Grace Is the Emotion of the Love of God

Abstract

Diverse metaphors and contrary theological positions on grace each have some basis in experience. The differences and conflicts are real, but a phenomenological approach suggests there may be more in common than the poetry and polemics admit. Thus, this essay employs an experiential approach to the theology of grace. It argues that fundamentally grace is an emotion, the emotion of love: God’s love for us, our love for God, and the mutual union that results. It is not the common thesis that out of love God gives us grace. Instead, the primary meaning of grace is love itself. In developing the thesis that grace is the emotion of love, the essay begins with a very abstract statement: Love is an emotional, affirming participation in the dynamism of the beloved to realize its goodness. The hope is that the more abstract definition of love illuminates the dynamics of grace.