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Heart of the World
A great Catholic theologian speaks from the heart about the Heart of Christ, in a profound and lyrical meditation on Our Lord's love for his Bride the Church. Sewn Softcover
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First published January 1, 1979
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About the author
Hans Urs von Balthasar
455 books311 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 - 30 of 33 reviews
August 2, 2016
The translator’s note says it all, “This little volume will come as a surprise even to avid readers of Father von Balthasar’s other translated works. The religious ardor of the poet-theologian usually evades us with all the pure serenity of a volcano under snow. But in revealing to us the Heart of the World he could not do less than bare his own heart.”
The ‘Heart of the World’ is Jesus’ heart, His Sacred Heart as Catholics call the devotion. As von Balthasar uses the term here, he means so much more than pious images and traditional prayers. The Heart of the World is Jesus Himself, His Person and Essence. It is literally a beating, living heart, which sustains not only Him, but each and every one of us and every other thing in our world—all that we can see and even that which we can’t, because we are all in and with Him.
In chapter after chapter, von Balthasar explores this heart metaphor for The Incarnate Word, sometimes from Jesus’ perspective and sometimes from ours. Jesus speaks as wise teacher, lover, gentle mother and chiding friend. Von Balthasar asks questions, ponders mysteries and revisits Biblical scenes.
‘…I can postpone guilt until tomorrow. The eye that looks at me fixedly always say “today.” “It is now I want to be loved.” But I lower my eyes and say: “I will love you tomorrow. Tomorrow you’ll see what I’m capable of doing for you. Tomorrow I’ll pay you twice over if you’ll only grant me this one hour today. I must yet pluck the rose before it fades away, but the rosehips I’ll bring you for sure. Give me the spring and I’ll let you have the autumn, maybe even late summer. … Why God do you want to jump steps in my case? You want the whole thing all at once: one’s whole heart, whole soul, whole mind—all my strength; and yet gradual development is the very law of life.’ pp. 96-97
And that is just one example of what you can expect in this book. It is a true meeting of the hearts, with plenty for the mind as well.
Thank you Dhanaraj for the wonderful gift! Now please pray I may benefit from some of its wisdom.
June 21, 2016: Have been been reading these essays off and on at Adoration even while reading Growth In Holiness. Now plan to read in earnest with a view to finish. Each chapter is a meditation on some aspect of the Sacred Heart on the Love of Christ.
Oct 23, 2015: Received this as a gift from a very dear friend last spring but I was only able to give it a cursory glance at the time. Today I caught sight of it again and when I pulled it down off the shelf and began reading I knew it was the perfect follow-on to Your Life in the Holy Spirit: What Every Catholic Needs to Know and Experience.
The ‘Heart of the World’ is Jesus’ heart, His Sacred Heart as Catholics call the devotion. As von Balthasar uses the term here, he means so much more than pious images and traditional prayers. The Heart of the World is Jesus Himself, His Person and Essence. It is literally a beating, living heart, which sustains not only Him, but each and every one of us and every other thing in our world—all that we can see and even that which we can’t, because we are all in and with Him.
In chapter after chapter, von Balthasar explores this heart metaphor for The Incarnate Word, sometimes from Jesus’ perspective and sometimes from ours. Jesus speaks as wise teacher, lover, gentle mother and chiding friend. Von Balthasar asks questions, ponders mysteries and revisits Biblical scenes.
‘…I can postpone guilt until tomorrow. The eye that looks at me fixedly always say “today.” “It is now I want to be loved.” But I lower my eyes and say: “I will love you tomorrow. Tomorrow you’ll see what I’m capable of doing for you. Tomorrow I’ll pay you twice over if you’ll only grant me this one hour today. I must yet pluck the rose before it fades away, but the rosehips I’ll bring you for sure. Give me the spring and I’ll let you have the autumn, maybe even late summer. … Why God do you want to jump steps in my case? You want the whole thing all at once: one’s whole heart, whole soul, whole mind—all my strength; and yet gradual development is the very law of life.’ pp. 96-97
And that is just one example of what you can expect in this book. It is a true meeting of the hearts, with plenty for the mind as well.
Thank you Dhanaraj for the wonderful gift! Now please pray I may benefit from some of its wisdom.
