Relief-Satisfaction Doctrine
The doctrine that the only relief and supreme enjoyment God receives from creatures is their love — Christ’s outpouring of divine love to the creature constitutes a gift whose bilateral completion requires a creaturely return (John 4:34: Christ’s food is doing the Father’s will; Song of Songs 2:14: the Beloved delights in the voice of the soul; Isaiah 53:11: the Servant sees the fruit of his suffering and is satisfied; Zephaniah 3:17: God exults over the soul with rejoicing; Jeremiah 31:3: drawing with everlasting love), so that creaturely love-return is the necessary bilateral completion of the divine love-economy rather than an optional ornament. (E)
Anchors: Zephaniah 3:17; Song of Songs 2:14; John 4:34; Isaiah 53:11; Jeremiah 31:3 — Appearances: 80. Full Registry entry.