One of my favorite books about Barth is von Balthasar's The Theology of Karl Barth. That these two theological opponents were also deeply respectful allies in their search for an articulation of Christian faith more adequate to the mystery and majesty of divine grace, means that to read either or both of them, is to discover theology that is deeply satisfying, if occasionally frustrating, and often congenial if now and then contentious.
Last night I started re-reading my other favorite book by von Balthasar: Love Alone is Credible. And I came across a passage that I've evidently marked on more than one occasion (because there are multiple pen marks):
On a lighter note, my Bonhoefferian theological credentials still remain intact. My copy of Barth's Evangelical Theology is perhaps the most tattered book in my library, and it's seen better days because I've read it so often. But my copy of Cost of Discipleship is still the book that's in the worst condition of all the other books. Which means I probably need a new copy.
Last night I started re-reading my other favorite book by von Balthasar: Love Alone is Credible. And I came across a passage that I've evidently marked on more than one occasion (because there are multiple pen marks):
The decisive thing is that the sinner has heard of a love that could be, and really is, there for him; he is not the one who has to bring himself into line with God; God has always already seen in him, the loveless sinner, a beloved child and has looked upon him and conferred dignity upon him in the light of this love.
No one can resolve this mystery into dry concepts and explain how it is that God no longer sees my guilt in me, but only in his beloved Son, who bears it for me; or how God sees this guilt transformed through the suffering of love and loves me because I am the one for whom his Son has suffered in love. But the way God, the lover, sees us is in fact the way we are in reality -- for God, this is the absolute and irrevocable truth. This is why there can be no talk of "merely forensic" justification; the theory is valid only in the sense that, through God's creative and transformative love, we become what he takes us to be in the light of Christ.That phrase about God's love -- that we are "always already seen" as God's children -- is the reason I love reading von Balthasar. And it's why re-reading this book at this point in my life has been so crucial. God's love is cause for adoration, not analysis. And for me, that's the Good News, the whole Good News, and nothing but the Good News.
On a lighter note, my Bonhoefferian theological credentials still remain intact. My copy of Barth's Evangelical Theology is perhaps the most tattered book in my library, and it's seen better days because I've read it so often. But my copy of Cost of Discipleship is still the book that's in the worst condition of all the other books. Which means I probably need a new copy.