Customer Reviews

Glory of the Lord: A Theological Aesthetics, Vol. 4: The Realm of Metaphysics in Antiquity

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This book blew me away. After getting through volume II and III, I was not prepared for the power of his narrative and his argument. The text follows Western Metaphysics from Homer and Pindar through the classics all the way until Thomas Aquinas. The breadth of his erudition is absurd. At one point I had to stop and read Aeschylus, Euripides, and Virgil in order to grasp what he was discusses. If it has been a while since you have studied the classics I would recommend a brief tutorial before embarking on this adventure, it is well worth the wait.

I've read many works of theology and most are fairly forgettable. They trot out the basic dogma of their sect, usually followed in a mechanical fashion with the usual quotations from the Bible or from tradition.

Yet sometimes you are lucky enough to come across a creative theologian, a theologian who is able to make you look at religious ideas in a new an innovative way. Von Balthasar is one such theologian.

In this series of works (going to seven volumes) Balthasar introduces the idea of a 'theological aesthetic.' This idea sounds very abstract but to put it in simpler words; theology is about Beauty, the Beauty of God.

Balthasar argues a key attribute of the Absolute/God in Western tradition, be it religious, mythical or theological, is Beauty. Beauty is rightly associated with Goodness, Truth and Being, and all these are rightly associated with God.

Balthasar aims to restore the ideal of the beauty of God by examining the Beauty of God and of the created world, as shown in the Bible, in Greek myth, in philosophy, and in Catholic Theology. Balthasar's most insightful comments often are made about key Church fathers, including Denys, who emphasized the Beauty of God in his theology.

I myself felt Balthasar's work was very valuable for recovering a neglected aspect of theology, the role of theology and theological issues in relation to creative art. The focus in the 20th century and in much of the preceding centuries was to make theology compatible with economic or social thought or with science or philosophy, but not with creative art.

Balthasar also recognises the key element of art in the work of mystics like Eckhart and St John of Cross.

This series forms a valuable exploration of the aesthetic dimension to theology and I am sure future students of art and theology will find it a valuable aid to their own explorations.