– Ars Memorandi Mori –
Christ Entombed, by Han Holbein the Younger
Death and Processional
Holiness
By B. Jeffrey Vidt
In submission to the
Wesleyan Theological Society
In occasion with the
43rd Annual Meeting
Duke University
March, 2008
A Brief Outline
I. An Introduction
II. Defining Holiness
a. Sin and Holiness as Relationship
b. Decisions within Relationship
c. The Wesleyan View
III. Defining Death
a. Theological Perspective from Scripture
b. As Philosophical Experience
c. Bringing the Two Together
IV. Death and Jesus
a. The Paradox of Jesus
b. The Suffering of Jesus
c. The Forsakenness of Jesus
V. Death and Holiness
a. Death creates Intimacy
b. Death as Requirement for Processional Holiness
c. Some Implications – Martyrdom and Community
VI. Conclusions – Ars Memorandi Mori
-2-
Ars Memorandi Mori
By B Jeffrey Vidt
In the words of the great American philosopher, author,
musician, and television star William Shatner, “Live life like
you’re gonna die, because you are.”
This is not exactly the most
optimistic or poetic of claims, but it is certainly persuasive.
Persuasive, because within this assertion resides a latent fear,
a fear we all experience at some point: a fear of death.
This
systemic fear has a profound affect on the deepest core of our
existence.
It has coalesced into a kind of gray sky that covers
and oppresses the air of our lives.
to
symbolize
this
relationship
Even our language has come
with
death,
and
with
God:
we
humans are called “mortal” because we have the ability to die,
while gods are given the qualifying term “immortal” because they
do not, and it is the fact that we humans are aware of our
imminent mortality that distinguishes us from animals in selfawareness.1
Death itself has become a defining characteristic of
what it means to be human. In Scripture, we are often confronted
by strong language concerning death.
Christians are told to
"take up their cross" and "die to sin" by both Jesus and Paul.
Often, these imperatives have been read as metaphor and have had
little to no literal interpretation.
die was a call to physical death?
But what if God's call to
If Jesus conquered death on
the cross, why is death still a part of this world?
If there are
those who are forgiven and reconciled to God, why must they die?
Does death still separate the mortal from the immortal?
not,
then
what
function
does
death
serve
for
the
And if
Christian
existence, and how does it relate to holiness?
In this paper, I investigate the Christian understanding of
death from a systematic and theological perspective.
By focusing
on the death of Christ, we can determine a new and transformed
1
Jurgen Moltmann, In the End - the Beginning : The Life of Hope, ed.
Moltmann Jurgen and Kohl translated Margaret, 1st British ed.
(London: SCM Press, 2004). 119
-3-
role
for
death
in
human
existence,
serving
not
to
separate
humanity from God, as was its original purpose, but to bring the
immortal
God
and
mortal
humans
closer
in
relationship
experience than was ever possible in this present life.
and
In this
relationship, the experience of death connects us to holiness.
As Arthur Hertzburg has exclaimed, “the dead are too holy”2 for
us to imagine, and the role of death for the Christians is to
usher us into a new understanding of that holiness.
I
shall
form
this
paper
in
four
parts:
1),
examination of processional holiness and what is
a
brief
required to
progress on the journey of holiness, 2), an appraisal of the
experience
of
death
from
a
theological
and
philosophical
perspective, 3), the death of Jesus, and 4), how death is a
requirement
for
processional
holiness
along
with
its
implications.
Holiness
Like
Mildred
Wynkoop,
I
speak
of
sin
and
holiness
in
relational terms; as adjectives or qualifying descriptions of a
particular
relationship
with
God.3
Since
it
represents
a
relationship, holiness is manifested as a journey or progression,
as something organic that naturally changes and develops with
time, as all relationships do.
doctrine
of
entire
I am not describing the Nazarene
sanctification
here,
though
sanctification certainly may represent a point of
processional holiness.
entire
contact in
Through this process of relating to God,
humanity becomes more and more holy, or more and more like God in
character and in love.
The closer and more intimate we become to
God, the more we become like God: more loving, more pure, more
holy.
