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Hans Urs Von Balthasar:Jesus Christ the Concrete Foundation of Faith

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Hans Urs Von Balthasar:Jesus Christ the Concrete Foundation of Faith HANS URS VON BALTHASAR:JESUS CHRIST THE CONCRETE FOUNDATION OF FAITH Thes i s Submitted to The College of Arts and Sciences of the UNIVERSITY OF DAYTON In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for The Degree Master of Arts in Theological Studies by Robert Emmett Burns UNIVERSITY OF DAYTON Dayton, Ohio April, 1994 UNIVERSITY OF DAYTON ROESCH LIBRARY 9b 02638 Approved by: Faculty Advisor Faculty Reader Faculty Reader Chairperson ©Copyright by Robert Emmett Burns All rights reserved 1994 ABSTRACT HANS URS VON BALTHASAR: JESUS CHRIST THE CONCRETE FOUNDATION OF FAITH Robert Emmett Burns University of Dayton, 199^ Advisor: Rev. Johann G. Roten, S.M., S.T.D. This thesis examines Hans Urs von Balthasar's theology of the act of divine faith in Jesus Christ, and God in Christ. The central question for fundamental theology as posed by Balthasar is "How does God's revelation in Christ confront man in history? How is it perceived?" Can one have actual knowledge of Jesus Christ, and God in Christ, in the act of divine faith? Chapter I examines the history of the epistemology and theology of the act of faith during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Chapter II analyzes Balthasar's writings concerning the manner in which God in Christ is perceived in the act of faith. Chapter III, considers the question of nature and grace as found in Balthas­ ar's writings, particularly his use of "analogy of being." Chapter IV is a critical analysis and conclusions about founda­ tions for the act of faith and theology. i i i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I want to acknowledge in a special way the extraordinary support and encouragement of my wife, Mary, which she has given me throughout the preparation of this thesis and the two years of graduate study. I also want to acknowledge and thank Johann G. Roten, S.M., S.T.D., of the International Marian Research Institute, for being my advisor. Finally, I would like to thank my readers, Dennis M. Doyle, Ph.D, and Reverend John A. McGrath, S.M., Ph.D, of the Department of Religious Studies. It was a privilege to work with Dennis as his graduate assistant during the time of my study at the University. i v TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT........................................................ iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .............................................. iv ABBREVIATIONS .................................................. vii INTRODUCTION .................................................. 1 CHAPTER I. THE HISTORICAL THEOLOGICAL CONTEXT ...................... 10 The Immediate Historical Context ........................ 10 General Theological Background- 19th Century ........... 11 General Theological Background- 20th Century ........... 24 The New Theology............................................ 34 Conclusions................................................ 43 II. HOW CAN WE KNOW GOD IN CHRIST? ...........................45 Balthasar's Epistemology ................................. 45 Balthasar's Starting Point ..................... 45 The Transcendental Thomist Approach ................ 47 Meta-Anthropology: The Interpersonal Revelation of Being............................................ 51 "I" and "Thou"................................... 51 How Can We Know Christ Today?............................. 56 Jesus: The Figure of Faith...........................56 Scripture and Christology ..................... 57 Christocentric Theology ............................ 59 Christ's Figure as Legible "Form" ................. 60 "The Nature of the Act of Faith:Seeing the Form" .... 65 What is the Nature of the Act of Faith?........... 65 Does the Act of Faith Include Knowledge of God? . 66 Faith Gnosis of God's Glory in Christ............. 68 The Relation Between God and Being in the Act of Faith......................................... 69 The "Form" of Gnosis in the Act of Faith........... 70 The Objective Nature of Christ’s "Form" ........... 73 Beauty and "Form" in the Act of Faith................76 Beauty and the Light of Faith........................ 78 Unity of Content and "Form" in the Act of Faith . 81 Unity of Content and "Form" in Theology............. 84 Two Essential Dimensions of a Theological Aesthet­ ics ........................................... 85 The Place of Theological Aesthetics in Theology . 88 Revelation and Experience: The Experience of Faith ... 93 Experience Must Be Part of the Act of Faith .... 93 v III. THEO-DRAMATICS: LIFE IN CHRIST.......................... 99 The Unity of Reality..................................... 99 The Nature of the Problem.......................... 99 Balthasar’s Approach: Existence as Receptivity . 