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Nature, Grace, and a Pagan's Salvation Adomnán's Vita

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Nature, Grace, and a Pagan's Salvation Adomnán's Vita Louvain Studies 29 (2004) 131-146 Nature, Grace, and a Pagan’s Salvation Adomnán’s Vita Columbae as a Possible Historical Antecedent to Rahner’s Theology of the Anonymous Christian Tomás O’Sullivan Abstract. — This paper attempts to discern whether certain narratives con- cerning the baptism and death of “naturally good” pagans which are found in Adomnán of Iona’s Vita Columbae can be seen as providing an historical antecedent to Karl Rahner’s theology of the “anonymous Christian.” Following a brief elaboration of Rahner’s thought, one key narrative is examined in depth. It is suggested that this narrative, when understood in the light of the theologies of nature and grace propounded by Augustine of Hippo and John Cassian, reveals itself to be an anti-Pelagian tract in which the presentation of grace, as per- vading the life of the non-Christian, is in remarkable harmony with Rahner’s thought. The paper concludes with a discussion of the consequences of this cor- relation. The nature and extent of the salvation which is offered in and through Christ is a theme which has exercised Christian theologians throughout history. Indeed, this theme has assumed a particular impor- tance in our own day, for the non-Christian is now encountered, not alone in far-off “mission territories,” but living side-by-side with the Christian community wherever it is to be found. In any attempt to consider the relationship of the salvific grace of God to our non-Chris- tian neighbours, the theologian must hold to two seemingly-contra- dictory truths, well-attested by both Scripture and tradition. On the one hand, we must confess that God “desires everyone to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth” (1 Tim 2:4).1 On the other, we must also affirm that such salvation can only be achieved through the grace of Jesus Christ, who is, in the words which immediately follow in the same epistle, the “one mediator between God and humankind” 1. All Biblical quotations and references are drawn from the NRSV. 132 TOMÁS O’SULLIVAN (1 Tim 2:5). Our challenge is to discern the correct relationship between both truths; to determine whether, or perhaps even how, a non-Christian can receive the salvation which God both desires and effects, even though such salvation is only available through a faith they do not profess. This challenge was addressed by Karl Rahner in his theology of the “anonymous Christian.”2 This paper aims to exam- ine the affinity of Rahner’s thought to a remarkably similar theology which was formulated in the seventh century, and argues that expres- sions of this early theology can be seen as historical antecedents, per- haps even foreshadowings, of Rahner’s work. Rahner’s theology of the “anonymous Christian” is based upon the premise that if Christian faith is necessary for salvation, on the one hand, and God wills all to be saved, on the other, then it must be pos- sible for all people everywhere to possess a genuine Christian faith, which can (and should) be explicitly expressed through baptism and participation in the life of the Church, but can, nonetheless, also exist implicitly, even without the conscious recognition of the individual con- cerned.3 Rahner termed the possessor of such an implicit faith an “anonymous Christian”: that man is called an “anonymous Christian” who on the one hand has de facto accepted of his freedom this gracious self-offering on God’s part through faith, hope and love, while on the other he is absolutely not yet a Christian at the social level (through baptism and membership of the Church) or in the sense of having consciously objectified his Christianity to himself in his own mind (by explicit Christian faith resulting from having hearkened to the explicit Chris- tian message).4 The insight underlying Rahner’s thesis is that saving faith in Christ can by no means be simply identified with explicit confession of the Christian creed: salvation is not to be found in what a person says, nor in the manner they consciously express and interpret their beliefs, but rather in the actual faith which is present in the heart of the individual. Thus, Rahner’s argument is built around the person who has true faith in Christ and whose faith informs their entire lives, but who remains 2. See especially Karl Rahner, “Anonymous Christians,” Theological Investigations, 6 (London: Darton, Longman & Todd, 1974) 390-398; “Anonymous Christianity and the Missionary Task of the Church,” Theological Investigations, 12 (London: Darton, Longman & Todd, 1974) 161-178; “Observations on the Problem of the ‘Anonymous Christian’,” Theological Investigations, 14 (London: Darton, Longman & Todd, 1976) 280-294. 3. Rahner, “Anonymous Christians,” 391-392. 