Researched by the Ignaria Editorial Team · Updated 2026-07-04
Augustine and Thomas Aquinas are the two pillars of Western theology on grace — yet they do not speak identically. Augustine's anti-Pelagian corpus insists that the fallen will cannot turn to God without preemptive divine grace, that merit is excluded from the ground of salvation, and that predestination rests on God's sovereign pleasure. Aquinas inherits Augustine but reframes grace as an infused habit (habitus) by which God moves the rational soul — preserving real human cooperation as a secondary cause while grounding every good movement in divine initiative. Comparing them on merit, predestination, and the nature of grace clarifies both the continuity and the tension within the Latin tradition.
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What the primary sources show
"What hast thou that thou didst not receive?" — Augustine uses Paul to eliminate every residual human claim to spiritual distinction; grace is the entire source of any movement toward God.
"The justification of the ungodly is brought about by God moving man to justice." — Aquinas presents justification as divine motion that respects the structure of free will while originating entirely in grace.