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In the last post, we described the problems with extrinsicism, the view of a "graceless nature." First, a vision of "pure nature" suggests that humans can flourish without God. Second, if nature lacks an intrinsic relation to grace, the supernatural arrives as a "kind of violence," negating or overriding, rather than perfecting, nature. Lastly, visions of "graceless nature" inevitably lead to dark and pessimistic views of human persons, people who are totally depraved.
But seeing nature as "always and already" graced has its own problems, a view Hillebert calls intrinsicism.
What do we mean by nature as "always and already" graced? Intrinsicism, says Hillebert, is the view that "human nature always already participates in the supernatural that fulfills it." In such a view, the "supernatural perfection of human being is no longer seen as coming 'from without' (exothen) but is rather envisaged as the culmination of a movement intrinsic to the (always already graced) dynamism of human existence."
Simply put, if nature is "always and already graced," then nature doesn't need saving "from the outside," from something beyond itself. In contrast to the pessimistic anthropologies associated with extrinsicism, intrinsicist views of human nature are optimistic. These are the views you tend to find in liberal and progressive Christian spaces, a baptized humanism that doesn't need salvation because human beings are "always and already graced" simply by being human. Crudely put, humans are saved just because they exist.
The problems with intrinsicism should be obvious. If everything is always and already graced, if everyone is already saved, then the entire economy of salvation history is set aside, and with it pretty much the whole of the biblical narrative. For Christianity is, as you know, a salvation religion. We're an Exodus and Easter people. The gospel of intrinsicism, by contrast, is a form of enlightenment, a gnostic religion, a journey of discovering and recognizing your always and already graced and Christ-like nature.
Intrinsicism is why many liberal and progressive Christians abandon the gospel for the affirmational, exchanging salvation for gnosticism. The drama of salvation is replaced with a psychology of awakening. The cross becomes unnecessary. To say nothing about the cosmic vindication of justice. What remains is a therapeutic spirituality that celebrates human potential while ignoring the uncomfortable truth that humanity is in need of saving.
And beyond the moral there is also the ontological predicament of finitude, death and our drift into non-existence. Waxing romantic about finite existence being "always and already graced" will come as a shock to those who experience the desolations of death and decay. Such rosy optimism is quickly dispelled by a walk through an emergency room, a cancer ward, or senior care facility. There is much in nature and the created order that is blessed and good—I like sunsets as much as anyone—but I also await the eucatastrophe.
