Theology Glossary: Catholic Grace, Justification, and Free Will Terms

Introduction

Few topics in Catholic theology have generated more precise vocabulary than grace. From Augustine’s anti-Pelagian polemics in the early fifth century to the Council of Trent’s Decree on Justification in 1547, the Western Church has developed a finely tuned set of distinctions to describe what grace is, how it operates, and how it interacts with the human will.

This glossary covers the most important of those terms. It is meant for readers who want a precise, reliable reference while reading Catholic theology, comparing Catholic and Protestant accounts of salvation, or working through the canons of Orange (529), Trent (1547), or the Catechism of the Catholic Church (1992). Each entry is written to be accurate without being pedantic, and most are linked to fuller treatments elsewhere on the site.

If a term resonates with you—or if you keep encountering it in your reading and want a clearer picture—follow the related links and let the connections build. The terms here are deeply interconnected: understanding prevenient grace illuminates sufficient grace, which in turn clarifies what is at stake in the Catholic-Reformed debate over irresistible grace. The glossary is alphabetical for reference, but the concepts are a network.

Actual Grace (Gratia Actualis)

A transient divine help that enlightens the mind and strengthens the will to perform a particular salutary act—repenting, praying, choosing the good. Distinguished from sanctifying grace (a permanent state) by being momentary and act-specific. The Catechism teaches that “actual graces refer to God’s interventions, whether at the beginning of conversion or in the course of the work of sanctification” (CCC §2000).

Concurrence (Concursus Divinus)

The doctrine that God’s universal causal activity sustains and enables every creaturely act—including free human acts—without thereby eliminating creaturely freedom. Aquinas develops it in the Summa (I, q. 105, a. 5). It is a metaphysical commitment that distinguishes Catholic teaching from deism (which denies divine concurrence) and from occasionalism (which denies real creaturely causation).

Cooperation with Grace

The Catholic doctrine that the human will, moved by prevenient grace, freely consents to and acts with grace toward salvation. Trent condemned the position that the human will “does nothing at all” under grace (Sess. VI, Canon 4). Cooperation does not mean grace is partly God’s and partly ours; it means grace transforms the will so that the will’s free response is itself a fruit of grace. See calvinism-vs-catholicism for the distinction from Reformed monergism.

Efficacious Grace (Gratia Efficax)

Grace that not only makes salutary action possible but actually achieves the willed effect. The classical Catholic schools differ on what makes grace efficacious. Thomists (following Bañez) hold that efficacious grace works by physical premotion—God moves the will intrinsically. Molinists hold that it works through God’s middle knowledge of what the creature would freely do under particular circumstances. Both positions are within Catholic orthodoxy; the Congregatio de Auxiliis (1597–1607) closed without ruling between them.

Habitual Grace

A synonym for sanctifying grace—the permanent, indwelling gift that makes the soul a participant in the divine life. Distinguished from actual grace by its abiding, dispositional character. CCC §2000 contrasts the two: “habitual grace, the permanent disposition to live and act in keeping with God’s call, [and] actual graces.”

Irresistible Grace

The Reformed doctrine, summarized in the “I” of the Calvinist TULIP, that God’s effectual call to the elect cannot be finally resisted. The Catholic Church does not teach irresistible grace. The Council of Trent condemned the position that the human will under grace “cannot resist” or “is moved as something inanimate” (Sess. VI, Canon 4). For Catholics, prevenient grace truly empowers the will, but the will retains the freedom to refuse.

Justification

The act by which God, through grace, makes a sinner righteous. Catholic teaching, against Lutheran forensic justification (in which God merely declares the sinner righteous), holds that justification is a real interior transformation in which the righteousness of Christ is infused into the soul (Trent, Sess. VI, ch. 7; CCC §§1989–1995). Justifying grace is received in baptism, can be lost by mortal sin, and can be increased through good works performed in grace.

Monergism

The view that salvation is accomplished by God alone, without any meaningful causal contribution from the human will. Reformed theology is monergist with respect to regeneration: the elect are made alive by God’s sovereign action, and their faith is the result of that regeneration, not a contributing cause. See calvinism-vs-catholicism for the contrast with Catholic synergism.

Prevenient Grace (Gratia Praeveniens)

The grace that “goes before” any human seeking of God—the grace by which God awakens in a person the desire and capacity to turn toward him in the first place. Augustine developed the concept against Pelagius and the Massilians; the Council of Orange (529) made it dogmatic for the Western Church; Trent reaffirmed it (Sess. VI, ch. 5; CCC §1998). Reformed, Arminian, and Catholic Christians all confess prevenient grace; they disagree on whether it is irresistible (Reformed) or resistible (Arminian and Catholic).

Sanctifying Grace (Gratia Sanctificans)

The supernatural gift by which God communicates his own divine life to the soul, making the believer a participant in the divine nature (2 Pet 1:4) and an adopted child of God. Catholic teaching distinguishes sanctifying grace from actual grace: sanctifying grace is the state of being in friendship with God; actual grace is the divine help that supports particular acts. Sanctifying grace is received in baptism, can be lost by mortal sin, and is restored through the sacrament of Penance (CCC §§1996–2005).

Semi-Pelagianism

The view, developed by John Cassian and the Massilian monks of southern Gaul in the early fifth century, that the initium fidei—the beginning of faith—is a natural human act preceding grace, even though grace is necessary for everything that follows. The Council of Orange (529) condemned this position, definitively teaching that even the desire for faith is itself the gift of prevenient grace. See the longer discussion in Pelagianism and Semi-Pelagianism.

Sufficient Grace (Gratia Sufficiens)

Grace that gives the will the genuine power to act salutarily, whether or not that power is in fact exercised. In the Thomist account, sufficient grace becomes efficacious only when accompanied by physical premotion; in the Molinist account, sufficient grace is intrinsically capable of producing the salutary act and becomes efficacious by the creature’s free consent. The vocabulary distinguishes the capacity given by grace from the actual outcome of the will’s response.

Synergism

The view that salvation involves real cooperation between divine grace and the human will, with the will’s free response being a true (though grace-empowered) cause of the salutary act. Catholic teaching is synergist (Trent, Sess. VI, Canons 4–5). Eastern Orthodox theology is also synergist. Arminian Protestant theology approaches synergism through the doctrine of resistible prevenient grace. Reformed theology rejects synergism in favor of monergism.

Trent, Decree on Justification (Session VI, 1547)

The most technically demanding text the Council of Trent produced—sixteen chapters of positive teaching and thirty-three canons with anathemas—setting forth the Catholic doctrine of justification against Lutheran sola fide. The decree teaches that justification is gratuitous (efficient cause: God’s mercy), based on Christ’s merits (meritorious cause: Christ’s passion), received instrumentally through baptism, and formally an inward righteousness imparted to the believer. Faith is necessary but not sufficient: faith working through love (Gal 5:6) and the works that flow from grace are themselves part of how the believer is saved. See the longer treatment of the Council of Trent.