From Abyss to Glory

This book constructively proposes that the work of Hans Urs von Balthasar is a credible alternative to the epistemological and ethical concerns of postmodernism, which arose from nineteenth-century nihilism and continues in contemporary thought and culture. This book constructively proposes that the work of Hans Urs von Balthasar is a credible alternative to the epistemological and ethical concerns of postmodernism, which arose from nineteenth-century nihilism and continues in contemporary thought and culture. It critically examines postmodern efforts to reclaim "faith," the "self " vis-à-vis the divine, and "kenosis" by revisiting and reframing the thinking of postmodern theorists (Nietzsche, Heidegger, Lyotard, Derrida, Vattimo) within von Balthasar’s narrative of theological aesthetics and ethics. The heart of the author’s theological alternative to postmodernism is the Gestalt Christi, through which von Balthasar strives to restore the connection between the beautiful and the transcendental, faith and ethics, and ultimately the human and the divine to take back the very ground and source of human existence in response to the postmodern nihilism we face today. This is an important study for all Christians who are in dialogue with postmodern (Continental) philosophy, and it is especially valuable for von Balthasar scholars.