Seeing the Form

The Glory of the Lord: A Theological Aesthetics #1

by Hans Urs von Balthasar, Erasmo Leiva-Merikakis (Translator), Joseph Fessio (Editor)

Hans Urs von BalthasarVolume one of the long-awaited English version of von Balthasar's masterwork, Herrlichkeit.

Genres: Theology, Religion, Philosophy, Catholic, Christianity, Christian, Classics

691 pages, Hardcover

First published June 1, 1982

About the author

Hans 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.

Reviews

[Paul H. · Rating 3 out of 5]

So obviously von Balthasar is a genius, Herrlichkeit is, taken as a whole, probably the most impressive theological work since WW2, etc. etc. But after reading about half of the Trilogy so far (all of Theo-Logic, about half of Theo-Drama, and two volumes of Glory), I have to say . . . Hans needs an editor, badly. The typical reader of von Balthasar may not be aware that these books were originally self-published and hence not edited (Johannes Verlag is basically a vanity press, though obviously von Balthasar could be published anywhere). It's actually similar to Kierkegaard, who was independently wealthy and self-published all of his work, and who also really, truly, seriously needed an editor . . . the final 300 pages of Concluding Unscientific Postscript are such a mess that it's hard to believe Kierkegaard let it go into the world in that state.

With Glory, von Balthasar's basic instinct was correct; he's right that the average theological work is superficial and has to leave too much out, so indeed, why not just include everything, and write a complete 7-volume theological aesthetics without any concessions to length. Sounds great! But my point is that he didn't need 4,500 pages; 2,500 would have easily done the trick. With Seeing the Form, the introduction to the 7-volume series, he spends the introduction (i.e., the introduction to the introduction) rambling on and on about various Protestant theologians, German Idealist theologians, etc., for no discernible reason; they aren't mentioned again for the rest of the volume, and the figures that he talks about do not even vaguely represent all the possible approaches that could be taken to aesthetics. On pages 58-67, he decides, sure, I'll just include a rambling summary of Gerhard Nebel's Lutheran aesthetics ...? What on earth does this have to do with setting the stage for a theological account of beauty? And why would that be in an introduction, especially when there's literally an entire volume (vol. 3) in the series that will cover these figures? Also, why is the introduction 117 pages long?

The intro is one of many examples of von Balthasar's strange emphasis on German theology circa 1750-1900; he can't go twenty pages (even when talking about Anselm or whoever else) without somehow bringing up Hegelian dialectic, or Scheeben, or Schelling, or Barth, or etc. Maybe it's just because he was friends with Barth and always had Protestant-Catholic dialogue somewhere in the back of his mind? I'm not sure why, exactly, but it's certainly distracting, and does nothing to help his arguments. Von Balthasar's early work (on Maximus, Gregory, Origen, etc.) is far more impressive imo; tightly focused and incredibly insightful. With the Trilogy, these moments of insight are somewhat more rare.

[alex angelosanto · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Beauty is truth, truth beauty, – that is all
Ye know on earth, and all ye need to know."

John Keats. Ode on a Grecian Urn Poem. 1820.

A truly stunning book, all the more so for me since I picked it up on a whim. For a long time now I have been looking for a book that bridges the concepts of the sublime in art and the encounter with the divine. plenty of books touch on this subject but nothing compared to the exhaustive work here.

Currently, my thoughts feel pretty scattered on this book and hopefully with time and reflection I can get my ideas a bit more ordered. Reading this was a constant stream of "yes! That's it! that's what I've been trying to get at" and sometimes getting caught up in that excitement left me with a series of random impressions rather than a glimpse of the whole

For Balthasar, beauty (and more specifically aesthetics, the study of beauty) is a necessary tool of theology. Rather than using beauty as a metaphor, Balthasar lays out a theology that sees the emanation that springs from art is from the same illuminating source from which we can understand the sublime truth of the gospels.

Balthasar explores the paradox of God's act of revealing also being an act of concealment. This phenomenon shares the same source as our experience of seeing a great work of art. that seeing isn't understanding but is a seeing of its greater mysteries. Grasping the sublime is surrendering to the idea that you could ever grasp it. In the same way great artists speak of a true act of creating is really surrendering that ownership to a larger force, so too is the Christian mystery of purpose as quoted in the Gospel of Matthew: "Those who try to gain their own life will lose it; but those who lose their life for my sake will gain it" Balthasar traces this dialectic through the Hebrew scriptures and defines its apogee as Jesus Christ, the being who is fully man and fully God. Fully present and fully hidden.

