The Cambridge Companion to Hans Urs Von Balthasar Edited by Edward T

Cambridge University Press 0521814677 - The Cambridge Companion to Hans Urs Von Balthasar Edited by Edward T. Oakes and David Moss Frontmatter More information

the cambridge companion to HANS URS VON BALTHASAR

Hans Urs von Balthasar (1905–88) was one of the most prolific, original, and wide-ranging theologians of the twentieth century, and is now finally coming to the prominence he deserves. But because his speculations about the meaning of Christ’s descent into hell after the crucifixion are so daring, and because he draws so many resources for his theology from literature, drama, and philosophy, Balthasar has never been an easily categorized thinker. Neither liberal nor conservative, Thomist nor modernist, he seems to elude all attempts to capture the exact way he creatively reinterprets the tradition of Christian thought. For that reason this Companion is singularly welcome, for it brings together a wide range of theologians – Anglican, Catholic, and Protestant – both to outline and to assess the work of someone whom history will surely rank someday with Origen, Thomas Aquinas, and Karl Barth.

edward t. oakes, sj, is Chester and Margaret Paluch Professor of Theo- logy at the University of St Mary of the Lake, Mundelein, Illinois. He is the author of the book Pattern of Redemption: the Theology of Hans Urs von Balthasar (1996).

david moss is Adult Education Adviser at the Diocese of Exeter and Associate Lecturer at Exeter University. He is co-author of Balthasar at the End of Modernity (2001) and is currently completing a book on the place of friendship in the theological tradition.

© Cambridge University Press www.cambridge.org Cambridge University Press 0521814677 - The Cambridge Companion to Hans Urs Von Balthasar Edited by Edward T. Oakes and David Moss Frontmatter More information

cambridge companions to religion A series of companions to major topics and key figures in theology and religious studies. Each volume contains specially commissioned chapters by international scholars which provide an accessible and stimulating introduction to the subject for new readers and non-specialists.

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the cambridge companion to HANS URS VON BALTHASAR

Edited by Edward T. Oakes and David Moss

published by the press syndicate of the university of cambridge The Pitt Building, Trumpington Street, Cambridge, United Kingdom cambridge university press The Edinburgh Building, Cambridge, cb22ru,UK 40 West 20th Street, New York, ny 10011–4211, USA 477 Williamstown Road, Port Melbourne, vic 3207, Australia Ruiz de Alarcon´ 13, 28014 Madrid, Spain Dock House, The Waterfront, Cape Town 8001, South Africa http://www.cambridge.org

C Cambridge University Press 2004

This book is in copyright. Subject to statutory exception and to the provisions of relevant collective licensing agreements, no reproduction of any part may take place without the written permission of Cambridge University Press.

First published 2004

Printed in the United Kingdomat the University Press, Cambridge

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Acatalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

Library of congress cataloguing in publication data The Cambridge companion to Hans Urs von Balthasar / edited by Edward T. Oakes, David Moss. p. cm. – (Cambridge Companions to Religion) Includes bibliographical references and index. isbn 0 521 81467 7 (hardback) – isbn 0 521 89147 7 (paperback) 1. Balthasar, Hans Urs von, 1905– i. Oakes, Edward T. ii. Moss, David, 1962– iii. Series. bx4705.b163c36 2004 230 .2 092 – dc22 2003069692cip

isbn 0 521 81467 7 hardback isbn 0 521 89147 7 paperback

The Beyond in art. – With profound sorrow one admits to oneself that, in their highest flights, the artists of all ages have raised to heavenly transfiguration precisely those conceptions which we now recognize as false...Ifbelief in such heavenly truth declines in general, then that species of art can never flourish again which – like the Divine Comedy, the paintings of Raphael, the frescoes of Michelangelo, the Gothic cathedrals – presupposes not only a cosmic but a metaphysical significance in the objects of art. A moving tale will one day be told how there once existed such an art, such an artist’s faith.