2
3
This is what I say when I use the term processional
Kenneth R. Chase and Alan Jacobs, Must Christianity Be Violent? :
Reflections on History, Practice, and Theology, ed. R. Chase Kenneth
and Jacobs Alan (Grand Rapids Mich: Brazos Press, 2003)., 69
Mark R. Quanstrom, A Century of Holiness Theology : The Doctrine of
Entire Sanctification in the Church of the Nazarene : 1905 to 2004
(Kansas City, Mo.: Beacon Hill Press of Kansas City, 2004)., 143
-4-
holiness: someone who is in a deepening relationship with God, in
all of its human and divine aspects.
This model of processional holiness does not contradict a
Wesleyan view.
This movement of grace continues as a person
grows in relationship with God.
The more a person learns of God
and the work of Christ, the more profound the effect of that
relationship
in
sanctification
life.
are
points
The
moments
of
decision
of
for
justification
the
and
relationship
between God and humanity, and represent a desire to become more
intimate in that partnership.
Wesleyans understand that this is
not an end of things, but a beginning, and that
discipleship occur afterwards.
growth and
It is important to note both the
concepts of justification and entire sanctification as qualifying
experiences on the journey of holiness.
profound
that
they
determine
the
These experiences are so
character
of
being
holy
in
language; we use the term “saved” to refer to the justified and
the term “sanctified” to refer to a person who has undergone
entire sanctification.
This is not to say that one is better
than the other in terms of relationship.
We human beings are not
able to set the terms of our relationship with God; we only
experience God and then respond.
Processional holiness is marked
with everyday decisions to come closer to God in relationship.
The experiences of justification and sanctification are but two
points of decision in this journey, decisions that, once made,
change those involved immediately and perpetually.
Therefore,
participatory
justification
experiences
that,
and
sanctification
once
endured,
are
change
an
individual and create a closer bond with God and with the Church
toward
holiness.
In
a
similar
fashion,
death
is
also
a
participatory experience that requires decision and changes those
involved.
Death
In Scripture, we see the theological origin of death in the
Genesis story.
God mentions to Adam that if he disobeys the
command of God, that “he will surely die” (Gen. 2:17).
-5-
This
means that it is not the eating of the fruit that kills Adam, but
it is the disobedience of Adam that creates sin and introduces
death into the world.
Sin becomes the definition of death, and
this is seen throughout the Scriptures.
Since all humanity is
plagued by sin (Rom. 3:23), there is no escaping the experience
of death from a human perspective.
All sin, all are separated
from God, and all die (Ps. 89:48).
Paul assigns this fault to
Adam, the “one man” from whom all sin spawned (Rom. 5:12), and
makes explicit that the “wages of sin is death” (Rom. 6:23).
The
concept of death was often used to describe despairing situations
(2 Sam. 22:6, Ps. 6:5, 115:17, Isa. 28:18), and was linked with
hopelessness,
which
was
also
a
concept
used
to
describe
the
absence of God.
What is interesting is that several Old Testament texts
claim that in death (Hebrew: Sheol) there is no praising God (Ps.
6:5, 115:17. Isa. 38:18).
For the ancient Hebrews, the concept
of death and the grave were transposed, and there was no praising
God, or any voice for that matter, that came from the grave.
This sentiment is not mirrored in the New Testament.
In fact,
there are several Scriptures that point to the active worship of
those who have died, mostly found in Revelation (Rev. 5:9, 7:10,
15:3).
For those who follow God, the afterlife promises not the
absence of life or the absence of God, but the absence of death.
In glorification, there will no longer be any death (Rev. 21:4),
for there will be no reason to die.
In the New Testament, death is often presented alongside
the glory of Christ.
Death comes to represent a foe that was
defeated by the sacrifice of Christ, and that grace is even more
abundant now that Christ has experienced death (Rom. 5:17).
We
are able to live in this life because Christ lives today (2 Cor.
4:10, 2 Tim. 2:1-13).
Christ shared in the experience of death
(Heb. 2:14) so that we would not have to experience death alone.
For New Testament authors, death is no longer a separation from
God (Rom. 8:38-39), yet remains as a fate for humanity.
-6-
To discuss death a bit more philosophically, I define death
as an experience (Erfahrung).
