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28-05-2008
Holy Power, Holy Presence: Rediscovering Medieval Metaphors for the Holy Spirit
by Elizabeth A. Dreyer
Mahwah, NJ: Paulist Press, 2007
352 pp, Paperback
ISBN: 978-0-8091-4485-3
About this Book Elizabeth Dreyer takes a look back to Medieval metaphors and images used to describe the Holy Spirit. She has chosen six authors from the 4th to the 14th century using their pastoral, spiritual works. Those authors are: Augustine, Hildegard of Bingen, Bernard of Clairvaux, Bonaventure, Catherine of Siena and Julian of Norwich. Criticism has frequently been leveled at western theology that the Holy Spirit has been neglected in the history of the Christian tradition. In response to that criticism, the author, examining genres rarely studied such as spiritual treatises, letters, sermons, and prayers, documents the creative use of metaphors from the Bible and everyday life that were used to describe the Holy Spirit. The book highlights the centrality of the doctrine of the Trinity and the intimate relationship among the three persons.
The author reviews recent developments in the theology of the Holy Spirit and, with questions for reflection in each chapter, helps readers explore ways in which this material might be used today by individuals, parish groups, sacramental preparation, preaching, the classroom and theology. Elizabeth Dreyer is professor of religious studies at Fairfield University.
About the Author The author of several books, Dreyer received in 2004 the St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Medal, awarded to Catholic women theologians for contributions to theology in the USA.
http://www.paulistpress.com/bookView.cgi?isbn=978-0-8091-4485-3 |
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