GRACE, a word of many shades of meaning, but in general connoting the idea of favour, whether that in which one stands to others or that which one shows to others. The New English Dictionary groups the meanings of the words under three main heads: (I) Pleasing quality, gracefulness, (2) favour, goodwill, (3) gratitude, thanks (Fr. "grace," Lat. "gratia" from "gratus," beloved, pleasing; formed from the root "cra-," Gr. xap-, cf. XatpW, X&pk a, XapLs).
In religion "grace" is a term describing an experience the basis of which is the sense of givenness in human life. From one aspect this may be described as inspiration, from another as favour, from another as power, and from yet another as pity; but in all these cases the fundamental feature of the experience is man's perception that he is in touch with a wider Self from which there flow into him streams of rich, full energy. Some of his greatest achievements seem to have come to him from outside himself, and he feels that, acting merely as a small self-dependent nucleus of consciousness, he could never have attained to them.
Man has naturally tried to find a suitable word to describe this divine influx of energy. Primitive peoples recognized its existence. In Melanesia it is called mana (q.v.), and among some Indian tribes manitou, orenda and wakonda. The Greeks called it sometimes apeTn, sometimes 'cams, and in the LXX. and N.T. when pity is implied the word iXeos is used. The Hebrews gen erally used 11 as the equivalent of Xapcs and '9r.) or "loving kindness" as the equivalent of EXeos.
The distribution of this power has also to be explained. The primitives regarded it as a quality or potency hovering between the personal and the impersonal, but more psychical than physical in character, permeating all things, but often concentrated in in dividual persons or things. It is an indefinite reservoir of energy in the universe, on which man can draw for good or ill.
Alongside of this conception of grace developed that of sin. This article is limited in scope by its title, but we are bound to consider the fact that in proportion as man's sense of guilt and failure increases (aµapria the N.T. word translated "sin" = "miss ing of the mark") so there also increase his sense of helplessness and dire need of divine aid and his sense of his unworthiness and so of his inability to merit the loving self-outpourings of the Divine Being. The conception of "grace" is therefore an in evitable concomitant of moral theism. The positivist and de terminist find with difficulty a place in their programme for grace and free will. But the common-sense of the ordinary man revolts against the rigid conclusions of the determinist, and insists upon the reality of free will, and so upon the reality of grace.
In Christianity the conception of grace has developed propor tionately to the richness of the experiences of Christian believers. As the influence of the energising personality of God exercised on man, its definition has depended upon the nature of the be liefs held about God's personality and Character. Hence the won derful richness and variety of the Xapcap ara imparted to the Christian, believing himself, as he has always done, to be in touch with a deity whose character and influence are equivalent to those of the historical Jesus. It must be admitted that the interpretation of Christian experience has been the subject of some controversy. Thus it was debated whether after a single fall from grace a Christian could be reinstated (Novatianism, A.D. 251). It was also debated as to whether saving grace could be obtained outside the membership of the Church. The largest single contribution to the answer of these questions was made by Augustine the Great (A.D. Bishop of Hippo in Africa. (See AUGUSTINE, SAINT.) The experiences of his stormy youth and impressive conversion led him to lay tremendous stress on the irresistible power of God, and he therefore undervalued the im portance of the co-operation of the free human will. But he was led to do this by the sense of his own past wickedness, interpreted as evidence of the correctness of the meaning of the early chapters of the book of Genesis, i.e., that the nature of every man is cor rupted because of the original fall of Adam, so that man is not only of his own nature inclined to evil, but is now in such a condition that he cannot by his own natural strength and good works carry out the will of God. The dependence of the soul upon God seems to be a natural consequence of its origin, and the teaching of the Roman Catholic catechism is that we can do no good work of ourselves, but that we need the help of God's Grace. This is also taught by the Church of England catechism.
Pelagius, a native of Britain, a learned layman and a monk (a contemporary of Augustine), saw no safeguard for righteous ness unless men recognised the complete freedom of the will and realised that they were accountable for their actions. Augustine in 417 secured the condemnation of Pelagius by means of an imperial decree, and this decision was afterwards confirmed in at the Council of Ephesus. The influence of Augustine, with his tendency to attribute arbitrary action to the deity, runs through the subsequent history of the Church. In the 16th century Erasmus tended to take the side of Pelagius, Luther and to an even greater extent Calvin the side of Augustine. Calvin in fact has seemed to insist that God predestines some to blessedness and some to damnation, and that man himself is so helpless and corrupt that all he can do is to take thankfully whatever grace and mercy may be dealt out to him. The so-called Arminian controversy was due to a reaction against this (A.D. 1608) and an attempt was made to settle the dispute at the famous Synod of Dort 1618-19, the decrees of which decided that predestination only came in after the fall, and was not included in the eternal counsels of God.
Another difference of opinion arose as to the relation of grace to the sacraments. The Catholic view is that the sacraments are means by which grace is given, and its appropriation is held to depend on having the right disposition when receiving the sacra ments. The Protestant view, aiming at the rejection of magic, has tended to regard the sacraments rather as symbols and pledges of grace already given, and the teaching and experience of Luther, that faith alone was needed in order to receive grace, was an immense simplification of life, though it was not carried to its logical conclusion by the earlier Protestants (except perhaps the Quakers) but was still linked up to the church system and its ordinances.
In modern times the study of psychology has led to a clearer apprehension of the reality of grace, and of the lines along which the divine gift appears to operate. The notion that behind con sciousness lies a large realm, to which various titles have been given, has suggested to some that grace is the inflow into con sciousness (as it were through a mental sluice) of spiritual power which exists in the realm of the subconscious or super-conscious. The extension of Protestant principles has led many totally to discard sacraments, services and institutions as means of attaining grace, and to assert that the individual can find the power he needs ready to hand at all points in ordinary daily life. On the other hand the last forty years have seen a considerable revival of Catholic sacramentalism, based often upon a pragmatic appeal.
A final change in the conception of grace has resulted from the effect upon the belief in an original fall from righteousness pro duced by an independent study of the origin and development of the human species. Those who totally discard the traditional belief are led sometimes to an exaggerated denial of the necessity of grace. But the acceptance of its absolute necessity is independ ent of folk-lore. The facts of past and present sin and cor ruption, and the humiliating spectacles of individual, national and racial deterioration, must prevent sober thinkers from indulging in the rash assumption that man is capable by himself, and without any aid from the Divine Spirit, either of developing or of regenerating his character.