Book contents
- Virtue and Grace in the Theology of Thomas Aquinas
- Virtue and Grace in the Theology of Thomas Aquinas
- Copyright page
- Epigraph
- Contents
- Acknowledgments
- Abbreviations of Aquinas’s Works
- Introduction
- Part I Virtue and the Developments in Grace
- Part II The Conditions of Virtue Simpliciter
- 4 The Conditions for the Beginning of Virtue Simpliciter
- 5 The Conditions for Perseverance in Virtue Simpliciter
- 6 The Conditions for the End of Virtue Simpliciter
- Part III The Conditions of Virtue Secundum Quid
- Part IV Confirmations and Conclusions
- Conclusion
- Selected Works Cited
- Index
5 - The Conditions for Perseverance in Virtue Simpliciter
from Part II - The Conditions of Virtue Simpliciter
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 18 September 2020
- Virtue and Grace in the Theology of Thomas Aquinas
- Virtue and Grace in the Theology of Thomas Aquinas
- Copyright page
- Epigraph
- Contents
- Acknowledgments
- Abbreviations of Aquinas’s Works
- Introduction
- Part I Virtue and the Developments in Grace
- Part II The Conditions of Virtue Simpliciter
- 4 The Conditions for the Beginning of Virtue Simpliciter
- 5 The Conditions for Perseverance in Virtue Simpliciter
- 6 The Conditions for the End of Virtue Simpliciter
- Part III The Conditions of Virtue Secundum Quid
- Part IV Confirmations and Conclusions
- Conclusion
- Selected Works Cited
- Index
Summary
Henri Bouillard introduced us to the idea that, while in Italy, Thomas Aquinas, likely with access to the Papal Court’s library, encountered Augustine’s two later anti-Pelagian works De Praedestinatione Sanctorum and De Dono Perseverantiae. All evidence indicates that these tracts influenced Aquinas’s account of grace. Bouillard’s research is groundbreaking, but not complete. Having confined himself to the topics of grace and conversion, Bouillard does not expound on a second insight Thomas gleaned from Augustine in those works. Further evidence shows that Aquinas’s Augustinian discovery altered how he thought about the human agent’s ability to merit the grace of perseverance. This has ramifications for how Thomas understands one’s ability to continue in a life of virtue simpliciter.
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- Virtue and Grace in the Theology of Thomas Aquinas , pp. 137 - 155Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2020