Sunday, September 30, 2007

Grace

Proof of something.

Ordinatio III d. 13 qq. 1-4, n. 92:

"Et ideo tam in via quam in patria ponitur aliqua forma creata, ut voluntas possit uti illa forma in operando, et sit forma in potestate eius, et sic laudabiliter operetur."

"And therefore, some created form is posited both in the wayfaring state and in the fatherland [ie, "heaven"], so that the will might be able to use that form in operating, and the form be in its power, so that it might operate in a praise-worthy manner."

Proof, that is, against certain interpretations of Scotus that would like to maximize his similarity to later Reformation views, by stressing 'forensic justification'; for whatever reason (this isn't directed against, say, Cross, as after reading the intro to his book I think the problem is mainly that he's trying to appeal to as many groups as possible...which is why he also compares Scotus almost exculsively to Thomas, the very difficulty with Gilson's book).The 'created form' he's talking about is, of course, that of grace conceived as a quality inhering in the will, without which human actions cannot be meritorious.

5 comments:

Michael Sullivan said...

This isn't going to make our Orthodox friends any happier . . .

Lee Faber said...

Why is that...corruption by greek philosophy?

Unknown said...

Can I find the Ordinatio anywhere online? I'd prefer Latin.

Thanks for your help!

Lee Faber said...

Taylor,
If you follow the link on the sidebar to the "internet Guide to Duns Scotus" you can find some texts of the Ordinatio. mostly the prologue. Otherwise, go to deastore.com and buy them...first 7 vol. are about 80e, then it goes up to about 200e for vols. 8-10.
LF

Michael Sullivan said...

Faber,

there's that, but more specifically they find the whole notion of grace as a created form repugnant. To them grace is an uncreated "energy" of God in which we participate. I did a post sort of on this at Monadology some time back.