An Itinerary to Glory: How Grace is Embodied in the Communio of Charity
This essay argues that, for Aquinas, grace both intends and makes possible the theological life of charity and that charity reveals the path to beatitude. But it also emphasizes that charity is not a private or purely spiritual relationship with God, but is rather a way of life that continually draw...
Main Author: | |
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Format: | Electronic Article |
Language: | English |
Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
Journals Online & Print: | |
Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
Published: |
Sage
2010
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In: |
Studies in Christian ethics
Year: 2010, Volume: 23, Issue: 4, Pages: 431-448 |
Further subjects: | B
Friendship
B Grace B love of enemy B Kindness B Mercy B Almsgiving B Charity B Beatitude |
Online Access: |
Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
Summary: | This essay argues that, for Aquinas, grace both intends and makes possible the theological life of charity and that charity reveals the path to beatitude. But it also emphasizes that charity is not a private or purely spiritual relationship with God, but is rather a way of life that continually draws one out of the self in love and service to others. This is most clearly seen in Aquinas’s treatise on love of enemy and the different effects of charity. The essay begins by exploring how Aquinas’s theology of the Trinity informs his account of grace and charity. It then investigates his understanding of the nature and necessity of grace and the form of life that grace makes possible. This is followed by an analysis of Aquinas’s account of charity as friendship with God and its implications for the life of grace. The essay concludes by considering some of the effects of charity and why they make a life of friendship with God a genuinely ecstatic existence. |
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ISSN: | 0953-9468 |
Contains: | Enthalten in: Studies in Christian ethics
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Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1177/0953946810375928 |