Prayer

by Hans Urs von Balthasar

Publisher:

Ignatius

, 1986

Overview

This is perhaps the best and most comprehensive book on prayer ever written. From the persons of the Trinity through the Incarnation to the Church and the very structure of the human person, this book is a powerful synthesis of what prayer is and how to pray. The testament of a great theologian on something which is most personal and interior—contemplative prayer.

Contents

Top Highlights

“Christian contemplates holy scripture, not insofar as it is man’s word, but as God’s word. He listens to the word in an attitude of worship, in the milieu of the Church and in connection with her sacraments, sharing the Church’s spirit of Marian obedience to the Word, led by the Holy Spirit which breathes infallibly through the Church, and thus he enjoys the greatest possible certainty and guarantee that he is meeting with the full majesty of the Word of God. For scripture is not some systematic wisdom: it is an account of God’s meeting with men.” (Page 31)

“‘in Christ’: he is our milieu, the medium in which we live. It is so close to us in silent intimacy that it goes unnoticed, but we encounter it in its sovereign, personal freedom and spiritual character in the express word of scripture, preaching and church teaching, and above all in contemplation. Everyone who lives as a Christian in the Church, objectively and sacramentally, must also and of necessity hear the word: the eucharist demands contemplation. The Christian’s existence as a tabernacle demands that he exist as a hearer of the word. If he is to cherish the word within him he must attend to the word which is above him.” (Page 27)

“It is the whole man that must turn to God; the whole man must go into solitude, to listen exclusively to the word of God. And the whole man, including his innermost self, must then make himself available for the service of God in the world and among his brothers.” (Page 243)

“Man was created to be a hearer of the word, and it is in responding to the word that he attains his true dignity” (Page 22)

Product Details

• Title: Prayer
• Author: Hans Urs von Balthasar
• Publisher: Ignatius
• Print Publication Date: 1986
• Logos Release Date: 2019
• Language: English
• Resources: 1
• Format: Digital › Logos Research Edition
• Subject: Contemplation
• ISBNs: 9780898700749, 0898700744
• Resource ID: LLS:PRAYERBALTHASAR
• Resource Type: Monograph
• Metadata Last Updated: 2024-03-25T20:38:55Z

About Hans Urs von Balthasar

Hans Urs von Balthasar (1905–1988) was a Swiss Roman Catholic theologian. Along with Karl Rahner, Balthasar is one of the most important Roman Catholic theologians of the 20th century.