Hans Urs von Balthasar

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Hans Urs von Balthasar (August 12, 1905—June 26, 1988) was a Swiss theologian and priest who was nominated to be a Latin Rite cardinal of the Catholic Church. Along with Karl Rahner and Bernard Lonergan, Balthasar is among the most influential Catholic theologians of the 20th century. Though his work is eclectic and controversial (suggesting for example, that there may be hope that all will be saved), the importance of his theological contribution (especially in theological aesthetics) is undisputed.

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[edit] Life and significance

Born in Lucerne, Switzerland on August 12, 1905, he attended Stella Matutina (Jesuit School) in Feldkirch, Austria. He studied in Vienna, Berlin and Zurich, gaining a doctorate in German literature. He joined the Jesuits in 1928, and was ordained in 1936. He worked in Basel as a student chaplain. In 1950 he left the Jesuit order, feeling that God had called him to found a Secular Institute, a lay form of consecrated life that sought to work for the sanctification of the world especially from within. He joined the diocese of Chur. From the low point of being banned from teaching,[1] his reputation eventually rose to the extent that John Paul II asked him to be a cardinal in 1988. However he died in his home in Basel on the 26 June 1988, 2 days before the ceremony. Hans Urs von Balthasar was interred in the Hofkirche cemetery in Lucern.

Along with Karl Rahner and Bernard Lonergan, Balthasar is one of the most important Catholic theologians of the 20th century. All three sought to offer an intellectual, faithful response to Western modernism. While Rahner offered a progressive, accommodating position on modernity, and Lonergan worked out a philosophy of history that sought to critically appropriate modernity, Balthasar resisted the reductionism and human focus of modernity, wanting Christianity to challenge modern sensibilities.[2]

Balthasar is very eclectic in his approach, sources, and interests and remains difficult to categorize.[3] An example of his eclecticism was his long study and conversation with the influential Reformed Swiss theologian, Karl Barth, of whose work he wrote the first Catholic analysis and response. Although Balthasar's major points of analysis on Karl Barth's work have been disputed, his The Theology of Karl Barth: Exposition and Interpretation (1951) remains a classic work for its sensitivity and insight; Karl Barth himself agreed with its analysis of his own theological enterprise.

[edit] Writings and contributions

Balthasar is a controversial figure who some believe departs from the Christian faith. This is particularly the case with respect to Mysterium Paschale, where he asserts that Christians are still able to hope that God's plan of universal salvation (that all be saved - 1 Tim. 2:4) will be realized. Some who object to this idea criticize Balthasar for proclaiming that hell is empty. Some believe this contradicts the Book of Revelation and the tradition of the Catholic Church. However, he has vigorously denied that he is proposing that we can know for sure that all will in fact be saved, and some specialists of his theology have openly affirmed that the idea of a hell that is not empty is in no way incompatible with his thought. At Balthasar's funeral, Cardinal Ratzinger said, speaking of Balthasar's work in general, "What the pope intended to express by this mark of distinction [elevation to the Cardinalate], and of honor, remains valid, no longer only private individuals but the Church itself, in its official responsibility, tells us that he is right in what he teaches of the faith."[4] Mysterium Paschale explores the meaning of Holy Saturday, where Jesus Christ dies and descends to the dead, to be resurrected by God the Father and His own power. Balthasar extrapolates that God can endure and conquer godlessness, abandonment, and death.

