Dare we hope, p.17
Dare We Hope, page 17
11 Die Eschatologie in der Glaubensunterweisung [Eschatology in religious instruction] (Würzburg, 1965), p. 223. Cf. DTC V/1 (1913), p. 921. Back to text.
12 Adv. Haer. II, 28, 3. Back to text.
13 Important texts are in my selected translation of the commentary on the Song of Songs Der versiegelte Quell [The sealed wellspring], 3rd ed. (Einsiedeln: Johannesverlag, 1984), as also in my book Presence et pensée, essai sur la philosophic religieuse de Gregoire de Nysse (Paris: Beauchesne, 1941). Back to text.
14 O. Cullmann, Chrisius und die Zeit [Christ and time], 2nd ed. (Zollikon, 1948), pp. 23, 60. Back to text.
15 Enarr. in Ps 30. Back to text.
Chapter 9
1 H. Schauf, p. 6395. Back to text.
2 Walter Bauer, Wb. z. N.T. [Dictionary of the New Testament], on the word. Back to text.
3 H, Schauf, p. 6395. Back to text.
4 Ibid., p. 6396. Back to text.
5 Apokalypse [Revelation], and ed. (Einsiedeln: Johannes-verlag, 1976), pp. 687-90. Cf. also the commentary on 21:8: whoever opposes “his own irrecoverable ‘No’ to God’s truth”, Back to text.
an inexorable “No” that he utters every time any sort of request is made of him, is the complete liar. In the lake of fire, as the “second death”, the lie, as a lie, consumes itself. It no longer has the possibility of constructing for itself a sham reality; it has no more material that it can distort; it is finally powerless. But this death of the lie does not imply the possibility of a return to truth but rather the necessity of persisting in the death of the lie. . . . Whoever remains a liar to the end will, to be sure, know that there is a truth, but . . . it will be for him something completely alien, inaccessible, something in no way fulfilling. And because turning away is a hopeless lie, he will be constantly without hope (ibid., pp. 716-17).
In the exposition of Rev 22:11, this is said:
Once again, the special relationship of Revelation to time becomes apparent. In the time of the Lord in the Gospel, this sentence could not stand. In the supratime of Revelation, earthly time no longer plays a role. And yet there is also a threat implicit here, as if one were saying to a naughty child: “Just you keep doing that”—as, meanwhile, one goes to get the rod. These words can inspire a much deeper fear in the child than if one said to him: “You stop that, and be good!” Punishment is regarded in quite another way. In the Gospel, it is a threatening possibility in case one does not reform. In Revelation, it is punishment in eternity, fulfilled punishment (ibid., p. 804).
Chapter 10
1 Surnaturel, 2nd part: “Esprit et Liberte” (pp. 187-321). This passage, which is unfortunately not taken up again, is perhaps the most penetrating thing that we have from H. de Lubac. Back to text.
2 “Abschied vom Teufel?” [Taking leave of the devil?], in Dogma und Verkundigung [Dogma and proclamation] (Munich, Freiburg and Weidel, 1973), pp. 233-34. Back to text.
3 Dogmatik II, p. 158. Back to text.
4 “Der Teufel—ein personates Wesen?” [The devil—a personal entity?], in W. Kaspar and K. Lehmann, Teufel, Dämo-nen, Bessessenheit. Zur Wirklichkeit des Bösen [Devil, demons, possession. On the reality of evil] (Grunewald, 1978), pp. 71-98. Back to text.
5 Ibid., pp. 97-98. Back to text.
6 Psalmen I [Psalms, I], 2nd ed. (Neukirchener Verlag, 1961), p. 147. Back to text.
7 Die Psalmen [The Psalms], 7th ed. (Göttingen: Das Alte Testament Deutsch, 1966), p. 130. Back to text.
Chapter 11
1 Enarr. in Ps 32, on v. 5. Back to text.
2 In Cant, sermo 6. Back to text.
3 Perhaps stimulated by a saying from the Confessions: “Never will my soul be able to conceive of something that is better than you” (VII, 4, 6). Back to text.
4 “Die Einheit von Gerechtigkeit und Barmherzigkeit bei Anselm von Canterbury” [The unity of justice and mercy in Anselm of Canterbury], in IKZ Communio 14 (January 1985): pp. 52-55. Back to text.
5 “Nul n’a plus grand amour que de donner sa vie pour ses amis. Essai sur la signification de l’ ‘unum argumentum’ du Proslogion”, Congres anselmien, Universite de Villanova, 16-21 septembre 1985 (unpublished manuscript). Back to text.
