29. Qualified Being, Knowledge, and Grace in Christ

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Lecture Notes

Main Topics #

• Qualified vs. Unqualified Being: The distinction between substantial change and accidental change; between ceasing to exist absolutely versus ceasing to be in a particular state or location
• Qualified Knowledge: How we can know something imperfectly or indirectly (knowing of something) versus knowing it directly or perfectly (knowing it itself)
• Wisdom and Its Modes: Wisdom said “simply” (simpliciter) versus wisdom said in a qualified sense (secundum quid); the relationship between first philosophy, natural philosophy, ethics, and divine knowledge
• Christ’s Habitual Grace: Whether Christ’s grace could have been greater; the relationship between habitual grace and the union of human nature to the divine person; grace as proportioned to its end
• The Fullness of Grace in Christ: How Christ’s grace, ordered to the personal union with the Son, achieves a measure that cannot be exceeded by any other grace, even though divine power could theoretically create greater grace
• Grace and Divine Wisdom: How divine wisdom determines the measure of grace suitable to its end; the distinction between what divine power could do and what divine wisdom ordains
• Christ’s Growth in Wisdom and Grace: The Scriptural accounts of Christ’s growth in age, wisdom, and grace; how this is understood not as actual increase in habitual grace but as manifestation through actions
• The Order of Grace and Union: Whether habitual grace follows upon the grace of union, and in what order of nature and understanding

Key Arguments #

The Problem of Qualified Knowledge #

The Platonic Difficulty (Meno): Plato argues one cannot know what one does not know; therefore inquiry is impossible.

Berquist’s Resolution: There are multiple senses of “knowing”:

• One can lack knowledge of a particular (not knowing how many students are in the room)
• Yet simultaneously possess knowledge of the universal or genus (knowing what “student” means, what “number” means)
• This allows one to direct oneself toward the unknown particular through knowledge of the universal
• Example: Knowing what “brother” and “man” mean allows one to know a person imperfectly even without knowing them by name

Christ’s Habitual Grace and Its Measure #

Can Divine Power Make Grace Greater? Yes—divine power is infinite and could theoretically produce greater grace.

Can Divine Power Make Grace Ordered to Something Greater Than the Personal Union? No.

• The grace of Christ is measured by its end (final cause): the personal union of human nature with the divine person of the Son
• No greater end exists in the order of creation; therefore no greater grace ordered to a greater end could exist
• Divine wisdom determines that this particular measure of grace “sufficiently corresponds” to this union
• This shows the distinction between divine power considered absolutely and divine wisdom considered as determining what befits each thing

Christ’s Growth in Wisdom and Grace (Luke 2:52) #

Scriptural Problem: Luke states Christ “increased in wisdom and grace.” Did the habitual grace itself increase in Christ?

Thomas’s Distinction: Growth in wisdom and grace occurs in two ways:

1. According to the Habit Itself: The habitual grace could increase—but not in Christ, who had the fullness from conception
2. According to Effects: Through his actions and works, Christ manifested increasing perfection as he aged, thereby making known his wisdom and demonstrating his true humanity

Explanation: By not performing extraordinary acts as a child, Christ presented himself as truly human; as he matured, his works showed forth his wisdom and power—not by gaining grace, but by manifesting it through age-appropriate works.

The Order of the Grace of Union and Habitual Grace #

Question: Does habitual grace follow upon (come after) the grace of union, or precede it?

Thomas’s Answer: Habitual grace follows upon the grace of union in the order of nature and understanding, though not in time (both occur in the same instant of conception).

Three Reasons for This Order:

1. From the Order of Principles:

   • The grace of union proceeds from the mission (missio) of the Son, who assumes human nature
   • Habitual grace proceeds from the mission of the Holy Spirit, who gives charity and grace
   • In the order of nature, the Son proceeds from the Father before the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father and the Son
   • Therefore, the Son’s mission (incarnation) comes before the Holy Spirit’s mission (giving grace)
   • The sending of the Son into the world precedes the full outpouring of the Holy Spirit (as at Pentecost)

