Visio Trinitatis

Augustine’s De Trinitate between longing and interruption

Abstract

The article explores the following question: where, in what locus, is it possible for us here today to meet God the Trinity who has made himself eschatologically available to humanity in Jesus Christ? Augustine’s De Trinitate is of particular interest in this regard. Starting from the longing (desiderium) to see with the eyes of the soul the mystery of the Trinity believed in by faith, it has at its heart the systematic development of arguments (inventio) within the locus where this vision can come about. In seeking to illustrate the full meaning of such an understanding, the article is articulated in three moments: 1) the first offers the immediate context of the theme of the locus Trinitatis treated by Augustine in Book VIII of the De Trinitate and examines how the preceding books lead up to it; 2) the second concentrates upon the interpretation of the visio Trinitatis in Book VIII; and 3) the third attempts to say something about the effects of this understanding upon the interpretation of Augustine’s works and the usefulness of their being revisited.