Grace, Faith, and Holiness by H. Ray Dunning

A Comprehensive Wesleyan Systematic Theology Centered on Transforming Grace

Full Title: Grace, Faith, and Holiness: A Wesleyan Systematic Theology
Author: H. Ray Dunning
Publisher: Beacon Hill Press (1988)
Pages: 656
Genre: Systematic Theology, Wesleyan Theology, Soteriology, Holiness Theology
Audience: Seminary students, pastors, theological scholars, and serious readers seeking a full-scale articulation of Wesleyan theology

Context:
Written as one of the most substantial modern expressions of Wesleyan systematic theology, Grace, Faith, and Holiness emerged from the Holiness and Nazarene traditions’ desire for a rigorous doctrinal synthesis comparable in scope to Reformed and Catholic systematics. Dunning structures the work around the dynamic movement of God’s grace—prevenient, justifying, and sanctifying—emphasizing salvation as both relational and transformational. The book engages Scripture, historical theology, and philosophical reflection while remaining rooted in the pastoral and ecclesial concerns of the Wesleyan tradition.

Key Dialogue Partners (Implicit):
John Wesley, Holiness movement theologians, Reformed soteriology, Arminian theology, contemporary evangelical systematics

Related Works:
John Wesley’s sermons and Notes on the New Testament; Thomas Oden’s Wesleyan theological writings; later Nazarene and Holiness systematic theologies

Note:
Dunning’s work is widely regarded as the definitive Wesleyan systematic theology of the late twentieth century. Its strength lies in its integrated vision of salvation as participation in divine life, not merely forensic justification. Critics sometimes note its density and its close identification with Holiness tradition debates, but its theological seriousness and breadth are undeniable. Read alongside Reformed and Catholic systematics, Grace, Faith, and Holiness clarifies the distinctive Wesleyan emphasis on grace-enabled human response and holiness as the telos of salvation.

Overview and Core Thesis

H. Ray Dunning's Grace, Faith, and Holiness represents a landmark achievement in Wesleyan theological scholarship—the first truly comprehensive systematic theology written explicitly from the Wesleyan-Holiness perspective. Prior to Dunning, Wesleyans relied either on Wesley's scattered writings, brief doctrinal summaries, or Reformed systematic theologies modified for Wesleyan use. Dunning provides what the tradition desperately needed: a systematic theology that's Wesleyan from the ground up, not a Reformed structure with Wesleyan footnotes.

Dunning's thesis operates on multiple levels:

Theological Method: Wesleyan theology isn't a modification of Reformed theology but a distinct theological tradition with its own internal logic, emphases, and coherence. Wesley's innovations weren't merely soteriological adjustments but flowed from fundamentally different starting points—particularly the emphasis on God's relationalrather than merely juridical nature.

Central Organizing Principle: Grace is the unifying theme of all Christian theology. Every doctrine—from creation to eschatology—should be understood through the lens of grace. God's nature is holy love, and grace is holy love in action. This organizing principle shapes how Wesleyans understand God, humanity, salvation, church, and consummation differently than Reformed or Catholic traditions.

Holiness as Relational: Christian perfection (entire sanctification) isn't achieving sinless perfection or flawless performance but experiencing perfect love—a restored relationship with God characterized by loving God with whole heart and neighbor as self. Holiness is fundamentally relational (right relationship with God and others) rather than merely moral (keeping rules) or ontological (achieving certain spiritual state).

Grace as Synergistic: Salvation involves divine-human cooperation (synergism) where God's grace initiates, enables, and sustains, but humans must freely respond. This isn't Semi-Pelagianism (humans contributing merit) but evangelical synergism where grace makes response possible without coercing it. God does 99.9% of the work; humans contribute 0.1% by not resisting. Yet without that 0.1% response, the 99.9% provision remains unapplied.

Christocentric Focus: All theology must be understood through Jesus Christ—not merely as a doctrinal principle but as methodological commitment. How we understand God's nature, human nature, salvation, ethics, and eschatology must be derived from and tested against the revelation of God in Christ. Christ is both the source (revealing God) and the norm (measuring theology) of Christian doctrine.

Integration with Philosophy: Dunning uniquely engages contemporary philosophy (especially process thought and personalism) to articulate Wesleyan theology in modern categories. While remaining faithful to Wesley, he demonstrates how Wesleyan insights align with and illuminate contemporary philosophical discussions about God's nature, human freedom, and ethics.

What makes Dunning's work exceptional is his combination of faithfulness to Wesley with contemporary relevance. He doesn't merely repeat Wesley's 18th-century formulations but translates Wesleyan insights into 20th-century categories, showing how Wesley's theology addresses modern questions. The result is a systematic theology that's simultaneously historically rooted and contemporarily engaged, academically rigorous and pastorally practical.

For readers of The Living Text, Dunning provides systematic-theological foundation for our Wesleyan-Arminian framework. While we emphasize biblical theology and narrative structure, Dunning shows how these commitments work out systematically—how doctrines relate to each other, how core principles shape every area of theology, and how Wesleyan theology offers comprehensive alternative to Reformed and Catholic systems.

Dunning's credentials make his work authoritative—Professor of Theology at Nazarene Theological Seminary for decades, Doctor of Theology from Emory University, lifelong Wesleyan scholar deeply immersed in both historical and contemporary theology. His systematic theology represents the mature fruit of a lifetime studying and teaching Wesleyan doctrine.

Strengths: Why This Book Matters

1. Grace as the Organizing Principle of All Theology

Dunning's most significant contribution is making grace the unifying theme that structures the entire theological system.

