Grace Restores Nature

Grace is not parallel to nature and grace is not contra nature -- grace restores nature. In other words, God made everything and, as one Anglican collect puts it he, "hates nothing he has made." Jesus died to restore it all.

One of the truncated views of modern evangelicalism is that grace is something given to individual persons so they might be saved -- and that is pretty much all grace does. That view completely undermines any meaningful doctrine of creation. Ontologically it means only individual human persons are real or at least they are the onlyu things that really matter. You can imagine the consequences.

Alexander Schmemann, the late Eastern Orthodox theologian, penned a masterpiece entitled For the Life of the World. The title says it all -- Jesus died for the life of the world, not just for sinners. Hence, eucharistic worship is not merely about individuals participating in Christ. Eucharisitic worship is an epiphany/revelation of the meaning of all creation.

Like I said -- grace restores nature.

Now, where is my Woodford Reserve?