“ Now there is no liberty when man is bound to do or avoid certain external acts. ”
Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica (1274). copy citation
| Author | Thomas Aquinas |
|---|---|
| Source | Summa Theologica |
| Topic | liberty acts |
| Date | 1274 |
| Language | English |
| Reference | |
| Note | Translated by Fathers of the English Dominican Province |
| Weblink | http://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/17897/pg17897-images.html |
Context
“Therefore the New Law should not prescribe or forbid any external acts.
Obj. 2: Further, the New Law is "the law of the Spirit" (Rom. 8:2) . But "where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty" (2 Cor. 3:17) . Now there is no liberty when man is bound to do or avoid certain external acts. Therefore the New Law does not prescribe or forbid any external acts.
Obj. 3: Further, all external acts are understood as referable to the hand, just as interior acts belong to the mind. But this is assigned as the difference between the New and Old Laws that the "Old Law restrains the hand, whereas the New Law curbs the will"”
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