To: annalex
"The grace of Christ not only discloses the knowledge of God's commandments, but also imparts strength to will and execute them.
Without God's grace it is not merely more difficult, but absolutely impossible to perform good works."
As I remember, Pelagius did not dispute the existence or importance of grace only the operative effect of the agency. Specifically, grace empowered man to live a moral life and the moral life itself enables the discovery of a power greater than the self. And, in this regard, man through this right relationship may come to know Christ. Rahner's writings on the notion of the "anonymous Christian" speaks of the man who knows good but has not yet met Christ.
Haight writing on Grace cites Alcoholics Anonymous as a remarkable example of the agency of grace in operation. AA spurns any religious affiliation or belief but encourages belief in a Higher Power or God of one's own choosing. The miracles of AA are well documented. The fellowship is filled with priests, ministers, elders and a whole bunch of everyday people who were unable to get sober on their own accord. Haight uses AA merely to illustrate the notion of a cooperative social structure enabling the restoration of a right relationship to God. It is not unusual for a non Christian member of AA to extend a critical helping hand to a suffering alcoholic who may be a lapsed Christian. Most often, that new person begins a journey of recovery within AA that will see them return them to Christ and often, to the faith community of their childhood.
I believe that grace is present in the good works of AA. Further, I believe that grace is present in the extended hand of the non Christian who reaches out to help. Indeed, I choose to believe that person could be the anonymous Christian that Karl Rahner described.
To: spatso
I agree, and it is compatible with Catholicism, that divine grace sometimes operates in a secular or nondenominational setting, such as Alcoholics Anonymous, but this is not a justification for Pelagianism.
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson