Hans Urs von Balthasar is widely recognized as perhaps the greatest Catholic theologian of the twentieth century. No writer has better revealed the spiritual greatness of the revelation to which the art of the Church and the historic liturgies bear witness. Yet students and non-specialist readers often find Balthasar daunting and difficult. A Key to Balthasar is the ideal introduction to his work. It unlocks the treasure of his theology by focusing on the beautiful, the good, and the true. These are the three qualities of being around which his great trilogy - The Glory of the Lord; Theo-drama and Theo-logic - revolves. Though brief, it captures the essence of what Balthasar wished to say.

A Key to Balthasar

Christian Books & Bibles

Aidan Nichols

Theology

Darton, Longman, and Todd

Aidan Nichols opens his major two-colume study of theology and culture with a powerful statement of the 'intelligent conservatism' which he sees, not as one way of being Catholic among others, but as the very teaching of Jesus Christ. The 'intelligent conservative' is, indeed, the 'scribe of the Kingdom' described in our Lord's parable; 'Every scribe who has bene trained for the kingdom of heaven is like a housekeeper who brings out of his treasure what is new and what is old'. (Mt 13:52.) Fr Nichols distinguishes three elements in thsi approach. First, it combines openned to the new with fidelity to the old, and in this sense its enemies are, on the one hand, the followers of the late Archbishop Lefebvre, for whom nothing valuable emerged in the Church after the opening of the Second Vatican Council; and, on the other those progressives who in effect claim that there is nothing of value in the pre-conciliar Church which needs to be preserved. Secondly, intelligent conservatism, in contradistinction to theological liberlism, adheres to the principle that the special historical revelation given in Jesus Christ and his Church takes epistemological precedence over any other claimants for this exalted position. And thirdly, the conserver dedicated to the kingdom of heaven is not 'a simple Simon; he is, precisely, a scribe, a learned man, a skilful man, an artful man'. Intelligent conservatism, in short, is guided by an habitual sensibility built up in preceding generations and constituting a kind of practical wisdom with which the Catholic tradition and its theological exploration must be creatively continued today.

Scribe of the Kingdom, Volume 1

History

World

T&T Clark

Scribe of the Kingdom: Essays on Theology and Culture (2 Volumes)

Religion & Spirituality

UNKNO

Hans Urs von Balthasar is arguably one of the greatest-and certainly one of the most influential-Catholic theologians of the twentieth century. Awarded the prestigious Paul VI Prize for theology and designated a Cardinal just before his death in 1988 by Pope John Paul II, Balthasar's writings have clearly helped to shape the theological style of the Catechism of the Catholic Church. His seven-volume series The Glory of the Lord provides a rich and complex theological aesthetics approaching God (unusually) through the transcendental attribute of Beauty (Glory) rather than directly through Truth or Goodness, and drawing not only upon theology but upon the entire breadth of the European literary and religious tradition-ancient, mediaeval, modern, and postmodern. 
Understandably, The Glory of the Lord in its very extent and range is difficult to assimilate. In The Word Has Been Abroad, Aidan Nichols, one of Britain's most accomplished and lucid theological writers, succeeds in summarizing the essential theological content of Balthasar's monumental work, against the background of the living Christian tradition to which it bears such impressive witness. In this way, Father Nichols has provided a much-needed key to understanding one of the most difficult but important writers of our time. 
This is the first volume of Aidan Nichols's Introduction to Hans Urs von Balthasar, which will also include guides to Balthasar's theological drama and logic. 
Aidan Nichols, O.P., is a member of the Dominican community at Blackfriars, Cambridge, and the author of numerous works of theology and Church history, including a two-volume commentary on the Catechism of the Catholic Church and a study of the theology of Joseph Ratzinger. 
"This book, by one of Britain's best known theological writers, is the first in an 'Introduction to Hans Urs von Balthasar' series being published the Catholic University of America Press. Here Nichols has set himself the task of guiding us through the often difficult seven-volume Glory of the Lord: A Theological Aesthetics, Balthasar's vast work on a vast subject: the beauty of God. With this very good book, Nichols has done us a great service."―New Oxford Review
 "The analysis is lucid and accurate and will give the reader an excellent presentation of Balthasar's project."―Worship
"The prolific English Catholic historian Aidan Nichols has written an authoritative and sympathetic introduction to Balthasar's multi-volumed magnum opus, The Glory of the Lord."―Church Times
"[This work] makes Balthasar's labyrinthine style intelligible to the pragmatic British or American reader. . . . Nichols explains with considerable intellectual vigor what Balthasar's whole exercise in 'aesthetics' and in the historical growth thereof intended. The summary of the dialectics between the Old and the New Testament (and of their mutual need) are masterpieces in themselves. . . . Nichols has written an excellent and highly useful work. His understanding of Balthasar is thorough and fair. In the emerging exegetical corpus on Balthasar this book will surely maintain its place among the most valuable and durable."―The Review of Metaphysics
"A very useful book in that it not only follows the shape and content of the first part of Balthasar's trilogy exactly, but offers an interpretive key to the vast oeuvre which explores the beauty of God and which dialogues with a great diversity of thinkers, biblical and pagan, ancient and modern. . . . Nichols has done us a great service in providing a readable guide to Herrlichkeit."―Heythrop Journal
"Disciples of Balthasar will welcome Nichols's book. Students will find it a useful companion to their own more critical study and reflection on a theologian whose valuable insights as well as prejudices continue to

