Ten Theology Books to Watch For – March 2022

The Eucharistic Form of God: Hans Urs von Balthasar’s Sacramental Theology

Jonathan Martin Ciraulo

(U Notre Dame Press)

This study presents Hans Urs von Balthasar’s theology of the Eucharist and shows its significance for contemporary sacramental theology.

Anyone who seeks to offer a systematic account of Hans Urs von Balthasar’s theology of the Eucharist and the liturgy is confronted with at least two obstacles. First, his reflections on the Eucharist are scattered throughout an immense and complex corpus of writings. Second, the most distinctive feature of his theology of the Eucharist is the inseparability of his sacramental theology from his speculative account of the central mysteries of the Christian faith. In The Eucharistic Form of God, the first book-length study to explore Balthasar’s eucharistic theology in English, Jonathan Martin Ciraulo brings together the fields of liturgical studies, sacramental theology, and systematic theology to examine both how the Eucharist functions in Balthasar’s theology in general and how it is in fact generative of his most unique and consequential theological positions. He demonstrates that Balthasar is a eucharistic theologian of the highest caliber, and that his contributions to sacramental theology, although little acknowledged today, have enormous potential to reshape many discussions in the field.

The chapters cover a range of themes not often included in sacramental theology, including the doctrine of the Trinity, the Incarnation, and soteriology. In addition to treating Balthasar’s own sources―Origen, Gregory of Nyssa, Pascal, Catherine of Siena, and Bernanos―Ciraulo brings Balthasar into conversation with contemporary Catholic sacramental theology, including the work of Louis-Marie Chauvet and Jean-Yves Lacoste. The overall result is a demanding but satisfying presentation of Balthasar’s contribution to sacramental theology. The audience for this volume is students and scholars who are interested in Balthasar’s thought as well as theologians who are working in the area of sacramental and liturgical theology.

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Christ, the Way: Augustine’s Theology of Wisdom

Benjamin T. Quinn

(Lexham Press)

The Son of God is the wisdom of God

Augustine’s love of wisdom drove him to Christ―and wisdom remained central to his thought. Modern biblical scholars and theologians have much to learn from one of Christianity’s most prominent and prolific theologians. Retrieval of Augustine can revive and renew thinking on wisdom.

In Christ, the Way, Benjamin T. Quinn recovers and evaluates Augustine’s rich writing on wisdom. While many have acknowledged sapientia (wisdom) as central in Augustine, few have offered a full treatment of his definition of wisdom and how it ordered his thought. Quinn remedies this need, tracing the development of Augustine’s thought from his earliest reflections to De Trinitate, his most systematic treatment of wisdom. For Augustine, sapientia is the incarnate Christ, who by the Spirit enlightens all God’s people to see clearly, live virtuously, and participate in God―thereby restoring his people to his image. Quinn then brings Augustine into dialogue with contemporary wisdom scholarship, displaying where his biblically rooted, Christocentric, faith–first approach holds rich insights for scholars and Christians today.

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