Speculative Grace: Bruno Latour and Object-Oriented Theology

3. Grace

3 Grace The entry on ‘‘grace’’ in Mircea Eliade’s The Encyclopedia of Religion is general but instructive. Grace, it reports, ‘‘stands primarily not for human virtue but for God’s presence. Grace is a divine activity in human history and human lives.’’ Foremost among the features identified in this entry is the idea that grace is a name for how God overlaps with (i.e., is immanently present or active in) this world. In particular , it names those aspects of divine manifestation that, while never being primarily the product of human virtue, nonetheless intervene in human lives and history. And because this grace is a divine activity that exceeds our control, humans suffer the imposition of a critical passivity in relation to it. This is a useful starting point, but I especially want to address an explicitly Christian understanding of grace. Aiming for a strong common denominator, focusing on a 6 Christian understanding of grace will here amount to focusing on a specifically Pauline account. It is Paul, above all, who introduces grace (charis) as the crux of the Christian proclamation. Kittel and Friedrich’s Theological Dictionary of the New Testament entry on charis gives a succinct summary of Paul’s usage: Cháris in Paul expounds the structure of the salvation event. The basic thought is that of free giving. In view is not just a quality of God but its actualization at the cross (Gal. 2:21) and its proclamation in the gospel. We are saved by grace alone. It is shown to sinners (Rom. 3:23–24), and it is the totality of salvation (2 Cor. 6:1) that all believers have (1 Cor. 1:4). To the ‘‘grace alone’’ embodied in Christ corresponds the ‘‘faith alone’’ of believers (Rom. 3:24ff.) that rules out the law as a way of salvation (4:16). Cháris and pı́stis together are in antithesis to nómos (law). Hence grace is in some sense a state (5:2), although one is always called into it (Gal. 1:6), and it is always a gift on which one has no claim. Grace is sufficient (1 Cor. 1:29). One neither needs more nor will get more. It carries an element of assurance, but not of false security , thus leaving no place for boasting (1 Cor. 1:29; cf. Gal. 5:4). Here again, described as a ‘‘salvation event,’’ grace is what interrupts human history and enables salvation. This interruption frees its recipients from the slavery of sin and endows them with gifts. What could not be done by their own strength is now possible in the strength of the Lord. Further, as a manifestation of divine favor, grace comes as a ‘‘free gift’’ that cannot be squared with the predictable Grace 7 quid pro quo of economic circularity. And, more than simply a generic quality or abstract capacity, grace names something that has been concretized or ‘‘actualized’’ both by Christ’s suffering on the cross and the willingness of individuals to bear the good news of the Christian proclamation . This kind of grace, Paul argues, cannot be mastered by means of law or secured by way of boast-worthy works. Rather, such grace comes of its own accord and the only proper human response to it is trust or ‘‘faith’’ (pistis). Regardless of how it interrupts our hungry flight from the strain of life, grace calls us to stand firm and trust that the grace already given is, in fact, ‘‘sufficient.’’ With the above in mind, I will take the following as essential to a baseline definition of grace: Grace is immanent. It refers to the actual and concrete activity of God in this world. Grace is enabling. It makes possible what would otherwise be impossible. Grace is prodigal. It is in excess of what is deserved or expected. Grace is suffered. It is passively received rather than actively controlled. Grace is absolute. It is free and unconditioned. Grace is sufficient. Regardless of how it clashes with our expectations or desires, ‘‘one neither needs nor will get more.’’ Grace—as immanent, enabling, prodigal, suffered, absolute , and sufficient—is a name for what is unconditionally given. 8 Grace ...