DOCSLIB.ORG

Spirit and Truth

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Spirit and Truth Gunnar Innerdal Spirit and Truth A Systematic Reconstruction of Hans Urs von Balthasar’s Doctrine of the Spirit of Truth and Its Connections to the Philosophy and Theology of Truth by the Theoretical Framework of Lorenz B. Puntel Dissertation submitted for the degree PhD (Philosophiae Doctor) MF Norwegian School of Theology 2014 © Gunnar Innerdal ii Outline of contents INTRODUCTION Part I: TRUTH IN PHILOSOPHY Part II: TRUTH IN SYSTEMATIC THEOLOGY Part III: THE SPIRIT OF TRUTH CONCLUSION EPILOGUE iii iv Detailed table of contents Outline of contents .................................................................................................................... iii Detailed table of contents ........................................................................................................... v Preface ....................................................................................................................................... xi Thanks ..................................................................................................................................... xiii Abbreviations etc. ..................................................................................................................... xv INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................................... 1 § 1. Prelude: Truth, Spirit, Philosophy and Dogmatics .................................................. 1 § 2. Research Question: A Systematic Theology of the Spirit of Truth ......................... 6 § 3. Sources of Enquiry: Hans Urs von Balthasar’s Theo-Logic and Related Texts ...... 9 3.1 The Sources of Enquiry Situated within Balthasar’s Bibliography and Biography ……………………………………………………………………………………10 3.2 The Dissertation in Relation to Previous Research on Balthasar .......................... 13 § 4. Method and Theoretical Framework: Systematic Reconstruction by Lorenz B. Puntel’s Structural-Systematic Philosophy (SSP) ................................................................ 16 4.1 A Work in Systematic Theology and Dogmatics .................................................. 18 4.2 Presentation of the Theoretical Framework: The Structural-Systematic Philosophy ……………………………………………………………………………………22 4.3 The Practical Application of the Theoretical Framework: Systematic Reconstruction and Criteria for Theoretical Evaluation ................................................... 28 4.4 The Appropriateness of This Framework for Discussing Balthasar’s Works ....... 31 Do Balthasar and Puntel Hold Incompatible Attitudes to “System” and “Systematics?” ....................................................................................................................................... 32 Theory, Aestheticity, Practice, Spirituality ................................................................... 36 A Positive Assessment of Potential Fruitfulness ........................................................... 38 PART I: TRUTH IN PHILOSOPHY ................................................................................ 41 § 5. The Interrelationship of Philosophy and Theology ............................................... 42 5.1 Balthasar: “Ohne Philosophie, keine Theologie” .................................................. 42 v 5.2 Puntel: Theology and Philosophy as the Universal Theoretical Science ............... 47 5.3 Discussion and Assessment of the Relevance of Philosophical Discussions in this Dissertation ....................................................................................................................... 50 § 6. Balthasar’s Ontology and Epistemology of the “Truth of the World” .................. 53 6.1 Basic Definitions and Etymologies of Truth: Transcendental, alētheia, emeth, adaequatio ......................................................................................................................... 54 6.2 The Drama of the Subject and the Object in Epistemology ................................... 59 6.3 The Real Partiality of Known Truth ...................................................................... 65 6.4 Truth, Life and Love .............................................................................................. 72 § 7. Critical Assessment of Balthasar’s Philosophical Thinking on Truth in Dialogue with Puntel’s Philosophy and Theoretical Framework ......................................................... 73 7.1 Heidegger and alētheia .......................................................................................... 73 7.2 The Compatibility of Puntel and Balthasar’s Thinking on Truth .......................... 76 7.3 Gap-closing, or: The Always Already Bridged Gap .............................................. 82 § 8. Summary of Part I .................................................................................................. 84 PART II: TRUTH IN SYSTEMATIC THEOLOGY ........................................................ 87 § 9. Truth and Christology ............................................................................................ 88 9.1 Christ the Concrete Analogia Entis as “the Truth” According to Balthasar .......... 88 “I am the truth” .............................................................................................................. 91 Analogia entis ................................................................................................................ 95 Christological Analogy ............................................................................................... 100 Kata-logy ..................................................................................................................... 106 Analogy of the Transcendentals of Being ................................................................... 