Sunday, February 01, 2009

Created Grace

Contra certain converts, the Eastern Orthodox tradition does seem to have a place for the Latin concept of "created grace."
'There is nothing strange,' Palamas writes, 'in using the word "grace" both for the created and the uncreated and in speaking of a created grace distinct from the created.' In what sense can one use the same word 'grace' about fundamentally different realities? We have seen that Palamas was aware of the many meanings of the word; he defines the matter thus: 'All that flows from the Spirit towards those who have been baptized in the Spirit according to the Gospel of grace, and who have been rendered completely spiritual, comes from the Source; it all comes from it, and also remains in it.' A Study of Gregory Palamas by John Meyendorff, pg. 164

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