The adulterous woman whom the law prescribed to be stoned was set free by him with truth and grace when the avengers of the law, frightened with the state of their own conscience, had left the trembling guilty woman to the judgment of him who had come "to seek and save what was lost." For that reason he, bowing down—that is, stooping down to our human…

Obviously, those who have heard the gospel and refused to believe are all the more inexcusable than if they had not listened to any preaching of the truth. But it is certain that in God's foreknowledge they were not children of Abraham and were not reckoned among the number of them of whom it is said, "In your seed all the tribes of the earth shall be…

He who serves the devil is free from God, but he who being freed serves God is free from the devil. As a result it is apparent that a false liberty could have been had from a defect of the human will but that a true liberty could not have been received without the help of the liberator.

At no time does our corruptibility participate in incorruptibility, given that, our nature being destined to die, it is at all times subject to death. The beginning of this life is the beginning of death, and no sooner does our age begin to increase than our life begins to decrease. And if a stretch of time is added to it, it is not added in a permanent…

No good work comes from the dead; nothing righteous from the ungodly. Their whole salvation is gratuitous and is therefore the glory of God, so that he who glories may glory in him of whose glory he has stood in need.

God in truth has created the body and the spirit of every single human being. Besides the diversity each person may choose to pursue, there is an infinite variety created by God beyond what could be voluntarily achieved by everyone in what each person receives at the beginning of his or her existence. But there are those who would upset us and many who…

"The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom." This fear, which results from some type of frightening experience, renders one willing who began by being previously afraid, and not only willing but also wise. For thus it is written, "Happy are those to whom it has been granted to have the fear of God." What could possibly render the soul more blessed…

Since the Lord prepares the will, he also touches the hearts of his children with fatherly inspirations so that they might do good.… Consequently, we do not think that our free will is lacking, nor do we doubt that, in each and every movement of man's free will, his help is the stronger force.

It is well known how Greek schools and Roman eloquence and the search of the whole world in the quest of the supreme good, with the most penetrating study and outstanding ability, accomplished nothing by their labor except to become "futile in their thinking, and their senseless minds were darkened."

Grace is the glory of God, not the merit of him who has been freed.

Unless God works in us, we cannot be partakers of any virtue. For indeed, without this Good, nothing is good. Without this Light, nothing is bright. Without this Wisdom, nothing is wise. Without this Justice, nothing is right. For the Lord says through the mouth of Isaiah, "I am, I am the Lord, and there is no one besides me who saves," and through…

Jeremiah, explaining that humankind receives wisdom from God, states, "I know, O Lord, that the way of a person is not his. Neither is it of a person … to direct his way." Again the Lord proclaims through the same prophet that God effects the conversion of a heart to him and says, "I will bring them again into this land. And I will build them up again and…