6 STh III q 46 a 2 ad 3. Back to text.
7 Cur Deus Homo II, 20 (Schmitt II, p. 131). Back to text.
8 Ibid., II, 11 (Schmitt II, p. 111). Back to text.
9 Ibid., II, 10 (Schmitt, pp. 131-32). Back to text.
10 KD II/2: “Gottes Barmherzigkeit und Gerechtigkeit” [God’s mercy and justice], pp. 413-57. If this identity is to be maintained, and if God is called a “consuming fire” (Dt 4:24; Is 33:14; Heb 12:29), then no fire other than God’s naming love-justice is needed in order that the sinner who irrevocably opposed this flame with hate should, as long as he did so, be consumed. With that, however, the doctrine—clearly articulated since the time of Augustine’s Confessions (I, 12, 19) and handed down from that source—is justified that guilt already contains within itself its own punishment—which, as I have said (Theodramatik IV [Theodramatics, IV], pp. 267ff), does not exclude this from occurring within divine judgment. Back to text.
11 On Hope, pp. 70-71. Back to text.
Short Discourse On Hell
Chapter 1
* This section was translated by Dr. David Kipp. Back to text.
1 To which this “Short Discourse” has been added in the present edition.—Ed. Back to text.
2 Eight issues from September 1986 to April 1987. In what follows, Theologisches = Th. Back to text.
3 March 1987, with reference back to 1984, pp. 250ff., 316ff. Back to text.
4 Th, 1986, p. 7255. Back to text.
5 Issued by the German Bishops’ Conference in 1985, English edition: The Church’s Confession of Faith: A Catholic Catechism for Adults (San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 1987), p. 346. Back to text.
6 Above, pp. 134ff. Back to text.
7 “God [is] incontestably just in rewarding and punishing, at the same time, however, full of love for those who deserve it” (!) (Th, 1986, p. 7331). Back to text.
8Essai sur le mystère de l’histoire (Paris, 1953), p. 340. Back to text.
9Th, 1986, p. 7355. That her commentary on John was rejected in Rome (ibid.) is pure invention; I have already pointed that out once before. Back to text.
10 Ibid., p. 7260; the objections on p. 7261 are utterly fatuous. Back to text.
11 Ibid., p. 7263. That A[drienne] “is an authentic mystic . . . is surely to be denied” (Th, 1987, 3/44). Back to text.
12 Adrienne von Speyr und ihre Kirchliche Sendung [Adrienne von Speyr and her mission in the Church]. Akten des Römischen Symposions [Documents of the Roman Symposium] (1986), pp. 181f. Back to text.
13 Cf. his statement on Judas’ fate: “Jesus’ request for forgiveness, spoken with respect to all who were instruments of his Passion . . . is an utterance of mercy, not a facile, irresponsible amnesty. Mercy is the other face of true justice”: Wagt den Glauben [Dare to believe] (Einsiedeln: Johannes-verlag, 1987), pp. 97-98. Back to text.
14 In: Meditations d’un Solitaire en 1916 (Oeuvres IX, Mercure de France), p. 240. Back to text.
15 Th, 1987, pp. 41-49. Schneider, in his tragicism, takes the impenitent thief as a symbol of our godless age. “The cross of the lost” is the “terrible sign that is set to rule . . . this age.” The other says to him: “We suffer justly.” “It is an utterance on the cross. For we will not escape the cross. But it is also an utterance of quiet power,. . . for it is obvious that light streams down upon the one uttering it, and that, in the circle around the cross on which it is spoken, life takes on order and men become brothers. The ‘No’ is permitted to go no further,” Christ suffers for the “unpardoned” as well. Back to text.
16 His Letzten Dinge [Last Things], 2nd ed. (1949), which, while citing Mt 25 gives no commentary on the decisive parts, has a largely personal orientation. Back to text.
17 Cf. only Grundkurs [Basic course], pp. 107-10. Back to text.
18 Lebensbeschreibung [Autobiography], chap. 32. Back to text.
19 Liturgy of the Hours, Ordinary Time, 4th week, Wednesday, Midafternoon Prayer. I might also note here that Fr. B. de Margerie—in France a traditionalist, scarcely recognized outsider, but in Germany discovered by right-wingers as a theological luminary and often cited in polemic—does not represent an authority for me. Back to text.
Chapter 2
1 On the following, see above all: Henri de Lubac, The Christian Faith: An Essay on the Structure of the Apostles’ Creed (San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 1086). Back to text.
2 For all particulars: John N. Kelly, Altchristliche Glaubensbekenntnisse; Geschichte und Theologie [Early Christian creeds] (Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 1972). On the formulas of abjuration, cf. pp. 37-45, 49, 79, 392f. Back to text.
3 Einführung in das Christentum [Introduction to Christianity] (Munich: Kösel, 1968), pp. 47, 59. Back to text.
4 H. de Lubac, The Christian Faith, 191f. Back to text.
5 Ibid., p. 145; cf. p. 161: Christian faith is only externally comparable to the “faiths” of other religions: “Faith is not an abstract concept but the name for something that occurs only once, the response of man to the God that comes in Christ”: Guardini, Vom Lehen des Glaubens [On the life of faith], 1935, p. 33. Back to text.
