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Razing the Bastions: On the Church in this Age
Written in the 1950s, this book defines and anticipates, in a prophetic way, the role of the laity in the Church, and the intimate relationship between the Church and the world. These two themes were recognized by the Second Vatican Council especially in the two constitutions "On the Church" and "The Church in the Modern World."
Von Balthasar's "bastions" are barriers erected over the centuries which separated the laity from the clergy and the Church from the world. He pleads for a Church that interprets "the signs of the age," grasps them and answers them, allowing herself to be awakened by the Holy Spirit and by the age "from the bed of historical sleep for the dead of today." The new function of the Church is to be the "yeast of the world"she must understand herself as the "instrument of the mediation of salvation to the world." Stressing that the hour of the laity is sounding in the Church, von Balthasar makes it clear that the "true program of the Church for today is: the most powerful radiance into the world through the most immediate imitation of Christ."
110 pages, Paperback
First published April 1, 1993
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About the author
Hans Urs von Balthasar
456 books312 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 - 9 of 9 reviews
June 14, 2013
This is a 'programmatic work' expounded by Von Balthasar for the Church in the modern world. It was published before the Second Vatican Council. And many had admitted that many of his views expressed in this book were taken up by Vatican and later found their places in the Vatican documents too.
This little book, however, really has much to say. Von Balthasar writes with a passion and his desire to say all that he thought is visible in his writings. The Church has descent itself to the world and and that is the need of time. But then how does it perceive this situation brought in by the history that is totally different from the historical times of the medieval times? What is the divine truth (revelation) expounded in this situation for the Church, that is torn by many sects and faced with many religions and secular thoughts? What is the role of the Church in this situation? And what is or who is Church now? How do we understand Church? The answers that he reasons out are all very intriguing and interesting.
P.S. Anyone interested in ecclesiology and theology of the laity and missiology might find this book useful.
This little book, however, really has much to say. Von Balthasar writes with a passion and his desire to say all that he thought is visible in his writings. The Church has descent itself to the world and and that is the need of time. But then how does it perceive this situation brought in by the history that is totally different from the historical times of the medieval times? What is the divine truth (revelation) expounded in this situation for the Church, that is torn by many sects and faced with many religions and secular thoughts? What is the role of the Church in this situation? And what is or who is Church now? How do we understand Church? The answers that he reasons out are all very intriguing and interesting.
P.S. Anyone interested in ecclesiology and theology of the laity and missiology might find this book useful.
August 26, 2024
In this brief pre-Vatican II piece, Balthasar identifies the laity and “worker priests” as the conduits of the Catholic Church’s future success in modernity. Of course, he expresses and upholds the view that “[w]ithout Christ, there is no access to the Father. Without the Church, there is no participation in Christ” (54). For him, and Catholics, the Church will always be “the instrument of the mediation of salvation to the world, for she is the mystical Body of Christ, into which the Word of God descended for the sake of redemption” (54-55).
Balthasar advocates for Christians a “continual act of walking between faith and knowledge, and equilibrium between Christian and worldly truth…between ecclesiastical ‘infallibility’ and human, scientific ‘tolerance’…” (80). Otherwise, the Christian, in contemplating their faith and participating in secular society, can begin to cleave their consciousness and begin to live in a “double truth” as they negotiate what their beliefs and science teach them. I believe this to be an accurate recounting of how we walk from on faith journeys throughout our lives and even come into doubt.
However, this tension, which Balthasar believes Christians are divinely called to experience, is not necessary if one is able to integrate science into faith or outgrows their faith, exchanging it for another. I do not agree that a person can live their lives completely between the pulls of these two areas. It will eventually become ignorance in one as another continues to be justified to the other (namely, ignorance in science/non-religious reality if one’s religious worldview is continually justified and held firmly in place). We will eventually leave science, integrate science into faith in a modified manner (turning to the “mystery”
of faith or God of the Gaps to preserve our lacunae in knowledge in either realm), or leave faith. Balthasar himself notes that the lay person, coming to a place where science does not hold all the answers, meets the theologian who finds revelation to be lacking in clarity and detail: “[b]oth are…occupied with a synthesis that can never be fully achieved” (83). Balthasar seems to resolve this conflict by pulling both back to recognition of the Church’s preservation of the Fundamentals: the revelation of God becoming man in Christ and the overarching grace pouring from the Church (85-86). I would argue that this is exactly the primus point of the tension he described earlier and this is now circular in reasoning; the Church claims Christ is human and God, this defies science and is upheld by faith which causes the double-truth way of life, then eschewing complex theology and science to return to Christ as God and man by remaining a part of the Church resolves this tension?
Ultimately, this small book is a call for the laity to take on “Christian responsibility.” Indeed, “the more the layman…takes on Christian responsibility, which means ecclesial responsibility, the more strongly does he feel himself to be the Church” (93). Part of this requires Christians to imitate Christ but Balthasar sees it “enough to have the attitude of the Mother of the Lord” meaning “ready and available for everything” (96). Mariology brings a conclusion to this piece as Mary’s “fiat” is the sort of piety Balthasar sees as necessary for all Christians.
In “Test Everything,” Balthasar comments that much of what he put into this work impacted Vatican II and that this book was a call to “raze” the bastions of an entrenched church in need of change and evangelization (Test Everything, 9). I must have skimmed over too much of the final chapters as I missed this “call” entirely; it reads like more of a theological treatise than a call to social action! I did not enjoy reading this book but I respect it. As always, there are gems in Balthasar’s work that speak to human experience as it comes to contemplate a Higher Power. Usually, these come in the concluding chapters, so hang in there if you’re picking him up for the first time. This is definitely not the one with which to start your VB journey!