Friedrich Nietzsche Human, All Too Human

Contents

Notes on contributors xi Acknowledgements xiv List of abbreviations xv 1 Introduction 1 david moss, edward t. oakes

Part I Theological topics 2 Revelation 11 larry chapp 3 Christology 24 mark a. mCintosh 4 Balthasar and the Trinity 37 rowan williams archbishop of canterbury 5 For the life of the world: Hans Urs von Balthasar on the Church as Eucharist 51 nicholas healy, david l. schindler 6 Balthasar and the figure of Mary 64 lucy gardner 7 The saints 79 david moss 8 One sex or two? Balthasar’s theology of the sexes 93 corinne crammer 9 Eschatology 113 geoffrey wainwright

Part II The trilogy 10 The theological aesthetics 131 oliver davies

x List of contents

11 The theo-drama 143 ben quash 12 The theo-logic 158 aidan nichols

Part III Disciplines 13 Balthasar’s biblical hermeneutics 175 w. t. dickens 14 Balthasar’s reading of the Church Fathers 187 brian e. daley 15 Balthasar’s literary criticism207 ed block, jr 16 Balthasar and metaphysics 224 fergus kerr

Part IV Contemporary encounters 17 Balthasar and Karl Barth 241 john webster 18 Balthasar and Karl Rahner 256 karen kilby 19 Envoi: the future of Balthasarian theology 269 edward t. oakes

Select bibliography 275 Index 279

Notes on contributors

Ed Block, Jr, is Professor of English at Marquette University in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. His translations of, and essays on, Hans Urs von Balthasar have appeared in Communio, Literature and Theology, Renascence, Claudel Studies,and European Romantic Review. Larry S. Chapp is Associate Professor of Theology and Chairman of the Department of Theology at DeSales University in Center Valley, Pennsylvania. He is the author of The God Who Speaks: Hans Urs von Balthasar’s Theology of Revelation (Catholic Scholars Press, 1996). His articles on the theology of Balthasar have appeared in Communio, Pro Ecclesia, and the Josephinum Journal of Theology. Corinne Crammer was ordained in the Episcopal Diocese of Chicago and is currently licensed in the Diocese of Atlanta where she is a Priest-Associate at All Saints Episcopal Church in Atlanta. At present she is a doctoral candidate in Theological Studies in the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences at Emory University in Atlanta. Her dissertation will be on Balthasar’s theology of sexual difference. Brian E. Daley, SJ, is the Catherine F. Huisking Professor of Theology at the University of Notre Dame. He is the author of The Hope of the Early Church: a Handbook of Patristic Eschatology (Cambridge University Press, 1991; reprint, Hendrickson, 2003), and is the translator of Balthasar’s Cosmic Liturgy: the Universe according to Maximus the Confessor (Ignatius, 2003). He is a specialist in patristic theology and is the executive secretary of the Orthodox-Catholic Consultation for North America. Oliver Davies is Professor of Christian Doctrine, King’s College, London. He has recently published The Creativity of God (Cambridge University Press, 2004) and A Theology of Compassion (Eerdmans, 2001); he has also edited, with Denys Turner, Silence and the Word (Cambridge University Press, 2002). W. T. Dickens is Associate Professor of Religious Studies at Siena College. He is the author of Hans Urs von Balthasar’s Theological Aesthetics: A Model For Post-Critical Biblical Interpretation (University of Notre Dame Press, 2003), as well as articles on interreligious dialogue, premodern exegesis, comparative religion, and religious holidays. At present, he is writing a book on the hermeneutical import of participating in Christian liturgies.

xii Notes on contributors

Lucy Gardner has taught doctrine and ethics in Oxford for ten years, primarily as Tutor in Christian Doctrine at St Stephen’s House. She co-authored Balthasar at the End of Modernity (T. & T. Clark, 2000) and has contributed essays to Radical Orthodoxy? ACatholic Enquiry (Ashgate, 1999) and Challenging Women’s Orthodoxies (Ashgate, 2000). Nicholas J. Healy, III, is Director of the Austrian Programof Ave Maria College and associate editor of Communio. He is the author of Eschatology as Communion: an Interpretation of Hans Urs von Balthasar (forthcoming from Oxford University Press). Fergus Kerr, OP, Regent of Blackfriars Hall, Oxford, and Honorary Senior Lecturer in Divinity at the University of Edinburgh, edits New Blackfriars.Heisthe author of Theology after Wittgenstein (Blackwell, 1986; second edn, SPCK, 1997); Immortal Longings: Versions of Transcending Humanity (Notre Dame, 1997); and After Aquinas: Versions of Thomism (Blackwell, 2002). Karen Kilby teaches theology at the University of Birmingham and is author of Karl Rahner (HarperCollins, 1997; reprint, Trafalgar Square, 1999) and Rahner: Philosophy and Theology (Routledge, 2004).

