Catholic Dictionary
Find accurate definitions of over 5,000 Catholic terms and phrases (including abbreviations). Based on Fr. John Hardon's Modern Catholic Dictionary, © Eternal Life. Used with permission.
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ABSOLUTELY SUPERNATURAL
A divine gift whose essence transcends nature altogether, so that it can never be due to or merited by any creature. It surpasses not only nature's powers but its rights and its needs or exigencies. Given to a creature, it is finite but beyond the exigency of anything created. It is a divine thing communicated and shared in a finite way. The Incarnation and Sanctifying Grace are the sole instances of the absolutely supernatural, the latter in a lesser degree because, unlike Christ, other human beings are not divine persons.