Balthasar advocates for Christians a “continual act of walking between faith and knowledge, and equilibrium between Christian and worldly truth…between ecclesiastical ‘infallibility’ and human, scientific ‘tolerance’…” (80). Otherwise, the Christian, in contemplating their faith and participating in secular society, can begin to cleave their consciousness and begin to live in a “double truth” as they negotiate what their beliefs and science teach them. I believe this to be an accurate recounting of how we walk from on faith journeys throughout our lives and even come into doubt.
However, this tension, which Balthasar believes Christians are divinely called to experience, is not necessary if one is able to integrate science into faith or outgrows their faith, exchanging it for another. I do not agree that a person can live their lives completely between the pulls of these two areas. It will eventually become ignorance in one as another continues to be justified to the other (namely, ignorance in science/non-religious reality if one’s religious worldview is continually justified and held firmly in place). We will eventually leave science, integrate science into faith in a modified manner (turning to the “mystery”
of faith or God of the Gaps to preserve our lacunae in knowledge in either realm), or leave faith. Balthasar himself notes that the lay person, coming to a place where science does not hold all the answers, meets the theologian who finds revelation to be lacking in clarity and detail: “[b]oth are…occupied with a synthesis that can never be fully achieved” (83). Balthasar seems to resolve this conflict by pulling both back to recognition of the Church’s preservation of the Fundamentals: the revelation of God becoming man in Christ and the overarching grace pouring from the Church (85-86). I would argue that this is exactly the primus point of the tension he described earlier and this is now circular in reasoning; the Church claims Christ is human and God, this defies science and is upheld by faith which causes the double-truth way of life, then eschewing complex theology and science to return to Christ as God and man by remaining a part of the Church resolves this tension?
Ultimately, this small book is a call for the laity to take on “Christian responsibility.” Indeed, “the more the layman…takes on Christian responsibility, which means ecclesial responsibility, the more strongly does he feel himself to be the Church” (93). Part of this requires Christians to imitate Christ but Balthasar sees it “enough to have the attitude of the Mother of the Lord” meaning “ready and available for everything” (96). Mariology brings a conclusion to this piece as Mary’s “fiat” is the sort of piety Balthasar sees as necessary for all Christians.
In “Test Everything,” Balthasar comments that much of what he put into this work impacted Vatican II and that this book was a call to “raze” the bastions of an entrenched church in need of change and evangelization (Test Everything, 9). I must have skimmed over too much of the final chapters as I missed this “call” entirely; it reads like more of a theological treatise than a call to social action! I did not enjoy reading this book but I respect it. As always, there are gems in Balthasar’s work that speak to human experience as it comes to contemplate a Higher Power. Usually, these come in the concluding chapters, so hang in there if you’re picking him up for the first time. This is definitely not the one with which to start your VB journey!
May 28, 2019
I love Balthasar but this was an underwhelming book. Very mixed. At times naive--especially given the 60+ years that have elapsed since its publication. At the same time, his call for a Church that goes out into the heart of the world without losing its integrity is one we very much need today.
October 21, 2015
Hmm. Very exciting. Needs careful interpretation. Useful reflections.
November 18, 2023
Balthazar’s reflections on the Church and the way that she must relate to world are incredibly valuable in todays world and were surely even more valuable in the Catholic culture of the 1950’s in which they were written. He definitely over emphasizes the extent to which his proposals are new in ecclesial history, but they are well written, with elegance and passion.
——————
“Obedience in the Church is nothing other than love, the form and fruitfulness of bridal love.”
“Christians were meant to be one ‘as the Father and I are one,’ but they were not one; they were meant to love one another, that the world would recognize the truth of the new teaching, but they did not love one another. Through the division of faith, Christianity had refuted itself.”
——————
“Obedience in the Church is nothing other than love, the form and fruitfulness of bridal love.”
“Christians were meant to be one ‘as the Father and I are one,’ but they were not one; they were meant to love one another, that the world would recognize the truth of the new teaching, but they did not love one another. Through the division of faith, Christianity had refuted itself.”
December 15, 2022
“For (Saint) Francis, to be a Christian was something just as immense, certain and startlingly glorious as to be a human being, a youth, a man. And because being a Christian is eternal being and eternal youth, without danger of withering and resignation, his immediate joy was deeper.”
December 29, 2017
An exciting, sweeping book, calling for careful discernment, and true theology. It should appeal to every Catholic, although especially those for whom the work of theology is important.
April 6, 2020
This is a challenging little book.
February 13, 2016
A relatively easy text to read, considering that my first reading provides the huge picture of what von Balthasar wants to show.
And basically, it is all about letting the Church go to where it is unfamiliar by first breaking down the walls that separate itself from the world, one that it justifies by a certain understanding of the orders of nature and grace. I believe that Christians of today ought to read this, in order to be reminded occasionally of who we are and what we ought to do as men and women in this world but not of this world.
And basically, it is all about letting the Church go to where it is unfamiliar by first breaking down the walls that separate itself from the world, one that it justifies by a certain understanding of the orders of nature and grace. I believe that Christians of today ought to read this, in order to be reminded occasionally of who we are and what we ought to do as men and women in this world but not of this world.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews