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So I learned a few minutes ago that it is the 111th anniversary of the birth of Hans Urs von Balthasar. I don’t quite know how to offer an orderly tribute (where to begin? and further, where to stop?) – the following is what comes to mind. There are all sorts of learned (and some remarkably ignorant) things out there that might be said of him, so I encourage you to do your own supplemental research.
One thing I don’t know if most people know is that he didn’t set out to be career theologian. When offered an academic post after ordination he opted instead to become a chaplain to students. Believe it or not, the theological task was one he found himself draw into, even though he had chosen to prioritize pastoral work.
About as often as you hear Balthasar’s name, you hear something along the lines of, “Didn’t he teach universal salvation?” Well, he taught that we should want it at any rate. (Funny idea that, you’d think you could find it in scripture or something.) He also did some extremely careful theological work to soothe the intellectual and other discomforts of those who doubt such a thing is possible. Short version- theoretically, yes. How? God knows. But we can hope. We ought, at least, to hope.
Sounds good to me. If I have to judge my neighbor, then I’ll end up judging me too. And I’m a bit of an ass when I offer careless opinions (idle words, anyone?) and some other times as well. I’d rather we all be judged by God, whom I have it on good authority is not only perfectly just (unlike me) but also entirely merciful (also unlike me). May we all receive mercy on that day.
Balthasar is perhaps best known for writing oceans of complex theology. How complex? His theological magnum opus is 15 volumes in English translation and he is generally reputed to have both read everything ever written and cited it accurately and constantly.
Despite this, one can appreciate a little something of Balthasar’s theological legacy, with only a little reading. I would start with a very short text he barely completed before his death. Unless You Become Like This Child runs only to 75 pages in the English edition, and that’s in small paperback format. It is also one of the most profound things I have ever seen. Beginning with the exhortation in the gospel to become like a child, he reflects on how this must be true and is harder to accept than we might realize. Before finishing he has toured the whole scope of the mystery of the incarnation and the mystery of our becoming conformed to Christ. I think it is a text that will be accessible to the general reader and I try to reread it every December.
For the less general reader or the general reader who just wants to learn more – an excellent starting place is his famous essay Theology and Sanctity. It runs about 20 pages in the first volume of Explorations in Theology. Here he traces the core of his conviction that neither Christian mystery nor Christian intellection can truly be understood, thrive, or have the impact they ought too unless they constantly inform each other. It’s not the usual place to start for understanding his whole corpus, his profound meditations on the mystery of Holy Saturday, the trilogy or just about any other part of his work. But I have yet to read anything by Balthasar without the themes and sensibility of the essay woven throughout. If you want to understand him better, have a small sense of his legacy without taking the years needed to become an expert, or just wrap your head around enough of his method to struggle through a course, reading or rereading this essay will be a great help.
For starting points on Balthasar beyond my meager and random offerings, you can of course consult his bio on Wikipedia. You can also look at the index of articles by him published in the journal he founded, Communio. I highly recommend you look at the words offered by Benedict XVI 11 years ago on the centenary of Balthasar’s birth. There is also a webpage devoted to marketing Bathasar’s writings in English.
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