June 21, 2016: Have been been reading these essays off and on at Adoration even while reading Growth In Holiness. Now plan to read in earnest with a view to finish. Each chapter is a meditation on some aspect of the Sacred Heart on the Love of Christ.
Oct 23, 2015: Received this as a gift from a very dear friend last spring but I was only able to give it a cursory glance at the time. Today I caught sight of it again and when I pulled it down off the shelf and began reading I knew it was the perfect follow-on to Your Life in the Holy Spirit: What Every Catholic Needs to Know and Experience.
November 20, 2023
Always beautiful but constantly going “huhhhh???” I think if I read it again with someone more intelligent the star count would increase
January 27, 2019
1st reading: Reading this was one of the most rewarding choices I've made so far this year.
2nd reading: Still one of the most beautiful works of theology I've ever read. It's a bit daunting to consider how to clarify what he's doing here for a roomful of undergraduates tomorrow night, but worth it nevertheless. After all, "I am allowed to flow and do not have to grasp, am allowed to expand out into your blessed incomprehensibility and do not have to puzzle anxiously over signs and written formulas."
2nd reading: Still one of the most beautiful works of theology I've ever read. It's a bit daunting to consider how to clarify what he's doing here for a roomful of undergraduates tomorrow night, but worth it nevertheless. After all, "I am allowed to flow and do not have to grasp, am allowed to expand out into your blessed incomprehensibility and do not have to puzzle anxiously over signs and written formulas."
June 19, 2016
Awestruck by Christ's beauty, Balthasar compares his soul's relationship to the Almighty with the Savior's relationship to the Church, culminating in a profound, passionate, erotic dialogue between Bridegroom and Bride. In my opinion, no theologian has produced something so exquisite since the time of the Spanish mystics of the 16th century (Teresa of Avila and John of the Cross). Raw, fecund, unafraid, mystical.
(...Is there a movement to canonize Hans Urs von Balthasar...?)
(...Is there a movement to canonize Hans Urs von Balthasar...?)
September 4, 2023
A beautiful poetic reflection on the Father‘s love for his church. Took me a long time because some days I just didn’t feel mentally capable to intake the beauty, but it was so worth the time I spent reading. I loved reading bits in my prayer and contemplating/reflecting on it. Will definitely be getting my own copy.
January 14, 2025
This is an interesting turn to what only can be dubbed “mystical prose poetry” by von Balthasar. I found it beautiful but too lengthy and meandering to fully enjoy for any length of time. It is best digested in small gulps.
It may only be for the Catholic wishing to induce a trance-like contemplation of the paradoxes of faith that our author places before the reader in an exhausting fashion. It reads like von Balthasar, so full of emotion catalyzed by his vast theological knowledge and faith, is erupting in joy over the mysteries on which he has been ruminating. It may be that he has induced his own ecstatic experience as he writes or he is writing from a state of ecstasy achieved through contemplation and prayer. I would recommend this to a non-Christian or someone studying religion as it provides a glimpse into what living a strong faith can be like; filled with awe, wonder, and an overwhelming security that the contradictions of life and doctrine are synthesized in the presence of a particular theological stance/conceptualization of God.
Psychologically, this is a fascinating example of religious experience from a very eloquent writer, and if anyone needed an example of what it is like to be in the throes of an extended contemplative “ecstasy,” this would serve nicely. The faithful may find this breathtaking; the non-Christian may find this overwhelming and confusing.
It may only be for the Catholic wishing to induce a trance-like contemplation of the paradoxes of faith that our author places before the reader in an exhausting fashion. It reads like von Balthasar, so full of emotion catalyzed by his vast theological knowledge and faith, is erupting in joy over the mysteries on which he has been ruminating. It may be that he has induced his own ecstatic experience as he writes or he is writing from a state of ecstasy achieved through contemplation and prayer. I would recommend this to a non-Christian or someone studying religion as it provides a glimpse into what living a strong faith can be like; filled with awe, wonder, and an overwhelming security that the contradictions of life and doctrine are synthesized in the presence of a particular theological stance/conceptualization of God.
Psychologically, this is a fascinating example of religious experience from a very eloquent writer, and if anyone needed an example of what it is like to be in the throes of an extended contemplative “ecstasy,” this would serve nicely. The faithful may find this breathtaking; the non-Christian may find this overwhelming and confusing.
