Author Description

Christian tradition holds that an individual's ability to respond to God's grace—to love both God and neighbor—is not wholly vulnerable to earthly contingencies, such as victimization. Today, however, trauma theory insists that situations of overwhelming violence can permanently damage a person's capacity for responsive agency. For Christians, this theory raises the very troubling possibility that humans can inflict ultimate harm on each other, such that some individuals' eternal destiny can be determined not by themselves but by those who do great harm. Jennifer Beste addresses the challenges that contemporary trauma theory and feminist theory pose to deeply-held theological convictions about human freedom and divine grace. Do our longstanding, widespread beliefs regarding one's access to God's grace remain credible in light of recent social scientific research on the effects of interpersonal injury? With an eye toward the concrete experiences of trauma survivors, Beste carefully considers the possibility that one can be victimized in such a way that his or her receptiveness to God's grace is severely diminished, or even destroyed. Drawing on insights present in feminist and trauma theory, Beste articulates a revised Rahnerian theology of freedom and grace responsive to trauma survivors in need of healing. Her thinking is characterized by two interconnected claims; that human freedom to respond to God's grace can in fact be destroyed by severe interpersonal harm, and that God's love can be mediated, at least in part, through loving interpersonal relations. Offering crucial insights that lead to a more adequate understanding of the relation between God's grace and human freedom, Beste's important theory reconfigures our visions of God and humanity and alters our perceptions of what it means to truly love one's neighbor.