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NOTRE DAME SEMINARY

SCHOOL OF THEOLOGY

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Professor: Dr. David Liberto Class: DT 505
email: dliberto@nds.edu Time: MW 10-11:25
Office hours: MW 1:30-2:30 pm Location: Room # 3
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DT 505 - Man, Grace, and Salvation
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I. Description
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This course treats the origin and constitution of man, the fall, and God’s plan to restore man to
full communion with Himself. Topics will include original sin, grace, justification, and the
beatific vision. The course will explore these topics from scriptural, philosophical, and historico-
dogmatic perspectives. Students will be exposed to important texts from such sources as Gregory
of Nyssa, St. Augustine, St. Thomas Aquinas and the Council of Trent.
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II. Rationale
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God created man for Himself. This course covers the important loci of theological anthropology,
soteriology, and eschatology. Study of these three interrelated areas is crucial for understanding
God’s will for man in the economy of salvation. The course is also important for understanding
the various controversies which arose concerning grace, including recent intramural Thomistic
disputes and the Catholic/Lutheran ecumenical dialogue on justification.
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III. Envisioned Outcomes
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! • Students will be able to articulate a theology of man’s origin and end.

Students will be able to describe and defend the Church’s teaching on justification as found

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the Council of Trent as compared with the teaching of the Reformers.

will have an understanding of grace, its various types, and the effects of sanctifying
grace.
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IV. Requirements
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A. Read all assignments and be prepared to discuss them in class. NB: Reading
assignments are not restricted to those assignments on the syllabus, but other primary
and secondary materials might be assigned throughout the course.
B. Mid-term exam (October 22nd)
C. Final Exam (during Exam Week) or a research paper on an approved topic (10-12
pages). The paper is due the last day of class. The latter option is available only for
students with cumulative GPA’s of 3.67 or above. Students should consult the
Research Paper Guideline Sheet for more information on what is required for the
assignment. One should also consult the Research Paper Grading Rubric for grading
criteria. Topics must be approved by the professor at least one month before the due
date.

V. Required Text
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Liberto, David (ed.). Ad imaginem et similitudinem. Summer, 2014.
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VI. Bibliography
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Aureada, J. A. E. The Language of the Grace of God: A Re-Evaluation of the Analogical
Character of Sanctifying Grace According to St. Thomas Aquinas. Dissertatio doctoralis:
Pontificia Studiorum Universitas a S. Thomas Aquinate in Urbe, Romae, 1994.
Balás, David. ΜΕΤΟΥΣΙΑ ΘΕΟΥ: Man’s Participations in God’s Perfections According to Saint
Gregory of Nyssa. Rome: Herder and Herder, 1966.
Bavaud, G. “Les rapports de la grâce et du libre arbitre: Un dialogue entre saint Bernard, saint
Thomas d’Aquin et Calvin.” Verbum Caro. Revue théologiques et ecclésiastique 14
(1960): 328–338.
Bonino, Serge-Thomas, ed. Surnaturel: A Controversy at the Heart of Twentieth-Century
Thought. Translated by Robert Williams. Translation revised by Matthew Levering. Ave
Maria, FL: Sapientia Press, 2009.
Bonner, Gerald. Augustine and Modern Research on Pelagianism. Saint Augustine Lecture
1970. Villanova: Villanova University Press, 1972.
________. Freedom and Necessity: St. Augustine’s Teaching on Divine Power and Human
Freedom. Washington, DC: Catholic University of America Press, 2007.
Bouillard , H. Conversion et Grace chez saint Thomas d' Aquin. Aubier, Paris: Aubier, 1944.
Burns, J. Patout. The Development of Augustine’s Doctrine of Operative Grace. Paris: Études
Augustiniennes, 1980.
Burnell, Peter. The Augustinian Person. Washington, D.C.: Catholic University of America
Press, 2005.
Cross, Richard. “Anti-Pelagianism and the Resistibility of Grace. Faith and Philosophy 22/2
(2005): 199-210.
de Lubac, Henri. Surnaturel: Etudes historique. Paris: Aubier, 1946.
________. Augustinianism and Modern Theology. Translated by Lancelot Shephard. New
York: Herder and Herder, 2000.
________. The Mystery of the Supernatural. Translated by Rosemary Sheed. New York: Herder
& Herder, 2011.
Dodaro, Robert. “Sacramentum Christi: Augustine on the Christology of Pelagius.” Studia
Patristica 27 (1993): 274-80.
Dunn, Geoffrey D. “Augustine, Cyril of Alexandria, and the Pelagian Controversy.” Augustinian
Studies 37, no. 1 (2006) 63-88.
Elders, Leo. La philosophie de la nature de saint Thomas d'Aquin. Philosophie générale de la
nature, philosophie du vivant, anthropologie philosophique. Translated by J. Y. Brachet.
Croire et savoir: P. Téqui, Paris, 1994.
Feingold, Lawrence. The Natural Desire to See God According to St. Thomas Aquinas and His
Interpreters. Ave Maria, FL: Sapientia Press, 2009.
Garrigou-Lagrange, Reginald. Grace: Commentary on the Summa Theologica of St. Thomas.
Translated by the Dominican Nuns of Corpus Christi Monastery. Herder: St. Louis,
1952.
Goris, Harm. “Steering Clear of Charybdis: Some Directions for Avoiding Grace Extrinsicism in
Aquinas.” Nova et Vetera 5 (2007): 67-80.
Harrison, Verna E.F. Grace and Human Freedom According to St. Gregory of Nyssa. Lewiston/
Queenston/Lampeter: Edwin Mellon Press, 1992.
Hombert, Pierre-Marie. Gloria Gratiae: Se glorifier en Dieu, principe et fin de la théologie
augustinienne de la grâce. Collection des Études Augustiniennes, Serie Antiquité 148.
Paris: Institut d’Études Augustinienne, 1996.
Hütter, Reinhold. “St. Thomas on Grace and Free Will in the initium fidei: The Surpassing
Augustinian Synthesis.” Nova et Vetera 5/3 (2007): 521-554.
Journet, Charles. The Meaning of Grace. New York: P. J. Kennedy & Sons, 1960.
Ladner, Gerhart B. “The Philosophical Anthropology of Saint Gregory of Nyssa.” Dumbarton
Oaks Papers 12 (1958): 59-94.
Laporte, J. M. “The Dynamics of Grace in Aquinas: A Structural Approach.” Theological
Studies 34 (1973): 203-26.
Lawler, M. G. “Grace and Free Will in Justification: A Textual Study in Aquinas.” The Thomist
35 (1971): 601-30.
Liberto, David. “Ad Imaginem Dei. Asymptotic Assimilation in Thomas’s Understanding of
Grace.” In Divine Transcendence and Immanence in the Work of Thomas Aquinas,
217-30 . Edited by Harm Goris, et al.. Leuven: Peeters Publishing, 2009.
________. “St. Thomas on the Supernatural: Christological, Eschatological, and
Anthropological Insights from the Thomistic Corpus.” Josephinum Journal of Theology
18 (Winter/Spring 2011): 133-49.
Lonergan. Bernard. Grace and Freedom: Operative Grace in the Thought of Thomas Aquinas.
Edited by P. Burns. NY: Herder and Herder, 1971.
Long, Stephen A. “On the Loss, and the Recovery of Nature as a Theonomic Principle:
Reflections on the Nature/Grace Controversy.” Nova et Vetera 5 (2007): 133-84.
________. Natura Pura: On the Recovery of Nature in the Doctrine of Grace. New York:
Fordham University Press, 2010.
Nicolas, Jean-Hervé. The Mystery of Grace. Iowa: Priory Press. 1960.
Rondet, Henri. The Grace of Christ. Trans. and edited by Tad. W. Guzie, S.J. Toronto: Newman
