The Strange Witness of the Saints: Hans Urs Von Balthasar's

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The Strange Witness of the Saints: Hans Urs Von Balthasar's THE STRANGE WITNESS OF THE SAINTS: HANS URS VON BALTHASAR’S EMBODIED THEOLOGY OF MISSION Thesis Submitted to The College of Arts and Sciences of the UNIVERSITY OF DAYTON In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for The Degree of Master of Arts in Theological Studies By Carmel Klein UNIVERSITY OF DAYTON Dayton, Ohio December 2017 THE STRANGE WITNESS OF THE SAINTS: HANS URS VON BALTHASAR’S EMBODIED THEOLOGY OF MISSION Name: Klein, Carmel F. APPROVED BY: _____________________________________________ William L. Portier, Ph.D. Thesis Advisor _____________________________________________ William Johnston, Ph.D. Reader _____________________________________________ Sandra Yocum, Ph.D. Reader ii ABSTRACT THE STRANGE WITNESS OF THE SAINTS: HANS URS VON BALTHASAR’S EMBODIED THEOLOGY OF MISSION Name: Klein, Carmel F. University of Dayton Advisor: Dr. William L. Portier The thesis surveys Hans Urs von Balthasar’s theology of mission as presented within the context of the first two parts of his trilogy: The Glory of the Lord: A Theological Aesthetics; and the Theo-Drama. Primary characteristics of his theology of mission are highlighted regarding his assessment of the state of the discipline of theology and its ability to apologize for the faith and to dialogue with contemporary culture. Balthasar envisions the transcendentals of beauty, goodness, and truth, as vital for reimagining the faith and the aggiornamento proposed by Vatican II. Balthasar identifies beauty as the transcendental that has been marginalized by an acquiescent academy deferential to modern pragmatism. For Christianity, the form of beauty that reconciles existential tensions is Jesus Christ. The crucified Christ is the concrete, awe-inspiring, counter-intuitive beauty that demands a response. Balthasar uses the doctrine of analogy of being to reunify the transcendentals and reconcile them with theology. By contemplating the three Persons of the Trinity and their perichoretic dynamism, Balthasar uses the analogy of the theater to disclose the drama of iii the Christian life. With the hinge of history, Christ, in the incarnation, cross and resurrection, a space is opened up for persons to participate in Trinitarian relationship and redemptive suffering for the salvation of the world. Individual subjects freely respond to a personal encounter with Christ. Receptive assent and obedient submission to a uniquely tailored personal mission transform individual subjects into theological persons, or saints. The theological person lives out a theological mission, and existence takes on a theological hue quelling existential anxiety and instilling hope. As Jesus Christ is the full utterance of the Father, so, by analogy, through Jesus Christ, each theological person can utter anew a tiny fresh utterance of revelation. After laying out the matrix of Balthasar’s theology of mission, the thesis seeks to illustrate how mission is actually lived out in individual lives beginning with the source of all missions, Jesus Christ. Mary, the mother of God, and St. Thérèse of Lisieux are held up to the template of mission since Balthasar is vigorous in his assertion that concrete embodiment is paramount for the fresh relevant proclamation of the faith. The flesh and blood men and women who answer the call of Christ, and the idea of who God intended them to be, are born again as irresistible icons of meaningful living aligned and rooted within Scripture, Sacrament, and the Church. Mary and Thérèse prove to be holy fools or the strange witnesses that embody Christ to the world. The thesis closes with a look at the healing power of the saint for the ruptures in theology as defined by Balthasar. A short reflection on mission as embodied theology, briefly explores his critique of Thérèse and his relationship with Adrienne von Speyr. iv ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I wish to thank Dr. William Portier for his guidance, encouragement, and astute comments during the writing of this thesis. A special thanks to my readers who also served as my academic advisors during my graduate studies, Dr. Sandra Yocum and Dr. William Johnston. v TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT.......................................................................................................................iii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS...................................................................................................v LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS..........................................................................................viii CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION...........................................................................1 Thesis Objectives.............................................................................3 Primary Sources...............................................................................9 A Brief Biographical Sketch of Hans Urs von Balthasar..............12 CHAPTER 2 THEOLOGICAL AESTHETICS..................................................17 Universal Longing.........................................................................17 Universal Consciousness...............................................................19 By Way of Analogy.......................................................................20 Faith in the Form of Forms............................................................25 The Form is Love...........................................................................28 They Know What They Have Seen...............................................30 The Mediated Form in the Age of the Church...............................36 CHAPTER 3 THEOLOGY OF MISSION AS DRAMA....................................39 The Players in the Drama..............................................................39 The Freedom of the Actors............................................................41 A Drama in Motion........................................................................42 The Exuberant Trinity and Personal Mission................................44 Mission Rests on the Gift of Freedom...........................................47 A Bit of Tension............................................................................50 Concrete Mission in the Concretissimum......................................52 CHAPTER 4 CHRIST IN MISSION..................................................................54 Oneness of Person and Mission in Christ......................................55 Jesus Christ: The Complete Revelation of God.............................56 Being and Becoming......................................................................57 vi CHAPTER 4 CHRIST IN MISSION (CONT.) Sending and Coming: The Gift of Mission...................................59 Mission Consciousness in Christ...................................................61 Infinite and Finite Freedom in Christ............................................62 Prayer in Jesus’ Mission................................................................63 The Theological Person in Mission...............................................63 The Saints and Mission..................................................................66 CHAPTER 5 MARY IN MISSION.....................................................................69 Becoming a Theological Person....................................................69 Flesh and Blood Saints..................................................................71 Mary’s Consent in Freedom..........................................................72 Mary’s Obedience in Mission.......................................................79 Mary’s Suffering in Mission..........................................................83 Mary’s Fruitfulness in Mission......................................................86 The Marian Church........................................................................90 CHAPTER 6 ST. THÉRÈSE OF LISIEUX IN MISSION................................99 Thérèse’s Freedom.......................................................................101 Theological Method as Lived Experience...................................105 Subjective Shadows in Objective Mission...................................112 Thérèse’s Suffering......................................................................114 Content of Thérèse’s Mission......................................................116 The Fruit of the Little Way..........................................................118 CHAPTER 7 CONCLUSION............................................................................122 Healing with Beauty....................................................................122 Healing with Sanctity..................................................................127 Embodied Theology....................................................................128 Making Space for Hans Urs von Balthasar.................................136 BIBLIOGRAPHY...........................................................................................................141 APPENDIX Biographical Timeline of St. Thérèse of Lisieux........................149 vii LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS 2SS Two Sisters in the Spirit: Thérèse of Lisieux and Elizabeth of the Trinity ET I Explorations in Theology I: The Word Made Flesh ET II Explorations in Theology II: Spouse of the Word GL I The Glory of the Lord: A Theological Aesthetics I: Seeing the Form GL II The Glory of the Lord: A Theological Aesthetics II: Studies in Theological Style: Clerical Styles GL III The Glory of the Lord: A Theological Aesthetics III: Studies in Theological Styles: Lay Styles GL IV The Glory of the Lord:
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