Grace, they say, is God’s Riches At Christ’s Expense. I don’t remember when I first heard that nifty mnemonic acrostic, but I know it’s just a hook to hang some teaching on, and it’s a fine, sturdy hook. But I have studied some more theology since then, and have learned that we can argue about anything, including definitions of grace. So here are some alternative acrostics; something for everybody.
- For the Truly Reformed: God Rejects And Conversely Elects
- For dispensationalists: Getting Raptured After Charting Endtimes
- For pietists: Good Religion = Affective Christian Experiences
- For Barthians: God-centered Redemption Allows Christocentric Eschatologizing
- For the Christian existentialist: Genuine, Real, Authentic Christian Existence
- For the Pelagians and Semi-Pelagians: Go Re-enact All Christ’s Example
- For fundamentalists: Gotta Really Agressively Confront Ecumaniacs
- For the Roman Catholics: Gazing Raptly At Consecrated Eucharist (or) Getting Right Archbishop Catholicizes Everything
- For the Thomists working the Nature-Grace Boundary: God Reaching Across Creation’s Expanse
- For Dante, especially in his Purgatorio: Getting Rendered Acceptable, Climbing Eagerly
- For Anglo-Catholics: Getting Ritualistic After Cranmer’s Execution
- For the Eastern Orthodox: Greek, Russian, Antiochene Cultural Expectations
- For the other Eastern Orthodox excluded from that list: Giddily Receiving Apophatic Creationless Energies
- For Open Theists: God Reconsiders, And Cooperates Exquisitely
- For feminist theologians: Gender Revolution Anticipates Church Evolution
- For the cessationists: Generally Renouncing All Charismatic Experiences
- For evidentialist apologists: General Revelation And Convincing Explanations
- For presuppositional apologists: Gospel Repentance Accomplished, Circularity Ensues
- For sojourners: Government Redistribution Allows Communal Economics
- For pentecostals: Glossolalia Received After Conversion Experience
- For charismatics: Gombala Ramazoody Alleluia Chombalahombala Essanahanashanahana
- For theonomists: Gospel Requires Absolutely Crushing Enemies
- For the emergents: Generational Resentment Against Conservative Evangelicals