“Distinct, but Inseparable”: Thomas Aquinas and John Wesley on Grace and Nature

«As the title suggests, ‹Distinct, but Inseparable› argues that Thomas Aquinas and John Wesley operate under different theological paradigms. Yet, Jaesung Ryu’s work seeks to demonstrate that there is good reason to treat these figures as inseparable. In the confluence of distinctions and inseparability, Catholic and Methodist scholars and practitioners might find in this book a resource to strengthen ecumenical sensibilities.» (Filipe Maia, Assistant Professor of Theology, Boston University)

«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.

Jaesung Ryu is a part-time lecturer in Theology at Seoul Theological University and an Associate Pastor of Seoknam Central Church in Incheon, Korea.