Theo-Drama, Vol. 4：The Action

474 Pages·1994·2.48 MB·English

by  Hans Urs von Balthasar

THEODRAMA
Volume IV
THEODRAMA
Volumes of the Complete Work:
I: Prolegomena
II: The Dramatis Personae: Man in God
III: The Dramatis Personae: The Person in Christ
IV: The Action
V: The Last Act
HANS URS VON BALTHASAR
THEODRAMA
THEOLOGICAL
DRAMATIC THEORY
VOLUME IV
THE ACTION
Translated by Graham Harrison
IGNATIUS PRESS SAN FRANCISCO
Title of the German original:
Theodramatik: Dritte Band: Die Handlung
© 1980 Johannes Verlag, Einsiedeln
With ecclesiastical approval
Cover by Roxanne Mei Lum
© 1994 Ignatius Press, San Francisco
All rights reserved
ISBN 978-0-89870-471-6
Library of Congress catalogue number 88-80725
Printed in the United States of America
CONTENTS
Preface
I. UNDER THE SIGN OF THE APOCALYPSE
A. The Book of Revelation: Outline
1. The Perspective
2. The Place
3. The Time
4. The Sequence of Events
5. The Framework
B. The Book of Revelation: Reflection
1. The Dramatic Form
2. The Dramatic Motif
3. The Dramatic Rhythm
C. The Confrontation
1. Fire
2. The Race
II. THE PATHOS OF THE WORLD STAGE
A. Horizontal World History
B. The Claim of Finitude
1. The “Relative Absolute”
2. The Mirage of Progress
C. Time and Death
1. My Time; Our Time
2. Gestures of Existence
3. Death
a. The Search for a Starting Point
b. My Death; Our Death
D. Freedom, Power and Evil
1. Freedom
2. Power
3. Evil
a. The Power of Evil
b. The Analogy of Sin
c. “Original Sin”
d. Guilt and the World’s Suffering
III. ACTING FROM WITHIN GOD’S PATHOS
A. The Long Patience of God
1. Fundamental Considerations
2. Israel as the Model
3. Pre-Christian Religion
4. Transition to Soteriology
B. Soteriology: A Historical Outline
1. Scripture
a. The Life of Jesus and the “Hour”
b. The Main Features of Atonement in the New Testament
2. Models in the History of Theology
a. The Fathers
“Admirabile Commercium”
Limiting the Theme
b. The Medieval Model
Anselm
Thomas
c. Contemporary Models
Solidarity
Excursus: The Soteriology of Karl Rahner
Substitution
The Radicalism of Luther
Vicarious Punishment
The “Scapegoat” Mechanism
Final Approaches
C. Dramatic Soteriology
1. The Cross and the Trinity
a. The Immanent and the Economic Trinity
b. The Creation, the Covenant, and the Cross-Eucharist
2. Sin and the Crucified
a. On the Nature of “Representation”
b. The Cup of Wrath
c. The Church’s Mediation
3. Resurrection, Spirit and Life in God
a. The Risen and Crucified One
b. Freedom Liberated
c. The Paradox of Christian Discipleship
4. The Church and the Paschal Mystery
a. The Dramatic Dimensions of the Eucharist
b. The Dramatic Dimension of the Communion of Saints
IV. THE BATTLE OF THE LOGOS
A. Elements of a Christological Theology of History
B. The Provocation Offered by Jesus
1. Gathering, Separating
2. Gathering and Sifting
3. Mysterium Iniquitatis
C. The Church’s Form: Beautiful and Marred
1. Polarities and Dissensions
2. The Domestication of Faith
3. Fruitfulness from the Desert
D. Slain and Victorious
1. The Two Adams
2. Theodramatic Dimensions of Liberation
3. A Duel between Two Deaths
Notes