Hans Urs von Balthasar
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Fr. Hans Urs von Balthasar (August 12, 1905 - June 26, 1988) was a Swiss Roman Catholic theologian.
[edit] His Life and Significance
Born in Lucerne, Switzerland on the August 12, 1905, he studied at 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 new religious order for laity. He joined the diocese of Chur. From being banned from teaching at this time his reputation 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 26th June 1988, 2 days before the ceremony. Hans Urs von Balthasar was interred in the Hofkirche cemetery in Lucern.
Along with Karl Rahner, Balthasar is one of the most important Roman Catholic theologians of the 20th century; both men sought to offer an intellectual, faithful response to Western modernism. Rahner offered a more progressive, accommodating position on modernity; Balthasar was a traditionalist who resisted the reductionism and human focus of modernity, wanting Christianity to challenge modern and all philosophical assumptions (Oakes 262). Although traditional in his doctrines and beliefs, Balthasar is very eclectic in his approach, sources, and interests, remaining difficult to categorize (Oakes 2). 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 Roman 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] His Writings and Contributions
Balthasar is most well known for his theological works in three parts (his trilogy): The Glory of the Lord, a 7-volume work on 'theological aesthetics' (a theology of belief based on contemplation of the good, the beautiful, and the true); Theo-Drama: Theological Dramatic Theory, a 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; and Theo-Logic, 3 volumes describing the relation of the nature of Jesus Christ (christology) to reality itself (ontology, or the study of being). His innovative Mysterium Paschale explores the theological meaning of Holy Saturday, where Jesus Christ dies and descends to the dead, to be resurrected by God the Father, thus revealing that God can endure and conquer godlessness, abandonment, and death. The orthodoxy of Balthasar’s theories of Christ’s Descent into Hell and of universal salvation is often questioned (Pitstick, Grisez). He also wrote a forward for Valentin Tomberg's Méditations sûr les 22 arcanes majeurs du Tarot, a series of personal meditations on the relationship between Christianity and Theosophy. Another distinctive thought in Balthasar's work is that our first experience after birth is the smile of our mothers, where the self encounters for the first time the other, yet the other smiles in a relationship of love and sustenance (Oakes 236).
As a Roman Catholic priest and member of a religious order, Balthasar was very concerned that his theology address spiritual and practical issues. He ordered that his theology never be divorced from the mystical experiences of his long-time friend and Roman Catholic convert, the physician Dr. Adrienne von Speyr. He also studied and wrote of the lives of saints and church fathers, and saints as an example of the lived and perfected Christian life appear throughout his writings. Balthasar described his theology as a "kneeling theology," meaning it is deeply connected to prayer, adoration, and worship instead of mere systematic analysis (Moss 265).
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 a vital theologian. Most, but not all, of his major writings have been translated into English, and the journal he founded, Communio, currently appears in twelve languages, including Arabic. He was called Pope John Paul II's favorite theologian and the most cultured man in Europe (Colón-Emeric, 30).
Sources: Online biography by Joel Garver; The Cambridge Companion to Hans Urs von Balthasar, edited by Edward T. Oakes, SJ, and David Moss; "Symphonic Truth: Von Balthasar and Christian Humanism," by Edgardo Antonio Colón-Emeric, in The Christian Century May 31, 2005, pp. 30-34. "Light in Darkness: Hans Urs Von Balthasar and the Catholic Doctrine of Christ's Descent into Hell" by Alyssa Lyra Pitstick. "The way of the Lord Jesus: A summary of Catholic moral theology" by Germain Gabriel Grisez. "Meditations on the Tarot: A Journey Into Christian Hermeticism" by Valentin Tomberg.
