Nature and Grace: Selections from the Summa Theologica of Thomas Aquinas

383 Pages·2006·5.79 MB·English

by  Thomas Aquinas

Aquinas on Nature and Grace
General Editors
John Baillie (1886-1960) served as President of the World
Council of Churches, a member of the British Council of
Churches, Moderator of the General Assembly of the
Church of Scotland, and Dean of the Faculty of Divinity at
the University of Edinburgh.
JohnT. McNeill (1885-1975) was Professor of the History of
European Christianity at the University of Chicago and then
Auburn Professor of Church History at Union Theological
Seminary in New York.
Henry P. Van Dusen (1897-1975) was an early and influen-
tial member of the World Council of Churches and served
at Union Theological Seminary in New York as Roosevelt
Professor of Systematic Theology and later as President.
THE LIBRARY OF CHRISTIAN CLASSICS
Aquinas on Nature and Grace
Selections from the
Summa Theologica
Edited and translated by
A. M. FAIR WEATHER
MA, STM
© 1954 SCM Press
Paperback reissued 2006 in the United States of America by
Westminster John Knox Press, Louisville, Kentucky.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmit-
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Published by Westminster John Knox Press
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PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
United States Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is
on file at the Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.
ISBN-13: 978-0-664-24155-1
ISBN-10: 0-664-24155-7
GENERAL EDITORS' PREFACE
The Christian Church possesses in its literature an abundant
and incomparable treasure. But it is an inheritance that
must be reclaimed by each generation. THE LIBRARY OF
CHRISTIAN CLASSICS is designed to present in the English
language, and in twenty-six volumes of convenient size, a
selection of the most indispensable Christian treatises written
prior to the end of the sixteenth century.
The practice of giving circulation to writings selected for
superior worth or special interest was adopted at the beginning
of Christian history. The canonical Scriptures were themselves
a selection from a much wider literature. In the Patristic
era there began to appear a class of works of compilation (often
designed for ready reference in controversy) of the opinions
of well-reputed predecessors, and in the Middle Ages many
such works were produced. These medieval anthologies actually
preserve some noteworthy materials from works otherwise lost.
In modern times, with the increasing inability even of those
trained in universities and theological colleges to read Latin
and Greek texts with ease and familiarity, the translation of
selected portions of earlier Christian literature into modern
languages has become more necessary than ever; while the
wide range of distinguished books written in vernaculars such
as English makes selection there also needful. The efforts that
have been made to meet this need are too numerous to be noted
here, but none of these collections serves the purpose of the
reader who desires a library of representative treatises spanning
the Christian centuries as a whole. Most of them embrace
only the age of the Church Fathers, and some of them have
iong been out of print. A fresh translation of a work already
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10 GENERAL EDITORS PREFACE
translated may shed much new light upon its meaning. This
is true even of Bible translations despite the work of many
experts through the centuries. In some instances old translations
have been adopted in this series, but wherever necessary or
desirable, new ones have Deen made. Notes have been supplied
where these were needed to explain the author's meaning. The
introductions provided for the several treatises and extracts
will, we believe, furnish welcome guidance.
JOHN BAILLIE
JOHN T. MGNEILL
HENRY P. VAN DUSKN
CONTENTS
GENERAL INTRODUCTION 21
PART I. QUESTIONS 1-4; 20-23
q. I: WHAT SACRED DOCTRINE IS, AND WHAT IT CONCERNS
Art. 1: Whether another doctrine is necessary, besides the
philosophical sciences . . . .. 35
Art. 2: Whether sacred doctrine is a science . . - 37
