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Hans Urs von Balthasar and Adrienne von Speyr's Ecclesial Relationship
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 01 January 2024
Abstract
Many systematic theologians acknowledge the relationship between Hans Urs von Balthasar, the significant twentieth‐century Catholic theologian, and Adrienne von Speyr, the Swiss physician and Catholic mystic. There is, however, difficulty understanding the actual character and purpose of this relationship. I argue in this paper that Paul's theology of charism, particularly dealing with double mission charisms, will help us understand correctly the ecclesial relationship between von Balthasar and von Speyr. After an overview of von Balthasar's statements regarding the relationship and the three main interpretations of it, I offer my own interpretation of this relationship by using Paul's theology of charism. The ramifications will be a reinterpretation of central aspects of von Balthasar's theology including but not limited to his theology of Holy Saturday, Trinitarian theology, and theology of the communion of saints.
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References
1 For example, see Hunt, Anne, The Trinity and the Paschal Mystery: A Development in Recent Catholic Theology (Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press, 1997), pp. 57–89Google Scholar.
2 Balthasar, Hans Urs von, ‘Another Ten Years: 1975’, trans. Saward, John in My Work: In Retrospect (San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 1993), p. 105Google Scholar.
3 See Balthasar, Hans Urs von, First Glance at Adrienne von Speyr, trans. Lawry, Antje and Englund, Sergia (San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 1981), p. 31Google Scholar and Balthasar, Hans Urs von, Our Task: A Report and a Plan, trans. Saward, John (San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 1994), p. 57Google Scholar.
4 Cornelia Capol (director of Hans Urs von Balthasar and Adrienne von Speyr Archives and one of the initial members of the Johannesgemeinschaft), in an interview with me, March 8, 2006, Basel, Switzerland.
5 Ibid.
6 Von Balthasar, First Glance, p. 31.
7 Ibid.
8 Ibid.
9 See Oakes, Edward T., Pattern of Redemption: The Theology of Hans Urs von Balthasar (New York: Continuum, 1994), pp. 305–306Google Scholar and von Balthasar, Our Task, p. 101.
10 Von Balthasar, First Glance, p. 34.
11 Von Balthasar, Our Task, p. 58.
12 Von Balthasar writes that von Speyr “fought against the idea of being a mystic. … She had to be taught that even ‘unworthy people’ in the Church may receive apparitions. She replied that ‘the apparitions she had were not visions at all, just simple reality. … It truly was actuality, ordinary reality, and by comparison the other kind (earthly reality) was almost unreal.’… Under no circumstances did she want to be confused with a saint” (See von Balthasar, Our Task, p. 59n13).
13 Von Balthasar, First Glance, pp. 35–37.
14 See, for example, Speyr, Adrienne von, The Passion from Within, trans. Wiedenhöver, Lucia (San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 1998)Google Scholar and Kreuz und Hölle, 2 vols. (Einsiedeln, Switzerland: Johannes Verlag, 1966 and 1972)Google Scholar.
15 Von Balthasar, First Glance, p. 37.
16 Ibid., p. 45.
17 Ibid., p. 46.
18 See, for example, Speyr, Adrienne von, The Book of All Saints: Part One, trans. Schindler, David C. (San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 2008), pp. 59–62, 236–237Google Scholar and Speyr, Adrienne von, Subjektive Mystik, vol. 1 of Das Wort und die Mystik (Einsiedeln: Johannes Verlag, 1970), pp. 38–39, 275–276Google Scholar.
19 Von Balthasar, Our Task, p. 13.
20 Ibid., p. 39.
21 Ibid., p. 44.
22 Hans Urs von Balthasar, Test Everything: Hold Fast to What is Good, trans. Maria Shrady (San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 1989), p. 88.
23 Von Balthasar, First Glance, p. 13.
24 Ibid.
25 Ibid.
26 Paul, John II, ‘Ansprache des Heiligen Vaters’, in Adrienne von Speyr und Ihre Kirchliche Sendung: Akten des Römischen Symposiums 27.‐29. September 1985, ed. Balthasar, Hans Urs von, Chantraine, Georges, and Scola, Angelo (Einsiedeln: Johannes Verlag, 1986), pp. 181–182Google Scholar.
27 Oakes, Pattern of Redemption, p. 284n15 and Lochbrunner, Manfred, Analogia Caritatis: Darstellung und Deutung der Theologie Hans Urs von Balthasars (Freiburg im Breisgau: Herder, 1981), p. 82Google Scholar.
