Balthasar's Trilogy

Revd. Dr. Stephen Wigley is Chair of the Wales Synod of the Methodist Church, a visiting lecturer and Trustee of St. Michael's College, Llandaff, and author of Karl Barth and Hans Urs von Balthasar: a Critical Engagement (2007).

Here we have an excellent introduction to one of the most significant intellectual achievements of the twentieth century, namely Hans-Urs von Balthasar's trilogy on the transcendentals of being: beauty, goodness and truth. In that massive work the Swiss Catholic theologian unfolded the themes of God's glory and its appearance, God's dramatic history with the world and human participation in it, God's cosmic design and the ways of its revelation and human discovery. Now at three interlocking levels -- that of the present book itself, that of its subject's writings, and that of the range of philosophers, theologians and artists whom von Balthasar attended to -- readers will find themselves drawn into engagement with the true, the good, and the beautiful.

• AcknowledgementsAbbreviationsChapter 1 Context and Introduction1.1 Introduction1.2 His life and timesChapter 2 Key Influences on von Balthasar's Trilogy2.1 Henri de Lubac and his rediscovery of the Fathers2.2 Erich Przywara and the analogy of being2.3 Karl Barth; christocentrism and the analogy of faith2.4 Adrienne von Speyr and the role of religious experienceChapter 3 The Glory of the Lord3.1 Seeing the Form3.2 Studies in Theological Style: Clerical and Lay Styles3.3 The Realm of Metaphysics in Antiquity and in the Modern Age3.4 Theology: the Old and new CovenantChapter 4 Theo-Drama: Theological Dramatic Theory4.1 Prolegomena4.2 Dramatis Personae: Man in God4.3 Dramatis Personae: Persons in Christ4.4 The Action4.5 The Last ActChapter 5 Theo-Logic5.1 Truth of the World5.2 Truth of God5.3 The Spirit of TruthChapter 6 Reception and Further Reading6.1 Epilogue6.2 The Key Influences on von Balthasar6.3 Reception of von Balthasar's Trilogy6.4 Further reading of von Balthasar6.5 Further reading about von Balthasar Bibliography