodness of the sensitive power sense anything? Solution – An animal naturally
senses things and its reasons are instruments for sensing.
Is sensitive goodness mortal? Solution – If a simple part was mortal, then it would be
both simple and not simple.
What qualities of the goodness of the sensitive have? Solution – As in the roots above.
Why do animals have pores? Solution – Ibid.
Why do women not have facial hair like men? Solution – The tree that has the greatest
roots is the strongest. And go to the roots as above.

Questions from the roots of the imaginal tree

The imagination is good, hence we ask: what is it made of and whose is it? Solution – Go
to the roots of the imaginal tree.
How does the imagination exist? Solution – Ibid.
Does the intellect imagine things in its own species or in the species of the imaginative?
Solution – Ibid.
Does the imaginative power attain figures and shapes in its own species or in the species
of the sensitive power? Solution – The likenesses of the letters on a seal are preserved ion
the wax. And go to the roots as above.
Is imaginability sustained in a tower? Solution – Ibid.
Is imaginability sustained in an apple? Solution – Ibid.
How does the imaginative power reproduce the species it receives? Solution – Ibid.
What is the imaginative power? Solution – Just as the prime forms exist in fire, so do the
likenesses of the elemental, vegetal, sensual and celestial trees exist in the imagination.
Does the imaginative have any colour? Solution – The imaginative attains colour with the
likeness of colour.
Can the imagination imagine itself? Solution – the imagination is so small in size that it
cannot imagine itself.

Questions from the roots of the human-rational tree

How do corporeal goodness and spiritual goodness join together and enter into
composition with each other? Solution – Go to the roots of the human-rational tree
Are corporeal goodness and spiritual goodness mixed together? Solution – Mixture is not
present in every instance of participation; for instance an angel abiding in a city does not
mix its parts with length, breadth and height.
Does the soul receive corporeal nature? Solution – In man, difference preserves the
corporeal and the spiritual natures while concordance places them in common accord.
And go to the roots as above.
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How does man transit from body and soul into a third number? Solution – Ibid.
Does the soul respond before the body does when the body is injured? Solution – Ibid.
How do temptations come to people? Solution – Ibid.
Does the soul love imagining more than sensing? Solution – If there was no sin, then the
soul would love imagining more than sensing.
When an man dies, through what place does his soul leave his body? Solution – No
corporeal locus can imprison the rational soul.
How is the rational soul the form of the body? Solution – Go to the roots as above.
Does the soul produce any merit from the body? Solution – A hermit who is idle and who
is tempted by an evil temptation begins to pray for God’s help and has contrition.

Questions from the roots of the first moral tree

What is moral virtue made of and whose is it? Solution – Just as fire really exists above
the prime forms, so does moral virtue exist morally above the likenesses of the human-
rational tree.
Why does the hermit avoid tasty foodstuffs? Solution – Temperance is headed for
shipwreck in the sea of overly tasty foodstuffs.
Why does the hermit come down from the mountain and go to the city to see beautiful
women? Solution – The eyes see the beauties of creatures and the intellect of a good man
understands God’s beauty, the will love it and memory remembers it.
How is imagination an instrument of merit and guilt? Solution – Go to the roots as above.
Does a man acquire more merit through imagining than through sensing? Solution –
During a fast the senses suffer passion in sensing and the imagination is habituated with a
likeness of this passion.
What does the morality of memory made of and whose is it? Solution – Go to the roots as
above.
Where does morality stand? Solution – It stands in the habit in which it is clothed.
Hoe does morality grow? Solution –From major remembering and understanding there
follows major loving. And go to the roots as above.
Is the shame that men feel about doing good a virtue? Solution –Neither Jesus Christ nor
Holy Mary had any shame.
How does great grace enter into a man? Solution – Go to the roots as above.

Questions from the roots of the second moral tree

What kind of prime principles do the vices have? Solution – Go to the roots of the tree of
vices.
How is magnitude perverted from virtue into vice? Solution – Ibid.
What is the evil of vice? Solution –Since sin has no entity, why are old sinful habits
stronger than new ones? Solution –Ibid.
How can power be evil? Solution –Ibid.
Since the roots of the vices are instances of the privation of the virtues, we ask if the
principles of the tree of vices consist of other privations that precede these privations.
Solution – Just as the first and second intentions exist in the virtues, so do they exist in the
vices. And go to the roots as above.
What is a vicious will? Solution – Ibid.
Where does vice come from and where does it originate? Solution – Ibid.
Why do false things appear to be true? Solution – Ibid.
How do we recognize an evil temptation? Solution – Enjoyment that is a vicious habit is
that enjoyment in which the vices find repose. And go to the roots as above.
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Questions from the roots of the imperial tree

Should a prince exercise justice more than mercy? Solution – If people were more good
than evil, then princes would be mandated to show leniency.
Can a prince reign better through fear than through love? Solution – If all people were
good, then there would be no princes.
Is the prince’s goodness greater than the goodness of the people? Solution – Many people
got together and bought one horse.
Why is an evil prince more severely punished in Hell than any other man? Solution – No
will is as costly to buy as a prince’s will.
Should a prince be elected more on account of his heredity than on account of his moral
virtue? Solution – If wolves did not dress up in sheep’s clothing, then the one with the
greatest virtue should be the prince.
What are princes for? Solution – Go to the roots of the imperial tree.
Should a prince attend more to his own interests than to the interests of his people?
Solution – One man dug a vineyard worth a hundred talents to earn one talent.
Should the prince remember the crown before he remembers the gallows? Solution –
There is no honour as valuable as justice.
Should a prince sleep as much as other men do? Solution – Great perils never allow a man
to sleep.
Why should a prince feel more shame than any other man? Solution – One man is stealing
many things from many people.

Questions from the roots of the apostolic tree

Should a prelate be feared more than he is loved? Solution – It is better for a prelate to
show charity than to burn heretics.
What is a prelate for? Solution – Go to the roots of the apostolic tree.
How must a prelate exercise the virtues? Solution – Ibid.
Is the Pope obliged to attend to ordering that the Gospel be preached throughout the whole
world? Power is never given for remaining idle.
Must a prelate be elected more for his charity than for his prudence? Solution – If there
was no council, then the prelate’s prudence would be a better standard than his charity.
Must a prelate have greater concordance with the eyes than with the ears? Solution –
God’s honour consists more in hearing than in seeing.
Could a prelate be avaricious? Solution – One silver cup is enough for each prelate to
drink from. And go to the roots as above.
Why is the Church given supreme authority? Solution – Ibid.
Why is greater honour given to the Pope than to any other man? Solution – In no man is
God as strongly represented as in the Pope.
Why do clergymen have no wives? Solution – It is difficult for one man to lead a
contemplative life as well as an active life.

Questions from the roots of the celestial tree

Are the firmament and the four elements made of one general matter? Solution – Go to the
roots of the celestial tree.
Why are the heavenly bodies incorruptible? Solution – Go to the roots of the celestial tree.
Why do flowers turn toward the Sun? Solution – Between giving and receiving there is
concordance.
Does the firmament move by itself or is it moved by something else? Solution – If the
firmament did not move itself by itself, it would not have as great a natural concordance
with the mobilities existing here below.
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Do the goodness of the firmament, the goodness of fire and the goodness of water belong
to the same genus? Solution – Particular contrarieties have concordance in the unity of the
genus.
Why does the Sun have greater concordance with fire than with water? Solution – The
Sun likes the brightness of fire more than the whiteness of water.
Why is the Sun brighter at noon than at dawn? Solution – Green wood gives off more
smoke than dry wood does.
Why is water in fountains colder in the summer than in the winter? Solution – The winter
draws the Sun’s friends out of their houses.
Is the Sun heavy? Solution – No circular movement moves downward.
Is the Sun hot? Solution – If the Sun was hot, Venus and Mars would have to be
corruptible and fire would burn everything up.

Questions from the roots of the angelic tree

Do angels exist? Solution – The simpler a substance is, the more active it can be.
When an angel wants to act, does it consider reason before considering nature? Solution –
No angel is as worthy of being created as God is worthy of being loved.
Does an angel have extensity? Solution – Angelic magnitude is impossible to imagine, as
are its goodness, its duration, its power, its truth, its virtue, its will and its wisdom.
Are angels corruptible? Solution – No simple circle – so to speak – can be divided.
Do angels belong to a natural genus? Solution – Go to the roots as above.
Is an angel’s natural goodness substantial? Solution – Ibid.
Are angels audible? Solution – Between God and creature, ideas are considered.
Is an angel made of contraries? Solution – No angel naturally belongs to a genus.
How are evil angels obstinate? Solution – Go to the roots as above.
What is an angel made of and to whom does it belong? Solution - Ibid.

Questions from the roots of the eviternal tree

Does an angel’s glory increase on account of the good it does to people? Solution – God
would do wrong to the evil angel if He punished it as severely for one sin as for many
sins.
Do angels do good to men so as to acquire greater glory for itself? Solution – God’s will
satisfies the will of every good angel.
Does the devil make people sin so as to earn greater punishment for itself? Solution – The
devil’s will is entirely full of evil.
Since the devil sinned in time, why did it earn eviternal punishment? Solution – Go to the
roots of the eviternal tree.
Is the natural goodness of the devil entirely empty and idle? Solution – Without an end, no
substance can be full.
Is the devil’s punishment as great as its guilt? Solution – All guilt is against infinite
goodness, which is not subject to any punishment.
Does the devil sin more against the reasons than against nature? Solution – If god did not
exist but good angels existed, then the good angels would love their nature more than their
reasons.
Is power as great in evil angels as in good angels? Solution – No devil is free,
Does the devil have any power of its own over man? Solution – No man can live on
stones.
Is contrariety a principle of evil angels? Solution –Natural contrariety and guilt are not the
same thing.
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Questions from the roots of the maternal tree

Does Our Lady have any occasion to contradict a sinner who has great hope in her? Go to
the roots of the maternal tree.
Why does Our Lady not pray to her Son for justice and why does she pray to him for
mercy, given that justice and mercy are equal in her Son. Solution – Ibid.
Does Our Lady touch her Son with justice when sinners beg for mercy? Solution – Our
Lady would be doing wrong to a sinner who had hope in her and who sought mercy if she
did not pray to her Son for the sake of his love.
Are the reasons of Our Lady the mothers of sinners? Solution – Between Our Lady’s
reasons and her nature there is great concordance.
Can any mother be greater in the magnitude of goodness than the one who is the mother
of the end? Solution – No goodness is greater than the end.
Would charity without compassion be sufficient for the magnitude of maternity? Solution
– Without compassion, Our Lady could not be the mother of all sinners.
Is Our Lady a mother more on account of the divine nature of Jesus Christ than on
account of his human nature? Solution – Jesus Christ inasmuch as he was a man did not
make himself a son and a man.
Saint Peter asked Our Lady why she wept. Solution – Our Lady replied to Saint Peter that
her Son was dishonoured in Jerusalem, that more people were going to damnation and not
to salvation at the time when Raymond composed this book.
Is Our Lady our mother because of sin? Solution – If Our Lady was our mother because
of sin, then no sinner would have hope in her, given that sin and holiness have no
concordance between them.
If there was no sin, would Our Lady be the mother of Jesus Christ the man-God? Solution
– The prime intentions are not for the second intentions; the hammer and the tongs are for
the nail.

Questions from the roots of the Christian tree

Did God become incarnate? Solution – Go to the roots of the apostolic tree and to the
flowers of the Christian tree.
How did the Incarnation take place? Solution – Go to the roots of the Christian tree.
Did the entirety of divine nature become incarnate? Solution – The human goodness of
Jesus Christ was derived in common from the first five trees and it was specific inasmuch
as one and no more than one man became incarnate.
Did divine goodness and human goodness convert into each other in the Incarnation?
Solution – Man follows from the first five trees and because there is difference between
these natures, they remain as distinct natures in every man.
Is natural human goodness sustained in the Divinity or in the humanity of Jesus Christ?
Solution – Just as humanity is man in Divinity and just as it is man by its own nature, so
likewise the human reasons of Jesus Christ are what they are in the divine reasons of the
Person of the Son, and they remain as human reasons in his human nature.
Is human goodness present throughout the entirety of divine goodness? Solution – The
entirety of divine goodness is human inasmuch as God is good and God is a man, but
since the goodness of man is finite, it is not in its nature to be locally present in all the
places in this world where the God-man is present.
Is human goodness a reason for divine goodness to do good to men and to forgive their
sins? Solution – Through the union between the body and the soul, in every man, when
the human body feels hot and thirsty, the imagination imagines shade and cold fountains,
the soul desires them and moves the body toward them.
 13

Could Jesus Christ possibly have sinned while He was in this world? Solution – The body
cannot possibly be dead so long as the soul is in the body. And go to the roots, as above.
Was the divine goodness wounded on the cross? Solution – Just as Jesus Christ the man is
in the Divinity and remains as a man in his own nature, the divine goodness was wounded
on the cross inasmuch as the God-man was wounded, but it was not wounded in its own
nature.
Are the elements contrary in Our Lord Jesus Christ? Solution – Just as Jesus Christ the
man is in the Divinity, and remains as a man in his own nature, so likewise the elements in
the body of Jesus Christ are concordant and they are contrary in accordance with their
natural properties whose contrariety is forgotten and reduced to concordance.

Questions about God’s dignities in the divine tree

Does God exist? Solution – Go to the flowers of the apostolic tree.
Is there production in God? Solution – If there was no production in God, then all God’s
reasons would be idle in infinite extensity and in infinite duration. And go to the dignities
and the flowers of the divine tree.
Are God’s dignities real reasons? Solution – If God’s dignities were not real reasons, then
the divine nature would be idle in itself. And go to the dignities as above.
Since God’s dignities are one and the same entity, how can there be many of them? Ibid.
Is divine goodness a reason for producing more good rather than less? Solution –
Magnitude and majority have concordance as do smallness and minority.
What are the divine reasons for? Solution – Go to the dignities as above.
Can God be idle in himself? Solution – No divine reason can be deprived of being.
Can God acquire more goodness? Solution – Infinite goodness cannot be increased, but
God can acquire created goodness by participating in the Incarnation.
Are the divine reasons creative? Solution – Just as a man senses objects by reason of
seeing and hearing and also of the other senses, so is God a creator by the nature of his
reasons.

Questions from the roots of the tree of exemplars

Why do soldiers in battle place themselves in danger of death in order to defend their lord
the King? Solution – Go to the first paragraph of the roots of the tree of exemplars where
the solution to this question is signified through a similitude.
Why don’t gluttonous persons like to distribute food at the table? Solution – Ibid.
paragraph 2.
The hermit asked God, since he loved him so much, why he gave him so many
tribulations? And why did God allow him to be so sorely tempted? Solution – Go to
paragraph 3.
Why do avaricious men die earlier than others? Solution – Go to paragraph 4.
Why doesn’t God heed the prayers of sinners every time they pray to him? Solution – Go
to paragraph 5.
Is there greater pleasure in giving or in receiving? Solution – Go to paragraph 6.
Why does God give tribulations and passions to sinners? Solution – Go to paragraph 7.
Why were judges invented? Solution – Go to paragraph 8.
How does enmity begin? Go to paragraph 9 as above.
How do the falsehoods of men get known? Solution – Ibid. paragraph 10.
How can people defend themselves against deception? Solution – Ibid. paragraph 11.
How must a man respond to an enemy who tries to deceive him? Solution – Ibid.
paragraph 12.
 14

Why do people naturally have an appetite for living this present life given that the afterlife
is better than this one? Solution – Ibid. paragraph 13.
Why are there temptations and why can’t people find repose in this life? Solution – Ibid.
paragraph 14.
How must people raise their children? Solution – Ibid. paragraph 15.
How must a prince be familiar with his subjects? Solution – Ibid. paragraph 16.
Why does the public interest have so few servants? Solution – Ibid. paragraph 17.
How can we tell that a man is scared? Solution – Ibid. paragraph 18.

We have given a doctrine for extracting moral questions from the exemplars of the roots of
the tree of exemplars and by reason of this doctrine you can extract from these exemplars
questions that can be made from the roots of the vegetal tree, of the sensual tree and of the
other trees.

Questions about the trunks

First, about the trunk of the elemental tree
Does prime matter stand and participate with prime general form? Solution – Go to the
trunk of the elemental tree.
What does hyle consist of? Solution – Ibid.
How do natural producible forms exist in the state of potentiality from which they arise?
Solution – Ibid.
Is the universal chaos a body? Solution – Ibid.
Before the form and matter that corporeal substance consists of, are there any other prime
principles form whose essences arise the form and the matter of which corporeal
substance is made? Solution – Ibid.
How do many things add up to one general being? Solution – Ibid.
Why isn’t the general chaos accessible to the senses? Solution – Ibid.
How do secondary things arise from primary ones? Solution – Ibid.
How do species derive from genera? Solution – Ibid.
Is there one general quantity from whose essence many specific quantities arise? Solution
– Ibid.

Questions from the trunk of the vegetal tree

Is the essence of an apple made of the essence of the four elements? Solution – Go to the
trunk of the vegetal tree.
Does the visibility of an apple arise from the visibility of a stone? Solution – Stones and
apples participate in genus. And go to the trunk as above.
Why can’t an animal see an apple along with its essence? Solution – Ibid.
Does the elemental trunk exist in the trunks of apple trees and of plum trees? Solution –
The instances of moisture of the apple tree and of the plum tree both arise from one
general moisture, which cannot be without its general subject.
Why doesn’t the trunk of the elemental tree occupy the locus of the apple tree? Solution –
No principle occupies the middle as it comes to its end.
Is fig juice of the essence of fire? Solution – Fig juice is made of the four general qualities
and no proper quality ever abandons its own subject.
Where was Martin’s fruit tree before it came into being? Solution – The idea of a goat was
the cause of its production inasmuch as the idea was the goat before the goat came into
being. This is a mathematical exemplar.
 15

How is the essence of the trunk of the elemental tree signified by the essence of a fruit
tree? Solution – Go to the trunk as above.
Is there a difference between visibility and eyesight? Solution – No abstract form can be
seen. And go to the trunk as above.
Is the visibility of the elemental trunk inside or outside the fruit tree? Solution – The
figure of a nail is external to the essence of iron.
Is the elemental trunk the material on which the fruit tree lives? Solution – No radical
moisture can live without nourishing moisture.

Questions from the trunk of the sensual tree

Does the sensitive power consist of the elementative and the vegetative powers but not of
itself? Solution – If an animal could simply consist of the elementative and the vegetative
powers, then fruit trees and horses could belong to the same species. And go to the trunk
of the sensual tree.
What kind of figures do the elemental and vegetal trunks have in the sensual tree?
Solution – Ibid.
Does the sensual trunk live on the elemental and vegetal trunks? Solution – In a lamp, the
flame lives on oil. And go to the trunk as above.
Does the colour of blood come from the colour of the vegetal tree? Solution – General
colour is present everywhere, but specific colour is not present in all bodies.
Is the colour of blood potentially present in a stone or in an apple? Solution – The branch
of cultivated olive that was grafted on a wild olive tree did not come from the wild olive
tree.
Why can’t any of the senses sense itself? Solution – Because sensibility is abstract, it
cannot be attained without using a figure, such as the figure of colour that is sensed in the
coloured object by seeing it.
Can any of the senses attain substance? Solution – If a sense attained the inside but not the
outside, then the figure of substance would not be its object.
When the sensual trunk is touched, does it respond through the reasons or through nature?
Solution - Nature slept and its reasons awakened it to keep it from being idle.
When a sense touches an object, does it touch it through its reasons or through its nature?
Solution – The whole moves its parts so as to move itself.
Is the sensitive power substantial or accidental? Solution – Go to the trunk as above.

Questions from the trunk of the imaginal tree

Is the trunk of the imaginal tree as confused as the trunk of the sensual tree? Solution –
The more confused substance is the one in which difference has less entity.
Why doesn’t the imagination attain spiritual substances? Solution – If any spiritual
substance was tangible, then the imagination could imagine it.
Is the imagination capable of deliberation? Solution – If the imagination was capable of
deliberation, then it could respond even before it was touched.
Does the image that appears in a mirror belong to the essence of imagination? Solution –
Go to the trunk of the imaginal tree.
Does the imagination attain real imaginability or a figure of it? Solution – Just as a smith
artificially draws the new shape of a nail out of a piece of iron, so does the imagination
naturally draws a new figure from real imaginability.
Why can’t a man who sees a new image of his face in a mirror imagine it as easily as he
can imagine the new image of another man he sees? Solution – The farther an image is
separated from the subject of a proper object into an appropriated object, the more
 16

confused the image becomes. This passage contains much philosophy that can be
developed by following the process of this science.
Is the imagination made of real likenesses or of fantastic ones? Solution – If the
imagination was not made of real likenesses, no substance could be imaginable per se.
Since a horse is not made of intelligibility, why is it intelligible? Solution – Just as the
intellect uses the eyes to attain colour from which it draws fantastic intelligibility, so
likewise does the intellect draws fantastic intelligibility from a horse. And go to the trunk
a above.
Can the trunk of the imaginal tree be touched with the unlikeness of its own nature?
Solution – No heat can be sensed with coldness.
Is the imagination a habit of likenesses just as colour is a habit of coloured substances?
Solution – If the imagination was not a substantial being, then the likeness of a fountain
that is absent from the animal that drank from it would be sustained in accidents only.
And go to the trunk as above.

Questions from the trunk of the human-rational tree

How do the natures of man respond to each other? Solution – Go to the trunk of the
human-rational tree.
Is there just one substance, or are there many substances in man? Solution – Ibid.
Can the soul be touched? Solution – Ibid.
Can man be sensed? Solution – Man senses the goodness of wine in the cup but not the
total goodness of the wine in the cask.
Can a man relate to the trunk of the human-rational tree with one science? Solution – In a
flame of fire, the species of oil is converted into the fire that burns in the lamp.
Is the rational soul present throughout the entire body? Solution – Ibid.
Is the rational soul present in human hair? Solution – If the rational soul was present in
human hair, then the hair would sense something at its ends.
When a man loses a hand or a foot, does he lose a part of his rational soul? Solution – No
spiritual substance is determined by dimensions of length, breadth and height.
Why does man die? Solution – The bottle breaks and the wine spills out from it.
How does the soul move the body? Solution – First intentions move second intentions.
And go to the trunk as above.

Questions from the trunk of the moral tree of virtues

What is morality? Solution – Go to the trunk of the moral tree.
How does morality endure? Solution – Ibid.
How does one morality oppose another morality? Solution – Every part of the moral art
has its proper object or an appropriated object. And go to the trunk as above.
Are the moral considerations natural habits? Solution – Good moral habits are natural in
the end of man through disposition and they are artificial in the beginning and the end
through deliberation and choice.
Can one moral principle be made of contraries? Solution – It is impossible for virtue and
vice to be directed to the same end.
Can morality be sensed? Solution – For morality to be sensible it would have to be
natural.
Can equal moral principles be present in man? Solution – Due to the likeness of equality
present in the moral trunk, moral principles are disposed to be equal; but because in the
trunk there are likenesses of majority and minority, the equality of moral principles is not
there in potentiality.
 17

Do the moral principles derive from each other? Solution – Minor moral principles derive
from major ones.
Does one good moral principle occupy another good moral principle? Solution – Not all
the reasons receive habits through simple contact.
Is morality imaginable? Solution – No imagination can reach above itself.

Questions from the trunk of the moral tree of vices

What does the disposition of the vices consist of? Solution – Vicious morality arises from
a predisposition to privation.
How does vice begin? Solution – When the virtuous man begins to be idle, then vicious
morality begins.
What does vice live on? Solution – The flame of fire in a lamp lives on the privation of
the species of oil.
How does sin increase? Solution – Go to the trunk of the moral tree of vices.
How can sin be deprived? Solution – The agent that moves form and matter toward the
end for which they are meant, incurs no guilt through this movement.
Is the trunk of vices made of natural parts? Solution – Just as a stone carried by a donkey
has a natural appetite for descending to the ground, so likewise the world would incline
toward nothingness and return to nothingness if God did not sustain it.
Does sin have any power? Solution – Vicious habits and the privation of virtue are the
power of sin.
In the trunk of vices, is there any choosing between good and evil? Solution – The trunk
of the virtues and the trunk of vices cannot possibly be present in the same man at the
same time.
Is the trunk of vices made of full parts? Solution – No part is full if it is contrary to the
end.
Since vice arises from the privation of virtue, why is it sustained in real natural objects?
Solution – The disposition of virtue to privation together with the potentiality of virtue
make a man feel that he is free to choose between good and evil.

Questions from the trunk of the imperial tree

Why does a good prince have more merit than any other man? Solution – The man who
has the most good is the man who is farther removed from evil than any other man .
Should a prince pardon offences committed by his blood relatives more readily than he
pardons offences committed by anybody else? Solution – It is difficult for a prince’s
relative to be humble.
Does the intellect have more to do with justice than the will? Solution – No intellect can
run as swiftly as the will runs.
Why does a prince make his first-born son his heir? Solution – That which is closer to the
beginning is closer to the end in the course of nature.
Where does the prince keep his treasures? Solution – The prince’s treasures are in his
sword and in the will of the people.
Why is a prince afraid? Solution – No man has as many enemies as a prince.
Why doe a prince love honour more than money? Solution – Dominion over many wills is
nobler and stronger than dominion over large sums of money.
Why must a prince be more humble than any other man? Solution – The humility that
descends from great things to minor things and finds equal things in the middle is present
in the man who is the most subordinated.
Why must a prince be more law-abiding than any other man? Solution – Treason is worse
in a prince than in any other man.
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Why does a price have a wife? Solution – A prince loves his rulership on account of his
love for his son.

Questions from the trunk of the apostolic tree

Why must the Pope rank above the prince? Solution – Go to the trunk of the apostolic
tree.
Why must the Pope have greater concordance with the prince than with anybody else?
Solution – Fear keeps the vineyard safe.
Why does the prince kiss the Pope’s foot? Solution – In a lamp, the oil floats on top of the
water because the oil has concordance with the flame.
Why does the Pope have such a big throne? Solution – A man who is placed higher up can
see farther away.
Why does the Pope wear white garments? Solution – The Pope forgives men’s sins and
water makes fabric white.
Why doesn’t the Pope have a wife? Solution – If the Pope had a wife, he would have to
tend to earthly matters.
Why is there an empire? Solution – One Pope and one emperor can acquire the entire
world.
Why is there only one Pope and not many? There is one God in heaven and the image of
his unity is one on earth.
Why is vice worse in a prelate than in any other man? Solution – The most highly placed
man is the one who can see farther than any other man.
Why does the Pope need a bigger council than any other man? Solution – The more a
person is a public figure, the more they need general counsel.

Questions from the trunk of the celestial tree

Does the firmament have a soul, and if it has a soul, what kind of soul is it? Solution – Go
to the trunk of the celestial tree.
What is the firmament made of? Solution – Ibid.
Is mobility of the nature of the firmament? Solution – All spherical parts have an appetite
for movement. And go to the trunk as above.
Does the Sun’s light descend here below? Solution – Ibid.
Why is there less water in rivers in the summer than in the winter? Solution – Water is
sowed in the winter and harvested in the summer. And hungry men have more blood than
men who are not hungry.
Why is there more water in rivers in the winter than in the fall? Solution – A full cask
gives out more wine than a half-empty cask.
Since the firmament is simply a circular figure, why does it instill square and triangular
figures into things here below? Solution – Go to the trunk as above.
Why is it colder at dawn than at midnight? Solution – Fire asked the Sun to help it draw
its heat out from water. And go to the trunk as above.
How does the Sun make plants grow? Solution – Just as the power of sight multiplies the
visibility of species through continuous and discrete quantity, so does the Sun make the
generability of plants grow through continuous and discrete quantity. And go to the trunk
as above.
Does the Sun extend the influence of its virtue upward as far as Mars, Jupiter, Saturn and
Leo? Solution – The only center is the end of the circle in which all corporeal things exist
for mankind.
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Questions from the trunk of the angelic tree

Are essence and substance one and the same thing in an angel? Solution – Given that an
accident cannot exist through its own essence and given that accident is sustained by
substance, it follows that there is a difference between substance and essence.
Since an angel is not a body nor is it corporeal in nature, we ask if its parts can be mixed
together with each other. Solution – Following the nature of the will, the lover and the
lovable are in the loving. And go to the trunk of the angelic tree.
Does an angel have shape? Solution – If corporeal substances could be sensed through
form, then their shapes would be superfluous in nature. And go to the trunk as above.
Is an angel made of form and matter? Solution – if no bonificability was of the essence of
the bonifier, then neither goodness nor bonifying would be great. And go to the trunk, as
above.
Does an angel have any corporeal conditions? Solution – If an angel had any corporeal
conditions, there would be a voidness of magnitude in the difference that exists between
corporeal and spiritual substance. And go to the trunk, as above.
Can an angel understand corporeal substances without imagining and sensing them?
Solution – Every part of an angel is so strongly mixed in every other part and joined
together in the trunk of the angelic tree, and all the parts assist each other so strongly that
they do not need to imagine or to sense corporeal objects to receive them.
Can an angel who is in the East understand what people are doing in the West? Solution –
An angel can extend its intellect to great objects and to small objects - without any growth
or extension of its parts - as well as and far better than the imagination can. And go to the
trunk as above.
Can many angels be present in the same place? Solution – Just as in the angelic trunk the
parts can be within each other without occupying any space, so likewise many angels can
be together in one and the same place.
Since angels understand from afar what men are doing, why do they descend from heaven
to be present with men on earth? Solution – In the angel’s presence, the human soul
receives benefits that it keeps.
If a needle pricked the substance of an angel and left a pinprick point on it, what would be
its circumference? Solution – No corporeal punctuality can be sustained in loving.

Questions from the trunk of the eviternal tree

Can merit either grow or decrease in the afterlife? Solution – Go to the trunk of the
eviternal tree
Could God forgive Mohammed who is in Hell? Solution – Ibid.
In the merit that is harvested in the end, do the beginning and the middle remain? Solution
- Merit in this life is sustained in the beginning, in the middle, at death and in the end.
Is there any substantial merit? Solution – If the shape of a knife was of the essence of iron,
then nails could not be made from this iron.
What is eviternity sustained in? Solution – Eviternity is sustained in the measurements of
eternity, of God’s justice and of the beginning of the world.
How do time and eviternity correspond to each other in Hell? Solution – A branch of
cultivated olive grafted on a wild olive tree converts the matter that flows into it from the
wild tree.
Do sinners in Hell understand all about their guilt? Solution – The intelligibility of God’s
justice is great and not small.
Do sinners in Hell know each other? Solution – In fire, every glowing coal expands its
heat into every other glowing coal.
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What is Hell for? Solution – Hell is for the privation of the end just as Paradise is for the
achievement and the possession of the end.
Is there a middle between heaven and Hell? Solution –There cannot possibly be a middle
that does not participate with the natural properties of the beginning and of the end.

Questions from the trunk of the maternal tree

Is Our Lady present at the death of those who have hope in her? Solution – Between Our
Lady’s maternity and the end that is her Son, there is great concordance.
With what does Our Lady respond to sinners who pray to her? Solution – Our Lady’s
maternity responds to the final purpose of mankind.
Why do people call so often upon Our Lady? Hungry children cry out when they see their
mothers.
Why did Our Lady have such great sorrow because of her Son’s death? Solution – Our
Lady experienced great sorrow so that she could have great compassion.
With what does Our Lady guard her sheep? Solution – Our Lady defends her sheep from
wolves with the end of maternity.
Could Our Lady and her Son deny anything to each other? Solution – There can be no
denial in the magnitude of love and wisdom.
Is Our Lady the mother of any sinner who loves himself more than her Son Jesus Christ?
Solution – No virtue can be a mother of sin.
Does Our Lady heed the prayers of those sinners who do not pray to her for things that
are just? Solution – Our Lady loves her Son so much that she does not grant the prayers of
his enemies.
Does Our Lady love women more than men? Solution – Our Lady loves the likenesses of
her Son more than any other likenesses.
If Our Lady is so compassionate, then why has she no compassion for the damned in
Hell? Solution – There can be no concordance between one compassion and another
compassion.

Questions from the trunk of the tree of Jesus Christ

In Jesus Christ, are there two Persons, one of which is human and the other is divine?
Solution – Jesus Christ is one, and if He were in two Persons, He would not be one
because He would be two different Persons. And go to the trunk of the Christian tree
In Jesus Christ, is there one nature or are there many natures? Solution – If there was only
one nature in Jesus Christ, then He would not be a man through human nature and God
through divine nature.
In Our Lord Jesus Christ, is there one magnitude or are there many magnitudes? Solution
– If there was only one magnitude in Our Lord Jesus Christ, then this magnitude would be
either infinite or finite, or it would be both infinite and finite.
Does the Divinity undergo any change or decrease in Jesus Christ? Solution –Go to the
trunk, as above.
Is Jesus Christ composed of divine nature and human nature? Solution – Ibid.
In Our Lord Jesus Christ, do human nature and divine nature transition into a third
number?
Why didn’t the Son of God become incarnate in many men? Solution – It is impossible for
the Son of God to be one Person with many men.
Why didn’t the Son of God assume the angelic nature? Solution – It is impossible for the
Son of God to participate with all creatures in the angelic nature.
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Can the human nature of Jesus Christ remove itself from the divine nature? Solution –The
human nature did not choose its deification, consequently it cannot choose to be separated
from Divinity.
What is the greatest name? Solution – He who names Jesus Christ speaks of all things.

Questions from the trunk of the divine tree

In God, are essence and substance one and the same? Solution – Go to the trunk of the
divine tree.
In God, are essence and being numerically one and identical? Solution – Being and non-
being are contraries and if being was not present in essence, then essence would not be
removed on its own from non-being. Here we realize that in creatures there is a difference
between essence and being so that created essence is close to the non-being from which it
was produced into being. Indeed, if essence and being were one and the same in creatures,
then essence would be removed on its own from non-being, it would be eternal and could
never be in privation because being cannot exist without essence because of the
dependency that essence has on non-being, being has an inclination toward the non-being
from which it was produced by creation. This passage states a general principle that leads
to the knowledge of many particular truths.
Does God’s substance, given that it consists of God’s reasons, transition into a third
number? Solution – Go to the trunk as above.
How does God’s substance respond when it is touched? Solution - Ibid.
Is God’s goodness generative? Solution – Ibid.
Is God’s substance a compound? Solution – Ibid.
Can God annihilate himself? Solution – Eternity cannot possibly be deprived of being.
Can God annihilate the world? Solution – Divine power cannot possibly oppose divine
will.
Can God engage in contradiction? Solution – There is no negation in God.
Could God create sin? Solution – Go to the trunk as above and see the way in which
divine substance responds when it is touches, so to say.

Questions from the trunk of the tree of exemplars

First, from the elemental tree

i. Why is it said that all excess is evil? Solution – Go to paragraph 1 in the trunks of the
tree of examples and of the elemental tree where the answer is indicated.
ii. How does envy begin? Solution – Ibid. paragraph 2.
iii. Is fire more valuable than water in every respect? Solution – Ibid. paragraph 3.
iv. What are the prime principles of praise and blame? Solution – Ibid. paragraph 4.
v. How does sadness begin? Solution – Ibid. paragraph 5.
vi. Which is more valuable: beauty or utility? Solution – Ibid. paragraph 6.
vii. How are prayers to be granted? Solution – Ibid. paragraph 7.
viii. How does reprehension begin? Solution – Ibid. paragraph 8.
ix. How can enemies be recognized? Solution – Ibid. paragraph 9.
x. How can envy be recognized? Solution – Ibid. paragraph 10.
xi. How does ill will begin? Solution – Ibid. paragraph 11.
xii. How does anger grow? Solution – Ibid. paragraph 12.
xiii. Why does a servant grow weary of serving his lord? Solution – Ibid. paragraph 13.
xiv. How can human falsehood be detected? Solution – Ibid. paragraph 14.
xv. Why do people need counseling? Solution – Ibid. paragraph 15.
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xvi. How must one respond to a man who is threatening him? Solution – Ibid. paragraph
16.
xvii. When a crooked man recommends himself, how should one respond to him? Solution
– Ibid. paragraph 17.
xviii. How do men instill fear in each other? Solution – Ibid. paragraph 18.
xix. Why isn’t the bottom of the pot where oil is being boiled as hot as the oil, given that
the pot is directly in contact with the flame? Solution – Ibid. paragraph 19.
xx. Why are people more humble in a foreign land than in their own country? Solution –
Ibid. paragraph 20.
xxi. Why do people reproach each other? Solution – Ibid. paragraph 21.
xxii. What is the difference between the first and the second intention? Solution – Ibid.
paragraph 22.
xxiii. How is water material for fire? Solution – Ibid. paragraph 23.
xxiv. Why do some people despise others? Solution – Ibid. paragraph 24.
xxv. Why is a fat pig closer to death than an emaciated pig? Solution – Ibid. paragraph 25.
xxvi. Why are wealthy man lazy? Solution – Ibid. paragraph 26.
xxvii. Why are avaricious men conceited? Solution – Ibid. paragraph 27.
xxviii. Why are foolish kings submissive to vile individuals? Solution – Ibid. paragraph 28.
xxix. Why do men work harder for honour than for health? Solution – Ibid. paragraph 29.
xxx. Why are people so fond of vainglory? Solution – Ibid. paragraph 30.
xxxi. Given that a king is more obliged to serve than anyone else, why is he so conceited?
Solution – Ibid. paragraph 31.
xxxii. Why do the wealthy despise the poor? Solution – Ibid. paragraph 32.
xxxiii. Why are slaves conceited? Solution – Ibid. paragraph 33.
xxxiv. Why is matter more conceited than form? Solution – Ibid. paragraph 34.
xxxv. Why is fire closer to the senses than water? Solution – Ibid. paragraph 35.
xxxvi. Why is a peasant the king in his own home? Solution – Ibid. paragraph 36.
xxxvii. Why is a sinner proud of his vices? Solution – Ibid. paragraph 37.
xxxviii. Why do husbands and wives quarrel? Solution – Ibid. paragraph 38.
xxxix. Since the night is the realm of water, why is fire so conceited at night? Solution – Ibid.
paragraph 39.
xl. Why is it dangerous to reprehend someone? Solution – Ibid. paragraph 40.

Questions from the proverbs in the trunk of the vegetal tree

i. Why is virtue nobler in the end than in the beginning? Solution – Go to paragraph 1 of
the said trunk.
ii. Why does the blacksmith’s wife who paints her face laugh at her husband’s hands
because they are black? Solution – Ibid. paragraph 2.
iii. Though wine gladdens the human heart, why does it sadden the intellect? Solution –
Ibid. paragraph 3.
iv. How does humility reprehend conceited men? Solution – Ibid. paragraph 4.
v. Why don’t beans desire to have the nature of cinnamon? Solution – Ibid. paragraph 5.
vi. Why does a merchant deride a peasant who is his father? Solution – Ibid. paragraph 6.
vii. Since a man can fall all the way down from major honour to major disgrace, why do
men love greater honour more than lesser honour? Solution – Ibid. paragraph 7.
viii. Why does the whiteness of silver deride the blackness of iron? Solution – Ibid.
paragraph 8.
ix. Why does the peasant reprehend the king for taking rest? Solution – Ibid. paragraph 9.
x. How do you recognize conceit? Solution – Ibid. paragraph 10.
 23

Questions about the proverbs in the trunk of the sensual tree

i. Why does the king carry a sword? Solution – Go to paragraph 1 of the proverbs in the
trunk of the sensual tree.
ii. Why are both hands friends with each other? Solution – Ibid. paragraph 2.
iii. Why doesn’t a conceited man want to have associates? Solution – Ibid. paragraph 3.
iv. Why does a foolish man want to be loved? Solution – Ibid. paragraph 4.
v. Why does a subordinate person like to take rest? Solution – Ibid. paragraph 5.
vi. Why does a ruler have no compassion for his subjects? Solution – Ibid. paragraph 6.
vii. Why would a lecher carry a lily in his hand? Solution – Ibid. paragraph 7.
viii. Why are lions afraid of men? Solution – Ibid. paragraph 8.
ix. How do we recognize good advice? Solution – Ibid. paragraph 9.
x. Since dogs and wolves are similar, why do they hate each other? Solution – Ibid.
paragraph 10.

Questions about the proverbs in the trunk of the imaginal tree

i. How does the succession of points proceed in man? Solution – Go to paragraph 1 of
the proverbs in the trunk of the imaginal tree.
ii. How does mistrust begin? Solution – Ibid. paragraph 2.
iii. Why does a man who wants to betray a king feel afraid? Solution – Ibid. paragraph 3.
iv. How do people abhor lechery? Solution – Ibid. paragraph 4.
v. How does honour last? Solution – Ibid. paragraph 5.
vi. How do you recognize a false person? Solution – Ibid. paragraph 6.
vii. Why is a knight honoured? Solution – Ibid. paragraph 7.
viii. Why are women more modest than men? Solution – Ibid. paragraph 8.
ix. A small Capuchin asked a big Capuchin where hypocrisy was located. Solution – Ibid.
paragraph 9.
x. Why is the lazy man so thin? Solution – Ibid. paragraph 10.

Questions about the proverbs in the trunk of the human-rational tree

i. Why is the sin of lust closer to the soul than to the body? Solution – Go to paragraph 1
of the proverbs in the trunk of the human-rational tree.
ii. When one man reprehends another, why does he excuse himself even as he is
reprehending him? Solution – Ibid. paragraph 2.
iii. How is the body an occasion of sin? Solution – Ibid. paragraph 3.
iv. Why does a thief curse his father and his mother as he is being hanged? Solution –
Ibid. paragraph 4.
v. Since the will cannot be sensed, why does it incur guilt through sensing? Solution –
Ibid. paragraph 5.
vi. Why would a raven deride a black crow? Solution – Ibid. paragraph 6.
vii. Why do wolves eat sheep? Solution – Ibid. paragraph 7.
viii. Why are women more fearful than men? Solution – Ibid. paragraph 8.
ix. Why did a braying donkey deride a songbird? Solution – Ibid. paragraph 9.
x. Why is it painful for a discreet man to be associated with an indiscreet man? Solution
– Ibid. paragraph 10.

Questions about the proverbs in the trunk of the moral tree

i. Sin was asked to tell who its father was. Solution – Go to paragraph 1 of the proverbs
in the trunk of the moral tree.
ii. Why are there so many evil people? Solution – Ibid. paragraph 2.
iii. What is the end of sin? Solution – Ibid. paragraph 3.
 24

iv. A sinner was asked to say where he stood. Solution – Ibid. paragraph 4.
v. Free will asked if it existed for the sake of sin. Solution – Ibid. paragraph 5.
vi. Conscience asked the sinner: “Why don’t you love me?” Solution – Ibid. paragraph 6.
vii. Sin was asked to tell why it spoke evil of the Sun. Solution – Ibid. paragraph 7.
viii. Can virtue receive punishment? Solution – Ibid. paragraph 8.
ix. The king’s ring was asked to tell how much it was worth. Solution – Ibid. paragraph 9.
x. Sin was asked to tell why it loved wealthy people more than poor people. Solution –
The wealth of the miser and idleness became partners. And go to paragraph 10 of the
trunk as above.

Questions about the proverbs in the trunk of the imperial tree

i. Idleness asked goodness why it wept. Solution – Go to paragraph 1 of the proverbs in
the trunk of the imperial tree.
ii. Magnitude was asked to tell where idleness stood. Solution – Ibid. paragraph 2.
iii. The idle man was asked to tell why he did not live as long as other men. Solution –
Ibid. paragraph 3.
iv. Malice was asked to give the name of its eldest son. Solution – Ibid. paragraph 4.
v. A hermit asked a city to tell him why it wept. Solution – Ibid. paragraph 5.
vi. A hermit asked a city to tell him what its population was made of. Solution – Ibid.
paragraph 6.
vii. A hermit asked a city to tell him what its crown was made of. Solution – Ibid.
paragraph 7.
viii. A hermit asked a city to tell him why it had lost its sense of shame. Solution – Ibid.
paragraph 8.
ix. A hermit asked a city to tell him what its revenue consisted of. Solution – Ibid.
paragraph 9.
x. A hermit asked a city to tell him why it lived by night. Solution – Ibid. paragraph 10.
xi. A hermit asked a city to tell him why it had no concordance with goodness. Solution –
Ibid. paragraph 11.
xii. A hermit asked a city to tell him what it was clothed in. Solution – Ibid. paragraph 12.
xiii. A hermit asked a city to tell him who guided it on its pilgrimage. Solution – Ibid.
paragraph 13.
xiv. A hermit asked a city to tell him where the king’s hospice was located. Solution –
Ibid. paragraph 14.
xv. A hermit asked a city to tell him who had plundered it. Solution – Ibid. paragraph 15.
xvi. A hermit asked a city to tell him what the tastiest food was. Solution – Ibid. paragraph
16.
xvii. A hermit asked a city to tell him where its fountain was located. Solution – Ibid.
paragraph 17.
xviii. A hermit asked a city to tell him who had dishonoured it. Solution – Ibid. paragraph
18.

Questions about the proverbs in the trunk of the apostolic tree

i. A hermit asked the will to tell him why it wept. Solution - Go to paragraph 1 of the
proverbs in the trunk of the apostolic tree.
ii. A hermit asked magnitude to tell him where it was going. Solution – Ibid. paragraph 2.
iii. A hermit asked the church to tell him what it lived on. Solution – Ibid. paragraph 3.
iv. A hermit asked the church to tell him what sign it had emblazoned on its banner. Solution
– Ibid. paragraph 4.
 25

v. A hermit asked the church to tell him if it knew what conscience was. Solution – Ibid.
paragraph 5.
vi. A hermit asked the church to tell him if its horse was a good runner. Solution – Ibid.
paragraph 6.
vii. A hermit asked the church to tell him if its splendour illuminated the whole world.
Solution – Ibid. paragraph 7.
viii. A hermit asked the church to tell him if it was sick. Solution – Ibid. paragraph 8.
ix. A hermit asked the church to tell him who protected it from evil men. Solution – Ibid.
paragraph 9.
x. A hermit asked the church to tell him who plundered it. Solution – Ibid. paragraph 10.
xi. A hermit asked the church to tell him what its elite consisted of. Solution – Ibid.
paragraph 11.
xii. A hermit asked the church to tell him if it was afraid. Solution – Ibid. paragraph 12.
xiii. A hermit asked the church to tell him what it was built on. Solution – Ibid. paragraph 13.
xiv. A hermit asked the church to tell him what kind of messengers its spouse sent to it.
Solution – Ibid. paragraph 14.
xv. A hermit asked the church to tell him who dishonoured it the most. Solution – Ibid.
paragraph 15.
xvi. A hermit asked the church to tell him what its crown was made of. Solution – Ibid.
paragraph 16.
xvii. A hermit asked the church to tell him what kind of advisors it had. Solution – Ibid.
paragraph 17.
xviii. A hermit asked the church to tell him what its major goodness was. Solution – Ibid. the
last paragraph.

Questions about the proverbs in the trunk of the celestial tree

i. A good king was asked to give the names of his advisors. Solution – Go to paragraph 1 of
the proverbs in the trunk of the celestial tree.
ii. The king’s sword was asked where it came from and where it was going. Solution – Ibid.
paragraph 2.
iii. A hermit asked election why it preferred to be in the second movement and not in the first
movement? Solution – Ibid. paragraph 3.
iv. A hermit asked a preacher if he gave as many good examples to people with his hands as
with his tongue. Solution – Ibid. paragraph 4.
v. A hermit asked a prelate’s hands if they had made a circle of some kind with the virtues..
Solution – Ibid. paragraph 5.
vi. A hermit asked a prelate’s will where it was going. Solution – Ibid. paragraph 6.
vii. A hermit asked the firmament if it was asleep. Solution – Ibid. paragraph 7.
viii. A hermit asked the Sun why it was round. Solution – Ibid. paragraph 8.
ix. A hermit asked a prelate why he stood in the midst of the people. Solution – Ibid.
paragraph 9.
x. A horse asked a hermit who was riding it why he was so heavy. Solution – Ibid. the last
paragraph.

Questions about the proverbs in the trunk of the angelic tree

i. A hermit asked an evil angel if it ever had repose in anything. Solution – Go to paragraph
1 of the proverbs in the trunk of the angelic tree.
ii. A hermit asked the devil what it was full of. Solution – Ibid. paragraph 2.
iii. A hermit asked an angel if it transitioned through a middle when it moved from one place
to another. Solution – Ibid. paragraph 3.
 26

iv. A hermit asked an angel’s wisdom if it was sick. Wisdom replies that the magnitude of
truth was its mother. And go to Ibid. paragraph 4.
v. A hermit asked if the intellect and the will were its wings. Solution – Ibid. paragraph 5.
vi. A hermit asked an angel if spirit was round in shape. Solution – Ibid. paragraph 6.
vii. A hermit asked an angel why it was indivisible. Solution – Ibid. paragraph 7.
viii. A hermit asked an angel if it had any deliberation. Solution – There is no deliberation in
the ultimate end. And go to Ibid. paragraph 8.
ix. A hermit asked the devil if it was free. Solution – Ibid. paragraph 9.
x. A hermit asked a good angel if it was free. Solution – There is no concordance at all
between a good angel and an evil angel. And go to Ibid. the last paragraph.

Questions about the proverbs in the trunk of the eviternal tree

i. A hermit asked Jesus Christ why he said that the one who did not persevere to the end
would be damned? Solution – Go to paragraph 1 of the proverbs in the trunk of the
eviternal tree.
ii. A hermit asked eviternity what it was made of. Solution – Ibid. paragraph 2.
iii. A hermit asked the Sun if it would continue to move after Judgment Day? Solution – Ibid.
paragraph 3.
iv. A hermit asked movement if it was of the nature of infinity and eternity? Solution – Ibid.
paragraph 4.
v. A hermit asked the world if it was eternal. Solution – Ibid. paragraph 5.
vi. A hermit asked movement what it was imprisoned in. Solution – Ibid. paragraph 6.
vii. A hermit asked God’s justice where it was without compassion. Solution – Ibid. paragraph
7.
viii. A hermit asked eviternity what it was for. Solution – Ibid. paragraph 8.
ix. A hermit asked eviternity why it frightened people so much. Solution – Ibid. paragraph 9.
x. A hermit asked eternity and eviternity if they would ever divide between them what they
had acquired. Solution – Ibid. paragraph 10.

Questions about the proverbs in the trunk of the maternal tree

i. Why must nobody ever lose hope in Our Lady? Solution – go to the first paragraph under
the said title.
ii. What is Or Lady full of? Solution – Ibid. paragraph 2.
iii. Why is Our Lady so powerful? Solution – Ibid. paragraph 3.
iv. With what does Our Lady respond to sinners? Solution – Ibid. paragraph 4.
v. What is the devil the most afraid of? Solution – Ibid. paragraph 5.
vi. What does Our Lady desire? Solution – Ibid. paragraph 6.
vii. A hermit asked Our Lady if there was anyone whose prayers she did not listen to?
Solution – Ibid. paragraph 7.
viii. Why doesn’t Our Lady love all men? Solution – Ibid. paragraph 8.
ix. A hermit asked Our Lady if she had more than one son. Solution – Ibid. paragraph 9.
x. A hermit asked the Apostles if Our Lady was with them. Solution – Ibid. paragraph 10.

Questions about the proverbs in the trunk of the Christian tree

i. Does God love creatures more through creation than through Incarnation? Solution – Go
to paragraph 1 in the trunk of the said tree.
ii. A hermit asked Jesus Christ why He died. Solution – Ibid. paragraph 2.
iii. How does Jesus Christ excuse himself to his mother when he does not want to show
leniency? Solution – Ibid. paragraph 3.
 27

iv. Is there some way in which there can be an intermediary between God and creature?
Solution – Ibid. paragraph 4.
v. Why did God take on human nature? Solution – Ibid. paragraph 5.
vi. A hermit asked God how He could have the greatest compassion and the greatest love for
creature. Solution – Ibid. paragraph 6.
vii. A hermit asked God’s will what its customary practice was. Solution – Ibid. paragraph 7
viii. A hermit asked God what the greatest major idea was. Solution – Ibid. paragraph 8.
ix. A hermit asked God how God could best participate with creature. Solution – Ibid.
paragraph 9.
x. A hermit asked God if he could take on the human nature in many men. Solution – Ibid.
paragraph 10.

Questions about the proverbs in the trunk of the divine tree

i. A hermit asked God what God’s possibilities and impossibilities were. Solution - Go to
the first paragraph of the said trunk.
ii. A hermit asked God how God existed in himself. Solution – Ibid. paragraph 2.
iii. Are God and the operation that God has in himself identically one and the same? Solution
– Ibid. paragraph 3.
iv. Is God infinite? Solution – Ibid. paragraph 4.
v. God was asked if He could be idle. Solution – Ibid. paragraph 5.
vi. Is there an act of substantiating in God? Solution – Ibid. paragraph 6.
vii. God was asked if there was any accident in the operations He had in himself. Solution –
Ibid. paragraph 7.
viii. God was asked if He could be several gods. Solution – Ibid. paragraph 8.
ix. God was asked if his substance could be charity without the Trinity. Solution – Ibid.
paragraph 9.
x. God’s will was asked if its act of loving was an act of substantiating. Solution – Ibid. the
last paragraph. You must understand that if the divine will’s act of loving was not an act
of substantiating, then the divine will would love the idleness of its substance. And if you,
the reader who is reading this have questions that you don’t know how to solve with the
passages I refer you to, then you can get help from the branches of the apostolic tree and
from the branches, the twigs and the flowers of the divine tree.

Questions about the branches

First, the elemental tree
We ask why there are neither more nor less than four elements. Solution – Go to the
branches of the elemental tree.
We ask why neither more nor less than three figures arise from the four elements, namely
the circular, the triangular and the square figure? Solution – Ibid.
Is the dryness of fire a proper quality or an appropriated quality of fire, and the same with
the heat of air, the moisture of water and the coldness of earth. Solution – If fire was hot
and dry by its own nature and if air was likewise moist and warm, water cold and moist
and earth dry and cold by their own natures, then no element would have any appetite to
be in another element, for instance, air would have no appetite for receiving the heat of
fire, since it would already be hot on its own. Moreover, it would have no appetite in the
generation and corruption of elemented substances and there could be more than four
elements, which is impossible in the course of nature, as we proved in the branches of the
elemental tree.
 28

Are the shapes of plants natural and do they derive from the general figures? Solution –
Go to the branches as above.
What does the fullness of substance consist of? Solution – The complement of elemental
substance consists of the roots and branches of the elemental tree. Now go to the same
branches.
How do the elements fill up elemented substance? Solution – The circle, the square and
the triangle are the natural instruments with which the elements fill up elemented
substances with themselves. And go to the branches as above.
Why can’t elemented substance be empty? Solution – In the mixture of the circle, the
triangle and the square, which are natural elemental corporeal figures, there can be no
vacuum.
When a candle lights another candle why does it not lose any of its own flame? Solution –
The trunk lives on its roots, the branches derive from the trunk and some are mixed
together with others so that compound elements issue forth from the simple elements and
transition through the candle that lights another candle.
Since the four elements all come from the same roots and from one trunk, why are they
different? Solution – Go to the branches as above.
Why is the sphere of fire above the spheres of the other elements? Solution – Ibid.

Questions from the branches of the vegetal tree

When a fruit tree begins to grow, do the vegetative and elementative powers arise and do
both these powers arise together? Solution – Bread is made in an oven with flour and
water, and when Martin eats it, the elementative and vegetative powers arise from the
bread and turn into flesh while the species of bread is corrupted and Martin’s body grows.
Why does the vegetal tree have neither more nor less than four branches? Solution – Go to
the branches of the vegetal tree.
In a fruit tree, do the appetitive from the vegetative and the appetitive from the
elementative add up to a third appetitive and do they abandon their species? Solution –
The privation of the whole is in the privation of its parts. And go to the branches as above.
In a fruit tree, is the appetitive vegetated by the radical moisture and elemented by the
nourishing moisture? Solution – First intentions move second intentions toward their end,
as in a lamp where the flame of fire moves the potential flame in the oil into another flame
which is actual.
In a fruit tree, does the appetitive of the vegetative have two natures, of which the one is
radical and the other is nourishing? Solution – The flame in the lamp is radical and the
flame that comes out of the oil is nourishing; when one candle is lit with the flame of the
lamp, the nourishing flame that comes out of the oil transits into the candle where it exists
as a radical flame which lives on the flame that is present potentially in the candle wax
and then comes into act as a nourishing flame. This passage contains some splendid
philosophy.
Does the retentive power in a fruit tree have two natures, i.e. does it arise from the
vegetative and the elementative? Solution – A fruit tree that produces another fruit tree in
actuality still retains another fruit tree in potentiality so long as the elementative retains
the nutritive, for if it fails to do so, then that tree cannot retain another tree in potentiality,
just as the potential flame in the oil is gone when there is no more oil to feed the flame in
the lamp.
How does the digestion of an apple proceed in an apple tree? Solution – Go to the
branches as above.
Why is a fruit tree porous? Solution – If there were no pores in a fruit tree, then the
elemental trunk could not transit through it, nor could the digestive digest the vapours that
 29

enter into the tree, nor could the expulsive of the fruit tree project anything outside and
there would be idleness in the fruit tree. And go to the branches as above.
Is a fruit tree idle in winter? Solution – In a subject in which difference, concordance and
contrariety are present, there cannot possibly be any idleness. And go to the branches as
above.
A hermit asked an apple tree how it grew and how it came to perfection. Solution – Ibid.

Questions from the branches of the sensual tree

Is the affatus a sense? Solution – Given that a greater operation arises from the affatus
than from any other sense, an operation that has greater concordance with the human
memory, wisdom and will than any other sense, its end would be in the minority of
magnitude of goodness, virtue and truth and it would have less entity than any other sense,
which is impossible. And go to the branches of the sensual tree.
Why are there neither more nor less than six particular senses? Solution – The six
corporeal directions have major concordance with the six senses, which they would not
have if they were either more or fewer than six, and from this major concordance a nobler
end must follow. And go to the branches as above.
Are the six particular senses substantial powers or accidental powers? Solution – If the
particular senses were not substantial powers, no part of substance would be active or
passive in sensing, the end of sensing would consist in accidents and not in substance, and
the major end of sensing would be in minority but the minor end would be in majority,
given that substance has concordance with majority and accident has concordance with
minority. And go to the branches as above.
Are there two sensitive powers, so that the one is within substance, such as visibility,
which is of the essence of visitivity and substantial; and the other sensitive power is
accidental, which the senses attain outside substance, such as the visually perceived
coloured object, for instance a stone, an apple or a horse in which general accidental
visibility is disseminated? Solution – No sense can attain an accidental figure outside of
substance and the common sense is inside animated substance that has six substantial
streams, as we proved, in which the accidents are sustained, such as colour in visibility,
taste in tastability and likewise with the others. And go to the branches as above.
A hermit asked the eyes how they saw things and how they reproduced species in seeing,
if the visitive went out to the seen object or if the converse was true, and if they did not
participate with each other in reality but only through similitude? Solution – Ibid.
If there were no ears, would sound exist in vain? Solution – Stone, wood and the trunk do
not belong to the same species as animated bodies. And go to the branches as above.
How is the sense of smell situated in the elemental, vegetal and sensual trees? Solution –
A branch of peach was grafted on an apple tree, and on this apple tree was grafted a
branch of pear that produced pears that shared the natures of all three trunks, and above all
the nature of the upper trunk whose species they belonged to. And go to the branches as
above.
A hermit asked the sense of taste where it arose from, where it was born, how it arose and
how it was born. Solution – Ibid.
A hermit asked the sense of touch which quality it sensed most strongly when it touched it
or was touched by it. Solution – Ibid.
A hermit asked the affatus why it was a nobler and more useful sense than the others.
Solution – Ibid.
 30

Questions from the branches of the imaginal tree

Is the imaginative of the essence of the elementative, the vegetative and the sensitive
powers or is it one primary part in creation, as are the three said trees. Solution – A foot
leaves nothing of itself in ashes, nor does the imagination extend itself in itself when it
imagines a horse, nor does it constrict itself when it imagines a horse’s ear because all that
it does is done through similitudes, and it is not constrained by time or by movement. And
go to the branches of the imaginal tree.
A hermit asked the imagination how it received the likeness of a flame of fire. Solution –
Ibid.
A hermit asked the imagination if it was a passive impression of the active vegetative to
which it is joined in animals, just as wax bears the passive impression of the action of the
letters on the stamp. Solution – Ibid.
Does the imagination attain likenesses of visitivity and visibility in the present time while
the impressions of active likenesses are made in passive likenesses, or does it attain these
likenesses in active impressions made in past time? Solution – It is impossible to see the
footprint left by a foot in ashes while the foot is still standing on it. And go to the branches
as above.
Is the imaginative disseminated in the sound of thunder or of a bell or in the voice
modulated by the tongue or in a note that a musician conceives within his affatus and
whose likeness it transmits outward through the violin? Solution – Imaginativity and the
imaginability that is of is essence are inside the animal, they are of its essence and they are
substantial parts from which the imagination and the imaginability of the sound of
thunder, of a bell, of a tongue or of a violin are extended and sustained in the first three
trees from whose imaginability the imaginative attracts into itself and reproduces
likenesses that it collects in its internal imaginability. And go to the branches as above.
A hermit asked the imagination if it imagined the fragrance of an apple in the nose.
Solution – The sensitive and the imaginative powers are more closely associated in the
places where the senses receive their sensible objects.
A hermit asked the imagination if its nature was feminine or masculine. Solution –
Among birds of prey the female nature is bigger and stronger than the male nature.. And
go to the part on taste in the branches of the imaginal tree.
A hermit asked the imaginative what it was touched by when it imagined the heat of hot
iron or the coldness of water. Solution – The affatus touches one likeness with another
within itself and the likeness of this contact comes out in a violin with movement and
sound whose likenesses the imaginative attains and the affatus brings into mutual contact
within itself. And go to the branches as above.
What is the imagination for? Solution – If there was no imagination, then a goat would not
be afraid of a wolf, nor would it recognize its own offspring, nor would it know how to
return to the waterhole.

Questions from the corporeal branches of the human-rational tree

What is man? Solution – Man is a man-producing and a man-producible being that
participates with more creatures than any other creature.
Since goodness is great through magnitude and magnitude is good through goodness, and
a donkey has a bigger body than a man, why is the human body better than a donkey’s
body? Solution – In a donkey, minority, goodness, the second intention and magnitude
have concordance, and in man majority, goodness, the first intention and magnitude have
concordance. Consequently, difference makes the magnitude of man one thing and the
donkey’s magnitude another thing and concordance concords majority with the end in the
 31

goodness of man but in the goodness of the donkey it concords minority with what is
meant for the end.
A hermit asked a man how many corporeal branches he had. Solution - Go to the
corporeal branches of the human-rational tree.
Why is a man crippled from birth? Solution – At the moment of the man’s generation,
natural instinct and appetite were asleep along with magnitude, goodness, virtue, the end
and concordance while minority, contrariety, the beginning and the middle were awake.
Why do some men have six fingers in their hands? Solution – At the moment of the
generation of a hand with six fingers, natural form and justice were asleep while natural
magnitude and appetite along with the material principle were awake.
Why is man’s left arm not as strong as his right arm, given that the heart, which is the
principal organ, is situated on the left side? Solution – A ballista does not deliver as strong
a blow with a short movement as with a long movement, nor can the eyes see what
touches them directly.
Why is the human body hairy? Solution – Every hair is an instrument with which vapour
is purified as it enters and with which vapour is restricted from going out through the
pores so that digestion can have many friends.
Why is the belly in the middle of the human body? Solution – The virtue that is in the
middle is the common virtue and it is more accessible to more parts than a virtue that is in
the extremes.
Why does man eat and drink? Solution – Sparks of molten iron would burn up the mill
wheel if water did not cool it down.
Why does man have two forearms and two shins? Solution – The four elements, the two
forearms and the two shins of man have concordance in number.

Questions from the spiritual branches of the human-rational tree

Are the three powers of the soul substantial or accidental? Solution – Substance can
receive more glory than accident, greater virtue arises from substance than from accident,
a greater end is in substance than in accident, and God is much better disposed to be
remembered, understood and loved with major goodness than with minor goodness. And
no accident is naturally as great as substance. And go to the spiritual branches of the
human-rational tree.
Why is memory superior to goodness, magnitude, duration, power, virtue, truth and glory?
Solution – God can be remembered but God cannot be bonified by any created goodness,
and it is the same with magnitude, duration and the others.
What is memory made of? Solution – Go to the branches as above.
What is memory for? Solution - Ibid.
Since the human intellect is one and there are many sciences, do all sciences belong to the
intellect? Solution – Go to paragraph 3 on the intellect in the branches as above.
Since Martin’s intellect is one simple principle of his soul, we ask if it functions by
considering universals or particulars? Solution – Ibid. paragraph 4.
The intellect was asked if it was made of form and matter. Solution – Ibid. paragraph 5.
The intellect was asked why it considered natural genera, species and individuals.
Solution – Ibid. paragraph 6.
Fire, an apple, a stone, a donkey are intelligible, and hence we ask if their intelligibility is
of the essence of the human intellect. Solution – Ibid. paragraph 7.
How does the intellect reproduce species and consider in the abstract the forms that it
draws from concrete things? Solution – Ibid. paragraph 8.
How does the human intellect suffer passion through the body? Solution – Ibid. paragraph
9.
Why do some men have a subtler intellect than others? Solution – Ibid. paragraph 10.
 32

Since the intellect is not by nature subject to corporeal movement, why does it understand
more subtly at one time than at another time? Solution – Ibid. paragraph 11.
Since the intellect is not corporeal in nature, what can it be full or empty of? Solution –
Ibid. paragraph 12.
Since the intellect is not everything, how can it understand the totalities of things? And
since it is its own totality, how can it understand any part? Solution – Ibid. paragraph 13.
Since the intellect is a substance that can neither increase nor be consumed, how does it
extend and restrain its operations? Solution – Ibid. paragraph 14.
Since the human intellect has no corporeal first or last parts, how does it move from place
to place without transiting through a middle? Solution – Ibid. paragraph 15.
Since the intellect has no corporeal nature, how does it attain hard and soft substances?
Solution – Ibid. paragraph 16.
How does the human intellect convert one likeness into another as it makes a tunic for its
understanding out of these likenesses? Solution – Ibid. paragraph 17.
Since the intellect is indivisible, what is it that naturally enables it to consider the
antecedents and the resultants of things along with their conclusions? Solution – Ibid.
paragraph 18.
Since the intellect cannot be increased, how does its ability to increase its habits come and
go? Solution – Ibid. paragraph 19.
Since the intellect is a simple substance, how are the forms of disposition and proportion
relevant to it? Solution – Ibid. paragraph 20.
Since the intellect is not a divisible substance and since order consists of a plurality of
things, how can order be a condition of the intellect? Solution – Ibid. paragraph 21.
Since the intellect is an indivisible substance, how are the influx and reflux of influence
sustained in it? Solution – Ibid. paragraph 22.
Since the intellect is an indivisible substance, how are emergence and exit sustained in it
as forms? Solution – Ibid. paragraph 23.
Is understanding of the essence of the intellect, given that it can ignore true things and
hold the opinion that they are false, and as it understands nothing while a man is asleep.
Solution – Ibid. paragraph 24.
How does the intellect understand itself? Solution – Ibid. paragraph 25.
Intelligibility is not of the essence of an apple, nor is the apple’s visibility of the essence
of the sense of sight, and an apple would be visible even if the intellect did not exist, but
would the apple be intelligible, supposing that the intellect was in privation. Solution –
Ibid. paragraph 26.
How does the intellect attain the universal with the particular? Solution – Ibid. paragraph
27.
A hermit asked the intellect through which sense it was most practical and through which
sense it was most theoretical. Solution – Ibid. paragraph 28.
Does the speculative intellect begin first with its own likenesses before it begins with the
likenesses of the objects it seeks? Solution – Ibid. paragraph 29.
Does the intellect have six spiritual directions just as the body has corporeal dimensions?
Solution – The directions of the intellect are naturally the intellective, the intelligible and
the act of understanding. And go to paragraph 30 in the said branches..
Since the intellect is neither masculine nor feminine in nature, why is it subtler and
stronger in men than in women? Solution – Ibid. paragraph 31.
How do the intellective and the sensitive powers have concordance? Solution – Ibid.
paragraph 32.
What are the speculative instruments of the intellect? Solution – Ibid. paragraph 33.
How does the intellect nourish its understanding with moral virtue? Solution – Ibid.
paragraph 34.
 33

How does the intellect have active and passive impressions? Solution – Ibid. paragraph
35.
Is the intellect made of primary general principles? Solution – Ibid. paragraph 36.
Is there one intellect general to all? Solution – Ibid. paragraph 37.
A hermit asked the intellect if it converted its contingency into necessity. Solution – Ibid.
paragraph 38.
The intellect laid on its sick bed and someone asked it to tell what illness it was suffering
from. Solution – Ibid. paragraph 39.
Is the intellect life or is life a part of the intellect? Solution – Ibid. paragraph 40.
Does the intellect convert the nature of colour into intelligibility or does colour have the
nature of intelligibility in itself? Solution – Ibid. paragraph 41.
A hermit asked the intellect why people had dreams. Solution – Ibid. paragraph 42.
A hermit asked the intellect if it was free to understand. Solution – Ibid. paragraph 43.
Why does a sad intellect dry out the bones, given that it is not dry by nature? Solution –
Ibid. paragraph 44.
Where does the intellect’s prudence begin? Solution – Ibid. paragraph 45.
Is there a difference between the essence and the being of the intellect? Solution – Ibid.
paragraph 46.
A hermit asked the will what it was made of. Solution – Go to the chapter on the will in
the spiritual branches of the human-rational tree.
A hermit asked the will why it loved fire since the will was not corporeal in nature.
Solution – Ibid. paragraph 2.
A hermit asked the will how it did penance. Solution – Ibid. paragraph 3.
A hermit asked the will how it sinned. Solution – Ibid. paragraph 4.
Is the imagination subject to free will? Solution – Ibid. paragraph 5.
In the soul, are memory, the intellect and the will equal in nature and are they unequal in
their reasons in certain operations. Solution – Ibid. paragraphs 6 and 7.

Questions from the branches of the moral tree

First, some questions about justice

A hermit asked a lawyer what justice was. Solution – Go to the chapter on justice in the
branches of the moral tree.
What is justice made of? Solution – Ibid.
How does justice endure? Solution – Ibid.
What is justice for? Solution – Ibid.
Does justice consist in visible things? Solution – Ibid.
What does injury consist of? Solution – Ibid.
How does injury occur? Solution – Ibid.
Is justice a habit that belongs equally to memory, the intellect and the will? Solution –
Ibid.
Supposing that justice was not a habit that belonged equally to all three powers of the
soul, would its inequality be an occasion for injury? Solution – Magnitude and majority
have concordance with being but smallness and minority have concordance with
privation..
A hermit asked justice if it had many friends. Solution – Justice answered and said that
few were the people who loved God simply for his goodness, his magnitude and his
eternity.
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Questions about prudence

What is prudence for? Solution – Go to the said chapter in the branches of the moral tree.
A hermit asked prudence if it simply had greater concordance with the intellect than with
the will. Solution – Nature is one, but in the diversity of reasons there is a diversity of
modes. And go to the chapter about prudence.
In making decisions, does a wise man consider understanding more than loving? Solution
– Ibid.
Does prudence consider art more than nature? Solution – Nobody can capture a wild lion
barehanded.
A hermit asked a lawyer why was prudence exercised more with memory than with the
intellect. Solution – Not all best practices have made their way into this world yet.
Does prudence have greater concordance with the eyes than with the ears? Solution –
Experience is visual and positions are auditive.
A hermit asked prudence if it held more good opinions than bad ones about things.
Solution – Prudence replied and said that it was not like its sister charity who was
deceived by so many people.
A hermit asked prudence when it was the most effective at the table. Solution – Few are
those who remember temperance while they eat to satisfy their hunger.
A hermit asked prudence if it was stronger when it was needed the most? Solution –
Prudence replied and said all men were not equally endowed with her.
A hermit asked prudence if it was legitimate to lie. Solution – Prudence answered and said
that once there was a girl who lived on venom.

Questions about fortitude

What is fortitude? Solution – Go to the chapter on fortitude in the branches of the moral
tree.
How does fortitude exist? Solution – Ibid.
What is fortitude full of? Solution – Ibid.
What is fortitude for? Solution – Fortitude is for enabling people to use reason with
deliberation.
A hermit asked fortitude if it was stronger through love than through fear. Solution – In
every virtue, love precedes the human reasons and fear comes after them, given that fear is
a consequence of love.
A hermit asked fortitude which one it loved better: the intellect or the will. Solution –
Fortitude replied that the intellect would show it what was auspicious and what was
dangerous and that the will would advise it to choose what was auspicious and not to fear
the dangers.
A hermit asked fortitude what it won the battle with. Solution – go to the abovementioned
chapter.
A hermit asked fortitude where it stood. Solution – Fortitude replied that it stood by all
those who loved it.
A hermit asked fortitude how it grew. Solution – Fortitude replied and said that its nature
was similar to the nature of contrariety: the more it was touched, the bigger it grew.
A hermit asked fortitude what it lived on. Solution – Fortitude replied that it lived on the
likenesses that its sisters gave it to eat.

Questions about temperance

What is temperance? Solution – Go to the chapter on temperance in the branches of the
moral tree.
 35

Temperance was asked to give its name. Solution – Temperance replied and said that its
name was “Health”.
“Temperance,” said the hermit, “why don’t physicians wish you well?” Solution -
Temperance replied that physicians were not its well-wishers because it made them lose
their business.
Temperature was asked about its genealogy. Solution – Temperance answered that justice
and fortitude were her sisters.
Temperance was asked to tell what it lived on. Solution – Temperance replied that the fear
of death and shame were its staples.
Temperance was asked to tell why it would rather stand by a king than stand by a peasant.
Solution – Temperance answered that it stood more readily in places where it could make
the most profit and where its presence was the most needed.
“Temperance,” asked the hermit, “why are you more afraid of wine than of water?
Solution – Temperance replied that great taste could be the death of it.
“Temperance,” asked the hermit, “why are you so bored?” Solution – Temperance replied
that it was so bored because people ate and drank so frequently.
Temperance was asked if it was afraid of anything. Solution – Temperance replied that it
was afraid every time people held banquets and discussed tasty foodstuff.
“Temperance,” asked the hermit, “Why are you so gaunt?” Solution – Temperance replied
that it was so thin because when they were at the table, fortitude slept and memory did not
remember it.

Questions about faith from the branches of the moral tree

A hermit asked a clergyman what faith was. Solution – Go to the chapter on faith in the
branches of the moral tree.
“Faith,” asked the hermit, “what are you for?” Solution – Ibid.
“Faith, why are you weeping?” Solution – Faith replied that it wept because wolves were
devouring the sheep.
“Faith,” asked the hermit, “do you love the truth?” Solution – Faith replied that it was the
servant of truth and that the truth had marked faith with its seal.
“Faith,” asked the hermit, “are you an instrument of the intellect?” Solution – Faith
replied that it served as shield for the intellect as it cut down and slew its enemies with a
sword.
Faith was asked if it had many friends. Solution – Faith replied that if it had many friends,
then the wolves would not be slaughtering the sheep in Jerusalem nor would the Sun give
its light in vain to unbelievers.
Faith was asked if it led the way in battle. Solution – Faith replied that in battle, it was in
charge of supposition, but the intellect was in charge of demonstration and consequently,
faith went first.
“Faith, what are your merits?” Solution – Go to the said chapter above.
Faith was asked if it loved the intellect and its merits. Solution – Faith replied that every
good knight loved his good horse.
Faith asked the intellect if it loved faith more than itself. Solution – The intellect replied
that it had greater merit through understanding than through believing because it could
understand freely but when it believed, it was subject to constraint in what it did.

Questions about hope from the branches of the moral tree

What is hope? Solution – Go to the chapter on hope in the branches of the moral tree.
What is hope for? Solution – Ibid.
 36

A hermit asked hope if it had ever disappointed anybody. Solution – Hope replied that if it
ever disappointed anybody then it would have erred seriously against Our Lady if it
disappointed someone who loved her very much and often remembered the sufferings of
her Son; but many are deceived by mistaking the figure for the form. And go to the said
chapter above.
Hope was asked if it was present in those who loved themselves more than they loved
God. Solution – Hope replied that it was the sister of mercy and justice.
Hope was asked how it could turn away God’s justice. Solution – Hope replied that
inasmuch as the sinner judged himself and loved God’s justice, he attracted God’s mercy
with which God spares sinners.
Hope was asked to tell how it grew. Solution – Go to the abovementioned chapter.
A hermit asked faith if it was afraid of anything. Solution – Hope replied that the hope a
wise man placed in his wisdom, or the hope that a king placed in his power or that a
healthy man placed in his health was always tainted with some fear.
A hermit asked hope why it was greater in sick people than in healthy people, and greater
in poor people than in rich people. Solution – Hope replied that in times of need, people
remembered their friends.
A hermit asked hope if God’s mercy was greater than any sin. Solution – Faith replied and
told the hermit to put this question to Our Lady for she had everything she wanted from
God’s mercy when she spoke to God about those who had confidence in her.
A hermit asked faith if it was sad. Solution – Hope replied and told the hermit that
despair, its enemy, never gladdened anybody’s heart.

