287. Grace, Human Nature, and Merit in Thomistic Theology

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Lecture Notes

Main Topics #

Love of God Above All Things #

• Natural Love vs. Charity: All creatures naturally love God as their beginning and end, including man in integral nature. Charity, however, loves God in a more eminent way—as the object of beatitude and source of eternal life, constituting a spiritual friendship with God.
• In Integral Nature: Man can love God above all things through natural powers alone (though still requiring God’s motion as first mover).
• In Corrupted Nature: Man requires grace to heal his will and enable this love, as his corrupted nature causes him to follow private good rather than the common good (God).
• Addition of Promptness and Pleasure: Charity adds to natural love of God a certain promptness and pleasure, just as virtue adds these qualities to natural acts.

Observing the Divine Precepts #

• Two Senses of Fulfillment: (1) As regards the substance of works—man can perform just and brave acts; (2) As regards the manner—acts performed from charity, which requires grace in both integral and corrupted states.
• In Integral Nature: Man could fulfill the commandments as to their substance without added grace (otherwise he could sin).
• In Corrupted Nature: Man cannot fulfill the divine commandments without grace healing him, particularly because his will becomes ordered toward private good rather than God.
• Natural Acts Remain Possible: Without grace, man can still perform works proportioned to his nature—building houses, planting vineyards, and similar natural labors—but not with the charity required for merit.

Merit and Eternal Life #

• The Problem of Proportion: Acts must be proportioned to their end. Eternal life exceeds the proportion of human nature; therefore, no act produced by human natural powers alone can merit eternal life.
• Distinction from Natural Ends: While each natural thing can achieve its natural end through its own powers, eternal life is a supernatural end exceeding human nature’s proportion.
• Grace as Elevating Principle: Only grace as a higher power can elevate human action to be meritorious of eternal reward. Works are rendered to man by God according to his works, but these works themselves pertain to the grace of God.
• Healing and Elevation Required: In corrupted nature, grace must first heal the will and then elevate it to supernatural virtue capable of meriting eternal life.

The Authority of Scripture and Augustine Against Pelagianism #

• Thomas proceeds largely by authority in these articles, citing Romans 6:23 (“the grace of God, eternal life”) and Romans 9:16 (“It is not of the one willing… but of God taking mercy”) against Pelagian denial of grace’s necessity.
• Augustine’s anti-Pelagian works are cited repeatedly to establish that without grace, man can do nothing good—man must be prepared by God through grace to will meritorious works.

Key Arguments #

Argument from Natural Love #

• It is natural to each thing to desire and love according as it naturally acts.
• The good of the part is ordered to the good of the whole.
• Therefore, by natural desire, each thing loves its proper good on account of the common good of the universe, which is God.
• Thus man naturally loves God above all things, even in the state of integral nature.

Argument from Proportion #

• Acts leading to an end must be proportioned to that end.
• No act exceeds the proportion of its active source.
• Eternal life exceeds the proportion of human nature.
• Therefore, man through natural powers cannot produce works meritorious of eternal life.
• Grace, a higher power, is required to proportionate human action to this supernatural end.

Argument from Nature’s Corruption #

• In corrupted nature, the will, on account of corruption, follows private good rather than the common good (God).
• Without healing grace, man cannot fulfill even the natural precepts of the law perfectly.
• This demonstrates that man in corrupted nature needs grace not only for supernatural virtue but even for the perfection of natural virtue.

Argument from Aristotle on Friendship #

• Aristotle noted that friendship is difficult when there is great distance between parties.
• Objection: How could man and God be friends given their infinite distance?
• Response: Charity establishes spiritual friendship with God by loving Him as beatifying us and as the source of eternal life—a supernatural friendship impossible by natural powers alone.

Important Definitions #

Charity (Caritas) #

• A supernatural love by which God is loved as the object of beatitude and source of eternal life.
• Constitutes a spiritual friendship with God (based on Thomas’s understanding of charity as a form of friendship).
• Adds to natural love of God the qualities of promptness and pleasure in the act of love.
• Requires grace in both integral and corrupted states to enable loving God above all things in this eminent manner.

Natural Love of God #

• The innate desire and love of any creature for God as its beginning and end.
• Ordered toward God as the common good of the whole universe.
• Natural to man even in integral nature, not requiring added grace, though requiring God’s motion as first mover.

Integral Nature #

• Human nature as constituted in its wholeness before sin (as in Adam).
• Capable of willing and doing good proportioned to its nature through natural powers alone.
• Can fulfill the substance of the divine commandments without added gratuitous grace.
• Can love God above all things naturally.

Corrupted Nature #

• Human nature after the sin of the first parent, weakened and disordered.
• Falls short of natural good due to corruption of the will’s ordering toward God.
• Requires grace both to heal its corruption and to elevate it to supernatural virtue.
• Cannot fulfill the divine commandments even as to their substance without grace healing the will.