Mark A. MCIntosh is Associate Professor of Theology at Loyola University in Chicago, Illinois, and author of Christology from Within: Spirituality and the Incarnation in Hans Urs von Balthasar (Notre Dame, 1996; second edn, paperback, 2000), Mystical Theology: the Integrity of Spirituality and Theology (Blackwell, 1998), Mysteries of Faith (Cowley, 2000), and Discerning Truth: the Spirituality and Theology of Knowledge (forthcoming from Crossroad/Herder). A priest in the Episcopal Church, he currently serves as Chaplain to the House of Bishops of the Episcopal Church and is also Canon Theologian to the Presiding Bishop and Primate of the Episcopal Church, USA. David Moss is Director of Adult Education in the Diocese of Exeter and Associate Lecturer in the University of Exeter. He is co-author of Balthasar at the End of Modernity (T. & T. Clark, 1998). He has published essays in the area of Christian Spirituality including an essay in Radical Orthodoxy: a New Theology (Routledge, 1999). Aidan Nichols, OP, is Prior at Blackfriars in Cambridge. Among his many other works he has published a three-volume introduction to Balthasar’s theological trilogy: The Word Has Been Abroad: a Guide Through Balthasar’s Aesthetics (1998), No Bloodless Myth: a Guide Through Balthasar’s Dramatics (2000), Say It Is Pentecost: a Guide Through Balthasar’s Logic (2001), published jointly by T. & T. Clark and Catholic University of America Press. Edward T. Oakes, SJ, is Chester & Margaret Paluch Professor of Theology at the University of St Mary of the Lake in Mundelein, Illinois. He is the author of Pattern of Redemption: the Theology of Hans Urs von Balthasar (Continuum, second edn, 1997) and editor of German Essays on Religion (Continuum, 1995). His translations of Balthasar’s works include The Theology of Karl Barth: Exposition and Interpretation (Ignatius Press, 1992) and Explorations in Theology, volume iv: Spirit and Institution (Ignatius Press, 1995).

Notes on contributors xiii

Ben Quash is Dean of Peterhouse, Cambridge. He has written extensively on Balthasar’s theology and is co-author of Balthasar at the End of Modernity (T.&T. Clark, 1999). His book on Balthasar’s concept of theodramatics and theology of history is to be published shortly. He is reviews editor of the journal Studies in Christian Ethics. David L. Schindler is Dean of the John Paul II Institute for Studies on Marriage and Family at the Catholic University of America, Washington, DC; and Editor-in-Chief of the English-language edition of Communio. He is author of Heart of the World, Center of the Church (Eerdmans and T. & T. Clark, 1996); co-editor (with Doug Bandow) of Wealth, Poverty, and Human Destiny (ISI Books, 2003); and editor of Hans Urs von Balthasar: His Life and Work (Ignatius Press, 1991). Geoffrey Wainwright, who holds the Doctor of Divinity degree fromCambridge, is Cushman Professor of Christian Theology at Duke University. His interest in ‘the last things’ began with his Eucharist and Eschatology (Epworth Press, 1971; third edn, 2002). He remains best known for his systematic theology, Doxology: the Praise of God in Worship, Doctrine and Life (Oxford University Press, 1980). Since 1986 he has been co-chairman of the Joint Commission for Dialogue between the World Methodist Council and the Roman Catholic Church. John Webster is Professor of Systematic Theology at the University of Aberdeen; previously he held chairs in divinity in Toronto and Oxford. Editor of The Cambridge Companion to Karl Barth, he is also the author of a number of books on the theology of Barth, such as Barth’s Ethics of Reconciliation (Cambridge University Press, 1995) and Barth’s Moral Theology (T. & T. Clark, 1998). His most recent works include Word and Church (2001), Holiness (2003), and Holy Scripture (2003). Rowan Williams is Archbishop of Canterbury and sometime Lady Margaret Professor of Divinity in the University of Oxford. His recent publications include Sergii Bulgakov. Towards a Russian Political Theology (T. & T. Clark, 2000), On Christian Theology (Blackwell, 2000), and Lost Icons. Reflections on Cultural Bereavement (T. & T. Clark, 2000).

