The Trinitarian Culture and Corporate Worship Practices of Canadian Pentecostals: A Contribution from the Theology of Colin Gunton Michael A. Tapper Thesis advisor: Catherine E. Clifford This thesis represents a unique analysis of the trinitarian impulses of an important corporate worship practice among the Pentecostal Assemblies of Canada (PAOC), the largest Evangelical denomination in Canada. It considers whether an inconsistency exists between the PAOC’s trinitarian statement of faith and formative expressions of this denomination’s belief conveyed in 82 of the most commonly used contemporary worship songs from April 2007 to March 2013. Lyrical music, it is defended, represents a forming, measurable, and confirming indicator among the PAOC of contemporary religious understanding. In order to assess the trinitarian dispositions of the PAOC music lyrics, Colin Gunton’s theology is utilized as a framework for this evaluation. Gunton was a leading figure in the advancement of trinitarian theology before his untimely death in 2003. His balanced integration of the notions of relationality, particularity, and perichoresis provides the rationale for eight qualitative content analyses that are original to this project and intended to verify the trinitarian views in the PAOC lyrics. This analysis is oriented around three major areas of trinitarian assessment: the doctrine of God, human personhood, and cosmology. The data from these content analyses are compiled, presented, and carefully analysed. Then, returning to the trinitarian work of Gunton, implications and considerations for the PAOC are offered. This study shows that Gunton’s trinitarian theology provides a resource to identify and correct the trinitarian deficit and individualistic and cosmologically dualistic orientation of PAOC commonly used songs. Ultimately, this thesis proposes that Gunton, in accordance with several key Pentecostal and worship studies interlocutors, can serve as a helpful theological source for the dynamic practice of a trinitarian faith among the PAOC. DECLARATION OF AUTHORSHIP I hereby declare that I am the sole author of this thesis. This is a true copy of the thesis, including any required final revisions, as accepted by my examiners.

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The Trinitarian Culture and Corporate Worship Practices of Canadian Pentecostals: A Contribution from the Theology of Colin Gunton

This project was inspired by a perceived discrepancy between the the trinitarian
theology of the Cappadocian Fathers and the theology imputed to them by Greek
Orthodox theologian John Zizioulas. Alongside a lack of scholarly consensus on
Cappadocian theology, there exists a broadly negative reaction to Zizioulas’ reading of
Cappadocians. In spite of this, there are many who seem happy to quote his
interpretation or make use of his conclusions without serious inquiry into the
background and influences behind that interpretation. This leads to further confusion
about the theology advocated by both Zizioulas and the Cappadocians.
In order to simplify this confusing tangle of trinitarian theological ideas, this
project clarifies the meaning and content of the Cappadocian category, seeking to
identify both the specific Cappadocian Fathers and what, if anything, can be termed
“Cappadocian theology.” Further, this project examines the historical and academic
context of the theology of John Zizioulas, restates his system through a trinitarian lens,
and seeks to understand his probable approach by examining the mindset of the Eastern
Orthodox Church in its dealings with patristic studies and theological authority and its
perceptions of the West.
The project concludes that Zizioulas reads the Cappadocians from a specifically
Orthodox perspective, not as authorities but as conversation partners. This approach,
foreign to a western historical-critical approach, baffles many western scholars. Asking
whether Zizioulas has read the Cappadocians correctly is to misunderstand the purposes
behind his appeal to their theological ideas. As the Eastern Orthodox Church continues
to grow in ‘exile’ in the West and increasingly interact with Western theology and
scholars, it is imperative that theologians of both backgrounds communicate clearly
about their assumptions and intentions in theological dialogue.

