“Distinct, but Inseparable”
Thomas Aquinas and John Wesley on Grace and Nature
Summary
«Jaesung Ryu’s work offers a thorough and comprehensive overview of the dynamic relationship between grace and nature in the writings of Thomas Aquinas and John Wesley, mapping the historical continuity of their theological visions, while also foregrounding the points of tension. This is a work of historical theology that has important ramifications for speculative reflection as well as ecumenical understanding.» (Thomas Cattoi, Associate Professor of Christology and Cultures, Graduate Theological Union)
The author examines the ways in which the doctrine of grace and nature is understood and deployed in the works of John Wesley and Thomas Aquinas. What kind of beings are humans? In what state of nature was the first humanity? And what effect did original sin have on it? How does the grace from God relate to that fallen nature? What does it mean for human beings to live a life of grace? These are the central questions «Distinct, but Inseparable» brings to its reading of Wesley and Thomas.
The author’s parallel reading of Wesley and Thomas leads us to the historical fact that the soteriological problem of grace and nature is the only problem that Wesleyans and Catholics have gone into their separate ways with little sharing of a common problem, criteria of judgment, or glossary of technical terms and abbreviations. Although a great many of the mysteries of the Christian faith that the author deliberately excluded from his work remain unresolved, «Distinct, but Inseparable» has yielded an abundance of surprising commonalities between Wesley and Thomas, and this may well provide a clue to solving that «only» problem between Wesleyans and Catholics.
Excerpt
Table Of Contents
- Cover
- Title
- Copyright
- About the book
- About the author
- This eBook can be cited
- Contents
- Abstract
- Abbreviations
- Introduction
- Chapter 1 St. Augustine and the Pelagian Controversy
- Part I Wesleyan Tradition: John Wesley and His View of Grace and Nature
- Chapter 2 John Wesley on Sin and Nature
- Chapter 3 John Wesley on Grace
- Part II Catholic Tradition: Thomas Aquinas and His View of Grace and Nature
- Chapter 4 Thomas Aquinas on Sin and Nature
- Chapter 5 Thomas Aquinas on Grace
- Chapter 6 Grace and Nature in John Wesley and Thomas Aquinas
- Conclusion
- Bibliography
- Index
Abstract
“Distinct, but Inseparable” explores the ways in which the Christian doctrine of grace and nature is understood and deployed in the works of John Wesley and Thomas Aquinas. Given the extremely broad nature of this topic, we consider principally their mature works on grace and nature: the Sermons for Wesley and the Summa Theologiae Prima Secundae for Thomas. We then limit the nature and scope of this book to comparing Wesley’s and Thomas’ accounts of the cooperation between grace and nature in bringing about the salvation of humanity.
Regarding the structure, we divide this book into six chapters. Chapter 1 reads and analyzes Augustine’s work, which underlies the formation of Wesley’s and Thomas’ theology of grace and nature. Chapter 2 turns to Wesley. Here we focus on Wesley’s doctrine of nature and see how Wesley critically and constructively integrates Augustine’s doctrine of nature into the eighteenth-century English context where Calvinism and Arminianism collide. Chapter 3 considers Wesley’s doctrine of grace, with a particular focus on how Wesley associates God’s dynamic grace with human ‘response-able’ nature. Chapter 4 turns to Thomas. Here we focus on Thomas’ doctrine of nature, which constitutes a more optimistic model of human nature than Augustine’s. Chapter 5 then proceeds to Thomas’ doctrine of grace, where we provide an analysis that shows how Thomas connects grace and nature within a dynamic and cooperative framework. Finally, we come to consider Wesley’s and Thomas’ teachings about grace and nature from a comparative point of view. By way of comparison, Chapter 6 offers an impressive number of parallels between Wesley’s and Thomas’s teachings about grace and nature.
Our parallel reading of Wesley and Thomas establishes a whole array of theological continuities between their doctrines of grace and nature. This in turn provides a wealth of surprising clues needed to resolve the complex and subtle theological relationship between Wesley and Thomas – and, more specifically, the only problem that Wesleyans and Catholics share ←ix | x→little and has gone into their separate ways: the soteriological problem of grace and nature.
