Hans Urs von Balthasar

In this article, I read von Balthasar's theology for what it has to say about the interaction of grace and power in history. By doing so, I draw attention to the resources given by this supposedly conservative theologian for an incipient theology of protest, one which is marked by a distinctly Ignatian imagination and which proves sensitive to the realities of historical injustice. Following his friend Reinhold Schneider, von Balthasar conceives of the grace/power dynamic symbolically as an encounter between the "king" and the "saint" (understood metonymically as stand-ins for grace and power writ large). The value of von Balthasar's approach lies in the way in which it conceives of an essential continuity between the historical present and the eschato-logical future, thus providing the grounds for a critique of the former in light of the latter. I aim to highlight these and other features of von Balthasar's account in order to contribute to the growing body of research that reads von Balthasar's theology as a resource for a liberative political theology (Walatka, Brown, etc.) as well as to establish some general theological principles for a theology of protest.

Reading Thomas Joseph White’s The Incarnate Lord is a very great pleasure. His carefully argued and measured theology draws on the thinking of St. Thomas Aquinas in original and fruitful ways. As a lover of the theology of Hans Urs von Balthasar, however, I must confess that my enjoyment was occasionally tempered with suffering—but, shall we say, only in the lower parts of my soul.
    Among the many things I appreciate in this book is Fr. White’s love of patristic and medieval sources. Following his guide, St. Thomas Aquinas, he combines precision with breadth of knowledge and depth of thought. Further, like St. Thomas’s generous reading of manifold sources, Fr. White makes frequent irenic gestures. I am thinking in particular of the emphasis on the filial mode of Christ’s obedience throughout, plus the gentle reading of Barth’s treatment of obedience and the end of chapter 8 on the death of Christ.
He and I share many points of agreement, almost too many to mention: the enduring importance of Chalcedonian Christological metaphysics; a suspicion of liberal historicism; and an opposition to theological anachronisms, in which the Person of Christ is interpreted according to contemporary mores rather than through revelation. I will expand on two areas of particular agreement (on analogy and on the Son’s obedience), before raising a question concerning the Beatific Vision, and then recording some criticisms regarding soteriology (specifically, regarding Christ’s abandonment and descent).

"Indeed the mystery of Christ runs the risk of being disbelieved precisely because it is so incredibly wonderful."-- Cyril, the Pillar of Faith

The concept and doctrine of kenosis as it was expounded in the writings of Origen, Athanasius and Cyril in Alexandria, as with the early Desert Fathers. It was later included in a commentary by Gregory of Nyssa, and Hilary of Poitiers. Maximus the Confessor, a student of Origen calls it "an eternal movement of love." The kenosis of Christ was thus depicted in terms of these Trinitarian theologians.

This kenotic action whereby the gift of God was understood as the operation of love within the Trinity, the abandoning of one to the other; and salvation issued from a participation within this intra-Trinitarian procession made possible through the incarnation of Christ, the revelation of the true image of God the Father, revealed by all. We are deified and redeemed through the economy of love, distinctive nature of which is to give in a continuing act of kenosis.

Origen, De Princip., 1.II.8
But since He is called by the apostle not only the brightness of His glory, but also the express figure of His person or subsistence, it does not seem idle to inquire how there can be said to be another figure of that person besides the person of God Himself, whatever be the meaning of person and subsistence. Consider, then, whether the Son of God, seeing He is His Word and Wisdom, and alone knows the Father, and reveals Him to whom He will (to those who are capable of receiving His word and wisdom), may not, in regard of this very point of making God to be understood and acknowledg- ed, be called the figure of His person and subsistence; that is, when that Wisdom, which desires to make known to others the means by which God is acknowledged and understood by them, describes Himself first of all.

It may by so doing be called the express figure of the person of God. In order, however, to arrive at a fuller understanding of the manner in which the Savior is the figure of the person or subsistence of God, let us take an instance, which, although it does not describe the subject of which we are treating either fully or appropriately, may never-theless be seen to be employed for this purpose only, to show that the Son of God, who was in the form of God, divesting Himself (of His glory), makes it His object, by this very divesting of Himself, to demonstrate to us the fullness of His deity. For instance, suppose that there were a statue of so enormous a size as to fill the whole world, which on that account could be seen by no one; and that another statue were formed altogether resembling it in the shape of the limbs.