101 Theological or Philosophical Anthropology . 101 Infinite and finite freedom ................. 104 The Problem of "Nature"............................ 106 Analogy of Being: Nature and Supernature ......... 109 Union of Nature and Supernature in Christ . 112 Creation in Christ............................ 114 Christ the Concrete "Analogia Entis" ......... 115 Diastasis in the Trinity: Basis for Analogy of Being.................................. 116 Revelation in Christ .......................... 118 Analogy of Being and Barth’s Analogy of Faith..................................... 122 Analogy of Being and "Pure Nature" ............ 123 Extrincism or Immanentism? The Third Way of Love.......................................125 Being as co-extensive with love............ 128 "Openness" of human nature as the human basis for grace..................... 130 Love and beauty............................ 131 Potentia obedientalis ................... 133 Desiderium naturale visionis; "freedom in quest of Freedom................. 135 Potentia obedientalis and "supernatural existential" ........................ 138 Christ the concrete measure of anthropology: reversal of perspective ................. 140 Summary of Balthasar’s Nature and Grace Methodol­ ogy ............................................. 141 IV. CRITICAL ANALYSIS ....................................... 144 The Search for Foundations for Faith.....................144 An Epistemology of Faith Knowing ................. 144 Faith Knowing, and Faith Concepts and Language . 145 Faith Knowing by Encounter........................ 146 Certitude in Knowing Christ ........................ 147 Certitude by Faith or by Reason................... 149 Form and Content, and Analogy of Being........... 152 Knowledge of God in Christ Through Analogy ............. 155 Analogy in St. Thomas Aquinas......................155 Analogy and Knowledge of God in the Franciscan School........................................... 161 Christ the Concrete Analogy ........................ 166 Subjective and Objective Knowledge in the Act of Faith........................................... 172 Christ in Context.................................... 175 BIBLIOGRAPHY............................................... 180 vi ABBREVIATIONS Glory I The Glory of the Lord: A Theological Aesthetics I: Seeing the Form TD 1 Theo-Drama: Theological Dramatic Theory I: Prolog- omena TD II Theo-Drama: Theological Dramatic Theory II: Drama- tis Personae: Man in God TD III Theodrama. Theological Dramatic Theory, Volume III: The Dramatis Personae: The Person in Christ vii INTRODUCTION Christian faith presupposes that we can "know" Christ, in some sense. If theology is "faith seeking understanding," then Christology is faith-knowing of Christ seeking understanding. Christology then must suppose that we can come to some knowledge of Christ which is relevant to our lives as we live them in this century. Our initial faith-knowing of Christ is already an understanding. So we need to define exactly what we mean by "faith­ knowing" and "understanding." What kind of faith-knowledge of Christ do we think we have (and can we have) and what kind of deeper understanding are we seeking? How can we come to this knowledge? These questions can only be asked and answered in terms of our own cultural and historical context. Jaroslav Pelikan, quoting Albert Schweitzer, says of the contextualization of christology: "Each successive epoch," Schweitzer said, "found its own thoughts in Jesus, which was indeed, the only way in which it could make him live"; for, typically, one, "created him in accordance with one’s own character."1 Each age seems to get the image of Jesus it wants and needs. But the image that simple believers live by, may or may not correspond 'jaroslav Pelikan, Jesus Through the Centuries: His Place in the History of Culture. New York: Harper & Row; Yale University Press, 1985, pp. 2. 1 2 to that which theologians develop.1 *Given the contextualization of christology, how is historical continuity and identity with Christ to be maintained? Hebrew 13: 8-9 tells us that "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. Do not be led away by diverse and strange teachings." While this can be given a metaphysical and theological sense, in what sense is this true in human history? The context to which this verse speaks is that of fidelity to correct teaching about Christ's identity and significance. Revelation in Christ occurred in a Jewish context of meaning to which Jesus of Nazareth addressed himself and in which he was received. The context of meaning had developed over centuries as revealed in the Old Testament. Assuming the truth of the revelation which took place in Christ in that meaning context, how can that truth be passed on in new historical and cultural contexts?3 Can historicism and relativism be avoided? The fact of continuity and discontinuity in Christian tradition
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