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The Glory of the Lord: A Theological Aesthetics #6
Theology: The Old Covenant
initiates von Balthasar's study of the biblical vision and understanding of God's glory. Starting with the theopanies of the Patriarchal period, it shows how such glory is most fully expressed in the graciousness of the Covenant relationship between God and Israel.
468 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1989
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118 people want to read
About the author
Hans Urs von Balthasar
436 books313 followersHans Urs von Balthasar was a Swiss theologian and priest who was nominated to be a cardinal of the Catholic Church. He is considered one of the most important theologians of the 20th century.
Born in Lucerne, Switzerland on 12 August 1905, he attended Stella Matutina (Jesuit school) in Feldkirch, Austria. He studied in Vienna, Berlin and Zurich, gaining a doctorate in German literature. He joined the Jesuits in 1929, and was ordained in 1936. He worked in Basel as a student chaplain. In 1950 he left the Jesuit order, feeling that God had called him to found a Secular Institute, a lay form of consecrated life that sought to work for the sanctification of the world especially from within. He joined the diocese of Chur. From the low point of being banned from teaching, his reputation eventually rose to the extent that John Paul II asked him to be a cardinal in 1988. However he died in his home in Basel on 26 June 1988, two days before the ceremony. Balthasar was interred in the Hofkirche cemetery in Lucern.
Along with Karl Rahner and Bernard Lonergan, Balthasar sought to offer an intellectual, faithful response to Western modernism. While Rahner offered a progressive, accommodating position on modernity and Lonergan worked out a philosophy of history that sought to critically appropriate modernity, Balthasar resisted the reductionism and human focus of modernity, wanting Christianity to challenge modern sensibilities.
Balthasar is very eclectic in his approach, sources, and interests and remains difficult to categorize. An example of his eclecticism was his long study and conversation with the influential Reformed Swiss theologian, Karl Barth, of whose work he wrote the first Catholic analysis and response. Although Balthasar's major points of analysis on Karl Barth's work have been disputed, his The Theology of Karl Barth: Exposition and Interpretation (1951) remains a classic work for its sensitivity and insight; Karl Barth himself agreed with its analysis of his own theological enterprise, calling it the best book on his own theology.
Balthasar's Theological Dramatic Theory has influenced the work of Raymund Schwager.
Born in Lucerne, Switzerland on 12 August 1905, he attended Stella Matutina (Jesuit school) in Feldkirch, Austria. He studied in Vienna, Berlin and Zurich, gaining a doctorate in German literature. He joined the Jesuits in 1929, and was ordained in 1936. He worked in Basel as a student chaplain. In 1950 he left the Jesuit order, feeling that God had called him to found a Secular Institute, a lay form of consecrated life that sought to work for the sanctification of the world especially from within. He joined the diocese of Chur. From the low point of being banned from teaching, his reputation eventually rose to the extent that John Paul II asked him to be a cardinal in 1988. However he died in his home in Basel on 26 June 1988, two days before the ceremony. Balthasar was interred in the Hofkirche cemetery in Lucern.
Along with Karl Rahner and Bernard Lonergan, Balthasar sought to offer an intellectual, faithful response to Western modernism. While Rahner offered a progressive, accommodating position on modernity and Lonergan worked out a philosophy of history that sought to critically appropriate modernity, Balthasar resisted the reductionism and human focus of modernity, wanting Christianity to challenge modern sensibilities.
Balthasar is very eclectic in his approach, sources, and interests and remains difficult to categorize. An example of his eclecticism was his long study and conversation with the influential Reformed Swiss theologian, Karl Barth, of whose work he wrote the first Catholic analysis and response. Although Balthasar's major points of analysis on Karl Barth's work have been disputed, his The Theology of Karl Barth: Exposition and Interpretation (1951) remains a classic work for its sensitivity and insight; Karl Barth himself agreed with its analysis of his own theological enterprise, calling it the best book on his own theology.
Balthasar's Theological Dramatic Theory has influenced the work of Raymund Schwager.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
August 23, 2025
Von Balthasar has a masterful understanding of the theology of the Old Testament and draws our quite exhaustively the pertinent themes for his theological aesthetics.
April 20, 2016
Sheer pleasure is listening to Hans Urs von Balthasar speak about the Old Testament. He speaks not about each book separately, and he does not proof-text passages here and there to support some sociological scheme. He does not cite passages to support a new systematic or moral theology.
Instead, he considers the entire Old Testament, both in itself and in relation to the New (although full consideration of the New Testament waits for Volume 7 of this series, which I have just started). He relates the parts to each other, and to the history of the Hebrew people. As always, every page is filled with insights I haven't seen anywhere else.
Take the fact that man is made in the image of God. von Balthasar considers what marker stones meant at the time: kings left marker stones behind both as monuments of their triumph, and as projections of their authority. The marker was an image of the king. In this way, for man to be the image of God means that man brings God's authority into the earth: man is God's steward (as in Our Lord's parable of the vineyards).
In short, all of von Balthasar's books are worth reading, and this one more than most.
Instead, he considers the entire Old Testament, both in itself and in relation to the New (although full consideration of the New Testament waits for Volume 7 of this series, which I have just started). He relates the parts to each other, and to the history of the Hebrew people. As always, every page is filled with insights I haven't seen anywhere else.
Take the fact that man is made in the image of God. von Balthasar considers what marker stones meant at the time: kings left marker stones behind both as monuments of their triumph, and as projections of their authority. The marker was an image of the king. In this way, for man to be the image of God means that man brings God's authority into the earth: man is God's steward (as in Our Lord's parable of the vineyards).
In short, all of von Balthasar's books are worth reading, and this one more than most.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews