Explorations in Theology

Explorations in Theology PDF Author: Hans Urs Von Balthasar
Publisher: Ignatius Press
ISBN: 168149163X
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 322

Book Description
The first of four volumes of von Balthasar's many essays and conferences. Each focuses on a specific aspect of theology or spirituality and presents it with all the richness which comes from his immense erudition, but in a style that is directed and intelligible since few of these essays were intended for scholarly audiences. These volumes present a rare opportunity to experience Balthasar's synthetic and comprehensive treatment of major themes in theology without having to make one's way through much more extensive works which cover a much wider scope. These volumes will provide an excellent introduction to the thought of von Balthasar for those unfamiliar with him, and their chapters will focus on specific themes treated throughout his works for those who are familiar with him. An excellent overview of the writings and thought of one of the outstanding theologians of this century.

Explorations in Theology, Vol. 4

Explorations in Theology, Vol. 4 PDF Author: Hans Urs von Balthasar
Publisher: Ignatius Press
ISBN: 0898705436
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 528

Book Description
The fourth volume in von Balthasar's essays is built around the theme of Spirit and Institution, the two central features of the Church which Balthasar approaches from different angles. The third volume is built around the theme of the Holy Spirit as the Creator Spirit. The first volume was constructed around the mid-point of the Word become man, and the second volume around the Church which becomes configured to him. The first part of the book looks at who man is, and then examines the distinctively Christian experience of God. Part two is a whole section on the Church which includes topics like celibacy and the priesthood today, how we should love the Church, and understanding Christian mysticism. The third and final part is an eschatology in which Balthasar gives a brilliant summary of heaven, hell and purgatory.

Explorations in Theology, Vol. 4

Explorations in Theology, Vol. 4 PDF Author: Hans Urs von Balthasar
Publisher: Ignatius Press
ISBN: 9780898705430
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 484

Book Description
The fourth volume in von Balthasar's essays is built around the theme of Spirit and Institution, the two central features of the Church which Balthasar approaches from different angles. The third volume is built around the theme of the Holy Spirit as the Creator Spirit. The first volume was constructed around the mid-point of the Word become man, and the second volume around the Church which becomes configured to him. The first part of the book looks at who man is, and then examines the distinctively Christian experience of God. Part two is a whole section on the Church which includes topics like celibacy and the priesthood today, how we should love the Church, and understanding Christian mysticism. The third and final part is an eschatology in which Balthasar gives a brilliant summary of heaven, hell and purgatory.

Explorations in Theology, Vol. 3

Explorations in Theology, Vol. 3 PDF Author: Hans Urs von Balthasar
Publisher: Ignatius Press
ISBN: 0898704375
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 587

Book Description


Poetic Theology

Poetic Theology PDF Author: William A. Dyrness
Publisher: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing
ISBN: 080286578X
Category : Art
Languages : en
Pages : 353

Book Description
What are the poetics of everyday life ? What can they teach us about God? Art, music, dance, and writing can certainly be poetic, but so can such diverse pastimes as fishing, skiing, or attending sports events. Any and all activities that satisfy our fundamental need for play, for celebration, and for ritual, says William Dyrness, are inherently poetic and in Poetic Theology he demonstrates that all such activities are places where God is active in the world. All of humanity s creative efforts, Dyrness points out, testify to our intrinsic longing for joy and delight and our deep desire to connect with others, with the created order, and especially with the Creator. This desire is rooted in the presence and calling of God in and through the good creation. With extensive reflection on aesthetics in spirituality, worship, and community development, Dyrness s Poetic Theology will be useful for all who seek fresh and powerful new ways to communicate the gospel in contemporary society. William Dyrness s bold invitation to a poetic theology shaped by Scripture, tradition, and imagination one luring us toward a fuller participation in beauty than argument or concept alone allow reminds us that truth itself is beautiful to behold and poetic to the core. . . . If poetry is in its deepest reflex an intensification of life, then Dyrness s call for a poetic theology is one we ignore at our peril, reminding us that faithful living is not only about proper thinking but also and, perhaps, more properly about the texture of our living and the quality of our loving. Mark S. Burrows Andover Newton Theological School Makes a strong case for aesthetics as one of the avenues used by God to draw human beings near to him and his glory. . . . A wonderful journey through Reformed spirituality and a wake-up call for Reformed theology. Cornelius van der Kooi Free University, Amsterdam

Theology of Karl Barth

Theology of Karl Barth PDF Author: Hans Urs Von Balthasar
Publisher: Ignatius Press
ISBN: 1681495856
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 460

Book Description
Written in 1951 (with a second edition in 1961), this book takes its place within an impressive array of attempts to wrestle with Karl Barth's theology from a Catholic point of view. The book adopts the twofold strategy of presenting an exposition of "the whole of Barth's thought," while doing so for the purpose of a confessional dialogue among theologians. Not to be construed as an "Introduction to the Theology of Karl Barth," Balthasar's effort is to provide a Catholic response which, though not "official", nonetheless seeks to express a common direction and movement within Catholicism. The Theology of Karl Barth shows how a rethinking of basic issues in fundamental theology-concerning the relation of nature and grace, philosophy and theology, the "analogy of being" and the "analogy of faith"-might lead to a rapprochement between the two great rivers of Christianity, without compromising the center of gravity of either. In the process the book makes a major contribution to renewed understanding of Christianity in a secularized modern world. Co-published with Communio Books. "This reflection by one of the century's great Catholic theologians on the theology of one of the century's great Protestant theologians is an example of ecumenical dialogue at its best. One finds here a sympathetic and at the same time faithfully Catholic discussion of the major issues surrounding Barth's christocentricity. The appearance of an unabridged English translation of this book could hardly be more timely for the current religious situation in North America." - David L. Schindler, Gagnon Professor of Fundamental Theology, John Paul II Institute "No one should think he can quickly dispose of questions posed here offhandedly. It was precisely because writers were in the habit during the time of the Reformation of theologizing with a hammer that the split in the Church became irreparable. And to work at overcoming this split means much effort. Only the patient need apply." - Hans Urs von Balthasar

