  The case of Peter John Olivi (1247/8–1298) demonstrates how precarious a position the illumination theory held by the 1280s. Olivi, a Franciscan whose work would eventually be condemned by his own order, presents a compelling critique of the Augustinian illumination theory (I Sent., q. 2), presenting his comments in the form of “cautions” (cavenda). The theory, he notes, is often very vague with respect to the actual process of illumination. And in running through the various possible accounts of the process available to a defender of the theory, Olivi appears to rule out every one. The eternal reasons cannot represent things distinctly and specifically, because then we would have no need of any sensory input. But if the eternal reasons give us information only of a general and indistinct sort, then at what level of generality? Does it supply us with information about species, or genera? If divine illumination is efficacious at any level, why do we seem to need the senses for all of our concepts? Olivi’s questions and cautions go on and on. But after laying an entire minefield of this sort for anyone who would defend divine illumination — at ad 6 he rejects the Augustinian argument set out above by Bonaventure — he nevertheless comes to the surprising conclusion that he accepts the theory: