This problem is important in establishing the relationship of nature to grace because it offers something of a “test case” by which we can illustrate certain fundamental truths of the Catholic Faith. These truths regard man’s natural powers and the elevation of those powers by grace that he may achieve his final end, the Beatific Vision. Not only can we see these truths at work, but we can see them coalesce as harmonious parts of a greater whole which is the universal call to holiness in via and beatitude in patria.

Among the articles of the faith included in considering this problem are the necessity of grace, the gratuity of grace, man’s being capax Dei (capable of receiving God), the freedom of the will, and that, by grace, man is perfected, that is, he achieves the one end for which he was created by God. By the end of this paper, we will have seen how the proper solution to the problem at hand keeps each of these doctrines in its integrity. Continue reading →