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OCTOBER 2005: Pope Benedict XVI Praises Hans Urs von Balthasar

Hans Urs von Balthasar (1905-88) was a Swiss theologian, considered to be one of the most important Catholic intellectuals and writers of the twentieth century. Incredibly prolific and diverse, he wrote over one hundred books and hundreds of articles.

• Click here for a complete list of his works available from Ignatius Press.

He studied at universities in Vienna, Berlin, and Zurich and his doctorate was completed in 1928. His dissertation was titled "The History of the Eschatological Problem in Modern German Literature." The following year he entered the Society of Jesus.

Having studied theology and philosophy for several years, Balthasar was attracted to the work of Erich Przywara (d. 1972) and Henri de Lubac (d. 1991). Tired of the prevalent neo-scholasticism of his day, Balthasar was drawn to the spirituality-theology of the Church Fathers. Along with de Lubac, Jean Daniélou, and other Continental theologians, he would work to return to the Scriptures and patristics as primary theological sources.

In 1940 he was offered a teaching position in Rome, but chose to go to Basel and be a chaplain for students. There he met the mystic Adrienne von Speyr (1902-67); she would become a Catholic under his spiritual direction. Her writing became a major source of inspiration for his writing and he insisted that her work could not be separated from his own. Together they founded the Community of St. John, a "secular institute."

In 1950 he left the Jesuits; in 1972 he formed Communio: International Catholic Review with Daniélou, de Lubac, and Joseph Ratzinger. From 1961-87 he produced his most important work, a trilogy published in fifteen volumes: The Glory of the Lord, Theo-Drama, and Theo-Logic. After many years of fighting illness and exhaustion, Balthasar died on June 26, 1988, one day before he was to be made a cardinal by Pope John Paul II.

The Holy Father wrote: "All who knew the priest, von Balthasar, are shocked, and grieve over the loss of a great son of the Church, an outstanding man of theology and of the arts, who deserves a special place of honor in contemporary ecclesiastical and cultural life."

In his online bio of Balthasar, Joel Garver writes:

He was said, by Henri de Lubac, to be "perhaps the most cultured man of our time." Karl Rahner described his achievements as "really breathtaking." His works include over a thousand books and articles. At one point he was able to give away his stereo and records since, he said, he had all the works of Mozart memorized anyway. And it is my guess that history may well find him to be one of the most important theologians of the 20th century.

"A Witness of Christ in the Church: Hans Urs von Balthasar," which is a chapter from The Church: Paradox and Mystery, by Henri de Lubac, S.J., is an excellent introduction to Balthasar’s theological work and vision.

Several dozen links to articles about Balthasar’s life and work can be found on this page over at www.ratzingerfanclub.com.

You can read online the Preface and Chapter XII, " The Conquest of the Bride," from Balthasar’s Heart of the World (the first Balthasar book published by Ignatius Press, in 1979).

Love Alone Is Credible is the most recently published Balthasar book. In Hans Urs von Balthasar’s masterwork, The Glory of the Lord, the great theologian used the term "theological aesthetic" to describe what he believed to the most accurate method of interpreting the concept of divine love, as opposed to approaches founded on historical or scientific grounds. In this newly translated book, von Balthasar delves deeper into this exploration of what love means, what makes the divine love of God, and how we must become lovers of God in the footsteps of saints like Francis de Sales, John of the Cross and Therese of Lisieux.

An excellent examination of Balthasar's thinking is Hans Urs von Balthasar: His Life and Work, edited by David L.Schindler. This collection of essays, gathered under the auspices of Communio editors, represents the most wide-ranging study of the life and work of Balthasar. The twenty contributors include highly respected theologians, philosophers and bishops from around the world such as Henri Cardinal de Lubac, S.J., Walter Kasper, Louis Dupre, Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, and Pope John Paul II.

Ignatius Press has been the predominant publisher of Hans Urs von Balthasar’s writings in English, having published over sixty of his books. Here is a complete listing of Balthasar’s books translated and published by Ignatius Press.