Press, 1967.
Ruini, Camillo. La trascendenza della grazia nelle teologia di san Tommaso d'Aquino.
Roma : Università Gregoriana, 1971.
TeSelle, Eugene. “Rufinus the Syrian, Caelestius, Pelagius: Explorations in the Pre-History of
the Pelagian Controversy.” Augustinian Studies 3 (1972): 61-95.
Torrell, Jean-Pierre. Saint Thomas Aquinas: Volume 2, Spiritual Master. Washington, D.C.:
Catholic University Press, 2003.
Wawrykow, J. P. God's Grace and Human Action: Merit in the Theology of Thomas Aquinas.
South Bend, Indiana: University of Notre Dame Press, 1995.
Wetzel, James. “Pelagius Anticipated: Grace and Election in Augustine’s Ad Simplicianum.” In
Augustine: From Rhetor to Theologian, 121-32. Edited by Joanne McWilliam.
Waterloo: Wilfrid Laurier University, 1992.
________. “Snares of Truth: Augustine on Free Will and Predestination." In Augustine and His
Critics, 124-41. Edited by Robert Dodaro and George Lawless. New York: Routledge,
2000..
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VII. Glossary of Philosophical and Theological terms
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Beatific Vision – The final and supernatural end of man which consists in the immediate and
intuitive contemplation of the divine essence as made possible by the lumen gloriae.
causality,efficient – pertaining to that cause which makes or effects something.
causality, exemplary – pertaining to that cause which is the exemplar or pattern for that which is
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charity (Lt. caritas) – A theological virtue that is infused with sanctifying grace. It inclines the
will to love God.
comprehensor – Term applied to the blessed souls who enjoy the beatific vision, the final end of
man.
grace (Gr. χάρις, Lt. gratia) – In its NT usage, usually has the meaning of a gratuitous gift from
God. In theology, the concept of grace was most influenced by St. Augustine and the
Councils of Carthage (418), Orange II (529), and Trent (session VI on Justification). A
working definition for grace (in general) would be the following: a gratuitous gift infused
by God into the soul of the rational creature that either aids or effects the salvation of the
recipient or aids the salvation of some other.
grace, actual – Unlike habitual grace, actual grace is a transient supernatural gift that moves the
soul to some salutary act.
grace, cooperative – that grace given by God that works in cooperation with the free will of the
recipient.
grace, efficacious – A supernatural divine influence by which the human will is determined both
infallibly AND freely, to act with respect to eternal life.
grace, habitual – A divine grace infused by God into the soul of the recipient that has an abiding
presence. Sanctifying grace is of this type because it objectively changes the state of the
recipient.
grace, operative – that grace given by God that works in and of itself.
grace, prevenient – that grace given to man prior to his conversion but with the effect to bring
him ever closer to God.
grace, sanctifying (Lt. gratia gratum faciens) – A habitual grace given by God that elevates the
recipient to the supernatural level; the grace that makes the recipient pleasing to God.
grace, sufficient – A supernatural gift which gives man the power to act in a salutary manner if he
so wills. Unlike efficacious grace, sufficient grace does not work infallibly (this is the
Thomistic position).
justification (Lt. justus – just and facere – to make) – The state of man, due to the action of
divine grace, that makes him just, not merely by divine imputation, but de facto.
lumen gloriae (light of glory) – that grace infused into the soul which elevates to the Beatific
Vision.
merit – The right to a reward due to an action performed. In the theology of grace, merit can be
understood as de condigno whereby the reward is in equal proportion to the act, or de
congruo whereby the reward and the act are not in the same proportion. Therefore merit
de condigno is more a matter of strict justice, where merit de congruo is a matter of
benevolence on the part of the rewarder.
Pelagianism – a heretical position named after the monk, Pelagius, which denied the reality of
original sin, asserting that man, even without grace, could attain to everlasting life.
Semi-Pelagianism – a heretical position consisting of three main errors: 1) man can begin to do
salutary acts without God’s help; 2) God dispenses grace based on the merit and
disposition of the recipient; 3) Final Perseverance is the fruit of man’s own merits.
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VIII. Lecture and Reading Schedule
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Class # Topic Reading
1. Syllabus and Course Expectations
1 2. “In the beginning...” ---
3. Theological Prologomena
2 The Nature of Man AIS, Ch. 1