Works of Charity vs. Natural Works #

• Natural Works: Building houses, planting vineyards, and similar acts achievable through natural powers even in corrupted nature.
• Works of Charity: Acts proceeding from grace-infused virtue, performed with love of God above all things, capable of meriting eternal life.

Examples & Illustrations #

Natural Goods Man Can Achieve #

• Building houses, planting vineyards (Augustine’s examples of what corrupted nature can still accomplish).
• These natural acts remain possible without grace but lack the supernatural dimension required for merit.

The Sick Man #

• A sick man can perform some motions but cannot move perfectly as a healthy man unless cured by medicine.
• Similarly, corrupted human nature can perform some natural acts but cannot achieve perfect virtue or merit eternal life without grace healing and elevating it.

The Gentiles and Natural Law #

• Romans 1: Gentiles without the written law naturally do the things of the law, demonstrating that natural law remains operative even after sin.
• Yet this natural performance of lawful acts does not constitute fulfillment with charity or merit of eternal life—it proceeds from the image of God naturally made in man, not from grace.

Mozart’s Ave Verum Corpus #

• Berquist’s six-year-old granddaughter Claire, upon hearing this piece, said: “Mama, it was heaven singing on earth.”
• Illustrates how the beauty and order of creation can elevate the human soul toward divine things.
• John Paul II called this incomparable motet; it was used at Berquist’s wedding and at Warren Murray’s wedding.

Notable Quotes #

“It is not of the one willing, nor of the one running, but of God taking mercy upon him.” - Romans 9:16 (Paul), cited to establish that will and effort alone do not suffice without divine grace.

“Without grace, man can do nothing good—neither thinking, nor willing, nor loving, nor doing.” - Augustine, establishing the universal necessity of grace in corrupted nature.

“By the grace of God, eternal life.” - Romans 6:23 (Paul), establishing that eternal life is rendered by God’s grace, not by man’s natural works.

“God converts all things to love of himself.” - Dionysius (Divine Names), cited by Thomas on the natural ordering of all creation to God as end.

“The charity of God is diffused in our hearts by the Holy Spirit, who is given to us.” - Romans 5:5 (Paul), establishing that charity is not a natural possession but a gift of the Spirit.

“It was heaven singing on earth.” - Claire Berquist (six years old), upon hearing Mozart’s Ave Verum Corpus, showing intuitive recognition of transcendent beauty.

Questions Addressed #

Article 3: Can man love God above all things without grace? #

• Objection: Loving God above all things is proper to charity, which is given by the Holy Spirit; therefore man cannot do this by natural powers alone.
• Counter-objection: But natural love of God already constitutes loving Him above all things, as each thing loves the common good above its private good.
• Answer: In integral nature, man can naturally love God above all things (in the natural order). In corrupted nature, man requires grace (charity) to love God above all things in the eminent way proper to supernatural friendship with God. Both states require God’s motion as first mover, but only corrupted nature requires added grace for this act.

Article 4: Can man observe the precepts of the law without grace? #

• Objection: Romans 2 states that the Gentiles naturally do the things of the law; therefore man can fulfill the law by himself without grace.
• Answer: Two senses must be distinguished. (1) As to substance of works: in integral nature man could; in corrupted nature he cannot without grace. (2) As to manner (with charity): neither state can without grace. Additionally, all acts require God’s motion as first mover, even in the state of integral nature.

Article 5: Can man merit eternal life without grace? #

• Objection: Matthew 19 suggests entering life is constituted in man’s will; therefore man can merit eternal life through his willing.
• Counter-objection: Eternal life is a reward rendered by God according to works; man is lord of his works; therefore he seems capable of meritorious action for eternal life.
• Answer: No. Eternal life exceeds the proportion of human nature. Acts must be proportioned to their end. Only grace as a higher power can elevate human acts to proportion with eternal life. Man can perform natural works (building, planting) by his own powers, but these do not merit eternal reward. Meritorious acts require grace both to heal corrupted nature and to elevate action to the supernatural order.

Theological Principles Established #

• Principle of Proportion: All acts must be proportioned to their end; supernatural ends require supernatural powers.
• Hierarchy of Nature and Grace: Grace does not destroy nature but perfects it; supernatural virtue builds on and elevates natural virtue.
• Universal Dependence: All creatures, even in integral nature, depend on God’s motion as first mover; corrupted nature adds dependence on grace for healing and elevation.
• Two Orders of Action: Natural acts (building houses) possible by nature alone; meritorious acts require grace in both states.
• Distinction of Loves: Natural love of God (innate, natural to creature) distinct from charity (supernatural, gift of Holy Spirit).