Student Question
What is Balthasar's definition of God's Love?
Quick answer:
Hans Urs von Balthasar defines God's love by identifying love's core characteristics: beauty, goodness, and truth, which mirror the Christian Trinity. In "Love Alone is Creditable," he suggests that for God's love to be recognizable to humanity, it must embody these qualities. Balthasar argues that love unites differences, illuminates joy and beauty, and is inherently good and true. Thus, God's love is described as accepting, joyful, beautiful, good, and true, reflecting God's nature.
Hans Urs von Balthasar defines God's love through the defining of love in general. In his text Retrospective (1988), Balthasar defines love as containing three very important characteristics (or aspects). These aspects are essentially three-fold, mimicking the Christian Trilogy: beauty, goodness, and truth. Through defining the three essential characteristics of love, Balthasar also defines God's love.
Essentially, Balthasar supports this analysis (and his own definition) through the following quote from Love Alone is Creditable.
If God wishes to reveal the love that he harbors for the world, this love has to be something that the world can recognize... [mankind must] have some glimmer of love, some initial sense of what it is.
Therefore, through defining love, Balthasar defines God's love as well. If
love is defined as possessing or being beautiful, good, and truthful, God's
love is then beautiful, good, and truthful.
What is Balthasar's definition of love?
Hans Urs von Balthasar defines love in many of...
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his texts. He was Swiss and a renowned theologian and Catholic priest. He passed away prior to being made a cardinal.
Given his education in theology and religion, Balthasar was looked to for his defining of love (both mortal love and agape--God's love). In Retrospective, Balthasar defined love in four distinct ways. First, love is the thing which defines and unites the different. It is only through love that one can accept and define those different from one's self. Second, love defines and illuminates the truly joyful and beautiful. Essentially, only when one possesses love can he or she be defined as joyful and beautiful. Third, love is defined as something good. Therefore, if one possesses love, he or she must be good as well. Lastly, love is defined as being true. Again, through the possession of love (which is true), one must be true.
Given that God is accepting, joyful, beautiful, good, and true, God epitomizes love. In a sense, Balthasar defines God's love through defining the characteristics of God himself (given a masculine gender based upon historical Christian ideology).
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