109 9.2 Balthasar’s Interpretation of Negative Theology ................................................. 112 9.3 Critical Assessment by Means of Puntel’s Theoretical Framework .................... 120 On the Question of Transcendence and Immanence: Critique of the Traditional Metaphysical Doctrine of Analogy and Negative/Apophatic Theologies .................. 120 Analogia entis Reinterpreted as Katalogical Analogy ................................................ 127 The Epistemological and Ontological Consequences of Sin ...................................... 138 vi Christ as Truth “In Person” and the Philosophical Determination of Truth as a Maximally Determined Proposition ............................................................................ 142 Concluding Remarks on Christ and the Universal Philosophical-Theological Perspective on Truth .................................................................................................... 146 § 10. Truth and Trinity .................................................................................................. 148 10.1 The Truth of God as Loving Trinitarian Difference in Symphonic Unity According to Balthasar ..................................................................................................................... 149 Symphonic Truth ......................................................................................................... 150 The Positivity of Difference ........................................................................................ 151 The Truth is Love ........................................................................................................ 154 Trinitarian Difference/Distance and the Love of the Cross ........................................ 158 10.2 Critical Assessment by Means of Puntel’s Theoretical Framework .................... 161 Symphonic-Improvisational Integration and Coherence ............................................. 161 Trinitarian Difference, One Truth and Plural Frameworks ......................................... 167 Truth, Being and Love ................................................................................................ 169 The Cross, Difference and Abandonment ................................................................... 171 § 11. Summary of Part II ............................................................................................... 173 PART III: THE SPIRIT OF TRUTH ................................................................................. 177 § 12. Introductory Remarks on Balthasar’s Pneumatology .......................................... 178 12.1 The Johannine Entryway: Scriptural Background and Emphasis ........................ 179 12.2 On Speaking of “the Unknown Lying beyond the Word” ................................... 185 The Possibility of Pneumatology ................................................................................ 185 The Complexities of the Personhood of the Holy Spirit ............................................. 188 § 13. “He Will Guide You into All the Truth.”: The Spirit as Interpreter of the Christological-Trinitarian Truth ......................................................................................... 193 13.1 Balthasar’s Whole-Biblical Exegesis of a Key Johannine Saying ....................... 193 13.2 Some Remarks Pointing Towards a Critical Assessment .................................... 201 § 14. The Father’s Two Hands: On the Unity and Inseparability of Christology and Pneumatology ..................................................................................................................... 201 vii 14.1 The Spirit of Christ’s Incarnation,
Load more

Recommended publications
  • From the Garden of Eden to the New Creation in Christ : a Theological Investigation Into the Significance and Function of the Ol
    The University of Notre Dame Australia ResearchOnline@ND Theses 2017 From the Garden of Eden to the new creation in Christ : A theological investigation into the significance and function of the Old estamentT imagery of Eden within the New Testament James Cregan The University of Notre Dame Australia Follow this and additional works at: https://researchonline.nd.edu.au/theses Part of the Religion Commons COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA Copyright Regulations 1969 WARNING The material in this communication may be subject to copyright under the Act. Any further copying or communication of this material by you may be the subject of copyright protection under the Act. Do not remove this notice. Publication Details Cregan, J. (2017). From the Garden of Eden to the new creation in Christ : A theological investigation into the significance and function of the Old Testament imagery of Eden within the New Testament (Doctor of Philosophy (College of Philosophy and Theology)). University of Notre Dame Australia. https://researchonline.nd.edu.au/theses/181 This dissertation/thesis is brought to you by ResearchOnline@ND. It has been accepted for inclusion in Theses by an authorized administrator of ResearchOnline@ND. For more information, please contact [email protected]. FROM THE GARDEN OF EDEN TO THE NEW CREATION IN CHRIST: A THEOLOGICAL INVESTIGATION INTO THE SIGNIFICANCE AND FUNCTION OF OLD TESTAMENT IMAGERY OF EDEN WITHIN THE NEW TESTAMENT. James M. Cregan A thesis submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy at the University of Notre Dame, Australia. School of Philosophy and Theology, Fremantle. November 2017 “It is thus that the bridge of eternity does its spanning for us: from the starry heaven of the promise which arches over that moment of revelation whence sprang the river of our eternal life, into the limitless sands of the promise washed by the sea into which that river empties, the sea out of which will rise the Star of Redemption when once the earth froths over, like its flood tides, with the knowledge of the Lord.
    [Show full text]
  • Hart Templeton Colloquium Sch
    This Templeton Colloquium at the NDIAS is offered due to the generosity of the John Templeton Foundation and through a grant to the Notre Dame Institute for Advanced Study. Cover Image: A Lifetime of Looking Artist: David Plunkert Program for Mind, Soul, World: Consciousness in Nature A Templeton Colloquium led by David Bentley Hart Templeton Fellow at the NDIAS March 14-15, 2016 Notre Dame Conference Center 100-104 McKenna Hall In this two-day Templeton Colloquium, Professor David Bentley Hart will explore the mystery of consciousness (the entirety of mental life), posing critical questions such as the place of nature within mind, and probing more traditional assumptions about the physicalist emergentist accounts of the origins of consciousness. In dialogue with other scholars he will take up the idea that careful reflection on the nature of consciousness yields an understanding of consciousness to which certain classical understandings of the soul (Western and Eastern) may prove far better suited than more materialist reductionist approaches. This colloquium, made possible through the generosity of the John Templeton Foundation and a grant to the Notre Dame Institute for Advanced Study (NDIAS), brings together scholars from history and philosophy of science, philosophy, and theology to examine critical topics about consciousness including whether consciousness can evolve or emerge from matter, intentionality and the transcendental ends of consciousness, classical metaphysics of the soul, Eastern contributions to the understanding of consciousness, and the soul and the whole of being. Monday, March 14, 2016 8:00 a.m. Continental breakfast available 9:00 a.m. Introduction Presenter: David Bentley Hart, Templeton Fellow at the NDIAS Moderator: Brad S.
    [Show full text]
  • Plato and Non Philosophy
    Radical Orthodoxy: Theology, Philosophy, Politics, Vol. 1, Numbers 1 & 2 (August 2012): 322-32. ISSN 2050-392X Reasoning within the Good: An Interview with David C. Schindler Paul Tyson Paul Tyson [PT]: It seems to me that the Plato you give us is fully committed to the reality of transcendence as encountered within the context of immanent lived reality. Thus, your Plato could be cast as a somewhat Hamannean/Kierkegaardian counter-enlightenment figure affirming the two way truth of transcendence and immanence in lived reality, all of which denies the Kantian phenomenological ceiling, denies Humean pure immanentism, and denies high abstract Hegelian idealism. If this is a fair reading, can you unpack the Kantian allusion of your title for us? That is, if Kant critiques pure reason and Plato critiques impure reason, what type of relationship between the task of Kant and the task of Plato, in our post-Kantian context, is your title alluding to? David C Schindler [DCS]: This is indeed a fair reading of one of the book’s central concerns. A reviewer, I believe, wrote that he was disappointed not to find an engagement with Kant, which the title seems to promise. In fact, the entire book could arguably be read as an engagement with Kant, though it was intended to be in the first place an interpretation of Plato rather than a comparative study. The title was meant to reverberate in several different directions: first, it is intended to suggest that the Republic is “Plato’s version,” if you will, of the attempt to work out the foundation and scope of reason, just like Kant’s first Critique, though of course in a radically different manner.
