Hans Urs von Balthasar's theology of Judaism: Trinitarian anti -Marcionism and the surprising nature of grace
This dissertation argues that Hans Urs von Balthasar's view of Christian-Jewish relation is deeply conditioned by what he labels the “first form of systematic anti-semitism,” namely, the second century heresy of Marcionism. Von Balthasar sees Marcionism as a spectre that continues to distort and reduce the content of theology in the modern period. As a result, von Balthasar's theological project emphasizes the aesthetic dimension of theology, an emphasis that he believes can resist Marcionite tendencies to disconnect Old Covenant from New, Yahweh from Jesus Christ, Israel from the Church. These disconnections, von Balthasar thinks, result whenever the doctrine of the Trinity is eliminated or marginalized. Von Balthasar believes that Christianity's severance of its Jewish and Old Covenant connection is to the detriment of both faiths. I argue that von Balthasar's anti-Marcionism leads him to embrace the work of Irenaeus and to produce a theology of religions reminiscent of the work of Clement of Alexandria. ^
Anthony Charles Sciglitano,
"Hans Urs von Balthasar's theology of Judaism: Trinitarian anti -Marcionism and the surprising nature of grace"
(January 1, 2003).
ETD Collection for Fordham University.