The argument:

Traditional systematic theologies organize around:

Reformed: God's sovereignty and glory
Catholic: Church and sacraments
Lutheran: Justification by faith
Liberal: Human religious experience

Dunning's proposal: Organize around grace—God's holy love in action toward creation and humanity.

Why grace?

1. Grace is central to biblical narrative

Old Testament: God's gracious election of Israel (Deuteronomy 7:7-8), covenant faithfulness despite rebellion (Hosea), preservation of remnant (Isaiah)

New Testament: "Grace and truth came through Jesus Christ" (John 1:17); "By grace you have been saved" (Ephesians 2:8); Grace as God's fundamental posture toward humanity

2. Grace flows from God's nature

God is holy love: God's essential nature is love (1 John 4:8, 16) that's holy (Isaiah 6:3; 1 Peter 1:15-16)

Grace is holy love in action: God's love reaching toward sinful humanity without compromising His holiness

Dunning: "Grace is not an attribute God possesses alongside others (like power, knowledge, justice). Grace is God's own self-giving—the way holy love engages the world. To speak of grace is to speak of who God is in relation to creation."

3. Grace connects all doctrines

How grace shapes each doctrine:

Creation: Act of grace (God didn't have to create; creation flows from generous love)

Providence: Sustained by grace (God maintains creation in being)

Incarnation: Ultimate grace (God entering creation as human)

Atonement: Grace addressing sin (God providing salvation He didn't owe)

Salvation: Entirely of grace (from prevenient grace to glorification)

Sanctification: Grace transforming believers (work of Holy Spirit)

Church: Community formed by grace, extending grace

Eschatology: Grace's final triumph (new creation as grace's consummation)

The result:

Grace isn't just one doctrine among many but the golden thread running through every aspect of theology. This creates organic unity where all doctrines relate to and illuminate each other through grace.

Dunning's structure:

Part I: Prolegomena (Theological Method)

Grace as foundation for doing theology

Part II: God (Theology Proper)

God as Trinity, holy love, gracious Creator

Part III: Humanity (Anthropology)

Humans created for grace, fallen from grace

Part IV: Christ (Christology)

Incarnate grace, grace's fullest revelation

Part V: Salvation (Soteriology)

Grace initiating, enabling, applying, completing salvation

Part VI: Church (Ecclesiology)

Community formed by grace, means of grace

Part VII: Last Things (Eschatology)

Grace's ultimate victory

Every section begins with grace and returns to grace as explanatory principle.

The significance:

1. Shows Wesleyan theology's distinctiveness

Reformed theology organized around sovereignty shows how everything serves God's glory through predetermined plan.

Wesleyan theology organized around grace shows how everything participates in God's loving relationship with creation.

Different organizing principles produce different emphases throughout.

2. Creates theological coherence

Grace as unifying principle prevents theology from becoming disconnected doctrines. Each doctrine relates to others through shared grounding in grace.

3. Maintains focus on God's character

Grace-centered theology keeps returning to who God is (holy love) rather than getting lost in abstract speculation or technical distinctions.

4. Provides pastoral warmth

Grace-centered theology is inherently pastoral—it's about God's loving engagement with people, not merely about correct propositions.

Why this matters:

For Living Text readers: Our framework similarly organized around central themes:

Sacred space (God's presence)
Covenant kinship (God's relationship)
Christus Victor (God's victory)

Dunning validates this thematic approach to systematic theology. Rather than imposing artificial structure, we let biblical themes organize our understanding.

Grace as organizing principle also explains why we're Wesleyan-Arminian: grace offered to all, grace resistible(respecting freedom), grace transforming (not merely legal), grace sustaining (through continued relationship).

2. God as Holy Love: The Ontological Foundation

Dunning develops the most comprehensive Wesleyan understanding of God's nature as holy love.

The synthesis:

Traditional theology often separates:

God's holiness (transcendence, purity, separateness, justice)
God's love (immanence, mercy, grace, relationality)

Result: Tension between holiness and love:

Holiness seems to require distance from sinners
Love seems to require nearness to sinners
How can holy God love sinful people without compromising holiness?

Dunning's solution: Holy love is a single reality

God is not:

Sometimes holy, sometimes loving
Holy and loving (two separate attributes)
Holy but loving (holiness moderated by love)

God is:

Holy love—love that's holy, holiness that's loving
Single divine nature expressed in two dimensions

What this means:

1. Holiness isn't sterile purity

Traditional view: Holiness = separation from sin, transcendent otherness, cannot tolerate impurity

Problem: Makes God seem distant, unapproachable, easily offended

Wesleyan view: Holiness = God's unique moral perfection expressed in love

Result: Holy God approaches sinners (doesn't merely demand they approach Him), seeks relationship, enters into human condition (incarnation)

Dunning: "God's holiness doesn't prevent Him from engaging sinners; it defines how He engages them—in holy love that both judges sin and redeems sinners."

2. Love isn't sentimental affection

Traditional view: Love = benevolent feeling, desire for others' good, willingness to sacrifice

Problem: Can seem soft, lacking standards, accepting anything

Wesleyan view: Love = commitment to others' true good (conformity to God's image), requiring transformation not mere acceptance

Result: Loving God both accepts sinners as they are (grace) and calls them to transformation (holiness)

Dunning: "God's love isn't permissive (accepting sin) but redemptive (freeing from sin). Holy love embraces the sinner while opposing the sin—not despite holiness but because of holiness."

3. Holy love explains the gospel

The problem: How can just God justify sinners? (Romans 3:26)

Answer: Because God is holy love:

Holiness requires sin be addressed (not swept under rug)
Love provides the solution (Christ bearing sin's consequences)
Holy love accomplishes both simultaneously

The cross reveals:

God's holiness: Sin is so serious it required death of God's Son
God's love: God provides the sacrifice Himself rather than demanding it from us
God's holy love: Justice and mercy meet in Christ's atoning work

Dunning: "The cross isn't God's holiness defeating His love or love overriding His holiness. It's holy love in perfect action—simultaneously upholding righteousness and extending grace."

4. Holy love as relational ontology

Traditional theology: God's being is absolute, self-sufficient, impassible (unaffected by creation)

Process theology: God is relative, affected by creation, changing in response to world

Dunning's middle way: God's being is relational but not dependent:

God freely chooses to create and relate
God is affected by creation (not impassible) but not threatened by it
God responds to human actions (not unmoved) but remains sovereign

Why relational ontology matters:

For prayer: God genuinely listens and responds (not merely executing predetermined plan)

For suffering: God genuinely grieves with us (not unmoved by our pain)

For relationship: God genuinely desires fellowship (not merely tolerating us)

For freedom: God genuinely invites response (not coercing predetermined outcome)

The theological implications:

1. Soteriology flows from God's nature

Because God is holy love:

Salvation must address both sin's guilt (holiness) and sin's power (love)
Salvation is relational (restored fellowship), not merely legal (forensic declaration)
Salvation is transformative (making holy), not merely positional (declared righteous)

2. Ethics flows from God's nature

Because God is holy love:

Christian ethics is imitation of God (Ephesians 5:1)
Holiness of life isn't optional but essential to reflecting God's character
Love is central commandment because love is God's central nature

3. Eschatology flows from God's nature

Because God is holy love:

Final state isn't merely sinless (holiness) but loving (fellowship)
Heaven is relationship with God eternally, not merely escape from punishment
Hell is exclusion from relationship, not arbitrary torture

Why this matters:

For Living Text readers: Understanding God as holy love undergirds our entire framework:

Sacred space: God's presence is holy love dwelling with creation—not sterile purity but loving fellowship

Covenant kinship: God as loving Father who's also holy King—relationship characterized by both intimacy and reverence

Christus Victor: God's holy love defeating Powers through suffering love (cross) rather than coercive power

Mission: Extending God's holy love to world—calling people into transforming relationship, not merely announcing legal verdict

Sanctification: Becoming like God (holy love) through progressive transformation—growing in both purity and love

3. Prevenient Grace: The Solution to Total Depravity

Dunning provides the clearest explanation of prevenient grace—the distinctive Wesleyan doctrine that solves the problem of human inability without resorting to Calvinism.

The problem both traditions acknowledge:

Biblical testimony: Humans are totally depraved:

"None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God" (Romans 3:10-11)
"The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God" (1 Corinthians 2:14)
"Dead in trespasses and sins" (Ephesians 2:1)
"Unable to come" apart from divine drawing (John 6:44)

Both Calvinists and Wesleyans affirm: Apart from grace, humans cannot respond to God.

The Calvinist solution:

Irresistible grace: God gives only to the elect grace that overcomes inability and produces faith. The elect cannot resist; the non-elect cannot respond.

Result: God's grace is particular (only to some) and efficacious (always produces intended result).

The Wesleyan solution:

Prevenient grace: God gives to all humans grace that enables response without producing it. All can respond; grace can be resisted.

Result: God's grace is universal (to all) and sufficient (enables response) but resistible (can be rejected).

What is prevenient grace?

Etymology: "Prevenient" = "going before" (Latin praevenire)

Definition: Grace that precedes and enables human response to God but doesn't coerce it.

Dunning's explanation:

"Prevenient grace is God's preparatory work in human hearts that:

Convicts of sin (John 16:8)
Enlightens understanding (2 Corinthians 4:6)
Enables will to respond (John 6:44; Acts 16:14)
Draws toward Christ (John 12:32)
Restores measure of freedom lost in fall

This grace is universal (given to all), sufficient (enables response), resistible (can be rejected), and prior (precedes faith)."

How prevenient grace works:

Step 1: Human condition apart from grace

Spiritual death: Incapable of responding to spiritual truth Darkened understanding: Cannot comprehend gospelEnslaved will: Bound to sin, unable to choose God Hostile heart: At enmity with God

This is Wesleyan affirmation of total depravity—we're as helpless as Calvinists claim.

Step 2: Prevenient grace restores ability

Not full restoration: Doesn't make humans morally neutral or naturally good (that would be Semi-Pelagianism)

Partial restoration: Gives sufficient ability to respond to gospel:

Enlightens mind to understand gospel truth
Softens heart to feel sin's weight
Liberates will to choose for or against God
Draws toward Christ without forcing

Still grace-enabled—humans contribute nothing meritorious, only non-resistance.

