Triune Grace

Grace is the favor of God, both the giver and the gift at the same time. In trinitarian understandings of grace, the Father is the ungifted giver; the Son and the Spirit are in different ways the gift. The Son is the external act of grace in humanity; and the Spirit is the internal gift. Both are infused. Although this is essential to Lutheran theology, it is here offered as ecumenical theology.     

Extrinsic Grace and Eccentric Existence

Catherine Pickstock has critiqued David Kelsey's Eccentric Existence for, among other things, adopting the position on the relation of nature to grace that has become known as “extrinsicism”. Pickstock's critique of Kelsey parallels the criticism that both she and John Milbank have leveled against extrinsicism. This paper considers the merits of Pickstock's charges of extrinsicism and supposedly related theological ills against Kelsey. Finding that they fall short, I suggest that Kelsey's “three narrative” anthropology and its “multiple teleology” are potentially valuable resources for ongoing theological debates concerning nature and grace.     

Economy of Grace

Book reviewed:
Economy of Grace by Kathryn Tanner (Minneapolis, Minnesota: Fortress Press, 2005) xiii + 158 pp. Reviewed by D. Stephen Long Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary 2121 Sheridan Road Evanston, IL 60201 USA     

Grace and Reconciliation as Gift

Through examples of grace and gift of reconciliation the meaning of grace is interpreted in relation to social and political transformation. Grace is understood as the unexpected kairotic moment of change, where the future opens up for new possibilities of reconciliation in situations of conflict. It is a moment you cannot plan for, but hope for to happen. Trusting in the possibility of a gracious moment can influence your work in the present. Hoping and waiting for the gracious moment of reconciliation is linked to a praxis of active nonviolence as seen in the work of Martin Luther King, Jr.     

Scenes and Means of Grace

Abstract : The Word, Baptism, and Holy Communion—key means of grace according to the Lutheran tradition—take place in a web of earthly conditions whenever they are celebrated. Generating their own scenes of grace, the means of grace give voice, sense of place, and creativity where those are otherwise threatened. Other scenes of grace complement the means of grace, similarly bringing voice, place, and creativity in the face of environmental and social injustices. Martin Luther's affirmation of Christ's presence in creation, both in means of grace and throughout God's world, is a strategic and meaningful threshold for Christians to engage environment and justice while continuing to listen and look for the grace in Christ that feeds and shapes them.     

Narcissism and Grace: Inherent Incompatibility

Narcissistic conditions are highly prevalent in clinical treatment settings. However, most developmental theories include only maturational and interpersonal aspects of functioning without including spiritual and Christian-based factors. In working with narcissistic disorders, it is necessary for the patient to incorporate grace and forgiveness into their sense of self, through the transmuting internalization of vicarious introspection of the therapist. This paper asserts that grace is a necessary and vital prerequisite for developmental and spiritual growth. Specific examples are included to help therapists identify and work within the therapeutic transference to help the patient integrate grace into their identity.     

保罗神学中的恩典与律法

保罗的反对者的共同特征是:上帝在耶稣基督里使人得救的恩典本身是非自足的,必须在这恩典之外增添上人遵守的律法作为、接受世上的智慧与知识,否则,人就不可能获得完全的救赎。基于这种背景,在保罗神学中,他关于恩典与律法的关系,是他讨论社会正义的基础。他否定了所有犹太教形式中两个共同的柱石:以色列的神选和对于摩西律法的忠诚,将上帝的拣选范围扩大为包括外邦人在内的教会,用因信称义取代以律法称义。基督教正是在这两个方面而区别于犹太教。因信称义的教义落实到个人身上,保罗认为肉身与圣灵是对立的,他进而把人分为两类:一类按肉体生活,另一类按精神生活,认为存在着自然的人和精神的人,未皈依的人和皈依了的人,堕落了的人和得救的人,尘世之子和上帝之子。第一类人源出于亚当,第二类人来自于基督,提出旧人与新人的观念。