July 21, 2013
Pure fucking soul-searching, heart-groaning,
theological,
Deep,
undeniable,
Poetry.
theological,
Deep,
undeniable,
Poetry.
February 12, 2022
Gorgeous and challenging. A poetic flow of imagery capturing a spectrum of aspects of the faith and the soul's journey to God.
May 31, 2025
Nuevo libro espiritual favorito.
Facts:
1. Perdía cabeza cada dos páginas (mínimo)
2. Subrayé páginas enteras
3. Tengo mil notas
4. Muchísima contemplación
5. Von Balthasar es mi nuevo amigo
6. Capítulo 8 😮💨🔥
7. Quiero leerlo toda mi vida
“Pues mi gracia es siempre fructífera, y mi don consiste en dar una y otra vez la gracia. Mi tesoro consiste en derrochar, y solo me posee el que me distribuye a los demás. Yo soy la Palabra, y ¿de qué otro modo se posee la Palabra, sino pronunciándola?”
“Yo soy la fuerza, la plenitud que se derrama sobre vuestro vacío y lo llena, pero al llenar la plenitud se llena en el vacío, y por consiguiente vosotros sois mi plenitud.”
“Entre toda alma y yo, existe esta alianza, este vínculo virginal de un sagrado matrimonio; para cada una de ellas yo soy el todo, lo último, lo absoluto; yo soy padre, madre, hermano y esposo. Para todas ellas estoy dispuesto a ser la plenitud, cuando todas las decepciones y todos los amantes falsos se niegan definitivamente.”
“Pues todo lo que fue creado en mí —nada fue creado sin mí— es tierra para la semilla de mi palabra y boca casta para mi beso.”
Facts:
1. Perdía cabeza cada dos páginas (mínimo)
2. Subrayé páginas enteras
3. Tengo mil notas
4. Muchísima contemplación
5. Von Balthasar es mi nuevo amigo
6. Capítulo 8 😮💨🔥
7. Quiero leerlo toda mi vida
“Pues mi gracia es siempre fructífera, y mi don consiste en dar una y otra vez la gracia. Mi tesoro consiste en derrochar, y solo me posee el que me distribuye a los demás. Yo soy la Palabra, y ¿de qué otro modo se posee la Palabra, sino pronunciándola?”
“Yo soy la fuerza, la plenitud que se derrama sobre vuestro vacío y lo llena, pero al llenar la plenitud se llena en el vacío, y por consiguiente vosotros sois mi plenitud.”
“Entre toda alma y yo, existe esta alianza, este vínculo virginal de un sagrado matrimonio; para cada una de ellas yo soy el todo, lo último, lo absoluto; yo soy padre, madre, hermano y esposo. Para todas ellas estoy dispuesto a ser la plenitud, cuando todas las decepciones y todos los amantes falsos se niegan definitivamente.”
“Pues todo lo que fue creado en mí —nada fue creado sin mí— es tierra para la semilla de mi palabra y boca casta para mi beso.”
April 1, 2025
I have heard of von Balthasar for years and was absolutely PUMPED to behold one of his writings in my hands finally. Heart of the World is beautifully poetic, piercing the human heart with the reality of Jesus’ heart for us.
There is no place God is unwilling to go to meet us. We can live with great encouragement that if we give Him our heart, He will walk through its chaotic wilderness and transform our present hurts into greater glory.
4 stars because I just couldn’t get into it as much as it went on but loved von Balthasar’s weaving of scripture into his words so it truly felt that you were in conversation with God the entire read. What a gift, what a heart my goodness!!!
There is no place God is unwilling to go to meet us. We can live with great encouragement that if we give Him our heart, He will walk through its chaotic wilderness and transform our present hurts into greater glory.
4 stars because I just couldn’t get into it as much as it went on but loved von Balthasar’s weaving of scripture into his words so it truly felt that you were in conversation with God the entire read. What a gift, what a heart my goodness!!!