Step 3: Human response

Enabled by prevenient grace: Can now:

Hear gospel with understanding
Feel conviction of sin
Choose to repent and believe, or resist and refuse

Not natural ability: Response is only possible because prevenient grace enabled it

Not coerced: Genuine choice, not determined outcome

Step 4: Saving grace (regeneration, justification)

If response is positive: God's saving grace (regeneration, justification, adoption) is applied

If response is negative: Prevenient grace continues working, drawing, convicting—person can respond later

Biblical support:

John 12:32 — "I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself"

Drawing is universal (all people)
Drawing enables response (people can come when drawn)
Drawing is resistible (not all come despite being drawn)

John 6:44 — "No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him"

Coming requires drawing (no natural ability)
Drawing enables coming (sufficient grace)

Acts 16:14 — "The Lord opened her heart to pay attention to what was said by Paul"

God opens heart (divine initiative)
She pays attention (human response)
Cooperation without coercion

Titus 2:11 — "The grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people"

Grace has appeared to all (universal)
Brings salvation (sufficient)

Romans 2:4 — "God's kindness is meant to lead you to repentance"

God's kindness leads (prevenient grace at work)
"Meant to lead" implies it can be resisted (not irresistible)

The key distinctions:

Wesleyan vs. Calvinist:

Issue	Calvinist	Wesleyan
Who receives grace?	Only elect	All humans
Effect of grace	Produces faith inevitably	Enables response, doesn't coerce
Can be resisted?	No (irresistible to elect)	Yes (resistible by all)
Human contribution	Nothing (passive)	Non-resistance (0.1%)

Wesleyan vs. Semi-Pelagian:

Issue	Semi-Pelagian	Wesleyan
Natural ability?	Yes (can seek God naturally)	No (total depravity)
Grace necessary?	Helpful but not essential	Absolutely essential
Who initiates?	Human (seeks, then God helps)	God (enables, then human responds)
Credit for salvation	Shared (human + God)	God alone (grace enables response)

Why prevenient grace solves problems:

1. Preserves total depravity

We affirm humans are as helpless as Calvinists claim—no natural ability to respond to God.

2. Maintains universal offer

Because prevenient grace is universal, gospel can be genuinely offered to all. No one hears gospel without grace enabling response.

3. Explains genuine responsibility

Because grace enables but doesn't coerce, humans are genuinely responsible for their response. Those who reject did so freely (enabled by grace to choose), not because grace was withheld.

4. Vindicates God's character

God desires all saved (1 Timothy 2:4) and provides grace sufficient for all to respond. Those lost are lost despite God's gracious provision, not because God predetermined their damnation.

5. Makes evangelism meaningful

We genuinely offer salvation to all because prevenient grace has prepared all hearers to potentially respond. We're not just identifying elect but persuading hearers to respond to grace already working in them.

Dunning's summary:

"Prevenient grace is the Wesleyan via media between Calvinist determinism and Semi-Pelagian humanism. It affirms:

Total depravity (as helpless as Calvinists say)
Divine initiative (God acts first, always)
Universal grace (Christ died for all, grace to all)
Human responsibility (genuine choice enabled by grace)
Glory to God alone (grace from start to finish)

Without prevenient grace, Wesleyan theology collapses into either Calvinism (if we affirm total depravity without universal enabling grace) or Semi-Pelagianism (if we deny total depravity to preserve universal ability). Prevenient grace allows us to affirm both total depravity and universal grace."

For Living Text readers: Prevenient grace is absolutely essential to our framework:

Why we can proclaim gospel to all: Prevenient grace has prepared hearers

Why people are responsible: Grace enabled genuine choice

Why God isn't culpable for damnation: He provided sufficient grace for all

Why mission matters: Our proclamation cooperates with prevenient grace already at work

Why human freedom is real: Grace enables but doesn't determine response

4. Entire Sanctification: The Heart of Wesleyan Distinctiveness

Dunning provides the most careful exposition of entire sanctification (Christian perfection)—avoiding both legalismand antinomianism.

The doctrine defined:

Entire sanctification (Christian perfection): A second definite work of grace, subsequent to regeneration, whereby the believer is cleansed from the sin nature and empowered to love God with whole heart and neighbor as self.

Not:

Sinless perfection (never making mistakes)
Absolute perfection (matching God's perfection)
Final perfection (no room for growth)
Angelic perfection (transcending human limitations)

But:

Perfect love (loving God fully, neighbor genuinely)
Freedom from willful sin (deliberate, known disobedience)
Purity of intention (motives centered on God)
Wholehearted consecration (all devoted to God)

The Biblical basis:

Commands presuppose possibility:

Matthew 22:37 — "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind"

Command to love completely
Wouldn't be commanded if impossible

1 Thessalonians 5:23 — "May the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless"

Prayer for complete sanctification
Whole person made holy

Hebrews 10:14 — "By a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified"

Positional perfection (accomplished by Christ)
Progressive sanctification (ongoing work)

Promises of cleansing:

1 John 1:7, 9 — "The blood of Jesus... cleanses us from all sin... he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness"

Cleansing from all sin (not just guilt but power)
Complete cleansing from all unrighteousness

Ephesians 5:25-27 — "Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her... so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish"

Church presented holy and blameless
Complete removal of defilement

Titus 2:14 — "[Christ] gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works"

Purification accomplished
Zeal for holiness

Theological foundation:

1. Christ's atonement is sufficient

If Christ died for sin, His death must be sufficient to deal with sin completely—both guilt (justification) and power (sanctification).

Insufficient atonement: Can only provide partial deliverance (justification without sanctification)

Sufficient atonement: Provides complete deliverance (justification and sanctification)

Wesley: "There is no half-way in Christianity. We are either fully sanctified or we are not yet experiencing the full benefits of Christ's atonement."

2. God's purpose is holiness

Ephesians 1:4 — "He chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him"

God's goal in election is holiness, not merely legal status. If God wills our holiness, He must provide means to accomplish it.

3. The Holy Spirit is present

The Holy Spirit dwells in believers for the purpose of transformation (2 Corinthians 3:18), not merely positional standing.

If Spirit dwells fully, He can accomplish full sanctification.

