Nature and Grace

2022 Reprint of 1954 Edition. Full facsimile of the original edition, not reproduced with Optical Recognition Software. This selection from Aquinas' magnum opus, the "Summa Theologica" covers the great Catholic philosopher's words on the nature of God, the nature of sin, and how God's grace sanctifies and transforms the lives of Christians. Concerning the nature of God, this selection includes Aquinas' arguments for God's existence, his description of God's metaphysical attributes, and his exploration of how God interacts with creation and the people who inhabit it. In the portion of the selection focusing on sin, Aquinas asks and answers the questions of what sin is and how it affects human beings. The selection's last portion presents Aquinas' thoughts on sin's remedy, God's grace. For those seeking Aquinas' insight on the topics here presented, this selection may prove a less cumbersome and more streamlined alternative to the entire Summa. The editor has sought "to present the view taken by Thomas Aquinas of the moral and spiritual world in which we live, and of the conditions of man's self-realization which are consequent upon it. The final end of man lies in God, through whom alone he is and lives, and by whose help alone he can attain his end. The teaching of Aquinas concerning the moral and spiritual order stands in sharp contrast to all views, ancient or modern, which cannot do justice to the difference between the divine and the creaturely without appearing to regard them as essentially antagonistic as well as discontinuous. For Aquinas, no such opposition obtains between God and the world which he has made."- General introduction. Questions 1-4, 20-23. Q. 1. What sacred doctrine is, and what it concerns ; Q. 2. The existence of God ; Q. 3. Of the simple nature of God ; Q. 4. The perfection of God ; Q. 20. The love of God ; Q. 21. The justice and mercy of God ; Q. 22. Of divine providence ; Q. 23. Of predestination -- Of sin : prima secundae, questions 82, 85. Q. 82. The essence of original sin ; Q. 85. The effects of sin -- Treatise on grace : prima secundae, questions 109-114. Q. 109. Concerning the external principle of human actions, that is, the grace of God ; Q. 110. The essence of God's grace ; Q. 111. The divisions of grace ; Q. 112. The cause of grace ; Q. 113. The effects of grace ; Q. 114. Concerning merit, which is the effect of cooperative grace -- Treatise on the theological virtues. Q. 1. The object of faith ; Q. 2. The act of faith ; Q. 3. The outward act of faith ; Q. 4. The virtue itself of faith ; Q. 5. Of those who have faith ; Q. 6. The cause of faith ; Q. 7. The effect of faith ; Q. 17. Of hope, considered in itself ; Q. 18. The subject of hope ; Q. 19. The gift of fear ; Q. 20. Of despair ; Q. 21. Of presumption ; Q. 23. Of charity, considered in itself ; Q. 27. Of the principal act of charity, which is to love.