Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #189254 in Books
• Published on: 1988-11
• Original language: German
• Binding: Paperback
• 255 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9780898702071
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
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Language Notes
Text: English (translation)
Original Language: German

Customer Reviews

Provocative!
This is one of my two favorite books written by Hans Urs von Balthasar. The Catholic Church asserts that certain individuals are in Heaven, but never declares a specific individual to be in Hell. In fact, the Church still hopes that in their final moments of life, even the greatest sinners such as Judas Iscariot and Adolph Hitler would have repented of their terrible sins.

In this book, Hans Urs von Balthasar pushes the hope that in their final moments of life, all souls will repent and make their peace with God. He hopes all will be saved, not because all deserve Heaven, but rather because all will come to know the great mercy and forgiveness of Our Lord Jesus Christ.

Nevertheless, von Balthasar HOPES for the salvation of all. He does not maintain all will indeed be saved, but rather this is his hope. Several times in the work, von Balthasar reminds the reader that Hell remains a very real possibility, and that man must always keep this possibility before his eyes.

One of the more controversial titles. . .
. . .by the late Catholic theologian Fr. Hans Urs von Balthasar -- but arguably one of the most important.

Critics have unfairly suggested that Fr. von Balthasar is either denying the existence of a literal hell, or denying that anyone is/has been/will be located there. These critics miss the point entirely.

My (extremely brief) summary of Fr. von Balthasar's argument does not concern the existence of hell but rather of the duty of the Christian, which is to fervently pray and hope that all men ARE eventually saved; that the love of Christ CAN eventually reach and be accepted by all; and that knowing through Holy Writ that some will NOT be saved and will choose against God does not free the Christian from the duty of praying for such persons.

In today's troubling times, von Balthasar's message is of timeless importance. To dare to hope and to dare to pray that the love of God will melt the heart of even the most heinous of sinners is a difficult duty. Indeed, such a reminder is liable to make many people angry. But it is, nevertheless, a reminder which needs to be made.

This book is less technical than much of von Balthasar's work, and thus should be much more widely accessible to the informed layman.

Hell is not about what God is going to do, but about what we are capable of

"Origen held a firm conviction that not a single rational being will be lost to the darkness of ignorance and sin. Even the most recalcitrant sinner, he argued, will eventually attain salvation. The fire of punishment is not an instrument of eternal torment, but of divine instruction and correction." Edward Moore

"We are allowed to hope that no human is eternally damned. This is a founded theological hope, it is not a certitude. Indeed each person must existentially live with the real possibility that he or she might be doomed. The thesis itself is prompted, we believe, by mercy." Balthasar



Hell and Salvation:
The Church's teaching on Hell has been generally avoided by Christian theologians, who believe that the Lord's own desire that everyone be saved 1Tim 2:4. Hans Urs Cardinal von Balthasar is a notable exception of this attitude, who amended Dare We Hope "That All Men Be Saved"? With a Short Discourse on Hell (1988). It is disappointing however that what he has wrote has stirred up controversy within Roman Catholics, and Christians in general. Grounding his thesis on Scripture, he replies unrelentingly, but rather concisely on what it takes us, together with his great master Origen, to 'hope that all men be saved,' as rooted in that genius adamant faith in the unlimited love of Christ that reaches even into the depths of the abode of Hell. Nevertheless, although he rejects the theory of apokatastasis, von Balthasar is denying that we know that there are or will be humans sentensed to eternal damnation, and is so forceful in defending the salvation hope for of all. James T. O'Connor concludes that, "he appears to be saying that, in fact, no one will be eternally lost."

Apokatastasis, Restoration of all things:
The idea, usually attributed, perhaps erroneously, to Origen. Since the soul is essentially rational, argued Origen, it will eventually be restored to the divine truth, salvation will follow. The word Origen used to describe this process of universal salvation "restoration of all things," was apokatastasis. Prompted by his idea of the pre-existence of souls, Origen may have come to view the mission of the temporal Church as "a gathering up of all lost, fallen souls into a unity resembling that which subsisted primordially." Apokatastasis, may be viewed as restoration, the culmination of gathering souls in a unity of faith.
In a very compelling essay "Origen of Alexandria and apokatastasis: Some Notes on the Development of a Noble Notion," Edward Moore explains, "Yet Origen recognizes the fact that God has a plan for humanity - a plan involving the establishment of ultimate freedom. This ultimate freedom is a freedom in which the possibility of freedom's negation is not present. Origen could not rationalize the standard Christian idea that certain souls will inevitably fail to achieve salvation, and be plunged into eternal torment. If God created all souls equally, with freedom and reason, how could He possibly abandon these souls to the negation of that original possibility for perfection?
He then concludes, " Origen's focus was less upon individual souls than it was on the collectivity of souls comprising the Church which, for him (as for the biblical writers in general) is understood as the "body of Christ." As Verbrugge has explained, Origen insisted upon the necessity for unity among believers, since a believer who falls away or lapses into error can negatively effect the entire body of the Church. However, this idea, far from turning Origen into an intolerant inquisitor, actually inspired him (in my opinion) to ever greater levels of tolerance - a development which led him to flirt with heresy, and which contributed to his later condemnation during the Origenist crisis of the fifth century."