Questions about charity from the branches of the moral tree

A hermit asked a prelate if he knew what charity was. Solution – Go to the chapter on
hope in the branches of the moral tree.
Charity was asked what its purpose was. Solution – Ibid.
“Charity,” asked the hermit, “what are you full of?” Solution – Ibid.
A hermit asked charity why it was more readily present in poor people than in rich people.
Solution – Charity replied and said that it was most despised for the sake of money and
possessions.
Charity was asked to whom rich people belonged. Solution – Charity replied and said that
the rich should be providers for the poor.
“Charity,” asked the hermit, “who invited you?” Solution – Charity replied and said that it
ate at the table of justice and hope.
“Charity, why aren’t you afraid of anything? Solution – Charity replied and said that it
had no fear of anything because it loved its creator more than itself.
“Charity, why do you prefer to abide in the will rather than in the intellect?” Solution -
Charity replied and said that in this mortal life, the will was quicker to love than the
intellect was quick to understand.
“Charity, at what times are you the most greatly honoured?” Solution – Charity replied
that it was most honoured when the public interest was loved the most.
A hermit asked charity if it was great. Solution – Charity replied that it was great in
potentiality because every man could do as much a he wanted with charity, but because it
had few friends, it seldom came into actuality and thus it stood crippled and dishonoured
among men. And the hermit wept when he heard what charity had to say.

Questions about justice and prudence

How do justice and prudence have concordance? Solution – Go to the chapter on justice
and prudence in the branches of the moral tree.
 37

How does prudence assist justice and how does justice assist prudence? Solution – Ibid.
A hermit asked justice and prudence if they would have greater concordance in their
positions than in their demonstrations. Solution – Prudence replied that it preferred
demonstrations to positions because it was a likeness of the intellect, and justice replied
that it was crippled by the intellect’s ignorance.
A hermit asked a judge if he should consider justice before considering prudence in his
judgments? Solution – The judge replied that at night in his room he would use a light to
read the letters in his book whose meaning he wanted to know so that he could tell the
truth to those who sought it from him.

Questions about justice and fortitude

How does fortitude incite justice and how does it protect it from the wolves? Solution -
Solution – Go to the chapter on justice and fortitude in the branches of the moral tree.
Why did justice and fortitude rebuke the sinner’s will when he sinned? Solution – Justice
and fortitude exist to enable the will to make deliberate choices.
A hermit asked fortitude why injury was so widespread in this world. Solution – Fortitude
replied that justice had almost totally relegated it to oblivion.
A hermit asked fortitude if it had any shame. Solution – Fortitude replied that it was
ashamed of the errors committed by justice, its sister when it did not punish those who
dishonoured it.

Questions about justice and temperance

A hermit asked justice why it had such beautiful rhetoric. Solution - Go to the chapter on
justice and temperance in the branches of the moral tree.
A hermit asked justice if it had a headache. Solution – Justice replied that temperance was
its sister.
“Temperance,” said justice, “why did you forget me at the table?” Solution – Temperance
replied that it had forgotten justice because justice did not castigate it with fasting.
A judge asked justice and temperance how he could defeat the gluttony and the injury that
tempted him and impeded him when he read his book and pronounced judgments in court.
Solution – Go to the abovementioned chapter.

Questions about justice and faith

Faith asked justice if it was fair for it to be so badly slandered by some people whom it
had made so honoured and so wealthy? Solution – Justice wept and told faith that the
question it asked was not a big issue, but nonetheless it wanted to write this question
down in its book to be reminded of it on Judgment Day.
Justice and faith were asked if they were friends. Solution - Go to the chapter on justice
and faith in the branches of the moral tree.
“Faith”, asked justice, “why are you weeping?” Solution - “Justice”, asked faith, “why
don’t you help me?
“Faith”, asked justice, “have you any money?” Solution – Faith replied to justice and
asked why it did not put this question to the will of people who were so fond of money.

Questions about justice and hope

Justice asked hope if it ever grew weary of it. Solution – Hope replied that the
concordance between the two still survived. And go to the chapter on justice and hope in
the branches of the moral tree.
A hermit asked justice and hope what they lived on. Solution – Justice and hope replied
that they lived on concordance.
 38

A hermit asked justice if it could be defeated. Solution – Justice replied that it could not
be defeated in those who had hope in it.
A hermit asked justice to tell him why sinners put their hope in justice, considering that it
punished sinners for their sins. Solution – Justice replied that no sinner who did not feel
sorrow for his sins ever put his hope in justice and that justice could do no wrong to hope
when hope was accompanied by this sorrow.

Questions about justice and charity

Justice was asked to tell why it was so extremely irate. Solution – Justice replied that it
was irate because charity had practically relegated it to oblivion. And go to the chapter on
justice and charity in the branches of the moral tree.
A hermit asked justice why it was so involved in negotiations. Solution: Justice replied
that it had plenty of hard work to do since charity was almost non-existent.
A hermit asked charity if there would be no need for justice supposing that charity was
present in all men. Solution – Charity replied that if it was present in all men, then justice
would be involved in negotiations about rewarding all men for their loving.
“Justice,” said charity, “why do you weep?” Solution – Justice replied that it wept because
it sentenced to damnation more people than it found worthy of salvation. And then charity
wept together with justice for a long period of time and said that they were honoured
through the execution of sentences pronounced against evil men.

Questions about prudence and fortitude

With what does fortitude serve prudence? Solution – If fortitude did not produce
abstinence, than prudence could not engage in deliberation. And go to the chapter on
prudence and fortitude in the branches of the moral tree.
Why are prudence and fortitude friends? Solution – While fortitude produces abstinence,
prudence makes comparisons of things with difference so as to make a good decision.
Why does prudence die? Solution – The flames die out when the coals are consumed.
What does fortitude live on? Solution – Go to the said chapter as above.

Questions about prudence and temperance

A hermit asked prudence and temperance how they made their decisions. Solution – Two
men ate at the same table, the one divided the food into two parts that were equal in
quality and weight, the other took one part and gave the other part to his partner. And go
to the chapter on prudence and temperance in the branches of the moral tree.
How does prudence fall ill? Solution – The ill health of prudence consists in the ill health
of temperance.
How does prudence stay healthy? Solution – There is light in the room and the merchant
is counting his money.
In what hour of the day are temperance and prudence the greatest of friends? Solution –
Temperance asked prudence to light its way at the table and prudence asked temperance to
write its book while it ate

Questions about prudence and faith

How do prudence and faith have concordance against the vices? Solution - Go to the
chapter on prudence and faith in the branches of the moral tree.
How is faith subject to prudence? Solution – Faith makes a supposition based on belief at
the outset when the intellect investigates both affirmation and negation, and from this
supposition, prudence draws either affirmation or negation with demonstration.
 39

Since prudence lives on understanding, why does it love faith that it does not understand?
Solution – Faith is the crutch on which ailing prudence leans.
A hermit asked faith if it was as friendly to the will as to the intellect. Solution – Faith
replied that it ruled through the intellect which was obedient to it and that it was free of
any constriction from the will.

Questions about prudence and hope

A hermit met hope on the street and asked it where it was going and where it came from.
Solution - Go to the chapter on prudence and hope in the branches of the moral tree.
A hermit asked prudence why it loved hope so much. Solution – Prudence answered that
hope was a good messenger because it brought it the good from God on which it lived.
A hermit asked prudence if hope was tired of going to and fro so frequently. Solution –
Prudence answered that hope had a nature similar to that of a flame of fire that moved so
it could live.
A hermit asked prudence if it wanted to sell him some hope. Solution – Prudence replied
that if it sold any hope, then it would suffer fear and destitution.

Questions about prudence and charity

“Prudence,” said charity, “why don’t you show that I am greater in loving God than in
loving man, since I am supposed to love God as the first intention and to love man as the
second intention?” Solution – Prudence replied that it would put the same question to the
will of Martin who loved his own honour and his son’s honour more than God’s honour.
Charity asked prudence why it slept while practically the entire world was going to ruin.
Solution – Prudence replied and asked charity why devotion was so late and why it did not
come quickly.
A hermit asked prudence and charity if they had greater concordance in equality than in
majority and minority. Solution – Prudence and charity replied and said that God was
equally intelligible and lovable with the magnitude of goodness and truth.
A hermit asked prudence and charity if they were great friends. Solution - Go to the
chapter on prudence and charity in the branches of the moral tree.

Questions about fortitude and temperance

A hermit asked temperance what it used to defeat its enemy, gluttony. Solution - Go to the
chapter on fortitude and temperance in the branches of the moral tree.
A hermit asked fortitude to tell him who rewarded it for its toil. Solution – Ibid.
A hermit met with virtue and asked it what it lived on. Solution – Virtue answered that it
lived on fortitude in temperance and on temperance in fortitude. And go to the above
mentioned chapter.
A hermit asked temperance in which hour of the day it was the greatest. Solution –
Temperance replied that it was greatest in that hour of the day in which it had such a great
concordance with fortitude that it defeated gluttony without feeling the least difficulty.

Questions about fortitude and faith

A hermit asked faith to tell him what it constrained the intellect with. Solution – What
tethers the intellect is the force of supposition that chooses either affirmation or negation
and excludes all doubt. Go to the chapter on fortitude and faith in the branches of the
moral tree.
How does the intellect receive the habit of faith that God bestows upon it? Solution – Just
as the will receives the habit of charity by loving God more than itself, so does the
 40

intellect receive the habit of faith by obeying another and not itself. And go to the
abovementioned chapter.
A hermit asked faith to tell him how it grew. Solution – Faith replied that it grew stronger
to the extent that fortitude constrained the intellect with the truth.
A hermit asked fortitude if it was as great through demonstration as through belief.
Solution – Fortitude replied that it was greater in the end than in the beginning, given that
the beginning is meant for the end.

Questions about fortitude and hope

A hermit asked fortitude how hope was to be used. Solution - Go to the chapter on
fortitude and hope in the branches of the moral tree.
A sinner was asked if his inner fortitude was greater when he judged himself or when he
hoped in God’s mercy. Solution – The sinner replied that when he judged himself to be
deserving of severe punishment, he suffered from the great fear he had of God’s great
justice which he loved very much, and this fear made him cry, but as he hoped in God and
as he put his hope in God’s mercy, he felt neither sorrow nor suffering and his heart was
filled with gladness and confidence.
A hermit asked fortitude if it had been defeated at any time. Solution – Fortitude replied
and said it was defeated every time that hope abandoned it.
A hermit asked fortitude if it could compel hope to come. Solution – Fortitude replied that
it could not summon or compel hope because God bestowed hope freely and it could
freely come and go.

Questions about fortitude and charity

A hermit asked charity why God gave so much suffering to his friends in this world.
Solution - Go to the chapter on fortitude and charity in the branches of the moral tree.
“Charity,” said the hermit, “why did God command man to love his enemies? Solution –
Charity replied that God wanted man to love his enemies so that charity could have great
fortitude.
A hermit asked charity if it would have greater fortitude in loving its friend than in loving
its enemy. Solution – Charity replied that it loved its friends with concordance and
without suffering but it loved its enemies with contrariety and suffering; thus it walked
lightly with one foot and heavily with the other foot.
“Charity,” said the hermit, “why does a poor man obtain greater merit by giving one
dollar than a rich man obtains by giving a thousand dollars?” Solution – The one who
does good with all his might earns the greatest merit.

Questions about temperance and faith

A hermit asked temperance and faith if anyone had invited them. Solution - Go to the
chapter on temperance and faith in the branches of the moral tree.
A hermit asked faith what its fasting consisted of. Solution – Faith answered that its
fasting was made spiritually of supposition without any dubiousness just as corporeal
fasting consisted in exercising temperance when eating tasty delicacies.
A hermit asked faith if it was greater through belief than temperance was great through
abstinence. Solution – No corporeal virtue can be equal in magnitude of goodness to
spiritual virtue.
A hermit met temperance along the way and asked where it was going. Solution –
Temperance replied that it was on its way to mortify the feeling of fullness and the tasting
of delicious savours above the nature of the appetitive power, just as faith was on its way
to mortify the intellect’s inquisitiveness above the nature of demonstration.
 41

Questions about temperance and hope

A hermit asked temperance how it procured friendship between justice and hope. Solution
- Go to the chapter on temperance and hope in the branches of the moral tree.
How is hope a cause of temperance? Solution – Ibid.
A hermit asked temperance what cloth its tunic was made of. Solution – Temperance
replied that the cloth of its tunic was made of justice and hope.
A hermit asked temperance if it hoped to have greater hope when eating chicken than
when eating onions? Solution – Temperance replies that it was always fearful when it ate
tasty food and when it drank Greek wine.

Questions about temperance and charity

A hermit asked temperance why it was not as great a virtue as charity. Solution - Go to the
chapter on temperance and charity in the branches of the moral tree.
A hermit asked difference, temperance and charity what the difference between them
was. Solution – Difference replied that temperance kept an account of income and
expenditure, but charity gave all it had.
Temperance asked charity: “Will you love me?” Solution – Charity replied that it loved all
those who wanted to have it.
Charity asked temperance if it was as great in the king as in the queen. Solution –
Temperance replied that it should put this question to fortitude, who knew the answer.

Questions about faith and hope

A Gentile asked a Christian and a Saracen which one of them, in his sect, could obtain
greater faith and greater hope. Solution - Go to the chapter on faith and hope in the
branches of the moral tree.
A Gentile asked a Christian and a Saracen which one of them was better disposed to
remember God’s mercy and to fear God’s justice. Solution – Ibid.
A Gentile asked a Christian and a Saracen which one of them would be the more severely
punished if he went to Hell. Solution – The Christian and the Saracen replied that the one
who was more antagonistic to major faith and hope would be more severely punished.
Then the gentile praised the Christian faith and spoke out against the evil beliefs of the
Saracens.

Questions about faith and charity

A hermit asked faith and charity why they were so great. Solution – Go to the chapter on
faith and charity in the branches of the moral tree.
A hermit asked faith and charity, supposing that there was no Trinity of Persons in God
and supposing that God had not become incarnate, could He create faith and charity in the
greatest majority in which they could possibly be created?
Since faith and charity must have great concordance, why does faith have so few friends?
Solution – A tree is not guilty if the frost burns up its blossoms.
Charity asked faith why it wept. Solution – Faith answered that it wept because it was
present in so few and dishonoured by so many.

Questions about hope and charity

How does hope increase? Solution - Go to the chapter on faith and charity in the branches
of the moral tree.
A hermit asked hope if in this mortal life it could be equal in magnitude of goodness to
charity. Solution – Hope replied that if it could be equal to charity in this life, then it
 42

would necessarily follow that in the afterlife hope must be present in those who are saved
and in whom charity is present.
A hermit asked hope if it was as great when it loved virtue as when it hated vice. Solution
– Hope replies that this question should be put to the will, which is greater in the
magnitude of goodness when it loves than when it hates.
A hermit asked charity if it was as great when it loved God’s justice as when it loved
God’s mercy? Solution – Charity replied that by its nature it loved God’s justice and it
loved God’s mercy because hope recommended it.

Questions about holiness

What is holiness? Solution - Go to the chapter on holiness in the branches of the moral
tree.
A hermit asked a prelate to tell him which virtue was the most general. Solution – Ibid.
Holiness laid on its sickbed and an old woman asked it where it felt the most pain.
Solution – Holiness replied that it was the most severely wounded in the place where it
was greatest.
Holiness was asked to tell how many people it was present in. Solution – Holiness replied
that its contrary was in so many people that there was no way of counting them all.

Questions about patience

What is patience? Solution - Go to the chapter on patience in the branches of the moral
tree.
What is patience for? Solution – Without patience, fortitude could not acquire any major
merit. And go to the said chapter.
How is patience stronger than fortitude? Solution – Patience has greater concordance
with humility than fortitude and it has more friends than fortitude has.
Patience was asked by what means it won the war. Solution – Patience replied that it
defeated conceited people, irate people and scoffers and that it survived many adversities
with humility and hope.

Questions about humility

What is humility? Solution - Go to the chapter on humility in the branches of the moral
tree.
How does humility raise men up in the magnitude of goodness? Solution – Ibid.
Why does humility desire to be in so many people? Solution – No conceited person wants
to have any peers.
An old woman asked humility to tell her in which subject its greatest majority was found.
Solution – Humility replied that the old woman was wrong to forget Jesus Christ who had
taken on her likeness.

Questions about compassion

What is compassion? Solution - Go to the chapter on compassion in the branches of the
moral tree.
Why does a living man recoil at touching a dead man and why doesn’t he recoil at
touching a dead animal? Solution – Ibid.
A hermit asked God if He would have as much compassion on sinners if He was not
incarnate, crucified and slain as He would have if He was incarnate as a man, crucified
and slain. Solution – Ibid.
Why is a woman naturally more compassionate and more fearful than a man? Solution –
Ibid.
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Questions about chastity

What is chastity? Solution - Go to the chapter on chastity in the branches of the moral
tree.
What is chastity for? Solution – Ibid.
Why is a chaste woman commended for her chastity more than a man who is chaste?
Solution – A small man is highly praised for defeating a big man in battle.
Why is a father more pleased with the chastity of his daughter than with his son’s
chastity? Solution – Women are naturally more modest than men and the shame of the
beloved makes the lover ashamed.

Questions about generosity

What is generosity? Solution - Go to the chapter on generosity in the branches of the
moral tree.
A hermit asked God if He could create generosity in major majority without the
Incarnation. Solution – Ibid.
Why does the generous man take greater pleasure in giving than in receiving? Solution –
The giver is naturally farther away from avarice and closer to charity than the receiver.
Why is an old man not as naturally generous as a young man? Solution – The sanguine
complexion has concordance with generosity but the melancholy complexion has
concordance with avarice; and the Sun gives greater virtue to flowers of the moist and
warm complexion while it is ascending and to flowers of the dry and cold complexion
while it is descending.

Questions about lawfulness

What is lawfulness? Solution - Go to the chapter on lawfulness in the branches of the
moral tree.
Why is a man naturally more lawful on account of love than on account of fear? Solution
– Because in God there is love without fear, every will is nobler on account of loving than
on account of hating.
What does lawfulness travel with? Solution – Ibid.
Where is lawfulness found? Solution – Ibid.

Questions about constancy

What is constancy? Solution - Go to the chapter on constancy in the branches of the moral
tree.
What is constancy for? Solution – If horses never ran away they would not have to be tied
up. And go to the above chapter.
A hermit asked a king if he was constant in keeping his word more through hope or
through fortitude. Solution – The king replied that he could not transmit his fortitude to
God, but he did transmit his hope.
A hermit asked constancy if it was closer to believing or to understanding. Solution –
Constancy replied that it was closer to doubt through belief and farther removed from
doubt through understanding.

Questions about diligence

What is diligence? Solution - Go to the chapter on diligence in the branches of the moral
tree.
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Why is a mother more diligent in nourishing her son when he is a child than when he has
grown up? Solution – While a child is small it needs its natural nourishment and when he
has grown up, then he needs the moral nourishment that his father must provide for him.
A hermit asked a merchant why he was more diligent in making money than in acquiring
the virtues. Solution – The merchant replied and said that his father was more diligent in
making money than the prelate was in acquiring the virtues.
Why is a knight more diligent in garnering honour and praise than in acquiring the
virtues? Solution – The things that are more similar to God are naturally more desirable.

Questions about sweetness

What is sweetness? Solution - Go to the chapter on sweetness in the branches of the moral
tree.
Whose daughter is sweetness? Solution – Ibid.
A hermit asked Our Lady if her Son was sweet. Solution – Our Lady answered and told
the hermit to inquire about this from the cross and from the malevolence of the men by
whom her Son, who is worthy of supreme honour, was so gravely dishonoured and
slandered.
What is sweetness for? Solution – as above.

Questions about conscience

What is conscience? Solution - Go to the chapter on conscience in the branches of the
moral tree.
Does the first movement of conscience consist in love or in fear? Solution – The form of
conscience is meant for love and its figure is meant for fear, and thus love is the cause of
fear in conscience.
What is conscience for? Solution – Ibid.
A hermit asked conscience if it was a moral virtue or a natural virtue. Solution –
Conscience replied and said that it was a natural virtue that introduced its likeness in
moral virtue, but that it could not introduce this likeness in sinners who have no hope.

Questions about fear

What is fear? Solution - Go to the chapter on fear in the branches of the moral tree.
A hermit asked fear if it had any freedom. Solution – Fear replied and said that it was the
resultant of love, and since no created result had any power of choice, it could not be free.
And this solution contains an abundance of philosophy.
A hermit asked fear if it was as closely related to shame as it was related to love. Solution
– Fear answered and said that it never did anything with deliberation but it did everything
that love, its ruler, told it to do when it sent it out to bring it the things it needed to defeat
its enemies.
A hermit asked fear what it was for. Solution – Fear replied and said that it was meant to
threaten all those who spoke ill of love, its ruler. And go to the above chapter.

Questions about contrition

What is contrition? Solution - Go to the chapter on contrition in the branches of the moral
tree.
What is contrition made of? Solution – Contrition is made of the likenesses of conscience,
mercy, justice and hope.
What is contrition for? Solution – Ibid.
A hermit asked contrition why it wept and why it confessed its sins. Solution – Contrition
replied and said that it wept because it was sorry for the offences it had committed against
 45

its lord, and it confessed its sins so as to ask for advice about the way in which it could
recover the good graces of its lord.

Questions about shame

What is shame? Solution - Go to the chapter on shame in the branches of the moral tree.
Since a woman naturally feels shame more than man, why should man be more ashamed
of his misdeeds than a woman is ashamed of hers. Solution – According to moral science,
a woman’s shame restrains minority from wrongdoing but a man’s shame restrains
majority from wrongdoing. And go to the above chapter.
A hermit asked a chaste woman why she abhorred lust more through shame than through
fear. Solution – The chaste lady replied and said that no appropriated quality had as great
a concordance with fortitude as a proper quality.
A hermit asked a beautiful and lecherous woman if she loved modesty as much as a chaste
and ugly woman did. Solution – The beautiful woman replied and said that she lost her
sense of modesty by losing her chastity; she added that the chaste lady should not be
ashamed of her ugliness - since she could not be beautiful - but she had better be modest
in order to be chaste.

Questions about obedience

What is obedience? Solution - Go to the chapter on obedience in the branches of the moral
tree.
A hermit asked the king’s obedience if it was as great as his people’s obedience. Solution
– Obedience motivated by moral goodness is greater than obedience motivated by
subservience.
A hermit asked obedience if it suffered as much passion in a ruler as in his subjects.
Solution – A man who obeys many men has greater passion than a man who obeys just
one man.
A king wept because he was not the son of a farmer and of a farmer’s wife, and obedience
asked him why he wept. Solution – The king replied and said that he wept because he did
not have as much freedom of conscience as the son of a peasant whose conscience
allowed him to sleep.
Following the process we observed in making questions about the principal virtues
combined with each other, we want to make questions from the resultant virtues by
combining some virtues with others. However, to avoid prolixity, we want to make only
one question about each combination of one virtue with another. And if you, dear reader,
wish to make more questions about any chapter, you can make more of them if you go to
the chapters mentioned above. For instance if you want to make more questions about
holiness and patience, then go to the four questions and solutions we made about holiness
and to the four questions and solutions we made about patience, and from the
significations that you receive from them, if you know how to understand them, you can
make additional questions at will and you can find one solution through another solution.
This rule is general to this entire science, by reason of which the intellect has plenty of
material for making many questions and for investigating and discovering natural and
moral secrets.

Questions about holiness combined with the virtues

A hermit asked holiness if it was as general a virtue through action as through passion.
Solution – In a sermon in which a preacher praised God before a large assembly, the
affatus obtained more general holiness in the praise it gave to God than was obtained by
anybody who heard this praise.
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Abstinence, asked the hermit, are you as general a virtue as holiness? Solution –
Abstinence replied and said holiness was the only general virtue.
“Humility,” said the hermit, “in which virtue are you the greatest? “ Solution – Humility
replied and said that it had to be the greatest in the person who held the most general
responsibility.
Since holiness is such a universal virtue and since virtue is more common to men than to
women, why does compassion make women weep more readily than men? Solution –
Moral generality is one thing and natural generality is another thing.
A hermit asked chastity if it was holier in a woman than in a man. Solution – Chastity
replied and said that it was holier through modesty in a woman but it was holier through
fortitude in a man.
A hermit asked holiness if it was more afraid of avarice than of lust. Solution – Holiness
answered and said that people did not feel conscience as sharply through the sanguine
complexion as through the melancholy complexion.
A hermit asked holiness if it could have as many friends through the shame that preserved
lawfulness as through the modesty that preserved chastity. Solution – Holiness replied and
said that lawfulness was a more common virtue than chastity.
“Holiness,” asked the hermit, “is your constancy as great through loving as through
understanding? Solution – Holiness replied and said that actions which came and went
quickly worried it more than actions which were slow in coming.
A hermit asked diligence if it was more holy through charity than through prudence.
Solution – Diligence answered and said that its head was holy through prudence and its
tail was holy through charity.
A hermit asked sweetness if it was as holy through patience as through humility. Solution
– Sweetness replied and said that it was holier through patience in fortitude and through
charity in humility.
“Holiness,” asked the hermit, “is your conscience as great through love as through fear?”
Solution – Holiness replied and told the hermit that he would find the answer in the
significations of his questions in the said chapter. and in the questions we put about
conscience.
“Fear,” asked the hermit, “are you as holy through charity as through justice?” Solution –
Fear answered and said that it was the servant of charity with justice.
A hermit asked contrition if it was as holy through fasting as it was through returning the
money it had acquired through usury. Solution – Contrition replied and said that it was
more holy through the restitution of the money with fortitude and through fasting with
temperance.
A hermit asked shame if it was as holy in a prelate as in a prince. Solution – Go to the
definitions of holiness and of shame, and you will find the answer in the significations of
these definitions.
A hermit asked obedience if it was as holy in the intellect as in the will of a member of a
religious order. Solution – Obedience answered and said that it provided more service to
the will than to the intellect of the religious.

Questions about patience combined with the virtues

A hermit asked patience if it was as great a virtue in the abstinence of a man when he
abstained from anger over the loss of his money and his possessions, or when he abstained
from anger over the loss of his son or of a friend of his? Solution – Patience replied and
said that it was more germane to abstinence through the inner nature than through the
outer nature.
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A hermit asked patience if it was as great a virtue in a man when he humbled himself as it
was when humility elevated him. Solution – Patience replied and said that while the man
humbled himself it was awake but it was asleep when humility elevated the man.
“Patience,” said the hermit, “is there as much compassion in your weeping as in your
sighing?” Solution – Sighs come from the heart but tears come from the eyes.
A hermit asked patience if it was as great in a beautiful and chaste lady who had a young
husband and who was accused of lustful behaviour, as it was in a beautiful and chaste lady
who had an elderly husband and who was accused of lustful behaviour. Solution – A
minor accusation cannot inflict as much passion as a major accusation can.
A hermit asked generosity if it loved patience in a rich man as much as it loved patience in
a poor man. Solution – Generosity answered and said that it loved patience more in the
man who was the farther removed from its contrary.
A hermit asked a law-abiding man accused of treason if he had greater patience with his
will than with his intellect. Solution – Lawfulness replied and said that the more or less
firmly he accepted the truth with his intellect and goodness with his will, the more or less
patience he had.
Patience asked diligence why it did not allow it to sleep, because it was exceedingly
vexed. Solution – Diligence replied and said that it remained idle while patience slept, and
this idleness was a heavy burden for it to bear.
“Sweetness,” asked the hermit, “why do you weep?” Solution – Sweetness replied and
said that it wept because it wanted to rouse patience from its slumber.
“Conscience,” asked the hermit, “do you love patience?” Solution – A gluttonous man
was asked if he knew what temperance was, but he replied and said that he knew a place
that had partridges for sale and a tavern where they sold good wine.
“Patience,” asked the hermit, “are you afraid?” Solution – Patience replied and said that it
was afraid of all the vices in which charity and justice remained idle.
“Patience,” asked the hermit, “are you as great in the contrition of a prelate as in the
contrition of a prince?” Solution – Contrition about corporeal things can never be as great
as contrition about spiritual things.
“Patience,” asked the hermit, “why are you more afraid of being ashamed about
intemperance than of being ashamed about untruthfulness?” Solution – Patience replied
that its shame about intemperance was greater than its shame about untruthfulness because
people scold drunken men more severely than they scold liars.
A hermit asked patience if it was as obedient to the prince as to the prelate. Solution –
Patience replied and said that there was no need to put questions about things that are
known from experience.

Questions about abstinence combined with the virtues

Humility asked abstinence if it was farther removed from conceit in a holy prelate than in
a holy religious. Solution – The one with the greater reputation for goodness is closer to
hypocrisy.
“Compassion,” asked the hermit, “why have you more abstinence from tears in men than
in women?” Solution – Abstinence can always be stronger with major fortitude than with
minor fortitude.
“Chastity,” asked the hermit, “why are women more abstinent from lust than men?”
Solution – The abstinence in women is due more to modesty and fear, but in men it is due
more to fortitude and love.
Why does a spendthrift abstain from lying more than a miser? Solution – Abstinence and
generosity are farther removed from avarice and falsehood in the miser than in the
spendthrift, and consequently falsehood is closer to the miser than to the spendthrift.
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Why does a law-abiding man have greater abstinence from lust than from committing
treason? Solution – treason is a more general vice than lust.
A hermit asked abstinence if it was touched as much by constancy as by fear. Solution –
Fear can never be as general a virtue as constancy.
Diligence wanted to be idle and abstinence asked prudence and charity why they were
saying such bad things about diligence. Solution – Prudence and charity said to abstinence
that it was aware of the fact that when diligence was idle, it would turn against them as an
enemy.
Sweetness asked gluttony why it expelled abstinence from temperance. Solution –
Gluttony replied and said to sweetness: “I did not expel abstinence from temperance, but
abstinence escaped from temperance because charity, patience and humility did not want
to abide in you, sweetness.”
A hermit asked abstinence to tell him whom it advised. Solution – Abstinence replied and
said that it advised conscience when people wanted to practice deception or to commit
some offence.
“Abstinence,” said the hermit, “have you any fear?” Solution – Abstinence replied and
said that without fear it would be nothing.
“Abstinence,” said the hermit, “how come you exist?” Solution – Abstinence replied and
said that it existed because contrition exercised great pressure.
“Abstinence, why are you suffering? Solution – Abstinence replied and said that it was
afraid of shame.
A hermit asked abstinence if it was as great in the obedience of an abbot as in the
obedience of a shepherd. Solution – Abstinence can obtain greater obedience from those
who are most in charge of common good.

Questions about humility combined with the virtues

A hermit asked humility if it was as good as compassion. Solution – Humility answered
and said that it would be out of character for it to say that compassion was not as good as
it was.
A hermit asked chastity if a beautiful woman should naturally be more chaste than an ugly
woman. Solution – Chastity replied and said that the beautiful lady was conceited about
her beauty and so she had more enemies than the ugly lady.
A hermit asked humility if it was present in avaricious people. Solution – Humility replied
that its figure was present in avaricious people but its form was present in generous
people. Consequently, avaricious people are humble on the outside but conceited on the
inside, like hypocrites.
A hermit asked humility if it descended to lawfulness so as to ascend to greater goodness.
Solution – Humility replied that if it descended to lawfulness so as to ascend to greater
goodness, then it would be acting in a way contrary to its own nature because it always
wanted to descend, but as it descended to lawfulness, inasmuch as it humbled itself,
lawfulness ascended to greater goodness on account of what humility contributed to it and
as lawfulness ascended, humility ascended along with it. This passage contains some
profound philosophy.
A hermit asked constancy if humility behaved in the same way when it ascended as when
it descended. Solution – Humility was present in a cloistered monk who later became
conceited when he was made an abbot.
A hermit asked humility why it wept. Humility replied that diligence had far more schools
and scholars of law than of theology.
A hermit asked humility and sweetness why they were so readily present in nobler men
than in men who were less noble because the noble ones appeared to be conceited.
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Solution – Sweetness and humility replied that the lion displayed great nobility when did
not respond to the threatening bark of an angry little dog.
A hermit asked humility if its conscience was as great in ascending as in descending.
Solution – Humility replied that the higher one rose, the farther one could fall, and
therefore someone in a lofty position should have major remorse of conscience when he
commits an offence.
A hermit asked humility if it felt as much fear in ascending as in descending. Solution –
Humility replied that it had no fear of descending, just as conceit had no fear of ascending.
A hermit asked humility if it felt any contrition when it sinned. Solution – Humility
replied that it always felt contrition when it ascended though it did not sin. Thus, the more
it ascended, the more it gave of itself to humble men.
A hermit asked humility if it had any shame. Solution – Humility replied that it had no
shame when it descended although it had a sense of modesty when it ascended; and then
the hermit realized, from what humility said, why hypocrites had no shame.
“Humility,” asked the hermit, “are you free?” Solution – Humility replied that conceit, its
opposite, was a slave of disobedience.

Questions about compassion combined with the virtues

“Compassion,” asked the hermit, “why are you greater in a chaste woman than in a
lecherous one?” Solution - Compassion replied that a chaste woman was orderly, and
compassion could be greater when it was in order than when it was out of order.
A hermit asked generosity why generous people are more prompt to weep than avaricious
people. Solution – Generosity replied that generous people had compassion who was the
mother of tears; but avaricious people showed cruelty when they derided the poor.
A hermit asked lawfulness to tell him who was deriding compassion. Solution – Legality
replied that false men wept and sighed to put on an appearance of legality.
Since there is not as much constancy in women than in men, why are women moved to
compassion sooner than men? Solution – Minor virtue moves before major virtue;
nevertheless, major virtue has the greater movement.
A hermit inquired of the prince’s diligence whether it had compassion for the Saracens
who were going to Hell. Solution - The prince’s diligence replied that it would put this
question to the prelate’s diligence.
Compassion and sweetness wept and a hermit asked them why they wept. Solution -
Compassion and sweetness replied and said that they wept because in the prince’s crown
they were not appreciated as much as were the gold and the precious stones.
“Conscience,” said the hermit, “why are you sad in nature?” Solution – Conscience
replied that it was sad in nature so it could compel compassion to weep over its sins.
“Compassion,” asked the hermit, “have you any fear?” Solution – Compassion replied that
fear was the sign it bore on its flag.
“Contrition,” asked the hermit, “how are you identified?” Solution – Contrition replied
that it could be identified through tears shed out of compassion and that it could be
misidentified through the tears of false people who weep so that they can deceive law-
abiding folks.
“Compassion,” asked the hermit, “have you any shame?” Solution – Compassion replied
that it wept out pity for a prince who was ashamed to pray to God and to be seen
conversing with humble and lowly people who suffered greatly on account of that shame.
A hermit asked compassion if it had any freedom when it wept and sighed. Solution –
Compassion replied that the more it wept and sighed, the more freedom it experienced,
and thus it knew that its freedom consisted in weeping and sighing on account of the sins
of people who disobey the virtues.
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Questions about chastity combined with the virtues

A hermit asked generosity if it was as great in a chaste woman as in a lecherous woman.
Solution – Generosity answered that its false outer appearance was more present in a
spendthrift but its true inner form was more present in a generous man.
A hermit asked chastity if it was a virtue in someone who was a traitor. Solution –
Chastity replied that its likeness in a traitor who was not a lecher stood like the likeness of
a living man in the likeness of a dead man.
“Chastity,” said the hermit, “when lechery touches you, with which virtue do you have the
greatest constancy?” Solution – Chastity replied that it had the greatest constancy on its
own because it was more opposed to lechery than any other virtue was.
A merchant showed great diligence in earning money so that his wife could be nobly
dressed, and a hermit asked him if he had as much diligence in ensuring his wife’s
chastity as in providing her with fancy clothes. Solution – The merchant replied that his
wife had promised him that the more nobly he dressed her, the more chaste she would be
and that he believed her.
“Sweetness,” said the hermit, “why are you greater in a lecherous woman than in a chaste
woman?” Solution – Sweetness replied that the lecherous lady managed to appear sweet
in order to deceive her husband with simulated love.
“Chastity,” said the hermit, “when you are touched by lust, with whom do you consult?”
Solution – Chastity replied that it consulted with conscience, who was never a friend of
lechery.
An elderly man took a young woman for wife and chastity asked him if he was not afraid
of lechery. Solution – The old man replied that he was not afraid of lechery; and chastity
said that this was quite obvious.
An old man asked chastity if he should take a young woman for wife. Solution – Chastity
replied that no old man who does wrong to his young wife can ever make it up to her.
Consequently, any old man who takes a young woman for wife must have conscience,
contrition, fear, modesty and shame.
A hermit asked chastity why young men were ashamed of it. Solution – Chastity replied
that young men did not consider the torments of Hell toward which lechers are headed,
nor did they know what shame and modesty were.
“Chastity,” said the hermit, “why are you so sad, given the fact that you are so good?
Solution – Chastity replied that it was sad because more people were obedient to lechery
than to her.

Questions about generosity combined with the virtues

Lawfulness asked generosity to tell it what kind of man was the most dangerous to
associate with. Solution – Generosity replied that no man was a worse associate than a
miser.
Generosity asked constancy if it could trust in the word of an avaricious man who
promised something to his friend. Solution – Constancy replied that avaricious people
were the greatest liars of all.
A merchant asked diligence why it did not do as much business with generosity as with
avarice. Solution – Diligence excused itself and said that it was not its fault because it
never refused to give itself to anybody who wanted to have it.
“Sweetness,” said the hermit, “why are you greater in generosity than in avarice? Solution
- Sweetness replied that when anybody touched a greedy man’s money, the greedy man
got angry right away because avaricious men were conceited about their fortune.
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Generosity asked conscience why it was not present in avaricious wealthy people who
kept the money of the poor in a state of idleness. Solution – Conscience excused itself and
said it was because avarice did not want this.
“Generosity,” said the hermit, “why does avarice have no fear of the judge?” Solution –
Generosity replied that avarice had plenty of money with which it could silence the judge.
“Contrition,” said the hermit, “why are you greater in a generous man than in an
avaricious man?” Solution – Contrition replied that the miser was the greatest of all the
enemies of restitution.
A hermit asked generosity if it was ashamed of the fact that avarice had more friends than
it had. Solution – Generosity replied that it was not so much ashamed of this; instead, it
was sad and often wept.
A hermit asked obedience if it was as great in generosity as in avarice. Solution –
Obedience replied that it was more present in generosity through the will and more
present in avarice through corporeal considerations.

Questions about lawfulness combined with the virtues

“Constancy,” said the hermit, “why are you a greater friend of lawfulness than of
falsehood?” Solution – Constancy replied that the law-abiding man built his house on a
rock but the false man built his house on sand.
“Lawfulness,” said diligence “why are you weeping?” Solution – Lawfulness replied that
since diligence was a friend of falsehood, it knew the answer well.
Why do law-abiding people speak sparingly and take their time in speaking and why do
they advance so humbly on their way? Solution – False men are prompt to speak out
because they want to leave no time for deliberation that would allow the truth to be told.
And they advance arrogantly on their way because they want to make people afraid of
them.
Why do law-abiding people not excuse themselves as vehemently as false people do when
they are accused of falsehood. Solution – Lawfulness is not as fearful as falsehood
because lawfulness trusts in the truth, and conscience is aware of it.
A hermit asked lawfulness what it was the most afraid of. Solution – Lawfulness replied
that it was more afraid of false testimony than of anything else.
A hermit asked lawfulness if it had any contrition when it went to confession. Solution –
Lawfulness replied that it was opposed to false confessions fabricated by false men.
A hermit asked lawfulness why a law-abiding person’s face would blush when he was
unjustly reprehended. Solution – Lawfulness replied and said that it moved the blood to
colour a law-abiding person’s face red with shame when he was unjustly reprehended, just
as falsehood moved the colour yellow with fear when a false man was justly reprehended.
A hermit asked lawfulness if ever at any time it had been obedient to sin. Solution – No
falsehood is ever obedient to virtue.

Questions about constancy combined with the virtues

“Constancy,” said the hermit, “have you any diligence?” Solution – Constancy replied that
it should put this question to Jerusalem, who knew the answer to it.
A hermit asked constancy if it had any sweetness. Solution – Constancy replied to the
hermit by asking him if he was inquiring about the sweetness that existed at the time of
the apostles, or about the sweetness that exists at the time we are now living in.
A hermit asked constancy if it was the foundation of conscience. Solution – Constancy
replied that he already knew the answer, considering how many times it had been an
apostate.
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“Constancy,” said the hermit, “are you afraid of anything?” Solution – Constancy replied
that it was afraid of the sick man who changes his good resolutions into bad ones once he
is cured.
“Constancy, have you any contrition?” Solution – Constancy replied that it had contrition
when men were sick.
“Constancy,” said the hermit, “are you ashamed of anything?” Solution – Constancy
replied that it always felt ashamed when men boasted of the good that they were doing.
Obedience asked constancy if it would love it as diligently through fear as through love.
Solution – Constancy replied that it does not do anything for money.

Questions about diligence combined with the virtues

Diligence asked sweetness why it walked at such an unhurried pace. Solution
- Sweetness replied that it walked quickly in the company of constancy but slowly and
deliberately in the company of patience and humility.
A hermit asked diligence why it ran so vigorously. Solution – Diligence replied that it ran
so vigorously because conscience advised it to do so.
“Diligence,” asked the hermit, “are you afraid of anything?” Solution – Diligence said that
it was afraid of fancy delicacies, soft beds and much clothing, all of which made people
lazy.
“Diligence, have you any contrition?” Solution – Diligence replied that it could not have
any contrition in people who were dulled by gluttony.
“Diligence, are you ashamed of anything?” Solution – Diligence replied that it was
ashamed to see men full of wine and stuffed with chicken who did not keep their promises
and who said that it was utterly boring to go through the world and spread the honour of
God.
“Diligence,” said the hermit, “with what do you defeat laziness, who is your contrary?”
Solution – Diligence replied that it defeated its opponent with charity and prudence.

Questions about sweetness combined with the virtues

Why does a discreet man think about what he is going to say before speaking out?
Solution – A clear conscience and sweetness in words give rise to effective rhetoric and to
goodness, charity, patience and humility.
“Sweetness,” asked the hermit, “are you afraid of conceit?” Solution – Sweetness replied
that no man who loved humility and patience had any fear of conceit.
“Sweetness,” asked the hermit, “have you any contrition?” Solution – Sweetness replied
that the hypocritical version of itself had no contrition.
“Sweetness,” said the hermit, “Why do you speak so slowly and deliberately?” Solution –
Sweetness replies that it spoke so slowly and deliberately because it was ashamed of
lying.
“Sweetness,” said the hermit, “to which virtues are you most obedient?” Solution –
Sweetness replied that it was more closely related to charity, patience and humility than to
the other virtues.

Questions about conscience combined with the virtues

“Conscience,” asked the hermit, “why have you greater concordance with fear than with
love?” Solution - Conscience replied that its mandate consisted in making threats as well
as in giving hope and making promises.
“Conscience, who is your confessor?” Solution - Conscience replied that contrition heard
its confession because it wanted to know how it had threatened wrongdoers and how they
advised those who wanted to do good.
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A hermit asked conscience if it was ashamed of anything. Solution – Conscience replied

that it was often ashamed when people rose from the table full of wine believing that they
had conscience, though they had sinned against temperance, and that it would have
preferred to see this sense of modesty right from the beginning of the meal.
“Conscience,” Said the hermit, “why are you always sad?” Solution - Conscience replied
that it was always sad because it was always a slave.

Questions about fear combined with the virtues

A hermit asked contrition if it had greater concordance with fear than with love. Solution
– Contrition replied that love moved it with fear.
Since modesty is a good virtue, why do people confound it with fear? Solution – Just as
people do not automatically laugh when they are doing good, so likewise they naturally
feel no shame when they are doing good.
If obedience is such a good virtue, then why are people so afraid of it? Solution – The
intellect and the will naturally desire to be free.

Questions about contrition combined with the virtues

“Modesty,” asked the hermit, “what is your purpose?” Solution – Modesty replied that its
purpose was to give the hermit contrition about the hypocrisy he showed because he was
conceited about the facts that he lived alone, ate raw herbs and slept on a hard board.
A hermit asked obedience if it had as much contrition in a prelate as in a canon. Solution –
Obedience replied to the hermit that this was such an obvious question that it did not need
an answer.

A question about modesty and obedience

A hermit asked obedience if it was ashamed of anything. Solution – Obedience replied
that he could put this question to the sensitive power, because more people were obedient
to it than to the intellectual power.

Questions from the moral tree of vices

First, about gluttony

What is gluttony? Solution – Go to the branches of the vices in the moral tree, the chapter
on gluttony.
Why is there gluttony? Solution – Gluttony exists because abstinence, fortitude and
prudence do not help temperance against the will that has more concordance with the
appetitive vegetal power than with the digestive power.
What is gluttony made of? Solution – Gluttony consists in the privation of the end of
temperance and of the idleness of justice, prudence and fortitude.
How does gluttony exist? Solution – Gluttony exists through the imagination imagining
the delights of eating and drinking in taste when the sensitive power moves itself with the
natural instinct of the vegetative to an excessively great end of sensing by tasting things in
violation of the order of remembering, understanding and loving.

Questions about avarice

What is avarice? Solution – Go to the branches of the vices in the moral tree, the chapter
on avarice.
Generosity asked avarice if it was a creature. Solution – Avarice said that it was not a
creature but that it was a similitude contrary to hope that emptied money and vegetal
commodities of their purpose.
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Generosity asked an avaricious man what he produced avarice with. Solution – The
avaricious man replied that he produced avarice with the similitude of goodness against
the end of goodness, which end was owed to the people who needed the goods that he
amassed and from which his will produced neither justice, nor prudence, nor fortitude nor
hope.
“Avarice,” said generosity, “why are you opposed to me?” Solution – Avarice replied that
it was opposed to generosity because justice, prudence, fortitude, charity and hope were
not its friends.

Questions about lust

What is lust? Solution – Go to the branches of the vices in the moral tree, the chapter on
lust.
What does lust consist in? Solution – Lust consists of elemental, vegetal, sensual and
imaginal instinct and appetite along with a disorder of rational appetite against the right
order of carnal copulation.
What are the causes of lust? Lust arises from an overabundance of eating and drinking, an
overabundance that is directed or ordered to obtain enjoyments of the flesh that are
desired by the will, understood by the intellect, remembered by memory and imagined by
the imagination without being constrained by justice, rebuked by fortitude, bound by
abstinence or directed in accordance with the order of matrimony.
Chastity asked lust why it had greater concordance with the will than with memory and
the intellect. Solution – Lust replied that the will was a power that received its object more
quickly than did memory and the intellect, and lust was afraid of memory and the intellect
in the beginning lest they consulted justice, prudence and fortitude which often
reprehended the will when it was lured by vice.

Questions about conceit

What is conceit? Solution – Go to the branches of the vices in the moral tree.
What does conceit consist of? Solution – Conceit consists of the privation of humility and
of a disorder of the appetite that desires great things in goodness in a magnitude that is
inappropriate to the majority of the one who has such desires, who considers his major
magnitude and forgets the major magnitude of his fellow man whose minority he
remembers while forgetting his own minority.
Why is there conceit? Solution – There is conceit because there is no humility.
Humility asked conceit why it had a greater concordance with the intellect than with
memory and the will. Solution – Conceit replied that the intellect’s proper function was to
understand things just as the proper function of fire was to give out heat and light, but the
will was more variable - and so was the memory - in desiring what was deserved or
undeserved than the intellect was variable in understanding what was true or untrue.
Hence, a conceited man who did not consider his own defects but considered the defects
of others had a greater concordance with the intellect than with the other powers.

Questions about accidy

What is accidy? Solution – Go to the branches of the vices in the moral tree.
What does accidy consist of? Solution – Accidy consists of idleness of purpose and of an
appetite that is sad because purpose does not remain idle.
Why is there accidy? Solution – There is accidy because there is no diligence in pursuing
moral ends.
Diligence asked accidy why it had a greater concordance with the intellect than with
memory and the will. Solution – Accidy replied that the intellect was the power that had
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to work harder than any other power to find its object. Indeed, the intellect first inquires
into species with which it attains secrets and the truth about things; and it has to work hard
at inquiring into these species given that the secret truths of things are very deeply hidden
under many false likenesses; and from the species that the intellect receives and collects
for revealing secret truths, the will collects light with diligence for loving or hating its
object, and the intellect turns over or commits to memory the species that it captures and
discovers, it reviews old species and inquires after new species and thus it builds a
scientific habit it can wear. But memory along with the will in practice do not work as
hard to receive their objects with newly discovered light as the intellect does because it
has to discover this light first. And as the intellect has to work harder, it grows tired more
quickly than do memory and the will, and thus it is more inclined to be lazy - because it is
the media tunica - than are memory or the will.

Questions about envy

What is envy? Solution – Go to the branches of the vices in the moral tree.
What does envy consist of? Solution – Envy consists of an appetite that desires to possess
goods that are the rightful property of others to whom these goods have been given in
accordance with the right order of justice and charity.
Why is there envy? Solution – Envy exists because the will does not desire charity,
justice and hope, but desires their contraries instead and stores them in its memory.
Justice, charity and hope asked envy why it had greater concordance with memory than
with the intellect and the will? Solution – Envy replied that memory had greater
concordance with the complexion of earth than with any complexion of the other
elements, and thus avarice was appropriated to it because memory required many species
with which it gathered up a treasure of idleness just as the miser did with the large piles of
money that he kept in an idle state in his safe. Consequently, envious people are lazy and
desire to obtain without working for them, possessions that others have acquired through
work or that have been reserved for others for some useful purpose.

Questions about ire

What is ire? Solution – Go to the branches of the vices in the moral tree.
What does ire consist of? Solution – Ire consists of hatefulness, a sad appetite and a
sudden movement against justice, fortitude, charity without the deliberation of prudence.
Why is there ire? Solution – Ire exists because there is no patience; because abstinence
does not rein in the will, ire destroys the habit of charity when it despoils the intellect of
prudence, memory of justice, the will of charity and itself of fortitude..
“Tell me, ire,” said patience, “why have you more concordance with the will than with
memory or with the intellect?” Solution – Ire replied that the will moved suddenly and did
not deliberate at all before receiving its object until the intellect intervened to oppose it
with prudence. Consequently, since the will moves without deliberation or counsel to hate
something while the intellect remains idle, the will has a more vigorous movement than
the intellect and memory because the will naturally moves in a sudden way without any
remembering, understanding or deliberation.

Questions about gluttony and avarice

How do gluttony and avarice have concordance? Solution – Go to the said chapter in the
branches of the moral tree.
Since a miser does not want to spend much but a glutton wants to eat a lot, why do avarice
and gluttony have concordance instead of opposing each other? Solution – Gluttony and
avarice are opposites in many kinds of men, but they can have concordance in the
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gluttonous man who treats others avariciously so that he can eat a lot and buy fancy
delicacies.
How are avarice and gluttony contraries? Solution – Gluttony injures the health of the
man who is avaricious with his money so he can have plenty to spend on food; in this way
it is contrary to the subject of avarice. Moreover, avarice opposes gluttony inasmuch as
avarice keeps delicate foodstuffs idle on the shelf though it could buy them for the benefit
of gluttony who wants to eat them, but avarice does not want to give them to gluttony. In
this way, some gluttonous misers ruin their health by eating very cheaply purchased food
that has nothing delicate about it.
Charity and temperance were weeping and a hermit asked them why they wept. Solution –
they wept because their contraries were more loved than they were and had more friends
than they had.

Questions about gluttony and lust

How do gluttony and lust have concordance? Solution – Go to the said chapter in the
branches of the vices in the moral tree.
Why are lecherous and gluttonous people poorer than others and why don’t they live as
long as others? Solution – Ibid.
A hermit asked gluttony if it was a vice as evil as lust. Solution – Gluttony replied that it
was a cause of guilt only in its subject and not in anybody else, whereas lust caused guilt
in both a man and a woman.
Why are there more lecherous women than gluttonous ones? Solution – Men who make
advances to beautiful women are motivated more by lust than by gluttony.

Questions about gluttony and conceit

How do gluttony and conceit have concordance? Solution – Go to the said chapter in the
branches of the vices in the moral tree.
“Gluttony,” asked a hermit, “are you as evil a vice as conceit?” Solution – Gluttony
replied that in the sensitive power gluttony was a vice worse than conceit, but in the
intellective power, conceit was worse than gluttony.
How does gluttony amount to conceit? Solution – Gluttony amounts to conceit because it
wants the sensual appetite to rule over the intellectual appetite.
Gluttony and conceit were weeping and a hermit asked them why they wept. Solution –
Gluttony and conceit replied that they wept because they had no meat to eat, no wine to
drink, nor any beautiful clothes to wear.

Questions about gluttony and accidy

How do gluttony and accidy have concordance? Solution – Go to the said chapter in the
branches of the vices in the moral tree.
A hermit asked gluttony if it was as evil a vice as accidy. Solution – Gluttony replied that
it was not as generally widespread a vice as accidy.
A hermit asked accidy and gluttony what kind of emblem they drew on their shield.
Solution – Gluttony and accidy replied that they drew an emblem of sadness and of
laziness when people ate too much and also when healthy people practiced good morals,
made good money and earned a good reputation.
“Gluttony and accidy,” said the hermit, “what kind of end are you pursuing?” Solution –
Go to the abovementioned chapter.
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Questions about gluttony and envy

How do gluttony and envy have concordance? Solution – Go to the said chapter in the
branches of the vices in the moral tree.
“Gluttony,” asked the hermit, “are you as evil a vice as envy?” Solution – Gluttony
replied that an envious man could have envy on a full stomach as much as on an empty
stomach and that envy was more opposed to charity than gluttony was.
“Gluttony and envy,” said the hermit, “why are you friends?” Solution – Gluttony and
envy replied that they were friends because they were afraid of their enemies.
A hermit asked gluttony and envy where he could find them if he lost them. Gluttony and
envy replied that they readily found residence in the rich who had much money and who
were more interested in their private good – which was against the public good - than in
helping the poor.

Questions about gluttony and ire

How do gluttony and ire have concordance? Solution – Go to the said chapter in the
branches of the vices in the moral tree.
“Gluttony,” asked the hermit, “are you as evil a vice as ire?” Solution – Gluttony replied
that it killed the human body slowly, but ire killed it suddenly and swiftly.
A hermit asked gluttony and ire if they were afraid of anything. Solution – Gluttony
replied and said that it was afraid of temperance and ire replied and said that it was afraid
of patience.
“Gluttony and ire, do you sell yourselves for money?” Solution – Gluttony and ire replied
and said that they did not sell themselves for money, but that they gave themselves freely
to everyone who wanted to have them.

Questions about avarice and lust

How do avarice and lust have concordance? Solution – Go to the said chapter in the
branches of the vices in the moral tree.
“Tell me, lust,” said the hermit, “are you as evil a vice as avarice?” Solution – Lust replied
and said that it was not as extremely unnatural as avarice, nor was it as public a vice as
avarice was.
A hermit asked a lecherous old woman why she was not as greatly pleased with her
daughter-in-law’s lustfulness as she was pleased with the lustfulness of her own daughter.
Solution – The old woman replied and said that she preferred that her own daughter,
rather than her daughter-in-law should make money and that she preferred to see her own
likeness of lust reproduced in the woman she loved the most.
“Tell me, lecherous old woman,” said the hermit, “why do you reprehend your son for
lustfulness, but not your daughter?” Solution – The old woman replied and said that her
son was ruining his body and wasting his money on sex, but her daughter made money by
flaunting her lustful behaviour, whereas her son did not make a cent by doing what he did.
Moreover, she was not shy to discuss sex with her daughter and to relate to her the
pleasures she had with men, but she would have felt ashamed of the same pleasures if she
described them to her son.

Questions about avarice and conceit

How do avarice and conceit have concordance? Solution – Go to the said chapter in the
branches of the vices in the moral tree.
“Tell me, avarice,” said the hermit, “are you as evil a vice as conceit?” Solution – Avarice
replied and said that it was a vice worse than conceit against restitution at the moment of
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death; but conceit was a vice worse than avarice with ire against forgiveness at the
moment of death.
“Tell me, conceit,” said avarice, “why are you against God’s honour?” ”And you, avarice,
why are you against the purpose of temporal goods” “As for you two,” said the hermit,
“why do you reprehend each other even though you are both opposed to virtue?” Conceit
replied that it was against God because it did not want to have a peer in the magnitude of
power. And avarice said that it was against the purpose of temporal goods because charity
was asleep. And they both said to the hermit that they reprehended each other because
they both had some concordance with envy.
“Avarice and conceit, do you have as much concordance in an old man as in a young -
man?” Solution – Conceit replied that conceit about the body was greater in a young man,
but conceit about the soul was greater in an old man. And avarice said that it was greater
both corporeally and spiritually in an old man than in a young man.

Questions about avarice and accidy

How do avarice and accidy have concordance? Solution – Go to the said chapter in the
branches of the vices in the moral tree.
A hermit asked avarice and accidy which of them was the worse vice. Solution – Avarice
replied that it was worse than accidy in the illness of a wealthy miser. And accidy said
that it was worse than avarice in the health of the people who were its friends because it
was a vice that was not as well known or feared as avarice.
A hermit asked an avaricious merchant why he did not have as much money as his son
who was a friend of generosity. Solution - Go to the said chapter in the branches of the
vices in the moral tree.
A hermit asked the city of Jerusalem why it wept. Solution – The city of Jerusalem replied
that avarice and accidy knew the reason why.

Questions about avarice and envy

How do avarice and envy have concordance? Solution – Go to the said chapter in the
branches of the vices in the moral tree.
A hermit asked sin if it was as great in avarice as in envy. Solution – Sin replied that it
was intensively greater in avarice and extensively greater in envy.
A hermit asked avarice and envy where could he find them if he lost them or if they went
missing. Solution – They replied that those who wanted to find them should look for them
in beautiful buildings, beautiful horses, beautiful garments, in safes full of money, in
storehouses full of wheat and in the tears of the poor. And then the hermit said that they
could be found quickly.
A hermit asked avarice and envy if they came from a great lineage. Solution – Avarice
and envy replied that their lineage was very ancient and that they resided mostly in the
summits of the trees.

Questions about avarice and ire

How do avarice and ire have concordance? Solution – Go to the said chapter in the
branches of the vices in the moral tree.
“Tell me, avarice,” said the hermit, “are you as evil a vice as ire is?” Solution – Avarice
replied that ire ran more rapidly than it did toward evil and against good.
Avarice asked ire why it wanted to kill people and thus risk losing a fortune in money that
avarice had acquired. Solution – Ire replied that it never wept over damage done to
anybody else.
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“Tell me, ire,” said avarice, “if you could take vengeance for me against generosity
because it is making poor people say evil things about me.”
.Solution – Ire replied that it could avenge it for what generosity was doing so long as it
could start a conflict among the wealthy people who gave alms to the poor.

Questions about lust and conceit

How do lust and conceit have concordance? Solution – Go to the said chapter in the
branches of the vices in the moral tree.
A hermit asked lust and conceit which of them was the worse vice. Solution – Lust replied
that it was the worst sin of the body and conceit said that it was the worst sin of the soul.
Then the hermit knew which of the two vices was the worst.
Why is an old and lecherous woman not as conceited as a young and lecherous woman?
Solution – Young women are more in demand than old women.
A hermit came across lust and conceit who were having a conversation. The hermit asked
them what they were talking about. Solution – Conceit and lust replied and said that they
were always discussing either the things they loved the most or the things they hated the
most. And then lust said to the hermit that it did not want to be his spouse and conceit said
that it did not want to be associated with him because he did not have a handsome
appearance, nor did he ride a horse, nor did he dress attractively, nor had he any servants
to wait on him; moreover, he wore a white beard and ate a miserable diet. The hermit
replied to them that he liked things to remain like this so that he could avoid any
association with lust and conceit, because they were evil beasts.

Questions about lust and accidy

How do lust and accidy have concordance? Solution – Go to the said chapter in the
branches of the vices in the moral tree.
A hermit asked lust and accidy which one was the worst as a vice. Solution - Lust replied
that it was the worst vice of the sanguine complexion and that accidy was the worst vice
of the melancholy complexion.
“Tell me, accidy,” said the hermit, “why do you like to see lust more in nobler women
than in women of lesser rank?” Solution – Accidy replied and said that it liked to see lust
in nobler women more than in women of lesser rank because it wanted to increase in
magnitude and spread its evil far and wide.
“Tell me, lust,” said the hermit, “are you idle in a lecherous old man who cannot sleep
with a woman?” Solution – Lust replied that her friend accidy knew about this when it
slandered people who were chaste.

Questions about lust and envy

How do lust and envy have concordance? Solution – Go to the said chapter in the
branches of the vices in the moral tree.
A hermit asked lust if it was as evil a vice as envy. Solution – Lust replied that it was the
worst vice in touching but envy was the worst vice in envying.
Why is a woman more disposed to be lustful than to be envious, but a man is more
disposed to be envious than to be lustful? Solution – It is never as suitable for a woman as
it is for a man to possess wealth, and a constrained will always desires to be free.
Why are women reprehended for lust more than men are reprehended for envy? Solution –
The judgment of women is not as great as the judgment of men.
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Questions about lust and ire

How do lust and ire have concordance? Solution – Go to the said chapter in the branches
of the vices in the moral tree.
A hermit asked lust and ire which one was the more evil of the two. Solution – Lust
replied that it sometimes felt fear, but ire replied that it never felt any fear.
Someone who wanted to give a young woman in marriage to an old man asked her if she
was pleased with the arrangement. Solution – The damsel replied that if he wanted to have
her for a wife, they would only sue each other and nobody would be capable of making
peace between them.
Why isn’t a lecherous man irate against his own sin though he is irate against his
lecherous wife? Solution – Every rooster is the ruler of his own manure pile.

Questions about conceit and accidy

How do conceit and accidy have concordance? Solution – Go to the said chapter in the
branches of the vices in the moral tree.
“Tell me, conceit,” said the hermit, “are you as evil a vice as accidy?” Solution – Conceit
said that it was more contrary to God than accidy because it wanted to be one without a
second.
A hermit asked conceit and accidy if they were opposed to each other. Solution – They
replies that they were opposed to each other inasmuch as each one wanted to be greater
than the other.
Conceit asked accidy where it stood. Solution – Accidy said that many people knew
where it lived.

Questions about conceit and envy

How do conceit and envy have concordance? Solution – Go to the said chapter in the
branches of the vices in the moral tree.
A hermit asked conceit and envy which one of them was the worst as a vice. Solution –
Conceit said that it was the worst vice in demons and that envy was the worst vice in
humans.
A hermit asked conceit if it envied him. Solution – Conceit replied that it did not envy a
man who was poor, who was shabbily dressed and who ate beans.
A hermit asked conceit if it was one of its relatives. Solution – Conceit replied that the
hermit’s hypocrisy knew the answer.

Questions about conceit and ire

How do conceit and envy have concordance? Solution – Go to the said chapter in the
branches of the vices in the moral tree.
Conceit and ire asked the hermit if he knew which was the worse of the two. Solution –
The hermit replied that he knew how they were equal to each other: indeed, conceit knew
no honour and ire knew no pleasure.
“Why does a conceited man get angry sooner than anybody else?” Solution – No man
meets with as much opposition as a conceited man.
A hermit asked a poor man if he knew the house where conceit and ire resided. Solution –
The poor man replied that he should put this question to wealthy men who were fond of
vainglory.
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Questions about accidy and envy

How do conceit and envy have concordance? Solution – Go to the said chapter in the
branches of the vices in the moral tree.
A hermit asked accidy and envy how one of them was greater than the other. Solution –
Accidy replied that in a poor man it was greater than envy, but envy said that it was
greater than accidy in a rich man.
A hermit asked Hell if there were as many people in it due to envy as due to accidy.
Solution – No sin is as contrary to the public interest as accidy.
Accidy and envy asked the hermit which one of the two his hypocrisy liked best. Solution
– The hermit replied that his hypocrisy wanted to have the good reputation that holy
persons enjoyed, but his accidy abhorred the good reputation of anyone and everyone.

Questions about accidy and ire

How do accidy and ire have concordance? Solution – Go to the said chapter in the
branches of the vices in the moral tree.
“Tell me, accidy and ire,” said the hermit, “are you equally evil?” Solution – Accidy said
that it did not love any good thing and ire said that it did not hate anything evil.
A hermit asked accidy and ire if they were opposed to each other. Solution – Accidy and
ire said that they were opposed to each other because accidy walked slowly while ire was
fast.
A hermit asked accidy and ire if they were of the same lineage. Solution – They replied
that ire was of the nature of fire and accidy was of the nature of water.

Questions about envy and ire

How do envy and ire have concordance? Solution – Go to the said chapter in the branches
of the vices in the moral tree.
A hermit asked Hell which of the two supplied more inmates: envy or ire. Solution – Hell
replied that envy brought to it people who wrongly loved good, but ire brought people
who wrongly loved evil. And then the hermit realized that ire was a vice worse than envy.
Why are wealthy people more envious and why do they get angry more readily than poor
people? Solution – Infants cry when they have overeaten and they also cry when they are
hungry.
A hermit met fullness and emptiness on the road and asked them where they were going.
Solution – Emptiness said that it was on its way to envy, which was empty of good, and
fullness said that it was on its way to ire, which was full of evil.

Questions about the resultant vices

First, questions about injury

What is injury? Solution – Go to the first paragraph of the resultant vices in the branches
of the vices in the moral tree.
What does injury consist of? Solution – Injury is made of the privation of justice.
Why is there injury? Solution – There is injury because there is no justice.
A hermit asked injury with which sense it had the greatest concordance. Solution – Injury
replied that it had greater concordance with the affatus and the hearing because these are
the two senses through which the habit of justice is acquired by lawyers.
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2 - Questions about indiscretion

What is indiscretion? Solution – Go to paragraph 2.
What is indiscretion made of? Solution – Indiscretion is made of the privation of
prudence.
Why is there indiscretion? Solution – There is indiscretion because there is no prudence.
“Tell me, indiscretion,” said the hermit, “against which power of the soul are you the
strongest? Solution – Indiscretion replied that it was more strongly opposed to the intellect
than to memory and to the will because the intellect and prudence were great friends.

3 - Questions about faintheartedness

What is faintheartedness? Solution – Go to paragraph 3.
Why is there faintheartedness? Solution – Faintheartedness exists because fragile and foxy
people forget hope and shame and very frequently consider every possible risk.
Why are sanguine people more audacious than phlegmatic people? Solution – Fire
stimulates the flow of blood but water staunches it.
Why are people more audacious on a full stomach than on an empty stomach? Solution –
The vital spirits of humans gather strength after eating, but on an empty stomach they
have finished gathering strength and this is why the virtue of the heart extends more
vigorously through all the organs of the body in a man who has just been fed than in a
man with an empty stomach.

4 - Questions about intemperance

What is intemperance? Solution – Go to the chapter on intemperance, paragraph 4.
Why is there intemperance? Solution – There is intemperance because fortitude does not
oppose gluttony.
A hermit asked temperance if intemperance was a creature. Solution – Temperance replied
that every creature was naturally good, and if intemperance was a creature, then it would
be naturally both good and not good, which is a contradiction.
A hermit asked intemperance if it was more afraid of fortitude or of prudence. Solution –
Intemperance replied that it had no fear of fortitude while prudence was asleep.

5 - Questions about infidelity

What is infidelity? Solution – Go to paragraph 5.
What is infidelity made of? Solution – Infidelity is made of errors that the human intellect
supposes to be true against the articles of the Catholic faith.
Why is there infidelity? Solution – Infidelity exists because of the absence of good
shepherds who tend their sheep well, and the moral reason for its existence is that holy
Christian people can thereby have material for doing great good by destroying errors and
by suffering passion on account of their praising and preaching the Name of Our Lord
Jesus Christ.
How can infidelity be destroyed? Solution – Infidelity can be destroyed with the diligence
of good shepherds following the method that Raymond described in his petition that he
presented before His Holiness the Pope and his College of Cardinals.

6 - Questions about despair

What is despair? Solution – Go to paragraph 6.
What is despair for? Solution – God permits despair to exist so it can be material for the
people who place great hope in Our Lady.
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How does despair set in? Solution – Desperation sets in when sinners remember the
magnitude of God’s justice while forgetting the magnitude of God’s mercy.
Why are desperate people so sad? Solution – Desperate people are so sad because despair
induces fear and promises pure evil without any good.

7 - Questions about cruelty

What is cruelty? Solution – Go to paragraph 7.
A hermit asked cruelty why it was more readily present in the wealthy than in the poor.
Solution – Cruelty replied that envy and avarice preferred the wealthy to the poor.
“Tell me, cruelty,” said the hermit, “do you beg God for mercy in the presence of the
poor?” Solution – Cruelty replied that it did not dare to make a false statement in the
presence of witnesses.
“Tell me, cruelty, what do you defeat charity with?” Solution – Cruelty replied that it
defeated charity with laziness of amativity and with despair, avarice and conceit.

8 - Questions about betrayal

What is betrayal? Solution – Go to paragraph 8.
“Tell me, betrayal, how to destroy you.” Solution – Ibid.
“Tell me, lawfulness,“ said the hermit, “with which vice does betrayal oppose you the
most strongly?” Solution – Lawfulness replied that betrayal opposed it with lust in the
young and with avarice in the old.
A hermit asked betrayal with which sense it was most strongly opposed to legality.
Solution – Betrayal replied that none of the senses were as instrumental as the affatus in
producing falsehood.

9 - Questions about homicide

What is homicide? Solution – Go to paragraph 9.
“Tell me, homicide,” said life, “how to destroy you.” Solution – Ibid.
Tell me, homicide, said the hermit, “which sense are you most afraid of?” Solution –
None of the senses lead so many people to their death as does the sense of taste. Then the
hermit realized that none of the senses served as much as taste and temperance did to help
sustain human life.
“Tell me, life,” said the hermit, “with which power of the soul does homicide oppose you
most strongly?” Solution – Life answered that no spiritual power listened to the voice of
reason as little as the will.

10 - Questions about larceny

What is larceny? Solution – Go to paragraph 10.
“Tell me, larceny,” said the hermit, “who is your best friend?” Solution – Ibid.
“Tell me, larceny,” said the hermit, “from whom have you stolen the most?” Larceny
replied that it had stolen more from God than from anyone else.
Tell me, larceny, what did you mainly steal from God?” Solution – Larceny replies that it
stole truth and honour more than anything else from God. Indeed, more people are guided
by error than by truth and many people work harder at acquiring their own honour than at
rendering honour to God. And then the hermit said to larceny that it was a very evil vice.

11 - Questions about mendacity

What is lying? Solution – Go to paragraph 11.
“Tell me, mendacity,” said the hermit, “who are your worst enemies?” Solution – Ibid.
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“Which sense serves the most for lying?” asked the hermit. Solution – Mendacity replied
that the affatus alone and no other sense lied against nature; and then the hermit realized
that when the affatus spoke the truth, it was a greater friend of God than was any one of
the other senses.
A hermit asked the will if it was as guilty of lying as the intellect was. Solution – The will
replied that he should put this question to truth, which is the object of the intellect.

12 - Questions about slander

What is slander? Solution – Go to paragraph 12.
“Tell me, slander, who are your worst enemies?” Solution – Ibid.
“Tell me, slander, what things you speak the most evil of.” Solution – Slander replied that
it spoke the most evil of the one who was most visible to it. Then the hermit realized that
slander was talking about the Christ whom bad Christians slandered while playing dice,
and infidels who were more numerous than Christians spoke much evil of Our Lord Jesus
Christ, who was slandered by every will that did not love Him more than itself.
“Tell me, slander, why are you greater than praise?” Solution - Slander replied that it was
greater than praise because it had more administrators serving it who chased the shepherds
away while the wolves devoured the sheep.

13 - Questions about impatience

What is impatience? Solution – Go to paragraph 13.
“Tell me, impatience, what you are afraid of.” Solution – Ibid.
“Tell me, impatience, how to defeat you.” Solution – Ibid.
“Tell me, impatience, why are you so bold and so arrogant?” Solution – Impatience said
that so long as ire was its friend, it had no fear of defeat.

14 - Questions about inconstancy

What is inconstancy? Solution – Go to paragraph 14.
“Tell me, inconstancy, who your worst enemies are.” Solution – Ibid.
“Tell me, inconstancy, which sense has the greatest concordance with you?” Solution –
Inconstancy said that the affatus was the most unstable of the senses.
“Tell me, inconstancy, why do you have greater concordance with the will than with the
intellect?” Solution – Inconstancy said that the will easily switched from one intention to
another without any deliberation, but when the intellect wanted to say something, it
would take time to consider and deliberately ponder what it wanted to say before speaking
out, and this was why inconstancy was not the intellect’s well-wisher.

15 - Questions about impurity

What is impurity? Solution – Go to paragraph 15.
“Tell me, impurity, why you are so great.” Solution – It replied that it was great because it
was more contrary than any other vice to the common habit of virtue.
Why is spiritual impurity greater than corporeal impurity? Solution – Sensual purity can
never be as great as intellectual purity.
“Tell me, impurity, what kind of water you are most afraid of.” Solution - Impurity said
that it was more afraid of the water that the eyes shed through contrition than of the water
that beautiful women used to wash their faces.
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16 - Questions about falsity

What is falsity? Solution – Go to paragraph 16.
“Tell me, falsity, what do you fear the most? Solution – Falsity replied that it feared the
death of hypocrisy and simony more than the death of any other vice.
“Tell me, falsity, are you as strong as the truth?” Solution – Ibid.
“Since you, falsity are not as strong as the truth, why are you more present than the truth
in most people?” Solution – Falsity said that it would put this question to the shepherds
who tended their sheep poorly.

17 - Questions about laziness

What is laziness? Solution – Go to paragraph 17.
Why does usury exist? Solution – Ibid.
“Tell me, laziness, where are you going?” Solution – Laziness said that it was going to
house with fat people who have comfortable beds and who eat delicate foodstuffs.
“Tell me, laziness, why are you more present in the rich than in the poor?” Solution –
When meat is scarce, the wolves will eat grapes.

18 - Questions about discourtesy

What is discourtesy? Solution – Go to paragraph 18.
How is discourtesy defeated by courtesy? Solution – Ibid.
“Tell me, discourtesy,” said the hermit, “why are you weeping?” Solution – Discourtesy
replied that it wept because hypocrites affected courtesy so as to earn a good reputation
among the people, and conceited individuals also did the same.
Is discourtesy a friend of gluttony? Solution – Discourtesy replied that it should put this
question to courtesy who wept at the sight of gluttonous people eating.

19 - Questions about disobedience

What is disobedience? Solution – Go to paragraph 19.
How can disobedience be defeated? Solution – Ibid.
Which sense do people disobey the most? Solution – Because the affatus issues more
commands than any other sense, more people disobey the affatus than any other sense.
“Tell me, disobedience, why you are laughing.” Solution – disobedience replied that it
laughed because the friends of obedience were captives.

Questions about the mixture of the resultant vices

First, questions about injury combined with the vices

How do injury and indiscretion have concordance? Solution – Go to the questions about
injury and indiscretion where the concordance that they have against justice and prudence
is indicated.
“Tell me, frailty, where are you going?” Solution – Frailty replied that it was going to help
injury who had asked it for assistance in defeating justice.
“Tell me, intemperance, who is your friend?” Solution – Intemperance replied that
temperance was its friend at the dinner table while temperance was asleep.
“Tell me, injury and infidelity, why you have such great power in the world.” Solution –
Injury and infidelity replied that the shepherds were asleep, the judges were in love with
money, and conceit knew no master.
“Tell me, injury, why you are so happy.” Solution – Injury replied that it was happy
because it had injured God’s mercy in a sinner who had no hope in it.
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“Tell me, injury, why do you keep the money of the rich in a state of idleness?” Solution –
Injury replied that it was a friend of cruelty who liked to slam the doors on the poor.
“Tell me, injury, why are you committing treason?” Solution – Injury replied that it was
committing treason because illegality was its blood relative.
“Tell me, injury, are you present in the king when he sends his men away to die in war?”
Solution – Injury replied and said that it was in the king if he went to war unjustly.
Why does a thieving judge sentence other thieves to hang? Solution – Injury replied that
the thieving judge would sentence other thieves to hang because he was wedded to injury.
“Tell me, injury, why do you make people tell lies?” Solution – Injury replied that it
caused a multitude of people to tell lies in order to provide a large population for the city
of Hell.
“Tell me, injury, what your measurements are.” Solution – Injury replied that it measured
things with the slandering and blaspheming of the virtues in holy people who had
concordance with justice.
“Tell me, injury, what are you afraid of?” Solution – Injury replied that it was afraid of
patience that often defeated it.
“Tell me, injury, what your power consists of.” Solution – Injury replied that its power
was in the absence of justice and constancy.
“Tell me, injury, what do you wash your face with?” Solution – Injury said that it washed
its face with the water that poured out of the eyes of those who laughed in derision at holy
people.
“Tell me, injury, who wrote your book?” Solution – Injury said that it co-authored its
book with falsity to ensure that any writings of justice and legality were kept out of it.
“Tell me, injury, to whom did you lend your horse?” Solution – Injury replied that it lent
its horse to laziness and justice.
“Tell me, injury, where did your discourtesy go?” Solution – Injury replied that it had
handed it over to intemperance, to conceit and to infamy.
“Tell me, injury, were you ever obedient?” Solution – Injury replied that it was obedient
to conceit, to lust, to avarice and to his other associates.