28 Ibid., pp. 10–11.
29 Ibid., p. 302.
30 Mongrain, Kevin, The Systematic Thought of Hans Urs von Balthasar: An Irenaean Retrieval (New York: Herder & Herder, 2002), p. 1Google Scholar. Mongrain's conclusion and method is admirable in his understanding of de Lubac and Irenaeus’ place in von Balthasar's thought patterns, but it remains reductionist of too many areas of von Balthasar's thoughts, particularly von Speyr's works. Unlike the majority of von Balthasar scholars, he provides no substantive engagement of the other influential thinkers, such as Origen, Erich Przywara, Karl Barth, Ignatius of Loyola, and the major corpus of classic and modern German writers and philosophers.
31 Mongrain, Systematic Thought, pp. 11–12.
32 Ibid., p. 12.
33 Pitstick, Alyssa, Light in Darkness: Hans Urs von Balthasar and the Catholic Doctrine of Christ's Descent into Hell (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans Publishing, 2007), pp. 346–347Google Scholar. For my critique of Pitstick's thesis, see my dissertation, ‘The Gate of Heaven Opens to the Trinity: The Trinitarian Mysticism of Adrienne von Speyr,’ Ph.D. diss., Marquette University, 2007, pp. 211, 218–224. Pitstick, whose ideas several scholars of von Balthasar reject, does not even have a serious discussion of von Speyr's mystical experiences of Christ descent into Hell. There are of course a few cursory footnotes about her experiences, but these show no substantive engagement and make at least implicitly if not explicitly that von Speyr's theology of Holy Saturday had no major influence on him deserving of authentic scholarly engagement. On this aspect of her argument, see Pitstick, Light in Darkness, pp. 389n50, 392n102, 395n154, and 412n186.
34 See especially, Balthasar, Hans Urs von, The Dramatis Personae: The Person in Christ, vol. 3 of Theo‐Drama: Theological Dramatic Theory, trans. Harrison, Graham (San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 1992)Google Scholar and his, The Last Act, vol. 5 of Theo‐Drama: Theological Dramatic Theory, trans. Harrison, Graham (San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 1998)Google Scholar.
35 As these passions began to happen, von Balthasar did not anticipate the suffering would continue into Holy Saturday and he found himself completely not expecting this Holy Saturday mysticism. See his introduction in Adrienne von Speyr, Balthasar, Hans Urs von, ‘General Introduction to the Posthumous Works’, in Book of All Saints: Part One, trans. Schindler, David C. (San Francisco: Press, Ignatius, 2008), pp. 13–14Google Scholar.
36 See especially the section, ‘Adrienne's Help with My Work’, in von Balthasar, Our Task, p. 73–82. See also, Aidan Nichols, Scattering the Seed: A Guide through Balthasar's Early Writings on Philosophy and the Arts (New York: T & T Clark, 2006) and Balthasar, Hans Urs von, ‘The Fathers, the Scholastics, and Ourselves’, Communio 24 (1997): pp. 347–396Google Scholar. In order to further argue this interpretive position, there will need to be a sustained textual analysis, which this article cannot accommodate given its chosen theological scope.
37 Gorman, Michael, Apostle of the Crucified Lord: A Theological introduction to Paul and His Letters (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans Publishing, 2004), pp. 229–237Google Scholar.
38 Ibid., pp. 270–277.
39 By mystical experience, I mean here only a deep or intense experience of the spiritual realm. For a fuller discussion of my understanding of mysticism, see these sources: my dissertation, ‘Gate of Heaven’, pp. 45–104; McIntosh, Mark, Mystical Theology: The Integrity of Spirituality and Theology (Oxford: Blackwell Publishing, 1998)Google Scholar; and Speyr, Adrienne von, Die Wort und die Mystic, 2 vols. (Einsiedeln, Switzerland: Johannes Verlag, 1970)Google Scholar.
40 For a theological account of the present practice of these movements, please see Craig Keener's book, Gift and Giver: The Holy Spirit for Today (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker, 2001)Google Scholar and Wacker, Grant, Heaven Below: Early Pentecostals and American Culture (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2003)CrossRefGoogle Scholar.
41 See again the argument of Mark McIntosh, Mystical Theology. This book in particular provides the rationale for the thrust of this article.
42 Von Balthasar, Test Everything, p. 88.
43 Von Balthasar, My Work, p. 105.