Angling the Trinity from the Margin of Power: Vernacular Trinitarian Theology in Hadewijch of Brabant and Feminist Theology

Abstract

In the wake of discourses in Trinitarian Theology, one can see that the debates still centre around male theologians, past and present. This study explores a theological voice from the margins of power through the thought of the thirteenth-century Beguine mystic Hadewijch of Brabant. I contend that Hadewijch can be seen on par with those great male theologians. Through her reading of William of St. Thierry and her fluency in Latin, she attained great knowledge of scripture and of the doctors of the church, and, as such, she can be seen as one of the creative theologians of her time. I will focus on her view of the Trinity and how such a view was deemed dangerous by those at the centre of power. Finally, I will show aspects of her Trinitarian view which can be appreciated by theologians of today.

Dinamika Budaya Belom Bahadat: Studi Kasus Masyarakat Dayak Di Palangka Raya Dalam Perspektif Max Weber Dan Talcott Parson

“…Tindakan ini merupakan manifestasi dari adanya hubungan baik antara hubungan manusia dengan Tuhan, hubungan manusia dengan manusia lainnya dan hubungan manusia dengan alam lingkungan, yang menunjukkan bahwa filosofi non-religius masih memiliki makna yang sangat luas, mendalam dalam kaitannya dengan berbagai aspek kehidupan. Keempat, tindakan afektiva/emosional (affectual action), yaitu tipe tindakan masyarakat Dayak mematuhi aturan belom bahadat yang mengatur masyarakat Dayak dalam berperilaku yang menunjukkan Tindakan afektiva, yaitu supaya memperoleh keselamatan dan ketenangan, serta terhindar dari bahaya (Bove, 2021;Moret, 2016;Sasongko, 2018). Tindakan ini mengungkapkan perasaan tanpa refleksi.…”

Hadewijch: Mystic or theologian?

“…Ironically, it is mysticism that warns against the danger of paying too much attention to experience and which opts for metaphors that 'speak away' in an apophatic manner. Sasongko (2018) focuses on Hadewijch's Trinitarian thought: 'Hadewijch believed that the Incarnate One and the Spirit of Life proceeds from the Creator God, echoing the Trinitarian thought of the Capadocian Fathers' (Sasongko 2018:200). Because Hadewijch wrote in the vernacular, her choice of words and phrases was not derived from the authority of the church 'but from the language of laypeople' (Sasongko 2018:200); from the margins of power, her vernacular was the experience of a devout woman of her society (Sasongko 2018:203).…”