Divine Roominess: Spatial and Music Analogies in Hans Urs von Balthasar and Robert Jenson

Hans Urs von Balthasar and Robert Jenson both spatialize God by depicting the triune life as "roomy". Theologians have employed spatial analogies readily since the inception of the "trinitarian revival" of the 20th century. In recent days, however, theologians have begun critiqui...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Pro ecclesia
Main Author: Lett, Jacob (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
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Published: Sage Publishing [2019]
In: Pro ecclesia
Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains:B Balthasar, Hans Urs von 1905-1988 / Jenson, Robert W. 1930-2017 / God / Trinity / Space (Motif) / Music (Motif)
IxTheo Classification:KAJ Church history 1914-; recent history
KDB Roman Catholic Church
KDD Protestant Church
NBC Doctrine of God
Further subjects:B analogy of being
B Trinity
B Robert Jenson
B Spatial analogies
B Hans Urs Von Balthasar
B Music analogies
Online Access: Volltext (Resolving-System)
Description
Summary:Hans Urs von Balthasar and Robert Jenson both spatialize God by depicting the triune life as "roomy". Theologians have employed spatial analogies readily since the inception of the "trinitarian revival" of the 20th century. In recent days, however, theologians have begun critiquing divine spatial imagery. In particular, the spatialized grammar of Balthasar's trinitarian theology has attracted criticism. In this article, I review Balthasar's divine spatial analogies and show how "bodily" readings of them have provoked criticism. I then repair Balthasar by applying Jenson's musical rendition of "divine roominess" to Balthasar's spatial analogies, suggesting that musical conceptions of space resolve some of the concerns theologians raise with Balthasar's trinitarian theology in particular and spatial analogies in general.
ISSN:2631-8334
Contains:Enthalten in: Pro ecclesia
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1177/1063851219846681