Does 'Created Grace' Prove Eastern Orthodoxy?
No. It doesn't.
It is quite common for Eastern Orthodox to critique Latin Scholasticism for what they call “created grace.” For many Orthodox apologists, this has become a central feature of their apologetic against Roman Catholicism. Yet, like many of their critiques, the “created grace” objection is a poorly researched one that doesn’t take into account the entirety of Roman Catholic theology.
A. What is Grace? To begin, it is important to define what Latin authors mean when they use the term “grace.” To ask the question “is grace created?” without knowing the meaning of the terms involved would be a ridiculous endeavor fraught with equivocation. This is especially the case with a term like “grace.” The term has been used to indicate everything from some disposition on the part of God (“God’s grace towards sinners”) to an action of thanksgiving on the part of man (“it is good to say grace before meals”). Yet, the fundamental sense in which we use the term grace is to refer to a certain type of gift.
That this is the fundamental sense appears from our comparison of “grace” in the third sense with “grace” in the first two senses. When we speak of “God’s grace” as a disposition of God, we are really speaking of his disposition towards giving certain gifts. Further, when we speak of grace as an act of man towards God, we are speaking of his acknowledgement of certain gifts given by God to men.
B. Which Question Are We Asking? When we ask the question “is grace created?” which of these three senses do we actually mean to indicate? In the first sense, the disposition of God on the part of God is obviously uncreated. It is a Divine Attribute akin to mercy. In the third sense, an act on the part of man acknowledging God is obviously something that is created. It is a finite action that has the will as its principle.
Hence, what we really mean to ask when we ask “is grace created? is whether the gifts given by God are created or not. This might seem like a simple question to ask, yet even this is wrought with difficulties. In this sense, as St. Augustine points out, even creation is a grace! Hence, it will be important to give further distinctions as to the gifts of God that we are speaking of in order to answer the question properly.
C. Graces in the Third Sense. In the third sense, graces refer to any sort of gift given to men. These gifts may either be of the natural order (e.g., life, food, existence, etc.) or of the supernatural order. In the supernatural order, these gifts are either external (e.g., the Church, Scripture, etc.) or internal. The internal supernatural gifts are either personal (i.e., the persons of the Trinity), actual (i.e., the actual influx of God in the soul), or habitual (i.e., certain inclinations of the soul given by God).
Hence, as you can see, there are a number of different questions that can be answered, which will be treated one-by-one.
Question 1. Are the gifts of the natural order uncreated? R. No, the gifts of the natural order are created. This is commonly affirmed.
Question 2. Are the external gifts of the supernatural order uncreated? R. Ordinarily, we ought to answer that they are created due to the fact that these are realities that were formed by the will of God in time as an act of Divine Liberality. For example, the Bible is something that is created insofar as it essentially consists of certain conventional signs that God has inspired men to write down. One could distinguish as to the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist insofar as something uncreated (i.e., the Divinity of Christ) is present concomitantly.
Question 3. Is the internal, personal gift something uncreated? R. In no sense is the gift of the Persons of the Trinity something created. In theology, we refer to this as the “invisible missions” of the Trinity. Hence, we affirm that the Three Persons of the Blessed Trinity reside in the soul of the just. This is clearly and obviously taught in Sacred Scripture and affirmed by Catholic Theologians. In fact, Catholic Theologians frequently critique Eastern schismatics for their affirmation that only the gifts (energies) of God come to reside in the souls of the just, rather than the Persons of the Trinity themselves.
Question 4. Are the actual graces of God something uncreated? R. When we speak of activity, we can speak of activity as wrought by the agent or we can speak of activity as received by and in the patient. To give an analogy, when we throw a rock into water, we can either refer to the activity of the rock as acting on the water or we can refer to the water as it is effected and changed and moved by the activity. The former is something residing in the agent and taking upon itself the character of the agent and the latter is something residing in the patient. When it comes to actual graces, on the side of God operating, it is something uncreated (the very operation of God), yet on the side of the activity residing in and affecting the patient, it is something created (as it is the motion of a creature).
Question 5. Are the habitual graces of God something uncreated? R. The habitual graces, by their very nature, are a) effects of God that conform us to Himself as exemplar, and b) qualities that reside in the soul. From both of these facts, it necessarily follows that it is something that is created. For, nothing that is an effect of God is essentially uncreated, since it is of the very nature of a created thing that it proceed from another as from an efficient cause in its being. Further, nothing uncreated can be the accident of another since accidents, by their very nature, suffer from dependence on another, i.e., existence in another.
This is also something that is supported in Scripture, which distinguishes quite clearly between the uncreated gift (i.e., the Holy Spirit) and the created gift (i.e., sanctifying grace) within us. Hence, when describing the effects of Justification, St. Paul says that we are “created in Christ Jesus for good works” (Eph. 2:10), which is further reflected in other passages describing the effects of justification as a creation or re-creation (e.g., 2 Cor. 5:17, Gal. 6:15). Now, habits are as the root and principle of a certain operation. Therefore, that which is created within us for good works are the habits given to us in justification (i.e., habitual graces).
This same doctrine is intimated for similar reasons by St. Paul’s statement that we are “created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.” (Eph 4:24) Here, St. Paul clearly identifies qualities that have their exemplar in God (i.e., justice and holiness), yet teaches that this is something that is created within us (i.e., “in the spirit of our minds,” which indicates that these are qualities inhering in our souls as a “new nature,” which is a quite clear description of some habit).
of Roman Catholic theology.
