Human Nature in Gaudium et Spes 22

 More　to the point, the consideration of the divine economy requires a careful
thinking through of the particular theological states of human nature (1) in
dependence upon grace, (2) in secession from the life of grace, (3) in the
still wounded yet partially redeemed economy of Christian grace, (4) in the
eschaton and (5) in Christ himself. None of these states is simply reducible
to another, and yet it is necessary to affirm the existence of a persisting
human nature undergirding them all, albeit in different states.Were this not
the case, consider some inevitable theological consequences:(1) Concerning
original justice and the fall:we would be unable to consider man in the
state of original innocence as truly and essentially human or we would be
unable to consider the fallen human person as retaining his or her essentially
human characteristics (as still being made in the image of God,
despite the consequence of sin). (2) Concerning redemption:we would be
unable to consider the redeemed human person as essentially human in
continuity with the fallen human person and yet as more perfect qua　human, that is to say, in the potencies of his or her nature. (3) Concerning
Christology: we would be unable to understand the incarnate Lord, in his
passion and resurrection, as bringing our human nature to an eschatalogical
fulfillment, distinct in mode, yet identical in kind to our current state
of being.Any understanding of Christ’s redemption thereby would appear
wholly alien (i.e., extrinsic) to our human historical condition (and the
reason for his redemption of our human nature from “sin”would be unintelligible
as well). Or contrastingly, we would be obliged to abolish all
distinction of nature and grace, thus seeing our human historical condition
as necessarily bound up with Christ such that human salvation in Christ simply
would be co-extensive with our “natural” existence (a not-so-subtle
version of apokatastasis panton ). Nature in separation from Christ would be　literally inconceivable. Either of the final alternatives, however, is theologically
unfeasible and deeply unrealistic.