To have an experience means, to
some degree, to have changed.
You become “experienced,” and are
able to incorporate the event into your perceptions and your
identity.4
Death
is
no
different,
interpret for obvious reasons.
but
it
is
difficult
to
Once death is endured, there is
no going back. It is an experience that inspires and requires
change.5 This change not only affects us personally, but the
corporate community as well. The relationships we had are no
longer able to contribute to our identity.
The loss of a person
to
loss
the
experience
relationship.
of
death
means
the
of
a
present
This can be seen in any church, any corporation,
or any family that has lost a valued individual to death.
And
death is a unique experience, restricted only to that which can
be defined as “mortal.”
Han Georg Gadamer claims that it is this
very suffering of death that separates humanity from experiencing
the divine.
that
It is the learned limitation of suffering and death
forever
binds
humanity
to
a
mortal
existence.6
We
are
separate from the divine because we suffer, and there is no way
that humanity can ever overcome that limitation.
If we are to think of death in relational terms, and to
connect the worlds of theology and philosophy, we can join the
concept of sin to the consequence of death.
We do not die
because we sin, but because that is what death is!
God
to
the
highest
degree,
Death is
separation
from
philosophically
speaking.
It divides the mortal from the immortal, the sinful
from the sinless, the human from the divine, the unclean from the
holy.
To die is the culmination of the experience of sin, the
experience of the absence of God.
So why do we, who know and are
in relationship with God, still die?
4
5
6
Why do the faithful and the
Hans Georg Gadamer, Joel Weinsheimer, and Donald G. Marshall, Truth
and Method, ed. Gadamer Hans-Georg, 2nd, rev. / ed., Continuum
Impacts (London ; New York: Continuum, 2004)., 348
Philip E. Hughes, The True Image: The Origin and Destiny of Man in
Christ (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1989), 404.
Gadamer, Weinsheimer, and Marshall., 351
-7-
entirely sanctified, over which sin no longer has sway, still
experience death?
What role has death come to symbolize in this
journey of holiness?
The answer, as with so many truths in the
Christian life, is found in the example of Jesus Christ.
Death and Jesus Christ
The significance of God becoming man, living a human life,
and experiencing the fullness of death on the cross cannot be
exaggerated.
In Jesus Christ and the cross, we have the paradox
of language: the
immortal becomes
mortal, the divine becomes
human, and that which cannot die ceases to live. The death of
Christ on the cross was used to reveal the character of God, and
the reality of the two natures, divine and human, as one.
The
very nature of God is revealed in the paradox of Trinity that is
the Christ on the cross.7
This nature is fully exposed in the
suffering Christ, a nature that is pure love, grace, and justice.
It
was
the
separation
of
death
that
God
was
attempting
to
reconcile in the action of the cross. Yet the great love of God
can
traverse
even
the
infinite
chasm
that
isolated
mankind.
Through love and the intention to reconcile, God has made death a
part of his existence.8
With this action, relationship with God
is possible even after death.
This
death
of
Christ
was
not
free
from
suffering.
Christians believe that Jesus Christ truly did die, and that
there was no possible way he could have added moments to His
life.
Death and suffering must have been experienced in their
fullness, or the separation between God and humans would remain.
As the church father Origen has stated, “If he had not suffered,
he would not have come to share in human life.”9
And if Jesus
had not come to participate in human life, then the function of
death would have still mirrored the function of sin, to create an
7
8
9
Jürgen Moltmann, The Crucified God : The Cross of Christ as the
Foundation and Criticism of Christian Theology, 1st U.S. ed. ed.
(New York: Harper & Row, 1974)., 27
Ibid., 254
Origen, Homila in Ezechiel VI, 6; in Sources chretiennes vol. 352, ed.
M. Borret (Paris: Editions du Cerf, 1989), 228.35-230.49.
-8-
estranged relationship between humanity and God. A relationship
with
a
God
who
impassibilis,
does
is
not
cold,
die,
who
without
does
not
compassion,
suffer,
a
Deus
distant.10
The
suffering of Christ was not only a result of human life, but
divine love, as well.
