Joe Versus the Volcano: More on Holy Saturday

Tuesday, 13 January 2009

More on Holy Saturday

In case any of you didn’t catch Fred’s comment, here’s his link to a great quotation from Balthasar on his excellent la nouvelle théologie blog.

Here's a taster of what Balthasar says, but do please check out the full post - the extended quotation is well worth reading, as is the discussion of an exchange from First Things.

From Holy Saturday onward, death becomes purification. On that day, the dead Lord opened up a way out of eternal forlornness and into heaven: the fire that purifies the dead toward greater love. Under the Old Covenant, that did not exist; for everyone, there was only Sheol, the place of being dead. Descending into this, Christ has thrown open the entranceway to the Father.

Fred’s link shows that Balthasar’s understanding of the descent into hell does justice to the traditional account of the “harrowing of hell” while at the same time reflecting his own understanding of Christ’s Holy Saturday experience and its redemptive significance.

And here’s what Aquinas has to say in answer to the question “was it fitting for Christ to descend into hell”:

I answer that It was fitting for Christ to descend into hell.

First of all, because He came to bear our penalty in order to free us from penalty, according to Is. 53:4: “Surely He hath borne our infirmities and carried our sorrows”. But through sin man had incurred not only the death of the body, but also descent into hell.

Consequently since it was fitting for Christ to die in order to deliver us from death, so it was fitting for Him to descend into hell in order to deliver us also from going down into hell. Hence it is written (Osee 13:14): “O death, I will be thy death; O hell, I will be thy bite”.

Secondly, because it was fitting when the devil was overthrown by the Passion that Christ should deliver the captives detained in hell, according to Zach. 9:11: “Thou also by the blood of Thy Testament hast sent forth Thy prisoners out of the pit”. And it is written (Col. 2:15): “Despoiling the principalities and powers, He hath exposed them confidently”.

Thirdly, that as He showed forth His power on earth by living and dying, so also He might manifest it in hell, by visiting it and enlightening it.

Accordingly it is written (Psalm 23:7): “Lift up your gates, O ye princes”, which the gloss thus interprets: “that is – Ye princes of hell, take away your power, whereby hitherto you held men fast in hell”; and so “at the name of Jesus every knee should bow”, not only “of them that are in heaven”, but likewise “of them that are in hell”, as is said in Phil. 2:10.

Summa Theolgiae III, q. 52, a. 1.

10 comments:

berenike said...: How frustrating that my copy of Lyra's dissertation is in a friend's aunt's house in Aberdeen!

Never mind the First Things debate, read Pitstick's book. Did I ever send you the afterword to the Tarot book?

Be careful you don't give yourself over to the principalities and powers - that is, don't give yourself over to them prematurely.; 14 January 2009 08:57
Mark said...: Hi Berenike - I've not read the afterword to the tarot book, but I've heard about it and it troubles me.

I think I'm right in saying that Fr John Saward, who was a leading Balthasarian who was nevertheless troubled by the failure of Balthasarians to reconcile Balthasar with Aquinas, was finally put off Balthasar when he read the tarot afterword.

The posts I've been writing have been an attempt to steer a middle course between two views of Balthasar - Balthasar the theological cult-hero and Balthasar the heretic.

I find him fascinating and occasionally inspiring, but far less intellectucally and spiritually satisfying that Aquinas.

Do send me the afterword if you have it, though. I'm ready to be persuaded I'm wrong...; 14 January 2009 09:24
Mark said...: Berenike - I've been checking out Alyssa Lyra Pitstick's book on Balthasar on Amazon, and it looks brilliant. I've always had concerns about aspects of Balthasar's soteriology, and, judging by the book's contents page, there's a good deal to be concerned about...; 14 January 2009 10:27
Fred said...: Well, I read Meditations on the Tarot before I read Balthasar. I see it as a kind of a curiosity, a personal reflection of a man who had studied esoteric philosophy for years but who was converted to Christ and came into the Catholic Church — much as novelist Louis de Wohl apparently left behind his charlatanism. Tomberg, the author, is not interested in divination at all, but is more focused on opposing the atheist materialist ideologies of the 20th century.; 14 January 2009 13:25
Mark said...: Fred - thanks for the background (and thanks also for the Balthasar/Aquinas quotes on your blog). I must admit that the side of Balthasar which he reveals in his "afterword" to Meditations on the Tarot troubles me - as, indeed, does de Lubac's advocacy of Teilhard de Chardin.; 14 January 2009 13:55
Fred said...: Don't forget de Lubac's work on Pico della Mirandolla, and Balthasar, de Lubac, and Danilou's work on Origen. I also note that Balthasar has spoken well of Charles Williams, a dubious character.

