Thomistic theology of merit

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Thomistic theology of merit is the set of beliefs developed by Thomistic thinkers regarding merit in Christianity.

Thomas Aquinas discussed merit extensively in his early Commentary on the Sentences and in his mature Summa Theologica. In both texts, Aquinas views human life as a "journey" which starts with the conversion from sin to grace and ends in the beatific vision, a process marked by the good actions which make the soul closer to God and hold the divine approval. Acknowledging the difficulties of affirming the possibility of human merit before a divine entity, Thomism develops thoroughly on the concept in order to defend the Catholic position.^[1]