Theo-Drama, vol. I: Prolegomena
Overview
This is the introduction to the second part of the trilogy which is von Balthasar’s major work. The Glory of the Lord approaches revelation from the standpoint of the beautiful. The final part of the trilogy, the Theo-Logic, will treat Christian revelation from the standpoint of the true.
In this first volume von Balthasar shows how many of the trends of modern theology (e.g. “event,” “history,” “orthopraxy,” “dialogue,” “political theology”) point to an understanding of human and cosmic reality as a divine drama. He will then consider objections to such a theological dramatic theory and also the relationship between the Church and the theater. This volume assembles the materials and the themes that will make it possible in subsequent volumes to develop this theological dramatic theory.
With the Logos edition the reader has an abundance of resources that offer applicable and insightful material for their study. You can easily search the subject of theological dramatic theory to access an assortment of useful resources and perspectives from a variety of pastors and theologians.
- Examines trends of modern theology
- Considers objections to the theological dramatic theory
- Analyses the relationship between the Church and the theater
Top Highlights
“Now we must allow the encountering reality to speak in its own tongue or, rather, let ourselves be drawn into its dramatic arena. For God’s revelation is not an object to be looked at: it is his action in and upon the world, and the world can only respond, and hence ‘understand’, through action on its part.” (Page 15)
“The uniqueness of the Christian conception of the horizon must be acknowledged: in it, and in it alone, meaning breaks forth (in a hidden manner, discerned by faith, in and through the stumbling block of Christ’s Cross) from the depth of the horizon and informs the whole foreground action of the world play.” (Page 320)
“All the same, the model of the theatre is a more promising point of departure for a study of theo-drama than man’s secular, social activity. For in the theatre man attempts a kind of transcendence, endeavoring both to observe and to judge his own truth, in virtue of a transformation—through the dialectic of the concealing-revealing mask—by which he tries to gain clarity about himself. Man himself beckons, invites the approach of a revelation about himself. Thus, parabolically, a door can open to the truth of the real revelation.” (Pages 11–12)
“man is instructed always to recognize his appropriate measure” (Page 487)
“ecumenical conclusion still remains to be written.” (Page 15)
Balthasar’s most important works, at least in his own eyes, are not his writings but his foundations.
—Peter Henrici
. . . meeting Balthasar was for me the beginning of a lifelong friendship I can only be thankful for. Never again have I found anyone with such a comprehensive theological and humanistic education as Balthasar . . . and I cannot even begin to say how much I owe to my encounter with him.
—Joseph Ratzinger (Pope Benedict XVI)
- Title: Theo-Drama, vol. I: Prolegomena
- Author: Hans Urs von Balthasar
- Publisher: Ignatius
- Publication Date: 1988
- Pages: 650