why does the GB exclude the word "grace" from the new world translation?

LisaRose

Grace = Undeserved kindness. I think it's a principle they don't buy into, I don't think anyone has ever accused them of being too kind.

EndofMysteries

because meeting attendance and field service hours and obeying the gb are what's needed

exWTslave

Isn't the sign of being a "spirit-guided organization"?

Scully

Undeserved Kindness™ is so much better at inducing people to feel guilt and worthlessness, and manipulating them into doing what the Watchtower Society Jehovah™ wants them to do.

apostatethunder

Grace is a marvellous gift that dignifies the receiver.

Undeserved kindness is a kindness shown to the receiver that he does not deserve and that comes with a small note to remind him of that fact.

snowbird

The hymn Amazing Grace is universally understood and appreciated.

I think the WT wanted to distance itself from that.

Sylvia

hoser

as scully mentioned they don't want anyone to feel too good about themselves.

Rattigan350

I never liked the word "Grace". It has no meaning. It is a person's name.

fulltimestudent

Well, it does have some meaning, particularly for contemporary Christians, but sadly it often becomes just a word that may not be understood.

When, outside an American church on a sunday morning, one churchgoer says to another, "Wonderful sermon today, it really made me appreciate God's grace!

The speaker will have some particular aspect of their theology in mind as they make their comment. The question then arises, will the hearer in that conversation, have the same sense of meaning?

The answer surely is that they may not, because the word can be used so vaguely, just as the ancient Greeks did.

Wikipedia comments on the many aspects of this word. ( See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grace

Grace may refer to:

Religion

Divine grace in theology

Grace (Christianity)
Actual grace

Irresistible grace

Prevenient grace

Sola gratia (Latin for "grace alone"), a Protestant axiom rooted in the theology of Augustine of Hippo

Grace (prayer), a prayer of thanksgiving said before or after a meal

The Graces, or the Charites, in Greek mythology

The last meaning refers to religion in ancient Greece, in which there were three goddesses ( the three Graces) who presided over the realm of charis. So there is an ancient connection between charis/grace and religious belief.

Davidson (Davidson, J, The Greeks and Greek Love, 2008, p. 38 ) comments that the whole concept of the original greek word,

"charis is alien to a heirarchical, institutionalised, rules-and-regulations religion like Christianity, which imported this fundamentally here-and-now-oriented entity, essentially a lubricant in ongoing relations between gods and men, into a fundamentally hereafter-oriented cult. Greek charis bounces around in multiple exchanges over time of gifts, gifts of sacrifice, statues, plays, dances, hymns, etc. It looks both ways, both in return for and in anticipation of divine favour, thus establishing a meaningful and consequential relationship with gods in the present, which is simply a metaphysical version of the whole interplay or relationships of kindness and faith that you establish with other people."

So in Davidson's view, charis places emphasis on the developing relationship between the worshipper and the Divinity. If Davidson is correct, then:

I'm not sure that Freddy's use of 'undeserved' gets the emphasis right.

But then do contemporary Christians of other (competing) brands see it as Davidson explains it?