The Holy Spirit: Medieval Roman Catholic and Reformation Traditions

by Stanley M. Burgess

Burgess examines medieval Roman Catholic and Reformation attitudes toward the Holy Spirit beginning with the writings of medieval Catholic theologians from Gregory the Great to Aquinas. Subsequent sections describe the contributions of influential women; “fringe” figures; magisterial reformers Luther, Zwingli, and Calvin; leading Catholic reformers such as Ignatius of Loyola; the “radical” reformers Thomas Muntzer and Menno Simons, and others. The Holy Medieval Roman Catholic and Reformation Traditions (Sixth-Sixteenth Centuries) is the third in a series of three volumes devoted to the history of Christian pneumatology.

252 pages, Paperback

First published May 1, 1994

Reviews

[Jeremy Garber · Rating 3 out of 5]

Stanley Burgess, former distinguished professor of Christian history at Regent University in Virginia Beach, Virginia, provides an easily accessible survey of important theologians of the Holy Spirit from the 6th through 16th centuries. In summaries of two to five pages, Burgess provides pertinent biographical information, major works, and a brief but detailed survey of each author’s pneumatological thought. In the medieval period, he includes writers from the early middle ages such as the Venerable Bede; Scholastics such as Aquinas and Anselm; Catholic women such as Hildegard von Bingen; and even radicals like Joachim of Fiore and the Cathars. Reformation thinkers include mainline reformers like Luther and Calvin and the radical reformers Thomas Müntzer and Menno Simons (an appealing inclusion to an Anabaptist theologian such as myself). An excellent introductory primer for students of religion and theology, and a refresher for more sophisticated scholars brushing up before that lecture period.