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According to Thomas Aquinas, God is the "Highest Good". [1] The Summa Theologiae (question 6, article 3) affirms that "God alone is good essentially". [2]Because in Jesus there are two natures, the human and the divine one, Aquinas states that in him there are two distinct wills: the human will and the divine will.
Jesus has just condemned the lengthy prayers of the Gentiles, and in this verse states that such prayers are unnecessary as God is aware of a person's desire even before they ask. A similar statement is made at Isaiah 65:24. This raises the question of why prayer is even necessary at all, and this issue has been much discussed by theologians.
God's immutability defines all God's other attributes: God is immutably wise, merciful, good, and gracious: Primarily, God is almighty/omnipotent (all powerful), omnipresent (present everywhere), and omniscient (knows everything); eternally and immutably so. Infiniteness and immutability in God are mutually supportive and imply each other.
For instance, Saint Maximus the Confessor (c. 580 – 13 August 662) argued that because humans are made in the image of God, they possess the same type of self-determinism as God. [19] The theological tradition before Augustine (354 – 430) uniformly emphasizes the freedom of the human will. [ 20 ]
Jerome: "An arrogant and vain vaunt; for he hath not the power to bestow all kingdoms, since many of the saints have, we know, been made kings by God." [4] Pseudo-Chrysostom: "But such things as are gotten by iniquity in this world, as riches, for instance, gained by fraud or perjury, these the Devil bestows. The Devil therefore cannot give ...
Glossa Ordinaria: For from God we receive only such things as are good, of what kind soever they may seem to us when we receive them; for all things work together for good to His beloved. [ 7 ] Saint Remigius : And be it known that where Matthew says, He shall give good things, Luke has, shall give his Holy Spirit.
Since the owner of the hands must know what both are doing, Jesus' statement here is thus generally considered a humorous hyperbole. One interpretation, outlined by Hendriksen , is that Jesus is here stating that just as we should avoid seeking the praise of others for our good deeds, we should also avoid self-congratulation for our piety.
In Institutes of the Christian Religion (II.xv) Calvin was critical of those who know Christ "in name only", e.g. those who simply teach that Christ is the Redeemer without understanding or teaching how he redeems. For Calvin knowing Christ involves knowing his power and dignity in terms of the threefold office: as priest, prophet and king. [13]