Even if a unity of faith is not possible, a unity of love is.
Hans Urs Von BalthasarRead
If God wishes to reveal the love that he harbors for the world, this love has to be something that the world can recognize, in spite of, or in fact in, its being wholly other.
Interpretation
What this quote means
God's love for the world must be recognizable and relatable, even in its divine nature.
Hans Urs Von Balthasar's quote suggests that the divine love of God for humanity needs to be expressed in a way that people can understand and relate to, despite its transcendent nature. This love, while fundamentally different from human experiences, should still resonate with individuals, allowing them to recognize and appreciate its depth and significance in their lives.
Themes
GodLoveRecognitionTranscendenceHumanity
In practice
Example use cases
In a sermon about the nature of divine love, one might say this quote to emphasize God's relationship with humanity.
More from Hans Urs Von Balthasar
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A truth that is merely handed on, without being thought anew from its very foundations, has lost its vital power.
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The Holy Spirit knows what a particular age's most pressing need is far better than men with their programs.
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The first attempt at a response: there must have been a fall, a decline, and the road to salvation can only be the return of the sensible finite into the intelligible infinite.
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But the saints are never the kind of killjoy spinster aunts who go in for faultfinding and lack all sense of humor. (Nor should the Karl Barth who so loved and understood Mozart be regarded as such.)For humor is a mysterious but unmistakable charism inseparable from Catholic faith, and neither the "progressives" nor the "integralists" seem to possess it - the latter even less than the former.
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