Salvation and Well-Being Towards a Theologically Sound Relation Between the Two Concepts

Abstract

The article attempts to draw attention to a theologically unjustified reduction of the concept of (human) well-being to the concept of salvation. Starting from the three premises – (1) the existence of a relation between the concept of salvation and the concept of human well-being; (2) the situatedness of the concept of human well-being within the moral-ethical discourse and the situatedness of the concept of salvation within the religious-dogmatic discourse; (3) the claim that grace does not destroy (or that it presupposes) nature – the article first tries to elaborate on the difference between the concept of salvation and the concept of human well-being. After that, the author utilizes three examples to demonstrate the real danger of reducing the concept of human well-being to the concept of salvation. Finally, the extended conclusion sketches a theologically more adequate relation between the two concepts.

Keywords

• Salvation
• (human) well-being
• moral theology
• Covid-19
• homosexuality
• intrinsic evil.