Date of Award

4-12-2002

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Ministry (DMin)

Department

Seminary

Abstract

The ministry problem addressed in this dissertation is the need for spiritual transformation. Christians are called to transformation into the image of Christ. John Wesley's understanding of grace as both responsible and therapeutic is one pathway to this transformation. He believed that grace was the interaction of God and humanity, where God reaches out to us and we are to respond. The more we respond, the more we are able to respond. This is responsible grace. And as we grow in grace, the result is a growth in holiness, or into the likeness of Christ. This growth is not just something externally applied, but an actual change in our being. This is therapeutic grace.

Chapter one is an introduction to the need for transformational spirituality and to the proposed solution of Wesley's understanding of grace as responsible and therapeutic. Chapter two is an overview of John Wesley's life, with the emphasis on the various influences that led him to understand grace as responsible and therapeutic. Chapter three explores Wesley's understanding of the way of salvation and the means of grace. Chapter four follows the threads of responsible, therapeutic grace through one work by each of the following authors: Gerald May, Henri Nouwen, Larry Crabb, Anne Lamott, and Dallas Willard. Chapter five is a curriculum on responsible and therapeutic grace which is built on the foundation of Wesley's Via Salutis and utilizes the works of the five contemporary messengers from chapter four.

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