Abstract

While the notion of gift has received much scholarly attention in recent philosophical discussion, theology appears as being too strongly dependent on philosophy by being oblivious of its own resources within the rich theological tradition concerning the Trinitarian community of loving gift exchange. After considering the possibility of a transition from a faith-informed phenomenology to phenomenologically inspired theology, the essay examines two early tests cases, Hilary of Poitiers and Augustine of Hippo, where the relationship these authors saw between gift and love within the life of the economic and the immanent Trinity can be archeologically traced.