Aug 5, 2026 · 49 min · 14 segments
A conversation about Thomas Aquinas and the infused moral virtues How does the grace of God change a person? And how can we account for the times when grace most definitely has *not* changed a…
Angela KnobelGuest
Kenny InnesHost
I, I, I re- I realize already that, um, for those of us who are maybe not so versed in Aquinas's, um, thought, who maybe haven't waded through the Summa, um, that, um, we're using terms here already that might not be familiar to everyone.
So you, you, you set up in the book this idea of the structure of w- you, you call it the structure of natural and supernatural virtues-
But what are we talking about? [chuckles] This is such an elementary question, but when you say virtue, what do you mean by that?
... um, you know, in, in Greek the word is arete, which just means excellence.
And so if I were gonna offer a kind of, um, very general definition of virtue, I would say that virtues enable us to be most fully what we are, so that if we are, if we are rational animals, as Aristotle thought, if I'm a rational animal and, like, I realize that I should stand up and defend my family against an, uh, against an invader- And I'm so fearful that I can't bring myself to do it, that's a failure of rational-
... animality, right? Like, I'm not acting in a fully human way, 'cause if I was really gonna kind of do the act that my human nature makes me capable of, I would be able to rise to the occasion and act in ways that, that I know that I should.
and so they're, they're habits, right? Um, that, that enable me to, to, um, be most fully what I am, act in ways that express the fullness of what I am.
I, I, I re- I realize already that, um, for those of us who are maybe not so versed in Aquinas's, um, thought, who maybe haven't waded through the Summa, um, that, um, we're using terms here already that might not be familiar to everyone.
So you, you, you set up in the book this idea of the structure of w- you, you call it the structure of natural and supernatural virtues-
But what are we talking about? [chuckles] This is such an elementary question, but when you say virtue, what do you mean by that?
... um, you know, in, in Greek the word is arete, which just means excellence.
And so if I were gonna offer a kind of, um, very general definition of virtue, I would say that virtues enable us to be most fully what we are, so that if we are, if we are rational animals, as Aristotle thought, if I'm a rational animal and, like, I realize that I should stand up and defend my family against an, uh, against an invader- And I'm so fearful that I can't bring myself to do it, that's a failure of rational-
... animality, right? Like, I'm not acting in a fully human way, 'cause if I was really gonna kind of do the act that my human nature makes me capable of, I would be able to rise to the occasion and act in ways that, that I know that I should.
and so they're, they're habits, right? Um, that, that enable me to, to, um, be most fully what I am, act in ways that express the fullness of what I am.
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