Life by nature

Life by nature
People make mistakes and apologize for being human. Is it really natural? If they lived by nature, Dante writes in the Divine Comedy, there would be no sin in the world. The Slovak word ‘naturalness’ is related to the word ‘to be born’; the Greek ‘physics’ and Latin ‘natura’ have similar origins. So it is what God created, and it can only be good. That is what naturalness meant for Greek Fathers. God gave man divine life, love, faith, and all virtues. All of these qualities are therefore natural to him (the so-called complete nature, nature nature). However, sin, corrupt tendencies, and evil passions are contrary to nature. In the West, the term naturalness has not retained its original meaning. Theologians needed to discern what is human and divine in us. Therefore, they called reason, will, feelings, and natural gifts natural; sanctifying grace, by contrast, gifts of the supernatural. That is why they speak of supernatural virtues of faith, hope, and love. Man sinned. His reason darkened, his will was tilted to evil, and his body and senses were seized with passion. We are so, and therefore our nature, of course, in a very special sense, is spoilt, fallen (nature corrupt, lapse). But they oppose grace. It must be constantly overcome. The following chapter has a whole section «about various movements of nature and grace»: Grace invites us to the heights; nature pulls us to earth. We must keep this triple meaning of the word in mind when we read spiritual books. Note how the author uses the term. Otherwise, we would encounter arguments in complete contradiction. Sometimes, after reading that we must live and develop according to nature, it is claimed that we should always deny and mortify our instincts. When it is written that love of God is natural, it is sometimes proved that it is not natural but supernatural. All these statements are true, but according to the meaning in which the word «naturalness» is used. We can be “natural” by human judgment. Belief in the Holy Trinity is a «supernatural» gift of faith, or grace. Thus, the gifts of grace are “voluntary”. God grants them when and as He sees fit. No one has a right to them. They “elevate” man to the “state of grace”, giving him a higher perfection than he could achieve with his own powers. This scholastic distinction is very useful for expressing a few basic truths of grace. However, we are well aware that we cannot express all participation in God’s life in several terms. Tradition here helps with figurative symbolic expressions, aphorisms, and the experience of saints. Let us recall at least the main ones.