One of the central tenets of the Catholic faith is the claim that God became human. Jesus is the word made flesh, the Son of God
who has taken upon himself a human nature in both body and soul. One of the classical questions in Christian
theology then is why did God become human? What is the point? This is the famous question of the motives
of the Incarnation. The third part of Aquinas' famous Summa Theologiae
is concerned with the mystery of Christ and the Sacraments. Significantly, Aquinas begins the first question
of this entire third part of the Summa with the question, why did God become human? He unpacks his treatment of the question in several distinct ways. First, Aquinas begins by asking whether it is fitting that God should become incarnate. The objection could be made after all that
it is unreasonable to believe in the Incarnation because it's unfitting for God to become human. There are non Christian religious traditions
that have posited this objection of course. In Aquinas' own day, the most important of
these would have been the Albigensians who objected that material bodily existence leads
to suffering and privation, therefore matter is a principle of evil or deprivation so God
could not fittingly have taken on a material body. Meanwhile, Aquinas was also aware that some critics in the Islamic tradition objected
that an Incarnation of God is not in keeping with God's transcendence and divine sovereignty
over creation. Therefore, they argued that an Incarnation
would give us the wrong idea of who God truly is. Aquinas responds to these objections by appealing
to God's goodness. Goodness is a principle trait of God and he
argues that it is proper to goodness to communicate itself. God has created us by giving us being not
because he needed to, but as a gratuitous expression of his goodness. Likewise, he offers us the grace of participation in divine life as a free expression of his
own goodness. So fittingly he can also become incarnate
as a way of communicating his goodness and expressing his love for humanity. St. Thomas then asks whether it is strictly
necessary for God to become human in order to redeem the human race. Could he have redeemed us without becoming
human? Here are Aquinas distinguishes. He notes that God could have saved us without
employing the means of the Incarnation, but he then argues that it was the most fitting
means, the most express way to communicate grace and salvation to the human race. Most fitting here means something like most effective but also most tangibly good, most
beautiful, most wise. St. Thomas is presuming the reality of the
Incarnation in faith as an act of God and and is seeking within faith to understand the wisdom of God, why he's done things this way. He argues that the Incarnation does two main
things for us. It effectively unites us to our true good
or leads us to our true homeland and secondly, it effectively permits us to withdraw from
evil. The Incarnation unites us to our true good
in several ways. First, it unites us to God intellectually because we come to know who God truly is in
virtue of the Incarnation. After all, he's spoken to us in human words
and lived a human life among us. Secondly, it deeply strengthens our hope because
we see God's commitment to us. He has truly willed to become human, so he
is truly engaged with us in our concrete lives. Third, it inspires our love of God and charity
because we see that God loves us intensely enough to suffer human death for our sake. Fourth, it provides us with a model of how
to live through the imitation of Christ. Finally, it communicates divinization or union with God. God became human so that we would understand
that we can truly be united with God by grace. After all, it's a greater work for God to
become human than for God to beatify a creature by granting it the vision of God. The Incarnation allows us to see how serious
God is about inviting us to eternal life. As noted, the Incarnation also saves us by
aiding us to withdraw effectively from evil. Here too, Aquinas lists a series of interconnected
ideas. First, the Incarnation frees us from idolatry and the confusion that leads to false divinization
of the powers of the world. Because we know who God truly is in Christ,
we're better able to distinguish the world from God and to serve and worship God in himself,
loving him for his own sake. Second, the incarnation teaches us the grandeur
of the human dignity of man. If God became human, then human beings have
a principle place in the visible creation and enjoy the honor of being made in the image
of God, they should not sully their lives by sin. Third, the Incarnation is a remedy to human presumption. We cannot as a human race save ourselves merely
through political programs or individual heroic effort. The Incarnation grounds us in realism because
it manifests the truth that we all need to be saved by God and his mercy. Fourth then, the Incarnation cures our pride. God himself was born into a poor and unassuming
family and died a death of indignity by public crucifixion. God teaches us to have a sober view of ourselves,
to associate with the lowly and to be humble and merciful. Finally, the Incarnation is a work of atonement. That is to say Christ restores a right order
of justice between human beings and God because he is the human being who truly obeys God
and loves God as one ought to. Because Christ is man, he can restore a right
relationship between sinful humanity and God. Because he is God, his human activity of restoration
has an infinite dignity and worth. So for example, when Christ obeys on behalf
of the human race, his human activity has an infinite value or merit. Consequently, he has the power to atone for human sins and capacity to merit the salvation
of the whole human race. As we can see, Aquinas begins with a very
simple, straight forward question. Why did God become human? However, as he begins to provide an answer,
what unfolds is an exploration of the very logic of the Redemption itself. As such, Aquinas illustrates in a particularly
beautiful way what theology is at its best. A study in faith of the mystery of the divine
wisdom itself. For readings, podcasts and more videos like this, go to Aquinas101.com. While you're there, be sure to sign up for one of our free video courses on Aquinas. And don't forget to like and share with your friends, because it matters what you think.