And in the features of the countenance, and in form and material, but without the same immensity of size, so that those who were unable to behold the one of enormous proportions, should, on seeing the latter, acknowledge that they had seen the former, because it preserved all the features of its limbs and countenance, and even the very form and material, so closely, as to be altogether not distinguishable from it; by some such similitude, the Son of God, divesting Himself of His equality with the Father. Showing to us the way to the knowledge of Him, is made the express image of His person: so that we, who were unable to look upon the glory of that marvelous light when placed in the greatness of His Godhead.

May, by His being revealed to us in brightness, has the means of beholding the divine light by looking upon the brightness. This comparison, of course, of statues, as belonging to material things, is employed for no other purpose than to show that the Son of God, though placed in the very insignificant form of a human body, in consequence of the resemblance of His works and power to the Father, showed that there was in Him an immense and invisible greatness, inasmuch as He said to His disciples, "He who sees Me, sees the Father also;" and, "I and the Father are one." And to these belong also the similar expression, "The Father is in Me, and I in the Father." 

Athanasius, God became Man
The philosophers of Athanasius’ time viewed God as being a static entity who by His very nature could not change nor experience suffering. Athanasius argues for Christ as the incarnate Logos through tackling of the Platonic notions of God where the attributes of immutability and impassibility are paramount.  In order to argue for the divinity of Christ, he had to have a strong defense against these notions. Athanasius asserts that the incarnation of Christ is a physical indwelling of the divine being of Christ in the body of Jesus and not an individual that only shows up that way.

Athanasius indicates that there is a purposeful lived experience in the Logos coming into humanity since humanity has forgotten who God is, accordingly every work of Jesus during his earthly ministry was acted to bring humanity into a revelation of the providence of God. Human race has made created things into objects of monolateral idolatrous  worship, through enchanted irrationality, that could not recognize God. Christ being the visible icon of the invisible God points the Father in His works. 

Athanasius confirms that although the Word dwells fully in Jesus human body and did have some acquired human limitations, none of which has reduced His divine person. Athanasius uses the notion of hunger to portray this. He declares that although Jesus Christ got hungry during His mundane life, He did not abstain from it because Christ being God would not be defeated by death through hunger. Similarly, theologians portray that Christ would be subdued by sickness as evidently confirmed by His miracles, demonstrating  that Christ divine power over all ills.

It is fair to conclude that His divine nature protected Him from being susceptible to sickness. It is evident that Athanasius attempts to be confirm the nature of any  limitations the Logos allows Himself to experience for the sake of human redemption, “Any physical weakness experienced by Jesus must be voluntarily assumed by the Word himself and not imposed upon Him against his own will." Athanasius asserts that if Christ experienced suffering for whatever reason, it is because He has allowed Himself to do so and not because it occurred for reasons outside of His control.

Those above notions express Athanasius elaboration on Kenosis in  as pouring Himself out, explained to Pagan philosophers. C.S. Lewis wrote, "When I first opened his "De Incarnatione verbi Dei," I soon discovered by a very simple test that I was reading a masterpiece. . . only a master mind could, in the fourth century, have written so deeply on such a subject with such classical simplicity. Every page I read confirmed this impression. His approach to the Miracles is badly needed today, for it is the final answer to those who object to them as arbitrary and violations of the laws of nature 

Cyril's Theology of the Divine Kenosis, by Paul Gavrilyuk
Having briefly surveyed various inadequate approaches to the Nestorian controversy, the author shows that the protection of the unqualified divine impassibility from being compromised by any involvement in suffering was at the heart of Theodore’s and and Nestorius’ christology. Nestorians charged Cyril with being an advocate of theopatheia. In response, Cyril developed a doctrine of God’s appropriation of human suffering and insisted upon the divine self-emptying in the incarnation.

Kenotic Economy, Balthasar to Barth 
It is this abandonment in love which characterises kenosis that Balthasar's theology, as its economy, both preserve the condition for the possibility of ego emptying theology in its core, that "there is only one way to approach the Trinitarian life in God: manifested in divine perichoresis as God's kenosis in the theology of the covenant — and thence in the theology of the Cross — feeling our way back into the eternal mystery. 

'This primary kenosis makes possible all other kenotic movement of God into the world; being simply its consequences. Here comes Karl Barth's understanding of kenosis, God's freedom to love is a self-giving not a giving up. The doctrine of kenosis outlines, then, the giving of the gift of life; a giving that cannot be given if the giving is not part of an economy that includes reception.