In a sense, love creates suffering, but it
is because of love that every suffering can be overcome.11
The
suffering love of Christ is why the cross was raised, and so too
was the raising of Christ from the dead inspired out of love.
This was a willing action of God and it is because God acted in
this way that the character of God is perfectly revealed. Instead
of destroying death entirely, God suffered it, God endured it,
and
God
experienced
it
as
humanity
does.12
This
action
establishes relationship; simply destroying death would not bring
humanity any closer to God.
But experiencing the great power of
death, God is now able to relate to us on a very human level,
overcoming
reconcile.
the
separation
that
was
thought
impossible
to
God’s very divinity shines most in the crucified
Christ, surrendered on the cross of love and subject to the death
that all humanity experiences.13
While the experience of death brought God closer to human
beings, there remains one signification distinction.
When we
seek to compare the experience of death, the suffering Christ
asks the question of us, “Can you drink of the cup that I drink
of?” (Mark 10:38).
That cup is best defined by Jesus’ own words
on the cross, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Matt
27:46,
Mark
15:34)
On
forsakenness
of
the
experience.
While
experiences
of
resides with us.
10
11
12
13
God,
this
death
the
cross,
worst
is
between
an
Jesus
reality
important
Jesus
and
experienced
that
the
humanity
distinction
humanity,
the
can
in
the
favor
Christ’s experience of being forsaken by the
Moltmann, In the End - the Beginning : The Life of Hope., 70
Moltmann, Jurgen, “The ‘Crucified God’: God and the Trinity Today,”
in New Questions on God, ed. J. B. Metz (New York: Herder & Herder,
1972), 31-5.
Moltmann, In the End - the Beginning : The Life of Hope., 41
Ibid., 69
-9-
Father is his experience of death’s terrible power and the full
realization of the lengths that God has gone because of love.
But why do Christians still die?
What function does death serve
in the Christian life today, if it no longer separates God from
humankind?
Death and Holiness
I propose that in Jesus Christ, the function of death has
changed from something that has been historically interpreted as
separation between God and man, into an experience that creates a
greater intimacy and makes us holy.
Because of the sacrifice of
Jesus, we are no longer separated from God in death.
As Stanley
Grenz has written, “[Death] is powerless to separate us from the
love of God which is ours in Christ.
extremity
of
presence.”14
death,
we
remain
This
love
is
revelationally.
Consequently, in the
surrounded
experienced
by
God’s
loving
relationally
and
Since death can be regarded as an experience
(Erfahrung), it has an effect on how we interpret the revelation
of God in the Wesleyan sense, and it holds the inherent ability
to change those whom experience it.
Human beings physically die, and there is no science or
religion
that
can
prevent
this
fate.
The
event
sanctification does not free us from the pain of death.
of
entire
Death is
a result of the fallen human condition, and becoming entirely
sanctified does not rescue one from the infirmities which sin
causes.15
Humanity’s initial disobedience to God ushered death
into the world, and now it is a permanent part of our existence.
While entire sanctification may eradicate the sinful nature, it
does not restore the fallen condition, and does not prevent a
physical death.16
Bonhoeffer poetically, and rather ironically,
claims that the only way to be delivered from sin is through the
14
15
16
Stanley J. Grenz, Theology for the Community of God (Nashville,
Tenn.: Broadman & Holman, 1994)., 595
Quanstrom., 87
Ibid., 104
- 10 -
experience of death.17
referring
actual,
to
some
physical
Now I am inclined to think that he was not
spiritual
death
of
or
the
metaphorical
body.
death,
Death
still
but
the
occurs,
regardless of how holy or how close to God we become in this
life.
That was the reality that Jesus Christ entered into.
The
victory of Jesus was not to end death in this life, but to
transform it, reconcile it into God’s loving embrace. The moment
where God was most human was in death on the cross, and the
moment when we can be most like God in relationship is also in
obedient death, like that of Christ.
Death was transformed into
a moment of relationship, and now we should no longer fear death,
but in a very real sense, anticipate it.
Because God in Jesus
Christ has endured the fullness of death, we can experience death
with Him, no longer alone or forsaken.
This makes us like Jesus,
in the sense that we now die as Christ died.
no longer the enemy of the soul, but its ally.
