Theodicy Author:Antonio Rosmini Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: CHAPTER XVI. SECOND CONSEQUENCE:—WHEN GOD HAS BY HIS GOVERNMENT OBTAINED ALL THE GOOD HE CAN OBTAIN FROM ALL THE ACTIVITIES OF HIS CREATURES, IT IS IN ACCORDA... more »NCE WITH HIS GOODNESS THAT HE SHOULD ADD HIS OWN IMMEDIATE ACTION, SO AS TO PRODUCE IN THEM AND TO DERIVE FROM THEM THAT GOOD WHICH THEY, IN WHATEVER WAY GOVERNED, COULD NOT BY THEMSELVES YIELD ; MAINTAINING, HOWEVER, IN THE CASE OF THIS SUPERNATURAL ACTION ALSO, THE LAW OF THE LEAST MEANS. 522. The second corollary which follows spontaneously from the above principle is this : " The. immediate and supernatural intervention of God's Power in creation is not by any means impossible. It cannot, however, take place except for obtaining such good as created beings, in whatever way governed, could not produce by themselves, but could produce if aided by God." 523. This intervention does in fact take place when there is question of communicating grace, whereby the creature is raised to a supernatural order. For, it would be impossible for man ever to attain to the perception of God, to communicate immediately with God, unless God of His own free Goodness communicated Himself to him. (i) In short, no man could ever, (i) And the same must be said of all other intellective-moral creatures. by his natural powers, perform one single act belonging to the supernatural order, and much less establish himself habitually in this order. 524. The communication of Divine grace is like a new creation : by it a new entity, a new power is made to exist in man. But in this very gift which God bestows gratuitously on His creature outside the order of nature—a gift so befitting a Goodness which, being infinite, tends to produce all the good possible—God maintains the Law of Wisdom, the Law of the Least Means. In other words, He ga...« less