Abstract
This essay explores the relation between beauty and justice by turning to the thought of the Swiss Catholic theologian Hans Urs von Balthasar. It begins by giving an exposition of Balthasar’s theological aesthetics, as developed in his work The glory of the Lord, which shows how, for Von Balthasar, earthly beauty participates in, and expresses something of God’s divine glory and reaches its apex in the revelation of the beautiful form of Jesus Christ. This is then followed by an exposition of Von Balthasar’s theological dramatics, as developed in his work Theo-drama, which shows how, for Von Balthasar, this beautiful form of Christ is not merely a static image, icon, or artwork but, in fact, a dynamic event, a dramatic act, an embodied performance which reveals to us, along with God’s glory and beauty, God’s unbounded goodness. The essay subsequently turns to questions of justice (in light of Von Balthasar’s understanding of the relation between beauty and goodness), and ultimately argues that, according to Von Balthasar’s thought, justice can be viewed as a form of beauty-in-action that asks to be performed in the world.
Highlights
Over the past few decades, there has been a renewed interest in theological conceptions of beauty, in relation to other important theological foci such as justice
This will allow us to note how Von Balthasar understood the relation between aesthetics and ethics, and why, according to his thought, justice could be viewed as a form of beauty-in-action
In the opening pages of the first volume of his theological dramatics, titled Theo-drama, Von Balthasar remarks that, if we look closely, this beautiful form of Christ, as examined in his aesthetics, is not a static image, icon, or artwork “crystallised in immobile perfection”, but, a dynamic event, a dramatic act, an embodied performance that reveals to us, along with God’s glory and beauty, God’s unbounded goodness (Von Balthasar 1988:15; Nichols 2011:49)
Summary
Over the past few decades, there has been a renewed interest in theological conceptions of beauty, in relation to other important theological foci such as justice (as this project confirms). I will begin by giving an exposition of his theological aesthetics, where the focus is, on the beautiful form of Christ This will be followed by an exploration of how his work in theological aesthetics opens up towards, what he called, his theological dramatics, where the focus is on the enactment of the good, both by God and by humanity. This will allow us to note how Von Balthasar understood the relation between aesthetics and ethics, and why, according to his thought, justice could be viewed as a form of beauty-in-action
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