A Key To Balthasar

Hans Urs von Balthasar is widely recognized as perhaps the greatest Catholic theologian of the twentieth century. No writer has better revealed the spiritual greatness of the revelation to which the art of the Church and the historic liturgies bear witness. Yet students and non-specialist readers often find Balthasar daunting and difficult. A Key to Balthasar is the ideal introduction to his work. It unlocks the treasure of his theology by focusing on the beautiful, the good, and the true. These are the three qualities of being around which his great trilogy - The Glory of the Lord; Theo-drama and Theo-logic - revolves. Though brief, it captures the essence of what Balthasar wished to say.

This collection of essays, gathered under the auspices of Communio editors, represents the most wide-ranging study of the life and work of Balthasar. The twenty contributors include highly respected theologians, philosophers and bishops from around the world such as Henri Cardinal de Lubac, S.J., Walter Kasper, Louis Dupre, Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger (now Pope Benedict XVI), and Pope John Paul II. "...meeting Balthasar was for me the beginning of a lifelong friendship I can only be thankful for. Never again have I found anyone with such a comprehensive theological and humanistic education as Balthasar and de Lubac, and I cannot even begin to say how much I owe to my encounter with them." - Joseph Ratzinger (Pope Benedict XVI)

Examines the whole range of von Balthasar's theology and provides a clear introduction to his work.

In Balthasar: A Guide for the Perplexed, Rodney Howsare gives the reader a handle on these perplexing aspects of Balthasar's thought. In the first chapter he introduces the reader to the man and his unique method of doing theology. He then moves on to explaining the basic structure and nature of Balthasar's trilogy: the aesthetics, dramatics, and logic. He then deals with various theological topics: Jesus Christ, The Trinity, The Drama of Redemption, The Church and Mary, and The Last Things. A final chapter summarizes Balthasar's place in modern theology and suggests further readings for the interested reader.

The enormously prolific Swiss Roman Catholic theologian Hans Urs von Balthasar (1905-1988) was marginalized during much of his life, but his reputation over time has only continued to grow. He was said to be the favorite theologian of John Paul II and is held in high esteem by Benedict XVI. It is not uncommon to hear him referred to as the great Catholic theologian of the twentieth century. In Balthasar: A (Very) Critical Introduction Karen Kilby argues that although the low regard in which Balthasar was held from the 1950s to 1960s was not justified, neither is the current tendency to lionize him. Instead, she advocates a more balanced approach, particularly in light of a fundamental problem in his writing, namely, his characteristic authorial voice -- an over-reaching "God's eye" point of view that contradicts the content of his theology.

This book is perhaps one of the most misunderstood works of Catholic theology of our time. Critics contend that von Balthasar espouses universalism, the idea that all men will certainly be saved. Yet, as von Balthasar insists, damnation is a real possibility for anyone. Indeed, he explores the nature of damnation with sobering clarity. At the same time, he contends that a deep understanding of God’s merciful love and human freedom, and a careful reading of the Catholic tradition, point to the possibility—not the certainty—that, in the end, all men will accept the salvation Christ won for all. For this all-embracing salvation, von Balthasar says, we may dare hope, we must pray and with God’s help we must work. The Catholic Church’s teaching on hell has been generally neglected by theologians, with the notable exception of von Balthasar. He grounds his reflections clearly in Sacred Scripture and Catholic teaching. While the Church asserts that certain individuals are in heaven (the saints), she never declares a specific individual to be in hell. In fact, the Church hopes that in their final moments of life, even the greatest sinners would have repented of their terrible sins, and be saved. Sacred Scripture states, “God ... desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all” (1 Tim 2:4–5).

Students of Catholic theology are often presented with a choice between two great masters: Thomas Aquinas and Hans Urs von Balthasar. What starts as a cordial difference in form and method often morphs into a bitter rivalry. Dominican theologian Father Aidan Nichols sees no need for competition. Balthasar for Thomists gives a panoramic view of Balthasar's thought and spirituality, unearthing many of his innumerable debts to Aquinas and providing context for their points of divergence. The enormous cultural project of Balthasar, writes Father Nichols, differs too much from St. Thomas' pedagogical one "to count as a rival to Thomism on the latter's own ground (and, of course, vice versa)". While constituting an original form of faithful Catholic thought, Balthasar's approach may be regarded as a synthesis of the influences of Thomas and his Franciscan contemporary St. Bonaventure. In its breadth, Balthasar for Thomists serves as a general introduction to Balthasar for those unacquainted with his profound and wide-ranging theology.

Balthasar is one of the most influential of Catholic twentieth-century theologians, and his oeuvre is astonishing in its range and amplitude. This together with a style of writing that is cyclic rather than systematic makes his work difficult to assimilate. The author has overcome this obstacle by finding an integrating motif that makes coherent sense of the whole. That motif is the concept of 'form'. The first section of the book deals with that 'form': its genesis, its meaning as a whole which is greater than the sum of its parts, and as a revelation of the mystery of Being. Section two shows how, when the concept is applied christologically, it signifies the incarnate form of Jesus as expressing the glory of the triune God, the source of Being. Section three, which deals specifically with Balthasar's soteriology, demonstrates how because of his mission to save a sinful world the form of Jesus has to undergo suffering and death and become apparently 'formless'. While indicating that the main lines of Balthasar's theology are rooted in tradition, the book also illustrates the radicalness of his approach. His dialogue with theologians and philosophers, both ancient and modern, is discussed and evaluated throughout.

This volume completes Aidan Nichols's presentation of the great theological trilogy of Hans Urs von Balthasar. The book offers a summary and interpretation of Balthasar's logic and considers the way in which The Truth of the World points forward to theological aesthetics and dramatics.

Is Christian mission even possible today? In "a secular age," is it possible to talk about the goodness of God in a compelling way? How should the church proceed? Carolyn Chau explores the question of Catholic mission in a secular age through a constructive interpretation of the work of two celebrated Catholic thinkers, philosopher Charles Taylor and theologian Hans Urs von Balthasar, arguing that Taylor and Balthasar together offer a promising path for mission today. Chau attends to Taylor's account of the conditions of belief today, and the genesis of the sociohistorical limits on contemporary "God-talk," as well as his affirmation of certain aspects of Western modernity's "culture." From Balthasar, Chau sifts out the distinctiveness of his view of the human person as defined by mission, and his encouragement of a kenotic self-understanding of the church. In the end, Chau claims that if modern persons in secular Western societies are seeking fulfillment and integrity, Christian spirituality remains a rich resource on offer.