"Grace" vs. "Undeserved Kindness"

[Jack Ryan]

JW's use the term "undeserved kindness" while the rest of the christian world generally uses the term "grace".

Is there a difference?

[Evacuated]

First definition for "grace" given by Merriam-Webster is:

unmerited divine assistance given humans for their regeneration or sanctification

so it would appear not.

[JW Insider]

No difference. Sometimes the use of different term is helpful because when so many people use the same term, that original term can lose its meaning over time. Also, there are other common meanings of the word "grace" that can refer to a certain elegance of style (or similar ideas) and this could tend to produce the wrong connotation. The term "undeserved kindness" makes us think about the true meaning. 

[HollyW]

5 hours ago, Jay Witness said:

JW's use the term "undeserved kindness" while the rest of the christian world generally uses the term "grace".

Is there a difference?

"Amazing undeserved kindness, how sweet the sound......"

Just doesn't work, does it.

[Evacuated]

Works better than this one

" We praise Thee, Blessed Trinity. 
With the Angels' sacred hymn,  "

[Alexa]

Undeserved kindness is an appropriate term in using formal meaning of it while grace is a general term used by anyone and anywhere 

[HollyW]

On 9/18/2016 at 3:49 PM, Jay Witness said:

JW's use the term "undeserved kindness" while the rest of the christian world generally uses the term "grace".

Is there a difference?

I read this recently in a Christian book catalog and wanted to share it here:

Grace -- More than we deserve, Greater than we imagine.

[moggy]

On 19/09/2016 at 6:49 AM, Jay Witness said:

JW's use the term "undeserved kindness" while the rest of the christian world generally uses the term "grace".

Is there a difference?

 

It is difficult to be simplistic when answering your question because the word, especially in the hands of Paul's epistolary injunctions, has been invested with a nobility that is not seen among other words that connect with biblical salvation. Indeed, were we to remove this word from the NT, there would be no Christianity. We need not indulge in a detailed word study of this term, since the Watchtower itself has seen no need to do so, but suffice it to say that:

1The original Greek word is χαρις - charis - and it occurs 155 times in the New Testament

2. Because of its recurrent usage in various contexts, there is no single way in which we can translate the term

3. Indeed the RNWT translates it 15 different ways [among them: Favour- Lu 1:30, Gracious - Lu 4:22, Undeserved Favour - 1 Peter 3:7 etc]

4. Every translation is compelled to do the same thing. My own Bible of choice - The NASV - translates the word twelve separate ways.

The reason for this multiplicity of translations is because the original word - χαρις - meant, from the fifth century BC, anything that affords "joy, pleasure, delight" from whence various meanings developed, including grace [as in poise] favour, gratitude,  thankfulness, and kindness, among others.

While it is true that many of these meanings in non-biblical literature are found in the NT, it is only when we are confronted with the way Paul wields this majestic word, that we enter into a world endowed with utterly indescribable  gravitas and splendour. He uses it no less that 107 times [69% of the time] very often to define in human terms that which is indefinable. When you confront this word as powered by the Holy Spirit, which was in Paul, you realize that you  are gazing into the very chasm of infinity, because Paul uses this word for our very God, and the Saviour, Himself.

Now to answer your question:

What did John mean when he used the word twice at Jo 1:16::

"We all received from his fullness, even undeserved kindness upon undeserved kindness"

Apart from an unfortunate woodenness of expression, is the RNWT, the best way to translate this verse? Although it it is certainly not wrong, I believe it is not.

First of ll, it can give a misleading impression, that the word, in Christian terminology, has something  to do with being "undeserved". Reading Paul, we can't help but believe that it is not that we are undeserving of God's kindness, but that we simply do not merit it in the first place. We can never earn God's χαρις, because if we could, χαρις would no longer be χαρις.[Ro 11:6] Thus it is through this enduring quality of Divine favour that that which is unmerited is  conveyed to believers.

I feel "unmerited favour", if one is to "open" the word "Grace", is better. I would prefer, however, to dignify "Grace" with a Christian immortality, as others have done. It is the single best way to have a word-for-word alternative for the Greek and English.

Whether the RNWT translation is better than this,

"From His abundance we have received more and more grace"    [Modern Language Bible]

I leave to the reader.