Trinity: Insights from the Mystics

by Anne Hunt

Overview

Though trinitarian theology has enjoyed a resurgence of interest in the last few years, there is a lamentable lacuna in much of this study, a gap between intellectual rigor and concrete experience. While the contributions of Augustine of Hippo and Thomas Aquinas are important to any foundational study of the Trinity, a strictly philosophical and scholastic approach has proved to be both contentious and problematic. As a result, many are left wanting for more meaningful expressions of this profound mystery. Anne Hunt fills this lacuna and offers a fresh avenue of reflection. She explores the distinctly trinitarian insights of a number of Christian mystics 'Hildegard of Bingen and Meister Eckhart, Bonaventure and Elizabeth of the Trinity, Teresa of Avila and John of the Cross, William of St. Thierry and Julian of Norwich. Readers will find that the mystery of the divine life and love that was so tangibly given and so palpably experienced by these mystics is now offered to us through them.

Anne Hunt is faculty dean of theology and philosophy at Australian Catholic University. She is currently vice president of the Australian Catholic Theological Association. She is author of Trinity: Nexus of the Mysteries of Christian Faith, What Are They Saying About the Trinity? and The Trinity and the Paschal Mystery.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780814656921
Publisher:	Liturgical Press
Publication date:	04/01/2010
Pages:	208
Sales rank:	881,010
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.70(d)

About the Author

Anne Hunt is faculty dean of theology and philosophy at Australian Catholic University. She is currently vice president of the Australian Catholic Theological Association. She is author of Trinity: Nexus of the Mysteries of Christian Faith, What Are They Saying About the Trinity?and The Trinity and the Paschal Mystery.

Table of Contents

Introduction vii

Chapter 1 William of St. Thierry (ca. 1080-1148) 1

Chapter 2 Hildegard of Bingen (1098-1179) 23

Chapter 3 Bonaventure (ca. 1217-1274) 48

Chapter 4 Meister Eckhart (ca. 1260-1328) 73

Chapter 5 Julian of Norwich (1342/3-ca. 1416) 98

Chapter 6 Teresa of Avila (1515-1582) 122

Chapter 7 John of the Cross (1542-1591) 144

Chapter 8 Elizabeth of the Trinity (1880-1906) 168

Conclusion l82

Index of Names 188

Editorial Reviews

This new book from Anne Hunt is one that we have long needed, not only in theology, but also in the wider Christian community. An obvious gap in the current renewal of the theology of the Trinity has been that we have yet to retrieve the rich insights of the Christian mystics. Anne Hunt brings eight great mystical writers to life, and leads us into a deep appreciation of their experience and understanding of the triune God. This is a beautiful book, well-structured, well-written, abounding in insights, and accessible, a book that draws the reader to wonder and to prayer.
Denis Edwards
Professor of Theology
Flinders University, Australia
Author of Breath of Life: A Theology of the Creator Spirit


With unusual insight and clarity, Anne Hunt has shown how central to Christian life the experience and worship of the Trinity should be by appropriating for contemporary spirituality and theology the extraordinary Trinitarian consciousness of eight mystical titans.
Harvey D. Egan, SJ
Professor of Systematic and Mystical Theology
Boston College


A feature of post-conciliar theology has been the recovery of the centrality of the Blessed Trinity both for the daily life of believers and for theology. A major contributor to this development is the eminent Australian theologian, Anne Hunt. In books such as Trinity (2005) Professor Hunt communicates the riches of contemporary Trinitarian theology, while in a volume such as The Trinity and the Paschal Mystery (1997) she connects the Trinity and the Cross, communicating the thought of the principal authors in the field and then proposing further possible developments. Now in this new volume she presents the experience of the Blessed Trinity on the part of eight mystics of the second millennium – William of St. Thierry, Hildegard of Bingen, St. Bonaventure, Meister Eckhart, St. John of the Cross, St. Teresa of Avila, Julian of Norwich and Blessed Elizabeth of Dijon. Her goal is 'to probe through their witness to the mystery of the Trinity,' convinced that they offer 'rich seams of data

From the Publisher