    [Show full text]
  • Forming Intentional Disciples of Jesus Understanding the Mystery of Holy Week Presented By: Rev
    FORMING INTENTIONAL DISCIPLES OF JESUS UNDERSTANDING THE MYSTERY OF HOLY WEEK PRESENTED BY: REV. FR. BRIAN R. SATTLER Page | 1 To understand Holy Week it is worth remembering the Lenten Season in order to understand where have we come from and where are we going: In his book, “The Liturgical Year Lent/Holy Week,” Adrian Nocent writes, “The essence and purpose of Lent is…for the Christian to become like the crucified Christ, to overcome the devil, and to reestablish a proper state of soul through union with God in prayer and with ones neighbor by means of charity that leads to almsgiving and generous forgiveness.” 1 Disciples of Jesus focus on becoming like Jesus and believe that you can make Jesus present to all the people you encounter. This can happen if you put your mind and heart to the task through prayer and discernment. ASH WEDNESDAY Return to me with your whole heart, with fasting, weeping, and mourning Rend your hearts, not your garments and return to the Lord your God.” (Joel 2:12…), “When you pray, go into your inner room, close the door and pray to your Father in secret.” (Matthew 6:1…). Disciples of Jesus focus on a complete transformation of heart using the gifts of their intellect. 1ST SUNDAY IN LENT “I am establishing my covenant with you and your descendants after you, and with every living creature that was with you…I set my bow in the clouds as a sign for you.” (Genesis 9:8-15). “A few persons, eight in all, were saved through water.
    [Show full text]
  • Changing Images of Purgatory in Selected Us
    FROM PAINFUL PRISON TO HOPEFUL PURIFICATION: CHANGING IMAGES OF PURGATORY IN SELECTED U.S. CATHOLIC PERIODICALS, 1909-1960 Dissertation Submitted to The College of Arts and Sciences of the UNIVERSITY OF DAYTON In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for The Degree Doctor of Philosophy in Theology By Timothy G. Dillon UNIVERSITY OF DAYTON Dayton, Ohio December, 2013 FROM PAINFUL PRISON TO HOPEFUL PURIFICATION: CHANGING IMAGES OF PURGATORY IN SELECTED U.S. CATHOLIC PERIODICALS, 1909-1960 Name: Dillon, Timothy Gerard APPROVED BY: __________________________________________ William L. Portier, Ph. D. Faculty Advisor __________________________________________ Patrick Carey, Ph.D. External Faculty Reader __________________________________________ Dennis Doyle, Ph.D. Faculty Reader __________________________________________ Anthony Smith, Ph.D. Faculty Reader __________________________________________ Sandra Yocum, Ph.D. Faculty Reader ii ABSTRACT FROM PAINFUL PRISON TO HOPEFUL PURIFICATION: CHANGING IMAGES OF PURGATORY IN SELECTED U.S. CATHOLIC PERIODICALS, 1909-1960 Name: Dillon, Timothy Gerard University of Dayton Advisor: Dr. William L. Portier Prior to 1960, U.S. Catholic periodicals regularly featured articles on the topic of purgatory, especially in November, the month for remembering the dead. Over the next three decades were very few articles on the topic. The dramatic decrease in the number of articles concerning purgatory reflected changes in theology, practice, and society. This dissertation argues that the decreased attention
    [Show full text]
  • After Heidegger and Marion: the Task of Christian Metaphysics Today
    Modern Theology 34:4 October 2018 DOI: 10.1111/moth.12445 ISSN 0266-7177 (Print) ISSN 1468-0025 (Online) AFTER HEIDEGGER AND MARION: THE TASK OF CHRISTIAN METAPHYSICS TODAY JOHN R. BETZ Abstract Without denying legitimate criticisms of metaphysics that have been made since the time of the Reformation, the purpose of this essay is to challenge prevailing assumptions in continental philoso- phy and theology since Heidegger that the age of metaphysics is now over and should be replaced as “first philosophy” either by some version of phenomenology, such as that offered by Jean-Luc Marion, or by a pragmatic linguistic approach in the spirit of Wittgenstein, such as that offered by Kevin Hector. Notwithstanding the genuine merits of their proposals and concerns, it is argued here that metaphysics is not so easily dismissed, and that there is, in fact, a way to do metaphysics otherwise – a way that was taken by Erich Przywara, whose analogical metaphysics is characterized not only by an analogy between God and creation, the analogia entis, but also by an analogy between philo- sophical and theological metaphysics. In this, form, it is argued, not only is metaphysics impervious to the standard criticisms of “onto-theology,” it also turns out to be, at its core, nothing other than a Christological metaphysics. We need not fear that the work of metaphysics has to be begun again, but it is equally true that it has to be reviewed and renewed in every age in relation of the difficulties and problems of the age. Dennis Hawkins1 This is the ultimate truth: that Christians, as guardians of a metaphysics of the whole person in an age which has forgotten both Being and God, are entrusted with the weighty responsibility of leading this metaphysics of wholeness through that same fire.