Questions about indiscretion combined with the vices

“Tell me, indiscretion, what makes you strong?” Solution – Indiscretion replied that its
strength was made of the frailty that a knight had in battle against courage.
“Tell me, intemperance, at which inn do you lodge?” Solution – Intemperance replied that
it lodged in the indiscretion that men displayed in eating and drinking.
“Tell me, indiscretion, why are you so great?” Solution – Indiscretion replied that it grew
in magnitude every time the wolves devoured the sheep.
“Tell me, indiscretion, why are you so desperate?” Solution – Indiscretion replied that it
was desperate because prudence never told people about God’s great mercy.
“Tell me, indiscretion, why are you so cruel?” Solution – Indiscretion replied that its
cruelty grew while prudence and charity were forgotten.
“Tell me, indiscretion, have you ever betrayed anybody?” Solution – Indiscretion replied
that it always committed betrayal with those who were too ashamed to confess their sins.
“Tell me, indiscretion, have you ever killed anybody?” Solution – Indiscretion replied that
Hell could gauge the number of people it held due to ignorance and stupidity.
“Tell me, indiscretion, have you ever stolen anything?” Solution – Indiscretion said that it
had very often stolen money from the poor to make them hungry and that it had given this
money to the rich so that they could enjoy the vainglory of their wealth.
“Tell me, indiscretion, have you ever lied about anything?” Solution – Indiscretion said
that it always lied in the tailor who sold clothing and who often said that God did not help
him, so that he could earn five gold coins.
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“Tell me, indiscretion, have you ever spoken evil of a good woman?” Solution –
Indiscretion replied that it spoke evil of good women to ensure that lust could have a great
reputation in the world.
“Tell me, indiscretion, why are you impatient?” Solution – Indiscretion said that it was
impatient because prudence was asleep and anger was awake.
“Tell me, indiscretion, since you understand nothing, how can you know anything about
inconstancy?” Solution – Indiscretion said it knew about inconstancy inasmuch as it was
ignorant of constancy.
“Tell me, indiscretion, what is your impurity made of?” Solution – Indiscretion said that it
was made of guilty remembering, loving, ignoring, seeing, hearing, speaking, tasting and
touching.
“Tell me, indiscretion, since you are the privation of prudence, how can you know
anything about falsity?” Solution – Indiscretion said that it had knowledge of falsity with
help from its associates who helped it against prudence in choosing minor good while
rejecting major good, and in accepting major evil while rejecting minor evil.
“Tell me, indiscretion, why are you so lazy in doing good?” Solution – Indiscretion
replied that it was lazy in doing good because it was diligent in doing evil.
“Tell me, indiscretion, why are you so ill informed?” Solution – Indiscretion said that it
was ill informed because it believed that people were pleased with it when it was actually
being boring and unpleasant.
“Tell me, indiscretion, were you ever obedient?” Solution – Indiscretion replied that it
was obedient every time anyone said something stupid.

Questions about frailty combined with the vices

“Tell me, frailty, do you know anything about temperance?” Solution – Frailty said that
intemperance, its friend, spoke evil many times to it about temperance so that in return,
frailty would speak evil to temperance about fortitude.
“Tell me, frail heart, why are there so many unbelievers in the world?” Solution – The
timid heart replied that it should put this question to the shepherds who were more afraid
of the death of the body than of the death of the soul.
“Tell me, frail heart, why are you exasperated?” Solution – The timid heart replied that it
was exasperated because it had many friends but fortitude only had a few.
“Tell me, frail heart, why don’t you have much charity?” Solution – The timid heart
replied that it did not have much charity because it preferred to have great cruelty.
“Tell me, frail heart, is there any lawfulness in you?” Solution – The timid heart replied
that it was so completely full of betrayal that no lawful thing could enter into it.
“Tell me, frail heart, do you know what the death of the soul is?” Solution – The timid
heart replied that it did not know what the death of the soul was because it spent its days
in considering the body’s death that was so terrifying to it
“Tell me, frail heart, since you have so much money, why don’t you give some to the
poor?” Solution – It replied that it did not want to give them the money it had stolen from
them.
“Tell me, frail heart, why are you not ashamed of lying?” Solution – It replied that it was
ashamed of telling the truth because it did not want to arouse any antagonism against
mendacity of whom it was very fond.
“Tell me, frail heart, why do you speak evil of people who are audacious and who are
friends of generosity?” Solution – It replied that it spoke ill of audacious people because
they had no fear of death or of poverty.
“Tell me, frail heart, why have you no fatherland?” Solution – It replied that if it had a
fatherland, then it would be akin to fortitude, which was its contrary.
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“Tell me, frail heart, why have you no constancy, and why are you like a leaf that turns
with every wind?” Solution – It replied that it was so full of frailty that in whatever it did
or said it could have neither deliberation nor abstinence.
“Tell me, frail heart, with what do you wash your face and your hands?” Solution – It
replied that it was with sadness, fear, lies and avarice.
“Tell me, frail heart, why do you falsify things?” Solution – It replied that it falsified
things because lawfulness and fortitude had a partnership.
“Tell me, frail heart, why have you no diligence?” Solution – It replied that it could not
have much diligence because it enjoyed eating and sleeping so much.
“Tell me, frail heart, why are you so badly brought up? Solution – It replied that it was so
ill-mannered because its eyes had no shame, its hands had no generosity and it had never
learned anything about the science of rhetoric.
“Tell me, frail heart, since you are all fear, why are you not obedient to the prelate who
could take measures against you?” Solution – It replied that it was not afraid of a prelate
who was elected through simony because he was an enemy of fortitude, the contrary of
frailty.

Questions about intemperance combined with the vices

“Tell me, intemperance, since the Saracens do not have the faith, why do they hate
intemperance more than Christians do?” Solution – God allows that some unbelievers
have some good mores to reprehend bad Christians who have faith but whose mores are
bad.
“Tell me, intemperance, what is your customary procedure?” Solution – Intemperance
replied that it would induce people to have hope in temperance at the beginning of a meal,
but in the middle of the meal it would drive temperance away from the table.
“Tell me, intemperance, are you a physician?” Solution – Intemperance said that it was a
physician who murdered the poor with cruelty against charity and who personally
murdered the rich with its own self, since they were its friends.
“Tell me, intemperance, with what do you kill people?” Solution – Intemperance said that
it killed people with many delicate foodstuffs and with spending hours at the table every
day.
“Tell me, intemperance, how was temperance stolen from the monk who had temperance
while he was in the refectory?” Solution – Intemperance said that it stole temperance from
the monk whom the abbot had invited to the infirmary.
“Tell me, intemperance, what method do you follow when you lie?” Solution –
Intemperance replied that it had a method of lying inasmuch as it would promise good
health and happiness as a result of eating many delicate foodstuffs, but it would give
sadness and illness to those who ate too much of them.
“Tell me, intemperance, why do you speak evil of temperance, who is such a good
virtue?” Solution – Intemperance said that it was no wonder that one opposite should
speak evil of another opposite.
“Tell me, intemperance, why are people who eat too much so impatient?” Solution –
Intemperance said that they were impatient because their natural instinct sensed the
incipient illness that intemperance procured for them at the table.
“Tell me, intemperance, what do you do with good strong wine?” Solution –
Intemperance said that it knew how to work with it in many ways, one of which was by
causing inconstancy.
“Tell me, intemperance, why do people vomit so much?” Intemperance said that people
vomited so much because it made them eat and drink so much.
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“Tell me, intemperance, did you ever practice deceit?” Solution - It replied and said that
it had many a time deceived a certain hermit who ate only bread and water through
hypocrisy which made him very weak.
“Tell me, intemperance, why are people lazy in August?” Solution – It replied that people
were lazy in August because they were replete with figs and new wine.
“Tell me, intemperance, at what time are you informed?” Solution – Intemperance said
that it was informed when people rose from the table stuffed with food and drink.
“Tell me, intemperance, were you ever obedient to temperance?” Solution – Intemperance
said that it had been obedient to temperance many a time when temperance made people
eat sparingly at supper so that intemperance could subsequently make them overeat at
breakfast.

Questions about infidelity combined with the vices

“Tell me, infidelity, why have you no hope?” Solution – Infidelity replied that it could not
have any hope because hope and faith belonged together.
“Tell me, infidelity, can your friends have any charity against cruelty when they give alms
to the poor?” Solution – Infidelity said that its followers who gave alms had the
appearance of charity but not the real form of charity, indeed, if they had the true form,
they would have concordance with faith, which is contrary to infidelity.
“Tell me, infidelity, how you commit betrayal.” Solution – A cat takes on the appearance
of a rabbit when it flattens its ears and hides its tail in order to catch rabbits; and a fox
pretends to be a hen to lure the chicks to itself.
“Tell me, infidelity, how you commit homicide.” Solution – It replied that it committed
homicide with ignorance, falsity and the idleness of shepherds.
“Tell me, infidelity, what you use for stealing things.” Solution – Infidelity said that it
stole human souls by means of ignorance and slander of the Christian faith.
“Tell me, infidelity, why do you live on lies in so many people?” Solution – Infidelity said
that it lived on lies in many people because few were those who knew the truth and who
wanted to tell the truth.
“Tell me, infidelity, are you irritated because Christians speak evil of you?” Solution –
Infidelity said that it did not worry about Christians speaking evil of it because those who
praised it were more numerous than those who blamed it.
“Tell me, infidelity, are you impatient about anything?” Solution – It replied that it should
have nothing to be impatient about since it possessed the city of Jerusalem, but that the
Roman Catholic faith did have something to be impatient about.
“Tell me, infidelity, are you strongly built?” Solution – Infidelity said that its edifice was
fortified with steel, with wood and with ignorance; consequently, it had no fear of defeat.
“Tell me, infidelity, have you any impurity?” Solution - Infidelity said that the Saracens
did not use napkins at meals, they licked their fingers as they ate and they were more
lecherous than any other people.
“Tell me, infidelity, can your falsity be destroyed?” Solution – Infidelity said that the way
in which it could be destroyed was written in Raymond’s books.
“Tell me, infidelity, are you lazy?” Solution – Infidelity said that for every Christian there
were a hundred non-Christians, and thus it was lazy because it did not destroy all
Christians, nonetheless, it had showed diligence in the lands of Syria, Turkey and Barbary
which used to be Christian.
“Tell me, infidelity, have you any courtesy?” Solution – Infidelity said that it was
courteous in the synagogues of the Jews where it made them meticulously observe the day
of Sabbath.
“Tell me, infidelity, are many people obedient to you?” Solution – Infidelity said that this
question should be put to the South and to the East, which were full of its people.
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Questions about despair combined with the vices

“Tell me, despair, have you more cruelty than hope has charity?” Solution – Despair
replied that this question should be put to the purses of the poor and to the wolves who
devoured the sheep.
“Tell me, despair, why are you committing betrayal?” Solution – Despair said that it
committed betrayal because lawfulness had concordance with hope.
“Tell me, despair, with what do you slay human souls?” Solution – Despair said that it
slew human souls inasmuch as it promised them that at the moment of death they would
be in possession of their faculties and have the discretion to go make a confession, have
contrition and make satisfaction for their sins. Indeed, at the moment of death, the
imagination is occupied more with imagining fountains of cold water than with imagining
the sins of man and God’s mercy.
“Tell me, despair, how you steal hope from people.” Solution – Despair said that it stole
men’s hope by posing as hope.
“Tell me, despair, how do you go about telling a lie?” Solution – Despair replied that it
lied inasmuch as it kept the poor labouring under the illusion that in greedy and avaricious
men it was actually generosity and hope.
“Tell me, despair, whom do you most readily speak evil of?” Solution – Despair replied
that it spoke evil most often about the poor who put their hope in the rich.
“Tell me, despair, where do you stand?” Solution – Despair replied that it stood with the
impatience of people who had no shame.
“Tell me, despair, have you any constancy?” Solution – Despair replied that avarice knew
about this, as it remained in its company up to the moment of death, and after death it
went to stand in Hell permanently without any change.
“Tell me, despair, have you any holiness?” Solution – Despair replied that it was one of
the species of the impurity of sin.
“Tell me, despair, do you ever speak the truth?” Solution – Despair said that it had the
mandate to lie to people about their health and about their illness.
“Tell me, despair, are you negligent in any way?” Solution – Despair replied that it did not
show any signs of laziness in the illness of a man who died without hope.
“Tell me, despair, have you any good customs?” Solution – Despair said that this question
should be put to hope who wept because people did not make restitution during their
lifetime but placed greater hope in their sons than in themselves when it came to make
satisfaction for their offences.
“Tell me, despair, have you many subjects?” Solution – Despair said that it would put this
question to Hell, to whom it had given so many inmates.

Questions about cruelty combined with the vices

“Tell me, cruelty, have you ever betrayed God?” Solution – It replied that it had betrayed
God many times by taking money away from the poor and giving it to the rich.
“Tell me, cruelty, how do you slay a man?” Solution – Cruelty said that it could slay a
man by removing charity and producing avarice.
“Tell me, cruelty, have you stolen any sheep?” Solution – Cruelty said that not only had it
stolen sheep, but that it had even slain many shepherds.
“Tell me, cruelty, why do you lie?” Solution – It replied that it lied because charity spoke
the truth.
“Tell me, cruelty, why do you speak evil of charity?” Solution – Cruelty said that it spoke
evil of charity because charity was the treasure of poor people.
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“Tell me, cruelty, why are you impatient with the poor who beg for alms from you?”
Solution – Cruelty said that it was impatient because the poor who begged for alms from it
tried to appeal to its charity.
“Tell me, cruelty, do you stand firm?” Solution – It replied that it always stood firm
against charity, compassion and humility.
“Tell me, cruelty, with what do you wash your feet?” Solution – Cruelty said that it
washed its feet with the impurities of sin.
“Tell me, cruelty, what lineage do you descend from?” Solution – It replied that it was
descended from falsity, who was its mother, and conceit who was its father.
“Tell me, cruelty, are you lazy?” Solution – Cruelty said that it did not seem so, inasmuch
as charity was almost entirely lost.
“Tell me, cruelty, why are you ill-informed?” Solution – It said that it was ill-informed
because it had no fear of shame.
“Tell me, cruelty, would you be a good nun?” Solution – It replied that it belonged to the
genus of disobedience.

Questions about betrayal combined with the vices

“Tell me, betrayal, where did you begin?” Solution – It replied that it began at the time
when Cain murdered his brother Abel through envy and through avarice. Hence, since it
came from such a lineage, it belonged to the family of death.
“Tell me, betrayal, can anybody steal you?” Solution – It said that nobody needed to steal
it since it gave itself to everyone who wanted to have it.
“Tell me, betrayal, to which sense you are the most friendly.” Solution – It replied that it
liked the affatus better than any other sense because it lied more than any other sense and
betrayal could use it for practicing deception.
“Tell me, betrayal, why do you speak evil of goodness and charity?” Solution – It said
that it spoke evil of goodness and charity because they were sisters of lawfulness.
“Tell me, betrayal, why are you so impatient?” Solution – It replied that it was impatient
because conceit was its brother, ire was its sister and contrariety was its mother.
“Tell me, betrayal, with what do you stand firm?” Solution – It replied that it stood firm
with envy and avarice.
“Tell me, betrayal, are you purified of all sin?” Solution – It replied that it liked neither
confession nor penance.
“Tell me, betrayal, what are your reinforcements?” Solution – It replied that it was
reinforced by envy, avarice, falsity and conceit so it could slay lawfulness who was its
contrary.
“Tell me, betrayal, are you lazy?” Solution – It said that this question should be put to the
ladies and to the castles which it had visited so many times. And it said that lawfulness
had few friends.
“Tell me, betrayal, where do you prefer to stand?” Solution – It replied that discourtesy
was the emblem it bore on its banner.
“Tell me, betrayal, where have you been obedient?” Solution – It replied that it had been
many times obedient to lust and to money.

Questions about homicide combined with the vices

“Tell me, homicide, why do you kill people?” Solution – Homicide replied that it killed
people because it could not steal them.
“Tell me, homicide, with what do you slay goodness?” Solution – It replied that it slew
goodness with false testimony.
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“Tell me, homicide, does anybody speak evil of you?” Solution – Homicide said that a
just king spoke evil of it when he sentenced murderers to hang.
“Tell me, homicide, have you much power?” Solution – Homicide said that this question
should be put to the magnitude of impatience with which it slew people.
“Tell me, homicide, what your edifice is made of.” Solution – It replied that its edifice
was built on envy, avarice and conceit.
“Tell me, homicide, is your clothing clean?” Solution – It replied that no butcher had
clean clothing.
“Tell me, homicide, do you love falsity?” Solution – It replied that this question should be
put to the hypocrisy with which it slew people’s souls.
“Tell me, homicide, are you lazy?” Solution – It said that the city of Jerusalem knew
about this.
“Tell me, homicide, how did you get your bad education?” Solution – It said that it got its
bad education with envy, ire, conceit, avarice and cruelty.
“Tell me, homicide, are you obedient to anyone?” Solution – Homicide said that it was
obedient to the judge for the sake of money and to the prince for the sake of honour.

Questions about larceny combined with the vices

“Tell me, larceny, why aren’t you ashamed of lying?” Solution – It replied that it could
not carry out its mandate without lying.
“Tell me, larceny, with what did you steal goodness?” Solution – It said that it stole
goodness with slander, simony and hypocrisy.
“Tell me, larceny, why are you so impatient?” Solution – It said that it was impatient
because it did not remember the gallows.
“Tell me, larceny, does anything make you sick?” Solution – It said that the king’s justice
made it tremble.
“Tell me, larceny, why do you travel by night?” Solution – It said that it traveled by night
so that people would not see the ugly outfit it wore.
“Tell me, larceny, why are you unlawful?” Solution – It said that it was unlawful because
it could not use lawfulness to deceive people.
“Tell me, larceny, how come you exist?” Solution – It said that it existed because it was
too lazy to work in the vineyard or to engage in business.
“Tell me, larceny, have you ever been obedient?” Solution – It said that it had often been
obedient to its distaste for the gallows.
“Tell me, larceny, are you well-mannered?” Solution – It said that this question should be
put to hypocrisy, who had stolen sanctity.

Questions about mendacity and slander combined with the vices

“Tell me, mendacity and slander, why did you enter into a partnership?” Solution – They
said that they became partners to destroy goodness and truth who were friends.
Why are liars more impatient than others? Solution – When a liar is reprehended, he
always finds some excuse to justify himself.
“Tell me, mendacity, what is your foundation made of?” Solution – It said that its
foundation was made of conceit, envy, ire, avarice and hypocrisy.
A hermit asked his mouth if it would be made as repulsive by lying as a leper’s shirt was
made repulsive by leprosy?” Solution – The mouth replied that this question should be put
to hypocrisy, which was more repulsive than the shirt on a leper’s back.
“Tell me, mendacity, how do you practice falsification?” Solution – It replied that simony
and hypocrisy knew how it was done.
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“Tell me, mendacity, have you any diligence?” Solution – It said that it had disseminated
its seed all over the world.
“Tell me, mendacity, are you educated?” Solution – It replied that it had studied rhetoric
as a means for deceiving people.
“Tell me, mendacity, have you ever been obedient?” Solution – Mendacity said that this
question should be put to the Tartars, to the Jews, to the Saracens, to the silver possessed
by Christians and to the habit of hypocrisy.

Questions about slander combined with the vices

“Tell me, slander, why do you speak evil of humble people who have patience?” Solution
– It said that it came from the lineage of conceit, ire and cruelty.
“Tell me, slander, why you speak no evil of inconstancy, which is an evil vice.” Solution
– Slander said that it did not want to dishonour its sister about whom holy people had so
many bad things to say.
“Tell me, slander, why you speak evil of the clergy.” Solution – Slander said that it spoke
evil of the clergy because the vices were more unbecoming to clergymen than to others.
“Tell me, slander, why you speak no evil of simony and hypocrisy?” Solution – Slander
said that it never said anything evil that was not also false.
“Tell me, slander, are you lazy?” Solution – It said that there was nothing about which so
much evil was spoken as God’s Trinity and his Incarnation.
“Tell me, slander, why do you speak so discourteously?” Solution – It said that conceit,
envy and ire were advising it.
“Tell me, slander, have you many friends?” Solution – It said that the majority of the poor
and the majority of the rich were its obedient listeners.

Questions about impatience combined with the vices

“Impatience and inconstancy, why are you friends?” Solution – They replied that they
were friends because they had many friends.
“Impatience, why are you so ugly?” Solution – It said that it looked beautiful to ire and to
conceit, who were very fond of it.
“Impatience, why are hypocrites such staunch friends of yours?” Solution – It said that it
was fond of hypocrites because they deceived lawful and holy people.
“Impatience, why have you so many more friends than patience has?” Solution –
Impatience said that it was more diligent with ire than patience was diligent with
abstinence.
“Impatience, why are you so ill-mannered?” Solution – Impatience said that it was so ill-
mannered because it associated with gluttony, conceit, ire and avarice.
“Impatience, why are you so disobedient to abstinence?” Solution – It said that it was
disobedient to abstinence because abstinence was a blood relative of patience.

Questions about inconstancy combined with the vices

“Inconstancy, why are you so ugly?” Solution – It said that it was ugly because constancy
was a species of holiness.
“Inconstancy, why are you false?” Solution – It said that it was false because if it could
not deceive lawful people in one way, it would deceive them in some other way.
“Inconstancy, are you lazy?” Solution – It said that it was so diligent that nobody could
find it in truth.
“Inconstancy, why are you well-mannered at times and ill-mannered at other times?”
Solution – It said that it became ill-mannered so that it could speak disparaging words.
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“Inconstancy, to whom are you the most disobedient?” Solution – It said that indiscretion,
lust, conceit, gluttony and avarice knew this.

Questions about impurity combined with the vices

“Impurity, are you as great in hypocrisy as in a filthy pair of shoes?” Solution – It said
that falsity knew this.
“Impurity, are you lazy?” Solution – It said that it would put this question to the lust it had
aroused in so many people.
“Impurity, why do you speak with your mouth full when you eat?” Solution – It said that
it was a partner of discourtesy.
“Impurity, are you afraid of anything?” Solution – It replied and said that it would put this
question to holiness and obedience who were weeping.

Questions about falsity combined with the vices

“Falsity, are you lazy?” Solution – It said that it would put this question to judges and
lawyers who made peasants wait too long for their cases to be heard.
“Falsity, how can you be recognized?” Solution – It said that its banner was emblazoned
with discourtesy and hypocrisy.
“Falsity, to whom are you the most disobedient?” Solution – It said that it was the most
disobedient to the merchant in whom so many people placed their trust.

Questions about laziness combined with the vices

“Laziness, why are you so ill-mannered?” Solution – It said that it was so ill-mannered
because it ate too much and liked to sleep too much.
“Laziness, are you obedient?” Solution – It replied that it was obedient to new cheese and
hot bread.

A question about discourtesy and disobedience

“Discourtesy, are you obedient to anyone?” Solution – It replied that it was obedient to the
gluttonous man who portioned out food at meals and who told his companion to choose
one of two portions.

Questions from the branches of the imperial tree

Questions about barons

A hermit asked His Holiness the Pope why Emperor Constantine gave an empire to the
Roman Church. Solution – Go to the chapter above.
A hermit asked the king which people he should be most friendly with. Solution – Ibid.
A hermit asked a baron’s son if he should love the king more than he loved his father.
Solution – No knight is as lovable as a good prince.
A hermit asked the king if it was legitimate for him to purchase the title of baron. Solution
– As above.

Questions about knights

A hermit asked the king why there were knights. Solution – Go to the above chapter.
Why must knights be more audacious than others? Solution – Ibid.
A hermit asked a knight if he knew what the order of knighthood was about. Solution –
The knight said that he did not know what the order of knighthood was about and he
reproached his father for not having written the order of knighthood down because if
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someone wrote a book about the art of knighthood, knights would be more humble than
arrogant, more just than injurious, more chaste than lecherous, more audacious than timid,
more wealthy than poor, more honoured than dishonoured.
“Tell me, knight,” said the hermit, “with what do you preserve knighthood?” Solution –
The knight said that it preserved knighthood with the king’s sword when the king
extended the power of his crown through all his subjects.

Questions about city governors

What are city governors for? Solution – Go to the abovementioned chapter.
Why must city governors be free? Solution – A city governor must be free to run the city
just as knights must be free to guard the roads and the king’s crown.
A hermit asked a city governor why his wealth did not last as long as the wealth of other
people. Solution – Nobody is as idle as a city governor.
A hermit asked a city governor why city governors lived shorter lives than other people.
Solution – The city governor said that idleness and delicate foodstuffs knew why.

Questions about advisors

A hermit asked the prince what persons should compose his council. Solution – Go to the
chapter above.
A hermit asked the prince’s sword why it was not straight. Solution – The sword said that
it was crooked because the king did not have a council.
A hermit asked if the king’s council should be composed of many persons. Solution - the
more persons there are in the king’s council, the greater is the confusion in the council and
the less secure are its secrets.
A hermit asked the king which people he feared the most. Solution – The king said that no
people could do him as much harm nor could anyone deceive him as much as the people
in his council. Then the hermit told the king that he must not have anybody in his council
who is negligent, indiscreet, cruel, conceited or envious and that above all he should avoid
avaricious persons more than anyone else because an avaricious man does everything for
money.

Questions about administrators

A hermit asked the king what his administrators should be clothed in. Solution – Go to the
abovementioned chapter.
A hermit asked the king if he had good administrators. Solution – The king said that his
people knew this.
A hermit asked the king if there was any simony in his administration. Solution – The
king said that he would put this question to avarice.
A hermit asked the king: “Your majesty, where are the rule of law and the wealth in your
kingdom?” Solution – The king said that the rule of law and his wealth were in the people
whom he appointed as administrators.

Questions about judges

“Your majesty,” said the hermit to the king, “what are the conditions required of a good
judge?” Solution – Go to the chapter, as above.
A king appointed as judge a poor man in a big city and he asked the judge what his
priority was when he made decisions – was it wealth or was it justice. Solution – The
judge replied that he had learned law in order to obtain honour and wealth.
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Justice asked a judge why he lied in pronouncing his judgments. Solution – The judge said
that he lied because the king gave him little money and he accepted to serve the people for
consideration.
The king asked the city why it wept. Solution – No judge can remain impartial to all if he
stays too long in one city.

Questions about lawyers

“Your majesty,” said the hermit to the king, “what conditions do you require of good
lawyers?” Solution – Go to the chapter, as above.
A hermit asked the king if there should be many lawyers in one city. Solution – A
multitude of lawyers throws litigation into confusion.
A hermit asked some lawyers why they drew their litigations out to such great length.
Solution – The lawyers said that the farmers’ money knew why.
“Tell me, lawyers,” said the hermit, who will be your defense lawyers in the afterlife?
Solution – The lawyers replied that the farmers’ tears knew this.

Questions about bailiffs and executioners

“Your majesty,” said the hermit to the king, “what conditions do you require of your
bailiffs and executioners?” Solution – Go to the chapter, as above.
“Tell me, bailiff,” said the hermit, “why are you so conceited?” Solution – The bailiff said
that he was a likeness of the king.
A hermit asked the devil what kind of people most clearly signified him through their
profession in this world. Solution – The devil said that executioners were the ones who
were most like it in that they tortured people.
A hermit asked the devil to tell him who was Hell’s worst executioner. Solution – the
devil said that the worst executioner he knew was an evil king.

Questions about inspectors

“Your majesty,” said the hermit to the king, “what conditions do you require of your
inspectors?” Solution – Go to the chapter, as above.
A king asked his inspectors if they were faithful to their mandate. Solution – The
inspectors replied that they would faithful to their mandate if they conducted an
investigation against him.
“Your majesty,” said the hermit to the king, “have you any shame?” The king replied that
he felt ashamed because he had launched an inquiry against a judge, but not against
himself.
The hermit asked an inquiry why it wept. Solution – The inquiry said that it wept because
it did not reach all the way up to the highest treetops.

Questions about the confessor

“Your majesty,” said the hermit to the king, “what kind of confessor must you have?”
Solution – Go to the chapter, as above.
“Your majesty,” said the hermit to the king, “why do you have a confessor?” Solution –
The king replied that he wanted to have a confessor because he wanted to have a clear
conscience.
“Tell me, king’s confessor, why you are weeping?” Solution – The confessor said that he
wept because he was not given anything to do.
“Your majesty, why are you weeping?” Solution – The king said that he wept because
hypocrisy stood in his confessor.
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Questions from the branches of the apostolic tree

The supreme pontiff was asked what his branches were. Solution – Go to the chapter as
above.
“Tell me, branch, what do you live on?” Solution – The branch said that it lived on the
concordance that it had with the trunk and with the other branches.
“Tell me, branches,” said the hermit, “would you want to be the trunk?” Solution – They
replied that no particular opposes its universal in the course of nature.
“Tell me, branch, why are you so big?” Solution – The branch said that it was so big so as
to be proportioned to the magnitude of the trunk, which is very big.
“Tell me, branch, are you good?” Solution – The branch said that it would put this
question to its works.
“Tell me, branch, what are you for?” Solution – No trunk is good without branches.
“Tell me, branch, how many branches does heaven have?” Solution – The branch said that
there were 12 provinces in the world.
“Tell me, branch, how many twigs does heaven have?” Solution – The branch said that
there were four cardinal virtues and three theological virtues.
“Tell me, branch, are you aware of the wolves eating the sheep?” Solution – The branch
said that the other branches knew this.
“Tell me, branch, will you be as lofty and as great on Judgment Day as you are now?”
Solution – The branch said that it would look for the answer to this in its book.

Questions from the branches of the celestial tree

What are the branches of the celestial tree? Solution – Go to the chapter as above.
Why are there neither more nor fewer than twelve signs? Solution – Following the
disposition of substances here below, there are four seasons in a year, and each season
must be made of a triangle: spring has one warm line and one moist line which are in
concordance and it has another line in the contrariety of moisture and dryness. And go to
the chapter above.
Why do the signs move in a circle? Solution – No continuity can be greater than circular
continuity in the major movement of the square and the triangle.
Why does Aries go to Taurus, then Taurus to Gemini, whereas Aries does not go to Pisces
nor does Pisces go to Aquarius. Solution – Fire naturally goes to air through the
concordance of heat, but if air moved to fire through the concordance of moisture, then
fire would be of a hot and moist complexion. And if water went to air, then air would be
of a moist and cold complexion, so that summer would move on to spring and spring
would move on to winter, and farmers would sow seed in the summer and harvest the
crops in the winter.
A hermit asked the spring season what its signs were. Solution - Go to the chapter as
above.
Why do astronomers so often err in their judgments? Solution – Ibid.
Did the philosophers of Antiquity make mistaken attributions of masculine and feminine
qualities when they attributed them to the twelve signs and the seven planets? Solution –
Ibid.
Why is Aries of the fiery complexion and Pisces of the watery complexion? Solution – In
every natural triangle there must be a participation of opposites and consequently Aries
and Pisces participate through contrariety in spring and winter so that fire can have action
in generation and water can have passion in corruption.
Why is Gemini of the airy complexion and Cancer of the watery complexion? Solution –
In every natural triangle there must be a concordance of proper and appropriated qualities
to enable generation and proportioned temperament.
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The hermit asked Aries with which sign it had the greatest concordance and with which
sign it had the greatest contrariety. Solution: Aries replied that its greatest concordance
was with Taurus because Aries moved to Taurus without any intermediary, and its
greatest contrariety was with Pisces because Aries moved to Pisces through an
intermediary. Consequently, fire has greater concordance with the parts that are above it
and minor concordance with the parts that are below it.

Questions from the branches of the angelic tree

What are the principal qualities of angels? Solution – Go to the chapter as above.
A hermit asked an angel’s goodness if it was as principal a reason of the angel as the
intellect? Solution – Ibid.
A hermit asked an angel’s goodness why it was not as principal a reason as the intellect.
Solution – Goodness said that God was intelligible but not bonifiable.
“Angel,” said the hermit, “why do you have neither more nor fewer than three principal
reasons?” Solution – The angel replied that God could not be its object without just the
three acts of remembering, understanding and loving.
The hermit asked the angel’s intellect why it existed formally. Solution – The intellect
said that it existed formally through its own intellectivity and intelligibility.
For what end does an angel’s intellect exist? Solution – The intellect replied that it existed
because God was intelligible.
What is the angel’s intellect made of and how does it exist? Solution – Go to the chapter
as above.
A hermit asked an angel’s intellect if it was made from one and the same goodness as
memory and the will. Solution – The intellect said that goodness was one by nature and
there are many reasons; the act of goodness is one thing in understanding, another thing in
remembering and another thing in willing. And go to the chapter as above.
“Angel, what does your moral goodness consist of and what does your understanding
consist of?” Solution – Ibid.

Questions from the branches of the eviternal tree

A hermit asked eviternity what its branches were. Solution - Go to the chapter as above.
“Tell me, eviternity, how many branches do you have? “ Solution – Ibid.
“Tell me, eviternity, why do you have two and no more than two branches, and why are
there two branches and not just one branch?”
A hermit asked Paradise if there was an Empyrean Heaven. Solution – Paradise replied
that if the light of the concrete and glorified bodies of the saints was not made of
continuous light, the major act of its reasons could not take place. And go to the chapter as
above.
A hermit asked Hell what its colour was. Solution – No colour is as contrary to light as
the colour black.
A hermit asked eviternity if there was any shadow in Paradise. Solution – If the empyrean
heaven was not made of light, each body that stood between two bodies would cast a
shadow.
A hermit asked Hell if there was any light in it. Solution – Hell replied that this question
should be put to the sulphur and to the smoke of green wood burned by fire.
A hermit asked Hell why it was eviternal. Solution – Hell replied and said that it was
eviternal so that God’s justice would not remain idle.
“Tell me, Hell, what is your origin made of?” Solution – Hell said that its origin was made
of the privation of completion.
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“Tell me, Hell, why are you so huge? Solution – Hell said that it was so huge because
God was so little remembered, understood and loved.

Questions from the branches of the maternal tree

A hermit asked Our Lady how many branches she had. Solution – Go to the chapter as
above.
A hermit asked Our Lady how she functioned as the mother of God. Solution – Ibid.
A hermit asked the branches of maternity how they issued forth from the trunk. Solution –
Ibid.
A hermit asked maternity if its branches were great. Solution – Maternity replied that she
would put this question to her filiation and to the sinners who daily put their hope in her
when they said to her that they wanted to be her children because she was the mother of
mercy.
A hermit asked Our Lady how she was the mother of mercy. Solution - Our Lady said
that she was the mother of mercy because she was the mother of the Son of God in his
humanity. And moreover she was the mother of mercy because her Son heeded all her
prayers, whatever they were.
A hermit asked the devil why he wept. Solution – The devil said that it wept because Our
Lady was the mother of mercy.
A hermit asked Our Lady’s branches what their shadows were made of. Solution – The
branches said that their shadows were made of hope and mercy.
A hermit asked the shadow of the branches what its colour was made of. Solution – They
replied that the colour of which their shadow was made consisted of love, faith and hope.
A hermit asked Our Lady which of her branches she loved the most. Solution – Our Lady
said that she would put this question to major amability.
A hermit asked Our Lady if she was the major maternity. Solution - Our Lady said that
she would put this question to her major branches.

Questions from the branches of the tree of Jesus Christ

How many natures does Our Lord Jesus Christ have? Solution – Go to the chapter as
above.
Why are there two and no more than two natures in Our Lord Jesus Christ, or why doesn’t
He have only one nature? Solution – Without two natures He cannot be God and man, and
if He had more than two natures, the He would not be truly a man.
Of how many natures does the human nature of Our Lord Jesus Christ consist? Solution –
Go to the chapter as above.
How do the divine nature and the human nature of Jesus Christ participate in this mortal
life? Solution – Ibid.
How did Our Lord Jesus Christ attain objects in this mortal life? Solution – Ibid.
How is Our Lord Jesus Christ one Person made of two natures? Solution – Ibid.
Since the divine and the human goodness of Jesus Christ exist as one Person, how are they
distinct? Solution – Ibid.
Since God is a spiritual substance, how can He be touched, be wounded and experience
hunger, thirst and death? Solution – Ibid.
A hermit asked God how He could make one creature who is the end and the complement
of all creatures? Solution – Ibid.
Of what does Our Lord Jesus Christ consist? Solution – Ibid.
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Questions from the branches of the divine tree

Questions about the Father

How do God’s nature and God’s reasons correspond? Solution – Go to the chapter as
above.
How do the acts of the divine reasons exist? Solution – Ibid.
How are the acts of the divine reasons infinite? Solution – Ibid.
What does the operation that God has in himself consist of? Solution – Ibid.
Why is God a Father? Solution – Ibid.
A hermit asked God if it was more appropriate for him to produce something great rather
than something small, something eternal rather than something non-eternal, greater good
rather than lesser good? Solution – Ibid.
A hermit asked God the Father if He produced God the Son from a mother? Solution – If
God the Father produced God the Son from a mother, then the Son would not be entirely
from the Father.
A hermit asked God the Father if He existed before God the Son. Solution – In the
production that arises from eternity there is no before and no after.
A hermit asked the Father if He produced God the Son in quantity. Solution – In the
production that arises from infinity there can be neither locality nor quantity.

Questions about the Person of the Son

How is the Father before the Son? Solution – Go to the above chapter.
How is the Father a common substantial being? Solution – The Father - inasmuch as He is
the Father by nature - is a singular supposite; and inasmuch as He responds by producing
his Son with all his reasons He is a common supposite that produces the Son from all its
reasons, with all its reasons and through all its reasons.
How does the Son consist of passion? Solution – Inasmuch as the Father considers his
activity, He considers the possibility of his activity. And go to the above chapter.
How does the Son come from the Father and from nothing else? Solution – The Father in
considering his possitivity also considers the possibility of his own goodness, infinity and
eternity etc.
How is the Son possible and possified? Solution – In God, there is a relation between
possitivity, which is the Father and possibility, which is the Son. And because God is a
pure act, eternal, infinite and complete, the Son is possified. Consequently, in the Son, the
possified and the possible are one and identical and they have the power to be all the acts
of the reasons, eternally and infinitely.
How are the Father and the Son distinct Persons? Solution – Go to the chapter as above.
How are the Father and the Son one essence, one substance, one goodness, one
magnitude, one eternity etc. Solution – If the infinitizer and the infinitizable, the
eternalizer and the eternalizable, then the possifier and the possifiable could be different
essences, substances, natures and different goodnesses and contradiction could be a real
being, but this is an impossible contradiction.
A hermit asked the Son if He was made of matter or if He was matter. Solution – Go to
the chapter as above.
How is the Son a son? Solution – Ibid.
A hermit asked the Son if He could be increased. Solution – Ibid.

Questions about the Holy Spirit

How is the Holy Spirit passive spirability without matter? Solution – Go to the chapter as
above.
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How is the Holy Spirit the third Person? Solution – Ibid.

How does the Holy Spirit proceed from the Father and the Son? Solution – Ibid.
Since the Father and the Son are distinct Persons, how are they one spirativity? Solution –
The Father and the Son are distinct through their own properties and they are one
spirativity through common spirativity.
Since the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father and the Son, how is It one spirability, one
Person and no more than one? Solution – The Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father and
the Son inasmuch as It arises from one common spirativity, and It is one Person and one
spirability inasmuch as It proceeds from one and not more than one spirativity.
How is the Holy Spirit equal to the Father and the Son? Solution – Go to the chapter as
above.
How are the Father and the Son equal in the Holy Spirit? Solution – In that the Father and
the Son equally love each other and they are one and not more than one spirativity, they
are equal in the Holy Spirit.
How are the Father and the Holy Spirit equal in the Son? Solution – The Father generates
the Son from his entirety and the Son spirates the Holy Spirit from his entirety.
How are the Son and the Holy Spirit equal in the Father? Solution – The Son of God
spirates the Holy Spirit from his entirety, and the Son is entirely engendered by the entire
Father; the Father spirates the Holy Spirit from his entirety and the entire Holy Spirit is
entirely spirated by the Father.
Since the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father and the Son, how is It entirely from the
Father and entirely from the Son? Solution – In that the Father and the Son are distinct
Persons and the Holy Spirit proceeds form the Father and the Son, and inasmuch as the
Father and the son are one and not more than one spirativity, the Holy Spirit is one and
not more than one spirability, and the entire Holy Spirit is entirely from the Father and
entirely from the Son.

Questions about the Trinity

Why are there neither more nor fewer than three Persons? Solution – Go to the above
chapter in the branches of the divine tree.
A hermit asked God’s goodness in what number it could have the greatest magnitude.
Solution – Ibid.
In what number can God’s eternity be great? Solution – Ibid.
How would God’s goodness be diminished if there were less than three divine Persons?
Solution – Ibid.
Since the Father is the bonifier and the Son is the bonifiable in generating, and the Holy
Spirit is the act of bonifying in spirating and none of these three is the other, why isn’t
goodness in a fourth number? Solution – Ibid.
Since the Son is bonifiable in generating and a bonifier in spirating, why isn’t the Son one
Person in generating and another Person in spirating? Solution – The Son is one Person
inasmuch as there is one generability is which the Son is personified and personifiable
eternally and infinitely, and inasmuch as He spirates the Holy Spirit, He is a personifier
but He is not personified thereby. Just like a man and much better still, inasmuch as a man
is a son, he is a personified Person and inasmuch as he begets other humans he is a non-
personified personifier.
Why isn’t the Son who is generable and generated one Person by reason of generability
and another Person inasmuch as He is generated. Solution – The Son is one Person
inasmuch as He is principiated in eternity, and He is the selfsame Person inasmuch as He
is principiable. If He were two Persons, then eternity would be idle between the
principiator and the principiable and there would be no generating, no principiating and no
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eternalizing between the principiator and the principiable, the generator and the generable,
the eternalizer and the eternalizable.
The Father, inasmuch as He generates the Son, is a father; and inasmuch as He spirates the
Holy Spirit, He is not a father, because if He was a father, then the Holy Spirit would be a
son, therefore, why isn’t the Father one Person in that He is a father and another Person in
that He is not a father? Solution – The Father is one Person inasmuch as He is the Father
and not another Person inasmuch as He is not a father. Indeed, if He were another Person,
He would not generate the Son from the entirety of himself, and if He were one Person
inasmuch as He generates the Son and another Person inasmuch as He spirates the Holy
Spirit, then He would not spirate the Holy Spirit from the entirety of himself and He
would be greater than the Son and the Holy Spirit; his divine essence would be divided
into parts and it would be a part of God and it as such it would be smaller than the whole.
Because God is infinite, no minority can be in him, nor any majority, nor any parts, nor a
plurality of essences. Therefore the Father is one generating and spirating Person similar
to fire and much better still, in that fire is one substance in lighting, heating and in
producing various elemented substances which are of its essence and nature, such as
pepper, garlic etc.
Why doesn’t the Holy Spirit spirate, or generate or produce any Person in any way, or
why isn’t the Holy Spirit two Persons? Solution – As we said earlier, there would be
minority in goodness if it needed any other property that would be neither bonificativity,
nor bonificability, nor the act of bonifying. And though the Holy Spirit proceeds from the
Father and the Son, It cannot be two Persons because It proceeds from one spirativity, as
we said.

Questions from the branches of the tree of exemplars

Questions about the elements

Why don’t the elements find repose in elemented substances even though they are meant
for the purpose of producing these substances? Solution – Go to the exemplar in the above
chapter.
A hermit asked the will why it is was so frequently confused in making choices? Solution
– Ibid.
A hermit asked the will if it found any repose in loving and hating. Solution – No repose
can exist in contrary ends. And go to the example as above.
“Tell me, freedom,” asked the hermit, “how can you be enslaved, being what you are,
without being deprived of any of your conditions?” Solution – Ibid.

Questions about exemplars from the branches of the vegetal tree

How does a man follow a method in deceiving another man? Solution – Go to the
example in the above chapter.
How can a man protect himself against deception by another man? Solution – Ibid.
When people expect to put their will and testament in order and to make reparation for
their offences at some future time, why are they deceived in most such cases when their
health fails? Solution – Ibid.
Why must people imagine, remember and love temperance at the beginning of each meal?
Solution – Ibid.

Questions about exemplars from the branches of the sensual tree

“Tell me, nature,” asked the hermit, “why are you stronger than custom?” Solution – Go
to the exemplar in the branches of the sensual tree.
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How does great contrariety defeat and destroy small concordance? Solution – Go to the
exemplar in the branches of the sensual tree.
Why must new honour avoid association with old honour? Solution – Ibid.
Why must a rich man avoid association with a poor man? Solution – Ibid.

Questions about exemplars from the branches of the imaginal tree

The imagination was asked what could override it. Solution – Go to the chapter as above.
Discretion was asked what could override it. Solution – Ibid.
A man who was in mortal sin was asked if he should use the goods he possessed. Solution
– Ibid.
Indiscretion was asked in whom it was the greatest. Solution – No indiscretion is greater
than the indiscretion that makes someone put his confidence in his mortal enemy. And go
to the above exemplar.

Questions about exemplars from the branches of the corporeal human tree
The art was asked if it was greater than law. Solution – Go to the exemplar as above.
The king asked Raymond how he should choose a good ambassador to send to a certain
prince. Solution – Ibid.
The king was asked how he was aware of the enmity of men. Solution – Ibid.
The devil was asked how he cheated people. Solution – Ibid.

Questions about exemplars from the branches of the spiritual human tree
A philosopher was asked which power of the soul first received its object. Solution – Go
to the exemplar as above.
A philosopher was asked which power of the soul made suppositions and which power
made demonstrations. Solution – Ibid.
A philosopher was asked in what way the will preceded the intellect and in what way the
intellect preceded the will. Solution – Ibid.
A philosopher was asked if he knew in what way belief was the light of intelligence.
Solution – Ibid.

Questions about exemplars from the branches of the moral tree

The king was asked if he knew the conditions that applied to envoys. Solution – Go to the
exemplar as above.
The king was asked if he knew the conditions that applied to delegations. Solution – Ibid.
The king was asked if he should explore the conditions of the emperor to whom he wanted
to send his envoys, and if he should consider these conditions when instructing his
delegation? Solution – Ibid.
The king was asked if anybody in his council knew Raymond’s General Art with which
he could find out if the people he wanted to send on a mission had the right qualifications
to be appointed as delegates? Solution – The king replied that he had heard many good
things about the Art and that he would be pleased if somebody in his council knew how to
use it to give advice artificially. Giving advice has to do with answering questions and
Raymond’s General Art is meant for solving questions, according to what he heard people
say. Indeed, a clear resolution of issues is more necessary in the king’s council than
anywhere else.

Questions about exemplars from the branches of the imperial tree

The king was asked if he knew how to castigate his barons when they were delinquent.
Solution – Go to the exemplar as above.
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The king was asked if he was afraid of his count whom he reprehended in public for
something very offensive he was doing? Solution – Ibid.
The king was asked why a nobleman who ate with him at the same table deemed himself
disgraced if a peasant ate at the same table? Solution – Ibid.
The king was asked if he knew why the peasant who ate at the same table with him
deemed himself disgraced? Solution – Ibid.

Questions about exemplars from the branches of the apostolic tree

A poor man was asked if he knew how wealth in money and in the virtues was acquired.
Solution – Go to the exemplar as above.
A man was asked if he knew how wealth in money and in the virtues was consumed?
Solution – Ibid.
A maidservant was asked what kind of master was the most disagreeable to serve.
Solution – Ibid.
A pilgrim was asked what kind of man was the best to associate with. Solution – Ibid.

Questions about exemplars from the branches of the celestial tree

An astronomer was asked how he deceived people. Solution – Go to the exemplar as
above
An astronomer was asked if his judgments were necessarily accurate? Solution – Ibid.
An astronomer was asked if habituation could overcome nature. Solution – Ibid.
A sick man was asked if his sickness was worsened by the fear that the false physician
instilled in him by telling him that his illness was very serious to put the fear of death in
him, due to which his illness would worsen and thus enable the physician to make much
money by keeping him in a state of extreme illness. Solution – Ibid.

Questions about exemplars from the branches of the angelic tree

Saint Michael, Saint Raphael, Saint Gabriel and the seraphim were asked if they had any
envy. Solution – One and the same goodness is sufficient for the bonificative, the
bonifiable and the act of bonifying. And go to the chapter as above.
The memory, the intellect and the will of Saint Gabriel were asked if they had any envy.
Solution - One and the same goodness is sufficient for memorativity, intellectivity and
amativity.
A poor man was asked if he wanted to be rich. Solution – The poor man said that he
wanted to be rich, so long as it did not make him lose any sleep. And go to the chapter as
above.
Saint Michael was asked how he recognized avaricious people. Solution – Ibid.

Questions about exemplars from the branches of the eviternal tree

Lucifer was asked why he cursed his intellect. Solution – Go to the exemplar as above.
Lucifer was asked why he had no hope. Solution – Ibid.
A king was asked what kind of servant he should appoint for himself. Solution – Ibid.
Raymond was asked why he cursed his own being. Solution – Ibid.

Questions about exemplars from the branches of the maternal tree

Our Lady was asked if she had a mother. Solution – Go to the exemplar as above.
Our Lady was asked how she was the mother of the world. Solution – Ibid.
The world was asked if it was fully satisfied. Solution – Ibid.
When a man has hope, why has he no fear? Solution – Ibid.
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Questions about exemplars from the branches of the tree of Jesus Christ
A hermit was asked what method he followed in debating with unbelievers. Solution – Go
to the exemplar as above.
Raymond was asked to tell how grace descended from heaven. Solution – Ibid.
Raymond was asked to say if he ever had doubts about the faith. Solution – Ibid.
“Raymond, do you know through what process God took on human nature?” Solution –
Ibid.

Questions about exemplars from the branches of the divine tree

We ask whether God can be perfect unless there is production in him. Solution – Go to the
exemplar as above.
God was asked whether He had his end in himself or in something other than himself.
Solution – Ibid.
God was asked whether He was as great through acting as through existing. Solution –
Ibid.
God was asked how He was as great through acting as through existing. Solution – Ibid.

Questions about the twigs

The elemental tree
Why are there compound elements? Solution – Go to the chapter as above.
What are the compound elements made of? Solution – Ibid.
Why is the form of ignitivity more intense than the matter of ignibility? Solution - Form is
simple in action but matter is dual through passion because there is a matter, which is
interior and identically one in essence with the form, as is the case with the form of simple
fire. Another matter, which makes up the elemented body, is external. Hence, in the
elemental tree, the branches signify the simple elements and the twigs signify the
compound elements in which are made the flowers, the fruits and the renewal in spring
because the elements are more thoroughly mixed together and digested in the twigs than
in the branches.
Where are the compound elements located? Solution – Go to the chapter as above.
How do the elements mortify each other? Solution – Ibid.
How do the elements transition from their simple number to their compound number, and
how does each element remain in its own intrinsic simple number? Solution – Ibid.
How do the primary forms participate in simple substances along with compound
substances? Solution – Ibid.
How do the elements stand in relation to each other in a mixture? Solution – Ibid.
Since fire is light, why does it descend here below and why does water, which is heavy,
rise upward? Solution – Ibid.
How does the mutual movement of the elements endure in time? Solution – Ibid.

Questions about the twigs of the vegetal tree

What are an apple tree’s twigs made of? Solution – Go to the chapter as above.
A philosopher asked a twig in Martin’s apple tree if it had existed in a potential state in
the twigs of the elemental tree. Solution – A nail that a smith produces from a piece of
iron was present through disposition in stone before it existed in potentiality in the piece
of iron.
A philosopher asked a twig in Martin’s apple tree if its identity was subject to the appetite
in the elemental twig. Solution – Natural species exist in a confused state in the genera
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whence they issue forth in their appropriate desired number and are differentiated from
each other.
A philosopher asked a twig in Martin’s apple tree what its growth was made of. Solution –
Growth follows the way in which the nourishing moisture issues forth from the elemental
twig, extends itself into the vegetal species and makes the root moisture grow in its
species.
A philosopher asked a twig in Martin’s apple tree what moved it from the elemental twig
and placed it in the vegetal species? Solution – The natural agent naturally draws
individuals from genera and places them in species just as a smith moulds a knife or a nail
artificially into different shapes.
A philosopher asked a twig in an apple tree if it drew matter from the elemental twig to
itself and if the elemental twig drew matter to itself. Solution – Matter is not active, but
purely passive and as such matter does not instill itself into anything.
A philosopher asked a twig if the elemental twig – inasmuch as it is form – instilled its
matter into the vegetal twig? Solution – The end purpose of inhabiting a room moves the
form of the room, which moves the matter of the room toward the primary end.
A philosopher asked a twig in Martin’s apple tree, since it is one twig, how can many
twigs potentially exist in it? Solution – The iron in a piece of iron is one and in it the iron
in a nail and the iron in a knife are present in potentiality.
A philosopher asked a twig in Martin’s apple tree if it was visible. Solution – The twig
said that it had a dual nature: it was visible because it had the nature of the elemental twig,
but it was invisible in its vegetal nature.
A philosopher asked a twig in Martin’s apple tree if its flowers naturally participated more
with it through the vegetal tree or through the elemental tree. Solution – Participation is
always greater through a species than through a genus.

Questions about the twigs of the sensual tree

What are the twigs of the sensual tree made of? Solution – Go to the chapter as above.
How do the twigs of the sensual tree exist? Solution – Ibid.
What are the twigs of the sensual tree? Solution – Ibid.
A philosopher asked the branches of Martin’s horse how they were situated. Solution –
Ibid.
A philosopher asked the eyes of Martin’s horse how many twigs they had. Solution – Go
to the chapter as above.
A philosopher asked if an apple’s visibility was closer to visitivity than the visibility of a
stone or a flame? Solution – Visitivity always participates on the inside with elemental
and vegetal visibility, but since the vegetative cannot be seen, nor can its own simple
individual be seen, visitivity participates more strongly with the visibility of a stone or of
a flame than with vegetal visibility. Hence, a stone and a flame are more visible than an
apple.
A philosopher asked lust if it participated as strongly with the heart as with the eyes.
Solution – Lust replied that it participated on the inside with the heart and on the outside
with the eyes.
A philosopher asked visitivity and auditivity if they were different by reason of the eyes
and the ears, or if they were different on their own. Solution – If the difference between
auditivity and visitivity was not proper but appropriated, then the sensitive power would
have no natural commonality of its own.
A philosopher asked the heart why it had greater concordance with a pleasant odour than
with a beautiful colour? Solution – No colour really comes to the heart from outside.
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Questions about the twigs of the imaginal tree

What are the twigs of the imaginative? Solution – Go to the chapter as above.
How many twigs does the imaginative have? Solution – Ibid.
How does the imaginative imagine objects? Solution – Ibid.
A hermit asked the imagination if it imagined shape and brightness equally when it
imagined a flame of fire. Solution – Since light is an instrument for seeing objects and
shape is an accident common to both seeing and touching, the imaginative first imagines
the light more strongly than the shape; but since the shape participates more with
corporeal extension in space, the imaginative imagines the shape in its situation more
strongly than it imagines the light.
“Imagination,” said the hermit, “tell me if in imagining an apple, you imagine its
generation and corruption equally?” Solution – Since the beginning exists by reason of the
end, the imagination imagines generation through the vegetative and corruption through
the elementative.
“Imagination,” said the hermit, “tell me, when you imagine a horse, which likeness do you
touch first of all? Solution – The imaginative replied that it touched visibility before
touching vegetability or elementability because visibility was closer to the nature of
seeing than vegetability or elementability.
“Imagination, tell me why you take more pleasure in imagining a rose than in imagining
lepers?” Solution – The imaginative power is debilitated by misshapen objects.
Can the imagination imagine a species? Solution – The imagination replied that it could
not receive an object that had no shape.
“Imagination, tell me why you turn your subject into a leper when you imagine lepers?”
Solution – It replied that it did not always turn its human subject into a leper, but if a man
happened to imagine leprosy with all his might because he was so frightened and horrified
by it, the imagination said that it had as great a power over the sensitive faculty to pervert
it into the species of leprosy, as the power that ire had to pervert a man into the species of
stupidity.

Questions about the twigs of the human rational tree

What are the twigs of the human rational tree? Solution – Go to the chapter as above.
A man was asked if he elemented his foot. Solution – The man said that he elemented his
foot just as a whole used its parts to draw other parts from the outside and to place them
on the inside, just as the nose received vapours from outside when a man breathed, and
placed them inside so that the root moisture could have all it needed to live on.
“Tell me, sir, do you vegetate your foot?” Solution – When a man eats bread and drinks
wine, his vegetative converts the bread into flesh and the wine into blood, and the man
uses a part of himself as an instrument that is also a part of every human, and in addition,
he uses the instrument of his soul. This passage contains much philosophy.
“Tell me, sir,” said the hermit to a man, “do you sense your foot?” Solution – A scion of
cultivated olive grafted on a wild olive tree converts the matter of the wild tree, and the
sensitive power likewise converts into its own sensible the things that come from the
outside through elementation and vegetation, which are its instruments and the subjects of
its advent and which issue forth from these things in the species of sensing.
“Tell me, sir,” said the hermit to a man, “do you rationalize your foot?” Solution – The
man said that his foot was a part of his body that the soul maintained in the human species
and when a man moved his spiritual powers as instruments to maintain his body in the
human species, then these powers functioned according to their natural properties and thus
they rationalized the body just like fire when it moved its heat by heating the water with
which it participated in elemented substance.
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“Tell me, sir,” said the hermit to a man, “do you willificate your will?” Solution – The
man said that his will consisted of the volitive, the willable and the act of willing. As he
moves his will toward the willable object, his will uses its natural properties just as fire
uses its natural heat when it moves its heat to heat water. Consequently, he willificates his
will inasmuch as he moves it to use its natural properties; and this is an accidental and
moral willification whereby the intrinsic natural act of willing takes on moral habits that
are either virtuous or vicious.
“Tell me, sir,” said the hermit to a man, “how do your twigs exist in continuous and
discrete quantity?” Solution – Go to the chapter as above.
“Man, tell me how you die.” Solution – Ibid.
The hermit asked the tongue of a mute man why it did not speak. Solution – The tongue
said that without hearing, the affatus could not find any words to express the likenesses of
its inner concepts.

Questions about the twigs of the tree of the moral virtues

What are the moral twigs? Solution – Go to the chapter as above.
What do the moral twigs consist of? Solution – Ibid.
The hermit asked Martin if the understanding that he had when he understood Raymond
was the same understanding that he had when he understood Peter. Solution – Ibid.
“Martin,” said the hermit, “how do you habituate your imagining with moral habits?”
Solution – Martin said that he habituated his imagining with moral habits by imagining
imaginable objects with habits that were either virtuous or vicious.
“Martin, how do you habituate your eyesight with moral habits?” Solution – Martin said
that he habituated with moral habits his internal seeing with the seeing that he acquired
externally.
“Martin, how do you habituate your speech with moral habits?” Solution – Martin said
that he habituated his speech with moral habits by accustoming it to words that were
either good or evil, either true or false.
“Martin, how are you just?” Solution – Martin said that he was just by exercising justice.
“Martin, how do you exercise your justice?” Solution – Martin said that he applied justice
by justifying his understanding, his understanding and his loving, and by justifying his
words.
“Martin, how do you commit injury?” Solution – Martin said that he committed injury by
loving what he should not love and by hating what he should not hate, by saying what he
should not say and by remaining silent when he should speak out.
“Martin, how do you renew your love?” Solution – Martin said that he renewed his love
by letting go of one object and taking hold of another object.

Questions about the twigs of the tree of the vices

What do the twigs of the vices consist of? Solution – Go to the chapter as above.
What are the twigs of the vices? Solution – Ibid.
“Tell me, gluttony,” said the hermit, “how are you a sin?” Solution – Gluttony said that it
was a sin through the deviation of the purpose of eating, which is in wanting to eat for the
pleasure only and not for a healthy life.
“Tell me, gluttony, how do you grow great?” Solution – Gluttony said that it grew great
by augmenting the intention to eat for pleasure at the expense of life and health.
“Tell me, gluttony, how do you live?” Solution – Gluttony said that it lived on the
deviation of the purpose of eating.
“Tell me, gluttony, how do you die?” Solution – Gluttony said that it died as soon as
people began to eat in a way that preserved life and health.
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“Tell me, gluttony, do you have ears?” Solution – Gluttony said that it had no ears while it
was hungry, but while it ate, it had ears to hear the words spoken by conscience.
The hermit asked Martin’s gluttony if it was one sin, or many sins. Solution – Gluttony
replied that it was a maternal habit with many children, like one person with many
garments.
“Tell me, gluttony, what are you full of?” Solution – Gluttony said that it was full of the
privation of temperance.
“Tell me, gluttony, who is your father?” Solution – Gluttony said that its father was the
man who had no temperance.

Questions about the twigs of the imperial tree

What are the imperial twigs? Solution – Go to the chapter as above.
How many twigs are there in the imperial tree? Solution – Ibid.
By which twigs are the prince’s twigs best signified? Solution – Ibid.
The hermit asked the prince’s twigs whether they were general or specific. Solution – The
twigs said that they were general with regard to the prince’s mandate, but since the prince
was one man, they were specific.

Questions about the prince’s justice

“My prince,” said the hermit, “do you love your specific justice more than your general
justice?” Solution – The prince said that he was mandated to serve the public interest and
consequently it would not be fair for him to love specific good as much as public good.
“My prince, why are you a public figure?” Solution – The prince said that he was a public
figure in order to preserve justice among the people.
The prince was asked if he loved justice more than charity. Solution – The prince replied
that he loved justice more than charity inasmuch as he was a public figure but that
inasmuch as he was one man, he loved charity more than justice.
“My prince, do you love your son more than you love your people?” Solution – Justice
does not consent to loving specific good more than the public good.

Questions about the prince’s love

The prince was asked what his love should be like. Solution – Go to the above chapter in
the twigs of the imperial tree.
The prince was asked how he could reign for so long. Solution – Ibid.
The prince was asked why he made his people fear him more than they loved him?
Solution – No conceited individual ever does anything out of love.
The prince was asked why he was afraid. Solution – The prince said that he was afraid
because his people feared him more than it loved him.

Questions about the prince’s fear

The prince was asked what his fear should be like and what should his people’s fear be
like. Solution – Go to the said chapter in the twigs of the imperial tree.
The prince was asked if he was more afraid of love than of death. Solution – A good
prince will put his life on the line in battle out of love for his people.
Love and fear were asked what their greatest mutual concordance was. Solution – Love
and fear replied that this question should be put to a good prince and to a good people.
The prince was asked if he feared his people more than God? Solution – The prince
replied that freedom followed from the fear of God but servitude followed from fear of his
people.
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Questions about the prince’s wisdom

What are the conditions that govern a prince? Solution – Go to the above chapter.
Under what condition is a prince to be feared the most? Solution – Ibid.
The prince was asked if he needed to love charity as much as wisdom. Solution – The
prince replied that his position required more wisdom than charity because wisdom had
concordance with justice whereas charity had concordance with money.
The prince’s wisdom was asked if it was afraid of anything. Solution – The prince’s
wisdom replied that by its own nature it had no fear of anything, and that it was the same
with his justice and his sword, who were his friends.

Questions about the prince’s power

The prince was asked why he wanted to be powerful. Solution – Go to the said chapter in
the twigs of the imperial tree.
The prince was asked if he loved wisdom more than power. Solution – The prince said
that he reigned with the wisdom of his council.
Why does the prince’s power weep? Solution – Power replied that it wept because the
prince held it in a state of idleness and because it was violently vexed by the prince’s
evildoing.
The prince’s power was asked if it was afraid of anything. Solution – Power replied that it
feared the growing freedom of the prince’s people.

Questions about the prince’s honour

The prince was asked what his honour consisted of. Solution – Go to the said chapter in
the twigs of the imperial tree.
“My prince, why do you love honour more than money?” Solution – The prince said that
he presented a better image of God through honour than through money.
Why does the prince’s honour weep? Solution – Honour said that it wept because the
prince dishonoured it inasmuch as he was more intent on honouring himself than in
honouring God.
Does the prince’s honour fear anything? Solution – No honour can fall as low from as
high a place as the prince’s honour can.

Questions about the prince’s freedom

The prince was asked if he knew what his freedom was. Solution – Go to the said chapter
in the twigs of the imperial tree.
“My prince, why are you weeping?” Solution – The prince said that he wept because his
people was more attached to him through fear than through love.
“My prince, why do you have freedom?” Solution – Go to the chapter as above.
The prince’s freedom was asked how it fell into slavery. Solution – Ibid.

Questions about the twigs in the apostolic tree

What are the twigs of the apostolic tree? Solution – Go to the chapter as above.
The Church was asked what its precepts were for. Solution – Ibid.
Why does the Church weep? Solution – The Church replied that it wept because all
peoples were not obedient to it.
Why do feast days weep? Solution – The feast days replied that they wept because Jews
observed their Sabbaths better than Christians observed the Day of the Lord.
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Questions about the first commandment of the apostolic tree

What does the greatest commandment consist in? Solution – Go to the said chapter in the
twigs of the apostolic tree.
The will was asked if it was totally obliged to love good and to shun evil? Solution – Ibid.
The will was asked why commandments were given to it although it was naturally free.
Solution – The will said that it was free in order to freely love God, and that it was
subservient in order to be obedient.
The will was asked why it was given the commandment to love God more than itself and
its neighbour as itself. Solution – The will replied that God’s amability was greater than
its amability, and that the love of neighbour was equal to its amability.

Questions about the intellect in the twigs of the apostolic tree

The intellect was asked what it was most obliged to serve. Solution – Go to the chapter as
above.
“Tell me, intellect, since you are free, why were you given commandments?” Solution –
The intellect replied that it was given commandments because it was placed in a public
figure who through his fear of God did everything in his power to show the truth of the
faith of the Holy Roman Catholic Church.
Saint Peter was asked why Our Lord Jesus Christ commanded him three times to tend to
his sheep. Solution – Every prelate must know his lord, himself and his neighbour,
moreover he must love his lord, himself and his neighbour and he must remember his
lord, himself and his neighbour.
The intellect was asked if it would incur guilt if it did not do everything in its power to
honour God and to be useful to its neighbour. Solution – The intellect replied that God
made the commandments not only for a part of substance but for the entirety of substance.
Moreover, God did this because He is entirely substantial so that all substance be obedient
to him, and by reason of this obedience, the entirety of substance has merit and glory.

Questions about the third commandment in the twigs of the apostolic tree
Memory was asked in which person it was the most obliged to remember God. Solution –
Go to the above chapter.
“Tell me, memory, why were you given a great commandment to do great things?”
Solution – Memory said that the commandment was great because God was great and
worthy of great honour, and also because it had great power to procure great good and to
avoid great evil.
“Tell me, memory, why do you weep?” Solution – Memory said that it wept because it
was conscious of the fact that Our Lord Jesus Christ was not remembered and honoured
throughout the whole world.
“Tell me, memory, would you do everything in your power to be obedient?” Solution –
Memory said that it would put this question to the city of Jerusalem, where there was one
book in which all its works were written.

Questions about the fourth commandment in the twigs of the apostolic tree
The imagination was asked in which person it encountered the greatest obligations.
Solution – Go to the above chapter.
The imagination asked the cross why it stood in the Church. Solution – The cross said that
it stood in the Church to make it remember the magnitude of the passion that God suffered
on the cross.
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The imagination asked Our Lady’s image why it was depicted in the Church. Solution –
The image replied that it was depicted in the Church in order to show Our Lady’s
goodness to sinners so that they could have hope in Our Lady.
The imagination asked a picture of Hell what it was doing in Church. Solution – The
picture of Hell said that it was in Church so that sinners disobedient to God’s
commandments would remember the great punishments of Hell and be very afraid of
them.

Questions about the fifth commandment in the apostolic tree

The sensitive power as it exists in man was asked if the commandments were directed to
its totality or only to a part of it. Solution – Go to the above chapter.
Someone asked to which sense the greatest commandment was directed. Solution –
Through no sense can God be honoured as much as through the affatus and the hearing.
The affatus was asked in what things it was most idle. Solution – The affatus replied that
it was more idle in showing the truth of the Christian faith throughout the whole world
than in any other matter, given that it was more obliged to show the truth of the Christian
faith than to do anything else.
“Tell me, hearing, have you any conscience?” Solution – The sense of hearing said that it
had on its conscience the fact that the Gospel was not heard throughout the whole world.

Questions about the sixth commandment in the apostolic tree

“Tell me, vegetative power, are you obliged to obey your Lord who created you?”
Solution – Go to the above chapter.
“Tell me, vegetative power, are you idle?” Solution – The granaries are full of wheat,
which fattens up horses and lets the poor grow thin.
“Tell me, vegetative power, are you well distributed?” Solution – The vegetative power
replied that it would put this question to the poor.
“Tell me, vegetative power, what are you made of?” Solution – The vegetative power
replied that it was made of charity, justice and temperance.

Questions about the seventh commandment in the apostolic tree

“Tell me, elementative power, are you obliged to serve God?” Solution – Go to the above
chapter.
Gold and silver were asked if they were idle. Solution – They replied that this question
should be put to avarice and to the poor.
Tell me, silver, where is your center? Solution – Silver said that its center was in
strongboxes for avarice and in the poor for charity.
Tell me, silver, why are you so great? Solution – Silver said that it was so great in order to
be sufficient for the rich and the poor.

Questions about the twigs of the celestial tree

What are the twigs of the celestial tree? Solution – Go to the above chapter.
A philosopher asked the planets how their appropriated qualities should be ordered.
Solution – Ibid.
A philosopher asked fire whether it received influence from Leo or from the Sun.
Solution – The flowers are generated from and originate from the twigs which originate
from the roots, the trunk and the branches.
“Tell me, Sun,” said the philosopher, “what do you originate from?” Solution – The twigs
of an apple tree come from the roots, the trunk and the branches.
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“Tell me, Sun, why is your movement from west to east?” Solution – Greater impressions
and passions arise from two contrary movements.
Why does the Sun move from east to west since it naturally moves from west to east.
Solution – A sailor who moves from the prow to the poop of a ship in moved from the
poop to the prow by the ship’s movement.
Why is Saturn of an earthy complexion? Solution – Go to the above chapter.
“Saturn, why is the Sabbath your day?” Solution – No other day in the week is a lofty as
the Sabbath.
A philosopher asked the Sun if it had a face. Solution – The parts that move first are
nobler than the parts that move last.
A philosopher asked the Sun why it made neither more nor less than 365 days and 6 hours
in a year. He also asked the planets why they were neither more nor less than seven in
number. Solution – Go to the above chapter.

Questions about the twigs of the angelic tree

What are the twigs of the angelic tree? Solution – Go to the said chapter.
An angel was asked how its twigs were blended. Solution – Ibid.
An angel was asked were its influence originated from. Solution – From the virtue of the
branches of an apple tree twigs come forth, from which leaves and flowers arise.
An angel’s twig was asked how it stood above the branches. Solution – Go to the said
chapter.
How is an angel’s understanding great? Solution – Ibid.
Why is the evil angel so obstinate? Solution – Ibid.
Does the angel’s understanding come about successively, or all at once? Solution – Ibid.
Does an angel have any deliberation when it does good? Solution – Ibid.
An angel was asked why its understanding was greater than human understanding, given
that man participated with all creatures. Solution – Ibid.
An angel was asked how it converted the visibility of colour into the visibility of
understanding since it had no corporeal eyes. Solution – Ibid.

Questions about the twigs of the eviternal tree

What are the twigs of the eviternal tree, and how many are they? Solution – Go to the
above chapter.
Paradise was asked if any merit was as great as Paradise itself. Solution – No merit is
acquired by goodness in eviternity.
Hell was asked if the sinner’s guilt was as great as Hell itself. Solution – Guilt is entirely
opposed to the infinity of God.
God’s justice was asked if there was a purgatory. Solution – If there was no purgatory,
then God’s justice would remain idle in some sinners who do not do penance during this
mortal life.
The purgatory was asked what it consisted of. Solution – Purgatory said that it consisted
of the head of Hell’s eviternity without the tail.
Some sinners were asked if the souls in purgatory desired to come back to this life so that
they could get out of purgatory? Solution – People desire to have minor punishment so as
to avoid major punishment.
“Paradise, have you any compassion for the people who are in Hell?” Solution – Paradise
answered that it loved God’s justice so much that love did not want it to have compassion
on those who blasphemed it.
“Hell, do you like any man who is in Paradise? Solution – Hell said that it did not love
anything good because it was totally perverted to loving evil.
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“Hell, are you completely saturated?” Solution – Saturation cannot be accomplished in

any substance whose end is in privation.
“Hell, why do you blaspheme God who is so good?” Solution – Hell replied that it was
totally perverted to evil and that it was as contrary to Paradise as the colour black was
contrary to the colour white.

Questions about the twigs of the maternal tree

What are the twigs of the maternal tree? Solution – Go to the above chapter.
Our Lady was asked how she was the mother of mercy. Solution – Ibid.
Saint Gabriel was asked why no sinner should despair. Solution – Saint Gabriel said that
no one who knew Our Lady well could fall into despair.
A great sinner was asked why he had hope in Our Lady. Solution – The sinner said that he
had hope in Our Lady because his hope was a likeness of Our Lady’s hope.
Our Lady was asked why she had compassion for sinners since they were against her Son.
Our Lady said that she did not have any compassion for sinners who had no compassion
just as she had no compassion for those who had no hope.
“Compassion, why do you weep?” Solution – Compassion said that it wept because it was
not great among the people.
“Sinner, why have you hope in Our Lady?” Solution – The sinner said that he had hope in
Our Lady because she was his advocate.
“Sinner, since Our Lady is your advocate, why don’t you be an advocate and honour her
throughout the entire world?” Solution – The sinner answered that from here on in he
would do all that was in his power to honour her.
“Your Majesty the Queen, you are the spouse of the King, why aren’t you conceited?”
Solution – The queen replied that she had resolved to be humble at all times after she saw
a mural that depicted Our Lady’s Son lying on the floor between an ox and a donkey.
The king’s daughter was asked why she loved virginity and why she did not want to have
a husband. Solution – The king’s daughter replied that she loved virginity because she
wanted to be similar in some way to Our Lady whom she loved more than herself.

Questions about the twigs of the tree of Jesus Christ

What are the twigs of the maternal tree? Solution – Go to the above chapter.
Our Lady was asked if she loved her Son more than herself. Solution – Our Lady replied
that she was dishonoured by the person who put such a question to her, given the fact that
her Son was more lovable than all creatures taken together.
Our Lady was asked if God could create a creature who was nobler than her Son. Solution
– Go to the chapter as above.
Our Lady was asked if the love that divine nature had for human nature produced a
Person. Solution – Our Lady said that in the Incarnation, the divine nature assumed
humanity, but it did not take on a Person, because it was already a Person and thus it had
no need for assuming a Person.
Our Lady was asked if her Son, in his human nature, understood all creatures along with
all their works and their reasons. Solution – Our Lady said that in the course of nature, no
part of the world could understand all the intelligibilities in the world given that no part
can totally comprehend the whole. But inasmuch as her Son was God, He understood the
entire world in all of its parts.
Our Lady was asked if her Son was better than all creatures. Solution – Our Lady replied
that because God loved to be her Son and did not love to be another creature, her Son was
better than all creatures.
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Our Lady was asked if God loved her Son more than He loved all creatures. Solution –
Our Lady said that the beloved who wanted to be the lover was more beloved than another
beloved who did not want to be the lover.
Our Lady was asked if her Son as a man understood the totality of divine nature and of the
divine reasons. Solution – Our Lady replied that her Son, as a man, being finite, could not
comprehend infinite reasons and infinite nature, but inasmuch as her Son was God, He
understood all the divine reasons and the entirety of divine nature.
Our Lady was asked: since all men were of the nature of the Son, then why was it
tolerated that any human could become a slave to the devil in Hell? Solution – Our Lady
said that her Son loved God’s justice more than He loved his own human nature.
Our Lady was asked if her Son as a man ever condemned a sinner to damnation, given
that every sinner was of the same nature as his human nature, and moreover, she would
pray for the sinners to her Son who had great love for her. Solution – Our Lady replied
that inasmuch as her Son was the God-Man, and as both natures were one Person, this
single Person had one single judgment; but inasmuch as the divine nature was one thing
and the human nature was another thing, her Son as a man would pray for sinners to the
divine Person, and Our Lady said that through his prayers she was the mother of the
sinners who had hope in her.

