Grace, Freedom, Relation

Abstract

The essay seeks to illustrate the contribution of the biblical Christian experience and understanding to the question of the relation between freedom and necessity. With an epistemological approach that is formally theological, it aims to provide a cosmological and ontological horizon of meaning and thereby promote a dialogue between science, philosophy, and theology. According to theological language, grace expresses the meaning and the destiny of reality as being originated, informed, and directed by gift and forgiveness. Freedom is understood not only as the possibility of choice, but as the core expression of what is human, both in being guaranteed and founded upon the grace of God and being fully realized as a freedom allowed by the grace of God; such freedom is realized where it is given in relation to, and as a relation to, another in mutual recognition. It thus becomes possible to draw from the theological concept of creation to propose a renewed paradigm for understanding the transcendence and immanence of God with respect to the world. The transcendence of God is so transcendent as to express itself in the most perfect immanence, in as much as reality is created freely by God, through grace, in the call to freedom. Therefore, none of the perspectives for the interpretation of reality are to be considered as absolute, whether they be theological, philosophical, or scientific. Rather they need to interact, respecting the specific formalities and level of each, and listening carefully and without preconceptions to the reasoning involved in each approach.