The perfections of grace 1
Channel: Udruga Fokus
Date: 2021-03-30

Do you think it’s more fair to split the bill at a restaurant, or alternate paying?
Do you ever stress about gifts that you give or receive? Why can they seem fraught with risks?
Does it make a gift better if it comes with “no strings attached?”
How does our own cultural understanding of gifts relate to understanding the grace of God?
Does the grace of God create an expectation of return?
What did early Christians understand by the term “grace?”

Our cultural patterns around gifts affect the way that we picture how grace, even the grace of God, works. In this seminar for our Croatian staff conference in 2020 I introduced the connections between grace and gifts and how the theologian Paul Barclay defines six “perfections” of grace. In order to address arguments raised by the New Perspective on Paul, Barclay identified six different aspects of grace that various theological systems emphasize, opening up fascinating insights the debate around the New Perspective, insights for evangelism, and tools for better cultural competency.

based on John Barclay's Paul and the Gift (2015)