Sect. 220Necessity of Actual GraceNecessity of Actual Grace
I. The sphere in which grace works is the spiritual life of man, whose leading faculties are the intellect and the will. The existence of these powers is a fact testified to by our consciousness, but the determination of their limits is among the difficult problems of philosophy. Can we know anything with certainty? Can we know anything beyond what our senses teach us? Is not even this knowledge an illusion? Is the moral law, or the existence of God, within the grasp of our unaided faculties? These and similar questions have been met by sceptics, agnostics, ontologists, traditionalists, idealists, and others, with contending systems ranging from universal doubt to universal belief. Is our will really free, or are we the playthings of unknown sub-conscious motives which determine our actions, leaving us under the impression that we act from choice? What impels us so often to act against our better knowledge? The teaching of the Church on these points may be expressed in the two following propositions:—
(1) The human intellect is endowed with the physical power to know the truths of the natural order; (2) the free will of man is endowed with the physical power of performing actions morally good, although in the state of fallen nature this power is not sufficient to overcome always and in all things all the difficulties which beset its exercise.
1. That the human mind is able to grasp some truths and to know them with certainty, is an axiom which cannot be demonstrated without begging the question. It must be admitted as a primary and fundamental fact in all teaching. But if the mind is able to know some truths, it is able to know all the truths of the same order, provided they be properly brought to its notice. A knowledge of God, the Author of nature and of the moral law, is within the reach of our natural powers (see Wisd. 3:5; Rom. 1:19 sq.; 2:14, etc.; vol. i. p. 158 sqq.).
2. The physical power of willing and performing good actions in the natural order is also self-evident. We know what is good and what is evil; we instinctively incline to what is, or appears good to us, and likewise decline from evil; lastly, we command the means to give effect to our inclinations. Thus we know, without the aid of revelation, that the Author of nature is worthy of praise, thanksgiving, and love; we feel in our innermost being, that is, in our conscience, an impulse to give God His due, and in word and action to praise, thank, and love Him. Such is the teaching of St. Paul (Rom. 2:14): “When the Gentiles who have not the law, do by nature those things that are of the law; these, having not the law, are a law to themselves … their conscience bearing witness to them,” etc. (cf. Matt. 5:46). God even rewards such actions of the Gentiles (see Exod. 1:21; Ezech. 29:18). It must, however, be acknowledged that in its exercise the power of doing the right thing is beset with countless difficulties. In the original fall, our will suffered more than our intellect. St. Paul only confirms every one’s own experience when he says (Rom. 7:23), “But I see another law in my members, fighting against the law of my mind, and captivating me in the law of sin, that is in my members.” And (ibid. 25), “I myself with the mind serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin.”
II. Having sufficiently vindicated the powers of man in the sphere of nature, we ought now to consider what these powers are capable of in the sphere of supernature. This task, however, has been performed in our treatise on the Supernatural (§ 143), to which we beg the reader to refer. See also the definitions of the Church against Pelagianism, in § 219.
The necessity of grace for the performance of salutary acts, either before or after justification, is physical, absolute, and unconditional. It is necessary to man while yet in the state of nature, to elevate him to the plane of supernature. It is necessary to the sinner, in order to cancel the guilt of mortal sin, to reconvert his mind and will to God, and to obtain the remission of eternal punishment. It is also necessary to the just in order to perform salutary acts. For although the just is endowed with habitual grace, he remains subject to the general law that no creature can act without the concurrence of God. Hence, when the habit passes into acts, God concurs according to the nature of the habit, viz. supernaturally, or by giving actual grace. Besides, there is a special necessity arising from the weakened condition of human nature, even in the children of adoption. They, too, must pray, “Lead us not into temptation,” for “the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh weak” (Matt. 26:41).
I. The sphere in which grace works is the spiritual life of man, whose leading faculties are the intellect and the will. The existence of these powers is a fact testified to by our consciousness, but the determination of their limits is among the difficult problems of philosophy. Can we know anything with certainty? Can we know anything beyond what our senses teach us? Is not even this knowledge an illusion? Is the moral law, or the existence of God, within the grasp of our unaided faculties? These and similar questions have been met by sceptics, agnostics, ontologists, traditionalists, idealists, and others, with contending systems ranging from universal doubt to universal belief. Is our will really free, or are we the playthings of unknown sub-conscious motives which determine our actions, leaving us under the impression that we act from choice? What impels us so often to act against our better knowledge? The teaching of the Church on these points may be expressed in the two following propositions:—
(1) The human intellect is endowed with the physical power to know the truths of the natural order; (2) the free will of man is endowed with the physical power of performing actions morally good, although in the state of fallen nature this power is not sufficient to overcome always and in all things all the difficulties which beset its exercise.
1. That the human mind is able to grasp some truths and to know them with certainty, is an axiom which cannot be demonstrated without begging the question. It must be admitted as a primary and fundamental fact in all teaching. But if the mind is able to know some truths, it is able to know all the truths of the same order, provided they be properly brought to its notice. A knowledge of God, the Author of nature and of the moral law, is within the reach of our natural powers (see Wisd. 3:5; Rom. 1:19 sq.; 2:14, etc.; vol. i. p. 158 sqq.).
2. The physical power of willing and performing good actions in the natural order is also self-evident. We know what is good and what is evil; we instinctively incline to what is, or appears good to us, and likewise decline from evil; lastly, we command the means to give effect to our inclinations. Thus we know, without the aid of revelation, that the Author of nature is worthy of praise, thanksgiving, and love; we feel in our innermost being, that is, in our conscience, an impulse to give God His due, and in word and action to praise, thank, and love Him. Such is the teaching of St. Paul (Rom. 2:14): “When the Gentiles who have not the law, do by nature those things that are of the law; these, having not the law, are a law to themselves … their conscience bearing witness to them,” etc. (cf. Matt. 5:46). God even rewards such actions of the Gentiles (see Exod. 1:21; Ezech. 29:18). It must, however, be acknowledged that in its exercise the power of doing the right thing is beset with countless difficulties. In the original fall, our will suffered more than our intellect. St. Paul only confirms every one’s own experience when he says (Rom. 7:23), “But I see another law in my members, fighting against the law of my mind, and captivating me in the law of sin, that is in my members.” And (ibid. 25), “I myself with the mind serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin.”
II. Having sufficiently vindicated the powers of man in the sphere of nature, we ought now to consider what these powers are capable of in the sphere of supernature. This task, however, has been performed in our treatise on the Supernatural (§ 143), to which we beg the reader to refer. See also the definitions of the Church against Pelagianism, in § 219.
The necessity of grace for the performance of salutary acts, either before or after justification, is physical, absolute, and unconditional. It is necessary to man while yet in the state of nature, to elevate him to the plane of supernature. It is necessary to the sinner, in order to cancel the guilt of mortal sin, to reconvert his mind and will to God, and to obtain the remission of eternal punishment. It is also necessary to the just in order to perform salutary acts. For although the just is endowed with habitual grace, he remains subject to the general law that no creature can act without the concurrence of God. Hence, when the habit passes into acts, God concurs according to the nature of the habit, viz. supernaturally, or by giving actual grace. Besides, there is a special necessity arising from the weakened condition of human nature, even in the children of adoption. They, too, must pray, “Lead us not into temptation,” for “the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh weak” (Matt. 26:41).
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