Balthasar is well known for his 16 volume systematics (Trilogy) which is divided into three parts: The Glory of the Lord, the first 7-volume work on 'theological aesthetics' (a theology based upon contemplation of the good, the beautiful, and the true). One of the often quoted passages from the entire Trilogy comes from the First Volume (Seeing the Form) of The Glory of the Lord:

Before the beautiful—no, not really before but within the beautiful—the whole person quivers. He not only 'finds' the beautiful moving; rather, he experiences himself as being moved and possessed by it.[5]

In Theo-Drama: Theological Dramatic Theory—the following 5-volume work on 'theodramatics'—the action of God and the human response, especially in the events of Good Friday, Holy Saturday, and Easter Sunday are examined. Balthasar's soteriology, christology, and eschatology, are here developed. The final group of volumes are titled: Theo-Logic. These three volumes describing the relation of the nature of Jesus Christ (christology) to reality itself (ontology, or the study of being). He completes the third part of his trilogy with a brief Epilogue. The orthodoxy of Balthasar’s theories of Christ’s Descent into Hell and of the hope for universal salvation has been questioned.[6][7]

A distinctive thought in Balthasar's work is that our first experience after birth is the face of love of our mothers, where the I encounters for the first time the Thou, and the Thou smiles in a relationship of love and sustenance.[8]

Balthasar also wrote of the lives of saints and church fathers. Saints appear as an example of the lived Christian life throughout his writings. Instead of merely systematic analysis of theology, Balthasar described his theology as a "kneeling theology," deeply connected to contemplative prayer, and as a "sitting theology," intensely connected to faith seeking understanding guided by the heart and mind of the Catholic Church.[9]

As a Latin Rite Catholic priest and member of a religious order, Balthasar was very concerned that he address spiritual and practical issues. He insisted that his theology never be divorced from the mystical experiences of his long-time friend and convert, the physician Adrienne von Speyr.

Balthasar has varied published works, spanning many decades, fields of study (e.g., literature and literary analysis, lives of the saints, and the Church Fathers), and languages. Balthasar has an enduring legacy as one of the most important Catholic theologians of the 20th century. Most, but not all, of his major writings have been translated into English, and the journal he co-founded with Henri de Lubac, Walter Kasper, and Joseph Ratzinger (now Pope Benedict XVI), Communio, currently appears in twelve languages, including Arabic.[10]

[edit] References

  1. ^ "Leaving the Society meant that Balthasar was without a position, a pastorate, a place to live, or an income. Because he had left the Jesuit order, the Catholic Congregation for Seminaries and Universities had banned him from teaching. But he eventually found an ecclesiastical home under a sympathetic bishop and was able to live by a gruelling schedule of lecture tours."[1]
  2. ^ (2004) in Edward T. Oakes, SJ, and David Moss: The Cambridge Companion to Hans Urs von Balthasar. Cambridge University Press, 262. ISBN 0521891477. 
  3. ^ (2004) in Edward T. Oakes, SJ, and David Moss: The Cambridge Companion to Hans Urs von Balthasar. Cambridge University Press, 2. ISBN 0521891477. 
  4. ^ Allen, John L. Jr. (November 28, 2003). "The Word From Rome". National Catholic Reporter 3 (15). 
  5. ^ (2004) in Edward T. Oakes, SJ, and David Moss: The Cambridge Companion to Hans Urs von Balthasar. Cambridge University Press, 270. ISBN 0521891477. 
  6. ^ Pitstick, Alyssa Lyra (2007). Light in Darkness: Hans Urs Von Balthasar and the Catholic Doctrine of Christ's Descent into Hell. Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company. ISBN 0802840396. 
  7. ^ Grisez, Germain Gabriel (1983). The way of the Lord Jesus, Volume 1: Christian Moral Principles. Franciscan Press. ISBN 0819908614. 
  8. ^ (2004) in Edward T. Oakes, SJ, and David Moss: The Cambridge Companion to Hans Urs von Balthasar. Cambridge University Press, 236. ISBN 0521891477. 
  9. ^ (2004) in Edward T. Oakes, SJ, and David Moss: The Cambridge Companion to Hans Urs von Balthasar. Cambridge University Press, 265. ISBN 0521891477. 
  10. ^ Colón-Emeric, Edgardo Antonio (May 31, 2005). "Symphonic Truth: Von Balthasar and Christian Humanism". The Christian Century: 30. 

[edit] External links

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