Art. 3: Whether sacred doctrine is a single science . . 38
Art. 4: Whether sacred doctrine is a practical science . 39
Art. 5: Whether sacred doctrine is nobler than other
sciences . . . . . .. 40
Art. 6: Whether sacred doctrine is wisdom . . . 41
Art. 7: Whether God is the subject of this science . . 43
Art. 8: Whether sacred doctrine proceeds by argument . 44
Art. 9: Whether sacred doctrine should use metaphors . 46
Art. 10: Whether one passage of sacred Scripture may have
several interpretations . . . .. 48
. 2: THE EXISTENCE OF GOD
Art. 1: Whether it is self-evident that God exists . . 50
Art. 2: Whether God's existence can be demonstrated . 52
Art. 3: Whether God exists . . . .. 53
Q_. 3: OF THE SIMPLE NATURE OF GOD
Art. 1: Whether God is a body . . . .. 57
Art. 2: Whether there is composition of form and matter in
God 59
II
CONTENTS
Q,. 3: OF THE SIMPLE NATURE OF GOD COtltd. page
Art. 3: Whether God is the same as his essence, or nature 60
Art. 4: Whether essence and existence are the same in God 62
Art. 5: Whether God belongs to a genus . .. 63
Art. 6: Whether there is any accident in God . . 65
Art. 7: Whether God is altogether simple . .. 66
Art. 8: Whether God enters into the composition of other
things . . . . . .. 68
. 4: THE PERFECTION OF GOD
Art. 1: Whether God is perfect . . . .. 70
Art. 2: Whether the perfections of all things are in God . 72
Art. 3: Whether any creature can be like God . . 73
. 20: THE LOVE OF GOD
Art. 1: Whether there is love in God . . .. 78
Art. 2: Whether God loves all things . . .. 80
Art. 3: Whether God loves all things equally . . 82
Art. 4: Whether God always loves better things the more 83
. 2i: THE JUSTICE AND MERCY OF GOD
Art. i: Whether there is justice in God . .. 86
Art. 2: Whether God's justice is truth . . .. 88
Art. 3: Whether there is mercy in God . .. 89
Art. 4: Whether justice and mercy are present in all God's
works . . . . . .. 90
Q,. 22: OF DIVINE PROVIDENCE
Art. 1: Whether providence is appropriately ascribed to
God 93
Art. 2: Whether all things are under divine providence . 94
Art. 3: Whether God provides for all things directly . 98
Art. 4: Whether providence imposes a necessity on what
it provides . . . . . .. 99
Q_. 23: OF PREDESTINATION
Art. 1: Whether men are predestined by God . . 101
Art. 2: Whether predestination implies anything in the
predestined . . . . . .103
Art. 3: Whether God rejects any man . . . .105
Art. 4: Whether the predestined are chosen by God . 106
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CONTENTS
. 23: OF PREDESTINATION COUtd. page
Art. 5: Whether the foreknowledge of merits is the cause of
predestination . . . . . . 1 08
Art. 6: Whether predestination is certain . . . 1 12
Art. 7: Whether the number of the predestined is certain 113
Art. 8: Whether predestination can be furthered by the
prayers of the devout . . . . . 1 16
OF SIN. PRIMA SECUNDAE, QUESTIONS 82, 85
Q,. 82: THE ESSENCE OF ORIGINAL SIN
Art. 1: Whether original sin is a habit . . . 1 19
Art. 2: Whether there are many original sins in one man 121
Art. 3: Whether original sin is desire . . . . 1 22
Art. 4: Whether original sin is in all men equally . . 1 24
. 85: THE EFFECTS OF SIN
Art. 1: Whether sin diminishes natural good . .125
Art. 2: Whether the whole good of human nature can be
destroyed by sin . . . . . .127
Art. 3: Whether weakness, ignorance, malice, and desire
are rightly named as the wounds of nature due
to sin . . . . . .. 129
Art. 4: Whether privation of mode, species, and order is
the effect of sin . . . . .. 131
Art. 5: Whether death and other defects of the body are
the effects of sin . . . . . . 132
Art. 6: Whether death and other defects are natural to
man . . . . . . .. 134
TREATISE ON GRACE. PRIMA SECUNDAE,
QUESTIONS 109-114
. IO9: CONCERNING THE EXTERNAL PRINCIPLE OF HUMAN
ACTIONS, THAT IS, THE GRACE OF GOD
Art, 1: Whether a man can know any truth without grace 137
Art. 2: Whether a man can will or do good without grace 140
Art. 3: Whether a man can love God above all things by
his natural powers alone, without grace . .142
Art. 4: Whether a man can fulfil the commandment of
the law by his natural powers, without grace . 144
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