Hans Urs von Balthasar (Lucerna 1905 - Basilea 1988) è stato uno dei più importanti e influenti teologi del XX sec., soprattutto per aver realizzato unʼestetica teologica che ha prodotto una svolta estetica nella riflessione teologica. La sua estetica teologica è stata a lungo maturata dai suoi studi di letteratura e filosofia allʼUniversità di Vienna e di Berlino. La sua formazione, prima che teologica, fu filosofica. Il compito che questa tesi si propone consiste nell'illustrare l’interessante e originale interpretazione della storia dell’estetica che Balthasar espone nel IV e V volume della sua più importante opera, Gloria. Il quadro che emerge dell’intera storia dell’estetica occidentale raffigura e narra una drammatica bellezza: una bellezza in azione sul palcoscenico della storia del mondo, la cui luce nell’antichità e fino al medioevo si diffonde ovunque, perché l’essere è bello e il tutto è glorioso. In epoca moderna, però, la luce di questa trascendentale bellezza si vede o concentrarsi completamente sul soggetto, nella contemplazione della sua stessa bellezza e gloria, oppure si vede impallidire posandosi qua e là su ciò che il soggetto ritiene di suo gusto, fin anche a spegnersi tragicamente nell’epoca contemporanea, in cui l’estetica, ormai divenuta una scienza particolare, può permettersi di confondere e identificare il bello con il brutto. L’interpretazione che Balthasar propone deve essere considerata del tutto originale, poiché non trova alcun paragone con altre opere di carattere storico sull’estetica. E proprio per questo motivo va ritenuta di somma importanza per uno sguardo diverso e alternativo sull’intero arco della storia dell’estetica occidentale. Questo mio studio, pertanto, si propone di rendere evidenti i punti più originali e rilevanti di questa interpretazione della storia dell’estetica.
La sintesi proposta nella prima parte di questo studio dei due volumi dedicati da Balthasar alla storia dell’estetica non ha lo scopo e l’ambizione di riassumere nei dettagli le lunghe e sottili analisi svolte sui testi dei vari autori in più di 900 pagine. Lo scopo di questo studio consiste invece semplicemente nel rilevare l’evoluzione del cammino che porta tramite degli snodi fondamentali dall’estetica trascendentale dell’antichità e del medioevo all’estetica della ragion trascendentale dell’epoca moderna. In modo particolare cercherò di rilevare nell’interpretazione, che Balthasar offre dell’estetica dei vari autori, due temi che ritengo degni di nota.
Innanzi tutto il primo tema da rilevare sarà quello della relazione tra ontologia ed estetica, tra la concezione dell’essere e l’idea della bellezza dei diversi autori presi in esame. Balthasar analizza tutti gli autori presi in esame dal punto di vista della quadruplice differenza ontologica, che egli espone in modo compiuto nella conclusione dei due volumi.
Il secondo tema da rilevare lungo il percorso sarà quello della relazione tra estetica e storia. Quest’ultimo tema sarà sviluppato nella seconda parte di questo studio. L’analisi di come Balthasar affronta l’estetica dei vari autori sarà utile per comprendere non solo il suo particolare punto di vista estetico, ma anche per cogliere quali siano stati i suoi punti di riferimento, gli autori più importanti dai quali ha attinto le idee fondamentali per la sua stessa estetica drammatica.
Nella seconda parte di questo studio, infine, cercherò non solo di riassumere l’interpretazione della storia dell’estetica di Balthasar, ma anche ciò che da essa egli stesso ne ha ricavato per una sua particolare e originale estetica drammatica della e nella storia, la quale a mio avviso è uno dei più pregnanti contributi che questo teologo e filosofo ha lasciato in eredità alla teologia e alla filosofia. Un’estetica drammatica nella storia perché, come si evince proprio da questi due volumi, essa è pienamente in azione nella storia, in un cammino che, come si è già anticipato, fino ad ora si è dimostrato «più che drammatico» tragico per le sorti della bellezza. Un’estetica drammatica nella storia anche perché rivela l’essenza drammatica della bellezza nella sua intrinseca e inscindibile relazione con il bene e il vero.

