The Trinity: Insights from the Mystics

by Anne Hunt

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 Nexus of the Mysteries of Christian Faith, What Are They Saying About the Trinity? and The Trinity and the Paschal Mystery.

204 pages, Kindle Edition

First published April 1, 2010

Reviews

[James · Rating 4 out of 5]

In the sort of fundy-evangelical setting I grew up in, mystics were regarded suspicion for their supposed wooly minded musings on private devotion; however mystics in the Christian tradition were some first rate theologians. In this survey, Angela Hunt examines the Trinitarian thought of eight mystics,— all Western, all Catholic,— four of them men and four women. They range from the twelfth to the twentienth century, and with the possible exception of Miester Eckhart, all were theologically orthodox.

William of Thierry builds on Augustine's psychological model of the trinity (thoughts, heart, volition) and examines how our tripartite inner life participates in the triune God. Hildergaard of Bingen vividly depicts the music of the Triune God. Bonaventure examines the Trinity through the a Christocentric (and Neo Platonic lens). Miester Eckhart images unity in God's inner life, emphasizing the oneness of God. Julian of Norwich unfolds the trinity as a revelation of Divine Love (with Jesus as our mother). Teresa of Avila and John of the Cross show how the mystic's path toward union brings the soul into the Divine life of the Trinity. Elisabeth of the Trinity is the apostle of the Divine Trinity.

Hunts reflections treat one theme in each of these thinkers, albeit a big one (the Trinity). And this is a short book. But often these thinkers are not engaged with, at any depth by contemporary Trinitarian theologians. Some good stuff here, I just wish Hunt broadened her survey to include the Trinitarian mysticism of the Eastern church.