Thomas Aquinas, Disputed Questions on Truth (De Veritate)

1. It is useless to exhort a man to something which he is unable to do. But man is exhorted to prepare himself for grace (Zacharias 1:3): "Turn yet to me . . .: and I will turn to you." Man without grace can therefore prepare himself for grace.

2. This is seen from the words of the Apocalypse (3:20): "If any man shall . . . open to me the door, I will come in to him." It appears, then, that it is man's business to open his heart to God--which means to prepare himself for grace.

3. According to Anselm the reason why a person does not have grace is not that God does not give it, but that man does not accept it. But this would not be true if man were not able without grace to prepare himself to have grace. Man can therefore by his free choice prepare for grace.

4. It is written in Isaias (1:19): "If you be willing, and will hearken to me, you shall eat the good things of the land." It accordingly depends upon man's will to approach God and be filled with grace.

To the Contrary:

1'. It is written (John 6:44): "No man can come to me, except the Father, who hath sent me, draw him."

2'. It is said in the Psalm (42:3): "Send forth thy light and thy truth: they have conducted me. . . ."

3'. In praying we ask of God to convert us to Himself, as is shown in the Psalm (84:5): "Convert us, O God our saviour. . . ." But it would not be necessary for man to ask this if he could by his free choice prepare himself for grace. It therefore seems that without grace man cannot do so.

REPLY:

Some say that man cannot prepare himself to have grace except through a gratuitous grace. But this does not seem to be true if by a gratuitous grace they mean some habitual gift of grace; and this for two reasons:

(1) Because the whole reason for speaking of the preparation necessary for grace is to point out some sort of reason on our part why ingratiatory grace is given to some and not to others. Now if there cannot even be this preparation for grace without some habitual grace, either that grace is given to all or it is not. If it is given to all, it does not seem to be any different from a natural gift; for there is no respect in which all men are found to agree except in what is natural; but even natural gifts can be called graces inasmuch as they are given to man by God without any previous merits on man's part. If they are not given to all, however, we shall have to return to the preparation again and for the same reason posit some other grace, and so on to infinity. And so it is better to stop at the first stage.

(2) Because to prepare oneself for grace is just another way of saying: to do what one is capable of--as it is commonly said that, if a man does what he is capable of, God gives him grace. But a man is said to be capable of that which is within his power. If, then, a man is not able by his free choice to prepare himself for grace, to do what one is capable of will not mean to prepare oneself for grace.

If, on the other hand, those who hold this opinion mean by gratuitous grace the divine providence by which a man is mercifully directed to good, then it is true that without grace man cannot prepare himself to have ingratiatory grace. And this is evident for two reasons:

(1) Because it is impossible for a man to begin to will something originally unless there is something to move him. It is as the Philosopher explains when he says that the movements of animals after rest must be preceded by other movements by which the soul is aroused to action. Thus, when a man begins to prepare himself for grace by turning his will to God for the first time, he must be brought to this by some external occasions, such as an external admonition or a bodily sickness or something of the sort, or else by some interior instinct, as God works in the hearts of men, or even in both ways together. All of this, however, is taken care of for man by divine providence; and so it comes about by divine mercy that man prepares himself for grace.

(2) Because not any movement whatsoever of the will is a sufficient preparation for grace, just as not any sorrow whatsoever suffices for the forgiveness of sins, but it must occur in a definite manner. And this cannot be known by man, since even the gift of grace surpasses human knowledge. The manner of preparation for a form cannot be known unless the form itself is known. But whenever a definite manner of acting which is unknown to the agent is required for doing something, he needs someone to govern and direct him.

It is accordingly evident that free choice cannot prepare itself for grace unless it is divinely directed to this end. And because of the two reasons given, God is supplicated in two different ways in the Scriptures to work this preparation for grace in us: (1) By asking that He convert us, turning us from the state in which we were to Himself, as when it is written (Psalm 84:5): "Convert us, O God, our salvation." This is because of the first reason. (2) By asking that he direct us, as when it is written (Psalm 24:5): "Direct me in thy truth." This is because of the second reason.

Answers to Difficulties:

1. We are told to turn to God because we can do this, but not without divine help. We accordingly beg of Him (Lamentations 5:21): "Convert us, O Lord, to thee, and we shall be converted."

2. We can open our hearts to God, but not without His help. For this reason we beg of Him (II Machabees 1:4): "May he open your heart. . . ."

3-4. The same is to be said in answer to these; for man can neither prepare nor will unless God brings this about in him, as has been said.*