• Bernanos: An Ecclessial Existence
• The Christian and Anxiety
• Christian Meditation
• The Christian State of Life
• Convergences
• Cosmic Liturgy: The Universe According to Maximus the Confessor
• Credo: Meditations on the Apostles' Creed
• Dare We Hope "That All Men Be Saved"?
• Does Jesus Know Us?
• Elucidations
• First Glance at Adrienne Von Speyr
• The Grain of Wheat: Aphorisms
• Heart of the World
• In the Fullness of Faith: On the Centrality of the Distinctively Catholic
• The Laity in the Life of the Counsels: The Church's Mission in the World
• Light of the Word: Brief Reflections on the Sunday Readings
• Love Alone is Credible
• Mary for Today
• Mary, The Church at the Source (with Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger)
• The Moment of Christian Witness
• My Work
• Mysterium Paschale: The Mystery of Easter
• New Elucidations
• The Office of Peter And the Structure of the Church
• Our Task
• Paul Struggles with His Congregation: The Pastoral Message of the Letters to the Corinthians
• Prayer
• Presence and Thought: An Essay on the Religious Philosophy of Gregory of Nyssa
• Principles of Christian Morality
• Razing the Bastions: On the Church in this Age
• Scandal of the Incarnation: Irenaeus Against the Heresies
• Short Primer for Unsettled Laymen
• Test Everything: Hold Fast to What Is Good
• Theology of Henri De Lubac
• Theology of History
• Theology of Karl Barth
• The Threefold Garland
• Tragedy Under Grace: Reinhold Schneider on the Experience of the West
• Truth Is Symphonic: Aspects of Christian Pluralism
• Two Sisters in the Spirit: Thérèse of Lisieux and Elizabeth of the Trinity
• Unless You Become Like This Child
• You Crown the Year With Your Goodness: Sermons Throughout the Liturgical Year
• You Have Words of Eternal Life: Scripture Meditations

Explorations in Theology

• Explorations in Theology: Word Made Flesh, vol 1
• Explorations in Theology: Spouse of the Word, vol 2
• Explorations in Theology: Creator Spirit, vol 3
• Explorations in Theology: Spirit and Institution, vol 4

The Glory of the Lord: A Theological Aesthetics

• Volume I: Seeing the Form
• Volume II: Clerical Styles
• Volume III: Lay Styles
• Volume IV: The Realm of Metaphysics in Antiquity
• Volume V: The Realm of Metaphysics in the Modern Age
• Volume VI: Theology: The Old Covenant
• Volume VII: Theology: The New Covenant

Theo-Logic

• Volume I: The Truth of the World
• Volume II: Truth of God
• Volume III: The Spirit of the Truth

Theo-Drama

• Volume I: Prolegomena
• Volume II: Dramatis Personae
• Volume III: Dramatis Personae
• Volume IV: The Action
• Volume V: The Last Act

• Epilogue

Excerpts from the writings of Hans Urs von Balthasar:

• The Conquest of the Bride | From Heart of the World
• Jesus Is Catholic | From In The Fullness of Faith: On the Centrality of the Distinctively Catholic
• A Résumé of My Thought | From Hans Urs von Balthasar: His Life and Work
• Church Authority and the Petrine Element | From In The Fullness of Faith: On the Centrality of the Distinctively Catholic
• The Cross–For Us | From A Short Primer For Unsettled Laymen
• A Theology of Anxiety? | The Introduction to The Christian and Anxiety
• "Conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary" | From Credo: Meditations on the Apostles' Creed

IgnatiusInsight.com articles about Hans Urs von Balthasar:

• Hans Urs von Balthasar and the Tarot | Stratford Caldecott
• Love Alone is Believable: Hans Urs von Balthasar’s Apologetics | Fr. John R. Cihak
• Balthasar and Anxiety: Methodological and Phenomenological Considerations | Fr. John R. Cihak
• Reading von Balthasar Together: An Interview with Adam Janke | Carl E. Olson