Abstract

The Christian tradition has long affirmed that a person's capacity to respond to God's grace by loving both God and neighbor is not wholly vulnerable to earthly contingencies such as severe interpersonal harms. This belief will be examined in light of trauma theory's insistence that, in situations of overwhelming violence, a person's capacity for responsive agency can be severely disabled. Drawing on the insights present in both feminist and trauma theory, I seek to articulate a revised Rahnerian theology of freedom that is both responsive to the experiences of trauma survivors and capable of offering resources to foster healing from traumatization. Such a revised theology of freedom is marked most distinctively by two claims: it acknowledges the possibility that human freedom to respond to God's grace can be destroyed by severe interpersonal harm, and it underscores that God's love is mediated, at least in part, through loving interpersonal relations. Ethical implications resulting from this revised theology of freedom should enable Christian communities to discern more effective ways to manifest God's presence to traumatized persons, thus fostering survivors' freedom to love themselves, others, and God