3 Man’s composite parts AIS, Ch. 2

4 The Origin of Man AIS, Ch. 3

5 The Supernatural Order AIS, Ch. 4

6 The State of Original Justice AIS, Ch. 5

7 The Problem of Sin AIS, Ch. 6

8 The Nature of Original Sin AIS, Ch. 7

9 The Nature of Original Sin (cont.) AIS, Ch. 8

10 On the Necessity of Grace AIS, Ch. 9

11 Sanctifying Grace AIS, Ch. 10

12 The Effects of Sanctifying Grace AIS, Ch. 11

13 Divine Indwelling AIS, Ch. 12

14 Justification AIS, Ch. 13

15 Mid-term Exam ---

16 Efficacious Grace AIS, Ch. 14

17 Thomas on Knowledge of God AIS, Ch. 15

18 Predestination AIS, Ch. 16

 19 Divine Missions and Grace AIS, Ch. 17

20 Man’s End - Beatific Vision AIS, Ch. 18

21 Necessity of Grace AIS, Ch. 19

22 Grace: Essence, Divisions, and Cause AIS, Ch. 20

23 Merit AIS, Ch. 21

24 Four Last Things AIS, Ch. 22

25 Limbo? AIS, Ch. 23

26 Q & A - Evaluation ---

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IX. Evaluation
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The student’s average will be based upon the the mid-term exam (40%), and the final exam/
research paper (60%).
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X. Attendance Policy
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Notre Dame Seminary observes the following policy regarding class attendance: Regular class
attendance is expected and required of all students who intend to receive credit for course work
in the graduate school. Inevitably, extraordinary circumstances will arise that make class
attendance impossible on occasion; therefore, a formula for determining regular attendance has
been established as policy for the convenience of both seminarians and instructors. A student is
permitted to be absent from class no more than twice the number of times the class meets per
week. (You are considered absent if you are not present when attendance is taken). Thus, if a
student is absent for seven classes from a course that meets three times a week, the student is in
violation of school policy in this regard. The normal penalty for such a violation is the grade FA
(failure due to absence).
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The number of absences includes those due to illness, late registration, or any other cause.
Absence from class immediately before or after holidays and free weekends is considered a
double cut. Only the Academic Dean may waive penalties for absence. In absences due to illness,
you must inform the instructor and your formation advisor prior to the class.
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XI. Academic Integrity
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Seminarians of Notre Dame Seminary are required to commit themselves to responsible
scholarship in every aspect of priestly formation, including academics. It is expected that every
seminarian works and studies to the best of his ability for every course.
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Seminarians also accept responsibilities and obligations as students, which include commitments
to honesty, disciplined study, and integrity in their academic work. They will be expected to
respect academic scholarship by giving proper credit to other people’s work, while at the same
time preparing well for assigned materials and examinations in such a way that their academic
integrity will never be questioned.
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Those needing assistance with writing papers, or who would like tutoring, should contact the
Academic Resource Center (ARC) for assistance. All students are encouraged to seek the direct
assistance of their instructor whenever any questions arise regarding assignments, grading,
course expectations, etc.
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XII. Disability Accommodation Policy
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In accordance with the Americans with Disabilities Act, Notre Dame Seminary provides
disability accommodations for students with identified and/or diagnosed disabilities. Students
with disabilities need not inform their instructors about the nature of their disabilities, but they
are responsible for contacting and providing appropriate documentation to the Academic
Resources Center. Requests for accommodations must be made each semester for which the
student wishes to receive service; the Academic Resources Center will then distribute a letter of
accommodation to the faculty. It is the student’s responsibility to meet with each faculty member
to discuss how his/her accommodation(s) may be met within each course. Notre Dame Seminary
will attempt to meet reasonable accommodations requested. A reasonable accommodation is a
modification to a non-essential aspect of a course, program, or facility which does not pose an
undue burden and which enables a qualified student with a disability to have adequate
opportunity to participate and to demonstrate his or her ability. Such accommodations are
determined on an individual basis depending upon the nature and extent of the disability. For
more information, contact the Academic Dean’s Office.
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XIII. Extension Policy
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Instructors are never obligated to grant a student’s request for a due-date extension on a paper/
project if they judge the request to be without sufficient merit or not in keeping with the fair
requirements articulated in the course syllabus.
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XIV. Audit Policy
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For academic course audits at Notre Dame Seminary, the amount of work required of
seminarians will be decided on a case by case basis by the instructor, the Academic Dean and the
seminarian’s Formation Advisor.
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XV. Probation and Grading Policy
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Passing grades for seminarians are A, B and C. A seminarian is put on academic probation for the
following:
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A seminarian who obtains a D+ or lower in any course is automatically placed on probationary
status and must repeat the course in order to get credit for the course. Seminarians will be
allowed to repeat a course only once and the course must be repeated at NDS. Seminarian status
is then subject to review by the Dean.
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A seminarian whose semester grade point average (GPA) in coursework is below a 2.30 at any
time is placed on academic probation. Two or more consecutive semesters may subject the
seminarian to be dismissed from academic formation at Notre Dame Seminary. To be removed
from probationary status, the seminarian must complete a semester with a GPA of 2.30 or higher.
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After each semester, the seminarian’s Bishop will receive a copy of his transcript and a review of
the seminarians’ status.
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If a seminarian fails to meet the passing grade point average requirement then he forfeits his
eligibility for financial aid under Title IV Federal Regulations.
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Quality Points
Grade Scale

A 4.00
! 100 – 94
A- 3.70 93 – 90
B+ 3.30 89 – 88
B 3.00 87 – 84
B- 2.70 83 – 80
C+ 2.30 79 – 78
C 2.00 77 – 74
C- 1.70 73 – 70
D+ 1.30 69 – 68
D 1.00 67 – 64
D- .70 63 – 60
F 0.00 59 – 0
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See Academic Catalog for Grading Guidelines Policy Narrative.
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XVIII. Syllabus Contract
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This syllabus obliges the student to adhere to all policy requirements and to fulfill all academic
expectations herein stated; it also entitles the student to a reasonable opportunity to learn the
material specified in the course description in order to accomplish for himself the educational
goals of the course. In order to optimize the learning process the course instructor reserves the
right to make reasonable adjustments to the syllabus requirements during the semester in
response to unforeseen developments or circumstances. All adjustments made must be
communicated clearly to students.
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