March 2, 2024
This is difficult to review. It would have been very difficult to make sense of if I had not been reading it in book club. There is SO much and some of it feels incomprehensible while other parts of it are 😲😲. I would recommend, but I recommend to take it super slowly, piece by piece and to pray with what hits you. If you’re confused, it might help to read with a friend 😅
I’m sure I’ll read it at another time in life and my review could wildly change.
3.5 rounded to 4 I’d say.
I’m sure I’ll read it at another time in life and my review could wildly change.
3.5 rounded to 4 I’d say.
February 13, 2023
This book is well suited if you are looking for a 219 pg stream of consciousness.
March 8, 2022
This book fluctuates between theology and poetry as freely as it fluctuates between being a chore and a joy to read. The entirety of it is a work born out of awe of The Heart of the World. I can’t help but be led to awe anytime I read it.
October 3, 2019
First 3 chapters: I’m not sure about Heart of the World. The poetry is overflowing and flowery and nice to look at, but when I actually try to decipher what the author’s saying I don’t know if I agree with the message. The message is so hidden and obscured by these nice words and images of stars and suns, foam and eternity, these big nature images, and big vocab words, but I didn’t feel what the author was feeling. I even read it in chunks because I thought maybe I just don’t like flowery writing, but each time I’d go back to it I would still remain untouched. Some of it made sense and some of it didn’t, but I think it took more work than usual because of the style of writing being hard for me to decipher and was confusing. I think I don’t relate, and whatever revelations the author felt just seem meandering and personalized to him. It was good in that it made me really analyze and question the message, whereas other styles of writing I find myself easily agreeing with whatever the author is saying.
Chapter 4: I didn’t like him talking as Jesus and didn’t agree with what he was saying, I don’t think Jesus would say those words.
When I got to Part 2, and saw it was Called “The Suffering,” I felt like I’ve been suffering through this book enough.
Chapter 4-6: I’m not a fan of the book. It has Jesus in first person and second person, and I don’t agree with what’s being said. I don’t think Jesus would say those things and I don’t think I’d address Jesus with what’s brought up either. I feel like this is a bunch of opinions I disagree with. It seems really negative and self-pitying with broad sweeping statements about how no one cares about Jesus’ suffering, or everyone’s only interested in themselves and doesn’t listen to God. It’s chapter after chapter of complaining about people, which seems so silly and weird. Does this really help people?
Chapter 4: I didn’t like him talking as Jesus and didn’t agree with what he was saying, I don’t think Jesus would say those words.
When I got to Part 2, and saw it was Called “The Suffering,” I felt like I’ve been suffering through this book enough.
Chapter 4-6: I’m not a fan of the book. It has Jesus in first person and second person, and I don’t agree with what’s being said. I don’t think Jesus would say those things and I don’t think I’d address Jesus with what’s brought up either. I feel like this is a bunch of opinions I disagree with. It seems really negative and self-pitying with broad sweeping statements about how no one cares about Jesus’ suffering, or everyone’s only interested in themselves and doesn’t listen to God. It’s chapter after chapter of complaining about people, which seems so silly and weird. Does this really help people?
August 4, 2019
This book is not a scholarly tome, nor a leisurely exploration of ideas; it is an intense, even feverish exposition of the spiritual life. The Heart of the World is the Sacred Heart of Jesus, opened for us on the Cross so that we can live in him. Intense and vivid, many of the descriptions of the false steps we make in our attempt to love our Lord come right from my own experience. Having followed some of the same false paths, I hope to end up in a better place having read this fine book.
A quote on settling for earthly things: "Who is presumptuous enough to assert that the finite is enough for us, that a secret happiness in some earthly nook -- a few years, a subdued happiness, a modest happiness -- is enough for the heart?"
On proclaiming the Gospel: "Perhaps the going forth from God is still more divine than the return home to God, since the greatest thing is not for us to know God and reflect this knowledge back to him as if we were gleaming mirrors, but for us to proclaim God as burning torches proclaim the light."
On trying to remain attached to our sins and also to God: "For sin is mostly small. It is petty, lacking both greatness and dignity. Sin is pettiness itself, repulsive and greasy. You know what I mean: this sort of spiritual bartering and endless calculation. How far can I go and still not have to confess it? What further concession can I make to my lust? Where is the borderline between mortal and venial sin?"