Acknowledgements

The thanks of the editors are due first of all, of course, to the contributors to this volume, for their willingness to take on this extra duty amidst so many other responsibilities, for their promptness in meeting deadlines, for their amenability in letting their respective texts be trimmed when an additional chapter was included after the project had already been approved, and above all for the quality of their contributions. Thanks are also due to Kevin Taylor of Cambridge University Press, who first proposed to the editors that this volume join the others in the Cambridge Companion series, and to Katharina Brett for seeing it to completion.

David Moss Edward T. Oakes, SJ

xiv

Abbreviations

Works written by Hans Urs von Balthasar B Bernanos: an Ecclesial Existence, tr. Eramso Leiv`a-Merikakis (San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 1996). CL Cosmic Liturgy: the Universe According to Maximus the Confessor, tr. Brian E. Daley, SJ (San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 2003). CSL The Christian State of Life, tr. Sr Mary Frances McCarthy (San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 1983). DWH Dare We Hope ‘That All May Be Saved’? With a Short Discourse on Hell, tr. David Kipp and Lothar Krauth (San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 1988). E Elucidations, tr. John Riches (London: SPCK, 1975; reprint San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 1998). ET1 Explorations in Theology, volume i: The Word Made Flesh,tr. A. V. Littledale and Alexander Dru (San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 1989). ET2 Explorations in Theology, volume ii: Spouse of the Word,tr.A.V. Littledale, Alexander Dru, Brian McNeil, CRV, John Saward, and Edward T. Oakes, SJ (San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 1991). ET3 Explorations in Theology, volume iii: Creator Spirit, tr. Brian McNeil, CRV (San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 1993). ET4 Explorations in Theology, volume iv: Spirit and Institution,tr. Edward T. Oakes, SJ (San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 1995). FG First Glance at Adrienne von Speyr, tr. Antje Lawry and Sr Sergia Englund, OCD (San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 1981). FSO ‘The Fathers, the Scholastics and Ourselves’, Communio: International Catholic Review 24 (1997): 347–96, translation of ‘Patristik, Scholastik und Wir’, Theologie der Zeit (= Beiheft zu Seelsorge) 3 (1939): 65–104.

xvi List of abbreviations

GL1 The Glory of the Lord, volume i: Seeing the Form, tr. Erasmo Leivà-Merikakis (Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark, and San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 1982). GL2 The Glory of the Lord, volume ii: Studies in Theological Style: Clerical Styles, tr. Andrew Louth, Francis McDonagh, and Brian McNeil, CRV (Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark, and San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 1984). GL3 The Glory of the Lord, volume iii: Studies in Theological Style: Lay Styles, tr. Andrew Louth, John Saward, Martin Simon, and Rowan Williams (Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark, and San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 1986). GL4 The Glory of the Lord, volume iv: In the Realm of Metaphysics in Antiquity, tr. Brian McNeil, CRV, Andrew Louth, John Saward, Rowan Williams, and Oliver Davies (Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark, and San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 1989). GL5 The Glory of the Lord, volume v: In the Realm of Metaphysics in the Modern Age, tr. Oliver Davies, Andrew Louth, Brian McNeil, CRV, John Saward, and Rowan Williams (Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark, and San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 1991). GL6 The Glory of the Lord, volume vi: Theology: the Old Covenant,tr. Brian McNeil, CRV and Erasmo Leivà-Merikakis (Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark, and San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 1991). GL7 The Glory of the Lord, volume vii: Theology: the New Covenant, tr. Brian McNeil, CRV (Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark, and San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 1989). GQ The God Question and Modern Man, tr. Hilda Graef, introduction by John Macquarrie (New York: Seabury Press, 1967). HW Heart of the World, tr. Erasmo S. Leivà (San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 1979). KB The Theology of Karl Barth: Exposition and Interpretation,tr. Edward T. Oakes, SJ (San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 1992). LALove Alone:the Way of Revelation , tr. not named (New York: Herder & Herder, 1969). MCW The Moment of Christian Witness, tr. R. Beckley (San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 1994). MP Mysterium Paschale, tr. Aidan Nichols, OP (Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark, 1990; second corrected edn, Grand Rapids, Mich.: Eerdmans, 1993). MT Mary for Today, tr. Robert Nowell (Slough: St Paul Publications, 1987).

