Sarah Coakley::God, Sexuality, and the Self: An Essay on the Trinity
Review: God, Sexuality, and the Self (Sarah Coakley) Sarah Coakley. God, Sexuality, and the Self: An Essay ‘On the Trinity’. Cambridge University Press, 2013. Sarah Coakley has written a noteworthy work of systematic theology for any Christian who cares deeply about both doctrine and spiritual formation. As the first volume in her projected systematic theology, it invites us not merely to argue our way into trinitarian speech but to read—and pray—our way into it. For a book group or for personal study, it functions as a call to slow down: to let the doctrine of the Trinity press upon our habits of attention, our language about desire, and our pastoral instincts, especially when church conversations about sexuality turn reactive or brittle. Coakley offers an integrated, ascetic, and incorporative vision of theology ( théologie totale ). Thinking about God cannot be sealed off from the purification of desire, the life of prayer, engagement with culture, gender, and the...