1196. In what sense is Niebuhr right . . .

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In what sense is Niebuhr right that there is "a resource of divine mercy which is able to overcome a contradiction within our own souls, which we cannot ourselves overcome"?

Niebuhr is right about this in a twofold sense:

(1) that, notwithstanding the contradiction throughout our lives, the grace of God pardons, forgives, and so "justifies" us; and

(2) that God's grace is also a power that heals the contradiction, and so "sanctifies" us.

Spring 1999