Anselm ( Cur Deus Homo , 1.18) offers this lovely description of the consummation of all things.
Creation consists on the one hand of the blessed city that is being built and brought to consummation. Physical creation is also destined to be renewed into something better ( in melius renovandam nec hoc futurum esse ). The latter immediately follows the former, because the higher ( maior ) nature has to be perfected before the lesser ( minor ).
The characteristic of the greater nature is that it is obliged to enjoy God ( Deo frui deberet ), and this it can do because it has the power of will. Yet the lesser creation that is renewed still “rejoices in its own way.” God will make this possible because through His ordinance “an insensible creature” will display naturaliter what is brought to pass by will in a rational nature.”
The result ill be a co-rejoicing ( congaudendo ) of rational beings and lesser creation, each in its own way “joining in eternal rejoicing in its Creator and in itself and in their mutual relations to one another, upon this final fulfillment of itself, so glorious and so amazing.”
Dear Reader,
Can I be direct with you?
War abroad. Socialists on the rise. AI upending human life. Endless uproar online. The modern attention economy doesn’t want readers — it wants users enslaved to the tyranny of the present.
First Things is the antidote: literary excellence, timeless truths, and a fixed point of reference in a culture that has lost its bearings.
But we can’t do it without readers like you.
Our goal: Raise $150,000 by November 1 to sustain First Things in the year ahead.
Your gift anchors readers in the permanent things.
Make your Fall Campaign gift now using the button below.
If you have any questions or would like more information, please contact Giovanni Del Piero, Director of the Editor’s Circle, at gdelpiero@firstthings.com or 212-627-1985.
The Church in the Age of Therapy
In 1966, Philip Rieff wrote in The Triumph of the Therapeutic that “Religious man was born to…
Canada’s Deadliest Blind Spot
On September 20, the Daily Mail ran a story with the provocative headline, “Our 83-year-old Christian grandmother…
The Faithful Joy of Dolly Parton and Fulton Sheen
Dolly Parton and Fulton Sheen seem to have had little in common. She favored rhinestones; he wore…