Since the 2002 exposure of the extent of the sex abuse cover-up by elements within the Catholic Church, Catholics must come to a renewed appreciation of Augustine’s refutation of the Donatists and defence of the principle that Christ’s merits make the Church’s Sacraments efficacious, not those of her ministers.  Luther anticipated this in his own thought on the co-existence of Christ’s holiness and the subject’s personal sinfulness within the believer’s individual soul, but less well known is how he “institutionalized” this principle to apply to the public ministers of Word and Sacrament operating within the liturgical space of the Church. For Luther, this does not have to do with an indelible sacramental character imprinted on the priest’s soul, but rather on the minister’s ecclesial situation, for which reason he continued to value and defend his own Roman Catholic ordination, even in the face of rampant “Babylonian” corruption within the clergy.  This paper will analyze the history of Roman Catholicism’s interaction with Luther’s theology of ministry, from Luther’s own experience saying the Catholic Mass to the 20th century Catholic theologians whose re-assessment of Reformation theology helped shape Vatican II’s reform of the Mass, concluding with reflections on that teaching’s implications for Catholics and Christians generally trying to make sense of their mission within the world in light of the Church’s well-documented public failings.

La reflexión teológica sobre el hecho histórico de la muerte en cruz de Jesús de Nazaret vivió una fecunda renovación gracias al pensamiento de los teólogos –tanto protestantes como católicos– del siglo XX. La finalidad de esta obra es ocuparse de analizar el pensamiento de dos teólogos católicos cuyos aportes pueden demostrar eficazmente la riqueza que subyace en el acontecimiento histórico de la cruz y en su misterio: se trata del ítalo-alemán R. Guardini y del suizo H. U. von Balthasar. Estos dos autores constituyen ejemplos particularmente destacados de las distintas interpretaciones actuales del tema tradicional de la theologia crucis. En la Introducción general que da inicio a la presente obra, se sintetiza brevemente el discurso teológico-soteriológico que sobre la cruz se ha desarrollado a lo largo de la historia cristiana. Posteriormente, se ofrece una mirada general sobre la teología, método y cristología de cada uno de los dos teólogos mencionados, para luego profundizar en el estudio del tema de la cruz en el pensamiento de cada autor. En este orden de ideas, en la primera parte del libro se analiza el pensamiento del teólogo R. Guardini en torno a la cruz, así como su controversial tesis sobre las dos formas de la redención y la posibilidad de la no-necesidad de la muerte en cruz de Jesucristo para la redención de los hombres, mientras que en la segunda parte se presenta sistemáticamente la reflexión del teólogo jesuita H. U. von Balthasar sobre la cruz como acontecimiento teológico, estético, dramático y escatológico. Para finalizar, se presenta una Conclusión general sobre el sentido de la muerte en cruz de Jesús tomando como base las mencionadas reflexiones guardiniana y balthasariana.

Para el teólogo Hans Urs von Balthasar, una estética teológica es la aproximación pertinente para acercarnos a lo esencial de la experiencia religiosa. Este texto señala cercanías entre este planteamiento y la fenomenología de Edmund Husserl, en particular sobre la intuición y dación originaria en la percepción, y cómo esta experiencia interpela al ser humano.

Dieu en personnes, collection Cogitatio Fidei, Paris 2015.
Participant du renouveau de la théologie trinitaire en France, cet ouvrage fondamental et novateur propose de repenser entièrement le concept de personne, en s’inscrivant résolument à la suite de la reconquête qu’en a permis, avec son génie singulier, Hans Urs von Balthasar. Pour ce faire, Xavier Morales développe les dimensions trinitaires à travers l’analogie de la mission. Que Jésus-Christ soit une personne, cela, nous le concevons directement, car nous avons nous-mêmes été créés à son image. Jésus-Christ est la première personne, celle à partir de qui nous devons définir le concept de « personne ». Or nous pouvons le décrire comme « mission » : la personne est telle en tant qu’elle est appelée et envoyée par une autre personne. Mais qui sont ces autres personnes ? Qui sont le Père et l’Esprit, qui ne sont dits « personnes » que par analogie ? Ainsi, à l’écoute de la révélation de la mission du Fils, la personne du Père et celle de l’Esprit Saint sont approchées dans leur mystère propre. Il en résulte le concept paradoxal d’une personnalité communicable.

The article examines the question of the Mariological interpretation of the eight beatitudes contained in Mt 5:3-10. Christian theologians of all ages, from Clement of Alexandria to the authors of contemporary biblical commentaries, have proposed various interpretations of this biblical text. Among the multitude of interpretations developed throughout history, the Mariological aspect appears quite rarely. Yet, as Pope Benedict XVI observes, the very biblical Marian title “Blessed” should direct the theological thought to the Mariological aspects of this issue. In modern times, a very deep reflection on the subject was conducted by two great theologians of the XX century, J. Ratzinger (Benedict XVI) and H.U. von Balthasar. On the Polish ground, the task was partly undertaken by J. Tischner, who elaborated the theme of eight beatitudes in the key of the Marian pilgrimage of the nation. The present work is meant to deepen the Mariological-biblical analysis of the eight beatitudes and revive the discussion regarding this subject in the perspective proposed by Benedict XVI, to understand the beatitudes as a program of life for a modern Christian.

