Man, together with all creatures, is placed in existence and hence set outside divine being as a be-ing by itself. By his origin man, along with all creatures, has his being "from above." Because he is given a nature that in some sense is left up to him and to the totality of the be-ings that his nature is woven into, he, along with all creatures, has a being "from below." But since he is given an analogy with divine being that sets him apart from all nonpersonal creatures, he is "from above" in a way different from all nonpersonal creatures.
And in virtue of this higher being, which is his personally spiritual being, a "being born of the Spirit" (a life of grace) is possible for him....
[Edith Stein, Potency and Act, Redmond, tr., ICS Publications (Washington, DC: 2009) pp. 410-411.]
