Description: This study ponders different ways Christian thinkers understood humanity in its relationship to divine grace. It names fallacies that have in the past skewed theological understanding of that relationship. It argues that the philosophy of Charles Sanders Peirce avoided those same fallacies and provides a novel frame of reference for rethinking the theology of grace. The author shows how the insights of other American philosophers flesh out undeveloped aspects of Peirce's thought. He formulates a metaphysics of experience derived from his philosophical analysis. Finally, he develops an understanding of supernatural grace as the transmutation and transvaluation of human experience.
Brief description: Donald L. Gelpi, SJ, has been teaching historical and systematic theology at the Jesuit School of Theology at Berkeley since 1973. He is the author of many books including The Firstborn of Many: A Christology for Converting Christians, The Turn to Experience in Contemporary Theology, and Committed Worship: A Sacramental Theology for Converting Christians.