The Word Has Been Abroad: A Guide Through Balthasar's Aesthetics (Not In A Series)

The Catholic University of America Press

In Lesson in a Rose-Garden Aidan Nicholas attempts something not done by Catholic writers for several centuries. He revives the once classical approach to the Rosary which takes the various mysteries of this popular Roman Catholic prayer-form as a starting-point for a wide-ranging exploration of theological as well as spiritual themes. Though this book can certainly be used as a stimulus to spiritual meditation, rooted in the experience of giving Retreat Conferences on the mysteries of the Rosary over many years, it is also something more. Interwoven with the mysteries are reflections on the whole gamut of Christina doctrine, from the Trinity to morals. Many of the author’s particular enthusiasms illuminate this study: notably the Liturgy, sacred art, and the role of the Church in civil society. And, naturally enough, he returns time and again to Mariology as the lens through which the Rosary looks at revelation. Lesson in a Rose-Garden seeks to show that there can be no better place in which to study the Catholic teaching than in the Garden of the Mother of God.

Lessons in a Rose Garden

Gracewing

The Service of Glory: The Catechism of the Catholic Church on Worship, Ethics, Spirituality

Catholicism

Franciscan University of Steubenville

Written to give lay Catholics a better understanding of the Eucharist, this book is recognized as a modern spiritual classic. In remarkably clear and straightforward language, it takes the reader step-by-step into the deepest mysteries of the Eucharist — a religiously exhilirating journey into the heart of the Christian faith. Beautifully designed and printed, the Zaccheus Press edition of A Key to the Doctrine of the Eucharist is the first authorized edition to be published in over 50 years. It features a new introduction by Aidan Nichols. The preface is by Peter Kreeft.

Key To The Doctrine Of The Eucharist.

Peter Kreeft

Abbot Vonier

Zaccheus Press

Paperback with gray wraps. Bottom corner and head of spine barely bumped, scuff mark on fore edge. As New. ISBN: 9780984578900

Romance and System: The Theological Synthesis of Matthias Joseph Scheeben

Augustine Institute Press

The highly regarded spiritual writer and theologian Fr. Aidan Nichols, O.P. presents an overview of the Old Testament by showing what it is and its relationship to the New Testament. He explains that it is essential for one to be familiar with the Old Testament in order to understand properly, and in a deeper way, the richness and message of the New. In particular, Fr. Nichols shows how important it is to grasp that connection in order to understand better and to believe in the message and the person of Christ.
Ignorance of the Old Testament makes it impossible to comprehend the entire divine plan that stretches between the two Testaments. Nichols maintains that we are ill-equipped to read and understand the great theologians, saints, and Scripture commentators of the Christian era without a deep familiarity with the Old Testament. Even understanding and appreciating the art of the Church remains limited if the Old Testament is a closed book for us.
Nichols made use of studies by biblical experts from various Christian denominations—notably Evangelicals and Anglicans—in writing this widely appealing work. He also drew on the Fathers and Doctors of the Church to help illuminate the beauty of the relationship between the two Testaments.

Lovely Like Jerusalem: The Fulfillment of the Old Testament in Christ and the Church

Ignatius Press

The Church is a mystery. Believers who want to enter more deeply into that mystery will reflect on the Church's basic characteristics, the marks of the Church: what it means for the Church to be one, holy, catholic, and apostolic. Non-Catholics and nonbelievers looking to appreciate how Catholics regard the Church also will desire to understand these marks.In this book, renowned Dominican theologian Father Aidan Nichols explores the Church's characteristics. Drawing on insights from four theological masters--Henri de Lubac, Jean Tillard, Hans Urs von Balthasar, and Charles Journet--Father Nichols seeks to help Catholics and non-Catholics to figure out the Church, on at least a fundamental level. Of course the four masters in question do not claim to exhaust the mystery of the Church. Nor does Nichols. They do, however, assist the reader in going deeper into the mystery.To accomplish this goal, Father Nichols appeals to both the Scholastic tradition and authors influenced by the ressourcement movement in theology. In this way, he provides readers with a sense of Catholicism's breadth, which is at once orthodox and yet generously conceived.

Figuring out the Church: Her Marks, and Her Masters

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Books by Aidan Nichols