Saving Karl Barth: Hans Urs von Balthasar's Preoccupation

by D. Stephen Long

Overview

Challenging recent rejections of Hans Urs von Balthasar’s groundbreaking study of Karl Barth’s theology, Stephen Long argues that these interpreters are myopically impatient with the nuances of Balthasar’s reading of Barth and fail to appreciate the longstanding theological friendship that perdured. Even more, current readings threaten to repristinate the embattled divide hallmarking Protestant-Catholic relations prior to Vatican II. Long contends against these contemporary trajectories in a substantial defense of Balthasar’s theological preoccupation with Barth’s thought. This book offers one of the first full contextualizations of the friendship that developed between Balthasar and Barth, which lasted from the 1930s until Balthasar’s death in the 1980s. Re-evaluating Balthasar’s theological work on Barth, the present volume provides a critical new reading of not only Balthasar’s original volume but a wider account of the systematic engagement Balthasar carried on throughout his career. Within this, a paradigm for fruitful, generous ecumenical dialogue emerges.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781451479720
Publisher:	Augsburg Fortress, Publishers
Publication date:	02/01/2014
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	272
File size:	794 KB

About the Author

D. Stephen Long is professor of systematic theology at Marquette University in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Table of Contents

Introduction 1

1 An Unlikely Friendship: Balthasar's "Conversations" with Barth 7

2 Presenting and Interpreting Karl Barth 37

3 Collapse of Balthasar's Interpretation 89

4 The Realm of God 129

5 The Realm of Ethics 177

6 The Realm of the Church: Renewal and Unity 239

7 Conclusion 283

Bibliography 289

Index of Names and Subjects 299