Sarah Coakley's Theology of "Desire". Trinity, Sexuality and Prayer

Abstract

The renowned Anglican theologian Sarah Coakley understands her theological approach as a théologie totale, in which systematic-theological reflection, gender related questions, and contemplative prayer practices stand in a conditional relationship to one another. While a re-foundation of the Trinitarian doctrine of God finds a point of reference in the early Christian experience of prayer and the Holy Spirit, the sexual and ecclesiastical implications of those experiences lead to a domestication of the doctrine of the Trinity and Pneumatology. According to Coakley, however, those implications could be overcome by the idea of an incorporative and transformative divine desire becoming active in the human being. Due to this, the notion of desire stands at the center of Sarah Coakleyʼs theological thinking. Based on this notion, anthropological points of departure for speaking of God can be formulated. In addition, ecclesiological problem areas, such as the question of sacramental representation through the ecclesiastical ministry, can be reassessed.