Tesina submitted in partial fulfillment for the degree 'Licentiate in Sacred Theology' at the Pontifical Faculty of the Immaculate Conception (Dominican House of Studies) in Washington DC. His exposition of this view depends upon the analogical character of justice, the doctrines of creatio ex nihilo and beatific vision, and the crucial distinction between nature and grace.
Specifically, Aquinas understands mercy as establishing, healing, and perfecting the order of justice. How can the works of God, who is bound by no law but acts in accordance with his own will alone (Eph 1:11) and is no man’s debtor (1 Cor 4:7), be called “just” (Ps 111:7)? What sense does it make to claim that the immaterial God experience emotions such as sorrow (Gen 6:7), wrath (Ps 2:11), and love (Ps 103:8)? How can it be true both that “judgment is without mercy to one who has shown no mercy yet mercy triumphs over judgment” (Jas 2:13), and also that “The Lord is just in all his ways, and kind in all his doings” (Ps 145:17)? And, of course, how can the declaration that some “will go away into eternal punishment” (Matt 25:46) be squared with the divine desire that all be saved (1 Tim 2:4)? Aquinas’ pursuit of these questions is centered upon his insistent assertion of a genuine distinction between the divine works of justice and mercy. The persuasive proclamation of God’s justice and mercy must contend with questions which demand more than the mere repetition of revealed images and words.
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