Questions about the twigs of the divine tree

What are the twigs of the divine tree? Solution – Go to the above chapter.
How do the twigs of the divine tree exist? Solution – Ibid.
How does God generate and spirate? Solution – Ibid.
How are generation and spiration what they are? Solution – Ibid.
How is divine goodness a reason of divine nature? Solution – Ibid.
How is divine goodness a reason for the other divine reasons? Solution – Ibid.
How is God a pure act? Solution – Ibid.
Divine goodness was asked if its act was moral or natural. Solution – No morality is
infinite and eternal. And go to the chapter as above.
How are generation and spiration distinct in God? Solution – Ibid.
How is God a principle in himself? Solution – Ibid.

Questions about the twigs of the tree of exemplars

Questions about the twigs from the elemental part of the tree of exemplars
A pumpkin and a peppercorn were asked which one of them was more similar to God.
Solution – Go to the above chapter.
How does fire signify production in the divine Persons? Solution – Ibid.
How does the idleness of fire signify God’s Incarnation? Solution – If God did not care to
become incarnate, he would prefer to remain idle by not creating the noblest creature that
can possibly be created. And go to the chapter as above.
Since Christians have the truth and all other people are in error, why are Christians so few
as compared to the other nations and why do so many of them live in sin? Solution – Ibid.

Questions about proverbs from the twigs of the vegetal tree

Privation was asked if it had any positive entity. Solution – Go to the above chapter.
Where does a lady’s beauty abide after death? Solution – Ibid. in the first paragraph.
How is God’s beauty the beauty of humans? Solution – Ibid. in the first paragraph.
How does beauty stand in a mirror? Solution – Ibid. in the second paragraph.
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Chastity was asked why it was more beautiful than the face of a beautiful woman.
Solution – Ibid. paragraph 3.
Goodness was asked why it was more beautiful in the soul than in the body. Solution – the
beautiful mantle and the other ornaments make the beautiful lady remember lust and
conceit more often than they make her remember good remembering and loving. And go
to Ibid. paragraph 4.
The beauty of a beautiful lady was asked if it was dead or alive. Solution – Ibid. paragraph
5.
Why did the maidservant weep? Solution – Ibid. paragraph 6.
Is the lady’s beauty good? Solution – Ibid. paragraph 7.
Gold and silver were asked if they were worth more than any other beauty. Solution –
Ibid. paragraph 8.
“Beauty, in what are you immortal?” Solution – Ibid. paragraph 9.
“Beauty, in what are you the greatest?” Solution – Ibid. paragraph 10.
Why did the beautiful lady break the mirror? Solution – Ibid. paragraph 11.

Questions about proverbs from the twigs of the sensual tree

“Tell me, sense of hearing, what made the lady’s beauty known to you?” Solution – Go to
the above chapter.
“Tell me, sense of hearing, what is the most beautiful and the most general name?”
Solution – Ibid. paragraph 1.
Participation was asked to tell in what it was the greatest. Solution – Ibid. paragraph 2.
Death was asked to tell who had slain and defeated it. Solution – Ibid. paragraph 3.
Justice was asked to tell who was the greatest judge. Solution – Ibid. paragraph 4.
The eyes were asked to tell what their greatest glory consisted of. Solution – Ibid.
paragraph 5.
The world was asked to tell why it was created. Solution – Ibid. paragraph 6.
Compassion was asked in what it was the greatest. Solution – Ibid. paragraph 7.
“Tell me, error, why you are so great.” Solution – Error grows because of the privation of
charity. And go to Ibid. paragraph 8.
Jesus Christ was asked if He had forgotten his city Jerusalem? Solution – Jesus Christ
remembers the shepherds who forget his city Jerusalem. And go to Ibid. paragraph 9.
Goodness was asked to tell in what it was best to remember, understand and love it.
Solution – Ibid. paragraph 10.
The affatus asked what was the best thing to talk about. Solution – Ibid. paragraph 11.

Questions about proverbs from the twigs of the imaginal tree

The imagination was asked to tell with what it revealed people’s wealth. Solution – Go to
the above chapter.
“Tell me, imagination, why so many rich people become poor.” Solution – Ibid.
“Tell me, sense of taste, why would avarice slay you?” Solution – Ibid.
“Tell me, sense of taste, why you complain about the eyes.” Solution – Ibid.

Questions about proverbs from the twigs of the human tree

Prayer was asked to tell how it ascended to heaven. Solution – Go to the above chapter.
Intention was asked to tell the reason why so many Christians went to Hell. Solution –
Ibid.
“Tell me, prayer, why you dismissed the imagination.” Solution – Ibid.
Prayer was asked to tell how people came to be saved. Solution – Ibid.
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Questions about proverbs from the twigs of the moral tree

Freedom was asked if it gave advice to the king. Solution – Go to the above chapter.
What advised the holy man to choose the greater good? Solution – Ibid.
“Tell me, holy man, why do you dislike being venerated and why are you not ashamed of
being dishonoured?” Solution – Ibid.
“Tell me, holy man, what advice do you give to your friends?” Solution – Ibid.

Questions about proverbs from the twigs of the imperial tree

About justice
How should a king begin to reign during his coronation? Solution – Go to the above
chapter.
The king was asked why he was sad. Solution – Ibid. the chapter on justice.
“Divine will, how can you have everything you want?” Solution – Ibid. paragraph 2.
“Divine generosity, do you give as noble a gift to goodness as to the will?” Solution –
Ibid. paragraph 3.
“Divine justice, are you idle?” Solution – Ibid. paragraph 4.
“Divine justice and divine mercy, are you equal in goodness, power, wisdom and will?”
Solution – Ibid. paragraph 5.
God was asked why he assumed human nature. Solution – Ibid. paragraph 6.
“Tell me, justice,” said a sinner, “what are you bringing me?” Solution – Ibid. paragraph
7.
“Tell me, sinner, why do you judge yourself?” Solution – Ibid. paragraph 8.
“Justice, why are you worth more than gold and silver?” Solution – Ibid. paragraph 9.
“Tell me, sinner, to whom do you show yourself?” Solution – Ibid. paragraph 10.
“Mercy and charity, who is associated with you?” Solution – Ibid. paragraph 11.

Questions about wisdom

“Sinner, what do you desire?” Solution – Go to the above chapter.
“Divine wisdom, do you understand everything?” Solution – Ibid. in paragraph 2.
God’s goodness was asked if bonificability belonged to its nature. Solution – Ibid.
paragraph 3.
How is God’s intellect great? Solution – Ibid. paragraph 4.
How is intention a reason for production? Solution – Ibid. paragraph 5.
Why is there an act of understanding in God’s wisdom?” Solution – Ibid. paragraph 6.
How is God’s understanding removed away from contrariety? Solution – Ibid. paragraph
7.
“Divine wisdom, in which man are you the greatest?” Solution – Ibid. paragraph 8.
How is the created intellect obliged to understand many things? Solution – Ibid. paragraph
9.
Equality was asked about how it existed in God. Solution – Ibid. paragraph 10.

Questions about love

God was asked what things he remembered. Solution – Go to the above chapter.
“Divine will, are you as great as divine magnitude?” Solution – Ibid. paragraph 2.
God was asked if there was any hatred in him. Solution – Ibid. paragraph 3.
“Divine truth, how are you so great?” Solution – Ibid. paragraph 4.
“Divine will, in what way are you perfect?” Solution – Ibid. paragraph 5.
A sinner asked charity if it could give him anything. Solution – Ibid. paragraph 6.
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The hermit asked God how he could ensure that he would commit no sins. Solution – Ibid.
paragraph 7.
“Charity,” said the hermit, “can you be bought with money, with castles and with cities?
Solution – Ibid. paragraph 8.
A king asked a wise man how he could ensure that no man could deceive him. Solution –
Ibid. paragraph 9.
A poor man asked God how he could give the greatest gift. Solution – Ibid. paragraph 10.

Questions about power

The hermit asked God whether He was God by himself or through something other than
himself. Solution – Go to the above chapter.
The hermit asked God if God’s power had quantity. Solution – Ibid. paragraph 2.
The hermit asked God’s power how it could be sufficient for goodness. Solution – Ibid.
paragraph 3.
The hermit asked God if He could deify a Person. Solution – Ibid. in paragraph 4.
The hermit asked power how God existed. Solution – Ibid. in paragraph 5.
How can God perform miracles? Solution – Ibid. in paragraph 6.
In what is power most noble? Solution – Ibid. in paragraph 7.
In what is power most useful? Solution – Ibid. in paragraph 8.
“Power, how can you best communicate yourself?” Solution – Ibid. in paragraph 9.
“Power, in what way do you show yourself at your strongest?” Solution – Ibid. in the last
paragraph.

Questions about fear

The hermit asked God why He had no fear. Solution – Go to the above chapter.
Why is God the greatest Lord? Solution – Ibid. paragraph 2.
What is fear? Solution – Ibid. paragraph 3.
“Tell me, fear, how can you be the better alternative?” Solution – Ibid. paragraph 4.
“Tell me, fear, how do you make a man law-abiding?” Solution – Ibid. paragraph 5.
“Tell me, fear, how are you a cause of honour?” Solution – Ibid. paragraph 6.
“Tell me, fear, how do you exist in the equality of power and goodness?” Solution – Ibid.
paragraph 7.
“Tell me, fear, must you fear mercy as much as you fear justice?” Solution – Ibid.
paragraph 8.
“Tell me, fear, what is your usefulness?” Solution – Ibid. paragraph 9.
“Tell me, fear, at what time are you at your best?” Solution – Ibid. the last paragraph.

Questions about honour

“Tell me, honour, why do you weep?” Solution – Go to the above chapter.
“Tell me, power of the will, how do you render honour to God? Solution – Ibid.
paragraph 2.
“As for you, hypocrite, do you know how to honour God?” Solution – Ibid. paragraph 3.
“Tell me, Oh divine Name, are you greatly honoured?” Solution – Ibid. paragraph 4.
“Tell me, justice, why do you laugh?” Solution – Ibid. paragraph 5.
“Tell me, honour, how can great can you be?” Solution – Ibid. paragraph 6.
“Tell me, sin, why do you laugh?” Solution – Ibid. paragraph 7.
Where is the king’s honour going? Solution – Ibid. paragraph 8.
“Tell me, conceit, why do you weep?” Solution – Ibid. paragraph 9.
“Tell me, justice, what you are writing.” Solution – Ibid. paragraph 10.
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Questions about freedom

A hermit asked God how He was free. Solution – Go to the above chapter.
“Divine power, do you have freedom?” Solution – Ibid. paragraph 2.
“Power, are you intrinsically free?” Solution – Ibid. paragraph 3.
“Freedom, how are you the greatest?” Solution – Ibid. paragraph 4.
“Freedom, can you be bought?” Solution – Ibid. paragraph 5.
“Freedom, why are you in slavery?” Solution – Ibid. paragraph 6.
“Freedom, why do you exist?” Solution – Ibid. paragraph 7.
“Tell me, sinner, have you the freedom to refrain from sin?” Solution – Ibid. paragraph 8.
“Tell me, virtue, can you be enslaved?” Solution – Ibid. paragraph 9.
“Servitude, are you more valuable than freedom?” Solution – Ibid. the last paragraph.

Questions about exemplars from the twigs of the apostolic tree

“Tell me, transcendent point, what you consist in.” Solution – Go to the above chapter.
The hermit asked the will and the intellect if they were great in power. Solution – Ibid.
“Tell me, intellect, what is your merit?” Solution – Ibid.
“Imagination, how are you defeated?” Solution – Ibid.

Questions about exemplars from the twigs of the celestial tree

“Temptation, why do you exist?” Solution – Go to the above chapter.
How is temptation defeated? Solution – Ibid.
Gemini asked Cancer why it had greater concordance with Saturn than with Jupiter.
Solution – Ibid.
Sagittarius asked Saturn and Jupiter why the one stood next to the other although they
opposed each other. Solution – Ibid.

Questions about exemplars from the twigs of the angelic tree

“Tell me. prior, why you are so good at being an abbot.” Solution – Go to the above
chapter.
How can a religious chapter be crippled? Solution – Ibid.
How can a religious chapter be healthy? Solution – Ibid.
“Tell me, abbot, why are you afraid of being poisoned?” Solution – Ibid.

Questions about exemplars from the twigs of the eviternal tree

“Confession, how do you defeat sin?” Solution – Go to the above chapter.
“Confession, why is it good to put you into practice?” Solution – Ibid.
“Confession, why do you weep?” Solution – Ibid.
“Confession, is your fear as great as your shame?” Solution – Ibid.

Questions about exemplars from the twigs of the maternal tree

“Tell me, power of will, what society you prefer.” Solution – Go to the above chapter.
“Tell me, power of will, who advised you not to be idle.” Solution – Ibid.
“Vicious prince, why are you so fond of evildoing?” Solution – Ibid.
“Power of the prince, why are you afraid?” Solution – Ibid.

Questions about exemplars from the twigs of the tree of Jesus Christ
A sinner asked mercy how it could defeat God’s justice. Solution – Go to the above
chapter.
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Mercy asked the sinner why he was so sad. Solution – Ibid.

A sinner asked mercy how he could defeat despair. Solution – Ibid.
A sinner asked mercy how he could recognize temptation. Solution – Ibid.

Questions about exemplars from the twigs of the divine tree

Giving was asked why it made people more happy than receiving. Solution – Go to the
above chapter.
“Tell me, shame,” said the hermit, why is your virtue more involved in receiving than in
giving?” Solution – Ibid.
“Necessity, do you have as great a concordance with receiving as generosity has with
giving?” Solution – Ibid.
Charity was asked how it had concordance with receiving. Solution – Ibid.

Questions about the leaves

First, questions about quantity from the leaves of the elemental tree
The quantity of fire was asked whether it was substantial or accidental. Solution – If
quantity was a substantial; part of substance, then goodness, magnitude, duration, power
and the other roots of the elemental tree would be as good and as great through one
quantity as through another. And go to the above chapter.
“Quantity, how do you exist and what do you consist of?” Solution – Ibid.
“Quantity, how are you continuous and how are you discrete? Solution – Ibid.
“Quantity, why do you exist?” Solution – Ibid.

Questions about quantity from the leaves of the vegetal tree

The quantity of pepper was asked if it was made of the quantity of fire and of the other
elements. Solution – The quantity of a grafted branch of domestic olive and the quantity
of the wild olive tree it is grafted on are discrete quantities of one continuous quantity, and
the quantity of the grafted olive branch lives on the quantity of the wild olive tree. And go
to the leaves of the vegetal tree.
The colour of a rose was asked if its quantity was compound. Solution – The substance of
a rose is composed of the essences of the elemental and the vegetal trees, under whose
composition all the parts of the rose are composed. This passage reveals a great natural
secret.
A rose was asked how its quantity grew. Solution – The quantity of a rose before it is
generated exists in potentiality in the quantity of water and as the rose grows its quantity
receives increase from the quantity that exists in potentiality in water.
The taste of an apple was asked if it had one or more than one quantity. Solution – Since
an apple is made of the elementative and the vegetative powers, its taste has two
quantities.

Questions about quantity from the leaves of the sensual tree

The quantity of a horse was asked if it was simple or compound. Solution – Go to the
above leaf.
The quantity of a horse was asked why it was not visible although the horse was visible?
Solution – The colour of a horse comes from the elemental tree just as its bodily warmth
does. And since visitivity is made only of the sensual tree, no quantity of colour is visible
and since the horse’s substance is composed of all three trees, it is visible by accident.
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A horse was asked how its quantities were mixed together given that they were not
substantial parts. Solution – Sailors move from place to place in the movement of the ship.
And go to the leaves above.
A horse was asked whether the quantity of its sensitive powers was made of the quantities
of its colour and taste. Solution – No root moisture is identical with nourishing moisture,
and this is due to difference which makes essences differ from each other in species.

Questions about quantity from the leaves of the imaginal tree

The imagination was asked to tell how it received the quantities of substances. Solution –
Go to the above chapter.
“Imagination, do you receive the likenesses of elemental quantity before receiving the
likenesses of vegetal and sensual quantity?” Solution – A subject is always more
imaginable through colour than through taste or through the other senses.
The imagination was asked to tell how it imagined the ternary number. Solution – The
imagination replied that it first imagined the quantity of one, and then the quantity of the
second, and then the quantity of the third and from all these particular quantities it drew
one common quantity existing under the ternary number. And go to the above chapter.
The imagination was asked if the number it produced had any real quantity or if it was
made only of likenesses. Solution – The imagination replied that the number it produced
from substances did not express any real entity of the nature of the substances from which
it drew this number, but inasmuch as it sustained this number in itself, there was an act
whereby the imagination had real numerical being in its own act which was of its own
nature and virtue. This passage contains much philosophy.

Questions about quantity from the leaves of the human tree

The quantity of man was asked to tell how it was one quantity made of many quantities.
Solution – Go to the above chapter.
The hermit asked the soul: “Since you have no extensive quantity, how do you extend
through Martin’s entire body?” Solution – Just as the taste of an apple extends through the
entirety of its colour although taste is not of the species of colour, so likewise can the
rational soul extend itself through the entire body although its quantity does not have the
nature of length, width and height.
“Tell me, rational soul, since your substance cannot be increased and you are present
through the entirety of a grown man’s body, how can you be present throughout its
entirety given that you were entirely present in its entirety when it was small?” Solution –
The taste of an apple extends throughout the apple’s colour although it is not of the genus
of colour, and likewise, the rational soul extends itself as the body extends itself although
it is not of the nature of length, width and height.
“Tell me, rational soul, have you any quantity?” Solution – Go to the above chapter.

Questions about quantity from the leaves of the tree of moral virtues
“Tell me, justice, since you have no real quantity, how can you increase and decrease?”
Solution – The imagination magnifies and diminishes the likeness of substance; although
this likeness that the imagination magnifies or diminishes according to the magnitude or
the smallness of its act is not a real thing.
“Tell me, justice, is your quantity visible?” Solution – Since morality has no colour, it is
always invisible.
“Tell me, justice, do you grow in act through the power or through the object?” Solution –
No passion can multiply itself.
Justice was asked if it had any quantity. Solution – Go to the above chapter.
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Questions about quantity from the leaves of the tree of moral vices
“Tell me, lust, have you any quantity?” Solution – Go to the above chapter.
“Tell me, lust, how you increase and decrease since you are the privation of chastity and
privation is not a subject habituated with quantity.” Solution – Ibid.
“Tell me, lust, have you any real quantity?” Solution – Lust replied that it could not have
any real quantity since it was merely the privation of chastity.
“Tell me, lust, since no moral privation can posit any real entity, what is your quantity
made of?” Solution – Lust replied that it was made of a disorderly movement against
chastity and matrimony. And go to the above chapter.

Questions about quantity from the leaves of the imperial tree

How should a judge consider quantity in his judgments? Solution – Go to the above
chapter.
How can the science of civil law be expressed in other terms? Solution – Ibid.
How are purchase and sale conditioned by quantity? Solution – Ibid.
With what does a judge discover the truth? Solution – Ibid.

Questions about quantity from the leaves of the apostolic tree

We ask if there is any quantity in the supreme Trinity. Solution – Go to the above chapter.
Since the divine Persons are distinct, how can they be without quantity? Solution – There
cannot be any quantity in any supposite whose nature is infinite and eternal.
Since the divine essence is present in distinct Persons, how is it invisible? Solution – The
Father is the entire essence and He produces the Son from the entirety of himself;
therefore, the entire essence remains present in the Father and the Son, and it is the same
with the Holy Spirit.
Given that divine goodness is not created goodness, how can it be without quantity since it
is terminated by created goodness? Solution – The taste in an apple is not of the nature of
colour, and it is terminated in colour through distinction.

Questions about quantity from the leaves of the celestial tree

How is quantity considered in the firmament? Solution – Go to the above chapter.
How are discrete quantities considered in the Sun? Solution – Ibid.
How does the quantity of fire receive influence from the quantity of the Sun, since the
Sun’s quantity does not leave its subject? Solution – Ibid.
How do the discrete quantities of the firmament stand under one continuous quantity?
Solution – In goodness, the bonifier, the bonifiable and bonifying are distinct through
discrete quantities that belong to the common quantity of goodness.

Questions about quantity from the leaves of the angelic tree

We ask whether an angel has quantity. Solution – Go to the above chapter.
Since an angel does not have corporeal nature, how are its discrete quantities joined to
each other? Solution – The lover stands in the beloved through loving and sailors move in
the movement of the ship.
Do the discrete quantities of angelic substance add up to a common quantity situated in
the circle, or in the triangle, or in the square? Solution – Discrete quantities stand in the
figures of numbers in spiritual substances just as they stand in the figures of the triangle,
the square and the circle in corporeal substances.
Are there more good angels than evil angels, given that people are more evil than good?
Solution – No magnitude that belongs to an evil angel can have any concordance with
God’s magnitude.
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Questions about quantity from the leaves of the eviternal tree

How does eviternity have quantity? Solution – Go to the leaves above.
Does Lucifer consider the number of years? Solution – There is no night in a flame of fire
and there is only one day in the empyrean heaven.
Why does the devil have no hope? Solution – If years were numbered in the eviternity of
Hell, then every one of the damned could have hope in God.
Does one angel have as great a quantity as another angel? Solution – The meritorious
works of the angels are not equal.

Questions about quantity from the leaves of the maternal tree

What is the greatest maternity? Solution – Go to the leaves above.
Is Our Lady’s moral quantity as great as it is natural? Solution – The natural quantity of
Christ’s humanity is not made of Our Lady’s moral quantity.
Is Our Lady’s compassion greater than the sinner’s guilt? Solution – Go to the leaves
above.
Does Our Lady consider the number of the people who are saved and of people who are
damned? Solution – Every day Our Lady prays to her Son to make her the mother of
many people.

Questions about quantity from the leaves of the tree of Jesus Christ
Since divine nature is infinite, how can it participate with quantity? Solution – Go to the
leaves above.
Since Christ’s humanity has a determined quantity, how can He be clothed with the entire
Person who is God, given that the said Person is infinite? Solution – The divine will, who
is a Person, wants the Son to be incarnate in his entirety; and God’s power can bring to
perfection everything that God’s will desires, because it is infinite.
How is the divine nature of Jesus Christ a Person, how does it exist without quantity, and
why is the Son incarnate but not the Father and the Holy Spirit? Solution – The heat of
pepper and the heat of a flame are indivisible inasmuch as both are heat.
Since the Son is incarnate, but not the Father and the Holy Spirit, do the Father and the
Holy Spirit participate with human nature as much as the Son does? Solution – In an
essence in which there is no quantity, there can be no comparison between majority and
minority.

Questions about quantity from the leaves of the divine tree

Since goodness is one reason in God and magnitude is another, and likewise with eternity,
power and the others, how can the exist without quantity? Solution – Because goodness,
magnitude and the other reasons are one and identical in number, there cannot be any
quantity in them even though they are real reasons. And go to the above leaves.
Since the Father generates the Son but not the Holy Spirit, and since He spirates the Holy
Spirit but does not spirate the Son, how can his production be without quantity? Solution
– Fire dries out and hardens clay tiles but it melts wax, and thus the diversity of operations
that differ through the diversity of their subjects does not diversify the virtue of fire.
How can God’s substance extend through everything within and outside the firmament
without quantity? Solution – The extensity of spiritual substance has neither quantity nor
measurements, and consequently it does not have any circular, square or triangular
figures; but we say it is extended to indicate that we understand it is everywhere.
How can the divine essence be common to all three Persons without quantity, given that
community consists in a plurality of things? Solution – The community of essence
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consists in the quantity of number from which follows the plurality of Persons. And go to
the said leaves.

Questions about quantity from the leaves of the exemplary tree

Do God’s wisdom and justice hold equal power? Solution – Go to the leaves above.
How do we understand the equality of predestination and free will? Solution – Ibid.
How do the human will and the human intellect compel each other? Solution – Ibid.
Can a predestined man be damned? Solution – Ibid.

Questions about quality from the leaves of the elemental tree

Why is fire simply fire and not some other element? Solution – Just as substance, through
form and matter, is what it is and not an accident, so likewise fire has its proper quality
that belongs to fire and to no other element but fire. And go to the above chapter.
Why is there quality? Solution – If there were no quality, then no object would be
intelligible and all creatures would be one and numerically identical. And go to the above
chapter.
If the heat of air was the proper quality of air, what would then follow? Solution -
Concordance, action and passion exist in substances through proper and appropriated
qualities.
How can one and the same element be both simple and compound? Solution – Go to the
above chapter.

Questions about quality from the leaves of the vegetal tree

Is quality visible? Solution – Go to the leaves of the vegetal tree.
Is the sweetness of an apple a simple or a compound quality? Solution – The apple’s
sweetness is compound inasmuch as it consists of several savours but inasmuch as it is
numerically one in the apple, it is a simple quality.
Since quality is not a substantial part, how could it enter into composition with another
quality? Solution – Sailors are moved along by the movement of the ship.
How do the qualities of the elements and of vegetated substances enter into composition?
Solution – Go to the above chapter.

Questions about quality from the leaves of the sensual tree

What does the heat that humans sense consist of? Solution – Simple heat is made of fire,
compound heat is made of air and earth and it belongs to the sensitive power through the
act of sensing just as a hammer belongs to a nail, and it is the same with the act of
vegetating. And go to the leaves of the sensual tree.
How does the sense of taste give pleasure through eating and hoe does the sense of taste
give pleasure through seeing? Solution – Ibid.
When a man senses the sweetness of an apple, how is it brought from power into act?
Solution – Ibid.
What does the act of sensing live on? Solution – Ibid.

Questions about quality from the leaves of the imaginal tree

How does the imagination receive the likeness of real quality? Solution – Go to the above
chapter.
Since Martin’s moral goodness is not perceptible to the senses, how can the imagination
imagine it? Solution – The imagination draws abstract likenesses from the order of visible
substances.
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Does the intellective power or the imaginative power receive the discourses spoken by the
king? Solution – The imagination is an instrument which stands in the middle between the
intellect and the senses in the discourses pronounced by the king.
Does the imagination imagine the discourses that it remembers? Solution – The
imagination is an instrument for remembering just as it is an instrument for understanding
and loving.

Questions about quality from the leaves of the human tree

How are the qualities of man situated with regard to each other? Solution – Go to the
above chapter.
Does the warmth of a man belong to the man or to fire? Solution – The heat of air is the
appropriated quality of air but it is the proper quality of fire.
Is a man’s sadness a quality proper to the body or to the soul? Solution – The quality that
gives corporeal passion is one thing, but the quality that gives spiritual passion is another
thing.
Is Martin’s moral goodness a corporeal quality? Solution – Justice is properly considered
as an acquired quality of the soul and as an appropriated quality of the body.

Questions about quality from the leaves of the tree of moral virtues
How is Martin’s moral goodness determined by quality? Solution – Go to the above
chapter.
Does Martin’s prudence consist of one quality or of many qualities? Solution – Many
likenesses are gathered and joined together in one act of understanding.
Is one morality a quality of another morality? Solution – Dryness, moisture and cold exist
passively in pepper under heat, and in a lamp, the heat of the oil comes from the heat of
the flame.
How does moral quality grow? Solution – The flame that burns the firewood grows from
an abundance of firewood.

Questions about quality from the leaves of the tree of moral vices
“Avarice, how are you evil?” Solution – Avarice replied that it was evil because it was
qualified through evil, just as magnitude was good through goodness.
“Evil quality, how do you grow?” Solution – Go to the above chapter.
“Vicious quality, inasmuch as you are the privation of virtue, what subject are you
sustained in?” Solution – Ibid.
“Avarice, are you a quality through Martin whose habit you are?” Solution – If avarice
was a quality on its own in Martin whose habit it is, then Martin would incur no guilt
through it.

Questions about quality from the leaves of the imperial tree

A merchant promised to provide good gold, but he did not produce good gold. A knight
promised to sell a good horse but he did not sell a good horse. Now the question: is the
sale really valid, or not? Solution – Justice never wants its stability to repose on private
promises.
Michael promised to sell a good horse and he sold a good horse, and a merchant promised
to provide good gold but he did not provide good gold. Now we ask whether or not the
sale was valid or not. Solution – No substance can be without all the parts that are
necessary to it.
A merchant tries out a horse, and it is not good, though the knight says it is good and the
merchant is unaware of the hidden defect in the horse, he believes it is good and he pays
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for it in gold. But the next day he finds out that the horse is not good. We ask whether or
not the sale is valid. Solution – The emperor’s justice wants the merchant to exercise
prudence, and if he does not want to be prudent, then he should be punished. But the Pope
wants the knight to heed his conscience, and if he does not want to heed it, then God’s
justice wants him to be punished in the afterlife or it wants him to do penance while in this
life.
Someone draws up a will in which he says that if his pregnant wife has two sons, then the
first born must inherit his money. Finally, the wife has the two sons, but she cannot tell
which one is the firstborn. We ask: how can the testator’s will be carried out? Solution –
Ignorance of the antecedents gives rise to ignorance of the resultants and the money is to
be divided equally in consideration of the equal probability of either being the firstborn..

Questions about quality from the leaves of the apostolic tree

Questions about baptism

Why is there baptism? Solution – Go to the said chapter.
How does baptism cleanse a man from sin? Solution – Ibid.
How is a child cleansed from sin by baptism if it has no intellect and if it does not consent
to baptism? Solution – There are five trees in a child, four of which receive the imprint of
baptism. It accepts the fifth imprint of the sacrament in potentiality, just as an apple tree
receives the power to generate another apple tree, and it comes into actuality through the
sacrament of confirmation.
If a child dies before receiving the sacrament of confirmation, is this sacrament of any
benefit to the child? Solution – The imprints in the other trees cleanse those who bear the
guilt of original sin, and the fifth tree receives grace through its concordance with the
other trees. Without this grace, God’s justice would be unfair to the first trees that have
received the character of the sacrament.

Questions about confirmation

Why is there confirmation? Solution – Go to the said chapter.
If a child does not want to consent to confirmation, is the sacrament of baptism of any
value to it? Solution – When form is destroyed, its matter is also destroyed.
Do children who die before they are confirmed go to purgatory? Solution – The soul of a
baptized child who has not been confirmed receives the character of the sacrament in
potentiality; it is not guilty of not having used its reason in this life because it had no
instrument with which to use it.
If a man who has not been confirmed believes that he has been confirmed, and if he dies
before he is confirmed, is he cleansed from original sin? Solution – A good intention does
away with guilt and sin.

Questions about matrimony

What is matrimony? Solution – Go to the said chapter.
Why is there matrimony? Solution – Ibid.
How does matrimony work? Solution – Ibid.
Martin consents to matrimony and his wife does not inwardly consent to it but only
outwardly through words. We ask if the marriage is valid. Solution – There are two laws,
an inner law and an outer law. According to the outer law, the woman is bound by law to
be Martin’s wife and though she moves her affatus against what is within her, nonetheless
the other, inner law stands free and if it consents at some later time, then its consent is
binding. And go to the above chapter.
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Questions about the Eucharist

Why is there a sacrament of the altar? Solution – Go to the said chapter.
What is the advantage of the sacrament of the altar? Solution – Nothing is more useful to
man than to use his goodness with God. And go to the above chapter.
Since Christ is in heaven, how can He be present at the same time on many altars? And
how can his body be present in a host, which is so small, and when the matter of bread is
transubstantiated into his body, why does the body of Christ not grow? And why do the
senses not attain him in the sacrament through seeing, tasting, smelling and touching?
Solution – Ibid.
What is the greatest and noblest work that God and man can perform together in this
world? Solution – The greatest and noblest work consists in the major participation
between God and man. And go to the above chapter.

Questions about the holy orders

Why are there the holy orders? Solution – Go to the said chapter.
Why can no man other than a priest confect the sacrament of the altar? Solution – A major
noble end never stands without an orderly beginning and an orderly middle.
Why can an excommunicated priest confect the sacrament of the altar? Solution – The
letters stamped in wax are not of the essence of the seal, nor are they of the essence of the
man who stamps the letters in wax with a seal. But these letters in the wax are merely
imprints of the letters on the seal, regardless of whether the man who makes them is good
or evil.
What does the greatest sin consist in? Solution – In a man in whom there could be great
virtue, there could also be great sinfulness.

Questions about penance

What is penance? Solution – Go to the said chapter.
Why is there penance? Solution – Ibid.
Why is there confession? Solution – Confession exists so that there can be penance,
because without confession, the priest would not know what penance to give nor could he
think of satisfaction.
Why can a priest remit the sins of a man who confesses to him, but he cannot remit his
own sins? Solution – The keys of Saint Peter are common to all humans, and so every
priest must be subject to the judgment of another priest.

Questions about extreme unction

Why is there extreme unction? Solution – Go to the said chapter.
If a patient has lost his mind, how can he benefit from extreme unction? Solution – Ibid.
If Martin dies without having received extreme unction, and if he dies without being
guilty of any mortal sin, can he be saved? Solution – At times of necessity, necessary
forms are not destroyed by the privation of forms meant only for well-being.
Why is extreme unction not given to children? Solution – Raymond did not want to
answer this question because it was too easy.

Questions about the qualities of the other leaves of the apostolic tree
Since there are many dignities in God and every one is every other, why is every dignity
qualified by its own name and not by another name? Solution – Go to the said chapter.
If God’s goodness was not a substantial quality, then would it be legitimate to qualify the
bonifier and the bonifying in it? Solution – Ibid.
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If there were no personal properties in God, would it be legitimate to say that in God the
one who understands is one thing, the intelligible object is another thing and the act of
understanding is another thing. Solution – Ibid.
Without essential quality existing in God, can bonification, magnification, possification
and the other forms be present in him? Solution – Ibid.

Questions about the qualities of the celestial tree

Why is it said that Saturn is evil and the Sun is hot? Solution – Go to the said chapter.
What does shadow consist of? Solution – Ibid.
Since the quality of fire is attributed to Aries, why is the quality of air and not the quality
of water attributed to Libra, while the quality of water is attributed to Scorpio, which is
closer to Aries than is Libra, which is directly in opposition to Aries? Solution – Raymond
said that he did not know how to solve this question with his art because it seemed to him
that the position adopted by the sages of old in making these attributions was neither true
nor necessary. Consequently, it is no wonder that astronomers often make erroneous
judgments.
Why does the Moon have a watery complexion? Solution – In the participation between
fire and the Moon, a tempered balance of heat and cold, moisture and dryness so that the
elements can receive influence from the quintessence.

Questions about the qualities of the angelic tree

How does appropriated quality exist in an angel? Solution – Go to the said chapter.
Given that Saint Michael does not reproduce fantastic species through imagination, how
can he love one object more than another? Solution – Ibid.
Does Saint Michael negate anything? Solution – Ibid.
Is it as natural for Saint Michael, in accordance with his proper quality, to love an angel of
minor goodness as much as he loves another angel of minor goodness? Solution – God, in
accordance with his charity, can love minor goodness as much as He loves major
goodness, but minor goodness cannot sustain this, nor does justice want this. And go to
the above chapter.

Questions about the qualities of the eviternal tree

How can Saint Peter’s moral quality be eviternal, since it has a certain determined
quantity. Solution – Go to the said chapter.
How can Mohammed’s punishment be eviternal, since his sin is finite and not unlimited?
Solution – Ibid.
Can Saint Peter’s moral quality be increased? Solution – The tail end of eviternity does
not allow any kind of increase in itself.
Why isn’t Lucifer free to do good? Solution – Go to the said chapter.

Questions about the qualities of the maternal tree

How great are Our Lady’s moral qualities? Solution – Go to the said chapter.
Why does a sinner incur guilt when he yields to despair because his sin is so great?
Solution – Ibid.
Can Our Lady refuse to heed the prayers of a sinner who prays to her with contrition and
love? Solution – Ibid.
As there are so many sins of all kinds whereas the virtues are few among men, and as God
is just, how can God allow so many evil people to exist in this world? Solution – Every
mother is naturally stirred to compassion by the suffering of her son.
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Questions about the qualities of the tree of Jesus Christ

Can God acquire moral virtues? Solution – Go to the said chapter.
Why did Jesus Christ let himself be sold out, arrested, beaten and crucified? Solution –
Ibid.
Why didn’t Jesus Christ have a wife and children? Solution – Ibid.
Why was Jesus Christ poor? Solution – Ibid.

Questions about the qualities of the divine tree

Why aren’t God’s qualities accidental? Solution – Go to the said chapter.
Since God loves Martin because he is good and not because he is evil, how can his loving
not be accidental? Solution – If wax were clay, then fire would dry it out as well as it dries
out glass or charcoal.
Since God is good through goodness and great through greatness, how can He be his own
goodness? Solution – If God were not his own goodness, then infinite magnitude would
not be sufficient in divine nature and in goodness, and thus divine magnitude would be
finite, and it would be the same with his infinite power, but this would be evil and vicious.
Given that the Father engenders the Son, the Father and the Son are distinct Persons, and
the Father engenders the Son from his goodness, why aren’t the goodness of the Father
and the goodness of the Son two instances of goodness, and likewise with the other
reasons. Solution – The reasons and nature are one and numerically identical so that
nature is good and great substantially and not by accident; and as the Father engenders the
Son from his own nature and from his goodness, infinity and eternity, the Father is one
Person and the Son is another Person through generation, and the goodness and the nature
of both are one through infinity and eternity.
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Questions about the qualities of the exemplary tree

Why does an apple in an apple tree have an appetite to come down to earth? Solution – Go
to the above exemplar.
Why did the cherry laugh and cry while it was eaten by a sow? Solution – Every supposite
weeps when it loses its individual number but it also laughs inasmuch as it reproduces its
own species.
Why are plants mainly green in colour? Solution – Because confusion is the material for
privation and generation, and since the colour green is more confused than any other
colour, the colour green is more general to plants than any other colour.
Why do plants let their leaves drop? Solution – A leaf is like a fruit in that it also has an
appetite for reproducing its own species. And go to the above exemplar.

Questions about relation in the elemental tree

How many species of relation are there? Solution – Go to the above chapter.
How does relation exist in simple fire? Solution – The substance of fire is made of form
and matter which are in mutual relation through action and through passion and it
transitions into a third number by substantially generating from simple fire compound fire
joined to the other elements.
What is relation? Solution – Relation is the respective nature of the principles whereby no
principle can exist without the others.
Is relation greater through concordance than through contrariety? Solution – Relation is
greater through concordance in generation and through contrariety in corruption.

Questions about relation in the vegetal tree

How do the relations of an apple and the relations of the elements combine together in an
apple? Solution – Fire (and the same with the other elements) functions by heating and an
apple tree functions by producing apples; consequently, both relations combine together in
an apple along with their extremities from which one common relation is composed.
Where did an apple’s relation stand before it existed? Solution – The apple existed
potentially in an apple tree through generation and this potentiality was sustained in
vegetation grafted on elementation.
In an apple tree, what is it that considers the extremes of relation following the course of
nature? Solution – In the roots of the apple tree there are natural instincts and appetites
that the apple tree’s operations apprehend in accordance with their natural properties.
When an apple rots away, where does its universal relation go? Solution – The numerical
individuality of the apple goes to privation and other relations that were potentially in it
receive virtue from its essence.

Questions about relation in the sensual tree

When a man eats a sweet apple in which he senses bitterness, how does the relation work
between the taster and the tastable? Solution – Between the taster and the tastable there is
a dual relation and in the act of tasting it is a triple relation through the act of sensing in
the corruption of the taster and the tastable.
Does relation stand in the eyes between the visitive and the visible or between the eyes
and the colour of the wall? Solution – The relation that exists internally between the
visitive and the visible of which the eyes are the instruments and the organs and the
visibility of the wall is a likeness which the visitive receives internally in its visibility.
Consequently, the internal relation attains its likeness externally.
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The visitive and the visible are in mutual relation in the act of seeing as are the auditive
and the audible in the act of hearing and likewise with the other senses because each sense
has its own relations. Why then is it said that man sees and hears? Solution – Seeing is the
proper quality of the eyes and eyes are appropriated to humans just as a part is attributed
to its whole or an instrument is attributed to an agent.
When Martin, who is William’s father, passes away, where is their relation? Solution –
The intellect alone draws an external relation between Martin and William, and when
Martin begat William, their relation naturally stood within them.

Questions about relation in the imaginal tree

How does the imagination perceive relation? Solution – Go to the above chapter.
With which senses does the imagination relatively have the greatest concordance?
Solution – No relation is as tangible by the imagination as is the relation between a father
and a son perceived through the act of seeing.
Does the imagination have any relative entity? Solution – No form is without action and
no matter is without passion.
Can the imagination draw relation from colour? Solution – In a great intensity of
whiteness of a white substance a great intensity of blackness can be considered along with
a small intensity of whiteness.

Questions about relation in the human tree

Which relation is the most natural in a human being? Solution – No relation is as natural
to man as the one through which humanity is definable, namely the relation of the
homificative, the homifiable and homifying.
Why is man more definable by relation than by any other accident? Solution – No
accident receives the necessary parts of substance more strongly than relation does.
Does the relation between the body and the soul consist in the relation of homification?
Solution – Go to the said chapter.
Does relation exist within the rational soul? Solution – Ibid.

Questions about relation in the tree of moral virtues

How does relation exist in moral virtue? Solution – Go to the above chapter.
Does the habit of virtue constitute a relation when a man exercises virtue? Solution – In
the habit of virtue, the action of relation exists in potentiality and when a man exercises
virtue, the form has its object in actuality. And go toil the above chapter.
Does relation have any entity in moral virtue? Solution – Without any entity there can be
no similitude.
Do the virtues relate to each other? Solution – Without concordance among the virtues no
virtue can do anything against vice.

Questions about relation in the tree of moral vices

How does relation exist in vicious habits? Solution – Go to the above chapter.
How does the relation of vice arise? Solution – Ibid.
How is relation situated between gluttony and lust? Solution – Through an abundant
influence of the elemental, vegetal, sensual and imaginal trees, the rational soul is tempted
by gluttony and lust, and this temptation is made by the situation of gluttony and lust
when temperance and chastity are forgotten.
Since ire is a sudden movement, can relation be situated in ire in any way? Solution – Ire
never comes without sadness and suffering on the agent’s part.
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Questions about relation in the imperial tree

How must the instrument that regulates purchase and sale be conditioned? Solution – Go
to the above chapter.
Why is a slave not allowed to be a witness against his master? Solution – A master-slave
relation cannot give rise to equal judgment.
The judge saw Martin kill Peter, and the one who was accused of the murder before this
judge was not Martin. Instead, William was accused and punished by the judge. Why did
the judge punish William and not Martin? Solution – This judge makes his decisions not
through the relation of his eyes but through the relation of his ears.
How can the science of civil law be applied following a few brief general principles
determined by it? Solution – Go to the leaves of the imperial tree and learn about natural
substances through this book, and do the same with the accidents of natural and moral
substances; then conduct your inquiry through them following the doctrine we gave for
solving questions through relation and through the other accidents.

Questions about relation in the apostolic tree

How does substantial relation without accidents exist in the supreme Trinity? Solution –
Go to the above chapter.
Does the relation between the divine Persons consist in the divine properties or in the
divine essence? Solution – In the divine will there is common relation, such as the will
which is common through the essence in the lover, the beloved and the act of loving, and
thus relation is sustained in the personal properties, such as the will, and eternity requires
this so that the relation be not accidental.
Can there be any relation between the Father and the son without the holy Spirit? Solution
– No relation can be perfect without singular properties and common properties.
The Holy Spirit loves the Father, and therefore there is a relation between the Father and
the Holy Spirit through the nature of love, and there is also such a relation between the
Son and the Holy Spirit who loves the Son as well as himself. Now I ask if in this act of
loving which is proper to the Holy Spirit there is a singular and common relation from
which follows the production of a Person. Solution – In the Holy Spirit’s act of loving
there is an amative relation which is a proper and singular property of the Holy Spirit,
whereby his Person is active in loving and the passibility of his amability is essentially
one and the same Person with his amativity. The common relation which consists of the
Father’s amativity and the Son’s amability is the repose of the Holy Spirit, although no
Person is produced from this relation, but the common repose of the Father and the Son
consists of their relation in producing the Holy Spirit. This passage contains much
theology.

Questions about relation in the celestial tree

How does relation exist in the Sun? solution = Go to the above chapter.
How does the relation exist between Aries, Taurus and Gemini? Solution – Aries and
Gemini are warm, Aries is actively warm while Gemini is passively warm, and their
relation is in concordance through duality, and the triple relation is through contrariety to
Taurus, which has concordance with Aries through dryness and opposes Gemini through
coldness and dryness. Hence, Gemini is not as strong with Jupiter as Taurus is with
Saturn.
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Given that Mars and the Sun are both of the fiery complexion, how does relation exist
between them? Solution – Mars receives heat from Jupiter and gives it to the Sun, then the
Sun gives it to Venus, which is of the complexion of Jupiter and thus their relation is in
concordance. And it is the same with the relation that Mars and the Sun have through
contrariety against Jupiter and Venus inasmuch as they are opposed to moisture with
dryness in which the Sun and Mars have concordance.
How are Aries and Libra related to each other? Solution - Aries and Libra are related to
each other through the first hour of the day and the first hour of the night. Nonetheless,
Raymond says that he was not happy with the positions adopted by the philosophers of
antiquity who attributed the complexion of air to Libra, while Aries is of the complexion
of fire in the spring season, given the fact that the first hour of the day is of the airy
complexion and the first hour of the night is of the earthy complexion.

Questions about relation in the angelic tree

How does relation exist in angels? Solution – Go to the above chapter.
In an angel, is there a relation between the angelificative, the angelificable and
angelifying? Solution – Because an angel is not begotten by another angel, and every
angel exists on its own, the said relation cannot exist in angels.
Does the relation of equality between one angel and another imply any positive entity, or
does it imply merely intentional being. Solution – No real relation can exist outside of
substance.
What does the relation of the lover, the lovable and the act of loving that saint Michael has
in his will consist of? Solution – Relation is one principle among the other principles of
Saint Michael’s substance which posits its own essential power, object and act along with
difference. This passage contains some profound philosophy.

Questions about relation in the eviternal tree

How does relation exist in eviternity? Solution – Go to the above chapter.
How will the glorified body be the subject of the relation between the heater, the heatable
and the act of heating where fire is the heater and water is heatable? Solution – In the head
of eviternity, relations are at repose so that they can last eviternally in the tail.
How can the bodies of the damned in Hell be incorruptible given that their relations exist
in contrary subjects? Solution – The consumabilities of the damned are locked up in the
prison of justice.
Does Lucifer’s amativity have its own lovable counterpart? Solution – If Lucifer had his
own lovable that was not perverted into detestability, he would not suffer any punishment.

Questions about relation in the maternal tree

What is the greatest relation that God created between two Persons? Solution – Go to the
above chapter.
How could God create the major relation between the Son and the mother? Solution –
Ibid.
Without the Incarnation, could God create a relation so great in the major magnitude of
love that no greater relation could be created? Solution – Ibid.
What is the greatest relation that can exist between mercy and a sinner? Solution – Ibid.

Questions about relation in the tree of Jesus Christ

What is the greatest relation that exists between God and creature? Solution – Go to the
above chapter.
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Is it true to say that God died? Solution – This is true in relation to the human death where
God was the man who died.
Is it true to say that God assumed human nature, but that He did not assume man?
Solution - This is true because God made a man in himself from human nature.
In Jesus Christ, does God make a man from humanity, or does humanity make a man of
God? Solution – In the Incarnation there is no relation between the homificative and the
homifiable, which belong only to human nature; otherwise, man would deify himself and
make God into a man.

Questions about relation in the divine tree

How is it that through the relations of the divine dignities there must be a production of
Persons in the divine essence? Solution – Go to the above chapter.
God produces the Son inasmuch as He understands that He is the Father, inasmuch as
God loves the Son, He spirates the Holy Spirit; but inasmuch as God understands that He
is God, He does not produce himself. Hence, I want to know the natural reason why there
is production through an act of understanding but through the same act of understanding
there is no production, given that there is only one act of understanding in God. Solution –
Fire performs various operations with one and the same heat; therefore there must be one
common act of heating whereby many objects are heated through many operations. And
go to the said chapter.
The Son and the Father are related and the Son understands himself but does not produce
the Father while the Father understands himself and so produces the Son. Hence, given
that in this relation the Father’s understanding and the Son’s understanding are equal, how
can production follow from one act of understanding and not from the other? Solution –In
divine relation repose is as noble as production. And go to the said chapter.
How can divine relation be active and passive without any natural accidents? Solution –
The Father understands that He is God the Father, and consequently He understands God
the Son; and the Father is active in understanding whereas the Son is passive in
understanding, and since the object is understood in God’s understanding, this relation
cannot be accidental, for if it were accidental, then God would not be the understood
object of this understanding given the fact that there cannot be any accident in god; and all
the divine dignities concur with this. And go to the above chapter.

Questions about relation in the exemplary tree

Why are there so many sinners among the people? Solution – Although God is the only
one worthy of honour, nonetheless, every man wants to have honour.
Where is great goodness found? Solution – Go to the said chapter.
What is the hardest work done in this world? Solution – In this world, nothing requires
more work than the preservation of honour. And go to the said chapter.
Which sense requires the greatest honour? Solution – The affatus and the sense of hearing
procure fame, which people desire more than anything else.

Questions about action and passion in the elemental tree

Where do elemental action and passion arise? Solution – Go to the said chapter.
Are action and passion ever substantial? Solution – Ibid.
How does action issue forth and derive from action and how does passion issue forth and
derive from passion? Solution – Ibid.
Can the form of fire have action in its own matter even when fire is not compounded with
any other element? Solution – The friction in the mill’s mechanism would burn up the
wood in which the axle moves if water did not cool it.
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Questions about action and passion in the vegetal tree

How are the actions and passions of the elementative and vegetative powers joined
together in an apple? Solution – In a lamp, the heat of fire moves the heat of oil which
moves the matter of oil to produce a flame of fire.
Does the vegetative power move the elementative power in an apple, or vice-versa?
Solution – The ends of substances move their beginnings and their middles so that they
can exist; the beginnings and the middles move the parts on account of which the ends
exist and through which they are what they are.
Are the actions and passions in an apple accidental or substantial? Solution –The primary
actions and passions are substantial and the accidents are sustained in them as instruments
of the substances.
How can an accident in an apple have actions and passions? Solution – A hammer that
moves a nail is a substance whose movement is passive in that it is moved by a hand, but
active in that it moves a nail.

Questions about action and passion in the sensual tree

How are the actions and passions in sensed substance aggregated from three trees?
Solution – Go to the above flowers of the sensual tree.
When a man enjoys sensual pleasure in eating and drinking, and likewise with the other
senses, is he active or passive in sensing? Solution – The whole move its active parts in its
passive parts, and thus its is active in one way and passive in another way.
When a man feels pain through the senses, does this come from the elementative, the
vegetative or the sensitive power? Solution – The elementative and the vegetative are in
touch with the sensitive and the sensitive power feels their touch.
Does the object move the power, or does the power move the object? Solution – When
action and passion encounter each other in the act between the power and the object, the
action comes from the power and the passion comes from the object; and the power
enlarges its movement when it finds pleasure in the likeness of its object.

Questions about action and passion in the imaginal tree

How does the imaginative power capture real likenesses of actions and passions? Solution
– Go to the said chapter.
How is the imaginative active in moving the sensitive power to sense objects? Solution –
As the imaginative imagines visibility, it imagines the beauty of a woman and then it
touches visitivity with which it cooperates and visitivity touches its own visibility and
moves it to the likeness of visibility represented externally by the imaginative. Hence, the
imaginative is the agent inasmuch as it represents visibility and beauty, while visitivity is
active inasmuch as it moves itself toward external visibility, and in this movement it
moves the sense of touch with which it cooperates. This passage tells us how one form
moves another form and how external passions are material for internal movements.
When the imaginative power captures the likeness of an object, does the object imprint its
likeness on the imaginative or does the imaginative imprint the likeness internally in
itself? Solution – The lover who has great love for the beloved considers his beloved’s
beauty and clothes his loving with the likeness of goodness, and his loving has passion as
it has action from the likeness because is an act moved by the lover.
Through which sense is the imaginative most active and passive? Solution – Because the
imaginative first receives its objects through seeing, it is strongest through the eyesight as
this sense gives it likenesses of objects more tangibly than any other sense.
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Questions about action and passion in the human tree

How do actions and passions exist in man? Solution – Go to the above chapter.
Under which power of the soul is the imaginative power most passive? Solution – The
intellective power informs the imaginative passion first and thus the imaginative is more
obedient to the intellective than to the memorative or to the volitive power in the
investigation and reproduction of species, but its repose is more in the memorative and its
greatest toil is in the volitive.
Which power is most active in the sensitive power, is it the memorative, or the
intellective, or the volitive? Solution – The memorative is most active in the sensitive
through the hearing, the intellective is most active through seeing and speaking, the
memorative is most active through tasting, smelling and touching.
Which power is more active in the memorative: is it the intellective or the volitive?
Solution – The intellective on its own places species in the memorative and it draws them
with license from the volitive.

Questions about action and passion in the tree of moral virtues

How do actions and passions exist in the moral virtues? Solution – Go to the above
chapter.
In moral virtue, can there be any action without passion? Solution – Ibid.
Which of the two is more active, prudence or justice? Solution – Prudence prepares
material for justice to work with.
Is fortitude a greater virtue through passion than through action? Solution – The passion
of fortitude is stronger through charity and hope but its action is stronger through faith,
justice, prudence and temperance.

Questions about action and passion in the tree of moral vices

Are there actions and passions in vices and sins? Solution – Go to the above chapter.
Under which power of the soul is ire the most active and passive? Solution – Ibid.
In which vice is there the most action? Solution – No vice wants to occupy a lofty position
more than conceit.
Which vice procures the most toil? Solution – Nobody sleeps as little as an avaricious
man.

Questions about action and passion in the imperial tree

How are action and passion situated in law? Solution – Go to the said chapter.
In the middle of a peasant’s garden next to a castle there springs up a fountain, and since
the castle’s common fountain is very far away from the castle, we ask whether or not the
fountain near the castle should be the common fountain. Solution – Public utility is active
and private utility is passive.
Two peasants own one donkey, one of the peasants wants to go to the market with the
donkey to buy wheat, but the other peasant wants the donkey to go to the market because
he wants to sell his share and buy some wheat. Now we ask if the donkey should stand
and wait in the market until one peasant sells his share or until the other peasant carries
home on the donkey’s back the wheat bought at the market. Solution – A major action is
one that has the most passion for the most determined motives.
A lady and her husband both equally own one captive slave. The husband is jealous of his
wife and of the slave though his wife is good and chaste, and the husband wants to sell his
share to some man, but the wife does not want to sell her share of the slave because she
would rather have him in her home as a good servant. The lady alleges that the one cannot
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sell his or her share without the other’s consent. Now we ask whether or not the husband
can sell the slave since he is jealous of his wife with the slave? Solution – Because the
opinion is uncertain, it does not have the action needed to destroy the conditions and
promises of an agreement.
An abbot who is afraid of being poisoned orders a monk to fetch his tray and to eat some
of the food first, but the monk who receives the tray of food from the cook does not know
whether or not there is any poison in it. Now we ask if the monk should be obedient to the
abbot in this case? Solution – A dubious thing must not be promised.
A prior who inherits some money has one sister who cannot get married unless he gives
her the money. But the abbot and his convent are in dire need of this sum because the
convent has a huge debt. Now we ask if the prior’s conscience should tell him to give
away the money to his sister so she can get married, or to spend it on his convent’s needs.
Solution – Someone who contracts an obligation of servitude puts all his possessions on
the line.

Questions about action and passion in the celestial tree

Which is the most passive planet? Solution – Go to the said chapter.
Why does the Sun have more active virtue than the other planets? Solution – The virtue in
the middle is more intense than the virtue in the extremes.
Why does the Moon give more experience of its properties than any other planet? Solution
– Go to the above chapter.
Since the Sun does not participate with fire through corporeal contact, and since the Sun’s
qualities do not leave their own subject, how can fire have passion under the Sun?
Solution – Because the matter of the quintessence and the matter of the four substances of
the world all partake of one general bonificability, the Sun’s bonificativity has action in
the bonificability of fire. And go to the above chapter.

Questions about action and passion in the angelic tree

How are action and passion situated in an angel? Solution – Go to the above chapter.
Since Saint Michael has no eyes, how does he have action in perceiving Martin’s colour?
Solution – Just as saint performs miracles above the course of nature through sanctity, so
does an angel perform miracles through the magnitude of intellectivity and perceive
colours above the course of visibility.
Are action and passion equal in Saint Michael’s substance and in his reasons? Solution –
In the course of nature, when Saint Michael was blessed and confirmed, the totality of his
virtue came into actuality.
How do the good angels have action over the evil angels? Solution – Go to the said
chapter.

Questions about action and passion in the eviternal tree

How do action and passion exist in eviternity? Solution – Go to the above chapter.
Does fire have any action on the soul of Mohammed? Solution – No corporeal substance
can touch spiritual substance within the course of nature. Nonetheless, in the opinion of
the saints, fire makes souls suffer passion above the course of nature.
Since the devil is a spiritual substance, how does he have action in the bodies of the
damned? Solution – In a man possessed by devils, the devil takes on the likeness of some
complexion of the man’s body and uses it to torment the man.
Do devils inflict suffering on each other? Solution – Suffering arises from every evil
association.
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Questions about action and passion in the maternal tree

How does Our Lady have action over demons? Solution – Go to the said chapter.
How does Our Lady have action in her Son who is the Lord of all creation? Solution –
Ibid.
How do sinners have action in Our Lady? Solution – The hope a sinner has in Our Lady
obliges Our Lady to have compassion.
Does Our Lady suffer because her Son is so little appreciated, known and loved in this
world? Solution – Our Lady does not suffer because of her Son who is so exalted in glory
and goodness that He needs nothing from here below. Nonetheless, her compassion makes
her suffer on account of the sinners who hope in her.

Questions about action and passion in the tree of Jesus Christ

How do actions and passions exist in Jesus Christ? Solution – Go to the above chapter.
Did the divine nature suffer passion ion the cross? Solution – God as a man suffered
passion on the cross just as did the soul of Jesus Christ as a man. And go to the above
chapter.
In the body of Christ, does water have any passion under fire? Solution – The passion that
water has under fire in the body of Christ is at repose just as the passion of magnitude is at
repose when it receives goodness from goodness.
Does Jesus Christ suffer passion because the wolves devour so many of his sheep?
Solution – Jesus Christ suffers passion on account of his sheep due to his charity and his
compassion, and He has action with the justice with which it threatens the shepherds who
do not take good care of their sheep.

Questions about action and passion in the divine tree

How is the Person of the Father active and the Person of the Son passive? Solution –
Because God knows that He is as good and as great – and likewise with the other reasons
– through agency as through existence, activity is in the Father and passivity is in the Son
so that acting, which is producing, can be great as existing.
Since the Father is active and the Son is passive, how does the Son’s passibility convert
with the Father’s activity into one spirative activity? Solution – The Father loves the Son
and the Son loves the Father, and consequently the generable passibility is amativity in
loving the Father.
Since the Holy Spirit is purely the passion of the Father and of the Son, how is the Holy
Spirit in pure action? Solution – Spirability converts with loving as the Holy Spirit loves
the Father and the Son just as generability converts with loving as the Son loves the
Father.
Since the Holy Spirit is spirated, is the Holy Spirit materialized? Solution – Go to the
above chapter.

Questions about action and passion in the tree of exemplars

How do people remain obstinately equivocal between action and passion? Solution – Go
to the above chapter.
How is passion good when it gives contrition? Solution – Ibid.
How can a sinner mortify his sin? Solution – Ibid.
Given that the punishments of Hell are so great, why do sinners have so little fear?
Solution – Ibid.
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Questions about habitus in the elemental tree

What are the prime natural habits? Solution – Go to the said chapter.
Fire has a habit of heat, but where is this habit while the fire in a stone is waiting to be
drawn out by iron? Solution – The fire in the stone is compound, and since the act of
heating is present in every elemented compound, consequently the habit of fire is present
in the stone and it comes out into the air when it is drawn out from the stone by using iron.
Where is the habit of simple fire? Solution – Simple fire is hot by its nature, its subject is
the substance of simple fire and in this habit the habit of compound fire that heats water in
a pot exists in potentiality.
Is the habit of simple fire another habit of heat? Solution – The substance of simple fire is
made of the roots of the elemental tree, and just as species are diversified through genus
and difference, so likewise the substance of fire from other substances as the roots are
common to many specified substances, where one substance is specified by heat, another
by moisture and the same with the other natural habits.

Questions about habitus in the vegetal tree

Where was the habitus of an apple before it was generated? Solution – The habit was in
potentiality in the habit of the apple tree which is a common habit for generating many
apples.
Before the habit of an apple which is in potentiality in an apple tree is there another habit
which is also a habit of the apple? Solution – The habit of an apple tree which has not yet
been generated exists in potentiality in the vegetative power, which has a habit common to
many plants.
Before the common habit of the vegetative, is there another habit that belongs to the
vegetal genus? Solution – Just as a scion of cultivated olive grafted on a wild olive tree
indicates a positive substance different in essence from the habit of the wild olive tree, so
likewise the common vegetal habit sustained in the vegetative power is the prime habit of
its species and it is grafted on the habit of the elemental tree whose qualities it produces in
its species, for just as the olive tree produces the habit of the wild olive in its species, so
does the vegetal tree produces the heat of fire in its species.
Where does the habit of a rotten apple go? Solution – All the habits of plants when they
are corrupted go to privation in that the individual number, matter and form of corrupted
substance go back to the common vegetal substance and both common substances are one
common confused chaos which is the trunk of the vegetal tree, common to all the plants
that exist in it. The plants that are not in potentiality have their habits in potentiality in the
common habit which the natural agent produces into actuality along with the renewal of
new numerical identities.

Questions about habitus in the sensual tree

What are the habits of the sensual tree? Solution – Go to the leaves of the sensual tree.
How is the habit of sense situated in the habits of the vegetal and elemental powers?
Solution – Just as the root moisture is situated in the nourishing moisture where it
converts into its own species the things that come to it from outside, so likewise is the
habit of sense situated in the vegetal and elemental powers where it converts what comes
to it from the two trees into its own species.
Is there a sensual habit present in the milk that an infant sucks from its mother’s breast?
Solution – The sensual habit of the woman introduces into the milk a sensual habit in a
potential state and the infant brings this potential into actuality when it sucks from its
mother’s breast the milk on which its radical moisture lives.
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Is the habit of the expulsive power in an embryo present in it in potentiality or in act?

Solution - The habit of the expulsive power stands in actuality in the embryo and from it
follows the matter that the woman expels along with the baby at birth.

Questions about habitus in the imaginal tree

How does the imaginative attain the habits of substances? Solution – Go to the said
chapter.
When a painter paints a picture of a man on a wall, where was the habit of the portrayed
man before it existed? Solution – The habits that the imaginative has in potentiality are
made of aggregated likenesses and introduced into the common habit of imagination
which brings back new likenesses, as when the vegetations of many corrupted plants are
introduced into one common vegetation which brings back new plants.
How come a goat that has never before seen a wolf be habitually afraid as soon as it sees
one? Solution – In a goat, the imaginal tree participates with the sensual, vegetal and
elemental trees. Inasmuch as the goat’s substance is made of the substance of the four
trees and by reason of the natural instincts of the four trees, the goat’s imaginative is
aroused to imagine death when it sees a wolf, its natural enemy.
Since imagination is a positive habit, where does this habit go when the goat dies?
Solution – The individual numerical habit of the imagination of Martin’s goat and the
essence of its imagination return to the common imagination just as the vegetative of a
goat returns to the common vegetation and the goat’s warmth returns to the common heat.

Questions about habits in the human tree

Questions about metal work
What are the habits of the human-rational tree? Solution – Go to the above chapter.
How does a smith possess the habit of making knives? Solution – Go to the chapter on
metal work.
How does one smith have a habit of making better knives than another smith? Solution –
If you first consider the prime principles, then you know how to better bring their
likenesses into your work.
How can a smith have in him the habit of sculpting iron into figures he has never seen
before? Solution – Through the natural properties of the imagination that has in its habit
chimeras composed of the likenesses of man and a fish, a man and a bull and other such
likenesses, the smith invents new figures at will.

Questions about construction and carpentry

Why is there a habit of construction? Solution – Go to the said chapter.
Why would some people rather learn the art of construction than the art of metal work, or
vice-versa? Solution – The habits of the first five trees are situated in every man; and a
man who is more inclined to learn the art of construction than to learn the art of metal
working is better proportioned to the vegetative power than one who likes the art of metal
work better than the art of construction and who is better proportioned to the elementative
power of which iron is made.
Why does a man want to be a carpenter but does not want to be a butcher? Solution – The
answer to this question can be found in the answer to the previous question.
How can a carpenter have a habit of making new figures out of wood, as did the carpenter
who was the first to invent the figure of a boat or of a dish? Solution – The ends that are
necessary for survival arouse common habits to evolve into specific habits following
natural instincts and appetites.
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Questions about tailoring

How does a tailor begin to learn his art? Solution – Go to the said chapter.
How does a tailor proceed in his art? Solution – Ibid.
Since needles and tongs are made of iron, who was the first to have the habit of using
needles and tongs, was it the smith or was it the tailor? Solution – Ultimate ends lead
habits to evolve from primary principles.
How can a tailor learn his art well? Solution – If you know how to learn your art well, you
know how to give due consideration to primary habits and to ultimate habits. And go to
the above chapter.

Questions about agriculture

What are the principles of agriculture? Solution – Go to the above chapter.
Since no mechanical art is as necessary as agriculture, why are farmers less honoured than
those who practice the other mechanical arts? Solution – In the course of nature, public
interest is more lovable than private interest. Therefore, anyone who does not honour
those who farm the land more than those who build towers and ships goes against the
natural order of things.
Which one of the arts has the most philosophers? Solution – According to experience, no
people know as much as farmers know about philosophy.
In which mechanical art do people have the most hope? Solution – No mechanic has
greater hope than a farmer who sows wheat and ploughs the soil.

Questions about commerce

What are the principles of commerce? Solution – Go to the above chapter.
How can a merchant be more refined in his art? Solution – Ibid.
Why do merchants make more money than others make? Solution – If you keep accounts
of your expenses and profits and if you trade frequently, you can make more money than
others can make.
Why are merchants more law-abiding than other people? Solution – No mechanic needs
the rule of law more than merchants need it.

Questions about navigation

What are the principles of navigation? Solution – Go to the above chapter.
Which were the first to be a habit, oars or sails? Solution – Because the imagination
imagines movement from place to place on land sooner than it imagines movement from
place to place on water, and since it imagines this movement with the movement of the
feet and not with the movement of wind, movement on the sea is imagined with oars
before it is imagined with sails. Likewise, a man with a missing foot first imagines the
crutch or the stick on which he leans so he can move.
Who was the first to imagine a ship, was it a mariner or a merchant? Solution – The first
dedicated mariner was a merchant who wanted to travel the seas to make money, and this
was how commerce gave rise to the art of navigation.
Why are mariners more daring than other men? Solution – Mariners experience fear more
frequently than any other men.

Questions about chivalry

What are the principles of chivalry? Solution – Go to the above chapter.
Was the code of chivalry considered by the judge before it was considered by the knight?
Solution – If the knight had considered the code of chivalry before the judge had to
consider it, he would not be an enemy of justice.
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Does the knight consider his sword before considering his shield? Solution – In battle, the
sword serves to wound and to slay, but the shield is used because of the fear of death.
Does the knight consider his sword before considering his arrows? Solution – The sword
is considered on account of daring but arrows are considered on account of fear.

Questions about grammar

What are the principles of grammar? Solution – Go to the above chapter.
Is grammar considered more by rhetoricians than by grammarians? Solution – Grammar is
ultimately meant for composing rhetoric just as a room is ultimately meant to be
inhabited.
Was grammar initially considered for meeting the needs of the affatus before it was
considered for the purpose of rhetoric? Solution – Great peace would reign in the world if
all nations knew Latin grammar.
Why does a grammarian use nouns and verbs more often than a logician uses them?
Solution – A science which is more general does not need as many terms as a less general
science needs.

Questions about logic

What are the principles of logic? Solution – Go to the above chapter.
Is the art of rhetoric as necessary as the art of logic? Solution – Rhetoric moves a prince to
show compassion but logic moves a prince to enforce justice.
Why are logicians are closer than others to being lost in fantasy? Solution – Nobody deals
with intentions as frequently as does a logician, nor does anyone enjoy sophistry as much
as a logician enjoys it.
Does a logician consider the genus before the species, the species before the individuals
and the substance before the accidents? Solution – The ultimate purposes naturally come
before the first ones in the speculative intellect. But in the practical intellect, the first
purposes come before the ultimate ones. For instance: in the art of the smith, the will
desires a nail before it desires a hammer but the smith makes a hammer before making a
nail.

Questions about rhetoric

What are the principles of rhetoric? Solution – Go to the above chapter.
How does a rhetorician possess an abundance of material for finding new and beautiful
ways to use his science? Solution – Ibid.
Which of these was the first to consider rhetoric: was it the ears or was it the imagination?
Solution – Rhetoric is primarily intended for the ears just as the imagination is primarily
intended to reproduce the figures of substances.
Is rhetoric as beautiful when it is expressed in humble and pious words as when it is
expressed in true words? Solution – The affatus considers being before it considers well-
being. Rhetoric is intended for well-being and its purpose is attained through being in
which the truth is made known and consequently it happens many times that rhetoric can
move people to compassion and charity with false words.

Questions about arithmetic

What are the principles of arithmetic? Solution – Go to the above chapter.
Does arithmetic consider the quantity of number before considering the quantity of
substance? Solution – Just as the natural philosopher considers real beings before
intentional ones and the logician considers intentional things before real ones, the
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arithmetician considers the likenesses of real numbers and their quantities, but the
geometer does the opposite.
Does the arithmetician consider the number two before the number one? Solution – The
geometer considers continuous quantity before discrete quantity, but the arithmetician
does the opposite.
Why does the arithmetician have more certain measures than the geometer? Solution –
The division of continuous quantity is much more difficult than the division of discrete
quantity.

Questions about geometry

What are the principles of geometry? Solution – Go to the above chapter.
Why does geometry consider a diametric line before considering a triangular line?
Solution – A circular figure does not divide into equal parts as readily as does a triangular
figure.
Why does the geometer first produce 2 from 1, then 4 from 2, then 8 from 4 before
producing 3 from 1, 6 from 3 and 12 from 6? Solution – The geometer first considers the
measures which multiply numbers most readily, given that continuous quantity divides
into discrete quantity sooner by the number two than by the number 3. Consequently,
geometers say that the number 2 yields the multiplication of measurements by doubling,
just as in the art of arithmetic the number 1 yields the multiplication of measurements by
enumerating one thing after another.
How do mariners measure miles at sea? Solution – Mariners consider the 4 general winds,
namely the easterly wind, the westerly wind, the southerly wind and the northerly wind.
They also consider four other winds that arise from the first four, namely the northeasterly
wind, the southeasterly wind, the southwesterly wind and the northwesterly wind. And
they consider the center of the circle in which the winds make angles wherein they
consider, if the ship sails with the easterly wind to a point a hundred miles out from the
center, how many miles there are from that point to the southeasterly wind, and by
doubling the number of miles which makes two hundred miles they find out how many
miles it comes to, i.e. two hundred miles from the east wind to the southeasterly wind by
the multiplication of miles from the end point of one hundred miles eastward to the end
point of the southeasterly wind. To do this they have instruments such as maps, magnetic
compass needles and astrolabes.
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Questions about music

What are the principles of music? Solution – Go to the above chapter.
When a musician uses his art to compose music, does he consider the accents of letters,
vowels and consonants? Solution – The art of music is a similitude of sound and voice
that issues from the elemental tree in which music, in accordance with its nature, primarily
relates to its own accidents and to the accidents of the other trees.
With which vowel do musicians first begin considering the art of music? Solution – No
intonation is as common and as easy as the intonation of the vowel A (pronounced ‘ah’).
This is why children begin uttering intonations of ‘ah’ before uttering other letters.
Why do women utter intonations of I (pronounced ‘ee’ ) more than intonations of A?
Solution – Because a woman’s voice box is different from a man’s voice box and her
voice is more delicate.

Questions about astronomy

What are the principles of astronomy? Solution – Go to the above chapter.
Does the astronomer consider the Sun’s habit of heat before considering its habit of light?
Solution – An appropriated habit cannot be considered to be as important as a proper
habit.
How does an astronomer make judgments? Solution – The astronomer considers the
mutual aspects between the signs and the aspect a sign has with a planet through the
diametrical line, and he makes judgments about people who are born in this line or who
put questions or requests which he adjudicates in accordance with the conditions of the
signs and the planets. And go to the above chapter.
Why is the science of astronomy more uncertain than any other science? Solution – No
science is as difficult to learn by experience as astronomy, nor is any other science as
positive as astronomy.

Questions about law

What are the principles of law? Solution – Go to the above chapter.
How can a legislator reduce the positive science of law to necessary reasons? Solution –
Through the process of this book, a legislator can discover and prove the truth about the
things that are relevant to the science of law.
Why do lawyers use the habit of memory more than the habit of the intellect, given that a
lawyer has greater concordance with the intellect than with memory? Solution - Lawyers
use the habit of memory more than the habit of the intellect because the ancients built the
science of law founded on the habit of memory. Hence, the science is confused and
complex, it deals mainly with particulars, and because of this confusion, lawsuits last for
long periods of time and legislators hold conflicting opinions.
Someone drew up his will and said that if his wife, who was pregnant, had a son, then the
son would inherit three quarters of all his goods and the wife would inherit the remaining
quarter. But is she had a daughter, then the testator wanted his wife to have three quarters
of all his goods and the daughter to have the remaining quarter. The testator died and his
wife had a son and a daughter. Now we ask how many parts of the husband’s goods the
wife should get. Solution – Equality stands between majority and minority and what is
neither in majority nor in minority nor in equality is nothing. The wife is major in her
husband’s goods through her daughter and minor through her son. Therefore, she must be
equal in the goods because she is in them between majority and minority. Consequently,
the husband’s goods must be divided into eight equal parts of which the testator’s wife
gets three parts by reason of her daughter and one part by reason of her son, the son gets
three parts and the daughter gets one part, and in this way the testator’s will is complied
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with. The hermit was very pleased with Raymond’s solution and said that just as
Raymond solved this question with the principles of his art which are majority, minority
and equality, so likewise other questions regarding law could be solved through the
natural reasons of the art of law following the process of this art and of this science.

Questions about medicine

How do the principles of medicine work? Solution – Go to the above chapter.
Why do physicians kill more people than they cure? Solution – Ibid.
How can the principles of medicine lead to general principles? Solution - The principles
of medicine can lead to general principles in the following way. Fire is in pepper in the 4 th
degree of heat, earth is in the 3rd degree of dryness, air is in the 2nd degree of moisture and
water is in the 1st degree of cold. In cinnamon, fire is in the 3rd degree of heat, earth is in
the 2nd degree of dryness, air is in the 1st degree of moisture and water is downgraded,
which means that out of four parts of one degree, water in cinnamon has only three parts.
In fennel, fire is in the 2nd degree of heat, earth in the 1st degree of dryness, air has 3 parts
of moisture and water has 2 parts of cold. In anise, fire is in the 1st degree of heat, earth
has 3 parts of dryness, air has 2 parts of moisture and water has 1 part of cold. Hence, fire
is graded in 4 degrees in the plants that are of its complexion and it is the same with air,
water and earth. For instance: water in camphor is in the 4th degree of cold, air is in the 3rd
degree of moisture, earth is in the 2nd degree of dryness and fire in the 1st degree of heat.
And it is the same with the other elements in their own ways.
Since each element has 4 general degrees in plants as indicated above, physicians can
select and produce 16 general electuaries. From plants of the fiery complexion they can
make 4 general electuaries against the cold and moisture of the watery complexion, for
instance, an electuary in the 4th degree of heat such as pepper, another electuary in the 3rd
degree of heat such as cinnamon, another electuary in the 2nd degree of heat such as fennel
and another electuary in the 1st degree of heat such as anise. Having selected the four said
electuaries of the fiery complexion, physicians can make 4 electuaries of the airy
complexion, 4 of the watery complexion and 4 of the earthy complexion. Thus, physicians
can have 16 general electuaries for curing diseases that are caused by the four general
qualities. Hence, if Martin’s illness is due to a fever in the 4th degree of heat, the physician
should give to heat the electuary which is in the 4th degree of the cold watery complexion
and he should assist this degree of cold with the 2nd degree of moisture of air and the 1st
degree of dryness of earth. If the illness is in the 3 rd degree of heat, he should cure it with
the 4th degree of cold. If it is in the 2nd degree of heat, he should cure it with the 3rd degree
of cold and if it is in the 1st degree of heat he should cure it with the 2nd degree of cold.
And conversely, if the illness is in the 4th or the 3rd or the 2nd or the 1st degree of cold,
degree of cold, the physician should oppose this illness with 4 electuaries of the fiery
complexion in successive degrees as we just said. And the same applies if the illness is
due to the complexion of air or of earth. If the illness is interpolated between equal
complexions, as for instance between fir and air, physicians must mix electuaries of the
watery and earthy complexions and administer them in the appropriate degrees against the
illness as shown above. This is one species and one rule that enables physicians to order
medicine in accordance with general principles.
How can physicians know the degrees of illness? Solution – In the natural day there are 24
hours divided into 4 parts and each part is attributed to the element of its own complexion.
The triangle in the region from dawn to noon is mainly of the airy complexion, the
triangle from noon to night is of the fiery complexion, the triangle from sunset to midnight
is of the earthy complexion and the triangle from midnight to dawn is of the watery
complexion. Illness rules the said triangles and as the illness begins or ends in the 4
regions, the physician can know the degree of the illness. For instance, if a fever begins in
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the 1st hour of the day it is in the 1st degree of moisture; in the 2nd hour it is in the 2nd
degree of moisture, in the 3rd hour it is in the 3rd degree of moisture and in the 4th hour it is
in the 4th degree of moisture, which corresponds to the tertian fever that is located between
heat and moisture. If the tertian fever is due simply to choler it follows the order from
noon to sundown. If it is a double tertian fever, it follows the said order twice. If it is a
quotidian fever it follows the said order thrice and if it is continuous, it follows the said
order around the entire circle. And it is the same with the quartan fever as it begins I its
own region of the circle. This is how physicians can know the degrees of illnesses and
accord these degrees with the degrees of the electuaries. We dealt more broadly with these
matters in our books on the principles of medicine. The hermit was very pleased with the
orderly system that Raymond described and he wondered why the physicians of antiquity
did not present any general order in their writings.

