Light in Darkness: Hans Urs Von Balthasar and the Catholic Doctrine of Christ's Descent Into Hell [Paperback]

Alyssa Lyra Pitstick (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 2007

A reaffirmation of historic Catholic teaching on Holy Saturday.

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About the Author

Alyssa Lyra Pitstick, who holds degrees from Pontifical University in Rome, International Theological Institute in Austria, and Gonzaga University, is an independent scholar in Spokane, Washington. This is her first book. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback: 458 pages
• Publisher: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company (February 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0802840396
• ISBN-13: 978-0802840394
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.3 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,522,774 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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32 of 46 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars HVB's hangups on Hell, March 18, 2007

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j.mart (Hampton, VA) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Light in Darkness: Hans Urs Von Balthasar and the Catholic Doctrine of Christ's Descent Into Hell (Paperback)

HvB was a master stylist of rhetoric and literature, and a brilliant theologian. He came to the fore at a time when liberals were dismantling the orthodox foundations of Vatican II's ambiguously-spun final decrees. Cleaving to tradtion as he did, he became a lifeline to a rising generation of seminarians seeking to be true to Catholicism. Along with DeLubac and Congar, he managed to champion Biblical fidelity while also fostering forward-looking theological explorations.

In many ways von Balthasar was a Catholic counterpart to that great if strange Protestant watershed figure Karl Barth. And like Barth, despite essential soundess on most points, he could not escape being a child of his age and hoping towards a theology of Universalism. This tendency was stoked by his passionate vision of God's all-conquering love on the cross. In a sense he became a reverse Calvinist: if Jesus' mission did not result in the successful application of that love to every soul intended, how could it be termed a success? The logic of limited atonement was transposed and became the 'theo-logic' of an all-encompassing atonement.

Which of course is hopeful thinking at best, skewed exegsis and heresy at worst. Pitstick gives a good, succinct autopsy of the problems. Many HvB defenders have railed unsuccessfully (see the edgy arguments at the First Things website), but impressive endorsements for Pitstick come from heavyweight HvB afficionados and RC literati including Neuhaus, Nichols, Saward, and Thomas Howard... all of which makes you respect these men that much more. She is a precise and unornamental prose writer, and certainly not one you'd term 'irenic' by any stretch, but I'd wager Pitstick's ripples will be felt for years. Given the clergy's ongoing avoidance of Hell as theological subject matter, her surgical dissection is a saluatory one.

CS Lewis' literary inspiration George MacDonald harbored similar fancies about damnation, but like HvB managed to compose a crackerjack corpus despite such novelties. It all points to a healthy reminder: there is no such thing as the infallible theologian. For a counterpoint to Pitstick and tour of HvBs strengths, check out for starters his "Three Garlands," "Primer for Unsettled Laymen," "Anxiety," and "Prayer." Edward T. Oake's primer on the guy's theology is a necessary clarifier given HvB's staggeringly prolific output. And not to be forgotten is the tributes to HvB from the ultimate fans, JP II and B XVI, at the Vatican website.

7 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Incomplete research, Poor Conclusions, August 12, 2010

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Edward Ray (Orange, CA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Light in Darkness: Hans Urs Von Balthasar and the Catholic Doctrine of Christ's Descent Into Hell (Paperback)

As someone who has been reading Fr. Hans Urs von Balthasar for about seven years now, I still cannot say that I completely understand him. However after reading Dr. Pitstick's book I can say that she does not IMO. Dr. Pitstick goes to great effort to explain why she disagrees with Fr. Balthasar's view, and she has a right to disagree. She makes an attempt to present (what she perceives to be) the Catholic Church's view on Christ's decent into Hell and contrasts it with Balthasar's view. Her presentation of Balthasar's positions on Christ's descent into hell is incomplete, as there is scant mention of Karl Barth (whose theological position to is similar to Balthasar's). Dr. Pitstick never really answers the question of whether or not Balthasar's theology of Christ's descent into Hell is true, only that she disagrees with it based on her narrow view of Church teachings. The Magisterium has been silent on this question, and the Catholic Catechism (paragraphs 632-637) has nothing that clearly excludes Balthasar's contentions. Despite Dr. Pitstick's view that the traditional Catholic understanding of the descent into Hell is capable of both clear definition and infallibility that firmly excludes Balthasar's approach, this is a radical and false conclusion.

In addition, Dr. Pitstick's calling into question Balthasar's overall Catholicity and adherence to orthodoxy is not helpful. No Ecumenical Council of the Catholic Church has explicitly precluded Balthasar's interpretation of Christ's descent, nor has any papal definition condemned it. Dr. Pitstick's exchanges with Fr. Oakes and David Lauber (who know Balthasar a good deal better than Dr. Pitstick) appear petty and immature. For exchanges between Fr. Oakes and Dr. Pitstick see "First Things"(December 2006, January 2007 and March 2007) and "International Journal of Systematic Theology." (April 2007 and April 2009). For exchanges between Lauber and Pitstick see Scottish Journal of Theology (2009) which also has Lauber's criticism of the book.

Dr. Pitstick herself commits a faux pas on page 31 where she equates the consensus of the saints as "...identical with the Church's Tradition." Really? Is a 5th century Augustine armed with the same knowledge on this topic as the 13th century Thomas Aquinas? Aquinas himself did not believe in the Immaculate Conception as a necessary dogma of Christianity. Using Dr. Pitstick's analysis of von Balthasar would she also brand Aquinas a heretic?

For those interested in a better understanding of this topic I suggest reading Balthasar himself and make up your own mind. David Lauber has written a great book on Barth's (and Balthasar's) view on Christ decent into Hell: "Barth on the Descent into Hell: God, Atonement, and the Christian Life") and a recent PhD thesis by Jacob H. Friesenhahn entitled "THE TRINITARIAN THEOLOGY OF HANS URS VON BALTHASAR AND THEODICY" is also a better source on this topic.

P.S. One should also consult Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger's book "Introduction to Christianity" pp 293-310 for his views on Christ's descent into Hell. I find some similarities between his views and von Balthasar's views. Perhaps Dr. Pitstick would like to questions our current Pope Benedict's position as a Catholic theologian? After a 20th century which produced such great thinkers as von Balthasar, Conger, de Lubac, Dulles, Ratzinger and Wojtyla (Pope John Paul II) I would hope for better scholarship than what Dr. Pitstick has produced!

P.P.S. "After His Death, Christ's soul, which was separated from His Body, descended into the underworld. (De fide)" Fundamentals of Catholic Dogma by Ludwig Ott, page 191

0 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Hans Urs von Balthasar, May 29, 2010

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TLM "Tere" (Miami, FL USA) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Light in Darkness: Hans Urs Von Balthasar and the Catholic Doctrine of Christ's Descent Into Hell (Paperback)

I recommend books by von Balthasar. You need time and a quiet space to sit and digest what von Balthasar writes.