Content area
Abstract
How do theologies of God's saving relation to humanity relate to social models of gifts and gift exchange? Building upon the cumulative (and conflicting) work of Marcel Mauss, Jacques Derrida and Jean Luc Marion, the contemporary "Gift" discussion rethinks the Christian doctrine of grace. Gift theologies seek to articulate a divine-human reciprocity that leads to an ecclesial-social reciprocity: that the church may love others as God loved them in Christ. As part of this constructive project, John Calvin's theology of grace has been repeatedly criticized (by John Milbank, Stephen Webb, etc.). Supposedly, Calvin prioritizes the divine partner in redemption so that the human qua human is made into "nothing"; Calvin is said to systematically set the divine in opposition to the human, such that a participation of the human in the divine is made unthinkable.
I engage this systematic discussion by examining the development, scope and metaphysics of Calvin's theology of "participation in Christ." I argue that Calvin's theology of "participation" emerges from a soteriology which affirms a differentiated union of God and humanity in creation and redemption. Through his appropriation of biblical and catholic sources (especially Irenaeus, Augustine and Cyril of Alexandria), Calvin develops a wide-ranging and emphatic doctrine of participation. In prayer, the sacraments and obedience to the law, believers are incorporated into the Triune life: as believers are made one with Christ by faith, the Father is revealed as generous by his free pardon, and the Spirit empowers believers for lives of gratitude.
Thus, in contrast to the Gift discussion's assessments, I argue that Calvin's strong account of divine agency enables rather than undercuts human agency in sanctification. Grace fulfills rather than destroys nature, so that humans may "participate in God," the telos of creation. In Calvin's theology of prayer and the sacraments, "participation in Christ" is inseparable from participation in loving relationships of social mutuality. Indeed, Calvin's concept of "participation in Christ" has considerable ethical and political consequences. Highlighting Calvin's doctrine of participation reframes the critiques of Calvin in the Gift discussion and opens up new possibilities for ecumenical theology and Calvin scholarship as well.
