ABSTRACT
John Donne never stopped thinking of the doctrine of the Trinity as the heart of the Christian faith. Donne's Satan demonstrates an excellent grasp of the essentials of orthodox trinitarian doctrine. Although the Trinity now sits firmly at the top of the theological agenda, it was far from being a commonplace homiletic theme in Donne's time. The orthodoxy/heterodoxy dichotomy is a blunt instrument for the examination of a theologian's or preacher's output at the best of times but it is particularly inadequate for examining trinitarian theology. Such caution as Donne does display in his approach to the divine triplicity stemmed from his concern about which aspects of it are legitimate areas of investigation from a strictly theological perspective. Donne's description of the very specific nature of the work of the Holy Spirit shows how the risk identified by Calvin may be defused.