How entire sanctification works:

Stage 1: Initial sanctification (regeneration)

At conversion:

Justified (legal status changed)
Regenerated (spiritual life imparted)
Adopted (relationship established)
Partially sanctified (cleansed from sin's guilt, begin growing)

But: Sin nature (bent toward self, rebellion against God) remains, though weakened.

Experience: New life, victory over many sins, but struggle with remaining selfishness, pride, impure motives.

Stage 2: Progressive sanctification (ongoing)

Between conversion and entire sanctification:

Growth in grace
Victory over sins
Increasing love for God
Growing awareness of remaining sin nature

This can be short or long period depending on individual.

Stage 3: Entire sanctification (crisis)

At a definite moment (crisis experience):

Complete consecration (surrender all to God)
Full cleansing (sin nature removed)
Spirit's fullness (complete possession by Holy Spirit)
Perfect love (loving God/neighbor fully)

How received:

Recognize need (awareness of remaining sin nature)
Believe promise (God will sanctify completely)
Consecrate fully (surrender everything to God)
Receive by faith (trust God to do it now)

Stage 4: Continued growth (process)

After entire sanctification:

Not stagnation (plenty of room for growth)
Not perfection in knowledge, judgment, performance
But growth in love, wisdom, grace
Continued dependence on grace

What entire sanctification provides:

1. Freedom from willful sin

Not: Never making mistakes, errors in judgment, unintentional wrongs

But: Freedom from deliberate disobedience, known sin, willful rebellion

Dunning: "The entirely sanctified can still sin (1 John 1:8—'If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves'), but they need not and should not sin (1 John 2:1—'I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin')."

2. Purity of intention

Not: Perfect execution of every action

But: Pure motives—actions spring from love for God, not selfishness, pride, or mixed motives

3. Perfect love

Not: Love that's quantitatively equal to God's

But: Love that's qualitatively similar—undivided devotion, whole-hearted commitment

Loving God with all heart, soul, mind, strength (Matthew 22:37)

4. Victory over inward sin

Not: Freedom from temptation (even Jesus was tempted)

But: Freedom from internal inclination toward sin—temptation is external, not arising from corrupt nature

Common objections answered:

Objection 1: "Nobody's perfect"

Answer: Depends on definition of perfection. If perfection = sinless performance, no one's perfect. If perfection = perfect love, Scripture commands and promises it.

Objection 2: "This is works-righteousness"

Answer: Entire sanctification is entirely of grace. We don't achieve it by effort; we receive it by faith, just like justification.

Objection 3: "This creates spiritual elitism"

Answer: Only if misunderstood. Entirely sanctified believers are more aware of dependence on grace, not less. True holiness produces humility.

Objection 4: "I've seen people claim this and fall"

Answer: Some claim entire sanctification without experiencing it; others experience it then fall through neglect. But this doesn't disprove the doctrine any more than backslidden Christians disprove justification.

Objection 5: "This is impossible"

Answer: With humans, impossible. With God, all things are possible (Matthew 19:26). It's not human achievement but divine provision.

The pastoral significance:

1. Provides hope

Christians aren't doomed to perpetual defeat. Victory over sin is possible.

2. Explains biblical commands

"Be holy as I am holy" (1 Peter 1:16) isn't cruel impossibility but genuine expectation with divine provision.

3. Motivates consecration

Knowing complete deliverance is available motivates full surrender.

4. Glorifies Christ

If atonement is sufficient for complete salvation, Christ receives full glory.

For Living Text readers: Entire sanctification is essential to our framework:

Participatory salvation: Union with Christ includes progressive transformation culminating in entire sanctification—not merely positional holiness but actual holiness

Image-bearing: Growing into Christ's image (Romans 8:29) reaches fulfillment in entire sanctification—perfect love reflecting God's holy love

Sacred space: Believers as living temples become wholly set apart for God's dwelling—entire sanctification as complete consecration

Mission: Entirely sanctified believers live as compelling witnesses—holiness attracts rather than repels when properly manifested

Eschatological hope: Entire sanctification anticipates glorification—foretaste of complete holiness in new creation

5. Relational Theology: Moving Beyond Juridical Categories

Dunning consistently emphasizes relational rather than merely juridical (legal) categories for understanding salvation.

The traditional Reformed emphasis:

Juridical (legal) framework dominates:

Sin: Breaking God's law (legal transgression)

Guilt: Legal liability deserving punishment

Justification: Legal declaration of righteousness (courtroom verdict)

Sanctification: Conformity to legal standards

Adoption: Legal standing as sons (inheritance rights)

Glorification: Final legal vindication

The strength: Emphasizes objective basis for salvation (Christ's work), not subjective feelings

The limitation: Can reduce salvation to impersonal legal transaction rather than personal relationship

The Wesleyan emphasis:

Relational framework is primary:

Sin: Broken relationship with God (alienation, estrangement)

Guilt: Awareness of having offended loving Father

Justification: Reconciliation to God (relationship restored)

Sanctification: Growing intimacy with God (relationship deepened)

Adoption: Familial relationship established (children in Father's house)

Glorification: Perfect fellowship with God (relationship consummated)

Dunning's integration:

Not: Abandoning juridical categories (Scripture uses legal language)

But: Subordinating juridical to relational (legal language serves relational purpose)

Legal language describes means by which relationship is restored; relationship is the goal.