In 2002, just a few months after receiving my PhD, the San Paolo editions published my thesis with the title Teologia della modernità. Percorsi e Figure (San Paolo, Cinisello Balsamo 2002). The volume was out of print in a couple of years and was never reprinted. I thought I would make it available in chapters, beginning with the third part, the theological one, which I have less revised or used in other papers. The chapter in question deals with the interpretation of modernity offered by von Balthasar with particular reference to volume 5 of Glory. Since this is a text that is almost twenty years old, the bibliography is a bit out of date (although I have not seen any significant new titles on the subject) and some statements I would probably reformulate today. Since this is a draft file of the volume, there may be misprints or mistakes that were corrected in the printed version.

Nel 2002, pochi mesi dopo aver conseguito il dottorato, le edizioni San Paolo pubblicarono la mia tesi con il titolo Teologia della modernità. Percorsi e Figure (San Paolo, Cinisello Balsamo 2002). Il volume andò esaurito nel giro di un paio di anni e non è stato più ristampato. Ho pensato allora di metterlo a disposizione per capitoli iniziando dalla terza parte, quella teologica, che meno di tutte è stata da me rielaborata o ripresa in altre pubblicazioni. Il capitolo in questione tratta dell’interpretazione della modernità che offre von Balthasar con particolare riferimento al volume 5 di Gloria. Trattandosi di un testo che ha ormai quasi venti anni, la bibliografia è un po’ datata (anche se non ho visto grandi nuovi titoli sul tema) e alcune affermazioni probabilmente oggi le riformulerei. Trattandosi del file della bozza del volume possono esserci refusi o errori poi corretti sulla versione stampata

This thesis loactes a Christian rationale for human well-being in relation to the doctrine of the triune God. Specifically, this theological inquiry examines the triune God’s work in, and for, creation with a view to identifying the characteristics and dynamics of divine well-being through the intra-trinitarian movement of gift and receipt. This gifting and receiving within the Godhead is identified as ‘Divine self-enrichment’ — defined as God enriching God in the perfection and fullness of God. The mode through which Divine self-enrichment occurs is essentially kenotic. The thesis provides an extended inquiry into the theological logic of kenotic-enrichment, and its implications for human well-being. In particular, the thesis argues that the pattern of kenotic-enrichment is to be discerned in the dynamic economy of God in creation and human life. When humanity exhibits characteristics of kenotic-enrichment identified in the economic Trinity, there we see intimations of the work of God. In this sense, the archetype of divine enrichment is antecedently operative in the creation; where kenotic-enrichment conditions created well-being. The thesis, therefore, argues that a theology of triune self-enrichment provides an alternate, and complementary, theological paradigm for Christian rationale and praxis of international development and humanitarian aid.

This essay will examine Mary under the rubric of her poverty. Her poverty, I will argue, is exemplary for the poverty of the body, and neither Mary nor the body can be understood properly without understanding poverty. In this essay, I will explore these topics by looking at the Mariology of John Paul II and Hans Urs von Balthasar, before turning to what this Mariology means for the body and for creation in general.

This innovative book aims to create a 'poetics of Church' and a 'religious imaginary' as alternatives to more institutional and conventional ways of thinking and being 'Church'. Structured as a spiritual and literary journey, the work moves from models of the institutional Catholic Church into more radical and ambiguous textual spaces, which the author creates by bringing together an unorthodox group of thinkers referred to as 'poet-companions': the 16th-century founder of the Society of Jesus, Ignatius of Loyola, the French thinkers Gaston Bachelard and Hélène Cixous, the French poet Yves Bonnefoy, and the English playwright Dennis Potter.

Der Beitrag zeigt wie sehr der  Grundgedanke vom Papst Franziskus in vielen Komponenten symphonisch mit dem von Balthasar ist. Zwischen beiden gibt es eine bedeutende theologische Harmonie. Der Text beleuchtet wie zwei Grundkonzepte von Balthasar -Gestalt und Polareinheit der Wirklichkeit- in Wechselbeziehung stehen und auf verschiedene Art in Papst Franziskus vorhanden sind, vor allem aber in seiner „Theologie des Volkes“. So sieht man, warum sich J. M. Bergoglio  mit den Schriften von Balthasar beschäftigte und in ihnen die entsprechenden Konzepte vorfand, um sein eigenes Denken zu erklären, nämlich: «Mitmenschlichkeit» und «Maximalität».