List of abbreviations xvii

MW My Work in Retrospect, tr. not named (San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 1992). NE New Elucidations, tr. Sr Mary Theresilde Skerry, HSAS (San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 1986). OP The Office of Peter and the Structure of the Church, tr. Andree´ Emery (San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 1986). OSF Origen: Spirit and Fire. AThematic Anthologyof His Writings , ed. Hans Urs von Balthasar, tr. Robert J. Daly, SJ (Washington, DC: The Catholic University of America Press, 1984). OT Our Task: a Report and a Plan, tr. John Saward (San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 1994). P Prayer, tr. A. V. Littledale (London: Geoffrey Chapman Ltd, and New York: Sheed & Ward, 1961). PT Presence and Thought: an Essay on the Religious Philosophy of Gregory of Nyssa, tr. Mark Sebanc (San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 1988). TAATheologicalAnthropology , tr. not named (New York: Sheed & Ward, 1967). TD1 Theo-Drama: Theological Dramatic Theory, volume i: Prolegomena, tr. GrahamHarrison (San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 1988). TD2 Theo-Drama: Theological Dramatic Theory, volume ii: Dramatis Personae: Man in God, tr. GrahamHarrison (San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 1990). TD3 Theo-Drama: Theological Dramatic Theory, volume iii: Dramatis Personae: Persons in Christ, tr. GrahamHarrison (San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 1992). TD4 Theo-Drama: Theological Dramatic Theory, volume iv: The Action, tr. GrahamHarrison (San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 1994). TD5 Theo-Drama: Theological Dramatic Theory, volume v: The Final Act, tr. GrahamHarrison (San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 1998). TH ATheology of History , tr. not named (New York: Sheed & Ward, 1963). TL1 Theo-Logic, volume i: The Truth of the World, tr. Adrian J. Walker (San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 2000). TL ii Theologik, Band ii: Wahrheit Gottes (Einsiedeln: Johannes Verlag, 1985). TL iii Theologik, Band iii: Der Geist der Wahrheit (Einsiedeln: Johannes Verlag, 1987).

xviii List of abbreviations

TS Truth is Symphonic: Aspects of Christian Pluralism, tr. Graham Harrison (San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 1987). 2SS Two Sisters in the Spirit: Th´er`ese of Lisieux and Elizabeth of the Trinity, tr. Donald Nichols, Anne Elizabeth Englund, and Dennis Martin (San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 1992). 2SW Two Say Why: ‘Why I Am Still a Christian’, by Hans Urs von Balthasar and ‘Why I Am Still in the Church’, by Joseph Ratzinger, tr. John Griffiths (Chicago: Franciscan Herald Press, 1973). WO ‘Wendung nach Osten’, Stimmen der Zeit 136 (April, 1939): 32–46.

Essays in collections BEM Balthasar at the End of Modernity, by Lucy Gardner, David Moss, Ben Quash, and GrahamWard (Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark, 1999). L&W Hans Urs von Balthasar: His Life and Work, ed. David L. Schindler (San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 1991).

Note: English translations are always cited when possible. When this book went to press, however, two volumes of the Theologik had not yet been translated. To avoid possible confusion once these translations do appear, Arabic numerals always refer to the English translation of the trilogy, Roman numerals to the German edition. Balthasar’s works are too numerous to list in their entirety in this table; all works not found here are cited in full at the location of the quotation. A full bibliography (running to a remarkable 174 pages) of all of Balthasar’s works, including all translations up to 1990, may be found in Hans Urs von Balthasar: Bibliographie, 1925–1990, ed. Cornelia Capol (Einsiedeln and Freiburg imBreisgau: Johannes Verlag, 1990).