This is the first volume in a trilogy spanning 15 books. If the other volumes are anything like this one I'll be spending a lot of time in the coming years with Balthasar.

[Spencer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Although it is properly set within Balthasar's wider work Glory of the Lord and the even broader 'triptych' consisting of the aesthetics, Theo-Drama, and Theo-Logic, Seeing the Form is one of the best single volumes of theology I have ever read. In it, Hans Urs von Balthasar, attempts to reclaim "beauty" as an essential category for theology. On analogy with inner-worldly beauty, God's glory shows itself to the eyes of faith which it itself grants us. This showing itself occurs in a form - a particular concrete and determinate reality - which is the expression of its own mysterious depths. These depths are expressed precisely in the form, which is never simply cast aside to get to the 'real meaning' behind it (e.g., in mere allegory). Jesus Christ is the ultimate form of God's self-expression, and as such is the ultimate organizing principle of any truly theological aesthetic. Christian faith, therefore, is a matter of an ever-deepening vision in which God himself is seen in his self-revelation in Jesus Christ. Balthasar takes us through a breathtaking array of implications of this basic form-principle of theological aesthetics in the fields of fundamental theology, dogmatics, epistemology, ecclesiology, sacramental theology, philosophy and Christian experience.

[John · Rating 5 out of 5]

The first volume of Balthasar's Theological Aesthetics, Seeing the Form is difficult to quantify in a few words. At its base, Balthasar wants to recapture aesthetics, or beauty, in the task of theological reflection. Where truth and goodness have dominated the discipline, beauty has fallen on hard times. For in a world devoid of beauty, both goodness and truth become compromised as well.

The pinnacle of beauty in the world (not to mention truth and goodness) is Jesus Christ. Balthasar's work orbits around Christ with a focus and an attention to detail that I have not seen exceeded in theological literature. This helps not just in articulating his overall point, but also in pressing on through some of the more dense and philosophical sections of his book.

Ultimately, Balthasar believes that in taking on the form of Jesus in an ever-increasing fashion, Christians and the Church will shine with his light more purely and more in line with our fundamental natures as creations of God.

This doesn't even begin to scratch the surface of this monumental work. I suspect I'll be reading sections here and there from it for the rest of my life.

[Sandu Andronic · Rating 3 out of 5]

Merită să îl citim pe Balthasar?

Teologia este frumoasă prin ea însăși. Revelația are o frumusețe intrinsecă care așteaptă să fie descoperită de fiecare căutător al ei. De când am văzut cartea în urmă cu ceva timp, fiind intrigat de tema și titlul ei, mi-am zis că trebuie să o citesc. Trebuie să o am. O teologie estetică? Nu îmi amintesc să fi citit ceva similar. Abordată la un asemenea nivel? Nu pot trece pe lângă ea. Nu prea întâlnești la orice colț de stradă așa ceva. În consecință, am zis să mă pregătesc, într-un fel sau altul pentru ce urma. Știind că o să fie un timp de sacrificiu, m-am înarmat sufletește. Dacă a meritat? Rămâne să vă dezvălui.

Finalizând acum doar primul volum, vreau să spun că Balthasar este un fel de Hegel al creștinismului. Un fel de Kant al teologiei. Abordarea generală pe care și-o asumă în studiul de față, este una pur abstractă, de fiecare dată căutând în mod intenționat să meargă tot mai adânc în argumentare, de aceea pe alocuri îți conferă un sentiment de incomprehensibilitate. Cu alte cuvinte, te năucește. Există multe cuvinte compuse ce sunt folosite pentru a desemna un concept filosofic, similar cum întâlnim în operele lui Heidegger. Nivelul său de erudiție te face să te simți începător, un neinițiat în ale teologiei. De multe ori mă întrebam la modul cel mai sincer, "Omul acesta, chiar a scris toate acestea?"

Seria sa "Slava lui Dumnezeu", ce constă în 7 volume destul de mari, este o lucrare extrem de îndrăzneată, ea fiind doar prima parte din marea sa trilogie: Theo-Dramatica (5 volume) - Theo-Logica (3 volume). Cartea aceasta, mai exact Volumul I, este de o profunzime nemaiîntâlnită, deși se prezintă a fi doar o introducere în teologia estetică. Prezența cuvintelor din greacă și latină au înfrumusețat cu siguranță întregul peisaj argumentativ. De aceea, și pe bună dreptate, Balthasar va ocupa primul loc când vine vorba de cel mai dificil autor-teolog-filosof creștin pe care l-am citit până în prezent. Deși m-am împotmotlit la multe secțiuni, sunt totuși mulțumitor că am rămas cu câte ceva.

