The Trinitarian Christology of Hans Urs von Balthasar

Description

According to Balthasar, in God, there is a triple k enotic intra-trinitarian relationship. The first kenosis consists in the Father dispossessing himself of his divinity and giving it to the Son. This divine act brings about the procession of the Son as the second possibility of being in one divine nature. The second kenosis comes about from the fact that the Son can be consubstantial with the Father only in his own self-emptying. The response of the Son to this substantial possession of the divinity is an eternal eucharistia which is as disinterested as the original gift of the Father. Proceeding from the two as their sub sistent ‘We’ is the Spirit who can be God only in his sealing as ‘Person’ this identical self -emptying in the Father and the Son since he is the proclamation and effusion of the love of the Fa ther and the Son. This makes the third kenosis. In sum, the Father’s kenosis to the Son, a nd the kenosis of the Father and the Son to the Holy Spirit correspond to the very essence of G od which can only be love.

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