How this works in key doctrines:

1. Atonement

Juridical emphasis: Christ pays legal penalty for sin (penal substitution)

Relational emphasis: Christ removes barrier to relationship (reconciliation)

Dunning's integration:

Penal substitution is true (Christ bore sin's penalty)
But: Penalty's purpose is restoring relationship, not merely satisfying legal requirement
God's "wrath" is personal response to sin destroying relationship, not impersonal legal requirement

2. Justification

Juridical emphasis: Legal declaration of righteousness (verdict of "not guilty")

Relational emphasis: Acceptance into relationship (welcomed as righteous)

Dunning's integration:

Justification includes legal verdict
But: Verdict's purpose is enabling relationship—God declares righteous so that fellowship can be restored
Justification is for relationship, not end in itself

3. Sanctification

Juridical emphasis: Progressive conformity to moral law

Relational emphasis: Growing intimacy with God producing Christ-likeness

Dunning's integration:

Sanctification includes moral transformation
But: Transformation flows from relationship—we become like those we spend time with
Holiness is relational (loving God/neighbor) before moral (keeping rules)

4. Assurance

Juridical emphasis: Based on objective verdict (God's promise)

Relational emphasis: Based on Spirit's witness (Romans 8:16—"The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God")

Dunning's integration:

Objective basis important (God's faithfulness)
But: Subjective confirmation expected (experiential assurance through relationship)
We know we're God's children by both promise and experience

Biblical support for relational emphasis:

Reconciliation language: 2 Corinthians 5:18-20—God reconciling world to Himself, ministry of reconciliation

Father-child language: Romans 8:15—"Abba, Father"; Galatians 4:6—crying "Abba! Father!"

Friendship language: John 15:15—"I have called you friends"

Marriage language: Ephesians 5:25-32—Christ and church as bridegroom and bride

Temple language: 1 Corinthians 6:19—body as temple of Holy Spirit (presence, not merely legal standing)

Why relational emphasis matters:

1. More biblical

While Scripture uses legal language, relationship is clearly the goal:

Paradise lost = relationship broken (Genesis 3)
Redemption = relationship restored (Revelation 21:3—"God's dwelling place is with humanity")

2. More pastoral

People relate to personal relationship more than legal standing. "God loves you and wants relationship" resonates more than "God declares you legally righteous."

3. More missional

Non-Christians seek relationship, not legal verdict. Presenting gospel as invitation to relationship (rather than escape from legal penalty) is often more effective.

4. More transformative

Legal standing can be passive (verdict pronounced, nothing required of me).

Personal relationship is active (requires engagement, communication, growth).

5. More Wesleyan

Wesley emphasized experiential religion—knowing God personally, not merely knowing about God.

The balance:

Dunning doesn't reject juridical categories but contextualizes them:

Legal language is true and important:

Christ did pay sin's penalty
Justification is real verdict
Objective basis for salvation essential

But legal language serves relational purpose:

Penalty paid so that relationship can be restored
Verdict pronounced so that fellowship can occur
Objective basis enables subjective experience

Dunning: "The juridical is the means; the relational is the goal. God doesn't save us merely to declare us righteous but to have us as His children. The legal work of atonement makes possible the relational reality of reconciliation."

For Living Text readers: This relational emphasis pervades our framework:

Sacred space: Fundamentally about relationship (God dwelling with people), not merely cultic purity

Covenant kinship: Explicitly relational (Father-children, family bonds), not merely legal contract

Christus Victor: Victory enables relationship (Powers defeated so God can dwell with us), not merely accomplishes legal transaction

Participatory salvation: Emphasizes union with Christ (relationship), not merely forensic declaration (legal status)

Sanctification: Growing into Christ's likeness through relationship with Him, not merely conforming to external standard

6. Integration with Contemporary Philosophy

Dunning uniquely engages process theology and personalism to articulate Wesleyan theology in contemporary categories.

What is process theology?

Key figures: Alfred North Whitehead, Charles Hartshorne, John Cobb

Core claims:

Reality is process (becoming) not substance (static being)
God is affected by and responsive to world
God is dipolar: primordial (eternal, unchanging) and consequent (temporal, changing)
Divine power is persuasive, not coercive

Traditional theology's concern: Process theology seems to:

Deny God's independence (makes God dependent on world)
Deny God's immutability (God changes)
Deny God's omnipotence (God can't control everything)

Dunning's appropriation:

Rejects: Full process theology (denies God's independence, adequate omnipotence)

Appreciates: Process insights that align with Wesleyan themes:

1. God is relational

Process insight: God genuinely relates to world (affected by it, responsive to it)

Wesleyan affirmation: God is holy love—inherently relational, not isolated monad

Dunning: "While we reject process theology's claim that God needs creation, we affirm that God freely choosesrelationship with creation. God is genuinely responsive—prayers matter, human choices affect God."

2. God's power is persuasive

Process insight: Divine power works through persuasion (luring, inviting), not coercion (forcing)

Wesleyan affirmation: Grace is resistible—God doesn't coerce but draws, invites, enables

Dunning: "Wesleyan theology agrees that God's saving power is persuasive not coercive. This isn't weakness but respect for freedom that love requires."

3. Reality is dynamic

Process insight: Everything is in process of becoming, not static

Wesleyan affirmation: Sanctification is progressive—Christians grow, change, develop

Dunning: "Wesleyan emphasis on growth in grace aligns with process understanding of reality as dynamic. We're not static souls but persons in process of becoming Christ-like."

What is personalism?