Questions about philosophy

What are the principles of philosophy? Solution – Go to the above chapter.
What is the order of philosophy? Solution – The order of philosophy is signified by the
process of this science.
Which is the most general science? Solution – Because philosophy has more general
principles than any other science, it is the most general science.
Since philosophy is such a general science, why are there not more philosophers? Solution
– The philosopher’s intellect works harder than any other and philosophy does not make
as much money as do law and medicine.

Questions about theology

What are the principles of theology? Solution – Go to the above chapter.
How can theology be reduced to certain definite terms? Solution – This is signified in the
Christian tree and in the divine tree.
Why do theologians use positions more than demonstrations? Solution – It is easy to adopt
a position based on belief, but it is difficult to demonstrate it to the understanding.
“Raymond, do you believe that there will come a time when theology will be a
demonstrative science more than a positive science? Solution – There is more truth in
theology than in any other science because it has the noblest subject and its principles
were established by philosophers in their positions, its means were established through
miracles and consequently its end must consist of demonstrations, or else God would do
wrong to the human intellect, to the supreme truth and to the contemplation of both.

Questions about habits in the tree of moral virtues

What are the habits of the virtues? Solution – Go to the above chapter.
Why is faith not a natural habit? Solution – Ibid.
A man believes that God exists and he believes that God is good, infinite and eternal. Now
this man studies philosophy and theology long enough that through study and by God’s
grace he understands that God exists through necessary reasons through which he also
understands that God is good, infinite and eternal. Hence, I ask whether the habit of faith
exists in this man. Solution – The man who first believes that God exists and who
subsequently understands that God exists has the habit of faith but he no longer has it in
the way he had it before because when he understands God he has the habit of faith
through conscience, as does a man who believes so that he can understand and who cannot
understand this object unless he first believes it. The prophet Isaiah indicated this when he
said that unless you believe, you cannot understand. And consequently, in this conscience
he restores the merit of faith. In addition, the habit of faith is in this man who understands
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that God exists inasmuch as he supposes that if he did not understand God, or if he had
doubts about God’s existence in some way through some temptation, he would revert to
believing in God’s existence.
If it is better to believe in the Trinity, the Incarnation and the other articles of the Roman
faith than to understand them, why do theologians strive to their utmost to understand
them? Solution – God did not create man so that he would above all acquire merit through
his belief, instead, God created man so that he would above all love and understand God,
indeed, loving and understanding God is a nobler end than merely believing in God
without understanding Him. Moreover, the will can love God more if the intellect
contemplates God through understanding than if it contemplates God through mere belief.
This is why theologians followed the natural instinct and appetite of the noblest of all
ends. It is wrong to say that man must not understand the articles of the faith so that he
can acquire merit through his belief and so he can acquire greater glory through greater
merit. But those who say this indicate that they are created for themselves and not for God
and they ignore the greater merit that the intellect can acquire through understanding
rather than through believing. It is really more difficult to inquire into all the reasons and
to discover them by understanding that God exists than by believing by believing in the
supposition that God exists, and because through understanding the intellect presents the
object to memory and to the will more strongly than through believing.

Questions about habits in the tree of moral vices

How do the habits of the vices function? Solution – Go to the above chapter.
A man who is habitually chaste sees an attractive woman before him; now this man
considers the pleasures of lust and his sensitive power senses heat due to this
consideration. We ask whether this man has lost the habit of chastity. Solution – The
habits of virtues and vices sometimes work together at the outset and consequently the
man who is touched by the habit of lust first touches the habit of chastity in accordance
with the nature of the elemental, vegetal, sensual and imaginal trees, and this touch is then
represented to memory and to the intellect and afterward comes to the will. If the will
consents to the temptation, the habit of lust transitions to the middle and comes to its end
and the habit of chastity has no beginning, middle or end to sustain it; but if the will does
not consent, then the habit of lust is expelled from the triangle it touched at the outset – as
we said – as the man fights off temptation in a battle between virtue and vice. If he wins,
he earns merit but if he is defeated, he incurs guilt.
Raymond, according to what you say, merit and guilt come from the will after the will
either chooses or does not want to choose. Now I ask in what way do the intellect,
memory, the imagination, the sensitive, the elementative and the vegetative incur guilt?
Solution – If memory and the intellect along with the imagination spend a long period of
time dwelling on the object of lust, through this enjoyment the sensitive, the vegetative
and the elementative powers move the will to choose the pleasures of the flesh, and this is
why they are guilty. But if memory promptly forgets these pleasures and the intellect
ignores them, and if memory remembers and the intellect understands guilt and God’s
judgment and if the imagination imagines the subject’s impurity, they earn merit and they
oblige the will to hate lust and to restrain the sensitive, the vegetative and the elementative
powers.
If a conceited man is nonetheless chaste, how can the habits of conceit and of chastity
both be present in this man at the same time? Solution – Heat and cold both participate in
the composition of pepper, where heat is present in the 4th degree and cold is in the 1st
degree. Similarly, conceit and chastity can be present in a man, so that one habit is present
in a greater degree and the other is present in a lesser degree. Just as heat and cold can
coexist in pepper because cold has concordance with the moisture of air and with the
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dryness of earth with which heat also has concordance, similarly, through some means or
other, two contrary habits can be present in the same man. If the virtuous habit is present
to a greater degree, then the habit of vice constitutes venial sin; but if the vicious habit is
present to a greater degree, then the habit of vice constitutes mortal sin.

Questions about habits in the imperial tree

A knight sells a horse that is blind in one eye. The buyer does not know this but the knight
who knows this does not tell it to the buyer. We ask whether the buyer can return the
horse to the knight and get his money back? Solution – Go to the above chapter.
A knight and a burger share equal ownership of a castle. The knight has enemies who
attack him and wage battle against him in the castle. We ask whether or not the burger
should help the knight. Solution – Parts that have no common concordance can be divided
and if they are not equally divided they have to suffer for it.
A man owns a meadow next to a river and one of his donkeys is out in the meadow. A
fisherman ties his boat with a rope to the riverbank in this meadow. The donkey steps into
the boat to have a drink and after its drink it chews through the rope and the boat with the
donkey in it drift away down the river until the boat gets wrecked and the donkey gets
killed. We ask whether the donkey’s owner should compensate the fisherman for the loss
of the boat, or whether the fisherman should compensate the owner of the meadow for the
loss of the donkey. Solution – The boat exists in the elemental and vegetal trees,
supposing that the fisherman has the legal right to tie up his boat in this meadow. The
donkey exists in the elemental, vegetal, sensual and imaginal trees. Therefore, the donkey
has the action and the boat suffers passion, but no moral vice can follow from this kind of
action and passion. Neither the owner of the boat nor the owner of the donkey are
committing any sin with the rational power, the imaginative power or the sensual power.
In the vegetative and elementative powers they are equally in error without any moral vice
on their part, and consequently they must equally suffer the consequences of the loss of
the donkey and of the boat.
A carpenter buys a stack of wood next to a furnace from a furnace operator. One piece of
wood in the stack is charred and glowing but it is not apparent. The dealer loads the wood
on the donkey’s back and while the carpenter transports the wood to his home, a strong
wind arises and kindles the glowing charcoal into a fire that burns up the wood along with
the donkey. We ask whether or not the dealer must compensate the carpenter. Solution –
The carpenter did not sin with the rational, imaginal, sensual, vegetal and elemental trees,
the but he sinned through the imaginative power because he should have imagined the
glowing coal since he was buying wood stacked right next to the furnace by a furnace
operator. The owner of the furnace did not sin with the rational tree but he sinned in that
he did not imagine the glowing coal and in that he simply promised to sell some wood but
a part of what he sold was glowing charcoal. Consequently, the dealer who sinned through
both the affatus and the imagination must compensate the carpenter who sinned through
the imagination only.

Questions about habit in the apostolic tree

Does habit exist in the Supreme Trinity? Solution – Go to the above chapter.
When the world was not yet created, did it exist in a habitual state in God’s wisdom? No
habit can exist without the experience of some part or of some similitude of substance.
Since God’s wisdom is infinite, it needs no similitude nor any experience of any creature.
How could God’s wisdom understand the world and its parts although it was not
habituated in it? Solution – Because God’s power is infinite, his wisdom was capable of
understanding the possible things of creatures although creatures are not anything before
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they exist. God’s wisdom with its intelligibility can be a reason for its intellectivity to
produce creatures that do not exist yet, power can accomplish this, love can love this and
truth can confirm it without any need for a habit. Here, the human intellect has much
material for attaining a very lofty understanding of God and of his dignities.
A Pope appoints a cleric as bishop but the cleric excuses himself and says that he is very
afraid of occupying such a dangerous position and that he does not want to be a bishop.
Now we ask whether he has a valid excuse, supposing that he is qualified to be a bishop
according to moral standards? Solution – In the course of nature charity is a nobler virtue
of the will than fear, as we already said. Since the Pope has dominion over the cleric’s
love and fear, the end is more noble through the Pope’s intention motivated by love than
in the cleric’s intention motivated by fear and the Pope’s intention would be subordinated
to the cleric’s intention if it could not arouse the cleric’s will to pursue a nobler end.

Questions about habit in the celestial tree

How do the heavenly bodies effectively hold in a habitual state the virtues that the bodies
here below receive from them? Solution – Go to the said chapter.
Since Aries is against Saturn, given this contrariety, which one has the stronger habit of
sending its virtue to things below? Solution – If Saturn is nearer to Aries than Jupiter is
near to Cancer, then Aries is stronger than Cancer, and conversely.
How does the Sun exercise its habit of lighting up the Moon? Solution – The Sun gives its
similitude to Venus, Venus gives its similitude to Mercury and Mercury gives its
similitude to the Moon.
Following what was just said, there could never at any time be an eclipse of the Moon,
and now I ask why there are eclipses, given that the Sun continuously gives its similitude
to Venus, Venus gives its similitude to Mercury and Mercury gives its similitude to the
Moon. Solution – The planets in their movement around the Earth do not always aspect
each other in the same way, so it happens at times that Mercury does not aspect the Moon
through a diametric line because the Earth is between them and Mercury cannot give the
similitude of the Sun to the Moon. The Earth can also be between the Sun and Venus, or
between Venus and Mercury, or between Venus and the Moon, or between the Sun and
the Moon. Consequently, eclipses occur due to this wandering movement.

Questions about habit in the angelic tree

What are the habits of angels? Solution – Go to the above chapter.
Does Saint Michael have the habit of knowing Martin’s sins? Solution – The eyes have
the habit of seeing colour, but they cannot see it without an instrument, nor can Saint
Michael perceive Martin’s sins without Martin’s works.
Does Lucifer have a habit of eviternal punishment? Solution – If Saint Michael did not
have a habit of eviternal glory, then the habit of his glory would not be complete.
Is Lucifer’s punishment as great as his habit? Solution - A logician’s knowledge of logic
is as great as his habit of logic. Then the hermit said nobody could ever describe in spoken
or written words the punishment sustained by Lucifer.

Questions about habit in the eviternal tree

What are eviternal habits? Solution – Go to the above chapter.
In what are the habits that the saints have in eviternity different from the habits they had
in this mortal life? Solution - The habits of the saints are healthy and not infirm; they are
confirmed in their freedom and they speak in affirmations without any doubt or negation.
Indeed, the habits of this life are infirm and can change from good to bad and from bad to
good, and they can also go through other alterations, as we know by experience.
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In the afterlife, will Martin know the logic he knows in this life? Solution - If Martin is
saved, then he will retain the habit of logic he learned in this life in accordance to his
acquired blessedness through this habit. But if he is damned, he will know logic in a way
that is contrary to the purpose of logic, and this will make him suffer.
Supposing that Martin is saved and among his habits he has developed some virtue more
through his intellect than through his will, should his will have as much of the habit of
glory as his intellect has? Solution – Purgatory exists so that some habits can be punished
more severely than others to enable them to enjoy glory equally. Nonetheless, a king, out
of love for a friend of his, can be forbearing toward his friend’s son or brother.

Questions about habit in the maternal tree

What are Our Lady’s habits? Solution – Go to the above chapter.
Does Our Lady have the habit of her Son’s justice as much as the habit of his mercy?
Solution – Our Lady lover her Son so much that she loves his works equally, but as she
has an obligation to the sinners who have hope in her, she prays to her Son for mercy, and
because she is compassionate, she does not pray for the justice that punishes sinners.
Does Our Lady use the habit of mercy simply or with an instrument? Solution – If the
hope that sinners have in Our Lady is an instrument Our Lady uses to show compassion, it
clearly follows that she understands sinners and the hope they have in her with the same
intellect with which she understands her Son.
Does Saint Peter have a habit of sanctity great enough so that he can fulfill his mandate as
the vicar of Christ? Solution – Many people are saved by Our Lady’s holiness in which
sinners have hope and by the holiness of her hope.

Questions about habit in the tree of Jesus Christ

Was the habit of faith in Jesus Christ? Solution – Go to the above chapter.
Was Jesus Christ tempted to sin in any way? Solution – Ibid.
Does Jesus Christ reproduce species in his act of understanding? Solution – Only an
infirm intellect needs to reproduce species.
Did Jesus Christ forget things while He was in this world? Solution – Just as God
remembered things as a man in Jesus Christ, so did Jesus Christ as a man remember things
as God remembered them.

Questions about habit in the divine tree

Is there any habit in God? Solution – Go to the above chapter.
If there is no habit in God, how can He understand anything? Solution – God’s intellect is
a pure act in understanding as well as in existing, nor does his intellectivity have to
understand things with another intelligible for it understands them with its own intelligible
which is of its own essence. Consequently, the divine intellect has a prerogative above all
created intellects.
“Raymond, why do you say that there is no habit in God, since God is goodness and good,
greatness and great and the same with the other dignities?” Solution – Raymond says that
habit is the natural power in which the active power can act with another passive power in
its own passive part, for instance, fire has the habit of heat in itself with which it can act
with its own calefactivity in its own calefactibility with assistance from the calefactibility
of air. Hence it is said that every habit is an accident and not a pure act because it cannot
act by itself without assistance from another. But God needs nothing outside himself and
since He has the production of the divine Persons in himself; consequently, we say that
there is no habit in God and that God’s goodness, magnitude etc. are one pure act in
existence and action.
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If there were no production of Persons in God, would there be any habits in God? Solution
– If there were no production of Persons in God, then his reasons would have to be habits
and not one pure act. For instance, if his power could not power itself, if his eternity could
not eternalize itself, and if power was the powerer but the powerable would have to be an
external creature whose assistance it would need in order to relate to its own intrinsic
powerable, then power would have no intrinsic operation of its own. And it would be the
same with eternity and with the other reasons.

Questions about habit in the tree of exemplars

Why does God allow that one man can be subjected to another man given that both men
are similar in species and nature? Solution – Go to the above chapter.
Why is a beautiful lady conceited about her beauty but a good lady is not conceited about
her goodness, given that goodness is more beautiful than a lady’s face? Solution – Moral
goodness never participates with sin.
How is moral goodness a habit? Solution – A man who is morally good has the habit of
goodness inasmuch as he follows the nature and reason of goodness with which he
produces good in some bonifiable substance.
How is guilt acquired as a habit through sin? Solution – The habit of shadow results from
the privation of light and the habit of guilt arises from sinful acts.

Questions about situation

Questions about situation in the elemental tree

What are the primary natural situations? Solution – Go to the chapter above.
How is the goodness of fire situated? Solution – The goodness of fire cannot be
perceived by the eyes because it is invisible; but the imagination can imagine its
situation in the number of the bonifier, the bonifiable and the act of bonifying which are
of its essence and in which it has its sustenance.
How is the goodness of fire situated in magnitude? Solution – The magnitude of fire is
not perceived by the eyes. However, the extensity of goodness extended through
magnitude can be imagined as it extends through a good and great substance in the
bonifier and the magnifier, the bonifiable and the magnifiable, the bonifying and the
magnifying.
How is simple fire situated in compound fire? Solution – Raymond said that he would
put this question to the twigs of the elemental tree.

Questions about situation in the vegetal tree

How are the elements situated in an apple, and how is the apple situated in them?
Solution – Go to the above chapter.
Are the elements beneath the vegetative, or are they above it? Solution – The elements
and the vegetative are intermixed parts in the apple’s spherical, or rotund body.
However, the vegetative stands above the elementative just as the end stands above the
beginning and the middle, or a flame above oil.
Does the vegetative introduce any extensity of its own nature into the apple’s situation?
Solution – This question should be put to one drop of vegetal oil which extends itself
out over water aggregated from many drops, for it could not extend itself in this way if it
was not corporeal in nature.
Why is the fire present in an apple not visible? Solution – A part which is in another part
cannot be visible.
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Questions about situation in the sensual tree

How are the elemental tree, the vegetal tree and the sensual tree situated in a horse?
Solution – Go to the leaves of the sensual tree.
Does the sensitive power extended through a horse introduce any corporeal thing of its
own nature into the horse? Solution – If the sensitive were not a corporeal substance, it
would not have the virtue for converting into its own species the heat of fire, nor its
quantity, nor the taste of the vegetative, nor would the horse’s bones belong to its
species.
Is the common sense situated in a horse’s bones? Solution – If the common sense were
not situated in a horse’s bones, then the bones would not belong to the horse’s species.
Since the horse’s common sense is situated in the horse’s branches, how can it be
situated in its bones which are not a part of its branches? The horse’s continuous
quantity is sustained and situated in many discrete quantities and vice-versa.

Questions about situation in the imaginal tree

How is the imaginative situated together with the other powers in a horse? Solution –
Go to the chapter above.
Since the imaginative is made of such subtle matter, how can it enter into its situation
together with the other corporeal forms? Solution – Power is one reason of the
imaginative by reason of which it can enter into its situation together with the other
forms, and likewise with its other parts. Hence, by reason of its natural parts and of the
natural parts of the other trees, it can enter into its situation together with them even
though it contains little corporeal entity in itself.
Is the imaginative a corporeal power? Solution – If the imaginative were not a corporeal
power, its act would have no natural presence in extended mathematical measurements
which are similitudes of corporeal substances.
Is the imaginative a being on its own or is it a being that arises from something else?
Solution – This question should be put to the imaginal tree.

Questions about situation in the human-rational tree

How is the human-rational tree situated? Solution - Go to the chapter above.
How can the body be situated in the soul in length, breadth and height given that the
soul is not corporeal in nature? Solution – Just as magnitude is good through goodness
and not per se, so likewise the rational soul is extended into length, breadth and depth
accidentally and not per se.
How do we know that the rational soul is not corporeal in nature? Solution - The human
intellect desires the goodness of angels and of God, and it is the same with magnitude
and the other spiritual forms even though it does not consider length, breadth and height.
Does the rational soul arise through generation? Solution – There cannot possibly be any
generation in a substance that has no length, breadth and width of its own essence, given
that generation begins to produce substance in successive parts but not in its totality.

Questions about situation in the tree of the moral virtues

How is moral virtue situated? Solution – Go to the above chapter.
How is spiritual substance situated? Solution – In the intellect, the act of understanding
is situated between the intellective and the intelligible.
How is charity situated? Solution – Charity is situated in the way in which holy people
love God, themselves and their fellow man.
How is the habit of charity situated? Solution – The will has in itself its intrinsic, natural
and essential amative, lovable and loving; and the amative receives some lovable object
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from outside and from its own similitude and the similitude of the external object and
also with the similitudes of lovability and loving which are internal, it produces one
new, foreign, acquired and moral act of loving with which charity is clothed, and charity
is always actual, in waking and in sleeping, the charitable Person is clothed in the habit
of charity insomuch as they can produce this moral act of loving in accordance with the
proportions of time and place of justice, prudence and of the other virtues which assist
this habit.

Questions about situation in the tree of the moral vices

How is vice situated, given that it is called the privation of virtue? Solution – Light that
shines at night before a man in a room situates on the wall dark shapes extended through
shadows.
How is avarice situated in an avaricious man while he is asleep? Solution – Just as the
presence of light on a wall situates the similitude of a body that stands between its
source and the wall, so is the habit of avarice is situated by the unlikeness of charity and
generosity as the miser is deprived of these virtues when he is asleep as much as when
he is awake.
What is the situation of Martin’s vices made of? Solution – Just as being follows after
non-being through creation although non-being has no entity, so likewise the situation in
which vicious moral habits are situated follows upon the privation of moral being.
Does moral situation have its own quantity? Solution – The privation of virtuous habits
produces the situation in which vicious habits are sustained; similarly, quantity that is
deprived of a virtuous habit produces the quantity of a vicious situation.

Questions about situation in the imperial tree

How must the science of law be situated? Solution – Go to the chapter above and to the
part about justice in the moral tree.
In buying and selling, why are people more taken in by the deception of the middle than
of any other quantity? Solution – The deception which is between the beginning and the
middle is not as great as the one which is between the middle and the end because it
does not allow its contrary to participate with it in the middle, for if it participated with
it in the middle, its contrary would be of the same nature as itself.
Why are transactions in moveable goods concluded in a shorter period of time than are
transactions of immovable goods? Solution – Moveable goods change hands more
quickly than immovable goods through the triangle of the beginning, the middle and the
end.
Why is a court case situated not in a square or a pentangle but in a triangular figure to
depict the situation of the judge, the prosecution and the defense? Solution – Every free
moral mediator stands between two extremes whose extremities can be either in
concordance or in contrariety.

Questions about situation in the apostolic tree

Is there situation in the supreme Trinity? Solution – Go to the above chapter.
How is the body of Jesus Christ situated in the sacrament of the altar? Solution – The
miraculous situation which the holy man confects is above and beyond the situation
which is found within the course of nature.
Why can a priest not be a lawyer? Solution – The order of priesthood is in such a lofty
degree of holiness that the role of a lawyer must not be sustained in it.
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Why are bigamists forbidden to be priests? Solution – A dual marriage includes two
lines in a triangular situation and this puts the husband in an extremely vile position,
which is why no higher order must be situated in such a man.

Questions about situation in the celestial tree

How is heaven situated? Solution – Go to the said chapter.
Is the Sun situated in a circular body or in a spherical body? Solution – There is no body
as full of the circle, the square and the triangle than a rotund, or spherical body.
Why is the Sun situated between Saturn and the Moon? Solution – The noblest virtue
must stand in the middle.
Why is the firmament situated in a circle? Solution – In the circular figure there is more
mobility than in any other figure.

Questions about situation in the angelic tree

How is the substance of an angel situated? Solution – Go to the chapter above.
How is the glory of the good angels situated? Solution – Ibid.
Can the site of an angel be altered? Solution – A substance that is not by its own nature
limited in space and time cannot be substantially altered.
Does the situation of an angel have a surface? Solution – In the distinction between one
spiritual substance and another there is a spiritual surface without any contact or colour.

Questions about situation in the eviternal tree

How are the saints situated in Paradise while the damned are situated in Hell? Solution –
Raymond considered the stars in heaven and the glowing coals in a furnace and how the
former stood above the latter. And go to the above chapter.
How are the souls of the damned situated in eviternity? Solution – The evil angel’s
intellect considered its punishment situated in desperation.
How are the habits of the evil angels situated? Solution – Punishment is situated on top
of guilt in eviternity just as heat is situated on top of the substance of fire in
inseparability.

Questions about situation in the maternal tree

How is Our Lady situated in heaven? Solution – Go to the above chapter.
How does Our Lady remember the sinners when she understands that they have hope in
her? Solution – The Sun multiplies the heat of fire and its light so that fire is hotter and
brighter in summer than in winter. We compare the Sun to Our Lord Jesus Christ in
whom Our Lady has knowledge of the sinners who have hope in her.
Is Our Lady walking or sitting in heaven? Solution – No figure is as visible when it is
sitting as when it is standing.

Questions about situation in the tree of Jesus Christ

How are the divine and the human natures situated in Christ? Solution – Go to the above
chapter.
Since divine nature is infinite, how can it be situated in finite nature? Solution – Just as
an angel transitions from one place to another through a middle in accordance with the
nature of locus but not on account of its own nature, so is the divine nature situated in
finite nature in terms of finite nature but not on its own terms. And go to the above
chapter.
Since the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit are one indivisible essence, how can the
Son and human nature be situated in one Person? Solution – The judge’s intellect
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understands justice in its judgments and the judge’s will loves this truth, and memory
likewise remembers it, and the affatus is alone in pronouncing the judge’s verdict to
those on the outside and who perceive the judgment through the mode of hearing even
though the common sense in indivisible.
Is the Body of Christ clothed or is it naked? Solution – When a cloud stands before the
Sun, then the Sun does not transmit its similitude to things here below as well as when
there is no cloud, and there is no visibility that contains as much blessedness as does the
visibility of the body of Our Lord Jesus Christ.

Questions about situation in the divine tree

Since in God there are distinct Persons in one and the same divine essence, how can one
Person be in another without situation? Solution – Go to the above chapter.
Why can there be no situation in God? Solution – Since each Person in God is the entire
divine essence, there can be no situation in God. And go to the above chapter.
Since there is no situation in God, how can the human intellect attain the mutual
participation of the divine Persons? Solution – Situation is created by God, and through
it the human intellect receives the similitude through which it attains how each Person is
in every other Person without any accidental situation. And go to the above chapter.
If there were no situation, could the human intellect perceive that in God there can be
distinct Persons each one of which exists in the others? Solution – With the transcendent
point, the human intellect transitions above created situation and above its own
capabilities and it attains the fact that the Father is in the Son as the begetter and the Son
is in the Father as the begotten and that the Father and the Son are as one in spirating the
Holy Spirit and the Holy Spirit is in them as the spirated Person and all three are one
essence and nature without any composition.

Questions about situation in the tree of exemplars

What is a king’s major situation? Solution – Go to the above chapter.
Although a king is widely criticized and blamed while he sits on his throne, what makes
him laugh? Solution – If the evil king’s eyes happened to hear what his people are
saying about him, neither the king’s golden crown nor his splendid attire could make
them laugh.
Is the king’s ring as beautiful as the king’s gallows? Solution – The king’s justice is not
as beautiful in his ring as in the gallows.
Why is corporeal beauty more becoming to a king than to any other man? Solution –
The beauty of justice, wisdom, fortitude and charity of the body and of the Person have
greater concordance in a king than in any other man.

Questions about time

Questions about time in the elemental tree

Is time divisible? Solution –Go to the above chapter.
What are the principles of time? Solution – Ibid.
How is time considered and attained? Solution – Ibid.
Does simple fire exist in time? Solution – Everything that has movement in it exists in
time.
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Questions about time in the vegetal tree

Why is time invisible? Solution – Just as the vegetative power is invisible because it is
clothed in the elementative power, so is time indivisible because it is clothed in
substance.
When an apple exists in potentiality, does it exist in time? Solution – Nothing that is
without substance can exist in time.
If an apple that exists in potentiality does not exist in time, how can it exist in
potentiality? Solution – A substance exists in potentiality when it has been
principiated but not yet completed.
How is time in movement? Solution – Time is in movement, which is the figure
through which time is known just as a colour is in a coloured object, which is the
figure through which the colour is known.

Questions about time in the sensual tree

How is time sustained in a horse? Solution – Go to the leaves of the sensual tree.
How is time in a horse’s sense of hearing? Solution – Time is in a horse because the
horse cannot move without movement, and movement is in the horse’s hearing when
the horse hears the roar of a lion.
Does time exist successively or instantaneously in a horse’s acts of elementing,
vegetating and sensing? Solution – Inasmuch the horse’s substance is what it is at each
instant, time is in the horse instantaneously, and inasmuch as there is a successive
process of elementing, vegetating and sensing in the horse, time exists in this
successive movement.
How does time exist in a horse’s foot? Solution – Time exists in the horse’s foot
instantaneously inasmuch as the horse’s foot is a substance, and time exists in this foot
when it moves through successive movement like a ship’s mast moved along by the
movement of the ship.

Questions about time in the imaginal tree

How does the imaginative power attain time? Solution – Go to the above chapter.
Does time exist successively in the imagination? Solution – The soul is moved by the
movement of the body although natural movement from one place to another is not
proper to the soul.
Can the imagination imagine time? Solution – Just as the eyes do not see substance
but only its figure, so likewise the imagination cannot attain time but only its figure.
Is the time of day and night present in a man who is asleep and is not imagining
anything? Solution – The time of day and night is in the imaginative power inasmuch
as this power exists by day at one time and at night at another time, but the figure of
time of day and night is not present in the imaginative power when it is not imagining
this figure.

Questions about time in the human-rational tree

How does the human-rational tree exist in time? Solution - Go to the above chapter.
How does the sequence of time exist in Martin? Solution – The succession of time
exists in Martin through the acts of elementing, vegetating, sensing, imagining,
remembering, understanding, loving, and through movement from one place to
another.
Does time transit sequentially in Martin’s rational soul? Solution – In a substance in
which there is neither generation nor corruption, there is no sequence of time; and if
time existed in the beginning of this substance, there is no sequence of time in the tail.
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Do the species that Martin reproduces by remembering, understanding and loving

exist in sequential time or in the instant? Solution – If a fantastic species could be the
subject of movement, it would have to be a substance; therefore, time is in the
sequential movement of the powers but the species they multiply exist in the instant
without any movement of their own, just as the white colour of a black crow is in
Martin’s imagination in the instant in which he imagines it although this colour of the
crow does not move sequentially through time.

Questions about time in the tree of moral virtue

How does moral virtue exist in time? Solution – Go to the above chapter.
Since charity is a being that is not subject to movement, how can it exist in time?
Solution – Eviternity is not subject to movement and though its head is in time, its tail
is not in time.
When does the time of charity begin and end? Solution – The beginning of charity in
time is in the movement of the will that moves to love God; and the end of charity, or
its privation in time, is when the will moves to love lust or some other vice.
Martin has charity and justice. When he exercises charity and subsequently changes
and exercises justice, how does Martin’s change proceed through time? Solution –
When Martin exercises charity, he considers the end of charity and when he considers
justice, he considers the end of justice. As one end exists at one time and the other end
exists at another time, the transmutation proceeds in time through the mode of the
beginning, the middle and the end.

Questions about time in the tree of moral vice

How does moral vice exist in time? Solution – Go to the above chapter.
How do many vices exist at one time? Solution – Many vicious habits can exist at one
time, for instance, vicious Peter can have the habits of lust and avarice at the same
time, but he cannot the acts of both at the same time because they have different
terminations.
While Peter is engaged in lustful acts, what remains of his habit of avarice during the
period of time in which he is not acting out his avarice? Solution – While Peter is
engaged in lust, his habit of avarice still continues to exist as a disposition and a
reason for him to act it out when the time comes for him to be avaricious.
When Peter is engaged in lustful but not in avaricious behaviour, how does his
exercise of avarice exist in potentiality in future time? Solution – Peter’s will is
subject to the habit of avarice which is actual because his will is deprived of the act of
charity, and the habit of avarice exists in the present time due to the privation of
charity while the presence of some external lovable object of greed exists in
potentiality in future time; and when Peter acts out his habit of avarice, the amability
of the object actually exists in the present time.

Questions about time in the imperial tree

How does time exist in judgment? Solution – Go to the above chapter.
A knight sold a horse to a merchant. At the time of the sale, the horse was in fine
shape. The merchant went to try the horse out and as he sped it up to a gallop, it
stumbled and broke a leg. Now we ask whether or not the sale was valid. Solution –
At the time when he sold the healthy horse, the knight committed no sin in the
elemental, vegetal, sensual, imaginal or rational trees. But at the time when the horse
stumbled, the elemental the sensual and the imaginal trees sinned in the horse and in
the merchant riding it. For these reasons, in all fairness, the sale was valid.
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A merchant drew up his will and designated his son as his heir. He also left 100 gold
coins to Martin. When the will was published, in the absence of witnesses and in
Martin’s presence, he told his son that Martin had 200 gold coins. The scribe, in the
absence of witnesses, wrote 200 gold coins in the will. Now we ask whether or not the
will was valid. Solution – The will was not valid at the time of judgment but it was
valid at the time of concordance between the heir and Martin.
Why can’t a mute Person draw up a will? Solution – In mute Persons, the sensual tree
is subject to sin and due to this sin time cannot be subjected to the mute Person
because their affatus is incapable of manifesting their mind’s inner concept to their
relatives. Therefore, since the figure of time is defective, the things ordered under its
defective figure must also be defective.

Questions about time in the apostolic tree

How can production proceed without time in the Supreme Trinity? Solution – Go to
the above chapter.
In the Supreme Trinity there exists a beginning in that the Father principiates the Son,
but how can this beginning exist without time? Solution – A supposite cannot be
principiated in time if it is principiated from the essence of a principle which exists in
eternity and not in time.
While a host has not yet been consecrated, how does the Sacrament of the Altar exist
in future time? Solution – While a judge makes his decisions in court, he exercises his
habit of justice and the lovability of temperance remains potential in him until it
becomes actual when the judge sits at the dinner table and exercises his habit of
temperance in eating.
Why does usury exist? Solution – Through usury, the first five trees remain morally
idle in the usurer, and due to this idleness, time and movement do not serve as
instruments for acquiring virtue. Hence, Jews who are usurers are the laziest people of
all.

Questions about time in the celestial tree

How does time exist without the artificial day? Solution – Go to the above chapter.
How does time exist without movement? Solution – Ibid.
Why is there time? Solution – Ibid.
How is simple time common to past, present and future time? Solution – Ibid.

Questions about time in the angelic tree

How does an angel exist in time? Solution – Go to the above chapter.
Was Saint Michael principiated in time in corporeal substance or in spiritual
substance? If Saint Michael was principiated in time which is a part of corporeal
substance, then time which is part of Saint Michael would be of the nature of
corporeal substance.
How can time exist in one species which is corporeal and in another species which is
spiritual and be one in itself? Solution – Just as spiritual goodness and corporeal
goodness are essentially different and do not belong to the same genus of real
goodness, so likewise the time of Saint Michael, the time of the Sun, the time of
Martin’s soul and the time of his body do not belong to the same genus. If they all
belonged to one and the same genus of time, then they would participate in nature and
they would have spiritual natures which are partly corporeal in nature and corporeal
natures which are partly spiritual in nature.
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How can an angel go from Rome to Jerusalem? Solution – An angel can go from
Rome to Jerusalem without time, and this is not because the angel’s natural time is
sustained in the angel – which it not the case – but because the angel was principiated
in time. However, inasmuch as time is sustained in Jerusalem and in Rome, the angel
cannot go from one place to another without time because time is of the nature of
these places.

Questions about time in the eviternal tree

Will there be successive time in eviternity? Solution – Go to the above chapter.
Will this present time of generation and corruption come to an end? Solution – Ibid.
When will be the time of the antichrist’s coming? Solution – The Sun is in the middle
of the planets so it can give them its virtue in common; and the advent of Jesus Christ
is in the middle between the beginning and the end of the world so He can bring them
to their completion. In accordance with this similitude, the antichrist will come at the
end of the world so he can be against the harvest of Jesus Christ and farther away from
His nativity.
The antichrist has enough science to know that he is acting against the truth and that
he will die in sin on account of his deeds, he knows that he is mortal and that he will
remain in Hell eviternally, so why does he continue doing evil? Solution – Just as Our
Lord Jesus Christ faced corporeal death to gain eviternal life, so will the antichrist face
corporeal death to gain eviternal death, and he will do this in order to be as contrary as
he can be to Jesus Christ.

Questions about time in the maternal tree

At the time when Our Lady was conceived, was she conceived in original sin?
Solution – Sin and virtue are opposites. At the time when Our Lady was conceived
virtue began to oppose sin more strongly than it had ever opposed it before, and
therefore Our Lady must have been conceived without sin. And go to the above
chapter.
Given that Our Lady is always in the presence of her Son, some people wonder if she
descended here below by miracle or with the help of many Persons? Solution – The
Sun does not descend here below, nonetheless, its virtue causes the generation of
flowers and fruit.
Does Our Lady remember the time when her Son died on the cross? Solution – Our
Lady’s glory is so great that due to the magnitude of her glory she does not recall that
time so as not to feel the sorrow, but inasmuch as sinners have hope in her, she
remembers that time and reminds her Son of it so that He may have mercy on sinners.
What was the noblest period of time ever? Solution - The noblest period of time that
ever was or ever will be was the time in which Our Lady conceived her Son, when
finite and infinite nature were united in him and God was made a man who
participates with all creatures.

Questions about time in the tree of Jesus Christ

How can eternity and time mutually participate? Solution – Go to the above chapter.
Since Jesus Christ was conceived and born in time, can He understand anything
beyond time? Solution – As God suffered the passion on the cross as a man, so does
Jesus Christ the man understand everything beyond time as God.
Is Jesus Christ always in one and the same place in heaven? Solution – Major glory is
greater in stillness together with movement for well-being, than in either one without
the other.
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In what period of time did God become incarnate? Solution – Given that virtue is
greater in the middle than in the extremes, the time when Christ became incarnate had
to be in the middle between the beginning and the end of the world so as to be
proportioned to major virtue.

Questions about time in the divine tree

At the time when God principiated the world, did He principiate any newness within
himself? Solution – Go to the above chapter.
How could God principiate the world without any newness in himself if He produced
the world at one certain time, and if He did not want to produce it before that time?
Solution – At the time when God wanted to produce the world, He also wanted to
produce and create time, and time could not exist as a subject of anyone who existed
before it, for if time had existed before creation, then it would have existed before
coming into existence, which is impossible.
The Father generates the Son who remains generable in eternity and who also remains
generated in eternity, and this production of the generated from generability is done
through the mode of production. Now I ask how can this be done without time?
Solution – Given that the generator is eternity and He generates the generable from
himself, and given that generating is a pure act, there necessarily follows the act of
eternalizing in which time cannot exist.
Could God create an eternal world? Solution - If the creator who is eternal could
create the world from his essence and nature, he could very well have created the
world eternally so that there would be no beginning and no time in such an act of
creation. However, because God cannot create the world from his own nature or from
his own essence, the world cannot receive the nature of eternity nor can the world be
principiated without time. It is the same with the quantity or size that the world must
necessarily have since it cannot be of the essence of infinite substance.

Questions about time in the tree of exemplars

Why do people desire to have children? Solution – If people frequently considered the
things that a king’s daughter said to her father, they would not want to have children at
all. And go to the above chapter.
Why does a father want his son to be better than himself and why does the son also
desire this? Solution – Because the son is closer in time than the father to the end of
the world when the harvest of perfection will take place, the son naturally desires to be
better than the father and the father also wants the same. This signifies that there are
many holy Persons yet to come.
Why does a king desire that there be more kings of his own lineage than of any other
lineage? Solution – Natural perfection consists in two things, namely: existing and
acting. Hence, people naturally desire to be and they naturally want a lineage of beings
to successively follow their being, given that every cause loves its effect according to
natural reason.
After a woman has had a child with labour so severe that it nearly killed her, why does
she still allow her husband to have carnal intercourse with her? Solution – The pain is
forgotten and the pleasure is desired.
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Questions about locus

Questions about locus in the elemental tree

What is locus? Solution – Go to the above chapter.

How are things located in a locus? Solution – Ibid.
What are the likenesses of locus that the eyesight perceives? Solution – Ibid.
Is locus imaginable? Solution – The essence of locus is visible inasmuch as it is
imaginable, and this is because the eyes do not attain the essence of locus and hence
the imagination imagines the similitudes of locus that the eyes perceive. However, the
intellect rises above the imagination and attains the essence of locus.

Questions about locus in the vegetal tree

How are the elemental and vegetal trees located in an apple? Solution – Go to the
leaves of the vegetal tree.
While an apple is in potentiality in an apple tree, how is the apple located? Solution –
The end of the apple which is located in potentiality is in the end of the apple tree
which is actual. And it is the same with the goodness of the apple and the goodness of
the apple tree, and likewise with the other principles in their elemental and vegetal
extension into the roots, the trunks, the branches, the twigs, the flowers and the fruits.
How is the colour of an apple located in the colours of fire and of the other elements?
Solution – Just as many parts are located in their whole, so are many colours located
in the colour of the apple aggregated from many colours.
How can the vegetative power of an apple be located in colour since the vegetative
power has no colour? Solution – Although neither air nor water are hot in themselves,
their heat is situated in the act of sensing and likewise, although the vegetative power
of an apple naturally has no colour per se, it is situated in the apple’s colour which is
proper to the elements and is appropriated by the elements to the apple.

Questions about locus in the sensual tree

How are the elemental, vegetal and sensual trees located in a horse? Solution – Go to
the leaves of the sensual tree.
Does the sensitive power have a locus which is of its own nature? Solution - Locus is
appropriated to the sensitive power by elemental locus just as heat is appropriated to
air by the natural heat of fire.
If the sensitive power has no locus per se, how can it be located in a locus? Solution –
Because created magnitude is bonifiable it can be bonified and although it is not
naturally good in itself, it can nonetheless be sustained by goodness inasmuch as it is
good by reason of goodness.
How is the sensitive power located in the act of sensing? Solution – The act of sensing
is naturally disposed to be located in the sensitive and the sensible, just as air is
disposed to heat things inasmuch as it is heatable. Locus consists in general of the
elements and the elements are mixed together with the vegetative and sensitive powers
of Martin’s horse. The disposition of the act of sensing is located in the locus of this
mixture and through this location, the horse senses hunger or thirst, it sees the path it
is treading and it feels the coldness of the water it drinks.
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Questions about locus in the imaginal tree

How does the imagination imagine locus? Solution – Go to the above chapter.
Is locus a part of the imagination? Solution – If locus was an accident proper to the
imagination, then whenever the imagination reproduced species, a substantiated body
would extend into locus and consequently every chimera the imagination makes
would be a substance.
How does the imagination participate with locus? Solution – Just as the substance of
Martin’s horse is disposed to be imagined by reason of its primary parts and by reason
of its colour, it is likewise disposed to be imagined by reason of the imaginability
located in the imagination as a similitude of locus. And the horse’s substance
participates with the imagination through this similitude.
When Martin dies, in what locus does his imagination remain given that it does not
travel together with the soul and given that the imagination must necessarily have an
elemental locus to be sustained in? Solution – The imaginative power must be
sustained in the same locus as the locus where Martin’s imagination was sustained and
disseminated, which is the radical and common locus, just as the savour of an apple
reverts to its prime principles once the apple has been eaten.

Questions about locus in the human-rational tree

How does Martin exist in a locus? Solution – Go to the above chapter.
How is Martin located within himself? Solution – Ibid.
When Martin remembers his horse, how does he hold the similitude of the horse in his
soul? Solution – Martin has the similitude of the horse in his soul through the
imaginative power which captures these similitudes through the visitive power, and
memory receives these similitudes when it remembers the horse.
How is Martin’s will located in his intellect which understands his will? Solution –
The habit of prudence is the instrument with which the intellect receives the internal
amability of the will from amabilities that are external; and it is the instrument with
which the intellect considers Martin’s will out of these similitudes of amability.

Questions about locus in the tree of moral virtues

How do the moral virtues exist in a locus? Solution – Go to the above chapter.
How does justice remain in a habitual state while hope is actual? Solution – Justice
remains in a habitual state while its act is not present in the judge and while the act of
hope, which is the act of hoping, comes forth from hope.
When justice is habitual and hope is actual, which one of the two stands in the other?
Solution – Goodness is greater in a virtue that exists and acts than in a virtue that is
merely habitual.
Why is virtue nobler in the middle locus than in the extremes? Solution – A virtue in
the middle cannot participate with its contrary.

Questions about locus in the tree of moral vices

How does vice exist in a locus? Solution – Go to the above chapter.
Since Martin is chaste, in what locus does lust potentially exist? Solution – The
possibility of Martin’s being lustful is the locus where potential lust is present.
From what locus does lust derive? Solution – Lust derives from the first five trees
inasmuch as they are disposed to act against chastity.
Where does the disposition whereby the five trees are disposed to indulge in lust come
from? Solution – It comes from a deviation of the freedom to do good that God gives
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to man, this freedom exercised by man is deformed by man and it remains in

potentiality inasmuch as man was created from nothing.

Questions about locus in the imperial tree

How should a lawyer use locus in his judgments? Solution – Go to the said chapter.
A trader buys a horse, the horse is absent when the trader pays the money, finally
when he goes to the knight’s house to take possession of the horse, he sees that the
horse is dead, and on this account, the trader is entitled to a refund. But let us suppose
that another trader buys a horse from another knight and the knight hands the horse
over without receiving any payment. The knight together with the trader go to the
trader’s home where they discover that the safe has been broken into and the money
stolen. Nonetheless, the sale of the horse is valid, supposing that the merchant has the
wherewithal to pay for it. Now comes the question: why is the latter sale valid but not
the former? Solution – In the trader’s case, the elemental tree remains abundant
although his money has been stolen. As for the knight whose horse dies, it is clear that
his horse’s elemental, vegetal, sensual and imaginal trees are all irreversibly defective.
One man lends another man a hundred talents. The creditor says that the debtor paid
back fifty talents under a chestnut tree; but the debtor claims that he paid back one
hundred talents under a fig tree, and both parties bring witnesses to the stand who say
that the debtor has paid back all the talents under an apple tree. Now we ask which of
the three trees the judge should take into consideration in his judgment? Solution -
The plaintiff thinks about what he lends more frequently than the respondent who
receives the loan because money to be recovered is more desirable than money to be
paid. Hence, the plaintiff is more abundant in the imaginal and rational trees than the
respondent if the loan has not been paid back to him at all; if it has been entirely
repaid, he is less abundant because he has been paid back. In the elemental tree, the
witnesses have greater concordance regarding the amount of money with the
respondent than with the plaintiff, and this major concordance regarding the amount
signifies that the witnesses are against the plaintiff, although they may be deficient in
the imaginal tree when they say that the money was repaid under an apple tree, or
perhaps their imagination is not defective but the plaintiff’s and the respondent’s
imaginations are defective, or at least one of them is. Therefore, the judge must decide
in favour of the respondent for whom there is a more favourable presumption
considering the imagination and the concordance he has with the witnesses regarding
the amount of money involved.
Why are women not admitted as witnesses given that women speak more rapidly and
more specifically than men? Solution – The reason why women speak more rapidly
than men is that men naturally deliberate more before speaking out than women do
and this deliberation makes men more constant than women. Moreover, in testimony,
the intellect has more force than the will and when women speak out they are more
frequently motivated by the will than by the intellect, but it is the opposite with men.
Hence, a woman should not be admitted as a witness in cases where a man could
testify. The reason why women speak more specifically is that their speech is more
subtle than men’s speech.

Questions about locus in the apostolic tree

In the supreme Trinity, how can the Father be in the Son? Solution – Go to the above
chapter.
When the Holy Spirit issues forth from the Father and the Son, how can He issue forth
from them without locus? Solution – Ibid.
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How can locus which is a creature serve to understand the Holy Trinity? Solution –
Locus is the figure from which the human intellect draws the similitude with which it
understands that every Person in the Holy Trinity is in every other Person.
How can three Persons be in one essence without locus? Solution – In Saint Michael’s
goodness, the bonifier, the bonifiable and bonifying are present without locus.

Questions about locus in the celestial tree

Does the firmament exist in a locus? Solution – Go to the above chapter.
How does the virtue that the Sun gives to a flower transition through locus? Solution –
Fire heats air, air gives to water the heat it receives from fire and water gives the heat
to earth.
How does the Sun move from one locus to another? Solution – The Sun’s inner parts
are circular and spherical, and the common appetite of the parts is movement which is
at the center of this appetite.
Why does the Sun move upward in the summer and downward in the winter? Solution
– Planets and animals live form the Sun, there are four seasons in the year, a hammer
moves according to the disposition of the nail, and the roots of the celestial tree have
repose in the Sun’s movement.

Questions about locus in the angelic tree

How is an angel present in a locus? Solution – Go to the above chapter.
Is locus one of the parts of Saint Michael? Solution – Just as time is one of Saint
Michael’s principles inasmuch as he could not have been principiated without time,
and likewise, spiritual locus is one of Saint Michael’s principles without which the
parts cannot be within each other.
When Saint Michael transitions from one locus to another, does he transition
instantaneously or successively? Solution – When the lover loves his beloved, then the
beloved is remembered instantaneously.
How can many angels be present in one locus? Solution – Go to the above chapter.

Questions about locus in the eviternal tree

How do the saints move from one locus to another? Solution – Go to the above
chapter.
Where is Hell located? Solution – Because Hell and Paradise are opposed through
great contrariety, the distance between them must be great. Therefore, Hell is located
at the heart of the earth, which is farther away from the empyrean heaven than any
other locus.
How are the damned located in Hell? Solution – Raymond imagined one huge
mountain of glowing coals stacked on top of each other.
How are the saints located in heaven? Solution – Raymond imagined the movement of
the stars and the empyrean heaven full of light.

Questions about locus in the maternal tree

How are the sinners who have hope in Our Lady her children? Solution – Go to the
above chapter.
How is Our Lady present in heaven? Solution – Raymond imagined the morning star
at dawn announcing the arrival of the Sun.
Where is Our Lady situated in heaven? Solution – Raymond imagined the situation of
the angels and of the saints in the empyrean heaven, and above their situation he
imagined Jesus Christ and Our Lady.
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What sustains Our Lady’s body up above in heaven? Solution – The will wills and its
will is fulfilled.

Questions about locus in the tree of Jesus Christ

Is Jesus Christ present everywhere in every locus? Solution – Go to the above chapter.
How can the human nature be in the divine nature since there is no locus in the divine
nature? Solution – Power is capable of powering and so it powers; the intellect is
capable of understanding and so it understands; the will is capable of loving and so it
loves.
How does infinite divine nature abide within finite human nature? Solution – The
major virtue of the soul abides in the lesser virtue of the body and the body together
with the soul constitute a Person..
How is Jesus Christ present in heaven? Solution – Raymond imagined the Sun lighting
up the stars.

Questions about locus in the divine tree

How is God in a locus and without any locus. Solution – Go to the said chapter.
How does God exist within himself? Solution – As goodness exists in its bonifier,
bonifiable and bonifying it also exists in itself.
How is the world located in god? Solution – Finite substance is located in infinite
substance inasmuch as it is terminated within infinite substance.
Is God present I Hell? Solution – If God were not essentially present in Hell, then his
substance would have to be finite and terminated.

Questions about locus in the tree of exemplars

How can power, wisdom and will be present in goodness without locus? Solution –
Go to the above chapter.
Is equality a locus or is it the subject through which power, wisdom and will are equal
in goodness in spiritual substance? Solution – Equality is the locus of many equal
forms just as the locus in an apple is the locus of many elements while the apple is the
locus of their composition.
How can the divine forms be present within each other without locus? Solution – Go
to the above chapter.
How is the whole located in its parts and how are the parts located in the whole?
Solution – Ibid.

Questions about celestial quantity in the tree of exemplars

In which figure does quantity have the greatest virtue? Solution – Go to the above
chapter.
Is the Sun bigger than the planet Earth? Solution – If the sun illumines the Earth
through straight lines according to the measurements that the sages of antiquity
proposed, it is bigger than the Earth. Nonetheless, if the Sun illumines the Earth by
illumining Venus, then the light is transmitted from Venus to Mercury, then from
Mercury to the Moon, from the Moon to the sphere of fire, from fire to air, from air to
water and from water to earth, then the Sun illumines the Earth by reproducing the
species of its splendour and it can be much smaller than the Earth just as a candle
flame is much smaller than the room it lights up by reproducing its species.
Why does the Sun appear bigger in the morning than at noon? Solution – In the
morning the vapours of the Earth are made of a grosser material than at noon and in
this grossness fire reproduces its likeness more than in lesser grossness.
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Why is the Sun hotter at six PM than at 9 AM? Solution – Just as the Sun multiplies
the heat of fire, it also multiplies its dryness which increases when the Sun moves
farther away from the Earth, which is of the complexion of air.

Questions about angelic quantity in the tree of exemplars

Why does the devil induce people to sin since he knows that he will get even more
punishment on account of their sins? Solution – Go to the above chapter.
What does fire live on? Solution – Ibid.
Why are there fevers? Solution – Ibid.
Why does the devil do no good? Solution – Ibid.

Questions about eviternal relation in the tree of exemplars

Why do painters in our regions depict devils as black but painters in India depict them
as white, and why do they depict them as ugly? Solution – Go to the above chapter.
“Tell me, Paradise, why do you weep?” Solution – Ibid.
Why did Paradise curse the wolf who snatched the queen’s son away from her?
Solution – Ibid.
Why do more people go to Hell than to Paradise? Solution – Ibid.

Questions about maternal action and passion in the tree of exemplars

Since the world belongs to God, why does God allow the wolves to devour the sheep?
Solution – Go to the above chapter.
What is the Church for? Solution – Ibid.
What is religion for? Solution – Ibid.
Does the sinner have action in Our Lady and does Our Lady have action in her Son?
Solution – Ibid.

Questions about habit in the Christian part of the tree of exemplars

Is there one idea or are there many ideas? Solution – Go to the above chapter.
What does the habit of science live on? Solution – Ibid.
How does a man understand one thing through another thing? Solution - Ibid.
How are necessity and contingency different? Solution – Ibid.

Questions about divine action and passion in the tree of exemplars

Why did the ignorant fool say in his heart that there is no God? Solution – Go to the
above chapter.
How does God exist? Solution – Ibid.
If God is not in the Trinity, can He exist? Solution – Ibid.
What method should be adopted in debating and proving the Catholic faith? Solution –
Ibid.

Questions about the flowers

Questions about the flowers of the elemental tree
What are the flowers of the elements? Solution – Go to the above chapter.
What are natural instruments? Solution – Ibid.
How is the act of elementing an instrument of the elementative and the elementable?
Solution – In writing, the pen is an instrument of the agent and of the patient. And go
to the above chapter.
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Is the act of ignifying the instrument for producing the heated body, or is it the act of
heating? Solution – The pen is substantial to the letter and its movement is accidental.
Is the act of ignifying the instrument for vegetating pepper, or is it the act of heating?
Solution – Ignifying is the instrument for elementing and therefore it is the instrument
of the substance of pepper while this substance arises through its instrument, but
heating is the instrument of the heat of pepper while the heat of pepper arises from its
instrument.
Is the act of ignifying the instrument for sensing heat, or is it the act of heating?
Solution – The act of ignifying is a substantial instrument that moves substance to
sense objects but heating is an accidental instrument that moves substance toward
heat. And sensing is a flower from which arises the sensed object that is heated by
heat, elemented by fire and sensed by sensing.
How is fire an instrument for imagining objects? Solution – A flame of fire is visible
and its heat is sensible, therefore fire is an instrument of the imagination in that it
disposes a sensible object from which the imagination draws an imaginable likeness.
How is fire an instrument for understanding objects? Solution – When fire is visible it
produces a flame and the sense of sight receives this visibility of which the
imagination captures a likeness, and the intellect receives this likeness from the
imagination and clothes its act of understanding with it.
How is fire an instrument of the will of a man who wants water? Solution – Fire
multiplies its heat and its dryness in the vegetative power, then the vegetative power
gives this multiplication to the sensitive power, the imagination captures the likeness
of this multiplication and the likenesses of passion and it gives both likenesses to the
intellect, and the intellect represents these likenesses to the will that chooses to
multiply an appetite for cold water against thirst.
How does the individuation of substance and the preservation of species come about?
Solution – Go to the above chapter.

Questions about the flowers of the vegetal tree

Is an apple blossom visible through the elementative or the vegetative? Solution – Go
to the above chapter.
How is a flower an instrument of a fruit? Solution – In the lunar sphere the elements
collect the influence of the celestial bodies and the fruits collect this influence from
the flowers.
Is an apple present in potentiality in an apple blossom or in the entire tree? Solution –
All the potentialities of the other parts of the tree are gathered up in the flowers.
Why do the flowers have more odour than the fruit? Solution – Go to the above
chapter.
Why do blossoms not stay as long in a tree as the leaves? Solution – Ibid.
Why does a fig tree produce no blossoms? Solution – Ibid.
Why are figs more delicious than other kinds of fruit? Solution – Ibid.
Does the fruit arise from the apple tree successively or instantaneously? Solution –
Every multiplication of movement must involve succession.
Which parts of the tree are the first to arise from flowers into fruit? Solution – The
foundation of a room must come before the walls and the walls must come before the
roof.
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Questions about the flowers of the sensual tree

What are the flowers of the sensual tree? Solution - Go to the above chapter.
Which act is the most general act in the sensual tree? Solution – Just as the act of
heating is more general in pepper than the act of any other quality, so likewise the act
of sensing is more general in the sensual tree than the acts of the other trees.
How are the eyes instruments for seeing? Solution – Go to the above chapter.
How is fire an instrument of the eyes and of the eyesight? Solution – Fire is an
instrument of the eyes through elementation and it is the instrument of the eyesight
through light.
How is the vegetative an instrument of the eyes and of the eyesight? Solution – The
vegetative power is an instrument of the eyes through the act of vegetating and of the
sight through the specifying of species relevant to the eyesight, as when it nourishes
the body by specifying blood in the veins and marrow in the bones.
How is the sensitive power an instrument of the eyes and of the eyesight? Solution –
The sensitive power is an instrument of the eyes through the act of sensing just as the
elementative is an instrument of the eyes through elementing and the vegetative
through vegetating. And it is an instrument of the eyesight through the act of sensing
as fire is through illumining and the vegetative power through digesting.
How is the act of seeing an instrument of the eyesight? Solution – Seeing is an act of
the active power which receives in it the likeness of the passive power.
Why are there several layers in the eyeball? Solution – Species are reproduced by
giving the likeness of one power to another power and consequently the center of the
eyeball signifies the Sun which gives its likeness to Venus and the layers signify the
other planets and spheres which receive likenesses.
Why are people pleased when they see beautiful shapes and why are they annoyed
when the see ugly shapes? Solution – The eyes and the will have concordance in
beauty but they have contrariety in ugliness because the will does not want the eyes to
view ugly objects. This signifies that the will is naturally beautiful.
Why are the eyes coloured more with the colours of water and earth than with the
colours of fire and air? Solution – In the eyesight, the colour of water and the colour of
earth are instruments of the colours of fire and air just as the movement of a hammer
is an instrument of the nail in its acting or operating.

Questions about the flowers of the imaginal tree

What are the flowers of the imaginal tree? Solution - Go to the above chapter.
How is the act of imagining an instrument of the act of elementing? Solution – By
imagining the delights of eating and drinking, the imagination moves the sensitive
power to sense an appetite for eating and drinking, the sensitive power moves the
vegetative to the act of vegetating and the vegetative moves the elementative to the act
of elementing. And go to the above chapter.
How is the imaginative power an instrument of the act of imagining? Solution – The
imagination reproduces likenesses of many things and with all these likenesses it
imagines likenesses of a desired imagined object so that this object can be sensed or
understood.
When the imaginative power imagines a castle, a city or some other object, how does
the act of imagining act as an instrument? Solution – The movement of the hammer is
an instrument of the movement of the hand, and in turn, the movement of the hand is
an instrument of the will’s appetite that moves the hand so that the hammer moves the
nail. The monk said to Raymond that he did not yet understand the solution to this
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question. In reply, Raymond told the monk to imagine and consider the movement that
the will, the imagination, the hand and the hammer make toward the nail. The
imagination makes an aggregate of this movement from several likenesses which are
several tunics with which it clothes its act of imagining. And go to the above chapter.
How is a footprint an instrument for imagining a foot? Solution – Every effect
signifies its cause through similitude.
Why doesn’t a footprint serve as an instrument for imagining the colour of the foot?
Solution – When the imagination captures a footprint it reproduces the similitude of
colour not in the cause but only in the effect, and this is because the eyes do not
perceive all the qualities of the individual foot in the footprint.
How does the imagination build its act of imagining from many species? Solution –
Go to the above chapter.
How does the imagined object follow from the act of imagining? Solution – Just as the
vegetated object follows from the act of vegetating; and the imagination captures this
likeness of the antecedent and of the resultant and thus the imagined object follows
from the act of imagining.
Is the act of imagining a moral, or a natural instrument? Solution – The act of
imagining is a natural instrument internal to the imagination but externally it is a
moral instrument.
Does the imagination first begin its act of imagining in its nature or in its moral
inclinations? Solution – The natural agent begins with the near parts before the remote
parts when it follows its appetite, but it begins with the remote parts before the near
parts when the need arises.

Questions about the flowers of the human-rational tree

What are the flowers of the human-rational tree? Solution - Go to the above chapter.
How is the act of elementing a flower in man, and likewise with vegetating, sensing
and imagining? Solution – A man is elementative in that he generates another man
because he produces an elemented product from an elemented product and hence his
flower is the act of elementing which is an instrument of this production which is of
his own instrument; and man is vegetative in that the father gives the vegetative power
to the son through generating and vegetating; and man is sensitive in that he gives the
sensitive power to his son, and it is the same with the imaginative power. In addition,
the flowers are in man in another way as when Martin is elementative, vegetative and
sensitive in that he transforms food into his own species and when he is imaginative in
that he makes use of imagining.
How does Martin’s soul move his body to acts of elementing, vegetating and sensing?
Solution – The natural parts in Martin that come from the elementative power are
intended to constitute a man and it is the same with the vegetative, the sensitive and
the imaginative powers. Therefore, they are disposed in themselves to be parts of a
man and the rational soul puts them to use and moves them to act as these parts
participate with its formal parts which are disposed as the parts of a man; and from the
mixture of both dispositions one of which is active while the other is passive, there
results a man who puts his parts to use and who uses every part in compliance with its
nature.
In a man there is heat and consequently there is an act of heating. Is this act of heating
an instrument of fire or is it an instrument of the man? Solution – When writing, the
will moves the hand and the hand moves the pen; but the man moves the will as well
as the hand and the pen.
Does a man hominify himself? Solution – A son cannot hominify himself so as to
make himself into a man, for if he did make himself into a man he would be the father
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of himself. Nevertheless, a man has an act of hominifying in himself just as he has an

act of seeing as he uses his parts in the way they are intended to be used as instruments
by man.
How does a man exercise his act of reasoning? Solution – A man exercises his act of
reasoning by using the parts of his rational soul in accordance with their functions just
as he exercises the act of sensing by using the parts of the senses in accordance with
their functions.
How does a man acquire moral merit? Solution – A man acquires virtuous moral merit
by using the parts of his rational soul in accordance with their functions and he
acquires vicious moral merit by using his parts in violation of their functions. And go
to the moral tree.
How does a man live? Solution – Lamplight lives on the oil in the lamp.
How does a man die? Solution – When the oil runs out, the lamplight dies.
Why does a man exist? Solution – A man exists in two modes, the first mode is formal
and natural in that he is made of a soul with a body; the second mode is final and
moral, it consists in loving, knowing, remembering, praising and serving God, and
hence the moral virtues are pathways to the end and to the works through which a man
attains blessedness.

Questions about the flowers of the tree of the moral virtues

What are the flowers of the virtues? Solution - Go to the above chapter.
Why are merits the flowers of the virtues? Solution – Reward is the consequence of
merit just as an apple is the consequence of an apple blossom.
What does merit consist of? Solution – Merit consists of things duly applied to the
ends for which they are intended and merit is also gained when a man does not want to
use them in a way contrary to their purpose.
Why is there merit? Solution – Merit arises in two modes; in the first mode a man uses
the natural properties of his constituent parts and does not use them in a way contrary
to their nature; in the second mode merit arises to give God the occasion to reward
virtuous people with glory.

Questions about the flowers of justice

What is the flower of justice? Solution - Go to the above chapter.
What does the act of judging live on? Solution – Judging lives on good understanding
and loving just as seeing lives on colour, heating lives on heat and a man lives on
eating.
What is the act of judging for? Solution – Judging exists so that there can be peace
between God and man, between man and man and so that God has an occasion to
forgive.
How does judging live on good understanding and loving? Solution – In a virtue,
some habits live on other habits, through other habits, with other habits and in other
habits and the virtue lives on them all at the time when it performs its function.

Questions about the flowers of prudence

What is the flower of prudence? Solution – Go to the above chapter.
How is wisdom a moral virtue? Solution – It is a moral virtue when a man loves the
ends of things so he can put them to use.
If someone has knowledge of God, of his Trinity, his Incarnation and his works, can
such knowledge be a vice? Solution – A man cannot be vicious because he knows God
and his works on the condition that he loves God’s works above everything else.
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What does wisdom live on? Solution – Wisdom lives on supposition just as a plant
lives on the water that irrigates it; wisdom also lives on assiduous study and on
demonstrative reasons.

Questions about the flowers of fortitude

What is the flower of fortitude? Solution – Go to the above chapter.
How does the flower of fortitude exist? Solution – Just as in writing the will moves the
hand, the hand moves the pen and the pen moves letters to reproduce external figures
which are inwardly imagined and conceived, so likewise the merit of fortitude
functions by fortifying good customs inwardly conceived as virtuous habits.
What is the usefulness of the merit of fortitude? Solution – Fortitude brings victory,
fame, peace and the confirmation of eternal repose in the afterlife.
Can fortitude be defeated? Solution – Nobody can defeat fortitude except a man of
whom it is a part and who defeats it by not wanting to put it to good use.

Questions about the flowers of temperance

What is the flower of temperance? Solution – Go to the above chapter.
Why does temperance have merit? Solution – Just as a man incurs guilt by killing
another man, a virtuous man earns merit by sustaining a man.
Why is temperance attributed to the act of eating more than it is attributed to any other
flower? Solution – Every elemented thing has a more proper subject when it puts its
own quality to use more in one subject than in another, and likewise, every virtuous
habit has a more proper subject when it puts its own quality to use more in one subject
than in another.
How can a man understand and imagine the tempering of imagining, speaking,
spending and of the other flowers given that the act of tempering can be neither seen
nor touched? Solution – The forms of health are known through the passions of
illness.

Questions about the flowers of faith

What is the flower of faith? Solution – Go to the above chapter.
How does faith endure? Solution – Ibid.
Which flower is nobler, is it the act of believing or is it the act of understanding?
Solution – In the understanding which understands the truth about God there is a
greater magnitude of goodness than there is in the act of believing which believes the
truth about God; but in this act of believing there is a greater magnitude of goodness
than in the understanding which understands that a donkey and an ox do not belong to
the same species.
Is the merit that man acquires through faith as great as the merit that man acquires
through understanding? Solution – No sick man is capable of rendering as much
service as a healthy man can render.

Questions about the flowers of hope

What is the flower of hope? Solution – Go to the above chapter.
How does hoping stand between judging and forgiving? Solution – Every man
acquires merit if he recognizes his sin and has contrition and if he is pleased to
undergo judgment, for through this pleasure he obtains mercy.
Which virtue has the greatest concordance with hoping? Solution – Justice and charity
must necessarily assist judging and forgiving through hoping.
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When a man dies, where does his hope go? Solution – The secondary instruments of
man are the first to be annihilated by death because they are not needed in the afterlife.

Questions about the flowers of charity

What is the flower of charity? Solution – Go to the above chapter.
What is the act of loving wrapped in? Solution – Ibid.
Why is loving greater through giving than through receiving? Solution – Fire is nobler
and stronger through heating than through drying.
Is it as noble to hate vice as to love virtue? Solution – No resultant is as noble as its
antecedent.

Questions about the flowers of the tree of the moral vices

What are the flowers of the vices? Solution – Go to the above chapter.
What does sinning consist of? Solution – Sinning consists of the deviation of the
beginning and the middle from their intended end.
Where does guilt arise? Solution – Guilt arises from the idleness of reasons against the
diligence of virtue.
What is the consequence of guilt? Solution – The consequence of guilt is punishment
just as the consequence of moral virtue is glory.
How are the acts of elementing, vegetating, sensing and imagining clothed in guilt?
Solution – The perdition of the instruments is in the privation of the end.
How can remembering be a sinful act? Solution – To remember God and not to love
him for his goodness is a sinful act.
How can understanding be a sinful act? Solution – To understand vice and not to hate
it is a sinful act. Therefore, you must not laugh when you speak of your sins but you
must speak with contrition and sorrow.
How can loving be a sinful act? Solution – Loving is a sinful act when it is an act of
the will without charity.
How can fear be sinful? Solution – Fear is sinful when it is not the resultant of loving
clothed in charity.
How can conscience be sinful? Solution – Conscience without contrition is sinful.

Questions about the flowers of the imperial tree

What are the prince’s flowers? Solution – Go to the above chapter.
In what can judging and injuring be the most active? Solution – Ibid.
In what can honouring and dishonouring ascend to the greatest heights? Solution –
Ibid.
In what can glorifying and tormenting reach their maximum? Solution – Ibid.
To whom can praising words and words of cursing best be applied? Solution – Ibid.
In what can the telling of truth and the telling of lies be the most readily discovered?
Solution – Ibid.
Into what do taking away and giving most often go to stand? Solution – Ibid.
In what can being conceited and being humble be the farthest apart? Solution – Ibid.
Who can set the greatest example of good and evil? Solution – Ibid.
In what can loving and hating ascend to the greatest heights? Solution – Ibid.

Questions about the flowers of the apostolic tree

What are the flowers of the apostolic tree? Solution – Go to the above chapter.
What is an article? Solution – An article is a testimonial of truths attested either
through belief or through understanding.
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What are the loftiest and most beautiful flowers? Solution – Go to the above chapter.
Why is the holy Church weeping? Solution – The holy Church is weeping because its
flowers are not remembered, recognized and loved throughout the entire world.

A question from the flowers of the apostolic tree – “Does God exist?”
Does God exist or not? Solution – Go to the above chapter.
If the supreme good did not exist, would supreme evil exist? Solution – If supreme
evil exists, then it is impossible for supreme good to exist; and if supreme good exists,
then it is impossible for supreme evil to exist. And if supreme good exists and
supreme evil also exists, then it is possible for supreme contrarieties to exist and not to
exist because subjects of infinite contrarieties cannot sustain themselves. And go to
the above chapter, where it is proved that God exists.
Why must God necessarily exist? Solution – If God did not exist, then impossibility
would be greater than possibility and it would follow that major power has
concordance with non-being and minor power has concordance with being and when
major power exists in privation it would be the cause of major possibility and a
contradiction would follow inasmuch as it would exist and would not exist, but this
contradiction is impossible. Therefore, God must necessarily exist. And go to the
above chapter.
If God did not exist, what would be the consequences? Solution - If God did not exist,
then the human intellect could consider greater nobility in fantastic being than in real
being and in falsehood than in truth, which is impossible. Therefore, it follows that if
God did not exist, what is possible would be impossible and what is impossible would
be possible. And go to the above chapter.
Why is the non-existence of God detestable? Solution – Because God exists, his being
is lovable but if God did not exist, his existence would be detestable and its privation
would be lovable. And go to the above chapter.
What is the advantage of God’s existence? Solution – If God did not exist, then
substance would have no repose in its existence and its repose would be only in its
agency; for this reason God’s existence would offer no advantage and all substances
would be deprived and emptied of their end. And go to the above chapter.

From the flowers of the apostolic tree – questions about God’s unity
Is there one God or are there many gods? Solution – Go to the above chapter.
Why must there be one God and not many gods? Solution – Ibid.
If there were many gods, what would be the result? Solution – If there were many
gods, then in none of them would power, wisdom and will be numerically one and the
same. If their power, wisdom and will are not numerically one and the same then not a
single one of them is worthy of being God, given that we consider God as the supreme
being.
Why can there be only one supreme goodness? Solution – If there were many supreme
goodnesses distinct in essence from each other, then the essence of each one would be
finite and not infinite; but without infinity it would not have supreme dignity. And go
to the above chapter.
If there is only one God, what is the result? Solution – If there is only one God it then
follows that He can be God because He can be the end and the perfection of himself
and of another, which is his effect. But if there were many gods, there could be no
God given that God’s conditions require that God be the perfection and the end of
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himself and of another, and so he would be God and he would not be God, if there
were many gods.
Why can’t there be many gods? Solution – If there were many gods, then there would
be many eternities each one of which would be its own eternity, and thus each one
would be infinite in duration, infinite in magnitude and in extent, which is impossible,
and on account of this impossibility, there cannot be many gods.

From the flowers of the apostolic tree – questions about plurality

Is there plurality in God? Solution – Go to the above chapter.
Why is there plurality in God? Solution – If there were no plurality in God, then the
acts of his reasons would not be eternal and infinite. See the above chapter.
If there were no plurality in God, what would become of his unity? Solution – If there
were no plurality in God, then his act of uniting would not be a pure act of his unity,
and his unity would not be as great in action as in existence. See the second proof in
the above chapter.
Without plurality, can there be an act of deifying in God? Solution – We say that it
cannot be without the numerical identities of the one and of the other, namely the
numerical identities of the deifier and of the deifiable so that the one is not the other,
for if the one were the other, then it would be false to speak of one, two and three in
God.
Could God exist without plurality? Solution - If God could exist without plurality,
then He could exists through existence without agency or through agency without
existence and thus He could exist as much through the privation of the end as He
exists through form, or through the privation of form, as in the privation of the end,
which is impossible.
Could God be infinite without plurality? Solution – Two things must be considered in
perfect infinity: the one is that its substance is infinite and the other is that its
operation is infinite, but it cannot be infinite without the plurality of the one and of the
other.

From the flowers of the apostolic tree – questions about the divine
properties
Why must God’s plurality consist in the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit and not in
the other properties? Solution – Go to the above chapter.
God understands himself and therefore He is intelligent and intelligible. Why is the
intelligent called the Father and why is the intelligible called the Son? Solution – In
God’s wisdom the intelligent exists through a goodness so great that the goodness of
his understanding is an infinite reason, and therefore it is a reason for producing
infinite good. Hence, the intelligent who has to respond to the reason of infinite
goodness produces from himself, who is infinite good, another infinite Person, and
since he must produce it from himself, he must be the father because every being that
produces another from itself is a father and consequently the intelligible that is
produced is the Son, given the relation between Father and Son. See the above
chapter.
God loves himself. Due to what nature or virtue must God’s love be called the Holy
Spirit? Solution – In God, the Father loves the Son and the Son loves the Father and
inasmuch as the Father generates the Son, generating is one consideration and
inasmuch as the Father loves the Son and the Son loves the Father there is another
consideration which is the loving that arises from the action of the Father and from the
action of the Son, and from these two actions there must arise one passive spiration
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which is as great a personal property as the property of the Father and the property of
the Son, so that loving is not an accident but that it be a substance. And since the act
of spirating arises from the outpouring of holiness, purity and innocence that the
Father and the Son have and that communicates itself in a substance which is as great
through loving as it is great through generating, the third Person must be called the
Holy Spirit. And go to the second proof in the said chapter.
Can there be any relation greater than the relation between the Father, the Son and the
Holy Spirit? Solution – In the essential nature of love there cannot be any properties
more proper or more essential than amativity, lovability and loving. Therefore, love is
greater through this relation than through other properties which are not of the
essential nature of love. Likewise, between the producer and the producible that is of
the essence and nature of the producer, there can be no greater relation in production
than between the Father and the Son, nor can the concordance of both be any greater
than it is in loving.
Can there be any concordance greater than the concordance between the Father, the
Son and the Holy Spirit? Solution – There can be no greater concordance in goodness
than the concordance between the bonifier, the bonifiable and bonifying, nor in
magnitude than between the magnifier, the magnifiable and magnifying, nor in
eternity than between the eternalizer, the eternalizable and eternalizing. And if there
could be a concordance greater than the concordance between the Father, the Son and
the Holy Spirit in goodness and in the other reasons, then there could be a greater
concordance between the bonifier, the bonifiable and bonifying when the bonifiable
does not arise from the essence and nature of the bonifier, nor does bonifying arise
from the essence and nature of both, which is impossible.
Can there be any equality greater than the equality between the Father, the Son and the
Holy Spirit? Solution – In the Father’s essence and nature there cannot be any greater
equality than the equality between the powerer, the powerable and powering. And it is
the same with the essence of principle, in which there can be no greater equality than
the equality between the principiator, the principiable and principiating, for if the
powerer could equalize with itself a powerable of an essence and a nature other than
its own, it would have a greater disposition to act with its equality in an essence and
nature that are not of its own genus, which is impossible. And because the powerable
that is of the essence of the powerer is the Son, since He is produced from the
powerer, who is the Father; consequently the powering of both is the Holy Spirit.
Therefore the greatest equality that can possibly exist must exist, namely the Father,
the Son and the Holy Spirit.