Therefore, death is
As Moltmann says,
“The intention of the soul is to participate in the very moment
of Christ’s suffering and crucifixion.”18
The soul now rejoices
to share in the life and death of God in Jesus Christ.
For Wesley, death was a moment of crisis, much like the
moments of justification and sanctification.19
Death is a point
in time where the gravity of grace is felt at its heaviest, and a
decision to accept death or reject it is made manifest.
Because
of this, death also qualifies as a point in time where progress
towards a better relationship with God occurs.
a process, spiritually and socially.
Yet death is also
It not only eliminates our
temporal existence, but also challenges the memory of our life
17
18
19
Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Geffrey B. Kelly, and John D. Godsey,
Discipleship, ed. Tödt Martin Kuske and Ilse, B. Kelly and John D.
Godsey English edition Geffrey, and Krauss translated Barbara Green
and Reinhard, Dietrich Bonhoeffer Works, vol. v. 4 (Minneapolis MN:
Fortress Press, 2003)., 255
Moltmann, The Crucified God : The Cross of Christ as the Foundation
and Criticism of Christian Theology., 60
Kenneth J. Collins, The Scripture Way of Salvation : The Heart of
John Wesley's Theology, ed. J. Collins Kenneth (Nashville: Abingdon
Press, 1997)., 192-93
- 11 -
and those whom we are in relationship.
When we die, we not only
die in solidarity with Christ, but also with those who have died
before us.
We
become separated
from those who have yet to
experience death, yet we are welcomed at the same time into the
community of believers that has gone before.
Martyrdom and Community
What I argue for in this view of death is nothing less than
martyrdom.
who
dies
The modern definition of a martyr is simply someone
for
the
sake
of
an
ideal,
becoming
aware
of
the
importance of an idea at the expense of an individual life.
Martyrdom has been sensationalized; we usually only hear of the
violent and grotesque deaths that narrowly define how a martyr
should die, but this is not the case.
A martyr is someone who
dies for Christ, indeed, but also someone who dies like Christ.20
I am not referring only to the physical manifestation of Christ’s
death in the cross, but to the obedient nature of Christ that
allowed him to die freely at the command of God.
This command is
given to all humanity within the command to be human, and to die
is a part of that.
or rejected.
This command, like any other, can be accepted
Christ himself was faced with a crisis decision in
the garden of Gethsemane, and He was obedient to God’s call to
die.
It is a decision that creates two kinds of death: the death
of the martyr and the death of the selfish.
The death of the
selfish is one that chooses to reject the call to die.
This
rejection does not change the fact that we will still die; it is
merely a cry of self-inflicted separation from God.
The death of
the martyr, however, is one that accepts God’s call to die.
It
is in this death that the martyr is welcomed into the arms of God
through the experience of dying.
With the martyric death, it is
not that death must happen, as if to fulfill some kind of divine
ordinance with God or natural decay.
20
Rather, death serves as an
William T. Cavanaugh, Torture and the Eucharist, ed. T. Cavanaugh
William, Challenges in Contemporary Theology (Oxford: Blackwell
Publishers, 1998)., 60.
- 12 -
experience that brings two agents together intimately, because
both agents have endured it.
Yet the most important aspect of martyrdom is its effect on
the
community.
remembered
not
A
only
martyr,
as
what
more
he
than
or
anything,
she
stood
is
for,
a
person
but
also
remembered as a likeness of Christ, and whose death reminds us of
the loving sacrifice of God.21
The absence of the dead from the
community of the living brings pain and heartache, yet serves as
a trigger for memory.
The memory of someone who has died affects
us in a very present way: we remember who he or she was to us, to
others, and we remember the goodness of God that was revealed
uniquely through him or her. The death of a human being effects
the human community.
persons.
We die not only as bodies, but also as
When we die, our identity dies as well, and our being
in this existence is kept in the realm of memory.22
The dead are
no longer able to contribute to their own memory, for they are no
longer a part of the living community with us.
But they are able
to contribute to the living memory of God, with whom they are now
in closer intimacy.
In death, we are not only in the memory of
those with who we were in community; we are also in the memory of
God.
