''Mysterium Paschale. The Mystery of Easter'' (Balthasar, Hans Urs von (2000). p
3
) is a 1969 book by the

Swiss Swiss most commonly refers to: * the adjectival form of Switzerland * Swiss people Swiss may also refer to: Places * Swiss, Missouri * Swiss, North Carolina * Swiss, West Virginia * Swiss, Wisconsin Other uses * Swiss Café, an old café located ...

theologian Theology is the study of religious belief from a religious perspective, with a focus on the nature of divinity. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of ...

and

Catholic priest The priesthood is the office of the ministers of religion, who have been commissioned ("ordained") with the holy orders of the Catholic Church. Technically, bishops are a priestly order as well; however, in common English usage ''priest'' refe ...

Hans Urs von Balthasar. The original German edition was published by Benziger Verlag,

Einsiedeln Einsiedeln () is a municipalities of Switzerland, municipality and Districts of Switzerland#Schwyz, district in the canton of Schwyz in Switzerland known for its monastery, the Benedictine Einsiedeln Abbey, established in the 10th century. Histor ...

. In 1983 it was reprinted by St. Benno-Verlag,

Leipzig Leipzig (, ; ; Upper Saxon: ; ) is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Saxony. The city has a population of 628,718 inhabitants as of 2023. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, eighth-largest city in Ge ...

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. The first English translation with an Introduction by Aidan Nichols, O.P., was published in 1990.

Publication history

The book began as a monograph-sized article for the volume 3/2 of the

dogmatic Dogma, in its broadest sense, is any belief held definitively and without the possibility of reform. It may be in the form of an official system of principles or doctrines of a religion, such as Judaism, Catholic Church, Roman Catholicism, Protes ...

encyclopedia ''Mysterium Salutis'' (1965-1976), which was intended as a complete treatment of the mystery of salvation in Catholic theology. Balthasar wrote several sections, but he was not initially asked to author this one on the paschal mystery. The editors had commissioned the article from another collaborator, and when he refused because he was sick, Balthasar was called to replace him at short notice and had to write hastily. The article (197 pages in the original) was published almost simultaneously also in book form, with the title ''Theologie der drei Tage''.

Content

''Mysterium Paschale'' offers an account of the death and resurrection of

Christ Jesus ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ, Jesus of Nazareth, and many other names and titles, was a 1st-century Jewish preacher and religious leader. He is the Jesus in Christianity, central figure of Christianity, the M ...

, and their significance for the Christian life. Balthasar discusses the "bodiliness" of the Resurrection from the "radical" death of Jesus, involving his descent into the place of the dead on

Holy Saturday Holy Saturday (), also known as Great and Holy Saturday, Low Saturday, the Great Sabbath, Hallelujah Saturday, Saturday of the Glory, Easter Eve, Joyous Saturday, the Saturday of Light, Good Saturday, or Black Saturday, among other names, is t ...

. Balthasar's willingness to assume the nature and the consequence of his

sin In religious context, sin is a transgression against divine law or a law of the deities. Each culture has its own interpretation of what it means to commit a sin. While sins are generally considered actions, any thought, word, or act considered ...

makes him, as well as the reader, extrapolate that God can endure and conquer godlessness, abandonment, and death. His exegesis emphasizes that Jesus was not betrayed but surrendered and delivered up by himself, since the meaning of the Greek word used by the New Testament, ''paradidonai'' (παραδιδόναι, ), is unequivocally "handing over of self". In the 1972 "Preface to the Second Edition", Balthasar takes a cue from

Revelation Revelation, or divine revelation, is the disclosing of some form of Religious views on truth, truth or Knowledge#Religion, knowledge through communication with a deity (god) or other supernatural entity or entities in the view of religion and t ...

(

Vulgate The Vulgate () is a late-4th-century Bible translations into Latin, Latin translation of the Bible. It is largely the work of Saint Jerome who, in 382, had been commissioned by Pope Damasus I to revise the Gospels used by the Diocese of ...

: ''agni qui occisus est ab origine mundi'', NIV: "the Lamb who was slain from the creation of the world") to push the

theology of the Cross The theology of the Cross (, ) or staurology (from Greek , and ''- logy'': ) is a term coined by the German theologian Martin Luther to refer to theology that posits "the cross" (that is, divine self-revelation) as the only source of knowledge ...

from the immanent Trinity up to the economic One, so that "God is love" consists in an "eternal super-

kenosis In Christian theology, ''kenosis'' () is the "self-emptying" of Jesus. The word () is used in the Epistle to the Philippians: " made himself nothing" ( NIV), or " eemptied himself" ( NRSV) (Philippians 2:7), using the verb form (), meaning "t ...

". In the words of Balthasar himself: "At this point, where the subject undergoing the 'hour' is the Son speaking with the

Father A father is the male parent of a child. Besides the paternal bonds of a father to his children, the father may have a parental, legal, and social relationship with the child that carries with it certain rights and obligations. A biological fat ...

, the controversial ' Theopaschist formula' has its proper place: 'One of the Trinity has suffered.' The formula can already be found in Gregory Nazianzen: 'We needed a...crucified God'." But while theopaschism indicates only a Christological kenosis (or kenotic Christology), instead Balthasar supports a Trinitarian kenosis: "The persons of the Trinity constitute themselves as who they are through the very act of pouring themselves out for each other." This allows to clearly distinguish his idea from

Subordinationism Subordinationism is a Trinity, Trinitarian doctrine wherein the God the Son, Son (and sometimes also the Holy Spirit in Christianity, Holy Spirit) is subordinate to the God the Father, Father, not only in submission and role, but with actual ontol ...

References

{{Reflist Christian literature 1970 non-fiction books Swiss non-fiction books German-language non-fiction books

Publication history

Content

See also

References