Hans Urs von Balthasar 1905 – 1988
Hans Urs von Balthasar was a Swiss Catholic theologian and philosopher and one of the most wide-ranging Christian thinkers of the twentieth century. After early studies of German literature and many years of Jesuit formation, he left the Society of Jesus in 1950 to co-found with the mystic Adrienne von Speyr the secular Community of St. John. His fifteen-volume Trilogy, comprising The Glory of the Lord, Theo-Drama, and Theo-Logic, ordered Christian theology around the transcendentals of beauty, goodness, and truth. He was a close friend and interlocutor of Karl Barth and was named cardinal shortly before his death.
Key facts
- Nationality
- Swiss
- Era
- Contemporary
- Movements
- Christian, Continental
Selected quotes
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Attributed to Hans Urs von Balthasar:
“The truly beautiful is what most fully reveals being.”
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Attributed to Hans Urs von Balthasar:
“The form of beauty is the form of truth.”
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Attributed to Hans Urs von Balthasar:
“Glory is what shines forth in love that gives itself away.”
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Attributed to Hans Urs von Balthasar:
“Christianity is the dramatic encounter between divine and human freedom.”
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Attributed to Hans Urs von Balthasar:
“We do not enter the truth except through love.”