În mod suprinzător am găsit multe idei și concepte pe care consider că le-a articulat foarte bine, într-o manieră elegantă, cu still - academică. Nu mi se pare că a căutat să aibă o abordare practică în cele expuse. La fel, nu mi se pare că și-a ales o audiență largă pentru cărțile sale, ci a scris pentru un public foarte restrâns. Un subiect de nișă nu poate avea decât un public nișă. Oricum, m-am simțit îmbogățit intelectual. El fiind un teolog catolic, am știut de la început că mă voi lovi de idei cu care nu pot să fiu în acord, eu fiind protestant, mai specific baptist. Am căutat să văd întâi de toate lucrurile pe care le avem în comun - și chiar sunt multe - dar în același timp nu am ezitat să amendez pe cele pe care le consider ca fiind nebiblice. Un mare minus al său, a fost faptul că a folosit foarte rar Scriptura în construcția argumentelor sale, iar când o folosea, prezenta o dogmatică tradițional catolică, adică nu a făcut o exegeză în adevăratul sens al cuvântului atunci când voia să îl explice, ci a privit materialul biblic printr-o lentilă strict confesională, în mare parte părtinitoare, plecând de la premisa că celelalte perspective sunt din start greșite fără a oferi însă un contra-argument în acest sens.

Ediția din limba română de la Editura Galaxia Gutenberg nu este cea mai reușită, din păcate. Nu este cartonată, deși o astfel de carte merita din plin să fie. Coperta nu are nici un design. În mare, are un aspect de carte ieftină, vizual. Cel mai supărător fapt a fost că am găsit zeci de greșeli de tipărire, ceea ce nu este admisibil, un detaliu pe care nu am putut să nu îl semnalez celor responsabili cu editarea și corectarea manuscrisului. Traducerea, la fel, nu cred că a fost un punct forte. Cred că se putea mult mai bine, pentru că la astfel de cărți a avea o traducere bună este crucial. Notele de subsol care erau, au fost amețitoare, nu atât de ajutătoare, cu toate acestea, ar fi trebuit să fie mai multe. În mare parte, aparatul critic care trebuie să vină în ajutorul cititorului, a lipsit. O introducere de asemenea a lipsit.

Cred că dacă Balthasar investea mai mult timp în a sintetiza, în a aranja ideile într-o formă mai accesibilă, mai citibilă, cu mai mult miez decât coajă, dacă era mai "estetic" cartea ar fi fost mult mai reușită. Ar fi avut un impact mai mare. Cred că acesta este și motivul pentru care nu este atât de cunoscut în mediul creștin. În multe locuri este atât de greu de înțeles, încât mă tot gândeam dacă este cineva în lume, în prezent care dacă îl citește îl înțelege pe deplin. Nu cred că este de mare folos ca tot timpul să scrii zeci de pagini pentru a articula o idee, un concept. Acesta este un alt minus al său. A prezenta chintesența unui principiu cred că este de dorit în orice situație.

Ca regulă primară și concluzie, consider orice autor trebuie abordat, nu oricum, ci într-un mod cât se poate de critic ca să putem spune la final că a meritat timpul și banii. Nu putem înghiți tot ceea ce citim. Nu putem pune egal între "erudit" și "infailibil". Balthasar a demonstrat aceasta. Oricât de învățat este cineva, el tot poate greși. De aceea, greșelile la acest nivel sunt mai grave și mai puțin acceptabile. Într-un sens, nu este o carte pe care o recomand neapărat cuiva să o citească. Este un chin să o parcurgi dacă nu ai o pregătire în spate și dacă subiectul nu este unul de interes. Dar pe de altă parte, dacă cineva chiar dorește să facă un exercițiu intelectual pe măsură și să-și lărgească perspectiva asupra ramurii esteticii, îl încurajez să o citească. Există multe idei și concepte pe care le putem învăța din orice carte, cu condiția să ne punem timp deoparte pentru fiecare.

[Darby Hughes · Rating 4 out of 5]

Extremely difficult read, but rewarding at points. The author is a Catholic theologian/philosopher, so as a Protestant, I couldn’t endorse some of his theology, but much is shared ground when dealing with the subject of beauty and aesthetics.

