Theo-Logic, vol. I: The Truth of the World
Overview
Theo-Logic is the third and crowning part of the great trilogy of the masterwork of theologian Hans Urs von Balthasar, following his first two parts, The Glory of the Lord and Theo-Drama. This third part of the trilogy focuses on theological “logic” and what role it plays in the event of God’s self-revelation through the Incarnation of the Logos and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit.
The Truth of the World searches to uncover the structures that characterize the truth of finite being, while keeping in mind that this truth cannot be explained outside of its circumincessive relation to the other transcendentals. This volume investigates truth as nature, freedom, mystery, and participation.
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 “logic” to access an assortment of useful resources and perspectives from a variety of pastors and theologians.
Key Features
- Pursues a predominantly philosophical method
- Reflects on the creaturely structure of unity
- Examines the structures that characterize the truth of finite being
Top Highlights
“Receptivity means accessibility to another’s being, openness to something other than the inner dimension of one’s own subjectivity, the possession of windows looking out on all being and truth. Receptivity signifies the power to welcome and, so to say, host another’s being in one’s own home.” (Pages 44–45)
“We thus have an initial description of truth as the unveiledness, uncoveredness, disclosedness, and unconcealment (ἀ-λήθεια) of being. This unconcealment implies two things: First, that being appears; second, that being appears.” (Page 37)
“When we look at the world in this way, it appears as one vast image and symbol of the divine essence, which thus expresses and reveals itself in the language of similitudes. To know how to read the world as a likeness is to understand both the world itself and, to the extent that he allows himself to be grasped, the God who expresses himself in it. Matter is to spirit as the world is to God: this proportion gives us the most comprehensive access to the problem of the knowledge of God.” (Page 233)
“The infinite Creator has equipped it with the grace of participation in the inexhaustibility of its origin. It bears in itself a wealth that cannot be consumed like a finite sum of money. You are never finished with any being, be it the tiniest gnat or the most inconspicuous stone. It has a secret [geheime] opening, through which never-failing replenishments of sense and significance ceaselessly flow to it from eternity.” (Page 107)
“This infinite, unmeasurable measure is the identity of thinking and being in God. All finite subjectivity and cognition necessarily presupposes the presence of this identity. The finite subject, of course, can never wield this full measure itself, because the plenitude of being does not appear, or even come close to appearing, either in itself or in some appearing object.” (Page 51)
Praise for the Print Edition
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)
Product Details
- Title: Theo-Logic, vol. I: The Truth of the World
- Author: Hans Urs von Balthasar
- Publisher: Ignatius
- Publication Date: 2000
- Pages: 275