Necessity of Grace

In my last post I pointed out the blindingly obvious fact that the Catholic Church affirms that we are saved by Christ alone. Aside from this being a divinely revealed truth, even on the basis of mere reason it is clear that man is incapable of attaining to the Beatific Vision by means of his natural powers precisely because they are natural powers, and our end is a supernatural one. It makes as much sense to say that a man can raise himself up to heaven by deeds that he performs as it does to say that he could survive and thrive on the moon without a spacesuit. It’s just not possible. And the situation is worse than that, since we are handicapped by the fact that we are sinners who have shunned God. Work your way to heaven? Preposterous! It can’t be done, and the Catholic Church has never said otherwise.

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Posted in Aquinas - Philosophy, Sola Gratia