On Grace: A study of Aquinas and Luther's philosophies of grace

Type :

Presentation

Pages :

5 pages

Format :

.doc

Published date :

11/25/2008

Category :

Philosophy & literature

Sub category :

Humanities/philosophy

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Summary :

Introduction.
Section I: Highlights of Thomas Aquinas on grace.
1. The origins of grace and their cause.
2. Natural and supernatural elements of grace.
3. The role of grace in predestination.
4. The role of grace in justification.
5. Human preparation for grace.
Section II: Sola Gratia?A brief introduction to Luther's grace.
Section III: The struggle between Aquinas and Luther.
1. Luther blame on Aquinas for sacrificing the strictly religious viewpoints of Paul.
2. Merit.
Section IV: The use of grace by Luther and Aquinas.
Conclusion.

Abstract

The theology of grace is one of the most widely argued topics in all of Christian doctrine. So heavily debated is it that nearly all of the great theologians and philosophers of Christianity have at some point argued their case regarding grace. Two of the leading thinkers of the Christian Faith, St. Thomas aquinas and Martin luther, both added their ideas to the available philosophical doctrines. In its first two sections, this paper will explore the basic ideas concerning grace of aquinas, then a very brief explanation of the ideas of luther, simply for the basis of comparison later on. The third and fourth sections of the paper will focus on the places in the doctrines of luther and aquinas where their thoughts diverge and/or converge. Many times, as will be shown luther's thought is a direct reaction to that of aquinas, which adds a crucial element to the understanding of both.