Abbreviations
The following abbreviations of primary SOURCES will be used throughout:
Augustine of Hippo1
Contra Faustum |
(Reply to Faustus the Manichaean) |
Contra Julianus |
(Against Julian)2 |
Confessiones |
(Confessions) |
Contra litteras Petiliani |
(Answer to the Letters of Petilian, Bishop of Cirta) |
Contra mendacium |
(Against Lying) |
De correptione et gratia |
(On Rebuke and Grace) |
De dono perseverantiae |
(On the Gift of Perseverance) |
De gestis Pelagii |
(On the Proceedings of Pelagius) |
De gratia et libero arbitrio |
(On Grace and Free Will) |
De libero arbitrio |
(On Free Choice of The Will) |
De natura et gratia |
(On Nature and Grace) |
De peccatorum meritis et remissione et de baptismo parvulorum |
(On Merits and Remission of Sin, and Infant Baptism) |
De perfectione iustitiae hominis |
(On Man’s Perfection in Righteousness) |
De praedestinatione sanctorum |
(On the Predestination of the Saints) |
De spiritu et littera |
|
De symbolo ad catechumenos |
(On the Creed: A Sermon to Catechumens) |
Enchiridion |
(Enchiridion) |
John Wesley
OT Notes |
Explanatory Notes Upon the Old Testament3 |
NT Notes |
Explanatory Notes Upon the New Testament4 |
Works |
The Bicentennial Edition of the Works of John Wesley5 |
Works (Albany) |
The Works of John Wesley6 |
Works (Jackson) |
The Works of the Rev. John Wesley, A.M.7←xii | xiii→ |
Works (New York) |
The Works of Rev. John Wesley8 |
Letters (Telford) |
The Letters of the Rev. John Wesley, A.M.9 |
Thomas Aquinas
QDM |
Disputed Questions on Evil [De Malo]10 |
DV |
Disputed Questions on Truth [De Veritate]11 |
SCG |
Summa Contra Gentiles12 |
Scriptum |
Scriptum Super Sententiis13 |
ST |
Summa Theologiae14 |
ES |
Emitte Spiritum15 |
1 All texts (except his unfinished writings Against Julian) from Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, ed. Philip Schaff (Grand Rapids, MI: Christian Classics Ethereal Library, 2001); available online at the Christian Classics Ethereal Library <https://ccel.org/fathers>.
2 Augustine, Against Julian, trans. Matthew A. Schuhmacher (Washington, DC: The Catholic University of America Press, 2004).
3 John Wesley, Explanatory Notes on the Old Testament, 3 vols. (Bristol, UK: Pine, 1765).
4 John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the New Testament, 3rd edn., 2 vols. (Bristol, UK: Graham & Pine, 1760–2). These Notes have been reprinted multiple times, but the content is the same.
5 John Wesley, The Bicentennial Edition of the Works of John Wesley, 35 vols., gen. ed. Frank Baker, Richard P. Heitzenrater, and Randy L. Maddox (Nashville, TN: Abingdon Press, 1984–). All future references to The Bicentennial Edition of the Works of John Wesley will be listed as Works followed only by the Volume number and section.
6 John Wesley, The Works of John Wesley, 3rd edn., 14 vols. (Albany, OR: Ages Software, 1997). All future references to The Works of John Wesley will be listed as Works (Albany) followed only by the Volume number and section.
7 John Wesley, The Works of the Rev. John Wesley, A.M., 3rd edn., 14 vols., ed. Thomas Jackson (London: J. Mason, 1829–31). All future references to The Works of the Rev. John Wesley, A.M. will be listed as Works (Jackson) followed only by the Volume number and section.
8 John Wesley, The Works of Rev. John Wesley: Containing Tracts and Letters on Various Subjects, 10 vols. (New York: J. & J. Harper, 1827). All future references to The Works of Rev. John Wesley: Containing Tracts and Letters on Various Subjects will be listed as Works (New York) followed only by the Volume number and section.
9 John Wesley, The Letters of the Rev. John Wesley, A.M., 8 vols., ed. John Telford (London: Epworth, 1931). All future references to The Letters of the Rev. John Wesley, A.M. will be listed as Works (Telford) followed only by the Volume number and section.
10 Thomas Aquinas, Disputed Questions on Evil [De Malo], ed. Brian Davies, trans. Richard J. Regan (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2003).
11 Thomas Aquinas, Disputed Questions on Truth [De Veritate], 3 vols., trans. Robert W. Mulligan, James V. McGlynn, and Robert W. Schmidt (Chicago: Henry Regnery Company, 1952–4).
12 Thomas Aquinas, Summa Contra Gentiles, 5 vols., ed. and trans. Anton C. Pegis, James F. Anderson, Vernon J. Bourke, and Charles J. O’Neil (Garden City, NY: Image Books, 1955–7).
13 Thomas Aquinas, Scriptum Super Sententiis: An Index of Authorities Cited, ed. Charles H. Lohr (Avebury, NY: Fordham University Press, 1980).
14 Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologiae, 5 vols., trans. The Fathers of the English Dominican Province (New York: Benziger Brothers, 1947).
15 Thomas Aquinas, “Emitte Spiritum,” Faith and Reason 30, nos. 1–2 (2005): 108–39.
Introduction
“All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus” (Rom. 3:23–4). This book investigates the ways in which this Christian doctrine of grace and nature is understood and deployed in the works of John Wesley and Thomas Aquinas. What kind of beings are humans? In what state of nature was the first humanity? And what effect did original sin have on it? How does the grace from God relate to that fallen nature? What does it mean for human beings to live a life of grace? These are the central questions “Distinct, but Inseparable” brings to its reading of Wesley and Thomas.
Details
- Pages
- XIV, 246
- Year
- 2022
- ISBN (PDF)
- 9781800798038
- ISBN (ePUB)
- 9781800798045
- ISBN (Softcover)
- 9781800798021
- DOI
- 10.3726/b19525
- Language
- English
- Publication date
- 2022 (May)
- Keywords
- Grace Nature soteriology “Distinct, but Inseparable” Thomas Aquinas and John Wesley on Grace and Nature
- Published
- Oxford, Bern, Berlin, Bruxelles, New York, Wien, 2022. XIV, 246 pp. 5 tables.