6 Ibid., p. 228. Back to text.
7 Ibid., pp. 132-56. Back to text.
8 Einführung (n. 3), pp. 270-71. Back to text.
Chapter 3
1 In the following context, the German biblical versions used by von Balthasar are translated directly. The Revised Standard Version often contains the word “many” where the German has “all”.—Trans. Back to text.
2 “The Church has never said of any concrete individual that he is damned”: Johann Auer, “Siehe, ich mache alles neu.” Der Glaube an der Vollendung der Well [“Behold, I make all things new.” (Rev 21:5) Belief in the perfecting of the world] (Regensburg: Pustet, 1984), p. 71. Back to text.
Chapter 4
1 PL Suppl. II, p. 545L Back to text.
2 De natura et gratia, 5; PL 44, p. 250. Back to text.
3 Riessler, Altjüdisches Schrifttum ausserhalb der Bibel [Non-biblical ancient Jewish writings] (1928), pp. 274, 276. Back to text.
4 Lambot, Oeuvres . . . de Dodescak d’Orbais (Louvain, 1945), pp. 73, 183, and so on. Back to text.
5Karl Holl, Gesammelte Aufsatze I, Luther (Collected essays, I, Luther), 7th ed. (Tubingen, 1948), p. 68. Back to text.
6 Ibid., p. 144. Back to text.
7 Ibid, p. 151. Back to text.
8 WA II, 215, pp. 8ff.: “For I could wish that I myself were accursed and cut off from Christ” (Rom 9:3). Back to text.
These words seem strange, even foolish, to those who think themselves holy. . . . For those, however, who love God truly, with the love of a child and friend that does not stem from nature but comes solely from the Holy Spirit, these words are wondrously beautiful and the testimony of an exemplary model of the most consummate sort. Men like this freely commit themselves to whatever God wills, even to hell and to eternal death if God wishes this so that his will might be fully accomplished, so little do they care for the pursuit of things that are their own. And yet, since they thus conform themselves so unreservedly to God’s will, it is impossible that they would remain in hell.
Romerbrief-Vorlesung 1515-1516
[Lecture on the Letter to the Romans, 1515-1516],
3rd ed. (Munich, 1957), p. 302.
9 Heinrich Heppe, Reformierte Dogmatik [Reformed dogmatics], newly revised by E. Bizer (Neukirchen, 1935), pp. 410-11. References from classical dogmatics on this: 411-31. Back to text.
10 DS 1534, 1564. 1565. Back to text.
11 Romerbrief-Vorlesung, pp. 302-3. Back to text.
Chapter 5
1 A. Auer says on this, not particularly convincingly: “All men will be saved in eternity, because God is love. In addition, it is frequently noted that we ourselves could not be happy being with God if, ‘among ourselves’, we were to see our brothers and sisters eternally damned. This seems to be based on an all too naive human understanding of eternal bliss that cannot do justice to our Catholic image of God as Holy Trinity. Could there perhaps also be an erroneous (Marxist?) conception of society at work here?” Back to text.
Among the many who sent me angry letters, an especially cunning person came up with the following: “Can one long for one’s condemned relatives or friends when one is in heaven? Jesus says that, in the next world, men will become like angels; blood relationships will no longer play any role. The only binding thing then is sharing the same disposition. ‘Whoever fulfills the Father’s will is mother, brother or sister to me.’ If, on earth, I had known my mother to be an impenitent whore, then I would not long for her when in heaven.” Is that certain for one who loves in God? And what if she was not an impenitent whore?
Chapter 6
1 Passages given by Cornelius a Lapide, Exoduskommentar [Commentary on Exodus] (Vives, 1895), pp. 729-32. In conclusion, Cornelius makes reference to the self-sacrifice of pagan heroes for their fatherland, but emphasizes that these had sacrificed only their bodies, while Moses offered his soul. Cf. also the passage from Chrysostom that Thomas Aquinas cites on this passage in his interpretation of the Letter to the Romans. Back to text.
2 Römerkommentar [Commentary on Romans], PG 14, 1138f. Back to text.
3 More details are in K. H. Schelkle, Paulus, Lehrer der Voter [Paul, teacher of the Fathers] (Düseldorf, 1956), pp. 327-30. Back to text.
4 For example, Alvarez de Paz, De vita spiritual! (Lugd., 1608). “He wishes to do without the consoling feeling of the presence of Christ for a time” (632a); other watered-down interpretations are given in R. Comely, Romer [Romans] (1896), pp. 473f. Back to text.