Der Text erklärt auch, woher die Lateinamerikanische Theologie entspringt, um dann klar darzulegen, was diese „Theologie des Volkes“ bedeutet und an der Franziskus auf vielerlei Weise teilnimmt. Wenn man diese Theologie versteht, kann man den Papst besser verstehen.

Benedict XVI referred in a homily to the relation between creation and covenant with the formula created by Karl Barth in his Church Dogmatics. Taking occasion on this, the aim of the present study is to analyze the first reception of that formula in the Catholic theology. We consider here three important works published in the fifties of last century: those of Hans Urs von Balthasar, Henri Bouillard and Hans Küng. All of them accept the formula, with suggestions and criticisms, that vary according to the author, as we summarize in the final balance. Five hundred years after the reformation, we can see in this fact a fruit of the theological aspect of the ecumenical dialog.

Ethics, in the way it is defined by the philosopher Emmanuel Levinas as the privilege given to the otherness (or alterity) of the other, should challenge Christian theology even in its method. If we see christological revelation as a covenantal relationship, how are we to explain that the relationship to the other, the very foundation of intersubjectivity, has yet to be studied in theology as it has been in contemporary philosophy? This study seeks therefore to test theology, particularly the trinitarian theology of Hans Urs von Balthasar, against Levinasian ethics: does the Swiss theologian manage to honor the ethical requirements of responsibility for the other stemming from an asymmetrical conception of intersubjectivity? Integrating such ethics into theology can be challenging, given that this supposes dismissing the dominant Western ontology, especially that which underlies theology. The Trinitarian foundation of intersubjectivity, which we draw from Balthasar’s Theo-drama, allows for a departure from the unilateralism imposed by the ethical frame laid down by Levinas’ philosophy as though a priori. The result of this dialogue takes the form of a unique approach to Christological ethics (asymmetrical trinitarian love), understood to be a starting point to theology.

This essay, presents an explanation and an evaluation of Hans Urs Von Balthasar’s understanding of Faith and his conceptualization of ‘Revelation as Absolute Love’ from his book, ‘Love Alone: The Way of Revelation’, (Surrey: Sheed & Ward, Ltd., 1968). A heavy focus will be placed on his explanation of Love as Revelation which is the title of Chapter 6 of the Love Alone.

Questa traduzione è stata realizzata da Ida Soldini. 
Il testo è liberamente riproducibile, a condizione che se ne citi la fonte.
La paginazione indicata all’interno del testo segue l’edizione tedesca del Johannes Verlag Einsiedeln (1985), in modo da facilitare il confronto col testo originale.
Questa traduzione è dedicata alla memoria della mia nonna materna, Annemarie Günther.
Ringrazio fin d’ora i lettori che vorranno rendermi partecipe delle loro osservazioni. ida.soldini@gmail.com – Lugano, 30.8.2009 -

Il s'agit de la communication donnée à l'occasion du colloque Theodoc à Strasbourg (16 novembre 2019). Elle présente l'avancée de mes recherches dans le cadre du doctorat préparé à l'institut catholique de Paris sous la direction du Professeur Vincent Holzer.

The “Bargello Diptych: The Adoration of the Magi and Crucifixion” (Unknown French Master, 14th century) juxtaposes themes of adoration and glory, on the one hand, with sorrow and suffering, on the other. How can such themes be brought together in this diptych? Is the artist’s rendering an attempt to glorify suffering, mocking the millions who have and do suffer today?

Augustine struggled with these very questions, asking: ‘What is it we love in Christ - his crucified limbs, his pierced side, or his love? When we hear that he suffered for us, what do we love? Love is loved. He loved us, that we might in turn love Him [and others].’ Three things are evident in Augustine’s remarks: (1) The cross of Christ is not about the suffering, brutality, or cruelty; (2) it is about the act of self-giving love revealed through suffering; (3) and, Christ’s suffering is for our benefit. If God’s love through the cross and resurrection of Christ is understood in this manner, is there, perhaps, a profound wisdom expressed by contemplating the themes of glory and suffering together? 

This paper is an attempt to think theologically about suffering. In doing so, we see God’s compassionate love as the affective attitude that he eternally chooses to take toward his creatures, voluntarily taking on the form of a Suffering Servant even to the point of death. Death and suffering, though, do not overcome him as we are when we experience passiones. Rather, God accomplishes redemption by confronting evil and suffering on its own terms and defeats it without employing its methods, bringing comfort, peace, and hope to our suffering existence. In turn, when we, who are addicted to mistaken identities and false realities, become ‘unselfed’ by God’s suffering beauty, we find meaning as we image God’s compassionate actions, particularly in the midst of suffering.