But that in itself is full of the grace of life.
In
memory, God experiences us and remains in community with us,
because of the experience of Christ.23
It is also through the
memory of God that the dead may still interact with us.
The dead
may not be able to contribute to us themselves, but God may
contribute to us on their behalf.
In Christ, the dead still
live, although in a different capacity, and still indeed have a
“presence” amongst God and amongst the Church.
And the closer we
come to Christ, the closer we come to communion with those who
have died.24
It is through God that any relationship exists,
whether living or dead, and it is only through God that any
21
22
23
24
Ibid., 64
Grenz., 575
Moltmann, In the End - the Beginning : The Life of Hope., 107
Ibid., 135
- 13 -
relationship can cultivate and grow, “For in Christ the living
and
the
dead
form
a
communion.”25
great
This
community
is
experienced through all our lives, even in the point of death and
afterwards.
Christ was the only human to die truly alone.
The
forsaken experience of Jesus creates a bond with the rest of
humanity in death.
We now die in community with Christ, and are
liberated from the experience of God-forsakenness ourselves.26
It
is precisely because of this community of the living and dead
that God chose to act. Though the contemporary voice attempts to
claim
death
as
an
end
of
all
existence
for
Christian voice says there is something more.
a
person,
the
Where contemporary
people would say a person has no significance and a person is no
longer perceived after death, Jesus would disagree.27
Indeed, the
entire community of Christians, in obedience to the command of
God to “come and die,” is very much alive, more significant and
more holy in the next life than in this one.
Concluding Statements
The act of dying no longer alienates humanity from God.
God
calls
all
humanity
to
the
fate
of
death
not
as
a
condemnation, but as a request for closeness and intimacy. Now,
death only surrounds us more with God’s loving presence.28
We are
not forsaken in death as Christ was, but through Christ we do not
experience death in solitude. As such, death functions to usher
the
obedient
experienced
into
after
a
more
death.
holy
This
life,
one
death
is
alone; it is with Christ and his cross.
only
meant
reconciled
holiness.
to
be
remembered
humanity,
but
as
also
that
not
one
can
only
be
experienced
The cross is then not
a
historic
our
future
event
that
experience
has
with
The death of Christ is then not only to be remembered
as a sacrifice, but serves as a reminder of our own fate.
Death
Ibid., 110
Moltmann, The Crucified God : The Cross of Christ as the Foundation
and Criticism of Christian Theology., 263
27
Moltmann, In the End - the Beginning : The Life of Hope., 131
28
Grenz., 595
25
26
- 14 -
then serves not only as a function of memory, but also as a
necessity
for
the
Christian
life.29
For
in
order
to
become
resurrected in the body, the body must experience death.30
The
obedient death of the cross draws our sins and violence into
Jesus Christ, assimilating them into the very being of God.
They
are then transformed into the power of liberating and reconciling
love; given freely to humanity through God’s sovereign grace.31
This grace is experienced even in our own death and beyond,
forever working to bring us closer to God.
Death should no longer be feared.
God has taken that which
should have been untouchable for the immortal and reconciled it,
creating something new. The moment where God was most human was
in death on the cross, and the moment when we can be most like
God is also in obedient death, like that of Christ.
But God
remembers, and in the memory of God there is life and community.
It is in this community that the dead still contribute and live
in relationship to God through Jesus Christ.
To be obedient in
death is to be resurrected, both in body and in memory.
In a
very real sense, this is an act of worship, to die in obedience
to God when the measure of our mortality is spent.
It is not the
final word, but it is a hopeful word that brings us closer in
relationship to God, and closer to holiness.
In conclusion, I will leave you with a Latin phrase: ars
memorandi mori, roughly translated as, “the art of remembering to
die.”
Some of you may recognize that it is a synthesis of two
common Latin phrases: ars moreindi and memento mori.
The first,
ars moreindi, was often used to bring comfort to the sick and the
dying
in
times
of
hopelessness,
glorifying way to die with honor.
citing
a
correct
and
even
The second, memento mori, was
used to remind the triumphant Roman generals, parading through
the main streets of a newly conquered city, that all humanity
shares
29
30
31
a
common
mortality
in
death.
