The Holy Trinity In Literature

It would be a large task to provide a summary of all teaching on the Holy Spirit in the period from Anselm of Canterbury to Peter Lombard. It has therefore been necessary to set boundaries for the subject to be studied in order to allow suitable depth of study in the given area whilst retaining a topic of profundity as a contribution to thought on both the Holy Spirit and the twelfth century. Firstly, it is the initial concentration of the authors being studied, whose works begin with the Trinity, and the Spirit's position and relations within the godhead, before they proceed to examine and reflect on His mission in the world. The questions raised by Augustine's terminology in the new climate of discussion, and by the debate with the Greeks over the processional model, caused a greater focus on the issue of the intra trinitarian relations of the Holy Spirit than has been the case for most periods in history. This decision to focus on the immanent has meant that some major twelfth-century writers, such as Rupert of Deutz and Hildegard of Bingen, have been excluded from the study because of their writings' devotion to the economy of the Spirit. The major writers begin with Anselm of Canterbury and Anselm of Havelberg. Both of these were heavily involved in the dispute with the Greeks over the procession of the Holy Spirit: Anselm of Canterbury at the Council of Bari in 1096, and Anselm of Havelberg in discussion with Archbishop Nicetas in 1136. In addition, Anselm of Canterbury is significant as the father of scholasticism, seeking to use reason in addition to faith to search out the Trinity without referring to scripture.