From the flowers of the apostolic tree – questions about the divine ternary
number
Why are there neither more nor less than three divine Persons? Solution – Go to the
said chapter.
What is the noblest number that can possibly exist in goodness, and likewise in
magnitude, eternity and the other divine forms? Solution – Ibid.
Why are there not two or more Fathers, two or more Sons and two or more Holy
Spirits in God? Solution – Ibid. the second proof.
In which number is concordance noblest and greatest? Solution – Ibid. the third proof.
In which number can equality be the best, the greatest and the most powerful?
Solution – Ibid. the fourth proof.
In which number can principle be most durable, knowable, most true and most
lovable? Solution – Ibid. the fifth proof.
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From the flowers of the apostolic tree – questions about creation

Is the world eternal, or is it newly created? Solution – Go to the above chapter.
Could God create an eternal world? Solution – It is impossible for God’s power to be
more powerful in eternity than in goodness, magnitude, wisdom, will, truth, glory and
virtue, for if God were more powerful in eternity than in his other forms, He would
convene more with eternity than with the other forms, and there would be major and
minor concordance in God, which is impossible. Therefore, God’s power cannot
create or produce a world in the infinity of goodness, magnitude, power, wisdom and
the other forms because the world is incapable of receiving infinity; but power could
give infinity to a subject only if the subject was disposed to receive infinity, indeed,
just as power cannot infinitize the world through goodness, magnitude and the other
dignities, similarly, power cannot infinitize the world through eternity. And go to the
above chapter.
If the world were eternal, what would be the consequences? Solution – If the world
were eternal and not newly created, then the ultimate complement of all the parts of
the world would not be God’s eternity but it would be the world’s eternity, given that
an infinite being has no need of another infinite being and thus it would follow that
God would not be the ultimate complement of the world but that the world would have
its own end in itself, which is impossible and contrary to God’s nobility. And another
inconvenience would follow, which you can find in the second proof in the said
chapter.
If the world were eternal, would it be better than if it is new? Solution – Go to the
third proof in the above chapter.
What depreciation of God would there be if the world were eternal? Solution – Ibid.
the fourth proof.
If the world was created, then what was it principiated from? Solution – God’s
wisdom which is infinite and which comprehends all future, present and past things,
understood the world before the world existed and God’s will wanted the world to be
principiated and produced in the same way as it was understood by wisdom, and
God’s power powered and completed and brought into act what the will desired, and
this is the way in which the world was created. It was not created out of anything, and
because it did not always exist, we say that it was created from nothingness.

From the flowers of the apostolic tree – questions about recreation

First – whether the first man sinned
Did sin first begin in the first man? Solution – Go to the above chapter.
How do we know that sin began in the first parents? Solution – Generally, people
incline toward evil before they incline toward good and this general condition could
not have been principiated in resultant and non-general principles, for if it could, then
it would not be general. But as it is general, it was principiated in the antecedents,
which are the first and most general parents. And go to the second proof in the above
chapter.
If sin had not been principiated in the first parents, what inconveniences would then
follow? Solution – Ibid. the third proof.
Who sinned first, was it Adam or was it Eve? Solution – In the course of nature, a man
is a more general principle than a woman. Because the human species – which is
general – is debilitated by sin, it must be more debilitated by a more general sin than
by a less general sin.
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Is Adam’s sin general to the senses of all humans?

Is there original sin? Solution – Go to the above chapter.
If there were no original sin, what would follow? Solution – Ibid. the second proof.
Could the generality of sin participate in men descended from Adam? Solution – Ibid.
the third proof.
Could death be general without general sin? Solution – Ibid. the fourth proof.
Why is there original sin, given that there is greater evil in generality than in
specificity? Solution – One evil begets another while evil retains its own conditions.
Go to the fourth proof in the above chapter.

Is original sin present in the soul?

Is original sin spiritual? Solution – Go to the above chapter.
Since the soul of a Saracen is not of the soul of Adam, why is it in original sin?
Solution – Ibid. The second proof
If original sin did not exist spiritually, what inconvenience would then follow?
Solution – Ibid. the third proof.
Why does original sin exist spiritually? Solution – Ibid. the fourth proof.
If a Saracen believes that he is saved, if he ignores original sin and if he is not actually
committing sin, then why is he damned when he dies? Solution – When the cause is
not removed, the effect remains, and when generality is not removed, specificity
remains. Therefore, he is damned on account of original sin.

The question of recreation

Has the world been recreated? Solution – We intend to prove the Incarnation and
death of Jesus Christ and from the proofs of these two articles it follows that the world
was recreated when God became incarnate and died as a man in order to recreate the
world.
Supposing that God became incarnate and died, why would it then follow that the
world has been recreated? Solution – Sin requires satisfaction and through the sin of
the first man, the world was deviated from the end for which it was created and by the
death of the man most general in the magnitude of goodness, holiness and virtue for
whom the world was created, namely Jesus Christ, satisfaction was made and the
world was restored to the end for which it had been created. If his death was not
sufficient for the satisfaction for general sin, then there would be a defect in the
magnitude of goodness and Adam would be greater in producing evil than Jesus Christ
in repairing good, which is impossible given that Jesus Christ is the God-man.
Jesus Christ did not die as God, therefore God did not recreate the world through death
and now I ask whether Jesus Christ’s humanity was sufficient for recreating the world.
Solution – God is so perfect in the magnitude of goodness and of his other dignities
that when He is a man, by reason of the nobility of the Divinity joined to him, this
man is sufficiently capable of repairing the world through his death although the
Divinity does not die, just as Martin’s body, by reason of the nobility of the soul
joined to it, is better in the magnitude of goodness than the body of a lion or of the
Sun, and it is the same with all other bodies that are not of the human species.
Christ’s body was particular and therefore his death was particular. How can a
particular death make reparation for universal death? Solution – The particular can be
so great in the magnitude of goodness that it is more capable than all the particulars
existing under the universal as we said, just as Martin’s body which by reason of the
nobility of the rational soul is worth more than all the irrational bodies of all the
planets and of the firmament.
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If there were no recreation, what inconvenience would follow? Solution – If there

were no recreation, many inconveniences would follow. For instance, God would have
no reason to save humans who exist in original sin, Jesus Christ would have no reason
to die if there were no recreation and He would have no way to honour the divine
nature, God would abandon the world in its deviation from the end for which it was
created. And many other inconveniences would also follow.

Whether Jesus Christ will resurrect all mankind on judgment day

Will mankind be resurrected? Solution – Go to the above chapter.
If there were no resurrection, what inconvenience would follow? Solution – Ibid. the
second proof.
Why must there be a resurrection? Solution – Ibid. the third proof.
If there were no resurrection, could God’s justice judge man? Solution – Man cannot
be judged in a subject which does not belong to the human species.
Without the resurrection, can all the natural parts of bodies that are parts of the world
attain their end? Solution – Ibid. the fifth proof.
After Martin’s dead body has rotted away in the earth, or after it has been eaten by
wolves, how can it resurrect in the same numerical identity it had when it died?
Solution – For a substance in which power, wisdom, truth, virtue and will are one and
the same infinite and eternal number no virtuous operation is impossible because
wisdom is capable of knowing this operation, the will is capable of loving it and
power is capable of powering and truly executing what wisdom knows and what the
will wants.

Whether the rational soul is immortal

Is the rational soul immortal? Solution – Go to the above chapter.
How can the soul be immortal? Solution – Ibid. the second proof.
Why is the soul immortal? Solution – Ibid. the third proof.
If the soul died, what inconvenience would follow? Solution – If the soul died, then its
parts would not have a subject in which they could be sustained since they are spiritual
and they would all be annihilated and if the soul came back it would be created again
but without any satisfaction for its guilt, on account of which it would die in natural
virtue opposed to God’s justice. And go to the fourth proof in the above chapter.
Raymond, how do you know that the soul is immortal? Solution – Ibid. the fifth proof.

Whether God will give glory to the saints in glory

After Judgment Day, will the saints be glorified? Solution – Go to the above chapter.
If there were no Paradise and no glory, what inconvenience would follow? Solution –
Ibid. the second proof.
Why must there be glory? Solution – Ibid. the third proof.
With what does God glorify the bodies of the saints, given that God is not perceptible
to the senses? Solution – Ibid. the fourth proof.
With what does God give glory to the souls of the saints? Solution – Ibid.

Whether Jesus was conceived and whether God became incarnate

Did God become incarnate? Solution – Go to the above chapter.
If God did not become incarnate, what inconvenience would follow? Solution – If God
did not become incarnate, then his reasons would always desire to have repose in
creatures and would never attain it. And go to the second proof in the above chapter.
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Why did God become incarnate? Solution – God became incarnate so that he could
produce the greatest possible concordance between the cause and its effect. And go to
the third proof in the above chapter.
If God did not become incarnate, could his nature be the ultimate complement of
created nature? Solution – Ibid. the fourth proof.
If God did not become incarnate, could his reasons be the ultimate complement of
created nature? Solution – Ibid. the fifth proof.

Whether Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit

Was Jesus conceived by the Holy Spirit? Solution – Go to the above chapter.
Could Jesus Christ have been conceived by a man and a woman? Solution – Ibid. the
second proof.
If Jesus Christ was conceived by a man and a woman, what inconvenience would
follow? Solution – Ibid. the third proof.
How can Jesus Christ be a man without the carnal copulation of a man with a woman?
Solution – Divine goodness is capable of doing all the things tat can be bonified by it.
Go to the fourth proof Ibid.
Why didn’t Jesus Christ become incarnate at the beginning of the world? Solution –
The Incarnation of the Son of God had to take place in the greatest order of mediation
that could possibly exist between God and creature. Go to the fifth proof above.

Whether Jesus Christ was born

Was Jesus Christ born? Solution – Go to the above chapter.
Since the Son of god is eternal, how can He be born of a woman? And since He is
infinite in magnitude, how could He be born by passing through the small place
through which all men pass at birth? Solution – Ibid. the second proof.
How could Jesus Christ be born of Our Lady the Virgin Mary while she still remained
a virgin? Solution – The divine power can bring to perfection everything that the
divine wisdom can know and the divine will can desire. And go to the third proof
above.
Why was Jesus Christ born of a virgin woman? Solution – Ibid, the fourth proof.
How can the greatest concordance exist between the virginity of Jesus Christ and the
virginity of Our Lady? Solution –Ibid. the fifth proof.

Whether Jesus Christ died

Did Jesus Christ die? Solution – Go to the above chapter.
How did the recreation take place through the death of Christ? Solution – Ibid. the
second proof.
What utility followed from the death of Jesus Christ? Solution – Ibid. the third proof.
If Jesus Christ did not die, what inconvenience would follow? Solution – Ibid. the
fourth proof.
How could Jesus Christ, the Son of God, die since He is eternal and immortal?
Solution – Ibid. the fifth proof.

Whether Jesus Christ descended to Hell

Did Jesus Christ descend to Hell? Solution – Go to the above chapter.
Why did Jesus Christ descend to Hell? Solution – Go to the above chapter, the second
proof.
Did the soul of Jesus Christ suffer passion in Hell? Solution – Ibid. the third proof.
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Did the soul of Jesus Christ descend to the abodes of the damned in Hell? Solution –
Ibid. the fourth proof.
What utility followed when the soul of Jesus Christ descended into Hell? Solution –
Ibid. the fifth proof.

Whether Jesus Christ resurrected

Did Jesus Christ resurrect? Solution – Go to the above chapter.
When Jesus Christ was dead, was He still a man? Solution – Ibid. the second proof.
Why did Jesus Christ rise from the dead? Solution – Ibid. the third reason.
What utility followed from the resurrection of Jesus Christ? Solution – Ibid. the fourth
reason.
How do we know that Jesus Christ rose from the dead? Solution – Ibid. the fifth
reason.

Whether Jesus Christ ascended to the heavens

Did Jesus Christ ascend to the heavens? Solution – Go to the above chapter.
Why did Jesus Christ ascend to the heavens? Solution – Ibid. the second proof.
If Jesus Christ did not ascend to the heavens, what would then follow? Solution – Ibid.
the third proof.
How did Jesus Christ ascend to the heavens if his body did not have any wings?
Solution – Divine virtue can bring to perfection everything that is desired by the will
of the glorified body to which it is joined.
To which heaven did Jesus Christ ascend? Solution – In no heaven is there as much
glory as in the Empyrean heaven, nor is there as much glory for any man as there is
for Jesus Christ.

Whether Jesus Christ will be the judge on Judgment Day

Who will be the judge on Judgment Day? Solution – Go to the above chapter.
Why must there be a general judgment? Solution – Every increase in number that is
principiated in time must have an end, which is the end of the world. And go to the
second proof above.
How can judgment be in major truth? Solution – Ibid.
When will Judgment Day be? Raymond said that he did not know the date of
Judgment Day, except for the following similitude: the lofty nobility of the
Incarnation of the Son of God convenes with the equal proportion of time in the
beginning, the middle and the end of the world, which indicates that Judgment Day
will be as many days from the Incarnation as there were days from the Incarnation to
the beginning of the world.
Where will Judgment Day be held? Solution – No location on this earth is as holy as
the city of Jerusalem because this is where Jesus Christ was crucified and buried and
where the world was recreated.

Questions about the flowers of the celestial tree

What are the flowers of the celestial tree? Solution – Go to the above chapter.
How are the flowers of celestial substances blended together? Solution – Ibid.
Are the movements here below of the essence of the movements up above? Solution –
In the course of nature, all discrete quantities sustained in a body are of one general
continuous quantity.
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Why does it rain more often in March than in September? Solution – Generation
begins in March and generation involves the confusion of many concordant parts so as
to bring about the specification and individuation of many species.
Why does fennel grow more by day than at night? Solution – Because fennel is of the
fiery complexion it receives more virtue from the Sun than from the Moon.
Why is it better to bathe and to perform bloodletting in the spring than in any other
season? Solution – In no season is there so much blending of old and new parts as in
the spring. By pruning vines, people open the doors to new parts to let them enter into
generation.
Why don’t olive trees shed their leaves in the winter, but fig trees do? Solution -
Autumn is of the complexion of earth, water has greater restrictive virtue in dryness
than fire has in the moisture of air, and fire has greater virtue for preserving leaves
with dryness than with the moisture of air through heat.
Why does a bigger tree grow from a mustard seed than from a wheat grain, though the
grain is bigger than the seed? Solution –The wheat grain belongs to the Sun and the
mustard seed belongs to Venus.
How does the flower of the Moon exist between the power and the object? Solution –
The Moon is a body that gives influences from above to bodies here below.
Why is sea water salty? Solution – In no water does the Sun instill as great a
movement of heat and dryness as in sea water.

Questions about the flowers of the angelic tree

What are the flowers of the angelic tree? Solution – Go to the above chapter.
Do the Seraphim attain God naturally or supernaturally? Solution – Ibid.
Do the Seraphim understand God through an intermediary of without any
intermediary? Solution – Ibid.
How is a Seraph’s act of loving equally clothed in the magnitude of goodness?
Solution – Goodness, magnitude and the Seraph’s will participate equally in its power
of loving.
Why are a Seraph’s understanding and loving equal in the magnitude of goodness?
Solution – God’s goodness and magnitude are equally intelligible and lovable.
Why does a Seraph love God more than itself? Solution – In the Empyrean heaven,
major amability moves major amativity to love more strongly than minor amativity.
Can a Seraph be ignorant? Solution – Eyes that are open in daylight cannot help but
see, and as God is the Seraph’s exemplar, the Seraph cannot possibly ignore God.
Can a Seraph love God more at one time than at another time? Solution – The
Seraph’s will is so full of blessedness that its loving can neither increase nor decrease.
Does God love one angel as much as another? Solution – By its nature, a ray of
sunlight can be transmitted as well through the small windows of a room as through
the large windows, but the small windows cannot receive as much sunlight as the large
ones can.
Does an angel’s understanding illuminate the understanding of a man? Solution –
Between understanding and loving there is natural concordance; when the angel
represents some lovable object to Martin who also loves this object then the angel’s
will and Martin’s will have concordance in this amability by reason of which the angel
illumines Martin’s intellectivity with the intelligibility of the object loved by both.
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Questions about the flowers of the eviternal tree

About glory
What are the flowers of the eviternal tree? Solution – Go to the above chapter.
How is the glory of Paradise good? Solution – Ibid. the first paragraph.
How is the glory of Paradise great? Solution – Ibid. the second paragraph.
How is the glory of Paradise durable? Solution – Ibid. the third paragraph.
How can the glory of Paradise exist? Solution – Ibid. the fourth paragraph.
How can the glory of Paradise be understood? Solution – Ibid. the fifth paragraph.
How is the glory of Paradise lovable? Solution – Ibid. the sixth paragraph.
How does the glory of Paradise have virtue? Solution – Ibid. the seventh paragraph.
How does the glory of Paradise exist in truth? Solution – Ibid. the eighth paragraph.
What id the glory of Paradise made of? Solution – The glory of Paradise is made of
the acts of the divine, the angelic and the human reasons and these acts are the three
lights of glory which eviternally blend in an incessant act of glorifying.

Questions about the torment of loving

How is the devil’s loving evil? Solution – Go to the above chapter.
How is the torment of loving great? Solution – Ibid. the second paragraph.
How does the torment of loving endure? Solution – Ibid. the third paragraph.
How can the torment of loving exist? Solution – Ibid. the fourth paragraph.
How is the magnitude of the torment of loving understood? Solution – Ibid. the fifth
paragraph.
How is the devil’s loving evil and vicious? Solution – Ibid. the sixth paragraph.
Is the devil’s loving a resultant of hating? Solution – A good angel’s hating is the
resultant of loving, but an evil angel’s perverted loving is the resultant of hating.
Since the devil is a spiritual substance, how can it receive punishment? Solution – All
the natural reasons in a devil’s substance pervert substance into their opposites, and
this perversion is the toil of substance.
The devil’s punishment is very great, but can it increase or decrease? Solution – For
God’s justice to have a perfect subject in which to punish guilt, the devil’s entire
natural substance along with all its parts be completely filled with punishment.

Questions about the flowers of the maternal tree

What are the flowers of the maternal tree? Solution – Go to the above chapter.
How is Our Lady’s act of bonifying situated? Solution – Ibid.
How is Our Lady’s act of loving supreme? Solution – Ibid.
Does Our Lady suffer passion inasmuch as she hates those who disgrace her Son?
Solution – Our Lady is so pleased with her Son’s justice that she does not feel the pain
of hating those who disgrace her Son.
Can Our Lady love a sinner who is in mortal sin? Solution – Our Lady loves mercy
and compassion in her Son and consequently she loves sinners but she hates their sins.
Does Our Lady love justice as much as she loves compassion? Solution – Our Lady is
full of both these forms.
Can Our Lady move a sinner who is in mortal sin to have contrition? Solution – Just
as a smith moves a nail with a hammer, so does Our Lady move sinners with her Son’s
power to have contrition if they have hope in her and devotion to her.
Can Our Lady be forgetful? Solution – If Our Lady could forget magnitude in her
understanding and loving then they would not exist in a durable way.
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Does Our Lady have everything she desires? Solution – Just as the presence of the Sun
brings daylight, so does the presence of her Son bring to Our Lady everything she
desires.
Does Our Lady consider the punishment of the damned? Solution – Our Lady is
pleased to watch her Son do his work.

Questions about the flowers of the tree of Jesus Christ

About goodness
What are the flowers of the tree of Jesus Christ? Solution – The flowers of the tree of
Jesus Christ are the acts of the divine and human reasons of Jesus Christ. And go to
the above chapter. Now we want to prove the Incarnation by taking the flowers and
blending their acts with each other, beginning with goodness. As for the questions
about these flowers, we derive two questions from each chapter.
Without the Incarnation, would God’s goodness be a sufficiently great reason for God
to produce a creature so great in goodness that the reason of goodness could not be
any greater? Solution – Go to the chapter about goodness, magnitude and the
Incarnation.
Why didn’t God assume the nature of many creatures? Solution – Just as divine
goodness can be a greater reason for God to produce great good if God is one and not
many, so likewise goodness is greater as a divine reason if God becomes incarnate as
one man than if he becomes incarnate in many creatures.
Is God’s goodness a reason for God to produce eternal created good? Solution –
Eternity is a reason for God to produce creature in eternity, just as goodness is a
reason to produce creature in goodness. However, created goodness cannot be
produced in infinity, nor can the duration of creature be produced without time. But
created duration can be produced in eternity through the Incarnation where eternal
God exists as a man, and consequently the supreme goodness requires that man be
God and the supreme good.
Why aren’t supreme goodness and eternity reasons for God to create many instances
of eternal created goodness? Solution – Goodness and eternity can have greater
concordance in one created supposite than in many, and they have this natural
property by reason of divine unity whereby one supposite created in Divinity and
united to Divinity through the Incarnation is better proportioned to divine unity than
many supposites.
How can God’s power work with the greatest created good? Solution – No power can
do as much with creature in the way of goodness than the power to deify created
goodness. And go to the chapter on goodness and power.
Why can’t God’s power become incarnate in a lion or in a heron? Solution – The
supreme goodness cannot participate in unity with a supposite that has no discretion.
Why must there be an Incarnation by reason of divine goodness and wisdom? Solution
– Go to the chapter on goodness and wisdom.
Why doesn’t God produce all the good that He understands to be possible? Solution –
God’s wisdom does not understand any good to be producible outside of the orderly
disposition of production.
Without the Incarnation, can God’s will love created good as much as wisdom can
understand it? Solution – Go to the chapter on goodness and will.
Why isn’t divine goodness a reason for divine will to love to have God made an
angel? Solution – If God’s will loved, by reason of goodness, that God be made an
angel and a man, one created and deified supposite would not suffice to be the
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summum bonum of every created good and the magnitude of lovability would be
deficient in magnitude of goodness.
How does divine goodness signify the Incarnation with virtue? Solution – Go to the
chapter on goodness and virtue.
Was any moral virtue acquired by Jesus Christ while He was in this world? Solution –
Supreme goodness would be guilty of vice if it deprived Jesus Christ of good morality.
How do goodness and truth signify the Incarnation? Solution – Go to the chapter on
goodness and truth.
Since the Incarnation is good, why doesn’t supreme goodness ensure that the
Incarnation become verified in the belief of those who do not believe in it? Solution –
Divine goodness and truth do not compel human free will by force so that God’s
justice can have a subject to judge.
Why must the Incarnation take place through goodness and glory? Solution – Go to
the chapter on goodness and glory.
Since the Incarnation is good and glorious, why did Jesus suffer passion on the cross?
Solution – this solution is in the chapter on recreation.
How can the greatest difference exist between uncreated goodness and created
goodness? Solution – Go to the chapter on goodness and difference.
How can difference exist between the divine goodness and the human goodness of
Jesus Christ and how can Jesus Christ as one Person have both the divine and the
human nature? Solution – The Person of Jesus Christ is one through the Incarnation
and it is made of many natures by reason of the distinction between many reasons.
How can divine goodness and created goodness be in the greatest concordance?
Solution – Go to the chapter on goodness and concordance.
Why do divine goodness and created goodness have concordance through one and not
more than one Incarnation? Solution – Divine goodness is one and consequently by
reason of its unity it requires one and not more than one Incarnation so as to be joined
to created goodness.
How is the Incarnation signified by goodness and contrariety? Solution – Go to the
chapter on goodness and contrariety.
How can divine goodness and created goodness be removed from contrariety?
Solution – Divine and created goodness are the most removed from contrariety when
they exist in the unity of a supposite which has no evil in itself.
How is divine goodness a reason for God to principiate the greatest created good?
Solution – Go to the chapter on goodness and principle.
Why isn’t divine goodness a reason for God to principiate the world for many men?
Solution – Just as divine goodness can be a loftier and nobler principle through unity
than through many instances of goodness, so likewise is it a nobler principle if it
creates the world principally for one man and not for many men.
How can the noblest mediation exist between uncreated goodness and created
goodness? Solution – Go to the chapter on goodness and the middle.
Through what means can divine goodness acquire moral and natural goodness and
partake in them? Solution – Ibid.
How can divine goodness be a reason for producing the major end of created
goodness? Solution – Go to the chapter on goodness and the end.
How can the end of created goodness be farthest removed from the privation of the
end? Solution – Ibid.
How can divine goodness be a reason for producing created goodness in major
majority? Solution – Go to the chapter on goodness and majority.
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Can divine goodness be a reason for producing goodness in greater majority through
many incarnations than through one Incarnation? Solution – No major majority can be
produced in the equality of many instances of goodness sustained in many men.
How is divine goodness a reason for God to produce major equality among the reasons
of creatures? Solution – Go to the chapter on goodness and equality.
Can God equalize two men in major goodness by existing as these two men through
Incarnation? Solution – Because the unity of uncreated goodness is in majority, God
cannot equalize two or more Persons in major goodness through Incarnation.
How is the Incarnation signified by major goodness and minor goodness? Solution –
Go to the chapter on goodness and minority.
How can divine goodness most strongly remove created goodness from minority?
Solution – Created goodness can be farther removed from major minority in major
goodness than in minor goodness.

Questions about magnitude from the flowers of the tree of Jesus Christ
How are magnitude and eternity major reasons of creature? Solution – In the Person
who is of both divine and human nature magnitude and eternity are major reasons of
creature. And go to the above chapter.
How could a divine Person remain durably in the same state if He was a man at one
time and if He was not a man at another time? Solution – There cannot be any
mutation in eternal and infinite nature.
How is the Incarnation proved through magnitude and power? Solution – Go to the
chapter on magnitude and power.
How are the divine reasons of magnitude and power reasons for God to require equal
acts in creatures? Solution – Power requires from magnitude as great an act of
magnifying as can be powered by power, while magnitude requires from power as
powerful an act of powering as can be magnified by magnitude, and both these
requirements must be sustained in the Incarnation.
How do God’s wisdom and magnitude require each other’s acts? Solution – Go to the
chapter on magnitude and wisdom.
Would it be a great act for wisdom to know the greatest act of magnifying of creature
in potentiality, but not as great as to know it in act? Solution – No act of magnifying is
as great in potentiality as in act, following the nature of magnitude.
Since the divine will is free and since it is a causeless cause, what causes it to
necessarily love the Incarnation? Solution – Magnifiability and lovability cause each
other to have equal acts as both reasons are of the same nature. And go to the chapter
on magnitude and the will.
Without the Incarnation, could the divine will love a great creature more than
magnitude can magnify it? Solution – If there were no Incarnation, the divine will
could not love creature as much as magnitude can magnify it.
If there were no Incarnation, would God’s magnitude be vitiated in creature? Solution
– A cause that does not give as great a complement to its effect as its effect is capable
of receiving is a vitiated cause. And go to the chapter on magnitude and virtue.
How is the Incarnation a cause of great virtue? Solution – Just as a man exercises
greater virtue by producing a man of his own species than by painting a man’s picture
on the wall, so does the Incarnation exercise greater virtue by producing a creature in
its own divine nature than by producing it in created nature.
How can God produce the greatest truth in creature? Solution – Go to the chapter on
magnitude and truth.
Since the Incarnation is a truth of such great magnitude, why is there such a great
magnitude of falsehood in the world which was principally created for the purpose of
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God’s Incarnation? Solution – Jesus Christ delegated his position to his vicar Saint
Peter whose vicariate introduced great truth in the intellects of many people who are
greatly accountable if they fail to put it to good use.
How can God give the greatest glory? Solution – Go to the chapter on magnitude and
glory.
If there were no Incarnation, then how would the bodies of the saints have major
glory? Solution – Because the Saracens do not believe in the Incarnation, when they
consider the reward of great glory in Paradise they think in terms of eating, drinking,
wearing fancy clothes, living in beautiful rooms and having carnal intercourse with
beautiful virgin women.
How is the greatest difference made between God and creature? Solution – Go to the
chapter on magnitude and difference.
How is the distinction of the divine Persons in unity of nature best signified? Solution
– Ibid.
How is the greatest concordance made between God and creature? Solution – Go to
the chapter on magnitude and concordance.
With what is the great concordance among the divine Persons signified? Solution -
Ibid.
How can God be the greatest principle of creature? Solution – Go to the chapter on
magnitude and principle.
If God were not incarnate, would God’s magnitude be idle in that it did not principiate
a great creature? Solution – An agent id idle in magnitude if it is not as great as it
could be.
What is the greatest intermediary that God can create? Solution – Go to the chapter on
magnitude and middle.
Why is there an Incarnation? Solution – Ibid.
What is the greatest end that God can give to creature? Solution – Go to the chapter on
magnitude and the end.
Without the Incarnation, would any creature be perfect? Solution – No creature can be
perfect in the privation of a great end.
How could God create magnitude in major majority? Solution - Solution – Go to the
chapter on magnitude and majority.
Without the Incarnation, could God elevate created magnitude to the greatest degree of
creation? Solution – There cannot be any higher degree of creation than the
Incarnation.
How can God equalize goodness and magnitude in creature in a higher degree of
goodness? Solution – Go to the chapter on magnitude and equality.
Without the Incarnation, could the acts of divine magnitude and wisdom be equal in
creature? Solution – Ibid.
How does God’s magnitude remove creature from major smallness and place it in
major magnitude? Solution – Go to the chapter on magnitude and minority.
If there were no Incarnation, could divine magnitude create its likeness outside of
smallness? Solution - If there were no Incarnation, then every creature would be
greater in smallness than in magnitude.

Questions about eternity from the flowers of the tree of Jesus Christ
Without the Incarnation, can God’s power empower a creature in duration as much as
can with the Incarnation? Solution – Go to the above chapter.
Can God’s power deprive the Incarnation of existence? Solution – The Incarnation
must exist through durification by reason of eternity as much as it exists through
powering by reason of power.
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Can God be against the act of eternity and wisdom? Solution – Go to the chapter on
eternity and wisdom.
How can divine wisdom know the greatest act of eternity in creature? Solution – The
greatest act of eternity in creature that wisdom can know is in that it knows one Person
made of eternity and creature.
How are eternity and the divine will causes of wisdom and of the acts that they have in
creature? Solution – go to the chapter on eternity and the will.
Is the act of eternity as necessary in creating as the act of the divine will? Solution – If
the act of eternalizing were not as great an act in creating as is the act of the divine
will, which is the act of loving, then divine eternity would be idle in its creature.
How are eternity and divine virtue causes of the Incarnation? Solution – Go to the
chapter on eternity and virtue.
If there were no Incarnation, would eternity and virtue be idle in creating? Solution –
Eternity would be vitiated against a great act of virtue if virtue were idle in creating a
creature through eternalizing.
How do eternity and truth have major actuality in creature? Solution – Go to the
chapter on eternity and the truth.
How do eternity and truth remove creature from major privation and falsehood?
Solution – Created truth that is joined to eternity and to uncreated truth is more
removed from privation and from falsehood than any other created truth.
How can eternity be the cause of major created glory? Solution – Go to the chapter on
eternity and glory.
How do eternalizing and glorifying join together in creating? Solution – Eternalizing
and glorifying join together in creating in the deification of creature.
How does eternity have greater actuality than created difference has? Solution – Go to
the chapter on eternity and difference.
How do eternalizing and differentiating remove themselves from major opposing in
the act of creating? Solution – Without the Incarnation, the acts of eternalizing and
differentiating cannot have any concordance in creating.
With what can eternity and concordance be the most concordant in the act of creating?
Solution – Go to the chapter on eternity and concordance.
How can creating consist of eternalizing and concording? Solution - Creating consists
of eternalizing and concording in the act of deifying.
How can eternity principiate creating in eternalizing? Solution – Go to the chapter on
eternity and principle.
How can eternity be a major cause of principle? Solution – Eternity can be a major
cause of creature through the deification of creature.
With what are eternity and creature major means in the act of creating? Solution – Go
to the chapter on eternity and the middle.
How can loving and eternalizing best join together in creating? Solution – The greatest
conjunction that can possibly be between eternalizing and loving in creating is made
by deifying and creating.
How can eternity attain the major end through creating? Solution – Go to the chapter
on eternity and the end.
With what can eternity and the end have the best concordance in creating? Solution –
Ibid.
How can eternity most strongly show its likeness by creating? Solution – Go to the
chapter on eternity and majority.
How can eternity eternalize a major act of creating since creating cannot be without
temporificating? Solution – The answer to this question is in the deifying of creature.
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Can eternity and the divine will without the Incarnation have equality in creating?
Solution – Go to the chapter on eternity and equality.
With what can eternity and the divine will equalize loving in creating? Solution –
Through incarnating, all the divine reasons can equalize their acts in creating.
How can eternalizing remove creating most strongly from minority? Solution – Go to
the chapter on eternity and minority.
With what can eternity best remove minority form privation? Solution – Through the
Incarnation, creature is the most strongly removed from privation.

Questions about power from the flowers of the tree of Jesus Christ
How is the Incarnation proved through power and wisdom? Solution – Go to the
above chapter.
When God’s wisdom knows that power could make me a Pope, does it follow that
God will make me a Pope? Solution – God’s wisdom does not consider any
superfluous idea so that there be no voidness of purpose in his consideration.
How are divine power and divine will causes of the Incarnation? Solution – Go to the
chapter on power and will.
As God’s will can desire many incarnations in many men, does it therefore follow that
they exist, since the will can love them? Solution – Go to the above chapter.
With what can God’s power use corporeal virtue as much as spiritual virtue? Solution
– Go to the chapter on power and virtue.
If there were no Incarnation, then would God’s power be idle and vicious? Solution –
If there were not some mode whereby divine power could communicate itself to
corporeal substance as much as to spiritual substance, then God’s power would be idle
with regard to this mode.
How do powering and verifying cause the Incarnation? Solution – Go to the chapter
on power and truth.
Since God’s power is infinite, what compels it to communicate itself through the
Incarnation? Solution – A judge is free in his judgments and since truth is a reason for
him to render a true judgment, the judge compels himself with the reasons of justice
and truth to render a true sentence against falsity and injury.
Since God’s power is glorious in itself, what kind of glory does the Incarnation mean
for God? Solution – Every cause has pleasure in producing its likeness although it is in
itself perfect without this production. And go to the chapter on power and glory.
How does divine glory compel divine power to power the Incarnation? Solution –
Power is a reason for powering and glory is a reason for glorifying and God equally
compels (so to speak) himself with his reasons to become incarnate just as God
compels himself to forgive with his mercy.
How can God’s power best use created difference? Solution – Go to the chapter on
power and difference.
Since there is no distinction through essence in the Supreme Trinity, how can the Son
be incarnate and why aren’t the Father and the Holy Spirit incarnate? Solution –
Inasmuch as the Son is personally distinct from the Father and the Holy Spirit, He can
become incarnate although the Father and the Holy Spirit are not incarnate. But
inasmuch as the three Persons are one essence and one nature, the Father and the Holy
Spirit must be as truly a man as the Son is a man through the Incarnation.
If the Incarnation did not exist, what would then follow for divine power and its
concordance with creature? Solution – Go to the chapter on power and concordance.
Since God’s power can extend itself into the Incarnation through the Father and the
Holy Spirit, why didn’t the Father and the Holy Spirit become incarnate? Solution –
With regard to creature that is a daughter through creation, the Son of man was better
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proportioned and disposed to be deified through the Incarnation of God’s Son than
through a Person other than the Son, given that the specific concordance between God
the Son and the Son of man is greater than the general concordance between Son and
not-Son.
How are major possibility and major principiability reasons for major creability?
Solution – Go to the chapter on power and the beginning.
How can the Incarnation be the principle of all created being? Solution – Inasmuch as
God considered creation in terms of his participating in nature with all created being,
the Incarnation is the ultimate and principal beginning and end of all creatures.
How can powering be the greatest medium between uncreated powerativity and
created powerability? Solution – Go to the chapter on power and the middle.
How can forgiving be the greatest medium between the forgiver and the forgiven?
Solution – This question should be put to the Incarnation of Jesus Christ.
How can divine power best exalt the end of creature? Solution – Go to the chapter on
power and the end.
How would the end of angels be better exalted if God had become an angel, and why
didn’t God take on the nature of an angel? Solution – Since God can participate with
all creatures through a man but not through an angel, the end attained through a man is
more general than the end attained through an angel.
How are power and majority reasons for becoming incarnate? Solution – Go to the
chapter on power and majority.
Since there is greater possibility offered by many incarnations than by only one, why
are not power and majority reasons for many incarnations? Solution – Divine power is
one without a second and therefore it can elevate one creature over all the others more
than it can elevate many creatures over all the others.
How can divine power, wisdom and will have the greatest equality in creating?
Solution – Go to the chapter on power and equality.
Since the son is incarnate but not the Father and the Holy Spirit, how can the three
divine Persons really be a man? Solution – The unity of divine nature and essence
makes the three Persons be equally man and God.
How can power and minority be reasons for the Incarnation? Solution – Go to the
chapter on power and minority.
As God’s power is infinite but man is finite, how can they have any proportion in the
Incarnation? Solution – The human nose and head are placed according to proportion
in the human species although the nose is smaller than the head.

Questions about wisdom from the flowers of the tree of Jesus Christ
Why did God become incarnate through the magnitude of wisdom and will? Solution
– Go to the chapter on wisdom and will.
Since magnitude is the cause for wisdom and will to make God become incarnate,
why isn’t it the cause of many incarnations, given that magnitude is greater as a cause
of many things than as a cause of only one thing? Solution – Divine magnitude is one,
and it is the same with wisdom, which is one, and likewise with the will, and
therefore, according to the nature of unity and singularity, magnitude along with
wisdom and will is the cause of one and not more than one Incarnation. And go to the
above chapter.
Would God’s wisdom be a vice if it ignored the Incarnation? Solution – Following the
nature of divine wisdom and virtue it behooves divine wisdom to know a big virtuous
object rather than a small one. And go to the chapter on wisdom and virtue.
Does God’s wisdom consider any impossible things? Solution – It would be vicious of
the Sun to be above the earth at noon if it were night above the earth.
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Is it necessary for divine wisdom to know the major truth about God and creature?
Solution – Go to the chapter on wisdom and truth.
Why is it more becoming to God’s wisdom to know great truth rather than small truth?
Solution – In accordance with the nature of truth, it is becoming to God to know both
kinds of truth equally. However, since God’s wisdom is great and not small, it is more
becoming to it to know a great truth than to know a small truth.
How are God’s wisdom and glory causes for knowing major created glory? Solution –
Go to the chapter on wisdom and glory.
Why does God’s wisdom consider punishment, since it is sufficient for it to consider
glory? Solution – God’s wisdom considers the punishment of the damned by reason
of justice in order to punish them.
How does divine wisdom cause the Incarnation through difference? Solution – Go to
the chapter on wisdom and difference.
If there were no incarnation, could God’s wisdom know the major distinction between
God and creature? Solution – Ibid.
Could God’s wisdom know greater concordance between God and creature without
the Incarnation? Solution – Go to the chapter on wisdom and concordance.
Could the divine will hate the major concordance between God and creature? Solution
– Divine wisdom cannot ignore the major concordance between God and creature and
likewise the divine will cannot hate the major concordance between God and creature.
How can divine wisdom be the cause of the greatest created principle? Solution – Go
to the chapter on wisdom and the beginning.
Could the divine will hate the greatest created principle? Solution – Divine wisdom
cannot ignore the greatest created principle and likewise divine will cannot hate the
greatest created principle.
How is divine wisdom the cause of the greatest created medium? Solution – Go to the
chapter on wisdom and the middle.
How is creating a mean between God and creature? Solution – Ibid.
How are major knowativity and major knowability causes of the major created end?
Solution – Go to the chapter on wisdom and the end.
Why doesn’t God’s wisdom know that Martin, who could be a Pope, will not be a
Pope? Solution – God’s wisdom does not consider in its knowing anything
superfluous that does not give rise to an end. And go to the above chapter.
Without the Incarnation, can God’s wisdom know the greatest created majority?
Solution – Go to the chapter on wisdom and majority.
Can the divine will hate the greatest created majority? Solution – Divine wisdom
cannot ignore the greatest created majority and likewise, the divine will cannot hate
the greatest created majority.
Why is the major knowability of equality a cause of the Incarnation? Solution – Go to
the chapter on wisdom and equality.
If there were no incarnation, could divine wisdom know the greatest equality that can
be created? Solution – No created knowability can be exalted as much without the
Incarnation as it can be exalted with the Incarnation.
Could the divine will love minor intelligibility more than major intelligibility?
Solution – Because divine wisdom is great and not small, it is naturally better suited to
understanding great things than small things and greater good than smaller good. And
go to the chapter on wisdom and minority.
Just as God’s wisdom does not consider that Martin could be a Pope given the fact that
he will never be one, so does it likewise not consider the greatest majority of created
knowability? Solution – The reason why God’s wisdom does not consider that Martin
could be a Pope, given the fact that he will never be one, is that this consideration
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would not be followed by any end. However, if God’s wisdom did not consider the
major majority of created intelligibility that can be created, then its sanctity would not
extend as much into its own object, which is knowability as divine powerativity would
extend into its own object, which is powerability. This passage is most pleasant to
consider and it is a subject for understanding many things about God.

Questions about the will from the flowers of the tree of Jesus Christ
How are the divine will and wisdom reasons for creating the greatest creature that can
be created? Solution – Go to the above chapter.
Why does the divine will love great virtue more than small virtue? Solution – Since
the divine will is great and not small, it would be a vice for it to love small virtue more
than great virtue.
Why does the divine will love greater truth more than lesser truth? Solution – Go to
the chapter on the will and truth.
Since the divine will is great and not small, why does it love lesser truth? Solution –
Comparatively, the divine will loves lesser truth as much as greater truth, but since the
divine will is great and not small, in accordance with the nature of its magnitude it
cannot love lesser truth as much as greater truth.
Why is major glory more lovable than minor glory? Solution – Because minority has
concordance with smallness and magnitude has concordance with majority, major
glory is more lovable than minor glory.
If there were no Incarnation, what would follow with regard to truth and glory?
Solution – If there were no Incarnation, then the divine will would not love the major
glory of creature and it would be more proportioned to minor glory than to major
glory. Go to the chapter on truth and glory.
How is the distinction between the lover and the beloved a cause of the Incarnation?
Solution – Go to the chapter on the will and difference.
Why does the will love the major distinction between the lover and the beloved?
Solution – The will can have greater loving in the major distinction between the lover
and the beloved than in a minor one.
Why is the Incarnation signified by the major lovability of concordance? Solution –
Go to the chapter on the will and concordance.
How can there be major concordance in creating through loving? Solution – The
greatest concordance that can be possibly be made through loving is made through the
Incarnation.
If there were no Incarnation, could the divine will love created principiability as much
as if there is an Incarnation? Solution – Go to the chapter on the will and the
beginning.
God is will and principle, and I ask how loving and principiating can best be equalized
in creature. Solution – Loving and principiating cannot have equal concordance in
creating outside of incarnating.
How is major loving a major means of creating? Solution – Through incarnating,
loving is the greatest means of creating. Go to the chapter on the will and the middle.
Without incarnating can there be major loving in creating? Solution – No means can
be as great as the means whereby God and creature are one Person.
Can the major created end be hated by the divine will? Solution – If the major created
end could be hated by the divine will, then divine wisdom could be capable of
ignoring the major created end. Go to the chapter on the will and the end.
Why doesn’t the divine will love the created end in eternity? Solution – The created
end cannot exist without the time in which it is principiated. And because God could
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not principiate it in eternity without a beginning He wanted to principiate it in eternity

through the Incarnation.
Why does major majority of the will necessarily suppose the Incarnation? Solution –
Go to the chapter on the will and majority.
If God is incarnate, is He necessarily required to thank himself for the Incarnation?
Solution – The divine reasons do not compel God but He responds to them by acting
in accordance with the virtuous and not vicious works that they require of him.
How is the Incarnation signified by divine love and equality? Solution – Go to the
chapter on the will and equality.
How is the equality between the uncreated beloved and the created lover best
signified? Solution - The major equality between the Persons of the Holy Trinity is
most strongly signified by the major equality between amativity and amability.
If there were no Incarnation, what would be the consequences for the relation between
the divine will and created will? Solution – Go to the chapter on the will and minority.
If there were no Incarnation, could the divine will love creature in accordance with its
own nature? Solution – Ibid.

Questions about virtue from the flowers of the tree of Jesus Christ
How did God place major concordance between virtue and created truth? Solution –
Go to the above chapter.
How can God’s natural virtue and truth have a moral habit? Solution – Ibid.
With what did God place the greatest distance between virtue with glory on the one
hand and vice with punishment of the other hand? Solution – Go to the chapter on
virtue and glory.
From which natural virtue can major moral glory be intensified? Solution – Ibid.
With what can faith, hope and charity be the most different and concordant in the
magnitude of goodness? Solution – Go to the chapter on virtue and difference.
How can moral virtue have the noblest and greatest subject in which to diversify its
habits? Solution – Ibid.
With what can the concordance of virtues be the most strongly opposed to the
concordance of vices? Solution – Go to the chapter on virtue and concordance.
If there were no Incarnation, could God have a subject through which He could place
the concordance of moral virtues in the greatest majority against the concordance of
moral vices? Solution – No moral virtue can resist vice as strongly as a virtue which is
a habit of the God-man.
How can God principiate moral virtue in the greatest principiability of virtue? Solution
– Go to the chapter on virtue and the beginning.
How can the greatest majority of virtue and the greatest majority of principle be
created? Solution – Ibid.
Why can moral virtue be strongest in the middle of love? Solution – Go to the chapter
on virtue and the middle.
How can God most strongly provide men with occasions to be virtuous? Solution –
Ibid.
How can the virtues of faith and hope best serve as instruments of charity? Solution –
Go to the chapter on virtue and the end.
How can charity most strongly inform and move faith and hope? Solution – Ibid.
Without the Incarnation, could there be a major majority of virtue against a major
majority of vice and could the major majority of vice be the privation of the major
majority of virtue? Solution – Go to the chapter on virtue and majority.
If there were no Incarnation, would divine virtue have greater concordance in its effect
with minority than with majority? Solution – Ibid.
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How does divine virtue equally communicate itself to wisdom and will through
creation? Solution – Go to the chapter on virtue and equality.
If God were not incarnate, could He be a subject in whom virtuous equality could be
created in major majority? Solution – Ibid.
Why does the Incarnation, according to God, have better concordance with being than
with non-being, since the Incarnation is not a necessity for God? Solution – Go to the
chapter on virtue and minority.
If the Incarnation were not virtue in the greatest majority, would it then be vice in the
greatest majority? Solution – From that from which falsehood and impossibility
follow there must also follow truth and possibility.

Questions about truth from the flowers of the tree of Jesus Christ
In a created subject, how do glory and truth be most strongly opposed to punishment
and falsehood? Solution – Go to the above chapter.
How can the glory of God and the glory of creature be in the greatest majority?
Solution – Ibid.
How can the distinction between God and creature be in the greatest truth? Solution –
Go to the chapter on truth and difference.
How does the major distinction between God and creature consist in major verifying?
Solution – Ibid.
How can verifying and concording be present in a major act of creating? Solution –
Go to the chapter on truth and concordance.
If there were no Incarnation, how could there be a major privation of verification and
concordance in creation? Solution – Ibid.
How can God principiate major truth by creating? Solution – Go to the chapter on
truth and the beginning.
How do the acts of verifying and concording best join together? Solution – Go to the
above chapter.
How is the created act of verifying the greatest means of truth? Solution – Go to the
chapter on truth and the middle.
How is the act of verifying the greatest means between wisdom, true magnitude and
goodness? Solution – Ibid.
With what do the end of God and the end of creature join together in major truth?
Solution – Go to the chapter on truth and the end.
How are the end of God and the end of creature most strongly removed from
falsehood? Solution – Ibid.
How can truth between God and creature be so great that it could not possibly be any
greater? Solution – Go to the chapter on truth and majority.
How is divine truth a cause of major majority? Solution – Because divine truth is great
and not small, it is a cause of major creability.
How are truth and equality causes of the Incarnation? Solution - Divine truth is great
and not small, and it is the same with divine equality among the divine Persons, and
this is why they have concordance in majority.
How can God love creature with a major act of loving and how can God verify
creature with a major act of verifying? Solution – Go to the chapter on truth and
equality.
If there were no Incarnation, what would happen to created verification? Solution –
Go to the chapter on truth and minority.
If there were no Incarnation, would the end of the world be more greatly proportioned
to falsification than to verification? Solution – If minority defeated majority in
creation, then falsehood would defeat truth in the magnitude of goodness.
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Questions about glory from the flowers of the tree of Jesus Christ
Why are glory and difference reasons for the Incarnation? Solution – Go to the above
chapter.
In what does the difference that exists between one element and another element,
between one plant and another plant, between a man and a lion, between the Sun and
the Moon, have eviternal repose? Solution – The repose of creation is in the uncreated
and created difference which both participate in one Person through the Incarnation.
In what is the concordance between God and creature the greatest? Solution – The
major glory of creature comes through the Incarnation. And go to the chapter on glory
and concordance.
In what do the concordance between one element and another, between one plant and
another, between a lion and a horse, between hearing and eyesight, between the Sun
and the Moon have natural repose? Solution – In the uncreated and created glory
which participate in one Person through the Incarnation, the created concordance
between one element and another, between the elementative and the vegetative
powers, between the vegetative and the sensitive powers, between the sensitive power
and the Moon, between the Moon and the Sun and between the Sun and Aries has
natural repose through concordance.
How does created principle have glory in the course of nature? Solution – The
principle of creation has general repose in the participation between uncreated
principle and created principle participating in the unity of one Person through the
Incarnation. And go to the chapter on glory and the beginning.
How do the principles of this element and that element, of this plant and that/plant, of
this horse and that horse, of a horse and a just man, of a just man and the Sun, of the
Moon and the Sun and of the Sun and Aries have eviternal natural repose? Solution –
Created principle has eviternal repose in the end of the Incarnation.
Since there is no proportion between infinite being and finite being, how can creation
be glorified? Solution – Go to the chapter on glory and the middle.
How does the medium between one element and another element, an element and a
plant and so on with the other natural mediums, find natural repose? Solution – Every
created medium that is innocent of sin naturally has repose in the participation
between the uncreated medium and created medium through the Incarnation.
How are glory and the end causes of the Incarnation? Solution – Go to the chapter on
glory and the end.
How does the end of this element and that element, of this plant and that plant, of this
horse and that lion, of the Sun and the Moon have natural repose? Solution – Except
for the end of damned men and of evil angels, every created end has repose in the
uncreated end and the created end participating with each other though the
Incarnation.
With what can created glory ascend to major majority? Solution – Go to the chapter
on glory and majority.
In fire, substance is greater than accident, a plant has greater virtue than fire, a lion has
greater virtue than a plant and man has greater virtue than the Moon or than a plant; in
what does this natural majority have natural repose? Solution – Created majority has
repose in the principiation of itself joined to infinite magnitude through the
Incarnation.
With what can created equality have major glorification? Solution – Go to the chapter
on glory and equality.
There is equality between one element and another element, between one plant and
another plant, and the same with other created equalities; in what does this natural
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equality have repose? Solution – Every created equality that is innocent of sin has
repose in created equality joined to uncreated personal equality.
With what can god give major glory to creature? Solution – Go to the chapter on glory
and minority.
There is minority in fire in that its accidents are minor and its substance is major and it
is the same with the minority of a plant, of a lion, of a heron, of a man, of the Moon;
in what does this natural created minority have repose? Solution – In Jesus Christ the
human nature is minor and the divine nature is major and because both natures are one
Person, in the minority of the Person repose all created minorities that are innocent of
sin.

Questions about difference from the flowers of the tree of Jesus Christ
How do created difference and concordance ascend above their nature? Solution – Go
to the above chapter.
How does difference extend itself into a major concordance of remembering,
understanding and loving? Solution – Ibid.
With what can difference be a nobler principle of remembering, understanding and
willing? Solution – Go to the chapter on difference and the beginning.
Jesus Christ loves as God and He loves as a man, are these two acts of loving one or
are they different? Solution – They are one act of loving inasmuch as there is one
Person and there are two acts of loving inasmuch as there are two natures in him, as
when Martin loves water with his will and he loves water through the natural instinct
of the sensitive power which requires moisture and coldness when it is excessively dry
or hot.
Does the act of creating proceed from the Creator and the creature? Solution – Go to
the chapter on difference and the middle.
Jesus Christ is in the midst of the saints in glory and he is elevated in glory above
them all. Now I ask how He can be in their midst if He is elevated above them all.
Solution – Martin’s head stands in the middle between his right arm and foot and his
left arm and foot and it is above his feet when he sits and when he stands.
How can God create one end which is the complement of all other created ends?
Solution – Go to the chapter on difference and the end.
How are the end and difference in major exaltation? Solution – Ibid.
How can one creature be greater than all creatures? Solution – Go to the chapter on
difference and majority.
If there were two or more Jesus Christs would created difference be in greater majority
than if there were only one Jesus Christ? Solution – In a tree in which there is not one
leaf higher than all the other leaves, no leaf is in the topmost summit.
How are difference and equality reasons for the Incarnation? Solution – Go to the
chapter on difference and equality.
If there were two or more equal Jesus Christs would created difference be in greater
majority than if there were only one Christ? Solution – The parts of substance are
more elevated and nobler in the unity and majority of substance than in the equality
they have among themselves.
How do difference and minority signify the Incarnation? Solution – Go to the chapter
on difference and minority.
In creation, how does a creature ascend to the greatest majority and how does it exist
in major minority? Solution – Created difference cannot ascend above the greatest
majority nor can it descend beyond the greatest minority. And go to the above chapter.
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Questions about concordance from the flowers of the tree of Jesus Christ
How is principiating in major concordance in creating? Solution – Go to the above
chapter.
How does created concordance exist in the highest degree of principiability? Solution
– The highest degree of principiability is in newness which does not arise from any
principiated oldness and the supreme degree of created newness consists in principle
joined through concordance to eternal principiability.
By what means is the act of creating in the highest degree of concording? Solution –
Go to the chapter on concordance and the middle.
In creating, where is the center of concordance? No point is as noble in a circle or in a
spherical body as the center that stands in the middle. And go to the above chapter.
The summit of created concordance is in the end and the lower parts are in the middle
and in the beginning. Now where is this end? Solution – Go to the chapter on
concordance and the end.
Without the Incarnation, could all creatures naturally have concordance in one created
end? Solution – All creatures are new and no creature can by its own nature can be the
end of all creatures; therefore there must be some natural created end of all created
natures which must be joined to the divine nature.
How can the divine will love concording in the act of creating as much as divine
power can empower it? Solution – Go to the chapter on concordance and majority.
Can divine wisdom be greater than divine power in creating concordance? Solution –
If there were no Incarnation, then wisdom would have concordance with majority in
creation, and power would have concordance with minority.
How can love and concordance equalize with each other in concording and loving?
Solution – Go to the chapter on concordance and equality.
How is every part of Jesus Christ’s humanity equal to every other part in major
concordance? Solution – The divine nature of Jesus Christ is equally joined to every
part of his human nature.
What does the interiority of minor concordance within major concordance and of
major concordance within minor concordance depend on? Solution – Go to the chapter
on concordance and minority.
In concordance, how can minor being ascend to major being and major being descend
to minor being? Solution – The solution to this question is in the personal unity made
of major and minor being.

Questions about the beginning from the flowers of the tree of Jesus Christ
How does a created principle have major means? Solution – Go to the above chapter.
Through what means can a particularized created principle be the principle of the
entire created universe? Solution – The Incarnation is the means whereby the Creator
and creature are one principle of the entire created universe.
Without the Incarnation, can a major end follow from a major beginning and
conversely? Solution – Go to the chapter about the beginning and the end.
Without the Incarnation, can the created end be principiated in such a way that it is its
own complement in and of itself? Solution – Jesus Christ as a man is majorified in a
magnitude of goodness which is its own complement in and of itself. However, this
could not be if his humanity were not joined to his Divinity.
In what can God principiate a major creature? Solution – Go to the chapter on the
beginning and majority.
How can God principiate the greatest majority? Solution – Go to the above chapter.
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Since creature is nobler in the end than in the beginning, can God equalize the
beginning and the end in creature without the Incarnation? Solution – Go to the
chapter about the beginning and equality and to the chapter about the beginning and
the middle.
.With what can created equality be a major principle? Solution – In the participation
between uncreated and created equality, a particularized created equality can be the
final and formal principle of all instances of created equality.
How is the beginning moved from minority to the greatest majority? Solution – Go to
the chapter on the beginning and minority.
How can the nature of sin be known, if sin has no entity? Solution – Since a minor
end follows a minor beginning, a major end must follow a major beginning, for
otherwise there would be sin, given that the majority of the beginning and of the end is
more proportioned to being and is more removed from privation than minority. This
indicates that God is incarnate and men commit a sin when they want to obtain a
greater end from a minor principle than from a major principle.

Questions about the middle from the flowers of the tree of Jesus Christ

Without the Incarnation, can one created and particularized means be the form and the
end of all created means? Solution – Go to the above chapter.
How can God exalt one accident to such a lofty magnitude of virtue that it is the end
of all created substance? Solution – Ibid.
How can the middle be placed in the greatest majority of virtue? Solution – Go to the
chapter on the middle and majority.
Can the greatest majority be created without the Incarnation? Solution – If there were
no Incarnation, then the greatest majority in creation could not be achieved.
Without the Incarnation, could equality be created in the greatest majority that exists
between the beginning and the end? Solution – Go to the chapter on the middle and
equality.
How can fire be heated by water and how can light be an occasion for darkness?
Solution – Ibid.
How is created production moved from major minority to major majority? Solution –
Go to the chapter on the middle and minority.
How can a middle be sustained between major minority and major majority? Solution
– This question should be put to the Incarnation of Jesus Christ.

Questions about the end from the flowers of the tree of Jesus Christ
How are majority and the end causes of the Incarnation? Solution – Go to the above
chapter.
Without the Incarnation, could God create the formal and material end in the greatest
majority of accident and substance? Solution – Ibid.
Can God create the end in the greatest majority and equality of the formal, material,
causal and final ends? Solution – Go to the chapter on the end and equality.
Without the Incarnation, could God create the world in the greatest major equality of
substance and substance, of substance and accident, of accident and accident, of one
end and another end? Solution – Major majority requires so much magnitude and
goodness that it cannot be created without the Incarnation.
Without the Incarnation, could God ascend from a minor end to major majority within
the course of nature? Solution – Go to the chapter on the end and minority.
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How can a minor end be major without contradiction? Solution – The end of one part
joined to Divinity can be the end of the entire created universe.

Questions about majority from the flowers of the tree of Jesus Christ
How is common utility a cause of the Incarnation? Solution – Common utility and
majority are proportional to the magnitude of goodness.
How is common utility more proportioned to majority than to equality, sine it consists
of equal things? Solution – Common utility is sustained in the exaltation of major
majority in the magnitude of goodness.
When God created the world, could God give priority to major majority over minor
majority if there were no Incarnation? Solution – Go to the chapter on majority and
minority.
Why is it more fitting for God to create a major creature than to create a minor
creature? Solution – Magnitude is concordant with majority and smallness is
concordant with minority, which indicates that the Incarnation must necessarily exist.

Questions about equality from the flowers of the tree of Jesus Christ
How are equality and majority causes of the Incarnation? Solution – Go to the above
chapter.
If there were no Incarnation, what would happen to created equality? Solution – Ibid.
We proved the Incarnation and we gave a doctrine based on the General Art to show
how you can know how to inquire into the truth and discover it with the prime forms
of this science by mixing the principles with each other as we just did and by applying
them to one question; and as we responded to some objections to the Incarnation, you
can also respond to many other extraneous objections by following the method we
followed. This rule is general and it applies to the entirety of this science.

Questions about the divine productions from the flowers of the divine
tree
Just as we put questions about the Incarnation of God with the prime forms, we want
to put questions about the production of the divine Persons. Now let us begin with goodness,
magnitude and eternity.

About goodness, magnitude and eternity

How are goodness, magnitude and eternity reasons for divine production? Solution –
Go to the above chapter.
If there were no production in God, could there be any reasons in God? Solution –
When the antecedent is destroyed, the resultant is also destroyed.
If there were no production in God, could there be any action by goodness, magnitude
and eternity in God’s power? Solution – Go to the chapter on goodness, magnitude,
eternity and power.
In God, is one reason the cause of another reason so that there be production? Solution
– In Godhead, there is no cause and effect as such and therefore it is more proper to
say that a reason is a reason for another reason, as when we say that goodness is a
reason for good to produce good, and since goodness is great, it is a reason for
magnitude to produce great good.
How is God’s wisdom a reason for production? Solution – Go to the chapter on
goodness, magnitude, eternity and wisdom.
If there were no production in God, what inconvenience would then follow? Solution
– God’s wisdom understands that goodness is a reason for good to produce good and
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God must necessarily understand this since He understands goodness and He

understands that goodness is great, and through this understanding, God understands
that goodness is a reason for good to produce great good and the same applies to
eternity. But if there were no production in God, then God would understand that
goodness is an idle reason from which evil would follow along with the smallness of
goodness and many other inconveniences which cannot exist in the divine essence
would arise.
How is the divine will a necessary reason for production? Solution – Go to the chapter
on goodness, magnitude, eternity and the will.
Is the reason of divine will as great, as good and as eternal a reason through loving as
through bonifying, magnifying and eternalizing? Solution – If the divine will was not
as great a reason for bonifying, magnifying and eternalizing as it is a great reason for
loving, then magnitude would not be a reason for the will to be great, nor would
goodness be a reason for magnitude to be good, and the same applies in its own way to
eternity.
How would vice creep into divine goodness against the virtue of magnitude and
eternity? Solution – Go to the chapter on goodness, magnitude, eternity and virtue.
Would goodness be vitiated if there were no production in God? Solution – The vice
you are looking for is the contrary of the virtue that goodness has in the bonifier, the
bonifiable and bonifying through infinity and eternity.
How is divine truth conditioned by goodness, magnitude and eternity? Solution – Go
to the chapter on goodness, magnitude, eternity and truth.
Why is there necessarily production in God? Solution – Goodness, magnitude, eternity
and truth are propter quid reasons and because they are what they are through form,
production must necessarily exist in God. And go to the above chapter.
How is glory a propter quid reason for goodness, magnitude and eternity? Solution –
Go to the chapter on goodness, magnitude, eternity and glory.
Without production, could eternity have great glory? The privation of a propter quid
reason of eternity would deprive eternity of the great glory of goodness.
How can eternity be great in goodness? Solution – Go to the chapter on goodness,
magnitude, eternity and difference.
Could there be an act of production in God without a distinction between the producer
and the produced? Solution – Just as contradiction does not sustain that the product
and the one that produces it can be numerically one and identical, likewise, the
goodness, magnitude and eternity of production does not sustain that production be
without the distinction between the product and the one that produces this product.
How does concordance require production from goodness, magnitude and eternity?
Solution – Inasmuch as goodness and eternity are reasons concordant with pure act,
concordance is a reason for production. And go to the chapter on goodness,
magnitude, eternity and concordance.
Can there be concordance in God without production? Solution – Concordance cannot
exist without plurality and therefore there must be a production of a plurality of things
in God so that goodness, magnitude and eternity can have concordance.
Without production, can goodness, magnitude and eternity be removed from
contrariety? The cause on account of which goodness, magnitude and eternity can be
removed from contrariety is concordance, which is contrary to contrariety, and there
can be no concordance in God without production. Go to the chapter on goodness,
magnitude, eternity and contrariety.
Can contrariety be a cause of production in Godhead? Solution – Magnitude would
not be a reason for concordance if contrariety were a reason for concording.
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Can God be a great principle through goodness and eternity? Solution – Go to the
chapter on goodness, magnitude, eternity and the beginning.
Is goodness a greater reason for principiativity through magnitude and eternity than
through time or through smallness? Solution – Because God is great and not small,
according to his conditions He is conditioned for producing something great and not
something small within himself. And because creature is small, God is ordered
externally to produce a small creature, but because He wants to produce his likeness,
He produces a great creature. And here we know that God produces a creature which
is great in accordance with the conditions of God’s likeness but small in accordance
with the conditions of creature.
Without production, could bonifying be in the middle of goodness, could magnifying
be in the middle of magnitude and could eternalizing be in the middle of eternity?
Solution – Go to the chapter on goodness, magnitude, eternity and the middle.
Since God’s magnitude is infinite how can it have a middle without having extremes?
Solution – Bonifying is in the middle of goodness because it arises from the bonifier
and the bonifiable.
Is the end as great as goodness and eternity? Solution – Go to the chapter on goodness,
magnitude, eternity and the end.
How is the end as great as goodness and eternity? Solution – It is through magnitude
communicating itself by being a great reason for bonifying as in the magnitude of
goodness, by being a great reason for eternalizing as in the magnitude of eternity and
by being an end of goodness as great as goodness is and an end of eternity as great as
eternity is.
How can goodness, magnitude and eternity be in the greatest majority? Solution – Go
to the chapter on goodness, magnitude, eternity and majority.
Without production, can goodness, magnitude and eternity exist in the greatest
possible degree of entity? Solution – It is impossible for any substance not to be
greater through existing and acting than through simply existing without acting or than
through acting and not existing.
How is equality a necessary reason for production? Solution – Go to the chapter on
goodness, magnitude, eternity and equality.
How is magnitude a reason for goodness and eternity through equality? Solution –
Magnitude exists as a reason for goodness to have in itself the equality of the bonifier,
the bonifiable and bonifying, and it is a reason for goodness to be great through
equality; without this equality goodness could not be a reason for itself to be great, and
it is the same with eternity.
How would God be the least of all beings if there were no production? Solution – Go
to the chapter on goodness, magnitude, eternity and minority.
Could magnitude not be a reason for goodness and eternity? Solution – Just as God’s
magnitude cannot be evil or limited by time, so likewise, goodness and eternity cannot
be small.

Questions about power, wisdom and will from the divine tree
Since wisdom and will in God are in act, how are they powerable? Solution – They are
powerable inasmuch as there is a production of Persons produced through an act of
understanding which is of the essence of wisdom and through an act of loving which
is of the essence of the will, but they are not powerable through essence and existence.
And go to the said chapter.
The Father produces the Son by understanding but the Holy Spirit does not produce a
Person by understanding the Father,. Now I ask how can the Holy Spirit’s
understanding be as great as the Father’s understanding? Solution – Just as the
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Father’s understanding has its perfection in producing the Son, the Holy Spirit’s
understanding has its perfection not in producing a Person but by abiding as pure
contemplation, and this is so that there be three and no more than three Persons. And
go to the flower of the apostolic tree where we prove that there can be neither more
nor fewer than three Persons in God.
How can power do as much with virtue as virtue can do with itself? Solution – Virtue
is powerable by power as much as virtue is knowable by wisdom and lovable by the
will. And go to the chapter on power, wisdom, will and virtue.
Everything that is in God is substance and there is no accident in God; and the Holy
Spirit understands himself but does not produce a person. Now we ask how his
understanding can be a substance and not an accident? Solution – Inasmuch as the
Holy Spirit understands himself, He can understand himself through power, and as He
can understand himself through power, He knows himself through wisdom and he
loves himself through the will and has virtuous understanding through virtue; but He
would not have this virtuous understanding if he loved to be the Father because He
would then love against the Father who has the singular virtue of being the Father.
And as He has the singular virtue of being the Father, so does He have the singular
power, the singular wisdom and the singular will to be the Father; and because the
Holy Spirit arises from the entirety of the Father’s understanding and the entirety of
the Son’s understanding, His understanding is a substance although He does not
produce any substance.
How can power do as much with truth as wisdom and will can? Solution – Go to the
chapter on power, wisdom, will and truth.
If the Father considers a fourth Person, He can understand it with power and wisdom
and if He can understand it with power and wisdom He can also love it with power
and will and if He can love it with power and will, then the fourth Person must
necessarily exist so that the will can attain what it desires. Now we ask: how could
there be any inconvenience if there were a fourth Person, since it is neither
inconvenient nor impossible to consider a fourth Person? Solution – in God, power,
wisdom and will are one and numerically identical with truth and thus wisdom cannot
extend to the consideration of any Person outside the truth, for if it did, it would then
reproduce species by producing an imaginary entity outside the truth just as humans
do; and the will would love the fourth Person in truth or in falsehood. Hence,
supposing that there cannot be a fourth Person in God, power cannot consider a fourth
Person.
Since power is glory, how can it have action in glory? Solution – Go to the chapter on
power, wisdom, will and glory.
Since the Father and the Son are productive Persons but the Holy Spirit is not a
productive Person how can He have as much glory as the Father and the Son? Solution
– The Holy Spirit arises from the entire productivity of the Father and the Son, He
arises from the entirety of their glory and thus He is as glorious as the Father and the
Son although He does not produce a person.
How is divine power free in wisdom and will? Solution – Go to the chapter on power,
wisdom, will and difference.
Without distinction, could divine wisdom know the numbers one, two and three in the
will just as it knows the number of the lover, the beloved and loving in the will?
Solution – Everything that is not intelligible is impossible.
Since power, wisdom and will are numerically identical, how can they have
concordance? Solution – Go to the chapter on power, wisdom, will and concordance.
Since power and wisdom have concordance in knowing about sin, why don’t power
and will have concordance in wanting sin? Solution – Sin is knowable by reason of
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justice but it is not lovable because it is evil against the goodness which is identical
with the will.
Why can’t there be any contrariety in God? Solution – Go to the chapter on power,
wisdom, will and contrariety.
Since there is no contrariety among God’s power, wisdom and will, why did God
create contrariety? Solution – If God did not create contrariety by reason of proper
qualities with diverse ends, there could be no corruption in number and consequently
there could be no generation, genera and species would be without individuals, the
virtues and vices would not be opposites, nor would punishment and glory be
opposites. Therefore, God created contrariety under the reason of proper qualities with
diverse ends so that there be no voidness in the end of the entire created universe.
How can the beginning be most intelligible and lovable in God? Solution – Go to the
chapter on power, wisdom, will and the beginning.
Since God is eternal and infinite, how can He principiate the Son and the Holy Spirit
from himself? Solution – Because in God there is actual powerativity and
powerability, knowativity and knowability, amativity and lovability, in God there is
also actual principiativity and principiability.
How can there be a middle in God’s power? Solution – In wisdom there can be an act
of understanding through wisdom itself as well as through power and the will, so that
when wisdom understands then its act of understanding can be an act of powering in
power through powerability, knowability and lovability. And go to the chapter about
wisdom, will, power and the middle.
Since the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit are one simple essence in God without
quantity, how can the Holy Spirit be in the middle between the Father and the Son?
Solution – In divine love, loving is in the middle between the lover and the beloved
without quantity.
What is the end of power? Solution – Go to the chapter on power, wisdom, will and
the end.
Since the divine Persons are distinct, how can their essence be simple and not
compound? Solution – Nothing is impossible to form in which power, wisdom, will
and the and are numerically one and the same.
How can divine power be the greatest of all powers? Solution – The power which is
numerically one and the same as wisdom and the will is capable of doing everything
that is lovable and knowable.
How can divine power be major through production? Solution – Go to the chapter on
power, wisdom, will and majority.
How can God’s power, wisdom and will be removed from inequality? Solution – Go
to the chapter on power, wisdom, will and equality.
Since power, wisdom and will are numerically one and the same in God, how can they
be equal, given that equality must be between a plurality of things different in
number? Solution – Power, wisdom and will are numerically one and the same with
regard to essence, but they constitute a plurality of reasons through the production of
the Persons.
How are power, wisdom and will removed from minority? Solution – Go to the
chapter on power, wisdom, will and minority.
Divine wisdom can consider that God can take a minor creature and make it into the
greatest of all creatures, and the will is capable of desiring it to extend into infinity.
Now I ask if power can multiply a minor creature in infinite magnitude, given that
power, wisdom and will are numerically one and the same. Solution – Divine power
cannot extend itself into an object more than divine wisdom can, and wisdom cannot
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understand a creature of infinite magnitude because creature, since it partakes of

minority, cannot receive infinity.

Questions about virtue, truth and glory from the flowers of the divine tree
How are virtue, truth and glory most strongly opposed to the vices? Solution – Go to
the chapter on virtue, truth and glory.
Can God’s glory be more virtuous and more true by existing and acting than by
merely existing? Solution – Ibid.
Without distinction, can there be anything glorious in glory, anything true in truth or
anything virtuous in virtue? Solution – Go to the chapter on virtue, truth, glory and
difference.
In God, is the distinction of the divine Persons also God? Solution – God would be
deficient in virtue, truth and glory if anything in him were not himself.
Why is production necessary for God’s virtue, truth and glory? Solution – Go to the
chapter on virtue, truth, glory and concordance.
How can there be any vice in God’s truth and glory? Solution – There would be vice
in God if He were not removed from contrariety by concordance, just as it would be a
vice for God if He were not removed from falsehood by truth and from glory by
punishment.
How is contrariety impossible in God? Solution – Go to the chapter on virtue, truth,
glory and contrariety.
If there were no production in God, would contrariety be present in Him? Solution –
Contrariety must be present in every being in which glory and truth are deficient in
virtue.
How is God the most virtuous, the most veracious and the most glorious principle?
Solution – Go to the chapter on virtue, truth, glory and the beginning.
In what, from what and through what can virtufiability, verifiability and glorifiability
have major principiability? Solution – This question should be put to the greatest
principiativity that can possibly exist.
Why is a middle necessary for God’s glory, virtue and truth? Solution – Go to the
chapter on virtue, truth, glory and the middle.
How is virtue a medium between truth and glory? Solution – Virtue is a medium
between glory and truth as it equally gives its likeness to both in verifying and
glorifying.
Can any divine reason attain its end without production? Solution – Go to the chapter
on virtue, truth, glory and the end.
How would the divine reasons be empty if there were no production? Solution – If the
glorifier, the glorifiable and glorifying were subtracted from glory, then no end could
possibly exist in glory.
How can virtue and truth exist in glory in the greatest possible majority? Solution –
Go to the chapter on virtue, truth, glory and majority.
How can virtue communicate itself in major glory and truth? Solution – The greatest
communication of virtue is made by the producer, the producible and the act of
producing which are one and the same virtue.
How can the act of truth be sustained in glory? Solution – Go to the chapter on virtue,
truth, glory and equality.
With what and through what is inequality the farthest removed from God’s virtue,
truth and glory? Solution – Nothing opposes inequality as much as equality does.
Can truth have a pure act in glory, in virtue and in itself without production? Solution
– Go to the chapter on virtue, truth, glory and minority.
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How is the greatest act of virtue the farthest removed from the greatest act of vice?
Solution – No act is as far removed from a minor act of virtue as is the greatest
possible major act of virtue.

Questions about difference, concordance and contrariety from the flowers

of the divine tree
How are the divine reasons the farthest removed from idleness? Solution – Go to the
above chapter.
How are distinction and contrariety the most strongly opposed to each other? Solution
– The distinction which is in concordance and which is concordance is farther
removed than any other distinction from contrariety.
Why is principiability necessarily present in God? Solution – Go to the chapter on
difference, concordance, contrariety and the beginning.
In principle, how is distinction farthest removed from contrariety? Solution – In the
distinction which is concordance, contrariety has no condition as a principle.
Without the production of concording could there be contrariety in God? Solution –
Contrariety must necessarily be present in a distinction in which there is no condition
of concordance. And go to the chapter on difference, concordance, contrariety and the
middle.
How are distinguishing and concording means in spirating? Solution – Judging
clothed in charity is a means in love.
How is the end of concordance present in Divinity without contrariety? Solution – Go
to the chapter on difference, concordance, contrariety and the end.
What would follow if there were no distinction between the lover, the beloved and
loving in the divine will? Solution – If there were no distinction between the lover, the
beloved and loving in the divine will, then there could be neither an end nor any
concordance in it.
Why is distinction naturally greater in concordance than in contrariety? Solution – Go
to the chapter on difference, concordance, contrariety and majority.
How are the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit in the greatest majority of distinction
and concordance? Solution – As the Son issues forth from the entirety of the Father
and as the Holy Spirit is present between both without any condition of contrariety,
their distinction and concordance is in the greatest majority that can possibly exist.
How is God’s concordance most removed from contrariety? Solution – Go to the
chapter on difference, concordance, contrariety and equality.
If there were no equality in God, would there have to be contrariety in him? Solution -
If in God there were no equality of the equalizer, the equalizable and equalizing with
distinguishing and concording, this privation of equality would give rise to a habit of
contrariety in God’s essence.
How can concordance and distinction in God be without minority? Solution – Without
accident there can be no minority. And go to the chapter on difference, concordance,
contrariety and minority.
Since the Father is a producer as is the Son, how can the Holy Spirit, who is not a
producer be in as great a magnitude of distinction and concordance as the Father and
the Son? Solution – Both passions of the Holy Spirit arise from the entire activity of
the Father and the Son and thus both passions are one person just as both activities are
one principle.
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Questions about the beginning, the middle and the end from the flowers of
the divine tree
How can God be a pure principle? Solution – Go to the above chapter.
As the Holy Spirit is from the Father and the Son, how is He as much from the Son as
from the Father? Solution – The unity of the beginning is in the unity of the middle
and the end.
How can the beginning, the middle and the end exist in the greatest majority that can
possibly be? Solution – Go to the chapter on the beginning, the middle, the end and
majority.
Since there is no voidness in God, how can there be an act of completing in him?
Solution – The act of completing must arise in God from the completor and the
completable just as the act of loving must arise in love from the lover and the lovable.
How can the principiator, the principiable and principiating be equal in the beginning
and in the end? Solution – Go to the chapter on the beginning, the middle, the end and
equality.
How are principiativity and principiability equal in principiating? Solution – This
question should be put to infinitizing, eternalizing, generating and spirating.
If there were no pure act of principiating in God, what would then follow? Solution –
Go to the chapter on the beginning, the middle, the end and minority.
How can we know about major and minor principiating? Solution – Ibid.

