Abstract
This essay will explore Hans Urs von Balthasar’s Christology as performance from below. It will begin by introducing Balthasar’s theodramatic project as presented in his five-volume work Theo-drama. Here, it will be shown how Balthasar engages with and uses the conceptual resources of drama and the theatre to develop a theological dramatic theory with the performance of Christ at its very centre. This will be followed by an investigation into Balthasar’s dramatic Christology and what he saw as the re-performance of the Christ-drama on the world stage. The essay will then conclude with a few brief remarks on the continued relevance of Balthasar’s dramatic Christology, especially for those interested in doing – and performing – theology from below.
Highlights
Twentieth-century Swiss Catholic theologian, Hans Urs von Balthasar, is perhaps best known for his work in theological aesthetics – and rightly so
It will begin by introducing Balthasar’s theodramatic project as presented in his five-volume work Theo-drama. It will be shown how Balthasar engages with and uses the conceptual resources of drama and the theatre to develop a theological dramatic theory with the performance of Christ at its very centre. This will be followed by an investigation into Balthasar’s dramatic Christology and what he saw as the reperformance of the Christ-drama on the world stage
The essay will conclude with a few brief remarks on the continued relevance of Balthasar’s dramatic Christology, especially for those interested in doing – and performing – theology from below
Summary
Twentieth-century Swiss Catholic theologian, Hans Urs von Balthasar, is perhaps best known for his work in theological aesthetics – and rightly so. Hans Urs von Balthasar’s theological dramatics can best be described as a theological reflection on the enactment of the good, both by God, in Christ, and by humanity While his aesthetics was concerned with the seeing of the beautiful, especially as it comes to expression in and through the person of Christ,[7] the focus in his dramatics is on divine and human action, on that which is done in – and for the sake of – the world.[8] It is this emphasis which prompts Balthasar to turn his attention to the one art form which, according to him, has the unique ability to convey and make visible the performative dimensions of both human existence and – importantly – divine revelation, namely drama (from the Greek word “dran”, meaning “to do” or “to perform”) as it is acted out on the theatre stage.[9] For Balthasar, Christian theology has much to gain from engaging with, and utilising the conceptual resources of, stage acting. It is to this dramatic Christology, centring on the performance of Christ from below, that we turn
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