Balthasar's Trilogy: Reader's Guides

One of the major works of 20th century theology made accessible for undergraduates.

AcknowledgementsAbbreviationsChapter 1 Context and Introduction1.1 Introduction1.2 His life and timesChapter 2 Key Influences on von Balthasar's Trilogy2.1 Henri de Lubac and his rediscovery of the Fathers2.2 Erich Przywara and the analogy of being2.3 Karl Barth; christocentrism and the analogy of faith2.4 Adrienne von Speyr and the role of religious experienceChapter 3 The Glory of the Lord3.1 Seeing the Form3.2 Studies in Theological Style: Clerical and Lay Styles3.3 The Realm of Metaphysics in Antiquity and in the Modern Age3.4 Theology: the Old and new CovenantChapter 4 Theo-Drama: Theological Dramatic Theory4.1 Prolegomena4.2 Dramatis Personae: Man in God4.3 Dramatis Personae: Persons in Christ4.4 The Action4.5 The Last ActChapter 5 Theo-Logic5.1 Truth of the World5.2 Truth of God5.3 The Spirit of TruthChapter 6 Reception and Further Reading6.1 Epilogue6.2 The Key Influences on von Balthasar6.3 Reception of von Balthasar's Trilogy6.4 Further reading of von Balthasar6.5 Further reading about von Balthasar Bibliography

Here we have an excellent introduction to one of the most significant intellectual achievements of the twentieth century, namely Hans-Urs von Balthasar's trilogy on the transcendentals of being: beauty, goodness and truth. In that massive work the Swiss Catholic theologian unfolded the themes of God's glory and its appearance, God's dramatic history with the world and human participation in it, God's cosmic design and the ways of its revelation and human discovery. Now at three interlocking levels -- that of the present book itself, that of its subject's writings, and that of the range of philosophers, theologians and artists whom von Balthasar attended to -- readers will find themselves drawn into engagement with the true, the good, and the beautiful.
Readers struggling with the daunting task of getting to grips with Hans Urs von Balthasar's vast and sometimes rather amorphous oeuvre will welcome this wonderfully brief and clear map of his Trilogy. Stephen Wigley sets Balthasar's magnum opus in context, offers an analysis of the key influences on it, and even guides us through the growing thicket of secondary literature surrounding it, but above all he lays out a concise, sympathetic summary of the Trilogy, something which is to be found nowhere else in a single volume.