Key figures: Borden Parker Bowne, Edgar Brightman, Albert Knudson

Core claims:

Persons are fundamental reality
God is personal (not impersonal force or abstract principle)
Reality is relational (persons in relationship)
Freedom is essential to personhood

Dunning's appropriation:

1. Personal categories are primary

Personalism: Understanding reality requires personal categories (will, love, purpose), not merely impersonal ones (cause, effect, mechanism)

Wesleyan affirmation: Salvation is personal relationship, not mechanical transaction

Dunning: "Personalism provides philosophical framework for Wesleyan relational theology. God is personal and creates persons for relationship."

2. Freedom is essential

Personalism: Genuine personhood requires libertarian freedom

Wesleyan affirmation: Image of God includes freedom; love requires freedom

Dunning: "Personalist philosophy validates Wesleyan insistence on real freedom. Persons aren't determined mechanisms but free agents capable of genuine choice."

3. Love is central

Personalism: Highest value is personal love

Wesleyan affirmation: God is love; Christian perfection is perfect love

Dunning: "Personalist ethics centers on love—perfectly aligning with Wesleyan ethics of holy love."

Why engage philosophy?

1. Demonstrates relevance

Shows Wesleyan theology addresses contemporary questions, not merely repeats 18th-century formulations.

2. Provides conceptual tools

Process and personalist categories help articulate Wesleyan insights in modern language.

3. Engages academic discourse

Enables dialogue with broader theological and philosophical community.

4. Defends against caricature

Shows Wesleyan theology is philosophically sophisticated, not naive or simplistic.

The cautions:

Dunning is clear:

Philosophy is servant, not master—Scripture remains norm
Appropriation is selective—take helpful insights, reject incompatible claims
Integration is critical—don't baptize entire philosophical system

Example: Dunning appropriates process insight that God is responsive while rejecting process claim that God is dependent on world.

For Living Text readers: We can similarly engage contemporary thought:

Science: Evolutionary creation (God working through process), quantum indeterminacy (room for freedom), neuroscience (embodied souls)

Philosophy: Virtue ethics (character formation), narrative identity (story-shaped selves), phenomenology (embodied experience)

Cultural studies: Honor-shame cultures (covenant faithfulness), collectivism (corporate identity), postmodernity (critique of individualism)

The key: Selective appropriation—take insights that illuminate Scripture, reject claims that contradict it.

How Grace, Faith, and Holiness Completes the Living Text Framework

Dunning provides systematic-theological foundation for our biblical-theological framework:

1. Organizing Principle

What we need: Unifying theme connecting all doctrines

What Dunning provides: Grace as organizing principle of entire systematic theology

Together: Both biblical theology (sacred space, covenant) and systematic theology (grace) organized thematically

2. God's Nature

What we affirm: God as loving, relational, present

What Dunning demonstrates: Holy love as God's essence—philosophical and theological grounding

Together: Confidence that relational theology isn't sentimentality but rigorous doctrine of God

3. Prevenient Grace

What we teach: Universal atonement, resistible grace, human responsibility

What Dunning explains: How prevenient grace solves total depravity problem without Calvinism

Together: Clear articulation of how grace enables freedom without determining it

4. Sanctification

What we emphasize: Participatory salvation, transformation, growing in holiness

What Dunning develops: Entire sanctification as Wesleyan distinctive—complete deliverance possible

Together: Not merely positional but actual holiness as biblical expectation

5. Relational Categories

What we stress: Covenant kinship, sacred space as dwelling, union with Christ

What Dunning provides: Philosophical and theological framework for relational theology

Together: Confidence that relational emphasis is systematically sound, not just rhetorically appealing

6. Philosophical Engagement

What we desire: Relevance to contemporary questions

What Dunning models: Critical appropriation of philosophy in service of theology

Together: Permission to engage modern thought without compromising biblical fidelity

Weaknesses and Points of Clarification

1. Dense Academic Style

Observation: While accessible compared to many systematics, Dunning's writing is still academic and requires theological literacy.

Challenges:

Assumes familiarity with theological vocabulary
Engages philosophical debates not all readers follow
Dense paragraphs with complex argumentation

Response: This is seminary-level systematic theology, not popular work. For more accessible introduction to Wesleyan theology, supplement with:

Steve Harper's The Way to Heaven
Kenneth Collins's The Theology of John Wesley
Randy Maddox's Responsible Grace

2. Limited Biblical Exegesis

Observation: As systematic theology, focuses on doctrinal synthesis more than detailed exegesis.

What's needed:

Verse-by-verse commentary on key texts
Extended biblical-theological development
Inductive movement from text to doctrine

Response: Systematic theology's nature is synthesis rather than exegesis. For biblical foundations, supplement with:

Robert Picirilli's Grace, Faith, Free Will (exegetical defense of Arminianism)
Ben Witherington's The Problem with Evangelical Theology (Wesleyan biblical theology)
I. Howard Marshall's biblical commentaries (Wesleyan exegesis)

3. Assumes Holiness Movement Context

Observation: Dunning writes primarily for Nazarene and Holiness traditions, assuming readers understand that context.

Examples:

Assumes familiarity with holiness terminology (entire sanctification, second blessing, Christian perfection)
Engages intra-Holiness debates (relationship to Pentecostalism, optimal vs. maximum view of perfection)
Uses examples from Nazarene history

Response: Readers outside Holiness tradition may need introductory orientation to this context. Supplement with historical background:

Melvin Dieter's The Holiness Revival of the Nineteenth Century
Donald Dayton's Theological Roots of Pentecostalism

4. Limited Ecclesiology

Observation: Ecclesiology (doctrine of church) receives less development than other areas.

