Quotation
Last reviewed:
“Grace does not destroy nature, but perfects it, so that natural reason should minister to faith as the natural bent of the will ministers to charity.”
Thomas Aquinas · Scholasticism · Medieval · 1265–1274
What does it mean?
The mainstream reading is that divine grace does not cancel human nature or human reasoning: it completes them, which is why philosophy can serve theology without being abolished by it. A competing reading takes 'perfects' as a polite way of saying nature is left behind, but the verb he uses is perficit, to carry through to completion, and the example is reason serving faith rather than falling silent. The reply is a short answer to an objection in the first question of the Summa, on whether sacred doctrine uses argument. It is a method claim, not a devotional motto.
Did Thomas Aquinas really say this?
The library’s label is Paraphrase or translation. A close English of ST I q.1 a.8 ad 2. The famous clause is 'gratia non tollit naturam, sed perficit'. The rest of the reply is part of the same sentence and says what the clause is for.
Where it comes from
Summa Theologiae I, question 1, article 8, reply to objection 2
Approximate date: 1265–1274.
How to use it
A chaplaincy and a biology department sharing a corridor in Leeds do not, on this reply, have to pretend one of them is a mistake. The sentence is abused when it means 'religion will let science finish its sentences'. His picture is service with a direction: natural reason ministers. It still ministers, which means it is not dismissed. A row about a curriculum can use that distinction without pretending the Summa wrote the timetable.
A mindset reading
When two goods look like rivals, ask whether one is supposed to destroy the other or to complete it. The habit blocks both a contempt for ordinary reasoning and a refusal to let anything count as more than ordinary reasoning. Perfecting is not flattery. A nature that cannot be completed by the further aim is not what he is describing.
Understand the philosophy
Aquinas is opening the Summa by defending theology's use of argument. The key terms are gratia and natura. Objection 2 worries that arguing from authority or from philosophy contaminates a science that should be above reason. The reply refuses the contamination story. This is why the line is quoted in fights about faith and philosophy. It belongs to question 1, article 8, not to a separate treatise on grace.
- knowledge
- virtue
FAQ
What does it mean?
The mainstream reading is that divine grace does not cancel human nature or human reasoning: it completes them, which is why philosophy can serve theology without being abolished by it. A competing reading takes 'perfects' as a polite way of saying nature is left behind, but the verb he uses is perficit, to carry through to completion, and the example is reason serving faith rather than falling silent. The reply is a short answer to an objection in the first question of the Summa, on whether sacred doctrine uses argument. It is a method claim, not a devotional motto.
Did Thomas Aquinas really say this?
Paraphrase or translation. A close English of ST I q.1 a.8 ad 2. The famous clause is 'gratia non tollit naturam, sed perficit'. The rest of the reply is part of the same sentence and says what the clause is for.
Which work is it in?
Summa Theologiae I, question 1, article 8, reply to objection 2 Approximate date: 1265–1274.