Table Of ContentOn the Love of God
by
Mark Christopher Gorman
Date:_______________________
Approved:
___________________________
Edgardo Colón-Emeric, Supervisor
___________________________
Paul J. Griffiths
___________________________
Randy L. Maddox
___________________________
J. Lester Ruth
___________________________
William C. Turner, Jr.
Dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of
the requirements for the degree of Doctor
of Theology in the Divinity School
of Duke University
2015
ABSTRACT
On the Love of God
by
Mark Christopher Gorman
Date:_______________________
Approved:
___________________________
Edgardo Colón-Emeric, Supervisor
___________________________
Paul J. Griffiths
___________________________
Randy L. Maddox
___________________________
J. Lester Ruth
___________________________
William C. Turner, Jr.
An abstract of a dissertation submitted in partial
fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor
of Theology in the Divinity School
of Duke University
2015
Copyright by
Mark Christopher Gorman
2015
Abstract
This dissertation queries the ongoing significance and fruitfulness of Augustine of
Hippo’s insight that the Holy Spirit is the Love of God. Rather than turning to the
standard text, his De Trinitate, this project examines closely the earlier Tractatus in
Epistolam Joannis ad Pathos, a set of sermons on 1 John delivered mostly during the
Octave of Easter.
The study of the Tractatus is offered in conjunction with a much later
interlocutor, John Wesley. A close reading of Augustine’s sermons of the Tractatus is
synthesized with a close reading of Wesley’s five extant sermons on texts from 1 John.
The principal argument in this dissertation is that a synthesis of Augustine and John
Wesley on the Holy Spirit produces a nuanced understanding of the Holy Spirit as the
Love of God that enriches contemporary systematic theology. Furthermore, instead of
either a purely archeological retrieval or genealogical study of these two theologians, this
dissertation demonstrates the potential for enrichment by offering constructive proposals
concerning the systematic coherence between a theology of divine desire and a theology
of Christian initiation made possible by this Augustinian-Wesleyan approach to the
Spirit.
The opening chapters, one through three, form an exegetical and synthesizing
foundation, establishing the basic building blocks of the constructive proposals of chapter
four, a theology of divine desire, and chapter five, a theology of Christian initiation. In
the early chapters, the dissertation draws on the recent insights into systematic theology
of Sarah Coakley and A.N. Williams in order to approach systematics in a way that
iv
brings coherence to a disparate set of homiletical texts. The conclusion of the dissertation
is that Augustine’s naming of the Holy Spirit, far from being an ancient relic best
abandoned, resonates strongly with Wesley’s own insights into the Spirit’s person and
work and that an Augustinian-Wesleyan pneumatology suggests possibilities for further
cross-centuries examination of these two significant Christian preachers.
v
Dedication
To Libby
vi
Contents
Acknowledgments……………………………………………………………………….xii
Introduction……………………………………………………………………………….1
Augustine and John Wesley………………………………………………………3
Method and Structure…………………………………………………………..…7
Chapter One……………………………………………………………………………...10
Introduction………………………………………………………………………10
Secondary Literature……………………………………………………………..12
Larger works incorporating the Homilies………………………………..13
Introductory essays………………………………………………………16
The Homilies: Initial Comments…………………………………………………19
The Ten Homilies in Detail……………………………………………………....23
Homily I….………………………………………………………………24
Homily II…………………………………………………………..……..25
Homily III……………………………………………………………...…27
Homily IV………………………………………………………………...29
Homily V…………………………………………………………………31
Homily VI………………………………………………………………...33
Homily VII…………………………………………………………….…35
Homily VIII……………………………………………………………....37
Homily IX………………………………………………………………...39
Homily X………………………………………………………………....41
vii
Thematic considerations………………………………………………....44
Love From Three Perspectives…………………………………………………..45
Love’s inception………………………………………………………….45
Love’s intention………………………………………………………….50
Love’s perfection………………………………………………………...56
The Holy Spirit……………………………………………………………….….59
General associations……………………………………………………...60
The Holy Spirit and love…………………………………………………63
The Holy Spirit as Love………………………………………………….65
The Love of God………………………………………………………………....67
Chapter Two……………………………………………………………………………...70
Introduction………..……………………………………………………………..70
Wesley and Systematic Theology………………………………………………..73
The unifying theme approach……………………………………………74
Sarah Coakley and A.N. Williams…………………………………….…79
Five Wesley Sermons on 1 John………………………………………………....84
Sermon 19 “The Great Privilege of Those That Are Born of God”……..85
Sermon 55 “On the Trinity”……………………………………………..89
Sermon 77 “Spiritual Worship”……………………………….…………95
Sermon 78 “Spiritual Idolatry”………………………………………....100
Sermon 62 “The End of Christ’s Coming”……………………………..104
viii
Wesley on Love and the Holy Spirit……………………………………………110
John Wesley on love and desire………………………………………...112
Wesley on the Holy Spirit……………………………………………....116
John Wesley and the Love of God…………………………………………...…121
Chapter Three…………………………………………………………………………...125
Introduction……………………………………………………………………..125
Augustine and Wesley on Love………………………………………………...127
Augustine and Wesley on the Holy Spirit...…………………………………….133
The Love of God……………………………………………………………..…140
Love from and to God…………………………………………..………140
Love of God and love of neighbor……………………………………...144
Love of God and the Trinity…………………………………………....146
Love of God and holistic soteriology…………………………………...148
An Authentic Cadence………………………………………………………….150
Chapter Four…………………………………………………………………………....155
Introduction……………………………………………………………………..155
Naming and the Love of God…………………………………………………...157
Limits and naming……………………………………………………...158
Excess and naming……………………………………………………...160
Love and naming………………………………………………………..161
Catechesis and naming……………………………………………….…164
Invocation and naming………………………………………………….166
ix
Divine Desire in Scripture……………………………………………………...168
Desire and divine aseity………………………………………………...169
Desire and worship……………………………………………………..170
Desire and Israel………………………………………………………..173
Desire and the divine missions………………………………………....175
Contemporary Pneumatology…………………………………………………..177
José Comblin…………………………………………………………....180
Michael Welker………………………………………………………....182
Eugene F. Rogers, Jr…………………………………………………....184
Immanence and transcendence………………………………………....186
Divine Desire and the Love of God…………………………………………….187
Preliminary matters……………………………………………………..187
Searching the Scriptures for the Love of God……………………….…190
The Love of God and contemporary pneumatology…………………....193
Sounding the depths of the Trinity for the Love of God………………..195
Conclusion: The Bond of Love………………………………………………....199
Chapter Five…………………………………………………………………………….201
Introduction……………………………………………………………………..201
Liturgical Studies and Christian Initiation……………………………………...204
Christian Initiation and the Love of God…..………………………………...…206
Christian initiation, human desire, and the Love of God…………….....210
Baptism, chrismation, confirmation, and Eucharist………………….…216
x
Description:Specifically, I focus on Augustine's Homilies on the First Epistle of John and. 2 Ted Campbell, John Wesley and Christian Antiquity : Religious Vision