    [Show full text]
  • Virtue and the Happiness of Persons
    „Studia Ełckie” 22(2020), nr 3 e-ISSN 2353-1274 p-ISSN 1896-6896 DOI: 10.32090/SE.220316 ANTHONY DAUM OSB* Virtue and the Happiness of Persons What is happiness and how do we get it? This is arguably the most peren- nial and universal question that human beings have asked (and will continue to ask). The reasons for this are both profound and self-evident. First and fore- most, everyone, regardless of ethnicity, religion, geo-political or socio- economic context wants to be happy. The profundity of this is on clear display since no one could sincerely object to the statement ‘I want to be happy’; it is truly self-evident, expressing a first principle (and last end) of human action. The self-evidence quickly subsides, however, when the question turns to defining precisely the end and to determining the means by which we attain that end. The argument of this essay is essentially twofold: (1) that the ultimate hap- piness of human persons is found in the contemplation of and union with pure act, insofar as each person has the capacity to receive it, and (2) that the principle means of attaining and increasing that capacity is virtue. Unfortunately, this tra- ditional understanding, taken from both the Greco-Roman and Judeo-Christian traditions, has largely been lost, even within the Catholic Church, which histori- cally has been the preeminent aegis of both of these traditions in the West1. 1. Defining and Expounding Our Terms The principal terms requiring definition and exposition in this essay are: essence, existence, person, virtue, virtual quantity, and happiness2.
    [Show full text]
  • The Concept of Representation in the Theology of Hans Urs Von Balthasar
    Theological Studies 60 (1999) THE CONCEPT OF REPRESENTATION IN THE THEOLOGY OF HANS URS VON BALTHASAR MICHELE M. SCHUMACHER [The originality and vigor of Balthasars use of the term Stellver­ tretung—literally "representation" (Vertretung) by taking one's place (Stelle)—lies in his depiction of Christ as the Stellvertrer or representative of the Father. Christ's irrevocable gift of self even unto death, reveals and mediates the Father's love. Such a vision of the Father of mercies is opposed to that of the vengeful deity inevi­ tably imagined when Balthasar presents Christ as the representative of the human race, one who takes upon himself humanity fs sins and the awful fate that accompanies those sins.] HE CONCEPT Stellvertretung, rendered in English as "representation" by T a majority of translators, holds a prominent place in the soteriology articulated by Hans Urs von Balthasar.1 Balthasare originality was to con­ ceive of the concept in terms of the Creator-creature relationship, one that he treated both "katalogically" and "analogically." Representation was for him, as Karl-Heinz Menke describes, a bridging concept between the im­ manent and the economic Trinity, hence between trinitarian theology and the other systematic treatises relating to the theology of creation, Chris- tology/soteriology, ecclesiology, and eschatology. Regrettably this bridge MICHELE M. SCHUMACHER is "collaboratrice scientifique externe" in the depart­ ment of theology at the University of Fribourg, Switzerland, where she obtained the S.T.L. She obtained her S.T.D. from the John Paul II Institute in Washington, D.C. She is former director of Family Life and Social Justice for the Diocese of Yakima, Washington, and former adjunct professor for the University of Dallas's Institute of Religious and Pastoral Studies in the Portland, Oregon, Archdiocese.
