God, Sexuality, and the Self An Essay 'On the Trinity'

God, Sexuality and the Self is a new venture in systematic theology. Sarah Coakley invites the reader to re-conceive the relation of sexual desire and the desire for God and - through the lens of prayer practice - to chart the intrinsic connection of this relation to a theology of the Trinity. The goal is to integrate the demanding ascetical undertaking of prayer with the recovery of lost and neglected materials from the tradition and thus to reanimate doctrinal reflection both imaginatively and spiritually. What emerges is a vision of human longing for the triune God which is both edgy and compelling: Coakley's théologie totale questions standard shibboleths on 'sexuality' and 'gender' and thereby suggests a way beyond current destructive impasses in the churches. The book is clearly and accessibly written and will be of great interest to all scholars and students of theology.

Preface; Prelude: God, sexuality and the self; The arguments of this book; 1. Recasting 'systematic theology': gender, desire and théologie totale; 2. Doing theology 'on Wigan Pier': why feminism and the social sciences matter to theology; 3. Praying the Trinity: a neglected patristic tradition; 4. The charismatic constituency: embarrassment or riches?; 5. Seeing God: Trinitarian thought through iconography; 6. 'Batter my heart': reorientations of classic Trinitarian thought; 7. The primacy of divine desire: God as trinity and the 'apophatic turn'; Coda: conclusions and beyond; Glossary of technical terms and names.

Sarah Coakley is Norris–Hulse Professor of Divinity at the University of Cambridge. Her recent publications include Religion and the Body (Cambridge University Press, 2000), Powers and Submissions: Philosophy, Spirituality and Gender (2002), Pain and Its Transformations (2008), The Spiritual Senses (with Paul L. Gavrilyuk, Cambridge University Press, 2011) and Sacrifice Regained (Cambridge University Press, 2012). Coakley is also the editor of Re-Thinking Gregory of Nyssa (2003) and co-editor (with Charles M. Stang) of Re-Thinking Dionysius the Areopagite (2009).