A. What is Grace? To begin, it is important to define what Latin authors mean when they use the term “grace.” To ask the question “is grace created?” without knowing the meaning of the terms involved would be a ridiculous endeavor fraught with equivocation. This is especially the case with a term like “grace.” The term has been used to indicate everything from some disposition on the part of God (“God’s grace towards sinners”) to an action of thanksgiving on the part of man (“it is good to say grace before meals”). Yet, the fundamental sense in which we use the term grace is to refer to a certain type of gift.
That this is the fundamental sense appears from our comparison of “grace” in the third sense with “grace” in the first two senses. When we speak of “God’s grace” as a disposition of God, we are really speaking of his disposition towards giving certain gifts. Further, when we speak of grace as an act of man towards God, we are speaking of his acknowledgement of certain gifts given by God to men.
B. Which Question Are We Asking? When we ask the question “is grace created?” which of these three senses do we actually mean to indicate? In the first sense, the disposition of God on the part of God is obviously uncreated. It is a Divine Attribute akin to mercy. In the third sense, an act on the part of man acknowledging God is obviously something that is created. It is a finite action that has the will as its principle.
Hence, what we really mean to ask when we ask “is grace created? is whether the gifts given by God are created or not. This might seem like a simple question to ask, yet even this is wrought with difficulties. In this sense, as St. Augustine points out, even creation is a grace! Hence, it will be important to give further distinctions as to the gifts of God that we are speaking of in order to answer the question properly.
C. Graces in the Third Sense. In the third sense, graces refer to any sort of gift given to men. These gifts may either be of the natural order (e.g., life, food, existence, etc.) or of the supernatural order. In the supernatural order, these gifts are either external (e.g., the Church, Scripture, etc.) or internal. The internal supernatural gifts are either personal (i.e., the persons of the Trinity), actual (i.e., the actual influx of God in the soul), or habitual (i.e., certain inclinations of the soul given by God).
Hence, as you can see, there are a number of different questions that can be answered, which will be treated one-by-one.
Question 1. Are the gifts of the natural order uncreated? R. No, the gifts of the natural order are created. This is commonly affirmed.
Question 2. Are the external gifts of the supernatural order uncreated? R. Ordinarily, we ought to answer that they are created due to the fact that these are realities that were formed by the will of God in time as an act of Divine Liberality. For example, the Bible is something that is created insofar as it essentially consists of certain conventional signs that God has inspired men to write down. One could distinguish as to the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist insofar as something uncreated (i.e., the Divinity of Christ) is present concomitantly.
Question 3. Is the internal, personal gift something uncreated? R. In no sense is the gift of the Persons of the Trinity something created. In theology, we refer to this as the “invisible missions” of the Trinity. Hence, we affirm that the Three Persons of the Blessed Trinity reside in the soul of the just. This is clearly and obviously taught in Sacred Scripture and affirmed by Catholic Theologians. In fact, Catholic Theologians frequently critique Eastern schismatics for their affirmation that only the gifts (energies) of God come to reside in the souls of the just, rather than the Persons of the Trinity themselves.
Question 4. Are the actual graces of God something uncreated? R. When we speak of activity, we can speak of activity as wrought by the agent or we can speak of activity as received by and in the patient. To give an analogy, when we throw a rock into water, we can either refer to the activity of the rock as acting on the water or we can refer to the water as it is effected and changed and moved by the activity. The former is something residing in the agent and taking upon itself the character of the agent and the latter is something residing in the patient. When it comes to actual graces, on the side of God operating, it is something uncreated (the very operation of God), yet on the side of the activity residing in and affecting the patient, it is something created (as it is the motion of a creature).
Question 5. Are the habitual graces of God something uncreated? R. The habitual graces, by their very nature, are a) effects of God that conform us to Himself as exemplar, and b) qualities that reside in the soul. From both of these facts, it necessarily follows that it is something that is created. For, nothing that is an effect of God is essentially uncreated, since it is of the very nature of a created thing that it proceed from another as from an efficient cause in its being. Further, nothing uncreated can be the accident of another since accidents, by their very nature, suffer from dependence on another, i.e., existence in another.
This is also something that is supported in Scripture, which distinguishes quite clearly between the uncreated gift (i.e., the Holy Spirit) and the created gift (i.e., sanctifying grace) within us. Hence, when describing the effects of Justification, St. Paul says that we are “created in Christ Jesus for good works” (Eph. 2:10), which is further reflected in other passages describing the effects of justification as a creation or re-creation (e.g., 2 Cor. 5:17, Gal. 6:15). Now, habits are as the root and principle of a certain operation. Therefore, that which is created within us for good works are the habits given to us in justification (i.e., habitual graces).
This same doctrine is intimated for similar reasons by St. Paul’s statement that we are “created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.” (Eph 4:24) Here, St. Paul clearly identifies qualities that have their exemplar in God (i.e., justice and holiness), yet teaches that this is something that is created within us (i.e., “in the spirit of our minds,” which indicates that these are qualities inhering in our souls as a “new nature,” which is a quite clear description of some habit).
The created-grace controversy raised by certain Eastern Orthodox polemicists makes no sense unless it equivocates on the word “grace.”
Catholics just obviously do not believe that grace is created in the sense in which it would be impious to call grace created. The indwelling of the Holy Spirit and the self-communication of the Trinity are uncreated.
But grace also signifies the created effect of that uncreated divine gift in the soul: the real sanctification, healing, elevation, and deification of man. If that is denied, then the objection becomes unintelligible, because if there is no created effect in man, then nothing actually happens to man by way of grace.
So true “I actually read and understood the post”