Introduction
God created man in His own image and likeness. And He also wanted him to enjoy the blissful life with Him. But because of the fall through the sin of disobedience, man lost this bliss. Lacking this communion with God, man fell into disorder of sin more and more. However, God did not want man to perish into nothing. So God desired to save man from the fall, and to give back his original state, that is to enjoy the beatific vision at the end of his life being union with God. God wills to save each and every one. The salvation of whole humanity depends on God. So God takes initiative to save. Moreover, salvation also consists in the man’s response to God’s call. God starts his salvific plan from the very moment of the fall of man. …show more content…
He chose the people of Israel and gave them the Law, guided them in various way (through judges, kings and prophets), and at last God sent his own son to be made incarnate in order to restore human persons. To avail this salvation God Himself takes the initiative to save His people because man by himself cannot attain this salvation through his own efforts. Only through the grace of Christ is it possible. According to Aquinas the salvation of man found only on Christ. It is treated in his writing of Summa Theologiae. He makes this vivid in the I - II Part, where he presents the treatise on Law, explains that Christ is the fulfilment of the Old Law. For, Old Law in itself is not sufficient to reach the eternal happiness and communion with God, which is the end and purpose of human beings. Only the New Law which is founded through the suffering and death on the cross by Christ can make human being to be united with God. So the Old Law is superseded by the New Law which is founded on charity and the grace of the Holy Spirit. It is written in the human hearts. The scope of this paper is three: (a) To understand the concept of Law according to Thomas Aquinas; (b) To comprehend the inability of the Old Law; and (c) To present the Christ Event as the supersession
God created man in His own image and likeness. And He also wanted him to enjoy the blissful life with Him. But because of the fall through the sin of disobedience, man lost this bliss. Lacking this communion with God, man fell into disorder of sin more and more. However, God did not want man to perish into nothing. So God desired to save man from the fall, and to give back his original state, that is to enjoy the beatific vision at the end of his life being union with God. God wills to save each and every one. The salvation of whole humanity depends on God. So God takes initiative to save. Moreover, salvation also consists in the man’s response to God’s call. God starts his salvific plan from the very moment of the fall of man. …show more content…
He chose the people of Israel and gave them the Law, guided them in various way (through judges, kings and prophets), and at last God sent his own son to be made incarnate in order to restore human persons. To avail this salvation God Himself takes the initiative to save His people because man by himself cannot attain this salvation through his own efforts. Only through the grace of Christ is it possible. According to Aquinas the salvation of man found only on Christ. It is treated in his writing of Summa Theologiae. He makes this vivid in the I - II Part, where he presents the treatise on Law, explains that Christ is the fulfilment of the Old Law. For, Old Law in itself is not sufficient to reach the eternal happiness and communion with God, which is the end and purpose of human beings. Only the New Law which is founded through the suffering and death on the cross by Christ can make human being to be united with God. So the Old Law is superseded by the New Law which is founded on charity and the grace of the Holy Spirit. It is written in the human hearts. The scope of this paper is three: (a) To understand the concept of Law according to Thomas Aquinas; (b) To comprehend the inability of the Old Law; and (c) To present the Christ Event as the supersession