The Defeat of Satan

The Defeat of Satan PDF Author: Declan Kelly
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 0567698262
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 177

Book Description
This book offers an innovative, critical, and constructive exploration of Barth's theology, one which demonstrates the radicality of his thought and which underscores the continued contribution he might make to theological reflection on a central element of the Christian tradition. Declan Kelly uncovers the promise of viewing Barth's account of salvation as a “three-agent drama”-a drama involving God, humanity, and anti-God powers. Kelly demonstrates and examines Barth's cosmological portrayal of God's saving event as a defeat of the lordship of Satan in the cosmos-and, bound up with this, as an ending of God's “left handed” activity-and as the bringing into existence of a new creation under the rule of God's right hand. Barth's doctrines of election, the atonement, and the resurrection receive a fresh reading as the book explores his apocalyptic grasp of God's eschatological deed of salvation and as it puts forward the claim-with and against Barth-that the climax of this deed of salvation is best located in the event of God's raising of Christ from the dead.

The Trinitarian Theology of Hans Urs von Balthasar

The Trinitarian Theology of Hans Urs von Balthasar PDF Author: Brendan McInerny
Publisher: University of Notre Dame Pess
ISBN: 0268107599
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 303

Book Description
Although scholarship has long recognized the centrality of the Trinity in the theology of Hans Urs von Balthasar, no sustained treatment of this theme has been published until now. In this insightful new book, The Trinitarian Theology of Hans Urs von Balthasar, Brendan McInerny fills this gap, situating Balthasar’s trinitarian theology in conversation with both the wider Christian theological tradition and his non-Christian intellectual contemporaries. Drawing from across Balthasar’s extensive body of works, McInerny argues that Balthasar’s vivid description of the immanent Trinity provides a way to speak of how “God is love” in himself, beyond his relationship to creatures. He then shows how Balthasar’s speculation into the immanent Trinity serves as the substructure of his theology of deification. For Balthasar, what we say about the inner life of God matters because we are called to share in that very life through Christ and the Holy Spirit, to the glory of God the Father. Finally, responding to the criticisms that Balthasar’s speculations into the inner life of God are without warrant, McInerny argues that Balthasar’s bold trinitarian claims are actually a vehicle for apophatic theology. Balthasar’s vivid description of the triune God does not transgress the boundaries of theological discourse. Rather, it manifests God’s ever-greater incomprehensibility through verbal excess, oxymoron, and paradox.

Love Itself Is Understanding

Love Itself Is Understanding PDF Author: Matthew A. Rothaus Moser
Publisher: Fortress Press
ISBN: 1506418996
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 351

Book Description
Hans Urs von Balthasar (1905–1988) sets out to reunite Truth and holiness by returning the saints to their proper place at the heart of philosophy, theology, and metaphysics. Love Itself is Understanding is one of the first systematic treatments of Balthasar’s theology of the saints. Matthew Rothaus Moser presents Balthasar as an alternative to Idealist philosophy, a thinker who develops a religious metaphysics in which the saints’ practices of prayer and contemplation are the chief mode of knowing that the Truth of Being is divine love. Love Itself is Understanding casts new light on dominant themes in Balthasar’s thought and invites a renewed vision of the theological and metaphysical significance of the spiritual practices of prayer, obedience, and charity.

One of the Trinity Has Suffered: Balthasar’s Theology of Divine Suffering in Dialogue

One of the Trinity Has Suffered: Balthasar’s Theology of Divine Suffering in Dialogue PDF Author: Joshua R. Brotherton
Publisher: Emmaus Academic
ISBN: 194901360X
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 370

Book Description
Hans Urs von Balthasar’s discourse on the descent of Christ into hell and its implications for the Triune God have been disputed for half a century. One of the Trinity has Suffered evaluates and revises von Balthasar’s theology of divine suffering in a way that interacts with and significantly enriches contemporary Catholic theology. In this book, Joshua R. Brotherton engages twentieth-century Thomistic theology, as well as the thought of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI (Joseph Ratzinger) and Pope St. John Paul II. Drawing from the vast secondary literature on von Balthasar, Brotherton offers a balanced assessment of his work on the topic of divine suffering, both critical and appreciative. Recognizing von Balthasar’s laudable attempt to integrate mystical spirituality and systematic theology, Brotherton seeks to distinguish valid insights from confused mixtures of metaphorical, meta-symbolic, and philosophical (metaphysical) discourse on God, particularly with respect to the classical problem of how the Creator who willed to become incarnate may be said to suffer. Truly, “One of the Trinity has suffered,” and yet this mystery of faith must be carefully explained and understood in conformity with sustained Catholic reflection on divine immutability and simplicity, the dual nature and unique personhood of Christ, the Trinity of divine subsistent relations, the freedom of God in creating and becoming man, the analogy of being, the problem of evil, and the immensity and infinite value of Christ’s redemptive suffering.