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Ein Ratgeber für das Leben, ein Bestseller seit Jahrhunderten: Mit den Gedanken und Aphorismen des spanischen Jesuitenpaters und Schriftstellers Balthasar Gracian (1601-1658) beginnt die Philosophie der Lebenskunst. Wie finde ich mein Glück? Wie bringe ich mich in Einklang zu meiner Umwelt? Gracians Ratschläge an den einzelnen werden dem menschlichen Alltag gerecht, seine meisterhafte, oft witzige und das Paradox nicht scheuende, blitzende Sprache veranlaßte Arthur Schopenhauer zu einer kongenialen Übertragung: »Sei klug und, weil es klug ist, sei auch, soweit nötig, anständig; dann ist dir jeder Erfolg beschieden, und du wirst für vollkommen gelten.«
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"Gott weiß, wie glücklich ich wäre, immer Kind bleiben zu können", schrieb der Vierzehnjährige in einem Brief. Die Kindheitsthematik durchzieht das Œuvre von Balthazar Klossowski, genannt Balthus. Rilke erkannte früh das Talent des Jungen und verfaßte ein Vorwort zu dessen Katzenbuch Mitsou. Die Kinder und jungen Mädchen aus Rilkes Gedichten, aus dem Malte Laurids Brigge spiegeln sich in vielen von Balthus’ Tableaus. Das Buch geht der vielfältigen, sowohl privaten als auch künstlerischen Beziehung von Balthus und Rilke nach. Es enthält Abbildungen von Gemälden und fotografische Aufnahmen.
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Läßt sich erotische Annäherung auch im Sinn einer Asymptote vollziehen? Lothar erforscht das gemeinsame Werk des Theologen Hans Urs von Balthasar und seiner legendären Amica, der Ärztin und Mystikerin Adrienne von Speyr. Er glaubt sich einem unglaublichen Liebesdrama auf der Spur. Und Lothar selbst, ein von den Theaterwissenschaften zur katholischen Theologie sowie zu sexueller Enthaltsamkeit konvertierter Student, gerät zunehmend in Gewissenskonflikte mit seiner hoch und heilig gelobten Haltung: Das Charisma der Klavierspielerin Mary Lou stellt ihn vor Versuchung und Versagung. Wie in Tomboy entwickelt das Diskursnetz in Jungfrau ein burleskes Eigenleben. Hollywoods B-Film-Ikone Maria Montez sowie ihr Wiedergänger Mario Montez sind darin ebenso verstrickt wie Clemens Brentano, der jahrelang Visionen einer stigmatisierten Nonne protokollierte, Ronald Tavel, Begründer des Theatre of the Ridiculous, der Camp-Filmer Jack Smith oder die Jazzpianistin Jutta Hipp. Thomas Meinecke ist mit einem popistischen Zugang zum Katholischen gesegnet. In seinem neuen Roman begibt er sich auf extravagante Pfade des Glaubens: Polyphon geht es que(e)r durch die Jahrhunderte, campy und kinky.
According to the Gospel of Matthew, "magi from the East" brought offerings of gold, frankincense, and myrrh to the newborn Christ. Beginning in the fifth century, European Christian theologians identified one of the magi--eventually called Balthazar--as African, at times describing him as having a dark complexion. But a thousand years passed before European artists commonly represented him as a Black man. This book offers a compact yet nuanced exploration of the image of the Black Magus, using works from the Getty and other important museum and library collections to highlight a figure who has often been overlooked in histories of Western Europe and discussions of European art.
In The Achievement of Hans Urs von Balthasar, Matthew Levering has written a book for theologically educated readers who mistrust von Balthasar or who mistrust von Balthasar’s critics. The book shows that von Balthasar’s critics can and should benefit both from the rich and wide-ranging conversations that mark his trilogy and from the critical and constructive engagement with German philosophical modernity offered by the trilogy. In addition, Levering hopes to show that those who mistrust von Balthasar’s critics need to be more Balthasarian in their response to criticisms of the Swiss theologian.
Hans Urs von Balthasar’s vast corpus of theological, philosophical, literary, and pastoral writings remains one of the most impressive achievements in 20th century thought. In light of liberation theology and now the papacy of Francis, however, a theological affirmation of the option for the poor remains dangerously weak in Balthasar’s corpus. Von Balthasar and the Option for the Poor offers a sympathetic reforming of Balthasar’s account of the drama of salvation – what he calls “theodramatics” – in response to this weakness.
Saint Thomas Aquinas famously held the opinion that, in God’s actual plan for the world, the Word would not have become flesh except to redeem us from sin. Conversely, Blessed John Duns Scotus argued that God intended Christ first, such that Christ would have come even if there had been no sin. While Aquinas and Scotus were far from the first to consider this question, they became emblematic of two seemingly irreconcilable approaches. In this book, Father Dylan Schrader recovers the thought of the Salmanticenses, the Discalced Carmelites writing at the University of Salamanca in the seventeenth century. The Salmanticenses argue that Christ is primary in God’s intention precisely as redeemer, so that it is true both that God has made everything else for the sake of Christ and that Christ’s coming is essentially redemptive, connected with sin. In this way, the Salmanticenses offer a Thomistic Christocentrism. This book summarizes the historical background to the Salmanticenses, from the time of Anselm up through the early-modern period. Next, it presents and defends the Salmanticenses’ argument for the primacy of Christ the redeemer. A Thomistic Christocentrism then turns to two key post-conciliar figures, Karl Rahner and Hans Urs von Balthasar. Rahner sees Christ as the culmination of the world’s opening up to God. Balthasar sees Christ as the reconciler of divine and human freedom through his cross, descent, and resurrection. Both Christocentric approaches have good aspirations but suffer from serious flaws. In its final chapters, this book applies the Salamanca theory to Rahner and Balthasar, showing its enduring value for post-conciliar Christocentrism.