    [Show full text]
  • Seeing the Self As Beautiful: Hans Urs Von Balthasar on Beauty and the Divine Exegesis of the Self
    KOREA PRESBYTERIAN JOURNAL OF THEOLOGY Vol. 49 No. 3 Seeing the Self as Beautiful: Hans Urs von Balthasar on Beauty and the Divine Exegesis of the Self PARK Shin-Young, Ph.D. Student, Systematic & Philosophical Theology Graduate Theological Union, USA I. Introduction II. Seeing the Form (Gestalt) and the Divine Exegesis of the Self III. Seeing [the] Gestalt Christi, the Exegesis of God, and Redeeming Beauty IV. Seeing the Self through the Mother’s Loving Gaze V. Conclusion Korea Presbyterian Journal of Theology Vol. 49 No. 3 (2017. 9), 215-235 DOI: 10.15757/kpjt.2017.49.3.009 216 KOREA PRESBYTERIAN JOURNAL OF THEOLOGY Vol. 49 No. 3 Abstract This article is an aesthetic and theological inquiry into the self. The author draws on Hans Urs von Balthasar’s theological aesthetics to explore how one perceives oneself in seeing the form—or, more specifically, how the aesthetic experience of the formal archetype, the Christ form (Gestalt Christi) shapes the self-identity of the seer. The article argues that seeing the form is an act of knowing God and the self, for one awakens to consciousness by seeing God’s loving gaze viewing the self as beautiful, which is true self-knowledge. Balthasar’s notion of Gestalt played a key role in the theological aesthetics that he developed in the first volume of his trilogy The Glory of the Lord, and his work reveals in what sense seeing the form is receiving the divine exegesis of the self. The Gestalt Christi, the concrete analogia entis, offers a vision for perceiving the beauty of the self through Christ’s mission, and self-identity as known and revealed in Christ’s “I-Thou relation” to the Father.
    [Show full text]
  • By Thine Agony and Bloody Sweat Dogmatic Description of the Double Agency of Christ – a Modest Proposal
    BY THINE AGONY AND BLOODY SWEAT DOGMATIC DESCRIPTION OF THE DOUBLE AGENCY OF CHRIST – A MODEST PROPOSAL by PATRICK D. M. PATTERSON A THESIS SUBMITTED TO THE FACULTY OF WYCLIFFE COLLEGE AND THEOLOGICAL DEPARTMENT OF TORONTO SCHOOL OF THEOLOGY. IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENT FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF THEOLOGY AWARDED BY WYCLIFFE COLLEGE AND THE UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO. © Copyright by Patrick Patterson 2012 BY THINE AGONY AND BLOODY SWEAT DOGMATIC DESCRIPTION OF THE DOUBLE AGENCY OF CHRIST – A MODEST PROPOSAL PATRICK D. M. PATTERSON DOCTOR OF THEOLOGY Wycliffe College of University of Toronto 2013 Abstract It is a theological commonplace that 'classical' christology is incompetent to comprehend the authentic humanity of Christ. Alert to the charge but sympathetic to a ‘neo-classical’ approach, this paper addresses one aspect of the problem, namely, the properly dogmatic definition of Christ's divine and human agencies, with particular reference to the biblical locus classicus, Jesus’ prayer in Gethsemane. My thesis is twofold. (i) Neo-classical christologies are able sufficiently to comprehend the double agency of Christ because they are able sufficiently to comprehend even the most provocative of biblical texts, epitomised by the narratives of Jesus' agony in Gethsemane. (ii) Their sufficiency depends upon their taking into account as of the utmost significance that Jesus is the Messiah of Israel and the seed of Abraham, in whom Yahweh the God of Israel has redeemed his people unto the blessing of the nations. My defence of the first part consists in careful exposition of the double agency of Christ according to John Meyendorff, Hans Urs von Balthasar, and Karl Barth; defence of the second in theological commentary on the Gethsemane text in Luke.
