"Amazing grace that saved a wretch like me" : conceptual metaphors for "grace" in Christian discourse (on the basis of John Henry Newman's sermons)

Abstract

Although Amazing Grace has become a popular song associated with the English- speaking culture, the notion of GRACE itself remains mysterious and vague. The problem is that being an abstract notion, grace is difficult to understand and describe even for theologians. This problem may be overcome by conceptual metaphors which help us conceptualize and understand the abstract reality [Lakoff, Johnson 2003/1980/; Kovecses 2010/2002/]. John Henry Newmans Parochial and Plain Sermons [1834- -1843] constitutes a set of eight volumes of sermons preached in the years 1828-1845 in St. Marys Church in Oxford by an outstanding Anglican philosopher, theologian, writer, and academic of the Yictorian era, who later converted to Roman Catholicism. The article focuses on the cognitive-linguistic aspects of identification and classification of the various conceptual metaphors for GRACE in Newmans sermons. The metaphors are illustrated with examples of the lexical correlates found in the analyzed materiał. In his sermons, Newman conceptualizes grace metaphorically either as different kinds of INANIMATE THINGS: A CONTAINER, AN INSTRUMENT or MEANS, A GARMENT, A TREASURE and A GIFT, as A TRADED COMMODITY, A LIQUID, FOOD AND DRINK, and A BUILDING, as A PLANT, or as A PERSON: A KING, AN INHABITANT of a human being or the Church, as AN OPPONENT or ENEMY, as A GUIDE IN A JOURNEY, and as A PARENT. Additionally, GRACE is metaphorically viewed in the studied work as POWER, as A WAY IN A JOURNEY, and as LIGHT.