How Grace Perfects Nature
Do People With More Natural Gifts End Up Holier?
How do nature and grace work together? Do people with more natural gifts end up holier?
To answer these questions fruitfully, it will be helpful to examine what Thomas teaches about the angels. Thomas asks if the goodness of the angelic nature corresponds to the glory they receive in heaven. He says this:
It is reasonable to suppose that gifts of graces and perfection of beatitude were bestowed on the angels according to the degree of their natural gifts. The reason for this can be drawn from two sources. First of all, on the part of God, Who, in the order of His wisdom, established various degrees in the angelic nature. Now as the angelic nature was made by God for attaining grace and beatitude, so likewise the grades of the angelic nature seem to be ordained for the various degrees of grace and glory; just as when, for example, the builder chisels the stones for building a house, from the fact that he prepares some more artistically and more fittingly than others, it is clear that he is setting them apart for the more ornate part of the house. So it seems that God destined those angels for greater gifts of grace and fuller beatitude, whom He made of a higher nature.
The angels’ degree of glory appears to correspond to their natural gifts. Thomas’ first argument is that God, in His wisdom, creates better angels for better places in heaven. It would be unfitting if God placed a lesser angel in a higher place, just as it would be unfitting for a builder to carve out a beautiful stone and put it in a mundane place. Because God is wise, He proportions the angels’ natures to their places in heaven.
Thomas here makes an argument from fittingness and leaves the door open for possible exceptions to this general rule. Because there is no proportion between nature and grace (as we will discuss later on), there is no contradiction in believing that perhaps Saint Michael the Archangel received more grace than some of the angels who were naturally higher. This being said, exceptions make bad rules and generally the angels with higher natures end up with more grace and glory.
Thomas gives us this second reason why the angels receive glory corresponding to their natures:
Second, the same is evident on the part of the angel. The angel is not a compound of different natures, so that the inclination of the one thwarts or retards the tendency of the other; as happens in man, in whom the movement of his intellective part is either retarded or thwarted by the inclination of his sensitive part. But when there is nothing to retard or thwart it, nature is moved with its whole energy. So it is reasonable to suppose that the angels who had a higher nature, were turned to God more mightily and efficaciously. The same thing happens in men, since greater grace and glory are bestowed according to the greater earnestness of their turning to God. Hence it appears that the angels who had the greater natural powers, had the more grace and glory.
Since angels are not composed of material and immaterial aspects, there is no division in them. An angel does whatever he does with his “whole energy.” On the other hand, humans have a physical and an immaterial aspect, and the two are often opposed, so men make decisions only half-heartedly and not with their “whole energy.” Just think of all the times your body wanted to break your Lenten fast, but your mind said no! Because of this difference in nature, men often do things (even good things) poorly and without focus, while angels always act with the totality of their focus and energy.
To summarize so far, there are two reasons angels receive grace and glory corresponding to their natural gifts.
The all-wise God creates higher angels for the higher places in heaven.
There is nothing to cause division in an angel. If they choose God, they choose Him with their “whole energy.”
But is the case the same in men? Do man’s natural gifts correspond to grace and glory?
Thomas says:
Now, since charity surpasses the proportion of human nature, … it depends, not on any natural virtue, but on the sole grace of the Holy Spirit Who infuses charity. Wherefore the quantity of charity depends neither on the condition of nature nor on the capacity of natural virtue, but only on the will of the Holy Spirit Who divides His gifts according as He will. Hence the Apostle says (Eph 4:7): ‘To every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the giving of Christ.’
Even if a man had a perfect nature, he would be owed no charity or grace. There is no proportion between nature and grace, so there is no direct proportion between natural and supernatural gifts. The grace men have is “according to the measure of the giving of Christ.” A man may have a less perfect nature but still be supremely holy because of God's free gift of grace.
Just think of the great Saints in the Church like John Vianney, who nearly missed his vocation because he couldn’t pass a Latin exam! His natural intelligence may have been below average, but his grace made even the demons shutter.
To state this point simply, men with fewer natural gifts may end up higher in the order of grace due to the lack of proportion between nature and grace. God owes no man grace, and He can give more grace to one with a lower nature if He chooses.
But isn’t grace also infinitely above angelic nature? Why is their nature proportioned to their glory, and ours is not? Why is there this difference between men and angels?
Thomas says:
The angel’s is an intellectual nature, and it is consistent with his condition that he should be borne wholly whithersoever he is borne... Hence there was a greater effort in the higher angels, both for good in those who persevered, and for evil in those who fell, and consequently those of the higher angels who remained steadfast became better than the others, and those who fell became worse. But man’s is a rational nature, with which it is consistent to be sometimes in potentiality and sometimes in act: so that it is not necessarily borne wholly whithersoever it is borne, and where there are greater natural gifts there may be less effort, and vice versa.
To make an analogy, a sports car may be faster than my Hyundai Tuscon, but my Tuscon may beat a sports car in a race if I keep the pedal to the metal and the sports car only drives at half speed. It is the same for men; one man may be given more natural gifts than another, but if the man with less makes better use of what he has, he can merit greater glory.
For the reasons mentioned above, angels are not like this. They make decisions with 100% of their being.
To make one last analogy, a bullet, once fired, cannot be stopped or slowed down until it reaches its destination. Some bullets may have more momentum than others, but regardless of their properties, once the trigger is pulled, that bullet is going toward its destination with 100% of its mass and velocity. In this regard, angels were like bullets when God tested them; after they “pulled the trigger” and decided to obey God or rebel against Him, they could no longer change their trajectory. To use Thomas’ words, “They are borne wholly whithersoever they are borne.”
The good angels directed themselves well, although some were naturally better (i.e., had more momentum) than others. The bad angels aimed themselves at hell, and the stronger they were, the more forcefully they rebelled.
In conclusion, if you have many natural gifts, be humble and recognize that God demands that you use those gifts in His service to merit glory. If you fail to do so, you will have to answer to Him. If you feel you have but few natural gifts, be humble; hope in God and know that He often uses the foolish, lowly things of the world to shame the wise and powerful.
During this Easter season, let us all use our gifts for God’s greater glory!
Thanks for reading,
Cameron Riecker
P.S. What would you like to see an article on next? Pentecost, Predestination, or something else? Leave a comment letting me know!
Reference:
https://aquinas.cc/la/en/~ST.I.Q62.A6.C
To whom much is given, much is expected.
Pentecost!