Life by nature

Life by nature
People make mistakes and apologize for the fact that it is natural. Is it really natural? If they lived by nature, Dante writes in the Divine Comedy, it wouldn’t be on the world of sin. The Slovak word naturalness is related to by the word to be born, Greek physics has a similar origin and Latin nature. So that’s what God created, and it can
be just good. Such was the meaning of the Greek Fathers expression
nature. God gave man divine life, love, faith, all virtues. All this is natural for him (so-called complete nature, natural nature). It is against nature but sin and corrupt tendencies, evil passions. In the West, the term naturalness has not retained its original meaning. Theologians needed to discern what is in us human and what is divine. Therefore, they called e.g. reason will, feelings by natural gifts, sanctifying grace, on the contrary, by supernatural gifts. That is why they also talk about the supernatural virtues of faith, hope, love. The man has sinned. His mind darkened, his will turned to evil, his body and the senses were seized by passions. We are like that and that is why it is ours naturalness, of course in a very special sense, nature spoiled, fallen (natura corrupta, lapsa). However, she opposes grace. It must be constantly overcome. Following Christ has a whole chapter on the various movements of nature and grace »: Grace invites us to the heights, nature pulls to the ground. We must keep this threefold meaning of the word in mind, when we read spiritual books. It should be noted in which meaning the author uses the term. Otherwise, we would come across statements that are in stark contrast. Once we read, that we are by nature to live and develop it, other times he claims that we must still deny it and kill it. Once it is written that love for God is natural, other times it is proven that it is not natural, but supernatural. All of these statements are true, but according to the meaning in which they are used the word «nature».