Grace And Sin :: essays research papers

GraceIn order to completely understand the theology of gracilityyou have to take a look at Augustine, Aquinas, Luther,Rahner, Segundo, and Boff, and how they dumb whatgrace was. Their theories on grace have some valid pointsand yet they also have some invalid points.Augustine took a personal approach to grace and he viewd in the massa damnata, which basic onlyy means that onthe whole people are damned. He said before the originalsin, you had a choice to be good or evil. Also, Augustinesaid that there is a double predestination, which means furthersome people are chosen before they are born(p) if they aregoing to go to heaven. I dont agree with this because itis basically saying that there is no salvation for allpeople.Aquinas thought that grace was added to nature and itelevates nature. He wrote the Summa, which demonstrates thebeatific vision. The beatific vision is when the mind isunified to immortal. Aquinas theology is dualistic whichdisplays natural and supernatural as nar rate entities. Idont believe in his beatific vision because I believe thatGod allows us to make our own choices out of barren will soour mind cannot be unified with Him. Unless I am wrong,this is saying God knows what is going to happen before ithappens. If this is the case why do we have sufferingbecause God gave us free will.Luther viewed grace through his own view of himself asa sinner. He was so obsessed that he confessed his sinsseven times a day. He said that grace is a favor of God andit heals a persons sinfulness. He said that the Nazarene wordwas a vehicle of grace and that grace cannot be merited. Ithink his views on grace are not very good only because heviews God as an active member and humans as a passive one. In order to be truly graced I believe that both parties needto be active and involved.Rahner believes that grace is intrinsic to nature andhe also believes in Anonymous Christianity. This theory isthat every person on this Earth is a Christian even if youdo not know it. I dont agree with this theory because,once again God gives everyone free will and this allowspeople to believe the way they want to. Boff says grace is a relationship with the trinity. Iagree with this because it consists of showing love anddevotion to all three persons of our one God. He also saidthat liberation is the key to grace. I some what agree with