Teresa of Avila, the Holy Spirit, and the Place of Salvation

Neither the Spirit nor salvation are easily understood, but they come together in the life and works of Teresa of Avila. Led by the Spirit, she shows both humanity and the church what salvation looks like. The saints testify in their flesh to the mystery of an encounter in history between the gift of God's own self and a welcoming human will. They may speak clumsily at times, limited by their context and the inherent fallibility of any language that tries to articulate the inexpressible, but it remains true that they offer important insights that ought to be received, both by the church and by theology.This theological reflection sits at the intersection of God's action in the Spirit and a salvation welcomed and made fruitful. What is salvation? What role does the Spirit play in God's saving work? At the heart of the singular experience of Saint Teresa of Avila, this question played out long before we could ask it today.