Loyola University Chicago Loyola eCommons Dissertations Theses and Dissertations 2009 Suffering and the Search for Wholeness: Beauty and the Cross in Hans Urs Von Balthasar and Contemporary Feminist Theologies Elisabeth T. Vasko Loyola University Chicago Follow this and additional works at: https://ecommons.luc.edu/luc_diss Part of the Religious Thought, Theology and Philosophy of Religion Commons Recommended Citation Vasko, Elisabeth T., "Suffering and the Search for Wholeness: Beauty and the Cross in Hans Urs Von Balthasar and Contemporary Feminist Theologies" (2009). Dissertations. 282. https://ecommons.luc.edu/luc_diss/282 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Theses and Dissertations at Loyola eCommons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Loyola eCommons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License. Copyright © 2009 Elisabeth T. Vasko LOYOLA UNIVERSITY CHICAGO SUFFERING AND THE SEARCH FOR WHOLENESS: BEAUTY AND THE CROSS IN HANS URS VON BALTHASAR AND CONTEMPORARY FEMINIST THEOLOGIES A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED TO THE FACULTY OF THE GRADUATE SCHOOL IN CANDIDACY FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY PROGRAM IN THEOLOGY BY ELISABETH T. VASKO DECEMBER 2009 Copyright by Elisabeth T. Vasko, 2009 All rights reserved. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS First, I want thank my doctoral committee at Loyola University of Chicago. I am grateful to all three for their time, commitment, and investment in my development as a scholar and as a person. As my director, Susan Ross saw me through the best and worst parts of this process. She not only taught me the value of thorough and carefully nuanced scholarship, but also the importance of listening to one’s own instinct along the way. Susan’s commitment to women’s leadership in the academy and in the church is reflected in her own scholarship and teaching. Early on in my career at Loyola, Jon Nilson taught me the importance of human authenticity in scholarship and how to spot scotosis . His continual encouragement and support sustained me in times when I doubted my own capabilities. It was Mark Bosco who first introduced me to theological aesthetics. His keen insight, expertise, and willingness to “think aloud” with me made this dissertation a much stronger project. In addition to my committee members, I want to thank all those in Loyola’s Theology Department who supported me along the way. John McCarthy taught me how to analyze arguments and appreciate theological methodology. Catherine Wolf and Marianne Wolfe helped me to navigate logistics of the doctoral program at Loyola. This dissertation would not be what it is without the support of all those women who “heard me into speech.” In a special way, I wish to thank all the women of Piper Hall, including Dawn Harris, Betsy Hemenway, Nicole Meehan, and Carol Coyne. The iii Gannon Scholars not only kept me on my toes, but also continue to give me great hope for the future. Finally, I am grateful to the members of Women in Theology at Loyola, especially Melissa, Jeanine, Rachel, Teresa, Mary, Kathryn, and Emily. Your friendship strengthened my spirit and enriched my scholarship. I want to thank my family for their patience and support throughout this process. Michael Stevens encouraged me to follow my dreams, even when it meant taking the road less travelled. Without his copy-editing assistance, this project would surely be less clear. I am also grateful to Therese Stevens. She is the one who has taught me to seek wholeness even in the midst of brokenness. Thank you to Emily, Martha, Ellen, and Dee for believing in me and celebrating my accomplishments along the way. I also want to thank my friends in Chicago and beyond for keeping me and my scholarship grounded in the present moment. Finally, I want to thank Scott, my life-long partner, for his patience through the ups and downs of my studies and for his willingness to learn alongside me. Your unconditional love and support has given me new eyes to see beauty—in people and in myself. iv Dedicated to the Women of Success in Kenya TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS...............................................................................................iii ABSTRACT....................................................................................................................... ix CHAPTER ONE: GOD-TALK, BEAUTY AND THE CROSS...................................... …1 The Return of Beauty to Theology: The Rise of Theological Aesthetic Discourse....... 3 What is Theological Aesthetics?............................................................................. 5 Beauty and Aesthetics............................................................................................. 6 Hans Urs von Balthasar’s Theological Aesthetics: Form and Splendor ..................... 10 The Beauty of the Cross: Historical Trajectories and Contemporary Trends ............. 15 The Cross, Spiritual Beauty, and Moral Beauty: Augustine ................................. 15 The Attractiveness of Divine Glory: Karl Barth ................................................... 18 The Beauty of the Cross as a Response to Secularism ......................................... 20 The Beauty of the Cross and Human Suffering: A Way of Solidarity .................. 25 Statement of the Problem............................................................................................ 27 Dissertation Methodology: Feminist Hermeneutics ................................................... 30 Christian Feminist Theological Discourse: On the Non-Neutrality of God-Talk. 34 Edwina Sandys’ Christa ........................................................................................ 37 Conclusion .................................................................................................................. 40 CHAPTER TWO: BALTHASAR’S THEOLOGICAL AESTHETICS: NUPTIALITY AND THE CROSS................................................................................................ 42 Aesthetics and the Need for New Perception ............................................................. 44 Participation as Rapture and Beholding...................................................................... 46 Receptivity and Grace................................................................................................. 50 Revelation, Metaphysics, and the Analogy of Being.................................................. 57 vi Identity-in-Difference and Sexual Difference............................................................. 63 Sexual Difference and Theological Personhood......................................................... 68 Analysis....................................................................................................................... 82 Conclusion .................................................................................................................. 90 CHAPTER THREE: THE DRAMA OF REDEMPTION: THE POWER OF LOVE AND VIOLENCE........................................................................................................... 93 Divine Glory and the Drama of Redemption: Transitioning from Aesthetics to Dramatics ............................................................................................................. 94 Revelation as a Battlefield .......................................................................................... 99 Humanity’s No: The Apocalyptic Rhythm of Sin..................................................... 102 Going to the Cross: Balthasar’s Soteriology............................................................. 107 Abandonment, Representation, and Obedience: Christ’s Pro nobis ................... 108 Cross, Eucharist, and Ecclesia .............................................................................110 Salvation as a Work of Love................................................................................111 Love as Kenosis : Self-Emptying and Receptivity .....................................................111 Kenosis , Impassibility, and Suffering ........................................................................115 Heresy and Harlotry: The Battle of the Logos.......................................................... 126 Suffering, Punishment, and the Aesthetics of Atonement......................................... 130 Conclusion ................................................................................................................ 139 CHAPTER FOUR: CHRISTA : CONTEXTUALIZING BEAUTY AND THE CROSS FOR THE SAKE OF SUBJECTIVITY.............................................................. 142 Feminist Theological Methodology Revisited: The Power of Naming .................... 147 The Silence/s Patriarchy Keeps and Feminist Speech about the Cross .................... 149 Idolatry, Representation, and the imago Christi ....................................................... 157 Female Symbols for God.................................................................................... 159 vii Womanism and the imago Christi ....................................................................... 165 Redemptive Suffering and the Quest for Wholeness................................................ 170 Divine Suffering as God’s Compassion Poured Out........................................... 170 Christa/Community and the Embodiment of Eros for Mutual Relation............