I probably wouldn’t have read this if I knew ahead of time how dense and erudite it is, but thought I’d take on the challenge. Glad I did, and glad I’m done!

[Tom Barmaryam · Rating 4 out of 5]

You see the beauty in the unseeing,
you understand goodness in the un-understanding,
you read in the unreading,
you know the truth in unknowing,
until the literary Gestalt of von Balthasar impresses its Gestalt upon yourself, making von Balthasar a Gestalt of yourself ...

Immensely dense..which makes some sense. I understood like 20pages out of 700

[W. H. Merriman · Rating 5 out of 5]

To want to see the stained-glass window from the inside is already to believe

[Aeisele · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Glory of the Lord, vol 1: Seeing the Form is the first in Hans Urs von Balthasar's massive theological trilogy, one of the most important works of the 20th century theology. Balthasar uses the ancient philosophical categories of the "transcendentals" (Beauty, Goodness, and Truth) to structure this work (over 17 volumes!), and vol 1 is a justification and initial exploration of the first of those transcendentals, Beauty.
It's hard to overstate how impressive Balthasar is in this volume. He takes on an entire tradition that denigrates Beauty as a category describing Being, starting with the Reformation, through the Enlightenment, and into Catholicism's "elimination of aesthetics from theology." The introduction, which is the first part of this work, looks at the scope of this history, and argues that by doing this theology has given up on the notion of the splendor of "form," the way the beauty of form implicates the truth and goodness of Being. Ultimately, for Balthasar, giving up on aesthetics in theology is a betrayal of the incarnation, for "the Incarnation uses created Being at a new depth as a language and means of expression for the divine Being and essence" (29). The Incarnation is the essence of all aesthetics.
After the introduction and the justification for aesthetics, Balthasar structures the work in terms of what Catholic theology has labelled "Fundamental Theology" (looking at how the individual perceives God - in Balthasar's terms, the "theory of vision"), and "Dogmatic Theology" (looking at the objective content of theology, what Balthasar calls the "theory of rapture," which is based on the "egressus-regressus" typology of medieval theology).
The "theory of vision" (Part II) addresses basic issues, just as faith, knowledge, and their relationship, and especially experience. The sections on experience are really great, because unlike say a Schleiermacher, who focuses on a neutral, modern human's experience, Balthasar focuses "archetypal" experiences - Jesus', primarily, and then the OT experience, Mary's, the Apostles, as well as the way Paul, John, and the other epistles talk about it.
The "theory of rapture" is the second part, and is all about the way in which God meets humanity in history, and humanity comes to participate in God. The big topics here are obvious: revelation, Christ, and how Christ is mediated and witnesses to.
This is an intense volume. It's not easy, and as a Protestant with some basic, differing assumptions, I certainly can't go some places Balthasar goes. However, my initial reading of this volume was less about agreement, and more about entering into the strange world of Hans Urs von Balthasar's thinking. This is a perfect book for that.

[David Miller · Rating 5 out of 5]

Warning: spending time with Hans Urs von Balthasar leads to intoxication of the mind! What a thrilling read. It seems to be a near-literal translation from the German and so is somewhat hard to follow at times, and I wish the inline Latin, Greek, and French phrases had been translated (as has been done with the 2nd volume of this work). Still a great read, and just what I needed at the time. He touches on many things I had wondered about: the actual experience felt by the people the Lord speaks to in the Bible; the fact that the Lord's glory is to be discovered by everyone, and theologians at their best only describe what they have seen; and that Jesus Christ (a person) is the truth and the life, the crux of world history, the measure of beauty.

[Todd Runyon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Balthasar sketches God's the beautific vision

"Christ’s existence and his teachings would not be a comprehensible form if it were not for his rootedness in a salvation-history that leads up to him. Both in his union with this history and in his relief from it, Christ becomes for us the image that reveals the invisible God. Even Scripture is not an isolated book, but rather is embedded in the context of everything created, established, and effected by Christ—the total reality constituted by his work and activity in the world."

[Greg · Rating 5 out of 5]

Probably the most important piece of sustained theological writing since Karl Barth's Church Dogmatics, however, unlike Barth it is from a Catholic as opposed to a Reformed perspective.

[Christina “6 word reviewer” Lake]

Six words can't do it here!

[Mac · Rating 5 out of 5]

Deep, powerful, rigorous, and wonderful. One of the best things I've read this year, and one that I suspect I'll come back to many times over the course of my studies.