Historical Debate:
Since Origen proposed his breaking through hope, some of the Church Fathers, including Gregory of Nyssa, and Didymus the Blind held for the universal restoration and salvation of all (apokatastasis). Ultimately Emperor Justinian who provoked the condemnations of Origen was compelled to respond to this teaching through a Church council. "If anyone says or thinks that the punishment of the devils and of evil men is for a time and that there will be an end of it at some time, or that there will be a restoration [apokatastasis] of the devils and evil men, anathema sit." This condemnation, directed at those labeled "Origenists" and moved at the initiation of the Emperor Justinian, was adopted by a provincial Synod in Constantinople in 543, approved by Pope Vigilius during his detention in Constantinople (547-55).

Balthasar and Salvation theology:
Von Balthasar mentions as well theologians and other Christian writers who, he maintains, agree with what he is saying. In all cases these men speak of hell as being a "real possibility" but few ask the specific question about whether any humans are actually damned. von Balthasar charges that when writing and speaking of hell "the great man, to whom posterity owes so much, did not do that within the limits laid down by the Gospel." Not only has the great saint left with "the boulder of the Augustinian hell,"

Balthasar Contra Infernalists:
The in the manner in which he describes the convictions opposed to his, unveil the pain he took writing these views reflects in the unusual amount of reactionary polemic the author targets those criticising his views or are in contradiction of his own, characterizing them as 'infernalists.' He recognizes that some of the Church's historical teacher and theologians; from Augustine, Gregory the Great, Anselm, to Bonaventure, Aquinas, and recently John Newman, belong to this group. von Balthasar finds Augustine's opinion "has cast an enormous shadow over the history of Western Theology," worthy of sharp criticism, while being praised for his ardent charity and as being the pioneering 'Father of the Western World,' " whenever one fills hell with a massa damnata of sinners, one also, through some kind of conscious or unconscious trick, places oneself on the other side. We might ask the great Augustine... whether he ever worried, after his conversion, about his eternal salvation." Even Aquinas is cited, as having the saints rejoice over the fate of the damned. He speaks of his thesis as being "cut to pieces, almost interminably" in certain theological journals. He goes on to write: "before me lies a related heap of angry letters, entreaties to return to the true Faith and so on. ... I am a heretic for refusing to accept a Church doctrine."

von Balthasar's Hell:
"I claim nothing more than this: that (those of the New Testament which speak of hell) give us a right to have hope for all men, which simultaneously implies that I see no need to take the step from the threats to the positing of a hell occupied by our brothers and sisters, through which our hopes would come to naught. I do not wish to contradict anyone who, as a Christian, cannot be happy without denying the universality of hope to us so that he can be certain of his full hell: that is, after all, the view of a large number of important theologians, especially among the followers of Augustine. But, in return, I would like to request that one be permitted to hope that God's redemptive work for his creation might succeed. Certainty cannot be attained, but hope can be justified. ... If we take our faith seriously and respect the words of Scripture, we must resign ourselves to admitting such an ultimate possibility, our feelings or revulsion notwithstanding. We may not simply ignore such a threat; we may not easily dismiss it, neither for ourselves nor for any of our brothers and sisters in Christ."
The Swiss theologian explicitly and repeatedly denies that he is proposing the theory of apokatastasis that eventually all, including the devils, will be restored to God's favor and saved. And, although the similarity of his own view with that earlier held by Karl Barth is recognizable, von Balthasar also rejects the Barthian thesis as being too "systematic," going beyond a founded Christian hope, defending his thesis with arguments and indications which, by necessity, are of unequal theological significance. James O'Connor has enumerated as follows:
1. The testimony of the mystics indicating hope for all men is permitted.
2. New Testament Evidence. God's will, and ability, to save all humans.
3. Historical Development, Tradition and Magisterium. Writing of the Fathers of the Church, von Balthasar states that "the reality of hell is adhered to without exception."
4. Von Balthasar's theological argumentation in defense of his position that we may have theological hope for the salvation of all humans.

Comments from a Blog:
- "I have found Gregory of Nyssa's use of Origen's apokatastasis to be very helpful spiritually, as it reflects God's own desire that all men be saved. The idea that if one person remains eternally in rebellion could be seen as a failure of God's grace and will for the world. So perhaps hell is a both punitive and purgative, even if that purgation takes millions of years." Scribe
- "On the one hand, hell is very real, though it is not about what God is going to do, but about what we are capable of. On the other hand, may hell be empty!, because the Crucified experienced the heart of human darkness and desolation. Passionate, beautiful stuff." kim Fabricius

*In memory of my father, who believed in the merciful restoration.