Final Essays Joe PadykulaSister SundermanTH 100 B December 14, 2000 Grace In order to completely understand the theology of grace you have to take a look at Augustine, Aquinas, Luther, Rahner, Segundo, and Boff, and how they understood what grace was. Their theories on grace have some valid points and yet they also have some invalid points. Augustine took a personal approach to grace and he believed in the massa damn ata, which basically means that on the whole people are damned. He said before the originals in, you had a choice to be good or evil. Also, Augustine said that there is a double predestination, which means only some people are chosen before they are born if they are going to go to heaven.
I don’t agree with this because its basically saying that there is no salvation for all people. Aquinas thought that grace was added to nature and it elevates nature. He wrote the Summa, which demonstrates the beatific vision. The beatific vision is when the mind is unified to God. Aquinas’ theology is dualistic which displays natural and supernatural as separate entities. Idon’t believe in his beatific vision because I believe that God allows us to make our own choices out of free will so our mind cannot be unified with Him.
Unless I am wrong, this is saying God knows what is going to happen before it happens. If this is the case why do we have suffering; because God gave us free will. Luther viewed grace through his own view of himself asa sinner. He was so obsessed that he confessed his sins seven times a day. He said that grace is a favor of God and it heals a person’s sinfulness. He said that Jesus’ word was a vehicle of grace and that grace cannot be merited.
The Essay on The Two Visions Of St Augustine
A common thread of faith and reason runs through the two different theological visions of St. Augustine in his Confessions. This can be seen by comparing the ascent, the vision, the descent, and language in the two visions. Although other parts of the text will be referred to, the central part of these visions are as follows: Vision 1: "... in an instant of awe, my mind attained to the sight of ...
I think his views on grace are not very good only because he views God as an active member and humans as a passive one. In order to be truly graced I believe that both parties need to be active and involved. Rahner believes that grace is intrinsic to nature and he also believes in Anonymous Christianity. This theory is that every person on this Earth is a Christian even if you do not know it. I don’t agree with this theory because, once again God gives everyone free will and this allows people to believe the way they want to. Boff says grace is a relationship with the trinity.
Agree with this because it consists of showing love and devotion to all three persons of our one God. He also said that liberation is the key to grace. I some what agree with this because it is showing God that you are showing your total love for Him, but you must also show love towards others because loving your neighbors is also important. Segundo was a Jesuit priest from Uruguay.
He was a liberationist who said that the meaning of grace was to love and you would be free and to be free was to love. I like the idea behind this concept because it suggests that if you devote yourself to God he will take care of you and allow you to have your freedoms. This does not always happen yet it is a good theory. I think in order to be truly graced you have to love everyone and expect nothing in return. The reason I say this is because you should know that God will take care of you no matter what. If your neighbors are good people they will show you love and respect so you need not worry about it.
I also feel that you need to show love towards the trinity and be faithful to your faith no matter what it is. If you do these things I believe that you will be graced.