:); 15 January 2009 00:01
Mark said...: Fred - it is, of course, true that one can't assess a theologian on the basis of his occasional lapses of judgement with regard to other authors :)

Not that I consider the fascination of Origen for the theologians you mention as being a problem - a proper and (where appropriate) sympathetic understanding of Origen (good bits and bad bits) is fundamental to a proper understanding of the Greek patristic tradition.; 15 January 2009 19:11
Mark said...: Sympathetic to the good bits, not the bad bits. The good bits being some of the writing on prayer and the biblical exegesis, much of which finds its way into the tradition of St Jerome, of course.; 15 January 2009 19:19
Julianna said...: As far as what I have learned of the Tarot afterward- S. Caldacott has written an article on it republished in Ignatius Insight and notes that some of von Balthasar's writing in the original French that expresses warnings, doubts or criticisms of the book, was truncated by the English publishers of the Tarot book. He also notes more significant background to the book which helps to clarify why Balthasar might have written the text.
It might be worth reading Caldacott's article http://www.ignatiusinsight.com/features2007/scaldecott_hubtarot_apr07.asp

Although I have not read the Tarot
afterward or book nor have I read a great amount of von Balthasar I do respect a great amount
Cardinal Ratzinger/Pope Benedict's judgment when he has stated on several occasions that von Balthasar is someone who can be read, learned from and trusted to a great extent with theology- not that everything can be trusted nor that everything he has written should be considered infallible. That was the case even with many of the great doctors of the church. In 2005 he wrote "I can testify that his life was a genuine search for truth, which he understood as a search for the true Life. He looked everywhere for signs of the presence of God and of his truth: in philosophy, in literature, in religions, always managing to break through the circuitous reasoning that often holds the mind a prisoner of itself, and opening it up to the horizons of the infinite.

Hans Urs von Balthasar was a theologian who placed his research at the service of the Church, because he was convinced that theology could be defined only in terms of ecclesiality."; 19 January 2009 18:20
Mark said...: Julianna - thanks for the link to the Stratford Caldecott article, and for the information about the tarot afterword.

I always think Balthasar is at his best when interpreting earlier theologians - for example, his studies of figures such as Irenaeus, Denys and Anselm in vol 2 of "The Glory of the Lord".

And, of course, his book "Cosmic Liturgy" pretty much brought about the rediscovery in the West of the wonderful 7th century church father St Maximus the Confessor.; 19 January 2009 18:47

Cyril of Alexandria

"After Christ had completed his mission on earth, it still remained necessary for us to become sharers in the divine nature of the Word. We had to give up our own life and be so transformed that we would begin to live an entirely new kind of life that would be pleasing to God. This was something we could do only by sharing in the Holy Spirit....When the time came for Christ to ascend to his heavenly Father, it was necessary for him to be united through his Spirit to those who worshipped him, and to dwell in our hearts through faith."

Basil of Caesarea

"Just as when a sunbeam falls on bright and transparent bodies, they themselves become brilliant too, and shed forth a fresh brightness from themselves, so souls wherein the Spirit dwells, illuminated by the Spirit, themselves become spiritual, and send forth their grace to others. Hence comes foreknowledge of the future, understanding of mysteries, apprehension of what is hidden, distribution of good gifts, the heavenly citizenship, a place in the chorus of angels, joy without end, abiding in God, the being made like to God, and, highest of all, the being made God."

Benedict of Nursia

"We believe that the divine presence is everywhere and that ‘the eyes of the Lord are looking on the good and the evil in every place’. But we should believe this especially without any doubt when we are assisting at the Work of God. To that end let us be mindful always of the Prophet's words ‘Serve the Lord in fear’, and again, ‘Sing praises wisely’, and ‘In the sight of the Angels I will sing praise to Thee’. Let us therefore consider how we ought to conduct ourselves in the sight of the Godhead and of His Angels, and let us take part in the psalmody in such a way that our mind may be in harmony with our voice."