The Impotence of Purely Natural Action
Because the devil's synthesis destroys the natural order, it is tempting for Christians to look to the restoration of the natural order as the antidote, or at least the primary and preliminary action demanded by circumstances. The fact that the natural law is binding on all men, not only on Christians, and that human reason is capable of being persuaded of its truth, is a further inducement to place emphasis on this level.
Reforms of various sorts are suggested organic farming, return to a wholesome nutrition with "whole" foods, banishment of usury from the financial world, the breakdown of large cities, distributism, folk dancing and culture, clean government, the reappreciation of women's nature and domestic role, credit unions, cooperatives, study groups of all sorts, creative work and recreation, housing reform. All these are good, most of them are also necessary, but none of them singly nor all of them collectively has the power to wrest the world from the devil, as they stand, without being ordered to a higher end.
Here is where the theology of nature and graces enters the picture again, to remind us that in one sense the "good natural" is just as far from the supernatural as is perverted nature - for they are both infinitely removed from it. "Without Me, you can do nothing."
There are several illusory positions to be dealt with.
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From "My Life With Thomas Aquinas"
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