The Mystery of Christ in You: Christology, Anthropology, and Participation in Thomas Aquinas and John Wesley
Date
2022-08
Author
Advisors
Casarella, Peter
Colón-Emeric, Edgardo
Holton, Jan
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Abstract
The subject of Christological approaches to theological anthropology has been a renewed
area of study for biblical and theological scholarship in recent years. While Marc
Cortez (Wheaton College) has been leading much of the contemporary dialogue, the subject
is not necessarily new. In some ways, this renewed approach takes its cue from Karl
Barth, who responded to the problem of modernist visions of anthropology that were
primarily concerned with the human person and their faculties apart from doctrines
of God and Christ. Much of this Christological emphasis appears in Barth’s constructive
views, examining the human person in reference to Christ as the fullest depiction
and example of the human person. Thinking about theological anthropology from the
lens of Christology, however, is not a modern invention; examples of thinkers who
develop their reflections on what it means to be human in relationship to Christ’s
humanity are extensive. In this thesis, I will argue that John Wesley and Thomas Aquinas
provide a systematically coherent and mutually beneficial theology of the imago Dei
that thoughtfully addresses the believer’s creation in the image of the Trinity and
their growing participation in the image through their graced pursuit of Christ, who
is their exemplar and their end. Together, Wesley and Aquinas demonstrate a Christ-centered
vision of theological anthropology that would be intelligible to one another and should
be intelligible and applicable to contemporary audiences. The goal of this thesis
will be to demonstrate the relationship between anthropology and Christology in the
theological writings of John Wesley and St. Thomas Aquinas, to explore avenues of
further ecumenical dialogue on personhood, and to investigate how these two thinkers
imagine the mystery of Christ in the believer who bears the image of God.
Description
Master of Theology
Type
Master's thesisPermalink
https://hdl.handle.net/10161/25582Citation
Maxon, Caleb (2022). The Mystery of Christ in You: Christology, Anthropology, and Participation in Thomas
Aquinas and John Wesley. Master's thesis, Duke University. Retrieved from https://hdl.handle.net/10161/25582.Collections
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