RT Article
T1 Tangible Experiences of Grace: A Qualitative Investigation of Divine Grace in Roman Catholics
JF Pastoral psychology
VO 71
IS 3
SP 359
OP 376
A1 Harwood, Hunter B.
A1 Hall, M. Elizabeth Lewis
A1 Edwards, Keith J.
A1 Hill, Peter C. 1953-
A2 Hall, M. Elizabeth Lewis
A2 Edwards, Keith J.
A2 Hill, Peter C. 1953-
LA English
YR 2022
UL https://ixtheo.de/Record/1804412708
AB According to Catholic theology, God offers a gift of love, known as divine grace, to all of humanity. This gift of divine grace is the gift of redemption and forgiveness of sins from God that is offered to everyone who decides to acknowledge and accept it. Grace is central to the lived experience of many Christians. This qualitative study examined how Catholics perceive and experience divine grace using interviews that assessed perceptions of divine grace in 29 practicing adult Catholics. A grounded theory analysis resulted in themes indicating that these Catholics view God’s divine grace as a tangible gift that is undeserved though continuously offered. The participants’ experience of God’s grace is not just an abstract theological concept but an embodied aspect of religious life with which believers can interact in many powerful ways. Three characteristics of God’s divine grace (i.e., salvific grace, cooperation through free will, primacy of conscience and the afterlife) and three mechanisms to experiencing God’s grace (i.e., sacraments, prayer and meditation, saints) are presented.
K1 Catholic
K1 Grace
K1 Grounded Theory
K1 Qualitative
K1 Spirituality
DO 10.1007/s11089-021-00983-0