Through the eyes of the other: what Western theologians can learn from John Zizioulas’ reading of the trinitarian theology of the Cappadocian Fathers

Philip Doddridge (1702-51) was pastor of the Independent congregation meeting at Castle Hill, Northampton, and tutor of the Northampton academy from 1729 to his death in 1751. He is regarded as a leader of moderate Dissent during that period and the heir, theologically and pastorally, of Richard Baxter. He has been seen as forming a bridge between the more rational Dissenters, on the one hand, and the more conservative and orthodox wing of Dissent on the other. His thought has not, however, been the subject of a detailed analysis in the context of his time. This thesis sets out to conduct such an analysis in order to examine more closely his position within early eighteenth-century Dissent. Doddridge’s philosophical and theological views are considered in chapters two to five. Chapter two assesses the extent of his indebtedness to the philosophy of John Locke, examining also the views of Isaac Watts and showing how Doddridge and Watts modified Locke’s thought in some areas in order to accommodate Christian beliefs. In chapter three, Doddridge’s views on natural theology, natural law and reason are considered and the influence on him of Samuel Clarke, in particular, is examined. Turning to theology, chapter four looks at the use in early eighteenth-century Dissent of terms such as ‘Baxterian’ and ‘moderate Calvinist’ and then considers Doddridge’s doctrinal positions on a range of subjects which are generally considered to represent Baxterian theology. Chapter five examines Doddridge’s views on the key interconnected areas of confessional subscription, scripture and the doctrine of the Trinity. Practical subjects are then considered in chapters six to eight. Doddridge’s views on Christian piety are examined in chapter six. Chapter seven considers ways in

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The thought of Philip Doddridge in the context of early eighteenth-century dissent

s an idea, Thomas writes, the class of objects under consideration takes on immaterial ‘existence’ within the knower. The idea is impressed upon the memory or ‘possible intellect’ of the knower, where it remains available to assist in efforts to render new experiences intelligible. On Aquinas’ account, new experiences are what incite the intellect to revise and expand the original species, to cognitively encompass more of reality by means of its growth, and thus to increasingly participate in it. Since the power to know is a potential one, Aquinas stresses that the clarity and accuracy of the intelligible species must be achieved by degrees. Unlike Bonaventure, Aquinas does not believe that perfectly clear ideas can be immediately attained. In his view, only God and angelic beings have recourse to such intuitive knowledge. For him, formulating a species means forging a conceptual resource to facilitate new discoveries rather than grasping a reality in a fixed and final way. Because discovery is ongoing, the three main faculties—sensation, imagination, and intellection—are in constant co-operation. There is not even a hint of dualism in Aquinas’ theory, where it is acknowledged that human knowledge must be refined through experience and effort. Those efforts, which are made in abstraction, allow what is objectively the case to be increasingly, subjectively realized. In affirming this, Aquinas prioritizes the objective order over the knowing subject, by contrast to 775 Joseph Owens, “Aquinas on Cognition as Existence,” in Thomas and Bonaventure (Toronto: Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies, 1974), 74-85. 776 Thomas Aquinas, ST, vol. 11, 1.79.1-2. 777 Ibid., 1.79.4. See David Burrell’s chapters on, “Aquinas and Scotus: Contrary Patterns for Philosophical Theology” and “especially “Creation, Will, and Knowledge in Aquinas and Duns Scotus” in Faith and Freedom. Burrell superbly explains Aquinas’ account of knowledge and contrasts it with the Franciscan one espoused by Scotus. 778 Thomas Aquinas, ST, vol. 12, trans. Paul T. Durbin (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2006), 1.84.2. 779 Ibid., vol. 11, 1.79.6

Divine illumination in Augustinian and Franciscan thought

This article examines the main elements of the classic Eastern Christian doctrine of divinization as they are found in the Latin Fathers. These include the intimate union of the divinized man with the incarnate God, the divinization of the human nature of Christ, the adoption of man by God in Christ through the action of the Holy Spirit, the ascension of humanity to heaven, as well as the communion of the human person with the divine nature. It would seem that enthusiasm for the idea of divinization drew some western theologians to posit dangerous theories including the pantheistic dissolution of humanity in God as well as the dissolving of the human nature of Christ into his divine nature. Analyzing these theories we can see why Saint Augustine conceived his own juridical theory of divinization based on the concepts of justification and external adoption, which transformed the theory ofdivinization into one of equality with the angelic orders. Because of these developments, the original theory of divinization which at one time was taught by several of the Latin fathers, was unfairly consigned to oblivion.

Edmund J. Fortman

Papers

The Triune God: A Historical Study of the Doctrine of the Trinity