GRACE. – It derives from the Greek root χαρ (cf. Latin gratus), which conveys the sense of enjoyment and delight and has given rise to the word χάρης (= “g. s”). In profane literature this term signifies physical and moral beauty (cf. the three Graces associated with Venus and the Muses), benevolence, favour, benefit, gratitude. The idea of grace as a divine influence upon man is not lacking in the mystery religions and in magic. In Holy Scripture the term grace (hēm in the Old Testament, χάρης in the New) is found both in a subjective sense (benevolence, gratitude) and in an objective sense (material or spiritual gift). On the basis of New Testament texts, and in particular those of St Paul, grace is defined theologically as a gratuitous, supernatural gift bestowed by God upon the human soul in view of eternal life. It presupposes the beatific vision as the supernatural end of human life, and it implies the entire divine economy that accompanies man on his journey toward that end, offering him the means adequate to attain II.
Properly speaking, grace is an infused gift within the depths of the soul and its faculties, and it is divided into habitual and actual grace, according as it has a permanent character (after the manner of a habit) or a transitory one.
To the first category belong sanctifying grace, which has its seat in the essence of the soul, and the virtues and gifts of the Holy Spirit (q.v.), which are infused into the faculties of the soul; the second category (actual grace) comprises various kinds of grace: exciting and aiding, prevenient and subsequent, sufficient and efficacious. The last of these is the most important, also because it has been the object of great theological controversies.
OUTLINE:
I. Existence
II. Necessity
III. Essence
IV. Cause and effects.I. EXISTENCE
Objectively, the existence of grace in general is attested by divine Revelation. But the question may be posed from a subjective point of view by asking whether man can have consciousness or direct knowledge of the grace infused into his soul. Some Protestant sects (e.g., Quakers, Pentecostals) admit a vivid psychological experience of grace; even immanentists speak of an experience of the divine. Catholic doctrine generally rejects such opinions, inasmuch as they compromise the supernatural transcendence of the divine gift; but it does acknowledge the extraordinary experiences of great converts and of mystics, who are elevated to an ineffable spiritual contact with God, who operates in them.A more debated aspect of the question is the rational knowledge of grace. In opposition to Luther’s claim of certainty regarding his own sanctification, the Council of Trent (sess. VI, Denz.-U., 82) defined that no one can know with the certainty of faith, free from error, that he has obtained the grace of God, and therefore all may fear for their own state and their own fate. But theological schools debate whether the sanctified man can have, by natural cognition, the certainty of being in the grace of God. The opinion of St Thomas and of the majority of theologians admits the possibility of a merely moral certainty in a broad sense.
As for objective existence, there is the double testimony of Holy Scripture and Tradition. As with other mysteries, so with grace there is no explicit and formal revelation in the Old Testament, but only indications that grow more pronounced as the messianic era approaches. The first is the state of original justice in which the first parents were created, and in which they were therefore free from concupiscence (q.v.) and enjoyed God’s friendship. After the fall, God restored the broken bond by establishing a covenant with Abraham and his posterity, a covenant renewed with Moses on the basis of the concept of divine fatherhood in relation to the people regarded as a son (2 Sam. 7:14), the object of the heavenly Father’s love (Ex. 4:22; Deut. 8:5). But the covenant, which had begun in the spiritual and supernatural sphere, gradually degenerated, owing to the crude mentality of the Hebrew people, into material interest, reducing religious sentiment to a trivial externalism. God used the prophets to recall men to interiority (Am. 4:11-22; 5:14-15; Mic. 6:8; Is. 66:2; Jer. 4:3-4 and 14:7). They inculcated the relationship between the soul and God not only with the ancient concept of filial adoption, but also with the delicate image of spiritual marriage (Hos. 1-3; Jer. 2:2; Ezek. 16:8; Song of Songs), of life-giving water, of light, of fire (cf. Psalms and Wisdom literature).
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From the whole of the Old Testament one can easily gather these elements, in which the fundamental concept of sanctifying grace is implicit: a) a divine action within the depths of the soul (Jer. 18:6; 17:14; 31:18; 1 Kings 8:58); b) a purification of the spirit (Is. 1:18; Ps. 50); c) an interior renewal according to the strong expression of Ezek. 11:19: “And I will give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit within you; and I will take the stony heart out of their flesh, and will give them a heart of flesh: That they may walk in my commandments.” Here one hears the prelude to the kingdom of grace announced by the Gospel.
In the New Testament the message of the Kingdom of God predominates, which implies above all a new life of the spirit regenerated in the faith and charity of Christ. Already in the Synoptics the fundamental characteristics of the Kingdom are outlined: a change of heart (μετάνοια: Matt. 4:17; Mark 1:15) brought about through Baptism (Mark 1:15 and 16:16; cf. John 3:5), interior holiness in contrast to Pharisaic formalism (Matt. 5:20; 23:23), above all supreme love toward God and toward neighbour (Matt. 22:37).
But the full revelation of grace is found in St Paul and St John. The former presents it in a soteriological light as a redemptive force from sin. This restoration began with Baptism, which is rebirth in the risen Christ (Rom. 6:4-11), a new life nourished by faith and charity (1 Cor. 13; Eph. 3:14-19), by which a new creation is determined (2 Cor. 5:17), the new man clothed in Christ (Col. 3:9; Gal. 3:27), living by Christ (Gal. 2:20). The synthesis of St Paul’s thought, which resonates in all his Epistles (Eph., first chapters), is read in Tit. 3:5: “Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Ghost, which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour; That being justified by his grace, we should be heirs according to the hope of eternal life.” The life of grace is active in the Mystical Body (q.v.), in which Christ the Head pours out the regenerating power into his members, the faithful incorporated into him, who are thus enabled to realize the truth in love (Eph. 4:16).
According to St John, grace is supernatural life that Christ kindles in souls through Baptism (John 3), nourishes with the Eucharistic bread (John 6), preserves through his immanence in us and ours in him as branches in the vine (John 15). Also St John, like St Paul, insists on filial adoption, which makes of the faithful as many who are born of God (John 1; 1 John 3:1), on the profound unity between Christ and believers in him (John 17). Thus supernatural, divine life, which implies a certain participation in the very nature of God, “consortium (συνωνία) divinae naturae” as 2 Pet. 1:4 says. Such riches are not the fruit of human industry and effort, but a gratuitous gift of God: “For by grace you are saved through faith, and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God” (Eph. 2:8). This grace, which commits man to cooperate with God, is the viaticum for eternal life, indeed it is already eternal life anticipated: “But the grace of God, life everlasting in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Rom. 6:23).