On the victory of the Cross: "My descent, my vertiginous collapse, my going under (under myself) into everything that was foreign and contrary to God -- down into the underworld: this was the ascent of this world into me, into God. My victory."
A quote on settling for earthly things: "Who is presumptuous enough to assert that the finite is enough for us, that a secret happiness in some earthly nook -- a few years, a subdued happiness, a modest happiness -- is enough for the heart?"
On proclaiming the Gospel: "Perhaps the going forth from God is still more divine than the return home to God, since the greatest thing is not for us to know God and reflect this knowledge back to him as if we were gleaming mirrors, but for us to proclaim God as burning torches proclaim the light."
On trying to remain attached to our sins and also to God: "For sin is mostly small. It is petty, lacking both greatness and dignity. Sin is pettiness itself, repulsive and greasy. You know what I mean: this sort of spiritual bartering and endless calculation. How far can I go and still not have to confess it? What further concession can I make to my lust? Where is the borderline between mortal and venial sin?"
On the victory of the Cross: "My descent, my vertiginous collapse, my going under (under myself) into everything that was foreign and contrary to God -- down into the underworld: this was the ascent of this world into me, into God. My victory."
March 2, 2024
El mundo es creado por Dios como un espejo, que, por el uso inadecuado de la libertad, se rompe en mil pedazos. Este es el inicio de una historia, la historia de la salvación que necesita del anuncio del Reino, del paso por la Pasión para alcanzar la Victoria.
Y en el corazón del mundo está la Iglesia, que es realmente el reflejo del corazón de Cristo.
El libro es una larga meditación sobre la Trinidad, la Redención, la Salvación y la Iglesia, escrita de forma poética por el sabio de Basilea.
Y en el corazón del mundo está la Iglesia, que es realmente el reflejo del corazón de Cristo.
El libro es una larga meditación sobre la Trinidad, la Redención, la Salvación y la Iglesia, escrita de forma poética por el sabio de Basilea.
December 29, 2024
time for my bimonthly goodreads check in
balthasar tears down walls between theology, philosophy, poetry, scriptural study, etc, then tears down walls between man, humanity, church, Trinitarian life, history, and Christ, and subsequently tears open my heart. for something so all-encompassing, it is shockingly precise with language. this review is so lacking, just go read it. my mom got me an extra copy so email me your addy and i'll send it.
balthasar tears down walls between theology, philosophy, poetry, scriptural study, etc, then tears down walls between man, humanity, church, Trinitarian life, history, and Christ, and subsequently tears open my heart. for something so all-encompassing, it is shockingly precise with language. this review is so lacking, just go read it. my mom got me an extra copy so email me your addy and i'll send it.
May 23, 2019
Beautiful read, that both inspires prayer and theological contemplation. I would recommend the book to others, but found in the typical Balthasar fashion, that his poetic form often led to 'iffy' affirmations. There were various points in the book that I think can be understood as contrary to the faith, and misleading to those who are not well formed in her truths.
May 18, 2023
like a glorious heart, expands into the universal and most lofty of ideals, contracts to the most personal struggles of an individual’s conscience, and expands again to encompass all of these in the mystical workings of the Divine, God’s plan of salvation. it is an inspired work of love. it is breathless and it glows.
June 4, 2017
This is unlike most of Von Balthasar's works, as all the reviews note. Much more poetic and reflection-based
March 4, 2018
So much to unpack and I’ll have to read this again no doubt. Superb writing
December 17, 2018
Favorite spiritual read hands down. If this was the only book I ever owned I would be content
April 25, 2019
Simply outstanding.
April 27, 2020
Excellent. Few authors are able to plummet the depths and make you think at the same time as moving your heart and leading you to pray
January 20, 2021
This was a gorgeous and dense book -- I have the feeling that I'll return to this book again at some point in my life.
June 9, 2022
I really loved this book - great combination of theology and beautiful poetic prose. Very quotable.
November 5, 2022
Astoundingly beautiful & pure poetry. 10/10 highly highly recommend.
April 23, 2023
Like nothing else I’ve read by Balthasar. So beautiful.
December 14, 2023
Helped me get married to my wife. So I would say it is good.
May 17, 2024
I spent entire holy hours on single lines of this book. Unreal
Displaying 1 - 30 of 33 reviews