Light in Darkness: Hans Urs von Balthasar and the Catholic Doctrine of Christ's Descent into Hell

by Lyra Pitstick

He descended into hell.

Hans Urs von Balthasar, one of the most influential theologians of the twentieth century, placed this affirmation of the Nicene Creed at the heart of his reflection on the world-altering events of Holy Week, asserting that this identification of God with the human experience is at the "absolute center" of the Christian faith. Yet is such a descent to suffering really the essence of Catholic belief about the mystery of Holy Saturday?

Alyssa Lyra Pitstick's Light in Darkness -- the first comprehensive treatment of Balthasar's theology of Holy Saturday -- draws on the multiple yet unified resources of authoritative Catholic teaching on Christ's descent to challenge Balthasar's conclusions. Pitstick conducts a thorough investigation of Balthasar's position that Christ suffered in his descent into hell and asks whether that is compatible with traditional teaching about Christ.

Light in Darkness is a thorough argument for the existence and authority of a traditional Catholic doctrine of Christ's descent as manifested in creeds, statements of popes and councils, Scripture, and art from Eastern and Western traditions. Pitstick's carefully argued, contrarian work is sure to spur debate across the theological spectrum.

Genres: Theology

490 pages, Paperback

First published December 1, 2006

Reviews

[Joseph · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a necessary read for anyone who wants to compare and contrast von Balthasar's theology (specifically that of the Descent into Hell and his Trinitarian theology) with the traditional theology of the Church. Pitstick gives extensive examples from a wide variety of traditional sources (the Scriptures, the Councils, the Fathers, the Doctors of the Church, the liturgies of both East and West, the iconography of the East, and the non-liturgical artwork of the West) supporting the traditional doctrine on the Descent (and showing that it was not unimportant in Christianity, but was a real devotional key). She then engages the writing of von Balthasar from multiple sources in depth to ascertain the nature of his doctrine and pointing out points of concern. She closes with some more global concerns that point out (a) inconsistencies in von Balthasar himself that are not resolved and (b) points of conflict between von Balthasar and the traditional doctrine. She then argues for the traditional doctrine as the true doctrine of the faith revealed in the Deposit of the Faith.