Abstract

Pierre Nicole's thought ultimately concerns itself with only two things: man and God. Although Nicole's investigation begins with a given--the Augustinian doctrine of the Fall--that colors all his thinking on the relationship between nature and supernature, his view of the situation of man following that event is less pessimistic than that of some other Augustinians. Indeed, his confidence in the capacities of nature to do good allows him to envisage an authentic role for man in repairing the infralapsarian rupture between God and man. ;Fallen man, is, nonetheless, a corrupt creature, and without the gift of efficacious grace he can never get back to the Creator. This reality, however, does not release men from continuing to pursue virute. An important theme of the Essais de morale is that we have been endowed with certain moyens humains which enable us to begin the road that leads to the Creator. These moyens humains are associated with the intellectual principle in man. Although Nicole uses a number of words in talking about the intellect, there is one term that seems to capture the essence of his moral theology. This is lumieres, God's gift to fallen man. These lights, located in the reason, enable men to see things clearly and also confer knowledge--imperfect no doubt, but authentic nonetheless--of God and His will. ;While a man's intellectual faculties allow him to begin the work of salvation, we must not forget that man is not self-sufficient and requires a divine motion to achieve what he begins. Bacause of the confidence that Nicole expresses in the capacities of fallen man to do good, some commentators have lablled Nicole a humanist. While this term is not entirely inappropriate, it seems that such a word runs the risk of diminishing the importance of the role of the divinity in the process of salvation. For this reason, the term "moral theologian" seems to be a more fitting characterization of Nicole than a word like "humanist," which may very well overstate what he was trying to do