Bonhoeffer, Kelly, and Godsey. 86
Cavanaugh., 241
Chase and Jacobs., 171
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Both
include
important
perspectives regarding the experience of death, and I believe
both serve as a legitimate summation of this paper.
Ars moreindi
is a message of hope, and memento mori is a message of reality.
Together,
they
discussed here.
form
a
saying
that
relates
to
what
we
have
The reality is, we will all one day die, and it
is the choices that we make in this life that determine how we
will respond to that death.
We can fear it, selfishly attempting
to distract ourselves or extend our finite years, or we can
accept it as a way to worship and relate to God, remembering the
death of Christ, and to be honored to participate in a similar
experience.
Therefore, ars memorandi mori is used to help us
remember that we too shall die, yet that our death is a good and
holy thing, glorifying to God, and bringing us closer to holiness
in ways that we could never experience in this life, and as
Wesley phrased it in his final words, “The best thing of all is
that God is with us.”
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Works Cited
Bonhoeffer, Dietrich, Geffrey B. Kelly, and John D. Godsey.
Discipleship. Vol. v. 4 Dietrich Bonhoeffer Works, ed.
Tödt Martin Kuske and Ilse, B. Kelly and John D.
Godsey English edition Geffrey and Krauss translated
Barbara Green and Reinhard. Minneapolis MN: Fortress
Press, 2003.
Cavanaugh, William T. Torture and the Eucharist Challenges
in Contemporary Theology, ed. T. Cavanaugh William.
Oxford: Blackwell Publishers, 1998.
Chase, Kenneth R., and Alan Jacobs. Must Christianity Be
Violent? : Reflections on History, Practice, and
Theology, ed. R. Chase Kenneth and Jacobs Alan. Grand
Rapids Mich: Brazos Press, 2003.
Collins, Kenneth J. The Scripture Way of Salvation : The
Heart of John Wesley's Theology, ed. J. Collins
Kenneth. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1997.
Gadamer, Hans Georg, Joel Weinsheimer, and Donald G.
Marshall. Truth and Method. 2nd, rev. / ed. Continuum
Impacts, ed. Gadamer Hans-Georg. London ; New York:
Continuum, 2004.
Grenz, Stanley J. Theology for the Community
Nashville, Tenn.: Broadman & Holman, 1994.
of
God.
Hughes, Philip E.
The True Image: The Origin and Destiny
of Man in Christ (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1989).
Kierkegaard, Soren, Howard Vincent Hong, Edna Hatlestad
Hong, and ebrary Inc. The Essential Kierkegaard.
Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 2000.
Moltmann, Jurgen. In the End - the Beginning : The Life of
Hope. 1st British ed., ed. Moltmann Jurgen and Kohl
translated Margaret. London: SCM Press, 2004.
-------------. The Crucified God : The Cross of Christ as
the Foundation and Criticism of Christian Theology.
1st U.S. ed. ed. New York: Harper & Row, 1974.
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-------------. “The ‘Crucified God’: God and the Trinity
Today,” in New Questions on God, ed. J. B. Metz (New
York: Herder & Herder, 1972).
Origen, Homila in Ezechiel VI, 6; in Sources chretiennes
vol. 352, ed. M. Borret (Paris: Editions du Cerf,
1989), 228.35-230.49.
Quanstrom, Mark R. A Century of Holiness Theology : The
Doctrine of Entire Sanctification in the Church of the
Nazarene : 1905 to 2004. Kansas City, Mo.: Beacon Hill
Press of Kansas City, 2004.
Wesley, John. A Plain Account of
Believed and Taught by the
from the Year 1725 to the
ed. Kansas City, Mo.: Beacon
Christian Perfection : As
Reverend Mr. John Wesley
Year 1777. Unabridged ed.
Hill Press, 1966.
All Scripture references taken from the NRSV version
I would like to give special thanks to my editors and
friends who, despite the morbid topic, encouraged me to
keep writing this paper
Stephen Case
Harris Bechtol
Dr. Glenn Stassen
Laura Rector
Montague Williams
Wesley Hall
Zach Dill
Lee Vance
Dr. Scott Daniels
Grete Howland
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