Whether Man Can Wish or Do Any Good Without Grace?
Objection 1: It would seem that man can wish and do good without
grace. For that is in man's power, whereof he is master. Now man is
master of his acts, and especially of his willing, as stated above
(Q. 1, A. 1; Q. 13, A. 6). Hence man, of himself, can wish and do
good without the help of grace.
Obj. 2: Further, man has more power over what is according to his
nature than over what is beyond his nature. Now sin is against his
nature, as Damascene says (De Fide Orth. ii, 30); whereas deeds of
virtue are according to his nature, as stated above (Q. 71, A. 1).
Therefore since man can sin of himself he can wish and do good.
Obj. 3: Further, the understanding's good is truth, as the
Philosopher says (Ethic. vi, 2). Now the intellect can of itself know
truth, even as every other thing can work its own operation of
itself. Therefore, much more can man, of himself, do and wish good.
_On the contrary,_ The Apostle says (Rom. 9:16): "It is not of him
that willeth," namely, to will, "nor of him that runneth," namely to
run, "but of God that showeth mercy." And Augustine says (De Corrept.
et Gratia ii) that "without grace men do nothing good when they
either think or wish or love or act."
_I answer that,_ Man's nature may be looked at in two ways: first, in
its integrity, as it was in our first parent before sin; secondly, as
it is corrupted in us after the sin of our first parent. Now in both
states human nature needs the help of God as First Mover, to do or
wish any good whatsoever, as stated above (A. 1). But in the state of
integrity, as regards the sufficiency of the operative power, man by
his natural endowments could wish and do the good proportionate to
his nature, such as the good of acquired virtue; but not surpassing
good, as the good of infused virtue. But in the state of corrupt
nature, man falls short of what he could do by his nature, so that he
is unable to fulfil it by his own natural powers. Yet because human
nature is not altogether corrupted by sin, so as to be shorn of every
natural good, even in the state of corrupted nature it can, by virtue
of its natural endowments, work some particular good, as to build
dwellings, plant vineyards, and the like; yet it cannot do all the
good natural to it, so as to fall short in nothing; just as a sick
man can of himself make some movements, yet he cannot be perfectly
moved with the movements of one in health, unless by the help of
medicine he be cured.
And thus in the state of perfect nature man needs a gratuitous
strength superadded to natural strength for one reason, viz. in order
to do and wish supernatural good; but for two reasons, in the state
of corrupt nature, viz. in order to be healed, and furthermore in
order to carry out works of supernatural virtue, which are
meritorious. Beyond this, in both states man needs the Divine help,
that he may be moved to act well.
Reply Obj. 1: Man is master of his acts and of his willing or not
willing, because of his deliberate reason, which can be bent to one
side or another. And although he is master of his deliberating or not
deliberating, yet this can only be by a previous deliberation; and
since it cannot go on to infinity, we must come at length to this,
that man's free-will is moved by an extrinsic principle, which is
above the human mind, to wit by God, as the Philosopher proves in the
chapter "On Good Fortune" (Ethic. Eudem. vii). Hence the mind of man
still unweakened is not so much master of its act that it does not
need to be moved by God; and much more the free-will of man weakened
by sin, whereby it is hindered from good by the corruption of the
nature.
Reply Obj. 2: To sin is nothing else than to fail in the good which
belongs to any being according to its nature. Now as every created
thing has its being from another, and, considered in itself, is
nothing, so does it need to be preserved by another in the good which
pertains to its nature. For it can of itself fail in good, even as of
itself it can fall into non-existence, unless it is upheld by God.
Reply Obj. 3: Man cannot even know truth without Divine help, as
stated above (A. 1). And yet human nature is more corrupt by sin in
regard to the desire for good, than in regard to the knowledge of
truth.
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