“Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no means!” These famous words of Paul in Romans establish a link between the gift of grace and human moral responsibility. While grace is not offered based on merit, such generous favor invites a person to live properly in response. But this is not merely an individual charge, relegated to the realm of personal piety. Rather, as Angela Carpenter argues in Grace and Social Ethics, grace “has profound implications for how we understand human nature and, by extension, for how we should think about human societies.” (2) The insightful work offers a concise description and evaluation of the differing theologies of grace, incorporates longitudinal evidence within the soft and hard sciences and an provides practical implementation of the breadth of Christian scholarship on grace to pertinent social and political concerns.
Grace and Social Ethics reveals that human dependence on God’s grace exists on every level and each moment, from one’s creation to their continued sustenance to the eschatological renewal of all things. This ultimate dependence on God is mirrored in our mutual dependence on one another. Reliance on other social creatures for survival is found in the archaeological data of the earliest hominins, and a need for belonging and self-esteem is shown to be empirically verifiable in modern psychological analysis. Simply put, humans need help and should help one another. Thus, Carpenter presents acknowledgement of dependence on God and interdependence with others as a criterion for constructing a social ethic and evaluating current policies. This is done by retrieving and advancing early Protestant thought that emphasized the movement from theological commitment to “specific policy proposals in the ecclesial and civil spheres” (111) that included such goods as “compulsory education and hospitals supported by public funds, to benefit the poor” (112).
Throughout the book, Carpenter argues from a Reformation perspective (including but not limited to the Reformed view), repeatedly drawing attention to agreement between the Magisterial Reformers, especially Luther and Calvin, and the furtherance of their contributions in Barth, as together their understanding of grace “enabled a different kind of agency, one capable of serving the neighbor precisely because self-anxiety had been quieted.” (90-91) This Reformation psychology of grace provides the foundation for human social responsibility, because when one is secure in their belonging to Christ, the command to love one’s neighbor comes out of gratitude not fear of exclusion or obligation. This adherence to the particulars of the Protestant tradition is balanced by Carpenter’s articulation of a coherent Christian social ethic that is consistent with the tenets of the Roman Catholic tradition. Contemporary theologians John Barclay (Protestant) and Gustavo Gutierrez (Roman Catholic) feature prominently in the theology of grace as gift that Carpenter articulates with their work making up key parts of the foundation for her social entailments. In fact, one of the book’s greatest strengths is that it provides places of entry for an ecumenical audience, taking care not to alienate potential readers of any religious tradition.
The first part of the book develops a theological anthropology based on grace and interdependence, drawing on the aforementioned insights of the church’s theologians and philosophers while extending the conversation using the latest comprehensive data and analysis. This includes evolutionary science “to discern patterns of gift in the emergence of humanity” (42), contemporary psychology to show how “the human person flourishes through the gifts of others” (70), and sociology to see “how an anthropology of grace might apply to human community” (92). The work is creatively constructed to apply to both a general audience, even one not versed in the Christian tradition, as it gently and subtly introduces the reader to key figures like Athanasius and Augustine, and a highly specific one, as it speaks directly to American Protestants who are skeptical of the relationship between grace and human moral responsibility. Indeed, Carpenter locates the argument of the book within current conversations on the role of the Christian in social justice initiatives and the controversy of meritocracy in modern America, a pair of highly relevant topics that are skillfully dissected.
The second part of the book moves from the descriptive, who we are anthropologically, as creatures whose worth is divinely given, to the normative, how we should live in response to such a gracious gift. The crux of the argument in Part Two is that the truths about humanity’s ongoing dependence on God and neighbor ought to have a profound impact on human social practices and the policies enacted by legislative bodies. Since derivation of worth comes from a gracious outpouring of love from God and not from a person’s merit due to skill or labor, Grace and Social Ethics invites the reader to approach contemporary controversies from a collaborative perspective, not a competitive one. The contentious topics of work, criminal justice, and gun control are analyzed through the framework of intra-human relationship as gift, which presents a distinctly Christian way for people of all faiths to understand and enact the moral responsibilities of life together. Christian theologies of grace “call for a particular social ethic” (191) so, “in reflecting on specific social issues” (120) the principles of Part One can be applied in ways tangible and timely.
Because work is care for and participation in God’s act of creation but not “the source of people’s life or value” (154), a theological anthropology based on grace calls societies to view employees as inherently dignified, not merely as means of profit. Because proper criminal justice reflects the redemption of creation “through Christ’s death and resurrection” (176) and the worth of human beings “is not diminished by the reality of sin” (162), systems of justice should provide “gracious accountability…in the hope of transformation” (189). Because God’s grace meets a person “in the context of vulnerability, finitude, and fear” (192), those who see the protection offered by guns as “a central feature of personal identity” (213) are called to remember that their worth, belonging, and salvation are not found in a weapon but in the person and work of Christ.
In each of the three examples, “grace makes possible a life that is not otherwise possible” (219), which beautifully reflects the primary thrust of the argument within the book: grace reminds us of our nature and calls for a social ethic powerful enough to reimagine entire systems but granular enough to responsively attend to the needs of each individual. The compelling evidence from the social sciences and theology provided in Part One is artfully applied to these diverse yet interrelated cases of dispute in Part Two, refuting any claimant who might challenge the applicability of Carpenter’s ideas. Upon completion of the book, the reader may feel daunted by the level of societal change proposed, reimagining entire systems of policy and practice, but the promise on the page is one that extends to all of our lives: the triune God of grace is ever with us, guiding our steps, and operating in redemptive ways “beyond our imagination and striving” (224).
One Response
Good reminder that our individual faith in God is connected to our communal love for our neighbors.