Re: Treatise on Purgatory
Man’s imperfection lies in his being separated from true perfection: God, the source of his perfection. At the fall imperfection entered precisely because man determined that he was perfect enough without God, that his own morality/righteousness was better, i.e. that he could determine right and wrong for himself. But, simply by virtue of being created rather than being the creator, this was impossible; man is incapable of making such a determination.
But having done so, in spite of the command not to, we now operate according to an obscured conscience, going our own ways, based on self-righteousness, rather than on a directly God-based righteousness, which is possible only by communing with Him, His spirit dwelling and active within, the way it was originally meant to be. But as long as self-righteousness/self-determination rules this world instead, man’s “perfection” will always be less than it was meant to be.
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"This is the very perfection of a man, to find out his own imperfections." - Saint Augustine
"It is love alone that gives worth to all things." - St. Teresa of Avila
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