Kenosis in Theosis: An Exploration of Balthasar’s Theology of Deification
Ebook
Overview
The perennial questions surrounding human identity and meaning have never before been so acute. How we define ourselves is crucial since it determines our conception of society, ethics, sexuality--in short, our very notion of the “good.” The traditional Christian teaching of “deification” powerfully addresses this theme by revealing the sacred dignity and purpose of all created life, and providing a comprehensive vision of reality that extends from the individual to the cosmos. Hans Urs von Balthasar is a valuable guide in elucidating the church’s teaching on this vital subject. Following the patristic tradition, he focuses his attention on Jesus Christ, whose kenotic descent in his incarnation and passion reveals both the loving character of God and the perfection of humanity. Christ is the “concrete analogy of being” who in his two natures as God and man unites heaven and earth. It is the Trinity, however, that brings to fruition the fullness of the meaning of theosis in Balthasar’s theology. The community of divine persons eternally deifies the cosmos by embracing and transforming it into the paradigm of all reality--the imago trinitatis--overcoming the distance between the created and uncreated while maintaining and honoring their difference.
“This lucid and elegantly written study expounds a central and,
for many, baffling, feature of Balthasar’s thought: exaltation
(fulfillment) is only possible through humiliation (self-emptying).
Sigurd Lefsrud does an admirable job in explaining the
metaphysical, christological, and trinitarian background to this
key Balthasarian conviction, and the ways in which it both does and
does not correspond to the deification thinking of the Greek
Fathers and their successors, the Byzantine theologians. By
alerting the reader to parallels or divergences in Western Catholic
and Lutheran (and other Protestant) approaches, his book should
facilitate a wide-ranging ecumenical discussion of the nature of
what Christians mean by ‘salvation.’”
—Aidan Nichols, OP, author of A Key to Balthasar and The
Shape of Catholic Theology
“This important book on the theology of deification
should facilitate dialogue between Eastern and Western
Christianity. It deals effectively with difficulties that
deification raises for divine transcendence and human
creatureliness. The work convincingly illustrates how Hans Urs von
Balthasar’s theology of Holy Saturday underpins his teaching on
deification.”
—Gerald O’Collins, SJ, Professor Emeritus, Pontifical Gregorian
University, author of The Beauty of Jesus Christ
“Although theosis, or deification, has become a
well-established concept in modern soteriological thinking, it has
not previously been studied adequately in one of its major Western
exponents, Hans Urs von Balthasar. Sigurd Lefsrud has produced an
important work, drawing together numerous threads running through
Balthasar’s entire oeuvre to give us a richly textured
account of a theology in which participation in the divine nature
is inherently connected with Christ’s self-emptying love. I cannot
commend it too highly.”
—Norman Russell, Honorary Research Fellow of St Stephen’s House,
University of Oxford
“Sigurd Lefsrud offers a beautifully written, lucid, intelligent,
and generous engagement with Hans Urs von Balthasar’s theology of
kenosis and theosis. Tracing the threads of his
thought dispersed throughout his works, Lefsrud unveils a glorious
tapestry that displays von Balthasar’s understanding of the
astonishing good news of God’s self-emptying in the incarnation and
the life of the redeemed as an eternal growth into the likeness of
God through participation in Christ. Experts and non-experts alike
will benefit from reading this illuminating study.”
—Harry O. Maier, Professor of New Testament and Early Christian
Studies, Vancouver School of Theology
“These important essays presented here by Sigurd Lefsrud make up a
remarkably harmonious book which shows how the life that God gives
us through the Theo-Drama as theosis is gained with
kenosis and the experience of death. In this academically
learned yet spiritually rich book on Balthasar’s contribution to
the theology of deification, we realize that love is grounded in
Christ’s self-emptying example. Rooted in the depths of the unified
Christian tradition, Lefsrud shows that the ethos of theosis
is the fruit of a Christology of kenosis.”
—Maxim Vasiljevic, Bishop, Diocese of Western America,
Serbian Orthodox Church
- Title: Kenosis in Theosis: An Exploration of Balthasar’s Theology of Deification
- Author: Sigurd Lefsrud
- Publisher: Pickwick Publications
- Print Publication Date: 2020
- Logos Release Date: 2024
- Language: English
- Resources: 1
- Format: Digital › Ebook
- ISBNs: 9781532693700, 1532693702
- Resource ID: LLS:9781532693700
- Resource Type: Monograph
- Metadata Last Updated: 2024-10-23T08:26:05Z
Sigurd Lefsrud (PhD) is a former attorney and Lutheran pastor
with theological degrees from the Catholic University of Louvain,
the Angelicum in Rome, and the John Paul II Institute in Melbourne.
He is currently a seminary teacher and writer.