Questions about majority, equality and minority

With what are the divine Persons removed from majority and minority? Solution –
There can be no equalizing between majority and minority in eternal and infinite
being.
If there were no equality in God, would there be inequality in him? Solution – If you
deprive God of one of his reasons, you deprive him of all his reasons.

Questions about the flowers of the tree of exemplars

Questions about proverbs from the elemental tree

1. In what does the most virtuous end of gold consist? Solution – Go to the above
chapter.
2. Since fire is a creature, can it have an evil end? Solution – Ibid. paragraph 2.
3. Why is being better than well-being? Solution – Ibid. paragraph 3.
4. Since iron is more useful than silver, why is silver more beautiful than iron? Solution
– What God does not give to the one, He gives to the other; and go to paragraph 4.
5. How does guilt arise? Solution – Ibid. paragraph 5.
6. How does light have greater fortitude than darkness? Solution – One small candle
lights up a big room. And go to paragraph 6.
7. When fire participates with the Moon, why does it descend here below to participate
with pepper? Solution – Ibid. paragraph 7.
8. Does the hot water in a pot, by its own nature, heat the meat immersed in it? Solution
– Ibid. paragraph 8.
9. How do hypocrisy and conceit have concordance? Solution – Ibid. paragraph 9.
10. In what does nobility first arise? Solution – Ibid. paragraph 10.

Questions about proverbs from the flowers of the vegetal tree

1. How does disgrace arise? Solution – Go to the first paragraph of the said chapter.
2. Where is the book of humility? Solution – Ibid. paragraph 2.
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3. Where is the book of the end? Solution – Ibid. paragraph 3.

4. How does invisibility come forth into visibility? Solution – Ibid. paragraph 4.
5. Where does reprehension begin? Solution – Ibid. paragraph 5.
6. Why do people do penance? Solution – Ibid. paragraph 6.
7. How is a man conceited? Solution – Ibid. paragraph 7.
8. How are perfection and imperfection both present in one and the same quality?
Solution – Ibid. paragraph 8.
9. How is the particular nearer to the end than a universal and how is the universal
greater than the particular? Solution – Ibid. paragraph 9.
10. Why doesn’t a rich nobleman want to see his poor lower-class relative? Solution –
Ibid. paragraph 10.

Questions about proverbs from the flowers of the sensual tree

1. Since God is infinite, can man comprehend God’s act? Solution – Go to the above
chapter, paragraph 1.
2. How is a secret made known? Solution – Ibid. paragraph 2.
3. How is conceit recognized? Solution – Ibid. paragraph 3.
4. How do the eyes move memory to remember things? Solution – Ibid. paragraph 4.
5. How does memory move the sensitive power? Solution – Ibid. paragraph 5.
6. How does the sensitive power sense things through an intermediary? Solution – Ibid.
paragraph 6.
7. What are the harbingers of illness? Solution – Ibid. paragraph 7.
8. Why can’t visibility be sensed? Solution – Ibid. paragraph 8.
9. Since the eyes do not see visibility, why do they want to have it? Solution – Ibid.
paragraph 9.
10. Why can’t a man be seen? Solution – Ibid. paragraph 10.

Questions about proverbs from the flowers of the imaginal tree

1. How do the imaginative and the sensitive powers exercise their diverse functions?
Solution – Go to the said chapter, paragraph 1.
2. Can the rational soul sleep? Solution – Ibid. paragraph 2.
3. Why can’t the imaginative power imagine the entire circle of the firmament at the
same time? Solution – An imagination located in Rome cannot imagine that at the
antipodes the head is above and the feet are below. And go to paragraph 3 Ibid.
4. Why is it more valuable to imagine death than to imagine life? Solution – If you
imagine death you desire the afterlife and you naturally contemn worldly living. And
go to paragraph 4 Ibid.
5. How is beauty evil? Solution – Ibid. paragraph 5.
6. How is the king’s imagination ordered? Solution – Ibid. paragraph 6.
7. With what does the intellect move before the will moves? Solution – Ibid. paragraph 7
8. How does the imagination extend and restrain itself? Solution – Ibid. paragraph 8.
9. Is there some instrument that can be moved equally by the power and the object?
Solution – Ibid. paragraph 9.
10. What is ailing memory? Solution – Ibid. paragraph 10.

Questions about proverbs from the flowers of the human corporeal tree
1. What is human life for? Solution – Go to the above chapter.
2. What is the greatest poverty or the greatest privation? Solution – Ibid.
3. How can a man belong to the devil? Solution – Ibid. paragraph 3.
4. How can you recognize a just man? Solution – Ibid. paragraph 4.
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5. Since thinking is nobler than sensing, why is sensing more desired than thinking?
Solution – Because a horse acts against its own species when it generates a mule from
a she-donkey, the offspring looks more like a donkey than like a horse. And go to
paragraph 5.
6. How can original sin be known? Solution – Ibid. paragraph 6.
7. How can a change in one’s intention improve one’s good reputation? Solution – Ibid.
paragraph 7.
8. On what does hypocrisy subsist? Solution – Hypocrisy subsists on a good reputation
just as seeing subsists on colour. And go to paragraph 8.
9. How is a man more valuable than a donkey? Solution – Ibid. paragraph 9.
10. How does a man know how to stay on the straight and narrow path? Solution – Ibid.
paragraph 10.

Questions about proverbs from the flowers of the human spiritual tree
1. How does a just man love God more than himself? Solution – Go to the said chapter,
the first paragraph.
2. Why does the memory forget God? Solution – Ibid. paragraph 2.
3. How do visible things signify invisible things? Solution – Ibid. paragraph 3.
4. How does God’s lovability encompass man’s lovability? Solution – Ibid. paragraph 4.
5. Why isn’t God honoured everywhere in the world? Solution – Ibid. paragraph 5.
6. Who is the harbinger of compassion and spiritual recollection? Solution – Ibid.
paragraph 6.
7. What prescription does the ailing will need? Solution – Ibid. paragraph 7.
8. How do tears and sighs melt away sin? Solution – Ibid. paragraph 8.
9. How do you recognize ill will? Solution – All thieves love darkness; and go to.
paragraph 9.
10. In which people does God’s anger abide? Solution – Ibid. the last paragraph.

Questions about proverbs from the flowers of the tree of moral virtues
1. How does water signify purity? Solution – Go to the first paragraph of the above
chapter.
2. Why is faith weeping? Solution – Ibid. paragraph 2.
3. What are the two arms of justice? Solution – Ibid. paragraph 3.
4. How can charity fail? Solution – Ibid. paragraph 4.
5. How does major fearfulness stand between justice and hope? Solution – Ibid.
paragraph 5.
6. What heralds the coming of good words? Solution – Ibid. paragraph 6.
7. Why does justice complain to hope about men? Solution – Ibid. paragraph 7.
8. What constitutes major fortitude? Solution – Ibid. paragraph 8.
9. What is the major mantle and the major tunic? Solution – Ibid. paragraph 9.
10. How does God help people? Solution – Ibid. paragraph 10.

Questions about proverbs from the flowers of the tree of moral vices
1. What can fortitude be guilty of? Solution – Go to the first paragraph of the said
chapter.
2. What are the forerunners of punishment? Solution – Ibid. paragraph 2.
3. If conceit ascended, would it be a vice? Solution – Ibid. paragraph 3.
4. Why would a son bear his father’s guilt? Solution – Ibid. paragraph 4.
5. What is the most contrary thing to hope? Solution – Ibid. paragraph 5.
6. What is the farthest removed from prudence? Solution – Ibid. paragraph 6.
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7. Why can’t sin be a creature? Solution – Ibid. paragraph 7.

8. What thing is the most contrary to being. Solution – Ibid. paragraph 8.
9. How are vice and guilt numerically one and the same? Solution – Ibid. paragraph 9.
10. How can one and the same vice be greater or smaller? Solution – Ibid. the last
paragraph.

Questions about proverbs from the flowers of the imperial tree

1. By what is peace sustained? Solution – Go to the above chapter, the first paragraph.
2. What does a king’s major splendour consist of? Solution – Ibid. paragraph 2.
3. By what is the king’s honour sustained? Solution – Ibid. paragraph 3.
4. How does enslavement end up in freedom? Solution – Ibid. paragraph 4.
5. How should a bad prince be defeated and how should a good prince be reinforced?
Solution – Ibid. paragraph 5.
6. Why is a prince’s friendship so precarious? Solution – Ibid. paragraph 6.
7. With whom does the devil form major associations? Solution – Ibid. paragraph 7.
8. Who is keeping wisdom and will in captivity? Solution – Ibid. paragraph 8.
9. How can peace be made with a prince? Solution – Ibid. paragraph 9.
10. In what does humility appear the most beautiful? Solution – Ibid. the last paragraph.

Questions about proverbs from the flowers of the apostolic tree

About the articles on Divinity
1. If God did not exist, why would all that is be nothing? Solution – Go to the above
chapter, the first paragraph.
2. Can infinity be non-existent? Solution – Though finite substance can be in privation,
infinite substance cannot be in privation. And go to paragraph 2 in the above chapter.
3. Why can there not be two infinite substances that are different in essence? Solution –
Though there can be two finite substances different in essence, there cannot be two
infinite substances different in essence. And go to the above chapter, paragraph 3.
4. Why is God begotten from God? Solution – Ibid. paragraph 4.
5. Why does God issue forth from God? Solution – Ibid. paragraph 5.
6. Why can’t the world be eternal? Solution – Ibid. paragraph 6.
7. In how many ways is man obliged to serve God? Solution – Ibid. paragraph 7.
8. Do the damned have any knowledge of God’s glory? Solution – If sin deviates good
amativity from good amability, it also deviates good knowativity from good
knowability. And go to the above chapter, paragraph 8.
9. Was man created for this world or for the afterlife? Solution – Ibid. paragraph 9.
10. Why can God’s power do more with magnitude than with smallness? Solution – Ibid.
paragraph 10.

About the articles on humanity

1. Is the Incarnation more about love than about recreating the world? Solution – Go to
the above chapter, the first paragraph.
2. Was God’s power as productive through creation as through the Incarnation? Solution
– Ibid. paragraph 2.
3. Why did Jesus Christ die? Solution – Ibid. paragraph 3.
4. Why did Jesus Christ descend to Hell? Solution – Ibid. paragraph 4.
5. Why did Jesus Christ resurrect? Solution – Ibid. paragraph 5.
6. Why did Jesus Christ ascend to heaven? Solution – Ibid. paragraph 6.
7. Why will Jesus Christ judge the living and the dead? Solution – Ibid. paragraph 7.
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8. What is the greatest sin? Solution – Ibid. paragraph 8.

9. Which name comprehends all the virtues? Solution – Ibid. paragraph 9.
10. What are the most truthful testimonies? Solution – Ibid. paragraph 10.

Questions about proverbs from the flowers of the celestial tree

1. What was the first day when God created the world? Solution – Go to the above
chapter, the first paragraph.
2. With which complexion and which day does vegetating have the most concordance?
Solution – Ibid. paragraph 2.
3. On which day will the general judgment take place? Solution – Ibid. paragraph 3.
4. On which day is the imagination stronger? Solution – Ibid. paragraph 4.
5. Why do astronomers so often make mistaken judgments? Solution – Ibid. paragraph 5.
6. Could the art of alchemy be true? Solution – Ibid. paragraph 6.
7. Can astronomical tables be true? Solution – Ibid. paragraph 7.
8. Could the Moon’s complexion be made from Mercury? Solution – Ibid. paragraph 8.
9. How does heresy arise? Solution – Ibid. paragraph 9.
10. Is the power of the will greater than the power of elemental complexions? Solution –
Ibid. paragraph 10.

Questions about proverbs from the flowers of the angelic tree

1. Does an angel have anything greater than itself? Solution – Go to the above chapter,
the first paragraph.
2. Does an angel feel moral shame? Solution – Ibid. paragraph 2.
3. How do you recognize an evil temptation? Solution – Ibid. paragraph 3.
4. Where does the evil angel’s advice arise from? Solution – Ibid. paragraph 4.
5. How does a good angel give advice? Solution – Ibid. paragraph 5.
6. Can there be any contrariety in a good angel? Solution – Ibid. paragraph 6.
7. How is the devil’s punishment situated? Solution – Ibid. paragraph 7.
8. Does a demon’s intellect torment the will? Solution – Ibid. paragraph 8.
9. Can an evil angel have any pleasure? Solution – Ibid. paragraph 9.
10. How did the devil lose hope? Solution – Ibid. paragraph 10.

Questions about proverbs from the flowers of the eviternal tree

1. Is there any evil desire in Paradise? Solution – Go to the above chapter, the first
paragraph.
2. Is there anything defective in Paradise? Solution – Ibid. paragraph 2.
3. Does every devil love public mischief? Solution – Ibid. paragraph 3.
4. What does Hell live on? Solution – Ibid. paragraph 4. .
5. In Paradise, will every man be a king? Solution – Ibid. paragraph 5.
6. Is there hope in Paradise? Solution – Solution – That which is hope in this world is
understanding in Paradise. And go to the above chapter, paragraph 6.
7. Can anybody get out of Paradise? Solution – Ibid. paragraph 7.
8. Can Jesus Christ be loved in Hell? Solution – Ibid. paragraph 8.
9. Is there any natural end in Hell? Solution – Ibid. paragraph 9.
10. Is there fear in Hell? Solution – The entire man can receive greater punishment than
the human soul alone, and consequently every damned soul in Hell is afraid of
Judgment Day. And go the last paragraph of the above chapter.
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Questions about proverbs from the flowers of the maternal tree

1. How do Jesus Christ and Our Lady converse with each other? Solution – Go to the
above chapter, the first paragraph.
2. About what does Jesus Christ talk to Our Lady? Solution – Ibid. paragraph 2.
3. Why are there more people in error than in truth? Solution – Ibid. paragraph 3.
4. With what does Jesus Christ make Our Lady happy? Solution – Ibid. paragraph 4.
5. Does Our Lady have compassion? Solution – Ibid. paragraph 5.
6. How does Our Lady give advice? Solution – Ibid. paragraph 6.
7. In Paradise, does Our Lady weep for sinners? Solution – Ibid. paragraph 7.
8. Does Our Lady pray to her Son? Solution – Ibid. paragraph 6.
9. Is Our Lady aware of the prayers that people make to her? Solution – Ibid. paragraph
9.
10. Does Jesus Christ ever refuse to do anything for Our Lady? Solution – Ibid. paragraph
10.

Questions about proverbs from the flowers of the tree of Jesus Christ
1. With what does Jesus Christ’s humanity honour his Divinity? Solution – Go to the
above chapter, the first paragraph.
2. How can God give the greatest gift to creature and how can creature give the greatest
gift to God? Solution – Ibid. paragraph 2.
3. What does Jesus Christ desire? Solution – Ibid. paragraph 3.
4. How can the Creator and creature love each other? Solution – Ibid. paragraph 4.
5. Does Jesus Christ’s humanity pray to his Divinity? Solution – Ibid. paragraph 5.
6. Does Jesus Christ’s humanity want to be honoured? Solution – Ibid. paragraph 6.
7. What does Jesus Christ pray for? Solution – Ibid. paragraph 7.
8. Is Jesus Christ’s humanity aware of the prayers that people make to him? Solution –
Ibid. paragraph 8.
9. Is Jesus Christ’s human nature very beautiful? Solution – Ibid. paragraph 9.
10. What is God’s most beautiful likeness? Solution – Ibid. paragraph 10.

Questions about proverbs from the flowers of the divine tree

1. What is the Holy Spirit made of? Solution – Go to the above chapter, the first
paragraph.
2. Without anything arising, can there be infinitizing? Solution – Ibid. paragraph 2.
3. Can there be infinitizing without completing? Solution – Ibid. paragraph 3.
4. Can eternity be without eternizability? Solution – The reason why the world cannot be
eternal is that its eternizability is not a cause of divine eternizativity. And go to Ibid.
paragraph 4.
5. Without a certain number of divine persons, can there be any completion in numbers?
Solution – Ibid. paragraph 5.
6. How can a son be without a mother? Solution – A Son who is begotten from the
entirety of the Father needs no mother. And go to Ibid. paragraph 6.
7. Which Person in God is at the center of completion? Solution – Ibid. paragraph 7.
8. Why doesn’t the Holy Spirit produce a Person? Solution – Just as the Father together
with the Son must necessarily produce in Divinity, so likewise the Holy Spirit must
necessarily produce nothing in Divinity. And go to Ibid. paragraph 8.
9. How is the Holy Spirit as opulent as the Father and the Son? Solution – Ibid.
paragraph 9.
10. Why can’t number be infinite? Solution – Nothing that is infinite can be potential.
And go to Ibid. paragraph 10.
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Questions about the fruits

Questions about the fruits of the elemental tree
1. What is the fruit of the elemental tree? Solution – Go to the above chapter.
2. How are elemented things fruits? Solution – The sequence that goes from the
beginning to the middle reposes in the end. And go to the above chapter.
3. Why does fire reach greater perfection in a compound than in itself? Solution – In
natural things simple forms are meant for making composite forms.
4. Is there a general elemental fruit? Solution – If there were no general act of vegetating,
no plant could exist.
5. What is the elemental fruit in an apple? Solution – The being in the apple that is made
of the simple parts of the elements is the elemental fruit.
6. Is the elemental fruit in an apple visible? Solution – In the common course of nature,
no simple part is visible.
7. Is the elemental fruit in an apple tangible? Solution – Weight and hardness are
instruments with which the senses attain the parts of the elemental fruit.
8. Is the elemental fruit nobler in gold than in an apple? Solution – Vegetation is the
perfection of elementation because it is in a greater major magnitude of goodness in
the end.
9. Can elemental fruit be produced through artificial work? Solution – A flame brings
gold forth from potentiality into act.
10. Since form can come forth from potentiality into act through artificial means, can gold
be made from silver through artificial means? Solution – A hammer does not produce
a nail from itself, nor does a physician produce health in his patient from himself.

Questions about the fruits of the vegetal tree

1. What is the fruit of the vegetal tree? Solution – Go to the above chapter.
2. How are the two fruits in an apple individuated? Solution – The end of elementation
comes through elementing and the end of vegetation comes through vegetating.
3. How do the two fruits in an apple join together in one fruit which is the apple?
Solution – One substance is composed from many simple parts; and then one
substance is composed from many compound parts which is more compounded than
any of them.
4. How can you imagine two fruits in one fruit? Solution – Go to the above chapter.
5. What is the center of plants? Solution – Ibid.
6. Why doesn’t the willow tree produce fruit? Solution – Ibid.
7. Which part of a plant is the fullest? Solution – Ibid.
8. Why does a cherry have its bone or its stone on the inside and not on the outside like
an almond or a walnut? Solution – Ibid.
9. How many degrees do the elements have in plants and how are they situated? Solution
– Ibid.
10. Do plants have their degrees situated according to vegetation in the same way as they
are situated according to elementation? Solution – Nobler forms necessarily require
order more than the less noble forms do.

Questions about the fruits of the sensual tree

1. What is the fruit of the sensual tree? Solution – Go to the above chapter.
2. In a horse, what are the fruits of the elementative, the vegetative and the sensitive?
Solution – Ibid.
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3. Is a horse visible on account of colour or on account of visibility? Solution – In a

horse, colour comes from the elements and visibility comes from the sensitive power;
colour is the subject of visibility and the seen object is made of both passions.
4. How is a horse a fruit? Solution – Inasmuch as a horse is seen, it is a fruit of seeing,
and thus it is a fruit of the sensitive power; and inasmuch as it is coloured and the
colour is seen, it is a coloured fruit of the act of colouring; and inasmuch as it is
vegetated, it is the fruit of the act of vegetating.
5. Why is a horse a fruit? Solution – A horse is a fruit on account of form just as bread is
a fruit of flour and water and a substance is a fruit of its form and its matter.
Moreover, a horse is a fruit with regard to the end inasmuch as a horse is meant for
riding; and the horse is the ridden fruit of the act of riding
6. Why is the fruit of the sensitive power present in a coloured horse? Solution – In a
coloured horse the fruit of the act of colouring formally exists and since it is coloured
so that it can be seen, it is formally a fruit of the sensitive power.
7. How do the three fruits in a horse make up one fruit? Solution – The horse is one
common fruit made formally and finally of a plurality of fruits; formally through the
essence of all three particular fruits and finally through the end of each of the three
fruits.
8. Does the horse as a fruit have repose in itself? Solution – Inasmuch as a horse is a
formal fruit, it is a fruit of itself. Inasmuch as it is a final fruit, it is the fruit of another,
namely of the rider whose fruit the horse is through his riding it just as an apple,
through being eaten, is the fruit of the one eating it.
9. Why isn’t a horse a final fruit of itself? Solution – If a horse were not an instrument
for riding, for plowing or for responding to other human needs its parts would have
repose in itself and they would not serve God given that a horse has no knowledge of
God, and thus it would follow that a horse was created for itself and not for god.
10. How is a man-killing snake a fruit of man? Solution – Inasmuch as a snake kills
people, it is an instrument of God’s justice and of man’s prudence; it has moreover
some other conditions that are good for humans, for instance, tyriac is made from
snakes, it is good against venom, leprosy and epilepsy, and it fortifies natural warmth.

Questions about the fruits of the imaginal tree

1. What is the fruit of the imaginal tree? Solution – Go to the above chapter.
2. What is the fruit of the imaginal tree made of? Solution – Ibid.
3. Why is there a fruit of the imagination, and what is it for? Solution – It is on account
of form and on account of the end. On account of form through the act of imagining
and on account of the end with regard to the imagined object.
4. A goat imagines a wolf that it is afraid of. Now I ask how the imagined wolf is a fruit
of the goat’s imagination? Solution – The fruits of first intentions are made from the
fruits of secondary intentions, as when a goat is afraid of a wolf because it values its
life.
5. A goat imagines a fountain. How is the imagined fountain a fruit of the goat’s
imagination? Solution – The likeness of the fountain that the imagination reproduces
is a secondary fruit of the imagination and the act of drinking is the primary fruit.
6. When a live horse sees a dead horse, does it imagine its own death? Solution – If the
horse did not imagine its own death, it would have no fear of death.
7. How is visibility a fruit of the imagination? Solution – Without visibility the
imagination could not imagine a coloured object; therefore, visibility is a secondary
fruit of the imagination just as bread is a secondary fruit of life.
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8. When a man imagines a chimera, is this chimera a fruit of the imagination though it
does not really exist? Solution – Species that are not of true things are instruments
through which true things are attained.
9. How is the imagined object a fruit of the imagination? Solution – Just as a heated
object is a fruit of heat and a sensed object is a fruit of sense, so is the imagined object
a fruit of the imagination.
10. Is imagining a fruit of imaginativity? Solution – Imaginativity is a formal fruit and
imagining is a final fruit.

Questions about the fruits of the human-rational tree

1. What is the fruit of the human-rational tree? Solution – Go to the above chapter.
2. How is the rational soul a fruit of the body? Solution – Just as the act of elementing is
a secondary fruit of the elements and the elemented product is the primary fruit, so
likewise corporifying is a secondary fruit of the elementative, vegetative, sensitive and
imaginative powers; but the rationative power is a primary fruit as compared to the
fruits beneath it and it is secondary as compared to the rationalized and hominified
object.
3. How is man a fruit of the Sun? Solution – Just as a hammer is meant for a nail and just
as a plant is meant for sustaining animal life, so likewise the Sun is meant for man.
4. Of what are human beings use to the Sun? Solution – By serving man the Sun serves
God when man loves and knows God.
5. Through what nature is man the noblest fruit? Solution – Man is a fruit through the
formal cause and he is a fruit through the final cause; he is not the fruit of corporeal
creatures through the formal cause but he is the fruit of all corporeal creatures through
the final cause.
6. What is the fruit of a sinner? Solution – A substance is emptied of its fruit when it is
deprived of its end. And here we know how great is the punishment of the damned.
7. What is the fruit if the Sun or of a plant in a damned man? Solution – The fruit of the
Sun or of a plant is lost in a damned man inasmuch as he has no blessedness, and it is
restored on the day of God’s judgment.
8. Is Martin more a fruit of his father than a fruit of the Sun? Solution – Martin is a fruit
of his father formally, finally and materially but he is the fruit of the Sun only
formally.
9. What is the fruit of Martin’s merit? Solution – A just man is a fruit of judging and the
beloved is a fruit of loving.
10. How can fruits be altered in people? Solution – The fruit of the smith who forges a
nail is the money he receives for the nail, the nail is a fruit of the man who buys it, and
so forth through successive degrees up to the fruit of living.

Questions about the fruits of the tree of moral virtues

1. What is the fruit of the tree of moral virtues? Solution – Go to the above chapter.
2. How do moral fruits arise from habits? Solution – From justice, a just act arises
through judging and a bonified good arises from bonifying.
3. How are some moral habits the fruit of other moral habits? Solution – Inasmuch as the
one hand helps the other, the one hand belongs the other, just as a hammer belongs to
a nail.
4. How are moral fruits harvested? Solution – The imaginative power gathers coloured
objects by seeing and words by hearing.
5. When are moral fruits harvested? Solution – Martin gathers merits when he acts with
his virtues.
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6. What is the fruit of hope? Solution – The merit that Martin earns through hope is the
fruit of hope.
7. When Martin loses hope, what happens to the fruit of hope that he possessed? The
fruit that Martin had obtained through hope does not attain blessedness when Martin
has lost hope, nonetheless it has some utility in that it is an occasion for reducing the
punishment.
8. What is Martin’s noblest fruit when he is vicious? Solution – Go to the above chapter.
9. How is one fruit present potentially in a another fruit? Solution – Ibid.
10. How is death a fruit of life? Solution – Just as a moral death is virtuous, the fruit of
life is also virtuous, just as eating is a fruit of living and colour is a fruit of the
coloured object.

Questions about the fruits of the tree of moral vices

1. What is the fruit of the tree of moral vices? Solution – Go to the above chapter.
2. Since sin is an occasion for the privation of the end, how can it bear any fruit?
Solution – Ibid.
3. How is punishment the fruit of sin? Solution - Punishment is the fruit of sin inasmuch
as it is the instrument with which the subject of sin is tormented.
4. How is punishment an instrument of glory? Solution – The good are known in contrast
to the evil.
5. Can sin be a fruit of any real substance? Solution – Just as blindness is the privation of
the eyesight, so is sin the privation of fructifying. Here we realize that sin is the
instrument with which the fruit of virtue is deprived.
6. Can one sin be the fruit of another sin? Solution – Inasmuch as one sin assists another
sin, one sin is another sin’s instrument against the fruit of virtue.
7. Are there any final consequences for the devil when he induces Martin to sin?
Solution – The end of unnatural heat in a man suffering from a fever is against the end
of natural heat, and thus, unnatural heat opposes the end of its own subject.
8. What is the fruit of conceit? Solution – Conceit has an appetite for moving upward but
it harvests its fruit by going downward.
9. What is the fruit of avarice? Solution – Avarice makes a man desire wealth and it
attains its fruit in poverty inasmuch as the avaricious man is the poorest of all men.
10. What is the form of the devil? Solution – The form of a devil is the information
through which each of its parts ends up in privation. Here we realize how great the
perversion of virtue into vice can be.

Questions about the fruits of the imperial tree

1. What is the fruit of the imperial tree? Solution – Go to the above chapter.
2. What is the fruit of the imperial tree made of? Solution – The fruit of a public figure is
made of many particular moralities sustained in many people.
3. What is the principal purpose of the prince’s fruit? Solution – The heat of fire is meant
for the heat of pepper, of horses, of herons and of men.
4. Is the prince’s fruit superior or inferior? Solution – It is superior in form and inferior
in the end. And here we realize that no man is more subject to constraints than a
prince.
5. What is the worst of all fruit? Solution – Raymond said that he would put this question
to an evil prince.
6. What is the worst fruit of an evil prince? Solution – The noblest fruit of a prince is the
fruit of justice.
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7. What does the imperial fruit taste like? Solution – It tastes of peace and wealth for the
people if the prince is good.
8. On what does the prince’s fruit live? Solution – It lives on the acts of its own virtues
and on the acts of the virtues of its people.
9. What is the beauty of the prince’s fruit? Solution – It has the beauty of a good
reputation and of true judgment.
10. Where is the prince’s fruit? Solution – In the gallows, in his shield and in his crown.

Questions about the fruits of the apostolic tree

1. What is the fruit of the apostolic tree? Solution – Go to the above chapter.
2. What is the fruit of the apostolic tree made of? Solution – It is made of the order that
orders people toward salvation.
3. Who must be the cultivator of this fruit? Solution – Go to the above chapter.
4. On what does the apostolic fruit live? Solution – It lives on the communities of ends
that exist beneath it. And go to the above chapter.
5. Is the apostolic fruit great in magnitude? Solution – Ibid.
6. Should the fruit of the apostolic tree taste sweet? Solution – Ibid.
7. Is the fruit of the apostolic tree white in colour? Solution – Ibid.
8. Is the fruit of the apostolic tree useful? Solution – Ibid.
9. Whose image is the fruit of the apostolic tree? Solution – There is one Jesus Christ in
heaven and the image of His unity and dominion on earth is one Pope.
10. How is the apostolic fruit figuratively represented in the Pope? Solution – Just as the
letters on a seal and the letters formed in wax by the ones in the seal are one in species
and number, so likewise the apostolic fruit is a proportioned impression disposed to
display its likeness in the Pope.

Questions about the fruits of the celestial tree

1. What is the fruit of the celestial tree? Solution – Go to the above chapter.
2. Where is the fruit of the celestial tree harvested? Solution – Ibid.
3. Is the fruit of Aries and Mars one fruit? Solution – This fruit is one in its specific
quality but there are many fruits inasmuch as there are different subjects and objects.
4. Are the fruits of Aries and Cancer contrary to each other? Solution – They are not in
themselves contrary inasmuch as the firmament is not made of contraries, but they are
contrary in fire and water, in pepper and gourd.
5. How is the fruit of heaven harvested on earth? Solution – The Sun consumes vapors
and the Moon proliferates them.
6. Since pepper is not of the essence of the Sun, how is it a fruit of the Sun? Solution –
An apple is the fruit of an apple tree through form and matter and it is a fruit of the
purpose of the one who eats it.
7. If Saint Peter’s soul is not of the essence of the Sun, how is it a fruit of the Sun?
Solution – Saint Peter will be resurrected on Judgment Day by joining Saint Peter’s
body to his soul.
8. How is the Empyrean heaven a fruit of the Sun? Solution – Saint Peter’s body was a
fruit of the Sun in this world and it will be a fruit of the Empyrean heaven in the next
world.
9. Are the light of the Sun and the light of the Empyrean heaven parts of one and the
same fruit? Solution – Secondary intentions are causes of primary intentions, just as a
hammer is a cause of a nail while the hammer and the nail are both made of the same
iron.
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10. Is pepper a fruit of the Empyrean heaven? Solution – Pepper is a fruit of fire and of the
Sun; the Empyrean heaven is a fruit of the Sun and of fire.

Questions about the fruits of the angelic tree

1. What is the fruit of the angelic tree? Solution – Go to the above chapter.
2. What is the first and foremost fruit of the angelic tree? Solution – Ibid.
3. Can any fruit be more natural through some other nature that is not its own nature?
Solution – Formally, no fruit can be more natural through some nature other than its
own nature, but by reason of the end, it can be. And go to the above chapter.
4. How does God’s amability comprehend the amativity of an angel? Solution – Ibid.
5. How does God’s bonificativity comprehend an angel’s bonifiability? Solution – Ibid.
6. How is the angelic fruit full and complete? Solution – Ibid.
7. How great is the quantity of the angelic fruit? Solution – Ibid.
8. Can an angel ignore or forget anything? Solution – Every creature can be defective in
form and matter but it cannot be defective by reason of the end because every creature
has its accomplishment in the end.
9. On what does the fruit of an angel live? Solution – In an angel the second intentions
live on the prime intentions.
10. Does the fruit of angels come forth from men? Solution – The king’s envoy is not one
of those to whom he is sent.

Questions about the fruits of the eviternal tree

1. What are the fruits of the eviternal tree? Solution – Go to the above chapter.
2. Where, in what and how are the fruits of the eviternal tree harvested? Solution – Ibid.
3. How are the fruits of goodness, magnitude, duration, power, wisdom, will, virtue,
truth and glory harvested by the saints? Solution – Go to the chapter on the fruit of
goodness.
4. Can any fruit be produced in evil or through evil? Solution – Go to the chapter on the
fruit of evil.
5. Can fire torment fire and can the intellect torment the will? Solution – Go to the above
chapter.
6. Can fire afflict the soul in Hell? Solution – Ibid.
7. Does the soul afflict the body in Hell? Solution – If the soul in this life moves the
body to enjoy sinful pleasures, it must follow that the soul will move the body to
suffer pain in Hell pursuant to God’s justice.
8. If a damned man wept in Hell, how many tears would he produce? Solution – If a man
wept eviternally in Hell, he would accumulate the entire number of drops of all the
waters found in rivers, in the sea and in ponds.
9. What is the fruit of the damned? Solution – It is the privation of all natural ends. And
go to the above chapter.
10. When a devil understands something, how can its understanding be an evil fruit for it?
Solution – A man who drinks poison while he does not believe that he is drinking
poison drinks in order to live but then he dies because of his drinking.

Questions about the fruits of the maternal tree

1. What is the fruit of the maternal tree? Solution – Go to the above chapter.
2. How and with what does Our Lady harvest her fruit? Solution – Ibid.
3. To whom does Our Lady’s fruit belong? Solution – It belongs to the sinners who have
hope in her.
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4. In what season does Our Lady harvest her fruit? Solution – When sinners weep and
remember Our Lady with sighs and tears, Our Lady harvests mercy from her Son.
5. Is Our Lady a fruit of the angels? Solution – Jesus Christ is a fruit of Our Lady and He
is a fruit of the angels.
6. What is the fruit of motherhood? Solution – Jesus Christ as a man is a male and he is
the fruit and the and of all masculinities.
7. How great is the magnitude of Our Lady’s fruit? Solution – Raymond said that he
would count the stars.
8. Is Our Lady’s fruit a lofty fruit? Solution – Raymond said that he would try to touch
heaven with his hand.
9. Who loves Our Lady’s fruit? Solution – Raymond wept because all the people in this
world do not know and do not love Our Lady’s fruit.
10. Does Our Lady’s fruit have good cultivators? Solution – Raymond wept because
there were so many sinners.

Questions about the fruits of the tree of Jesus Christ

1. What is the fruit of the tree of Jesus Christ? Solution – Go to the above chapter.
2. Who harvests the fruit of the tree of Jesus Christ? Solution – Ibid.
3. What is the utility of the fruit of Jesus Christ? Solution – Ibid.
4. Of what nature is the fruit of Jesus Christ? Solution – Ibid.
5. Can the fruit of Jesus Christ be any loftier in the magnitude of goodness and virtue?
Solution – Ibid.
6. Since the fruit of Jesus Christ is so tasty, why do so few people taste it? Solution – If
the fruit of Jesus Christ were very well known, many people would eat it.
7. Would the fruit of Jesus Christ be sufficient for all people? Solution – The nobility of
the end is sufficient for the nobility of the beginning and of the middle.
8. Is Jesus Christ complete? Solution – The divine reasons and all the created reasons
except the reasons of the damned have repose in the complement of Jesus Christ.
9. How is the fruit of Jesus Christ harvested? Solution – It is harvested with faith, hope
and charity and in justice, prudence, fortitude, temperance, humility, mercy and
compassion.
10. Is the fruit of Jesus Christ durable? Solution – This question should be put to eternity,
glory and eviternity.

Questions about the fruits of the divine tree

1. What is the fruit of the divine tree? Solution – Go to the above chapter.
2. Is the fruit of the divine tree complete? Solution – This question should be put to
infinite and eternal goodness and to all the acts of its reasons.
3. Can the divine fruit be defective? Solution – Go to the above chapter.
4. How is the Son a fruit of the Father? Solution – Ibid.
5. How is the Father a fruit of the Son? Solution – The Father a fruit of the Son through
loving and understanding with all the acts of his reasons the Son who understands and
loves the Father with a good, infinite, eternal, powerful, virtuous, glorious and true
loving and understanding.
6. How are the Father and the Son fruits of the Holy Spirit? Solution – Raymond said
that he would look for the answer in the solution to the preceding question.
7. In God is there only one fruit or are there many fruits? Solution – In God there is only
one fruit in the divine essence and in God there are many fruits arising from the
properties of the Persons and from the acts of the divine reasons.
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8. How is God a fruit of creatures and how are creatures fruits of God? Solution – Go to
the above chapter.
9. Where is the fruit of God? Solution – This question should be put to humble and
truthful men who love God more than all creatures.

Questions about the fruits of the tree of exemplars

Questions about the elemental tree from the fruits of the tree of exemplars
1. We ask which is more valuable, iron or gold? Solution – Go to the above chapter.
2. The hermit asked Raymond if he knew whether in the art of chivalry, the shield or the
sword had priority? Solution – The weapon that was the most necessary was also the
first to be invented. And go to the above chapter.
3. Does fire relate in priority to the heated object or to the act of heating? Solution –
With regard to the final cause the smith gives priority to the nail but with regard to
movement he gives priority to operating.
4. Does fire tend to heat air before heating water? Solution – With regard to the end, fire
first heats air and with regard to matter fire first heats water.

Questions about the vegetal tree from the fruits of the tree of exemplars
1. Are the fruits of plants produced more by vegetating than by elementing? Solution –
Go to the above chapter.
2. Is an apple intended primarily for reproducing its species or for serving as food?
Solution – Ibid.
3. Do the elements give their qualities to an apple primarily for its nutritive value or for
sustaining its being? Solution – Ibid.
4. Does an apple tree repose more in an apple than in itself? Solution – The major repose
is the one that comes at the end.

Questions about the sensual tree from the fruits of the tree of exemplars
1. Why do just people meet with adversity in this world while evil people enjoy
prosperity? Solution – Go to the above chapter.
2. Are sinners tempted as much as just people are? Solution – Ibid.
3. How does a hypocrite heed his conscience and how does he do penance? Solution –
Ibid.
4. What is the perfection of religion? Solution – Ibid.

Questions about the imaginal tree from the fruits of the tree of exemplars
1. Does the imagination have greater concordance with memory or with the intellect?
Solution – Go to the above chapter.
2. How can a judge be partial? Solution – Ibid.
3. How are some moral habits greater than others? Solution – Ibid.
4. Is an imagined object as great a fruit of the imagination as a remembered or recalled
object? Solution – An imagined object is a fruit of the imagination through form and a
remembered or recalled object is a fruit of the imagination through the final cause.

Questions about the human-rational tree from the fruits of the tree of
exemplars
1. Is man a greater fruit on account of the soul than on account of the body? Solution –
Because the material cause is made of many creatures, man is a greater fruit on
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account of the body than on account of the soul, but because of the formal and final
causes, man is a greater fruit on account of the soul. And go to the said chapter.
2. Why is a child more inclined to follow the natural properties of the body than those of
the soul? Solution – second intentions come first through the material cause, but
through the formal and final causes they are the resultants of prime intentions.
3. In filling a position, why is holiness preferable to honour? Solution – Go to the said
chapter.
4. How do the body and the soul have major concordance? Solution – In the proportion
between unequal things, major concordance is found at their end.

Questions about the moral tree of virtues from the fruits of the tree of
exemplars
1. What is the fruit of the moral tree made of? Solution – Go to the above chapter.
2. How are primary and secondary intentions sorted out? Solution – Ibid.
3. How is patience recognized? Solution – Ibid.
4. How does a discrete master test his pupil? Solution – Ibid.

Questions about the imperial tree from the fruits of the tree of exemplars
1. Should a prince care as much for the health of his body as for the utility of his people?
Solution – Go to the above chapter.
2. What advice should the prince believe? Solution – Ibid.
3. How can many people give advice that is against their own interest? Solution – Ibid.
4. How does a conceited prince meet with misfortune? Solution – Ibid.

Questions about the apostolic tree from the fruits of the tree of exemplars
1. What are a prelate’s primary and secondary intentions? Solution – Go to the above
chapter.
2. Which fruit is the topmost in the apostolic tree? Solution – Ibid.
3. How savoury and resplendent is the apostolic fruit? Solution – Ibid.
4. How virtuous, great and fragrant is the apostolic fruit? Solution – Ibid.

Questions about the celestial tree from the fruits of the tree of exemplars
1. Does the nature of the Sun have as much power in the human body as the nature of
fire? Solution – Go to the above chapter.
2. Can an astronomer make as true a diagnosis of a sick man as a physician can? Solution
– Ibid.
3. Why are astronomers so poor? Solution – Ibid.
4. How is a man a son of the Sun? Solution – Ibid.

Questions about the angelic tree from the fruits of the tree of exemplars
1. Is acting a fruit or is existing a fruit? Solution – Go to the above chapter.
2. How can the world be in a good state? Solution – Ibid.
3. Is Saint Michael’s fruit the act of loving or is it the beloved? Solution – The Father’s
and the Son’s lovability is a fruit of Saint Michael through amativity and the Holy
Spirit is a fruit of Saint Michael through loving.
4. Is Saint Michael more strongly devoted to the beloved than to the act of loving?
Solution – The beloved and the act of loving in God are equal in eternity, in the end, in
goodness and in magnitude. Their equality is the reason why Saint Michael is equally
devoted to the act of loving and to the beloved.
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Questions about the eviternal tree from the fruits of the tree of exemplars
1. How are the glory of Paradise and the punishment of Hell to be considered? Solution –
Go to the above chapter.
2. Should the punishment of hell be considered before considering the glory of Paradise?
Solution – Considerations of love are antecedents that give rise to resultant
considerations of fear.
3. Why are some virtuous people sad while other virtuous people are happy? Solution –
Ibid.
4. Which one appears to be the more holy, is it the sad man or the happy man? Solution –
One and the same judgment must not be brought to bear on form and matter. And go
to the above chapter.

Questions about the maternal tree from the fruits of the tree of exemplars
1. How must Our Lady be prayed to and praised? Solution – Go to the above chapter.
2. Supposing that there was no original sin, would God have become incarnate? Solution
– Ibid.
3. Can the articles of the Catholic Faith be proved? Solution – Ibid.
4. Doe a man lose the merit of faith when he understands the Articles of faith? Solution –
Ibid.

Questions about the tree of Jesus Christ from the fruits of the tree of
exemplars
1. Why can the soul never be satisfied with this world? Solution – Go to the above
chapter.
2. What are the consequences of avarice? Solution – Ibid.
3. In contemplating God, which one has the greatest merit, the intellect or the will?
Solution – Ibid.
4. Does memory suffer greater passion under the intellect than under the will? Solution –
Ibid.

Questions about the divine tree from the fruits of the tree of exemplars
1. How do creatures signify God? Solution – Go to the above chapter.
2. What is the fruit of philosophy? Solution – Ibid.
3. How should science be treated? Solution – Ibid.
4. What is the supreme and most savoury life? Solution – Ibid. And glory be given to
God. Amen.

Questions about the hundred forms at the end of the elemental tree
1 - Questions about unity
What is unity? Solution – Unity is the form which is the reason for individuation. And
go to the above chapter.
Without a common unity, can there be many unities? Solution – Ibid.
What does the complement of unity consist of? Solution – The complement of love
consists of the lover, the beloved and the act of loving, and likewise, the complement
of unity consists of the uniter, the unitable and the act of uniting.
Why is there one and not more than one world? Solution – Because there is one God
and not many gods, God’s unity is the reason why there is one and not more than one
world.
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2 - Questions about plurality

What is plurality? Solution – Plurality is the form which is the cause of many things.
What are the prime principles of plurality? Solution – The supreme plurality is the
cause of created plurality just as the supreme unity is the cause of created unity.
What does the first created plurality consist of? Solution – No plurality is as close to
goodness as the plurality that consists of the essential bonifier, bonifiable and
bonifying.
How is one plurality the cause of many pluralities? Solution – Go to the above
chapter.

3 - Questions about simplicity

What is simplicity? Solution – Simplicity is the form which is the reason for many
simple things before which there is no other nature made of simplicity or of its simple
parts. And go to the above chapter.
What are the simple parts of simplicity? Solution - the simple parts of simplicity are
those from which it is properly constituted as a reason, namely the simplifier, the
simplifiable and the act of simplifying which are its essential concretes in which it is
sustained and in which it has repose and perfection.
Where is simplicity? Solution – Go to the above chapter.
Are primary simple things corruptible? Solution – If primary simple things were
corruptible, then simplicity and composition would be one and the same thing and
corruption would begin with primary forms and not with secondary forms.

4 - Questions about composition

What is composition? Solution – Composition is the conjunction of many simple parts
existing within each other from which there follows a third number common to all
parts. And go to the above chapter.
How many species of composition are there? Solution – There are two species of
composition. The first is the one which is made of simple parts and the second is the
one which is made of compound parts and includes the elemented substances.
Without a common composition, can there be many compositions? Solution – Go to
the above chapter.
Is the second species of composition made from the first species of composition?
Solution – If the second species of composition were not made from the first, then it
would be possible for a whole to exist without any parts and for a part to exist without
a community.

5 - Questions about form

What is form? Solution – Form is the being to which the quality of action is more
proper than to any other being.
Can particular forms exist without universal form? Solution – Go to the above chapter.
What do particular forms consist of? Solution – Particular forms consist of the
universal form just as the bonifier, the bonifiable and the act of bonifying consist of
goodness.
Is the universal form made of other forms? Solution – Every community must consist
of simple causes. And go to the above chapter.

6 - Questions about matter

What is matter? Solution – Matter is the being to which the quality of passion is more
proper than to any other being. And go to the above chapter.
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Where is general matter located? Solution – Ibid.

What brings particular matter from potentiality into actuality? Solution – Ibid.
How is specific matter potentially present in general matter? Solution – The
bonifiability of real goodness is materially and potentially present in goodness and it is
formally present in the habit of the bonifier, and therefore, the act of bonifying knows
the essence and the nature of all three correlatives.

7 - Questions about genus

Genus is the community above which there is no other community, and it exists above
all specific communities.
Is genus a real being or an intentional being? Solution – It is a real being, for if it were
not a real being, the elemental tree could not exists. It is an intentional being because
if it were not intentional, then the intellect could not reproduce species for enquiring
into the truth about things.
What does the real genus consist of and where is it located? Solution – This question
should be put to the elemental tree.
What does the intentional genus consist of? Solution – This question should be put to
the intellect that produces it from the likenesses of individuals and reproduces it above
their species.

8 - Questions about species

What is a species? Solution – Real and natural species is the subject in which the
genus uses difference by communicating itself to many different common parts which
are of its essence.
What is an intentional species? Solution – An intentional species is the similitude that
the intellect receives from real species.
Where are species located? Solution – Go to the above chapter.
If a species were not a real being, what inconvenience would then follow? Solution –
Ibid.

9 - Questions about intensity

What is intensity? Solution – Intensity is the figure which signifies a simple part more
strongly than any other figure does.
Where are general and specific intensity located? Solution – Go to the above chapter.
How does the intellect consider intensity? Solution – The intellect considers intensity
by denuding the species it receives from common similitude and by considering
simple unity.
Can intensity be sensed? Solution – Intensity communicates itself to the senses and to
the common subject from which the senses draw it out of a simple figure.

10 - Questions about extensity

What is extensity? Solution – Go to the above chapter.
What does extensity consist of? Solution – Ibid.
What does spiritual extensity consist of? Solution – The extension of real angelic
goodness is from its real concretes through which it is extended, and it consists of the
similitudes which it gives to magnitude, duration and to the other substantial parts of
an angel’s substance.
How does the will extend into the intellect? Solution – The will extends into the
intellect by loving many different things in it, and the more that it loves them, the
more it extends its act into them.
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11 - Questions about abstraction

What is abstraction? Solution – Abstraction is the primary form common to its
concretes which are of its essence in which the intellect does not consider any other
community. And go to the above chapter.
What are secondary abstractions? Solution – Ibid.
What is abstraction for? Solution – Abstraction exists so that the prime causes can
exist.
How many species of abstraction are there? Solution – There are two: the one is real
and the other is intentional, and the intentional one is a similitude of the real one.

12 - Questions about concretes

What is a concrete? Solution – A concrete is an object for which abstraction is a
reason to be sustained in it and for which it is a reason to operate in accordance with
its own nature.
What are primary concretes? Solution – Go to the above chapter.
Where are the primary concretes located? Solution – Ibid.
Is there movement in the primary concretes? Solution – Secondary concretes are
present in potentiality in primary concretes before coming into existence and
movement is present in potentiality in the primary concretes and it issues forth into act
as the secondary concretes issue forth and arise from the primary ones. This is where
we realize that one period of time exists in potentiality in another period of time.

13 - Questions about generation

What is generation? Solution – Generation is production that issues forth and arises in
a newness which is made of old entities.
How does generation take place? Solution – Go to the above chapter.
Where is general generation located? Solution – Ibid.
How many species of generation are there? Solution - There are three. The first one is
supreme and it is made purely of form and without any corruption as God produces
God from himself through generation, as we said. The second species is made of form
and matter, it cannot be free of corruption, and natural elemented substances are made
through it. The third species of generation consists of similitudes reproduced by the
sensitive, imaginative and rational powers.

14 - Questions about corruption

What is corruption? Solution – Corruption is the privation of old parts to make place
for new forms and matters.
How many species of corruption are there ? Solution – There are three species of
corruption. The first is real and natural, as when elemented substance meets with the
privation and corruption of its parts. The second species is made of corrupted
intentional imaginary and sensual similitudes as they meet with privation. The third
species is corruption through sin through which man is corrupted and deviated from
the end for which he was created.
What is the first principle of corruption? Solution – Concordance is the first principle
of generation and contrariety is the first principle of corruption. And go to the above
chapter.
Are corruption and privation one and the same principle in the consumption of
substances? Solution – Every contrariety is opposed to a contrary concordance and
privation is a common principle with regard to the end of generation and corruption as
they proceed through concordance and contrariety.
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15 - Questions about privation

What is privation? Solution – Privation is the real unlikeness of generation and of
entity in which concordance is present, and it is the real unlikeness of contrariety and
corruption.
Is general privation a real being? Solution – Go to the above chapter.
What is the subject of privation? Solution – Corruption is the subject of privation just
as generation is the subject of being.
What is the primary principle of privation? Solution – The first principle of privation
with regard to the end is generation and the first principle of privation with regard to
matter is contrariety.

16 - Questions about fullness

What is fullness? Solution – Fullness is the form which posits the impossibility of the
existence of real emptiness.
Is fullness a real being or an intentional being? Solution – If fullness were not a real
being, then emptiness could be a real being, and if emptiness could be a real being,
then being and non-being could be one and identical.
Is fullness a general being? Solution – Go to the above chapter.
Is fullness a being that can be sensed? Solution – No common form can be sensed,
and we have experience of this inasmuch as each one of the senses has its own
instrument and its own object.

17 - Questions about emptiness

What is emptiness? Solution – Emptiness is the subject in which the ends of things are
not attained and through which the parts of substance do not find repose.
How many species of emptiness are there? Solution – There are two species of
emptiness which you can find in the above chapter. The second species is the one that
we negate in the chapter on fullness, it is the one that the intellect reproduces because
it has the capability of understanding one contrary through another. This passage is
full of profound philosophy.
If God removed everything that exists between Saturn and the sphere of earth, could
there be a vacuum? Solution – A vacuum cannot possibly be a real being because
nothingness is not a creature nor does it have any entity.
If God removed everything that is comprehended within the quintessence, would there
be a vacuum? Solution – If the privation of the firmament and of all that it contains in
itself were followed by a vacuum, then the vacuum would have to have been a locus
before creation took place, which is impossible, for if it were possible then the vacuum
would necessarily be eternal and it would be the material of fullness, which is a further
impossibility, and so on from one impossibility to another all the way to infinite
impossibilities.

18 - Questions about grossness

What is grossness? Solution – Grossness is the form because of which matter is fuller
and heavier than because of any other form.
Why is matter thicker than form given that form is fuller than matter? Solution – The
reason why matter is thicker than form is grossness, which convenes with matter better
than with form because of the restriction of water, and form is fuller than matter due to
the communication and infusion of fire and the slenderness of form.
Why is a melancholic person heavier than a phlegmatic person though a melancholic
person runs about more than a phlegmatic person does? Solution – Inasmuch as
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grossness is a form of restriction it causes the phlegmatic person to be lazy and obese
and because a phlegmatic is of the cold and moist complexion, he is heavy because of
the cold complexion and he is light because of the moist complexion. Moreover, the
melancholic person is slender and thus he runs about more than the phlegmatic does.
Is grossness a general principle? Solution – Go to the above chapter.

19 - Questions about subtlety and slenderness

What is subtlety? Solution – Subtlety is the form by reason of which aggregation is
made more of minor parts than of major parts.
Since subtlety is a cause for the aggregation of minor parts and grossness is a cause for
the aggregation of major parts, why are subtle substances more full than gross
substances? Solution – A greater aggregation can be made of minor parts than of
major parts because minor parts do not occupy as much space as major parts do.
Why are slender substances longer than gross substances? Solution – Grossness is a
form that causes breadth, height and weight just as slenderness is a form that causes
length, height and lightness.
Is slenderness a general principle? Solution – Go to the above chapter.

20 - Questions about lightness

What is lightness? Solution – Lightness is the form that makes matter ascend upward.
Is lightness a general principle? Solution – Go to the above chapter.
Since the form of fire is fuller than its matter, why is matter not lighter than form?
Solution – A part that has more form goes more quickly to is center than a part that
has less form.
Since fire is materially and formally light, why does it descend here below, given that
descent is due to heaviness but ascent is due to lightness? Solution – The purpose of
plant and animal life here below attracts the virtue of the heavenly bodies. And go to
the above chapter.

21 - Questions about heaviness

What is heaviness? Solution - Solution – Heaviness is the form that makes matter
descend downward.
Is heaviness a general principle? Solution – Go to the above chapter.
Since rainwater is heavy, why does it ascend upward? Solution – Ibid.
What does heaviness consist of? Solution – Heaviness consists of itself inasmuch as it
is a general principle and it consists of many natural appetites inasmuch as it is
extended into them so that with them it can descend to the center it desires.

22 - Questions about the whole

What is a whole? Solution – A whole is the sum of many things that are parts of it.
Is totality a general principle? Solution – Go to the above chapter.
Can totality exist without any parts? Solution – In creatures, totality and its parts relate
to each other inasmuch as they are distinguished through majority and minority,
although every part is itself a whole. Here we realize how God is entirely himself
without any parts and that God has in himself personal relation in equality without any
majority or minority.
Is created goodness a whole in itself or due to something else? Solution – Goodness is
a whole due to wholeness just as it is great due to magnitude.
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23 - Questions about parts

What is a part? Solution – A part is a form which, together with other parts, adds up to
the whole.
Is a part a general principle? Solution – Go to the above chapter.
Can a part exist by itself? Solution – A part can exist formally by itself but because the
whole is its center, it cannot exist by itself with regard to the final cause, instead, it
must be sustained in its whole which arises from the joining together of many parts.
Can a part that belongs to a whole be a general principle? Solution – Go to the above
chapter.

24 - Questions about interiority

What is interiority? Solution – Interiority is the form due to which some parts can be
inside other parts.
Is a interiority a general form? Solution – Go to the above chapter.
What does interiority consist of? Solution – As a simple principle, interiority consists
of itself but inasmuch as it extends into many parts, it consists of them.
Why is there interiority and what is it for? Solution – Interiority consists formally of
itself but it ultimately exists so that some parts can be in others due to it, for instance:
goodness can exist in magnitude due to interiority while magnitude can exist in
goodness.

25 - Questions about exteriority

What is exteriority? Solution – Exteriority is the form by reason of which the
container can be outside the content, and difference can be the reason for the division
of parts that are the covering surface of substance in which substance is sustained.
Is exteriority a general form? Solution – Go to the above chapter.
What does exteriority consist of? Solution – As a simple principle, exteriority consists
of itself but inasmuch as it is the material for many exteriorities, it is their community.
Why is there exteriority and what is it for? Solution – Exteriority inasmuch as it is
form, exists by itself, and inasmuch as it is a final cause, it exists so that discrete
quantities of substances can exist outside of each other, as for instance, the bottle is
outside the wine, Martin is out if the room, a lion is outside the human species.

26 - Questions about stability

What is stability? Solution – Stability is the form by reason of which substances and
accidents are what they are and have an appetite to be in one place and not in another
place. And go to the above chapter.
Why is stability more due to the formal cause than to the final cause? Solution – In
natural substances, movement is due to the final cause whereas repose exists so that
substance can exist.
Why does sleep have greater concordance with stability than with movement?
Solution – Stability consists of repose and is instantaneous whereas movement
consists of toil and is sequential.
Why is there stability and what is it for? Solution – Stability exists so that the
component parts of substance can exist in their own numerical identity and so that
substance can be composed of them and that the parts can be parts of this substance.
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27 - Questions about movement

What is movement? Solution – Movement is the form due to which there can be a
sequence of the parts of time in the change from place to place and in the alteration of
substance and of its parts.
Is movement a general form? Solution – Go to the above chapter.
Can stability in natural substances be without any movement? Solution – Stability
cannot be without an end and there cannot be an end without movement.
Can movement be without stillness? Solution – Without the stillness of the parts, there
would not be any subject for movement to exist in.

28 - Questions about hardness

What is hardness? Solution – Hardness is the form which is the most contrary to
softness than any other form.
Is hardness a general form? Solution – Go to the above chapter.
Why is there hardness and what is it for? Solution – Hardness exists so that the parts
of substance can be separated from their contraries inside substance they cannot
penetrate. And hardness is due to the dryness of earth and the restrictiveness of water.
Why are bones harder than flesh? Solution – Stability convenes with bones formally
and movement convenes with flesh finally.

29 - Questions about softness

What is softness? Solution – Softness is the form that opens the doors of hardness to
allow parts to enter into each other and to provide the influx and reflux of influence
with loci through which they can transit.
Is softness a general form? Solution – Go to the above chapter.
Why is molten silver soft? Solution – Just as silver that is not molten is hardened by
the coldness of water, likewise, molten silver is softened by the heat of fire. Here we
learn that heat has concordance with softness against coldness.
Why does cold water restrict a man’s movement? Solution – Just as the dryness of fire
has concordance with the hardness of the tile it dries out because fire has concordance
with earth through dryness, likewise, water has concordance with air in the human
stomach where it restrains the stomach’s moisture with coldness, which has
concordance with the moisture of air. This passage contains much information about
medicine and material for the alchemist’s meditation.

30 - Questions about length

What is length? Solution – Length is the form by reason of which many points
constitute a line.
Is length a general form? Solution – Go to the above chapter.
Why is there length and what is it for? Solution – Length exists formally so that many
points or parts can participate more closely through contact from above to below; and
length exists formally so that there can be a line that participates in height and depth.
What does length consist of? Solution – Length consists of itself inasmuch as it is a
simple form and length is a part of a body so that the body can exist in length.

31 - Questions about breadth

What is breadth? Solution – Breadth is the form by reason of which many parts can be
collateral.
Is breadth a general form? Solution – Go to the above chapter.
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Why is breadth more a cause of surface than longitude is? Solution – Just as length is
the cause of a thorn due to the line and to heat and dryness, likewise, breadth is the
cause of surface through the collateral disposition of moisture and coldness.
What is the cause of breadth in goodness? Solution – The act of bonifying causes
breadth through collateration just as the bonifier causes breadth through length and the
bonifiable causes breadth through depth.

32 - Questions about depth

What is depth? Solution – Depth is the middle between breadth and length and
through depth, the center exists in the middle of substance.
Is depth a general form? Solution – Go to the above chapter.
Does the depth of Saturn transition as far as Venus? Solution – If Saturn’s depth
transitioned as far as Venus, then the depth of the Moon would transition as far as
Mars and the Sun would not be the common center in the virtue of the depth of Saturn
and of the Moon.
What does rotundity consist of? Solution – Rotundity consists of many collateral
circles which are contiguous from above to below just as a line consists of many
points. Here we learn that the circle consists of the surface above length, breadth and
depth.

33 - Questions about the power, or potential

What is a power? Solution – A power is a form that relates to an object so it can have
its act. Moreover, power, or potentiality, is a form through which forms are made
possible.
How many species of potentiality are there? Solution – Go to the above chapter.
How are aptitude and disposition different in potentiality? Solution – Aptitude is in
potentiality through habit while disposition is in potentiality through matter.
Which of the two species of potentiality comes first? Solution – Inasmuch as form is
nobler than matter, it comes first in the order of virtue, but inasmuch as no natural
substance can be without form and matter, aptitude and disposition exist equally at the
same time.

34 - Questions about the object

What is an object? Solution – An object is a terminus to which the power relates
through its aptitude and through the object’s disposition.
How many species of objects are there? Solution – Go to the above chapter.
Does the power go to the object or does the object go to the power? Solution –
Because the end moves form before it moves matter, movement in act first arises
through powerativity before arising through powerability and thus actual movements
come first in natural priority. However, the arising of acts from the power before their
arising from the object does not take place in a sequence in time.
To which of the two species of objects does form relate in priority? Solution – A
builder builds a room, and with regard to the end he gives priority to living in it, but
with regard to form, the room comes before the intention to live in it.

35 - Questions about the act

What is an act? Solution – An act is that through which natural principles attain their
natural ends, and it is the work at the center between natural forms and matters.
How many species of acts are there? Solution – Go to the above chapter.
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Is an act in actual being or is it in a state of becoming? Solution – The species of act

that arises due to form is in actual being but the species that arises due to the end is in
a state of becoming.
In which of the two species of acts do form and matter have the greatest concordance?
Solution – The form which is produced in natural substances from power into act is
closer to matter than to form while it is in the process of being produced but not yet
fully produced.

36 - Questions about priority

What is priority? Solution – Priority is the being on account of which one being comes
before another.
What is priority for? Solution – Priority exists so that some natures can come before
others and so that a sequence can follow from the beginning to the end.
Does priority have greater concordance with forms that are in potentiality than with
forms that are in actuality? Solution – Although the effect is in potentiality before
being in actuality, the cause must come before the effect, and thus, possibilities are
disposed in accordance with habits and forms are nobler than matter.
Is priority a general form? Solution – Go to the above chapter.

37 - Questions about secondarity

What is secondarity? Solution – Secondarity is the terminus in which ultimateness
begins and in which secondary intentions and resultants arise.
How is secondarity behind priority? Solution – Go to the above chapter.
What does secondarity consist of? Solution – Secondarity consists of resultants and
from instances of natural newness.
Can secondarity be a priority? Solution – In the succession of posteriority where an
antecedent gives rise to a resultant, the antecedent is prior to its resultant and tertiarity
arises from this resultant.

38 - Questions about tertiarity

What is tertiarity? Solution – Tertiarity is the terminus in which the third number
arises and the second number ends, and in which the natural end is sustained.
What is natural tertiarity? Solution – Every natural end comes from its beginning and
its middle.
How does tertiarity come behind secondarity? Solution – Go to the above chapter.
What is tertiarity for? Solution – Tertiarity exists so that there can be a complement
and an influx and reflux from the end and from the beginning through the middle.

39 - Questions about growth

What is growth? Solution – Growth is an act of majority and of succession through
which one thing can be made of many things.
Is growth a general form? Solution – Go to the above chapter.
What does growth consist of? Solution – Growth exists formally on its own, but it is
composed of many things.
Why is there growth and what is it for? Solution – Growth exists formally on its own
but it exists finally so that there can be a succession of movement from the beginning
to the end in natural substances.
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40 - Questions about consumption

What is consumption? Solution – Consumption is the terminus in which old growth
ends and new growth begins.
Is consumption a general form? Solution – Go to the above chapter.
What does consumption consist of? Solution – Consumption formally consists of itself
and finally it consists of the corruption of parts.
Are consumption and corruption numerically one and the same? Solution – Inasmuch
as corruption is an act of minority and corruption involves the privation of minority,
corruption and consumption are two different forms.

41 - Questions about disposition

What is disposition? Solution – Disposition is that which prepares the subjects of the
acts of forms through possibilities.
Is disposition a general form? Solution – Go to the above chapter.
What does disposition consist of? Solution – Disposition consists of possibilities
prepared to be passive under possitivities.
What is disposition for? Solution – Disposition is for ensuring that possitivities have
possibilities which are prepared so that the possitivities can be active in them without
any impediment.

42 - Questions about property

What is a property? Solution – A property is a form by reason of which other forms
have specific being that is proper and appropriated.
How many species does property have? Solution – Heat is the proper quality of fire
and it is the appropriated property of air. And go to the above chapter.
What is property for? Solution – Property exists so that every form can have its own
numerical identity and so that every form can appropriate its likeness to another form.
Coldness is the proper quality of water and heat is the proper quality of fire. Now we
ask if both of these opposite properties descend from one general property? Solution –
Just as the rational soul begins a new being in the body it is joined to through creation,
so likewise contrary natural properties have begun new being in the primary
substances through creation so that a contrary cannot be the source of its contrary.
This passage contains some profound philosophy.

42 - Questions about proportion

What is proportion? Solution – Proportion is the form by reason of which bodies are
ordered according to major and minor parts.
Is proportion a general form? Solution – Go to the above chapter.
What is proportion for? Solution – Proportion exists so that justice and order can
prevail between major parts and minor parts.
If there were no proportion, what would be the consequences? Solution – If there were
no proportion, then justice would be deprived of all its substantial parts, some parts
would be too big while others would be too small and there would not be any beautiful
likeness in which the senses or the imagination could repose.

44 - Questions about condition

What is condition? Solution – Condition is the form that binds many forms which are
bound by determined guarantees conceded by reason of quality in accordance with
discretion or with natural appetites.
How is condition situated and established? Solution – Go to the above chapter.
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What is a condition for? Solution – A condition exists so that one thing can assist
another for its own utility and for the common utility. Here we recognize the primary
objective of legislative rhetoric.
How can knowledge of the first intentions be obtained from the second intentions, and
how can ultimate intentions be known through the primary ones? Solution – Go to the
above chapter. This passage contains some profound philosophy.

45 - Questions about intention

What is intention? Solution – Intention is the harbinger of the end when it transmits its
similitude to the beginning which it desires through discretion or through natural
appetite.
How many species of intention are there? Solution – Intention has two species, the
first is final and the second is formal, material and operational.
What is intention for? Solution – Intention exists so that some creatures can participate
with others for their proper and common utility and so that they can all be at God’s
service.
If there were no intention, what would be the consequences? Solution – Without
intention there would be privation of the end in creatures. And here we realize that the
disorderly deviation of intentions is a sin.

46 - Questions about order

What is order? Solution – Order is the form which orders many forms toward one end
or toward many ends.
Is order a general form? Solution – Go to the above chapter.
What does order consist of? Solution – Order simply consists of itself and it is
composed of first and second intentions.
If there were no order, what would be the consequences? Solution – Just as evil is the
consequence of the privation of good, so is disorder the consequence of the privation
of order. Here we learn that a bad cleric is more disorderly than anybody else, and it is
the same with an evil public figure.

47 - Questions about operation

What is operation? Solution – An operation is an act of the reasons such that through it
the beginnings and the ends of substances are joined together.
What does an operation consist of? Solution – Operation consists formally of action
and passion as the work serves as an instrument of the end and a means between the
beginning and the end.
What is operation for? Solution – If there were no operation, then all beings would be
idle, all ends would be superfluous and in privation and there would follow a real
contradiction between privation and operation. Here we realize that idleness is a
forerunner to great guilt.
Does operation begin inside or outside substance? Solution – Natural form first begins
in its own subject before beginning in a subject appropriated to it, however, it is the
contrary with artificial forms.

48 - Questions about influence

What is influence? Solution – Influence is a giving or a constraining through the
communication of one or more things so that a plenum can follow in which the parts
have either labour or repose.
Is influence a general form? Solution – Go to the above chapter.
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Is influence a cause of corruption? Solution – This question should be put to water

whose virtue is corrupted by fire when fire instills its influx of heat into it.
How many species of natural influence are there? Solution – In natural and corporeal
influences there are two species of influence. The first is the one which convenes with
quality and with its own subject, as when an influx of heat from fire along with its
own subject, which is fire, moves its proper heat in water against coldness and against
the subject of coldness. The second species is the influence that comes from
similitudes when one similitude instills its similitude into another similitude though
the former places neither its essence nor its proper subject in the latter as when the Sun
instills its virtue into fire, or when a seal imprints its letters in wax, or when the
imagination receives similtudes through an influx of heat and taste.

49 - Questions about reciprocal influence

What is reciprocal influence? Solution – Reciprocal influence is the return of influence
through concordance or contrariety. And go to the above chapter.
Why is there reciprocal influence in natural things? Solution – The acts of natural
powers arise through influence and reciprocal influence.
Does the power with its virtue reciprocally influence the object, or does the object
with its virtue reciprocally influence the power? Solution – Air sends fire’s dryness
back to fire because dryness is against moisture, and fire sends this dryness back to air
with its heat in order to mortify moisture.
With what does matter reciprocally influence form? Solution – Form produces from
matter possible things that exist in already existing things and matter sends back the
action which comes through the disposition that has been brought into being under
passion.

50 - Questions about production

What is production in natural substances? Solution – Production is the form which is
the reason for producing into act forms that exist in potentiality so that possible things
can be brought into being.
What does producing consist of? Solution – Producing is formally the act of
production and it consists materially of form and matter through action and passion.
And go to the above chapter.
With what does one form produce another form? Solution – In natural productions,
fire with its heat produces dryness in air. And in artificial productions, mechanics
produce forms with the instruments of their trade.
How are productions made above the course of nature? Solution – An eternal idea
placed in potentiality is produced in the created subject by a natural agent and by the
divine reasons above the course of nature. Here we know that an idea retains the
nature of production above the course of nature and within the course of nature.
Inasmuch as it retains the nature above the course of nature, it is an idea but inasmuch
as it retains the nature of nature’s course, it is a creature.

51 - Questions about origin

What is origin in natural substances? Solution – Go to the above chapter.
What does origin consist of? Solution – Origin consists formally of itself and
originating is its act which originates from form and matter from which arise the acts
of the primary forms from which common form and common matter are constituted.
What does origin arise in? Solution – Origin arises in species and in proper
individuated substance.
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Why is there origin? Solution – Origin exists so that new substances can arise in
which the species and the acts of the primary forms are sustained.

52 - Questions about emergence

What is natural emergence? Solution – Emergence is that through which one form
comes out of another form and through which the act comes forth from the power and
the object. And go to the above chapter.
What does emergence emerge from and what does it emerge into? Solution – Heat
emerges from fire, moisture emerges from air, coldness emerges from water and
dryness emerges from earth. And the qualities emerge in a compound constituted of its
proper subjects that emerge in it with new forms which emerge from old forms
through generation and corruption.
Is emergence a general form? Solution – Go to the above chapter.
Since emerging is an influx of things, how can it be a general form? Solution –
Inasmuch as it is an act, the act of emerging comes out of things but inasmuch as
emerging is an abstract form, it is a general form of which emerging is formally the
act and inasmuch as emerging comes out of other forms, it is materially their act. This
passage contains some profound philosophy.

53 - Questions about separability

What is separability? Solution – Separability is the form by reason of which many
things can come out of one thing. And go to the above chapter.
What does separability consist of? Solution – Separability is made of parts moved into
a new real numerical identity.
Why is there separability? Solution – There are two modes of separability, the one
mode is by reason of form as when a smith separates a piece of iron into many nails
and the other mode is by reason of the end, as when a smith separates a nail out of a
piece of iron to bring the nail into being and to earn money.
With which of the prime forms does separability have the most concordance? Solution
– If there were no inseparability, then difference and separability would be
numerically one and the same.

54 - Questions about inseparability

What is inseparability? Solution – Inseparability is the form by reason of which
different beings cannot be separated from each other. And go to the said chapter.
Why is there inseparability? Solution – Inseparability exists so that natural qualities
cannot divide or separate from their proper substances while they are appropriated to
other extraneous substances as is the case, for instance, with the heat that fire
appropriates to air.
If there were no inseparability, what would be the consequences? Solution – If
inseparability were eliminated from natural substances then every appropriate quality
would abandon its own subject, the course of nature would be destroyed and no
elemented thing could emerge from the elements.
What does inseparability consist of? Solution – Inseparability consists of parts that are
joined together and mixed within each other under the condition that the one cannot be
without the other, for instance: goodness cannot be without power and matter cannot
be without form.
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55 - Questions about possibility

What is possibility? Possibility is the form by reason of which matter is disposed so
that things can be brought into being through it. And go to the above chapter.
What does possibility consist of? Solution – Possibility is made of passive power
subjected to the action of active power.
How is possibility a general form? Solution - Go to the above chapter.
Why does possibility exist? Solution – Possibility essentially exists by itself, like
Martin who is essentially a man; and possibility exists by reason of the end because
without possibility no act could be possible.

56 - Questions about impossibility

What is impossibility? Solution – Impossibility is the form against which its contrary
has no power. And go to the above chapter.
Is impossibility made of power? Solution – If impossibility were made of power, then
possible and impossible things could be one and the same.
Since impossibility is not made of power, what is it made of? Solution – Impossibility
consists of the privation of power just as vice consists of the privation of virtue.
Is impossibility a creature? Solution – Impossibility is a creature inasmuch as created
power is limited and comprehended, and without impossibility, all created power
would be infinite.

57 - Questions about similitude

What is similitude? Solution – Similitude is the general form by reason of which
similitudes are produced in its genus. And go to the above chapter.
What is similitude made of? Solution – Similitude is made of active and passive
impressions that are different in essence and conserved within the same species.
Why is there similitude? Solution – If similitude did not exist, then no being could
participate with another being nor could any being signify itself in any way.
Is similitude a real being or an intentional being? Solution – Natural similitude is real
but artificial similitude is intentional.

58 - Questions about dissimilitude

What is dissimilitude? Solution – Dissimilitude is the impression of active and passive
qualities that are different in essence and in species. And go to the above chapter.
Why is there dissimilitude? Solution – If there were no dissimilitude then there would
be no plurality.
How is one instance of goodness the dissimilitude of another instance of goodness?
Solution – The difference and contrariety of ends produces dissimilitudes from one
and the same species. And go to the above chapter.
How is evil the dissimilitude of goodness? Solution – Goodness exists by reason of
good producing good and evil exists by reason of good producing evil, and hence evil
is the dissimilitude of goodness and there is dissimilarity between evil and goodness.

59 - Questions about nature

What is nature? Solution – Nature is the form by reason of which the primary forms
are reasons for productions according to their properties. And go to the above chapter.
Is there one nature or are there many natures? Solution – There is one general nature
from which many natures derive.
What does general nature consist of? Solution – General nature is made of the
constitution of many simple natures under which stand the essences of the primary
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forms. Here we know that general nature is the center of the upper natures and the
lower natures, as the Sun is a common virtue in the middle between Saturn and the
Moon.
Do fire and water have one and the same nature? Solution - Fire and water have one
and the same nature in goodness but they have diverse natures through different and
contrary qualities.

60 - Questions about corporality

What is corporality? Solution – Go to the above chapter.
What does corporality consist of? Solution – Corporality is made of simple parts
whose properties are circular, triangular and square.
Why is there corporality? Solution – Corporality exists formally per se and finally so
that body can exist.
Are corporality and body numerically one and the same? Solution – Corporality is the
essence of body just as terrestreity is the essence of earth and humanity is the essence
of man.

