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Thinking with Theologians does pretty much what it says on the tin. In each course, we will take three weeks to grapple with some significant texts by notable Christian theologians, past and present, in the hope of expanding, deepening and challenging our understanding of what it might mean to talk about God. Each session will include a short presentation by the tutor, followed by a period of focused group discussion of a particular text or texts.
Sometimes the focus of the course will be on a particular figure or school of thought; sometimes it will be a particular theme or doctrine. Either way, the method will be the same: read carefully; reflect deeply; talk honestly – then see what happens.
In this course we will focus on one of the most important Catholic theologians of the 20th century, the Swiss theologians Hans Urs von Balthasar. Balthasar’s work was taken very seriously by both John Paul II and Benedict XVI, and was due to be made a Cardinal just a few days before his death in 1988; his work has become increasingly influential in the decades since his death.
Balthasar was a very keen reader of the Protestant theologian Karl Barth, and like Barth, felt that theologians had given too much credence to basically secular modes of thinking, and so needed to give a more thoroughly ‘dramatic’ account of Christian ideas, one in which abstract ideas were always tied to the concrete realities of the Christian story. This is what he understood to do in his huge, multi-volume trilogy of books—The Glory of the Lord, Theo-Drama and Theo-Logic—which explore the Christian account of reality in connection with the three ‘transcendental’ properties of being: the beautiful, the good, the true.
In this course we will focus on one of Balthasar’s most well-known books, Mysterium Paschale: The Mystery of Easter. After an introductory session, in each subsequent week of the course we will look at a different section, and the tutor will provide supplementary material and input drawn from Balthasar’s other works, especially The Glory of the Lord and the Theo-Drama. Participants will need to have access to a copy of the book, which is available for a reasonable price from online bookstores. Or, it can be accessed via www.archive.org for free.
Week 1
Introduction – Love Alone: The Way of Revelation (summary of chs. 1-3 on handout)
For interest: The Glory of the Lord vol 1 (extract)
Week 2
Mysterium Paschale, ch. 1 (and 2, optional)
Week 3
Mysterium Paschale, ch. 3
Week 4
Mysterium Paschale, ch. 4-5
Week 1
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Stuart is the Theology Lead at LJC. He graduated with a degree in Literature and Theology from the University of Hull in 2000. From 2003-9 he studied Philosophical Theology part-time at the University of Nottingham, whilst continuing to work in the third sector with vulnerably-housed or homeless people, and young asylum seekers (as well as pulling pints in a pub). He was Lecturer at York St John University for almost a decade, before moving to London Jesuit Centre in 2021. He now lives in South East London, and spends as much time as he can in the woods.