2. From the Relation of Grace to Its Cause:

   • Grace is caused in a person from the presence of divinity
   • Just as light in the air proceeds from the presence of the sun
   • The presence of God in Christ is the union of human nature to divine person (grace of union)
   • Therefore, habitual grace follows as an effect of this presence, like splendor from the sun
   • Reference to Ezekiel 43:2: “The glory of God entered Israel through the eastern way, and the earth was splendid from his majesty”

3. From the End of Grace:

   • Grace is ordered to acting well
   • Action belongs to individual substances (supposita), to persons
   • A person must first exist before acting; therefore the hypostasis must be presupposed to action
   • The grace of union (by which the human nature becomes a person, the hypostasis, through union with the divine person) precedes habitual grace (by which the person is disposed to act)
   • As being (esse) precedes operation (operari), so the grace that constitutes the person precedes the grace that disposes to action

Important Definitions #

Qualified Being (secundum quid): Existence or a property understood with limitation or restriction—e.g., coming to be in a room, ceasing to be sitting. Contrasted with simple or unqualified being (simpliciter), which is absolute existence.

Qualified Knowledge: Knowledge of something through knowledge of its universal nature, genus, or accidents, rather than knowledge of it as an individual substance in itself. Example: knowing a person as a “brother” and “man” without knowing them by name.

Simpliciter vs. Secundum Quid: In Aristotelian terminology, “simply” or “absolutely” (simpliciter) means without qualification; “in a certain respect” or “in a qualified way” (secundum quid) means with qualification or limitation. This distinction resolves apparent contradictions in philosophical discourse.

Wisdom (σοφία / sapientia):

• Said simpliciter (simply): the knowledge of first principles and all things through their highest causes; belongs properly to God and first philosophy
• Said secundum quid (in a qualified way): particular knowledges ordered to particular ends (natural philosophy re: natural things, ethics re: human life)

Grace of Union (gratia unionis): The grace by which human nature is united to the divine person of the Son; this is the very incarnation itself, not an added accident.

Habitual Grace (gratia habitualis): The grace given to the human nature of Christ as a permanent disposition to act well and to merit; ordered to the final end of union with God and to acting with perfect virtue.

Divine Wisdom (divina sapientia): God’s ordering intelligence by which He determines what measure of grace is fitting for each creature according to its end; not mere power, but the wise exercise of power according to right order.

Mission (missio): The sending or proceeding of a divine person into the world; used metaphorically of the incarnation (mission of the Son) and of grace-giving (mission of the Holy Spirit).

Hypostasis (ὑπόστασις / hypostasis): The individual substance; the supposit or person. In Christ, there is only one hypostasis—the divine person of the Word—though two natures.

Examples & Illustrations #

• Counting Students: A teacher does not know how many students are in class, yet can count them by directing herself toward what she does not know. She knew she was looking for the number; this knowledge sufficed to direct her action toward the unknown particular.

• Knowing a Person Imperfectly: When asked if she knows Mark, a young woman answers “no”; but when asked if she knows what “brother” and what “man” are, she answers “yes.” Therefore, she knows Mark imperfectly—through knowledge of his nature and relation—without knowing him as an individual.

• Beauty and Envy: Three girls of vastly different degrees of beauty: the first and second might envy each other over small differences, but both would find it absurd to envy the third whose beauty far exceeds both. Similarly, the difference in clarity of vision between angels, or between saints in heaven, becomes negligible compared to the infinite brightness of God’s presence.

• The Common Good of the Kingdom: In an army ordered to victory, the whole army is ordered to victory as its good (final cause). But the order of soldiers to each other is for the sake of victory. Similarly, the universe is ordered to God; but the order of creatures to each other exists for the sake of that order to God. This is why a soul that loves the common good more than private good will rejoice that another sees God more clearly, for this contributes to the universal order.

• Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs: A moral tale of envy—when one girl is slightly more beautiful than another, envy arises easily. But when a third girl of transcendent beauty appears, the earlier envy becomes absurd and dissolves.

• Light and Heat from Fire: The sun illuminates before it warms; similarly, God enlightens the mind through faith before warming the heart through charity. Fire, light, and heat provide a metaphor for the Trinity (substance, understanding, love) or for the order of faith and charity.

• The Army Hierarchy: A captain is head of his company, yet a colonel is head of the captain. This shows how one can be a head of a subordinate multitude while having another head above oneself—resolving the apparent contradiction that Christ is head of the Church while God is Christ’s head.