61 - Questions about transmutation

What is transmutation? Solution – Transmutation is the instrument with which natural
form draws one matter from one form and places it in another form. And go to the
above chapter.
Why is there transmutation? Solution – Transmutation exists so that the acts of the
forms can exist.
In the transmutation that matter makes from one form to another, does matter undergo
any transmutation in itself? Solution – No natural matter with a new form exists under
the same passion and for the same end as did the old form.
Is transmutation the transmutation of one and the same form which abandons one
matter and receives another? Solution – If one and the same form were transmuted
from one nature to another, this form would be pure passion. Here we know that one
and the same form remaining in its own species receives one matter and discards
another matter. This passage contains some profound philosophy.

62 - Questions about light

What is light? Solution – Light is the instrument of difference signifying its act to the
particular senses through light.
What does light consist of? Solution – Light consists formally of itself inasmuch as it
is the colour of the celestial bodies and of fire; and finally, it is an instrument of
difference.
Why is there light? Solution – Light exists through colour just as a man is a man
through humanity and white things are white through whiteness. And go to the above
chapter.
Is there any light in Hell? Solution – There is light in Hell so that difference has an
instrument with which to show ugly shapes to eyes that during this life had sinfully
desired to see beautiful figures, and this light is a cause of darkness for the eyes that
did not have an appetite for looking at ugly shapes.

63 - Questions about shadow

What is a shadow? Solution – A shadow is a confused colour of water and earth in the
absence of light.
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What does a shadow consist of? Solution – Shadow consists of the privation of light
and of gross vapours that have not been purified by air when light is unable to show its
colour in their midst.
If there were no shadows, what would be the consequences? Solution – If there were
no shadows, the absence of light would be nothing.
Is there shadow above the lunar sphere? Solution – If there were shadow above the
lunar sphere, then the Sun could not give its likeness to Venus, nor could Venus give
its likeness to Mercury, nor could Mercury give its likeness to the Moon, nor could
fire receive influence from the Sun.

64 - Questions about the line

What is a line? Solution – Go to the above chapter.
Is the line a general form? Solution – If the line were not a general form, then the
primary forms would have no concretes in which they could be sustained.
What does a line consist of? Solution – The line exists in itself in its primordiality and
it consists of points as parts which are above the line and of which the line is
composed; and the line is the matter of parts here below that are of its own species.
Does the line exist in a spherical body? Solution – The line must be present in each
body that has length, breadth and depth.

65 - Questions about punctuality

What is punctuality? Solution – Punctuality is the form by reason of which the point is
indivisible.
What does punctuality consist of? Solution – Punctuality consists of simple indivisible
points.
Since a line is made of points and points are indivisible, how can a line be divided?
Solution – Every line that is made of points is a composite and every composite is
divisible.
Since a point is indivisible, how can one point be in another point? Solution – Go to
the above chapter.

66 - Questions about surface

What is surface? Solution – Surface is the form with which bodies are clothed in
natural colour.
What does surface consist of? Solution – Go to the above chapter.
Why is there surface? Solution – Surface exists so that bodies can be terminated and
be visible and tangible.
Does an indivisible point have a surface? Solution – Just as every indivisible point is a
part of a divisible body, so likewise the indivisible surface sustained in the indivisible
point is a part of divisible surface.

67 - Questions about figure

What is a figure? Solution – A figure is a similitude of form that extends into colour
extended over a surface.
What does a figure consist of? Solution – Go to the above chapter.
Is the figure of a nail a creature? Solution – If the figure of a nail were not a creature,
then the visibility and the imaginability of the nail would not be creatures either.
Where is the figure of a nail before the nail comes into being? Solution – Particular
figures exist in potentiality in the universal figure before existing in their own
subjects.
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68 - Questions about direction

What is direction? Solution – Direction is the form by reason of which lines are
straight.
What does direction consist of? Solution – Go to the above chapter.
Why are there neither more nor fewer than six directions? Solution – Without the six
directions, there would not be any body that has a center or a surface, and the same
would follow if there were more than six directions.
Does the firmament have six directions? Solution – Because the firmament is the
supreme body beyond which no further natural body exists, it does not have six
directions surrounding it, but because the firmament contains inside itself the general
confused and spherical body which extends from Saturn to the center of the Earth, it
contains the six directions within itself.

69 - Questions about masculinity

What is masculinity? Solution – Masculinity is the essence through which many males
exist.
What does masculinity consist of? Solution – Go to the above chapter.
Why is there masculinity? Solution – If there were no masculinity in natural
substances, then there would be no generation.
Is the masculinity of Aries a proper or an appropriated quality of Aries? Solution –
Just as heat is the appropriated quality of air because it is a heating instrument, so
likewise is masculinity appropriated to Aries because it is an instrument for moving
the masculine virtue in males.

70 - Questions about femininity

What is femininity? Solution – Femininity is a form that causes passive impressions.
What does femininity consist of? Solution – Go to the above chapter.
Are the letters that a seal imprints on wax feminine or masculine? Solution – The seal
relates to the wax with the masculinity of Aries, Gemini, Leo and of other masculine
celestial bodies and of the active forms of the elements just as a power relates to an
object or just as a rooster relates to a hen.
Since a rooster is a male, why does it generate females? Solution – Just as Aries helps
a rooster to generate a rooster through masculinity, so does Taurus help a rooster to
generate a hen through femininity.

71 - Questions about organization

What is organization? Solution – Organization is the form which is the essence of
natural organs.
What does organization consist of? Solution – Go to the above chapter.
Why is there organization – Solution – Organization exists so that natural forms can
have organs with which they can act naturally.
Are there any organs in the substance of angels? Solution – Raymond said that he
would seek the answer in the angelic tree.

72 - Questions about instrumentality

What is instrumentality? Solution – Instrumentality is the form that is superior to
organization, just as a word is closer to manifest speech than is the tongue, a flower is
closer than a twig to the fruit and movement is closer to the nail than to the hammer
moving it. And go to the above chapter.
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Is there any difference between an instrument and an organ? Solution – Instruments

and organs are as closely related in species as figure and surface are related in a body.
Can an organ be an instrument? Solution – In an apple tree, the twigs are the
instruments of the branches and of the flowers, and the flowers are instruments of the
twigs and of the apple.
Is the hammer with which a smith makes a nail an organ or an instrument? Solution –
A hammer is an organ for construction and an instrument of the smith just as the
tongue is an organ of speech and an instrument of the speaker.

73 - Questions about nourishment

What is natural nourishment? Solution – Natural nourishment is the form on which the
root moisture lives.
What does natural nourishment consist of? Solution – Go to the above chapter.
What is moral nourishment? Solution – Moral nourishment is an old custom.
What is moral nourishment arise from? Solution – Moral nourishment arises from the
acts of the powers of the moral tree.

74 - Questions about impression

What is impression? Solution – Impression is the figure of cause and effect.
What does impression consist of? Solution – Go to the above chapter.
What is the difference between a natural impression and an artificial impression?
Solution – Ibid.
How does a flower imprint its fragrance in the air? Solution – Just as the matter of the
bread that people eat is an impression through the transmutation in vegetative and
sensitive matter, so likewise, the fragrance of a flower is impressed in the air through
transmutation.

75 - Questions about insertion

What is insertion – Solution – Go to the above chapter.
What is insertion for? Solution – Ibid.
Why can a graft of pear can be inserted into an apple tree but not into a fig tree?
Solution – Depending on the closeness of concordance between their species, some
plants can be grafted on others.
Can fire be inserted into water? Solution – If fire could be inserted in water, then in
this insertion, fire and water could have greater concordance than contrariety between
them. Here we know why a graft of pear cannot be inserted into a fig tree.

76 - Questions about being per se

What is being per se? Solution – Go to the above chapter.
Why is there being per se? Solution – Being per se exists through form and matter in
natural things, but in God it exists through form alone; and being per se exists so that
the ends of things can be sustained in it.
What does being per se consist of? Solution – Being per se consists of form and matter
along with their end.
Is fire what it is simply and on its own? Solution – Go to the above chapter.

77 - Questions about individuality

What is individuality? Solution – Individuality is the general form by reason of which
specific individuals are caused.
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Why is there individuality? Solution – Individuality exists so that many beings can
arise from one being.
What does individuality consist of? Solution – The individuality of Martin, of his son,
of an apple tree, of a horse or of a heron arises from general individuality just as the
colour of Martin, of his son, of an apple tree, of a horse or of a heron arises from
general colour. And go to the above chapter.
Why do unity and plurality equally cause individuality? Solution – The plurality of the
Father and the son and the unity they have in spirating the Holy Spirit are reasons for
which unity and plurality equally cause individuality in creatures. This passage
contains some profound theology and philosophy.

78 - Questions about attraction

What is attraction? Solution – Attraction is that through which one radical moisture
attracts nourishing moisture from another radical moisture.
How does attraction work? Solution – Go to the above chapter.
With what does a magnet attract iron to itself? Solution – Just as the power of sight
attracts the visibility of sight to itself, so does the great terrestreity of a magnet attract
the terrestreity of iron to itself.

79 - Questions about necessity

What is necessity? Solution – Necessity is the form by reason of which an impossible
thing implies that its contrary is possible, for instance: it is impossible for the whole to
be smaller than its parts and therefore the whole must be greater than a part of it.
How many species of necessity are there? Solution – Go to the above chapter.
Which of the two species of necessity is the more necessary? Solution – A substance
that exists in the instant within the course of nature is greater than a substance that
exists successively, and it is the same with substance which is above the course of
nature so that God is the end of all beings.
If there were no necessity, what would be the consequences? Solution – If there were
no necessity, then everything in existence would exist through contingency, God
would amount to nothing and everything that is possible would be impossible and
vice-versa. This signifies the God necessarily exists and that God exists in a Trinity of
Persons.

80 - Questions about contingency

What is contingency? Solution – Contingency is that through which some ends deviate
other ends away from their concordance. And go to the above chapter.
What does contingency consist of? Solution – Contingency consists of contrary ends
some of which impede the necessities of other ends.
Why is there contingency? Solution – Contingency exists because a beginning cannot
have its proper or natural means for transitioning to its necessary end.
If there were no contingency, what would be the consequences? Solution – If there
were no contingency, then no man would have freedom, donkeys would always bray
out of necessity, goats would not be afraid of wolves, and the frost would always
destroy almond crops.

81 - Questions about perfection

What is perfection? Solution – Perfection is that instant in which succession has
repose.
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What does perfection consist of? Solution – Just as possibility consists of what does
not participate with impossibility, so likewise perfection consists of what does not
participate with defect.
What does perfection exist with? Solution – Perfection exists with the acts of the
natural forms along with their moral similitudes.
Why is there perfection? Solution – There is perfection so that there can be repose in
existing and acting.

82 - Questions about imperfection

What is imperfection? Solution – Imperfection results from the privation of perfection
and it is the contrary of perfection just as evil is contrary to good, het is contrary to
cold and blackness is contrary to whiteness.
Is imperfection a creature? Solution – Imperfection is a creature in natural works – see
the above chapter – but imperfection is not a creature in moral works – see the tree of
moral vices.
Is imperfection a general form? Solution - If imperfection were not a general form,
then the succession of perfection would be nothing.
Do imperfection and imperfection have any concordance? Solution – In natural works,
imperfections are instruments of perfections just as secondary causes are instruments
of primary cause.

83 - Questions about life

What is life? Solution – Life is the form by reason of which substances live and are
enlivened.
What does natural life consist of? Solution – Go to the above chapter.
What does spiritual life consist of? Solution – Go to the human and the angelic trees.
What is death? Solution – Death is the privation of life just as death is that in which
life does not participate.

84 - Questions about colour

What is colour? Solution – Colour is the form by reason of which corporeal substance
is coloured.
Is colour visible? Solution – As an abstract form, colour is not visible but it is an
instrument of visible substance which has specific colour, just as general savour is an
instrument of tastable substance which has specific savour.
What does colour consist of? Solution – Color exists by itself as a species and it
consists of many coloured objects which are not of its species and which are visible
due to this colour.
Why is there colour? Solution – Go to the above chapter.

85 - Questions about sound

What is sound? Solution – Sound is the form by reason of which the ears are
instruments for hearing. This passage contains some profound philosophy.
What does sound consist of? Solution – Sound simply consists of itself; sound which
is heard or disposed to be heard is a part of general sound, and this part is a special
instrument of the sense of hearing.
Does hearing consist of sound? Solution – Inasmuch as the sensitive power was
extracted from the elementative through creation, hearing consists of sound; but
inasmuch as the elementative and the sensitive powers are different species, hearing
does not consist of sound materially, but it is the instrument which hears.
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Why is there sound? Solution – This question should be put to thunder in the above
chapter.

86 - Questions about odour

What is odour? Solution – Odour is the object of the act of smelling so that the sense
of smell can sense its object. And go to the above chapter.
Is odour of the essence of the sense of smell? Solution – Odour and odourativity are as
different in essence as vegetativity is different in essence from sensitivity.
What does odour consist of? Solution – The odour of a rose consists of its vapours and
the odourative belongs to the sense which coverts the rose’s vapours into its
odourability.
If there were no senses, could a rose be smelled? Solution – There are two kinds of
odourability. The one is within the sense and belongs to its essence; the other is the
one outside the sense, and this is general odourability by reason of which specific
odourability exists in roses, in lilies, in sulphur and in other odourable substances. And
this general odour was extracted from the elemental tree through creation, as when
God drew the artificial day from the natural day by means of the Sun.

87 - Questions about savour

What is savour? Solution – Savour is the form by reason of which animals delight in
eating and drinking.
What does savour belong to? Solution – Savour belongs to the elemental tree. And go
to the above chapter.
Since savour belongs to the elemental tree, does fire experience taste when it heats
water? Solution – General savour is made of the elements just as colour emerges from
potentiality into act in elemented things, so does colour emerge in the sensitive from
the vegetative from potentiality into act. And because the heated water in the pot is
neither in vegetated substance nor in sensed substance, fire, although savour is fire’s
material instrument, has nothing with which it can sense savour, because savour as a
species is always in a potential state in fire.
Is bitterness a savour? Solution – Rotten meat tastes bitter to the human sense of taste,
but worms find the savour delightful.

88 - Questions about feeling

What is feeling? Solution – Go to the sensual tree.
What does feeling consist of? Solution – In accordance with general form, feeling is
materially a power of the elemental tree and it emerges and arises in the sensual tree
just as the instrumental life of a cultivated olive branch grafted on a wild olive tree
arises from the vegetative power of the wild tree. And go to the above chapter.
Why is there a sense of touch? Solution – The sense of touch exists in its own species
formally and it exists finally so that animals can enjoy pleasure in touching in order to
conserve their species. And go to the above chapter.
When a glowing coal touches a hand, why does the hand feel pain? Solution – Just as
touch is incompatible with non-vegetated elemental substance and with sensed
substance that is without vegetation, so does the sense of touch convene with
elemented and sensed substances with vegetation.

89 - Questions about conception

What is conception? Solution – Conception is the general form by reason of which
passive forms conceive new active forms.
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What does conception consist of? Solution – Go to the above chapter.

Why is there conception? Solution – Conception exists in order to manifest the acts of
the forms to the particular senses, to the imagination and to the powers of the rational
soul.
What does a conception manifested by the affatus consist of? Solution – A conception
manifested by the affatus is made of natural instincts and appetites which emerge from
the sensitive into the imaginative in the same way as the natural instincts and appetites
of the elementative emerge and arise in the vegetative powers of plants and in the
sensitive powers of animals. Here we know why a woman who conceives a son
imprints in him some likeness of the object of her imagination, and it is the same with
the man.

90 - Questions about sleep

What is sleep? Solution – Sleep is the form by reason of which forms that have been
toiling have an appetite for resting.
What does sleeping consist of? Solution – Sleeping consists of the preparation which
prepares and disposes matter so that the acts of natural forms can take place.
Why can nobody live without sleeping? Solution – If a horse were to run without ever
resting, it would never be able to run again.
Why do inebriated men have more of an appetite for sleep than others? Solution –
Because wine gives off abundant vapours, in suddenly raises the vapours from the
abdomen to the brain where they shut out the species that the imagination captures
from the senses when it has no similitudes with which to satisfy the rational soul.

91 - Questions about wakefulness

What is wakefulness? Solution – Wakefulness is a sequence of fantastic species
moved from the senses by the imaginative all the way to the powers of the rational
soul.
What does wakefulness consist of? Solution – Go to the said chapter.
Why do some people stay awake more than others? Solution – Nobody sleeps as much
as a phlegmatic person, nor does anybody stay awake as much as someone who is
deeply in love.
Does a dreaming man participate more with waking than with sleeping? Solution – In
people who dream the imaginative power remains more awake than any other power.

92 - Questions about dreaming

What is dreaming? Solution – Go to the above chapter.
Where does dreaming come from and how many species of dreaming are there?
Solution – Ibid.
Why do humans dream more than irrational animals do? Solution – Ibid.
Why does a melancholic person dream more than others do? Solution – No memory
can retain species as much as a memory made of the earthy complexion and this is
because it has a more durable foundation.

93 - Questions about joy

What is joy? Solution – Joy is a form that represents a desired end.
Where does joy naturally begin? Solution – Go to the above chapter.
Does an apple tree have joy, and does fire have joy when it heats water? Solution –
Ibid.
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Does a child feel joy through sensing before feeling joy through loving? Solution – In
children the imagination begins to delight in the senses before the will or the intellect
begin to delight in the imagination; and this is because an infant at the outset does not
behave according to old moralities.

94 - Questions about sadness

What is sadness? Solution – Sadness is a figure which represents the loss of a desired
end.
Where does sadness naturally begin? Solution – Go to the above chapter.
Where does moral sadness come from? Solution – Moral sadness comes from the
above definition.
Why is a melancholic person naturally more prone to sadness than others are?
Solution – No element is as far away from Saturn as earth, nor is any planet as close to
Saturn as Jupiter is.

95 - Questions about health

What is health? Solution – Health is the proportion of parts joined together in
elemented substance with greater concordance than contrariety.
Where does health naturally begin? Solution – Go to the above chapter.
What difference is there between natural health and moral health? Solution – Natural
health relates to the form but moral health relates to the end. Physicians exist to care
for natural health.
Why are people healthier in winter than in summer? Solution – In the season when
fruits are harvested, they are more harmful that in any other season. This is apparent in
a hen, that is more tender and tasty after being dead for twelve hors than after being
dead for one hour.

96 - Questions about illness

What is illness? Solution – Illness is the form that requires a definition contrary to the
definition of health.
Why is there illness? Solution – There is illness because health is absent.
Can a human body exist between health and illness? Solution – If an animate body
could exists between health and illness, then in this middle it would not be subject to
natural contrarieties and it would be incorruptible. See the above chapter.
What does moral illness consist of? Solution – This question should be put to gluttony,
to a sword, to a bad physician and to a beautiful woman.

97 - Questions about industry

What is industry? Solution – Industry is the general form by reason of which plants
and animals have a way to survive. And go to the above chapter.
Where does method naturally begin? Solution – Ibid.
What is moral method? Solution – Moral method is the figure of natural method or
industry.
A vine has neither discretion nor eyesight, so how does it climb a tree, why does it
keep its leaves raised perpendicular to the branches and why does it respond when you
touch it? Solution – Many special industries descend from the general industry.

98 - Questions about substance

What is substance? Solution – Substance is the being which properly stands per se and
without which there can be no accidents.
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Where does natural substance begin and what does it begin from? Solution – Go to the
above chapter.
How does substance stand under accidents? Solution – When substantial goodness
gives its likeness to substantial magnitude it stands by accident under the likeness it
gives.
Why is there substance? Solution – Substance exists formally by itself and finally so
that substantial and accidental forms can have a subject in which they can exist and
act.

99 - Questions about essence

What is essence? Solution – Essence is the form by reason of which being is sustained
in substantial or accidental concreteness, and this being converts with concreteness
through existing and acting and the act of the essence is sustained with the essence and
has one and the same nature as the essence. This passage contains some profound
philosophy.
How is essence above substance? Solution – Go to the said chapter.
What are the principal proper parts of essence? Solution – The rational soul along with
the body joined to it are properly parts of humanity, and the simple bonifier, bonifiable
and bonifying are parts of goodness.
What does essence consist of? Solution – One essence is general and it is common
when it consists of many essences, for instance: humanity consists of the goodness of
magnitude and of the other human forms. Other essences are spiritual, these stand
under the general essence and belong to it, such as the essence of the rational soul and
the essence of the human body.

100 - Questions about being

What is being? Solution – Being is the genus that is above everything of a substantial
and accidental nature.
How is being a general form? Solution – Go to the said chapter.
In considering being, is accident considered before substance? Solution – Accidental
figures are windows on substantial being.
How should being be investigated and treated? Solution – Go to the above chapter.

Questions about the practical application of the hundred forms

found at the end of the sensual tree
In this part, we will provide a doctrine for making questions about the sensual tree
with the hundred forms and for solving these questions. And the method we follow in the
sensual tree with the hundred forms can be applied to the other trees.
1. Due to what nature is the sensitive power one thing made of many things? Solution
– Go to paragraph 1 of the said chapter.
2. We ask whether Martin’s son Peter could be who he is if Martin never existed and
if Peter were William’s son. Solution – According to the nature of numerical unity,
Peter could not be who he is if Martin had never existed and if Peter were
William’s son, because if he could be, then the entire plurality of elementation,
vegetation and sensuality could convene with the one identity as much as with the
other.
Is the common sense simple or compound? Solution – It is simple with regard to
the unity of the sensual tree, but it is compound with regard to the way in which
the sensual tree is composed of many causes, namely the elementative, the
vegetative and the sensitive powers. And go to paragraph 2 of the said chapter.
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3. Is the eyesight a simple or a compound power? Solution – Every particular must be

of the same nature as its universal, for if it were not, then it would not be a part of
the universal.
Is the common sense made of both form and matter or of only one of these?
Solution – The sensual tree could not exist without form and matter because it
would not have anything to exist with.
4. What are the form and matter of the common sense? Solution – Elementativity,
vegetativity, sensitivity are the forms of the common sense in the nature of
simplicity and composition, and elementability vegetability and sensibility are the
matter of the common sense in the nature of simplicity and composition
Is the common sense made of genera and species? Solution – Go to paragraph 4
above.
5. Through what natural process does seeing reproduce species? Solution – The
natural properties of the parts are of the same nature as the whole.
Which parts of the common sense are internal, and which parts are external?
Solution – The visibility which is of the essence of the common sense is the
internal part of the sense and the visibility of a stone, of an apple, of a flame or of
fire is the external part. And go to paragraph 5 above.
6. How do the internal and external parts of the common sense participate with each
other? Solution – The particular senses are the extremities of the common sense
that participate with external objects, for instance: visitivity participates in the
colour of the object it receives and it is the same with auditivity which participates
in sound, and likewise with the other senses in their different ways.
How is the common sense made of abstract forms? Solution – Ibid. paragraph 6.
How are the particular senses made of concretes, as for instance the eyesight,
which is made of the visitive, the visible and the act of seeing? Solution – Ibid.
7. How is the sensitive power subject to generation and corruption? Solution – Ibid.
paragraph 7.
8. Does any generation follow the corruption of Martin’s sensitive power? Solution –
The corruption of the grass eaten by a horse is followed by the generation of flesh
and the corruption of meat eaten by a dog is followed by the generation of other
flesh.
Are grossness and slenderness forms of the common sense? Solution – Ibid.
paragraph 8.
9. Why are some people naturally more subtle than others? Solution – To the extent
that the matter of Martin’s common sense is subject to a subtler form than the
matter of William’s common sense, Martin’s imagination is more capable than
William’ imagination of attaining the similitudes reproduced by the particular
senses.
Due to what nature is the common sense heavy? Solution – Ibid. paragraph 9.
10. Why is the eyesight lighter than the hearing? Solution – The eyesight is of the airy
complexion more than of any other complexion, while the hearing is of the earthy
complexion.
What is the complement of the common sense made of? Solution – Ibid. paragraph
10.
11. Are the eyes of a blind man empty? Solution – They are not empty of the acts of
the elementative and vegetative powers but they are empty of the acts of the
sensitive power.
Why must there be a common sense in the sensitive power? Solution – Ibid.
paragraph 11.
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12. In sensed substance, how do some extensities extend into others? Solution – Ibid.
paragraph 12.
13. Why is there a common sense and why does it move the particular senses?
Solution – Ibid. paragraph 13.
14. Is the common sense soft or hard? Solution – Ibid. paragraph 14.
15. Why does the power of sight have greater concordance with softness while the
power of hearing has greater concordance with hardness? Solution – From the
encounter and collision of dry bodies great sound is produced while softness and
transparency have concordance with moisture.
Are there any measurements in the sensitive? Solution – Go to paragraph 15.
16. Why can the power of sight attain more remote objects than the power of hearing
can attain? Solution – Because the matter of fire and air is more subtle than the
matter of water and earth, their virtue is more extensive than the virtue of water
and earth.
What are the power, the object and the act of the sensitive power? Solution – Go to
paragraph 16 above.
17. In the senses, why is one power made of many powers, one object of many objects
and one act out of many acts? Solution – The senses are one because the sensitive
power is one and they are many because the sensual tree is made of many things.
Is the common sense made of priority, secondarity and tertiarity though it does not
transition into a fourth number? Solution – Ibid. paragraph 17.
In the senses, which forms are first, which forms are last and which forms are in
the middle? Solution – Ibid.
18. How do the senses grow and decrease? Solution – Ibid. paragraph 18.
19. When the senses begin to decrease, does the virtue of the sense also begin to
decrease? Solution – The radical moisture lasts as long as the nourishing moisture
lasts. This passage contains some profound philosophy because according to the
way in which the elementative and the vegetative are disposed, they are matter for
the sensitive power which attracts its virtue from them and brings it from
potentiality into act in order to live, as when a flame of fire heats water and brings
the potential heat in the water into act in order to be sensed.
How are disposition, property and proportion forms of the senses? Solution – Go
to paragraph 19 above.
20. In what is a dead lion’s sensitive power now sustained? Solution – Water that
emerges from the sea as vapour and falls to the ground as rain and goes through
fountains to the sea and the amount of saltiness in the sea water is lost in the large
amount of sweet rain water. Here we know that the water of a fountain has a more
natural savour and is more healthy than water from a cistern.
How is a sense conditioned and how does it incline toward objects? Solution – Go
to paragraph 20 above.
21. How is one sense individually distinct from another sense? Solution – The
elementative and the vegetative communicate with the sensitive so that their
natures are objectified by different species of sensing.
How is there orderly operation in the sensitive power? Solution - Solution – Go to
paragraph 21 above.
22. How is a sense a subject of the influence and reciprocal influence of sensing?
Solution – Ibid. paragraph 22.
23. Do the elemental and vegetal trees instill any virtue into the acts of the particular
senses? Solution – No root moisture can live without nourishing moisture.
How are production, origin and emergence forms of a sense? Solution – Go to
paragraph 23 above.
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24. Why are fewer species multiplied by the sense of taste than by the eyesight?
Solution – The production which is made by taste is more proper and more natural
to arisen and emerged forms than the production made by the eyesight; and we
have experience of this inasmuch as an animal can live without eyesight but not
without taste. Here we know that nature does not want do use more species to do
what it can do with fewer species, and when nature cannot do something with
fewer species, it seeks to do it with more species.
How are separability and inseparability forms of a sense? Solution – Ibid.
paragraph 24.
25. Is the sensitive power separated from blind Martin’s eyes? Solution – In no sensual
instrument can the sensitive power radically divide itself off from the elemental
and vegetal trees but instrumentally through the absent disposition of the three
forms, namely the elementative, the vegetative and the sensitive from which the
order of the sense organ is separated. This can be seen in the figure of an artificial
instrument, as when a singer obviously cannot hit the right note which he knows
by heart with a violin that is out of tune and not ready to be played.
How are possibility and impossibility forms of a sense? Solution - Solution – Go
to paragraph 25 above.
26. In the senses, how does one possibility arise from many possibilities and how are
many possibilities lost through one simple impossibility? Solution – The
possibilities of the elementative, the vegetative and the sensitive add up to one
common possibility by reason of which there can be one sensual tree. And if any
one of the nine general accidents were to be subtracted from substance, then this
substance could not possibly exist.
How is sensed substance made of similitudes? Solution – Go to paragraph 26
above.
27. Due to what nature are the acts of the particular senses dissimilar from each other?
Solution – The common sense lives on the dissimilarities as well as on the
similarities of the elemental and the vegetal tree.
How are corporeal nature and transmutation forms of sensed substance? Solution –
Go to paragraph 27 above.
28. Is the power of sight made of corporeal principles? Solution – If one of Martin’s
eyes were extracted, the natural virtue of this eye would be transferred or
transmuted to the other eye through a corporeal subject without which there could
be no transfer nor could the remaining eye increase its virtue.
How are light and shadow forms of the sense of sight in seeing? Solution – Go to
paragraph 28 above.
29. Why do the eyes not see at night, since light is an essential part of them? Solution
–Internal light cannot begin to operate if it has no external light as its instrument
for seeing.
How is a sense punctual and how is it constituted of lines and of the nature of
surface? Solution – Go to paragraph 29 above.
30. Does the sense of hearing need a surface? Solution – If there were no surface in the
contact made by air, there could not be any sound.
How are direction and figure principles of the senses? Solution – Ibid. paragraph
30
31. Does hearing need figures? Solution – If figures did not serve as instruments of the
sense of hearing, then the voice of a nightingale and the braying of a donkey would
be received by the hearing as the same species.
Do the senses consist of masculinity and femininity? Solution – Go to paragraph
31.
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Is voice masculine or feminine? Solution – A voice is of the essence of sound and

of its act, and sound arises from the acts of feminine and masculine parts. And go
to the same paragraph above.
32. What is the natural cause for which the common sense requires organs and
instruments in order to exercise its virtue? Solution – Ibid. paragraph 32.
33. Is the difference between the senses due to the difference between organs and
instruments or is it properly due to the senses themselves? Solution – Inasmuch as
the sensitive power consists of difference it has its own nature for sensing diverse
objects differently according to species and inasmuch as the organs and the
instruments are made of difference, the nature of the sensitive power is
appropriated to the organs and instruments which attain objects through it in
different ways. This passage contains some profound philosophy.
How are nourishment and impression forms of the senses? Solution – Go to
paragraph 33 above.
34. Are insertion and being per se parts of the senses? Solution – Ibid. paragraph 34.
35. Can the sensitive power be what it is by itself? Solution –No form that is inserted
into another form can exist on its own without the influence of that which it is
inserted into.
Are individuality and attraction parts of the senses? Solution – Go to paragraph 35
above.
36. In the senses is there attraction from passion into action and from action into
passion? Solution – If air attracted the heat of fire to itself, then in this attraction
air would be the active form and fire would be the passive form, so that fire would
not give its heat to air.
Are necessity and contingency forms of the common sense? Solution – Ibid.
paragraph 36.
Is blindness due to the sensitive power or is it due to the elementative and
vegetative powers? Moreover, we ask the same question about the bitterness that
the sense of taste senses in a sweet apple, and likewise with other forms which
reach the other senses through contingency. Solution – Ibid. the same paragraph.
37. Are perfection and imperfection parts of the senses? Solution – Ibid. paragraph 37.
38. Is blindness of the senses as necessarily due to imperfection as sight is due to
perfection? Solution – In a mute man, speech is present through the contingency
of the affatus and through the necessity of the imperfection that is the cause of
deafness; this passage contains some profound philosophy.
Are life and colour forms of the common sense? Solution – Ibid. paragraph 38.
39. Since colour is the object of sight and sight belongs to life, is colour of the essence
of sensual life? Solution – If colour were of the essence of the visitive power, then
an apple that has colour would be endowed with senses; therefore, colour is not of
the essence of the sensitive power but an instrument for seeing.
Are sound, odour and taste parts of the sensitive power? Solution – The parts that
are essential to substance are one thing but the parts that are instrumental are
another thing. And go to paragraph 39 above.
40. Are tangibility and affability essential passions of the common sense? Solution –
In all the passive forms of the common sense there is distinction because some
forms are internal and these, along with the active forms are of the essence of
sense but the external forms are instruments and are neither of its essence nor of its
species.
In the affatus is there an act that is of the essence of the affatus? Solution – Just as
hearing works through touching and this contact is of the species of hearing, so
likewise, the affatus works through touch although this touch does not belong to
 229

the species of the affatus. Here we know that the external instruments are not of
the essence of the internal powers. And go to paragraph 40 above.
41. Are waking and sleeping parts of the common sense? Solution – If sleeping were a
part of the common sense, then each body that is endowed with senses would
sense things while asleep. And if waking were a part of the common sense, then
body that is endowed with senses would ever sleep.
How are waking and sleeping instruments of the common sense? Solution – Ibid.
paragraph 41.
42. Are joy and sadness of the essence of the common sense? Solution – Since pepper
exists essentially due to elements and from their qualities, it is always engaged in
the acts of heating, moistening, cooling and drying. And because sentient
substance cannot be in joy and in sadness at the same time, joy and sadness are not
of the essence of the senses but they are instruments of the senses. These
instruments are morally habituated and derive as natural pleasure from the internal
instruments which are of the essence of the senses. This passage contains some
profound philosophy with which many secrets of nature can be pierced.
Is the revulsion that people feel when viewing ugly figures and that makes them
sad of the essence of the senses? Solution – This revulsion in practice is moral and
instrumental, and it is the privation of the act of natural pleasure which is of the
essence of the senses. And go to paragraph 42 above.
43. Are health and illness of the essence of the senses? Solution – Ibid. paragraph 43.
When a lion is sick, where is its health? Solution – Hot water holds its coldness in
potentiality.
44. Is a lion’s industry of the essence of its sensitive power? Solution – Ibid. paragraph
44.
Is a lion’s industry natural or moral? Solution – The industry of a lion and of other
animals is natural in the elementative and vegetative powers and it is moral in the
sensitive power and this morality is an external natural figure that is an accidental
similitude of substantial industry which is internal. For these reasons, as soon as a
lion is born, it immediately has the industry of suckling its mother’s milk because
the natural form which is internal moves an accidental moral form which is
external. This passage contains some profound philosophy.
45. How are substance, essence and being different in the sensitive power? Solution –
Ibid. paragraph 45.
How can external questions be solved by applying the hundred forms? Solution –
Following the method we adopted in the application of the forms to the sensitive
power, and following the method we adopted for solving other questions in the Tree of
Science a method for finding true conclusions to external questions can be obtained.
And go to the above chapter.

Questions about acquiring the habit of this science

Following the ten rules of the General Table, we propose to make ten questions so as
to complete the number of four thousand questions and so that the habit of this Art and
Science can be conserved with them.
1. Is this Tree of Science general? Solution – This Tree of Science is general because
it consists of general principles as we can see in its roots and it is general because
it consists of 16 trees which are general to every habit of science.
2. What is this tree? Solution – It is the discovery and complement of the general
theories and practices that constitute the general habit of knowing.
 230

3. What is this tree made of? Solution –It is made materially of 16 trees which it
contains in itself and which are parts of it as we can see, and with regard to the end
it is made of the general habit of science.
4. Why is this tree? Solution – This tree exists formally because it is made of 16 trees
which are its parts, and it exists ultimately because Raymond has nobody to whom
he could show his general art perfectly and he needs the capability to signify
through this tree of science the general understanding of all sciences that can be
obtained through his art because this general understanding can be known through
this art. Someone who has a well-founded intellect that is humble and law-abiding
could study and learn this art on his own.
5. How great is this tree? Solution – Go to the leaves of its trees to the places about
quantity and with these quantities you will be able to find out how big this tree is.
And you can do the same with its other predicates and with its substances.
6. What is the subject of this tree of science? Solution – The subject of this tree is
that through which the human intellect acquires the universal habit of knowing.
7. When was this art discovered? Solution – This art was discovered in the year 1295
of the Incarnation of Our Lord from the feast of Saint Michael until April 1.
8. Where was this tree compiled? Solution – This tree was compiled in the city of
Rome, placed on the altar of Saint Peter and entrusted to Our Lord Jesus Christ, to
Our Lady, to the angels and to the saints.
9. How can one obtain practice in the discourse of this Art and its application to
external questions? Solution – Go to the 16th tree of questions and follow the
method for solving external questions that we followed when solving the questions
of this tree and applying external questions to the trees which are general to their
terms.
10. With what can you conserve the habit of this science? Solution – By frequently
imagining and remembering the special trees in this general tree, you can conserve
the general habit of science that you can obtain through it. And glory be given to
God. Amen.

About the end of this tree

Raymond finished and completed this tree with the help and grace of God whom he
praised and blessed because He gave him grace in the beginning, in the middle and in the end
of this work and because He freed him from a heavy burden of labour. And Raymond begs
God for mercy if he neglected anything in the treatise of this art and if he erred in any way in
it, he did not err knowingly but out of ignorance. And he beseeches the Holy Father His
Holiness the Pope and his brothers to accept this book graciously and correct it if it contains
any errors and to approve this book and make many copies of it because great good can
follow from this as can be seen in its process.
Before parting ways with the monk, Raymond spent a long period of time lost in
thought. The monk asked Raymond what he was thinking of. Raymond replied and said that
this tree of science should first be presented to some holy person endowed with a very lofty
intellect and who would present it to His Holiness the Pope and the cardinals.
“Raymond,” said the monk, “who will this person be?” Raymond replied and said that
he had good hope that some holy person would present it for the honour of God, to whom all
praise and glory be given. Amen.
 231

THE TREE OF QUESTIONS ........................................................................................................................ 2

ABOUT THE ROOTS OF THE TREE OF QUESTIONS .............................................................................................. 4
About the roots of the elemental tree ........................................................................................................ 4
Questions from the roots of the vegetal tree.............................................................................................. 7
Questions from the roots of the sensual tree ............................................................................................. 8
Questions from the roots of the imaginal tree ........................................................................................... 8
Questions from the roots of the human-rational tree ................................................................................. 8
Questions from the roots of the first moral tree......................................................................................... 9
Questions from the roots of the second moral tree .................................................................................... 9
Questions from the roots of the imperial tree .......................................................................................... 10
Questions from the roots of the apostolic tree......................................................................................... 10
Questions from the roots of the celestial tree .......................................................................................... 10
Questions from the roots of the angelic tree............................................................................................ 11
Questions from the roots of the eviternal tree ......................................................................................... 11
Questions from the roots of the maternal tree ......................................................................................... 12
Questions from the roots of the Christian tree......................................................................................... 12
Questions about God’s dignities in the divine tree .................................................................................. 13
Questions from the roots of the tree of exemplars ................................................................................... 13
QUESTIONS ABOUT THE TRUNKS .................................................................................................................. 14
First, about the trunk of the elemental tree ............................................................................................. 14
Questions from the trunk of the vegetal tree............................................................................................ 14
Questions from the trunk of the sensual tree ........................................................................................... 15
Questions from the trunk of the imaginal tree ......................................................................................... 15
Questions from the trunk of the human-rational tree............................................................................... 16
Questions from the trunk of the moral tree of virtues .............................................................................. 16
Questions from the trunk of the moral tree of vices ................................................................................. 17
Questions from the trunk of the imperial tree.......................................................................................... 17
Questions from the trunk of the apostolic tree......................................................................................... 18
Questions from the trunk of the celestial tree.......................................................................................... 18
Questions from the trunk of the angelic tree ........................................................................................... 19
Questions from the trunk of the eviternal tree ......................................................................................... 19
Questions from the trunk of the maternal tree......................................................................................... 20
Questions from the trunk of the tree of Jesus Christ ................................................................................ 20
Questions from the trunk of the divine tree ............................................................................................. 21
Questions from the trunk of the tree of exemplars ................................................................................... 21
First, from the elemental tree ............................................................................................................................. 21
Questions from the proverbs in the trunk of the vegetal tree ................................................................................ 22
Questions about the proverbs in the trunk of the sensual tree............................................................................... 23
Questions about the proverbs in the trunk of the imaginal tree............................................................................. 23
Questions about the proverbs in the trunk of the human-rational tree ................................................................... 23
Questions about the proverbs in the trunk of the moral tree ................................................................................. 23
Questions about the proverbs in the trunk of the imperial tree ............................................................................. 24
Questions about the proverbs in the trunk of the apostolic tree ............................................................................ 24
Questions about the proverbs in the trunk of the celestial tree.............................................................................. 25
Questions about the proverbs in the trunk of the angelic tree............................................................................... 25
Questions about the proverbs in the trunk of the eviternal tree............................................................................. 26
Questions about the proverbs in the trunk of the maternal tree............................................................................. 26
Questions about the proverbs in the trunk of the Christian tree ............................................................................ 26
Questions about the proverbs in the trunk of the divine tree................................................................................. 27
QUESTIONS ABOUT THE BRANCHES .............................................................................................................. 27
First, the elemental tree ......................................................................................................................... 27
Questions from the branches of the vegetal tree...................................................................................... 28
Questions from the branches of the sensual tree ..................................................................................... 29
Questions from the branches of the imaginal tree ................................................................................... 30
Questions from the corporeal branches of the human-rational tree ......................................................... 30
Questions from the spiritual branches of the human-rational tree ........................................................... 31
Questions from the branches of the moral tree........................................................................................ 33
First, some questions about justice ..................................................................................................................... 33
Questions about prudence .................................................................................................................................. 34
Questions about fortitude................................................................................................................................... 34
Questions about temperance............................................................................................................................... 34
Questions about faith from the branches of the moral tree ................................................................................... 35
 232

Questions about hope from the branches of the moral tree................................................................................... 35

Questions about charity from the branches of the moral tree................................................................................ 36
Questions about justice and prudence ................................................................................................................. 36
Questions about justice and fortitude.................................................................................................................. 37
Questions about justice and temperance ............................................................................................................. 37
Questions about justice and faith........................................................................................................................ 37
Questions about justice and hope ....................................................................................................................... 37
Questions about justice and charity .................................................................................................................... 38
Questions about prudence and fortitude.............................................................................................................. 38
Questions about prudence and temperance.......................................................................................................... 38
Questions about prudence and faith.................................................................................................................... 38
Questions about prudence and hope.................................................................................................................... 39
Questions about prudence and charity ................................................................................................................ 39
Questions about fortitude and temperance .......................................................................................................... 39
Questions about fortitude and faith..................................................................................................................... 39
Questions about fortitude and hope .................................................................................................................... 40
Questions about fortitude and charity ................................................................................................................. 40
Questions about temperance and faith ................................................................................................................ 40
Questions about temperance and hope................................................................................................................ 41
Questions about temperance and charity............................................................................................................. 41
Questions about faith and hope .......................................................................................................................... 41
Questions about faith and charity ....................................................................................................................... 41
Questions about hope and charity....................................................................................................................... 41
Questions about holiness.................................................................................................................................... 42
Questions about patience ................................................................................................................................... 42
Questions about humility ................................................................................................................................... 42
Questions about compassion .............................................................................................................................. 42
Questions about chastity .................................................................................................................................... 43
Questions about generosity ................................................................................................................................ 43
Questions about lawfulness................................................................................................................................ 43
Questions about constancy................................................................................................................................. 43
Questions about diligence .................................................................................................................................. 43
Questions about sweetness................................................................................................................................. 44
Questions about conscience ............................................................................................................................... 44
Questions about fear .......................................................................................................................................... 44
Questions about contrition ................................................................................................................................. 44
Questions about shame ...................................................................................................................................... 45
Questions about obedience................................................................................................................................. 45
Questions about holiness combined with the virtues............................................................................................ 45
Questions about patience combined with the virtues ........................................................................................... 46
Questions about abstinence combined with the virtues ........................................................................................ 47
Questions about humility combined with the virtues ........................................................................................... 48
Questions about compassion combined with the virtues ...................................................................................... 49
Questions about chastity combined with the virtues ............................................................................................ 50
Questions about generosity combined with the virtues ........................................................................................ 50
Questions about lawfulness combined with the virtues........................................................................................ 51
Questions about constancy combined with the virtues......................................................................................... 51
Questions about diligence combined with the virtues .......................................................................................... 52
Questions about sweetness combined with the virtues......................................................................................... 52
Questions about conscience combined with the virtues ....................................................................................... 52
Questions about fear combined with the virtues .................................................................................................. 53
Questions about contrition combined with the virtues ......................................................................................... 53
A question about modesty and obedience ........................................................................................................... 53
Questions from the moral tree of vices.................................................................................................... 53
First, about gluttony........................................................................................................................................... 53
Questions about avarice ..................................................................................................................................... 53
Questions about lust .......................................................................................................................................... 54
Questions about conceit ..................................................................................................................................... 54
Questions about accidy...................................................................................................................................... 54
Questions about envy......................................................................................................................................... 55
Questions about ire............................................................................................................................................ 55
Questions about gluttony and avarice ................................................................................................................. 55
Questions about gluttony and lust....................................................................................................................... 56
Questions about gluttony and conceit ................................................................................................................. 56
Questions about gluttony and accidy .................................................................................................................. 56
Questions about gluttony and envy..................................................................................................................... 57
Questions about gluttony and ire ........................................................................................................................ 57
Questions about avarice and lust ........................................................................................................................ 57
 233

Questions about avarice and conceit................................................................................................................... 57

Questions about avarice and accidy.................................................................................................................... 58
Questions about avarice and envy ...................................................................................................................... 58
Questions about avarice and ire.......................................................................................................................... 58
Questions about lust and conceit ........................................................................................................................ 59
Questions about lust and accidy ......................................................................................................................... 59
Questions about lust and envy............................................................................................................................ 59
Questions about lust and ire ............................................................................................................................... 60
Questions about conceit and accidy.................................................................................................................... 60
Questions about conceit and envy ...................................................................................................................... 60
Questions about conceit and ire.......................................................................................................................... 60
Questions about accidy and envy ....................................................................................................................... 61
Questions about accidy and ire........................................................................................................................... 61
Questions about envy and ire ............................................................................................................................. 61
Questions about the resultant vices ........................................................................................................ 61
First, questions about injury............................................................................................................................... 61
2 - Questions about indiscretion ......................................................................................................................... 62
3 - Questions about faintheartedness .................................................................................................................. 62
4 - Questions about intemperance....................................................................................................................... 62
5 - Questions about infidelity ............................................................................................................................. 62
6 - Questions about despair ................................................................................................................................ 62
7 - Questions about cruelty ................................................................................................................................ 63
8 - Questions about betrayal............................................................................................................................... 63
9 - Questions about homicide............................................................................................................................. 63
10 - Questions about larceny.............................................................................................................................. 63
11 - Questions about mendacity ......................................................................................................................... 63
12 - Questions about slander .............................................................................................................................. 64
13 - Questions about impatience......................................................................................................................... 64
14 - Questions about inconstancy ....................................................................................................................... 64
15 - Questions about impurity ............................................................................................................................ 64
16 - Questions about falsity................................................................................................................................ 65
17 - Questions about laziness ............................................................................................................................. 65
18 - Questions about discourtesy........................................................................................................................ 65
19 - Questions about disobedience ..................................................................................................................... 65
Questions about the mixture of the resultant vices .................................................................................. 65
First, questions about injury combined with the vices ......................................................................................... 65
Questions about indiscretion combined with the vices......................................................................................... 66
Questions about frailty combined with the vices ................................................................................................. 67
Questions about intemperance combined with the vices ...................................................................................... 68
Questions about infidelity combined with the vices............................................................................................. 69
Questions about despair combined with the vices................................................................................................ 70
Questions about cruelty combined with the vices................................................................................................ 70
Questions about betrayal combined with the vices .............................................................................................. 71
Questions about homicide combined with the vices ............................................................................................ 71
Questions about larceny combined with the vices ............................................................................................... 72
Questions about mendacity and slander combined with the vices......................................................................... 72
Questions about slander combined with the vices................................................................................................ 73
Questions about impatience combined with the vices.......................................................................................... 73
Questions about inconstancy combined with the vices ........................................................................................ 73
Questions about impurity combined with the vices ............................................................................................. 74
Questions about falsity combined with the vices................................................................................................. 74
Questions about laziness combined with the vices .............................................................................................. 74
A question about discourtesy and disobedience................................................................................................... 74
Questions from the branches of the imperial tree.................................................................................... 74
Questions about barons...................................................................................................................................... 74
Questions about knights..................................................................................................................................... 74
Questions about city governors .......................................................................................................................... 75
Questions about advisors ................................................................................................................................... 75
Questions about administrators .......................................................................................................................... 75
Questions about judges ...................................................................................................................................... 75
Questions about lawyers .................................................................................................................................... 76
Questions about bailiffs and executioners........................................................................................................... 76
Questions about inspectors................................................................................................................................. 76
Questions about the confessor ............................................................................................................................ 76
Questions from the branches of the apostolic tree................................................................................... 77
Questions from the branches of the celestial tree .................................................................................... 77
Questions from the branches of the angelic tree...................................................................................... 78
 234

Questions from the branches of the eviternal tree ................................................................................... 78

Questions from the branches of the maternal tree ................................................................................... 79
Questions from the branches of the tree of Jesus Christ .......................................................................... 79
Questions from the branches of the divine tree ....................................................................................... 80
Questions about the Father................................................................................................................................. 80
Questions about the Person of the Son................................................................................................................ 80
Questions about the Holy Spirit.......................................................................................................................... 80
Questions about the Trinity................................................................................................................................ 81
Questions from the branches of the tree of exemplars ............................................................................. 82
Questions about the elements ............................................................................................................................. 82
Questions about exemplars from the branches of the vegetal tree......................................................................... 82
Questions about exemplars from the branches of the sensual tree ........................................................................ 82
Questions about exemplars from the branches of the imaginal tree ...................................................................... 83
Questions about exemplars from the branches of the corporeal human tree.......................................................... 83
Questions about exemplars from the branches of the spiritual human tree............................................................ 83
Questions about exemplars from the branches of the moral tree........................................................................... 83
Questions about exemplars from the branches of the imperial tree....................................................................... 83
Questions about exemplars from the branches of the apostolic tree...................................................................... 84
Questions about exemplars from the branches of the celestial tree....................................................................... 84
Questions about exemplars from the branches of the angelic tree......................................................................... 84
Questions about exemplars from the branches of the eviternal tree ...................................................................... 84
Questions about exemplars from the branches of the maternal tree ...................................................................... 84
Questions about exemplars from the branches of the tree of Jesus Christ ............................................................. 85
Questions about exemplars from the branches of the divine tree.......................................................................... 85
QUESTIONS ABOUT THE TWIGS ..................................................................................................................... 85
The elemental tree ................................................................................................................................. 85
Questions about the twigs of the vegetal tree .......................................................................................... 85
Questions about the twigs of the sensual tree.......................................................................................... 86
Questions about the twigs of the imaginal tree........................................................................................ 87
Questions about the twigs of the human rational tree.............................................................................. 87
Questions about the twigs of the tree of the moral virtues ....................................................................... 88
Questions about the twigs of the tree of the vices .................................................................................... 88
Questions about the twigs of the imperial tree ........................................................................................ 89
Questions about the prince’s justice.................................................................................................................... 89
Questions about the prince’s love....................................................................................................................... 89
Questions about the prince’s fear ....................................................................................................................... 89
Questions about the prince’s wisdom ................................................................................................................. 90
Questions about the prince’s power.................................................................................................................... 90
Questions about the prince’s honour................................................................................................................... 90
Questions about the prince’s freedom................................................................................................................. 90
Questions about the twigs in the apostolic tree ....................................................................................... 90
Questions about the first commandment of the apostolic tree .............................................................................. 91
Questions about the intellect in the twigs of the apostolic tree ............................................................................. 91
Questions about the third commandment in the twigs of the apostolic tree ........................................................... 91
Questions about the fourth commandment in the twigs of the apostolic tree......................................................... 91
Questions about the fifth commandment in the apostolic tree .............................................................................. 92
Questions about the sixth commandment in the apostolic tree ............................................................................. 92
Questions about the seventh commandment in the apostolic tree ......................................................................... 92
Questions about the twigs of the celestial tree......................................................................................... 92
Questions about the twigs of the angelic tree .......................................................................................... 93
Questions about the twigs of the eviternal tree........................................................................................ 93
Questions about the twigs of the maternal tree ....................................................................................... 94
Questions about the twigs of the tree of Jesus Christ............................................................................... 94
Questions about the twigs of the divine tree............................................................................................ 95
Questions about the twigs of the tree of exemplars.................................................................................. 95
Questions about the twigs from the elemental part of the tree of exemplars.......................................................... 95
Questions about proverbs from the twigs of the vegetal tree ................................................................................ 95
Questions about proverbs from the twigs of the sensual tree................................................................................ 96
Questions about proverbs from the twigs of the imaginal tree.............................................................................. 96
Questions about proverbs from the twigs of the human tree................................................................................. 96
Questions about proverbs from the twigs of the moral tree .................................................................................. 97
Questions about proverbs from the twigs of the imperial tree .............................................................................. 97
About justice................................................................................................................................................ 97
Questions about wisdom............................................................................................................................... 97
Questions about love .................................................................................................................................... 97
 235

Questions about power ................................................................................................................................. 98

Questions about fear ..................................................................................................................................... 98
Questions about honour ................................................................................................................................ 98
Questions about freedom .............................................................................................................................. 99
Questions about exemplars from the twigs of the apostolic tree ........................................................................... 99
Questions about exemplars from the twigs of the celestial tree ............................................................................ 99
Questions about exemplars from the twigs of the angelic tree.............................................................................. 99
Questions about exemplars from the twigs of the eviternal tree ........................................................................... 99
Questions about exemplars from the twigs of the maternal tree ........................................................................... 99
Questions about exemplars from the twigs of the tree of Jesus Christ................................................................... 99
Questions about exemplars from the twigs of the divine tree ............................................................................. 100
QUESTIONS ABOUT THE LEAVES ................................................................................................................. 100
First, questions about quantity from the leaves of the elemental tree..................................................... 100
Questions about quantity from the leaves of the vegetal tree ................................................................. 100
Questions about quantity from the leaves of the sensual tree................................................................. 100
Questions about quantity from the leaves of the imaginal tree............................................................... 101
Questions about quantity from the leaves of the human tree.................................................................. 101
Questions about quantity from the leaves of the tree of moral virtues.................................................... 101
Questions about quantity from the leaves of the tree of moral vices....................................................... 102
Questions about quantity from the leaves of the imperial tree ............................................................... 102
Questions about quantity from the leaves of the apostolic tree .............................................................. 102
Questions about quantity from the leaves of the celestial tree................................................................ 102
Questions about quantity from the leaves of the angelic tree ................................................................. 102
Questions about quantity from the leaves of the eviternal tree............................................................... 103
Questions about quantity from the leaves of the maternal tree............................................................... 103
Questions about quantity from the leaves of the tree of Jesus Christ...................................................... 103
Questions about quantity from the leaves of the divine tree ................................................................... 103
Questions about quantity from the leaves of the exemplary tree ............................................................ 104
Questions about quality from the leaves of the elemental tree ............................................................... 104
Questions about quality from the leaves of the vegetal tree ................................................................... 104
Questions about quality from the leaves of the sensual tree................................................................... 104
Questions about quality from the leaves of the imaginal tree................................................................. 104
Questions about quality from the leaves of the human tree.................................................................... 105
Questions about quality from the leaves of the tree of moral virtues...................................................... 105
Questions about quality from the leaves of the tree of moral vices......................................................... 105
Questions about quality from the leaves of the imperial tree ................................................................. 105
Questions about quality from the leaves of the apostolic tree ................................................................ 106
Questions about baptism.................................................................................................................................. 106
Questions about confirmation .......................................................................................................................... 106
Questions about matrimony ............................................................................................................................. 106
Questions about the Eucharist .......................................................................................................................... 107
Questions about the holy orders ....................................................................................................................... 107
Questions about penance.................................................................................................................................. 107
Questions about extreme unction...................................................................................................................... 107
Questions about the qualities of the other leaves of the apostolic tree ................................................................ 107
Questions about the qualities of the celestial tree .............................................................................................. 108
Questions about the qualities of the angelic tree................................................................................................ 108
Questions about the qualities of the eviternal tree ............................................................................................. 108
Questions about the qualities of the maternal tree ............................................................................................. 108
Questions about the qualities of the tree of Jesus Christ .................................................................................... 109
Questions about the qualities of the divine tree ................................................................................................. 109
Questions about the qualities of the exemplary tree........................................................................................... 110
Questions about relation in the elemental tree................................................................................................... 110
Questions about relation in the vegetal tree....................................................................................................... 110
Questions about relation in the sensual tree ...................................................................................................... 110
Questions about relation in the imaginal tree .................................................................................................... 111
Questions about relation in the human tree ....................................................................................................... 111
Questions about relation in the tree of moral virtues.......................................................................................... 111
Questions about relation in the tree of moral vices ............................................................................................ 111
Questions about relation in the imperial tree..................................................................................................... 112
Questions about relation in the apostolic tree.................................................................................................... 112
Questions about relation in the celestial tree ..................................................................................................... 112
Questions about relation in the angelic tree....................................................................................................... 113
Questions about relation in the eviternal tree .................................................................................................... 113
Questions about relation in the maternal tree .................................................................................................... 113
 236

Questions about relation in the tree of Jesus Christ ........................................................................................... 113

Questions about relation in the divine tree ........................................................................................................ 114
Questions about relation in the exemplary tree.................................................................................................. 114
Questions about action and passion in the elemental tree................................................................................... 114
Questions about action and passion in the vegetal tree ...................................................................................... 115
Questions about action and passion in the sensual tree ...................................................................................... 115
Questions about action and passion in the imaginal tree .................................................................................... 115
Questions about action and passion in the human tree....................................................................................... 116
Questions about action and passion in the tree of moral virtues ......................................................................... 116
Questions about action and passion in the tree of moral vices............................................................................ 116
Questions about action and passion in the imperial tree..................................................................................... 116
Questions about action and passion in the celestial tree ..................................................................................... 117
Questions about action and passion in the angelic tree ...................................................................................... 117
Questions about action and passion in the eviternal tree .................................................................................... 117
Questions about action and passion in the maternal tree .................................................................................... 118
Questions about action and passion in the tree of Jesus Christ ........................................................................... 118
Questions about action and passion in the divine tree........................................................................................ 118
Questions about action and passion in the tree of exemplars.............................................................................. 118
Questions about habitus in the elemental tree.................................................................................................... 119
Questions about habitus in the vegetal tree ....................................................................................................... 119
Questions about habitus in the sensual tree ....................................................................................................... 119
Questions about habitus in the imaginal tree ..................................................................................................... 120
Questions about habits in the human tree.......................................................................................................... 120
Questions about metal work........................................................................................................................ 120
Questions about construction and carpentry................................................................................................. 120
Questions about tailoring ............................................................................................................................ 121
Questions about agriculture......................................................................................................................... 121
Questions about commerce ......................................................................................................................... 121
Questions about navigation ......................................................................................................................... 121
Questions about chivalry............................................................................................................................. 121
Questions about grammar ........................................................................................................................... 122
Questions about logic ................................................................................................................................. 122
Questions about rhetoric ............................................................................................................................. 122
Questions about arithmetic.......................................................................................................................... 122
Questions about geometry........................................................................................................................... 123
Questions about music................................................................................................................................ 124
Questions about astronomy ......................................................................................................................... 124
Questions about law ................................................................................................................................... 124
Questions about medicine ........................................................................................................................... 125
Questions about philosophy ........................................................................................................................ 126
Questions about theology............................................................................................................................ 126
Questions about habits in the tree of moral virtues ............................................................................................ 126
Questions about habits in the tree of moral vices............................................................................................... 127
Questions about habits in the imperial tree........................................................................................................ 128
Questions about habit in the apostolic tree........................................................................................................ 128
Questions about habit in the celestial tree ......................................................................................................... 129
Questions about habit in the angelic tree........................................................................................................... 129
Questions about habit in the eviternal tree ........................................................................................................ 129
Questions about habit in the maternal tree ........................................................................................................ 130
Questions about habit in the tree of Jesus Christ ............................................................................................... 130
Questions about habit in the divine tree ............................................................................................................ 130
Questions about habit in the tree of exemplars .................................................................................................. 131
Questions about situation..................................................................................................................... 131
Questions about situation in the elemental tree ................................................................................................. 131
Questions about situation in the vegetal tree ..................................................................................................... 131
Questions about situation in the sensual tree ..................................................................................................... 132
Questions about situation in the imaginal tree................................................................................................... 132
Questions about situation in the human-rational tree ......................................................................................... 132
Questions about situation in the tree of the moral virtues................................................................................... 132
Questions about situation in the tree of the moral vices ..................................................................................... 133
Questions about situation in the imperial tree.................................................................................................... 133
Questions about situation in the apostolic tree................................................................................................... 133
Questions about situation in the celestial tree.................................................................................................... 134
Questions about situation in the angelic tree ..................................................................................................... 134
Questions about situation in the eviternal tree................................................................................................... 134
Questions about situation in the maternal tree................................................................................................... 134
Questions about situation in the tree of Jesus Christ.......................................................................................... 134
Questions about situation in the divine tree....................................................................................................... 135
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Questions about situation in the tree of exemplars............................................................................................. 135

Questions about time ........................................................................................................................... 135
Questions about time in the elemental tree........................................................................................................ 135
Questions about time in the vegetal tree ........................................................................................................... 136
Questions about time in the sensual tree ........................................................................................................... 136
Questions about time in the imaginal tree ......................................................................................................... 136
Questions about time in the human-rational tree ............................................................................................... 136
Questions about time in the tree of moral virtue................................................................................................ 137
Questions about time in the tree of moral vice .................................................................................................. 137
Questions about time in the imperial tree.......................................................................................................... 137
Questions about time in the apostolic tree......................................................................................................... 138
Questions about time in the celestial tree.......................................................................................................... 138
Questions about time in the angelic tree ........................................................................................................... 138
Questions about time in the eviternal tree ......................................................................................................... 139
Questions about time in the maternal tree ......................................................................................................... 139
Questions about time in the tree of Jesus Christ ................................................................................................ 139
Questions about time in the divine tree............................................................................................................. 140
Questions about time in the tree of exemplars................................................................................................... 140
Questions about locus.......................................................................................................................... 141
Questions about locus in the elemental tree ...................................................................................................... 141
Questions about locus in the vegetal tree .......................................................................................................... 141
Questions about locus in the sensual tree .......................................................................................................... 141
Questions about locus in the imaginal tree........................................................................................................ 142
Questions about locus in the human-rational tree .............................................................................................. 142
Questions about locus in the tree of moral virtues ............................................................................................. 142
Questions about locus in the tree of moral vices................................................................................................ 142
Questions about locus in the imperial tree......................................................................................................... 143
Questions about locus in the apostolic tree........................................................................................................ 143
Questions about locus in the celestial tree......................................................................................................... 144
Questions about locus in the angelic tree .......................................................................................................... 144
Questions about locus in the eviternal tree........................................................................................................ 144
Questions about locus in the maternal tree........................................................................................................ 144
Questions about locus in the tree of Jesus Christ............................................................................................... 145
Questions about locus in the divine tree............................................................................................................ 145
Questions about locus in the tree of exemplars.................................................................................................. 145
Questions about celestial quantity in the tree of exemplars ................................................................................ 145
Questions about angelic quantity in the tree of exemplars ................................................................................. 146
Questions about eviternal relation in the tree of exemplars ................................................................................ 146
Questions about maternal action and passion in the tree of exemplars................................................................ 146
Questions about habit in the Christian part of the tree of exemplars................................................................... 146
Questions about divine action and passion in the tree of exemplars.................................................................... 146
QUESTIONS ABOUT THE FLOWERS .............................................................................................................. 146
Questions about the flowers of the elemental tree ................................................................................. 146
Questions about the flowers of the vegetal tree ..................................................................................... 147
Questions about the flowers of the sensual tree..................................................................................... 148
Questions about the flowers of the imaginal tree................................................................................... 148
Questions about the flowers of the human-rational tree ........................................................................ 149
Questions about the flowers of the tree of the moral virtues .................................................................. 150
Questions about the flowers of justice .............................................................................................................. 150
Questions about the flowers of prudence .......................................................................................................... 150
Questions about the flowers of fortitude ........................................................................................................... 151
Questions about the flowers of temperance....................................................................................................... 151
Questions about the flowers of faith ................................................................................................................. 151
Questions about the flowers of hope................................................................................................................. 151
Questions about the flowers of charity.............................................................................................................. 152
Questions about the flowers of the tree of the moral vices..................................................................... 152
Questions about the flowers of the imperial tree ................................................................................... 152
Questions about the flowers of the apostolic tree .................................................................................. 152
A question from the flowers of the apostolic tree – “Does God exist?” .............................................................. 153
From the flowers of the apostolic tree – questions about God’s unity................................................................. 153
From the flowers of the apostolic tree – questions about plurality...................................................................... 154
From the flowers of the apostolic tree – questions about the divine properties.................................................... 154
From the flowers of the apostolic tree – questions about the divine ternary number............................................ 155
From the flowers of the apostolic tree – questions about creation ...................................................................... 156
From the flowers of the apostolic tree – questions about recreation.................................................................... 156
First – whether the first man sinned............................................................................................................. 156
Is Adam’s sin general to the senses of all humans? ...................................................................................... 157
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Is original sin present in the soul? ............................................................................................................... 157

The question of recreation................................................................................................................................ 157
Whether Jesus Christ will resurrect all mankind on judgment day ..................................................................... 158
Whether the rational soul is immortal............................................................................................................... 158
Whether God will give glory to the saints in glory ............................................................................................ 158
Whether Jesus was conceived and whether God became incarnate..................................................................... 158
Whether Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit .............................................................................................. 159
Whether Jesus Christ was born......................................................................................................................... 159
Whether Jesus Christ died................................................................................................................................ 159
Whether Jesus Christ descended to Hell ........................................................................................................... 159
Whether Jesus Christ resurrected...................................................................................................................... 160
Whether Jesus Christ ascended to the heavens .................................................................................................. 160
Whether Jesus Christ will be the judge on Judgment Day.................................................................................. 160
Questions about the flowers of the celestial tree ................................................................................... 160
Questions about the flowers of the angelic tree..................................................................................... 161
Questions about the flowers of the eviternal tree................................................................................... 162
About glory..................................................................................................................................................... 162
Questions about the torment of loving .............................................................................................................. 162
Questions about the flowers of the maternal tree .................................................................................. 162
Questions about the flowers of the tree of Jesus Christ ......................................................................... 163
About goodness............................................................................................................................................... 163
Questions about magnitude from the flowers of the tree of Jesus Christ............................................................. 165
Questions about eternity from the flowers of the tree of Jesus Christ ................................................................. 166
Questions about power from the flowers of the tree of Jesus Christ ................................................................... 168
Questions about wisdom from the flowers of the tree of Jesus Christ................................................................. 169
Questions about the will from the flowers of the tree of Jesus Christ ................................................................. 171
Questions about virtue from the flowers of the tree of Jesus Christ .................................................................... 172
Questions about truth from the flowers of the tree of Jesus Christ...................................................................... 173
Questions about glory from the flowers of the tree of Jesus Christ..................................................................... 174
Questions about difference from the flowers of the tree of Jesus Christ.............................................................. 175
Questions about concordance from the flowers of the tree of Jesus Christ.......................................................... 176
Questions about the beginning from the flowers of the tree of Jesus Christ ........................................................ 176
Questions about the middle from the flowers of the tree of Jesus Christ............................................................ 177
Questions about the end from the flowers of the tree of Jesus Christ................................................................. 177
Questions about majority from the flowers of the tree of Jesus Christ ................................................................ 178
Questions about equality from the flowers of the tree of Jesus Christ................................................................. 178
Questions about the divine productions from the flowers of the divine tree............................................ 178
About goodness, magnitude and eternity .......................................................................................................... 178
Questions about power, wisdom and will from the divine tree........................................................................... 180
Questions about virtue, truth and glory from the flowers of the divine tree......................................................... 183
Questions about difference, concordance and contrariety from the flowers of the divine tree.............................. 184
Questions about the beginning, the middle and the end from the flowers of the divine tree................................. 185
Questions about majority, equality and minority............................................................................................... 185
Questions about the flowers of the tree of exemplars............................................................................. 185
Questions about proverbs from the elemental tree............................................................................................. 185
Questions about proverbs from the flowers of the vegetal tree........................................................................... 185
Questions about proverbs from the flowers of the sensual tree........................................................................... 186
Questions about proverbs from the flowers of the imaginal tree......................................................................... 186
Questions about proverbs from the flowers of the human corporeal tree ............................................................ 186
Questions about proverbs from the flowers of the human spiritual tree .............................................................. 187
Questions about proverbs from the flowers of the tree of moral virtues.............................................................. 187
Questions about proverbs from the flowers of the tree of moral vices ................................................................ 187
Questions about proverbs from the flowers of the imperial tree ......................................................................... 188
Questions about proverbs from the flowers of the apostolic tree ........................................................................ 188
About the articles on Divinity ..................................................................................................................... 188
About the articles on humanity.................................................................................................................... 188
Questions about proverbs from the flowers of the celestial tree ......................................................................... 189
Questions about proverbs from the flowers of the angelic tree........................................................................... 189
Questions about proverbs from the flowers of the eviternal tree......................................................................... 189
Questions about proverbs from the flowers of the maternal tree......................................................................... 190
Questions about proverbs from the flowers of the tree of Jesus Christ................................................................ 190
Questions about proverbs from the flowers of the divine tree ............................................................................ 190
QUESTIONS ABOUT THE FRUITS .................................................................................................................. 191
Questions about the fruits of the elemental tree .................................................................................... 191
Questions about the fruits of the vegetal tree ........................................................................................ 191
Questions about the fruits of the sensual tree........................................................................................ 191
Questions about the fruits of the imaginal tree...................................................................................... 192
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Questions about the fruits of the human-rational tree ........................................................................... 193

Questions about the fruits of the tree of moral virtues........................................................................... 193
Questions about the fruits of the tree of moral vices.............................................................................. 194
Questions about the fruits of the imperial tree ..................................................................................... 194
Questions about the fruits of the apostolic tree ..................................................................................... 195
Questions about the fruits of the celestial tree....................................................................................... 195
Questions about the fruits of the angelic tree ........................................................................................ 196
Questions about the fruits of the eviternal tree...................................................................................... 196
Questions about the fruits of the maternal tree ..................................................................................... 196
Questions about the fruits of the tree of Jesus Christ............................................................................. 197
Questions about the fruits of the divine tree.......................................................................................... 197
Questions about the fruits of the tree of exemplars................................................................................ 198
Questions about the elemental tree from the fruits of the tree of exemplars ........................................................ 198
Questions about the vegetal tree from the fruits of the tree of exemplars............................................................ 198
Questions about the sensual tree from the fruits of the tree of exemplars............................................................ 198
Questions about the imaginal tree from the fruits of the tree of exemplars.......................................................... 198
Questions about the human-rational tree from the fruits of the tree of exemplars................................................ 198
Questions about the moral tree of virtues from the fruits of the tree of exemplars............................................... 199
Questions about the imperial tree from the fruits of the tree of exemplars .......................................................... 199
Questions about the apostolic tree from the fruits of the tree of exemplars ......................................................... 199
Questions about the celestial tree from the fruits of the tree of exemplars .......................................................... 199
Questions about the angelic tree from the fruits of the tree of exemplars............................................................ 199
Questions about the eviternal tree from the fruits of the tree of exemplars.......................................................... 200
Questions about the maternal tree from the fruits of the tree of exemplars.......................................................... 200
Questions about the tree of Jesus Christ from the fruits of the tree of exemplars................................................. 200
Questions about the divine tree from the fruits of the tree of exemplars ............................................................. 200
QUESTIONS ABOUT THE HUNDRED FORMS AT THE END OF THE ELEMENTAL TREE ......................................... 200
1 - Questions about unity ..................................................................................................................... 200
2 - Questions about plurality................................................................................................................ 201
3 - Questions about simplicity .............................................................................................................. 201
4 - Questions about composition .......................................................................................................... 201
5 - Questions about form...................................................................................................................... 201
6 - Questions about matter ................................................................................................................... 201
7 - Questions about genus.................................................................................................................... 202
8 - Questions about species.................................................................................................................. 202
9 - Questions about intensity ................................................................................................................ 202
10 - Questions about extensity.............................................................................................................. 202
11 - Questions about abstraction.......................................................................................................... 203
12 - Questions about concretes............................................................................................................. 203
13 - Questions about generation........................................................................................................... 203
14 - Questions about corruption........................................................................................................... 203
15 - Questions about privation ............................................................................................................. 204
16 - Questions about fullness ............................................................................................................... 204
17 - Questions about emptiness ............................................................................................................ 204
18 - Questions about grossness ............................................................................................................ 204
19 - Questions about subtlety and slenderness...................................................................................... 205
20 - Questions about lightness.............................................................................................................. 205
21 - Questions about heaviness ............................................................................................................ 205
22 - Questions about the whole ............................................................................................................ 205
23 - Questions about parts ................................................................................................................... 206
24 - Questions about interiority............................................................................................................ 206
25 - Questions about exteriority ........................................................................................................... 206
26 - Questions about stability............................................................................................................... 206
27 - Questions about movement............................................................................................................ 207
28 - Questions about hardness ............................................................................................................. 207
29 - Questions about softness ............................................................................................................... 207
30 - Questions about length.................................................................................................................. 207
31 - Questions about breadth ............................................................................................................... 207
32 - Questions about depth................................................................................................................... 208
33 - Questions about the power, or potential ........................................................................................ 208
34 - Questions about the object ............................................................................................................ 208
35 - Questions about the act................................................................................................................. 208
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36 - Questions about priority ............................................................................................................... 209

37 - Questions about secondarity ......................................................................................................... 209
38 - Questions about tertiarity.............................................................................................................. 209
39 - Questions about growth ................................................................................................................ 209
40 - Questions about consumption........................................................................................................ 210
41 - Questions about disposition .......................................................................................................... 210
42 - Questions about property .............................................................................................................. 210
42 - Questions about proportion........................................................................................................... 210
44 - Questions about condition............................................................................................................. 210
45 - Questions about intention.............................................................................................................. 211
46 - Questions about order................................................................................................................... 211
47 - Questions about operation ............................................................................................................ 211
48 - Questions about influence ............................................................................................................. 211
49 - Questions about reciprocal influence ............................................................................................ 212
50 - Questions about production .......................................................................................................... 212
51 - Questions about origin.................................................................................................................. 212
52 - Questions about emergence........................................................................................................... 213
53 - Questions about separability......................................................................................................... 213
54 - Questions about inseparability ...................................................................................................... 213
55 - Questions about possibility ........................................................................................................... 214
56 - Questions about impossibility........................................................................................................ 214
57 - Questions about similitude ............................................................................................................ 214
58 - Questions about dissimilitude........................................................................................................ 214
59 - Questions about nature ................................................................................................................. 214
60 - Questions about corporality .......................................................................................................... 215
61 - Questions about transmutation...................................................................................................... 215
62 - Questions about light .................................................................................................................... 215
63 - Questions about shadow ............................................................................................................... 215
64 - Questions about the line................................................................................................................ 216
65 - Questions about punctuality .......................................................................................................... 216
66 - Questions about surface................................................................................................................ 216
67 - Questions about figure .................................................................................................................. 216
68 - Questions about direction ............................................................................................................. 217
69 - Questions about masculinity.......................................................................................................... 217
70 - Questions about femininity............................................................................................................ 217
71 - Questions about organization........................................................................................................ 217
72 - Questions about instrumentality .................................................................................................... 217
73 - Questions about nourishment ........................................................................................................ 218
74 - Questions about impression .......................................................................................................... 218
75 - Questions about insertion.............................................................................................................. 218
76 - Questions about being per se......................................................................................................... 218
77 - Questions about individuality........................................................................................................ 218
78 - Questions about attraction ............................................................................................................ 219
79 - Questions about necessity ............................................................................................................. 219
80 - Questions about contingency......................................................................................................... 219
81 - Questions about perfection............................................................................................................ 219
82 - Questions about imperfection........................................................................................................ 220
83 - Questions about life ...................................................................................................................... 220
84 - Questions about colour ................................................................................................................. 220
85 - Questions about sound.................................................................................................................. 220
86 - Questions about odour.................................................................................................................. 221
87 - Questions about savour................................................................................................................. 221
88 - Questions about feeling................................................................................................................. 221
89 - Questions about conception .......................................................................................................... 221
90 - Questions about sleep ................................................................................................................... 222
91 - Questions about wakefulness......................................................................................................... 222
92 - Questions about dreaming............................................................................................................. 222
93 - Questions about joy ...................................................................................................................... 222
94 - Questions about sadness ............................................................................................................... 223
95 - Questions about health.................................................................................................................. 223
96 - Questions about illness ................................................................................................................. 223
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97 - Questions about industry............................................................................................................... 223

98 - Questions about substance ............................................................................................................ 223
99 - Questions about essence ............................................................................................................... 224
100 - Questions about being................................................................................................................. 224
QUESTIONS ABOUT THE PRACTICAL APPLICATION OF THE HUNDRED FORMS FOUND AT THE END OF THE SENSUAL
TREE......................................................................................................................................................... 224
QUESTIONS ABOUT ACQUIRING THE HABIT OF THIS SCIENCE ........................................................................ 229
ABOUT THE END OF THIS TREE ................................................................................................................... 230
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