Unity Across Distance, Love in Difference: Sketching a Theological Foundation for Reconciliation Based on the Thought of H. U. Balthasar
Unity Across Distance, Love in Difference: Sketching a Theological Foundation for Reconciliation Based on the Thought of H. U. Balthasar
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.54855/csl.25547Keywords:
Reconciliation; Trinity; Truth–justice–forgiveness–conversionAbstract
The article outlines a theological foundation for reconciliation, drawing on Hans Urs von Balthasar’s thought. It recalls that classical theology often framed reconciliation primarily in a “vertical” sense—between humanity and God through the Cross and Resurrection—while more recent approaches expand toward a “horizontal” social dimension, highlighting truth, justice, forgiveness, and conversion as values that both liberate and heal. The distinctive feature of reconciliation lies in the tension between unity and distance: reconciliation becomes necessary when parties who fundamentally belong together have experienced a rupture. The foundation is traced to the Trinity: kenosis, the total giving-and-receiving between the Father and the Son, and the Holy Spirit as the bond that bridges the distance. Accordingly, pastoral reconciliation should be grounded in faith and prayer, while also respecting difference so that unity can be rebuilt.
References
Leah Elizabeth Robinson, The Influence of Social Context on a Theology of Reconciliation: Cases Studies in Northern Ireland, PhD. Thesis (Edinburgh: University of Edinburgh, 2011), 31-32.
Leah E. Robinson, Ibid., 42ff. X. Robert J. Schreiter, “Peacemaking: Five Principles of a Practical Theology of Reconciliation”, https://thevalueofsparrows.com/2014/09/15/peacemaking-five-principles-of-a-practical-theology-of-reconciliation-by-robert-j-schreiter/, truy cập ngày 18.09.2019.
Theo-drama: Theological Dramatic Theory, Vol IV: The Action, trans. Graham Harrison (San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 1994), 323, 331.
The Glory of the Lord: A Theological Aesthetics, Vol. VII: Theology: The New Covenant, trans. Brian McNeil C.R.V., ed. John Riches (Edinburgh: T&T Clark, 1989), 213-214.
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