    [Show full text]
  • By Thine Agony and Bloody Sweat Dogmatic Description of the Double Agency of Christ – a Modest Proposal
    BY THINE AGONY AND BLOODY SWEAT DOGMATIC DESCRIPTION OF THE DOUBLE AGENCY OF CHRIST – A MODEST PROPOSAL by PATRICK D. M. PATTERSON A THESIS SUBMITTED TO THE FACULTY OF WYCLIFFE COLLEGE AND THEOLOGICAL DEPARTMENT OF TORONTO SCHOOL OF THEOLOGY. IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENT FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF THEOLOGY AWARDED BY WYCLIFFE COLLEGE AND THE UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO. © Copyright by Patrick Patterson 2012 BY THINE AGONY AND BLOODY SWEAT DOGMATIC DESCRIPTION OF THE DOUBLE AGENCY OF CHRIST – A MODEST PROPOSAL PATRICK D. M. PATTERSON DOCTOR OF THEOLOGY Wycliffe College of University of Toronto 2013 Abstract It is a theological commonplace that 'classical' christology is incompetent to comprehend the authentic humanity of Christ. Alert to the charge but sympathetic to a ‘neo-classical’ approach, this paper addresses one aspect of the problem, namely, the properly dogmatic definition of Christ's divine and human agencies, with particular reference to the biblical locus classicus, Jesus’ prayer in Gethsemane. My thesis is twofold. (i) Neo-classical christologies are able sufficiently to comprehend the double agency of Christ because they are able sufficiently to comprehend even the most provocative of biblical texts, epitomised by the narratives of Jesus' agony in Gethsemane. (ii) Their sufficiency depends upon their taking into account as of the utmost significance that Jesus is the Messiah of Israel and the seed of Abraham, in whom Yahweh the God of Israel has redeemed his people unto the blessing of the nations. My defence of the first part consists in careful exposition of the double agency of Christ according to John Meyendorff, Hans Urs von Balthasar, and Karl Barth; defence of the second in theological commentary on the Gethsemane text in Luke.
    [Show full text]
  • THEOLOGY Hans Urs Von Balthasar
    THEOLOGY EVANGEL, October 1983 6 What's Happening in Continental Theology?- 3 Hans Urs von Balthasar: The Paschal Mystery The Revd Dr John Webster Lecturer in Theology, St. John's College, Durham Born in Lucerne in 1905, Hans Urs von Balthasar studied German literature and philosophy at Vienna, Berlin and Zurich, and entered the Society of jesus in 1929. After further study, he was ordained priest in 1936, and from 1940 worked as Catholic student chaplain in Basel. In 1950 he left the Society of jesus to become the leader of the Johannesgemein~chaft (Community of St. John), a secular Christian community, and head of the johannesverlag publishing house. Now widely regarded as one of the most original and authoritative Roman Catholic theologians of the century, he has written voluminously, not only in the area of Christian doctrine but in the history of literature, philosophy wisdom, his law, his faithfulness are "sent" bodily to our side' and spirituality. His combination of an astute theological (Elucidations (ET, London, 1975) 41). Indeed, for him the intelligence with an unusually wide-ranging literary culture fundamental Christian mystery is that God's glory has fleshed makes his writing at once enchanting and demanding. This itself out in jesus: 'The statement "God became man" is article identifies some of the basic doctrinal themes which without question central to the Christian witness' (ibid., 35). pervade his work, and seeks to relate them to his understanding And because of this, the Christian faith does not have at its of revelation and of the nature of the theological task.
    [Show full text]