Razoring Rahner

When it’s all said and done, Rahner multiplies levels of nature and the supernatural. There is the purely conceptual “pure nature,” which has never existed in reality but must be possible if we are to think grace as grace. There are actually existing natures, the concrete reality of created beings. There is human being, which is “created spirit” which experiences all sorts of intimations of transcendence and the supernatural, but remains natural. There is the supernatural existential which surrounds and contextualizes human nature, in such a way that nature and the supernatural become so intertwined as to be indistinguishable – we cannot tell whether some act is a product of one or the other. And then there is supernatural grace, which justifies, and the supernatural elevation to the vision of God to which supernatural grace leads us.

Is it just me, or are your fingers itching for a razor?

Next
YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE

The Battle of Minneapolis

Pavlos Papadopoulos

The Battle of Minneapolis is the latest flashpoint in our ongoing regime-level political conflict. It pits not…

Of Roots and Adventures

Peter J. Leithart

I have lived in Ohio, Michigan, Georgia (twice), Pennsylvania, Alabama (also twice), England, and Idaho. I left…

Our Most Popular Articles of 2025

The Editors

It’s been a big year for First Things. Our website was completely redesigned, and stories like the…