In Western intellectual history faith is usually subordinated to knowledge. Ideally, mere faith is to be overcome by knowledge. However is this view appropriate to the Christian self-understanding? Do we not need to assume that faith always includes some knowledge, that faith and knowledge are directly intertwined? But what kind of knowledge would that be? And what does it mean for the idea of an eschatological knowledge of God? The study examines this issue with reference to the Bible, Thomas Aquinas and Hans Urs von Balthasar.

A co-redenção mariana em H. U. von Balthasar. As mariofanias seriam uma manifestação da cooperação de Maria na obra da salvação? 1) Maria um mistério da co-redencionalidade do princípio e do cumprimento? A co-redenção mariana é, dentro dos estudos mariológicos, um problema da actualidade, não só o seu conteúdo e significado, mas também devido à acção de um grupo de estudiosos da Mariologia, que há mais de uma década a vêem relançando continuamente com o objectivo de vir a ser objecto de uma definição dogmática. Existe, com efeito, na actualidade um esforço de reinterpretação teológica do tema em questão, matizando conceitos, precisando com maior cuidado a terminologia, evitando exageros que dão origem a conflitos com os cristãos não católicos, e inclusive chegando mesmo a pontos de vista divergentes entre os mariólogos católicos, dado que nem todos professam exactamente a mesma opinião acerca do tema da co-redenção.

Von Balthasar approaches the mystery of the Trinity from the perspective of its interconnection with the paschal mystery of Jesus’ death and resurrection. Thus, the mystery of the Trinity cannot be separated from the paschal mystery. The latter is fully understood in the light of the eternal love of the unique and Triune God. Von Balthasar insists that God’s glory can embrace transcendentally even the uttermost contradictions. God’s glory was to be revealed in Jesus Christ’s absolute obedience right to the point of the cross and hell. The powerfulness in God’s glory shines forth in complete powerlessness. It is this abyss of God’s love, revealed most dramatically in Jesus’ descent into hell, which lies at the heart of von Balthasar’s theology. “For it is precisely in the kenosis of Christ (and nowhere else) that the inner majesty of God’s love appears, of God who ‘is love’ (1 John 4, 8) and therefore a trinity.” He continues that in the Lord’s actions there is not only a sublime metaphor of eternal love, but eternal love itself.

ABSTRACT: il testo è un tentativo di sintetizzare alcuni aspetti della teologia di Hans Urs von Balthasar nella prospettiva della concezione di tradizioni di ricerca di Larry Laudan ossia nella prospettiva essenzialmente filosofica. A tal scopo vengono proposte le idee di una tradizione di ricerca teologica e di una tradizione di ricerca filosofica. Tutti e due i concetti serviranno da guida nella lettura della trilogia di Hans Urs von Balthasar (Gloria, TeoDrammatica, TeoLogica).

KEY WORDS: metodologia delle tradizioni di ricerca di Larry Laudan, teologia di Hans Urs von Balthasar, metodo in teologia, tradizioni di ricerca teologiche e filosofiche.

THEOLOGY OF HANS URS VON BALTHASAR AS A THEOLOGICAL RESEARCH TRADITION

ABSTRACT: the text is an attempt to synthetize some aspects of Hans Urs von Balthasar’s theology from the perspective of Larry Laudan’s conception of Research Traditions, i.e. from an essentially philosophical perspective. To this end, the ideas of a Theological Research Tradition and of a Philosophical Research Tradition are proposed. Both concepts will serve as a guide in the reading of Hans Urs von Balthasar’s trilogy (The Glory of the Lord, TheoDrama, TheoLogic).

KEY WORDS: methodology of scientific research traditions of Larry Laudan, Hans Urs von Balthasar’s theology, method in theology, theological and philosophical research traditions.

La mia predilezione per l’escatologia di von Balthasar è nata parecchi anni fa con la lettura de I novissimi nella teologia contemporanea. Siccome a quei tempi la mia conoscenza della lingua italiana era piuttosto scarsa, il testo si mostrava molto difficile, quasi  incomprensibile, salvo tre frasi citate già molte volte:

È Dio il «fine ultimo» della sua creatura. Egli è il cielo per chi lo guadagna, l’inferno per chi lo perde, il giudizio per chi è esaminato da Lui, il purgatorio per chi è purificato da Lui. Egli è Colui per il quale muore tutto ciò che è mortale e che risuscita per Lui e in Lui.

