The Theology of Henri de Lubac: An Overview

Hans Urs von Balthasar prepared this overview of the theology and spirituality of Henri de Lubac, whom he calls friend and master, on the occasion of the de Lubac’s eightieth birthday. Beginning with personal reflections drawn from the then unpublished pages of “memoirs” which de Lubac placed in his hands, von Balthasar offers a review of all de Lubac’s major works. Von Balthasar illustrates here the wonderful synthetic power for which he is justly known: bringing the range as well as the organic unity of de Lubac’s work clearly into view. The main themes of that work remain as important now as when de Lubac first took them up. And there is no one better able to discuss these themes than von Balthasar, a master of theology in his own right and de Lubac’s great friend for over 50 years.