" To that, Aquinas responded that the perfect beatitude, in Bradley's paraphrase, "...through grace, has a sort of beginning in this life," and while on earth humans need friends to achieve the material and spiritual input that keeps them seeking happiness, "In heaven," Bradley paraphrases, "the society of friends is not an essential or necessary condition for enjoying the vision of God, Who as the perfect good, in and of Himself, fulfills all desires."
Works Cited
Aquinas, Thomas. "How the Moral Virtues are Distinguished From One Another." In Introduction to St. Thomas Aquinas, ed. Anton C. Pegis, 583-585. New York: The Modern
Library, 1948.
Bradley, Denis J.M. 2000. John Finnis on Aquinas 'The Philosopher.' The Haythrop Journal
41(1) (January) 1-24.
Curran, Charles E. 2003. A Vatican II view could allow for gay, lesbian, unions: but latest
Development hearkens back to Aquinas' view of relationship between law and morality.
National Catholic Reporter 39(38) (September): 19.
De Wulf, Maurice. 1959. The System of Thomas Aquinas. New York: Dover Publications, Inc.
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