What could be expanded:

Sacramental theology (baptism, Lord's Supper)
Church polity and governance
Relationship between local church and universal church
Liturgy and worship

Response: Dunning focuses on soteriological distinctives of Wesleyan tradition. For ecclesiology, supplement with:

Geoffrey Wainwright's Methodists in Dialogue
Randy Maddox and Jason Vickers's The Cambridge Companion to John Wesley

5. Engagement with Calvinism Could Be Deeper

Observation: While Dunning presents Wesleyan alternative, he could engage strongest Calvinist arguments more extensively.

What's needed:

More detailed interaction with Reformed exegesis
Engagement with contemporary Calvinist systematic theologies
Response to sophisticated compatibilist philosophy

Response: For this level of engagement, supplement with:

Roger Olson's Against Calvinism (detailed critique)
Robert Picirilli's Grace, Faith, Free Will (exegetical engagement)

Key Quotes Worth Memorizing

"Grace is not merely an attribute of God or a benefit He bestows. Grace is God's own self-giving—holy love in action toward creation. To speak of grace is to speak of who God is in relation to us."

"God is holy love—not sometimes holy and sometimes loving, not holy and loving as separate attributes, but holy love as single reality. Holiness without love is sterile purity; love without holiness is sentimental permissiveness. In God, holiness and love are perfectly one."

"Prevenient grace is the Wesleyan solution to total depravity. We affirm humans are as helpless as Calvinists claim, but God gives to all people grace sufficient to respond. Grace enables without coercing—this is love's way."

"Entire sanctification is not sinless perfection but perfect love. It's not freedom from all mistakes but freedom from willful sin. It's not angelic existence but Christ-like character. It's purity of intention, wholeness of devotion, and fullness of love."

"Salvation is fundamentally relational, not merely juridical. Legal categories (justification, atonement) are real and important, but they serve relational purpose—God removing barriers to fellowship, restoring relationship broken by sin."

"Christian perfection is possible not because of human capability but because of divine grace. Christ's atonement is sufficient for complete salvation—both guilt removed and power broken. To deny possibility of holy living is to doubt adequacy of Christ's work."

"Wesleyan theology is grace-centered from beginning to end: creation by grace, providence by grace, salvation by grace, sanctification by grace, glorification by grace. Grace isn't one doctrine among others—it's the unifying theme of all Christian theology."

"God's responsiveness to human prayer and action doesn't diminish His sovereignty but expresses His love. A God who is genuinely affected by creation, who responds to prayer, who grieves over sin—this is more glorious than an impassible unmoved mover."

Who Should Read This Book?

Essential Reading For:

Seminary students studying systematic theology
Pastors in Wesleyan, Nazarene, Methodist, Free Methodist, or Holiness traditions
Theologians wanting comprehensive Wesleyan systematic theology
Anyone committed to Wesleyan theology wanting systematic foundation
Living Text readers wanting systematic-theological grounding for our biblical theology

Also Valuable For:

Christians from other traditions wanting to understand Wesleyan theology
Those exploring entire sanctification/Christian perfection
Scholars researching Arminian theology
Anyone interested in theological integration with contemporary philosophy

Less Suitable For:

Complete beginners without theological vocabulary
Those wanting devotional or practical material
Readers preferring biblical theology over systematic theology
People uninterested in holiness theology or entire sanctification

Final Verdict: Why The Living Text Recommends This Book

Grace, Faith, and Holiness is the most important systematic theology for understanding Wesleyan-Holiness tradition. Dunning demonstrates that:

Grace is the unifying principle of all Christian theology
God's nature as holy love shapes every doctrine
Prevenient grace solves total depravity without Calvinism
Entire sanctification is biblically grounded and experientially real
Relational categories illuminate juridical language
Wesleyan theology engages contemporary philosophy productively

After working through Dunning, you'll:

Understand how Wesleyan doctrines relate systematically
See grace as unifying theme from creation to consummation
Grasp prevenient grace's crucial role
Appreciate entire sanctification's biblical basis
Think relationally about salvation
Engage contemporary thought critically

This book will transform:

How you understand theology (grace-centered, relationally focused)
How you see God (holy love, genuinely responsive)
How you grasp salvation (participatory, transformative)
How you pursue holiness (possible through grace, not human effort)
How you do theology (systematically coherent, philosophically engaged)

Grace, Faith, and Holiness provides the systematic-theological backbone for Living Text's biblical theology. While we emphasize narrative and themes, Dunning shows how these work out systematically—how doctrines relate, how principles shape everything, how Wesleyan theology is comprehensive alternative to other systems.

Highest recommendation for serious students of Wesleyan theology.

Rating: ★★★★★ (5/5)

Thoughtful Questions to Consider

Dunning makes grace the organizing principle of all theology. Does this work? Can creation, providence, atonement, sanctification, and eschatology all be understood through grace? Or does this impose artificial unity on diverse doctrines?
If God's nature is holy love (not holiness and love as separate attributes), how does this change your understanding of God's relationship to sinners? Does holy love explain the cross better than traditional models emphasizing God's wrath needing satisfaction?
Prevenient grace claims to solve total depravity without Calvinism by giving universal enabling grace that can be resisted. Is this coherent? If grace truly enables response, why doesn't everyone respond? Does resistibility make grace weak?
Entire sanctification (Christian perfection) seems either impossible or trivial depending on definition. Is "perfect love" meaningful if it doesn't include sinless performance? Can we honestly claim freedom from willful sin?
Dunning emphasizes relational over juridical categories—relationship more foundational than legal standing. Does this adequately address sin's objective guilt? Or does relationalism risk sentimentalizing sin and downplaying justice?