Monday, January 16, 2006

'Created' & 'Uncreated' Grace

I've gotten into an enjoyable discussion at Pontifications today about grace, and a particular issue arose: does the Catholic Church specifically, dogmatically, hold to the distinction between "created" and "uncreated" grace; more specifically, in the context of the grace that sanctifies and remains in us?

I may have embarrassed myself (but oh well), but I have been arguing that while the distinction between "created" and "uncreated" grace has a very good "pedigree" as part of the tradition, it is, nonetheless, speculative rather than dogmatic -- i.e., one is not a heretic if one understands grace and justification without reference to "created" grace. My interlocutor, "Photius," sees the Council of Trent's decree on justification presupposing a "created" grace, and excluding uncreated grace, as the "formal cause" of our justification.

I'd be interested in comments, but what I'd really appreciate is someone pointing me toward something truly authoritative, and/or right on-point to this specific (and to my mind, ethereal) question.

1 comment:

Rich said...

Doesn't "created grace" open oneself up to idolatry if accepted as being actual grace from God? If it isn't God who is the originator of the energies that affect the change, but the byproduct of agents that do things, then does that not lead to something else besides God saving humanity?