On the first Sunday of Advent among the Friars Preachers, that Gospel of Matthew xxi is said: "When Jesus had approached Jerusalem." In it, mention is made of the coming of Christ in the flesh, while it is said: "Tell the daughter of Zion, Behold thy king comes to thee," etc. Whence, on this Sunday, the following questions can be debated:

The first: whether it was necessary for God to be incarnate for the redemption of the human race. The second: whether, if man had not sinned, God would have been incarnate. The third: whether it was more fitting for the Son of God to be incarnate than any other person.

To the first, it is proceeded thus: And it seems that it was not necessary for God to be incarnate. First, thus: God, being perfect, gained nothing of virtue for Himself through the assumed flesh; if, therefore, being incarnate He repaired nature, He could have repaired it even without the assumption of flesh; therefore, it was not necessary, etc. Second, thus: Since God is supremely merciful—indeed, His mercies are above all His works—it was more fitting that God should show the immensity of His mercy than the severity of His justice. But it pertains to the greatness of His mercy to dismiss sins without satisfaction; therefore, God could and should have repaired human nature without expecting satisfaction; therefore, it was not necessary, etc. Third, thus: Whoever can make satisfaction for a greater sin can make satisfaction for a lesser; but actual mortal sin is greater than original [sin], because it has more of the voluntary; therefore, since man can make satisfaction for mortal sin, he can make satisfaction much more strongly for original [sin], and thus it is not necessary for God to be incarnate. On the contrary, it is argued thus: That by which the human race is freed from perdition is necessary for human salvation; but the mystery of the divine incarnation is of this kind, according to that of John iii: "God so loved the world that He gave His only-begotten Son, that all who believe in Him might not perish but have eternal life"; therefore, it was necessary for the reparation of the human race for God to be incarnate. Second, thus: It was not fitting that one of the noblest creatures should be totally frustrated of its end; but human nature is among the noblest creatures; when, therefore, it was all corrupted by sin in the first parent and thus deprived of the beatitude to which it was instituted, it was fitting that it be repaired.