Von Balthasar's Way from Doxology to Theology

Abstract

Hans Urs von Balthasar's proposal that aesthetics ought to be returned to its place of primacy in Christian theology is central to his overall project to revive a vision of theology as intellectual reflection deeply rooted in the church's life of prayer and spirituality. He argues for reintegrating aesthetics into theology because he believes that failing to do so would mean failing to understand and attain the existential disposition and spiritual posture required for knowing God in the only way God can possibly be known, namely, as self-giving love offered in the gifts of creation and the Incarnation.