Monday, August 29, 2011

Is theology possible?

'Does not the word "theo-logy" entail the deepest possible contradiction, does not this term signify an "utterance of the unutterable and inconceivable"? Yet man is not just a perceiver and an actor, he is also a thinker, speaker and formulator. What, then, is the value of the quasi-scientia that he develops under the name of "theology" and in which he obviously attempts to translate God's logic into his own?..... Theology, to answer our question, is possible, but it will primarily be, not a human achievement, but an acheivement of the divine Father, who is able truly to exposit himself and make himself understood in his incarnate Word, albeit only to those whom he equips for understanding this exposition by the gift of the Holy Spirit. And in all this something curious happens: the God who truly and unreservedly ex-posits himself does not therefore cease to be a mystery'
Hans urs Von Balthasar Theo-logic: Theological Logical Theory Vol 1, Truth of the World., Sanfrancisco: Ignatius, 200, pp22

2 comments:

Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Anonymous said...

Hi anonymous from Melbourne, happy to have you here, but I might take the post off.
I'm not real comfortable with links in posts. If you want to talk here that is fine.
I think there are probably many 'reasons' for doing theology. But like you, (and von balthasar) I think God actually turning up (in Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit) is the only valid one