"It is because the contemporary alternatives seem so one-sided and are not more evidently solutions to the problems which Thomas faced, and partly solved, that we return to him and to the tradition of theology and philosophy in which his Summa Theologiae appears: theology as the science of the first principle and this as the total knowledge of reality in its unity." -- Wayne J. Hankey, God in Himself (Oxford University Press, 1987), p.159.
Tuesday, December 12, 2006
Q62 A5: Whether the angel obtained beatitude immediately after one act of merit?
Yes. The angel was beatified instantly after the first act of charity, whereby he merited beatitude because grace perfects nature according to the manner of the nature; as every perfection is received in the subject capable of perfection, according to its mode.