Lucia Luhmen, Anfang 50, und Balthasar Balder, Mitte 50, erkranken beide an Krebs, sie hat einen Tumor in der Gebärmutter, er hat seinen in der Prostata. Lucia lebt in München, ist Abteilungsleiterin in einem Verlag, während Balthasar in der Lüneburger Heide lebt und dort seinen Vorruhestand genießt. Er war Lebensmittelchemiker in einem großen Pharmaunternehmen. Die Erzählung begleitet die beiden kapitelweise abwechselnd mit all ihrer Verzweiflung, ihren Ängsten und Hoffnungen; von den ersten Ergebnissen der Untersuchungen über ihre Operationen bis in die Reha-Maßnahme. Dort begegnen sie sich schließlich und machen eine überraschende Entdeckung, was ihre Vergangenheit angeht. „Luhmen & Balder: Minimal-invasive Eingriffe“ ist eine drastische Erzählung, die kein Blatt vor den Mund nimmt. Die Erzählung macht ohne jede Larmoyanz, dafür mit ironischer Distanz in klaren Sätzen deutlich, wie eng Leben und Tod, Eros und Thanatos miteinander verbunden sind.
Anton Štrukelj, in this English edition of his book Kneeling Theology, which was published in German, Italian, Polish, Russian and Slovenian, based his theme on the concept first developed by Hans Urs von Balthasar. This Swiss intellectual is considered one of the most important theologians of the 20th century. Štrukelj sees as his task, through a synthetic survey of questions, to seek from his subjects a holistic perspective regarding the role of the theologian, without doing a critical analysis of all their work. Kneeling Theology analyzes the process and its consequences that gave rise to the religious and cultural developments of the past and the present. It is his thesis that the essence of theology should flow from holiness. He relies for his evidence on the life and work of Hans Urs von Balthasar (which included the insights of Adrienne von Speyr, physician and mystic), Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger (Pope Benedict XVI), the Slovenian theologian Anton Strle (now servant of God) and Anton Vovk, former Archbishop of Ljubljana, fearless witness of Christ and his Church, also servant of God. Štrukelj's purpose with this book is to point out that Catholic theology is best served, not only by competent research and a thorough knowledge of Church tradition, but by theologians who approach their work prayerfully and on their knees. The rich theological and pastoral heritage that has been bequeathed to us by a small group of special people in this book has come about because of their scholarship and their holiness. They have, each in their own way, demonstrated what it means to do theology on their knees, and they have shared their scholarship and insights with us.
Most contemporary theologies of Holy Orders consider priesthood mainly in its diocesan context and most contemporary theologies of religious life do not consider how ordained ministry functions when it is internal rather than external to religious life. Understanding the Religious Priesthood provides a history and theology of religious priesthood that contributes to our understanding of this vocation’s identity and mission. It uncovers what religious priesthood shares with diocesan priesthood and non-ordained religious life and what makes it different from both those other vocations. Christian Raab begins by tracing the history of religious priesthood from its origins in the early Church to the eve of the Second Vatican Council. He demonstrates that religious priests often faced questions about how to reconcile their two callings, but that they also provided answers in their theologies and spiritualities of priesthood and religious life. Meanwhile, they made key contributions to the Church’s life and mission. Raab then investigates the teachings of the Second Vatican Council on priesthood and religious life. Observing that the Council presented priesthood according to a diocesan typology and presented religious life without sacerdotal associations, he argues that the lack of imagery of religious priesthood contributed to a post-conciliar vocational identity crisis among religious priests. He then seeks to remedy this lacuna by appealing to the biblical images for religious priesthood Hans Urs von Balthasar offered in his theology of vocations. Raab argues that Balthasar’s imagery is a promising way forward for understanding the identity and mission of religious priesthood. In a final part, Raab provides a substantial theological articulation of religious priesthood which illuminates its liturgical signification, ecclesial mediation and mission, and ministerial identity. Here he draws not only from Balthasar but also from Pope John Paul II, Yves Congar, Jean-Marie Tillard, Brian Daley, and Guy Mansini to construct his profile.
The problem of nature and grace lies at the heart of Christian theology. No dimension of divine revelation can be addressed without implicitly drawing reference to this issue.Analogies of Transcendence focuses on the central role that the analogies of being and faith play in developing a solution to the problem. These link God, as self-manifesting transcendence, to the human person as both fallen and justified, and to the material cosmos. Although the proposed solution draws on the work of Maréchal, de Lubac, Balthasar, and Rahner, it criticizes their approach for its underdeveloped analogies that diminish nature in grace's engagement with it. In redressing this weakness, Fr. Fields adapts its solution to the intellectual struggle of our time. This volume examines the origins and structure of modernity, which, it asserts, has not been superseded and is therefore critical of'postmodernism,' as well as of some ambiguous legacies of Thomism.
Four years before his death in 1996, National Artist for Film Ishmael Bernal started writing a journal for what he envisioned is a unique biography that would tell all. The goal was an anti-biography that refused to be hagiography or tribute, and instead would be Bernal unexpurgated and uncensored. His biographer was his closest friend and constant collaborator, Jorge Arago, who worked on Pro Bernal Anti Bio until his death in 2011. He then passed the task of completing the book to his friend, Angela Stuart-Santiago. Working towards the goal of a tell-all, and with new research and additional interviews, the final product is a memoir unlike any other in the Philippines. Pro Bernal Anti Bio brings in a cast of actors, scholars, colleagues, and peers who speak from the margins of the book, while Bernal and Arago tell this personal-political history in their own words, sometimes gay, often irreverent, but always revealing an intellect and spirit that was ahead of its time.