Notable Quotes #

“You see how that distinction comes there, right? The same way in act and ability.” — Illustrating the fundamental philosophical distinction between substance/accident and act/potency.

“So I don’t know how many people are here… But did I in some way know what I didn’t know? I knew I didn’t know the number of students in class. I knew I was looking for the number of students in class. And that was enough to tell me to count.” — Resolving the Platonic paradox by distinguishing what is known universally from what is unknown particularly.

“In knowing what a man is and what a brother is, right? But that’s not to know him by the Mark. Simply, is it? It’s a very imperfect way of knowing him, right?” — Distinguishing perfect from imperfect knowledge.

“[T]he more understanding you are the more you love the common good… [T]hen you will love the fact that you do not equally see God… because there is an order then… that is the what common good that is next to the common good which is god himself.” — Explaining why envy should not arise among the saints regarding their differing degrees of vision of God.

“[A]lthough the divine power being infinite is able to make something greater and better than the habitual grace of christ… nevertheless, he’s not able to make something that would be ordered to something greater than the personal union to the Son.” — Thomas distinguishing between absolute divine power and divine wisdom’s determination of what befits each end.

“[T]he sending of the son, according to the order of nature, is before the sending of the, what, holy spirit… just as in the order of nature, the holy spirit proceeds from the son and… the father.” — Explaining the order of grace based on the procession of divine persons.

“[G]race is caused in man from the presence of divinity, just as light in the air from the presence of the, what, sun.” — Using the sun and light as the primary metaphor for how grace flows from the divine presence.

“[A]n individual substance before you can do anything, right? Even though, even if you always did something, right? You’re still an order there of nature, right? Understanding, right? We understand that something is before it can do something, right?” — Explaining why the grace of union (which constitutes the person) must precede habitual grace (which disposes to action).

Questions Addressed #

1. How can we know what we do not know? Through qualified knowledge of universals, we can direct ourselves toward unknowns particulars. Platonic epistemology fails to distinguish knowing of a thing from knowing the thing itself.

2. What is the relationship between divine power and divine wisdom? Divine power, considered in itself, is infinite and could create greater grace. But divine wisdom ordains what is fitting; it determines that grace should be measured by its end. Divine power is infinite in capability; divine wisdom is perfect in judgment.

3. Could Christ’s habitual grace have been greater? Yes, in the abstract: divine power could create greater grace. No, in the concrete: divine wisdom has ordained that no grace could be ordered to an end greater than the personal union of the Son with human nature. The measure of grace is proportioned to its final cause.

4. Did Christ actually grow in grace and wisdom as he aged? No, not in habitual grace itself, which was full from conception. But yes, in the manifestation of grace through works and in the perfection of effects. By performing age-appropriate works rather than miraculous acts as a child, Christ demonstrated true humanity while making his wisdom manifest through his deeds.

5. Does habitual grace follow upon the grace of union temporally? No; both are given in the same instant of conception. But habitual grace follows upon the grace of union in the order of nature and understanding—three reasons explain this order: (1) the proceeding of the Son before the Holy Spirit in the divine processions mirrors their missions; (2) grace flows from the divine presence as light from the sun; (3) the person (grace of union) must precede the person’s operations (habitual grace).

6. What is grace, and what does it mean that grace is “gratuitous”? In Augustine’s usage cited here, grace refers to God’s gratuitous will (voluntas gratuita) in bestowing benefits without merit. Just as human nature did not merit the grace of union (the incarnation), so no human merits habitual grace. Grace is fundamentally unmerited favor.

Connections to Broader Thomistic Thought #

• To Aristotelian Logic: The lecture draws on Aristotle’s analysis of before/after and the problem of equivocation—the same word can mean different things in different contexts, requiring careful distinction
• To Metaphysics: The principles of act/potency, substance/accident, and essence/existence underlie the discussion of being (qualified vs. unqualified)
• To Incarnation Doctrine: The grace of union (the very fact of incarnation) grounds all subsequent graces; it is the foundation of Christ’s perfection
• To Systematic Theology: These distinctions about grace in Christ will inform the discussion of Christ’s knowledge (not addressed in this lecture) and his role as head of the Church (hinted at in contextual notes)