Overview

Employing fresh, innovative readings, Edgardo Colon-Emeric examines and underscores the centrality of the concept of perfection for the theologies of Thomas Aquinas and John Wesley--and finds them, surprisingly, largely complementary. Utilizing the image of a """"kneeling ecumenism,"""" he offers a practical account of how ecumenical conversations can move forward. At a time when many Methodists struggle to understand Catholicism and many Catholics know little of Wesley and Methodism, this stimulating work provides the church as a whole a communal grammar of holiness, in demonstrating how the theologies of perfection of Aquinas and Wesley have significant messages for both groups.

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9781481309455

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Colon-Emeric brings together figures from disparate traditions, examines their thought fairly and judiciously, and offers comparisons that are truly illumining.This carefully crafted and original work will help Protestants to understand Aquinas, and Catholics John Wesley, better, and thus both to approach one another 'by drawing attention to the primacy of prayer and the ministry of the saints (p 183).'For the last half century, Wesley studies scholars and Wesleyan theologians have been laboring to convince the world (and perhaps themselves) that Wesley is a theologian worthy of study. By contrast, Colon-Emeric's easy-going style and tone suggest that he takes this for granted. In this sense, Wesley, Aquinas, and Christian Perfection signals a new day in Wesleyan theology. It is simply no longer the case that Wesleyan theologians have to demonstrate that Wesley deserves consideration in the first place. Rather, they can bring him directly into conversation with other theologians as someone capable of standing on his own two feet and holding his own.Edgardo Colon-Emeric has written a critically important work on Wesley that rightly shows him to be a theologian ensconced in the catholic tradition rather than the tired and well-worn interpretation turning him into a modern thinker preoccupied with epistemology. He shows us Wesley with proper proportion through a compelling examination of the doctrine of perfection and its ecclesial significance in Wesley and Aquinas. He offers the brilliant metaphor that Wesley's theology represents a house fit within Aquinas' cathedral. His work is beautifully written, logically developed, and the conclusions are convincing. It is a must read.This study will not only be useful for the technical analysis it gives to a significant aspect of Methodist and Catholic witness to the common tradition, but it will also provide a stimulus for further studies verifying the agreement claimed in the Joint Declaration and potentially enriching the sharing of a spiritual life to which both Wesley and Aquinas were committed in their own time and historical contexts.

Colon-Emeric brings together figures from disparate traditions, examines their thought fairly and judiciously, and offers comparisons that are truly illumining. This carefully crafted and original work will help Protestants to understand Aquinas, and Catholics John Wesley, better, and thus both to approach one another 'by drawing attention to the primacy of prayer and the ministry of the saints (p 183).' For the last half century, Wesley studies scholars and Wesleyan theologians have been laboring to convince the world (and perhaps themselves) that Wesley is a theologian worthy of study. By contrast, Colon-Emeric's easy-going style and tone suggest that he takes this for granted. In this sense, Wesley, Aquinas, and Christian Perfection signals a new day in Wesleyan theology. It is simply no longer the case that Wesleyan theologians have to demonstrate that Wesley deserves consideration in the first place. Rather, they can bring him directly into conversation with other theologians as someone capable of standing on his own two feet and holding his own. Edgardo Colon-Emeric has written a critically important work on Wesley that rightly shows him to be a theologian ensconced in the catholic tradition rather than the tired and well-worn interpretation turning him into a modern thinker preoccupied with epistemology. He shows us Wesley with proper proportion through a compelling examination of the doctrine of perfection and its ecclesial significance in Wesley and Aquinas. He offers the brilliant metaphor that Wesley's theology represents a house fit within Aquinas' cathedral. His work is beautifully written, logically developed, and the conclusions are convincing. It is a must read. This study will not only be useful for the technical analysis it gives to a significant aspect of Methodist and Catholic witness to the common tradition, but it will also provide a stimulus for further studies verifying the agreement claimed in the Joint Declaration and potentially enriching the sharing of a spiritual life to which both Wesley and Aquinas were committed in their own time and historical contexts.

Author Information

Edgardo A. Colón-Emeric is Assistant Research Professor of Theology and Hispanic Studies, Duke University Divinity School. He lives in Bahama, North Carolina.

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