On the other hand it would be underestimating the power of grace to say that it effects a merely external and moral participation of the soul in the divine nature, similar to that by which those who embraced the faith of Abraham were called “children of Abraham,” and those who commit heinous crimes are called “sons of the devil.” According to the Fathers(1034) and theologians, to “partake of the divine nature” means to become internally and physically like God and to receive from Him truly divine gifts, _i.e._ such as are proper to God alone and absolutely transcend the order of nature.(1035) Being self-existing, absolutely independent, and infinite, God cannot, of course, be regarded as the formal cause of created sanctity; yet the strictly supernatural gifts which He confers on His creatures, especially the beatific vision and sanctifying grace, can be conceived only _per modum causae formalis_ (not _informantis_), because through them God gives Himself to the creature in such an intimate way that the creature is raised up to and transfigured by Him.(1036) Consequently, the so-called _deificatio_ of the soul by grace is not a real deification, but an assimilation of the creature to God.(1037) c) Which one of God’s numerous attributes forms the basis of the supernatural communication made to the soul in the bestowal of grace, is a question on which theologians differ widely. The so-called incommunicable attributes, (self-existence, immensity, eternity, etc.), of course, cannot be imparted to the creature except by way of a hypostatic union.(1038)