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Link: https://aquinas.cc/la/en/~ST.I-II.Q110.A4
Collect: O God whose love, knowledge, and nature we participate in, send thy Holy Spirit that we may be again renewed in thy grace and virtues, through Jesus Christ Our Lord. Amen.
SUMMARY
In the Sed Contra, He uses a normal syllogism. In the major premise, he gives a premise that we all can agree upon. In the minor premise, he puts forth a thesis of natural reason, investigating the nature of “birth.” Then, he draws the appropriate conclusion.
In the Respondeo, St. Thomas Aquinas merely shows how this conclusion proceeds from the conclusion above. For, as we have seen, grace is not a virtue. Now, a virtue’s subject is the powers of the soul. Now, grace is the root of the virtues. Therefore, grace’s subject must be something prior to the powers of the soul. This is the essence of the Soul. Therefore, the conclusion follows.