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The means of grace in Christian theology are those things (the ''means'') through which God gives grace. Just what this grace entails is interpreted in various ways: generally speaking, some see it as God blessing humankind so as to sustain and empower the Christian life; others see it as forgiveness, life, and salvation. ==Catholic theology== According to the Catholic Church, the means of grace that Christ entrusted to the Church are many.〔(Catholic Bishops' Conferences of England & Wales, Ireland and Scotland, ''One Bread One Body'' ), p. 7〕 They include the entirety of revealed truth, the sacraments and the hierarchical ministry.〔〔(George Joyce, "The Church" in ''The Catholic Encyclopedia'' )〕 Among the principal means of grace are the sacraments (especially the Eucharist), prayers and good works.〔(Matthew Bunson, ''2009 Catholic Almanac'' (Our Sunday Visitor 2008 ISBN 9781592764419), p. 143 )〕〔(Richard Brennan, ''The Means of Grace'' (Benziger Brothers 1894), p. 25 )〕 The sacramentals also are means of grace.〔Brennan (1894), p. 337]〕 The Church herself is used by Christ as a means of grace: "As sacrament, the Church is Christ's instrument. 'She is taken up by him also as the instrument for the salvation of all', 'the universal sacrament of salvation'."〔(Catechism of the Catholic Church, 776 )〕 The conviction that the Church herself is the primary means of grace can be traced back to Irenaeus, who was expressing a common conviction when he said: "Where the church is, there is the Spirit of God; and where the Spirit of God is, there is the church, and every kind of grace."〔(Jaroslav Pelikan, ''The Christian Tradition'' (University of Chicago Press 1975 ISBN 9780226653716), p. 156 )〕 However, as the Second Vatican Council lamented, "although the Catholic Church has been endowed with all divinely revealed truth and with all means of grace, yet its members fail to live by them with all the fervor that they should".〔(Second Vatican Council, ''Decree on Ecumenism'', 4 )〕 Catholics, Orthodox and some Protestants agree that grace is conferred through the sacraments, "the means of grace".〔(Merriam-Webster's Encyclopedia of World Religions (Merriam-Webster 1999 ISBN 9780877790440), p. 386 )〕 It is the sacrament itself that is the means of grace, not the person who administers it nor the person who receives it, although lack of the required dispositions on the part of the recipient will block the effectiveness of the sacrament.〔The sacraments "bear fruit in those who receive them with the required dispositions" ((Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1131). )〕 ==Lutheran theology== In Lutheranism, the Means of Grace are God's ''instruments'' by which all spiritual blessing are bestowed upon sinners. Lutheran churches teach that the means of grace are the ways that the Holy Spirit creates faith in the hearts of Christians, forgives their sins, gives them eternal salvation and causes them to grow spiritually. The efficacy of these means does not depend on the faith, strength, status, or good works of those who proclaim the Word of God or administer God's sacraments; rather, the efficacy of these means rests in God alone, who has promised to work through God's gift of these means to God's church. For Lutherans, the means of grace include the Gospel (both written and proclaimed), as well as the sacrament of Holy Baptism, and the Sacrament of the Eucharist. 〔 Some Lutherans also include Confession and Absolution as ''sacraments'' and as such a ''means of grace'', although they are not counted as such by others because no physical element is attached to Absolution, as is the case in both Baptism and the Lord's Supper. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Means of grace」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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