Queste poche parole sono state come un fulmine, che con forza è penetrato fino alle profondità del mio cuore, facendomi capire che ciò che ci aspetta alla fine della vita non è qualcosa, ma Qualcuno, è una Persona, e questa Persona ci ama! Proprio la caratteristica così personale di descrivere il fine, e per questo anche la fine della vita, e la personificazione delle realtà ultime che von Balthasar vede come incontro con Colui che ama, mi hanno spinto ad imboccare la strada che mi ha portato ad interrogarmi sul significato di questo incontro con l’Amore per l’uomo, e  che cerco di trattare in questo testo. Posso dire che il cammino è stato molto interessante e a volte sorprendente. Ho scoperto che il teologo che da tanti, fra cui non mancano sacerdoti e studenti di teologia, viene chiamato «quel tizio dell’inferno vuoto», e che parlando del quale non poche volte si deve rispondere alla domanda seguente: «ma egli è morto o no fuori dalla Chiesa?», fu invece «uomo della Chiesa» (J. Ratzinger) nel pieno senso della parola. Sì, la sua ricerca nel campo dell’escatologia lascia qualche domanda sospesa, ma non lì dove di solito viene posta [...]
Ho provato grande gioia quando la ricerca mi ha permesso di capire che «quel tizio dall’inferno vuoto» non è un eretico quando spera nella salvezza per tutti. Potremmo dire di più: non solo non è eretico, ma è una persona che non dimentica che: la Misericordia di Dio è imprescrutabile – come professavano i santi; Dio che ci aspetta è Amore (cfr. Gv 1J 4,8) – come insegna la Scrittura; Dio è «Padre onnipotente» (cfr. p. es.: DH 125; 150) – come professa la Chiesa.

Is the body a grid or a window? For Gilles Deleuze, as for most post-structuralists, the body does not express the person but rather functions as a surface upon which desire writes. Deleuze’s aesthetics of the surface echoes the inchoate convictions of transgenderism. In contrast, for classical Christian aesthetics, the beauty of the surface is an expression of depth. Hans Urs von Balthasar’s theological aesthetics is analyzed along John Paul II’s theology of the body, in which the body expresses the person. I close with a trinitarian analogy of the body.

Hans Urs von Balthasar (Lucerna 1905 - Basilea 1988) è stato uno dei più importanti e influenti teologi del XX sec., soprattutto per aver realizzato unʼestetica teologica che ha prodotto una svolta estetica nella riflessione teologica, complementare alla svolta antropologica di Karl Rahner. La sua estetica teologica, da non confondere con una teologia estetica, è stata a lungo maturata dai suoi studi di letteratura e filosofia allʼUniversità di Vienna e di Berlino. La sua formazione, prima che teologica, fu filosofica.
Questo studio non ha la pretesa di prendere in considerazione tutti gli aspetti della sua filosofia ma semplicemente di rispondere a una domanda: che cosʼè la bellezza per Balthasar? Ritengo però che questa particolare prospettiva dʼindagine possa illuminare complessivamente, come da un centro dʼirradiazione, tutta la sua riflessione metafisica, ontologica e gnoseologica. La tesi generale che sʼintende dimostrare è la seguente: la metafisica di Balthasar può essere definita come unʼestetica trascendentale. Trascendentale in un duplice senso, gnoseologico e ontologico. Trascendentale perchè alla base della sua gnoseologia, come suo apriori, Balthasar vi pone la capacità estetica, «mistica», del soggetto di «trasferirsi» nellʼoggetto che appare cogliendovi nella Gestalt la sua essenza. Trascendentale, inoltre, perchè la sua ontologia pone al centro la bellezza, e il suo mistero , come onniriassuntiva proprietà dellʼessere.

Kiedy zagląda się do współczesnych słowników teologicznych, to przy haśle „zstąpienie do piekieł”, w paragrafie poświęconym teologii współczesnej, prawie zawsze pojawi się nazwisko szwajcarskiego teologa, Hans’a Urs’a von Balthasar’a. Zagadnienie podjęte w niniejszym artykule należy, więc do podstawowych kwestii współczesnej eschatologii. U szwajcarskiego teologa łączy się ono ściśle z tematem piekła oraz jego koncepcją Trójcy. Podjęcie tego tematu daje więc możliwość poznania podstaw całej teologii Hansa Ursa von Balthasara.