Today’s readings draw our eyes upward—to creation, to grace, and to the inheritance of the faithful. Irenaeus challenges the Marcionites by showing that Abraham was not excluded from salvation, but was among those justified by faith, carried forward by grace, and fulfilled in Christ who did not abolish the Law but completed it. Augustine reflects from the mountaintop of faith on the heavens and the earth as witnesses to their Maker—beautiful, but nothing apart from the One who is Beauty itself. And Aquinas answers whether Adam was created in grace, affirming that God, who gave Adam his nature, also gave him the supernatural gift needed to reach his final end. Grace, far from being an afterthought, was there from the beginning.
Readings:
Irenaeus, Against Heresies, Book 3, Chapters 8–9
Augustine, The Confessions, Book 11, Chapter 4 (Section 6)
Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica, Part 1, Question 95, Article 1
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