| Although pneumatology has often been a neglected subject in theological inquiry, it is a vital doctrine for understanding both the Christian confession of God as Trinity and the nature of the Christian life. With those two topics in view, this dissertation examines the relationship between love and the person and work of the Holy Spirit in Thomas Aquinas and John Wesley. Through an investigation into Aquinas' amor-based pneumatology and an assessment of the problem of sanctification in Wesley, the argument is advanced that in distinctive and yet largely complementary ways, Aquinas and Wesley provide resources that can be used to reclaim a richer pneumatology, specifically in relation to the theological virtue of love.;Despite the obvious methodological differences between these two figures, there are certain conceptual parallels in their writings---such as the central themes of love and holiness---that create the possibility for mutual enrichment among their respective theological heirs. In response to recent calls to rethink sanctification in more compelling theological terms, Methodists and Wesleyans can learn from the approach that Aquinas takes because of the trinitarian context in which he places his pneumatology, his deep association of the Holy Spirit with love (amor), and the trinitarian foundation on which he constructs his account of the Christian life. Such an approach clarifies the proper depth and telos of love and holiness by relating them positively to the doctrine of God and to the doctrine of the Holy Spirit in particular. Since Wesley's own understanding of sanctification was implicitly trinitarian, in this way Aquinas could help Wesleyans become more authentically Wesleyan.;Meanwhile, Catholics may benefit from Wesley's passionate emphasis on the pursuit of personal and social sanctity in love, and Wesley can be used to call attention to the same kind of concern in Catholic theology and spirituality, particularly as represented by Aquinas. Sanctification is a prominent theme in Thomas' vision of life in Christ, and it is capable of further development among his interpreters. The pairing of Aquinas and Wesley is instructive on this point because it shows that an account of perfect love in Wesley can serve as a catalyst for a reappraisal of Aquinas on sanctification, caritas, and the Holy Spirit. For like Wesley, Aquinas was also keenly attentive to the practical dimension of Christian faith and life, even though that aspect of his thought is sometimes underappreciated. Thus, Wesley can contribute to a recovery of this important strand in Thomas' works, and could help Thomists become more authentically Thomistic.;In mutually informing fashion, Aquinas' pneumatology can be illuminated and amplified by the emphasis on the Holy Spirit and sanctification that is found in Wesley, even as the insights of Aquinas can aid Methodists and Wesleyans in accounting more fully for the properly theological, and indeed trinitarian, basis of sanctification. The conclusions reached in this study, particularly concerning an understanding of love both within God's own life and in Christian participation in God by grace, challenge the claim that Western theology suffers from a pneumatological deficiency, and represent a contribution to the study of Aquinas and of Wesley, to Catholic-Methodist ecumenical dialogue, and to the development of a genuinely constructive pneumatology. |