5 Otto Michel, Der Brief an die Romer [The letter to the Romans], 4th ed. (1966), p. 225. Back to text.
6 Ernst Kasemann, An die Romer [To the Romans] (1973), p. 246. Ulrich Wilckens, Der Brief an die Romer [The letter to the Romans] (EKK, 1980), also draws the parallel between Rom 9:3 and Ex 32:32 and sees that “Paul follows, in a certain respect, the behavior of Christ”: “As Christ brought the curse of the law upon himself in order to save lost sinners, so now Paul wants to save his brethren, who have become lost through their unbelief, by making himself accursed and destined to ruin.” Of course he knows: “The Cross alone is the locus of eschatological sin created through God’s righteousness” (II, p. 187). Back to text.
Chapter 7
1 Hans-Jürgen Verweyen, Christologische Brennpunkte [Christological focal points] (Essen: Ludgerus, 1977), pp. 119-22. Back to text.
2 Sacramentum Mundi (Freiburg, II 1968), “Holle” [Hell], pp. 737-38. Back to text.
3 Ibid. (Freiburg, I 1967), “Erlosung” [Redemption], p. 101. Back to text.
4 Pastoralbtatt (Cologne, 1982), p. 101. Back to text.
5 “Die biblische Botschaft von Himmel und Holle—Befreiung oder Versklavung?” [The biblical message of heaven and hell—liberation or enslavement?], in Ungewisses Jenscits? [Uncertain Afterworld?], ed. by G. Greshake (Patmos Paperback, 1986), p. 30. Back to text.
6 Ibid., pp. 83-88. Back to text.
7 STh II II q 17 a 3. Besler’s exegesis of this passage is simply inadequate (Th, 1986, p. 7332). Back to text.
8 Vie de Sainte Catherine de Siennepar le bienheureux Raymond de Capoue, ed. Hugucny, O.P. (Paris, n.d.), pp. 479, 481. I owe the reference to this passage to Pr. Christoph von Schönborn, O.P. Back to text.
9 Edith Stein, Welt und Person. Beitrag zum christlichen Wahrheitsstreben [World and person. A contribution to Christian truth seeking], ed. by L. Gelber and Romaeus Leuven, O.C.D. (Freiburg, 1962), pp. 158ff. I owe the reference to this passage to Georg Batzing. Back to text.
Epilogue
Chapter 1
* This section was translated by Rev. Lothar Krauth. Back to text.
1 Oepke, “Apokatastasis”, ThWNT I, p. 390. Back to text.
2 For individual examples cf. C. Lenz, “Apokatastasis”, RAC I, pp. 510-16. Back to text.
3 Peri Archon I, 6, 2. Back to text.
4 An extensive discussion of the role attributed to Elijah (realization of the apokatastasis; High Priest at the end of time; Helper in distress—cf. Mt 27:47, 49; perhaps even an atoning suffering) is found inj. Jeremias, “Elejas” [Elijah], ThWNT II, pp. 930-43. Back to text.
5 In Christus und die Zeit [Christ and time], 1946. For a critique, cf. W. Kreck, Die Zukunfi des Gekommenen [The future of what has come], 2nd ed. (Munich, 1966), pp. 25-39, 209-13. Back to text.
6 E. L. Dietrich, Dieletzte Wiederherstellung bei den Propheten [The final restoration according to the prophets] (Giessen, 1925). Back to text.
7 Die Idee des ewigen und allgemeinen Weltfriedens im alten Orient und im Alten Testament [The concept of the eternal and universal peace as found in the ancient Orient and in the Old Testament] (Trier, 1956). Back to text.
8 Peri Archon I, 6, 4; III, 6, 9. Back to text.
9 Ibid., III, 6, 1; De Orat. 27, 2; C. Cels. 4, 30; Ez. hom. 13, 2. Back to text.
10 Gen. hom. 1, 14. Back to text.
11 Ez. hom. 13, 2. Back to text.
12 For a detailed discussion see Georg Burke, “Des Origenes Lehre vom Urstand” [Origen’s doctrine of the original state], in ZkathTh 72 (1950), pp. 1-39. Back to text.
13 De hominis opificio, chap. 22. Back to text.
14 More in my book Presence et Pensée. Essaisurlaphilosophie religieuse de Cregoire de Nysse [Presence and thought: A study of the religious philosophy of Gregory of Nyssa] (Beauchesne, 1942), pp. 29-60. Gregory is well aware of the paradox in his approach: “Even though some things may appear contradictory to human thinking . . . they still have to be brought into an orderly, logical sequence, based on the teachings of Scripture and also on rational inferences” (De hominis opificio, prooemium). Back to text.
15 Ambiguorum liber 7; PG 91, 1080C. Back to text.
16 Ibid., 1084C. Back to text.
Chapter 2
1 Cf. his study on “Gehenna”, Oxf. Bodl. syr. e 7. Back to text.
2 Stromata VII, 12, 2-13, 1; BDK Clemens, vol. 5, pp. 18-19. Back to text.
