The Grace in Catholic Theology and the Principle of Luṭf in Shī a Theology: A Comparative Study

Grace in Catholic theology is the free favour of God as manifested inthe salvation of men. This teaching is related to important concepts such as faith, church, salvation, knowledge acquisition, and sacraments. On the other hand, the Principle of Lutf in Shī’a theology has a similar function, i.e. it is the Divine guidance realized by sending prophets and imams. The Omniscience God knows man's needs and by His wisdom directs whole creation, including man's life, from the beginning to the end. The Principle of Luṭf is particularly mentioned in arguing about the prophethood, imamate and ijmaʿ (consensus between jurists). So the final goal of Grace and Luṭf is similar: "guiding human beings" which leads to salvation. Both try to explain the relation of men and God from an epistemological point of view, therefore the comparative study of these teachings could be useful in the inter-religious dialogue between Islam and Christianity.