4. Rahner, “Observations on the Problem of the ‘Anonymous Christian’,” 283. NATURE, GRACE, AND A PAGAN’S SALVATION 133 unable to give this faith explicit expression and thereby remains an “anonymous Christian.” The key aspect of Rahner’s theology which is most relevant to the present discussion is the conception of the relationship of nature and grace which underpins his thought on the anonymous Christian. In con- trast to the traditional neo-Scholastic view,5 Rahner argued that grace always permeates every aspect of our existence. While it is possible to discuss nature as separate from grace, this “nature” remains simply a the- oretical construct: in actuality, he held, we have never experienced nature without also experiencing God’s all-pervading grace.6 Rahner argued that “the capacity for the God of self-bestowing personal Love is the central and abiding existential of man as he really is.”7 This “supernatural exis- tential,” called forth by grace, is always and everywhere continually answered and fulfilled by grace. Grace “always surrounds us;” it is “the inescapable setting of [our] existence.”8 “Our whole spiritual life is lived in the realm of the salvific will of God, of his prevenient grace, of his call as it becomes efficacious.”9 Significantly, Rahner emphasised that this grace is in no way confined simply to justified or explicit Christians; rather, it is a free gift which pervades the existence of every individual human being.10 Without such grace, there could be no “anonymous Christianity.” No individual can establish a sanctifying relationship with the God of Jesus Christ simply on his own merits or by her own efforts. There is no saving faith without grace. But the beauty of Rahner’s theology is that we are never without grace. Rahner’s God is one who is always present, 5. See his critique of this theology: “Concerning the Relationship Between Nature and Grace,” Theological Investigations, 1 (London: Darton, Longman & Todd, 1974) 297-317, esp. 298-303; “Nature and Grace,” Theological Investigations, 4 (London: Dar- ton, Longman & Todd, 1974) 165-188, esp. 166-174. 6. Rahner, “Concerning the Relationship Between Nature and Grace,” 313-315; “Nature and Grace,” 182-183. 7. Rahner, “Relationship Between Nature and Grace,” 312. See also ibid., 311-312; “Nature and Grace,” 183-184; “Anonymous Christians,” 393-394; “Anonymous Chris- tianity and the Missionary Task of the Church,” 169-170; “On the Importance of the Non-Christian Religions for Salvation,” Theological Investigations, 18 (London: Darton, Longman & Todd, 1983) 288-295, here 291. 8. Rahner, “Nature and Grace,” 181. 9. Ibid., 180. 10. Ibid., 179-181. See also Rahner, “On the Importance of the Non-Christian Religions for Salvation,” 291; “Christianity and the Non-Christian Religions,” Theolog- ical Investigations, 5 (London: Darton, Longman & Todd, 1966) 115-134, esp. 124-125; “Anonymous and Explicit Faith,” Theological Investigations, 16 (London: Darton, Long- man & Todd, 1979) 52-59, esp. 56. 134 TOMÁS O’SULLIVAN always near, not alone as Creator, but as Saviour and Sanctifier. Offer- ing himself in continuous relationship with each individual, he presents all with the opportunity to accept or reject his sanctifying grace.11 Wher- ever this grace is accepted, whenever a human being acknowledges and accepts their own openness to the transcendent,12 or holds a dictate of their conscience as absolutely binding upon them,13 there exists an “anonymous Christian” who is justified by the grace of God and their own implicit faith. Rahner’s theology, while innovative, can hardly be described as unprecedented. The “anonymous Christian” can perhaps best be under- stood as a contemporary elaboration of an idea which has a long his- tory within the Christian tradition.14 This is an element which, it can be argued, has often been overshadowed by an over-emphasis on other components of the tradition, but its presence can be detected in many works throughout the long centuries of Christian theological reflection. Aspects of some of these works demonstrate a profound harmony with various facets of Rahner’s thought, and it is to one such work that we now turn. The Vita Columbae,15 perhaps the finest work of hagiography pro- duced in early medieval Ireland, was composed by St. Adomnán, the ninth abbot of the island monastery of Iona, around the year 700. Divided into three books, describing respectively “prophetic revelations,” “divine mir- acles,” and “appearances of angels, and certain manifestations of heavenly brightness above the man of God,”16 Adomnán’s work sets out to reveal the sanctity of St. Colmcille (in Latin, Columba), who had founded the monastery of Iona in 563 and had died on the island on 9 June 597.17 The relevance of the Vita Columbae to our present discussion lies in 11. Rahner, “Christianity and the Non-Christian Religions,” 123. 12. See Rahner, “Anonymous and Explicit Faith,” 55; “Atheism and Anonymous Christianity,” Theological Investigations, 9 (London: Darton, Longman & Todd, 1972) 145-164, esp.
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